Beatitude problem?

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." (Mt 5:3)

I've been musing on the Beatitudes, and this first one in particular for a few days now. The Beatitudes is a passage of scripture that, I believe, has accumulated much religious baggage over the millennia. Many fight with the impulse to say "blesséd" rather than "blessed." Over familiarity also has robbed much of the impact. But when Jesus ascended the mount and first opened his mouth to teach the people the words were fresh, relevant, and filled with authority and impact.

First these were not religious words or devices of speech, but a poetic device lifted from the popular culture of his time. Jesus was not speaking from a dusty pulpit, but a sunlit mountaintop with the wind in his hair. He was not engaging with the religious teachers, Pharisees or scribes, but with the ordinary everyday people.

He was however making a powerful theological statement. Moses ascended the mountain and gave the people ten commandments, the Law that they must obey. Jesus when he ascends the mount instead speaks nine blessings. He replaces Law with grace, and curse with blessing.

The words "Blessed are..." were not intended as nice uplifting sentimental thoughts to ponder. They were creative words of life. Jesus was not just speaking as a passive observer about the blessings he perceived to be already present on various groups of people - he was actively speaking and commanding those blessings into being. It was an impartation: "Blessed are you!"

So what of this first beatitude? Why has it caught my attention? Well primarily because it is the first, and nothing Jesus did lacked significance. A blessing on the poor was part of his mission statement lifted from the words of the prophet Isaiah:

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me,
because the Lord has anointed me
to bring good news to the poor;
he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim liberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to those who are bound
(Isaiah 61:1)

But this is where I think I may have a "beatitude problem" because I disagree with the common rendering of this first blessing. Jesus' self-professed mandate was to bring a blessing to the poor. Not just the spiritually poor - the poor. And the way he was to do that was under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. With the use of a comma and the insertion of the definite article (that is present in the Greek) this beatitude becomes a powerful declaration of the good news Jesus was anointed to deliver.

"Blessed are the poor, in the Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

The Spirit is the agent, not the adjective! Jesus is speaking into being the very blessing he was prophesied to bring.

The poor are blessed. How? In the Holy Spirit. What is their blessing? Nothing less than the Kingdom of God!

If I am right, (and that is not a given, I'm no expert in Greek... but all my research this far backs up my hunch) then this becomes a powerful opening statement that sets the scene, not just for the rest of the sermon on the mount, but for the whole New Testament. It is the walk of faith in a nutshell!

It's not about how much material resource we have. The way of faith, does not depend on our natural abilities or resources. We should never place our confidence in such things as these. It is not the path of the flesh that is blessed by God, but the path in step with his Spirit. It is about absolute dependence on the Holy Spirit.

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. (Zec 4:6)

The path of blessing for the poor is the same for every one of us. It is the path that the Spirit leads us in. It is the path that pursues the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom that the Father has been pleased to give us; that Jesus announced is ours; that the Spirit now leads us to possess - his glory is our blessing.

Prophetic Preaching

In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt 3:1-2)

From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Mt 4:17)

What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet... Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. (Mt 11:9,11)

Jesus describes John as the greatest among the prophets that came before him, (all those who came after him are of a different order.) Yet we don't have a record of anything John prophesied... or do we?

Now, I know that John was special among the prophets because all the others saw Jesus from far off, but to John it fell to say, "Behold! The Lamb!" But I don't believe that was the only way he was prophetic. We don't have any record of him saying "Thus says the Lord..." or any other conventional form of prophetic utterance, but we do have a record of his preaching.

We know that Jesus only did what he saw his Father doing. He came to instigate a new Kingdom order of God's will on the earth not to follow existing trends, so it is inconceivable that Jesus was copying or plagiarising John's message. So we see that John's message was highly prophetic for this reason: He was preaching Jesus' message before Jesus!

This, I believe, lifts the lid on the true nature of preaching. It can be, indeed it should be a prophetic activity. It is not just regurgitating the scriptures into a little homily or thought for the day. It is not following a teaching programme and ticking off doctrinal foundations. There is nothing wrong with these things, but if that is all preaching is, it falls short of the mark. Preaching is prophetic, for it is capturing and communicating what Christ himself would say to the church.

There is thus an overlap and symmetry between the ministry of the prophet and the ministry of the preacher: The prophet brings a prophetic message to communicate the word of God; the preacher brings the word of God to communicate the prophetic message. The most important requirement for both is to stand in the presence of God and hear what he has to say.

For Mark read Matthew!

My post entitled "Behold!" originally contained a typo [now corrected]. The passage I was referring to was from Matthew not Mark.

This post has recently been featured over on the ESV blog. (I'm honoured!).

http://www.esv.org/blog/2007/09/behold.mark

But unfortunately my typo is now being propagated over the 'net too! That'll teach me to proof my posts before I hit publish! You never know who's reading!

Behold!

And when Jesus was baptised, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Mt 3:16-17)

When the New Testament writers use the word "behold!" they do so to get our attention. They do so because what follows is of special significance and importance. The word "behold" itself in the English is not ideal, because it is not widely used today and so can make a passage seem dated or religious, and that certainly is not the intention. But it is hard to think of a better alternative, especially considering the literal translation is the imperative for look.

Here's what the translators of the ESV had to say about it:

The word “behold,” usually has been retained as the most common translation for the Hebrew word hinneh and the Greek word idou. Both of these words mean something like “Pay careful attention to what follows! This is important!” Other than the word “behold,” there is no single word in English that fits well in most contexts. Although “Look!” and “See!” and “Listen!” would be workable in some contexts, in many others these words lack sufficient weight and dignity. ~ Preface to the English Standard Version

There is no single English word that fits. One phrase I thought of was, "Mark my words!" In a language that originally lacked punctuation, it could also bee seen as a literary device similar to the exclamation mark or bold italics.

At the end of Matthew chapter 3, the account of Jesus baptism, we get two such "behold!" moments in rapid succession. The first when the heavens are opened to Jesus, and Holy Spirit descends upon him in manifest form like a dove, and the second when following close behind the Spirit comes the voice from heaven declaring, "This is my Son, the beloved, upon whom is my favour."

Father, son and Spirit are involved significantly from the very outset of Jesus ministry. Behold: Heaven is opened. The Spirit is manifested. There is a sound from heaven.

In the book of Acts we see that Jesus continues to work the way he began...

And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:2)

Angelic Dreams

But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream... (Mt 1:20a)

Reading through the first two chapters of Matthew, I have been struck by the way God spoke to Joseph. To Mary and to Zechariah the angel turns up when they are awake. But to Joseph he turns up in his dreams while he was sleeping.

It made me stop and ponder the faith of Joseph in this situation with a new admiration. How did he know that God had really spoken to him, and he had not just... um... dreamt it!

This was a huge decision for Joseph, and what he had heard was something totally unprecedented in the whole of redemptive history... and God was asking him to believe and obey on the basis not of a waking vision or visitation, but a dream!

I wonder how that would go down today, in this cerebral, empirical-data driven society which can pervade even God's people. How many today would be confident to base a life-changing decision on the basis of an unprovable, totally subjective dream.

Today there is much caution and scepticism of making decisions based on emotions or imaginations. We should not be led by such things they say - and they are right.... but neither should we be led purely by what we can grasp cerebrally from the empirical data. It may be very scientific, very intellectual, very respectable - but where is the faith needed for that? If Peter had waited for the water to become solid, he would have never stepped out of the boat.

What we need to be led by is the Spirit of God. And he will communicate with us, the way he chooses - not necessarily the way we would find the easiest. There is always a requirement of faith whenever God speaks. Those who are waiting for the iron-clad indisputable, totally verifiable word will be waiting a long time!! If God chooses to stir our emotions, we need to be those who have the faith to respond to those emotions. If God stirs our imaginations whether awake or asleep, then likewise we must respond. What matters is not how the message comes, but who sent it. If the source is God then we can be confident no matter how foolish we may seem to the cerebral mind.

God still has miriads and miriads of angels at his disposal. There is no indication that these heavenly messengers all hit the dole queue the moment the Scriptures were completed. That tells me something - God still has a lot to say!

