Author: ianfrancoisdt

Today I decided to just sit and enjoy the presence of the Lord – without my usual introductory chatter. As I sit, I sense one word pervading the room – “Peace”……. “My peace – I have invited you to lay down your burdens at My feet and promised you Peace – that is what the whole concept of the Sabbath was intended to picture and represent – the world is fretting because of its disturbed relationship with me – so through My Covenant, I come bringing peace – peace with Me – so that you can have a relationship with Me – peace in your heart because you can entrust yourself completely to Me. And peace with everyone around you and your environment. That is what true Christianity looks like – ‘I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me, the life that I live in the body , I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me!.’

“This is the secret that Galatians explains – the secret of the new life in the Spirit – yet so many people find it so hard to give up the idea that they control their lives and their destinies – true peace lies in understanding this life in the Spirit and living it. Know therefore that this is what the Sabbath was looking forward to – you are now in the eternal Sabbath”.

So before we look at the rest of ch 2 in Galatians, let us look at the 3 topics I suggested you should meditate on last time. Remember we are examining these in the context of this letter.

1. Why did Paul give so much space to his testimony about the authority he had? Firstly we must remember that Paul was not part of the original ‘band’ of disciples who became apostles, as he explains in this letter. So he was being regarded with some suspicion by the other apostles, and we see some of that interaction in Acts 15. This letter was probably written early in his ministry after his first missionary journey. Secondly he had some very serious words to say to the Galatians who had been influenced by other teachers, called Judaizers, who were trying to bring the law back into the gospel. Paul therefore had to show clearly where his authority came from so they would listen and accept what he was saying. The important application for us is that this passage lays down the authority which the whole of the scripture has for us, as coming from God through His inspiration. It says Yes you may believe, yes you must believe, yes it is imperative that you believe and trust the Word.

Remember the question Satan asked in Genesis which led to Adam’s downfall? “Did God really say?” So today we are experiencing an unprecedented attack on Christianity from within as well as without and much of that is aimed at twisting and casting doubt on the truth and purity of God’s Word and the gospel as the center point of it. We need to go back and look at how serious Paul was about proving that the gospel he was preaching was the true gospel from God. And that is why I am so serious that each one of us that reads this blog believes and lives the true gospel.

2. Why is it so attractive to people to believe they can benefit by adding to the gospel? Well I think this is a very important issue because it goes to the very basis of our sinful DNA. It is hard for us, and let me say the more successful you have been in life the harder it is to accept that one can do nothing to add to Jesus’ work of salvation and that we must just accept it and receive it and give Him the glory. We want some of the glory. We like to flatter ourselves that we have a useful contribution to give. We are uncomfortable to receive unconditionally and therefore our default thinking is that what I do shows me to be a better Christian, more acceptable to God and who knows, maybe get ahead of some others in the queue. Last year Emily had a wound on her ankle that would not heal. I was referred to a nurse who specializes in wound care and after an initial consultation, which she charged me only for the materials she used, she then went ahead and treated Emily for three or four months completely free. I really needed this but it was hard for me to accept this absolute generosity, I so badly wanted to do something in return, but I realized it was from God, so was able to ultimately worship and thank Him for what this angel He had sent was doing and give Him the glory, while being extremely grateful to her as well.

3. Why the fuss? It is worth the fuss because every teaching which pollutes the gospel is an insult to God, who gave His only Son to die on the cross so that no one may perish but everyone who believes may have eternal life. He went to the most extreme lengths to win our salvation, if we dilute that in any way we are actually saying “what you did was not good enough, I want to add to that”. Western middle-class Christianity is pervaded with this attitude and it has taken a huge amount of power out of the ordinary person’s life as they struggle to live their Christian lives in the flesh, rather than the Spirit.

Now back to Galatians ch 2. This discussion on the relationship of the law to the gospel provides the background to Paul’s setting out of the true gospel which he summarized in vv 17-21. These few verses, true to Paul uses a bit of convoluted language, but the message is actually quite simple. As a clue the first part resonates Romans 6:1 ff. So why don’t you read these verses carefully and see if you can pick up the main points Paul is making. Lets try and stick to this passage and while we may go elsewhere to help us understand, let us try and simply explain what he is saying here.

