The Centre of your life.

Any serious student, or even reader, of the Bible will be aware that the Centre of that single Book - that is a library of books - is One Person, the Lord Jesus, the Christ (Messiah) of God. What many do not realise is that He may also be the Centre of our lives. How may this be? Simply by believing in Him. John writes: "But these [signs] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His Name." (John 20:30-31). What does this mean?

First of all it concerns eternal life. There is a common misunderstanding that "eternal life" is "everlasting" life - life that goes on, and on, and on. Greek mythology lets us know how tragic that would be! The story is told of the young Greek "goddess" who fell in love with a mortal, and wanted to be with him forever. So she went to Zeus (head of the Greek pantheon) and asked that he be granted everlasting life. Her wish was granted, and she went off as happy as could be. For many years, all was well, but then the couple realised their mistake. The "goddess" remained youthful, beautiful, and full of vigour. Her mortal partner grew older and older, and more and more frail, but was destined never to die! 

Eternity is not "endless time". It is "timelessness". [I deal more fully with this in my book "Great Words of the Faith"]. You see, time is a created entity, and has both a beginning and end. Eternity is the "dimension" in which the Creator God "resides". And eternal life is, in fact, a totally different life that, in our mortal lives, is beyond our comprehension. What we do know is that is promised to all who have come to the Lord Jesus, in repentance and faith. 

Without the Lord Jesus, we have no hope of heaven. Paul reminds us that "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23), and we are all sinners. We have broken God's moral law, and deserve nothing but His wrath and punishment.

John, commenting on Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus, writes: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). Note the tense of the final verb! It's in the present tense. In other words, as soon as we accept the Lord Jesus as our Saviour, we receive the very life of Almighty God. That is being "born again". It's not just new life, it's a whole new attitude to life in our physical, mortal bodies. It's not the oftimes artificial, unstable, life that the world offers, but a life full of purpose and peace, and joy.

So Jesus can be the centre of your life, and in your death. I commend Him to you.

Sowing seed; presenting Jesus.

This morning, I was able to tune in to the online worship service provided by the Harvest Church in Hamilton (Lanarkshire!). The pastor,Willie Watt, was speaking on the well-known parable of Jesus: The sower and the seed. His main point, if I understood him correctly, was that the responsibility of the believer to sow that seed - the Gospel message. However, it is only a work of God the Holy Spirit in the heart of the individual, that will bring about that change known as 'conversion'.

In John 7, the apostle records that Jesus had gone up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. He went to the Temple, and was teaching openly. Some of the people wondered if the authorities really knew that He was the Christ - the Messiah. The Pharisees heard these questions and, with the chief priests, sent Temple officers to arrest Jesus. These men listened to Jesus, and returned to the chief priests and the Pharisees - without Him! We read, in vs.45-46: "The officers then went back to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, "Why did you not bring Him?" The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"

The testimony of the Temple police to the matchless power of Jesus' teaching is most telling! Sent to arrest Him, they were so impressed by Him that they could not do so - risking the fury of their masters! If people will take the time and trouble to really look at Jesus - not, as my former minister, the Rev. George B Duncan often said, at the church; or at Christians; or at the clergy - but at what He said, and what He did, they cannot be anything but impressed! T.R.Glover, a Cambridge University lecturer in Classical Literature, wrote: "Jesus remains the very heart and soul of the Christian movement, still controlling men, still capturing men - against their will, often - changing men's lives,and using them for ends they never dreamed of." 

The challenge of this to present-day disciples of Jesus seems to be: Be uncompromising in presenting the Lord Jesus! Or, as Pastor Watt might have put it ths morning - Be bold in sowing the seed of the Gospel! Perhaps some of us are so side-tracked into "doing good works in His Name" that we forget to mention the Name itself - sometimes because of a mistaken idea that we may embarrass people; sometimes, to our shame, to spare our own embarrassment.

It is the business of the disciple of Jesus to present Him to the world. "... Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age." (Matt 28:18-20). It is the business of the disciple of Jesus to make it clear that He has a rightful claim on our lives. No amount of "do-gooding" will, by itself, achieve that. Paul wrote to the early believers in Rome: "... But how are men to call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without a preacher?" (Rom 10:14).

Whilst there is no record of any of the Temple police having become followers of the Nazarene because of what they had heard, their reaction is impressive. Our own bold, and unhesitating offer of the Saviour to our contempraries might well have surprising results! And, if we are not yet, ourselves, His disciples, then looking to Him, and to Him alone, may be sufficient to lead us to full salvation.

On eagle's wings.

It is with some regret that I have to confess that I am no ornithologist. If I was, I would have been able to identify the bird that has been soaring over our home these past few days. I suspect that it is a kestrel, or a hawk, but cannot be certain! I am sure, however, that it is not a Golden Eagle. It simply isn't big enough - and I don't think that this area would be a suitable habitat for that most majestic of birds!

The eagle is, of course, mentioned quite often in the written Word of God. From what I can learn, it is an amazing bird. It is, I believe, the only bird that can fly directly towards the sun. It can see a small animal in a field from an amazing height. However, the characteristic that I thought about as I watched that other bird, is the way in which it deals with its young. I am given to understand that, when the parents believe that the young birds are ready to fly, they will push them out of the nest! However, they will also fly under the young birds and, if one is having difficulty, a parent will 'catch' it on its own wing! In teaching its young to fly, it protects them from injury with watchful affection, 

This characteristic of the eagle is referred to in Deuteronomy 32: 11, where we read these words: "Like an eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions,"  The context of those words is the final song of the great leader of the Children of Israel, Moses. He is showing, here, how YHWH "... gave to the nations their inheritance," (v.8) and that "... Jacob (i.e.Israel) is His allotted heritage." (v.9). 

Under the new, or second, covenant disciples of the Lord Jesus, the Christ (i.e. Messiah), have been grafted on the to root which is Israel (there is no hint of so-called "replacement theology" in the pages of the new covenant!). Read Romans 11 and allow Paul to explain the relationship between Israel and the Church. "... if some of the branches were broken off, and you, a wild olive shoot, were grafted in their place to share the richness of the olive tree, do not boast over the branches. If you do boast, remember it is not you that support the root, but the root that supports you. You will say, "Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in." That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast only through faith. So do not become proud, but stand in awe. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will He spare you." (Rom 11:17-21).

"He (the Lord Jesus) was in the world, and the world was made through Him, yet the world knew Him not. He came to His own home, and His own people received Him not. But to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:10-13).

As a disciple of Jesus, I am a child of God. As a child of God, I may know His special care. To claim another couple of promises from the pages of the First Testament: "Underneath are the everlasting arms." (Deut.33:27). "He alone is my Rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken" (Ps.62:6).

Carried; cared for; protected; saved. He is my Certainty in these uncertain times.

Religion - or Relationship?

Mary works hard because she wants her boss to recognise her accomplishments and reward her with a promotion that will increase her salary. Nancy loves her job, and the product that her company sells and, out of a deep sense of loyalty, she works hard to make the product better.

Mary is like the person who hopes that good works, or religion will, one day, be rewarded by Almighty God (of Whose existence she may not even be totally convinced!). Such a person counts on their good deeds to gain them entrance to heaven.

Nancy is more like a picture of the person who has faith in God, and His grace, through a personal relationship with Jesus, the Christ, and is assured of eternal life. Such people do good deeds out of gratitude and love for the Lord.

