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The excellencies of ChristLife’s greatest blessingRejection

Issue 3 2017

NTA pattern for life in God’s House

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The world is a place of change, be it political, environmental, or inwhatever sphere. Does it cause you concern? In recent months, it seemsthat the pace of change is difficult to keep track of, and make sense of,causing uncertainty and anxiety to be stirred up in many. Anxiety cansometimes manifest itself in ways that cause fear to spread, setting upwhat can seem like a self-enforcing feedback loop of accelerating change– a picture of instability.

This kind of thinking and behaviour is not what God has called us to.While we can look on with interest at world events, we also livesecurely in the knowledge that our loving and just God is eternal andunchanging.1 As we live in relationship with Him, accepted throughHis unique Son, God’s perfect love casts out fear2 in our lives – weare at peace with our unchanging God, through Christ.3 Peace withthe Creator gives us confidence to pursue peace with all men. Whenanxieties do arise, we are thankful that we can, in everything byprayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let our requests bemade known to God – and claim His peace.4

The call of our God to faithfully serve Him is as steady andunchanging as ever. The disciple life has been called ‘a longobedience in the same direction’.5 I like that. It’s not a franticstruggle staggering one way and then the next, but rather, ajourney mirroring the God whom we serve, marked bysteadfastness and endurance.6 This stands in contrast to ourrapidly changing world, and the crises, fads and instantgratification that are generated and demanded by it. Ofcourse, to be steadfast in service, we need to build onsomething unmoving – the pattern of sound words7 foundin the apostles’ teaching, given to them by the Lord JesusHimself. Without this anchor, we may find ourselvesblown about by every wind of doctrine8 or philosophy –so, as ever, we are thankful for those contributors to thisissue of NT who have spent time in those sound words,to bring us unchanging truth.

From the Editors’ deskContents3 The burnt offering4 High Priest6 Ultimate justice for all8 Godly fear9 Life’s greatest blessing10 United we stand12 God’s covenant with Moses14 Top people toppled15 Rejection16 The ‘Soulsearch’ initiative

Communications to the editors:

@ editors@neededtruth.info

c/o Robert Fisher, 258 West Main Street, Whitburn,West Lothian, EH47 0QW Scotland

) +44 (0)1501 743811

Editorial production team: Robert Fisher, Peter Hickling,Geoff Hydon, Brian Johnston & Stephen McCabe

Archived issues and new subscriptions available at www.neededtruth.info

NT Needed Truth

is published quarterly by the Churches ofGod in the Fellowship of the Son of God(www.ChurchesofGod.info) and may beobtained fromHayes Press@ sales@hayespress.org

www.hayespress.org The Barn, Flaxlands, Royal Wootton

Bassett, Wiltshire, SN4 8DY UKHayes Press

StephenReferences:

(1) Ps. 103:17; Mal. 3:6; Heb. 13:8 (2) 1 John 4:18(3) Rom. 5:1 (4) Phil. 4:6-7 (5) A LongObedience in the Same Direction: Discipleship inan Instant Society, Eugene Peterson (2000) (6) Is.50:7; Heb. 12:2 (7) 2 Tim. 1:13 (8) Eph. 4:14

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An individual offeringWhen God called to Moses from the Tabernacle, it’sremarkable to observe instructions1 directed to theordinary individual, anyone who wanted, or felt the need,to bring a sacrifice. “Whatever man of the house of Israel,or of the strangers in Israel, who offers … you shalloffer”2 The act of offering was voluntary on the part ofthe worshipper, but the mode of doing it was in everypoint defined by the law. They drew near to God, andoffered service, only on the basis of sacrifice.Remarkably, as we say, at the introduction of theofferings for the nation, God addresses the ordinaryIsraelite, ‘if any man’ or ‘if any one of you’. We mighthave expected God to first of all instruct Moses, or thepriests, or the heads of fathers’ houses, and for this then tobe passed down to the ordinary individual. But no, Godrecognises the importance of the individual. He gives tothe individual a part in the whole. Nobody need feelexcluded, unrecognised or worthless. God knows you arethere, He knows you have something to give, and invitesyou voluntarily to give it. ‘He shall offer it’.3

In the New Testament, we see a similar principle at work.God addresses the individual; He knows you are there, Heknows you have something to give. The work is not forthe few, but for the many. It’s not only about overseers,deacons, or Lord’s servants: it’s about ordinary saints andthe valuable service they offer for the well-being of thechurch. How is it then, brethren? Whenever you cometogether, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has atongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation. Let allthings be done for edification.4

And again: Having then gifts differing according to thegrace that is given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, letus prophesy in proportion to our faith; or ministry, let ususe it in our ministering; he who teaches, in teaching; hewho exhorts, in exhortation; he who gives, withliberality; he who leads, with diligence; he whoshows mercy, with cheerfulness.5 But themanifestation of the Spirit is given to each onefor the profit of all.6

How poverty-stricken is a church of God whenonly a few bring, offer and serve! This contrastssharply with how diverse and varied the churchis when each brings his or her offering! Godmay well have enabled you to bring somethingto the church that no one else can. As eachbrings what God has enabled, the church thenbecomes that place of edification, diversity,entrepreneurship and joy.7

A voluntary and accepted offeringHow important it is that these two go together, and that avoluntary offering becomes an accepted offering (with anaccepted offerer). We gladly accept a voluntary andwilling-hearted gift as opposed to one given grudgingly orout of necessity. In fact, we may feel the need to refusesuch a gift. The burnt offering is the acceptance offering:‘that he may be accepted’8 and ‘it will be accepted’.9

There was an aspect of Christ’s sacrifice that wasvoluntary. He said to His would-be captors:“Whom areyou seeking?” ... “I am He” ... “… let these go theirway”.10 And then to Peter: “Shall I not drink the cupwhich My Father has given Me?”11 On the basis of Hisvoluntary giving, God accepts the offering of His Son andus: yes, we are accepted in the Beloved!12

God loves a cheerful giver.13 The offerer of Leviticuschapter 1 was not forced, nor compelled; neither was hereluctant. It was written prophetically of Christ:

“The Lord GOD has opened My ear;And I was not rebellious,Nor did I turn away.”14

Our service for God should not be forced, compelled, orout of reluctance. Do we do it because we feel we have to,or because we want to? Voluntary service is acceptedservice. If there is first a willing mind, it is accepted.15

References:

(1) Lev.1:2 (2) Lev.22:17-24 (3) Lev. 1:3 (4) 1 Cor.14:26 (5) Rom. 12:6-8 (6) 1 Cor. 12:7 (7) e.g. Acts13:52 (8) Lev. 1:3 NASB (9) Lev. 1:4 (10) John 18:4-8(11) John 18:11 (12) Eph. 1:6 (13) 2 Cor. 9:7 (14) Is.50:5 (15) 2 Cor. 8:12

Bible quotations from NKJV unless stated otherwise

The burnt offeringRobert Wood, Aberdeen, Scotland

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There are two priesthoods mentioned in the OldTestament of our Bibles. The first is that of Melchizedekwho appears in Genesis 14. Abram had been forced into awar with four local kings who had taken his nephew Lotcaptive. We read:

After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer andthe kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out tomeet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’sValley). Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought outbread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, and heblessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God MostHigh, Creator of heaven and earth. And praise be to GodMost High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.1

Notice that there are no genealogical details to introduceus to Melchizedek – that’s unusual. Also, he is both aking and a priest and he brought sustenance and blessingto Abram, known later as Abraham, one of the mostimportant individuals in Bible history.