I admire Joseph. Like his namesake in the Old Testament, he learned the power and significance of responding in faith to dreams from God. It was a lesson that was to save his life...

Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt (Mt 2:13-14)

A chapter a day...

Here at Living Rock Church we are just starting a new Bible reading programme together as a whole church. Over the next 89 days we will be reading a chapter of the Gospels every day. Starting today in Matthew 1 and finishing on 14 December in John 21.

What excites me, is not so much the reading programme, but its purpose: to meet with Jesus. To encounter the Jesus of the gospels and allow him to transform our lives again, as he always does whenever we truly meet with him.

To help members of the church, and anyone else who would like to join us on this "short but significant journey." I have adapted my old "Ephesians Every Month Reader" into a shiny new "GospelReader."

I have written it to work on a rolling 89 day cycle. So if you get blessed by reading through a chapter of the gospels every day, you can carry on doing so indefinitely, and incorporate it into your existing reading disciplines and devotions.

GospelReader 1.02 requires Java Runtime Environment(JRE)

Jeremiah 33:6-9

Behold, I will bring to it [this city] health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security.

I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me.

And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it.

Kindness and Repentance

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? (Ro 2:4)

I heard a news article on the radio yesterday about the split caused in the Anglican church in the USA over the issue of homosexuality.

I don't want to comment on this directly, or about any of the people or the organisations involved. But I do want to give some general comments on the debate as a whole.

The Scriptures tell us it is the kindness of God that leads us to repentance. Both the kindness of God that reaches out to all men while they are still in their sin, and the repentance that this must lead us to if we are to come into the new kingdom order of God are essential if we are to present the good news of the Gospel without distortion. The polarization that can occur in any debate must not drive us to an extreme where we let go of one or the other.

Jesus was the "friend of tax collectors and prostitutes." These were the outcasts of society, the ones that the religious people did not want to associate with. We must guard against a new wave of pharisaic self-righteousness that deems that certain men are beyond the love of our saviour. I'm sure if Jesus walked the earth today he would upset just as many religious people by being the friend of homosexuals. The Gospel is good news to all men. We must be careful that we do not portray it otherwise.

However, although Jesus was the friend of tax collectors and prostitutes, he never condoned the common practice of extortion among the tax collectors, nor the prostitution of the prostitutes. His message and his ministry were clear from the very first day: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!" The kindness of God reaches out to all men in their sinful state, but it does not do so to endorse any form of sinful lifestyle, nor to come just to meet our spiritual needs as we carry on the way we have always gone, doing our own thing. It calls us to repent. To radically change the way we think and act. It is not just the homosexual who has to repent and change his lifestyle when he comes to Jesus - we all do!

For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. (Ro 3:22b-24)

I thought about the word "repent" today. It is still a good word, but sadly because it is not common in everyday speech it has lost some of its true impact and accumulated some unwelcome religious baggage. I had a think about an alternative, and came up with this: "Defect!" It carries the same sense of radial switching of thought and allegiances, and the same result of transfer from under one kingdom to another.

"Defect, for God's kingdom is coming. Change sides, so you are on the winning team!"

Both kindness and repentance are vital to the gospel message. We must reach out to all men, regardless of what label society or even they themselves have applied. Note well, the Bible does not talk about homosexual men, but men who practice homosexuality. Society may define people by their sexuality but the Bible never does. There are not gay men and straight men, there are just men. In fact...

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal 3:28)

The only real division that is left is between those who have defected, and have brought their lives out from "doing their own thing" to being under the rule and reign of God, and those who have not.

Without repentance there is no entry to the kingdom, let alone leadership within it!!

The Message and the Meaning

He did not speak to them without a parable, but privately to his own disciples he explained everything. (Mk 4:34)

I was recently asked an intriguing question:

What would be the sense in interpreting your own tongue? Why not just 'cut to the chase', and interpret it right-off?

The question goes deeper than just the issue of someone interpreting their own message in tongues. Since it is the same Spirit that inspires both the tongue and the interpretation, the same question holds whenever tongues and interpretations comes. Nor can you dodge the question if you are one of those who holds that tongues have ceased - because they had to be in operation first in order for them to cease. So why did and does the Spirit of God choose to use tongues and interpretations to communicate with his people? Why doesn't he 'cut to the chase' and just give a prophetic message in the first instance. Since Paul makes it clear that prophesy is to be desired above all the other spiritual gifts, why bother with tongues at all?

Here I take a detour into the gospels. Because it is interesting that the disciples asked Jesus a very similar question:

Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” (Mt 13:10)

Jesus never spoke in tongues, but it is clear that he had a similarly curious method of communication: he would speak in parables that would be incomprehensible to most, and then later he would give the interpretation. [It is also interesting in the Greek that speaking in tongues (glossais lalo) and speaking in parables (parabolais lalo) are similar constructs.]

Why, as the disciples themselves wondered, did Jesus not just cut to the chase and give the plain meaning in the first instance.

In fact, if we look back through the scriptures we see that this was often God's chosen means of communication:

God did not tell Pharaoh that there would be a famine, but gave him two dreams that Joseph had to interpret.

Even after Gideon had heard the voice of God, and had various miraculous confirmations to the tests he put out, he was finally convinced that God would give him victory through a dream and its interpretation:

As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, "Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand." (Jdg 7:15)

The prophet Daniel was renowned for one who was able to give interpretations from God. Twice he had to give both the message and the interpretation. The first when God spoke through Nebuchadnezzar's impenetrable dream; the second when God chose to communicate through indecipherable writing on the wall.

I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. (Da 5:17)

So we see, it's not a new question at all. Indeed looking at the big picture of God's eternal plan of redemption we might ask the question, "Why didn't God cut straight to the chase and send Christ, the lamb slain from before the creation of the world, when Adam fell? Why the millennia of type and shadow before the reality was revealed?"

Whatever the reasons may be, you cannot escape the fact that God chooses to communicate in this way! One reason may be that it is because he knows that we have to appreciate the problem before we will appreciate the solution; we have to appreciate the difficulty before we will appreciate the deliverance. It could also be that, like with the parables, God chooses not to reveal his most intimate thoughts and feelings to the casual observer, but only to those who make a diligent inquiry into them; those who hunger and thirst for his righteousness; those who seek him.

As Keri Jones says: God does not hide things from his children; he hides them for his children.

One thing is clear. There is something compelling about a mystery revealed. For whatever the reason, it speaks to us far more than if we just had the end message itself. It carries with it the M.O. of God himself!

Therefore tell me the dream, and I shall know that you can show me its interpretation. (Da 2:9)

"Do not interpretations belong to God?" (Ge 40:8)

The Same Spirit

All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. (1Co 12:11)

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Ro 8:11)

Paul makes it clear in his discourse on the gifts of the Spirit that they are all the activity of one and the same Spirit. At first it seems like an obvious and redundant comment, after all, how many Holy Spirits are there? Of course it must be one and the same Spirit because there is only one.

However, when you start to unpack the idea - it is the same Spirit - you can see why Paul wanted to emphasise it so strongly.

The Spirit who in victorious power raised Christ from the dead. If you have received Jesus as Lord, then it's the same Spirit who dwells in you!

The Spirit who hovered over the unformed earth on the first day of creation. It's the same Spirit who is in you!

The Spirit who stirred the hearts of the prophets: Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, Elijah; the Spirit who gave Samson his strength; the Spirit who gave Gideon victory when vastly outnumbered. It's the same Spirit who is active in you!

The Spirit who descended on Christ in bodily form as a dove and empowered his ministry. It's the same Spirit who empowers you!

The Spirit who with a mighty rushing wind filled the house and with tongues of fire touched the disciples at Pentecost, filling them with power to be witnesses to the risen Christ. It's the same Spirit that fills you today!

The Spirit who was at work in the book of Acts and the book of Corinthians - guess what? - Yes, it's the same Spirit!

We don't have a different, or inferior Spirit; we are not filled with Spirit-Lite! We have the Spirit of Christ. The third person of the eternal, unchanging, almighty God-head lives within us! We are participants of the divine nature! He who is in us is greater - oh, how much greater! - than anything in this world.