Someone with "religion" may believe in the existence of God; attend a worship service - even regularly; 'say prayers' (which is not necessarily the same as 'praying'!); show kindness; and be considered to be a generally 'good' person. People who have "religion" have many good qualities - but religion is not, and never can be, a substitute for a saving relationship with Father God, through  the atoning* sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, the Christ (Messiah; HaMashiach), and the indwelling of God the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKadosh).

People with faith put their trust in the Lord Jesus for forgiveness of sin. They have assurance of eternal life, and seek to become more like Jesus on a daily basis - the process known as "sanctification"* It is not a matter of my 'works', as if I could somehow earn salvation. Paul, writing to the early believers in Ephesus stated: "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God - not because of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph 2:8-9). There is one Way, and one Way only. Jesus said: "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father, but by Me." (John 14:6) - words that appear to have been forgotten (or are ignored!) even by some members of the clergy with whom I am acquainted!

Religion - that is man-made, and leads to hell; or a relationship with the Sovereign Creator of all that exists - a relationship that does not depend on what you have done, or can do, but solely on His love, and grace, and mercy?

Remember: we are saved, not by what we do, but by trusting in what the Lord Jesus has done!

*These words, or a cognate, are dealt with in my first book: Great Words of the Faith (access details above). The first 10% is available for preview on the Amazon link. Remember that ALL of the royalties earned go directly to the bank account of Release International, in support of the persecuted church.

Meditation

It was while my elder daughter was a student at the, then, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, that I first came across the beautiful piece of music by the French composer Massenet, that is named "Meditation". Indeed, it caused a wee bit of friction between my daughter and me when she asked me to purchase a copy of the score while I was in Glasgow. She merely asked if I could obtain a copy of the "Massenet" (probably because the Meditation is his best-known piece). However, what my non-professional ear heard was a request for a copy of "the Mass in A"!!! "By whom?", I asked. "Massenet!", came the reply. "Yes, I heard that. But who is the composer?" "Dad, Massenet is the name of the composer!" The conversation was actually a little longer than that - but left one somewhat chastened father!!!

However, the meditation referred to at the top, is the mental exercise of giving deep and focused thought to something. Today is known, in the English-speaking world, as "Good Friday", and is the day on which disciples of Jesus especially recall His death on the cross at Calvary, just outside the old city of Jerusalem.

People often ask the understandable question: "Why did Jesus die?" The New Testament writers don't go into a lot of detail about the crucifixion,. They had no need to do so. It was an all-too-common occurrence in the Roman Empire! In his record of the event, Mark simply writes: "And they crucified Him ..." (15:24). But why was He crucified in the first place? This was One Who had never committed any crime; Who had gone about doing good; Who was loved by children (who seem to have an instinct about adults who may be trusted!). Why would He suffer and die in such an agonising fashion?

Jesus did not die as a frustrated "super-star, in spite of the name of a well-known musical from last century. He did not die as an exemplary hero for some cause. Indeed, the death of Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ (Messiah) was not even, primarily, an act of love! His death was, primarily, a sacrifice for sin. There was love, deep love, in it. It was His love for you, and for me, that held Him to that cross. But, first and foremost, it was a sacrifice.

Jesus "...gave Himself for our sins ..." (Gal.1:4). He Who knew no sin, became sin for you, and for me. Paul writes to the Corinthian believers: "For our sake He [the Father] made Him [the Son] to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him [the Son] we might become the righteousness of God." (II Cor 5:21). It is not too many years since I came across that verse and, in spite of having read it countless times before, something of the horror of it suddenly hit me. For a brief moment of human time, the spotless, sinless, Son; the Second Persona of the Trinity; Himself God; became sin! Sin - that upon which Almighty God cannot bear to look. Sin - the very opposite of the Holiness and perfection of the Father . Sin - that vile, filthy, rejection that spits in the face of the Father Who loves with an everlasting love (Is.54:8). Sin - in all of its blackness, its obnoxiousness, its evil, its nastiness, and any other similar description. He became sin - for us!

I realised, on the day when that verse first "hit" me - as it had never done before - that it was at that moment, in time, that Jesus experienced what He did not experience in all of eternity: the Father turning away from Him. That was when He uttered those words, known as "the cry of dereliction" - "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" (Matt 27:46). It was, surely, at that moment that Jesus experienced separation from the Father. How that happened, in the unity of the Godhead, I do not know. But it would have been, for Him, much, much worse than all of the physical pain and agony that He had already endured. And it was for you, and for me.

On this "Good Friday", take time to think deeply on this truth. Take to heart those words uttered by John the Baptiser: "Behold, the Lamb of God , Who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29), and rejoice that He did it for you!

A new year - what may it hold?!

Yesterday, as I searched for a parking space in the West End of the city of Glasgow (finding the crock of gold at the end of a rainbow is marginally easier!) that I noticed the very large sign that proclaimed "The Messiah has come"! Well, as I had just celebrated the annual Christmas season, when many of us remember the incarnation of Almighty God as a helpless infant, more than 2,000 years ago, I couldn't disagree. However, what was surprising was that the sign was on a building that is used as a mosque! It also had a picture of a bearded male who, it would appear, was the "messiah" to whom reference was made.

A few days ago, a newspaper made the statement: "The Bible indicates that the Rapture could come at any time and you will not be expecting it, ..." With that statement, I had no problem at all. My difficulty is with those who claim to know the date and time of the Rapture!

At this time of year, many people make predictions about the year that is about to commence (and has already commenced in some parts of the world!). However, many predictions have been shown to be totally wrong. For example, almost 150 years ago, the Chief Engineer of the British Post Office, stated that while Americans may have need of the new-fangled telephone, the British had no such need - because there were plenty of message-boys! One wonders what that gentleman's reaction would be today when, it seems, no-one is able to go anywhere without a mobile telephone!

Another prediction from the past (the only ones that we can truly 'judge'!) was that "Television won’t be able to hold on to any market it captures, after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night." It's hard to believe that those words were spoken by Daryl Zanuck, a film producer and co-founder of 20th Century Fox!

We are living, of course, in a time of greater change than has been experienced in, almost certainly, the recorded history of mankind. As we look around, we are made aware of great changes in the natural world - earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis. In social life, I am informed that one's birth-gender is irrelevant, as one may "choose" one's gender! The outcome of that kind of change is biological men competing in women's sports events; biological men using female changing rooms; insisting on being transferred to female prisons. I see the political élite being challenged by the "ordinary" people. I am reminded of the words of the hymn-writer: "Change and decay in all around I see" - and I wonder what Henry Francis Lyte would think in our contemporary situation!

However, there is that which is unchangeable! The author of the New Testament Letter to Hebrews disciples of Jesus noted that: “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (13:8). In  the Tanakh (the Old Testament), we read the words of Almighty God as given to the prophet Malachi: "I the Lord do not change." (3:6). 

The other "tradition" for many, at this time of year, is that of making "new year resolutions"! The only such resolution that I ever made, and kept for more than a few weeks, was many years ago when I resolved never to make another new year resolution!

If you are going to make a resolution for 2019, and have not yet accepted the salvation from sin, and sins, that is offered through the Lord Jesus, the Christ, may I encourage you to come to Him, in repentance and faith; receive the new life that is available through Him; and discover that His words are true: "I am with you always, to the close of the age." (Matt 28:20).

