Strange Fire and Prophecy

The recent Strange Fire conference (and book) has attempted to restate an old argument of cessationists re the gift of prophecy, that there was only ever one type, and that it was inerrant and totally authoritative and the basis of the Word itself, and therefore all other prophecy is false and such prophecy and people should be rejected.

The problem with this view is that it totally ignores the fact that there was prophetic activity of what might be called a secondary nature in the Old Testament. Such prophecies didn’t find there way into Scripture (apart from the mere reference to it’s activity), and they weren’t considered inerrant and totally authoritative, i.e. the Spirit coming on the 70 in Numbers 11: 24–27 with the result that they prophesied, plus the two who weren’t in the right place (Moses response interestingly was that he wished that all of the Lord’s people were prophets); the schools of the prophets mentioned in Samuel and Kings, and Saul’s particular experience, and then we have Joel’s prophesy (inerrant and authoritative and part of scripture) that the Spirit would be poured out on all flesh and they would prophesy.

Turning to the New Testament we find second level prophecy as a very real and necessary part of church life. It’s there in the book of Acts, and in the letters we find Paul writing to the church in Corinth and strongly encouraging them in it, and again in his writing to the Thessalonians he tells them not to despise it.

Though it is to be encouraged and not despised nevertheless Paul makes it clear that all prophecy is to be weighed, meaning that it may not all be of the Lord, but in doing so, in no way does he suggest that if turns out not to be of the Lord and therefore not to be accepted should the person giving it be rejected or stoned. And even if it were accepted as from the Lord, the individual still had the choice as to their response, i.e. Paul’s response to the word not to go up to Jerusalem, but he went.

Even so the fact that it is ‘second level’ doesn’t mean that when it occurs it is any less ‘of God.’ This is truly an activity inspired of the Spirit and is to be treated as such, and for this reason Paul writes, “Don’t stifle the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies,…”

In my own personal experience I have been blessed, encouraged, helped and guided by the prophetic word, churches that I have been involved with likewise, and I can’t imagine a Christian and Church life without it. Hearing God is vitally important. Taking heed to the prophetic word is as well. Too many churches are living in the past because they are not willing to hear God today.

If you are someone who has been thrown off course on the things of the Spirit due to Strange Fire (the conference or the book) I would encourage you to go back to the Word to see whether these things are so, and also to find out and talk to those who are experienced and have integrity in these things. Please don’t allow the enemy to rob you of the gift(s) that the Father gives through his Spirit for the benefit of his people.

Have you ever been blessed by the gift of prophecy?

Have you ever prophesied?

How seriously do you take prophecy?

When was the last time you responded to such a word?

Speaking in Tongues Today

A Controversial Gift

As exhibited in the recent Strange Fire Conference in the States, the subject of speaking in tongues is probably one of the most controversial of Christian subjects and elicits all sorts of reactions, from the genuine and beneficial, to gibberish and unhelpful, all the way through to being demonic and dangerous, and as such it’s probably the most widely discussed phenomena in Christian experience and has resulted in many messages and books both for and against.

For those who don’t speak in tongues it can often sound mysterious or even frightening, though on closer inspection maybe it shouldn’t.

Tongues have been viewed as:

• Gibberish or baby language.
• Purely psychological – a form of primal speech; the result of some kind of emotional deficit.
• Angelic speech.
• Human languages that have been unconsciously picked up.
• The miracle of Pentecost was simply that they were speaking praises to God in the common language, as opposed to the religious language of the temple which was Hebrew.
• Demonic, some would even go so far as to say it’s ‘the language of hell.’
• Still others would say, how can you possibly know whether the tongues people speak in today are the same as in the Bible – the problem with that is you could say that about any experience related to the Bible.

The first thing we should note is that speech and language are the gift of God, Genesis and the story of Babel makes that clear, and I don’t think for one moment that cessationists would call what happened at Babel gibberish or of the devil.

The second thing is that there are an estimated 7000+ languages in the world of which 90% are used by less than 100, 000 people, and over 1,000,000 share 150 – 200 languages between them, and 46 languages have one particular people group (figures from the BBC). That is an amazing number of languages!

These kinds of figures tell us something about the amazing nature and complexity of language, with their varying sounds and articulation. So, when people judge the gift of tongues as simply gibberish, I wonder whether they have ever taken the time to listen to some of the languages around the world, where it can be far less easy to hear a distinction in tones and phrase when compared to say the English language.

A NEW GIFT

The first thing we should note about the gift of tongues is that it is a New Covenant phenomenon, the Old Testament knows nothing of them even though some have tried to find them in Hannah’s prayer in Samuel. The promise of Jesus was and is, “these signs will follow those who believe … they will speak with NEW tongues” In other words they would be tongues they hadn’t heard of before, didn’t know, and hadn’t learned them, either consciously or sub-consciously.

Secondly, the subject of speaking in tongues occupies quite a few verses in the New Testament, far more than some other topics, so maybe we should sit up and take note! One might ask if God had not intended them to be for today, why would he have inspired the writer to give that amount of time to them and allow those particular manuscripts to be preserved for us today – documents which give no hint of their ceasing at the end of the apostolic era.

Since the early 1900’s there has been a resurgence of speaking in tongues initially through the Pentecostal movement which resulted in a major evangelistic thrust into the nations, and later the Charismatic movements as people in the historic denominations, of which many were struggling and in decline, began to have fresh encounters with God and an abundance of new life began to break out.

