Lincoln

As I age, I sometimes think, ‘I wish I understood 40 years ago what I understand now.’ What would I have done differently? What different paths would I have walked? What different relationships would I have pursued? You see, knowledge is one thing, but understanding that knowledge and how to action it is a different matter altogether. Understanding opens the possibility for wisdom and Christlike insight into life which can change our choices and actions.

Amidst the noise and busyness of life, God the Holy Spirit ministers from within us that we might understand the things freely given us by God (1 Corinthians 2:12). Experiences, in and of themselves, are not the Holy Spirit’s goal for the believer. Rather, understanding clearly what God has graciously given us through Christ and for God’s glory, this is His purpose. It is the believer’s understanding of God that opens up the possibility of living more Christlike with growth towards maturity. This understanding can also open up opportunities for service for God which were never before imagined. Knowledge without applied understanding is powerless, ineffective, and unproductive for God.

It is understanding that lifts the believer above the frustrations of life, and above selfish desires. This is because understanding generated by the Holy Spirit is God focused and God glorifying. It is the Holy Spirit who invisibly manufactures His understanding within the believer? Paul continues to explain that we impart this (understanding) in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual (1 Corinthians 2:13).

The Holy Spirit searches the depths of God (1Co 2:10) and translates those truths of God into understandable language and thoughts within the believer (1Co 2:11). The Holy Spirit does not do this through fresh extrabiblical revelation or experience, but through His Word which contains spiritual truth. His words are easily found and identified in the Bible, as it was the Holy Spirit who authored the Bible (2Pe 1:20-21). There is no mystery here. There is no elevation of self with unique access to heavenly information that no one else can access. No, this is simply God the Spirit granting understanding to the believer who spends time mediating and praying over the Word of God with a soft-hearted attitude.

This is what happens when you let the word of Christ dwell in you richly… (Colossians 3:16a). The Holy Spirit illumines, He clarifies, and He awakens our thinking to deeper levels of understanding about the things He has written in Scripture. This, however, comes at a cost to the child of God. Time, energy, and surrenderedness are required. This means there must be an exchange of priorities and activities within the life of God’s child. In this way the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (Ephesians 6:17) is taken hold of and enabled for standing against the attacks of the enemy. As with all the other pieces of spiritual armour supplied by God (Eph 6:13-18), believers cannot be passive or half-hearted with their handling of God’s Word.

As we grow in the faith, so our understanding of God’s Word increases. With this comes the ability and responsibility to use our understanding of Scripture for God’s purposes. The Holy Spirit, through God’s Word, equips us to destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God and take every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5). May we encourage and enable one another to be people of God’s Word, always growing in our understanding as the Holy Spirit walks with us and uses us for God’s glory.

Initially, new believers are discipled by a more mature believer. However, during Christian life the new believer introduces others to Christ. This makes them a discipler of others while still being discipled themselves. This is excellent!

The wonderful thing about God’s design for discipleship is that at every stage, and at every level of spiritual maturity, all disciples are to be somewhere in the process of being taught the truths of Christ while teaching those truths to others. Jesus gave clear and achievable goals for the mission of discipleship when He said, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you… (Matthew 28:20).

Discipleship, which is teaching others to be followers of Christ, requires instruction. People do not put obedient faith in Jesus without being taught the gospel (Rom 10:14-15). New believers do not grow to maturity without being taught the doctrines and disciplines of Christlike living and how to walk by faith, not by sight (2 Corinthians 5:7).

Matthew 28:16-20 tells of Jesus’ 11 remaining disciples, who had learned much in their 3 years with Him. But, as Jesus returned to glory, they had to become teachers on Jesus’ behalf. They were to be dependent upon the Lord and the soon to arrive Holy Spirit for every resource needed for effective discipleship. Jesus assured them that when the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth… he will declare to you the things that are to come. ¹⁴ He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you (John 16:13-14).