The second priesthood is the Levitical (or Aaronic)priesthood. This priesthood is exclusive to the tribe ofLevi and from the family of Aaron. There was to be aperpetual priesthood by succession of the eldest son. Weread in Exodus:

“Have Aaron … brought to you from among theIsraelites, along with his sons Nadab and Abihu, Eleazarand Ithamar, so they may serve me as priests. Makesacred garments for … Aaron to give him dignity andhonour … Whenever Aaron enters the Holy Place, he willbear the names of the sons of Israel over his heart on thebreastpiece of decision as a continuing memorial before

the LORD ... The priesthood is theirs by a lastingordinance.2

Both of these priesthoods are important in understandingthe role of the Lord Jesus as high priest. Melchizedek’srole as priest is used to emphasise the permanent andeternal nature of the Lord Jesus as high priest whereasAaron and his successors are often contrasted with therole of the Lord Jesus, while also providing us with apicture of what the Lord Jesus is doing for His peopletoday.

It is Peter who tells us: you also, like living stones, arebeing built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood,offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God throughJesus Christ … you are a chosen people, a royalpriesthood, a holy nation.3 Just as God’s Old Testamentpeople were a kingdom of priests and a holy nation4 so, inthe present age, the spiritual house is to function as apriesthood. It is to the book of Hebrews that we look tofind out all about that priesthood and the high priest whois serving in heaven for us.

Job specificationThe Bible teaches us: Every high priest is selected fromamong the people and is appointed to represent thepeople in matters related to God, to offer gifts andsacrifices for sins.5 It is important that the high priestcame from the people he was to represent. Moses andAaron were brothers, but lived in very differentcircumstances. Moses was brought up as the son ofPharaoh’s daughter; in other words, he lived in luxury!Aaron remained with the people of Israel and was forcedto work for the Egyptians. He had experienced the misery,

affliction and suffering of those days of forcedlabour and cruel taskmasters! Moses,therefore, could never be appointed highpriest. Aaron, on the other hand, understoodwhat the people went through and hadsuffered with them. Hebrews makes the pointthat we have one who has been tempted inevery way, just as we are – yet he did not sin.6Thus the Lord Jesus could personally relate tous in our struggles.

It is also essential to this role that a high priesthas something to offer.7 The offering ofHimself and the acceptable sacrifice ofChrist’s blood makes it possible for us toserve the living God!8 The Lord Jesusexplained to a woman He met that God wantsworshippers9 – in Hebrews we are told howthis comes to be, as we learn that we haveconfidence to enter the Most Holy Place by

Christ’s offices and roles

High PriestDavid Webster, Liverpool, England

You also, like livingstones, are being builtinto a spiritual house …

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the blood of Jesus10 and that we are encouraged to drawnear to God with a sincere heart and with the fullassurance that faith brings.11 Entering confidently intothe presence of God, which was strictly forbidden underthe Levitical system, is now a real possibility because ofour High Priest.

Like MelchizedekFirstly, the name Melchizedek means ‘king ofrighteousness’ and we are reminded that Melchizedek wasking of Salem.12 Salem means peace. So righteousnessand peace come together in this mysterious person, but,more significantly, in the Lord Jesus who has become forus wisdom from God – that is, our righteousness, holinessand redemption13 and who is also our peace.14

Secondly, in the written record, he is without father ormother, without genealogy, without beginning of days orend of life, resembling the Son of God, he remains a priestforever.15 Unlike the priests of Israel who grew old anddied, this priest is permanent. We need not fear ourPriest’s deterioration or death!

Thirdly, he was great! Abram was the great-grandfatherof Levi and yet he gave a tithe to this great man andreceived a blessing from him. A great person is beingblessed by a greater.

Fourthly, he was both a priest and king. Psalm 110 is aprophecy about the Lord Jesus:

The LORD will extend your mighty sceptre from Zion,saying,

“Rule in the midst of your enemies!”Your troops will be willing on your day of battle.Arrayed in holy splendour, your young men will come

to you like dew from the morning’s womb.The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind:“You are a priest forever, in the order of

Melchizedek.”16

Zechariah also wrote about a coming king-priest,17 a dualrole only possible as a result of beingdesignated a priest in the order ofMelchizedek.

Like Aaron and his successorsHebrews tells us that the sanctuary that Mosesconstructed was only a copy of the true one inheaven.18 The work of the Levitical priestsinvolved sacrifices and offerings made overand over again. In particular the high priestentered on the Day of Atonement, the tenthday of the seventh month of every year,19 intothe Most Holy Place, a place otherwiseforbidden, to offer sacrifices for himself andfor the people. Only he was allowed to enterthe Most Holy Place behind the curtain tostand before God. Having made a sacrifice forhimself and for the people, he then broughtthe blood into the Most Holy place andsprinkled it on the atonement cover or mercy

seat,20 where God lived in a special way. He did this tomake atonement for himself and the people for all theirsins committed during the year just ended. In thefulfilment of this, the Lord Jesus, as our High Priest, hasentered heaven itself21 once for all … by the sacrifice ofhimself22 obtaining not just atonement for one year, buteternal redemption.23

There was constant sin and that required constantsacrifice. There was deterioration and death and thatrequired a new high priest every so often. By contrast, theLord Jesus as high priest has entered once for all (notrepeatedly) into heaven24 (not an earthly copy of it), hassat down25 (indicating a finished work), and is aforerunner26 (indicating that we are to follow). There Heintercedes for us: Therefore he is able to save completelythose who come to God through him.27 In addition,because of the Lord Jesus’ role as high priest we canapproach God's throne of grace with confidence, so thatwe may receive mercy and find grace to help us in ourtime of need.28

Just perfect!Such a high priest truly meets our need – one who is holy,blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above theheavens.29 What more could we ask for?