Origin

The Greek noun glossa (“tongue”) along with the verb laleo (“to speak”) combine to makes“glossolalia,” which means to “speak with tongues.” Translations of this vary considerably. The ESV translates it literally as “speaks in a tongue,” whereas some now use the word “language/s.” Sometimes they also add various interpretative adjectives to help us understand what is meant, i.e. “unknown” (1 Cor 14:2,4 KJV), “ecstatic” (1 Cor 14:5 NEB), and even “strange” (1 Cor 14:21 NIV, NAS, ASV, ESV), and by doing so the translators emphasise something of the supernatural and unusual nature of the gift, and the difficulty in describing it!

The Bible simply says that their origin is in and through the Holy Spirit, not a state of mind or emotion. On the day of Pentecost they spoke in tongues as the “Spirit gave them utterance” or “enabled them,” (Acts 2:4). On each subsequent occasion they occurred because the Spirit was at work (Acts 8, 10, 19 also 9 with 1 Cor 14). They are says Paul a “gift of the Holy Spirit” (1 Cor. 12:4, 10, 11), and should not be despised, and though some turn to 1 Corinthians to find reasons not to speak in tongues, no-where in 1 Corinthians does Paul forbid it, or suggest that tongues/other languages are demonic. Paul understands them as meaning-ful utterances and not useless babbling.

They operate then in the spiritual dimension, and are not reliant upon the mind.  The problem for those who are part of the materialistic West is that we are more accustomed to operating in the intellectual and material realm. But God is Spirit, and speaking in tongues are a gift of the Spirit that operates through the human spirit – they flow out of the spirit, by the Spirit, bypassing the usual faculty of the mind whether known or known (1 Cor. 14:14, 15).

Their Nature

Some see a difference between the tongues in Acts and those in 1 Corinthians – At Pentecost they were particular known languages, in Corinthians they appear to be unknown, or even non-human languages. Many studies of tongues focus on the Pentecost experience and deduce certain things from it, i.e. that they were recognised therefore all tongues should be recognised.

In Acts 2 we read that, “They spoke with other tongues … they all heard them, each in his own language/dialect.” From this two options face us:

• They spoke a variety of human languages, and the people recognised them.
• They spoke in an unknown/spiritual language and there was a miracle of hearingwhereby they each heard them all speaking in their own language.

Now we must allow the text to do the work, and the problem with the second is that there is no suggestion in the text that the Spirit came on those who heard them and performed such a miracle of hearing, the text tells us that the Spirit came upon the speakers and the miracle was in the speaking! The languages they spoke were recognisable and identifiable.

Now when you turn to the other occurrences in Acts there is no doubt that these are spontaneous, unlearned languages/tongues, again no miracle of hearing but miracles of speaking, but it is not so easy to ascertain that they were recognisable languages, that has to be read into the text – not a good thing to do.

Corinth was a cosmopolitan city, or multi-cultural, and therefore a place of many languages. As William Baxter Godbey describes it, “It was really a mammoth mongrel of all nationalities.” In such a context it would seem very unlikely that someone entering the church at Corinth would have had any problem with people speaking in different languages/tongues, and they certainly would not have thought that they were out of their minds, and it would not have caused the type of chaos that Paul was dealing with. The Tongues in Corinth to all intents and purposes do not appear to have been recognised human languages from their known world. Paul even refers to the possibility of speaking in the tongues of angels.

Taking Scripture as a whole it seems that tongues could be human, angelic, or other/spiritual tongues all miraculously enabled by the Spirit. For this reason the translators use phrases like ‘unknown’ or ‘strange.’ Paul himself also refers to the ‘tongues of angels.’

Their Purpose

Some have held (particularly cessationsists) that the gift of tongues was for the purpose of evangelism, but there is no clear evidence that this is the case, either from Scripture or church history – this was no short cut to learning new languages. On the day of Pentecost, they were not preaching but magnifying or praising God, and when it came to the preaching it says that Peter stood up and preached the gospel, explaining the dynamic of what was taking place out of the Old Testament prophecy of Joel.

Some have noted Paul’s comments that they should seek the greater or higher gifts as meaning that tongues were at the bottom of the pile. I don’t think for one moment that was Paul’s intention rather that in the gathered community they should seek that which is beneficial to all.

