Tag Archives: believers

AN UNEXPECTED HARVEST

Bible Study, ,

AN UNEXPECTED HARVEST

“Many of the Samaritans of that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days. And because of His words many more became believers. They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.'” John 4:39-42 (NIV).

What an amazing conclusion to an unusual encounter! Once again John had a story to tell that ended with a new wave of faith in Jesus as Messiah and Saviour. 

It’s almost as though His words to His disciples were prophetic. The woman was the first-fruit of a harvest that was waiting to be reaped in an unlikely region through which He travelled on His way to somewhere, but she was the key to that harvest.

What was it in the woman’s testimony that captured their attention and their imagination?  One simple statement, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’ Jesus was no fortune-teller. It was much more than just His words that captivated her. What He knew and disclosed to her was the wedge that opened up her locked and barred spirit because it revealed His heart for her.

His words were not intended to embarrass or condemn her. They were part of a disclosure that revealed not only what He knew about her unsavoury life but also what He understood about her empty heart. It was His invitation to come to Him because He could give her water that would quench her thirst forever.

Her fellow towns-people were intrigued by her testimony, but they were even more intrigued by the transformation in her. She was very different from the woman they knew and despised. Something had happened to her that had caused her to lose her fear of them. She approached them without shame despite her testimony. There was something in Jesus’ words that had set her free and she was desperate to share it with her erstwhile “enemies”.

The people of Sychar were not only willing to listen to her story; they also wanted to hear this remarkable man for themselves. Here was an unlikely harvest ready for reaping. Why should they, the people of a race that was despised by the Jews, listen to a Jewish man? Racial prejudice runs very deep and it works both ways.

The miracle is that Jesus transcends prejudice. In His earthly circumstances He might have been born a Jew and raised in the Jewish culture and religion, but He never participated in their attitudes and issues. Jew though He was, He represented another kingdom and another culture. He did not represent a Jewish God or a white man’s God or a black man’s God or any other group’s God. He came to reveal the God of heaven.

He is the Son of God, the Creator of the universe and Father of all the variations in the human race. There is only one race. The prejudices human beings develop are based on superficial external differences, not on our essential unity as members of the human race created in the image of God.

The apostle Paul confirmed the unity of the human race: “From one man He made all the nations that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.” Acts 17:26 (NIV).

Jesus’ message is to the world; it transcends geographical, language and cultural boundaries and invites all people everywhere to return to the Father from whom they are estranged because of sin. The woman needed a Father to heal her wounded heart and so did the people of Sychar who were no better than she.

Everyone, regardless of our experience of an earthly, imperfect father, needs to know the Father and to return to His house where we can live as accepted and beloved children of God, and Jesus came to take us to Him.

Have you come home to Him? Why are you waiting?

Acknowledgement

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

A SHORT NOTE ON ROMANS 10

Christian Life, ,

A SHORT NOTE ON ROMANS 10

In my notes on prayer, I said that Paul did not pray for unbelievers to be saved, nor did he encourage his readers to pray for unbelievers, not even their own family members.

However, he did pray for his own unbelieving people.

“Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.” Romans 10:1 NLT

Why did Paul pray for his own people but not for unbelieving Gentiles to be saved? What made the difference?

While I was pondering this question, the Holy Spirit began to teach me what the Word says.

GENTILE UNBELIEVERS

In John 16, Jesus explained the Holy Spirit’s ministry to three different categories.

“But in fact, it is best for you that I go away, because if I don’t, the Advocate won’t come. If I do go away, then I will send him to you.  And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.  The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.  Righteousness is available because I go to the Father, and you will see me no more.  Judgment will come because the ruler of this world has already been judged.” John 16:7-11 NLT

The first category is unbelievers. The other two categories, believers and Satan and his demons, are not our concern for now. The only ministry the Holy Spirit has to unbelievers is to convict them of sin. Why is this?

Let me explain.

The Holy Spirit ministers through the Word which is His tool to reach the minds of people. Since unbelievers do not have the Word in them, how can the Spirit lead them to faith in Jesus? He does not impose anything on them from without. He works from within.

Firstly, creation itself is a witness to the reality of God.

