One doesn't require formal qualifications!

It is not a boast, but a verifiable fact, that I am fairly well educated. I have also a fair bit of experience of both teaching, and preaching, the Word of God. However, having shared, this morning, on the relevance of the 1st ('Old') Testament to disciples of Jesus, with a group of anglophones, one of the gentlemen spoke with me afterwards.

He reminded me of the record in Mark 4-5 where the Lord Jesus had been teaching a large crowd but, "... when evening had come, He said to [His disciples], "Let us go across to the other side." And leaving the crowd, they took Him with them in the boat, just as He was. And other boats were with Him.  And a great storm of wind arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.  But He was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they woke Him and said to Him, "Teacher, do you not care if we perish?" And He awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace! Be still!" And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. He said to them, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" And they were filled with awe, and said to one another, "Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey Him?" (Mark 4:35-41) 

The record continues: "They came to the other side of the sea, to the country of the Ger'asenes.  And when He had come out of the boat, there met Him out of the tombs a man with an unclean spirit, who lived among the tombs; and no one could bind him any more, even with a chain; for he had often been bound with fetters and chains, but the chains he wrenched apart, and the fetters he broke in pieces; and no one had the strength to subdue him. Night and day among the tombs and on the mountains he was always crying out, and bruising himself with stones. And when he saw Jesus from afar, he ran and worshiped Him; and crying out with a loud voice, he said, "What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I adjure You by God, do not torment me." For He had said to him, "Come out of the man, you unclean spirit!" And Jesus asked him, "What is your name?" He replied, "My name is Legion; for we are many." And he begged Him eagerly not to send them out of the country." (5:1-10).

Many will be familiar with the Lord's agreement to send those demons into a herd of swine, that rushed, headlong, into the sea - much to the chagrin of the herdsmen! I am skipping over a section but pick up the story at v.21, as Mark has recorded it: "And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about Him; and He was beside the sea."

"What," asked my friend," do you take from that?" I looked at him! "I'd want to think about it. What did you take out of it?" "Well," he responded, "I thought of the ninety and nine (Matt.18:12), and that Jesus had crossed the Sea of Galilee for that one lost sheep - the demoniac."

Now this is a man whom I have known for a number of years. He has no formal theological education or training. Indeed, it is my understanding that he is still very "young in the faith"! However, what I was reminded was that God is no respecter of persons. God the holy Spirit had given this dear brother an insight that had not been given to this ordained, University and Bible College graduate, with more academic qualifications than he has hot breakfasts in a week (and I always have my bowl of porridge!), who has been preaching the Word for more than fifty years. 

It is good to be reminded of this. I am grateful for the education that I have been privileged to receive; for the godly men under whose teaching I sat; and for the opportunities, over the years, to serve in different capacities. But all of that is of neither importance nor help if I am not as open to the prompting of the Spirit as was my brother in the Lord when he was reading that passage.

You, too, may not have a degree in theology, or in anything else! However, if you are a disciple of Jesus, born again of the Spirit, then you have that same Spirit indwelling you - and He will speak to you if you listen to Him.

May that be your experience - for your own good, and that You may be used to bring glory to our Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

A faltering faith.

Having succumbed to a bout of influenza, my time online has been severely curbed for almost a fortnight! I am still not "out of the woods", but want to publish a post or two before the month ends.

Earlier, in the post titled "Hype, or Hope?", I referred to a dear friend who has recently been diagnosed with what is, currently, inoperable cancer in both liver and a lung. I shared her admirable attitude that she is in a win-win situation. If the Lord spares her, she has more time with her husband and family. If He takes her home, she is with Jesus more quickly.

Just a couple of days ago, I was sent a video of the well-known Christian evangelist, Luis Palau.  He, too, has just been diagnosed with an advanced cancer - and his attitude is exactly the same! That, of course, is the way in which any true disciple of Jesus will face "the last enemy", knowing that the Saviour has already conquered it. (http://www.palau.org/luishealth for those who are interested.)

I've been reminded of a similar situation that I read about, many years ago. It's a true story told to illustrate a well-known Biblical record. In Matthew 14:22ff we read about the disciples, on their way across the Lake of Genneseret, in the face of rough waves and a strong wind. Then, "... in the fourth watch of the night [Jesus] came to them, walking on the sea." (v.24). They initially thought that they were seeing some kind of phantom but, when He assured them that it was He, Himself, impetuous Peter cried out: "Lord, if it is You, bid me come to you on the water.” (v.28). The invitation was extended and, we read: "... Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus;" (v.29). However, "... when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out His hand and caught him, saying to him, “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?”" (vs.30-31).

Many centuries later, a passenger boat was on a journey to Cleveland, Ohio, in the USA, when a terrible storm arose. Fearing that the ship would sink, all of the passengers, except one, gathered to pray (yes, there was a time when such a reaction would not have been remarkable!). That one elderly lady seemed to be totally unconcerned as she sat and quietly praised the Lord. When the danger had passed, some of her fellow-passengers asked her how she had been so peaceful in the face of her potential demise. "Well," she explained, "I gave birth to two daughters. One has gone to be with the Lord; the other lives in Cleveland. When our lives were threatened, I just wondered which I would meet first - the one in Cleveland, or the one in heaven. I would have rejoiced to see either!" Her unfaltering faith rested, with childlike simplicity, in the wisdom and purposes of her heavenly Father.

We may admire the response of Peter when the Lord Jesus invited him to walk on water. Soon, however, his original confidence gave way to fear, and he faltered in the crisis. Is it not true to say that most of us are like that?! Trusting Father God at first, our faith then begins to flicker when difficulties, and adversities, come.

May we be like that woman of an earlier generation; like my friend back on the UK; like evangelist Luis Palau; and have a faith that is firm - to the end! Remember, it's when we cease to look up that we begin to go down!

Hope!

Continuing from the previous post, may I suggest that the first anchor should be hope?  The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews, speaking of the impossibility of God ever proving to be false, says, "We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner shrine behind the curtain." (6:19).  As long as we have hope, sunk deed down in our inmost being, then life cannot ever destroy us.  It may, and often will, hurt us, but it cannot break us.  As long as hope holds out, we may weather the fiercest storm.

Most will be familiar with the old adage: "Where there's life, there's hope."  I would suggest that it is equally true (if not more so!) to say that "Where there's hope, there's life."!  Many of the survivors of the Holocaust have spoken of the hope that kept them going in the midst of the most terrible of conditions.  In many countries, today, there are those who are persecuted - predominantly those who profess a Christian faith - but who live in hope.  I can never forget the commercial traveller who, during a particularly bad snowfall in the N.E. of Scotland survived being buried for some days, in his car - when others had succumbed to the cold, and to the difficulty in breathing.  His comment, when rescued, was: "I never gave up hope!"

Of course, the hope that is an anchor for the soul is not just a vague optimism that 'things will turn out alright; that, as Dickens' character, Mr Micawber, would have said, "Something will turn up!"  Rather, it is the hope of which Paul writes to the early disciples of Jesus in Colossae: "Christ in you, the hope of glory." (Col.1:27).  It is, in fact, more than hope, in the popular sense of the word.  It is an assurance that is based on the unchangeable character of Almighty God.

One of the old hymns states:
"My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
But wholly trust in Jesus’ Name." (Edward Mote)

Do you have the anchor of hope on board, today?  Is that hope grounded in the Lord, Jesus the Christ?  I encourage you to hope in Him.  It will be for your good, and to His glory.