Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 137

Lessons from their lives Talk 3: Joshua

Welcome to talk 3 in our series Lessons from their lives. Today our subject is Joshua. We’re looking particularly at Joshua 1 where we read that Moses has died and that God commissions Joshua to lead his people into Canaan, the land that God had promised them.

Very often, traditionally, for us as God’s people today, the Promised Land has been taken to symbolise Heaven and the River Jordan is seen as symbolising death. But I’m not sure that’s the best way of understanding it. There were many battles for the Israelites in the land of Canaan and there certainly won’t be battles for us in Heaven! It’s probably better to see the Israelites crossing the Jordan as a picture of our conversion and the Promised Land as a symbol of the Christian life. Today, however, I’m taking it to stand for the place of blessing that God wants to bring us to as the church today. For that to happen we will need the right kind of leaders and the right kind of followers.

As we look at Joshua we will see:

• The kind of people God chooses as leaders
• The responsibility of God’s people to support their leaders
• The certain promises God makes in these circumstances.

So let’s begin by reading Joshua 1.

1 After the death of Moses the servant of the LORD, the LORD said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant: 2 “Moses my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them – to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates – all the Hittite country – to the Great Sea on the west. 5 No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” 10 So Joshua ordered the officers of the people: 11 “Go through the camp and tell the people, ‘Get your supplies ready. Three days from now you will cross the Jordan here to go in and take possession of the land the LORD your God is giving you for your own.'” 12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: ‘The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.’ 14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.” 16 Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go. 17 Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you. Only may the LORD your God be with you as he was with Moses. 18 Whoever rebels against your word and does not obey your words, whatever you may command them, will be put to death. Only be strong and courageous!”

The kind of people God chooses as leaders

As we look other OT passages we learn about the training and experience Joshua had that prepared him to lead the nation, and, even more importantly, we learn about his character.

1. Joshua’s Experience

He had a good training

On at least three occasions Joshua is described as Moses’ assistant.

In Exodus 24, when Moses goes up the mountain to receive the tablets of stone on which God wrote the Ten Commandments, Joshua accompanies him as his assistant.

In Numbers 11:28 we’re told that Joshua had been Moses’ assistant since youth.

And again in Joshua 1:1 he is described as Moses’ assistant.

He gained experience in leadership

He was the leader of his tribe before he became the leader of the whole nation. In Numbers 13:8 he is described as the ruler of the tribe of Ephraim. (Incidentally, here he is referred to as Hoshea, meaning salvation, but verse 16 tells us that Moses gave him the name Joshua meaning YAHWEH is salvation). More of this later.

2. Joshua’s Character

He was totally committed to the Lord’s service

Exodus 33

7 Now Moses used to take a tent and pitch it outside the camp some distance away, calling it the “tent of meeting.” Anyone inquiring of the LORD would go to the tent of meeting outside the camp. 8 And whenever Moses went out to the tent, all the people rose and stood at the entrances to their tents, watching Moses until he entered the tent. 9 As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. 10 Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshipped, each at the entrance to his tent. 11 The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun did not leave the tent.

He was loyal to his leader

Numbers 11

25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud and spoke with him, and he took of the Spirit that was on him and put the Spirit on the seventy elders. When the Spirit rested on them, they prophesied, but they did not do so again. 26 However, two men, whose names were Eldad and Medad, had remained in the camp. They were listed among the elders, but did not go out to the Tent. Yet the Spirit also rested on them, and they prophesied in the camp. 27 A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.” 28 Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses’ assistant since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!” 29 But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them!”

He was a man of faith and courage

Numbers 14

6 Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had explored the land, tore their clothes 7 and said to the entire Israelite assembly, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. 8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” 10 But the whole assembly talked about stoning them. Then the glory of the LORD appeared at the Tent of Meeting to all the Israelites.

Joshua had faith to believe that despite the opposition the Lord would give them the land. He had courage not only to go in and take on the enemy, but also to stand against the majority who were of a different opinion.

He was a man of the Spirit

In Numbers 27 Moses asks the Lord to appoint a man as his successor who will be a leader and shepherd for the nation. In verse 18 God says, Take Joshua son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay your hand on him.

So Joshua was chosen by God because:

• He was totally committed to the Lord’s service
• He was loyal to his leader
• He was a man of faith and courage
• He was a man of the Spirit. He had also gained experience in leadership as the leader of his tribe and had learned from Moses as his assistant.

Now back to Joshua 1 where we learn something about:

The responsibility of God’s people to support their leaders

If we are to move to the place of blessing that God longs to bring us to, we are clearly going to need more than the right kind of leaders. We need the right kind of followers. Please note, we can’t all be leaders! You can’t have a leader without followers. If we were all leaders there would be no followers, so actually no one would be a leader! So what kind of followers do we need?

1. People who are willing to follow
2. 16 Then they answered Joshua, “Whatever you have commanded us we will do, and wherever you send us we will go.

v 17 …Just as we fully obeyed Moses, so we will obey you.

2. People who will pray for their leaders

v 17 …may the Lord your God be with you

3. People who will encourage their leaders

v18 …be strong and courageous

4. People who will cooperate with leadership and help each other

Look at verses 12-15.

12 But to the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh, Joshua said, 13 “Remember the command that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: ‘The LORD your God is giving you rest and has granted you this land.’ 14 Your wives, your children and your livestock may stay in the land that Moses gave you east of the Jordan, but all your fighting men, fully armed, must cross over ahead of your brothers. You are to help your brothers 15 until the LORD gives them rest, as he has done for you, and until they too have taken possession of the land that the LORD your God is giving them. After that, you may go back and occupy your own land, which Moses the servant of the LORD gave you east of the Jordan toward the sunrise.”

The certain promises God makes in these circumstances

Joshua 1:5-8

No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 “Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their forefathers to give them. 7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

1. Power (v 5 – no-one will be able to stand against you)
2. Presence (v 5 – I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you)
3. Prosperity (v 8 – You will be prosperous and successful)

The condition? COURAGE TO OBEY THE BOOK! (7-8)

• Meditate on it
• Speak it
• Do what it says

To be successful as a leader Joshua had to learn total dependency on the Lord. Perhaps that’s why his name was changed from Hoshea to Joshua. Salvation is not in ourselves. It is the Lord who is our salvation.

Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 136

Lessons from their lives Talk 2: The Call of Moses      

Welcome to talk 2 in our series Lessons from their lives.

Last time, Abraham. Today, Moses.

The passage we’ll be considering is Exodus 2:23 – 4:17

We’ll start at Exodus 2:23

23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God.

24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob.

25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

1. God cares

God sees

God cares

     about our nation today

     about his world

     about us – his covenant people (Cf. v 24)

2. God reveals himself

Whenever God decides to move in a nation or in a situation

he looks for people he can use.

Here in the story he reveals himself to Moses – the burning bush

1. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God.
2. There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up.
3. So Moses thought, ‘I will go over and see this strange sight – why the bush does not burn up.’
4. When the LORD saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!” And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5. Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”

He has revealed himself to us – in the person of Jesus

3. He reveals his purpose

6. Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
7. The LORD said, “I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.
8. So I have come down to rescue them from the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey–the home of the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites.
9. And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
10. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”

God tells Moses 4 things:

1. who he is

6.Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham,

the God of  Isaac and the God of Jacob.”

2. of his concern for his people

I have indeed seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering.

3. that he has come down to deliver them

So I have come down to rescue them (8)

4. that he will bless them

to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, a land flowing with milk and honey (8)

What a picture of the Gospel this is!

The eternally self-existent God

Is concerned about people

And has come down (in the person of Jesus)

To deliver us and bless us and bring us to his heavenly country!