For me today, God seemed to be saying, ‘do you truly understand vs 20 and are you consciously living it out in your life today?’

“Fill my eyes oh my God with a vision of the cross, fill my heart with love for Jesus the Nazarene”.

What does it mean to fill my eyes with that vision Lord? Why is it so important?

When Adam and eve were in the “Garden” the serpent asked them the question “did God really say…?” After the initial interaction with the serpent, he says your eyes will be opened when you eat from the tree”. The woman looked and saw the fruit and she found it desirable. By looking and seeing, the wrong desire was provoked. So our motivation and purpose to act is often provoked by our vision. What is the counter to that? To fill our eyes with a vision of the Cross and Jesus the Nazarene. Yet we cannot actually “see” Jesus in reality – nevertheless one can “see” Him in multiple ways in your mind’s eye and that vision of Him will determine your love and desire for Him with your actions flowing from that. Now that vision doesn’t just come from our pure imagination – it comes initially through God’s word. His word paints pictures constantly adding to the original in depth, quality, colour and variety – but the Word is the true source of the vision – yet we can build on that vision all the time by worship, prayer, daily interaction with God by faith and through His word, often even subconsciously to our original vision from His word.

Now the danger is that false pictures can intrude, held up by false prophets and teachers and wrong, negative interaction with other people and even our own sinful desires. So at the beginning of the day we can sing “Be thou my vision, oh Great King of heaven, be thou my all….”

Now we are back in Galatians. From 1:11 to 2:10 Paul goes into great detail to establish his status of apostleship and grasp of the gospel and how he received it directly from Jesus. In such a short letter why would he take up almost a whole chapter on this subject? Well why don’t you think through that and then what the important relevance that has for us today.

In 2:11-2:14 Paul comes to the reason or motivation which has set him off to write this indignant letter. It is clear that Peter has reneged on his original belief that the Gentile believers, who had accepted the Lord by faith were fully equal to the Jewish believers under the new order and now, (notice the remark in vs 12b that he did this out of fear), was aligning himself with the Jewish believers who believed that to be a complete Christian you still need to fulfil the requirements of the law, and in this case especially circumcision. Now today many would say why the fuss, surely this is a point of doctrine and many people have different views of certain doctrines? So yes, why the fuss?

This is such an important issue that I am going to stop there for today and am going to leave you with a few questions to ponder and I will deal with them next time before getting into the rest of ch 2 which is quite complex.

So here are the questions, if you wish to you can place one or more answers on the blog comments so that others can interact.

1. Why would Paul take up a whole chapter in such a short letter to establish his authority as an apostle and his grasp of the gospel and why is that very relevant for us today?
2. Why is it so attractive to people, both saved and unsaved to believe that obeying the law can contribute to their salvation?
3. Why the fuss about this whole issue, surely it is a minor point of doctrine?

Consider also, as part of our discussion for next time “what is the role of the law in salvation”?

So I thought I would like to hear what your takes are on these questions are and at the same time getting our half-frozen brains ticking again.

And what is Jesus saying to me today? “What is your understanding of the role of the law in salvation under the New Covenant? Think it through carefully.”

As I come to my time with the Lord today my thoughts are filled with wonder at how vast, how holy, how almighty my God, Yahweh is – and the thought – how can this God, this mighty God be close to me, such a small, finite, created being? I had an earthly father like that – I hugely respected him, but never felt intimately close.

“So God says – listen – listen carefully – do you hear My heart beat? You can only hear the heartbeat of someone who is very close to you – yes I am huge and awesome and holy – but the wonder of the work of My Son Jesus is that He has bridged that gap and you can have that intimate closeness you are longing for – remember “in all things”, at all times I am working for your good, your sanctification, your ultimate glorification. Nothing can separate you from My love, I am always for you in the most complete way – and if I gave my Son Jesus on the cross for you, how much more will I give you all things you need for life and godliness. Come here my son – I want to give you a big hug”.

Today I am taking a break from reading in Acts, so that I can do some in depth reading of Galatians, which I am planning to preach from in August. So today I started with and overview and the first 10 vv. I like the little summary of the main themes in the SU commentary: “The sufficiency of Christ and His atoning work; and the dynamic of the Spirit – these are the leading themes of the epistle and give it timeless relevance as much needed in the twentieth century as in first-century Galatia.”