A very happy New Year to all.

The best-laid plans ...!

It was the Scots Bard, Robert (Rabbie) Burns who, in his poem "To a mouse" states that "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley" (No matter how carefully we plan, be we mice or man, those plans often go awry). These past couple of days have certainly proved the truth of that comment in our own situation!

We left home, early on Monday morning, to head north for our annual visit to family and friends, in Scotland, for Christmas and the New Year. We were also towing the Eriba caravan that we had been unable to register, and that had been sold in the UK. The action of "Les Gilets Jaunes" (the Yellow Vests) has lessened, so we had very little delay 'on the road'. Our first overnight stop was in Orleans and, the next morning we headed up to our familiar watering-hole in Arques. 

So far, so good. It was on Wednesday that the 'fun' began! We left Arques to drive the 35 km to the port of Calais, to board the ferry that would take us to Dover. As we drove into the port area, my wife discovered that her passport was not in the pouch in which both are usually kept. Panic!!! We drove to the parking area, and searched everywhere else that we could think of. No passport! My poor wife was frantic, and blamed herself for the situation. However, we were discovering (not for the first time, I must add) that "The best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft a-gley"

The decision was made to return home. We left some of our luggage in the Eriba, and headed south. After about 50 km, my wife wondered if she had checked some of the bags carefully enough - so we went back to Calais. Definitely no passport. Head south again - with stops only for some food, and for 'comfort breaks'. We arrived home about 0130, Thursday. Five hours sleep, then attempts to change the booking on the ferry to Friday. P&O were sympathetic, but as we had booked through Direct Ferries, they could do nothing. DF are in the UK, so there office didn't open until 1000, French time. We set off, back up the road, managing to have the booking changed - we were grateful for the mobile 'phone!

Of course, we also had appointments made, and visits arranged, in the UK - not least the return of the Eriba. Countless other text-messages were sent back and forward. We arrived back in Dover at about 2330, and managed a few hours sleep in the caravan before boarding the ferry, and heading to Dover - two days later than we had intended. All the forward planning was, effectively, for nothing. "The best-laid plans ... ...!

However, the situation, and Burns' words, set me thinking - isn't it wonderful that, although our plans so often get turned upside-down, God's plans are always fulfilled. Right at the beginning, when man's disobedience allowed sin to enter the perfect world that God had created, Almighty God made it clear that He already had a plan. In the first of what are referred to as "Messianic passages", He says to the serpent: "... cursed are you above all cattle, and above all wild animals; upon your belly you shall go,
and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel." (Gen. 3:14-15). This is acknowledged as a reference to the Lord Jesus, the incarnate God, whose coming into the world, "... at the right time ..." (Rom.5:6; see Gal.4:4), we celebrate next week.

The Tanakh (the Old Testament) is filled with prophecies that Almighty God has made - and countless numbers of them have already been fulfilled. I shan't go into any others here, but it doesn't require too much basic research to discover many of them!

So the Bard was right - but only as far as mice and men are concerned! When it comes to the Creator of all that exists, His plans are perfect, and they are fulfilled. Indeed, there are prophecies that are being fulfilled in our own time, even as the Lord Jesus was asked by the Jewish religious leaders if He was indeed, Messiah, simply because they were expecting Messiah to appear at that time, in accordance with prophetic utterances. Of course, they were looking for the wrong kind of Messiah!

It was a simple mistake that led to the disruption of our plans; other plans may be disrupted for countless other reasons. But let us be thankful that "God is working His purpose out as year succeeds to year" (A.C.Ainger), and rejoice that His faithfulness is so great!

Isaac - the son of the promise (2).

The last post ended with the assurance that, in this one, we would look at the concept of "types", or "foreshadows". Our shadows can tell certain things about us - our general size and shape (depending, of course, on the precise position of the source of the light that has caused the shadow!); what we are doing, and how we are doing it. However, our shadows are not us. They only 'point' to us; to the real you and me. In theological terms, your shadow is a "type" of you, and the real you is referred to as the "antitype".

In a similar sort of way, the Bible has many types, or foreshadows, that say a lot about their antitype in future time. They tell us, to a certain extent, what will happen and what it will look like. They are not prophecies that predict the future; but they can help us to better understand, and recognise, the antitype to which they point, when it comes into being. A 'type' of Messiah, for example, can help us to understand what Messiah will be, and what He will do - but that type is not Messiah! Obviously, Typology is not some kind of 'exact science', as identifying, and interpreting, types and antitypes can depend, to a large extent, on one's own perspective. However, typology is not confined to Christian theology. The Hebrew sages have a similar doctrine that helps them to understand how YHWH has been working in the Tanakh.

Okay, that's the theology! Now, what about Avraham who is asked to sacrifice his beloved son, Yitzchak - the one he loves; the one who brings him joy; the one named 'Laughter'? Is there any aspect of foreshadowing in this story? The answer, as you may have already guessed, is "Yes"! In this post, we shall consider the 'secular' view, and some Jewish views.

1. the secular view.

This view states that this story is just that - a story for its own time. It does no more than demonstrate how the Hebrew nation was established by YHWH to be different from the pagan nations that surrounded it. The implication is that YHWH was testing Avraham, in order to emphasise that human sacrifice - common in ancient times (and, many would say, common today under the name of abortion!) - was unacceptable, and that the one true God would have nothing to do with it.

Certainly, the Tanakh makes absolutely clear that YHWH does not condone child sacrifice. Some of the passages in which child sacrifice is condemned as an abomination before God are: Lev.18:21; Jer.7:31; Ezek.20:31. So is this story nothing more than that? I think not.

2. Jewish views
(a) the incident was a test prompted by the satan.

This view states that the Akedah (the Hebrew word for the incident) was a testing similar to that of Job, who was tested by the satan (the adversary) with the permission of YHWH. Certainly we read in Rabbinic literature that, in a similar scene to that of Job 1 and 2, the satan was accusing Avraham before YHWH: "Of every feast that Avraham made, he did not sacrifice before You one bull or ram" He [YHWH] said to him "Does he do anything but for his son. Yet, if I were to say to him, 'Sacrifice him before Me', he would not withhold him." (Rabbi Rashi). However, this is but a commentary by one man, and there is no such suggestion in the Tanakh. So is that really what happened? Again, I think not!

(b) the Akedah is a type (foreshadowing) of atonement.

God set up a system for the Hebrew people, even in the Garden of Eden, when animals had to be sacrificed in order to provide the covering for Adam and Eve after they had sinned.Their own attempts, with leaves, were not acceptable to the Creator. As the writer of the Letter to Hebrew disciples of Yeshua was to state, many centuries later: "... without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." (Heb 9:22). The Mosaic Law emphasise this requirement of blood for atonement (another word that is dealt with in "Great Words"!) in a system that involved a blood offering from a spotless, flawless, animal - usually a lamb, a goat, or a bull. (see, e.g., Lev. 4 and 16).

Many contemporay Rabbis teach that human blood has never been an accceptable offering to YHWH and cannot, therefore, atone for the sins of man. Therefore, they maintain, according to Judaism, the Akedah cannot foreshadow an atonement by a person such as Yeshua, as Christians claim. However, there are Rabbinic commentaries that seem to disagree.