4. He commissions his servant

SO NOW GO! I’M SENDING YOU!

And immediately Moses began to make excuses!

1. Who am I? (v11) I’m not worthy/suitable/capable

11 But Moses said to God, “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?”

12 And God said, “I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”

 God’s response: I will be with you

2. What shall I tell them? (v 13) I don’t know what to say

13 Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?”

God’s response: Tell them what I’ve told you. (cf vv7-10 with 16-18)

Tell them:

                Who I am

                I’m concerned about them

                I’ve come down to deliver them

                I will bless them

 3. They won’t believe me (4:1)

1. “Then Moses answered, “But behold, they will not believe me or listen to my voice, for they will say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you.’”
2. The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” He said, “A staff.”
3. And he said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and it became a serpent, and Moses ran from it.
4. But the Lord said to Moses, “Put out your hand and catch it by the tail”—so he put out his hand and caught it, and it became a staff in his hand—
5. “that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.””

 God’s response: What is that in your hand? (4:2) I’ll give you miracles.

Anything with God’s blessing on it will do! Deauville Walker’s camera

4. I’m no good at talking (4:10) I haven’t got the right natural ability          

“But Moses said to the Lord, “Oh, my Lord, I am not eloquent, either in the past or since you have spoken to your servant, but I am slow of speech and of tongue.””

God’s response: I made you…   I will help you ..

Please send someone else to do it (13)          The Lord’s anger…. (14)

14. Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and his heart will be glad when he sees you.
15. You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do.
16. He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him.
17. But take this staff in your hand so you can perform miraculous signs with it.

I’ll give you the natural help you think you need (Aaron)

But don’t forget my miracle-working power!

Concerned about the state of the world?

God still sees

God still cares

He has revealed himself in the person of Jesus who came down to deliver us and take us to heaven

To make this possible for all people he is looking for people he can send

To all our excuses he has an answer:

• I will be with you
• Just tell them what I’ve told you
• I’ll give you supernatural power to confirm the message

Great Bible Truths Episode 135

Lessons from their lives Talk 1: Abraham

Welcome to the first talk in a new series where we’ll be looking at Bible characters and seeing what lessons we can learn from certain aspects of their lives. Of course, the Bible itself sets a clear precedent for doing this. 1 Corinthians 10:11 teaches us that the things that happened to God’s people in the past were written down as examples for our instruction. So we can learn from their lives. We learn from their experience.

Today our subject is Abraham. We remember him mainly for the fact that, although his wife Sarah was barren, God promised to bless him, to make of him a great nation, and that through him all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Genesis 15:6 tells us that Abraham believed God and it was ‘credited to him as righteousness’. It’s through Abraham’s greatest descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ, that God’s blessing of salvation has become available to all the world, to all who will believe. So Abraham became not only the physical father of the Jewish nation but the spiritual father of all those, whether Jew or Gentile, who believe as he believed.

So in the New Testament it’s Abraham’s faith that’s remembered most of all. But that does not mean that Abraham was never afraid. In fact he had a very real tendency to fear! But surely faith is the opposite of fear. How can a man of faith be fearful? That’s what we’ll be looking at today, and we’ll learn from the example of Abraham how it’s possible to have faith despite your fears.

We’ll start in Genesis 15:1 where God says:

Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward (NIV)

Why did God say, Do not be afraid? Because he knew that Abraham had a tendency to fear. And in fact most of God’s people have the same problem! That’s why again and again in the Bible we read that God says, Do not be afraid.

In this talk we’re going to look at:

• Abraham’s tendency to fear
• God’s response to it
• Abraham’s response to God

and seek to learn how all this applies to us.

1. Abraham’s Tendency to Fear

As we’ve already seen, Abraham was an obedient servant of God to whom God had promised great blessings. In Genesis 12:1-3 we read that God said to Abraham:

Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.

And verse 4 tells us that Abraham left, as the LORD had told him.

BUT this did not prevent him being afraid

Look at Genesis 12:10-13 where Abraham goes to live in Egypt because of a famine. As they’re about to enter Egypt, he says to his wife Sarai:

I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.

And in chapter 20 when Abraham is living temporarily in Gerar, he makes the same request, this time with potentially disastrous consequences. The fear that he might be killed so that others might take Sarah as his wife was clearly on ongoing weakness.

But despite this tendency to fear Abraham was capable of behaving very bravely

In Genesis 14:11-16 we read how four kings had formed an alliance and had seized Abraham’s nephew Lot and carried him off with all his possessions. When Abraham heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out his men and went after them. He attacked them at night, routed them, and recovered all Lot’s possessions and brought him back together with the women and the other people who were with him.

So in chapter 14 Abraham has acted bravely and won a great victory. Why then is God telling him in chapter 15 not to be afraid? At first sight there are two possible reasons for Abraham’s fear:

(a) the four kings taking revenge over Lot’s rescue?

or

(b) that he would never have his own son to be his heir

This is made clear at the beginning of chapter 15.

1 After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

2 But Abram said, “O Sovereign LORD, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”

3 And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”

4 Then the word of the LORD came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.”

5 He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars–if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”

6 Abram believed the LORD, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

Note:

The fear that the four kings might take revenge is the fear that something bad might happen.

The fear that he would never have his own son to be his heir is the fear that something good might not happen.

We can fear these things even when God has spoken to us! (12:1ff)

What have you been afraid of?

2. God’s Response to Abraham’s fear

1. He spoke to Abraham (15:1)

After this, the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward’

How comforting the Word of God is to us when we’re afraid (Fred Durrant)

2. He promised to be Abraham’s shield

In response to the fear that something bad might happen

God himself would be Abraham’s protection. I am your shield.

But not only Abraham’s! He is the shield for Abraham’s descendants too!

Deut. 33:29 Blessed are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the Lord? He is your shield and helper…

Cf. Psalms 3:3, 18:35, 28:7, 33:20, 84:11, 115:9, 10, 11, 119:114, 144:2, Prov. 30:5.

But note especially Psalm 91

Note especially Verse 4 which says His faithfulness will be your shield.

1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

2 I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling– even the LORD, who is my refuge–

10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honour him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

So God spoke to Abraham, he promised to be his shield. And thirdly:

3. He promised to be Abraham’s very great reward

In response to the fear that something good might not happen, God promised him many blessings:

• a son (v4)
• multitudes of descendants (v5)
• a land (vv 7,18)

BUT what really mattered was that GOD himself was Abraham’s very great reward. I am your … reward.

God himself is our reward:

in heaven – yes

but we have the Holy Spirit as a foretaste now – in prayer, communion, fellowship with him

3. Abraham’s Response to God

He believed! (v 6) – and it was credited to him as righteousness (cf. Rom. 4:3)

All who believe are the spiritual descendants of Abraham.

Romans 4:16-17, Galatians 3:9, 29.

God is OUR shield and OUR reward.

The shield of faith (Eph 6:16) will extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one!

But didn’t Ps. 91:4 say that God’s faithfulness is our shield?

Yes. Perhaps Eph 6:16 should be translated faithfulness.

But what is the source of our faith? God’s faithfulness!

Our faith is our response to God’s faithfulness.

The Word of God is a record of God’s faithfulness.

That’s why faith comes by hearing it (Romans 10:17).

Conclusion

Perhaps at times we are all rather like Abraham.

Sometimes we are capable of great courage, yet most of us have a tendency to fear.

Perhaps that’s why God says so often in his word, FEAR NOT

But he knows about our fear.

He promises to be our shield and very great reward.

He is faithful to his promises

And his faithfulness is the source of our faith.

Take your eyes off your faith and fix them on God’s faithfulness.