1. They are a witness of the Spirit’s presence. They are frequently experienced after the reception of the Spirit. Pentecost being the prime example. In Acts 10:45, 46 it is the speaking in tongues that is a witness that the Spirit has come to the Gentiles.
2. They are for personal edification. They are full of meaning-ful content. For Paul this was the main benefit of the gift. “The one who speaks in a tongue builds up himself,” (1 Cor 14:4,14-17,28), he utters “mysteries in the Spirit” (1 Cor 14:2). Paul himself says, “I thank God that I speak in (other) languages/tongues more than you all,” (1 Cor 14:18). Note, he does not say “I speak in more languages.” He certainly gave time to speaking in tongues even though as the next verse shows he did not understand what he was saying. When did he do it? At home, privately.
3. They are for the edification of others. 1 Cor 14:26 speaks of bringing “a tongue” to the corporate gathering of the church. There are some differences among pentecostals and charismatics as to how this works out. 1. Some would say that ‘tongues’ is no more than thanksgiving or praise to God, “If you bless (praise/thank) in the Spirit only, how will the person who is ungifted be able to say Amen to your giving of thanks, since they do not know what you are saying? For you are giving thanks well enough.” (1 Cor. 14 16). Taking this approach the corresponding gift of interpretation is always interpreted as that individual’s response in praise or thanks to God. 2. Others take a much broader view.  ‘Mysteries’ (14:2) it is pointed out are more than giving thanks or praise to God, they are about God and his glorious purposes, and calling upon 1 Cor 14:3-5,6,13-17 view tongues when interpreted on a par with prophecy, which means that they can be a means of edification and encouragement – they can express revelation, blessing, giving thanks, prayer, praise and the prophetic.
4. They may be used to worship God. Luke refers to the speaking in tongues on the day of Pentecost as proclaiming “the wonderful/magnificent works of God,” and in Acts 10:46 he describes them as “speaking in tongues and extolling God.” The context of 1 Cor 14:15 “I will sing praise with my spirit,” would seem to suggest singing praises in tongues, and some would also see such praise in the spiritual songs of Eph. 5:18 “Be filled with the Spirit speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs …”. Speaking in tongues is very often connected to exuberant praise.
5. They are a sign to unbelievers. Un-interpreted tongues can also function as a form of judgment to the unbelieving since they will not be able to understand what’s going on (1 Cor 14: 21-23). The reference here is to the Assyrian army who invade Israel speaking another language, but Israel didn’t recognise what God was saying/doing. The context here has to do with clarity, with understanding.
6. They are useful in praying. What some would refer to as their ‘prayer language.’ Paul speaks of ‘praying with the spirit’ (1 Cor 14:14, 15; poss. Rom 8:26), which taken in context can only mean praying in tongues, a means whereby we may go beyond the rational intellectual approach to prayer and enter a mode of prayer directed and enabled entirely by the Spirit. Many testify that they are more spiritually aware when praying in tongues; more aware of God’s presence.

The ‘Mechanics’ of Speaking in Tongues

1. Who may? – Paul says, “I want you all to speak in tongues …” (1 Cor 14:5 ESV). This wasn’t a wish, it was a strong desire. Every Christian may.
2. It is spiritual not natural. In normal speech the mind working through the understanding enables the tongue, but when someone speaks in tongues the words are not from the speakers understanding but the Holy Spirit. They flow from the human spirit as opposed to the mind.
3. How? Some people fear that if they speak in tongues they will lose control, but 1. “They spoke as the Spirit enabled them.” So it wasn’t made up, coerced, forced or psychological, but by the Spirit. 2. Paul says , “I will pray with the spirit … I will sing with the spirit.” Our will is involved, not neutralised.

So tongues are a part of the New Covenant blessing of God, they are miraculous, varied, and extremely beneficial when used according to Scripture.

Why not seek God for the gift?

Maybe you have the gift, and you’ve not used it in awhile, then be encouraged to stir it up.

What place does it have in your life?

What place does it have in your church?

Christianity is Supernatural

The recent debate over Strange Fire has made me think again about what it means to be a Christian, and for the church to be truly Christian.

One of the dangers of the debate over Strange Fire, and a danger for those who call themselves Reformed (I don’t particularly like labels as you are not always sure as to what they mean to others, but if you are wondering I guess I’m reformed with a small ‘r’), is the reducing of Christianity to that which is cerebral, solely of the mind, an intellectual exercise, something which we have power and control over.

But, one thing that stands out with just a cursory reading of the Bible is that being a Christian is far more than assenting to the truth (though there is and must be that), it is supernatural, there’s no two ways about it, and you can’t be one without it!

• To be a Christian involves a supernatural new birth.
• To be a Christian involves the supernatural baptism and continual filling of the Holy Spirit.
• To live as a Christian requires daily dependence upon God, a life lived in the Spirit.
• To be a Christian is to be resourced by the Spirit with all his wonderful gifts.
• To be a Christian involves mortifying the flesh, the old passions, by the Spirit (not strength of mind or will).
• Our praying is to be in the Spirit.
• Our worship is to be in the Spirit.
• Our meetings are to be led and enabled by the Spirit.
• Our witness is to be empowered by the Spirit.
• Etc.!

Christianity is then an experience, a powerful supernatural experience, and without it we end up with sterile form – cold, disciplined religion. For Paul it wasn’t simply a case of giving mental assent to the truth, it was what do you know of the Spirit’s presence. In Reformed circles it has been traditional to speak of justification by faith alone, through grace alone, in Christ alone, as the foundational truth of the church – lose it and you have no church, and there is a measure of truth to that. The problem is it’s not the whole truth, and on it’s own it’s like a plane with only one wing. Paul’s great challenge to those who professed belief at Ephesus was ‘did you receive the Spirit when you believed?’ According to Paul then there is another fundamental and foundational truth to the church – the reception of and experience of the Spirit.

My question is do you know Him? Have you truly encountered the Saviour? What do you know of the Spirit’s presence? You can’t have One without the Other. If you don’t then you don’t have to wait to go to church, you can meet him now. Recognise your sin and need of a Saviour, turn from your sin and helplessness to Christ, believe in Him and receive the gift of his Spirit.

And if you do know him, what place does the Spirit have in your life? Do you know what it is to be filled? Do you know his Presence and Power? If not, why wait, open up your heart afresh to him, seek his renewal and filling….

What place are we giving in our churches to the Spirit?

What place are we giving in our churches are we giving to the Word?

We need both Word and Spirit, without them we are in trouble, but with them, wow! who knows!

