Terry Virgo - We MUST Get a Better and Bigger Vision!!

Read this on Terry Virgo's blog feed;

"Today God would say, ‘It is too small a thing for you to give yourself only to the restoration of the church in your small corner of the world. I call you to be a light to the nations, that you may bring my salvation to the ends of the earth. Don’t be so preoccupied with the 10% when the 90% outside need to hear my word'".

I love the balance that Terry brings - he by no means is saying the church is perfect and restoration has been "done".

"Doubtless many aspects of New Testament church life still need to be recovered, but don’t grow stagnant and inward-looking, forgetting God’s great plan to reach all the families of the earth. It’s too small a thing to concentrate exclusively on restoring your little patch when God wants to lift your head, show you the harvest field, and send you to dying sinners with his glorious message of salvation".

And the ultimate truth that must never be forgotten or at our peril:

"Jesus isn’t just head over the church, be it local or universal. He said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me’ (Matt. 28:18). He’s head over all things (Eph. 1:10). He’s ruling as king over every nation at this very minute".

What about us? Are we and our churches so proud of the sole missionary you have sent to Africa? Are we so proud that you give generously to a seminary that trains pastors in wealthy suburbia? If we are neglecting the homeless Big Issue seller you pass on your way to work or neglecting the shivering prostitute smoking on the street corner or neglecting the gay Mardi Gras marchers you tut at privately - then you are not believing that Jesus Christ is head over ALL and are certainly not fulfilling the commission we have been given.

Changing the World!!

I've spent the afternoon reading through some of my collections of past Restoration, New Wine and Renewal magazines. Everyone tends to focus on books in the Christian world - and indeed no one is more thankful for books than I. However we should not forget the importance of journals and magazines. In the academic world indeed - journals and magazines are seen as more current and up to date than books because of their more rapid production. I am toying with the best way to catalogue my magazines and journals so I can find key articles of interest. Maybe that's why journals and magazines are not quite as popular.

But I was particularly encouraged to read through the Newfrontiers Magazines. I love the vision and passion of these people! They ask the questions that few dare to ask. Guest author Dr Martin Robinson wrote an article called; "Movements to change the world" in the September/November 2004 edition and said;

"Can we imagine a world where Christians have creditable research, where we develop a grass roots network of activists to support particular campaigns and where we strategise winning campaigns to shape opinion and change legislation?".

This so "scratches where I itch" to use the words of a former hero of mine. Christianity has been blessed with so many great minds and hearts - Wayne Grudem, Don Carson, Sam Storms, John Piper, Terry Virgo - to name just a few. Why are we not impacting the world more than we are? Why aren't governments listening to us? Why isn't John Piper being invited to the White House to counsel Barak Obama on the issues facing the USA? Why isn't Terry Virgo being invited to pray for the Prime Minister and Cabinet here in London?

Then Martin Goldsmith makes it applicable to us;

"If you had stood at the end of the 18th century you would have been in despair. But in a single generation they turned it around. History is full of single generations that turned the tide".

And this is particularly what grabbed me;

"The future is determined not by apathetic majorities but by committed minorities".

Let me quote that again;

"The FUTURE is determined NOT by apathetic majorities but by COMMITTED minorities".

It occured to me why the devil does not need to make his demons known in the Western world. If we know that we are facing hordes of spiritual darkness that tends to motivate us to prayer. Depression and darkness can cause us to do nothing because of lack of hope - more than any other weapon in Satan's arsenal! The only way that we will determine the future is if we remain committed to our vision!

What do you believe in? And are you prepared to die for it?

The Glory of TRUTH!!

You know what Someone once said;

"You shall know the Truth and the Truth shall set you FREE".

I love the lyrics of this beautiful Hillsongs chorus;

"At the cross I bow my knee
Where Your blood was shed for me
There's no greater love than this
You have overcome the grave
Your Glory fills the highest place
What can separate me now?"

I've quoted it before - but I love the way that different lines can stand out at different times. Here's the whole song;

Lou Fellingham ....

I just wanted to share a couple of thoughts that came to me today. I was trying to encourage a dear friend who is struggling with depression and spiritual darkness and I was reminded of a point in "Pilgrims Progress" when Christian is walking through the Valley of the Shadow of Death and he sees Faithful ahead and says;

"Christian cried again, Stay, stay, till I come up to you. But Faithful answered, No, I am upon my life, and the avenger of blood is behind me".

I wondered why Faithful didn't stop. Was it because he was genuinely afraid after walking through one of the darkest valleys of their journey? It occured to me that many who are in deep spiritual darkness may feel the same - they may hear the cries of fellow Christians saying; "Wait - let me walk with you - let me share with you" and their response? "No - I've got to go - my life is on the line and the demons of hell are behind me". I reminded my friend that they are not alone - and there are others who are going through similar darkness. We are never alone.

While I was cooking in the kitchen I had some of Lou Fellingham's wonderful album on my iPod and this track; "Build This House" particularly struck me - and this line;

"So easy to desire what others have
Instead of seeing all the gifts that
You have given me
So help me fan the flame
which you began
And burn in me a love for you
that all will clearly see".

It so lovingly challenged me. When you are depressed it is so incredibly easy to think that life is hardest for ME and noone has it as hard. It is so incredibly easy to look at everyone else around you and resent their finances, their relationships or marriages and their gifts - instead of seeing "all the gifts that you have given me". So I just wanted to lay tribute at Lou Fellingham's door for reminding me to keep praying that God would fan into flame the love for Him that is there!

Here's the whole song;

Worthy is the Lamb!

I'm writing quite a hard post about suicide and the Christian at the moment - someone I know who loved Jesus Christ but wrestled with depression all their lives took their own life in the last few weeks. I've admitted a couple of times before that I've had suicidal thoughts at times at the depths of feeling depressed. And I'm staggered there is so little encouragement, guidance, or sermons dealing with this - yet many Christian greats dealt with depression including William Cowper (the hymn-writer who actually committed suicide himself) and C H Spurgeon.

But I've been amazed again at the power of Gospel-centered worship for lifting the soul. I felt so incredibly and utterly low yesterday after a hard weekend - and made a deliberate and concerted effort to soak in Spirit-filled worship (particularly Hillsongs and Newfrontiers) and have felt such a breaking of the clouds of darkness! I cannot urge anyone like me who struggles with feeling depressed and maybe even suicidal thoughts - to soak and find and hear and sing to worship songs that are focused and obsessed with the glorious gospel.

Here's my favourite at the moment - "Worthy is the Lamb" from Hillsongs;



"Now ALL I know is Your forgiveness and embrace!".

That is the Biblical fact of our current experience! Why is it that the main course of most Christian depression comes from doubt and fear that God is less than thrilled with them? Or worse is angry with them? The sad fact is that many church leaders actually proudly preach the wrath and anger of God at people who are covered by the blood of the only Son of God? It's a sobering thought that some churches have blood on their hands because they have allowed the lie to continue - rather than preaching the unadulterated gospel of grace.

"The Darling of Heaven crucified!".

I wonder if Jesus hung upon the Cross and saw each and every son and daughter that His blood would redeem flash before His eyes? I wonder if His already broken heart broke just a little bit more at the premature deaths of those redeemed beloved ones who just couldn't quite "get" His love and adoration for them? What a price! Surely that most precious price of all DEMANDS that we fight depression, suicide and any emotion that robs the true wonder of Calvary?

"Thou art worthy!".

Something occured to me yesterday. Most Christians believe and utter the Westminster Confession that the "chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever". Or of course as John Piper puts it; "Glorify God BY enjoying Him forever". I wonder what happens if Christians do not enjoy God and therefore are not glorifying Him? I wonder what happens if Christians cannot remember the last time they enjoyed God? Does that suggest that actually the reason for living - the chief end of man - has gone and really why continue living?