He himself is our reward. To have Jesus is enough!

In him all God’s promises find their fulfilment (2 Cor. 1:20)

Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 134

The Promises of God Talk 15

Responding to God’s Promises

Welcome to the final talk in our series on the promises of God. I want to talk today about how we should respond to God’s promises, but first a summary of what we’ve been saying so far. Among the many things we have learned is that God’s wonderful promises are fulfilled in Christ and the salvation which he purchased for us by his death on the cross and which will be completed when he comes again. In understanding God’s promises we need to hold in tension both the present and future aspects of their fulfilment. It’s what is sometimes called the already/not yet of the kingdom of God.

For example, if we have accepted Christ as our Saviour, we have already received the promise of salvation, but there’s a sense in which our salvation is not yet complete until Jesus comes again. Our salvation is already/not yet. If you listen again or look back over some of our earlier talks, you will see that this is true of our righteousness, our sonship, and even our eternal life. We saw how there is both a present and a future dimension to each of these promises. We have them now, but we will have them completely when Jesus returns.

On the other hand, there are some promises which are guaranteed but which have yet to be fulfilled. These include the return of Christ, our final victory over death, and the wonderful inheritance we’ll receive as fellow-heirs with Christ. Meanwhile the gift of the Holy Spirit is made available to us as a foretaste of our inheritance and through the supernatural gifts of the Spirit we have tasted of the powers of the age to come.

For example, we experience healing through the work of the Spirit now, but the final fulfilment of God’s promises of healing will only be ours when we receive new bodies when Jesus comes again. And the same principle applies to answers to prayer too. If we’re praying according to God’s will our prayers will be answered – even if in some cases we may have to wait until Jesus returns before we see it!

So with all that in mind, let’s ask how we should respond to the promises God has made? How do we receive them? Did you notice that I didn’t use the word ‘claim’? Why not? It’s popular terminology in Christian vocabulary. But is it biblical? You may be surprised to know that nowhere does the Bible talk about claiming God’s promises! So can it be the right terminology to use when we talk about how we should respond to God’s promises?

Now I imagine that many of my listeners have been ‘claiming promises’ throughout their Christian lives, but if you’re one of them, please don’t switch off – at least until you’ve heard my reasons for saying this. I’m going to give you three reasons why I believe that claiming promises isn’t really biblical  before suggesting what the Bible actually teaches about how we should respond to God’s wonderful promises.

Why claiming is inappropriate

My three reasons for saying that the word ‘claim’ is not the best way to describe how we should respond to God’s promises are as follows:

• Because the Bible talks nowhere about claiming God’s promises
• Because God is faithful
• Because God is our Father

Because the Bible talks nowhere about claiming God’s promises

Quite simply, of the seventy New Testament references to the word ‘promise’ (epaggelia), not one is used in conjunction with the verb ‘to claim’. Words that are used are believe, have, receive, obtain, wait and inherit. More about these later.

Because God is faithful

God’s promises are reliable. In Hebrews we’re told to hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful (10:23, cf. 11:11). Our hope is firm and secure (6:19), an anchor for the soul, because God’s purpose is unchanging (6:17).

So it seems to me quite unfitting that Christians are encouraged to ‘claim’ what God has promised. The appropriate response to a promise from someone who is totally reliable is surely a simple and implicit trust that he will do what he has said, not an insistence on one’s rights on the grounds that he has said it! God’s promises are obtained through patience (6:12)!

Because God is our Father

As we have already seen, the promise of sonship is one of the promises that we have already received. We are already God’s children. He is already our Father. And this is why I find difficulty with the idea of ‘claiming’ God’s promises. Let me give you a personal illustration. I enjoyed throughout my life a very warm and close relationship with my earthly father while he was alive. Ι knew from him nothing but love, even if in my younger days that love was sometimes tempered with discipline. I count myself privileged to be his son and, because he was the kind of father he was, I not only loved him but I trusted him and respected him.

Such was my relationship with him that I knew that, if he promised me something which was in his power to perform, he would certainly do it. To claim such a promise by saying, Father, I insist that you give me what you have promised me.  Give it to me now. Ι demand it as my right, would have been to doubt his love, impugn his integrity and question his faithfulness. But because Ι trusted him and respected him I would not have dreamed of talking to him like that! So maybe, if we feel the need to ‘claim’ God’s promises we have not yet fully understood how much our Father loves us.

So how should we respond to God’s promises?

Perhaps the best way to answer this question is to consider the words the Bible itself actually uses in connection with this. If the word ‘claim’ is never used, what words are used?  As we said earlier, words that are used are believe, have, receive, obtain, wait and inherit. Let’s now look at how these words are used in the New Testament and see how we can apply them to our lives.

Believing God’s promises

The Greek word is pisteuo. There are numerous examples of the use of this word in the New Testament. We’ll mention just a few examples where it’s used in connection with God’s promises.

Mark 11:24

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

Mark 16:17-18

And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.

John 14:12

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.

So the promises of answered prayer and the power to perform signs and wonders are made to those who believe. But it’s important to understand that this is no mere academic belief. Pisteuo is used in the New Testament to refer to a confident trust which is based on a relationship with God who is always faithful. Consider the following verses:

The LORD is trustworthy in all he promises and faithful in all he does (Psalm 145:13 NIV).

He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful (Hebrews 10:23).

By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered him faithful who had promised (Hebrews 11:11).

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

We have faith (pisteuo) that God will keep his promises because we know that God is faithful (pistos). And because God is faithful, if he has promised us something, there’s a sense in which we already have it.

Having God’s promises

Paul uses this word in 2 Corinthians 7:1:

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

The promises referred to are cited in the previous chapter (vv. 16-18):

I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God and they will be my people (v.16, cf. Leviticus 26:12)

and

I will be a Father to you and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty (v. 18, cf. 2 Samuel 7:14).

These promises, like all God’s promises, are fulfilled in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20), and it’s because we now ‘have’ them that Paul encourages us to act upon them by living holy lives. Because of Christ, God does live with you, he says you are his people, he is your Father and you are his sons and daughters. So live accordingly, be holy.

So the promises referred to here are not be claimed because we already ‘have’ them. There is nothing further that could possibly be done to bring them to pass, for they are fulfilled in Christ. Rather, accepting that this is so,  we must live as what we are, God’s chosen people.

Receiving God’s promises

This word is used particularly in connection with receiving the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. In Acts 2:33 Peter tells us that Christ received from the Father the promise of the Spirit and he told the congregation at Pentecost to repent and be baptized and they will receive the gift of the Spirit for the promise is to you... (Acts 2:38-39). As we saw in a previous talk, the promise of the Spirit was made in Joel 2:28, and in Acts 2 at Pentecost the promise was fulfilled. The promise was now a gift – a gift available to all who repent and believe, and a gift that had to be received by faith (Galatians 3:2, 14). (For more on this please listen to the podcast dated 28/12/2018).

Obtaining God’s promises

In Hebrews 6:15 we’re told that Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise that God would bless him and multiply him. But please notice that Abraham did not obtain the promise by claiming it. He patiently waited for it. But that brings us to the next word connected with the word promise – wait.

Waiting (with patience) and inheriting God’s promises

Hebrews 10:35-38 tells us:

35. Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
36. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
37. For, “Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay;
38. but my righteous one shall live by faith…”

And 2 Peter 3:12-13 says:

12. waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God…
13. But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

And Hebrews 6:12 tells us to be imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises (Cf. Hebrews 11:9).

These verses clearly indicate that for the fulfilment of some of God’s promises, including our wonderful inheritance, we may have to wait until Jesus comes again. Meanwhile we are to live by faith and do the will of God.