Who can be against us, when God himself is not just with us, but in us! How can we fear the activities of Satan, when God himself empowers us? It is Satan and all his demons who tremble before the believer who truly understands what it means to be filled with the Spirit.

How can we be content with anything less than what we read in the pages of the New Testament, and believe that this can be a true manifestation of the same Spirit that turned the world upside down?

Let God be God. And let God be God in you! He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Teacher Training

What you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. (2Ti 2:2)

Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, instructs him not only to teach in line with the revelation he has received, but to commission men as teachers to do the same. He was not just to pass on the revelation, but also the responsibility to present the revelation.

He was not instructed to identify and recognise those who were gifts of the ascended Christ - the Ephesians 4 ministries of Teacher (or Pastor-Teacher). Nor even to find those who already had an emerging teaching gift or ministry amongst the body. There is also no implication that Paul was referring to the Elders that Timothy had already been instructed to appoint - men who as part of their qualification had to be able to teach. He was just told to find faithful men.

You see just as there are men who are Evangelists but we are all to do the work of an evangelist, and there are men who are Prophets but all can prophesy, so too the ministry of teaching (imparting the revelation of Christ) is not limited to those with a recognised ministry or office of teaching.

The writer to the Hebrews says that we should all be teachers (in this sense), not merely those who continually need to be taught.

Jesus himself, expected that anyone who received instruction in the Kingdom would be able to impart it to others:

Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old. (Mt 13:52)

In fact the main responsibility of the recognised teaching ministries, as with all the other Ephesian 4 ministries, is to equip the body of Christ to do the work - not to do it all themselves!

The temptation for some teachers is to try to keep control of "their" revelation, to preserve their ministry. But Paul is very strong against this:

What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it? (1Co 3:7)

We can't really claim that any of "our" revelation is actually ours. For how did we receive it? Was it not from the revelation of others, or the free gift of the Spirit of God? If we received the revelation we teach freely from others how can we try to restrict those who teach what they have received from us? Paul was very clear in his own teaching ministry that his preaching, teaching and revelation, was not something he was the possessor of, but something entrusted to him from God to pass on:

This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. (1Co 4:1)

...and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior; (Tit 1:3)

What if some of the men who run with "our" revelation overtake us in ministry or recognition? Praise God! If a man sows with my seed, am I not entitled to a portion of the return? I pray he sows far and wide and reaps a hundred-fold! After all who does all the seed ultimately belong to if not the Lord of the harvest. He did not give us good seed to stow away in barns, but to sow and sow and sow. Sow it as far as you can, and give it to others that they might sow with it too. Give others your seed and bless them that they might sow it further, in greater measure and with a better return than you ever did.

We are not involved with the activity of raising towers to make a name for ourselves, but in raising up teachers who may be fruitful and multiply and take the instruction of Christ and his Kingdom to the ends of the earth.

Would you recognise him?

They did not recognise him nor understand the utterances of the prophets. (Ac 13:27)

It is striking to note how many times Jesus was not recognised. First John tells us that though he made the world, the world did not know him; he came to his own people but they did not receive him.

Even during his earthly ministry when he performed outstanding miracles, there were those who dismissed him as a fraud or as demon-possessed. It's incredible to think that God-in-the-flesh walked amongst them and they didn't realise it!

But here's what makes it even more astonishing, this lack of recognition wasn't limited just to the Pharisees, Scribes and other cynics - it extended to his own believers as well. His own disciples who had shared their lives with him for three years also failed to recognise him on occasion: The disciples on the road to Emmaus did not realise that they walked with the risen Lord. Mary at the tomb, when all she wanted to do was to see Jesus, still thought he was the gardener. And even Peter himself when he was fishing with the other disciples did not recognise the Lord when he called out to him from the shore.

It's astonishing and sobering to realise that God himself can speak and act among even his own people, and they do not recognise him. As Jacob declared:

"Surely the Lord is in this place, and I did not know it!" (Ge 28:16)

One of the accusations that is levelled by some against prophecy today is that it does not come with the same level of authority or recognition as that in Biblical times. Anyone who thinks this should take a closer look at the texts. All through the history of God's people there has been the same problem - an elevation of all God has said in the past, yet an inability to recognise and accept what God was saying now. Even prophets like Samuel had to learn to recognise the voice of the Lord.

Modern church history also contains sobering accounts of those who devoted their lives to praying for revival, yet failed to recognise it when it came.

When God comes it is rarely in the way we expected. When he speaks it is often through a means we might despise. When he walks amongst us there is no guarantee, no matter how long we have been walking with him, that we will be looking in the right direction.

The real question for God's people in this day is not "Do you believe God still speaks?" but "When he speaks, will you recognise him?"

Lost emails

It has come to my attention that any emails sent to my lineone.net address have not been getting through. They are not coming through late, or labelled as spam, they are just not getting through at all - lost into the ether somewhere. This has been the situation for at least a week maybe more.

Apologies to anyone who has tried to contact me on this address. Please use my gmail address (see blog footer) from now on.

Living in the Green Light

"Live as people of the green light. Don't wait for God to tell you to go. Keep on going until he tells you to stop." ~ Keri Jones

The cross marks the spot!

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. (Mt 13:44)

In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. (Col2:3)

[Reflections from Life to the Nations '07]

One of the themes I noted from our Life to the Nations bible week, could come under the title: What to dig up, and what not to dig up!

Richard Anniss shared a powerful and stirring word on the Kingdom of God being like treasure. He challenged us if we had truly grasped how much it is worth; if we were truly living as if it was the most important thing to us. He shared how, even though it is a free gift of God's grace, it is still costly - very costly - it costs us our time, our energies, our very everything; but it is precisely this cost that speaks of its great worth. He shared how the great men of faith who have preceded us have left us revelation on the Kingdom of God that is like a map to the treasure. But what are we going to do with this map? Frame it, admire it, and proclaim what a great map it is? Or give our all to following the map and laying hold of the treasure.


Keri Jones shared on what not to dig up:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2Co 5:17)

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. (Ro 6:4)

Too many Christians, he said, are emphasising their old life, which is dead, buried, gone and forgotten, rather than their new life which they now walk in. They speak of being "sinners saved by grace" and emphasise the "sinner" - but when the Holy Spirit comes into our life he emphasises the "grace!" We were sinners, but we are not that any more, we are a completely new creation in Christ. We are sons, we are heirs, we are royalty. It is time to stop thinking about how we were, and start living as how we are!


Both Keri Jones and Tony Ling shared from Genesis 26, where Isaac redug the wells of his father Abraham, and also dug new wells.

There were a number of points they drew from this: Any one who tries to unearth biblical doctrine and practice that has been neglected for years will face opposition. What belonged to my father belongs to me. There is very little future for the man who neglects or abandons his inheritance. The truths we hold never need to be abandoned or replaced, they just need to be filled out.

"Therefore every teacher of the law who has been instructed about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house who brings out of his storeroom new treasures as well as old." (Mt 13:52)


Finally, (in terms of this summary), Keri also shared on this verse:

It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. (Pr 25:2)

God conceals things for his royal people, who will diligently seek him, to find them out. When something that was lost is found again, there is much rejoicing.

Leaders Hang Back

Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent. For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged (1Co 14:29-31)

Hear me carefully on this one... Hanging back may not be something that immediately seems to fit with an eager desire to move in the spiritual gifts. And indeed there is to be nothing passive or fatalistic about our response to the Holy Spirit's stirrings in our lives or in our meetings. However sometimes we need to step back and see the bigger picture. Our gifts do not operate in isolation, but as part of the whole body. In 1Corinthians 12, in the context of Spiritual gifts, Paul expounds the concept of the body. Just as it is not good if one part of the body ceases to function, it is equally not good if the body becomes "a single member" - one gift, or more often one small portion of the total gifting, trying to do it all. It is in this context that our zeal to move in the gifts may need to be tempered with restraint. Not a restraint caused by a lack of passion to see the manifest presence of God in our midst, quite the opposite, a restraint born out of a desire to see them even more - as an expression of the whole body!