“They know the truth about God because he has made it obvious to them. For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.”Romans 1:19-20 NLT

Secondly, the Holy Spirit works in unbelievers through conscience. Everyone is born with a basic awareness of what is right and wrong.

“Even Gentiles, who do not have God’s written law, show that they know his law when they instinctively obey it, even without having heard it. They demonstrate that God’s law is written in their hearts, for their own conscience and thoughts either accuse them or tell them they are doing right.” Romans 2:14-15 NLT

Since there is a witness in every unbeliever to the reality of God and His moral law through creation and conscience, the Holy Spirit is able to use these” tools” in unbelievers to awaken the conviction of sin.

The next step in the process of salvation is found in Rom. 10 :17

“So, faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” Romans 10:17 NLT

I said that prayer for unbelievers will not save them. Why? Faith in the message comes about through hearing, not prayer. Again, only when an unbeliever has heard the gospel can the Holy Spirit awaken faith because the gospel message is planted in the mind through preaching.

This is the reason that Paul wrote…

“Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe.” 1 Corinthians 1:21 NLT

JEWISH UNBELIEVERS

How is it, then, that Paul could pray for the salvation of Jewish unbelievers but not for Gentile unbelievers?

Paul explains this in Romans 10.

“For Moses writes that the law’s way of making a person right with God requires obedience to all of its commands.  But faith’s way of getting right with God says, “Don’t say in your heart, ‘Who will go up to heaven?’ (to bring Christ down to earth). And don’t say, ‘Who will go down to the place of the dead?’ (to bring Christ back to life again).” In fact, it says, “The message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart.” And that message is the very message about faith that we preach:… ” Romans 10:5-8 NLT

Paul was quoting Moses’ words in Deut. 30…

“This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you, and it is not beyond your reach. It is not kept in heaven, so distant that you must ask, ‘Who will go up to heaven and bring it down so we can hear it and obey?’ It is not kept beyond the sea, so far away that you must ask, ‘Who will cross the sea to bring it to us so we can hear it and obey?’ No, the message is very close at hand; it is on your lips and in your heart so that you can obey it.” Deuteronomy 30:11-14 NLT

What was Moses saying?

God’s Word was already in the minds of the Jewish people because they had been taught it from birth. Parents were instructed to teach their children the words of God’s Covenant at every possible time and opportunity.

“And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” Deuteronomy 6:5-9 NLT

The Jewish nation, then, as a whole, is God’s chosen people. They have God’s Word in the Old Covenant, even if they don’t believe or practise it. Potentially, the Word is in them and the Holy Spirit, therefore, has the tools to awaken both conscience and faith.

In Romans 9, Paul explains the reason for unbelief in some Jews, if not most. They stumble over the message of the cross. It is an offense to them. However, there is another reason for unbelief… election, a mystery only God can fully explain which we can’t go into here.

BELIEVERS

What about Paul’s numerous prayers for believers? I think the explanation is simple. The Holy Spirit lives in them and the Word is written on their hearts.

“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.  And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.” Ezekiel 36:26-27 NLT

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord . “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord .’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord . “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” Jeremiah 31:33-34 NLT

In response to the conviction of sin and faith in Jesus through hearing the message, the Holy Spirit transformed our hearts and came to live inside us, bringing with Him, potentially, all the truth and power of the Word as we read and respond to His work through the Word. Now, as we pray for one another, the Holy Spirit has the “tools”, the Word in us, to activate spiritual growth and maturity.

However, there is a condition which we must consider carefully. We set the level of our own spiritual growth and maturity by our responsiveness to the Word.

Jesus warned His hearers…

… “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given —and you will receive even more.  To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.” Mark 4:24-25 NLT

Why is it so important that believers grow in grace and spiritual maturity?

  1. The level of our understanding of everything that Jesus did through His death and resurrection will determine our response to the powers of the kingdom at work in us.

“You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen.” 2 Peter 3:17-18 NLT

  1. As representatives of God’s kingdom on earth, we are here to point the way for unbelievers, by our lives and the message about Jesus that we speak. We must therefore be walking in the light, not perfectly but purposefully, before we can point others to Jesus,
  1. We are serving an apprenticeship for the life to come. Our rewards in heaven depend on our faithfulness and obedience to God’s calling to be restored to the image of His Son.