Strange Fire and Speaking in Tongues

Speaking in tongues is a big issue for John MacArthur and Co. and it was also for the apostle Paul, except that their take on it is completely different.

Part of MacArthur’s problem, a major part, is one of hermeneutic, how you interpret the Scriptures. MacArthur works within a moderate dispensational framework, a framework which tends to divide human history into particular periods of God’s activity, so within this framework the baptism and gifts of the Spirit were for the founding of the church, after which they were withdrawn as they were no longer needed.

The problem with such an approach is that you have nowhere to place any demonstrations of the Spirit today, so you are left with no other course of action than to describe them as false, gibberish and at worse demonic. Sadly this was seen at the Strange Fire Conference, yet perhaps we shouldn’t have been surprised as it can be seen in John MacArthur’s Study Bible (a huge amount of which is very good) where in regard to tongues in Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians MacArthur appears to be at a complete loss in how to deal with them and in order to win his point must argue that Paul is actually dealing with counterfeit tongues and not the real thing.

MacArthur says in commentating on chapter 4:2 “he who speaks in a tongue. This is singular, indicating that it refers to the false gibberish of the counterfeit pagan ecstatic speech. The singular is used because gibberish can’t be plural; there are not various kinds of non-language”, and again in chapter 14 v. 14-17, “Paul continued to speak sarcastically (cf. v. 16; 4:8-10) about counterfeit tongues, so he used the singular “tongue”…, which refers to the fake gift. He was speaking hypothetically to illustrate the foolishness and pointlessness of speaking in ecstatic gibberish.”Again in 14:26 MacArthur says “each of you has… a tongue. In the singular, this refers to the counterfeit.” Now nowhere in the context is there any suggestion that Paul thinks they are uttering false tongues or speaking in gibberish! Absolutely nowhere. That is simply being read into the text.

The first thing to note is that MacArthur trys to make a difference between a ‘tongue’ and ‘tongues,’ the “singular ‘tongue’” he says “refers to the fake”, the latter plural “tongues” the genuine. Again this is being read into the text, and it should be noted that you can only speak in one tongue at a time, so Paul’s terminology, his Greek, is quite correct. Paul is not saying the gift is false, and he is certainly not saying they should stop it, rather he is saying, look, this is one of the gifts of the Spirit and it is of great benefit, but only if it is interpreted.

Secondly, Paul’s problem then is with their use and abuse of the gift, and his great concern is not in stopping it but getting them to exercise it in the right way.  In chapter 14:13 he says“Let him who speaks in a tongue (note the singular) pray that he may interpret.” Not for one moment does he say, “stop, it’s gibberish, don’t you know, it’s of the devil,” rather, what he says is that unless an interpretation is given what they say will not benefit those who are listening, so pray for the interpretation.

Thirdly, as Paul goes on there is no way that he is being sarcastic, “For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful. What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with the understanding. I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding.” This is not sarcasm, that is being read into the text by MacArthur to suit his own belief and experience, something that we all need to be aware of – reading the text from where we are.  Rather Paul says when I pray in a tongue my spirit is praying, not my mind, and so I don’t understand what I’m saying, so I will do both, pray in a tongue and pray with my intellect/understanding – the argument is for one of balance and edification.

Paul said that he himself welcomed the gift and spoke in tongues more than all of them (14:18). What about you?

There's no one Like our God!

Sunday I had the privilege of introducing our new series on The Trinity at Gateway, Why Our God is Unique among the gods, and once again I was inspired, awed, and excited by the doctrine of the Trinity, or more particularly, knowing God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

One church member remarked beforehand that he couldn’t remember ever hearing any teaching on the Trinity, and he’s been around evangelical churches all his life. The sad fact is that we may acknowledge, confess in creeds and songs that we believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, but in reality are practicing unitarians – the belief that God is solely and singularly One, with no dynamic of loving persons.

Such a belief impoverishes our worship, cripples our life and undermines our witness.

To make God known we need to know him as he is.

Yes the Trinity takes some thought, some hard brain work, but it’s worth every ounce of effort, as this big, vast, vision of God dawns on our souls.

The reality is that every true Christian already knows something of this Trinitarian God through his work in their lives, 1, as the Holy Spirit convicts of sin  and 2, points them to Jesus Christ as their Saviour and then having confessed their faith in him, 3, the awareness that they are now sons and daughters of the living God and able to call him Father.

Sadly for many that’s where it stalls.

What about you?

Yes, the word ‘trinity’ is not in the Bible, but the Reality is.

Yes, it doesn’t immediately step out at us, but there are hints and movements that indicate that God who is time and again confessed as One God is in fact a trinity of persons. In contrast to a world that was full of gods – gods to cover every sphere of life – Israel confessed that God was One and he sovereignly ruled over all, yet over and over in it’s story there are hints that the God they confessed and saw and encountered in action was somehow more.

When you get to the New Testament, suddenly it hits you, this Jesus, whom the gospels are all about, is none other than God’s Son living in flesh just like ours, yet he says ‘before Abraham was I am’! And John introducing his gospel reaches back beyond time and says, ‘The Word was with God and the word was God’- always.  God face to face with himself. The same but distinct from. He is God here, but he prays to God who is there! As John unpacks the gospel he recounts Jesus talking in very personal and intimate ways about his relationship to the Father, that people who have seen him have seen the Father, that the Father is in him and he is in the Father! He says, ‘Believe in God, believe also in me.’

