Resurrection of the dead (Part 1).

Christians do not live merely for time but also for eternity. They have a hope for the future which is certain by receiving eternal life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The next foundational truth assures us that there is going to be a resurrection day. Jesus said, “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out - those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned” (John 5:28-29).

Paul boldly asserts, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless…For if the dead are not raised, then Christ has not been raised either…But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (1 Cor 15:13-16, 20).

Resurrection of the Dead in the Old Testament

God’s power and ability to raise people from the dead was manifested in the Old Testament. Elijah was used of God to raise the widow of Zarephath’s son from the dead (1 Kings 17:20-22) and Elisha raised the Shunammite’s son (2 Kings 4:8-37).

There was that amazing funeral recorded in 2 Kings 13, when a party of men went to bury a friend. While they were doing this they saw a party of raiders coming towards them. With no time to dig the grave, they threw the body into a nearby grave where Elisha was buried. As soon as the corpse made contact with the Prophet’s bones, he was revived, and ran and joined the burying party!!

God’s power and ability to raise people from the dead is manifested throughout Scripture.

One of the oldest books in the Bible is Job. Through all his troubles he also had the great hope of the resurrection day. He said, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” (Job 19:25-26).

Resurrection in the New Testament

It is recorded that Jesus raised three people from the dead: Jairus’ daughter; the widow of Nain’s son and Lazarus (Matt 9:23-25; Luke 7:12-15; John 11). There is a remarkable story related in very few words of what happened when Jesus died and rose again:

And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus’ resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people. (Matthew 27:50-53)

What a story! What surprises in Jerusalem! What power in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus! We also read of Peter being God’s instrument to raise Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36-4). A young man called Eutychus fell asleep while Paul was preaching. He fell from an upstairs window and was killed. Paul prayed for the young man and he was restored to life (Acts 20:7-12). This story is a warning not to fall asleep during the preaching! There may not be a Paul present!

I have met two people who witnessed God’s power in raising the dead, and there are accounts of this happening in times of revival.

The Future Resurrection

The Bible teaches about the certainty of future resurrections: the resurrection of the just, and the resurrection of the unjust. The terminology used is, ‘the resurrection of the just’; ‘the resurrection of life’; ‘the resurrection of the last day’; ‘the resurrection of the dead’ (Luke 14:14; John 5:29; John 11:24; Acts 23:6). Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, assured them:

For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. (1 Thessalonians 4:16)

The Bible teaches about the certainty of future resurrections: the resurrection of the just, and the resurrection of the unjust.

Believers Shall Rise Again

• First: “Blessed and holy are those who have part in this first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ” (Rev 20:6).
  
• To eternal life: “Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (Dan 12:2).
  
• To be glorified with Christ: “When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col 3:4).
  
• With incorruptible bodies: “So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body” (1 Cor 15:42-44).
  
• With a body like Christ’s body: “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Phil 3:20-21).

What a glorious hope for the Christian! What comfort when Christian loved ones die knowing we will meet again! There is a resurrection day!

Resurrection - A Glorious Hope

Yes, this teaching gives wonderful hope to the child of God. Before a person becomes a Christian, they are “without hope and without God in the world”. But once we believe the situation is changed “you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:12-13).

Hope is the confident looking forward to something which is certain, with absolute assurance. When Paul was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin he said, “I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead” (Acts 23:6).

Don’t miss one of the important reasons for this teaching. Life is punctuated by difficult circumstances and problems but there are better things to come. Peter used this truth to encourage and to comfort persecuted saints. They were being hunted, living in caves and suffering deprivation, and to use Peter’s words, “suffering grief in all kinds of trials”. This was one of his opening statements in his letter to them:

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade, kept in heaven for you. (1 Peter 1:3-4)

Life is punctuated by difficult circumstances and problems but there are better things to come.

The truth of the resurrection of the dead has been the hope of millions who have been martyred down through the centuries. Jesus told his disciples, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matt 10:28).

Resurrection day is going to usher God’s people into a new era. Then it is going to be ‘forever with the Lord’. It is going to be the entry into an imperishable inheritance, kept, or reserved, in Heaven for you. We are going to see what Jesus meant when he said to his disciples, “In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me, that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2-3).

What is it going to be like? In one way it is indescribable. Paul said, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor 2:9). We do not have a lot of information about Heaven, but we have enough. The Bible tells us something of what is there, and something of what is not there. The greatest thing is that HE is there. We shall see him and we shall be like him. Anne Cousin, anticipating this in the last century, wrote these words:

The Bride eyes not her garment,
But her dear Bridegroom’s face;
I will not gaze at glory
But on the King of Grace.
Not at the crown He giveth
But on His pierced hand.
The Lamb is all the glory
Of Immanuel’s land.

Next week: The return of our Lord Jesus and the judgment seat of Christ.

Faith toward God.

We now come to the second truth in the foundational series. Having turned from dead works, that is everything not initiated by God, we are called to a life which looks to God for everything - totally trusting him - for, “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Heb 11:6).

When a person first becomes a Christian he usually has very little knowledge of God or his Son Jesus Christ. The Christian life is a continual exploration of the knowledge of God. Obviously you cannot trust anyone you do not know well, and the more you get to know God the more you can trust him.

Faith toward God develops and grows by us using the means available to us to increase in this knowledge. Daniel the Prophet wrote, “the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits, and those of the people who understand shall instruct many” (Dan 11:32-33, NKJV). Next week we will pursue the means by which we get to know God, but this week let us briefly consider the subject of faith itself.

Faith unto Salvation

In the Bible, faith is spoken of in three main ways. First, what is termed ‘saving faith’, is the initial faith which brings us into relationship with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul puts it this way, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no-one can boast” (Eph 2:2-3).

Although one can be told the Gospel message which is “the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes” (Rom 1:16), it is not possible to explain fully what happens when a person believes. Salvation is a miracle and you cannot explain miracles because they are supernatural.

The whole Godhead is operative when a person comes to Christ:

• Father: Jesus said, “No-one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:44).
• Son: God draws us to Christ. The Lord Jesus gives us eternal life. He said. “For you granted him [Jesus] authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him” (John 17:2).
• Holy Spirit: When Jesus was talking to Nicodemus, he told him that it was the Holy Spirit who brings about the new birth, “I tell you the truth, unless a man is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit” (John 3:5-6). The Holy Spirit convicts of sin and when we respond to the Gospel message he comes to dwell within us, thus giving us life.

Although we cannot explain it we know that when we responded to the conviction of sin and came to that place where we were ready to turn from sin, believing that Jesus died and rose again and willing to submit to his Lordship, God gave us the faith by which to receive his Son, Jesus. No wonder the writer to the Hebrews describes it as, ‘so great a salvation’.

The Christian life is a continual exploration of the knowledge of God.

Faith by Which to Live

Second, there is faith by which to live. We have seen that when we become a Christian the Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us, and the “fruit of the Spirit is faith”. Not only is there a God-given faith by which to come to the Lord Jesus, but also a God-given faith to live the Christian life: "the righteous will live by faith".