This is the only letter from Paul where he starts straight in, shooting from the hip as it were, because of his anger at their pollution of the gospel. Despite the huge problems in the Corinthian church, for instance, his tone at the opening of his letters to them is much kinder. So why don’t you read the first 10 vv of ch 1 and ask yourself what you can hear Paul saying about the gospel and those who are preaching another gospel, as he calls it, another gospel that is no gospel at all.

To me what stands out from the beginning is that the gospel is completely at God’s initiative, from the fact that Paul sees himself as called specifically to preach it, by God, (v 1) to the purpose and the completion of the gospel as being according to God’s will. (V 5). Its a beautiful concise summary from grace to glory through the rescuing work of Jesus from the present evil age, which I take to mean the old order of the Jews. But the next paragraph is what really jumps at you, the anger, the frustration at changing something so pure and beautiful into something which is useless. I can almost have a vision of someone going into the Louvre and taking a paint brush full of paint and swatting patches across the Mona Lisa, in so doing spoiling it to to the point of making it useless. The underlying painting is still there but the way it is now being presented changes it into a monstrosity, no longer artistic masterpiece. That sort of pollution would be obvious though, whereas the changes that are made to the gospel are usually much more subtle.

The Greek word which Paul uses to describe his anger is “anathema”. You will all know the English expression of something being an anathema. It means totally condemned, cursed and uselessly unacceptable. strong words to use against fellow Christians.

Lord what are you saying to me today? “As much as Paul was specifically commissioned, I have also given you a specific task, ie to teach and preach My gospel. Take the fire and determination of Paul to keep the gospel pure and share it’s precious message as well as you can”.

Does it ever concern you when you hear an adulterated version of the gospel? Can you actually pick up when a wrong gospel is being preached or even told to you. Maybe as we work through Galatians you could become more sensitive to the many ways it can be twisted.

I have overslept and feel rushed and disoriented – my mind threshing around as I try to become quiet – there is a scene floating before my eyes – a scene where the waves of the ocean are breaking on the rocks – tumultuous waves shooting spray high into the sky- the water churning, green-opaque – foaming and swirling – that is how my mind is feeling – all sorts of conversations and thoughts clamouring to be heard. “Help me Lord, to become quiet”. As I ask this I see a sunrise above the churning ocean – a beautiful sunrise with multiple colours and slowly it is dominating the scene and the Lord is showing me that in the presence and beauty of His holiness, the sea is no longer a factor. His presence and His love will settle it like a calm mist descending over it.

“Reflect on the beauty of My holiness – My otherness – in a positive way”. The words of the song fill my mind, “I pause at His gates once more and my heart and my spirit soar and I wish I could love you more”.

“You have My love and you have My holiness – your place is to reflect My holiness to those around you – My holiness is in My Spirit who indwells you. Allow My Spirit to demonstrate His fruit in your life – and My holiness will become like a blazing light – just remember this is not about trying to do this – it is about trusting Me to do this in and through you – when you slip – don’t try harder, just stop, confess and trust Me to change you and restore your reflection of Me. Remember too that one of the fruit of My Spirit is peace, which you were longing for earlier”.

In my reading in Acts I have reached Acts 17:16-34, the description of Paul’s interactions with the pagan Greeks in Athens. Having visited the agora or marketplace myself in Athens, I visualize Paul meeting with various groups, who are discussing the philosophies of the time and earnestly presenting the case for Christ. Why don’t you read through vv 22 – 31 and see if you can pick up the flow of Paul’s presentation, remembering he is now speaking to people who have no previous knowledge of the Jewish faith and see how he links into their discussions. This is a very concise summary by Luke so virtually every word and every concept counts.

Once again I am struck by the absolute certainty of the statement by Paul that, having created every person on earth, God “determines the times set for us and the exact places where we should live”. v 26. But I notice something important just after that. God did this for a purpose, see it? God did this so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out to Him. Hmmmm. How does that fit into my and many other people’s thinking about God’s providence? I am again encouraged by the outright statement and reminder of my security in vs 28 “In him we live and move and have our being”. and following that the encouraging reminder of our status as His “offspring”.

