Thus begins a new series of “Quotations by Missionaries”; “Revival Quotations”; “Scary and Challenging Quotations” and whatever else God may put on my heart….
May you be blessed by what these men and women of God can share with us!
As you know my Blog is called “Grace and Truth”. The reason I called the blog this name is because God sovereignly told me to. He told me to start it, confirmed it with His Word (in Acts 5:20), and then told me what to call it – grace and truth.
“For the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” John 1:17
I find it an interesting observation though that even though grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, we, as His followers, tend to run with either one extreme or the other – that is:
Extreme grace – leading to both “greasy grace”, (or lawlessness) and also a lack of discernment of truth; or
Extreme truth – leading to hard-heartedness and legalism
Both of these extremes are wrong. To run with a zealousness for truth, without love is just as wrong as disregarding truth for the sake of grace, mercy or love. But how easily we fall into one or the other!
CH Spurgeon said: “…It is very easy, brethren, unless God gives us understanding, to preach up one precept to the neglect of another. It is possible for a ministry and a teaching to be lopsided, and those who follow it may become rather the caricatures of Christianity than Christians harmoniously proportioned….Oh how easy it is to exaggerate a virtue until it becomes a vice.”
I have seen both of these extremes in Christians (and yes, that includes myself). I will give you an example of how I have seen both of these Christian virtues in fact become a vice.
Truth with no Grace: I am a street-preacher and love other street-preachers, but I have seen something that is a grievance to God. It is when a preacher brings forth the hard truths of the Word of God from a heart that has not been broken for the sins of the people. Preaching the truth about hell, sin, judgment and the Law will only be graced by the Spirit of God when the Holy Spirit has utterly broken that preacher’s heart with compassion and mercy for the people before whom he/she stands. You see, it comes down to responsibility. As a preacher, once you enter into intercession for the people, you are taking responsibility for them, for their souls. And it is impossible to stand before them without compassion and mercy once you have taken responsibility for their souls. God will only bless those with His authority whom are willing to take responsibility for others. Authority and responsibility always go together (see Isaiah 53:10-12). We must “speak the truth in love.” It is amazing that when we speak the truth in love, the real love of intercession, people will listen and respond to it. So we see that the truth needs to be graced by His Spirit.
Grace at the expense of Truth: I had been praying for a friend of mine whom was not a believer for two years. I had interceded for her regularly and asked God for an opportunity to share the Gospel with her, which praise God, He did. As soon as we began our conversation another Christian joined us and listened in. My friend and I had a wonderful, Spirit-led conversation where I was able to share the gospel with her. I was able to share everything with her, the Law, God’s judgment on sin, hell, and then of course the wonderful Gospel of grace of Jesus Christ who died on the cross to take the punishment for our sin, forgiveness, heaven and redemption. I was so thrilled that the truth had been shared and that she had responded well. However as soon as she had left, the other Christian reprimanded me for talking about sin, hell and judgment saying that all that I needed to talk about was the love of God. And…I guess I could have, God is love, but really, it wouldn’t have been the whole truth…. Unfortunately there are hard truths in the Bible and, if we are wanting to be truly honest before God, they are unavoidable. But the good news is, the hard truths are there for a reason… Paul says in Galations 3:24 that “the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith”. The Law is there to expose sin and so to bring us to the knowledge of our sin and of our need of a Saviour. It is by the truth of the Law and God’s judgment of sin that we are led to Grace and justification by faith.
Notice how John describes Jesus:
“For the law was given through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” John 1:17
Jesus Christ, the perfect Son of God, through whom came grace and truth. The divine mystery of Jesus, the Word made flesh, God incarnate in human flesh, can be difficult for our human minds to comprehend. But, I think it’s important to remember that it doesn’t come down to some sort of a mathematical equation. A couple of points to note:
Jesus is both fully God and fully man at the same time, not 50% God and 50% man
By the same token, Jesus is also concurrently full of grace and full of truth.
Jesus is not half Law and half grace (and neither are we)
He came not to do away with the Law but to fulfill it. And it was because He fulfilled God’s law perfectly and never sinned, that He was full of grace and love. Yet it was also because He is full of grace that He could fulfill the Law perfectly. Why? because “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” (Romans 13:10)
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14 (emphasis mine).
And so we see that our Lord is the perfectly balanced One. Just as the anointing oil of Exodus 30 was perfectly blended, mixed and mingled, with this much of myrrh and so much of cinnamon and that much of cassia etc, so it is with Jesus Christ. So perfect in truth and grace. Not leaning too much towards one or the other, never ceasing to be holy in order to be loving, always merciful and kind to sinners. Nowhere do we see this better demonstrated than in His cross.