So, to summarise, how should we respond to God’s promises?

We should:

Believe all of them because God is faithful

Recognise that we already have some of them and live accordingly

– e.g. salvation, sonship, God’s presence with us

Receive those that are available to us now

– e.g. Forgiveness, the Holy Spirit

Wait patiently in faith for those that have yet to be fulfilled

– e.g. prayers that are not answered immediately (including healing), the return of Christ, a wonderful inheritance, new heavens and a new earth.

Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 133

The Promises of God Talk 14

Promises of Answered Prayer

In the New Testament there are many passages where Jesus promises that God will answer prayer and, if like me you’ve been a Christian for some time you will probably have seen many wonderful answers to prayer. But, if we’re honest, we have to admit that there have also been many prayers that have not been answered – at least in the way we would like them to be. Someone once said that God always answers prayer. Sometimes he says Yes. Sometimes he says No. And sometimes he says, Wait. And although that’s undoubtedly true, we often find it difficult to understand why he appears to be saying No or why he is making us wait. There are no easy answers, but in this talk I’m going to look at some of the promises Jesus made with regard to prayer.

As we shall see, there are three keys that will unlock them:

1. Relationship with God
2. Faith in God
3. Authority from God

1. Relationship with God

Let’s start in Matthew 7 where Jesus says:

7. Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
8. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
9. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10. Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent?
10. If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:7-11, Cf. Luke 11:9-10)

Notice who this promise is made to. Those who are sons (v9). Those who know God as their Father (v11). In other words, those who have been born again (See Talk 7). Our confidence that God will answer prayer springs from the fact that we are his children. It springs from our relationship with him. And that relationship must develop into an ongoing intimacy. Notice what Jesus says in John 15:

7. If you abide (remain) in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. 
15. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
16. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.
17. These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

 

I suggest you take time to read the whole passage, starting at verse1. The guarantee of answered prayer springs from an ongoing relationship with Christ in which we know his commands and understand what the Father is doing. It doesn’t mean that we can ask for whatever we want and God will give it to us. It means that if we’re really in close relationship with him, because we love him we will only want what he wants! We will only ask for what we know to be his will. And that’s why we know that he will answer our prayers. As John tells us in his first epistle:

 

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him  (1 John 5:14-15).

 

So the first key to answered prayer is relationship with God. The next two keys both spring from it.

2. Faith in God

There are several New Testament passages where faith is rewarded with answered prayer, especially with regard to healing – the centurion’s servant, blind Bartimaeus, the paralysed man lowered through the roof, the grateful leper, the woman with a haemorrhage, to mention just a few. But there are also some specific promises. Consider the passage in Matthew 21:19-22.

19. And seeing a fig tree by the wayside, he went to it and found nothing on it but only leaves. And he said to it, “May no fruit ever come from you again!” And the fig tree withered at once.
20. When the disciples saw it, they marveled, saying, “How did the fig tree wither at once?”
21. And Jesus answered them, “Truly, I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ it will happen.
22. And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.

 And in line with this, in John 14:12-14 Jesus says:

12. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father
13. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

 The same truth is reiterated in the epistles:

James 1:5-8

5. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
6. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
7. For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord;
8. he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

1 John 3:21-23

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.

Taking all these passages together we see that:

• Mountains can be moved by prayer if we have faith when we pray!
• We can even do greater works than Jesus did!
• However, if we doubt, we will receive nothing.
• We will have faith, confidence before God, if our heart does not condemn us.

By mountains Jesus is probably not referring to literal mountains, but is speaking metaphorically about major obstacles in our lives and the life of the church. There have been many suggestions as to what Jesus meant by greater works, but in my view he is simply telling us that there is absolutely no limit to what can be accomplished by faith through the power of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus was going to send when he returned to the Father. And finally, it seems clear that if our heart condemns us – if we have a guilty conscience – we are not likely to have faith that God will answer our prayers. As we saw in the first part of this talk, our confidence that God will answer prayer springs from our relationship with him.

3. Authority from God

There are several verses in the New Testament which speak about praying in the name of Jesus. For example:

John 14:13-14

13…Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.

John 16:23-24

23. In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.
24. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

But the name of Jesus isn’t a magic formula. In New Testament times to do something in someone’s name meant to do it with their authority. It certainly doesn’t mean that to get our prayers answered all we have to do is say in Jesus’ name at the end of them! So to pray in Jesus’ name means to pray with his authority. Now at first sight the passages we’ve just quoted may seem to indicate that Jesus has already given us that authority. Some have even suggested that God has given Christians a blank cheque, signed by Jesus, and all we have to do is fill in whatever amount we like. But in the light of verses we’ve already looked at, can this possibly be right? We’re told to pray according to his will, not ours.

So what does it mean to pray with Jesus’ authority? This takes us back to the first point in this talk – our relationship with God. If there’s an ongoing intimacy with Jesus, if we’re abiding in him, we will know what he wants, we will want what he wants, and so when we pray we will be praying in his will and we’ll be praying in faith.

To help us understand this better, let’s consider the secret of Jesus’ authority while he was here on earth. He lived in constant intimacy with his Father. He was always submitted to his Father’s will. Consider the following verses from John’s gospel:

John 5:19

I tell you the truth. The Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does, the Son also does

John 7:16

My teaching is not my own. It comes from him who sent me

John 12:49

For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say.

The secret of Jesus’ authority was that he was always submitted to his Father’s authority. The Roman centurion understood this when he said:

8. …“Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.
9. For I too am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. And I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” (Matthew 8:8-9).

The centurion only had authority because he was under authority. And he seems to have understood that this was true of Jesus too. Authority results from submission. If we truly submit ourselves to God we’ll be able to resist the devil and he will flee from us (James 4:7) and if we’ll see our prayers answered because they’ll be in line with his will.

So the keys to answered prayer are:

• relationship with God
• faith in God
• authority from God.

When we’re living in intimate fellowship with God we will have faith and confidence to pray with Jesus’ authority. It’s then that we shall receive whatever we ask him for, because what we pray for will be directly in line with his will.

Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 132

The Promises of God Talk 13

Promises of healing

All the promises we have looked at so far are specifically referred to as promises in the New Testament. Surprisingly, nowhere is the word promise used to refer to healing, but that does not mean that there are no promises of healing in the Bible. There most certainly are – although some people claim Bible verses as promises of healing which most certainly are not!

In this talk I will not be attempting to go into the subject in great detail, but if you would like to hear or read more of what I have to say on healing, you could visit my website – https://www.davidpetts.org/podcast – where you will find several talks on healing first produced between May and August 2019. Alternatively, my book, Just a Taste of Heaven – a biblical and balanced approach to God’s healing power, covers the subject in great detail. So this talk will be just a short introduction to a vast subject. We’ll briefly consider:

• A right understanding of God’s healing power
• The right use of God’s healing power
• Why isn’t everybody healed?

A right understanding of God’s healing power

As evidence for the fact that the healing of our sicknesses is the privilege of the people of God we may point first to God’s promise in Exodus 15:26. Israel had been brought out of Egypt by a supernatural act of divine deliverance. The Egyptians had perished beneath the waters of the Red Sea. As a further token of his mighty power the Lord had made sweet the bitter waters of Marah (Exodus 15:23-25). God was showing his people that he was able to meet all their needs. Then came the reassuring promise:

If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God, and do what is right in his eyes… I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.

God’s willingness to heal is also confirmed by the fact that our Lord Jesus Christ went around doing good and healing all who were under the devil’s power (Acts 10:38). The Gospels provide many examples of this (Matthew 4:23-24, 8:16, 9:35, Mark 6:56, Luke 6:17-19, for example).