The last thing that I see, which surprises me, is the fact that Jesus is presented as “Judge” not as Saviour, which is confirmed by His resurrection. vv 30-31. Why would that be? I wonder.

I am reminded of a sunny day on a farm East of Pretoria, where I had gone to meet with “Woodie”, my devastated best friend from varsity. He had walked out of his family and was lodging on a colleague’s farm. It was an amazing experience because he was a complete pagan. He had absolutely no knowledge of the bible and the biblical story. Jesus was just a vague name to him. For two hours I started at he beginning and fed his hungry heart with the good news of the gospel. What a privilege. Twenty five years later he passed away with the name of Jesus on his lips, a firm believer and lover of Jesus his personal Saviour, having returned many years earlier and become reconciled to his family.

What was Jesus saying to me this morning? Two grandchildren families are gearing up to leave SA and this was a real encouragement as I realized that no matter what their plans may be there is a loving hand which will be setting times and place, hard as it is to say goodbye.

Again the wonder of God’s providence. What a comfort in these troubled times, when that frees us to focus on Him and His holiness and reflecting that to the world rather, than pessimism and gloom.

The beautiful song that Lilly posted on our Wattsapp blog site, resonated with me this morning. “Be still, wait, be still and know that I am God”.

Be still – Be still is the starting point – to quieten all the conversations I have with myself, all the voices clamouring for my attention – Be still though – for a purpose to “Know that I am God – in the quiet with all the distractions out of the way you can truly come to know Me”.

In my mind’s eye I am in the Karoo on a warm summer evening – the sun has set in blazing glory and the night comes as black velvet stretched across the sky, studded with stars like multiple jewels – absolute quiet – except for an animal’s call in the distance. I lie down on my back and look up enveloped by this warm blanket, and God speaks “the quiet here enables you to really experience My presence – the inky blackness is soft and warm and envelops you with my love”. I see a star becoming brighter and brighter, “I am your light – just sense My nearness and receive from Me, I am a giving God – I have so much to give you – I give you absolutely everything you need for life and godliness – I have so much to give you, if you would only receive it – My love is overwhelming, My Spirit all powerful – I am constantly giving to you, just learn to receive and to do that you need to be truly still – practice that”.

I have been reading Acts ch 16 and today I focus on the last part vv 16-40. Why don’t you read through the passage and decide who the main characters are (besides Paul and Silas of course), and why they are.

Well I believe that the jailer and his family are the main characters, because the main melodic line has been the extension of the church in all the diverse ways that God works. Here we have perhaps the least likely family in Philippi to be saved. Not only the head of the house but the his whole family. Would the Lord go to such lengths as to let Paul and Silas be flogged and jailed just so that one family could be saved? Well I am sure there were far more people saved and this was just one instance, to make Luke’s point, apart from other benefits which we can only guess at. I am once again struck by how wide, how long and how deep God’s ways are, how inscrutable they are and to what lengths He has gone time and again over history to save those who have been elected for eternal life.

Another example of an action by God, which at first sight may seem counterproductive: In the end of ch 15 Paul and Barnabas have a serious disagreement about taking Mark with them, to the point that they separated. What a tragedy we say, but then as a result of that split we suddenly have two evangelistic teams instead of one and yes, later Mark is more than vindicated.

Then there is something else. Taking this story of the jailer as a standard rather than a description, many folk have held the view that it was sufficient for the head of the house (the jailer) to come to faith and for the rest of family to then be baptised, for them all to be saved. (From this the doctrine of infant baptism arose in many denominations). Luke makes a point at the end of vs 34, however that the whole family had come to believe and that is why they were saved. No external rite can save one.

Paul and Silas obviously trusted in God’s overall control of their situation so completely that they could actually be singing praises to Him, despite their adversity, being flogged and feet bound in stocks etc. It would have been so easy to run away when they were released or find a way for revenge, instead they stayed and spoke the “word of the Lord” to the jailer and his whole family (v 32), with eternal results.

As I listen to Jesus’ voice I consider my reaction to adversity. I have a choice: – I can grumble, plan revenge or a way out, complain to whoever will listen, enjoy the sympathy I get when I tell how much I have suffered. – Or alternatively I can ask, what is God doing in this situation? – What opportunity is He giving me, for personal growth or for witness ? How can I glorify Him?