Our faith is in God, who is the Faithful One. God can be trusted because of the perfection of his character. It is impossible for God to lie. It is impossible for God ever to do one thing which is unrighteous or unfair.

Circumstances can come into our lives which we do not understand and God is not obliged to give us an explanation of everything that happens. “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow the words of this law” (Deut 29:29). But even though we sometimes cannot understand, we can be totally confident in the fact that as long as we seek to live in obedience, then “we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28).

Jeremiah the Prophet, out of his experience of trusting God, proclaimed “His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lam 3:22-23).

The Bible contains a great many stories which confirm God’s reliability. A few examples are the miracle of the partings of the Red Sea and the River Jordan; the feeding of over two million people each day in a wilderness; the sun standing still in the days of Joshua; the closing of the mouths of lions in the den where Daniel was incarcerated; the miracles of Jesus; his resurrection, and so many more. God will allow or ordain circumstances in all of our lives to show us what a wonderful Father he is and how much he loves and cares for us so that we can fully trust him.

The Gift of Faith

Third, there is what is termed ‘the gift of faith’. This is included in the list Paul gives in 1 Corinthians 12 when he is leaching on the different kinds of gifts of the Holy Spirit. The gift of faith is a supernatural endowment of faith given by God for some specific circumstance, or need, or event.

This gift was obviously given to Peter and John while they were both going to the Temple after the day of Pentecost. There at the gate was a crippled beggar who asked them for money. Peter said to him, “Look at us…silver or gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk. Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong. He jumped to his feet and began to walk” (Acts 3:11-8).

God will allow or ordain circumstances in all of our lives to show us what a wonderful Father he is and how much he loves and cares for us so that we can fully trust him.

This special gift is sometimes given to initiate some work or mission, such as the establishment of orphanages by George Muller in Bristol; the launching of the China Inland Mission by Hudson Taylor, etc. It can be given by God to remove some mountain, some obstacle. It can be given to you as he sees necessary for some specific purpose or ministry.

The next step is to explore how we can go on to know this wonderful, powerful, loving, just, and faithful God.

Next week: Exercising faith to know God better.

This article is part of a series, first published as a booklet in 1992. It has been edited for online publication. Click here for previous instalments.

Charles Gardner reviews RT Kendall’s new book.

‘Whatever happened to the Gospel?’ is a question I have been asking for some time. And it is now the title of a brilliant new book by much-loved author and preacher RT Kendall, published by Charisma House.

In a very timely expose of the superficiality and error of much of Western Christianity, RT (short for Robert Tillman) attempts to rouse the Church from its slumbers with a passionate wake-up call.

Eternity Matters

Wielding his sharp, perceptive pen with the skill of a writer very much in tune with the Bible’s Author, he shows how the fear of God has been largely lost, with heaven and hell hardly ever mentioned from the pulpit.

John the Baptist, who prepared the way for the ministry of Jesus, spoke of the “wrath to come” when people flocked from miles around to hear him.

The neglect of preaching on hell, in particular, has lulled generations of believers and would-be Christians into a false sense of security, and to a lack of urgency in proclaiming the Gospel to a dying world.

This is a timely expose of the superficiality and error of much of Western Christianity.

We are too often allowed to bask in the sunshine of our Western comfort and prosperity with teaching about making the most of life in the here-and-now, rather than urgent calls to rescue those in danger of perishing in eternal fire.

After all, RT argues, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life” – the words of Jesus himself (John 3:16, my emphasis added). It’s surely a matter of everlasting life or death. The wrath of God is coming upon all ungodliness and wickedness, and the only way of escape is through the blood of Jesus. This is the Gospel – not health and wealth, prosperity, social outreach or even happiness on this earth.

Not Ashamed

It’s a thrilling read – punchy, shocking, beautifully written, honest and full of fascinating anecdotes. The author is not afraid to tell stories against himself; he owns up to having made many mistakes but, as he says, he would stake his life on the truth expounded in this volume.

The Church urgently needs to rediscover the main thing!

I am greatly indebted to friends from London who sent me a copy, but not before travelling across the capital to get RT to sign it. Alongside his signature, he noted down the Bible reference Romans 1:16, which says: “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes; first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.”

‘Whatever Happened to the Gospel’ (240pp) is available on Amazon and elsewhere online, in paperback, Kindle and audio forms.

Please note that a review from Prophecy Today UK concerns the book only: in no way does it constitute support for official book endorsers such as shown on the image above.

The future of the Church in Britain.

This is a question that was fiercely debated by members, clergy and bishops in the Church of England following the consecration of David Jenkins as Bishop of Durham in York Minster on 6 July 1984. Some hours later a bolt of lightning struck the Minster and burned the south transept where the consecration had taken place.

It was particularly remarkable because weather maps showed clear skies over the whole of the UK and northern Europe except for this one tiny cloud no bigger than a man’s hand crossing Yorkshire and delivering an electrical strike of such magnitude that it overrode a newly installed lightning conductor at the Minster.

Even the secular media saw this as an ‘act of God’ but not so the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, who declared that God does not do such things. It later emerged that he was faced by a ‘God or Mammon’ dilemma as the Minster’s insurance might not have covered ‘acts of God’!

Liberal Theology

Jenkins had some unorthodox views on central tenets of Christian doctrine including casting doubt on the resurrection of Jesus. Although the Archbishop did not publicly support the views of Jenkins, he nevertheless continued to promote non-Bible-believing clerics to senior posts in the Church of England which brought liberal postmodernist teaching into the leadership of the Church that still has an influence today.

In last week’s editorial we were examining the influence of ‘postmodernism’ in the nation and noting its objective of destroying the family in its war against Christianity. We said:

The central tragedy of recent history over the past half-century is that neither Church leaders nor politicians have understood the philosophy of postmodernism, with its objectives of destroying Judeo-Christian civilisation.

For the Church to play a significant part in guarding the nation against destructive philosophies that undermine basic truth, its leadership must have an unshakeable grasp of truth that is derived from its source in God, the Creator of the universe.

For the Church to be able to guard the nation against destructive philosophies, its leadership must have an unshakeable grasp of truth.

When church leaders lack understanding of the truth - as revealed in Scripture, through the prophets of Israel and through Jesus the Messiah - and promote obscurity, distortions and lies instead, they come under the judgment of God. Paul makes this clear in Romans 1:18:

York Minster's south transept after the lightning strike, 1984. See Photo Credits.The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

This particularly applies to Church leaders who claim to be men of God but are not faithful in declaring the truth. In the same passage Paul continues:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools.

This is similar to Jeremiah’s complaint about the leaders of the nation in his day: “The shepherds are senseless and do not enquire of the Lord” (Jer 10:21). They were relying upon human wisdom; in 23:1 he elaborates this: “‘Woe to the shepherds who are destroying and scattering the sheep of my pasture!’ declares the Lord.”