When I was a wee lad, I used to attend Scripture Union summer camps, in Scotland. It was at my first such camp that I gave my life to the Lord. Later on, I came back as a leader, and helped with the fun activities, sports, and spiritual input. As leaders, particularly during team games, we used to have a saying: "Leaders hang back!" or "LHB!" Whenever a leader got carried away with himself during a game of Frisbee-football or Ragger, and started to dominate the game, a cry of "LHB!" would go up from a fellow leader reminding him that the game was about the whole team getting involved, not a showcase for one talented individuals sporting prowess.

It is often the same in the church. Too often a majority of the work is done by a minority of the people. Too often, instead of being freed to move in their own spiritual gift, people look to the talented individual, the leaders, to perform that function. Too often the leaders are happy to maintain this status-quo, sometimes even accentuating it, seeking more of the spotlight rather than less.

It is into such situations that the cry of "LHB!" needs to be heeded.

Paul, when he addresses the issue of prophesy in the church, says that we call all prophesy, and in order for this to happen there needs to be an order and an awareness of one another. [This was the Corinthians main problem in many areas: they were zealous, but their zeal did not include consideration for each other.] Paul says "If a revelation is made to another sitting there, let the first be silent." This is the restraint I am talking about, the restraint that makes way for another man's gifting, even though he is quite capable himself to carry on.

The words "let the first be silent" are in the Greek "o protos sigato." o protos, can mean the first, but it can also mean "the leader [the prominent one]." sigato also carries not the sense of a external prohibition, but an internal self-restraint. So without too much of a stretch this could be translated: let the leader hang back in what he had to say. LHB.

At our Life to the Nations Bible week, our Apostle, Keri Jones, shared on the fist night (and on other nights) a powerful vision and direction for the churches. He shared his desire for congregations of God's people where there is a "quantum shift" forwards in the Holy Spirit. Not just the same people moving in gift week after week, but whole congregations moving in Spiritual gift.

This is where the bar is set in the Scriptures themselves. For it is not where one man shines in his ministry that God is most glorified, but where the whole body reflects the head - each part moving as he directs.

But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or outsider enters, he is convicted by all, he is called to account by all, the secrets of his heart are disclosed, and so, falling on his face, he will worship God and declare that God is really among you. (1Co 14:24-25)

Bless me!

[Reflections from Life to the Nations '07]

Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!" And God granted what he asked. (1Ch 4:10)

But Jacob said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."... And there he blessed him. (Ge 32:26,29)

You do not have, because you do not ask. (Jas 4:2)

Why is it that we often have a problem asking God to bless us? Is it because it seems selfish and self-centred (...and of course we are much to spiritual to pray in a self-centred way!)

Yet, Jesus instructed us to ask God for what we need. He told us that those who ask will receive. The problem is that often we think of our needs in a self-centred way, and so limit what we ask to just our own meagre requirements.

Yes, ironically it can that very self-centred attitude that keeps us from asking for the abundance of God's blessing on our lives. For if we only ask God for just what we need to get by, in what way does that benefit anyone else? God wants us blessed so that we can be a blessing; he wants us to have an abundance so that as well as our own requirements we have enough to bless others.

And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed (Ge 26:4)

God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him. (Ps 67:7 NASB)

It is only a blessed people that can be a blessing. Once we have understood that, we too will cry out to God that he would bless us abundantly...

...and God will grant us our request.

Life to the Nations '07

Well, it's been a week with no posts (sorry) and there'll be another silent week here next week too. I'm off to sunny Staffordshire for our annual Bible Week. This year it is entitled "Life to the Nations". There will be over 1500 people gathering from the churches that relate to Keri Jones' apostolic ministry, from around the UK and other nations.

It's going to be a great week of fellowship, instruction from the word, prophetic insight, the presence of God, and continual sunshine.... well, I'm in faith for at least four out of those five!

I'll tell you all about it when I get back... that is if I don't see you there!

The Obedience of Faith

Through whom [Jesus Christ] we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations (Ro 1:5)

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen (Ro 16:25-27)

These verses come from the beginning and end of the book of Romans. Paul's great exposition of the gospel. At the start and at the end, like bookends, he lays out the purpose of his Apostolic ministry and of the gospel he preached: to bring about the obedience of faith.

I love that phrase. It encapsulates the inseparable nature of faith and obedience. One never leaves home without the other.

What is obedience without faith? Nothing, certainly not true obedience of the kind that pleases God. For without faith it is impossible to please him. It is just dry religious observance. A form of godliness but lacking its power.

And what is faith without obedience? Nothing, certainly not the faith of the kind that God responds to. It is just mental assent. A conviction of truth that does nothing to change our behaviour. James says even the demons have this kind of "faith" in God.

But faith married with obedience, what a team! The faith that does not just grip your thoughts, but moves your feet. A mustard seed's worth of this kind of faith can see the power of God released.

The faith that enabled Peter to walk on the water, was not a conviction that he would float (it is debatable how much of this kind of faith he had) but the determination that he would take that first step out of the boat. That step of obedience was the true manifestation of his faith, and the means of the miracle.

Head, Heart, Feet?

When I was new in the faith I was taught this concerning receiving the truth of God's word: When you hear it, it first affects your head, as you listen to it and understand it. Then, as you meditate on it, it works its way down to your heart and gets a grip on you. Finally it reaches your feet as you put it into practice and outwork it.

I don't know if this head->heart->feet teaching is still doing the rounds out there anywhere, but the more I have studied the scriptures and the more I have learned from them, the more I have become convinced that this description of teaching is totally at odds to the New Testament pattern.

In fact I would say that, at least in the west, we have distorted the concept of Biblical teaching to fit with our own post-enlightenment world view. We have reduced it to a cerebral activity, a mere exchange of thoughts and ideas from the mind of the teacher to the minds of those receiving instruction. I have even read a description of the ascension ministry of teacher as "a lover of books." Some it would seem have this idea of the teacher as a wise bookish person who gets wheeled out to teach doctrine now and again.

Where do we get this idea? Surely this is a concept of teaching that comes from our experience in the modern world, rather than from the pages of Scripture. What was Christ's own teaching ministry like? What was the teaching ministry of the Apostles like? Were they bookish academics?

Ephesians 4 says we have all been given grace "according to the measure of Christ's gift." So surely it is Christ's own teaching gift that we should use as an example in these matters:

And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. (Mk 1:22)

If we read the gospel accounts we discover that the crowds were as astonished with Jesus' teaching as they were with this miracles. This was because he did not merely "teach" to convey information, but his words carried authority. Authority comes to bring obedience.

Obviously Jesus had not heard about the head->heart->feet process, as his words cut straight to the end result. He did not give people nice ideas to go away and think about; he brought the plumb-line of the word with authority that men had to line themselves up with. In fact we find that the reason Jesus often taught in parables, was not to make himself easier to understand, quite the opposite, it was so that his teaching could not just be received as nice intellectual ideas:

He said, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’ (Lk 8:10)

In fact when Jesus was taken into heaven, when he revealed his ultimate authority over all things and gave the great commission, he spelt out what teaching should do:

Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age." (Mt 28:18-20)

The Jesus-kind-of-teaching is not teaching aimed at the head, but directly for the feet. We can receive it and obey it, put it into practice and see it produce fruit, even before we fully understand it.

What about the head->heart stage? Well, consider Paul's words to the Ephesians:

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints (Eph 1:18)

Again the process is reversed! They received it in their hearts in order that they might know with their heads. Spiritual truth is received first by the spirit, not by the mind. We need to be those who have a mind controlled by the Spirit (Ro 8:6) not a spirit controlled by the mind.

Head, heart, feet? I'm sorry, I don't buy it any more! In my Bible the process is feet, heart, head!

Watch what you watch!

I will walk with integrity of heart
within my house;
I will not set before my eyes
anything that is worthless.
(Ps 101:2b-3a)

I have been mulling over several topics lately: fasting, guarding my eyes, and finding more time for prayer. Though they may seem to be unrelated the quote from Piper yesterday seemed to pull them together nicely:

It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night.