In the cross, God maintained the truth of His holiness and righteous anger towards sin, when His wrath was poured out on His Son, because of His grace, because He so loved the world. Both truth and grace in the cross of our Lord and in His very person.
So why do we get it so wrong? And what can we do about it?
There is only one way. We need to remember that it is “Christ in you the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27):
Our only hope is to be so FULL of Him, of His Life, that He will simply live His life of grace and truth through us.
So:
We need to re-submit ourselves to God in a fresh consecration. To offer ourselves as a living sacrifice to Him.
We need to confess any un-confessed sins to Him
We need to ask Him to re-fill us with His Spirit.
We need to be led in obedience by the Spirit of God in our day-to-day lives, small and big things.
“There is a way about the precepts: there is a chime about them in which every bell gives out its note and makes up a tune. There is a mixture, so much of this and that and the other; and, if any ingredient were left out, the oil would have lost its perfect aroma.
So is there an anointing of the holy life in which there is precept upon precept skillfully mingled, delicately infused, gratefully blended, and grace given to keep each of these precepts.” (CH Spurgeon)
May God bless us all with an outpouring of His Life in this New Year!
As I run along the path, each step requires that I watch where I put my foot.
Gravel can be treacherous in its inconsistency and so I need to be constantly vigilant.
A moment’s lapse in concentration could mean for me an injury, a twisted ankle, and so I look down. With each step I scan the ground for a larger-than-usual rock, a dip in the path, an unusual rise in the ground.
“Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet…”
My legs hurt. Sometimes they feel as heavy as lead. Other times I can leap like a deer, raise my hands as I run and praise my Jesus. But even so, I have to keep watching the ground.
Yesterday as I was running, Jesus showed me something.
He showed me that while it is important to keep watching where my feet tread, not to lose concentration, to be constantly aware, it is also just as important to regularly look up.
I realized that this is something I do automatically when I run, simply because it is essential. As I am running, watching the gravel in front of me, looking at where my feet are to hit the ground next, I also look up regularly ahead of me to the path I am running on. I need to focus in the distance too
To know where I am going,
To see what is ahead,
To ensure I am still on the path.
To never look up at all, would mean my running off the path and into a tree, a bush or even the lake – it wouldn’t just mean a twisted ankle, I would be in serious trouble.
With the pathway having been cleared in front of me, I can see it stretching into the distance and I know I am heading in the right direction.
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path“
Then down again I look, at the ground, scanning for potentially dangerous obstacles, scan, scan. Pound, pound goes my heart, crunch, crunch my runners on the gravel. Then up again I look, the path ahead is still stretched out, I have not lost my way.
I am moving forward on the path laid out in front of me.
It can be very hard. It is definitely painful. It requires endurance and discipline of mind and body. It requires watching, being sober, being vigilant.
But there’s something else too – it also requires VISION.
It requires being able to see into the distance, even if it’s not quite all the way into the distance.
The pathway is ahead. Look up sometimes.
As I ran I asked God for His vision for me, for us, for His work for the coming year. I reminded Him that He said:
“Without a vision, the people perish.”
So help me Lord, help me to look up, help me to see as you see. Give me Your vision for my life, especially for the coming year.
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:…… The sun shall be turned into darkness, And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.”
(Acts 2:17-20)
Could we be on the brink of seeing this verse of scripture fulfilled?
Next year on 15th of April the first in a series of four full lunar eclipses will occur. A full lunar eclipse creates a “Blood Moon” as the earth’s shadow passes over the surface of the moon, rendering the moon a deep blood-red colour. This is a rare occurrence.
What’s more interesting is that it falls on Passover next year. The 15th of April 2014 is Passover.
Yet more rare is the fact that the lunar eclipse on Passover will be followed by another three full lunar eclipses, in the beginning of what’s known as a “tetrad” – a sequence of four consecutive full lunar eclipses.
And guess what else? The following three lunar eclipses, or Blood Moons, will also fall right on Biblical feasts!
Here are their dates:
15 April 2014 – first Blood Moon on first day of Passover
8 October 2014 – second Blood Moon on the eve of Tabernacles
(20 March 2015 – Total Solar Eclipse on Nisan 1, the Religious New Year)
4 April 2015 – third Blood Moon on first day of Passover
28 September 2015 – fourth Blood Moon on the first day of Tabernacles
Could it be that God is trying to get our attention??