This is why worship is so key to me and so essential in the battle to win against depression and suicidal thoughts and feelings. Worship lifts our spirits and focuses our attention off ourselves and our struggles and onto God and His love and passion and beauty and Being. Let's never, ever allow ourselves to stop worshipping!

A Defence of the Gospel of Grace - Rob Rufus - Part 1

This is Part 1 of what is possibly called "the most important sermon Rob Rufus has ever preached". It is essentially a response to 5 accusations made against him by other church leaders. Here is Part 1 where he introduces the subject;

"A Defence of the Gospel of Grace. (Rob Rufus' response to 5 accusations made against him)"

Sunday 9th May 2010 – City Church International.

"We are going to do a defence of the gospel of grace today and I will tell you why this gospel is worth defending. It is because the demonic is against grace. The devil is a controller. He is a bully and he does not want you to expand and grow in life. He wants to diminish you and dwarf you and contain you. But grace liberates, grace expands, grace gives energy, it edifies, it equips and takes us to new levels of life. The second reason why I am giving this message is that the disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 24; “Lord what will the sign be of Your coming again at the end of the age?”. He talks about earthquakes and famines and wars and we have seen that right now. But then He says in verse 14 – this will be the final and ultimate sign; “This gospel of the Kingdom shall be preached as a sign to all nations and then the end will come”. So the ultimate and final sign of Jesus coming again is not a temple being built on the Dome of the Rock. It is not Israel back in the Land. It is the Gospel of the Kingdom being preached to all nations (all ethnos) as a sign.

That could never have been fulfilled 500 years ago. There was hardly any remnant of the Gospel left on the planet 500 years ago because of the Dark Ages. The vast majority of the church then preached that you have to earn your salvation by keeping the law and most people couldn’t keep it good enough so virtually everyone had to go to Purgatory for maybe thousands of years and suffer flames and torment. If families paid money (indulgences) they could buy you out of Purgatory quicker and the church got rich on all of these lies.

I am not going to be critical today – I am just going to tell the truth.
I am not going to be critical – but I am not going to be a politician. I am going to be a prophet.

The church was controlled mainly by demons and took money from single women, single mothers to buy people out of Purgatory. They would light bonfires while they preached on Purgatory and say; “Look – your parents, your grandparents are in those flames”. They would take money from poor people for the church’s coffers! That is evil but it is called religion.

Martin Luther stood up over 400 years ago with a revelation that the just shall live by faith – justification by faith – and the Reformation began with Martin Luther. They tried to burn him – they tried to silence him. The devil opposed grace. Over the last 400 years the message of grace has been recovered and is being recovered. But it has not yet been fully recovered! The gospel of grace that Paul preached is NOT being preached in the majority of churches. That is a fact – it is not critical. It is just a fact.

They still mix law and grace together. So the attacks of the evil one against the message of grace is against the message, the messenger and the church that preaches the message. It is called “Slander”.

Let me ask you this question – did Paul the apostle go around the known world of that time ENCOURAGING people to sin? Did he go around the world encouraging people to do evil? No! Let me ask you another question – was he seriously and slanderously accused of preaching that message? Yes! But was he? No! But how could he be slandered for something that he wasn’t doing? It is called religious, political propaganda stirred up by demons. When you accuse someone of doing something they are not doing and you know it – that is religious, political propaganda. What did Paul do about it? Did he say; “Oh it doesn’t matter – I am so secure”. No. Let’s go to Romans chapter 3 and verse 8;

“Why not say--as we are being slanderously reported as saying and as some claim that we say--"Let us do evil that good may result"? Their condemnation is deserved”.

Now Rob – he is an apostle of grace. How can this be? If you slandered the gospel of grace that he preached he would bring condemnation down on your head. In Galatians 1 he says; “If you mix any law of Moses with the grace of God – you are not preaching the gospel at all” and he says; “May you be doubly cursed!”. So if everyone in the church world that loves the gospel and loves Jesus would stand up with the same heart of Paul and get rid of all politics and being sweet pastor-diplomats trying to cater to their religious constituents and stop seeking popularity with man but live to please God and condemn ANYTHING that adds ANY law to the message of grace then they will slander the message of grace with blatant lies!
How many want to hear what the five accusations are?

This is the most important message I have ever preached for thousands out there and for us.

Some of you may be sitting there and thinking; “What is the issue? I don’t know of any persecution or accusation!”. Praise God! Keep living that way! But witchcraft comes against you – whether you hear words from men – you are part of this church! Before I talk to you about the accusations I want to talk to you about how political spin works. People in the business world or the medical world or the real world out there – we are all very cynical of politicians putting political spin and we are getting to see through it.

But when it comes to religion – church goers are easily conned by religious political spin! That means you take something and put a spin on it. You take something that may be true and put a spin on it so it is now something other than was originally intended. If you look at the attacks and accusations against Stephen and Paul the apostle – when you hear what is said against them you think; “Yes but Stephen and Paul are saying that”. The accusers may say; “Stephen and Paul are speaking against the temple and the law of Moses”. You think; “Well yes they are”. But it is the twist and the spin they put on it that makes it look like what they are saying is sinister and evil and is raising rebellion against leaders and is encouraging licentious loose living and that is not what Paul and others are doing. I want you to understand that the reactions of some people are not because we are a cult but it is because we are not a cult and we are not weird and we are preaching the gospel – whereas so much out there is not the gospel and when the subnormal has been around too long then when the normal appears – they call it “abnormal”! I have lost friends for this gospel! Paul said I have lost “everything” for this gospel.

If you have lost nothing for this gospel – then you haven’t seen this gospel. Once you see this gospel it is like you are captured forever – you don’t have an option! You want to run away and you want to submit to demons and balance it with a bit of law but you can’t! It is actually impossible because once you are gripped by this gospel – you can’t change!

Martin Luther stood and wrote over all the indulgences on the wall (which was their Facebook of the day) and wrote; “All this is lies – the just shall live by faith” and he put the Word of God on there and they came to kill him. Because they could do it in those days. And trust me – if they could do it in these days then your pastor would be dead in no time at all! They came and grabbed Luther and commanded him to reject what he had just said. What he actually said was that the just shall live by faith and a gospel from God is revealed – a righteousness apart from the law and is by faith from first to last. They said; “Stop that or we will kill you!”. So he said; “Will you give me 24 hours to reconsider?”. He came back 24 hours later and stood before the religious hierarchy of the day and he said; “If you can show me from the Scriptures that I am wrong then I will recant – but if you cannot then this is where I stand and all else is sinking sand”.

What gave that man the courage? He was alone but we have thousands of grace people rising up around the world with us. He was alone! He didn’t recant. Someone wrote to me recently and said; “Rob I want to thank you so much for not recanting”.

Let’s look at how they put the spin on Stephen. Acts 6:8;

“8Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. 9Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, 10but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke.

11Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, "We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God."

12So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. 13They produced false witnesses, who testified, "This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. 14For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.
"
15All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.

Within a short few hours of that they had stoned Stephen because he did not bow to their pressure. Look at Acts 13. Paul as a believer in Christ goes to a Jewish synagogue and when they see he is there, they ask him to speak. Big mistake! You don’t ask Paul the apostle to speak who knows the Bible better than anyone on the planet and has encountered Christ and knows the Old and New Covenant and is an expert! He gets up and gives a great discourse on the Jewish nation and begins to tell them about Jesus and says Jesus has freed us from everything that the Law could never free us from. In a Jewish synagogue!

So verse 38 of Acts 13;

38"Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. 39Through him everyone who believes is justified from everything you could not be justified from by the law of Moses. 40Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you:

41" 'Look, you scoffers,
wonder and perish,
for I am going to do something in your days
that you would never believe,
even if someone told you.'[f]"

42As Paul and Barnabas were leaving the synagogue, the people invited them to speak further about these things on the next Sabbath. 43When the congregation was dismissed, many of the Jews and devout converts to Judaism followed Paul and Barnabas, who talked with them and urged them to continue in the grace of God”.

