Is God speaking through the raging fires?

No-one looking at the terrifying scenes of fire raging in Greece and reading the heart-rending accounts of people being burnt to death could fail to be deeply moved with compassion for those who suffered, and for their family members. The speed with which the fire spread, driven by powerful winds, caught whole communities by surprise and gave them no chance of escape.

Even those who managed to reach the sea were not safe from the choking thick black smoke that enveloped them. Although many were rescued by fishing boats and other craft some drowned before they could be reached, while back on land a whole village was wiped out in unbelievable scenes of devastation, which Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras described as the worst tragedy ever to befall the Greek nation in modern times.

For Bible-believing Christians who believe in the sovereignty of God, there are no easy answers to situations such as this. But we know that everything that happens in the world has either been allowed by God or is part of his will. We also know that God is a God of love who shows unbreakable love towards his people and does not wish tragedy to come upon any of them. John 3:16 is the basic teaching of Jesus about the Father’s love for all people on earth and that he himself was sent for our salvation, not for condemnation.

But tragedies still happen, caused both by human action and by acts of nature. The teaching of Jesus on this subject is found in Luke 12:54-13:5 where Jesus declares that people who suffer in such tragedies are no guiltier than anyone else. He used tragic situations to chide the crowd for not being able to perceive the wider significance of these events, saying:

You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky. How is it that you don’t know how to interpret this present time?

God is a God of unbreakable love, but tragedies still occur and we must discern their wider significance.

Burnt-out areas of Mati. Antonis Nikolopoulos/AP/Press Association Images

Purpose in Tragedy

With this principle in mind we have to look at the Greek fires in the wider context right across Europe, where there has been virtually no rain and incredibly high temperatures for nearly two months. It is not only Greece in the far south but also Sweden in the northernmost part of Europe that is suffering incredible forest fires. Britain is similarly affected by unusual heat and dryness. Our normal temperate climate has deserted the land, which has come under the same 30°+C heatwave that is holding the whole continent in its grip, withering crops and causing fires to rage through forests and parched moorland.

Surely there has to be a reason why this is happening to the whole of Europe? Is this not a sign from the Lord about the continent’s moral and spiritual state – the continent where every country has had the Gospel for over 1,000 years and has sent its missionaries across the globe taking the good news of salvation to other lands?

But just look at the spiritual state of Europe today – the most secular humanist continent on earth, which has given birth to the European Union that openly boasts of its pagan links and even celebrates satanism.¹

The European Union has abandoned Europe’s Christian heritage and is driven by powerful anti-Semitic and anti-Christian forces. The same hatred of Jews that drove the Nazis; and the ungodly spiritual forces that have fought against the biblical basis of Protestant Christianity ever since the Reformation, have both re-surfaced in the EU and are driving the Brussels elite. We could be seeing the development of the most God-hating, anti-Semitic, satanic regime since the days of the Tower of Babel.

Understanding the Signs

If we look at what is happening in Europe in the context of biblical teaching of the 8^th Century BC Prophets of Israel, we begin to see the signs of the times in the fires and in the drought that is withholding the rain so desperately needed.

The Prophet Amos saw similar things happening in Israel in his lifetime and the word received as he spread each event before the Lord in prayer was; “Yet you have not returned to me says the Lord”. The warning signs had been ignored.

When the great tragedy of the destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar took place, the writer of Lamentations grieved for the terrible suffering of the people but said, “Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness”.

He called his fellow countrymen to “examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord…For men are not cast off by the Lord for ever. Though he brings grief, he will show compassion, so great is his unfailing love. For he does not willingly bring affliction or grief to the children of men” (Lam 3:21-40).

The heatwave currently burning up Europe should make us stop and ask about the purposes of God, who desires the salvation of all people - not their destruction.

Need for Revelation

The heatwave that is currently burning up Europe is undoubtedly a sign that should make us all stop and ask about the purposes of God, who desires the salvation of all people - not their destruction. Is God warning us of far greater tragedies that could befall us if we continue to defy his word, despise the truth and reject Europe’s great Judeo-Christian heritage of the past 1,000 years?

Surely even the suffering of this present time would be worthwhile if we heed the warning signs that are being sent to us and turn to the Lord.

Oh Lord, open our minds to understand your ways and your word. Give us clear revelation!

Notes

1 E.g. at the official opening of the Gotthard Tunnel between Switzerland and Italy.

The doctrine of baptisms. (Part 2)

Last week Campbell MacAlpine unpacked the importance of baptism into the Body of Christ, water baptism and baptism in the Holy Spirit. We continue with the second part of this study on baptism.

3. Baptism with the Holy Spirit (continued): Indwelling vs Filling

The baptism with the Holy Spirit occurs the first time a person already indwelt by the Spirit, is filled with the Spirit. There is a difference between indwelling and filling. During my travels in many countries I have stayed in many homes. I gained entry to the home by knocking on the door and being invited in. Immediately I started to indwell the home. How did we become Christians? Jesus knocked on our heart's door, we invited him in and he began to indwell us.

Now, although I am indwelling the home and been given the guest room, I cannot do what I like. I cannot wander into my host’s and hostess’s bedroom and open the cupboards and drawers. I have not been given that right. However, supposing they say to me one day, ‘Campbell, we don’t want you just to have the guest room, we want you to have the whole house. Here are all the keys, it is yours.’ Immediately my status changes. Now I can do what I wish. I can control every activity in the house now that I am in full possession.

Just as there are different words used for being saved (such as ‘born again’; ‘he that believes’; ‘converted’; ‘new creature in Christ Jesus’), there are different descriptions for the experience of being initially filled with the Holy Spirit (‘received’; ‘came upon’; ‘poured out’; ‘fell on’; ‘baptised with’). As we saw in the teaching on water baptism, that it was not a suggestion but a command, so we are exhorted: “be filled with the Spirit” (Eph 5:18).

The baptism with the Holy Spirit occurs the first time a person already indwelt by the Spirit is filled with the Spirit.

Why should a Christian be filled with the Spirit?

• Jesus assured his disciples that they would receive power to be his witnesses and we, like them, need that enablement.
• We need to be filled so that there can be greater expression of the ‘fruit of the Spirit’: love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control (Gal 5:22-23).
• We need to be filled to enable him to have liberty to manifest ‘the gifts of the Spirit’: the word of wisdom; the word of knowledge; faith; healings; miracles; prophecy; discerning of spirits; tongues; interpretation of tongues (1 Cor 12:7-10).

Someone once asked a Spirit-filled Christian the question, ‘do you think you are better than other Christians?’ His reply was, ‘Oh no, just better equipped’.

How can a Christian be filled with the Holy Spirit?

(a) A clean heart: The Holy Spirit can never fill any area of our life where there is sin. There is an interesting account in Leviticus 14 of the actions of the priest when a person had been healed of leprosy. Part of the ceremony included the priest taking the blood of the offering and placing it on the right ear, the right thumb and the big toe on the right foot. Then he took oil and placed it on the right ear, the right thumb and the big toe on the right foot. The oil, which is an emblem of the Holy Spirit, never went where the blood had not been. So the first essential is that the life is clean and right with God.

(b) A sense of need: The Lord Jesus, during the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem, offered a wonderful invitation and promise: “’If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him’. By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified” (John 7:37-39). 

We see from the Lord’s statement that we must be thirsty. To be thirsty is to feel dry and know it. It means a consciousness of need. Many times in our Christian lives, circumstances, behaviour and problems underline the fact that we have needs. Thirst is also a desire to know God better. David expressed his longing in this way, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God” (Ps 42:1-2).

(c) Come to Jesus: He is the source of all that we need. He is the Saviour. He is the baptiser in the Holy Spirit. His loving heart calls out, ‘come to me’.

(d) Drink: To drink means to receive. When one is thirsty and is given a glass of water, all that is needed to quench the thirst is to receive that which is offered.

(e) Believe: The promise is to him who believes. Jesus said, “If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer” (Matt 21:22). The promise is: “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water”.