In Gen. 22:13 we are told that Avraham "... took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son." Is it not sufficient that YHWH provide a ram? Rashi (quoted above), asks: "Why does Scripture say 'instead of his son.'? Those four words didn't have to be there - or did they?!

Rashi's explanation as to why it is important to know that the ram was sacrificed instead of Yitzchak was this: "Over every sacrificial act that he [Avraham] performed, he prayed, 'May it be [Your] will that this should be deemed as if it were being done to my son; as if my son were slaughtered; as if his blood were sprinkled; as if my son were flayed; as if he were burnt and reduced to ashes'"

Now, if Rashi was correct, then every time Avraham sacrificed a lamb or a goat, he thought in his mind and heart that he was slaughtering his own son, Yitzchak, and sprinkling his blood over the altar! But why would Avraham consider such a thing if YHWH does not accept human blood as a covering for sin?

A renowned Reform Jewish Rabbi (Wolf Gumther Plaut, 1912 - 2012) offers this answer to that question: "There was a remarkable tradition that that insisted that Abraham completes the sacrifice and that, afterward, Isaac was miraculously revived. According to this haggadah [telling], Abraham slew his son, burnt his victim, and the ashes remain as a stored-up merit and atonement for Israel in all generations." It would appear that some Rabbis believed that a single, willing, human sacrifice on behalf of mankind would, indeed, atone for sin!

One modern Jewsih scholar writes of "The notion of a dual godhead with a Father and a Son, the notion of a Redeemer who, himself, will be both God and man, and the notion that this Redeemer would suffer and die as part of the salvational process." He also states that "At least some of these ideas, the Father/Son godhead and the suffering Saviour, have deep roots in the Hebrew Bible as well, and may be among some of the most ancient ideas about God that the Israelite people ever held." (Daniel Boyarin; The Jewish Gospels).

That sounds remarkably close to the Christian interpretation of the Akedah - but that, DV, will be the subject of the next post.

Jésus est ressuscité! Alleluia!

The words in the heading are those with which I greeted my friends at our Fellowship in Bergerac, this morning.Of course, if I had been in an English-language speaking country (with the appropriate tradition!) I would have said "The Lord is risen!", and the response would have been "He is risen indeeed!".

Language fascinates me. The difference in the words that languages use for the same concept is always interesting. I prefer the French word for today. It is "Pâques" which is very closely associated with the French word for "Passover" (Pâque). This, it seems to me, is a better description of this day on which we especially remember the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, as it happened at Passover (Hebrew: Pesach) time. What I do not like is the word "Easter" that is derived from the name of a pagan fertility cult goddess - hence the "easter bunny" (the natural symbol of fertility! Have you heard the one about the pair of rabbits being chased by hounds? One turned to the other and asked, "Shall we try to outrun them - or stop for five minutes and outnumber them?"!!); the chocolate egg - or the decorated hen's egg; the daffodils and tulips. 

The UK newspapers were reporting, over the past few weeks, that a number of chocolate egg manufacturers had dropped the word "easter" from their packaging. There was outrage from some (predictable?!) quarters! Personally, I was perfectly content, and not simply because I am currently not resident in the UK. One of the problems for the Body of the Christ, the Church, is that it has lost much of its distinctiveness. As I recently wrote for an English-language e-zine here in France, "Surely the church is intended to be a prophetic voice to the nation – not a subservient reflection of the social norms that, sadly, are so much at odds with the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, the Christ! Is it not the case that the established churches that are seeking to emulate society ..., are slowly dying as they forsake the Word on which they should be founding their message to mankind?" I went on, in that article, to quote the late Very Rev Prof Tom Torrance, MBE, D.Litt., D.D., D.Sc., Dr.Theol., Dr.Teol., F.B.A., F.R.S.E.: “The world likes a complacent, reasonable religion, and so is always ready to revere some pale Galilean image of Jesus, some meagre anaemic Messiah, and to give Him a moderate rational homage. . . . The truth is that we have often committed adultery with alien ideologies, confounded the Gospel with the religions of nature, and imbibed the wine of pagan doctrines and false principles and deceitful practices. We have sought to bend the will of God to serve the ends of man, to alter the Gospel and shape the Church to conform to the fashions of the times. We have yielded to pride and to the lust for power. We have been intimidated by the might of the beast through society, or the crowd, or the state, and betrayed, again and again, the cause of our Saviour.” (The Apocalypse Today; James Clarke & Co Ltd; 1961; p.155).

A very dear Jewish friend asked me, recently, why the resurrected Jesus did not perform other miracles during His post-resurrection appearances. My simple answer was that the resrrection, itself, was the greatest miracle that He could have performed!

In a society in which the Gospel message has been diluted, denigrated, distorted, denied, and even - as if it were possible! - attempted to be destroyed, we need the message of the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus more than ever.

His resurrection was, of course, the fulfilment of a promise. After it, He made another - that He would return to this earth. That promise is, I believe, very close to being fulfilled. It is certainly closer than it was at this time last year! My wife is currently preparing for a brief visit to Scotland, later this week. How much more important, that each one of us prepare for the return of the Lord Jesus. He will come again, not as a helpless Babe, laid in a cattle-stall, but as the victorious, triumphant, King of kings, and Lord of lords. Have you prepared? If not, then I urge you to do so now - before it is too late, and you spend eternity cut off from His presence.

What is God like?

In what we know as Matthew 16, the evangelist has recorded two contrasting episodes concerning the apostle Peter.   In verse 176, we read of Peter's great confession.  Jesus has asked the disciples what people were saying about His identity.  He then asks; "What about you?  Who do you say that I am?" It is Peter who answers on behalf of them all, with what is referred to as his great confession: "You are the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of the living God." (v16).  

That confession was made at Caesarea Philippi, where there was a grotto at which an image of the Caesar was worshipped as a god.  The issue was clear - is the power behind the universe a Caesar-like power-force; or is it a Christ-like power-suffering love?  Once the issue of Who He was had been settled, He began to make clear to the inner band what was involved in His being the Messiah, "... the son of the living God".  It was then that Peter took Him by the arm, and began to rebuke Him!  "God forbid, Lord! This shall never happen to You." (v.22).  Peter obviously thought that the Messiah would be self-assertive, and forceful; conquering the world by a demonstration of supreme power. He didn't understand the meaning of Isaiah 53 and other passages that pointed to the Suffering Servant. He is then, we may safely assume, shattered by the response of Jesus: "Get behind Me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me; for you are not on the side of God, but of men." (v.23).

In other words, the Christ was making clear that, in taking the way of the Cross, He was revealing the nature of God - the way, as we have already noted, of self-surrender, and self-sacrifice.  Peter, on the other hand, was manifesting the self-assertive side of life that is, of course, the very opposite of God's intention.  Remember: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." (Matt 5:5); "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." (Matt 5:9); "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matt 5:11-12). 

So Jesus called Peter the "satan" - the adversary!  Was that not being very harsh?  Many would have taken great offence at such words as Jesus spoke to His friend.  But the issue at stake was great. What is God like?  Is He like the Caesar - or like the Christ?  When Peter rejected the concept of the Cross, and the suffering that went with it, the Lord had to identify the source of such thoughts - and He did so with precision!  They came from the satan, for that is exactly how he became the one he is - by seeking to put himself, instead of God, at the centre.