References:

(1) Gen. 14:17-20 (2) Ex. 28:1-2, 29; 29:9 (3) 1 Pet.2:5,9 (4) Ex. 19:6 (5) Heb. 5:1 (6) Heb. 4:15 (7) Heb.8:3 (8) Heb. 9:14 (9) John 4:23 (10) Heb. 10:19(11) Heb. 10:22 (12) Heb. 7:2 (13) 1 Cor. 1:30(14) Eph. 2:14 (15) Heb. 7:3 (16) Ps. 110:2-4 (17) Zech.6:12-13 (18) Heb. 9:24 (19) Lev. 23:26-27 (20) Lev.16:14-15 (21) Heb. 9:24 (22) Heb. 9:26 (23) Heb. 9:12(24) Heb. 8:1; 9:24 (25) Heb. 8:2; 10:12 (26) Heb. 6:20(27) Heb. 7:25 (28) Heb. 4:16 (29) Heb. 7:26

Bible quotations from the NIV

We have confidence toenter the Most Holy Place

by the blood of Jesus

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What is justice?Deep in the recesses of the hearts of men lies a sense oran expectation of justice. Who would deny that thereshould be an ultimate righting of wrongs and that thewicked should receive their just desserts?

The Preacher stated a salient truth: Also He has puteternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out thework that God does from beginning to end.1 He notedfurther:

I said in my heart,“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,for there is a time there for every purpose and for

every work.”2

The wise king Solomon gave a timeless summation:

For God will bring every work into judgment,including every secret thing,whether good or evil.3

From the dawn of creation in the Garden of Eden, Godlaid down the rule: “…but of the tree of the knowledge ofgood and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eatof it you shall surely die.”4 God pronounced judgmentafter hearing the parties, in line with His divine nature andcharacter, but held a beacon of hope for the restoration ofmankind: “And I will put enmity between you and thewoman, and between your seed and her Seed, He shallbruise your head and you shall bruise His heel.”5

Why and how does God dispense justice?As the writer to the Hebrews noted: every transgressionand disobedience received a just reward.6 But thisstatement of God’s just law for Israel did not absolvethose who were not among His people.7 God’s nature issuch that He abhors sin: You are of purer eyes than tobehold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.8 It isimperative, then, that sin must either be atoned for, or thesinner must be punished.9 Prior to the constitution ofIsrael as God’s chosen people, there was no legislatedprovision for atonement or a covering of sins by sacrifice:

Bible-wide prophecies

Ultimate justice for allFrederick Ntido, Lagos, Nigeria

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“God shall judge the righteous and the wicked,for there is a time there for every purpose

and for every work.”2

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Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was greatin the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of hisheart was only evil continually. And the LORD was sorrythat He had made man on the earth, and He was grievedin His heart. So the LORD said, “I will destroy manwhom I have created from the face of the earth…”10

In Old Testament times God enforced justice, oftenutilising nations and individuals at His pleasure to fulfilthe dictates of His righteous justice. Nevertheless, thedispensing of justice was not arbitrary, excessive orundeserved:

“Thus says the LORD to His anointed,to Cyrus, whose right hand I have held –to subdue nations before him….”11

“Listen to Me, My people;And give ear to Me, O My nation:For law will proceed from Me,And I will make My justice restAs a light of the peoples.”12

Abraham in his discourse with the heavenly guests enroute to Sodom and Gomorrah gave a marker for all timesundergirding God’s dispensation of justice: “Far be itfrom You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteouswith the wicked, so that the righteous should be as thewicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all theearth do right?”13

Justice for all through ChristWhatever was done prior to the coming of the Lord JesusChrist, He is to be accorded prominence in thedispensation of justice to all:

For unto us a Child is born,Unto us a Son is given;And the government will be upon His shoulder.And His name will be calledWonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.Of the increase of His government and peaceThere will be no end…14

God has designed that Christ, the mediator between Godand men15 and the propitiation for our sins16 will be alsothe judge of the living and the dead: I charge youtherefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who willjudge the living and the dead at His appearing and Hiskingdom.17

In anticipation of the Lord’s judgement we are enjoinednot to judge anything before the time, until the Lordcomes, who will both bring to light the hidden things ofdarkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then eachone’s praise will come from God.18 Justice will bedispensed by Christ swiftly and surely: But Jesus did notcommit Himself to them, because He knew all men, andhad no need that anyone should testify of man, for Heknew what was in man.19 His right to judge the living andthe dead is based on the authority of His Father who has

given all judgement into His hands.20 Nothing shallescape His intense scrutiny: And there is no creaturehidden from His sight, but all things are naked and opento the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.21

How Christ will dispense justice to all across theagesThe Lord Jesus declared: “Do not marvel at this; for thehour is coming in which all who are in the graves willhear His voice and come forth – those who have donegood, to the resurrection of life, and those who have doneevil, to the resurrection of condemnation.”22

Judgement seat of ChristThe first instalment in God’s delivery of justice to allthrough His Son begins at the culmination of the presentdispensation of grace when the Lord Himself will descendfrom heaven… And the dead in Christ will rise first. Thenwe who are alive and remain shall be caught up…”23 Thisevent, singularly for believers in the dispensationcommencing on the day of Pentecost, shall be followedby the judgement seat of Christ: For we must all appearbefore the judgment seat of Christ, that each one mayreceive the things done in the body, according to what hehas done, whether good or bad.24 This is a judgement ofrewards and not of punishment.

The judgement of the Old Testament saints andthe living nationsThe judging and rewarding of the Old Testament saintsand such as die after the Church has been removed fromthe earth occurs when the Lord Jesus returns to the earthat the end of the ‘Great Tribulation’.25 The living nationsshall be separated as sheep from goats by the One towhom the Father has given all judgements. There areother judgments of specific groups interposed in thisperiod.

The great white throne judgementThis will be the final judgement, traversing the Old andNew Testaments and perhaps those alive during themillennial reign of Christ. It will be a judgement whereeternal destinies are declared and punishment meted out.26

At this judgement, those who have sinned without lawwill also perish without law, and those who sinned withthe law will be judged by the law,27 as God is impartial.