I have so much to learn, how about you?

Fire – I see a fire – a burning furnace – intense heat. “What you are seeing is My gospel – My Gospel is more powerful than the greatest furnace – I created all the suns and stars – all of them together are less powerful than My Gospel. My Gospel has filled your heart and thoughts – continue to care for it, continue to teach it – not only to people so that they may understand it and be saved, but for every aspect of their lives – for every aspect of your life – understand and teach the true gospel and how it transforms lives – how it truly sets people free, not just initially – but every day – helping each person to live by My power through my grace, in My love – not trying to live in their own power (your own power), not trying to live to please me, not trying to jump through self-imposed hoops – but in a pure relationship of trust – remember trust before action, trust always comes first”.

In Acts ch 15, Luke describes in narrative form, how the elements of the gospel were first clarified and defined in the early church. This is a vital section, because perhaps the greatest problem in the church then and ever since then is the pollution of the pure gospel of grace. A drifting away from the simplicity yet magnificent power of the pure Gospel of Jesus. Up till now in Acts there have been various expressions used to describe the people who were being saved. They are described as hearing the testimony or message believing or accepting it. cf Acts 6:10, 10:43, 11:21, 13:48. Now in ch 15, the Lord arranged a confrontation between those who were saying that you can only be true Christian, i.o.w. “saved”, if you are also circumcised and keep the law of Moses.

I say the Lord arranged it because He is firstly always in control, but secondly it was a pathway to defining that the gospel is completely free, requiring no additional conditions so that this decision could be recorded for every generation from then on. So here we read in 15:11 “We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus we are saved, just as we are”. just before that he said “He purified their hearts by faith”, demonstrating the basic benefit of the gospel of complete forgiveness of sin: v 9 b. Overarching these two statements is the plain statement which seals and defines the real conversion of the unbeliever: “God, who knows the heart, showed He accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them”.

There was one additional instruction, v 20, but it should not be seen as a condition of salvation. It had to do with the social interaction of the new Christians in Antioch and the the Jewish believers. In those days there were no restaurants as we understand them, people’s social life in many cases took place in the pagan temples where meals were served and people could interact with each other. This was intolerable to the Jewish believers and also undesirable for the Gentile believers and so the warning not to participate in these feasts.

Although circumcision was a huge issue then it is not any more, yet there are vast denominations that hold baptism (especially infant baptism) as a requirement for salvation. But that is not nearly the only example of an additional requirement that people are expected to do to be saved. More recently, for instance, speaking in tongues was in vogue as sign that you had been “baptized in the Spirit”‘ a synonym for being “born-again”. Then there are groups and even denominations that demand the laying on of hands, usually by a specific person as a requirement and there are many other less formal examples.

Please understand me clearly, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with these practices, it is the laying down of one or more of them as a requirement for salvation that changes the gospel to no gospel at all.

For many years I believed, without voicing it that when I died God would measure my life and if more than 50% was good it meant I would qualify to go to heaven. When I returned from the weekend in Noordhoek, where I met the Lord, I was asked at the church bible study to give my testimony. I can clearly remember my reply. “Its free, I have discovered that it is completely free!” I kept saying it over and over, while tears were running down my cheeks..

Please forgive me if you feel I am repeating what I have said previously. It is because this is such an important subject that we cannot stress it enough, especially in the light of what I sensed God was saying to me earlier and in the light of the vast pollution in what is taught as the gospel throughout many churches.

So what do I glean as Jesus’ message to me today? Very clearly that I need to keep asking myself if I am trusting in Jesus’ death on the cross as the only means to salvation and am I living that freedom out in my every day life?

Why don’t you examine yourself again today, as you should do regularly? (2 Cor 13:5)

Be still and know – the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is here with you – through Jesus. Remember the mountain-top meeting? “This is My beloved Son, listen to Him.”

Peace is the word that floods my mind – “not as the world gives it, but peace IN Me – I have come to bring Peace and Rest – that is what the Sabbath celebration was to be a reminder of – My Rest which I give you – the world is restless – everyone is so busy, so occupied, so distracted, even when they are trying to rest, but in Me you find true peace – representing the harmony you have with Me. Even when the waves are rolling towards you – they won’t engulf you – you are held safe in My peace.”