But Jesus went even further!  John records, in what we know as the 17th chapter of his account of the Gospel record, one of the final acts of the Saviour prior to His arrest.  "... during supper, when the devil had already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God, rose from supper, laid aside His garments, and girded Himself with a towel. Then He poured water into a basin, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded." (John 13:2-5).  How could the Christ, knowing that the hour of His greatest humiliation - the Cross - was at hand, humiliate Himself further by taking on the task of the lowliest servant, and washing His disciples' feet? 

The answer is that He had already humiliated Himself in eternity when He decided, freely, to offer Himself as the sacrifice for sin, and become "... the Lamb, slain from the foundation of the world." (Rev.13:8; AV).  In that act, in eternity, He fulfilled the deepest law of the universe: "... he who loses his life ... will find it." (Matt 10:39).   Possessing all through self-surrender, He was now free to conquer all - death, hell, and the grave.  The Servant of all becomes the greatest of all.

That is the secret for you and for me as well!  As George Mathieson wrote:

"Make me a captive, Lord,
And then I shall be free.
Force me to render up my sword,
And I shall conqueror be."

Have you submitted your life to Him?  It's the only way to true freedom!

And then there were ...?

So, the first month of 2016 closes with yet another "celebrity" death being announced.  The front-page headline in newspaper; the top topic on social media; and, doubtless, the main subject of UK news programmes on both radio and television.  Terry Wogan is dead.

Now, I have every sympathy for the Wogan family.  I never met the man, but he always came across as a pleasant person who was willing to use his celebrity status in helping others.  However, what has happened is, at some point, going to happen to each and every one of us - at least while the rapture of the saints of God is delayed.  As Benjamin Franklin famously said: "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes."  Actually, some people may manage to avoid paying taxes - but, as physical beings, we are mortal.

What, then, ought our attitude to this inevitable event be?!   There are, of course, those who believe that physical death is the end.  When I breathe my last, there is nothing.   My body may be buried, or burned, but anything of me that continues will only be in the memories of those who knew me.

Others accept that there is some form of 'after-life', but have the idea that where I spend it, and what it will be like, depends entirely on what I have done in this earth.  If my good deeds outweigh my bad deeds, then I go to 'heaven'; otherwise, I go to 'hell'.  Even the concepts of 'heaven' and 'hell' may differ from one culture to another.

Some are of the opinion that, when we die, God will forgive us all, and that everyone will end up in heaven "because a God of love would not want to see any of His creatures suffer"!

Yet another group believe in reincarnation.  I am born, physically, many times - either progressing 'upwards' if I live my present life as a good person (or animal/insect/tree/stone, etc!); or downwards, if the opposite is true.  Eventually, I may reach the pinnacle of human existence and be released from that cycle - to be absorbed into the 'oneness' that is the physical universe, but with no personal identity or personality.

Those, however, who accept the teachings of the Bible as the written Word of the One Who created, and Who sustains, all that is, hold a unique belief.   They (we!) believe that there is a very real heaven, and a very real hell.  We believe that where one spends eternity (timelessness - see my chapter on the subject in Great Words of the Faith; details above) depends, not on anything that I have done, or can do, but on the giving of Himself as a sacrifice, on a cross on a hill called Calvary, of One, Jesus the Messiah/Christ, in my place.  That sacrifice of the perfect Man was/is sufficient to cover the sins of every human being who ever lived, or who ever will live.

However, there is a "catch".  The idea that "all will be saved" conveniently ignores that the God Whose essential Being is, indeed, Love - and love that is actually beyond our feeble comprehension - is also the God Who is Justice, and Righteousness, and Holiness.  In the light of His laws and commandments, each one of us is deserving of nothing but His wrath and punishment.  As the apostle Paul wrote to the Roman believers in the 1st century AD: "... everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard." (Rom.3:23; NLT).

So, is that the "catch"?  No!  Paul goes on, in that same letter, to make clear that "... God showed His great love for us by sending [the] Christ to die for us while we were yet sinners." (5:8).  All that we are able to do, but what we must do, is to confess that we are sinners on the sight of Almighty God; that we are incapable of doing anything, ourselves, about our sinful state; and accept, by faith, the salvation that was gained for us at such great cost.  That is the "catch".  Salvation is free and full - but only to those who are willing to accept it.

Terry Wogan's eternal destiny is now sealed.  Forget reincarnation: "... each person is destined to die once,and after that comes judgement"! (Heb.9:27; NLT).  Where he, or any of the other "celebrities" who have recently died, will spend it is between them and Father God.  Nothing that you, or I, can do will change that.  For you, however, there is still time.  Have you confessed your sinfulness, and your sins?  Have you asked for the forgiveness that is available only from Father God?  Have you accepted, and professed, Jesus, the Christ, as your personal Saviour?  Are you seeking to serve Him as Lord of your life?  These are important questions - your answers to them will determine what happens to the real "you" when your mortal body reaches the end.  Please do not ignore them.  If I may be of any further assistance, please feel free to contact me via the e-mail address at the top of the page, or through my "AllExperts" page (Link below, and on the right).  Alternatively, seek the help of a genuine believer already known to you.  Whatever you do, act.  Follow the example of Boaz, of whom it is recorded: "... the man will not rest, but will settle the matter today." (Ruth 3:18).

Happy Hanukkah!

Not everyone will be aware that, as disciples of Jesus prepare for the celebrations that remember His birth as a helpless infant, Jewish people, all over the world, are beginning an eight-day festival known as Hanukkah, or The Festival of Lights. 

The origin of the festival goes back to the period between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New Testament - in 168 B.C.  The Jewish Temple was seized by Syrian-Greek soldiers and dedicated to the worship of the god Zeus. This upset the Jewish people, but many were afraid to fight back for fear of reprisals. Then in 167 B.C.E. the Syrian-Greek emperor Antiochus made the observance of Judaism an offence punishable by death, enforcing idolatry, and forbidding the Jewish People from reading the Torah and following it. He also ordered all Jews to worship Greek gods.  He even desecrated the Temple by sacrificing a pig on the altar.

Jewish resistance began in the village of Modiin, near Jerusalem. Greek soldiers forcibly gathered the Jewish villages and told them to bow down to an idol, then eat the flesh of a pig – both practices that are forbidden to Jews.  God delivered His people through a Jewish priest named Mattathias and his sons.  They led a small group of Jewish men (the Maccabees) to rise up against the 25,000 soldiers of the Syrian/Greek army, and defeat them  When the Jewish priests entered the Temple to re-dedicate it and light the Menorah (Candlestick), they found only one bottle of undefiled oil — enough to last just one day.

Miraculously, that tiny supply of oil lasted eight full days.  This gave the priests enough time to create more sanctified oil to keep the Temple Menorah burning 24 hours a day.

Over 100 years later, Jesus of Nazareth was in the Temple on Hanukkah when He was asked directly if He was the Messiah?  "It was the feast of the Dedication at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the portico of Solomon. So the Jews gathered round him and said to him, 'How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly'."  (John 10:22–24).

The record continues: "Jesus answered them, 'I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness to Me; but you do not believe, because you do not belong to My sheep'." (John 10:25-26).