Someone once asked a Spirit-filled Christian the question, ‘do you think you are better than other Christians?’ His reply was, ‘Oh no, just better equipped’.

Be filled with the Spirit, thirst, come to Jesus, receive, believe. We came to him in a similar way for salvation. First we had a sense of need because of our sin, and we needed a Saviour. Then we came to the Lord Jesus, believing that he died for our sins, and rose again, and on the basis of his promise received him into our hearts and the Spirit witnessed with our spirits that we were saved.
What happened in the New Testament when Christians were initially filled with the Holy Spirit?

• On the day of Pentecost, the 120 “began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them” (Acts 2:4).
• Ananaias said to the newly converted Saul of Tarsus, “Brother Saul, the Lord - Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here - has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:17-18). Although there is no mention of his speaking in tongues, he later told the Corinthians, “I speak in tongues more than you all”.
• In the house of Cornelius, it is recorded, “While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God” (Acts 10:44-46).
• Paul went to Ephesus and ministered to 12 men who responded to the teaching. “On hearing this, they were baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus…and they spoke in tongues and prophesied” (Acts 19:5-6).

The usual result in those who were initially filled with the Spirit was they spoke in a new language given to them.

4. Baptism with Fire

The fourth expression used in the teaching of baptisms is baptism with fire. John the Baptist said of Jesus, “He will baptise you with the Holy Spirit and with fire”. What does this mean? We read the rest of the verse, “His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing-floor; gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire” (Matt 3:11-12).

In the growth of wheat, chaff is necessary. However, there comes a time when it is no longer necessary and the farmer gets rid of it. In the Christian life the Lord, from time to time, through a variety of ways and circumstances, will lovingly deal with us and with things which would interfere with fruitfulness in our lives. Jesus said, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:2).

In the Christian life the Lord, from time to time, through a variety of ways and circumstances, will lovingly deal with us and with things which would interfere with fruitfulness in our lives.

There will be times in our lives of purging and purifying, when he lovingly shows us the non-essentials and things that would prevent us going on to maturity: the removal of chaff. It is good to know that in the life which desires to do the will of God, nothing will happen without a divine purpose.

When unusual circumstances come in to our lives the answer is not to run to the emergency exit but ask the question, ‘Lord, what are you trying to teach me? What is the reason for the heat? Is there something in my life needing correction or adjustment?’ Sometimes it is a ‘baptism of fire’.

When you read of the lives of men like Moses, Elijah, Elisha, David, Job, the prophets, the disciples, Paul and many others, you find their lives were punctuated by strange and adverse events in which they not only learned more about God, but more about themselves. Yes, there will be testing times, proving times, purging times, but in them all there is a loving Heavenly Father who only desires the very best for us.

5. Baptism of Suffering

We now come to the last teaching on this doctrine. We have seen that when we were saved we were ‘baptised by one Spirit into one body’, and given the privilege of openly confessing Christ in being baptised in water. He has made the power of the Holy Spirit available to us through being filled with the Spirit, and because he desires us to be holy, there will be times of learning through a baptism of fire. We are reminded that being a Christian will include suffering.

Jesus never tried to gain followers under false pretences but rather called on would-be followers to ‘count the cost’. One day, the mother of James and John came to Jesus to ask a special favour for her sons, “’Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom’. ‘You don’t know what you are asking’, Jesus said to them. ‘Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?’ ‘We can’, they answered. Jesus said to them, ‘You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father’” (Matt 20:21-23).

We know that both disciples had a ‘baptism of suffering’. James was beheaded by King Herod and John was banished to Patmos and, if some historians are right, was eventually martyred. Paul wrote to Timothy and reminded him: “In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim 3:12).

We are reminded that being a Christian will include suffering.

Multitudes have suffered, and today many still suffer for being Christians. Many have been martyred and many more will be, but we can thank God that whenever we need his grace or strength in times of suffering he is faithful to provide. He has promised, “I will never leave you, or forsake you”. Paul could write, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us” (Rom 8:18).

Conclusion

These basic biblical truths need to be absorbed into the life of every believer to enable them to be committed members in their local churches.

If you have not been baptised in water, obey the Lord and he will bless you. If you have never been filled with the Holy Spirit, yield the totality of your life to the Lord. Ask him to fill you, believe his promise, and receive. Realise how much the Lord loves you and that from time to time he will lovingly deal with the non-essentials in your life. Embrace the implications of following Jesus even when that involves suffering for his Name's sake.

Questions

1. Explain your understanding of the ‘baptism with the Holy Spirit’, and has this happened to you? If not, what are the difficulties?
2. As you look back on your life, or perhaps in your present situation, can you recognise God’s purifying process? How have you responded? Is there any response required now?

This article is part of a series, re-publishing a booklet entitled 'The Biblical Basis of First Principles'. Click here for previous instalments.

A message for the Church.

No-one who saw the Grenfell fire on 14 June last year will forget it. It was a literal towering inferno that has had ramifications far beyond North Kensington. It cost the lives of 72 people, displaced not only the survivors but also hundreds who lived nearby and broke the reputation of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) as one of the best-run local councils in the country. More broadly, it exposed deep-seated problems of governance that have shaken the nation.

Over the forthcoming months, the Public Inquiry will reveal more that will no doubt embarrass (in different measures) the Fire Brigade, the Council, the Tenant Management Organisation, the 60+ contractors involved in the refurbishment, the Government department responsible for fire safety and standards, and no doubt a few Government ministers, as well as Parliament. Whether responsibility will be pinned on one or a few, or be much more widely spread, is conjecture. But it is clear that there were very many shortcomings, by many different organisations.

Precisely because of its size - it was the largest such tragedy in 25 years (Hillsborough and Aberfan are both comparable in terms of loss) - and the degree to which it dominated politics and the news for weeks after the fire had extinguished itself, Grenfell needs to be seen both politically and spiritually as a national event, raising national questions.

This is all the more so as - quite ‘coincidentally’ – further tower block fires broke out in Lewisham and Glasgow on the very anniversary of the Grenfell fire. Given that the main news on Thursday was the anniversary of Grenfell, it is as if God, in allowing two fires in similar buildings to break out that same day (although thankfully neither with fatalities) is really trying to get our attention.¹ But many may well have missed these news stories.

Grenfell needs to be seen both politically and spiritually as a national event, raising national questions.

Why Did God Allow Grenfell?

Why did God allow the Grenfell tragedy to occur? First, we need to stress that there was nothing particularly bad about those who died. In Luke 13, Jesus tells his listeners that those who died when the tower in Siloam fell were not worse sinners than others who dwelt in Jerusalem (verse 3). However, he is unequivocal in the following verse that his listeners nevertheless need to repent, lest they too perish.

In other words, the collapse of the Tower of Siloam was allowed by God in order to send a wider message of repentance to those looking on. Just so with Grenfell. Too few Christian leaders regularly acknowledge the degree to which we live in a fallen world, and repentance is a neglected concept. God is very holy and we are very much mired in our sin. We desperately need Jesus’s atoning death to pave the way for eternity.

I also believe God allowed Grenfell in order to expose the sin that lay behind the fire and its aftermath. In a previous article on this subject, I noted that if there was one sin of which RBKC (indeed, the UK as a whole) was perhaps guiltier than most, it was pride, itself the root of all sin.

Thousands join a silent march marking one year since the blaze.Additionally, I believe that God wants to get our attention, as believers and also as UK subjects. It is not his delight to punish, but to show mercy – he wants us to seek his face in serious repentance (not just with lip-service), that he might pour out forgiveness and that we might be restored. Undoubtedly, searching questions need to be asked: not just about who was to blame, but about our entire direction and destiny as a society.

For this reason, Grenfell is first and foremost a wake-up call to the Church, which in turn should bear the message of repentance to the nation. How the Church responds (or fail to respond) will have hugely significant consequences for Britain’s future destiny.