When Jesus sent his disciples out to preach he commanded them to cure every kind of disease and sickness (Matthew 10:1, 7-8). And this commission to heal was not limited to the time of his earthly ministry. In his final words to his disciples before his ascension Jesus commanded his disciples to go into all the world and preach the gospel. Those who believed would cast out demons, speak with new tongues and heal the sick in his name (Mark 16:15-20).

The fact that they did so is well illustrated in the book of Acts. In Acts 3:7-9 a lame man was healed in the name of Jesus resulting in the salvation of thousands of people (Acts 4:4). In Acts 4:30 the early church prayed that God would stretch out his hand to heal in the name of Jesus. In Acts 5:14-16 multitudes were healed in the streets of Jerusalem. Miracles were performed in the ministry of Stephen (Acts 6:8) and the sick were healed as Philip preached the gospel to the Samaritans (Acts 8:6-8). Peter was used to heal the sick and to raise the dead in Acts 9:33-42. At Paul’s command a cripple leapt to his feet and walked (Acts 14:8-10), diseases departed (Acts 19:12) and the dead were raised (Acts 20:9-12). And it does not seem that the power to heal was ever withdrawn, for in the very last chapter of Acts the sick are still being healed (Acts 28:8-9), and in James 5:14-16 explicit instructions are given to Christians who need healing.

In both Old and New Testaments, then, we see God’s power and willingness to heal his people. When God made man he made him perfect and put him in a perfect creation. Everything God made was ‘very good’ (Genesis 1:31). It is clear that man was not only morally, but also physically perfect. There was no sickness in the Garden of Eden. There is to be no sickness in heaven (Revelation 21:4). The existence of sickness is the result of Adam’s sin. The whole of creation was affected by the Fall (Romans 8:22).

But just as God has not left us without a ransom for sin, so too he has not left us without a remedy for sickness. By Christ’s atoning death on the cross he has reconciled to God all those who believe. By faith in the substitutionary sacrifice offered at Calvary repentant sinners are brought into right relationship with God. Their sins are washed away. Sin, the root cause of sickness is atoned for. By restoring us to fellowship with our Maker, Christ has, by his death, made provision for the healing of our bodies.

It is in this sense that healing may be rightly said to be ‘in the atonement’. Of course, the word ‘atonement’ by its very meaning essentially refers to sin. Because of the atonement we are redeemed, we are reconciled to God, we are no longer enemies but sons. And the blessings of the New Testament are no less than those of the Old. To those who are by covenant his people, God still says, I am the Lord who heals you.

The right use of God’s healing power

As we examine the New Testament we discover that there are two main forms of divine healing. They are distinct, both in the purpose for which they are given and in the manner in which they are received, although there are, by the very nature of the case, many similarities between them. First there is there is healing for the unbeliever. This operates in the context of evangelism and is referred to in Mark 16:16-20 and in the various examples in Acts we mentioned earlier. Then there is healing for the believer. This is described in James 5:14-16.

Healing for the unbeliever

The Lord Jesus promised that miraculous healing would be one of the signs by which he would confirm the word of those who preach the gospel. In this connection it should be noted that healing was to accompany the preaching of the gospel. The apostolic message was Christ died for our sins (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). That is what they preached. They did not preach healing. They did it! Notice too that in Mark 16 it is the one who is laying hands on the sick who appears to be responsible for exercising faith (vv.17-18), not the sick person who may well still be an unbeliever.

Further, it needs to be pointed out that these verses do not imply that all who have hands laid on them will be miraculously healed. Jesus was not saying that every believer would be used in healing or that every sick person would be healed. What he does promise is that he will confirm his word by working in a variety of ways, including miraculous healing, to authenticate the message of the gospel to the unconverted. Perhaps if this were borne in mind, and if a greater emphasis were placed on the leading of the Spirit in the matter of praying for the sick, there would be less apparent ‘failures’ in the ministry of modern evangelists.

Healing for believers

Believers would remember that the form of healing prescribed for them is not that to be found in Mark 16, but rather that of James 5. The believer who is ‘in trouble’ (literally suffering evil) is to pray for himself (v.13). If he is sick, he is to call for the elders of the church who should pray in faith in the name of the Lord, anointing the sick person with oil.

James encourages Christians to pray for one another that they might be healed, and where applicable, to confess their faults to one another. Healing is promised, though not necessarily instantaneously. We sometimes need to persist in prayer. The conditions which govern all types of prayer are surely applicable in this context too. (The end of James 4 makes it clear that we cannot even be sure that we will be alive tomorrow – unless it is God’s will!)  Finally, it would seem sensible, and biblical, that when God has provided a simple natural remedy for a sickness, Christians should thankfully avail themselves of it.

Why isn’t everybody healed?

The basic problem that lies at the heart of most questions that arise about the doctrine of healing is the simple fact that not everybody is healed. Pastors who have watched the suffering of some of the greatest saints in their congregation simply cannot believe that the answer is merely a matter of sin or unbelief on the part of the sufferer. The scriptures themselves do not support this suggestion.

We need to remember that even in Bible times there is evidence that there were occasions when not everyone was healed. Of course, there were times when everyone was, especially during the ministry of the Lord Jesus, from which we may conclude that we may well expect special periods of divine visitation when the same could happen again, as it did for the early Christians in Acts 5:16. But nowhere else in Acts are we told that such a thing took place. In fact, even in the ministry of the Lord Jesus there was at least one occasion when only one out of a large crowd was healed (John 5:1-9). And those who remind us of the health and strength of Moses whose eyesight was still good even at the age of one hundred and twenty usually fail to mention Isaac who died blind!

To attempt to deal with the problems of healing at all is a formidable task. To seek to do so within the scope of so brief a talk is an impossibility. Perhaps we do well to remember as we consider the problem of those who are not yet healed that the spirit is more important than the body, that God does discipline us that we might be partakers of his holiness (Hebrews 12:5-11), that Paul’s thorn – whatever it was – was in his flesh (2 Corinthians 12:1-10), and that he did leave Trophimus at Miletus sick (2 Timothy 4:20).

As Christians we are still living in a world that is under the curse. The whole creation is groaning as in the pains of childbirth (Romans 8:22) and we ourselves groan inwardly waiting for the redemption of the body (v.23). But the day is coming when the creation itself will be delivered from its bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of the children of God! There’s going to be a resurrection. We shall receive a body ‘like his glorious body’. Our mortal bodies will be clothed with immortality! Death itself will be swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:50ff). Then every promise of healing will be fulfilled, for there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things will have passed away (Revelation 21:4).

Great Bible Truths Podcast 131

The Promises of God Talk 12

The Promise of Christ’s Coming

So far in this series we have considered promises made by God that are actually referred to as promises in the New Testament. By that I mean that the word promise is specifically used in connection with the particular blessing that is being promised. These have included:

• The promise of salvation
• The promise of righteousness
• The promise of sonship
• The promise of victory over death
• The promise of eternal life
• The promise of an inheritance
• The promise of the Holy Spirit.

All these blessings are specifically referred to as promises in the New Testament. And there’s just one more – the promise of Christ’s coming. 2 Peter 3:4 tells us that, because it’s been so long since this promise was made, some people will say:

Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.

So today we’re going to consider:

• The fact of Christ’s coming
• The nature of his coming
• The purpose of his coming
• The need to be ready for his coming.

The fact of his coming

The apostles and leaders of the early church taught very clearly that Christ would return.

James tells us that the Lord’s coming is near (James 5:8).

Peter assures his readers that the day of the Lord will come (2 Peter 3:10). Jude declares The Lord is coming (Jude 14).