On that Hanukkah, Jesus (Yeshua) confirmed to those asking that He is the Messiah, the Shepherd of Israel.  Other verses confirm that He is the Light of the World (John 8:12) and also that through Him we can be lights shining in the darkness of these last days (Philippians 2:15).

The Shamash (servant candle) sits higher on the Hanukkah menorah than the other eight candles and is used to light them.  What a wonderful representation of Jesus, the Light of the World, and how He gives us the "light of life," through the Holy Spirit.

As many of us travel this Advent season, and look forward to our Christmas celebrations, let us remember that while "He came to His own home, and His own people received Him not." yet "... to all who received Him, who believed in His Name, He gave power to become children of God; who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God." (John 1:11-13).

Have you yet believed?  Have you?

The unpopular necessity.

Today, of course, is the Feast Day of St Andrew - the patron saint of Scotland.  My thought, earlier today, was to publish a post about him.  However, as I thought about what I might say, I remembered that Andrew is portrayed, in the Gospel records, as one who brought people to Jesus.  John tells us that Andrew was, originally, a disciple of John the Baptiser who, having spent a day with Jesus, "... found his brother Simon, and said to him, "We have found the Messiah" (which means Christ).  He brought him to Jesus." (John 1:41-42).  It is John who also tells us that Andrew was the disciple who found the young boy with five rolls of bread and a couple of small fish, and brought him to Jesus - Who then miraculously fed more than 5,000 men (plus women and children!), with twelve basketsful of crumbs gathered up afterwards! (see Jn.6:8 ff.).  On yet another occasion, some Greeks asked Philip if they could see Jesus.  What did Philip do?  He went straight to Andrew, who went with him (and, one must presume, the Greek seekers) to Jesus. (see Jn.12:20ff.)

So, I thought to myself, thought I: "If I could speak with Andrew, and ask him what he wanted me to publish on this "his" day, I suspect that he would simply say, 'Brian - point them to Jesus!'"

The anonymous writer of the Letter to Hebrew disciples of Jesus wrote: "... without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins." (Heb 9:22).  As we begin to prepare for the Christmas season, with its focus (for some of us!) on the wonder of the incarnation - "Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see" - we do well to remember that it is only a part of the greatest story ever told!   If the birth of the Lord Jesus was the beginning, middle, and end, then it wouldn't be much more than a children's Nativity Play.  But, of course, it led to the greatest teaching that has ever been given on the face of this planet; and then to His passion and crucifixion; and on to His glorious resurrection, and His ascension to the right hand of the Father "from whence", as the Apostles' Creed affirms, "He shall come to judge the living and the dead"!  (see my second book, Foundations of the Faith, for much more on the Creed!).

Yes, the Babe in the manger became the Christ of the cross  And it had to be so.  Only His perfect, sinless, sacrifice could pay the debt that we owe, and bring us into a living, personal, fellowship with Father God.  How we need to emphasise, and appreciate more, that infinite Gift of grace that has delivered those who have put their trust wholly, and solely, in Him, from condemnation!  "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Rom 8:1; and I would encourage you to read the whole of that chapter!).  Regrettably, we live in an age when 'sin' is no longer recognised as such by the majority.  Because of that, there are too many who fail to understand their own need of redemption.

Without the all-sufficient sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, salvation is impossible.  That is a doctrine that does not find many friends today.  However, that does not make it any less true.  Think on these words of the old hymn:

"Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?
Are you fully trusting in Hid grace this hour?
Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?"

I trust that you are able to answer those questions in the affirmative!  If you aren't, but you would like to know more, then either scroll down to the links on the right-hand-side of the blog; contact me at author@minister.com; or even treat yourself to either/both of my books (details at the top).  Alternatively, find a Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching, Christ-centred, fellowship of God's people, and make enquiry there.  Whatever you do - do something.  Your eternal destiny depends on it!

Playing with prophecy.

You may have read, or heard, of Pastor Salazar, from the Global Church of the King of Israel, in Tokyo, Japan, who claims in an online video that is going viral that, on May 16 2016, a five-mile wide "murderous" asteroid will crash into the Earth - wiping out life on the planet as we know it!

The horrific event will, he informs, initially kill 1,200 million people and leave a world at the mercy of famine and disease for four years before the Antichrist descends to Earth!

According to the predictions by an American preacher in the past few days, the world was to end on, I think, Wednesday.  Well, that one was wrong - as have been so many over the years.  Now, a serious study of end-time events can be fascinating; and novels such as those that were popular in the 1960s and 70s (In the Twinkling of an Eye; The Mark of the Beast; The Late Great Planet Earth: etc.) can make for enjoyable, and even challenging, reading.  However, trying to predict the precise date on which the world will end, or the Rapture take place, or any other cataclysmic event occur, is foolishness of the first order!

At the height of World War II, the German protestant pastor and theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, was imprisoned for having taken a stand against Hitler and the Nazis.  A group of Christians, who believed that Hitler was the Antichrist, asked Bonhoeffer, "Why do you expose yourself to all of this danger?  Jesus will return any day, and all of your work and suffering will have been for nothing!"  The pastor replied: "If Jesus returns tomorrow, then tomorrow I will rest from my labour.  But today I have work to do.  I must continue the struggle until it is finished."

Jesus told the disciples, in advance, about his death, so that they wouldn't be alarmed by it, but they missed the message.  They didn't understand that HaMaschiach (the Messiah) had to die before He could reign as King.  Even after the resurrection, they wanted a Kingdom timetable (Acts 1:6ff).  Jesus informed them that such knowledge was the Father's, and His alone.

Prophecy is not for playing - and seeking to predict that which is only in the Father's domain is, surely, tantamount to blasphemy.  Prophecy is to keep us working, confident that God is in control.   Someone has said that we should, "Plan as if Christ's return were years away; but live as if it were today!"  That's not a bad position to take!

Promises, promises, promises!

Having arrived back in Wishaw late last evening, I was able to listen to the 'Today' programme, on the radio, this morning.   There was an interview with the leader of the Conservative Party, Mr David Cameron (I confess that I am not always as polite as that when referring to him!).  It was, as one might expect in the run-up to a General Election, all about what the Coalition Government had achieved, and what the Conservatives would achieve in the next Parliament, if they were given an absolute majority.

There was, for me, a problem.  All that I can see that the Coalition Government achieved - with the support of almost all of the other Parties in Westminster - was the redefinition of marriage (in spite of the overwhelming opposition to it throughout the country); an increase in the numbers of immigrants (illegal, and legal); an increase in the national deficit; and the run-down of the military.   In fact, I cannot think of anything positive that was achieved by the Conservative/Liberal Democrat government in their five years of office.

However, the next five years will be different, Mr Cameron assured listeners.  He made one promise after another - on job creation; on housing; and, of course, on the deficit!  He is not alone.  All of the political parties that made up the last parliament are making their promises - promises that, in my experience, are forgotten no more than thirty seconds after they gain power!