References:

(1) Eccl. 3:11 (2) Eccl. 3:17 (3) Eccl. 12:14 (4) Gen.2:17 (5) Gen. 3:15 (6) Heb. 2:2 (7) Rom. 2:12 (8) Hab.1:13 (9) Rom. 6:23; John 3:16 (10) Gen. 6:5-7 (11) Is.45:1 (12) Is. 51:4 (13) Gen. 18:25 (14) Is. 9:6-7 (15) 1Tim. 2:5 (16) 1 John 2:2 (17) 2 Tim. 4:1 (18) 1 Cor. 4:5(19) John 2:24-25 (20) John 5:22,27 (21) Heb. 4:13(22) John 5:28-29 (23) 1 Thes. 4:16-17 (24) 2 Cor. 5:10(25) Rev. 11:18; Dan. 12:13; Rev. 20:4 (26) Rev. 20:11-15 (27) Rom. 2:12

Bible quotations from NKJV

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Hebrews 5:7 presents godly fear (reverence, as it istranslated in other versions) as one of the excellencies ofChrist – an attribute in which He excelled and whichpleased His God and Father.

When God tested Abraham, the resulting commendationwas, “… now I know that you fear God”.2 For thepatriarch, the essence of this sort of fear was not so muchterror as wholehearted devotion. By not withholding hisson, Abraham had shown the extent of his love for God;he proved that God meant more to him than anything inthe world and that he was prepared to submit to God’swill for his life.

We might wonder how it could be that Christ should fearGod, seeing as the Son of God has always been with God,more than that, since He is God. The answer is that Hetook a body and it was in His humanity (in the days of Hisflesh) that He expressed this lovely trait in a mannersimilar to, yet so much fuller than, Abraham. As a man,He learned, through suffering, what it meant to obey Godin a sinful world. And He obeyed unreservedly; He heldnothing back. With wholehearted devotion, He reverentlysubmitted to God’s word and will.

What did that godly fear look like in the earthly life of theLord? Hebrews 5:7 tells us that it was expressed in:

● that He prayed – the very fact that he offered bothprayers and supplications (indicating the involvementof mind and body in the petition3) evidences Hisdependence on, and submission to, His God;

● how He prayed – the raw emotions (the loud outcryaccompanied by tears) confirming the sincerity of Hisheartfelt plea; and

● what He prayed – the subject matter of His request,which is implied in that He made the request to theOne who was able to save Him from death, shows Hiscircumspection, that is His careful handling of bothHis thoughts and His words that there should be noteven a shadow of doubt or distrust in them.

The Lord’s life was, of course, characterised by prayerand devotion, but the writer to the Hebrews seems to bedescribing a quite specific occasion. The detail he gives asto how and what the Lord prayed aligns with the gospelaccounts of the night of Jesus’ betrayal and points us tothe prayers He offered at Gethsemane.4

When we consider just what was at stake that night, wemight say that Hebrews 5:7 describes the greatest prayersin history! Praise God that Jesus prayed with godly fearfor, on account of that, He was heard; God acceded to HisSon’s request!

But what exactly was the request which God granted? Itcannot have been to remove the cup from Him or to avoidthe death of the cross, since He was certainly crucifiedand the bitter cup of God’s wrath against sin did not passfrom Him. Rather, knowing that it was impossible for thatcup to pass unless He drank it, He prayed, “Your will bedone”.5 Like Abraham, whose godly fear supplied hisfaith that God was able to raise Isaac from the dead,6Jesus prayed to the One who was able to save Him from(literally, out of) death, that is He requested not to avoiddeath, but to be rescued out of it. His godly fear supplieda confidence that there was a way out of death, a path oflife which God would make known to Him.7 He wasasking for strength, in that hour of deep darkness, to beobedient even unto the death of the cross in order that Hemight die the sort of death which would accomplish HisFather’s will, and that His God and Father would bepleased to make known to Him that path of life.

And God was pleased to answer His Son’s prayers onaccount of His godly fear!

Isn’t He still pleased when we address Him worshipfullyas the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ – the namewhich reminds Him of the godly fear His Son expressedwhen He made His dwelling among us? Surely God hearsHis people’s prayers and accepts their worship when theyare offered with this same kind of godly fear.8 He hasgiven us the perfect example to follow!

(1) Heb. 5:7 (2) Gen. 22:12 (3) Mat. 26:39 (4) Luke22:44 (5) Mat. 26:42 (6) Heb. 11:19 (7) Ps. 16:11(8) Heb. 12:28

Bible quotations from NKJV

The excellencies of Christ

Godly fearStephen Hickling, Birmingham, England

In the days of His flesh, when He hadoffered up prayers and supplications,with vehement cries and tears to Himwho was able to save Him fromdeath, and was heard because of Hisgodly fear.1

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Can you please tell us somethingof your background?I am 17 years old. When I wastwelve, I became an assistant of theCatholic priest which we call‘Sacristan’. Before the priest begunhis Mass, I was the one to bringwater to wash his hands. Peoplethought me a godly person when mycompanions were the priest and theseminarian (lecturer of RomanCatholic doctrine), and I was proudof that. But I was not spirituallychanged inside. In fact, when thepriest had performed the Mass, we’dgo together to drink fortified wineand join a disco. I thought thesethings were OK because the priestdid it and he was my role model. Butdeep inside I felt there wassomething wrong with this,especially about praying to Mary.When I asked him why we prayed toher because she is just human likeus, he just answered “Because she isJesus’ mother. Like human parents,it is easy for a son to hear a mother’sappeal for others. When we praythrough her, she will appeal to herson to answer favourably.” I wasn’tsatisfied with that answer. He neverbacked up his answer with the Wordof God. For that reason, I left the(RC) church.

When did you really meet theLord?On December 4, 2012, a supertyphoon, Pablo, destroyed our placeincluding our house. We shelteredourselves in the two-storey house ofour neighbour. We saw a big tornadohit that house. We could not gooutside because many steel roofingsheets were blown off by the strongwind. One of our neighboursattempted to go outside, but he washit and killed by a sharp steel roofsheet. We thought that was the endof our lives. Fortunately, God sparedus.

After the typhoon, we only hadthe clothes we wore. So myfather and mother decided tomove to A1, a hilltop villagenear to Nabunturan. Their planwas just to stay theretemporarily, to let us rest fromthe trauma of Pablo. There, mylate grandfather, Joseph Sarsale,taught me the true gospel ofsalvation and about thechurches of God. All the thingshe shared were backed up fromthe Scriptures. Nothing wastwisted. I could read and understandthem from God’s Word. Salvation issimply by faith, not by works. So Ireceived His Word, was baptized,and added into the church of God inNabunturan on January 20, 2013. Mylife was changed. I realized that Ididn’t need a priest to change mylife; only Christ. When my familysaw that I had changed and waswalking with Him, they followed.My mother, sister, and my twin,were also added into the church here.Although many lives were lost,many houses destroyed, and manypeople were blaming God for notintervening during the super typhoon– for me, it turned out to be thegreatest blessing in my life, becauseit was then that I met Christ.