Emotion and Injustice

At a local level, the Church has a role to play in the aftermath of Grenfell which the Government simply cannot fulfil. In my previous article, I looked at the historic reasons for the lack of trust, lack of hope, latent anger and hatred which mark communities in and around Grenfell Tower. I explained that decades – even centuries – of deprivation and disenfranchisement now imbue this area with deeply felt emotions, made worse by the incredible affluence on display virtually next door, in the south of the Borough.

Grenfell is first and foremost a wake-up call to the Church, which in turn should bear the message of repentance to the nation.

But while these problems strike at the heart of Government, concerning as they do issues of decision-making, empowerment and stewardship of resources, they also involve complex social and spiritual problems that our secular Government is unable to properly address - and perhaps was never supposed to.

With a relatively narrow remit, we cannot expect the Inquiry to look into these things. This is where the Church must come in: we need to ask what the role of the Body of Christ should be, and how it can bring true hope and restoration into this situation, and more widely.

Re-Commitment Needed Desperately

As a result of wide-ranging criticisms, many RBKC councillors and staff have moved on and a governance review is underway. There is much yet to be done, but few serious observers would dispute that there has already been significant change.

Whether this could also be said of the local Church is a different matter. The churches immediately surrounding Grenfell Tower responded extremely well to the tragedy. However, their ecclesiology, missiology and theology vary so hugely (and in some cases are diametrically opposed), that the question needs to be asked whether they can all be meaningfully and genuinely Christian. This issue strikes at the heart of the direction in which different parts of the Church in Britain are progressing – and implicitly raises the question of what sort of a god they worship.

In my last article, I noted the need for a re-commitment to evangelism from both church leaders and ordinary Christians, all across the country. This point still stands. As the Public Inquiry has shown, many Grenfell Tower residents were Muslims. They need the true Jesus of the Bible just as much as do the wealthier across the Borough – as indeed does the country as a whole: it is the job of all churches to evangelise the lost – from whatever ethnic background or culture they are. Few of us have shared the Gospel as we should have done, with boldness and seizing all opportunities.

What is desperately needed is a wholehearted re-commitment from churches around the nation to God’s word and his purposes.

However, even a re-commitment to evangelism (while welcome) is not enough on its own. What is desperately needed is a wholehearted re-commitment from churches around the nation to God’s word and his purposes. This would transform not only our evangelism but much else besides – and empower the Church to respond to this tragedy prophetically, declaring its lessons to the nation, as well as serving locally.

The hour is late; the time has come for fearless proclamations of truth, made in the power of the Spirit of God, as well as demonstrations of God’s kingdom purposes - to say nothing of his love. The future of churches – indeed, entire denominations - that refuse this mandate is at stake, for “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire” (Matt 7:19; also John 15:2).

A Wake-Up Call

While much else besides, Grenfell was a wake-up call to a slumbering Church which has lost its way. The true Church – the Bride of Christ - needs to discern the wider significance of the tragedy and the necessity of repentance just as much as those not yet in the Kingdom.

Many churches local to Grenfell have given fully of themselves and are still doing all that they can. But given that this is a national tragedy, it should be the case that churches across the country are also willing to help as needed – one obvious way being in helping to carry the burden of prayer and intercession: for hope and healing, for repentance and forgiveness, and for the fullness of God’s purposes to be worked out, including through the Inquiry.

The cost of the fire will be borne by survivors until they themselves die, and will continue to mark our society even after. But if Grenfell’s stark warnings about the nation’s precarious position before God cannot be learned and applied soon, it is undoubtedly the case that further destruction will follow. If we do not listen to God’s words, we will have to endure his works: the former may be challenging - the latter much more so.

Leading the way here, declaring the warning and holding out the offer of mercy to a lost nation, should be the true Church of God! If the Church senses the great urgency of the hour and responds as the Father wills, there is yet opportunity for great positive transformation in Britain that would, in some measure, mitigate the indescribable loss of Grenfell.

References

1 See news articles from the BBC, The Guardian and The Telegraph, for example.

Further Reading

Previous article on this subject: Reflections on the Grenfell Tower Fire. Prophecy Today UK, 15 December 2017.

Everett, A, Rev, 2018. After the Fire, Finding words for Grenfell. Canterbury Press, Norwich.

O'Hagan, A. The Tower. London Review of Books.

Reflections a year on from Grenfell and Manchester.

This week we were reminded of two tragedies in our nation. On Monday the media carried harrowing reports of the tragic loss of life at Grenfell Tower, as the main inquiry into the cause of the disaster began.

On Tuesday, memories of the 22 lives lost and the multitude injured in the Manchester Arena terrorist attack replaced memories of Grenfell.

I heard no-one in the media asking the obvious question, “Where was God in all of this?” Indeed, God has been so sidelined in the thoughts and lives of the majority of our nation that we no longer even hear the question, “Is there a God?”

Yet, we still live in a nation whose Queen, at her Coronation, swore an Oath to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who has protected us beyond our deserving over many years. Central to that Oath was the commitment to maintain his laws and the true profession of the Gospel. Over a generation, this commitment to God has largely been forgotten by the nation’s leaders and is rarely mentioned by the leaders of the established Church.

Unprotected Children

As far back as the 1980s, I was waiting one day in the playground of the school where our youngest two children were about to finish their school day. I watched as the classes were dismissed and as a crowd of children emerged, each looking for a parent to take them home safely. I thought I heard the voice of God in my mind saying that these children were no longer under his protection.

Over a generation, our national commitment to God has largely been forgotten.

I wondered if I had imagined it, because these were simply innocent children, embarking on their lives in a country God has greatly blessed and protected. I recalled the wonderful protection of my own childhood when, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, family and community co-operated to re-build our nation after the devastation of war, thankful for God’s deliverance from the evil that so easily could have engulfed us.

Yet, since that day when I thought I heard that voice of God, one disaster has followed another in our nation, making me think that God was indeed speaking, in the early stages of removing his hand of protection.

Let me say clearly, however, concerning both the Manchester and Grenfell disasters that God was not punishing those who had assembled there, any more than those who lost their lives when the Tower of Siloam fell in Jesus’ day. The picture is bigger: that, whilst we must also recognise that God allowed these disasters, they serve as signs to our nation – warning signs that we will not live in safety if we choose to live outside of his protection.

Knowing God’s Ways

If, as we should, we search our Bibles to discover God’s ways, we will see that God does take his protection away from his people if they do not seek him with all their heart. At the time of Samuel, for example, when the religious framework of the nation had decayed under Eli the priest and his wicked sons, the Philistines prevailed over Israel.

Again, when the kings of Israel and Judah led the people astray (kings whom God warned his people they should not desire), the troubles of the nations soon followed. Ultimately, God’s protection was removed: first from the Northern Kingdom of Israel which fell to the Assyrians, and then from the Southern Kingdom of Judah which fell to the Babylonians.

Disasters like Grenfell are warning signs that we will not live in safety if we choose to live outside of God’s protection.

God’s sadness was displayed through the weeping of the Prophet Jeremiah, as recorded in the Book of Lamentations. Similarly, Jesus wept over Jerusalem when he foretold the coming second fall of the City.

God knows what will happen when the doors are allowed open to the evil adversaries of the people of this world – adversaries both physical and spiritual. God weeps when the time comes for him to remove his protection from a people who do not seek him, who choose to try to live without him under the beguiling principles of humanism and false religion, where false gods are honoured. But he is willing to remove his protection.

We are reaping the consequences of this in Britain today despite the fact that we have had sign after sign that should bring us to ask, “where is our God?”

The Prime Minister adds her condolences to a 'Tree of Hope' in Manchester. See Photo Credits.The Power of Testimonies

The testimonies of those who lost loved ones at Grenfell and the memories of the fatal night in Manchester are profound. But they should not only be sparking human sympathy and attempts to celebrate and unite a community (such as in Manchester where a concert has been held), but be compelling those who have responsibility for our nation to lead us in seeking God in repentance.¹

God is a loving Father to those who seek him with all their heart and protects his loved ones beyond their deserving – always. But he is also a strong God who will not bend from the eternal balance of justice and mercy. He is Judge of the entire earth and cannot compromise in the ‘big picture’ of his eternal covenant purposes throughout history.