There’s more.

It’s not Two, but Three! Jesus says that when he goes away he is going to send One just like Himself, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit with whom and through whom both he and the Father enjoy fellowship. Wow! Suddenly we are getting little insights into the interior relationship of God. God is One, but he’s Three. There are three distinct personalities in the One God.

Suddenly our picture of God dramatically changes, ‘there is’ as the previous pope said, ‘a ‘We’ in God.’

God was not and is not some solitary, self absorbed, power consumed individual doing his ‘own’ arbitrary thing, but rather a community of distinct loving Persons, delighting in and serving  one another from all eternity.

God was not and is not some benign policeman, protecting you on the one hand but looking out for your misdemeanours and penalising you on the other. Neither is he some Hitler, consumed with power and authority, making rash judgement calls all in the name of the advancement of his purposes.

No, in the Trinity we discover as the Godfrey Birthill song puts it, a “wonderful, wonderful God….”

Do you know Him?

Open to the Prophetic

As people and churches we need not only an ongoing experience of the Spirit and the ministry of the Word we also need the prophetic – the now voice of the Spirit speaking expressly to us as God’s people.

Several times in Scripture we are exhorted to hear what the Spirit is saying – in Revelation it wasn’t the same message to every church.

When those words were written there was no completed Canon of Scripture so it can’t have been hearing what God has to say through scripture, though certainly there is a place for that.

The early disciples and church were very much led by the prophetic voice of the Spirit. As they worshipped the Spirit spoke and they responded. The result was a constantly developing and flexible movement that would impact the nations.

Today, as much as then, we as God’s people both personally and as churches need to be open to and willing to hear that voice, and when we hear it not quench it but respond in obedient faith.

It is the willingness to hear that voice that will save individuals and churches from religious formalism, stereo typing, inflexibility and stagnation.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is there is abundant life and glorious liberty.

Whoever has ears to hear let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches.

The Importance of the Word

The last couple of weeks we have looked at the necessity of work of the Spirit. In this post I want to focus on the importance of preaching/teaching which was a vital part of the growth, establishment and expansion of the early church.

Not only did they know God present and active through the Spirit, but they knew him speaking powerfully through the Word and continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine.

Those who were called to lead were to be men of the Word and Spirit. In fact at one point when the apostles threatened to be overwhelmed by the increasing needs of the rapidly expanding church they appointed men full of the Spirit and faith to look after the practical needs arising so that they could give themselves to prayer and the Word.

But a question is sometimes posed – if we have the Spirit so dynamically present with us, why do we need the preaching/teaching of the Word?

A Few Good Reasons:

Here are a few good reasons…

1. Because we are living in a fallen world, and therefore our knowledge of God and of ourselves is skewed.

2. The enemy is always out to destroy the true knowledge of God – both for the those who don’t know him and those who do.

3. The enemy is out to prevent our relationship to God first of all by seeking to prevent our being saved through faith in Christ, and two, if he can’t do that, he will seek to undermine the relationship we do have with God.

4. The enemy is out to prevent our maturity – the Word keeps us focussed, reminds us where it’s at and refines us.

5.  The enemy is out to prevent our equipping for the purposes of God – all Scripture is God breathed, and is given not only to challenge and change us, but to equip us to fulfill God’s purpose.

The knowledge of God, growth in walking with him, being transformed and being equipped don’t just happen by being filled with the Spirit, our minds needs to be educated, old thoughts and ideas need to be challenged and changed, all of which the enemy is against, therefore in teaching we are confronting and demolishing strongholds, whether in the unsaved mind or the Christians.

The Big Issue 

What place does it have in your life?

What place does it have in your church?

Are you, me, we taking it seriously – in other words acting on what we hear?

The Fellowship of The Three

I wonder what resolutions you've made, if any? I wonder what your hopes and aspirations are, even your prayers for yourself and others? Are they just need based, problem solving, helping etc.?

Paul's pray for the Ephesian Christians was the opening of their eyes that they may know God (1:17).

God, you say, haven't they come to know him? Isn't it obvious?

The reality is no it is isn't:

1. Some have started out with false or inadequate images of God,

2. The enemy is always contending it, and

3. Many of God's people stall in their knowledge of God. It's like getting saved and knowing I will go to heaven when I die, is it, a transaction. Oh, and we can pray, as if God were there just to respond to needs, requests etc..

Fact is, there's a whole lot more to it than that. God saved us not only that we might live with him eternally, but that he might live with us in time - wow! Staggering thought! Staggering truth! He's not way over there, out there somewhere, as it were, in some other dimension, but he's right here, we can know him in this dimension. God had always designed to dwell with man.

Jesus said that he came not only to bring us salvation and reconcile us to God but that God might come and dwell within our very hearts. Paul in his letters to the churches speaks of both the individual and the corporate body of believers as the temple of the Spirit, the dwelling place of God, both a sobering and an exhilarating thought/truth. The question is what do we know of it?

Too often it can be just words, whether in song or creed, affirmations of what we believe about God, but not personal experience, not relationship - God known and encountered day by day.

If there's something I would want to encourage as a new year resolution or prayer, it is growth in the knowledge of God, not as an intellectual exercise (and yes that will be part of it), but as a very real experience. Growth and relationship with God especially as Trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

That means we need to be open to all God's word (are you - or do you read the sections you are comfortable with?), and open to all his personhood - Father, Son and Spirit. In the measure that we close off part of our experience of God, so will our worship and walk and well as our relationship with him in some measure be affected or restricted.