Recently, the church in A1(Nabunturan) was attacked byour Enemy. A brother who wasrecognized previously as adeacon there left the Fellowshipof churches and he encouragedyou to follow him in leaving us.He is your relative. Usually‘blood is thicker than water’ andone defection leads to another insuch circumstances. Whatconvinced you to remain in thechurch of God?Yes, in fact he is another grandfatherof mine. I did not follow himbecause of the Bible-based doctrineof the church of God. Sadly, he isnow twisting the truth, teaching that

there is no eternal security, and eventhat salvation requires our works.They are despising me for remainingin the truth. But I overcome all thesethings with the help of our almightyGod through the help of ouroverseers who keep strengthening uswith His Word.

What gives you joy now?

I desire to serve the Lord accordingto His Word. My joy is to preach toothers the Good News of salvation,having fellowship with my brothersand sisters in churches of God, andto help others grow spiritually byteaching God’s Word. I look forwardto receiving His reward by doingthings according to His Word.1

Do you have a message for allyoung people in our churches?

Stand firm in truth. Don’t followthose who set themselves againstGod’s will. Continue to guard thegood deposit of God’s teachingswhich He entrusted to us.

Reference: (1) 2 Tim. 2:5

Life’s greatest blessingAn interview with Jhonrou Sarsale, Nabunturan, Philippines

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Nearly twenty years after Jesus died, the apostle Paulwrote to the church in Galatia, declaring: I have beencrucified with Christ.1

What sort of assertion was this for Paul to make? Howcould he possibly claim to have been crucified and live?More than that even, how could anyone be so bold as toclaim that they have been crucified with Christ? Well, byway of explanation, Paul went on to say this:

It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. Andthe life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son ofGod who loved me and gave himself for me.1

So, it would be a mistake to imagine this is any sort ofarrogance or self-aggrandisement on Paul’s part. Rather itis really quite the opposite. Paul is speaking spirituallyboth about death and also life. He’s speaking about thereality and challenge of the fundamental and wonderfulchange that happens when each one of us is saved. Thatis, a life-changing salvation that cannot be brought aboutby ourselves either through our own perfect keeping ofthe rules or self-justifying good deeds.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And thisis not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result ofworks, so that no one may boast.2

More than life and death then, being crucified with Christis about death and life.

Years later, Paul expanded on his thought when he wroteto the Church in Rome and challenged them by saying:

May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live init? Or do you not know that all of us who have beenbaptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into Hisdeath? Therefore we have been buried with Him throughbaptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from thedead through the glory of the Father, so we too mightwalk in newness of life. For if we have become united withHim in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall alsobe in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, thatour old self was crucified with Him, in order that ourbody of sin might be done away with, so that we would nolonger be slaves to sin; for he who has died is freed fromsin.3

Do we know that our old sinful selves were crucified withChrist so that sin might lose its power in our life? Do weeach live day to day as if we know the reality of that? Dowe consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God inChrist Jesus?4

We live because He died. So we can now live under thefreedom of God’s grace rather than the power of sin or thecondemning restrictions of the Law – in order that wemight walk in the appreciation and wonder of our newlives, and to do what is right for the glory of God. Thatdoes not make it easy or automatic for us, of course, butby remembering and contemplating how our old desireshave been crucified with Christ we can better appreciatethe possibilities and the purposes of our freedom! Forexample, we can know liberation from the temptation toself-reliance and self-righteousness in trying to earn ourown salvation or justify ourselves. That tendency can alltoo often lead us into a punishing cycle of trying to begood, then failing, then being disappointed withourselves, then promising to do better but failing again.The intention might be good, but we struggle when we goalone. We can feel crushed and deflated at the strugglewithin ourselves – the struggle between the conscious willto be morally good and the selfish covetous nature thatwants to put our self first, even ahead of God. It’s astruggle that we’ve all faced, even people like Paul.

Being crucified with Christ and raised with Him,however, should give us an entirely new way of thinkingand of living, and the difference is huge! Commenting onthe change from past tense to present tense midwaythrough Romans 7, Tim Keller has described thetransition at salvation between the old struggles of thepast with the new life living by faith, as like moving froma battle we cannot win into a war we cannot lose. Christhas already won the victory, defeating death and the devil,paying the penalty for our sins and redeeming us fromslavery to sin.

Writing in NT magazine in 1969, Bob Armstrongdescribed the glorious fact of the Lord’s victory over sinas ‘Historic, fixed, unalterable…’ before going on to saycandidly about the present life that

‘Knowledge of Christ and experience of His living inus are received by faith. If this faith were more real,victory would replace the dismal failure which weexperience so often in our walk before the Lord. SomeChristians live in a vacuum, having broken with theold life in the world yet they fail to live the abundantlife which Christ promises. This results in living on thefringe of both and enjoying neither.’ 5

We’ve been saved from death through faith and now,enabled and equipped to do better, we can live and walkin new life by faith. We still might fail, but we are notrelying on our own performance to justify our own worth

Invisible realities

United we standCrucified and raised on high with ChristGareth Andrews, Belfast, N. Ireland

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any more, the battle we cannot win. Instead, we’re relyingon Him: It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives inme.1

I like the way the NLT version of Galatians 5:16, 24 putsPaul’s advice so plainly:

So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then youwon’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed thepassions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross andcrucified them there.

Realising that we have been crucified with Christ meansrealising that God the Father has set us free through Hiswonderful grace and that the law of the Spirit of life hasset us free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.6So being crucified with Christ is just the beginning.Twice in Romans 6:5, Paul uses the wider term ‘unitedwith him.’ We know that we have been united with Himin His death and resurrection. What a privilege this is foreach one of us who know the Son of God who loved usand gave Himself for us. It’s an amazing, life-changingthing for us to be united with Christ now and forever - ablessing that encompasses all these aspects:● We have been crucified with Christ.3

● We have died with Christ.3

● We have been buried with him by baptism into death.4

● We believe that we will also live with him.7

● God raised us up with him and seated us with him inthe heavenly places in Christ Jesus.8

● The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirits thatwe are… heirs with Christ.9

As it has been said, God has not given us what we diddeserve in order to give us what we did not deserve. Whatcan it mean to be raised up and seated with Christ onhigh?

Sitting can imply completion of a work or the taking of anhonoured position. We have no work to do for oursalvation, as Christ has already completed it. And becauseof His victory, God already sees us who were dead asraised and seated in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,so that in the coming ages he might show theimmeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us inChrist Jesus.8 How could we fathom such grace, honourand privilege? How will we react to the opportunity toserve Him now in return?