God weeps when the time comes for him to remove his protection from a people who do not seek him.

If he did not spare his own Son in these eternal purposes of overcoming sin and offering eternal redemption to those who would accept it, he cannot continue to protect a people who reject him and choose lives of sin.

There is a Way Back

There is always a way back and those who know the Lord, namely those in the churches of our nation (especially the leaders of the churches), should be his prophetic voice. It is imperative that we take the opportunity while we still have it to call this nation back to repentance and seeking God.

It is time for the leaders of our Government - from the Royal Family through to the executives who are duty-bound to outwork the purposes of the Monarch’s Oath - to take their responsibility before God and lead the nation back to him. This is what the tragic signs are telling us. We are vulnerable outside the protection of Almighty God and that vulnerability is bringing increasing pain, sadness and loss of life - not only to those who lead but to those for whom they are responsible.

Notes

1 And we do not mean just any God. The multi-faith service in Manchester which was part of the memorial activities a year after the attack is yet another symptom of how far our nation has compromised our allegiance to the One True God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Some thoughts from Kensington and Chelsea.

One of our regular readers writes from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, reflecting on the aftermath of the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower six months ago.

It is six months since the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June which was caused by a catalogue of faults and failings currently being investigated.

More than anything else, it revealed a broken Council, a broken Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (the smallest and one of the most dense boroughs in Britain, and home to a number of very wealthy individuals) and, more widely, a broken Britain.

Given the magnitude of the fire and the number of displaced, it is very doubtful whether any council could have coped with the aftermath without help, the more so given the number of social houses available in the Borough (roughly one year’s supply for new tenants was destroyed in one night).

However, while the Inquiry will give its verdict on the causes of the fire, no-one would dispute that it took much too long for senior staff to assess the magnitude of the disaster, and act accordingly. The response of the Council was at best poor – it was slow, cumbersome and bureaucratic, whereas the response of both the wider and local community and of all the faith communities was fast, assured and compassionate.

Decades of Neglect

With a relatively narrow remit, the Inquiry is not likely to look at the origins of the lack of trust, lack of hope, latent anger, hatred and much more, prevalent among residents of North Kensington: some of these go back decades, and even longer.

North Kensington has always been poorer than South Kensington. Adjacent to Grenfell Tower is the site of the old potteries and piggeries – a really tough, deprived area in the late 19^th Century and early 20^th Century.

With its narrow remit, the Inquiry is not likely to look at the longer-term relationship between North Kensington residents and the Government, national and local.

In the 1950s Peter Rachman helped make Notting Hill notorious for his treatment of immigrants and others in low quality, privately rented flats, around the same time as the Notting Hill race riots (1958). Some of those involved founded the Notting Hill carnival in 1966.

The sense of neglect by local and central Government was also well exemplified by the building of the Westway (the M40 running into London) in the late 1960s, and the resultant demolition of many terraced houses in the area, running along an east-west corridor half a mile south of Regent’s Canal.

Notwithstanding the investment in the north of the Borough, for at least the last half-century there has not been any real sense of local people being listened to or given any empowerment.

Asking Difficult Questions

The reality is that many cities, towns and boroughs have ugly parts. Indeed, we all have ugly histories, and love to airbrush out that which does not accord with how we like to present ourselves – whether as individuals, churches, towns, cities or nations.

Given what has happened, we need to ask some difficult questions: how aware is much of the Borough of the problems within its boundaries, both historic and current? How aware are most residents a couple of miles away in South Kensington of the complexity of the situation in the north, and of their very different life chances, including life expectancy?

How are local Councillors and MPs to be judged? If we were elected, and held office, and judged, how would we fare? In this instance, given the resources of the Borough, what is the right way to evaluate the Council’s legacy? Could we - should we – expect more of our elected representatives? Indeed, can we do more? Or is Government trying to do too much, and being disingenuous by not admitting its inability to fulfil its promises?

Given what has happened, we need to ask some difficult questions about the Borough, its history and the capacity of those currently in power to effect change.

And yet…the failings evident in the Grenfell tragedy are also, in part, a consequence of the limits of local Government, which raises only about ¼ - ⅓ of its total revenues locally. Central Government (HM Treasury) seeks to control so much of what local Government aspires to do. This relationship requires a complete revamp - what are the purposes of each and therefore how should they be funded?

Wake-Up Call for Radical Change

The Grenfell fire needs to be seen as a wake-up call, indeed as a call for radical change, at least for the Kensington and Chelsea Council, if not for all levels of Government.

At the Council, such change is undoubtedly underway. Of its 37 Conservative councillors, at least 17 are not standing again – an unprecedented proportion – and it is far from given that all who stand will be re-elected. A number of senior staff too have moved on since June.

Time will tell the degree to which the change forced on the Council following the Grenfell tragedy was an opportunity taken or missed. But many of the issues facing residents of the Borough – lack of trust, lack of hope, not being listened to, not being empowered – apply throughout Britain! While there are undoubtedly many individual examples of good practice in local Government, they are rare.

Time will tell the degree to which the change forced on the Council following the Grenfell tragedy was an opportunity taken or missed.

In this case at least, the hope must be that the Council implements in full the essential changes needed to its structure and culture – and can in the future humbly encourage other councils to look honestly at their own shortcomings.

Where Are the Churches?

However, while radical change is needed in the Council, it also needs to be asked whether radical change is needed in other groups serving the community. The churches responded well to the Grenfell tragedy, but the differences among those closest to the fire are great and their beliefs are so diverse that it is doubtful whether they should all be called ‘Christian’.

This is a delicate issue that goes to the heart of the direction in which different parts of the Church are progressing – and implicitly raises the issue of what sort of a god they worship. The Grenfell Tower fire was a local issue of national importance, but to those with ears to hear, God was also speaking to us through it, trying to get our attention. If we don’t hear God’s words, maybe we have to endure his works.

There is an irony that the Grenfell tragedy took place in the smallest Borough, but which is also home to two of the largest churches in the country. Kensington and Chelsea is home to both Kensington Temple and Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), but both have been conspicuous by their absence since the initial aftermath of the fire.

Why Did God Allow It?

A key question that needs to be asked is why God allowed the Grenfell tragedy. Partly, it is because we live in a very fallen world. He is a holy God and we are sinners. Partly, it is because God was exposing the sin that lay behind the fire and its aftermath. If there was one sin of which the Council (in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) was perhaps guiltier than most, it was pride; itself the root of all sin.

Partly, it is because God wants our attention. He wants this, as with all judgment, to be restorative, but that requires us all, believer and non-believer, to repent. And it is undoubtedly partly because he wants us to seek his face more seriously than we have thus far.

The Grenfell Tower fire was a local issue of national importance, but to those with ears to hear, God was also speaking to us through it, trying to get our attention.

In what sort of a society do we want to live – and how do we change it? What place should Christianity have in the public square? More widely, in what sort of a God do we believe? In terms of national politics, what are God’s purposes for the UK, particularly through Brexit, and also in relation to Israel?

Lessons for the Church

Where do we go from here? Locally, churches need to evangelise the lost – whether rich or poor, from whatever ethnic background or culture. Evangelism needs to be an ongoing commitment that characterises everyday Christian life. This should not need to be said – yet it is not the case everywhere. Such evangelism - for the whole country - needs to be the responsibility of all, not just the professional leaders of churches.

It is critical that the true Gospel, the Gospel of the Kingdom, is preached and put into practice – which will mean some congregations in the country having much to learn as they start to evangelise. Likewise, for some churches, this will necessitate a radical repentance, pleading to God for mercy for their own sin - possibly not ever having evangelised - individually and collectively.

All churches need to engage with meaningful spiritual warfare, for the Church and for the nation: if we don’t, others, whose purposes may be nefarious, will do so. And all churches need to prepare for tougher times, or the faith of many current believers will not be sufficient for the days ahead.