After all He did say in Genesis 1:14:
“..Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens…for signs and for seasons…”
The rabbis say that signs in the moon are for Israel. In May 2018 Israel will celebrate her 70th birthday anniversary – could this be connected? We know that 70 years seems to have significance attached to it in relation to Israel – ie, the 70 years captivity in Babylon; also it was 70 years after Jesus Christ was born that Israel’s temple was destroyed.
The rabbis also say that signs in the sun are for the nations, or Gentiles. On 20th March 2015 there will be a total solar eclipse. This is when the sun goes dark …”the sun shall be turned into darkness…”
Over the last 500 years there have been three lunar tetrads falling exactly on Biblical Feast days. These signs in the moon were all preceded or followed by major events for the Jews or Israel.
Derek Prince says in “Appointment in Jerusalem”: “On May 14, 1948, the modern State of Israel was born. Of the countless prophecies in Scripture that refer to the close of the present age, all without exception assume one thing: the presence of Israel as a nation in their own land. Until Israel was thus restored as a nation, none of these prophecies could be fulfilled. Now the way is open for the fulfillment of them all.”
We are living in very interesting times.
“Therefore…what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:11, 12
“There is a disillusionment and emptiness in the average Christian’s life because they think that Christ suffered on the cross so that they can go to church every Sunday.” Jim Cymbala
If this is you dear Christian friend, then I have a solution:
Get to the streets
Seriously.
Christians think I am trying to condemn them when I say this. Or force them to do something they don’t feel comfortable with. But I am not. Really. I feel sorry for you if you don’t go. Truly, I am telling you that you are seriously missing out by not going.
Missing out on what? You may well ask…
Real life
Serious joy
Excitement
Fellowship
Fun
But most of all – the tangible, real presence of Jesus Christ.
If you are wondering WHERE JESUS IS – I am here to tell you that He is in the darkest, dirtiest, sin-ridden place in your city. Yes He is. He is there pulling people out of the darkness into the Light with His own nail-pierced hands. But He needs us to go there with Him. He uses His Body to do His work with Him.
I can honestly say that the two places where I have been in His presence most (other than my own prayer closet), was in
1. a drug addict’s home and
2. on the city streets.
…..Next to homeless ice-addict Roddy. Ruthlessly he was kicked out of my old church, (coincidence?). I met him a while ago, but now he’s sleeping rough. Now white stuff oozes from the corners of his eyes. He talks and talks to me, very quiet. I can hardly hear what he’s saying, but he talks about Jesus. He talks about speaking in tongues. He keeps talking and talking even when I am no longer next to him. To himself. Oh Roddy… Jesus help this man.
Yes sir. This is where Jesus is.
He is there when I am preaching. He is standing right in front of me. I am preaching to Him. The bullets fly all around me, the looks of hatred, other looks too.
“You’re an idiot,” one guys says to me. That bullet stings. But Jesus is there. I see Him, I feel Him. I preach to Him. I love Him. He is there.
How people respond is not my problem, I preach to Him. And He is happy.
Last night as I was preaching I saw out of the corner of my eye a man standing next to me, to my left. He stood with me as the bullets flew. Six foot 4 and built strong.
Afterwards he said to me that it was a war zone and he wanted to stand with me in the trenches.
I cried right in front of him because I suddenly realised that years before, when street-preaching was not an option for me, when it seemed impossible that I would ever do that, God had given me a vision of this very man standing next to me in the city as I preached. God had shown me this man would stand next to me and protect me.
And there he was…..
But…hang on a minute…… did I really say FUN?
Yes. Even in the midst of the spiritual battle.
The Public Safety Officers told us to move on.
Some guys came and set up a massive sound system next to us and blared their music whilst holding signs “Free Hugs”.
One of the young guys with us responded by making up a sign “Free Salvation”. There they stood side-by-side.
We laughed and laughed.
And then the “Free Hugs” sign man came to me and said “I don’t believe in God, but you can try to convince me if you like.”
But that’s another story.
On the way home in the car I laughed with joy.
I felt so alive.
Oh Jesus, there’s nothing more important than You and Your Gospel. May Your Body see that.
“Some want to live within the sound of church or chapel bell. I want to run a rescue shop within a yard of hell.” (CT Studd)
Sitting passively in our favourite seat in a comfortable building every Sunday…Is this really what Jesus intended when He said,
“The gates of hell shall not prevail against my church.”
or
“Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (John 14:12)
or
“I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (Luke 10:19)
or
“”All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19,20) ?