“In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered. Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.” Hebrews 2:10-11 NIV

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.” Romans 8:28-29 NIV

So, then, based on what we have learned, how do we pray for Gentile unbelievers, Jewish unbelievers and all our believing brothers and sisters?

  1. UNBELIEVING GENTILES

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 NIV

1a. We can ask the Father to activate their conscience in response to the moral law in them through the Holy Spirit.

“And when he comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.  The world’s sin is that it refuses to believe in me.” John 16:8-9 NLT

1b. We can pray that they will get the opportunity to hear the message about Jesus.

“So, faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.” Romans 10:17 NLT

1c. We can ask God to give them faith to receive the message and to turn to the Lord.

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.” 2 Corinthians 3:16 NIV

  1. UNBELIEVING JEWS

“We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away. But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 3:13-14 NLT

2a. Pray that the Holy Spirit will activate the law in their hearts.

“When the Gentiles sin, they will be destroyed, even though they never had God’s written law. And the Jews, who do have God’s law, will be judged by that law when they fail to obey it. For merely listening to the law doesn’t make us right with God. It is obeying the law that makes us right in his sight.” Romans 2:12-13 NLT

Why the law?

“For no one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law simply shows us how sinful we are.” Romans 3:20 NLT

  1. From here, we pray in the same way as we pray for Gentiles.

“But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ. Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 2 Corinthians 3:14-16 NLT

  1. BELIEVERS

There is a smorgasbord of prayers we can pray for believers because everything that Jesus has done is for us.

When we pray for Christian brothers and sisters, firstly, the Spirit can only apply the Word that is in us. Therefore:

3a. Ask the Lord to activate a hunger for the Word so that the Holy Spirit can remind us, through the Word in us, of the appropriate word according to our need.

3b. Pray that the Lord will write His word on our hearts, according to His promise in Jer. 31:33…

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord . “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Jeremiah 31:33 NLT

3c. Pray the pattern, not the problem. God does not respond to problems. He responds to faith in His promises.

“By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvellous glory and excellence. And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises.

These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.

In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:3-8 NLT

It all depends on the Word and the Spirit that are in us.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

All Scripture quotations in this series

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Peter, An Apostle

Bible Study, , , ,

PETER, AN APOSTLE

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance (1 Peter 1: 1-2).

Who wrote this letter, Peter or Paul? It sounds a lot like Paul, doesn’t it? But it wasn’t Paul; it was Peter, the fisherman.

When we read these letters, we read them as inspired writings rather than as letters written by human beings who must have been in contact with one another and influenced one another in many ways. These men were apostles and leaders in the early church. They had a profound influence on the believers and would have spent time together whenever they could so that they would speak with one voice.

Peter had been with Jesus for more than three years. Paul had his three years in the desert of Arabia, communing and learning the message he was to take to the world from the Holy Spirit whom Jesus promised, would lead him into all truth. They learned from the same Master and taught the same message wherever they went.

To whom did Peter write this letter? To believers scattered throughout Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. How can one write a letter to people scattered all over the place? Perhaps Peter made many copies and had one of his compatriots drop them off as they travelled from place to place. We can send e-mails anywhere simultaneously simply by adding an address to our list of addressees and pressing ‘send’. In a flash through technology we use but do not understand, our recipients can read our letter within seconds.

Peter’s way of communicating was tedious and took many months to reach his readers but his message was permanent, preserved on material that has survived thousands of years. What happens to our messages on computer? They disappear as fast as they were sent simply by pressing ‘delete’. Unfortunately, we often dismiss God’s word from our minds as quickly as we delete our e-mails from our computers, instead of saving them on the ‘hard drive’ of our hearts.

Peter’s greeting was in itself a short but profound summary of his message to these scattered believers:

Who were they? They were God’s elect, unknown and unnamed people as far as the world was concerned but, as far as God was concerned, known and chosen to belong to Him before the world was even created. From the world’s perspective they were exiles, aliens, rejected by the world, refugees living in foreign lands, not belonging anywhere in this world but, nevertheless, citizens of the heavenly kingdom, their true homeland.