44On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.
Believe me friends – when the gospel is preached, people gather. If Hong Kong heard then we would not be able to find a stadium big enough to hold people and I tell you – that is the truth. Verse 45;

“45When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy”.
It wasn’t a theological motive of truth that moved them. It was jealousy!
“46Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly”.
They didn’t get political and speak carefully.
“ 46Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: "We had to speak the word of God to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles. 47For this is what the Lord has commanded us:
" 'I have made you[g] a light for the Gentiles,
that you[h] may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.'[i]"
48When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honoured the word of the Lord; and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.
49The word of the Lord spread through the whole region. 50But the Jews incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region. 51So they shook the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium. 52And the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

So they kicked them out too late! The city was full of people, full of the Holy Spirit and full of joy as the Word of God spread.

Now what jumped out at you there? Who threw them out the city? The Satan worshippers? The God haters? The atheists? No – the “God-fearing” women and the leaders of the city threw the messengers of grace.

They are not God-fearing in New Covenant terms. They are God-fearing by the old religious legalism and trying to prove how zealous you are for God. That’s what it is. In Durban South Africa – we are not opposed by Satan worshippers or atheists but by devout women and leaders of the city. Thank God they are few and are a minority and most are loving what we are about but those minority are making the biggest sound and trying to create the biggest fear and trying to control the situation. But it is too late – the Word of God has got in there and it is spreading further and further!

Go to the next Scripture which is Acts 21. This was the apostle’s last visit to Jerusalem. I shared a platform with Michael Eaton once and he said; “By this stage the gospel had been totally lost from Jerusalem – and in the coming years there were almost no believers in the gospel left. The believers and Christians were Gentiles because the Jews went completely back under the law”. When Paul comes to Jerusalem some of the brothers receive him warmly but James and the other elders are embarrassed by Paul being there. I will tell you why – the gospel of grace is always surrounded by controversy. Wherever this gospel is preached, there are signs and wonders, people get set free, people get saved but there is always controversy that surrounds the gospel of grace.

Now I want to say this to you – because this is important.

The Holy Spirit is not stirring up the controversy that surrounds the gospel of grace – rather it is demons.

In 2nd Corinthians 12 – Paul the apostle’s testimony is because of the exceeding revelation of grace, a messenger of Satan was sent to buffet him. It is not sickness friends – he says; “For everywhere I go, I have to endure insults, hardships and difficulties and persecutions because a demonic angel was assigned to continually buffet him and insult him and stir up wherever he went! Wherever he went people would run to the next village and stir up controversy – that is being stirred up by religious demons, Jezebel demons. If you don’t want the controversy to surround you – the same controversy that surrounded Jesus all the time and meant He was continually clashing with the orthodox believers. I am so tired of people coming out of a sweet little denomination and thinking that all controversy must be wrong and say; “Well if you love Jesus and follow Him then there shouldn’t be any controversy”. Well in that case Jesus can’t have been “Anglican” enough! Because everywhere He went – they hated Him!

So when you judge someone that has controversy surrounding them – don’t judge them because of the controversy but check their heart, check the fruit of their lives and their history and their doctrine. Don’t reject them because of controversy – otherwise you will have to reject Jesus! And you will have to reject Paul the apostle and Martin Luther and embrace heresy!

If you don’t want controversy to surround you because of this message and want to balance this message with a bit of law to make it palatable to religious types, then in order to do that then (whether you know it or not) you will have to submit to demons.

It is demons that are surrounding this message with controversy to frighten people off this message. Because we have naïve Christians around the world that think if you really love God then everyone should love you and your message shouldn’t cause division. The message of grace doesn’t cause division – demons and the flesh of man cause division. So they were embarrassed.

If you are a religious political pastor then you will see your church as your political constituency. And you think that if you have any controversy surrounding you then it could upset members of your congregation and then the big tithers could leave and then you have financial problems. So you want to keep everyone happy therefore you balance the message of grace so that your constitutional members keep happy with you. I promise you friend – whoever does that have submitted to demons of fear and to religious spirits of paranoia and control and then you bring it over your people.

I know preachers who are not like me and exhort and challenge. When they get in their pulpits they smile and be nice. But I don’t – I get veins in my neck and challenge; “Come on – live for eternity!”. They never do that! They always smile and look nice. But those same leaders have looked me in the face for an hour or more and have shouted at me and rebuked me and brushed me off.

I wish I had a secret camera inside filming their faces because the grace of God is exposing the demonic fear that is controlling them.

I could show it to their congregations on a Sunday morning and it could pop up and then they will see! I have got friends who are embarrassed about me because of the controversy. My Father in heaven loves me and is not embarrassed by me and is urging me to go more. But some friends are embarrassed by me and don’t want to see me. The church I planted in South Africa and Coastlands in Australia – the leaders are embarrassed by me and don’t want to be seen with me. There is too much controversy so they don’t phone me or answer my phone calls. They don’t respond to anything – they just cut me off. But they never talk to me with open Bibles or discuss what we are teaching. So people have to understand – am I here trying to win popularity votes to get on platforms of institutions and grow my church so it looks good? Or are we going to please God and not water this message down even though there is controversy that surrounds it?

The brothers were the ones who received him but it was the leaders who were under the demonic spirit of fear. Acts 21:17;

“17 And when we had come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. 18 On the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 19 When he had greeted them, he told in detail those things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord. And they said to him, “You see, brother, how many myriads of Jews there are who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law”.

That lets you know straight away that James and they are not preaching the gospel anymore. Because Galatians 3 says there is neither Jew nor Gentile under the law if they come to Christ and;

Romans 10:4 says Christ is the end of the law to all who believe. In chapter 9 he very clearly says that the reason why the Jewish people did not gain righteousness because they sort after righteousness that is through the law.

There is no righteousness through the law and there is no righteousness after the law.

Yesterday I was listening to Terry Virgo and he says we are saved by grace and then he said there are many people that teach that we are sanctified by the law. He said that is a lot of nonsense! He said we don’t have anything to do with the law – we are dead to the law – Christ is the end of the law and sanctification is by grace by the Spirit of God!

So they are preaching a false gospel in Jerusalem and they are embarrassed by Paul’s true gospel.

Please don’t think that just because someone is an apostle they always preach a true gospel. Paul had to rebuke Peter the apostle to his face because he deviated from the true gospel.

They are all zealous for the law – these converts. Acts 21:21;

“21They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses”

Who informed him – he was hundreds of miles away!? This rumour spreads very fast! They have been told about you that you teach all the Jews among the Gentiles telling them not to circumcise their children! These four men pressurised Paul to go through Old Covenant, purification rites when he knew that the blood of Jesus had cleansed him completely. If you submit to people under the law through fear – then let me tell you;

The issue is not about law and grace. The issue is about who controls the church. If you mix law and grace together then leaders or man controls the church. If you take the law completely off (as you should do) then the Holy Spirit controls the church.

That doesn’t mean to say you don’t have leaders – but they are empowering leaders, who empower a royal priesthood. Not controlling.

They are not managers – they are the liberators of God’s people.

So Paul unwisely submits to these purification ceremonies and we are told in verse 27;

“27When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28shouting, "Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place." 29(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)

The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 31While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul.

33The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks”.
Here are unsaved Roman soldiers saving Paul from Jewish converts. Secular people saving Christians from the Christians!

“35When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36The crowd that followed kept shouting, "Away with him!"
Friends let us stop being naïve and stupid about this. The violence, the attempts to kill – it all stems from law and legalism. If people mix ANY law and legalism in, they are making room for fear and control.

They are so frightened of this message – they are frightened of losing control!