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritualblessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us inhim before the foundation of the world, that we shouldbe holy and blameless before him.10

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the thingsthat are above, where Christ is, seated at the right handof God. Set your minds on things that are above, not onthings that are on earth. For you have died, and your lifeis hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is yourlife appears, then you also will appear with him inglory.11

References:

(1) Gal. 2:20 (2) Eph. 2:8-9 (3) Rom. 6:2-7 NASU(4) Rom. 6:11 (5) http://www.hayespress.org/article-aug-1969-crossroads (6) Rom. 8:2 (7) Rom. 6:8 (8) Eph.2:6-7 (9) Rom. 8:16-17 (10) Eph. 1:3-4 (11) Col. 3:1-4

Bible quotations from ESV.

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IntroductionFirst let’s take a moment to show how the Mosaiccovenant1 fits into the overall framework of God’scovenants in the Bible. It didn’t replace the Noahic andAbrahamic covenants described in previous articles (asthey were still in effect2) but would serve to bring intoever increasing focus God’s purposes in regard tosalvation of a fallen world. Like the previous covenants, itwas an agreement between a sovereign God and Hissubjects initiated by God, equally binding and, like theAbrahamic covenant, one that was ratified by blood.3However, the main and significant difference between thisand the previous Abrahamic covenant was the conditionalnature of it that required a bilateral contract (butobviously with unequal parties and with one-sidedstipulations) and an intermediary. God had made anunconditional unilateral promise with Noah (specifically),and with humanity (generally), not to destroy all life everagain with a flood, a reminder too that God is holy andjudges sin. Likewise with Abraham, God made aunilateral promise to bless him, his kin and all nationswho believe in God through faith. In contrast, the MosaicCovenant was conditional in nature and directly related toIsrael’s obedience to God’s law given to them at Sinai.Grace and forgiveness were ever present but this covenantwas more about the life lived with God and for God inunique covenant relationship and the blessings associatedwith obedience.

Background to the covenant – Exodus and thePassoverThe spiritual and material legacy promised to Abrahamand inherited by each successive generation was yet to berealised even after 400 years since the call of Abram fromUr. While a people descended from Abraham, Isaac andJacob had grown in number, they were neverthelessreduced to slaves under a power much stronger than theirown. Only a sovereign and all-powerful God who blessesand keeps His promises could deliver them.

Exodus 12 documents a new beginning for the children ofIsrael. The first Passover marked the beginning of theirhistory as a redeemed people for God.4 Redemption bythe blood of the lamb was their title to all the privilegesand blessings that they would afterwards receive as God’speople under the terms of the Mosaic covenant. God wasdelivering them from slavery, from the rule and authorityof Pharaoh to be free to serve God as His own specialpeople, gathered around Him and protected by Him. Itwas then in the wilderness that God could reveal Hisheart’s desire for them, to make Israel a kingdom of

priests and a holy nation.5 This was not possible before.They were to be a separate and called-out people so thatthe nations around them would know that theyworshipped the one true God who keeps covenant to athousandth generation with those who love Him and keepHis commandments.6

Backdrop to the covenant – SinaiEgypt was not the place of the covenant, neither wasCanaan, but the wilderness: for it was there, specificallyat Sinai, after knowing God’s grace toward themunconditionally in Egypt, that blessing upon the childrenof Israel was to continue on the grounds of theirobedience and special relationship with God. With Moseson the mountain, God spoke the words of the covenantthat were to be communicated to the sons of Israel.Moses acted as intermediary between God and the peoplefor Moses brought back the words of the people to theLord.7 (Moses is a type of Jesus, the mediator of a newcovenant.8) Here we see that God required a response notnegotiation. Israel was not allowed to reason with Godover the terms of the covenant. (Disciples of the LordJesus today accept God’s Word, not questioning itsauthority.) The contract was that if they would obey God(My voice9) and keep His covenant (commandments),God would favour them in a special way that wouldinvolve their becoming a kingdom of priests and a holynation.10 It’s also clear from Deuteronomy chapters 11and 28 that God would withdraw His special blessing ifIsrael failed to keep their side of the contract. There wasnever any possibility that God would not keep His

Bible covenants

God’s covenant with MosesGraham Schleyer, Liverpool, England

The Mosaic covenant was centredaround the giving of the Law.

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promise, but as Israel’s first test of their obedience anddependence proved in the affair of the golden calf inExodus 32, man’s heart was easily and quickly turnedaway.

The Mosaic covenant was centred around the giving ofthe Law, first the Ten Commandments, followed by acatalogue of detailed instructions containing rules forliving and the divine pattern for a worshipping people.Thus commenced God’s dealings with man, in particularIsrael, under law. It’s especially significant that theMosaic covenant coincided with the giving of the Law,entrusted to a nation through whom God wouldsovereignly choose to bless the world with both Hiswritten word and the Living Word, Jesus Christ. The Lawwould both reveal the sinfulness of man and his need forChrist, paving the way for salvation through faith.11 Whilethe Mosaic covenant involved keeping the Law, it didn’tsave the people. The promise of salvation by faith thatGod had made to Abraham, the essence of the Abrahamiccovenant, was already built into this one.

Features of the covenantThe essential requirements and blessings of the covenantare given in Exodus 19 v 3-6. God first reminds them inverse 4 of His power and love that saved them andbrought them to Himself. Then, and only after God’ssaving grace in delivering His people from the grip ofslavery and sweeping away their past life, comes the if-then conditional statement in vv. 5-6. God promises threedistinct blessings if they are obedient to Him.

(1) They would enjoy a unique relationship with Godthat no other people on earth would have.

(2) They would be a ‘kingdom of priests’ enabled tocome before a holy God, to worship and serve Him ina way that would bring glory to God.

(3) They would be separate from all the other nationson account of their holy life devoted to serving Godand upholding God’s righteous standards. For this tobe so, a lifelong commitment to obedience wasrequired.

The sprinkled blood was the basis and seal of thecovenant for without shedding of blood there is noforgiveness.12 It was applied on the altar, the writtenword13 from God and on the people. The connection is astriking one: a people redeemed by blood, consecrated toservice (the altar) and obedient to the covenant (thewritten word) was permitted to draw near to a holy Godonly through the blood of the sacrifice. Today, too,service in churches of God is acceptable to God only onthe basis of faith in the blood of Christ and obedience toHis Word.

Obedience to the Law was central to the terms of thecovenant for God delights in obedience. The Law wouldreveal the righteousness of a holy God, the sinfulness ofman and the need of a saviour – as such, it acted like acustodian until Christ could make us right with Godthrough faith14 under the new Covenant. All that God

desired of His people was to love and obey Him. Despitethe prospect of fruitfulness, health and protection fromtheir enemies, Israel rejected the obedient life resulting insuffering and exile. Not the life that God intended for Hisspecial people! Mysteriously hidden within the Law,however, was a Saviour who would come to fulfil theLaw15 and live the obedient life by doing God’s will16 – amystery now revealed in Jesus Christ.