This time, however, there is a genuine "new kid on the block".  I refer to UKIP (the United Kingdom Independence Party).   Obviously, I have no way of ensuring that, given even the balance of power in a 'hung' parliament, they would produce the goods any more than the current parties.  It's just that they have about them what J.B.Phillips might refer to as "the ring of truth"!   I look at Nigel Farage; I listen to his words; and I have that gut-feeling that this is a man who is not out to produce carefully-crafted (by 'spin doctors'!) sound-bites, but who actually means what he says!  That, I would suggest, is refreshingly original in modern British politics!   Disciples of Jesus often ask about which political party best represents Christian values.  I am no expert in the field, but I would say that UKIP is streets ahead of the others at this time.  When Mr Farage, or any of the other UKIP spokesmen/women make a promise, I actually believe them!  As far as the others are concerned, I see only attempts to convince the gullible to continue to support them!

The Bible, too, is full of promises/prophecies.  Indeed, someone has counted more than 3,500 of them!  Many of these have already been kept (fulfilled).  For example, the prophet Isaiah informs us that the Messiah would be conceived and born of a virgin (Is.7:14).  Of course, some non-Christian scholars have challenged this interpretation. They say that the Hebrew word 'almah', which is the word that English-language Bibles often translate as 'virgin', actually means no more than 'young maiden' or 'young woman'. It should be noted, however, that the Old Testament uses the word to refer to young, unmarried women, and that unmarried women were, culturally and religiously, expected to be virgins.  It should also be noted that the Jewish scholars who translated the Hebrew writings into the Greek language (the Septuagint), used the Greek word 'parthenos' - which can only mean 'virgin'!    A later prophet,Micah, also revealed that Messiah would be born in the relatively insignificant town of Bethlehem (Mic.5:1-2).

In this Holy Week, as we anticipate the special remembrance of the crucifixion, and the resurrection, of the Lord Jesus, we may be encouraged by the fact that those events, too, were prophesied.  Read Isaiah 53 - it foretells the suffering of Messiah, and even His death by crucifixion - some 700 years before the event! Jesus, Himself, assured His first disciples that, although He would be killed, He would rise again from the dead (Mk.9:31).   In Acts 1:8, the coming of God the Holy Spirit is promised - a promise that was fulfilled on the first Day of Pentecost of the Christian era.

There are also promises that have yet to be fulfilled.  After Jesus had been taken from the disciples, Dr Luke records that "... while they were gazing into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, Who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven'." (Acts 1:10-11).   As one studies the signs that, we are assured, will precede and accompany that momentous event, we may easily come to the conclusion that His return is imminent.  The promise will be kept, of that we need have no doubt.  Politicians may easily, and thoughtlessly, make and break their promises.  But the Word of God is settled and sure, and He is faithful!

So, however you decide to vote on May 7th (if you are eligible to do so!), be sure that you have cast your personal vote for Jesus - by confessing your sinfulness, and sins; by repenting of those sins; by accepting the salvation that He won for you, at Calvary; and by telling others of His great sacrifice, made for each one of us.  He has promised that, if you do, then He will stand beside you before the Father - the only Advocate you need; the only Advocate there is!  

And He keeps all of His promises!

Incarnation (3)

In this final post on the Incarnation, I want to suggest that the authority of the Incarnation must be accepted!  Already, I can hear some ask: "You want to suggest, and then you speak of compulsion?!"  I guess that that is correct.  Of course, those words may be interpreted somewhat differently!  Let me explain!

We are thinking here of where the real crunch comes; where the rubber hits the road; the crux of the matter.  It is not that mankind can reasonably reject the idea of God revealing Himself; but that mankind does not like the revelation that God made in the Persona (not a typo - see the chapter on "Trinity" in my book - Great Words of the Faith) of Jesus the Christ.  Writing to some early Messianic Jews - Jews who accepted Yeshua ha Mashiach (Jesus the Messiah) - the anonymous writer states that "In many and various ways God spoke of old to our fathers by the prophets; but in these last days He has spoken to us by a Son, Whom He appointed the heir of all things, through Whom also He created the world." (Hebrews 1:1). 

"He has spoken"!   This means that mankind has to deal with two facts.  The first of these concerns the ignorance that the Christ dispels; the second with the obedience that the Christ demands.  This is what I meant by that statement above.  It's not that anyone is obliged to accept the authority of the Incarnation, but that those who accept the Incarnation find that there is an authority that they must accept!

It was three years ago that I quoted some words of King George V from his first Christmas broadcast to the Nation and the Empire (1932).   However, I don't know in which year it was that he spoke to the children of the Empire, commencing with the words: "Boys and girls, the king is speaking to you."  In the Christ, Almighty God is speaking, and speaking to each and every one of us.  We really ought to listen!

And now, the full text of the poem that George V quoted:

"I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year -
'Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied,
'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God.
That shall be to you better than a light, and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and, finding the hand of God,
Trod gladly into the night.
He led me towards the hills,
And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!
What need our human life to know if God hath comprehension?
In all the dizzy strife of things, both high and low, God hideth his intention."

Minnie Louise Harkins (1875-1957)

A happy, and peaceful, 2015 to one and all!

Yes? - or No?

It's okay!  I know that there is only a fortnight to go before the referendum on Scottish independence (= separation!), but this post is going to be in no way political.

I have just come across a post on Facebook.  It's from 'Jesus Daily' and shows a picture that is obviously intended to represent the incarnate Lord Jesus.  The caption above reads: "I CAME, LIVED, AND DIED, AND ROSE AGAIN FOR YOU. DO YOU BELIEVE ME? Yes or No"

That is, indeed, an important question.  It reminded me of the one asked by a man named Pontius Pilate, almost 2,000 years ago: "Then what should I do with Jesus Who is called the Messiah?" (Matt.27:22).   What will you do with Jesus?   

There are many responses to that question - too many for me to deal with in one post.  There are those who, like the Pharisees and the priests, with the support of a mob, merely want to get rid of Him.  He challenges their traditions; their lifestyle; their philosophy.  "Let's get rid of Him", is their response.  However, He is not so easily dismissed - as those 1st century Jewish leaders soon found out!

Others have no particular animosity towards Him.  Indeed, like Pilate, they may even have a grudging admiration for Him.  They like His teaching - as long as it isn't too radical!  They admire His courage!  They even suspect that He is more than any ordinary man.   But they wash their hands of Him (Matt.27:24).  They can't, or won't make a decision for Him - and, by default, have made a decision against Him!

However, in every generation there are those who, even as did one of those crucified with Him, recognise His Kingship, and seek the salvation that is available only through Him. They commence a life that is so different from the life they have formerly led, that it is referred to as having been 'born again'.  It's a life that is under His control.  It's a life that is not necessarily a 'bed of roses' - as those of His disciples who live in Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, and about fifty countries in the world today, well know.  If you wish to find out more about the persecuted church, please scroll down to the links on this page.  However, as so many of them testify, it's His presence in even the direst of situations that proves His promise that he would never leave, or forsake, His followers. (see Heb.13:5).

The final tally of votes on Sept.18th will decide the future of Scotland and, to an extent, the remainder of the current United Kingdom, for generations.  Your 'Yes', or 'No', to Jesus will decide where you spend eternity.  I know which I believe to be the more important decision!

And when I die?

Two news items caught me eye, yesterday.  One was, of course, the death of Peaches Geldof; the other of a less well-known Debi Gibson.

Peaches Geldof's death is, as far as I can ascertain, being investigated by Kent Police  as "non-suspicious but unexplained and sudden".  However, it was one front page that caught my eye.  Underneath a photograph of Ms Geldof and her late mother, Paula Yates, was the caption: "Together again", with its implication that, now that both are dead, they are, somehow, "together".