The true Church needs to discern the wider significance and importance of Grenfell, to confess and repent as appropriate – in a way that has not yet been conceived, yet alone done.

Those in the true Church need to acknowledge the severity of the hour.

The Severity of the Hour

Those in the true Church need to acknowledge the severity of the hour – which means getting back to our biblical roots and renewed commitments to the word of God and its application to every area of our lives; to evangelism (particularly of those from a Muslim background); to engaging in spiritual warfare; to standing with Israel in prayer and action; to standing for Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith; and to being a Body genuinely characterised by grace and truth.

Finally, we need to be aware that the Second Coming of Christ might be much sooner (irrespective of how sudden it is) than many Christians seem to be expecting. Clearly, it is 2,000 years nearer than when Jesus was crucified and resurrected - but it is hard to know that from the way in which most churches operate.

Continuing our series on the spiritual ‘manifestations’ of 1 Corinthians 12.

This article is part of a series. Click here to access the archive.

“Anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God” (1 Corinthians 14:2)

“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good… to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues” (1 Corinthians 12:7-10)

Speaking in tongues is recorded in the New Testament as occurring at the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-4) and on two other occasions (Acts 10:44-46 and Acts 19:1-6) as the early Church grew, but it is also listed as a spiritual manifestation by Paul in 1 Corinthians 12. It not only was misunderstood by believers in the early Church but also has created division in the Church down through the ages.

In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul does list an accompanying gift of ‘interpretation of tongues’ to go alongside, so that others who hear the manifestation of tongues can also be blessed – that is, they are both intended to be for the common good. But even the understanding of this has led to some confusion.

What is Speaking in Tongues?

The word glossa (Greek for language or tongue) appears in the Greek New Testament more than 50 times, most of which refer to known languages. It is also used when referring to the flames of fire shaped like ‘tongues’ (glossa) which appeared over the believers at Pentecost (Acts 2:3) and at least once in a metaphorical sense when referring to speech, “my tongue (glossa, speech) was glad (joyous)” (Acts 2:26).

In academia, the term ‘glossolalia’¹ is used to identify the phenomenon of speaking in an unknown language, or with language-like sounds, and is made up of the Greek glossa and lalia (speech). Often this is used in reference to the pagan practice of ‘ecstatic utterances’ - unintelligible, language-like sounds given while in a state of ecstasy.²

There is an incident in 1 Samuel 10:5-11 which many biblical scholars believe to be an early example of glossolalia being used in worship. Before he became king, Saul met a procession of prophets playing a variety of musical instruments and “prophesying”. We don’t know exactly what was happening but some think it is reasonable to interpret this as an example of ecstatic praise and worship.

The gift of tongues was misunderstood by early believers and has created division in the Church down through the ages.

Ecstasy is observed in many pagan religions around the world, in which it involves the generation of mystical insights by holy men, often by entering a trance. It is an ancient practice found among the shamans in the Sudan, the Shango cult of the West Coast of Africa, the Zor cult of Ethiopia, the Voodoo cult in Haiti and the Aborigines of South America and Australia. Some care should be taken in creating a distinction between pagan ecstatic utterances emanating from a trance and the biblical gift of speaking in tongues.

To be more specific, ‘xenoglossia’ (or ‘xenolalia’) is the ability to speak spontaneously and fluently in a language the speaker has never learned, but is nevertheless a known language. This interpretation is taken from Acts 2:8 when believers were enabled to speak in the languages of the many other nationalities present in Jerusalem at the time of Pentecost. They “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them…a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard their own language being spoken.”

Just Earthly Languages?

Many Christians who speak in tongues today believe that they are speaking a language that is not similar to any known earthly tongue but rather is a heavenly tongue. The usefulness of tongues as a personal prayer language is when we run out of human words to express our thoughts to God. This is what Paul refers to when he says “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans” (Rom 8:26). It may sound like gibberish to unbelievers, but God understands what we are trying to express.

The practice of speaking in tongues was heard frequently in the church at Corinth in the 1^st Century AD but has been experienced rarely down the ages, until the 19^th Century when it was accepted by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) and then by Pentecostals in the early 20^th Century, followed by Charismatics as the century progressed, since when it is being much more widespread amongst Christians.

The usefulness of tongues as a personal prayer language is when we run out of human words to express our thoughts to God.

TO God – Not FROM God

It is important to understand that neither of these two manifestations, speaking in tongues and their interpretation, are God speaking to us, and so should not be confused with prophetic words. Speaking in tongues is a praise and prayer language addressed to God: “Anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God” (1 Cor 14:2).

This is the one manifestation of the Holy Spirit which involves us speaking to God, rather than God speaking to us. It enables us to praise God more than we can do in the flesh – it enables us to “utter mysteries by the Spirit” (1 Cor 14:2), which are not understood by others unless they are interpreted by those who are enabled by the Spirit to do so.

Private or Public? Both!

Speaking in tongues can be very uplifting, especially when used in private devotions, as believers can speak as often as they wish and are free to choose whether they will pray or praise with their minds or with their spirits, i.e. in tongues: “I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding” (1 Cor 14:15). This verse goes on: “I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding”. Singing in tongues is often very moving, adding greatly to any corporate act of worship as it becomes a shared experience.

In a public meeting Paul reminds us that this worship needs to be orderly, "For God is not a God of disorder but of peace" (verse 33). He recommends that only a few should share their worship in tongues at any one time and, in order that others can be edified and be able to say ‘Amen’ to these prayers to God, they should be interpreted or translated.

This is the one manifestation of the Holy Spirit which involves us speaking to God, rather than God speaking to us.

Worshippers should have control over how and when they speak in tongues as although it is a manifestation given as and when the Spirit wills, it is a phenomenon in which believers speak with God, without losing their own self-control and personhood.

Interpretation

The manifestation of interpretation of tongues is given so that the Body of Christ may not remain perplexed and unedified, but may be built up. A translation will enable the congregation to get the gist of what was expressed in the tongue, so that they too can share in the prayer or praise - without this it will be impossible to add a meaningful 'Amen!' (1 Cor 14:16). Neither tongues nor interpretation should ever disrupt a service, but should contribute to it.

Paul reminds the believers that “If the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and inquirers or unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?” (1 Cor 14:23). So interpretation is necessary when others are present. However, like tongues the interpretation will always be TO God – and never a message from him. It will enable all to praise God with their minds, which will enrich their own worship in the future.

Misuse – Ancient and Modern Errors

It is obvious from the letters that Paul wrote to the early churches, especially to those in Corinth (e.g. 1 Cor 11-14) that errors were coming into the Church on this subject and that it was causing division. Paul’s responsive teaching can help us from going astray.

James also reminds us of the danger of the physical organ the tongue, if uncontrolled:

…the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. (James 3:5-10)

Paul also reminds us that none of the gifts or manifestations are of any value unless they are manifested with love (1 Cor 13:1) – in fact, without love “I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal”.

Speaking in tongues enables us to praise God more than we can do in the flesh – it enables us to “utter mysteries by the Spirit” (1 Cor 14:2).

False Teaching

In the early days of Pentecostalism, in the 1920s, a tradition developed that tongues should be followed by a 'message' which was regarded as the interpretation. This was carried over into the charismatic movement of the 1960s and sometimes resulted in words purporting to be ‘prophecy’ being accepted without being either tested for their origin or weighed, with unfortunate results. This was directly against Paul’s teaching that “anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God” (1 Cor 14:2) and his instruction that all prophecy must be weighed (1 Thess 5:21).

God does not need to disguise his words to us in a strange language. He can and does communicate directly with believers in words that all can understand. Tongues can help in expressing our innermost thoughts and praise to God, when we simply do not have words to express what is in our hearts.

As tongues is a manifestation, given as the Spirit wills, and not a permanent gift, many churches today allow it but do not encourage it in public worship. Cessationists, on the other hand, believe that all the gifts and manifestations were restricted to the New Testament period only.

Does Speaking in Tongues Come with Baptism?