And Paul tells the Thessalonians that:

…the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet-call of God…

(1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Finally, John, exiled on Patmos, cried Amen, come Lord Jesus

(Revelation 22:20).

So the apostles were quite sure that Christ would return. This was because of three main facts:

1. they were directed by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit as they wrote the scriptures.

2. they remembered the promise of the angels at the ascension:

This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven will come in the same way as you have seen him go into heaven (Acts 1:11).

They were sure he would come because they had seen him go.

3. they were sure that Jesus was coming again because they had his personal promise that he would do so:

I am going to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me (John 14:2-3).

The Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his holy angels (Matthew 16:27, Mark 8:38, Luke 9:26).

So we can be quite sure that Jesus is coming. It is promised by the apostles, by the angels, and by Jesus himself.

The nature of his coming

There have been considerable differences of opinion among Bible-believing Christians as to the precise nature of the second coming of Christ. It is not possible in one short talk to enter into discussion upon the various points of view held by equally sincere evangelical Christians. It should be fairly safe to say, however, that there are certain facts about the return of our Lord which must be accepted if we are to be consistent in our belief in the authority of scripture.

The statement of the angels at the ascension (Acts 1:11) is sufficient evidence alone that the return of Christ will be personal, physical, and visible.

Jesus will return personally for it will be this same Jesus. It will be the Lord himself  who will descend from heaven (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Jesus will return physically, for he is coming in the same way as they saw him go. He will descend with the same resurrection body with which they saw him ascend.

And Jesus will return visibly, for he will return in the same way as you have seen him go. The early disciples were privileged to see him go into heaven. How marvellous to consider that we may very well be among those who are privileged to see him return!

The purpose of his coming

Since the second coming has yet to take place, all that we know about it is what God has chosen to reveal in his word. As we examine the New Testament there seem to be five main purposes of our Lord’s return.

1. He is coming for us

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 tells us that when the Lord returns

the dead in Christ will rise first. After that we who are still alive and are left will be caught up with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord for ever.

Jesus is coming. We will meet him and be with him for ever. Hallelujah!

2. Jesus is coming for the destruction of death

In those majestic verses in 1 Corinthians 15:51-57 Paul gives us another description of the events which will take place when the trumpet sounds. Then, he says, the saying that is written will come true: Death has been swallowed up in victory (v.54). For more on this, please see talk 8.

3. Jesus is coming to judge the world

Those who have rejected him will be judged. 2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 tells us  that the Lord Jesus will be:

revealed from heaven with his powerful angels in blazing fire. He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. They will be punished with everlasting destruction, shut out from the presence of the Lord and the majesty of his power.

True Christians, of course, will not be judged for their sins. Our sins were judged at Calvary. John 3:18 tells us that whoever trusts in Christ will not be judged. It does seem, however, that there is to be a judgment for Christians which is related to reward for service:

11. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.
12. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— each one’s work will become manifest,
13. for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done.
14. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.
15. If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:11-15).

4. He is coming as king

Closely connected with the fact that Jesus is coming as judge is the glorious truth that he is coming as king. He is coming to reign. Paul tells us that Jesus must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25). The kingdoms of this world are to become the kingdom of our God and of his Christ and He shall reign for ever and ever (Revelation 11:15).

5. Jesus is coming to make all things new

There are to be new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness will dwell:

But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. (2 Peter 3:13)

There will be no more death, no more sorrow, or crying, or any more pain; they will all have passed away:

4. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5. And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” (Revelation 21:4-5).

What a wonderful promise! What a blessed hope! Thank God, Jesus is coming!

The need to be ready for his coming

So the return of the Lord is certainly something to look forward to. But the  Bible also tells us that we must be prepared for it. Jesus said that it’s not for us to know the times or the seasons which the Father has put under his own authority (Acts 1:7) and that no one knows the day or hour when he will come again (Mark 13:32). The day of the Lord will be as unexpected as a thief in the night (1 Thessalonians 5:2). We do not need to know the time of his coming and we certainly should not be trying to calculate it. But we do need to be ready.

In Matthew 24:42-51 Jesus warns us of the dangers of those who say, My master is staying away a long time. In the next chapter he tells us that we are to be ready by keeping watch (v.13). The fact that in the parable the foolish virgins were those who had no oil in their lamps may well suggest that Jesus meant that we should take care that we are spiritually ready.

And in the next parable he warns us to be ready by making sure that we are using faithfully the talents which the Lord has entrusted to our care (Matthew 25:14-30). If we do, we may be sure that we too will hear the commendation of our Lord when he comes:

Well done, good and faithful servant… come and share your master’s happiness.

So the Lord is certainly coming. He is coming personally, physically and visibly. He is coming for us. He is coming for the destruction of death. He is coming to judge. He is coming to reign. And he is coming to make all things new. As we rejoice at the prospect, let’s make sure that we are ready.

Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 130

The Promises of God Talk 11

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

We finished our last talk by saying that, although God’s promise of a wonderful inheritance is something we have to wait for, there is a foretaste of it available to us right now in the promise of the Holy Spirit. Paul reminds the Ephesians that after they had heard the gospel and believed in Jesus they were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it (Ephesians 1:13-14). Luke actually gives us a detailed description of how this happened for the first Ephesian converts in Acts 19:1-6, which we will come back to later. But first let’s consider:

• How Jesus himself refers to the Holy Spirit as a promise
• How the promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost
• What we can learn from Acts 2 about the promise
• How the promise continued to be fulfilled afterwards

How Jesus himself refers to the Holy Spirit as a promise.

Luke records how, immediately before he ascended into Heaven, Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Holy Spirit.

Luke 24:46-49

46. (Jesus) said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,
47. and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
48. You are witnesses of these things.
49. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

Acts 1:4-5, 8

4. And while staying with them he (Jesus) ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me;
5. for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

8. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

These passages make it very clear that the promise of the Father is the Holy Spirit coming upon Jesus’ disciples empowering them to be witnesses to the end of the earth. Jesus described it as being clothed with power from on high or being baptised with the Holy Spirit. It was so important that they receive this power before setting out on the task of world evangelisation that Jesus ordered them not to depart from the city of Jerusalem until they had received it. Now let’s remind ourselves of how the promise was fulfilled ten days later on the Day of Pentecost.

How the promise was fulfilled on the Day of Pentecost

Acts 2:1-8

1. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
2. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
4. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
5. Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.
6. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.
7. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans?
8. And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?”

In response to this question, and to the criticism of some who thought the disciples were drunk, Peter stood up and stated that they were not drunk, but that what they were experiencing was the fulfilment of God’s promise in Joel 2:28

17. …‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
18. even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy…’

Peter went on to tell the people that Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had crucified, had been raised from the dead and was now exalted at the right hand of God (v33). Jesus had received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, and had poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. Peter concluded by saying:

36. Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

37. Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?”
38. And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

What can we learn from Acts 2 about the promise of the Holy Spirit?

In one short podcast it would not be possible to cover this in as much detail as I would like, but if you visit my website you will find much more in five podcasts first made in December 2018. Alternatively, see my book, A New Dimension.

So today I just want to highlight four main things:

• It happened suddenly
• It was accompanied by miraculous phenomena which were seen and heard
• It was received by those who were already Jesus’ disciples
• It was made available to all who were later to become Christians

It happened suddenly

There were ten days between Jesus’ ascension into heaven and the coming of the Spirit at Pentecost. The Holy Spirit did not come gradually over ten days. He came suddenly (Acts 2:2). This is further confirmed by the tense of the Greek verb used in verse 4. They were all filled is in the Aorist tense which is never used for a gradual action.