Undermining Truth

This exactly describes many church leaders and professors of theology in our seminaries and universities today, most of which are steeped in liberal theology and driven by its spirit of postmodernism, which has roots in anti-Semitism, atheism and Marxism.

I can speak from personal experience because I did a doctorate in liberal theology. I went up to university with a strong faith in God and a conviction that my life was to be devoted to preaching and living in accordance with biblical truth. Most of my faith was destroyed by the time I left university and it took me some years and a personal experience of spiritual renewal to regain my faith.

I went up to university with a strong faith in God and came away with most of my faith destroyed – having studied liberal theology.

Please do not misunderstand me – I am not despising biblical scholarship; indeed, we need good, sound, biblical scholarship to guard against deception in the Church and in the nation! But the postmodernist heresies that began in Germany in the late 19^th Century have penetrated deeply into our academic institutions, such that biblical scepticism undermining truth has been taught in many of our theological colleges and universities for the past century and more.

What is ‘the Church’?

In the light of this statement we can now return to the question at the beginning of this article: Can the Church come under God’s judgment? Here we must define our terms: what do we mean by ‘Church’?

If we mean the Church founded by Jesus on the Day of Pentecost when he fulfilled his promise to send the Holy Spirit upon his disciples, enabling and empowering them to take the Gospel to the nations beginning in Jerusalem, then to Judea, Samaria and out to all the world – if we mean the true Church that is the ‘Body of Christ’, then we must conclude that such a Church can never come under the judgment of God!

But are the institutions that we call ‘churches’ the true Body of Christ? I was recently discussing this with my wife who has for many years been studying church history. She told me about an incident of which I was not aware. When King James I became King of England (having previously been King James VI of Scotland), he brought with him a strong Christian faith although, like his father Charles I, he had Catholic sympathies. James wanted to make the Bible available in English to all his subjects.

At that time most Bibles were in Latin which many people, even among the clergy, could not read. He called together a group of Protestant scholars, some of whom were Church of England clergy while others were Dissenters (Nonconformist ministers). They allocated different parts of the Bible to individual scholars and collectively set about the task of translating the Bible into what became known as the ‘Authorised Version’ or the ‘King James Version’.

The group of scholars worked well together but there was one word upon which they could not agree, so they all came together to consult the King. It was the word ecclesia which in the original Greek of the New Testament means ‘a gathering’– or ‘congregation’ – ‘a gathering of people committed to a particular purpose’. The Dissenters wanted to translate ecclesia as ‘congregation’, whereas the Church of England clergy wanted to translate it as ‘church’, as in the Roman Catholic Bible.

The King agreed with the CofE clergy and the word ‘church’ came into the Authorised Version of the Bible and in most English translations since then.

The true Body of Christ can never come under the judgment of God!

What an amazing difference it would have made if our Bibles had all read ‘congregation’ instead of ‘church’. We might have been saved from the mess that we have today where ‘church’ can mean a building, a denomination, an organisation, a congregation, or a small group of believers in Jesus. We might even have been saved from the disgrace of whole denominations becoming infected by unbelief: becoming ‘a broad church’ tolerant of everyone’s beliefs (or unbelief).

Hope for Reformation

The prophecy in Hebrews 12:26-29 that all man-made institutions will be shaken and will crumble, appears to be happening: not only to banks, finance houses, business institutions and politicians, but also to the man-made denominational institutions that we call ‘churches’. This is surely the judgment of God falling upon corrupt institutions! `

The good news is that many Christians are recognising these institutional failings and are meeting in small groups for prayer, Bible study and fellowship similar to the first Christians. Luke describes this in Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

Maybe what we are seeing today is the beginning of a new Reformation rediscovering the spiritual dynamic of the Early Church.

Further Response from Clifford Hill

Susan and Randall have asked me to explain why I believe that the true church as the Body of Christ cannot come under judgment. Let me say straightaway that I am not infallible and I’m open to correction from brothers and sisters in Christ – in this way we all learn from each other: so I really appreciate comments which I always read carefully.

I found the comments on this subject particularly helpful and I am happy to explain a little more of what I was trying to say. I was distinguishing between the true ‘ecclesia’ of God and the man-made institutions that we call ‘churches’. John is perfectly right in saying that of the 115 references to ecclesia in the New Testament only two are correctly translated in most English Bibles. They both refer to the riot in Ephesus where the whole town came together to oppose Paul’s teaching, chanting “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” This gathering [ecclesia] is referred to as “an assembly”.

All the other references are to ‘gatherings of believers in Jesus the Messiah’ and in each case ecclesia should similarly be translated ‘congregation’, or ‘assembly’ (of believers). It is entirely wrong to translate ‘ecclesia’ as ‘church’, as in most English Bibles.

Confusion can arise over the concept of God’s judgment because the word is so often used to mean his wrath and punishment. In fact, the word used for judgment in the New Testament (krima) can mean these things, but is also broader, simply meaning a verdict or decision. In this respect, we will all be judged – for we will all one day stand before the judgment seat of God, as Paul says in Romans 14:10.

It is true that a church can go off track and come under condemnation like the church at Laodicea. But if we are part of the true ecclesia of Christ, it is his intention to present us spotless before his Father – it was for this that he shed his blood. Paul says this in Ephesians 5:25-27:

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the ecclesia and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word to present her to himself as a radiant ecclesia, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

The New Testament teaching is that the true ‘ecclesia of Christ’ can never come under condemnation, for “God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess 5:9). True believers still undergo trials, but these are appointed for God’s paideia - his discipline - so our faith can be refined (1 Pet 1:7; Heb 12:4-11).

As such, the reference to “judgment beginning at the household of God” (1 Peter 4:17) most certainly does not refer to God’s wrath! It is referring to the persecution of Christians by the Roman Empire. It is the wrath of human beings upon God’s people – not the wrath of God upon his own people. That is made very clear in the context of the passage beginning 1 Peter 4:12: “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering…But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ.”

Jesus himself said “Remain in me, and I will remain in you…if you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love” (John 15:4 and 10). Provided we remain in Christ we cannot come under his wrathful judgment: we are bound to Him in love.

Cliff

There’s a solution to the murder and mayhem on our streets

Plans have been revealed for the launch of a new party to ‘break the mould’ of British politics. But we don’t need a new party. We need a new heart, awakened by the Spirit of God from dreams of a man-made paradise in which we all sing from same the secular ‘hymn sheet’ where nothing is absolutely right or wrong.

This kind of thinking has only ever produced a nightmare scenario of violence, lawlessness and utter selfishness.

Britain has been hit by the terrifying news that the streets of London have now become more dangerous than those of New York. And in the Middle East, the Syrian Government would appear to have unleashed chemical weapons on its own people, killing 200 and wounding 1,000 more – mainly women and children. And Russia responds by calling this a fabrication.

A little further south, on the border of Gaza, rioters provoke the Israeli Defence Force with a so-called ‘March of Return’. Some would have us believe this is a legitimate protest at Israeli brutality and oppression, and for the right of refugees (and their descendants) to return to the Jewish state. But what is the truth?