Piper isn't saying that it is fine to indulge in wickedness or watch explicit videos, but that this is not the only issue. There is behaviour that is sinful and behaviour that is unhelpful. It's not just an issue of what we watch, but how much we watch. We must certainly deal with the former, but if we only deal with the former we will still be lacking. To truly progress in the journey of faith we must not just be prepared to set aside what is evil, we must also be prepared to set aside what is good in order to pursue the best. This is at the very heart of what it is to fast.

I have touched on this before when I wrote on the significance of the first and second days of creation. First there came a separation of light from darkness - God indeed wants us to be holy and separate from all that is impure and immoral. But then there came a separation of water from water. This was not a separation based on merit (one bit of water was as good as any other) but a separation of purpose - a discerning and separating what is "of above" and what is "of below." If we are to be heavenly-focussed and heavenly-minded we must sometimes separate ourselves from earthly things - not because they are not good, but because we discern a higher purpose.

We often think of fasting solely as a period of time spend without food. This is indeed the usual reference to fasting in the word. It is a great spiritual discipline that does much to help us lay aside distractions of the flesh to engage with the higher purpose of heaven. I'll maybe write more on this another time. But this is not the only way to fast. At its root fasting is not a religious and ritualistic denial of food - almost every religion has practices like this. It is a concious decision of the will to lay aside the good (whatever that may be) for the sake of the best - God himself.

Piper's words and a conversation I had with a friend last night has convinced me of another very effective fast for the Christian in today's world: a fast from television!

If you are pondering how you can spend more time in prayer, or more time in the word, or any other activity of the Spirit, the answer may be right in front of your remote!

A fast post

The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poison but apple pie.
It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for
heaven, but endless nibbling at the table of the world. It is not
the X-rated video, but the prime-time dribble of triviality we
drink in every night. For all the ill that Satan can do, when God
describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love, it is
a piece of land, a yoke of oxen, and a wife (Luke 14:18-20). The
greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemies but his gifts.
And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil, but
for the simple pleasures of earth. For when these replace an
appetite for God himself, the idolatry is scarcely recognizable,
and almost incurable.

If you don’t feel strong desires for the manifestation of the
glory of God, it is not because you have drunk deeply and are
satisfied. It is because you have nibbled so long at the table of
the world. Your soul is stuffed with small things, and there is
no room for the great. God did not create you for this. There
is an appetite for God. And it can be awakened. I invite you to
turn from the dulling effects of food and the dangers of idolatry,
and to say with some simple fast: “This much, O God, I
want you.”

~ John Piper, A Hunger for God

Honey along the Path

And the men of Israel had been hard pressed that day, so Saul had laid an oath on the people, saying, “Cursed be the man who eats food until it is evening and I am avenged on my enemies.” So none of the people had tasted food. Now when all the people came to the forest, behold, there was honey on the ground. And when the people entered the forest, behold, the honey was dropping, but no one put his hand to his mouth, for the people feared the oath. But Jonathan had not heard his father charge the people with the oath, so he put out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and dipped it in the honeycomb and put his hand to his mouth, and his eyes became bright.

Then Saul said to Jonathan, “Tell me what you have done.” And Jonathan told him, “I tasted a little honey with the tip of the staff that was in my hand. Here I am; I will die.” And Saul said, “God do so to me and more also; you shall surely die, Jonathan.” Then the people said to Saul, “Shall Jonathan die, who has worked this great salvation in Israel? Far from it! As the Lord lives, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he has worked with God this day.” (1Sa 14:24-27,43-45)

This will be my last post in this series looking at the symbolism of honey. I have deliberately left this one until last, and given it a great deal of thought. Whilst what follows is certainly not the only, or even the most obvious exegesis of this passage regarding Jonathan's tasting of the honey (and I have drawn other lessons from it myself) I believe there is an important lesson concerning the word of God and how we receive it.

The word of God is living and active. It is not static; it is not a text book. This means that it always has more to teach us. Whilst the cannon of scripture is closed - we do not expect any new scriptures, or any new truths - this does not mean there will not be new revelation. New revelation is different from new truth. All truth about God is eternal, it cannot by definition be new. However, no-one has a complete revelation or understanding of God. When our eyes are unveiled (or brightened) to see something new (for us) from God's word, we have received fresh revelation by the Spirit into eternal truth.

The problem is that man always has a tendency to try and institutionalise the truth of God. To make formulas and constructs of human wisdom that act as a wineskin for the revelation of God. This in itself is not a bad thing, until those who grow up in these "institutions" become more attached to the wineskin than they are to the reason it was constructed, or the wine it contains. Thus when a "new vintage" comes along, one that will not fit with their beloved constructs, traditions, practices - they would rather reject the new revelation of God, and run-out the men who bring it, than to have to adapt and change to accommodate it.

Such has always been the way, even before the Scriptures were complete. Each generation of God's people rejoiced in the legacy of the prophets of past generations, whilst rejecting, despising and persecuting the prophets who spoke to them in their own time. Even Jesus himself was rejected in this way:

We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from. (Jn 9:29)

Church history is full of the same warnings. Those who begin in the power of the Spirit and/or a new conviction of truth from the Holy Scriptures, become in the passage of time just another institution with its own traditions and values which they hold to more dearly than the principle of pursuing the revealed truth of God's word no matter what the cost which drove their original founders.

"There was never any thing by the wit of man so well devised, or so sure established, which in continuance of time hath not been corrupted." ~ Thomas Cranmer [Founding figure of the Church of England]

Even in the early church this tendency had begun. Thus Paul's uncompromising words to the Galatians:

Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? (Gal 3:3)

Saul was such a man. He began well, in a powerful anointing of the Holy Spirit, leading God's people to victory over that which held them captive. But then he tried to establish and consolidate his victory in the flesh. He became jealous and hostile towards those who carried the anointing of God, and made his own rules that God had no part in that prevented the people receiving the food they needed.

Yet even in such a situation, God causes fresh honey to spring up along the path for those who are bold enough to taste it.

It was the people of God who were the final judge this day, because the old rules and ways of the flesh did nothing for them. But the man whose eyes had been brightened with the fresh revelation of God, was the one who led them into victory, the way the old man once had.

The lessons are clear. Because the "institution" we are a part of was in the cutting edge of God's plan in the past, is no guarantee it is today. Or indeed, because we are part of a fresh revelation of God's purpose today, is no guarantee that the "institutions" we are a part of today will still be manifesting the life of God in the years to come. God cares nothing for the institutions of man or the monuments they leave behind. He only has one church, one people, however they are distributed or fragmented. What he cares about is those who will live according to all that continues to be revealed from his wonderful word of truth.

He doesn't need another denomination - what he wants is a people who all have the sparkle of fresh honey in their eyes.

But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. (Pr 4:8)

"God has yet more light and truth to break forth out of his holy Word." ~ John Robinson 1620

Honey from the Rock

He [the Lord] made him [Jacob] ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. (Dt 32:13)

But he would feed you with the finest of the wheat, and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you. (Ps 81:16)

There is a very short answer to the imagery of the honey from the rock: honey is the word of God, and the rock is Christ. Christ came as the ultimate word from the father. He is the ultimate revelation of God. All of God's word finds its focus in him.

But there is a longer answer. For the imagery of the rock is another of those frequently occurring motifs in Scripture that is highly significant. God is frequently referred to as the Rock in the Old Testament, so Christ as the Rock (1Co 10:4) is an obvious reference to his deity. But interestingly, Abraham is also referred to as a rock:

Listen to me, you who pursue righteousness, you who seek the Lord: look to the rock from which you were hewn, and to the quarry from which you were dug. Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him. (Isa 51:1-2)

Abraham became Israel. He was one man when he was called, and he responded to a personal call, but he was driven by his corporate vision of the city of God, and he became a people belonging to God.

The rock in this context represents the eternal kingdom purpose of God: to take hold of a man, and through him to fill the earth with his people.

It is not just Abraham, but all those to whom God made a covenant express this unchanging purpose. Adam was one man whom God commissioned to fill the earth. As was Noah; as was Abraham. In Moses and David too we see a covenant to a man which is to have an outworking to all God's people.