I have had people shouting in my face the most rude and horrible things and with tears running down my face - I am not feeling sorry for myself but I am bleeding inside because I am thinking how wretched this law/grace mix is and what it does because it makes an intelligent person so broken and angry. That is that spirit friends! Be under no illusion that it operates like that!
And you give into their bullying tactics and you will find that first you fit in – you will be paid for and you are in the club. You will get big black boards. But if you dare preach the gospel that Paul preached you will first be asked sweetly to be more accountable and then finally you will see the brutally cruel face of religious demons.

We are not fighting against religious men and women here. We are not fighting against names. I am just telling you that behind those names I have seen something manifesting. All my Christian life I have never wanted to be a trouble causer. I have compromised my conscience and tried to fit in with the movement I was in. I just thought I was wrong and they were right and I honoured and submitted and honoured and submitted. But finally it went too far and I had to say that I could not submit any longer – I had revelation – and when you say that you will see what the reaction is.

There is a lot I could say that may look like I am indulging myself and defending myself. I would love to and there is a lot I could say. I am not even meant to have all this information but it does get to me somehow. I want to give you an example as to how a bit of spin works. One month after our conference in Pinetown – our “Increased Glory” conference, there was another conference a few kilometres up the road with a whole lot of people. And a good friend of mine was one of the speakers there. And during one message he said;

“The reason why Rob said many unhelpful things while he was in South Africa is because he has a predisposition to legalism that was evidenced in his pre-conversion days when he joined the Hare Krishna movement”.

Now the Hare Krishna movement is a strict law-based religion demanding celibacy even though you are married, vegetarianism, sleeping 4 hours a night, out on the streets every day trying to make converts to Krishna consciousness. I was a zealot – a legalistic follower of religion.

And then he got a good laugh out of everyone at my expense and then he said that he could never say those unhelpful things that I said because he doesn’t have those legalistic tendencies and didn’t have that background and he said he wants to help Rob and see Rob and “sort him out”. Well the next time I saw him, he didn’t sort me out and we didn’t even open Bibles. Everyone is saying that they are talking to me with open Bibles but they are not. That statement he made begs the question; “If I had legalistic tendencies before I became a Christian then what are we going to say about the legalist of all legalists? Paul the apostle in his pre-conversion days, he says in Philippians 3; “According to legalistic righteousness I was faultless”. Paul was totally gripped by them all – then because he was so gripped by legalistic tendencies that we can’t trust the New Testament because he must be saying lots of unhelpful things!

I want to tell you who are the champions of grace today – not people who have benign Baptist or Presbyterian religion. They are not the champions of grace today because they have diluted law and diluted grace. So they never saw the bankruptcy of the law because the laws they were given were so low that you could kind of keep them and feel self-righteous. But when you are Paul the apostle and have lived with the strictest code of the law – moral and ceremonial – when you have lived under that for years and done it with all your might then you realise that it is absolutely bankrupt and cannot help a human being – it absolutely destroys you!

Paul says; “When I was under law – I was a blasphemer and a violent man”. He writes that to Timothy. As a man he consented to Stephen’s stoning and his death. In Acts we find him given permission from the high priest to go to Damascus and grab the Christians – the people of grace – and put them in jail. And it says he was “breathing out threats”. Now you are hearing of a very zealous, angry, violent, legalistic man – and he bumped into Jesus! And listen to what Jesus said to him – bearing in mind he was going to persecute the people of grace. “Saul, Saul why do you persecute Me?”.

To attack the message of grace is to persecute Jesus.

People sit there in a conference and hear that and think; “Oh yes, yes, Rob does have a predisposed problem”. But Paul was a legalist before. I phoned my friend actually and he said he was actually defending me. I said; “Praise God – thank God you were defending me” but a whole lot of my friends who were sitting in the meeting said that they nearly pulled their hair out with anger – they could not believe what he said. So I said;

“I love you man – you are one of my closest friends but you weren’t defending me. You empowered people into a deception of opposing the grace message”. And I said; “You haven’t sorted me out – not one of you guys have come with open Bibles and showed me and showed me where you think I am wrong”. Why? Because they know they cannot stand against the Spirit and the revelation that is in me. No one! Not one has done it!

To be continued ...

You Tore the Veil!!

I still haven't found a better way for piercing through the clouds of depression than worship songs that are truly anointed. It really does seem to work again and again - keep hearing and seeing people caught in worship and the words of truth just never fail to lift my spirit.

Here's one of my most recent favourite songs - led by the wonderful Darlene Zschech and the Hillsongs crowds. "At the Cross" - just encapsulates the most wonderous truths of the Gospel. And it reminds me again how stupid people are who don't allow women to lead worship - God has truly gifted them to be sensitive to the movings of His Spirit.

Here's the video:



My favourite line of the song is; "You tore the veil - You made a way - when You said that it is done!". It just sums up the complete triumph and victory of the Gospel. Most Christian depression springs from a belief and an experience that God is silent - heaven is silent and that something is wrong. If the Gospel is to be believed then heaven is NEVER silent! God is never silent again!

Rob Rufus has just begun an exciting new series at his home church in Hong Kong called; "Being Part of a Generation that Will Restore Revelation of God in the Church". I listened to the first sermon yesterday and it is ALL about the vitality of the Presence of God. I was tremendously struck by the non-negotiable fact of the Presence of God to Rob. He said he would rather die than go through life without ever experiencing God. And that's true! I'm scared to admit it - because I so rarely seem to conciously experience God's manifest Presence - but it is true - are we married to the Bridegroom or not? What marriage would even survive without intimacy?

Terry Virgo prophesied at Stoneleigh Bible Week 2000;

"I don't call you on to cold morality. I call you to please Me, to think of Me when temptation knocks at the door and other eyes are looking. I don't want you to think of the code; I want you to think of Me. I want you to think of My love and My smile. I want you to look forward to seeing My face, not in fear of blurring your vision that you should come with any sense of shame - when I am lookign forward to meeting with you! You are married! You are spoken for!

Discover the secrets of My love. Come with Me into every increasing wonder, come into My courts, come receive My love, come and be enthralled in My Presence; come find Your heart bursting for joy. Let Me share with you what only I can share! I want you pre-occupied, I want you fascinated and I want you enthralled. "You are married" says the Lord. "Live the married life, fellowship with Me and enjoy My love" says the Lord.

The Best Wine is STILL to Come!!

I'm having a pretty rough time at the moment still believing in the church. I had a few rough emails today that I won't go into right now. But once again I found myself wondering why it seems to me that the world accept and welcome and appreciate and value - but the church seems to disprove, doubt and discourage whereever possible. So how do we react to a feeling like that? I suppose I could wallow in my frustration and disappointment but how would that value the waiting nations who need to hear the gospel?

My take tonight is to remind myself of the glorious church - to re-state the vision! It's something I've done now and again on this blog. And I am so, so grateful to God for heroes of the faith who state it far better than I and who see it far clearer than I. Tonight - C H Spurgeon is my companion, my encouragement, my guide.

1. Preaching a sermon called; "The Feast of the Lord" at New Park Street on November 28th 1858, Spurgeon said;

"There is better wine to come. We are in our privileges superior to patriarchs, and kings, and prophets. God has given us a brighter and a clearer day than they had; theirs was but the twilight of the morning, compared with the noon-day which we enjoy. But think not that we are come to the best wine yet. There are more noble banquets for God's church; and who knoweth how long, ere the best of the precious wine shall be broached? Know ye not that the King of Heaven is coming again upon this earth?".

"Again, he will not give us the best wine first, because that is not his good pleasure ... Again; your Father doth not give you the good wine now, because he is giving you an appetite for it ... Again, the Lord hath this also in view. He is making you fit for the best wine, that he may be glorified by the trial of your faith".