Self-Inflicted Crisis

Well, the protestors deliberately chose the Jewish feast of Passover to mount their frustration, no doubt particularly mindful of the imminent 70-year celebration of Israel’s re-birth as a nation.

Actually, the refugee situation affecting the Palestinian people is a crisis of their own making, resulting from fierce opposition to the creation of modern Israel by her surrounding Arab states who immediately set upon the newly-born nation with the full force of their armies (like the dragon depicted in Revelation 12), warning Arabs living there to flee the country so they wouldn’t get caught up in the impending invasion.

The refugee situation affecting the Palestinian people is a crisis of their own making.

Israeli leaders, however, tried to persuade their Arab residents to stay, but to no avail – hence creating a totally unnecessary humanitarian crisis. And those who promised their swift return in the wake of Arab victory refuse to take any responsibility for their welfare. They are simply used as political pawns enabling anti-Semites to point the finger of blame at Israel for almost everything wrong with the world.

Palestinian protesters at the Gaza border. Stringer/Xinhua News Agency/PA ImagesMalcolm Powell, who was 12 at the time of Israel’s re-birth (in 1948), recalls reading and hearing at the time “that the Israelis were touring the Arab Muslim villages with loudspeakers urging them to remain, and to ignore orders to flee from the Muslim countries about to attack the new state.”

And while these self-inflicted refugees are estimated to have numbered some 800,000,¹ little is discussed in media circles about the 846,000 Jewish refugees forced out of Arab countries at the same time, who lost land and property equivalent to four times the size of Israel² - not to mention the many Holocaust survivors from Europe who had lost everything.

Land for Peace?

Quite apart from the refugee issue, Gaza was very much part of Israel until the world’s politicians managed to persuade former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to pull out of the enclave in a ‘land for peace’ exchange.

But ever since the 2005 withdrawal, terror group Hamas has used Gaza to launch a constant volley of rockets into Israeli territory, where frightened residents have hardly had a moment’s peace in more than a dozen years. They have also been subject to the constant fear of terrorists tunnelling under their homes with the intention of taking hostages and killing civilians.

Little is discussed in the media about the 846,000 Jewish refugees forced out of Arab countries in 1948.

Welsh photographer Grace Fryer has just opened a month-long exhibition depicting the suffering of children in Israeli communities close to the Gaza border.³ Some of those pictured are totally traumatised and unable to live normal lives. Grace witnessed mortar and rocket attacks herself when visiting the area as a child and returned as a student photographer in May 2016 to help others understand what these people are suffering. What sort of peace is this?

Truth Turned Upside-Down

Wherever you look in world politics, truth is being turned on its head. In my country South Africa, for example, Palestinians are being depicted as “the crucified, hanging body of Jesus today”.⁴ This was part of a ‘Good Friday statement’ by the Economic Freedom Fighters political party which ACDP (African Christian Democratic Party) leader Rev Kenneth Meshoe has described as “insidious, inflammatory, highly offensive and blasphemous”, adding:

Jesus was a Jew. Jerusalem has belonged to the Jews for over 3,000 years, from the time King David first established it as a city of Israel…I encourage persons not wanting to be deceived to research the truth for themselves and, if given the opportunity to travel to Israel to see the vibrant democracy that she is, to do so!

He further rounded on the “hypocrisy” of Palestinian leaders “who would rather spend the billions of dollars they receive from the international community to fund a mission to destroy Israel instead of investing in the health, education and economic development of their own people.”

What is the Problem?

We could all do with following the wisdom of legendary author GK Chesterton who, in response to a question from a major newspaper – “What is the problem with the world?” – is reputed to have submitted a brief handwritten note to the editor, saying: “I am. Sincerely yours, Chesterton.”⁵

We are the problem! We are all sinners, but there is a remedy for our sin, and his name is Jesus, who died on a cruel cross to take the punishment we deserved. Trusting in his death brings us life, health and peace – and, yes, it is also a recipe for changing a world gone wrong.

As Rev Meshoe put it, “Jesus’ death on the cross was an expression of the highest form of love; he gave his life for the salvation of all mankind. Palestinians are not being crucified.”

The answer to the problem of “I am” is the great “I AM” – the name God applied to himself and which Jesus also owned, as suggested by his many divine claims, such as: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no-one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6).

The answer to the problem of “I am” is the great “I AM”.

The Ultimate Answer

As for the streets of London, where more than 50 people have been murdered in the first three months of this year, the ultimate answer to the problem is just the same as outlined above. And for a helpful illustration, reference what has been happening in recent weeks just down the road from where Rev Meshoe has been speaking so courageously in the South African Parliament.

A huge prayer rally called It’s Time drew up to 150,000 people to Cape Town. It was the biggest recorded event in the city’s history, but when the organiser assured police there would be no incidents, the police chief laughed at him, explaining that 10,000 had attended the Mitchells Plain venue only a fortnight earlier and there had been 48 stabbings and over 100 robberies.

What’s more, he added, those attending the prayer event would have to park up to 4km away and walk through some of the district’s most dangerous areas.

But at the de-briefing following the rally, held to confess the country’s sins, the same police chief reported, with tears in his eyes, that not one single incident – no assaults, no robberies, nothing – had been recorded!⁶

Stop blaming everyone else for all the problems around you, and start to build a new world by dealing with your own sin. Jesus said something similar, telling his listeners to take the plank out of their own eye so they could see clearly to take the speck out of someone else’s eye (Matt 7:3-5). But don’t try doing it by yourself; only Jesus can help you!

Notes

1 Hancock-Watts, C. Understanding Gaza. ASSIST News Service, 11 April 2018.

2 Leaflet promoting The Hope photographic exhibition – see www.fathershouse.wales

3 The exhibition, opened on 12 April, is being held at the Theatre Clywd Education Gallery, Mold, North Wales.

4 Gateway News (South Africa), 3 April 2018.

5 Mohler, RA, 2018. The Prayer that Turns the World Upside Down. Nelson Books.

6 Joy Digital, 9 April 2018.

The awesome wonder of how the Creator came to live among us

Whatever you may think as harassed shoppers or parents, Christmas does not come too soon. It’s an example of God’s perfect timing, though I appreciate that the Messiah’s actual birthday was more likely to have been during the Feast of Tabernacles.

There was precise timing in the Divine coming, nevertheless. Naturally speaking, the Christ child should have been born in Nazareth. But because Caesar intervened and ordered a census, the holy family were forced to travel some 80 miles to Bethlehem (the town of David, from which their lineage was traced), thus fulfilling the prophecy of Micah:

But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times. (Micah 5:2)

The stars lined up with such precision, and in such brilliance, that the Wise Men were able to follow the light all the way to the little town near Jerusalem, where the flawless sheep were traditionally prepared for Passover.

And the shepherds on the surrounding hills were perfectly placed to respond to the angelic call to come and worship the new-born King, also to become the Good Shepherd leading his flock to fresh pasture.