In conclusionThe Mosaic covenant and the Law were never meant tolast. They are referred to in the New Testament as the oldcovenant17 because when Jesus came the Law hadachieved its purpose and something better and greatertook its place.18 That will be the subject of the next andfinal article in this series.

God’s purposes for His called together people today areno different from the times of the Mosaic covenant. Goddesires a redeemed and sanctified people, obedient to Hisword and commands. When we do this according to thepattern set out in Scripture we know it will give Godpleasure and ours will be the blessings and privileges of apeople for God’s own possession.19

References: (1) Ex. 19-24 (2) Gal. 3:17 (3) Ex. 24:8(4) Ex. 12:2 (5) Ex. 19:6 (6) Deut. 7:9 (7) Ex. 19:8(8) Heb. 12:24; 9:15 (9) Ex. 19:5 (10) Ex. 19:6(11) Gal. 3:24 (12) Heb. 9:22 (13) Heb. 9:19 (14) Gal.3:23-25 (15) Mat. 5:17 (16) Heb. 10:7 (17) 2 Cor. 3:14(18) John 1:17; Rom. 10:4 (19) 1 Pet. 2:9

Bible quotations from NASB

The sprinkled bloodwas the basis and

seal of the covenant.

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Events in Britain and America have taken entirelyunexpected turns in the last year. In both countries therehad arisen a ruling élite which expected that the mass ofthe population would follow its lead – not especially indevotion to a particular party, but in relation to a way ofthinking. In Britain, on the question of the EU, the vastmajority of the great and the good, such as businessorganisations, bankers, academics and MPs, assumed thatmost people would vote to stay in the EU, and they werequite shocked to find that the ‘Leave’ side won. InAmerica, Mrs. Clinton represented the establishment, thecautious, ‘steady as you go’ candidate, and commentatorsexpected that the public would swing behind her as a‘safety first’ choice. Polls before the election gave her a4% to 10% advantage. But once again there was anunderswell of dissatisfaction with the government; manyfelt that they had been let down in an era whereAmerica’s influence was diminishing and unemploymentwas increasing. This led to the election of Donald Trump,a very rich businessman with no previous politicalexperience – his supporters regarded this as a positiveadvantage. He promised to drain the political ‘swamp’.

Both of these results led to storms of indignation from thelosers. Those who felt themselves superior were quick topoint out that the victors came from poorer and lesseducated classes – a very curious result, since those samepeople in other circumstances would be glad to herald thevirtues of ‘democracy’. How would we look at the newelected leaders? In Britain, Mrs. May expressed her ownChristian faith and urged Christians not to be ashamed toexpress theirs (see https://youtu.be/KyjRH3lmQug), inspite of the bitter and abusive language that this seems todraw out from some people. Mr. Trump is an enigma; heis brash and vulgar, but his bark may be worse than hisbite. He may be where he is for reasons unknown to us.

What does the Bible say about political leaders? We arenot thinking here of leaders among God’s people, but ofthose who governed the foreign powers to which Israelwas often subservient. A prime example of this was theproud and boastful Nebuchadnezzar, head of one of thegreatest empires of ancient times. Daniel interpreted adream he had, and said, “… you shall be driven fromamong men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts ofthe field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, andyou shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and sevenperiods of time shall pass over you, till you know that theMost High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whomhe will.”1 In spite of this warning, the king looked outfrom the roof of his palace in Babylon a year later andboasted, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built bymy mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory ofmy majesty?”2 and immediately the prophesied doom fellupon him. After the seven periods of time (months?) hisreason returned, and he was able to resume his reign, this

time to praise and extol and honour the King of heaven,for all his works are right and his ways are just; andthose who walk in pride he is able to humble.3 Theprinciple that Nebuchadnezzar had to learn the hard way,that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives itto whom he will4 is always true, right up to today. TheBabylonian kingdom itself was conquered by Cyrus,whom God called my shepherd in Isaiah’s prophecy.5 Wemight ask why God tolerated such monstrous rulers asHitler, Stalin and Pol Pot in our own times, but we cannotanswer such questions. The ancient tyrannies wereprobably no better and no worse than the modern ones,but this observation does not justify any of them. ManyChristians today suffer under oppressive regimes, butScripture does not encourage us to rise up against them;rather, it says, Let every person be subject to thegoverning authorities. For there is no authority exceptfrom God, and those that exist have been instituted byGod.6

An obvious exception to this is if the authorities urge oneto do something that is intrinsically wrong – for instance,Hitler’s orders to gas Jews – that order must bedisobeyed. Christians can pray for the most odious ofrulers, and carry on their worship even clandestinely, asmany do.

References; (1) Dan. 4:25 (2) Dan. 4:30 (3) Dan. 4:37(4) Dan. 4:17 (5) Is. 44:28 (6) Rom. 13:1

Bible quotations from ESV

Top people toppledPeter Hickling, Cromer, England

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Personal dilemmas

RejectionSimon Robertson, Nottingham, England

Everyone will endure some form ofrejection during their lifetime.

It’s a painful experience to perceivethat we have the very core of usdismissed by someone else, perhapsleaving us feeling unloved,unwanted, or not valued in someway.

Most of us will have experiencedsome form of rejection when wewere younger, perhaps beingexcluded from friendship groups, ornot being selected for the sportsteam, and in the age of social mediait can now be very public.

Throughout our lives we maycontinue to experience rejection:rejection by a parent, spouse orchild, not getting a job, beingridiculed for our faith, having ourideas or proposals dismissed orrefused.

Rejection can have significantconsequences leading to feelings ofisolation, and low self-worth, andmay have a lasting impact on howwe develop as individuals, how webehave and the relationships we havewith others.

It may also cause us to put upbarriers, preventing us from lettingothers to get close to us, in order toprotect ourselves from futurerejection and hurt.

With these possible negativeimplications, we need to be mindfulof our response to rejection. God’sstandards and our commitment toHim should not be compromised inorder for us to feel accepted. Also, asmuch as rejection may hurt, wecannot allow feelings of rejection tolead to anger, pride, resentment,bitterness, or self-pity.

There are many examples given inthe Scriptures of those whoexperienced real rejection in theirlives.

● Joseph was rejected by hisbrothers,1

● Moses was time and againrejected by the Israelites,2

● David was rejected by Saul.3

What prevented these individualsfrom becoming consumed by therejection they faced? Ultimately, itwas their trust in God and anacceptance that He is all-sufficientand in complete control.