What a contrast! Rejected by the world but belonging to God. Their identity was not rooted in the world’s favour. What did it matter if the world did not want them? They were God’s chosen, chosen by Him and identified with Him. That made them secure for time and eternity. And it was a God-thing from beginning to end. Why? The triune God is involved in their election.

Firstly, God the Father was behind the choice of every individual who made up the elect. They did not happen to be in His kingdom by chance. They did not stumble into it by accident. They were there by the Father’s choice and for a purpose.

Secondly, the Holy Spirit was involved in their election. He made it all happen. He wooed and won the heart of every person who was called ‘elect’. He drew them to Jesus, opened the eyes of their understanding, brought them to faith and set them apart for God.

Thirdly, Jesus was also involved in their election. He was the object of their faith and the reason for their salvation. It was through His blood that they were forgiven, cleansed and made fit to be citizens of God’s kingdom and members of His family. It was for obedience to Him that they were chosen and called. This was ultimately the evidence and the outcome of their election.

If you are a citizen of God’s kingdom, you are also ‘elect’ of God, unknown and unwanted by the world, but belonging to God and set apart for him.

Scripture taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

 

The World’s Most Heinous Crime!

Bible Study, , ,

THE WORLD’S MOST HEINOUS CRIME!

“‘I admit that I didn’t always hold to this position. For a time I thought it was my duty to oppose this Jesus of Nazareth with all my might. Backed with the full authority of the high priests, I threw the believers — I had no idea they were God’s people — into the Jerusalem jail right and left, and whenever it came to a vote, I voted for their execution. I stormed through their meeting places, bullying them into cursing Jesus, a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people. And then I started on the towns outside Jerusalem.'” Acts 9-11 (The Message).

What a list of accomplishments to put on your CV, Paul! What a confession! Religious extremist! Fanatic! Murderer! Terrorist! Talk about a religious war! Paul could have been fighting the cause of any one of the world’s most prominent religions today. They all have the same intention — get rid of believers in Jesus; 165,000 Christians murdered every year. Why? What have they done? Put their faith in the Son of God who was raised from the dead? What kind of a crime is that? Why did he do it?

We have only two options — believe in the God who created us in His image or believe in a god we created in our image. How do we know the difference? By our fruit. We always become like the god we worship. If we worship a god we, or someone else, has created in our image, we reveal the nature of that god by our disposition and behaviour.

Paul thought that he was fighting for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but this God revealed Himself as gracious, compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love and faitfulness, full of mercy and forgiving sin (Exodus34:6). Does that look like the God he was representing in his murderous hatred of believers?

What was Paul’s problem? He was deceived. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is the image of God.” 2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIV). There was nothing wrong with his zeal but everything wrong with what he believed.

Why did God not take him out for his actions against His people? He deserved to die there and then, didn’t he? I suspect that God saw beyond his fanatical persecution of Christians to a passionate desire to serve and please the God he thought he knew. That he went about it the wrong way was not the issue. That could be corrected. That he had a heart for God was a characteristic that could be honed into a loyal and faithful son of God and worshipper of Jesus.

A story in the Old Testament clearly illustrates this principle. Isaac, Abraham’s son, had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau, it seems, was the more pleasant character. He was an outdoor man, a good hunter and a daddy’s boy. His brother, Jacob, like his name meaning “deceiver”, was a scheming, lying, twisted namby-pamby mommy’s boy.

But Esau had an inborn fault — he had no interest in spiritual things. He gave away his right as the firstborn just to fill his belly on the spur of the moment. On the other hand, Jacob coveted his brother’s position as the firstborn and the privileges and advantages that came with it. Through lies and deception he stole his brother’s birthright and the father’s blessing. For a good part of his life he lived by deceiving and being deceived.

But, from God’s perspective, Jacob’s thirst for spiritual realities was a characteristic He could work with, even though he went about it the wrong way. God moved him, slowly but surely, into the place where he was cornered, wanting to go home, but desperately afraid of Esau and the repercussions of his deception. In an all-night struggle with the Angel of the Lord, Jacob surrendered and he was changed, from “deceiver” to “prince with God.” The same zeal that drove him to lie and steal, now drove him to love and obey God.

God is looking for those who yearn for Him, though they may not know it. He will make Himself known to anyone who seeks Him with all his heart.