This is the same imagery and the same great kingdom purpose we see in the wonderful second chapter of the prophet Daniel. A rock cut from the heavenly mountain, that impacts the earth and grows until that same mountain is reproduced in all the earth.

For all the covenants, and the kingdom purpose of God find their fulfilment in Christ. He is the true fulfilment of the rock. One man through whom God will produce a people who will fill the earth with the knowledge of his glory.

Honey from the rock is thus the message of Christ and his kingdom. The message of the Kingdom; the good news of the kingdom; the gospel of the kingdom; the gospel.

(It is important that we remember that the gospel is the gospel of the kingdom. It is not the gospel of the individual. Christ's message was not "Repent, and come into all the blessings of God." - though that is indeed the case - but, "Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand." It is not a call to self-improvement, but a call for self-denial for a cause that is bigger than any individual.)

Honey from the rock is not just meant to nourish us, but to be exported by us to the ends of the earth. As the rock that is the kingdom grows to fill the earth, so too the honey from the rock must flow from this mountain to touch all mankind.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (Mtt 24:14)

Honey from the Lion

Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Timnah, and they came to the vineyards of Timnah. And behold, a young lion came toward him roaring. Then the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, and although he had nothing in his hand, he tore the lion in pieces as one tears a young goat. But he did not tell his father or his mother what he had done. (Jdg 14:5-6)

After some days he returned to take her. And he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold, there was a swarm of bees in the body of the lion, and honey. He scraped it out into his hands and went on, eating as he went. And he came to his father and mother and gave some to them, and they ate. But he did not tell them that he had scraped the honey from the carcass of the lion. (Jdg 14:8-9)

One thing that causes Christians much confusion and difficulty is the issue of trials and suffering. Anyone who has walked the journey of faith for more than a moment will know, even if they don't admit it, that we as Christians are not immune from the effects of Adam's sin on this fallen world. Jesus himself promised us tribulation. Paul said we must pass through many tribulations to enter the kingdom of God.

Yet many have bought into a false teaching that assumes that once we come to Christ, everything will be a breeze. We will be shielded from all trials and sorrows by the grace and favour of God. As a result when the inevitable trials and difficulties do occur they are off guard and totally unprepared. Their faith is not ready, and they falter, thinking God is no longer for them or that he is no longer in control.

Peter warns us to watch out for our enemy who prowls like a lion. Why would this be necessary if God will never let him come near us? Those who teach in God's house have a responsibility to prepare God's people for when the lion attacks.

Samson, for all his faults, was a man chosen and anointed by God. Yet God did not spare him from the attack of the lion. It came at him with everything it had got. Its full onslaught of might and intimidation. A young lion, in full vigour, roaring with all its might - its sole aim to bring the man of God to a premature end.

But even though Samson has nothing in his hand, nothing in his own ability or resource to defend himself, he stands firm and in the power of God he overcomes.

This is what we must understand: Bad things will come against us, God never promised they wouldn't, but no matter what comes, we can always overcome! The promise of the Scriptures is not that no weapon forged against us will ever come against us, nor even that no weapon will draw blood, or cause us genuine hurt. The promise is that no matter what comes, it shall not prosper. Nothing can overcome those who stand firm in their faith in God. The lion can rush, the lion can roar, but the lion can never overcome. We can always overcome him if we stand our ground.

When the lion comes, he comes roaring. He roars, "Where is your God?", "How could he let this happen?", "Where is his protection when you need it?", "Why you?" But the hallmark of men of faith is this: they shut the mouths of lions! They are not intimidated by his roars, and they do not entertain his doubts. They stand firm and overcome.

Honey from the Lion is thus a delicious irony. That which came against the man of God to consume him is itself consumed, and becomes a source of strength. That which came roaring doubts, became a source of God's word.

We may not understand at the time why we go through times of trial and difficulty. We don't have to. We just have to stand firm in faith and overcome. But when we revisit them later, those past victories can speak to us and be a source of God's word to us.

They proclaim, "The God who was with you in all you overcame in the past, is the same God who is with you today to cause you to overcome anything you may face. He did not let you fall then; he will not let you fall now."

Honey from the lion is the food of warriors. It is the sustenance of those who are ready to overcome today, because they have already been tested and stood firm.

Alone on a hillside, tending his fathers sheep, a young boy with a deep love and devotion for God was attacked by a savage lion. Who knows whether at the time he understood why his loving heavenly father allowed such attack. What we know is this, later in life that boy saw a giant defying the God in whom he had stood firm, and as one who had tasted the "honey from the lion" he was able to declare with complete conviction:

"The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." (1Sa 17:37)

Caution: Do Not Boil!

"You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." (Ex 23:19b)
"You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." (Ex 34:26b)
"You shall not boil a young goat in its mother's milk." (Dt 14:21b)

Repetition is significant in the Scriptures. It is the prophetic equivalent of using bold typeface, or a highlighter pen.

So I have known that these verses were significant, even though I have been puzzled for a long time as to why!

However, as I have been meditating on the imagery we have been examining in the last few posts, a possible answer has emerged.

Like Paul, when he explains the significance of the ox treading out the grain, I am struck by the question: Is it for young goats that God is concerned? Does he not speak entirely for our sake?

If we see the young goat as an immature member of the flock, and its mother's milk as that which should have brought it through to maturity, then these verses strike me as an expression of what I have always considered to be the golden rule of preaching:

Never use the platform to have a go at a brother.

There is a time for rebuking, but even this should be done in love with a view to seeing our brother restored.

That brother may be immature. He may have made a massive doctrinal error. He may have totally wound us up the wrong way. But God never gives us his word to use as a weapon - not against flesh and blood anyway! Whatever measure of platform God gives us for our words, we must make sure that they always build our brother up and never boil him alive!

Milk from the flock

He [the Lord] made him [Jacob] ride on the high places of the land, and he ate the produce of the field, and he suckled him with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the flinty rock. Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock. (Dt 32:13-14a)

I finished my last post by proposing that milk and honey represent the word of God that comes to us, that addresses basic issues in our life, and causes us to grow onwards towards maturity.

When the Lord led the people out of Egypt he fed them with manna. This was food direct from heaven, and collected individually. However when the people entered the land the manna stopped. There was a new dynamic, one of milk and honey. It is no longer a sustenance that comes primarily direct from heaven, nor one that is applied to individuals in isolation; it is one that is from the flock for the flock.

It is important for us to realise that God has not just called us out of something, he has also called us into something. The people were not just called out of Egypt to wander in the wilderness being fed by the mercy of God by manna direct from heaven; they were called to enter Caanan to become an established people who would nourish each other with the milk and honey that would cause them to grow up into maturity.

Those who are baptised into Christ are baptised into his body. We do not just become a new person in the waters of baptism, we become part of a new people. We become part of a covenant community, the flock of God, where each member has a responsibility of care for the other, and where each has something that is needed for the common good. No child of God can ever reach maturity in isolation. Manna is not enough, we need milk and honey. It's not just that we need to receive it, as part of the flock we are supposed to produce it.

We need to see our time in the word in this light. God gives both bread and seed. Are we coming to him just for manna for ourselves that will get us through the day, or are we coming for milk that will both satisfy us, and be a source of blessing to others? When you read the word, don't just think how it applies to you, take something for someone else too.

This is how the body is meant to function and build itself up. Paul writes to the Ephesians:

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love. (Eph 4:11-16)

Maturity is not reached by believers in isolation. Nor is it reached just by the working of the "recognised ministries". It is reached by the body, when the whole body is functioning as a body. The milk is not produced the the shepherds, but by the flock. The role of the shepherd-teacher is not to run around from morning to night trying to feed every sheep and goat with the milk that it needs. (Jethro had to rebuke Moses for such behaviour) Rather it is to equip the flock to produce its own milk. So that the members of the body can minister to each other. Only in this way will the body reach maturity.

God wants his church to be a land flowing with milk and honey. He wants a bride that is prepared for his son. He wants a people who continually minister the word of God to each other in love.