Do you find yourself just praying to one member of the Trinity? Do you find yourself using the names interchangeably (as if they are all the same)? Do you struggle with the idea of God as Father? Do you know the continual saving power of Jesus? What about the Holy Spirit - are you scared off by what you've heard?

"I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him...." (Eph 1:16-17)

Saved Sinner or Saint?

Following on from last week one of the outcomes of worm theology is to think of the Christian as ‘just a sinner saved by grace’.

There may be some truth to that statement but theres an awful lot of truth missing – enough to make it wrong. The scriptures repeatedly state in various ways that we are not what we were, that we are new creations, no longer in Adam but in Christ, in fact the letters are addressed not to ‘sinners saved by grace’ but to those who have become ‘saints by grace’! The problem is that in many of the older versions of the Bible many of the letters were addressed to those who were ‘called to be saints’, but the ‘to be’ was in italics which means that it wasn’t in the original.

Now whoever we are, we all live out of our perceived identity, and if we take this as our cue we will always be Romans 7 Christians, and Romans 8 will always be elusive. The flesh will always be the powerhouse of our lives and not the power of the indwelling Spirit of God. My observation as a pastor/minister was that people who thought like this lived this.

Are you a Christian listening to the lies of the enemy? There is a higher truth than your past truth, and it is God’s truth that in Jesus you are a new creation – ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven; you have a new identity as a child of God, you have the Spirit of God dwelling in you saying ‘Abba, Father.’ You have the power to live a different kind of life.

What dreams have you got?

What dreams have you got?

God meant us to dream and we are not talking day dreaming here!  He spoke to people in the Bible through dreams. On the day of Pentecost when God poured out his Spirit on all flesh, Peter said the young would have visions and the old dreams - that's not visons for the future and dreams about the past. It refers to God speaking across the generations - with peole living longer, the average age in the UK for both sexes is now in the 80's, and we're healthier and stronger -  maybe its time whatever age you are to dream again in God, to listen for and hear God afresh.

The dreams and visions God gave people in the Bible were very often bigger than the individuals involved...... That's God's way! God always gives us dreams bigger than ourselves, otherwise they wouldn't be dreams, and they wouldn't require us to go out on a limb in God.

As we head into 2012, what are yours?

Are you just expecting more of the 'same old,' or are you looking for somehing to happen?

What are your dreams for....

Yourself?

Your marriage?

Your family?

Your education?

Your work?

Your church?


Your .......

Don't let this year be the same as last. Put your hand into the hand of God and walk into the future he has for you. Let him shape both you and it. You'll be surprised!

Reveation 21 - Now and Not Yet.

A new heaven and a new earth. What an amazing chapter this is, with present and future overtones, full of promise now and in the future. Verse 1 speaks of the ‘new heaven and new earth’ a phrase that’s only found in Isaiah 65, 66, and is applied liberally to the church, but v. 5 qualifies it: ‘making everything new’ which speaks of initiation and process. The now and the not yet of the new age.

When Christ died and rose again there was a fundamental cosmic change, and with the destruction of the temple in AD70 this was completed and shifted up a gear - everythings moving forward, not backword. The idea that God dwelt in a building in one corner of the earth was gone – it was and will no longer be required because God’s dwelling is now with humanity (v.3). That means there is no necessity for a rebuilt temple – that would be a backward step.

No sea? (21:1) Just in case some are worried about there being no sea (a new earth without sea??), we need to remind ourselves that Revelation is full of signs and symbols. The sea in Biblical language is frequently used to depict Gentile nations - Is 17:12, 13; Ps. 65:7; Rev. 17:5.  In other words in the ultimate completion of the new and heaven and new earth there will be no unbelieving, pagan, ungodly nations.

All are valued (21: 19-21). In this new world is the new Jerusalem, not a literal city, but a people who are the dwelling place of God, the church, the bride of Christ, here described in all her glorious splendour - the references to the precious stones bring to remembrance the words in Malachi 3:17, “And they shall be mine, says the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels;” Everyone of God’s people has great value, beauty and purpose - not only then, but now!

The curse is undone(21:3; 22:3). It begins now and will be ultimate in eternity. He wipes away the tears; death has lost it sting; grief, crying and pain can be healed and changed, and one day will end.

A River (19:.6; 22:1, 17). Today the river from the spring of life is a mighty flowing river that gives LIFE - in fact the whole emphasis here is on life. The tree of life is available to all and its leaves are for the healing of the nations – now and not yet: in eternity they won’t need healing, so there has to be a present aspect to this. Jesus came that we might have life. The 'rivers' that he offers is none other than the gift of the Holy Spirit. So much so that there are 'waters to swim in' to quote Ezekial.

They will reign... In this chapter we have a picture of the gospel and its power to save, to heal, to restore, and those who believe will reign forever and ever – something that begins here and now, even as Paul said in Romans 5:17,  that those who believe would reign in life through the gift of righteousness. It starts now. Life is preparation for the future. This is the warm up.

Heaven's Perspective

Perspective
Perspective is everything, if we don’t have it we are in trouble.

In Revelation we encounter a persecuted and suffering church, and things are not going to get better. From their perspective it doesn’t look or feel good, later on we will hear the cry, “how long, O Lord?”