I love Spurgeon's closing remark;

"I have never seen heaven anywhere but close to Calvary. When I have seen my Saviour crucified, then I have seen him glorified; when I have read my name written in his blood, then I have seen afterwards my mansion which he has prepared for me. When I have seen my sins washed away, then I have seen the white robe that I am to wear for ever. Live near to the Saviour, man, and you shall not be very far off heaven. Recollect, after all, it is not far to heaven. It is only one gentle sigh, and we are there. We talk of it as a land very far off, but close it is, and who knows but that the spirits of the just are here to-night? Heaven is close to us; we cannot tell where it is, but this we know, that it is not a far off land. It is so near, that, swifter than thought, we shall be there, emancipated from our care and woe, and blessed for ever".

2. An aspect of the glorious church is vitally and essentially a MILITANT church - preaching a sermon called; "The Vanguard and Rereward of the Church" on December 28th 1858, Spurgeon said;

"Yet nevertheless, the church on earth has, and until the second advent must be, the church militant, the church armed, the church warring, the church conquering".

The reason for our triumphant confidence? Spurgeon says;

"Christ has gone before us, he has done something in that going before, for he has conquered every foe that lies in his way. Cheer up now thou faint-hearted warrior. Not only has Christ travelled the road, but he has slain thine enemies. Dost thou dread sin? he has nailed it to his cross. Dost thou dread death? he has been the death of Death. Art thou afraid of hell? he has barred it against the advent of any of his children; they shall never see the gulf of perdition. Whatever foes may be before the Christian, they are all overcome".

How can we NOT be confident?! Christ has gone before us! The sin that some religious Pharisees may seek to accuse us of has already been gloriously nailed to the Cross!

3. Spurgeon continues the militant glorious theme in his sermon; "Storming the Battlements" preached on September 16th 1855;

But he brings a note of warning first;

"God's church is very fond of building walls which her God has not sanctioned. She is not content to trust in the arm of God, but she will add thereto some extraneous help which God utterly abhors. "Beautiful for situation—the joy of the whole earth—is Mount Zion, upon the sides of the north, the city of the great king. As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, even so is God round about his people, from henceforth, for evermore." But his people are not content with God's being round about them, they seek some other protection".

That leaves me feeling encouraged and driven. This is something worth fighting for. The demonic counterfeit - that which pretends to be "grace" but is in fact legalism designed to control and manipulate is worth resisting and is worth fighting. Because the reality is glorious! The reality is wonderful! The reality will sweep the nations and will see thousands come to faith and trust in the Wonderful Saviour who gave His life in love to see many sons come to glory!

I SOO Miss Stoneleigh Bible Week!!

I know all the reasons why Terry Virgo and the team closed down Stoneleigh Bible Week. Missions ... the nations ... etc etc. But I was listening to some of the classic Stoneleigh worship on my iPod at the gym and just had a complete longing to be back "there". It was a painful, aching longing to be among thousands of charismatic Christians worshipping God with all their might.

For those who don't know and who aren't familiar with Stoneleigh Bible Week (near Coventry) - it was run by Terry Virgo and Newfrontiers from 1992 to 2001. It was preceeded by the Downs Bible Week run at Plumpton Racecourse in Sussex. Stoneleigh Bible Week far grew and overshadowed it's predecessor - mainly thanks to the extraordinary outpouring of the Holy Spirit in 1994-96 and by it's closure in 2001 gathered upto almost 21,000 people from across the world.

Sadly - I only attended the 2000 and 2001 Bible Week - but I can honestly say that I will never forget the two years I went. What made Stoneleigh Bible Week so extra-special to me?

The Preaching:

I love, love, love Spirit-filled and inspired preaching. I have an ever-expanding list of heroes who I love to sit under their ministry and Terry Virgo comes very near the top of that list along with Dave Holden. The most memorable sermons to me during the two Stoneleigh weeks I attended I think were:

1. Dave Holden speaking on; "The Past, the Present and the Future" - Stoneleigh 2000
2. Terry Virgo speaking on the vitality of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit - Stoneleigh 2000
3. Dave Holden speaking on running a race - Stoneleigh 2001.
4. Terry Virgo speaking on "You have been round this mountain long enough" - Stoneleigh 2001.
5. Terry Virgo speaking (and re-preaching Ern Baxter) on "You are Meant to Fly" - Stoneleigh 2001.

Here's a clip of Terry from Stoneleigh 2001:



The Prophecies:

Stoneleigh was especially significant for me - because I always believed in the gift of prophecy despite my home church in Dunstable telling me it had ceased and was no longer available. Stoneleigh was the first time that I actually heard the genuine gift of prophecy in action. I still remember it to this day (even though it is now 10 years ago).

Terry Virgo came up to the microphone on the 1st night of the Bible Week and I knew something special was about to happen because he took his glasses off. And he prophesied this;

"As you come on hands and knees, ground that you would have thought was outside of your sphere that you were disqualified to get near, "I've cleared the ground for you" says the Lord. "I've cleared it so you can dance now. You can dance on holy ground - I've cleared the ground for you" ... "You are free to dance because of my eternal grace towards you, my kindness and my celebration over you. I celebrate in my finished work. I celebrate in embracing my sons and daughters running home".

My first prophecy - my first exposure to the grace of God.

The Worship:

Ah the worship. No it wasn't the fact that it was Kate Simmonds or Lou Fellingham leading that made it special - although that helped. I think it was the fact that there were thousands of like-minded Christians all gathered there with one sole aim - to worship and exalt God. Just playing the music and worship on my iPod reminds me of how effortless it was and what a touch of heaven it was to stand and lift hands and be swept away in reflecting on the glory and wonder of God.

For me, one of the all-time classics has to be "Before the Throne of God Above":



As I say, I know why Terry and the team shut down Stoneleigh Bible Week - but I just had to state my aching longing for massive, corporate worship. Good times.

Condemned!! Or Not Guilty?

I try to be cautious these days writing a blog that may come across as attacking the views or expression of someone in particular. It's no secret that I've written angrily against SGM in particular in the past and particularly the church in Bristol - and I'm trying to address that in my own private way and make peace there. So believe me - I'm trying to learn and trying to grow! I'm even more cautious when writing against someone whom I am privilidged to count as a friend. That being said, I am so blessed to have the kind of friendship with Janelle that we do indeed disagree on many points of theology and Christian life - but know there is far more we do agree about. I've learnt a lot about SGM's way of life from Janelle and indeed she alongside Pete Greasley have probably been the most influential in softening my feelings!

So that context in place - a conversation has been happening on a post a few back entitled; "Curing the Gays" and this was prompted by the media interest in Philippa Stroud and her election campaign (incidentally I was interested to know that Mrs Stroud is now special advisor to Ian Duncan-Smith, the former Conservative leader) - to the dismay of some and the delight of others.

It was a conversation I was particularly taking seriously because a new Twitter friend of mine - a guy called Tom - has taken part and I was interested in his views and wanted to learn from his point of view. For heaven's sake - Christians are notorious among non-Christians for being obstinate and utterly inflexible. I don't want to propigate that (mostly) truth. If I am going to have any credibility with the people I want to share the good news with - then I want to know what's going on in their mind and their thoughts and learn why the good news of the gospel will be of use to them. So often the Christian world dumps the gospel out as it thinks the non-Christian world needs it - and can't understand why it's message is received as utterly irrelevant.

Janelle was involved in the conversation - but it was a comment she made that caught my attention and has had me thinking all day. She said;

"Tom, since the Bible condemns homosexuality as a sin, so Christians must do the same".

There is some other context in the comment - considering how homosexuality is a worse sin in her view than gluttony - so I do recommend a read.

The Bible condemns homosexuality as a sin. So Christians must do the same.

Let's consider that carefully - because if it's true there are some implications for me personally. It explains to me maybe why I received the treatment I did at the SGM church in Bristol. If Janelle is right then the two church leaders were simply following the Biblical mandate to "condemn homosexuality as a sin". I had confessed to them that I had same-sex feelings so therefore condemnation from the church was rightfully deserved. And actually I am the one in sin for being angry and upset with what happened. She may be right.