I see a stormy sea with huge breaking swells and then in the midst a strong light shining down and where it is shining the water is totally calm – there is Jesus beckoning – “Come here into my peace – you will only find it here with Me – here IN Me = listen to Me”. I am still and I receive your peace dear Lord.

I start reading in Acts Ch 14, intending to read only the first 7 vv, however the narrative carries me along and I end up reading the whole chapter. There is a lot going on, but as I sort of stand back, I am once again struck by the interest and progress the preaching of the gospel brings and yet each time the growing specter of violent opposition. Without discussing the chapter in detail, a few things grabbed my attention.

Firstly the little word at the beginning of vs 3 – “so”. “But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there”. Its almost as if the very opposition of these people spurred Paul and Barnabas on to make disciples, spending some time there to see that these people who believed were also grounded in their faith and would not be distracted once they left.

Then there is the reminder of the importance of the exercising of faith. Luke says in Vs 9: ‘Paul, while he was preaching looked at the crippled man and “seeing that he had faith to be healed (remember the Greek word for heal is the same as save or be made complete – ‘sozo’), called out to him…” Here is the continued enigma of our response to the gospel both in terms of physical as well as spiritual completion He had faith when he heard Paul’s message. In the same way we need to exercise faith, yet we cannot do this without the intervention of the very one in whom we are to have faith in. This is a mystery we will only be able to understand when we meet the Lord face to face. Also in vs 23 the people who constitute the new church are described as those who had put their trust in the Lord. Trust is the key element of our relationship with Jesus, it is the dynamic connection between us and God Himself.

Another vs struck me, especially in the light of a request by Elise to pray for rain in the critically drought stricken Eastern Cape, Port Elizabeth area – vs 17 “He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy”. So yes everything we have is a gift form God because of the Lord’s kindness to us. But then what happens when we don’t receive rain? A sign of God withholding His kindness? There can be a lot written about drought as it is played out in the Old Testament, however it seems to me that the withholding of His blessing at any time is something that God does for a variety of reasons which we may not necessarily grasp. But maybe though, in today’s context, could mainly be intended to teach us continued humble dependence on Him and to help us to grow in that vital trust. Something like allowing the new converts of Paul in our passage today to experience serious opposition. This is also a strong reminder to the many who feel totally independent from God. They need to see they do not have complete control over their whole lives as they presume, that on the contrary their whole lives are actually completely in God’s hands, under His control. We understand we fall short of understanding everything, like with the Covid pandemic, but the one thing that does stand out clearly: God wants us to join Him in His team in growing His kingdom and we can all do this by exercising the huge gift of prayer, which lifts us up onto a different plane into His very presence, as it were..

For me Jesus seems to be reminding me of the fact that we live in a world of turmoil and many would seek to blame God for it, however in all this there is the huge desire by God that we join Him in the ‘campaign for the kingdom, by every means possible, starting with prayer high on the list.

So my friends how many of your thoughts and purposes are aimed at being part of that great commission? We never need to be stagnant.

“Where is your joy? – You used to be so filled with joy and you have become so serious. So now rediscover your joy this week. Where has your joy gone? Your relationship with Me should continuously be expressed in joy, even during difficulties. Remember ‘love, joy, peace, patience etc’ . Joy is right up there at the beginning. ‘Rejoice in Me always and again I say rejoice-‘”

How must I find that joy again Lord? “This is My joy which I am expressing through you – it flows from Me and your relationship with Me – but it reflects your attitude to Me and what is happening around you – so draw close, open your heart up and let Me fill it, not with a bubbly, frothy, superficial emotion – but one that arises from a deep appreciation of My worth and what I am doing for you and in you. So go forth this week and express My joy”

My following of the story of Luke in Acts reaches ch 13. Reading till vs 13. For the first time we see a group of Christian leaders and elders, representing the central core of the “church” in Antioch, meeting together in prayer and worship, presumably also seeking the way forward from the Lord. It is here where they receive instructions for the next phase and as it is put into practice, we see Saul, becoming Paul (the Roman equivalent) taking on more of a leadership role. What strikes me particularly from this passage is the way God uses the Church in the planning and execution of the next phase of the spread of the gospel.