Prophetic Statements

Among the precious gifts the Wise Men brought was myrrh, a prophetic statement of the Messiah’s sacrificial death to come as the ultimate Passover Lamb, when he would die on the Cross for the sins of the world – myrrh was used for embalming the deceased for burial.

Bethlehem means ‘House of Bread’ and indeed Jesus was to describe himself as the “bread of life” (John 6:35) whose body (symbolised by the bread of communion) would be given for us, his death bringing us life. Jesus adds: “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Naturally speaking, the Christ child should have been born in Nazareth. But because Caesar intervened, the holy family were forced to travel to Bethlehem, in fulfilment of ancient prophecy.

So the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem and the Wise Men led to the infant King through a once-in-a-blue-moon lining up of the stars were all part of God’s perfect timing. Everything in God’s perfect plan was in the right place at the right time.

Frankincense. See Photo Credits.

The Apostle Paul, referring to the Messiah’s sacrifice, writes: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly” (Rom 5:6).

Immanuel

The gift of frankincense, also brought by the Wise Men, represents the fragrance of God’s presence and speaks of Immanuel, God with us, which is also the central thought of the Feast of Tabernacles, celebrating the time when God made his presence known to the wandering Israelites in the wilderness – providing food, water and shelter in the parched desert environment.

Now, through the one born to be King (hence the gift of gold), God has actually taken on flesh to tabernacle (or live) among us. And at the end of his earthly ministry, the risen Lord promises to be ‘with us’ (his followers) forever, until the end of the age (Matt 28:20).

He Cares!

The reality of God being with us came home very strongly to my wife Linda and I during our recent extended stay in Israel caused by visa problems. Not only did we base ourselves at a guesthouse called Beit Immanuel (Beit = house) but we also learnt perhaps as never before that he really is ‘with you’ when you trust him absolutely.

After all, we weren’t even sure if our bank account could stand up to the pressure, but in the midst of the storm, when the wind and tide is against you, Jesus comes into your boat and says: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” (Mark 6:50). When you cast all your cares on him, he does indeed care for you (1 Pet 5:7). He is in control – even over immigration officials and government departments.

Through the one born to be King, God actually took on flesh to tabernacle (or live) among us.

And so we were able to enjoy the extra rest, relaxation and beachside restaurants the Lord had graciously provided for us. And documents we needed to board our re-booked flight home arrived in the nick of time – God isn’t in a hurry, but he is punctual. He came at just the right time for you and I to receive him and make him Lord of our lives.

Modern Bethlehem. See Photo Credits.God with Us

The Apostle John records: “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God – children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us…” (John 1:11-14).

The new-born King of 2,000 years ago desires to make his presence known this Christmas with many new-born believers!

Why not turn the words of this carol into a personal prayer? “Oh holy child of Bethlehem, descend to me I pray; cast out my sin and enter in, be born in me today.”

Walking in the steps of the prophets, patriarchs and Messiah.

As I reflect on a much-anticipated study tour of Israel, I am conscious more than ever that this is God’s land.

Partially thwarted by security alerts in both the north and the south, we nevertheless experienced the miracle of modern Israel, in the context of its connection to an ancient and glorious past, on a tour run by Shoresh (Hebrew for ‘root’), part of the work of the Church’s Ministry among the Jewish people (CMJ), which has been established in this region since the 1840s.

In the Footsteps of the Israelites

Our journey followed a biblical route, via the wilderness through which the Israelites wandered for 40 years after escaping from slavery in Egypt, when the sea opened up to make a way where there was no other way.

We marvelled at how, some 3,500 years ago, that vast multitude survived in these arid conditions, with water scarce and vegetation hardly visible. No wonder they needed manna from heaven, and water from the rock. It was designed to teach them to trust in the Lord – for “man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4).

Even today Bedouin shepherds watch over their sheep in this desert, leading from the front, not behind. It is an extremely dangerous environment for sheep – especially at night, with steep ravines, rock faces and sink-holes waiting to catch them off guard, not to mention wolves and other predators.

So they need to stay close to the shepherd in order to hear his voice above all others, and so avoid falling into traps and being taken captive by deceitful hirelings.

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me”, Jesus taught his disciples (John 10:27).

We marvelled at how, some 3,500 years ago, the vast multitude of Israelites survived in these arid conditions, with water scarce and vegetation hardly visible. 

God Our Refuge in the Wilderness

The Wilderness of Zin. See Photo Credits.We travelled through the vast and magnificent Wilderness of Zin, stretching as far as the eye can see. Surely God is in this place. Indeed, he is our only sure refuge in the great wilderness of sin through which we travel, in an increasingly wicked world that has turned its back on the living God.

At the Dead Sea, we were reminded of the ultimate fate of those who pursue unrighteousness and licentiousness – the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are no more, destroyed by fire and brimstone.

It’s fun floating on the water there, at 1,200ft below sea level - the lowest point on earth - as salt also has a positive role in lifting you up to a higher place. We are called to be salt of the earth in raising the standards of the communities and institutions in which we live and move.

As we ascended the hills of Galilee, our excellent guide explained how sheep cut the grass as they graze while goats pull it out by the roots. I thought of the separation of the sheep and goats at the end of the age (Matt 25:31-46). The sheep feed on fresh pasture as they closely follow the Shepherd while the goats, thinking only of their present needs, cut themselves off from the roots of their faith by considering Israel forsaken by God.

Jesus is the Messiah!

At Caesarea Philippi, we saw why Jesus asked the question, “Who do men say that I am?” For there are remains of temples to idols, along with a huge cave in an overhanging cliff said at the time to have been the gate to Hades (Hell). So Simon Peter made his great confession: “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God” (Matt 16:16). And Jesus added that on this confession of faith he would build his Church (body of believers), and that the gates of Hell would not prevail against it.

God is our only sure refuge in the great wilderness of sin through which we travel. 

On the shores of Lake Galilee, we stood on the beach where the risen Christ cooked breakfast for his disciples, who had toiled all night for a catch of fish, to no avail. He told them to cast their net on the other side of the boat, and they landed 153 fish. And we learn that, in Jewish tradition, the numerical value of this figure adds up to the statement, “I am God.”

Jesus asked Peter, restored and forgiven of his earlier denial: “Do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15). Could it be that he was referring to the fish (i.e. his business) rather than his fellow disciples? Are we prepared to forsake all else in order to follow the Lord’s leading?

Threats from Without and Within

Weapons recovered from near a tunnel opening in southern Gaza. See Photo Credits.But disturbing news followed in our wake. We heard of Hamas terrorists killed in the bombing of a tunnel into Israel from Gaza in the south, and of a suicide bombing in a Druze village across the border in Syria, naturally also affecting the Druze¹ community within Israel.

This caused a long delay at a checkpoint coming out of Palestinian territory and meant missing part of the tour schedule, including the area where Paul had his dramatic encounter with Christ on the road to Damascus.