Paul indicated that new believers would receive the Holy Spirit when they first believed (Acts 19:2). New Testament teaching is that whoever believes, repents and is baptised will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. Repentance and conversion are essential pre-requisites for this.

However, the ability to speak in tongues, though given by the Spirit, is not an essential sign of receiving the Spirit. Though this is often taught in Pentecostal churches, it cannot be supported from the New Testament.

In the biblical record of the early Church, tongue-speaking was not seen as a common every-day occurrence, but rather a miraculous sign for special occasions (as at Pentecost) as the apostles preached the Gospel and the Church extended. Paul’s teaching was that the gift of tongues is not important for salvation although it can have some importance for edifying the individual and the Church. But even in this role he said that prophesying is much more important: “He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church” (1 Cor 14:4).

The ability to speak in tongues, though given by the Spirit, is not an essential sign of receiving the Spirit – neither is it a permanent gift, but a manifestation, given as the Spirit wills.

It would appear that Paul’s practice was to use tongues privately in his personal intercessions, but not in the assembly of believers (the church). He says, “I thank God that I speak in tongues more than all of you. But in the church, I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than 10,000 words in a tongue” (1 Cor 14:18-19).

Mark’s version of the Great Commission (Mark 16:15-18) lists the signs that will accompany the baptism of those who believe, many of which are other gifts of the Holy Spirit that might enable witnessing to be more effective. Next week we will move on to looking at the last three of the manifestations from 1 Corinthians 12, focusing especially on how they are given for the common good.

References

1 'Glossology' is that department of Anthropology which has to do with the study and classification of languages and dialects.

2 Unlike the biblical gift of tongues, some research conducted by the Lutheran Medical Centre has demonstrated that glossolalia can be learned by following simple instructions or by imitating a semblance of words said by others. See Got Questions' page on glossolalia, here.

Hurricanes, floods and wildfires – are we in the last days?

“Are we in the last days?” is the question many people are asking as our newspapers and TVs are filled with horrendous accounts of the destructive powers of nature that are shaking the world.

Hurricane Irma has flattened whole islands where the rich and powerful enjoy their Caribbean paradise in the breath-taking beauty of secluded estates, surrounded by the frail wooden homes of those who serve them. Rich and poor alike have suffered catastrophic damage to their property and lives have been lost.

But it’s not only the small islands that have suffered; a powerful earthquake hit Mexico at the same time as the Irma made landfall on the USA mainland around Miami and tremendous damage was done as the hurricane moved inland across Florida. This was hot on the heels of Hurricane Harvey and ahead of Hurricanes José and Katia: battering the Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and south-east USA with unprecedented fury.

Other parts of the world have also been experiencing devastating flooding and landslides. Monsoonal rains sweeping across a vast swathe of northern India, Nepal and Bangladesh have left 1,200 dead and over 40 million people affected in the worst flooding for half a century.¹ Also, wildfires driven by high winds have been wreaking havoc in many parts of the world.² So, what’s the significance of all this?

While hurricanes have battered the Americas, other parts of the world have been experiencing devastating flooding and landslides.

Signs in the Heavens and on the Earth

2017 has seen an unusually high number of wildfires worldwide.Bible-believing Christians are asking if these horrendous events have any bearing upon the times of great shaking among the nations that we are experiencing. When referring to his own Second Coming, Jesus said:

There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming upon the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. (Luke 21:25-26)

Is it just an interesting coincidence that last week there was a spectacular aurora of lights dancing across Britain’s skies as a huge solar flare, the most powerful for 12 years, erupted on the sun? The Times reported that “Its blast of radiation was so intense that it caused high-frequency radio blackouts for an hour over Europe, Africa and the Atlantic.”³

The report said that the explosion on the sun “unleashed vast bubbles of superheated electrified gas that shot through space at 1 million mph…and came crashing into Earth.”⁴

First Israel, Then the World

Warnings of vast disturbances on earth are found throughout the Bible. Isaiah 24 begins with the statement, “See, the Lord is going to lay waste the earth and devastate it.” This is followed by, “The earth will be completely laid waste…The earth dries up and withers…The earth is defiled by people…Therefore a curse consumes the earth.”

This sounds as though some catastrophic worldwide destruction is forecast, such as a nuclear holocaust that many are fearing today as Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un face each other, with North Korea’s newly acquired nuclear capability. But reading Isaiah 24 in the Hebrew gives a very different impression.

Isaiah 24 seems to predict some catastrophic worldwide destruction, but reading it in the Hebrew gives a different impression.

All the above references to ‘the Earth’ use the Hebrew word erets which throughout the Bible usually means ‘the land’, or more specifically ‘the land of Israel’. Suddenly in verse 21 (of Isaiah 24) the word changes from ‘erets’ to ‘adarmah’ which elsewhere in the Bible means ‘the whole world’.

So, suddenly, the text changes from the land of Israel being thoroughly shaken to the statement “In that day the Lord will punish the powers in the heavens above and the kings on the Earth below”, meaning that some great judgment will come upon the land of Israel, after which the great shaking is extended to bring judgment upon the whole world.

The Times of the Gentiles

If we now go forward to the New Testament, we find Jesus probably referring to Isaiah 24 when he says “For this is the time of punishment in fulfilment of all that has been written” (Luke 21:22). He follows that by referring to events that took place just 40 years later in the war with Rome (AD 66-70), which ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and the slaughter of some half a million people in Judea.⁵

Jesus then jumps forward to the times approaching his own Second Coming. He says “Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled” (Luke 21:24).

The big question facing us today is whether or not “the times of the Gentiles” have been fulfilled. Although most of Jerusalem is back in Jewish hands, the Temple Mount is still occupied by Muslims which causes many biblical scholars to say that the prophetic words of Jesus have not yet been fulfilled.

The big question facing us today is whether or not the ‘times of the Gentiles’ have been fulfilled.

The Days of Noah

Jesus also referred to ‘the days of Noah’:

As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24:37-39)

This warning about being prepared should at least make us stop and think about what is happening in our world today, and review our own relationship with God through our faith in the Lord Jesus. The Second Coming of our Lord may be much nearer than we think. An unbelieving generation takes no notice of the warning signs. Bible-believing Christians have no such excuse!

References

1 E.g. see news coverage here.

2 Click here to see maps of 2017 wildfires around the world.

3 Simons, P. Solar storm means aurora borealis could light up British skies. The Times, 9 September 2017.

4 Ibid.

5 It is always difficult to be sure of what Jesus meant in his statements to the disciples in Luke 21 and Matthew 24, because some of his words refer to events in the near future and others to the far future. He was clearly in conversation with them about the Temple which they had just left when he said that "not one stone will be left on another" (Matt 24:2). This was undoubtedly fulfilled in AD 70. But his prophecy that the Gospel will be preached in all the world (Matt 24:14) has obviously not yet been fulfilled, although with the present rapid worldwide growth of the Church, it may be fulfilled in the lifetime of the present generation of young people. It should also be remembered that biblical prophecies can refer to more than one event.

Grenfell Tower and God’s purposes for Britain.

The Grenfell Tower disaster continues to fill our newspapers and will no doubt do so for a long time to come. Left-wing politicians see it as an opportunity to lambast a Conservative Council for neglecting the poor, the powerless and the immigrant. Anarchists are stirring up rage while seeking the opportunity for overthrowing an elected government.

Lawyers are rubbing their hands at the prospect of prolonged legal battles. Criminals are said to have spirited away huge amounts of gifts and clothing donated by the public, and millions of pounds have been donated to online appeals, some of which have been set up by crooks.

But what about the survivors who have suffered the cruel loss of loved ones reduced to ashes – and the loss of everything they own, their homes, passports, precious family photos and mementos? Who is caring for them? How are they coping with devastating bereavement and shock?

In this issue of Prophecy Today we are publishing an interview with the pastor of a local church that has been intimately involved with the survivors since the first hours of the fire. I also have spoken to this pastor and heard some of his amazing testimony to the grace of God. They have just been filmed for the BBC’s Songs of Praise, so some of these testimonies may well be broadcast to the world.