Why do I think this is so important? Today (and I’m sure also over the years) there are more and more “Christians” who choose to operate loose from the church as individuals. They don’t want to submit to authority and visit various churches according to their taste seeking to “get something out of them” without committing themselves to the family of the “Body of Christ” and seeking to serve rather than be served. It is often from these individuals that rebellious waves arise against the authority and teaching of the established church. This is an entirely fertile hot-bed for false teaching and launching new ideas and a new gospel which is actually no gospel at all.

To me it was a timely reminder that the church is a representation of Christ’s body and His fullness which fills everything in every way Ephesians 1:22,23. The whole of Ephesians is meant to underline the fact that we as Christians cannot, dare not, try and function outside the scope of it.

Getting back to the passage in Acts, the other thing that I found interesting is in vs 12. This vs is a summary of the interaction between Paul and the proconsul who is saved after a miraculous intervention by Paul to “take out” the sorcerer. “He was amazed” at what? Not the miraculous act on Elymas, but “at the teaching about the Lord“.

So what is Jesus saying to me? “Hold fast to God’s word and teaching about it. Carry the task of teaching as sacred. The power though, is not in the Word per se, but in Me acting through the Word as My vehicle”.

Let us all then, in this trying time when Covid is seeking to keep us from meeting and functioning as a unit, remain loyal to the church and its teaching. The answer is not in rebelling against the rules of ‘lockdown’, but in seeking ways to function effectively despite ‘lockdown’. That is why I started this blog, to give us another way to draw together around God’s Word.

Singing “let there be light”, I look up into the sky where the brilliant light is coming from – shining down on me and lighting every corner of my mind, body, soul and spirit – I am longing to love the Lord more completely = not feeling well this week, it has been easy to focus on myself rather than the Lord.

“Yes Ian I am the light – but not the cold puritanical light of judgement – the warm light of My love – like the light from the embers of a fire on a cold winter’s night – I shine My light down on you to cleanse you from all that is holding you back from responding completely to My love – with your whole body, soul, mind and spirit. I love you and My whole creation with the cleansing, healing light of love, mercy and grace – cleansing each one from the dark areas which are holding you back from loving Me completely. Yes, My light, My fire of judgement does burn down, but not to destroy, only to rescue, to bring back to Me those who are separated from Me. My love burns away the things that they are loving more than Me. But for you today, draw close – sit next to the fire with Me on this cold winter’s day and draw from My warmth”.

In my reading in Acts I have come to the end of ch 12. Looking back I can see that the statements in 11:21 and 12:24 bracket this passage (“A great number of people believed and the word of God continued to spread”) So we can deduce that what we have here are the factors which apparently contributed to this growth. Firstly there was the witness of the believers who had been spread out by the persecution in Jerusalem. This brought many to faith and then the church, on hearing this in Jerusalem, responded by sending Saul and Barnabas to disciple and teach the new converts. However against this background we see the specter of continued persecution in the deaths of John and James and imprisonment of Peter. (Ch 12:1-3).

Let me say as an aside, Luke has included so much ‘incidental ‘ information that it all goes to make us see that these stories are not ‘made up’. eg There is a bright light in the cell and the angel strikes Peter’s side vs 7, Then he tells Peter “put on your clothes and sandals, wrap your cloak around you and follow me” vs 8 then the whole story with the servant Rhoda vs 12 ff. then with Herod, details like Blastus and the whole story of quarreling with the people vv 19 ff. Contemporary extra-biblical writing of Josephus confirms this whole incident with Herod on his birthday and how he was struck down with violent pain in his stoumach and died 4 days later.

Now back to the passage, a few questions come to mind as I ponder it: -Why was only Peter rescued miraculously and not the others and many, many more over the years? – Why this one prophesy which rescued the people from famine when so many other “natural” disasters arrive without warning? – What role did the prayers of the saints (vs12) play in the rescue of Peter? – Why was only Herod supernaturally “executed” when so many other people over the years have also taken on the adulation of people as a god, even our own Zuma, without any apparent, immediate signs of God’s judgement?