Israel refused to accept their Messiahwhen He came. They were expectingsomething else, and when He camein full accordance with the words ofthe prophets, they did not receiveHim: He was in the world, andthough the world was made throughhim, the world did not recognizehim. He came to that which was hisown, and his own did not receivehim.4

Isaiah wrote that the Messiah wouldbe despised and rejected bymankind.5

Although we will never experiencerejection on the same scale as theLord Jesus, we can learn from theLord’s rejection that He endured atCalvary. When they hurled theirinsults at him he did not retaliate;when he suffered, he made nothreats. Instead he entrusted himselfto him who judges justly.6 Hecommitted all to God His Father.

Remembering the words of the LordJesus on the cross, “My God, my Godwhy have you forsaken me?”7 we canonly begin to imagine the agony ofseparation the Lord experiencedfrom His own Father for ourredemption.

How, then, should we deal withrejection and how do we help eachother to deal with the effects ofrejection by the world?

The message and promise of God tothose who believe is that, in Christ,

we are accepted by God. We mustgrasp hold of this acceptance.

Since we have been justified throughfaith, we have peace with Godthrough our Lord Jesus Christ.8

Yet to all who did receive him, tothose who believed in his name, hegave the right to become children ofGod.9

And it’s important that we keep aneternal perspective:

For I consider that our presentsufferings are not worth comparingwith the glory that will be revealedin us.10

For I am convinced that neitherdeath nor life, neither angels nordemons, neither the present nor thefuture, nor any powers, neitherheight nor depth, nor anything elsein all creation, will be able toseparate us from the love of God thatis in Christ Jesus our Lord.11

The Lord Jesus understandsrejection: we do not have a highpriest who is unable to empathizewith our weaknesses, but we haveone who has been tempted in everyway, just as we are – yet he did notsin.12

Cast your cares on the LORD, andhe will sustain you.13

If you know someone enduring thepain of rejection, draw alongside,encourage them to stand firm, andhold them up by praying with and forthem.References: (1) Gen. 37 (2) Acts 7:35(3) Ps. 118 (4) John 1:10-11 (5) Is. 53:3(6) 1 Pet. 2:23 (7) Mat. 27:46 (8) Rom. 5:1(9) John 1:12 (10) Rom. 8:18 (11) Rom.8:38-39 (12) Heb. 4:15 (13) Ps. 55:22

Bible quotations from NIV (2011)

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Henry Ford is famously reported as saying, “If I hadasked people what they wanted, they would have said,‘Faster horses’.” The implication was that the peopleneeded someone like him to realise the vision for themotor car – something they themselves simply couldn’tconceive of. However, there’s no evidence that heactually said those words! There seems to be moreevidence that he rather said, “If there is any one secret tosuccess, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s pointof view, and see things from that person’s angle as well asyour own.”

Is there anything to be learned from that in the matter ofoutreach? We speak of putting ourselves in another man’s(or woman’s) shoes – trying to see things from theirperspective. It’s not an easy thing to do when we have somany (good) ideas of our own about how things should bedone.

When people come to our outreach events, we want themto feel welcome and at ease.

In the North West of England we have introducedSoulsearch (a title we only use internally) – outreachevents that involve all the churches of God in the area.This means that a larger audience can be convened andwe put on a magazine-type programme of shortprofessionally produced videos, testimonies, singing, anda gospel message. Events like ‘tea meetings’ tend to lendthemselves to an informal sharing of a gospel message.Soulsearch is a real opportunity for the gospel to bepreached in all its fullness.

Can they understand what we’re saying?I once listened to a Star Wars enthusiast. He was talkingabout the characters and incidents in the film. Neverhaving watched it, I didn’t have any idea what he wastalking about and quickly lost interest. Is there any dangerthat this can happen in our modern culture where so littleis known about the Bible – even its once-famous storiesand characters? As we share the gospel, we can referencepeople and incidents from the Bible, and our audience istotally lost. We can no longer assume any basic Bibleknowledge among those who are listening to a message.

At Soulsearch, we try instead to think about the issues ofthe day. What are people interested in? What are theirfears? Our most recent event was entitled ‘Pick ‘n’ Mix’.It recognised that we live in a pluralistic society whereeach of the major world faiths is considered equally valid,and many choose aspects of each, making them their ownindividual belief system. But where does this Pick ‘n’Mix approach lead us, other than giving us a comfortablephilosophy for life? Jesus Christ made the bold claim: “Iam the way, and the truth, and the life.” There’s no room

there for other philosophies, as Jesus is the only way, thetruth and the source of eternal life – whether we accept itor not. So, starting with a common trait that people canrelate to, we move on to challenge our audience with theexclusive and life-changing claims of Christianity, whichis not simply a faith – it’s a relationship with a person.

SingingIn Western culture, where do people sing? At a footballmatch, perhaps. Or at a karaoke with pop music. Thesedays, only a small minority of people attend churchservices and so are not familiar with the rich Christianheritage of praise to God through song and hymnology.When we invite people to our outreach events, are weexpecting them to sing? How will they know the hymnsor the songs? Will they be familiar with the 18th or 19th

century music and poetic or metaphoric content of manyhymns sung a capella in 4-part harmony? It’s hard for usto conceive of a church-related event that doesn’t includesinging, but what is the ‘man on the street’ comfortablewith? At Soulsearch events, we have held some with nosinging at all; but we’ve probably reached a compromise,where we have just a few songs, generally more modernones, and we invite people to sit back and listen, or to joinin if they wish.

Personal storyOur Soulsearch events usually include a testimony. Apersonal story is a powerful tool: the word of someonewhose life has been changed by the gospel of JesusChrist. In an outreach seminar last year we watched the‘Just Walk Across the Room’ DVD which gives somereally helpful hints about sharing our personal story. Thecourse suggests that we need to think carefully about thewords that we’re using: can they be understood by ouraudience? Words like ‘saved’ or ‘born again’ might beBiblical, but do they need to be explained? Then there’swhat some refer to as ‘Christianese’ – a language spokenonly amongst Christians, and using terms like ‘acceptChrist’. As we share our story, are we referring to peopleor places that are not familiar to our audience andtherefore have no impact?

No one would deny that the Holy Spirit is the only onewho convicts and He can use any message spoken to helpsomeone to an understanding of the gospel and of theirneed of a Saviour. But we do try not to erect unnecessarybarriers that could actually make it harder for people! Inthe words of Henry Ford, can we begin to ‘see thingsfrom that person’s angle as well as [our] own’?

Mission

The ‘Soulsearch’ initiativeRosemary Johnston for NW Outreach Coordinators