Hmmm….. not sure that’s what our Lord meant. I think He had adventure in His mind, entailing both extreme hardship and extreme joy for His Church as it continues His work in seeking and saving the lost.
When I look at the Church in general this not what I see.
What do I see?
What does the world see?
And what does Christ Himself see?
I see predominantly a group of middle-class people driving expensive cars to a big, lavish, comfortable church on Sunday morning. They sit and clap at the right time, they worship and praise and feel joy sometimes when the music reaches its crescendo. They might hear a short message from the Word of God. It may be inspired by the Holy Spirit or it may be a self-help motivational talk with the Bible as a convenient back drop.
I see a people whose comfort and convenience cannot be upset or unsettled.
I see a people who will not be disturbed for the sake of the lost on their way to an eternal hell.
When I think of the early Salvation Army getting pelted with rotten tomatoes and eggs as they marched into villages preaching the gospel, or I think of the Wesley brothers riding on horseback over miles and miles of countryside to take the gospel to the poor, my heart breaks and I wonder how it is so that we have lost our Lord’s heart.
Is there anyone that weeps over the lost multitudes on their way to hell?
Who will go out into the battle and warn them?
Are there any that even care?
I have found that when I speak or write on this topic it is the one that upsets Christians the most. It is the topic that causes the most offense to Christians and the one that brings the most resistance. Often I hear in response, “Well if Jesus tells me to go then I will, but He hasn’t told me.”
Actually He has. Read the Great Commission. He didn’t say that to a handful of evangelists, He said it to His followers. Each one. Unfortunately there is no way around it.
You don’t have to go to the city streets, but you do have to go to the lost. There are people in your life, whom God has put around you, who do not know the Saviour. If there is no heartfelt grief for the lost in your heart, nor desire to see them saved, then check your heart. Go to the foot of the cross and ask Christ why not. For this is His very heart.
If you’re upset or offended by this post of mine, then I think that may be a good thing.
On Saturday we went as a family to a local Messianic congregation to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot). It was such a joyous occasion. Our daughter loves it when we visit this congregation as she loves the Messianic dancing and is always involved.
Messianic dancing
At the Feast of Tabernacles, on the Great Day of this 8-day Feast, was a spectacular water drawing ceremony. Water from the pool of Siloam gushed out and was offered to God as a drink offering.
Jesus attended this Feast and on the Great Day, as the water was gushing He cried out in the Temple:
“If anyone thirsts, let Him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water!” (John 7:37-38)
Can you imagine what the people must have thought? Here was water gushing forth in a joyous celebration of this living-giving fluid. In the Middle East in the first century water was not always easy to find and so it was symbolic of life and of God’s blessing. There would have been a procession of people, singing and playing flutes. And in the midst of this celebration here is Jesus standing in the Temple crying out for people to come to Him and drink. He promised them mayim chayim – living water.
So we see that the Feast of Tabernacles, as all of the Jewish Feasts, point to Christ. In verse 39 John explains that :
“But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
Blessing the children
We see that the water gushing forth is a picture of the Holy Spirit. That the great truth played out by this Feast is that when we put our faith in Jesus and are baptized in His Holy Spirit, rivers of living water will flow from us.
May we all go to Jesus and drink of Him! And may rivers of living water flow from our hearts!
Tonight was the first time I’ve been street preaching for a while.
Having recently lost two people I love within four days of each other, my life has obviously taken a rather different turn for a while.
But tonight I felt ready to go back out. It’s funny how when you haven’t done something for a while, it suddenly becomes all big and scary. All day I’ve been nervous about going into the city tonight. The thought of going out there and shouting out a message that is generally unwelcome to most people made my stomach churn. I thought of how I used to love going out there and couldn’t really remember why that was.
But I felt I should go, even though I didn’t really feel like it, if that makes sense.
I put my I-phone music on shuffle as I drove into the city. I said to the Lord something I’ve never said before :
“Lord,” I said, “Whatever song randomly comes up first, I will take as a message from you.” Sometimes desperate times call for desperate measures…
Franz Family “Wherever You Are” came on:
“But the will of God won’t lead you,
Where the grace of God can’t keep you
You will never be out of His care,
Remember that the Lord’s already there….
Wherever you are,
Wherever you’re going
God is right there beside you, seeing and knowing
Wherever you go,
He already knows
What lies ahead
And what’s behind
You’ll always find He’s never too far from wherever you are.”