It seems to me that as Luke is writing his description of events he clearly wanted to show that there was ample evidence that despite great opposition, God nevertheless was still in control supernaturally and therefore ‘allowed’ the events to happen. That is why He undertook to intervene overtly in a number of ways, to authenticate that. Persecution has often been a major factor in motivating and encouraging the disciples, both then and now. Yet we need to know it is never out of God’s control.

And the prayers? I had a bit of a light-bulb moment there. Its not as if God could not have rescued Peter without the prayers or that it was the prayers that moved God to action in this case, as opposed to many others. It came to me that this is a sort of divine interaction with God where He calls His people into action on the spiritual plane of prayer to become completely one with Him in accomplishing His purposes. The exact mechanism is a mystery, but a joyful recognition that we can be part of God’s team, as it were.

So what is Jesus saying to me? “As you have seen here and understood more of the extent of My divine action in growing My kingdom, remain committed to make disciples, as much as your situation allows you to. Remember the key is the Word and witness with prayer and yes, expect opposition and many attempts to distract you”.

This morning I am not feeling completely well – so as I sit here in my special corner, the Lord says “Just come and sit with Me and draw from My presence”. After a time my mind fills with a picture of the night sky – billions upon billions of stars – “Yes Ian, be filled with wonder at My creation, but know that in the midst of this vastness and magnificence – I know you – I know you intimately – like a shepherd his sheep, like a mother her child – draw close and feel My heartbeat, like a foetus feels its mother’s heartbeat and feels loved, accepted, secure – I am Jehovah Rapha – in Me is wholeness, so you are programmed to heal – but I stand by you in this process – just be still, relax, be patient and let go into My arms”.

My reading today is Acts 11:1-18, which is a continuation and a repetition of what Luke described in ch 10. Just like with Paul’s conversion, Luke uses repetition of the story to underline its importance. Its probably quite difficult for us in the twenty first century to appreciate the importance and significance of these two events, which describes what had been promised several times during Jesus’ ministry and also in Acts by Luke, that the Gentiles were also going to be included in His huge plan of salvation. The Jewish nation had “owned” Jehovah and regarded themselves as totally separate to the other surrounding nations because of Him and his choosing them. One of the main external characteristics of the true Jew were his strict food laws. To have that distinction simply swept away must have been a huge shock cf 11:2. Although the “circumcised believers” accept what Peter has done by baptising them in the Name of Jesus, we know that that was just the beginning of a long process of integration to bring them all into the same church together and finding unity. (Just see ch 2 of Ephesians)

Circumcision was one of the rites which God had laid down to demonstrate the Jewish acceptance of His covenant. Of course we know from Paul’s writing that God was more interested in “circumcision of the heart” than physical circumcision. It was going to take a long time for the Jewish believers to see that physical circumcision had been done away with. Even today there are huge parts of the church which seek to add something to the simple gospel to make themselves feel more acceptable. Baptism, both infant and adult have loomed large as a substitute for circumcision, causing huge divisions in the church, even separating denominations. Even Peter fell into the trap, in Galatians he is described as wanting to fellowship only with the believers who wanted circumcision to continue as a Christian rite, bringing about Paul’s recrimination that they were preaching a false gospel which is no gospel at all, cf Galatians 1:6,7.

As I ponder these things, I think how prone we are to add on to the simple gospel message and how many people, who can be classed as ‘believers’, are held captive by superstitious rites. Or are trusting their whole salvation on something other than Jesus and His death on the cross on our behalf.

I read an article recently in the “Kerkbode” by a lecturer from the “Kweekskool” in Stellenbosch. It was entitled something like “Trust your baptism”. She was saying when you have doubts and feel insecure in your Christianity, merely look back at your baptism and that will assure you that you are ‘saved’. Of course she was speaking of infant baptism in the NG church and taking Luther’s comment completely out of context.

So I feel Jesus is reminding me again of the huge battle we are engaged in, in keeping His beautiful gospel message pure. So many people are trying to live the gospel plus and falling back into bondage, losing the real joy of their salvation. Yes I am as prone as anyone and need to be reminded regularly, not only for myself but for those who I teach.

What have you added to your understanding of the gospel, dear reader? Return to the pure gospel of Jesus, regularly reminding yourself to trust only in Jesus and His death on he cross.