Alternatively Janelle may be wrong and actually what right do Christians (sinners saved by grace alone) have to condemn ANYTHING?! Well clearly I have a vested interest in finding out. It may decide whether I ever enter a church again or not.

The Word: "Condemn(ation)".

1. Defined.

1. to pass an adverse judgment on; disapprove of strongly; censure

2a. to pass judicial sentence on; inflict a penalty upon
2b. to doom

3. to declare unfit for use or service

I find 2c; "To doom" particularly striking. I should note some of the definitions actually rather accurately describe some of the attitudes portrayed by the religious church. Does that make it right however? There's only one way to find out;

2. Useage in the Word of God.

Unsurprisingly the majority of the references to the word; "Condemn" are in the Old Testament. However there are some surprising references that foreshadow the coming of the glorious New Covenant and the gospel that must be mentioned;

Psalm 34:22: "The Lord redeems the soul of His servants - and none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned".

I find that tremendous comfort knowing the struggling depths of my heart. I have felt so utterly condemned time after time by Christians who seem on the face of it never to put a foot wrong and are in fact shining lights in their churches - held up as model citizens and examples. I have frequently (and still do) asked God why on earth He ever called me. This verse says that those who genuinely take refuge in Him will NEVER be condemned. That's a promise.

Here's another interesting "Old Testament anomoly";

Isaiah 50:9; "Behold the Lord God helps me - who is he who condemns me? Behold they will all wear out like a garment. The moth will eat them".

I don't quite understand that promise from the Word of God - but I would not like to be in the position of someone who condemns those that the Lord God is helping. I don't know what the promise means - but I do not want to wear out like a garment or have a moth eat me. So far - I'm not fancying condemning those who the Lord God is helping.

Another;

Isaiah 54:17: "And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn - This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their vindication is from Me," declares the Lord".

This seems to suggest to me that in fact in His divine providence - the Lord actually reverses the tables on those religious who would condemn. "Every tongue that accuses you in judgement" - again the clear indication from the Word of God to me is that the Lord takes severe issue with those who attempt to do what only He should do.

There are of course other references in the Old Testament to condemnation - but not as many as I was expecting under an Old Covenant. Then we move into the New Covenant and the wonderful time of Jesus;

John 8:10-11: "Straightening up, Jesus said to her, "Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "I do not condemn you, either - Go From now on sin no more."

It's interesting that Jesus Christ asked the prostitute; "Did no one condemn you?". The Son of God knew that the religious community are somehow more than capable of condemning. But the key is in the answer. I do not condemn you either - on the basis of that declaration of freedom (and frankly who is going to disagree with the Son of God?) go in freedom and joy and live a life full of victory and peace and sin no more.

There are others but for now Romans 2:1 to close;

"Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things".

I would be extremely nervous of indulging in the discussion of "which is the greater sin - gluttony or homosexuality" that Janelle touched on. The Word of God is clear; "There is no impartiality with God". Sin is sin. And for that sin - there is a glorious solution. The Son of God went willingly to the Cross of Calvary and died for the sins of ALL Mankind. It is finished - meant it is finished. Every sin that offends and grieves God from time past to time present to the end of time was more than covered by the precious blood of the Son of God. Therefore;

Romans 8:1: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus".

2 Corinthians 5:19: "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation".

Our one and only message (as Julie said in her response comment) is the message of reconciliation. Terry Virgo said of condemnation;

"Condemnation is a WORK OF DARKNESS! It doesn't work! It has no power to change!".


Again - I would not relish indulging in activity that is entitled a "work of darkness with no power to change". Rather I choose to continue reaching out to the multitude of those who have not heard the full glory of the gospel - and far from condemn - make a full honest confession of my struggles and my journey. I am not going to pretend to be a "perfect, devout" Christian. I'd rather share with them my struggles, my journey - and how "this Jesus" has met me and loved me despite all I am and all I would be. THAT'S the miracle of the gospel!


Janelle - in all love and respect for you as a sister in Christ - condemn homosexuality if you feel you must and you should. Maybe you are confident of your sanctification to feel you can do that. But I remember again C J Mahaney's sermon; "Extravagant Devotion". And this quote in particular;


"He who has been forgiven much - loves much".


I used to wish that I really was a "perfect" Christian - whose worse sin was a bit of envy or a bit of pride. Or maybe a small bit of lust (because we're all men). But certainly not anything "bigger". Now actually I am beginning to appreciate what C J Mahaney was getting at. When you have experienced the depths of sin and struggle - you don't find much room in your heart for pride and arrogance. Me? I say again -

"The Cross does not have to be centred around me and be sustained by reflecting on my own personal failure! ... To insist on still calling myself a sinner could not add value to the Cross for me. Indeed, to call myself essentially a sinner actually dishonours the wonder of the gospel".

Speak Tenderly to My Bride ...

"Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path"

- Galatians 6:1 - New Living Translation.

"Speak tenderly to Jerusalem. Tell her that her sad days are gone and her sins are pardoned".

- Isaiah 40:2 - New Living Translation.

I have a suspicion that there is a quantity of nameless and faceless Christians hiding among the church ranks bearing varying amounts of guilt and shame because they are doing things that the church ranks as unacceptable behaviour. Most religious churches will call it "sin" - and will even unconciously rank various sins as "worse".

Whatever our views on grace and righteousness - whether we believe that Jesus Christ took ALL sin at Calvary and dealt with it or whether we believe in indwelling sin and an life-long mortification of sin battle - the fact is that these people are in churches hoping desperately that they will never be found out, seen, discovered because they fear the consequences. Sadly I am becoming increasingly aware that when they ARE found out - the church responds and deals with them harshly and abruptly. That discovery can come if the struggling individual is "foolish" enough to confess their struggles to a church leader. It can happen if they are spotted by a nosy elder's wife. The way it happens is irrelevant. The response is what I am thinking about. Because that response - I believe - can scare many off church for life.

Let's get an obvious caveat out the way;

There is behaviour that I am not endorsing and never will. Behaviour that Jesus Christ went to Calvary for. Behaviour that Terry Virgo calls; "sin as a saint with all the sadness and inappropriateness of it". Behaviour - let me make clear - that I have and still do slip into from time to time! You will not hear me say that grace makes it "okay" to sin.

But what I AM saying is that I do not believe there is any good news in lambasting the church by telling them they are sinners. I AM saying that church leaders who swiftly respond with harsh church discipline on sinners are hypocrites. If ... they have not taken the time and effort with tears and prayer to plead with the individual to abandon their way of life.

I have been so so utterly encouraged to hear Pete Greasley (pastor of an SGM church in Wales) say several times in his preaching something to the effect of; "I'm just like you! I am beside you - not above you!". Sadly - that is a rare thing to hear.

So here is what I heard recently. I heard that a church leader in this country has scared young people under his control because he said something to the effect of if he found his child was seeing a non-Christian girlfriend, he would throw them out of his home. Of course I heard that comment out of context. I heard that comment third hand. And I HOPE that I misunderstood that comment and it was highly overexaggerated. I hope that no parent would EVER contemplate throwing their child out of their home and disfellowshipping them from the family.

Maybe that church leader meant he would do so regretfully and after much tears and pleading and only if the young person in question would persist in the relationship. But what worried me is that there are young people who are now scared to admit they are seeing non-Christian girlfriends or boyfriends for fear that the church leader in question will tell their parents to throw them out of the house. But if these young people are even THINKING that such a thing is a possibility then surely something is drastically wrong in the church. Fear? Threats? Surely such behaviour cannot be further removed from the behaviour of Jesus Christ and a self-respecting New Covenant church.

Did or would Jesus Christ ever behave like that? Did He ever cast people from His Presence or endorse that parents do this? How did He behave towards people "caught in sin"? I thought of a few examples;

1. Let's imagine a worst-case scenario in a Western church. A man full of demons who keeps screaming out and beating up the church members and ripping his clothes. How would most Western churches respond? Sure - at first we would probably try and ignore the person - but I am sure it wouldn't be too long before the stewards were instructed to bar the doors. Jesus?