Warning After Warning

Jesus also had to deal with a tower disaster during his ministry in Jerusalem (Luke 13:4). Jesus saw this disaster, which God had allowed, as a warning that something was severely wrong in the city and unless people took heed, a greater disaster would occur. History shows the result of his warning being ignored. Less than 40 years later, Jerusalem was totally destroyed by the Romans after a disastrous four years’ war.

Jesus also had to deal with a tower disaster during his ministry in Jerusalem – he saw it as a warning that something was severely wrong.

Christians who are alert to the times in which we are living know that God has been sending us warnings for a long time. Our nation has deliberately turned away from truth to embrace every kind of evil, from child abuse and gross immorality to lies and corruption in high places in the governance and commercial life of the UK.

We have deliberately defied the word of God, even to attempting to ‘re-define’ the founding principles of Creation. In so doing we have put ourselves outside the protection of God and we are already reaping the whirlwind of our own creation.

Is Repentance Still Possible?

Disaster will undoubtedly follow and I believe the Grenfell Tower inferno is the latest warning sign that God has sent to us. Of course, it is not too late for national repentance. Jeremiah was still calling for repentance when the Babylonian army was outside the gates of the city, because he knew that God could strike them down and save Jerusalem even at the last moment. But he also knew that there would be no repentance because of the blindness and wickedness that gripped the nation, so he knew that God would allow disaster to happen.

In the 40 years before the destruction of Jerusalem, God raised up three prophets – Zephaniah, Habakkuk and Jeremiah – all with a similar message. They each gave severe warnings; they each said that only repentance and turning to God would prevent disaster; and they each looked beyond the inevitable disaster to a time of restoration and blessing.

I personally believe that the people of Britain, America and Europe have all passed the point where repentance (although still possible) could save us from inevitable disaster. We are being driven by powerful forces of destruction. This is vividly illustrated in the spirit of death that is gripping many young people who are being driven to self-harm and suicide via the internet. In the same way, Western nations are being manipulated and steered by forces of evil.

I personally believe that Britain, America and Europe have all passed the point where repentance, though still possible, can save us from inevitable disaster.

Severe Testing – But with Purpose

Of course, these forces of darkness could be broken if there arose in the Western nations a powerful army of intercessors empowered by the Holy Spirit to scatter the darkness and heal the land. But there is little sign of this at the moment because churches are either gently sleeping in their cosy traditions or actively pursuing the policies of apostasy – the fruit of false teaching and rejection of the truth.

The three pre-exilic prophets of Judah were each told that God would actually use the disaster to further his purposes by sweeping idolatry, immorality and injustice out of the land to prepare the way for the new covenant relationship inaugurated by Messiah. The promises of restoration given by each of these prophets can be found in Jeremiah 31:27f, Habakkuk 2:14 and 3:16f, and Zephaniah 3:14f.

In the recent prayer times led by Issachar Ministries in different parts of the country where we have had intercessory gatherings to spend time together listening to the Lord, the outstanding words that have been received have been urgent calls for repentance, but also calls for strengthening the Body of believers to enable them to stand firm during the coming storm. Christians need equipping with the full armour of God, which is not only for defence but also for declaring the word of God in a hostile environment - that is, we must exercise the sword of the Spirit as well as raise the shield of faith!

The major revelation from these times of waiting upon God is that Christians in Western nations are going to go through days of severe testing, but those days will undoubtedly be followed by times of renewal, spiritual awakening and blessing.

Signs of Future Blessing

A little sign of future blessing can be seen in the Grenfell Tower disaster, out of which many people are entering into a new relationship with God - according to the reports we are hearing from churches in the area. Local Muslims in particular have been greatly shaken, not least because the inferno occurred during Ramadan, which they normally regard as a time of blessing; and because no Muslim would ever have his body cremated - yet so many have been reduced to ashes.

Christians in Western nations are going to go through severe testing, but those days will undoubtedly be followed by times of renewal.

There are reports of Muslims questioning their faith in the wake of Grenfell Tower, and the recent terrorist atrocities committed in the name of Allah, as well as the widespread tragedy unfolding in the Middle East – particularly in Syria, Iraq and Yemen, where Muslims are slaughtering each other. Many Muslims in Kensington are said to be responding to the love being shown to them by Christians and there is a new openness to the Gospel. Is this the beginning of a new harvest for the Kingdom?

Our Resources Editor Paul Luckraft pays his own visit to the Tabernacle Christian Centre, near Grenfell Tower.

When my friend Sally Richardson told me of her visit to the Tabernacle Christian Centre in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, I decided to follow this up with a visit of my own and spend some time talking with Pastor Derrick Wilson. Here is what I learnt.

The setting for the interview was the strangest I had ever encountered. The main church and all the other smaller rooms were full to overflowing with racks of new clothes, boxes of household goods, mattresses and many other items. Where to sit was the first problem! Eventually we squeezed into a tiny space in a corner of the crowded main room, set up a couple of folding chairs and began to talk. Meanwhile, volunteers continued to work around us, organising the items and talking to anyone else who came in.

Derrick has been a pastor for 24 years, and has led the Tabernacle Christian Centre since 2005. Before then he was engaged in similar work, including being a street preacher, totalling 30 years in ministry overall. His wife Paulette has been an integral part of this, including being Principal of the Tabernacle School, which is a Christian school nearby.

He admitted that at times it has been a difficult role to sustain, with many challenges and hardships, both financially and in terms of opposition. But Derrick is a man that rises to a challenge, and with God’s help he has already overcome many obstacles. Another challenge has now come, but God has been preparing his man.

Looking Outwards

Recently God had been speaking to Derrick about a new move which would impact the church and the community. Derrick is a prophetic pastor with a clear teaching ministry. The Gospel and the Cross are central to all he proclaims.

God had been speaking to Derrick about a new move to impact the church and community.

He also encompasses an evangelistic and missionary focus. But he admitted to having been frustrated. The small congregation he leads were not always responsive. How could this change? How might they become more community-focussed, more mission-orientated? For a while, Derrick had sensed that God was saying he would be bringing people to them, from all directions. Did this make sense?

People from All Directions

Pastor Derrick Wilson. © Prophecy Today UK

On the Tuesday evening before the fire broke out (in the early hours of Wednesday 14 June), Derrick had led their usual Bible study from the Letter to the Hebrews. At the end they took up an offering and Derrick began to pray. As he did so, he felt a word from God, along similar lines to before but more specific: “As from tonight there will be a spiritual shift over this church. You will see people come here from north, east, south and west, to do the job you should be doing.”

It felt like a rebuke. Was it of the flesh, Derrick wondered? It seemed to be a warning, but what did this mean? Who were these others that would suddenly come from all directions?

A few hours later, the phones started ringing. Immediately it was clear a major incident was happening less than half a mile away. Was this what God had spoken about? The doors of the Tabernacle were immediately opened. Derrick and his wife began to search the streets. Messages flooded in from friends and relatives. Then, from nowhere, people started arriving - some local, others total strangers.

Over the next few hours and into the next few days, they continued to arrive at the Tabernacle. Many brought items or gifts; others came to offer help. Volunteers simply appeared - literally from all points of the compass - and some from far away, in one case Bristol. Once they arrived, they stayed. Some even slept in the side rooms of the church.

Within hours the church was at the heart of a mercy mission. No-one had organised this; even today Derrick does not understand how it happened. Why his church? But God had honoured his word, and Derrick’s heart for the community and obedience to preaching the true Gospel. Although other churches nearby also became similar centres, clearly God was doing something special at the Tabernacle.

God honoured his word, and Derrick’s heart for the community and obedience to preaching the true Gospel.

A Message in the Midst of Tragedy

Many of the volunteers who came were not Christians, but they seemed to know where to come. They simply arrived; God had guided them there. And once there, they found a peace and joy in what they were doing. A sense of God’s presence and blessing surrounded them and began to change them.