• The students of Jesus’ 11 disciples would be the people they taught the gospel to, and they would teach these students everything that Jesus had taught them over the previous 3 years.
• They were to teach Jew, Gentile, and all ethnic groupings equally; saved and unsaved, religious, and irreligious people alike. They were to pass on everything they had received from Jesus, even the things they did not fully understand themselves.
• They were to teach from the Old Testament as Jesus did and explain the parables as Jesus did. There was to be no subject overlooked or ignored.
• They were to be permanent students, always learning how to better teach others on Jesus’ behalf. Always growing in their understanding of the Scriptures and how to explain God’s Word more clearly so others could understand and obey better.
• This would require faith, determination, unity, a willingness to share resources, and a willingness to help each other as they worked together for Jesus.
• They were to be dependent upon the Holy Spirit and the Scriptures. Therefore, as the Holy Spirit inspired the New Testament Scriptures (2Pe 1:22), followers of Jesus had greater access to the mind of God the Holy Spirit through His written Word.
• And finally, they were to teach their students to go and sacrificially do the same, making disciples on Jesus’ behalf many times during their lifetime.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence… (2 Peter 1:3). For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (2 Peter 1:5-8).

An often-misunderstood subject is that of Christian maturity. Just as we would think something very wrong if a baby fails to grow and mature physically, so it is equally wrong if a believer in Jesus Christ fails to grow and mature spiritually. A babies growth demands routine feeding, washing, clothing, possibly medication, human interaction, and exercise. These essentials enable growth and maturing, and they must be facilitated by parents or caregivers. These are the non-negotiable necessities of life.

Likewise, believers in Jesus Christ, from rebirth onwards, require routine feeding, washing, clothing, spiritual exhortation, fellowship, and exercise through service. There are no exceptions, and no valid excuses for stepping aside from or resisting these God given essentials. Similarly, there is no justification for preventing, withholding, or limiting these life-critical elements from other believers.

Peter’s exhortation to grow in our salvation has no expiry date (1Pe 2:2), because growth is the correct response for all who have tasted that the Lord is good (1Pe 2:3). In fact, Peter says our desire for spiritual growth should reflect the craving of a new baby for milk, and this milk is the living and abiding word of God (1Pe 1:23).

Proclaiming Christ was central to the apostle Paul’s teaching, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me (Colossians 1:28-29). Paul, like Peter, understood the necessity for Christ centered biblical teaching that would stimulate spiritual growth. Regardless of his struggles and the many setbacks he experienced from others, Paul persevered in this task with unparalleled tenacity.

For Paul, spiritual growth towards maturity (Christlikeness) was not optional, nor could it be exchanged for any worldly focus which would distract from it. However, the arch enemy of God, accompanied by our fleshly humanness, seek to interfere with God’s plan for spiritual growth towards maturity in Christ. Jesus included this in His parable of the seed in Luke 8:14. As for what (seed) fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.

More than ever, those who hear the gospel of Jesus Christ, who have the Word of God faithfully invested into them, are confronted by the world’s loud and persistent voices demanding to take the place of authority in their minds. Sadly, all too often, the world’s compelling messages convince the listener that the cares and riches and pleasures of life are to take priority over Christ.

God’s ingenious and protective design for His people is that they will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming (Ephesians 4:14). This is discovered within the local Church, where Christ provides teaching leaders to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Ephesians 4:12-13).

May the year 2022 be a year when distractions are pushed aside, and Christ and His Word alone take the place of authority. May we pursue Christlike growth for His glory and the sharing of His gospel.

In the flurry of what’s proven to be a topsy turvy year, it is all too easy to get caught up in whatever the world’s media is pumping and leave Christ out of His own celebration. While gift giving and decorated celebrations are good fun, at best they are superficial and short lived. More than ever, it’s easy to be distracted and give only momentary recognition of Jesus’ significance at Christmas time.

Looking at Matthew chapter 1, we learn from Joseph on the matter of Christmas focus and priority. It was only months before the first Christmas, and Joseph had only just discovered that his fiancé (Mary) was pregnant, but not to him. Having reasoned through the distasteful situation he found himself in, Joseph decided to break away from Mary through a discrete divorce from their betrothal (engagement) period. Joseph, no doubt feeling betrayed and emotionally bruised, thought he could walk away and make a fresh start elsewhere. But that was not God’s plan for either Joseph or Mary.