Just 70 years since being recognised as a re-born state by the United Nations, Israel has now developed into a powerful, high-tech democracy with the world’s second-strongest currency, after Jews returned from every corner of the globe in fulfilment of ancient prophecies.

But it remains threatened both from without and from within – in the latter case largely through lack of trust in the God of Israel. The Bible says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God” (Ps 20:7).

This was soon to become a personal challenge, but before I explain, let me say that Jewish people are beginning to discover the truth about their Messiah (known as Yeshua in Hebrew). A Jews for Jesus survey has found that an astonishing 20% of Jewish Millennials, when asked who they considered Jesus to be, replied that he was “the Son of God”.²

Messiah Will Return

One day soon he is coming back. The Bible says he will stand upon the Mount of Olives in east Jerusalem (Acts 1:11, Zech 14:4) and all Israel will recognise him as their Saviour (Zech 12:10; Rom 11:26).

As I stood on the Mt of Olives, with an awesome view of the city before me, I reflected on this amazing event – on how Jesus ascended from this very place and will return in like manner.

Jewish people are beginning to discover the truth about their Messiah. 

But I also thought of how much it cost him, how he sweated blood in the Garden of Gethsemane below, with its ancient olive trees symbolic of the Messiah, who was whipped for our transgressions (sticks are used to beat the fruit off at harvest) and crushed for our iniquities, as olives are crushed for their oil (Isa 53:4-6).

We know the Bible is true, and that Jesus fulfilled all the Old Testament prophecies of Messiah. So too will the much-prophesied great spiritual ingathering of God’s chosen people take place in the coming days. God has not forsaken them, but loves them with an everlasting love (Jer 31:3).

God Has Not Finished!

And just as he has not finished with Israel, he is apparently not yet finished with our tour, which was unexpectedly extended when I was prevented from boarding my El Al flight home – because of not having a visa in my South African passport. The British Government is now fining airlines allowing ‘foreigners’ to enter the UK without a visa (the fact that I have lived in England for nearly 50 years doesn’t seem to count!).

I won’t dwell on the details of the stress involved in having to re-organise our lives over this past week. Suffice to say that we two (my wife Linda and I) do not put our ultimate trust in flying chariots or horses, but in the Lord our God, who clearly has a purpose for our extended stay.

Our first extra night was something of an emergency stop, because it was close to the British Embassy, in the luxurious surroundings of Tel Aviv’s Herods Hotel, where we were given a champagne reception on being handed the keys to our $300-a-night room. This was somewhat ironic in view of our pilgrimage as Herod, who also enjoyed the high life, was no friend of the Messiah!

Thankfully we have since temporarily settled in nearby Jaffa, known as Joppa in biblical times and famous for Jonah and the whale, and for Peter’s vision in the house of Simon the Tanner, which opened the way for the Gospel being shared with the Gentiles. How eternally grateful we are for that – and so here we are sharing with the Jewish people the precious gift they passed on to us so long ago. May they be truly blessed with Yeshua’s perfect peace!

Notes

1 An Arab-Muslim sect loyal to Israel.

2 Is it time for a new Jesus movement among Jewish millennials? Gateway News, 8 November 2017. 

Searing criticism of ‘pansy’ Christians who fail to challenge godless culture.

Much of Western society has been bewitched by a political elite seeking to change the order of God’s creation, with the result that the Church has lamely retreated from the public square with a message that could otherwise challenge it.

In a passionate call for Christians to engage with today’s world (Gospel Culture, published by Wilberforce Publications), Joseph Boot packs a powerful punch. Rarely do you find an academic/theologian calling a spade a spade, but it was a most refreshing experience as I became thoroughly absorbed in this scholarly work despite the author’s frequent use of words with which I am unfamiliar!

He castigates many of today’s Christians as being part of a “weak, ineffectual, intellectually impotent, compromised and complacent church culture of inward Christian pansies” by the way in which they have allowed the world to dictate how the Church should be run.

And he concludes that much of the Western Church has failed in its mission to bring the Word of God to every aspect of life. For the most part, he argues, we have subscribed to a heretical ‘Two Kingdom’ theology separating the sacred from the secular as a convenient excuse for not engaging with an apostate Western culture.

We retreat into our holy huddles and dare not raise the issue of politics in our pulpits, with the result that congregations are rarely, if ever, encouraged to weigh topical debates in the light of Scripture.

The Bible Speaks to the World

But this is God’s world, and the Bible speaks of all life – there is no big issue of our day on which it doesn’t have something pertinent to say. On the issue of abortion, for example, Boot’s experience has clearly mirrored my own with the way some church leaders don’t seem to see this as a topic on which the Bible speaks, and on which they ought to be giving guidance to their congregations.

In a passionate call for Christians to engage with today’s world, academic/theologian Joseph Boot packs a powerful punch.

When I was asked to lead intercessions at a church of which I was once a member, I included this issue in my prayers as it was being discussed in Parliament. But after being told off by the vicar for doing so on the basis that there were politicians in the church who might have been offended, my wife and I promptly left the church – for good!

Joseph Boot says we are not only called to win converts to Christ; we are called to be salt and light in a dark world and thus affect the culture around us, as our forebears did in bringing an end to slavery, child labour, illiteracy, poor health and much more.

But more recently we have allowed the secularism and humanism of the political and media elite to influence how we think, so that we are now effectively conforming to the world rather than being “transformed by the renewal of our minds” as St Paul urged the church at Rome (Rom 12:2).

Recovering the Full-Orbed Gospel

Boot argues that today’s political agenda is a resurgence of ancient witchcraft with its manipulative and brainwashing techniques.¹ And many of our churches have been influenced by it – a pretty damning and alarming thought. Disengaging from the public square was a “fatal flaw” which led to endless divisions among Christians “frantically drafting peace treaties with non-Christian thought”.

I guess this is why I’ve struggled for 40 years to convince Christian leaders in this country of the need for a media bringing a biblical worldview to mainstream debate. And I concur with the author’s statement that “for us to deny that we have a task on the earth to apply his salvation victory and lordship, his beauty and truth to all aspects of life and thought is to renounce Christ.” (author’s emphasis).

Boot argues we are not only called to win converts to Christ; we are called to be salt and light in a dark world and thus affect the culture around us. 

Just because culture is being relentlessly driven in the opposite direction to Gospel teaching, doesn’t mean we shouldn’t challenge it. It leaves the public at large not only alienated from God (and we are called through the Gospel to reconcile man with God) but now seeking to alienate God’s world from its Maker - “to separate what God joins and join what God separates”.

We desperately need a recovery of a truly scriptural view of life – “a full-orbed gospel” that takes God at his word and understands and applies the implications of Christ’s resurrection to all of life.

Dr Boot’s sphere of influence straddles both the UK and Canada. As well as being founder of the Ezra Institute for Contemporary Christianity and senior pastor of Westminster Chapel, Toronto, he is director of the UK’s Wilberforce Academy and head of public theology for campaign group Christian Concern.