Your lips drip nectar, my bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon. (SoS 4:11)

Milk and Honey

I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey (Ex 3:8)

The Exodus out of Egypt and into Caanan is a paradigm in the Word for our own salvation. We were slaves in sin, just as they were slaves in Egypt. We were saved by the shed blood of Jesus, the lamb of God, just as each household in Egypt was saved by the blood of a lamb on their door posts. And we too have been brought into an inheritance in Jesus, just as Joshua (the Hebrew pronunciation of Jesus) brought them into the good land that God had prepared for them.

We know, of course, that our salvation is not the end of our journey, it is the beginning. Our pilgrimage begins as we follow Jesus in his triumph, brining in his kingdom and growing ever more closer into his likeness.

We don't have to read far into the Old Testament to find this reoccurring description of the land that God was leading them into: It was a land flowing with milk and honey.

On the surface this represents the abundance of God's bounty and provision towards his people in the inheritance he was giving them. But I want to suggest that the symbolism goes deeper. Honey, we have established, is the taste of the Word of God. Milk is the sustenance that is needed to bring a child from weakness to strength, from immaturity into maturity.

Peter uses this illustration in his first epistle:

Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation (1Pe 2:2)

The writer to the Hebrews also uses the same illustration:

For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. (Heb 5:12-14)

God's spiritual milk then is the basic teachings of the word of God that are foundational to us leading a life of faith. We need them if we are to continue in our pilgrimage in the land onwards to maturity and the fullness of Christ.

This spiritual symbolism of milk bringing us to maturity where we can discern good from evil is not just found in the New Testament either, for Isaiah says:

He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. (Isa 7:15)

Which brings us full circle back to Honey and the unmistakable taste of God's word. We need God's word if we are to grow into maturity. Without it we will stay in infancy.

Having laid the groundwork for this interpretation of Milk and Honey, I will draw some applications out of it in the next post...

Tastes like Honey

Now the house of Israel called its name manna. It was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.(Ex 16:31)

The rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb. (Ps 19:9b-10)

How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Ps 119:103)

And he said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it.” Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey. (Eze 3:3)

So I went to the angel and told him to give me the little scroll. And he said to me, “Take and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” (Rev 10:9)


The word of God describes its own taste. It tastes like honey.

This sets up a motif and a reoccurring theme that I want to examine in some following posts. Not every occurrence of honey in the scriptures is applicable to the word of God, but many of them are.

If I have time, and I'm not distracted by something else, I'd like to look at: Milk and Honey, Honey along the Path, Honey from the Lion, and Honey from the Rock.

But to kick off, that fact that it tastes of anything speaks volumes by itself. It is meant to be consumed! It's not enough merely to get into the Word, the Word needs to get into us. It's designed to be tasted, eaten, and savoured like sweet honey.

Not just that, but one we have eaten the sticky stuff, there are tale-tale signs, for it sticks to our lips. Once consumed, it is meant to be spoken.

The first mention of the word tasting like honey comes with the manna. Which we are told represents the Word of God in Deuteronomy.

And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. (Dt 8:3)

This sets up an important pattern for how we should receive the word of God: daily! We need to get away from thinking the word of God is something we only receive on a Sunday morning. The pattern for the manna was that they would gather it for six days, and live off their reserve on the Sabbath. Sadly, many believer's try to live by the complete opposite!

To fear or not to fear...

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin.” The people stood far off, while Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was. (Exodus 20:18-21)

God does not want us to be afraid of him, but he does want us to fear him.

Confused? Let me try to explain.

We are very familiar with fear as a negative thing. Fear locks people up. Fear paralyses. Fear prevents people doing the things they know they should do. Fear robs people of their peace and causes them to live under the cloud of worry and anxiety. There is the fear of man, the fear of failure, the fear of death, along with all manner of phobias and neurosis. Christ came to set us free from all such fear.

But there is another kind of fear, a positive kind, a kind that is often neglected and rarely taught.

I was thinking about this recently as I was talking to my son about crossing the road. Now, on the one hand although I don't want my son to be afraid of the road, to tremble and panic whenever he reaches the kerb, I do want to instil in him a fear of sorts. A fear that gives him a correct sense of danger and that will keep him from putting himself into a situation that could harm or kill him. This kind of fear could save his life! That's a positive thing.

This, I believe, is the correct purpose of fear: a strong motivational force that gives us a correct sense of danger and keeps us from situations that would cause us harm.

A fear of heights is a bad thing, but it has at its root an inbuilt recognition of the danger of falling from heights. We need such recognition of danger to make sure we treat such situations with the utmost care. No fear in this case would be worse than too much fear. As usual with the strategies of the enemy, the phobias he locks people up with are not original inventions, but merely distortions of the good things of God. A brave man is not a man without fear, but a man who can overcome his fears.

This is the kind of fear we should have for God. Not a fear that locks us up and keeps us from coming into his presence. We know that we are forgiven, accepted, invited sons who can come with boldness before God's throne of grace. But to have no fear, here as elsewhere is worse than too much fear. We need to recognise that our God is not "safe!" He is not an indulgent grandparent who winks at our misbehaviour and panders to our demands. He is an awesome holy righteous God, a consuming fire, a God who expresses his holy wrath against sin every day (Ps 7:11). He is our father, whose love will not shrink from discipline when it is needed.

The fear of God is designed to keep us from the situations that would harm us. Keep us from the consequences of bad decisions, and keep us from unnecessary discipline. Like children, if we cannot understand why we should do right, we can at least fear what will happen if we do wrong. God wants us to fear him that we might not sin.

The fear of God is not to keep us from coming, but to keep us from straying.

The Lion & The Lamb - Volume 1

It's no secret that I am not a great reader (with the exception of the Word). I don't read a lot of books, Christian or otherwise. Those books I do read, it takes me a while to get through. For me to finish a book is an endorsement in itself! So this book review has been a long while coming! Roger, Matthew, Gavin and Richard have all beaten me to it.

I could, perhaps, have written the review before I read the book. I know the author and I was at the conference where the material in this book was preached. Those two facts alone would have been sufficient for me to recommend this book to anyone. Tony Ling has had an enormous influence in my life, as he has had for many. There is no-one who sparks, stirs and provokes the Spirit in me the way his gift does. And he was on top form during this conference. If you would like a sample you can listen to the first session for free on the School of the Prophets website. It should give you a good impression of the book too.

Since the book is based on transcripts of the conference, it preserves the life and dynamic of Tony's preaching style, and makes it a very easy read. For those of us who have had the privilege to hear Tony preach, you can almost hear his voice as you read along!

What I love about this book, is what I love about Tony's preaching. His great love and profound insight into the whole counsel of God's word, enables him to paint the big picture of God's great eternal plan, drawing on scriptures from all over the Word. He makes connections and draws parallels that makes your jaw drop; not just because you have never seen them before, but because once he has painted the picture for you, you can't believe you had never seen it before!

The topic of the book of Revelation may put some people off. There has been so much rubbish written on this book in the past, that many are quite naturally wary of paperbacks written on the subject (or if they are not, they should be!!) But with Tony you are "in safe hands." He handles the word of God with great respect and care, showing how the symbolism in Revelation can be found throughout the rest of the Bible, and so only in this context can it be understood. Thus this is not one of those books that draws predictions and theology from this book that cannot be founded anywhere else in the word; quite the opposite. Tony shows how this book fits into place as the ultimate revelation of Jesus Christ the returning conquering king, and the fulfilment of the purpose of God in the earth that begun in Genesis; a hope we are not detached from but integrally involved in hastening.

This book leaves you wanting more, which is good because it's only volume one of two. The second volume should be out sometime this year (I believe).

If you love God's word, and have an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying through it, you will love this book.

You can order it from amazon.co.uk or amazon.com or from Living Rock Church

The Cheerful Giver

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2Co 9:6-7)

God rewards the generous giver, but he loves the cheerful giver.

I was musing on this distinction during my holiday. Not that I think there is a conflict here, but there is a distinction: the cheerful giver will always be a generous giver, but a generous giver need not always be a cheerful giver.

Whilst there is an inviolable spiritual principle concerning sowing and reaping that applies to all men regardless of faith or motives, God is concerned with the heart. What matters to him is not the amount given, but the heart that was stirred to give.