"When he saw Jesus from a distance, he ran and fell on his knees in front of him. He shouted at the top of his voice, "What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won't torture me!" For Jesus had said to him, "Come out of this man, you evil spirit!".

Did Jesus condone the "sin" or deny it's existance? No. Did He condemn the man? Certainly not. Did He excommunicate or disfellowship the man? No - the man was already pretty much disfellowshipped from the community among graves. What did Jesus do? He solved the problem with a living word.

An interesting point - when the demonised man saw Jesus - "He ran and fell on his knees in front of Him". Even with a legion of demons, the man could still recognise the bringer of grace. I wonder what would have happened if the Pharisees had landed on the shore - would he have run to them? Possibly - but only to beat them up.

2. Let's imagine another pretty-bad case scenario. A renowned and well known prostitute is a regular attender at a Western church. Something keeps her coming and sometimes she preys on men in the church and flirts with them. Everyone knows what she does but no one "talks" about it. What is the most likely response? Most probably again discipline and disfellowshipping for the "safety" of the church. The experience of Jesus reminds me of what I imagine most churches would do;

"He came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them. And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst, They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?".

What did Jesus do?

"But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not ... When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more".

I don't imagine that my ranting and raving here on a blog will persuade many - certainly not elderly church leaders set in their legalistic ways. I've got no particular interest in trying to get them to think whether what they are doing is truly Christ-like because my experiences tells me that they are usually quite sure that they are "pursuing righteousness".

A final point - do I believe there is a place for "putting such a one out to Satan"? I completely agree with a comment Pete Greasley made when we met for lunch. He said that such an action should be done - oh, so cautiously - and only after much prayer, tears, thought, and effort. Maybe there is a time where that has to be done, but I seriously fear for the church leader who finds it easy to take such an action. I know I for one wouldn't ever want to be in that position.

I want to speak to those "caught in sin" - WHATEVER sin that may be - and that's simply to say that I understand and have been there. REALLY been there. And have experienced the wrath of a church that has dragged me to Jesus and reminded Him of the law and demanded my "spiritual" death. And that's to say - you are always welcome here. I will always have a place in my heart and in my time for those who have been abandoned by the church or family. I will never say "enough". I will never say "Begone from me". As long as you want to put up with me - I will put up with you. And yes - I have got people in my mind when I am writing this. I will speak truth to you (or try to). I will remind you that you are a new creation and have the power to break sinful habits that bring you down.

But I won't spend much time talking to you about your struggles or habits. Most importantly of all I prefer to remind you that;

"The Cross does not have to be centred around me and be sustained by reflecting on my own personal failure! ... To insist on still calling myself a sinner could not add value to the Cross for me. Indeed, to call myself essentially a sinner actually dishonours the wonder of the gospel".

Rob Rufus's MOST Important Sermon Ever?!

I was interested and excited to get this email from Ryan Rufus - Rob Rufus's son and fellow elder - in City Church International in Hong Kong (by the way I highly recommend the new City Church International website here) today.

"My father Rob Rufus preached probably the most important message of his life last Sunday (9 May). He presented a Biblical defense for the gospel of grace and took on 5 accusations that have been made against him and those who believe in this gospel. It's probably the best I've ever heard him preach and was powerful, authoritative and compelling. This message will bring such encouragement and empowerment to those around the world standing for this message and facing persecution for it! I would like to encourage as many people to have a listen and then please please please send the link on to everyone you know that would benefit from this message.

People will either get sad, mad or incredibly glad when they hear this truth.

Follow the link below to listen or download:

"A Defense of the Gospel of Grace. (Rob Rufus' response to 5 accusations made against him)".

Also, Anneline Breetzke recently wrote a powerful song called 'Grace Revolution'. She sang it on Sunday. You'll be truly blessed by this! Click the link below to listen:

http://ccihk.com/media/audio/2010/2010_05_09_1.mp3

We'd also just like to encourage all of you who are preaching this gospel of pure grace to keep going for it! You have our support and we know we have yours. Lets stand together in His grace and continue to be bold with this message no matter what we face or go through! It's all worth it for millions around the world are coming into freedom.

God bless

Ryan and Kylie Rufus".

I haven't heard the sermon yet - but it will definately be next on my list to transcribe. I wonder how you and I will react to this sermon. Will we get sad, mad or incredibly glad?!

Curing the gays

An interesting follow up to the Philippa Stroud story I found - Derren Brown the well-known TV hypnotist has been to some "cure" sessions and looks at them from the point of view of a secular observer:

Curing the gays

It needs to be read if not agreed with. And if we don't agree with it - then why not? And what's our alternative?

Philippa Stroud ... Prejudiced or Caring?

I've been interested in Philippa Stroud's electioneering campaign since it commenced - due to the fact she is the wife of David - the UK apostolic leader of Newfrontiers who also leads Christchurch London. A church and a man I deeply respect - although I can't say I've ever seen or heard Philippa herself.

However Philippa's campaign hit a degree of controversy when the Observer reported an account of when the Stroud's set up the "Kings Arms Project" in Bedford when they led a church there prior to their days in Birmingham (this is some 15-20 years ago I believe). The Observer interviewed a girl dealing with transsexual feelings who worked with Philippa and her staff - who allegedly told her;

"She wanted me to know all my thinking was wrong, I was wrong and the so-called demons inside me were wrong. The session ended with her and others praying over me, calling out the demons. She really believed things like homosexuality, transsexualism and addiction could be fixed just by prayer, all in the name of Jesus."

The national press has intriguingly not picked up on this much (considering their love of bashing Christians) - however the Twitter community has. The Metro newspaper (a free daily paper) reported;

"Twitter users have begun a campaign on the popular micro-blogging site to raise awareness of The Observer's allegation that Stroud founded a church that would 'cure' homosexuals by 'exorcising' demons through prayer".

Other parties - such as the Liberal Democrats - have of course gleefully seized on this apparant gaffe by the Conservative candidate. The writer of this blog reported that Philippa Stroud has apparantly gone to ground. Mrs Stroud released a statement reporting that she does not believe "homosexuality is an illness" - however the Liberal Democrat blogger noted;

"Philippa Stroud’s http://twitter.com/philippastroud was deleted earlier today. By deleting it rather than making it private (or continuing to use it and publicly arguing her corner), the opportunity was presented for someone else to create a new account with that name and start sending out negative messages. So can you guess what happened? Also gone is Philippa Stroud’s Facebook supporters group".

Also interesting to note from my perspective is that Christian bloggers haven't (as yet) commented on this - this includes Adrian Warnock who has just finished a 3-part series on why he is voting Conservative and is friends with Mrs Stroud (and writes quite persuasively may I add). So I was thinking and reading some of the furious comments on some of the blogs and thinking that I had a few thoughts.

What qualifies me to say anything?

Well one the one hand - the anti-Stroud bloggers do not know Philippa Stroud and certainly do not know Newfrontiers or Christchurch London. I've spent many happy years in Newfrontiers churches and going to Newfrontiers conferences and can write a bit more on the issues as I understand it (although again - let me say I do not know Philippa Stroud and am not speaking on her behalf). However from the other point of view - I HAVE experienced a wide range of reactions in the church to admitting that I do have homosexual/bisexual/trisexual/whatever-sexual personal feelings. These have ranged from shock and horror - and most notably of course being "disfellowshipped" from the SGM church in Bristol - to actually going through Christian counselling and indeed an exorcism process myself. I would say I am a semi-cynical Christian (with regards to church) but still believing and hoping.

So in light of that - I have got a few reflections that occur to me.

What's the big deal?