Gospel Culture (2017, 128pp) is available for £5 + P&P. Also available as an e-book.

Notes

1 Boot writes: “If we are to understand the radical changes in our society today as inspired by diabolic principalities and manifest in ideological strongholds that set themselves up against the knowledge of God (Ephesians 6.12; 2 Corinthians 10.4-6), then we must grasp the essential instrumentality of modern political life as engaged, wittingly or not, in witchcraft – employing a ‘secret’ (elitist) knowledge in an attempt to join opposites.”

He further explains: “Our current culture is thus bent on defacing the image of God by denying that man is man and woman is woman, by negating the God-given nature of marriage and by politically manipulating people to believe and act as though an illusion were true – that homosexuality is normative, gender is fluid and that androgyny is the human ideal.”

Yet our nation-builders chose a solid foundation!

In searching out a memorial plaque to a Jewish relative while spending time with family in the heart of London, I marvelled at the magnificent statues paying tribute to nation-builders who followed Christ.

Among them were Robert Raikes, William Tyndale and General Gordon of Khartoum – men who truly denied themselves as they took up their cross to follow Jesus; and in so doing left a legacy which no amount of this world’s wealth could ever match.

They had certainly taken to heart the Saviour’s warning, “What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul?” along with his call to build on the rock of his words rather than on the sand without foundation (Mark 8:36; Matt 7:24-27).

True Heroes of the Faith

Robert Raikes was the founder of the Sunday School movement, through which generations of children were taught about the love of God through his one and only Son. Tragically, few attend these days and fewer still have any knowledge of God’s laws and commands; is it any wonder that we live in an increasingly lawless society?

William Tyndale was burnt at the stake for daring to translate the Bible into English nearly 500 years ago – and his dying prayer was that God would open the King’s eyes to its enduring truths! His prayer was answered; the Bible became the world’s best-seller and Britain became a great nation built upon God’s laws. Thankfully, our present Queen is already a follower of Jesus, as she makes quite clear in her annual Christmas messages. But it’s the eyes of many of her subjects that need to be opened.

Nation-builders like Raikes, Tyndale and Gordon truly denied themselves and took up their cross to follow Jesus, leaving behind an unmatched legacy.

General Gordon won many battles for Britain before losing his life in the defence of Khartoum. He declined both a title and financial reward from the British government, but after some persuasion accepted a gold medal inscribed with a record of his 33 military engagements. It became his most prized possession.

After his death in 1885, however, it could not be found. It was only later, when his diaries were unearthed, that it was discovered how, on hearing news of a severe famine, he had sent the medal to be melted down and used to buy bread for the poor. He had written in his diary, “The last earthly thing I had in this world that I valued I have given to the Lord Jesus Christ today.”¹

Gen. Gordon was a Christian who knew where his treasure lay. Are we as willing to heed Jesus’ teaching not to invest in this world’s treasures, but in the eternal kingdom where moths and vermin cannot destroy, nor thieves break in and steal (see Matt 6:19-21)?

God’s Allowance of Disaster

As I turned to peer through the trees of the Thames Embankment, I was impressed by our ultra-modern skyline with its strange but interesting shapes piercing the heady atmosphere of this bustling city. The pointed, pyramid-like structure of the Shard is uncomfortably close to what I imagine the Tower of Babel to have looked like. It certainly seems to echo the arrogant boast of the ancients about making a name for themselves with a tower that reaches the heavens (see Gen 11:1-9).

But how fragile this all is, for just a few miles west stands the blackened skeleton of the 24-storey Grenfell Tower, an ugly memorial to the 80 people who perished in the inferno there on 14 June – victims, it seems, of poor design and construction.

When New York’s 110-storey Twin Towers came crashing down at the hands of terrorists in 2001, we were understandably shocked at the depth of depravity shown by fanatical Islamists. But did we ask if God was perhaps using a ruthless people to bring us to our senses, as the Prophet Habakkuk discovered to his shock in ancient times?

Are we as willing to heed Jesus’ teaching not to invest in this world’s treasures, but in the eternal kingdom where moths cannot destroy, nor thieves steal?

Of course, I am in no way trying to justify the motivation of those who committed this atrocity, but the Twin Towers clearly represented the Western world’s focus on material wealth, and of its greed and avarice often at the expense of the poor and needy. Having said that, the perpetrators of that terrible disaster, in which some 3,000 perished, saw it more as an attack on the West in general, and Israel in particular. After all, New York is home to more Jews than any city in the world, including Tel Aviv!

Like the ruthless Babylonians of old, the terrorists hated the Jews above all. And the shocking thing was that God allowed the attack to happen, as he had done in Habakkuk’s day when the Temple was destroyed and the Jews were carried off into exile.

The Will to Fight

As we have turned our backs on the God who made Britain great, the prospect of being invaded by enemies forcing us to worship foreign gods is not far-fetched. To a certain extent, it has already happened. As Dr Clifford Hill made clear last week, Britain was only spared from Nazi invasion by a nationwide response to repeated calls for prayer from King George VI, the Queen’s father.

Have we the spine, or the will, to resist the invading forces of evil in the gathering gloom of politically-correct immorality now threatening our land? Or have we resisted God so long that we are no longer able to distinguish good from evil?

But if you still have (spiritual) ears to hear, God is concerned for your soul. It is the most precious thing you own. If you store up treasure on this earth, who will have it when you’re gone?

I am not only addressing those on the fringe of church life, or even outside of it altogether. There are many Christians who spend far too much time concerned for the things of this world rather than pointing men and women to Christ, who alone can satisfy our souls. The cross is the way to life. Jesus said: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no-one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). There is no other way to eternal life. Preach the cross; preach Jesus. Win souls for Him!

References

1 Gordon, S. Cuckoos in the Nest. Christian Year Publications, p123.

Monica Hill continues her series on the ministry gifts of Ephesians 4. 

This article is part of a series. Click here to read other instalments.

“It was Christ who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Eph 4:11-13, emphasis added).

“And They Shall Prophesy…”

‘Prophecy’ appears in all three lists of spiritual gifts – but it has a slightly different meaning in each. We will explore the meaning of the ‘manifestation’ of prophecy described in 2 Corinthians 12 later, but we just note here that manifestations are not bestowed permanently on any individual, but come as the Lord wills and to anybody who is open to the Spirit.

Manifestations are very different from the ministry gift of ‘prophet’ which is given to an individual who is specifically called to build up the Body. The Ephesians ministry role of ‘prophet’ bears more resemblance to the more ‘natural’ role of prophecy described in Romans 12, with its emphasis upon the forthtelling of the word of God as well as the foretelling of future happenings. But the emphasis for any spiritual gift still needs to be on equipping the Body and this is especially true for those who are given a ministry role.

Perhaps in our modern society we can see more affinity between the role of prophet and that of the ‘preacher’- though obviously there are differences (incidentally, it should be noted that the title ‘preacher’ is not recognised in any of the lists of spiritual gifts – the nearest is the role of the teacher, although it is not difficult to see the differences).