Unexpectedly, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. ²¹ She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:20-21).

What startling news! Nothing in his life had prepared Joseph for such a revelation. God the Holy Spirit was responsible for Mary’s pregnancy, which meant the child would be God’s child, and not Josephs’. What’s more, the child was to be a boy with a divinely predetermined name, Jesus. I imagine Joseph felt  quite overwhelmed when he awoke. However, the most gripping piece of information was not the immaculate conception, and it was not the fact of a soon to arrive pre-named son. No, it was that this baby boy would somehow save his people from their sins. How could Joseph comprehend such an out-of-this-world idea.

Jesus would become the Saviour of sinners, and those sinners would not want to be saved from their sin initially. The very people who were dead in their sin, detached from God, disinterested in God, and happily living in ignorant darkness of coming judgement, would somehow get rescued by Jesus. What was Joseph to think of this?

Well, as we know, God’s Word tells us that Jesus did precisely what the angel said He would. For all who received Jesus by faith, who believed in his name, he (Jesus) gave the right to become children of God (John 1:12). To these believers in Jesus, explains Paul, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴ by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross (Colossians 2:13-14). 1 Peter 2:24 adds that Jesus bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. Sin would no longer govern the lives of those who believed in Jesus.

God became a man; Jesus is His name. He stands alone as the only human child ever born of a virgin, truly the Son of God and the Son of man. This child came for the purpose of doing His Heavenly Father’s will on the Cross, delivering a death blow to the power of sin over mankind for all who would ever believe. This is the Jesus we celebrate at Christmas.

I’m signing off ‘The Pastor’s Pen’ for 2021, and I look forward to joining you again in 2022. May we all speak well of Christ and His gospel as we wait for our Lord’s return.

Buried deep in the centre of Christian faith is relentless and thankful worship of Yahweh. Oh give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever! (1 Chronicles 16:34). Authentic worship does not speak out because it has received all the things it wants, no, worship cannot contain itself because of who God is. Believers worship throughout the highs and lows of life because the nature of Yahweh is unchangeable, and He alone proves to be their one constant in the midst inescapable change. The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; ²³ they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ²⁴ The LORD is my portion, says my soul, therefore I will hope in him (Lamentations 3:22-24).


Jehovah’s persistent and loving mercy never stops doing His work regardless of whether we perceive it or not. Throughout any complaining or ingratitude that we may show towards the Lord, He faithfully continues to administer sufficient and refreshed mercy for the needs of each day; continually reminding us that “I the LORD do not change; therefore you… are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). The dreadful consequences of our sin are withheld daily because of His immutability. Despite our struggle to acknowledge the active presence of God in life’s difficulties, His loving kindness relentlessly perseveres with us and continues to meet our needs. Not one of salvation’s blessings are lost, our standing in Christ’s righteousness remains unaltered, and the certainty of eternal life is untouched.

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 (1 Peter 1:3-4). Every one of our difficulties presents fresh opportunities for us to speak well of Christ as He proves Peter’s words to be true. Belief in the gospel of God entered us into a divinely appointed relationship that moves our focus onto Christ more than on the world.

As the ugly realities of this sin cursed world become more oppressive, we respond by sharpening our focus on the clarity and sufficiency of Christ as seen in God’s Word. This world’s darkness serves to accentuate the light of Christ brilliantly. Man’s depravity serves to amplify the beauty of gospel truth. May we never forget the core truths which attracted us to Christ; faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1).

We have a rich legacy of faithful believers who have carried the truth of God down through the ages. They were put to death by stoning; they were sawed in two; they were killed by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated – ³⁸ the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, living in caves and in holes in the ground. ³⁹ These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised (Hebrews 11:37-39 NIV). May God enable us to keep a heavenly perspective of our lives in Christ. May we never lose sight of believers in other places who are suffering far greater than we. May we thank God and draw strength from their example as we carry them to God in prayer and look for ways to serve them. And may we see the steadfast love of the Lord in all circumstances pointing to and calling us to our heavenly home.