Following the messages to the seven churches we see heaven’s door open and we are immediately launched into heaven, “Come up here,…” (Rev.4:1) was the summons – an invitation into the very presence of God, and my what a revelation.

A Throne
This word will be repeated numerous times. Yes there is a throne in heaven upon which God sits, and from that throne he reigns. He has the first and last word.

John says that before it was “something like a sea of glass” – nothing can disturb, or trouble the throne of God. God is not thrown into a quandry by what’s going on on earth. In fact in the words of the psalmist, “The One enthroned in heaven laughs” (2:4 HCSB) at the schemes of man.

God is Trinity
“One was seated on the throne…. seven Spirits of God or the sevenfold Spirit of God….. A Lamb…” God is Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, that blessed (happy) community of eternal fellowship that exists at the heart of the universe and is the cause and creator of it.

God is holy
The thrice holy – utterly unique One who is so much more and other than we are. How frequently we bring God down to our level, and then wonder why our Chrisitan experience is so feeble and frail.

The forever God
God who was.
God who is.
God is to come.
No beginning, no end. He reigns for ever and ever. Hallelujah!

Worship
We see him praised and worship:
1. For who he is (4:10).
2. For his work in creation (4:11).
3. For his work in redemption (5:9, 10, 12, 13).

How often our worship starts with ourselves – feelings: I don’t feel like it; self analysis: I don’t feel good enough; or with what we are going to do: “I will …”, “We will …” and then we wonder why we never get airbourne, why it seems hard work and little more than the old genie in a bottle trick.

When Jesus taught his disciples how to pray, worship came first, “Our Father who is in heaven, hallowed be your name…” it’s about two thirds of the way through that we get the confession, “Forgive us our sins…” Maybe your prayer life is taken up with too much of yourself – it’s all about you. That’s whirlpool worship, it sucks you in and leaves you exhausted.

David stirred himself up, spoke to himself, “Bless the Lord O my soul…” Psalm 103:1. Worship involves a looking away from ourselves to Another who is worthy in himself, and secondly for what he has done.

We need to get God’s perspective
Getting into God’s presence and get his perspective makes all the difference.

Yes life for the churches John was writing to was tough and going to get tougher, but God was on the throne, and he reigns. Satan and those he works through will not win. The world is God’s, he has wrought salvation, and his people can have every stong hope in him.

Perhaps your perspective has become skewed, fear has become your consellor, and you are on a downer - It’s time to get into the presence of God, to see him on his throne, to know that he commands your destiny, to get his perspective on your life.

Jesus Loves and Speaks to the Church

JESUS LOVES THE CHURCH
Jesus loves the church for which he gave himself. John said “To him who loves us…” (1:5). It is out of that context that Revelation chapters 2 and 3 flow. It is out of that context that he speaks to the church sometimes hard and difficult words as well as words of comfort and strength. Some would like to say these letters represent church ages, others that being seven it represents the total sum of what God says to the church, neither of which is adequate. These were written to specific churches at particular time for a paricular reason, and in no way do they cover all of the problems we might find in the church. In fact while revival is taking place in one area, a church may be dying in another.

DIVINE DIAGNOSIS
In chapters 2 and 3 we have seven letters to seven churches. Each of these letters comes out of the context of Jesus as the ascended Lord of the Church, who walks among them. The church in Revelation was going through a difficult time. Persecution was on the increase. It was tough. Nevertheless that doesn’t rule out other aspects of life and in these letters Jesus addresses each of the churches with a divine diagnosis.

These are prophetic words. The argument is raised that preterists empty Revelation of it’s prophetic content, but that is to limit prophecy to futurism. The fact of the matter is that much of prophecy in the Bible is of the nature of divine diagnosis and remedy, and that is what Revelation is about. How we need that divine diagnosis today, and the remedy God provides – Something to be noted here is that he doesn’t say the same thing to each church, a mistake that seems to be commonly made today where all churches are put in the same boat, and the same diagnosis and remedy applied.

In each of the letters we read, “I know…” That God knows can be both comforting and disturbing, comforting about the struggles and trials we face as Christians and churches, but disturbing when it’s about the things we thought we could hide, and get away with. We may feel we can make a good impression, but there is nothing, absolutely nothing that is hidden from him – he knows. What does he know about you?

Nevertheless the “I know…” here is redemptive, he knows and he reveals his knowledge of us not to condemn, but to change. So often we are blind and don’t see clearly. We are also very good at justifying ourselves – “Yes, I know, but you don’t understand…” Such arguments don’t stand a chance with God.
I wonder if such a word were to come today what would God say of you and your church? And would you be willing to hear it?

HEAR
Which brings me to the recurring words, “If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches?” Listen is probably a better word as we know all to well we may hear but not listen – we heard what our mother said, but we didn’t listen! Are we listening. Yes the Spirit speaks today, the prophetic voice can still be heard – if we are willing to stop ad listen. Perhaps the churches in Revelation thought they were doing OK given the circumstances, but God’s voice cuts through all of that and diagnosies their real condition, and reveals every situation for what it is.

REPENT
Repent occurs in six of the seven letters. Repent is not a word we like to hear, as it involves admission of guilt – being in the wrong. It’s a humbling word, but with God it also becomes a lifting and saving word. The word to six of the seven churches involved a call to repentance, a recognition of what was wrong and a change of direction/action.
What do you need to repent of? Don’t delay, thats the devils way – it can wait til torrow. No, do it today, and be a recipient of God’s geart mercy and grace.