It strikes to me that there are not one, but two wonderful cycles of blessing here.

On the one hand, as we sow we know that we will reap. We sow generously and we reap generously. God provides for us so that on every occasion we have enough and to spare, so that we can be generous in every occasion. We are blessed because we sow; we sow because we are blessed.

Parallel to this there is another, and to my mind, an even more wonderful principle. We give cheerfully because we have received the Father's love; we receive the Father's love as we give cheerfully.

Now, I have to be careful here, because I don't want to imply that somehow the love of God can be earned. That we receive God's love from works rather than through the grace that is ours in Jesus. But I do want to emphasise what the Scriptures say: God loves a cheerful giver.

God loves all that is good, that is, all that is aligned with his own nature. He is by nature the ultimate giver, and his giving is motivated by love. The most famous verse in the Bible begins, "God so loved the world that he gave..." And he continues to give, not because he has not already given us enough in Christ, but because it is an inseparable part of the essence of his nature to give.

If the love of the Father is in us we will be givers. Not reluctant givers who have to be coerced or hyped up from the pulpit to give. Not calculating givers, who are already looking for what they will get back in return. But cheerful givers. Those who give freely, without thought of return, generously and motivated by love.

Those who give this way have discovered the truth of the Lord's words: "It is more blessed to give than to receive." The generous giver will receive his blessing in due course, but the cheerful giver is already abundantly blessed by the extravagant love of our heavenly Father.

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This post is not just theory. Here is a practical opportunity to give. The Disasters and Emergency Committee have recently launched a fresh appeal for the 4.5 million people dependant on aid in Darfur and Chad in the light of the imminent rains and the risk of a pandemic of diarrhoea and malaria this could cause. Darfur has been described as "one of the greatest concentrations of human suffering in the world at the present time." The oncoming rainy season is only going to make a bad situation worse.

Please consider if you wish to give to this appeal. Give a little, give a lot. Whatever you give - give cheerfully.

Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed. (Pr 19:17)

Cream up!

Well, I'm back from a wonderful holiday in Portugal.

One of the first and most important parts of each day while we were away was applying suncream before we went out. Whilst it comes out of the bottle like a cream, when it is on your skin it feels like oil. I have to say I learned to enjoy my morning "anointing" before I went out into all that the day had in store.

In fact the Mediterranean lifestyle is "oily" in many ways. There is the smell of fish oils, the taste of olive oil, as well as the feel of the suncream oils. All of these are very good and positive things. In fact I heard on the Radio this morning further evidence of how healthy the Mediterranean oily lifestyle is.

As Christians, we too are called and designed to live an oily lifestyle. One under the continual fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told his disciples not to leave Jerusalem until they were clothed with power from on high. I thought of this every time I told my son not to go out of the apartment until he had "creamed up." It wasn't enough that we had done so yesterday, we needed a fresh anointing for today.

Now that I'm back, I'm seeking to apply this good habit in the spiritual. It doesn't matter how full of the Spirit I was yesterday; what counts for today is that I am full of Him today.

But you have exalted my horn like that of the wild ox; you have poured over me fresh oil. (Ps 92:11)

Then he said, “These are the two sons of new oil who stand by the Lord of the whole earth.” (Zec 4:14)

But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him. (1Jn 2:27)

Back in Two Weeks

I'm signing off for two weeks. We fly to Portugal tomorrow for our holiday.

Although we are all looking forward to it greatly, my heart is full of empathy right now for the deeply moving events that have happened there over the last four days. My prayers are with the McCann family regularly. Lord, may Madeleine be returned safely and soon.

Ephesians Every Month Google Gadget

If you use Google Personalised Homepage (now called iGoogle) you can now add an Ephesians Every Month gadget to your page by clicking on the "Add to Google" button above.

Alternatively you can also add this gadget to your webpage / blog.

With the right hand and the left

They were bowmen and could shoot arrows and sling stones with either the right or the left hand; they were Benjaminites, Saul's kinsmen. (1Ch 12:2)

by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left (2Co 6:7)

[I'm writing this post as a right-hander. If you are left-handed just reverse the illustration.]

We all have our strengths and weaknesses. The intense white light of Christ's glory cannot ever be fully reflected in any one man; instead it is spread, like in a prism into the multicoloured wisdom of God displayed in the Church. This is how God has ordained it to be, one body but may parts, each with our own unique strength arranged just as God has desired. So that together we represent the fullness of Christ.

Our right hands represent our strengths; they are used more and so have become stronger.

Our right hands represent our skills; the things which through a combination of practice, natural ability, and the Spirit's anointing we have become especially good at.

The right hand represents a place of honour. This is why Christ is seated at the right hand of God.

As members of the body, we all have our areas of strength, skill and recognition, but it is important that we realise we don't have to be limited just to those areas.

You don't need to be a healing ministry to lay hands on the sick and see them recover. You don't need to be a prophet to bring the word of the Lord. You don't need to be an evangelist to share the good news about Jesus with a friend or colleague. You just need to be willing.

Don't just expect that someone more qualified will come along. The right man for the job, is the man or woman of God who is in the right place at the right time. You may be the only representative of Christ that comes across that person or that need.

Don't let your strengths, your skills, or the gift that people recognise in you become a box that restricts you. God will use your right hand, but he will use your left hand also!

Moses and Elijah: The witness of the Scriptures

And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him. (Matthew 17:2-3)

On the mountain of transfiguration we have two and three witnesses to the event. The three disciples and the two Old Testament characters, who appear when Christ is glorified. Two and three are important numbers in the Scriptures concerning witness; for it is by the testimony of two or three that a matter is firmly established. (Dt 19:17, Mt 18:16) So it is to the significance of Moses and Elijah as witnesses that I want to turn next. There is another way that Moses and Elijah represent witnesses, but the first one I want to examine is how they represent the witness of the Scriptures.

The Old Testament is frequently referred to in the New Testament as "The Law and the Prophets," Jesus himself referred to it this way several times. This is due to the division of the Old Testament books into the first five written by Moses, who was the one who brought the Israelites the Law of God that they were to live by; and the prophetic writings which included the rest (interestingly including the historical books eg. Samuel, Chronicles, Kings - which were often written by prophets. Just shows that you need a prophetic vision of the future to correctly understand your past!)

When Jesus is glorified it is highly significant that these two figureheads of the Law and the Prophets turn up. And it is significant that they immediately direct their speach towards Jesus. For the whole Testimony of the Old Testament, from Genesis to Malachi, is directed towards and finds it fulfilment in Christ.

"We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph." (Jn 1:45)

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. (Luke 24:25-27)

But it is also significant that the testimony of Moses and Elijah is revealed when the glory of Christ is revealed, for Paul says:

But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. (2Co 3:14-16)

It is only when Christ is revealed that the true testimony of the Scripture can received.

It's easy to see how these two go together. For if all the Scriptures are ultimately there to testify to Christ, then it follows that we can only receive this testimony when we know the one to whom they testify.

But, I believe there is a greater implication than just the one off event of turning to the Lord. For the disciples knew Jesus, they had (three of them) seen him glorified on the mountain, yet there were still aspects of the Old Testament Scriptures and Jesus' words that were still closed to them until Jesus was risen from dead.

Our revelation of the scriptures is governed by the extent of our revelation of Christ.

So we have a wonderful positive cycle between reading the Scriptures and knowing Christ. For it is by reading the word that we know him better, and in knowing him better that more of the Scriptures that point to him are unlocked to us.

This is not attaining to some new secret knowledge, not made clear in the plain reading of the word (like the Gnostics beleived), but a wonderful journey of discovery of the wonders of Christ, as if we too were travelling down the Emmaus road with him, slowly discovering how more and more of the word finds its true meaning to point to him, our hearts burning within us with each new revelation.

For Moses and Elijah show another thing in this respect. The word is alive; a living testimony to Christ. It is living and active (Heb 4:12). The Bible is not the kind of book you read once and then know completely. But one where you discover something new every time you open its pages. If we know how to listen we will discover that Moses and Elijah are still speaking!