The Muslim community has suffered immensely by this tragedy, and been greatly affected by it in so many ways. But they are also being significantly impacted by what God is doing at the Tabernacle. They come to receive physical goods but find they are offered so much more. They are told ‘we as a church are praying for you’, and they are so grateful. They have been shaken so much that they are responding to what the Christians are offering. In their suffering many questions remain, but at the Tabernacle they are at least finding some answers.

In the midst of tragedy, a message is getting across - the message of the cross. At the front of this crowded room full of gifts is a large wooden cross, with a crown of thorns. It stands there strong, stating clearly ‘this is what you need’. Meanwhile, with their building crammed full of clothes and other items, the church congregation has been worshipping on the streets, and is being asked what this singing means!

Just the Beginning

As has been frequently reported, the initial response from the Council was chaotic or non-existent. But God knew what needed to be done, and how to do it. He stepped in and told the Tabernacle Christian Centre they were to be at the heart of this. Derrick had prayed that somehow the Tabernacle would become a significant part of the community and now it is happening.

God knew what needed to be done, and how to do it.

© Prophecy Today UKHe had faithfully preached a Gospel of holiness and righteousness, love and service - not always a popular message, but God has honoured him for this and put the Tabernacle firmly on the map. He has woken them up and there is a sense that this is just the beginning. A harvest of souls is fully expected.

My visit was informative and emotional, amazing and at times shocking. But soon after meeting Derrick my impression was that it was a privilege for them to be so used by God at this time. This is a deeply significant event that will stay with us all for a long time, certainly for as long as the blackened shell of the tower block stands there for all to see, and no doubt the pictures and videos of it will remain for much longer.

My own first glimpse of it was unusual. As I walked from the tube station towards the Tabernacle I had no sense that I was in its vicinity. Where was it? Had I come to the right area? Suddenly it appeared from behind a similar tower block which had been blocking it from my sight. ‘Here I am’, it seemed to be saying, you will not be able to ‘block’ me out for years and years.

After meeting Derrick, he walked me back a different way, past the memorial walls and pictures, past those still standing there and wondering - past the places where the horrific events of that night had taken place.

God has honoured Derrick for his faithfulness and put the Tabernacle firmly on the map.

In such cases it is always right to ask what God is saying, what he is doing, both among the church and the community, even the nation (as Clifford Hill does in this week’s editorial). Grenfell is part of a pattern of events that is shaking our nation, our political system and social structures. Yet that shaking is aimed at producing a greater harvest, for the Kingdom that cannot be shaken. The Tabernacle Christian Centre is an example of how God works his purpose out among those who are prepared to listen and serve.

Even in the ashes, the Lord is at work.

We are delighted to feature a testimony this week from the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire. Sally Richardson, who co-ordinates London’s Israel and Prophecy Group, visited the area with a friend to pray; they were taken by surprise there as they discovered wonderful stories of God at work.

My visit to pray in the area near Grenfell Tower

Sally Richardson (Israel and Prophecy Group, London)

Dear friends,

After having attended the excellent Intercessors For Britain Prayer and Bible Day in Central London yesterday (Saturday 17 June), where prayer was made for the aftermath of the terrible tragedy of the Grenfell Tower fire and the victims and their loved ones, my friend Ralph Brockman and I went to the area of the tower to pray there in person.

We walked there from White City station, near my home on the nearby White City Estate. From North Pole Road, we walked down Latimer Road towards the Westway flyover, and the Tower. We could see its blackened hulk coming nearer and nearer as we walked towards it.

Halfway down the road, we saw a church, the Tabernacle Christian Centre, where we could see people gathered inside and out. Ralph and I went over to them, and asked them if we could go into the church and pray for the victims of the fire.

We were welcomed with open arms and hugs and warmly invited in, where we were told we could pray wherever we wanted. We found two chairs near an open door, and prayed for the victims and for the aftermath of the fire.

The church itself was small and simple, with a large wooden cross centrally displayed, and nearby, a table with a menorah on it. We both really felt the presence of the Lord in this precious little church.

We both really felt the presence of the Lord in this precious little church.

After we had finished praying, members of the church, including the Pastor, Pastor Derrick, came to talk with us. They again thanked us for coming, and told us how they had opened the church at 2am on the night of the fire, and that people had almost immediately began to come in for refuge and shelter. Soon after that, donations of food and clothing, blankets, items of furniture, etc. began to arrive, so much so that the whole church, the rooms off it, the yard at the front and the garden, were full of donations. People had come from all over the country to give, and some had been divinely directed there; arriving in the area, and not knowing where to go, the Lord had then spoken to them and said, "Go to Tabernacle Christian Centre!". So they had done just that.

Pastor Derrick also told us that, on the Tuesday evening as they were praying and having their Bible study, the Lord broke in and gave a word, which was that they must be prepared, as the Lord was going to bring many people to the church. The fire broke out a few hours later; how this Word has been fulfilled, and still is being!

The church has seen a steady flow of victims and survivors of the fire, most very traumatised and in a state of shock. They have come alongside each one in love and compassion, giving them food, water, goods and money, and offering a listening ear and prayer, which some have accepted - including Muslims. We are praying that some of the victims will return to attend the services there and turn to the Lord and be saved; may He be their solace.

As we were speaking, Pastor Derrick pointed to the large wooden cross, so centrally displayed, and said, "The cross is central here; we preach Christ crucified." This is a church which really lives out the Gospel; they practice what they preach.

They also love Israel and the Jewish people and pray regularly for them, as Pastor Derrick told us when we asked him about the menorah. He also told us that their oldest member is a dear Welsh lady 100 years old, who is still very active in the service of the Lord.

Hours before the fire, the Lord warned the church that they were to prepare, for he was about to bring many people.

Family members of those still missing have also come to the church, asking for help in finding their loved ones, and leaving pictures of them on trees and lamp-posts all over the area, including at the church, asking if anyone has seen them and to contact them if so. Some of them also asked for prayer.

Later, as Ralph and I walked round the area, we saw the pictures of the missing, from the the young, including small children, to the elderly, whom, in all probability, have perished in the inferno. We prayed that they had cried out to the Lord as the flames consumed them. It was truly heart-wrenching seeing these pictures, and the tears were never far away.

We finished by going underneath the Westway flyover to a grassy knoll overlooking the tower to pray. As we began, we could see firemen on the roof, obviously conducting part of their investigation. We brought all the members of the emergency services who will be investigating the causes of the fire before the Lord; they will be undoubtedly be seeing some terrible sights in the next few days and weeks.

We can thank God for all the local churches that have opened their doors, day and night, to the victims of the tragedy. They have provided a listening ear, comfort both spiritual and practical, and have fed, clothed, and watered all those who have come to them; what a contrast to the local Council and TMO, whom, according to the victims, have done absolutely nothing and were seemingly deaf to their oft-expressed concerns as to the safety of Grenfell Tower. In the rich borough of Kensington and Chelsea, it seems that North Kensington, where the tower is situated, is very much the poor relative whom everyone ignores.

I also want to mention another church in the area, which I visited for a meeting a few weeks before the tragedy, and which has also been open 24/7 to victims, family members and friends of those missing and which has given continuously and unstintingly. That church is Latimer Christian Centre.

We thank God for the local churches that have opened their doors to the victims of the tragedy, providing a listening ear and both spiritual and practical comfort to all who have come to them.

We also prayed that people's very understandable anger at the lack of response and action by Kensington and Chelsea council, and the TMO, which is real and palpable, would not turn to rioting and civil disobedience such as we saw in Tottenham and other areas following the shooting of Mark Duggan nearly six years ago in 2011. "Lord, contain their anger", we prayed.
I am reminded of the words of the Oxford martyr Latimer, whom, as they burned at the stake, turned to his fellow martyr Ridley, and said, "Play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out."

Grenfell Tower has burned, but let us pray that a candle will burn in North Kensington that will NEVER be put out.

May the surviving victims of the tower tragedy find Him to be THEIR tower of refuge and strength (Proverbs 18:10).

In Him,

Sally Richardson
18/06/17