Debi Gibson is not dead - yet!  However, it is reported that she has only weeks to live, after refusing to wear protective goggles on a tanning bed left her with a fatal eye cancer, that has also spread to her liver.  Debi, who lives with partner Darren Gibson, said: "They told me I was going to die. It was horrendous but I came to terms with it. My daughter knows mummy is going to heaven."

Peaches and Paula are "together again"; Debi's daughter "knows mummy is going to heaven."

So what is it about death, or the onset thereof, that suddenly causes people who apparently have shown no particular interest in any afterlife to (a) assume that it is, after all, a reality; and (b) that they, or their loved ones, are all going to be in the better aspect of it?

To the best of my knowledge, every belief system that postulates an afterlife, other than Christianity, does so on the basis of the individuals 'good works'.  In Islam, for example, it is believed that we each (certainly, every Muslim!) have an angel on each shoulder - one totting up our good deeds; the other totting up our bad deeds.  If the good deeds outweigh the bad deeds then, when we die, we go to paradise.  If the bad deeds outweigh the good deeds ... ... !!!   The problem with such a 'system' is that, if we are brutally honest with ourselves, then none of us live lives that would assure us of paradise, heaven, or nirvana.

This is the wonder of the Christian Gospel.  It freely acknowledges that we are all unable to meet the standard that God has set.  (I can't even meet the standards that I set myself!).  "... for everyone has sinned;" writes Paul, "we all fall short of God's glorious standard." (Rom.3:23; NLT).   That means that I an totally unable to help myself.  My only hope is that another comes to my rescue.  And that, as many of us will be remembering in a special way over the coming days, is exactly what that same Almighty God has done, in the Persona of Jesus, the Son, the Messiah.

He came into this time-space continuum in which we live out our mortal lives, as a helpless Infant (Incarnation - the Christmas story).  He lived among us, as a Man among men.  He took my (and your) place on the cross - dying the death that I (and you) deserve, that I might know His resurrection life, here and now.  It's called grace'.

Of course, there is a 'catch'.  This is not some kind of auto-response.  I must make the conscious decision to come to Him, and accept the salvation that He offers.  This involves openly confessing my sins, and my sinfulness to Him.  It involves accepting that I am totally unable to do anything about them.  It involves acknowledging that only He is capable of doing anything about them, and that, on the cross at Calvary, He did it.  It involves submitting to Him as Lord of my life.

I have no idea as to the spiritual state of either the late Ms Geldof, or Ms Gibson.  I do know that, without Jesus, any of us go to a lost eternity - timelessness separated from God, but now aware of His existence, and of what we have missed.

If you were to die moments after you have read this post, are you certain that you would be 'going to heaven'?  Are you?  If not, then I recommend that you "Seek the LORD while He may be found; call on Him while He is near." (Isaiah 55:6); change your ways, and banish the very thought of doing wrong.  Turn to the LORD, that He may have mercy upon you; yes, turn to Him, for He will forgive generously. (see Is.55:7).  You won't regret it - either here, or in eternity!

The importance of Hope.

According to news reports in recent days, a number of the relatives of the trapped Chilean miners have established a makeshift camp near to the head of the mineshaft. They have named it "Camp Hope".

Most, if not all, of those who are likely to read this post will be familiar with the old adage "Where there's life, there's hope." However, I can recall many instances in which it has also been shown that "Where there's hope, there's life."!

Of course, I'm not referring to hope as the sort of unfounded assertion of Charles Dickens' character, Mr Micawber, that "something will turn up"! I'm thinking of the hope that is described throughout the written Word of God - the Bible. This is a good hope; a God-based hope; a positively expectant outlook on future time - yes, and even beyond!

Hope was the very life of Israel. Jeremiah speaks of YHWH as being "... the hope of Israel" (17:13); and Joel says that YHWH is "... a hope (refuge) to His people" (3:16). The Psalms, too, are full of such references. "And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in You." (39:7) Towards the end of the Psalter, another of the psalmists declares "... happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob; whose hope is in YHWH, his God." (146:5). Even in that most mournful of books, the Lamentations of Jeremiah, the prophet is able to burst out: "I say to myself, 'YHWH is my inheritance; therefore I will hope in Him'." (3:24)

Then when we move into the the pages of the New Testament, we find the belief that the ancient prophecies have been fulfilled; that the promised Kingdom is at hand; the promised Messiah has come in the Person of Jesus of Nazareth. The world into which He was born was, in many ways, a world not unlike our own - an age in which, for many, hope had faded, and faith had benn lost. But the N.T. writers show that, in that same Jesus, hope has been restored and renewed.(see Acts 26:6)

Paul, on trial before the High Council of the Jewish people, cries out: "... I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead!" (Acts 23:6) Writing to the infant church in the great metropolis of Rome, he assures them that "... endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." (5:4-5; NLT). Towards the end of that same letter, he prays "... that God, the source of hope , will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit." (15:13).

The writer of the Letter to Hebrew disciples of Jesus is certain that "... Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God's entire house. And we are God's house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ." (3:6); while Peter, in his first pastoral letter, encourages his readers (now, as well as then!), in a situation of persecution: "... even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don't worry or be afraid of their threats. Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it." (3:14-15).

Yes, while there is life, there is hope. But without hope, a situation can become unbearable. Just be sure that your hope is placed in the One Who is the Hope of the world, even the Lord Jesus Christ.

Going to the Rock!

It's not that I'm one for name-dropping, but I have met my share of celebrities in my day - and been no further than about 7' (2 m) from HM the Queen on occasion!

I recall, one Saturday evening in Glasgow, spending about an hour and a half with a still young Cliff Richard. I've chatted with Graham Kendrick; shared a few thoughts with Jack Hayford (composer of 'Majesty' among other songs); and sat (almost literally!) at the feet of Billy Graham - to name but a few!

What made my thoughts start to travel in that direction was, earlier this evening, listening to Helen Shapiro sing "I go to the Rock". I had the pleasure, many years ago now, of meeting Helen as well, and spending some 20 minutes with her. She made her name, of course, on the secular scene when as a young teenager, she shot to fame with "Walking back to happiness". However, like so many, she discovered that true happiness can be extremely elusive. It was in 1987 that this Jewish-background young woman discovered, after several months of searching the Messianic prophecies in the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament of the Christian Bible) that they had been fulfilled in the Person of Yeshua (Hebrew for 'Jesus'), and that only in Him is real happiness, that doesn't depend on physical circumstances and material possessions.

Of course, throughout the last two millennia, and in spite of scepticism, mockery, persecution, and death, millions of others have found the same truth - that when Jesus said "My purpose is to give ... a rich and satisfying life." (John 10:10; NLT), He really meant it!

So, where do you go when there's nobody else to turn to? Who do you talk to, when nobody wants to listen? Who do you lean on when all around is sinking sand, and there's no stable foundation? May I recommend my Friend, Helen Shapiro's Friend, and the Friend of countless numbers in every place, and in every age - the One Who truly is "the Rock of our salvation"?

"YHWH is my Rock , my Fortress, and my Saviour;
my God is my Rock , in Whom I find protection.
He is my Shield, the power that saves me,
and my place of safety." (Ps 18:2; NLT).

"... and that Rock was Christ." (I Cor. 10:4-5; NLT).