It was accompanied by miraculous phenomena which were seen and heard

Acts 2:1-4 speaks for itself:

1. When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place.
2. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
3. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
4. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Compare Acts 2:33

Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

It was received by those who were already Jesus’ disciples

It was to those who were already his disciples that Jesus said:

And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49).

…wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now (Acts 1:4-5).

Jesus had already pronounced them clean (John 15:3). Their names were already written in heaven (Luke 10:20). So the purpose of the promise was not regeneration.  It was empowerment (Acts 1:8)

It was made available to all who were later to become Christians

38. And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
39. For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

How the promise continued to be fulfilled afterwards

As we have already seen from what happened at Pentecost:

• the promise was received by those who were already Jesus’ disciples
• was accompanied by miraculous phenomena which were seen and heard
• was fulfilled suddenly

And as we read on in Acts we and see how others received the promise of the Spirit, we discover the same thing.

The promise was made to those who were already Jesus’ disciples

In Acts 2:38-39 the promise was made to those who would repent and be baptised. In fact, with the exception of Cornelius and his household (Acts 10), the order of events seems to have been:

• Repentance and faith in Christ
• Baptism in water
• Receiving the Spirit through the laying on of hands.

For examples of this, see the Samaritans in Acts 8, Paul in Acts 9, and the Ephesians in Acts 19. What’s clear in all these cases is that receiving the promise of the Spirit does not refer to the Spirit’s work in conversion but to the Spirit coming on those who had already come to faith in order to empower them for service (Acts 1:8).

The promise was accompanied by miraculous phenomena which were seen and heard

At Pentecost, as we have seen, the coming of the Spirit was accompanied by a sound like a mighty rushing wind, tongues as of fire, and the disciples speaking in other tongues (languages). Although the wind and fire were not repeated in Acts, the ability to speak in tongues is mentioned in the case of Cornelius (Acts 10:46) and the Ephesians (Acts 19:6) and may well be implied in the case of the Samaritans for Simon the sorcerer saw that the Spirit was received when the apostles laid hands on the new converts (Acts 8:17). However, this passage clearly does not offer us a full description of events, but what is clear in Acts is that, whenever Luke gives us a full description of people receiving the Spirit, the first thing he mentions immediately afterwards is that they spoke in tongues. And, as we consider Paul’s teaching in 1 Corinthians 14:14-15 on the importance of prayer in tongues, it is perhaps not surprising that this is the first ability we are given when we receive the promise of the Spirit.

The promise was fulfilled suddenly

The most dramatic example of this is seen in the case of Cornelius. Acts 10:44 tells us that while Peter was still preaching the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. It was the same with the Samaritans and the Ephesians who received through the laying on of hands. There is no suggestion that it was a lengthy process. The apostles laid hands on them and they received the Spirit:

Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:17).

And when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they began speaking in tongues and prophesying (Acts 19:6).

My point is simply this. In all these examples, one minute they had not received the promise. The next minute they had! And, if you have not yet received it, the same promise is available to you right now (Acts 2:39). How do you receive it? Paul tells us that we receive it by faith (Galatians 3:14). Jesus said that our heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to his children when they ask him (Luke 11:13). Ask him, and expect to speak in tongues – and much much more!

Father, I pray that your Spirit will come upon your children who are listening to this podcast right now, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 128

The Promises of God Talk 9

The Promise of Eternal Life

In our last talk we looked at the wonderful promise of victory over death. We concentrated our attention mainly on 1 Corinthians 15 and saw that Christ’s resurrection guarantees ours. Today our subject is the promise of eternal life, which is clearly closely related. Since victory over death is guaranteed, it must surely follow that we have eternal life. This is confirmed in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:

16. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.

But, of course, the return of Christ is still a future event – notice how often the word will occurs in the verses we’ve just quoted – so does this mean that we will have to wait until then before we receive eternal life? The fact that verses like 1 John 2:25 and James 1:12 use the word promise might well be seen as suggesting this.

1 John 2:25

And this is the promise that he made to us – eternal life

James 1:12

…the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

However, although these and other NT verses speak of eternal life as something we will receive, several other verses seem to indicate that we already have it.

John 3:36

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John 5:24

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

John 6:54

Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

1 John 5:11-13, 20

11. And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.

So eternal life is present already and yet it’s still in the future. How do we explain this? This is just another aspect of the already/not yet of our salvation. The NT expresses our salvation in three tenses – past, present, and future:

I have been saved (from the penalty of sin)

I am still being saved (from the power of sin)

I will be saved (from the presence of sin, when Jesus comes again).

But how does this apply to eternal life? If I already have eternal life, in what sense have I yet to receive it? The answer lies in something we were looking at in our last talk. Since the Fall (as a result of Adam’s disobedience) all humanity has been subject to death. Our bodies are mortal. To make matters worse, because of our own disobedience (not just Adam’s) we are all spiritually dead – unless we accept God’s gracious gift of eternal life by receiving Jesus as our Saviour. When we do, our sins are forgiven, we are no longer ‘in Adam’ but ‘in Christ’. And to be in Christ is to have eternal life:

God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son (1 John 5:11).

So in what sense is our eternal life still in the future? We need to understand that although we have eternal life now, our bodies are still mortal. The passages which refer to eternal life as future are to do with the resurrection of our bodies. Spiritually we’re already born again, but we’re waiting for the redemption of our bodies (Romans 8:23). When Jesus comes again our salvation will be complete. Our mortal bodies will put on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:53-54). Jesus did all that was necessary for our salvation when he died on the cross and rose again three days later. But the final outworking of the victory he won at Calvary will not be seen until he comes again. It is then that eternal life in all its fulness will begin.

But what about after we die, but before Jesus returns? And what about now?

The Intermediate State

The situation with regard to Christians who have died before Jesus returns is sometimes referred to as ‘the intermediate state’. The New Testament in particular is very clear that death is not the end of human existence. In Matthew 22:32 the Lord Jesus made clear to the doubting Sadducees not only that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would one day rise from the dead, but that they were even ‘living’ at that very moment. To the repentant thief on the cross Jesus said, Today you will be with me in paradise (Luke 23:43).

Some have suggested that the story of the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31) is simply a case of Jesus using current Jewish thought and not intended to be taken literally. But if that were so Jesus’ teaching would be extremely misleading, to say the least! What is clear is that both the rich man and Lazarus were alive after death, but that they were both in very different separate places.

So there is life after death for everyone. Those who have not received Jesus as their Saviour have good reason to fear death for it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27). Christians, on the other hand, have  no need to fear death. Consider the following scriptures:

Psalm 23:4-6

4. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
5. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.
6. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Hebrews 2:14-15

14. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil,
15. and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.

Revelation 14:13

And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labours, for their deeds follow them!”

Romans 8:35-39

35. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
36. As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth,
39. nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 Corinthians 5:6-8

6. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord,
7. for we walk by faith, not by sight.
8. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord.

Philippians 1:21-23

21. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
23. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.

These scriptures show that not only do we have no reason to fear death, but they also give an indication of what our eternal life will be like before we receive our new bodies when Jesus comes again.

It will be far better than life here on earth

We will be at rest

We will be blessed

We will dwell in the house of the Lord

We will be at home with the Lord

We will be with Christ

Eternal life now

As we have seen, several verses in the NT teach that we already have eternal life. Yet it’s clearly very different from the dimension of eternal life that we will experience once Jesus comes again. We’re still waiting for the redemption of our bodies and we’re still living in a fallen world. We still get sick and we still die. Note the contrast between present suffering and future glory in the following passage.