HOLD ON
For one church there was no such call – Philadelphia; the challenge was to hold on. That’s what some need to hear. God knows the difficulty, the trial, he is with you and he says ‘hold on to what you’ve got, don’t let let anyone take your crown.’ Earlier John had spoken of the people of God as a “kingdom, priests” or ‘kings and priests,’ (1:6). This is not about the heavenly crown, but the crown of life, their reiging in life (Romans 5:17).

Revelation 1 A Brief Look

A BRIEF LOOK AT CHAPTER 1.
What do you know about Jesus? How do you see him? To some he’s just a teacher or healer, or good man, to many just a very nice man, but the Bible says a whole lot more.

“The Revelation of…” It’s a Revelation, an unfolding. It is meant to be understood.

“Of Jesus Christ” – it’s about Jesus. John knew him, but now he gets another powerful revelation, a revelation that Jesus has won! This is where some end times theology falls down as it proclaims a yet cosmic battle in the future, and undermines the cross.

“About what must quickly take place” or as Wuest translates it in his Expanded Translation of the New Testament which seeks to bring out the full meaning of the Greek, “must necessarily come to pass in their entirety shortly” ….. “the time is near,” or “the things which in it have been written and are on record, for the strategic, epochal season is imminent.” This idea of imminence is repeated v. 10, in chapter 2 and 3, and at the end.

“Made it known” (ESV) or more literally “Signified it” (HCSB) that is it was in signs, sign-i-fied. It was meant to be seen, it’s cinematic, and it’s not all that it appears to be! The stars are the angels, the lamps are the churches, the seven heads of the beast are ‘seven mountains’ and ‘seven kings,’ the Lion is the Lamb who is the Son of God, the new Jerusalem is not bricks and mortar but the people of God. This means we cannot take it literally, but must take John’s pictures/symbols as symbolic of something or someone.

Our problem is reading backwards into the text, from a modern day, global, high tech world. The fact is it was for them and they were meant to understand it! The first place to look is Scripture itself which is filled with such images – Revelation has more references to the OT than any other New Testament book. As Dennis Johnson puts it, “Revelation only makes sense in the light of the Old Testament.” At the same time God does not simply cut and paste, so care needs to be exercised.

“Is blessed…” There are seven blessings pronounced throughout the book – what kind of blessing would it have been if these words were totally unrelated to them, for some distant generation?

“Prophecy” is not just about prediction but more frequently as it is the Old Testament a sense of Divine diagnosis, and the needed response/cure.

“To the seven churches in Asia.” This also helps to set the time and the place/context. (also v.10). Seven particular churches, in a particular place, at a particular time in history. Asia Minor was divided into seven postal districts and each of these places was the main town in the district from which information was distributed.

“Grace and peace.” This is a common apostolic greeting emphasizing that our new life is, and was, and always will be, by and dependent on God’s amazing grace, and the need to receive and be living in his ‘peace’ no matter what the circumstances.

“From the One…. and the seven spirits/sevenfold Spirit and Jesus Christ…” reminds us that the God of the Bible is a Trinitarian God – a holy, happy, blessed fellowship of co-equal persons from all eternity to all eternity, One in Three and Three in One, and that having been made in his image is the basis for all our relationships.

“To Him who loves us….” Here we a have a reminder that the gospel is central, as John gets caught up in praise to God for the good news of Jesus Christ – washed, freed, kings and priests!

“Look! …..” draws immediate attention – what is said here has an imminent and a later context, and echoes the word of Jesus in Matthew 24.

“Coming with the clouds” is an O.T. reference to God coming in judgment, and had a present as well as a future reference. It can also be read as, “Look! He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, including those who pierced him. And all the tribes of the land will mourn over him. This is certain. Amen.” This doesn’t have to mean that literally every eye will see him, but can simply mean it will not be done in a corner, but will be a very public event.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega….” An alphabet speaks of the letters we use to convey knowledge. He is the fount of all knowledge, the beginning and end – it is he who will have the last word.

“Partner in tribulation, kingdom and endurance….” John is suffering, even as they are, but it’s for the sake of the kingdom and requires endurance. Acts 14:22.

“In the Spirit..” a particular and conscious awareness of the Spirit – do we have such experiences? How do we identify them?

“Seven gold lampstands, and seven stars…” the seven churches and their angel or messenger, perhaps leader.

“Among them…” Here were seven suffering churches, and John sees Jesus standing among them. What reassuring words.

“One like the Son of Man…” This harks back to Daniel 7:13,14, “I saw one like a Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before Him. He was given authority to rule, and glory, and a kingdom, so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will now be destroyed.”

Many empires, emperors, kings, rulers have come and gone, but his one will not, he is greater than Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, Alexander and any Caesar, or for that matter Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Saddam Hussein or Colonel Gaddaffi! John saw him even as Daniel did, and stunned he falls down before him.

John, the Christians and the churches lived in a world where Caesar was lord or king of all the known earth. Look at what he says: “Don’t be afraid! I AM ….”

Notice that HE holds the keys of death and Hades, because he has defeated them. He is the resurrection and the life, and the gates of hell will not prevail! Whatever Rome or the Jewish persecutors, or the devil, would throw at the church He has the last word, because he has already won! And because he has won we may have every confidence in him.

John has an increasing revelation of Jesus Christ, from his first encounter in the Gospels to this one in Revelation. Has your knowledge and experience of Christ grown? Are you open to fresh encounters?