Old Testament Prophets

The prophets, both writing and speaking, in the Old Testament, were walking closely with God and knew him intimately. They had reached such a close understanding of his nature and purposes that they found it easy to see where the people they were called to address were falling short of all that God wanted for them.

Biblical scholars maintain that less than 20% of the words of the writing prophets are warning or foreseeing what will happen in the future, while more than 80% of their prophetic words are forthtelling God’s nature and purposes – and reminding the nation how God had revealed himself in the past.

Less than 20% of the prophetic words of the writing prophets are foreseeing what will happen in the future - more than 80% are forthtelling God’s nature and purposes.

The whole nation of Israel was in a covenant relationship with God. The prophets were the biblical preachers of their day, spending their time reminding the Jewish people of God’s requirements, while also remembering God’s actions in similar periods in their history and then challenging them to become more like the people that God expected them to be.

Occasionally they did receive a revelation of what would happen as a consequence if the nation continued in the direction it was taking, but their messages were more than foretelling and often they were of an encouraging rather than a warning nature.

New Testament Prophets

The reason we do not hear much about specifically named individual prophets in the New Testament is that with the coming of Jesus, God’s revelation of himself, his nature and his purposes was now complete (nothing new would be revealed, although to each of us “the Lord has yet more light and truth to break forth from his word”). The coming of Jesus fulfilled Moses’ words in Deuteronomy 15:18 and “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people” (Luke 24:19).

The task of the New Testament prophets was unchanged, in that it was to remind people of, and bring them back to, the biblical roots set out for them (and us) in the word of God, so that they could understand God more completely and strive to be like him. Their function was additionally related to the fulfilment of the Great Commission and the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the understanding that now the Church itself was to be the Prophet to the nations.

The individual role of each prophet (both then and today) is therefore increasingly to impart the wisdom they have received from their close walk with God to others, so that they too can be built up in their faith and thus be an effective ‘front line’ with the world. This is why prophets need to be subject to other prophets so that they are both open to correction and also protected from bringing anything of themselves into the words they share with others. The lone prophet is, by and large, a thing of the past: each needs to meet with others, not just for fellowship and to build each other up, but also to confirm or correct what they are hearing and to keep their thinking in line with Scripture.

The task of the prophets was to bring people back to their biblical roots, so they could understand God and strive to be like him.

Apostles and prophets are often linked together – they were the foundation of the early Church (Eph 2:20, 3:5) and interestingly these are the two most neglected of the ‘ministry gifts’ today. Their function has always been to give the Church, locally or nationally, the right base for ‘sending out’ and ‘speaking out’ (which is a powerful combination that ensures the Church is guided both in the right direction and with the right values and strategy).

The ‘prophetic’ function is to bring and present the unchanging word of God to others, both in a contemporary setting and to a contemporary world: reaching each new generation, preparing them for works of service and ensuring that the message is passed on.

The words of the prophets should be judged by their contemporaries on their truth, irrespective of the effectiveness the messages have on the +believers in their generation or acceptance of the words they had received. If the biblical prophets were judged on the acceptance of their messages, they would all be judged to be failures.

‘I Wish That All the Lord’s People Were Prophets’

Numbers 11 gives us a great example of how God supported Moses in the desert when he was almost in despair, and began to set in motion an effective strategy that has continuing significance today. Moses’ great joy when God “took some of the power of the Spirit that was on him and put it on the seventy elders” led him to want even more as he saw that “when the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied” (11:25).

He wanted there to be no restrictions or limit on who could receive this blessing, when he made the far-reaching statement “I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the Lord would put his Spirit on them!” (11:29) which, with the coming of the Holy Spirit, did come to pass and is still available today.

Prophets need to be subject to other prophets so that they are open to correction and protected from bringing anything of themselves into the words they share.

All human beings have the ability to hear from God, although few actually do!! There is truth in the words of Jean-Paul Sartre, who said “I tell you in truth: all men are Prophets or else God does not exist”. As Romans 10:14 in the Message says “…how can people call for help if they don’t know who to trust? And how can they know who to trust if they haven’t heard of the One who can be trusted? And how can they hear if nobody tells them? And how is anyone going to tell them, unless someone is sent to do it?”

Encouragement or Warning

When building up the Body of Christ, words of encouragement are just as important as words of warning, and although they may not require the same hard testing as the warnings, they should still be tested. Yet, in our modern society, they are not often treated as of equal importance and often people think that God only rebukes his people.

Continually giving words of warning can be counter-productive – and it is also unbiblical - Jesus called us to ‘feed his sheep’ – not berate them all the time. It is interesting that Judas (Barsabbas) and Silas were prophets who explained the decisions of the Jerusalem Council to the believers in Antioch and encouraged them (Acts 15:30-32).

When the word came to the Seven Churches in Revelation, each of the different gatherings from Ephesus to Laodicea were both commended and rebuked, although only two (Smyrna and Philadelphia) were seen as pleasing to God, while nothing good was said about Sardis. Nevertheless, they all had warnings of what was to come in the future alongside the amazing promises for the overcomers. Our Father is concerned that we listen and hear him – and wants each of us to be ‘overcomers’ so all words from him will be given in order to help us to achieve his desire.

Individual Prophetic Words

Although most words of prophecy are to the whole Body of believers, there can be a place for individual words of encouragement that will build specific people up so that they can play their part in the Body of Christ – and that should be the main emphasis. We will look at personal ‘words of knowledge’ about the future of individuals when we cover the manifestations, but note here that they are usually linked with ‘words of wisdom’ too.

Equipping the Body of Christ

In order to equip the Body of Christ effectively, the modern day prophet should not only desire that the Body of Christ (the Lord’s people given to him to minister to) would have a right relationship with God, but that they too would know the scriptures and know the Lord - and be able to pass this on to others.

Prophetic words should be judged on their truth, irrespective of the effectiveness the messages have on believers.

This confirms the reason given in Ephesians 4 for the continued existence of the prophetic function (working along with the other ministries): “so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ”.

Those with a prophetic function are the most effective when a real relationship has been built up and they know who they are reaching. Their own relationship with God and understanding of the scriptures and the insights they have received are not just for themselves, but God will also show them how they are to share these with others.

As we have noted there are NO prophets speaking directly to the nations today. There are prophetic voices within churches or fellowships of believers – or there should be! They should be the groups who are more open to listening and hearing from God, to enable the Church to be the Prophet to the nation.

But remember, prophets have never had an easy ride! When prophets compare what God is alerting them to in his word with what is happening in the fellowship, they usually call for change – which is not often welcome. People like the status quo and the words of the prophet are often resented by the pastor or priest. Dean Inge said “a priest is never so happy as when he has a prophet to stone”.

There is much more we could include about the role of the prophet – which is also covered elsewhere in this magazine. Prophecy will also play a major part on the Issachar Ministries Community Portal (under construction) – click here to find out more about this project. But if you have any other comments to add about prophets and their role – past and present - please add them below.