Romans 8:18-25

18. For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
19. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.
20. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
21. that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
22. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now.
23. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
24. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees?
25. But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

So our experience of eternal life now is manifested in the midst of suffering, in the confident assurance of a glorious future for which we are patiently waiting. We may be groaning inwardly as we are eagerly awaiting our adoption, but we already have the firstfruits of the Spirit. It will by the power of the Spirit that our bodies will be raised from the dead when Jesus returns and that Spirit lives within us now (Romans 8:11). Through the Spirit we are already enjoying a taste of the powers of the age to come (Hebrews 6:4-5). We are experiencing already many of the blessings of eternal life. We know Jesus and to know him is eternal life (John 17:3). But how much better will we know him in the future! As Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13:12, for now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

Finally, let me ask you a question. Are you sure that you have eternal life? It’s available to you right now as a free gift. Romans 6:23 says:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

And you receive it by putting your trust in Jesus as your Saviour:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Great Bible Truths Podcast Episode 129

The Promises of God Talk 10

The Promise of an Inheritance

In earlier talks we have seen that, among the promises included as part of our salvation, there are promises of righteousness and adoption as God’s children. These are closely related to the subject of this talk, the promise of a wonderful inheritance.

Titus 3:7 tells us that having been justified (made righteous) by God’s grace we have become  heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

And Romans 8:16-17 assures us that we are God’s children and that as his children we are heirs – heirs of God and fellow-heirs with Christ.

Paul puts it slightly differently in Galatians 3:29 where he says:

…if you are Christ’s, then you are… heirs according to promise.

So the promises of God to his children include a wonderful inheritance. But  what will it be like, why will we receive it, and when? The answers to these questions are neatly summarised in 1 Peter 1:3-5 :

3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4. to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you
5. who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

What will it be like?

The NIV translates verse 4 as follows:

and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you…

Our inheritance can never perish

The word imperishable immediately reminds us of the new bodies we will receive when Jesus comes again (1 Corinthians 15:50-54). As we have already seen, life in the coming kingdom of God will require a body that’s very different from the mortal bodies we have right now. Our new bodies will be immortal and imperishable. And clearly it will not just be our bodies that will be imperishable. The kingdom of God itself is imperishable. It’s unthinkable that there could be anything that would perish in his kingdom! So what we inherit will be forever. We have treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal (Matthew 6:20).

Our inheritance can never spoil

Many years ago, when my wife’s father died, her mother asked me if I would like to have two of his suits. As I was about the same size as he had been, I gratefully accepted them. One of them was almost new and fitted me perfectly and it lasted me for several years. The other one, however, turned out to be of no use to me as I discovered a stain on the left arm. And although we tried everything to remove it, the stain stubbornly refused to go. Apart from the stain, it was a nice suit, but it was unwearable because of the stain. My inheritance was spoiled! How glad I am that there will be no stain on the robes of righteousness that will be part of our inheritance in heaven (Revelation 7:13-14).

Our inheritance will not fade away

Auntie Min was loved very much by all her nephews and nieces and on her seventieth birthday we gathered with all the wider family to celebrate with her. While we were there, my mother (Auntie Min’s sister) gave me some good news. Auntie Min had made her will and I was among the beneficiaries. Great! But of course nobody wanted Auntie to die and it would be many years before we would expect to inherit anything.

About 15 years later Auntie died and I was privileged to preach at her funeral. After the service my mother said to me, ‘David, I’m afraid you won’t be inheriting anything from Auntie Min. She lived so long after she made her will that all the money she had has been spent’. Little by little my share in the inheritance had diminished until there was nothing left. My inheritance had ‘faded away’. But there’s no such danger with our heavenly inheritance. It can never fade because it’s kept in heaven for us.

Why do we receive it?

Notice what Peter tells us in verse 3.

3. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

• It’s because of God’s great mercy
• It’s because we’ve been born again – i.e. because we’re God’s children
• It’s because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

But to understand more completely why receive it we need to go back to Romans 8:17 which tells us that as God’s children we are heirs – heirs of God and fellow-heirs with Christ. The Greek word translated here as fellow-heirs is sunkleronomos. The word for heir is kleronomos. The prefix sun means with.  So a sunkleronomos is someone who shares an inheritance with someone else.

This means that in Romans 8:17 Paul is telling us that we actually share in Christ’s inheritance! Now to appreciate this more fully we need to understand what is sometimes called our identification with Christ.  When we heard the gospel and believed it we were included in Christ:

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed…(Ephesians 1:13 NIV).

Everything we have – and will have – springs from this. In the New Testament Paul uses ten different Greek verbs, all with the same prefix, sun, to express this wonderful truth:

We were crucified with Christ

We died with Christ

We were buried with Christ

We were made alive with Christ

We have been raised together with Christ

We are seated with Christ in heavenly places

We suffer with Christ

We will reign with Christ

We are workers together with Christ

We are heirs with Christ.

But back to the word sunkleronomos. Apart from its use in Romans 8:17, it occurs only three other times in the New Testament and these reveal three ways in which it is possible to become a fellow-heir.

By sonship

The first way you can become a fellow-heir is by sonship.

Hebrews 11:9

By faith he (Abraham) went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.

Jacob was the son of Isaac who was the son of Abraham. As a result, Isaac and Jacob were fellow-heirs with Abraham. When I was about 10 years old I went into my father’s shed where my bike was kept and attempted to tighten up a screw which had become loose. I looked in my father’s toolbox for a screwdriver and started to tighten the loose screw, when my father came into the shed and said, David, stop. That’s not a screwdriver, that’s a chisel. He explained the difference to me and then went on to say that I should carefully look after his tools because they had belonged to his father before him and one day they would be mine. My father had inherited from his father the box of tools and I became a fellow-heir with my father of the same toolbox which I still possess today. We both inherited the same thing by virtue of being sons.

By marriage

The second way you can become a fellow-heir is by marriage.

1 Peter 3:7

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

Husbands and wives are fellow-heirs. This means that what belongs to my wife belongs to me and what belongs to me belongs to her! When my wife inherited several thousand pounds when her father died I was glad to be her fellow-heir. She, of course, is welcome to the toolbox!

By grace

The third way you can be a fellow-heir is by grace.

Ephesians 3:6-8

6. This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.
7. Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God’s grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
8. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ

These verses teach that Gentile Christians have become fellow-heirs with Jewish Christians simply by the grace of God. If you were to leave me something in your will – and I’m not suggesting that you should – since I am neither your son nor married to your daughter I would become a fellow-heir simply by your kindness, your grace.

So the three ways you can become a fellow-heir in the New Testament are by sonship, by marriage, and by grace. And that is precisely why we too are fellow-heirs with Christ. We are God’s children, we are part of the bride of Christ, the church, and it’s all because of his wonderful grace. We inherit what he inherits! That’s what it means to be a fellow-heir. And Hebrews 1:2 tells us that he has been appointed heir of all things!

When will we receive it?

So, finally, when will we receive this wonderful inheritance?

1 Peter 1 tells that:

• It’s kept for us in heaven (4)
• It’s part of our future salvation – ready to be revealed in the last time (5)

So I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait for it. We will only enter fully into it when Jesus returns.

But actually that’s not quite the whole story. A foretaste of our inheritance is available to us right now.

Ephesians 1:13-14

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.

The Greek word translated guarantee here is arrabon which can also be translated pledge. In Greece today, as in New Testament times, it’s used to mean an engagement ring. But it  also carries the sense of a foretaste. When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit we receive not only a guarantee of our inheritance but actually a wonderful foretaste of it. As Hebrews 6:4 tells us, in the gift of the Spirit we have already tasted of the powers of the age to come.

But that must wait for next time, when our subject will be:

The Promise of the Holy Spirit.

For more on arrabon see the final chapter of my book, The Holy Spirit – an Introduction.