Wow. Ok thank you Jesus.
My usual 40 minute trip into the city took 1.5 hours tonight. It was raining and there was heavy traffic. But I felt there was something God had for me when I got there and so I sung and prayed.
However 1.5 hours later, trying to find a car spot, on the verge of tears, I almost turned around and went home. I said to God,
“Please help me, I need this night to be easy Lord.”
After I’d parked the car I walked down to the station where we preach. Standing at the corner waiting to cross the busy road, I realized I hadn’t been there for over 2 months. I looked at our “spot” across the road and I felt like I was coming home.
…..An uncomfortable, dysfunctional home yes, but home nonetheless.
That surprised me.
I crossed the road and at that very moment a girl came over to me and asked me:
“What makes you come out here to do this?”
We had a beautiful conversation. She was only 16 years old, and currently homeless – couch-surfing between her dad’s and a friend’s place. And in the city at night, all by herself. She looked as if she’d been through a rough time. Yet she was so lovely and soft and tender still, still a child. Poor kid.
I shared my testimony with her, how God set me free from a cult, from depression, from anxiety, from a hard and cold heart. How He has changed me, how He loves me, and how He loves her. I shared the precious gospel with her. She got tears in her eyes and said that she hopes she has the strength to find Jesus too one day. She said she was just so tired.
“You know what” I said, “You don’t need strength. Just come to Him as you are, He will not turn you away. He said for all who are weary and heavy burdened to come to Him and He will give them rest.”
She asked me :
“How do I find Him..?”
We prayed together.
I cried for her on my way home, beautiful child that she is. I felt His compassion for her. How greatly He loves her and is calling her home.
And I remembered why it is that I love going out there.
Hmmmm… so much has been written on marriage over the years. Books and articles, people’s varying opinions on it, feminism, chauvinism, whatever… Why then am I also writing on this much-discussed topic? Because we are living in unprecedented times. We are living in an age where human-kind, at least in the West, is seeking to re-define this ancient and divine institution and interpose its own humanistic will onto it.
It was probably about two years ago that the Holy Spirit brought to my heart the necessity to pray for marriage in this country. There was much talk at the time about changing the legal definition of marriage from one man and one woman to also allow man and man and woman and woman marriage.
So I prayed as well as I could. Yet I felt I was ineffective, working in my own flesh, rather than that of the Spirit. So I asked God how I should pray.
And He showed me.
I opened the Word to Ephesians 5:22-33 and read this passage of scripture, which I had read so often before. This time though, verses 31 and 32 got hold of me:
“For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh. This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:31, 32)
I saw at once that marriage is a testimony that God has put in this earth of Jesus Christ and His Bride, the Church. That this has always been God’s intention since even before the creation of Adam and Eve. The very gospel is rooted in marriage.
In brief, when a man leaves his father and mother and marries his wife it is a picture of Christ leaving His Father’s heavenly home and coming to earth for His Bride. On earth, Jesus Christ laid down His life for His Bride and through His death and resurrection the two, Jesus and His Bride, become one – “we are members of His Body, of His flesh and of His bones.” (verse 30). Therefore every time a man and woman are joined in Holy Matrimony a testimony and a signpost is established on this earth of Jesus Christ and His ultimate purpose – the Church.
No wonder Satan wants to destroy marriage. He will do whatever he can to destroy or remove this testimony of Christ out of the earth.
Therefore, as Christ’s Bride, it is our job, nay our command, to pray. PRAY, PRAY, PRAY.
I DO NOT accept that gay marriage is inevitable. No I don’t.
If…. The Church will do what she has been called to do. Salt and light remember….?
And Jesus Himself said “the gates of hell shall not prevail against my church.” (Matthew 16:18)
I do not believe that as His Bride we should stand back passively, and let the enemy of our souls systematically destroy God’s holy testimony in this earth.
No. No way.
It is time to rise up as the Church, the Body and the Bride of Jesus Christ and do what we have been called to do – PRAY. Wrestle. Fight.
Our enemy is not flesh and blood. Our enemy is not homosexuals, nor politicians, nor any human being. We are called to love others and to pray for our leaders. The Bible says:
“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places…….Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit and being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.” Ephesians 6:12-18
So how do we pray? It’s simple.
We ask God to uphold the testimony in this earth of Christ and His Bride, of which marriage between a man and a woman points to.
Next time….The Significance of Jewish Marriage Customs
Grace and Truth 