1. Homosexual people don't like being told they need to be "cured".

I think that's the issue. Now we should add are homosexuals any different to any non-Christians when confronted with the gospel? In my experience of evangelising and spreading the gospel - initially most non-Christians backs are up when they realise that they fall short of the glory of God. The wonder of the gospel of course comes when they realise that all they have to do has already been "done" by Jesus Christ. So am I saying that we as Christians should stop telling homosexuals they need to be "cured"? Yes. "Cure" is a bad word. Homosexuals - like heterosexuals, bisexuals, transexuals and all other sexuals - need Jesus Christ. End of!

2. Talk of "demons" tends to freak most Christians - never mind non-Christians.

Demons were quite big in the 1970's and 80's in my Christian background - thanks to teachers such as Don Basham and Derek Prince. I don't think demons are quite as trendy now - maybe it was a backlash against the possible excesses of Prince and Basham's teaching. There was a tendency (I think) to see a demon in "everything". Now I fear that Christianity has swung the other way and dislikes any talk of demons - falling into the error that C S Lewis correctly identified in his "Screwtape Letters" - ignoring the demonic realm.

So the inevitable question must be - do I believe that homosexual people have a "specific" demon?

My personal experience (as I mentioned above) is that I have been through an exorcism process. It was undertaken by a very sincere couple of Christians who fervently believed that if they could cast out the demon of "homosexuality" (and demon of lust - they were sure he was in there too) then I would be "cured" and truly "straight". I am prepared to be open minded - maybe it was my lack of faith. But although I had some sort of spiritual experience - I was left with the same feelings and struggles. So I'm not sure (although I wouldn't swear) that there is a specific demon of homosexuality.

What I DO believe is that I have met and have friends who really struggle with suicidal feelings, feelings of depression, self-harm and so on. Some are gay guys, some are gay women, some are straight women. I have no doubt that straight men struggle with depression too - they just don't seem to admit it. But my point is that when I see Christian people tempted to suicide or self harm (such as I have and do struggle with) - I think we are entitled to suspect demonic involvement.

So what of Philippa Stroud?

Knowing what I do of Philippa Stroud, Christchurch London and Newfrontiers in general - I can state categorically that they are NOT, NOT, NOT a militant group of people who impose exorcism on any homosexual people who cross their doors. I don't know actually of a group of churches where gay people do feel more welcome than Newfrontiers - a place where the grace of God is taught strongly and passionately.

Now - that being said if you do join Newfrontiers and share that you are gay then you will realise that it is expected you distinguish between gay feelings and gay sexual activity. Sex is seen as being limited to only between one husband and one wife. That's what they believe and are more than entitled to their feelings.

However I must reiterate that I spent the last couple of days reading around Philippa Stroud and the ministries of Christchurch London and I have yet to encounter a more caring bunch of people. As I say - I have encountered other churches and their methodology of dealing with someone who confesses they are struggling with same sex attraction is less than ideal - bordering on panic and harshness.

I haven't heard of anyone being "disfellowshipped" from Newfrontiers for simply confessing they struggled with same sex attraction.

My conclusion?

I am hoping that Conservative Central Office have prepared Philippa Stroud that this media/Twitter frenzy is inevitable for any candidate who holds any views of any kind. I do not believe she is prejudiced or "anti-gay" in any stretch of the imagination. Rather I think the "King's Arms Project" is an inspired kind and caring project to reach people that the Church traditionally ignores.

If I voted Conservative (which I don't) and lived in Mrs Stroud's constituency (which I don't) then I would have no hesitation in voting for her. I would feel far more safe knowing someone like Mrs Stroud is representing me in Parliament - than other candidates - such as Rev Ian Paisley. A man who I am more than sure about his prejudices.

I hope and pray that Philippa Stroud gets into Parliament - to have a Spirit-filled and compassionate MP with integrity in the House of Commons would be outstanding.

"The Hope of Grace Alone" by Pete Greasley

I'm on a cautious voyage of discovery. I have long bemoaned the fact that it seems incredibly difficult to find preachers in the United Kingdom who preach pure grace. So often it begins with grace but then ends up "applying" grace in lists of activities that are required to meet performance standards. When I listened and transcribed Pete Greasley's message at New Word Alive - I still maintained an element of suspicion, after all - everyone is on their best at conferences.

I was really encouraged by my friend Janelle's comment on that post that this message of grace is more wide-ranging across SGM than I feared from my experiences. So I decided to listen and transcribe Pete's message from last Sunday at his home church in Newport. Incredibly it was titled: "The Hope of Grace Alone" - sounds perfect. Here it is the video (the transcript is below):

Romans 4: 13 - 25 "The Hope of Grace Alone" from Christchurch, Newport on Vimeo.

The title of this morning is “The Hope of Grace Alone”.

"13 For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if it is the adherents of the law who are to be the heirs, faith is null and the promise is void. 15 For the law brings wrath, but where there is no law there is no transgression.

16 That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring—not only to the adherent of the law but also to the one who shares the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, 17 as it is written, "I have made you the father of many nations"—in the presence of the God in whom he believed, who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist. 18 In hope he believed against hope, that he should become the father of many nations, as he had been told, "So shall your offspring be." 19 He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah’s womb.

20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21 fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." 23 But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25 who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification".

Let’s pray together. Lord I do pray this morning that as we come back to this difficult portion of Scripture that You by Your Holy Spirit will make it clear to us. That we would not only understand it but Lord – that we would be affected by it. Lord I pray that wrong thinking and wrong mindsets that are not from You but from the enemy would be broken this morning by the truth of Scripture and that truth would truly set us free. That the gospel would be truly seen in all it’s glory and again we may glory not in the flesh but entirely and completely and only in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

I have a few questions for you to start off. Do you ever or have you ever worried about the reality of your salvation? Maybe your heart is not as warm as it once was. You can remember a time when you felt a lot closer to God and you start to question is this real? Am I truly saved? Are my sins forgiven? Maybe there is a besetting sin that has been plaguing you for years and you think how can a Christian still struggle with that. And you question the reality of your salvation. Maybe it is a fear that you could give all this up and go back into the world. Maybe it is a fear that God will say “I’ve had enough already. For years you have outstayed My patience”. Maybe there is a fear that on That Day – you won’t make it or be one that He says; “Well done My good and faithful servant”. If you have never had any of those fears you would be unusual because they are common temptations to man and to Christians. You may at some point – keep this in mind. You may be sitting here thinking this is a continual on-going struggle. My assurance – am I truly in Christ? Do I know it and feel it? Does it change me every day?

This Scripture is here to help you and all of us. We have an enemy and that enemy is the accuser of the brethren. He accuses us that what we believe is not real for us. He doesn’t accuse us that it is not real for us. He tries to get us to make that more real by what we do and move off the grounds of grace and into the grounds of what we do.

Satan doesn’t work by making us go downtown to have a wild time. Satan says “If you pray more or do this more or that more or the other more then God will love you more and accept you more”. He wants to move us off the grounds of grace.

I know we keep recapping in Romans – Romans 1 to Romans 3:20 is the bad news. The bad news that God is glorious and God the Creator has revealed enough of Himself to us so that we should worship Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength and have no other gods beside Him. He shows us in that there is not one of us who seek God and not one glorifies God – but we turn our glory into ourselves and commit cosmic treason and God who should be adored and glorified and worshipped – is not. And we adore and glorify and worship ourselves and what God has created. The verdict at the end of the chapter is 3:20 – is “guilty as charged” without any appeal or anything left to say. God is right. Then we come to Romans 3:21-26 – worth learning by heart! Leon Morris said this is probably the most important paragraph ever written. In this here the incredible good news of amazing grace comes! Now there is a righteousness from God and of God that is made manifest and revealed apart from works – apart from us having to do ANYTHING to earn it.

As he opens that up to us in v21-26 – we see that those of us in Christ who believe (although the Old Testament pointed to this) for those of us who believe that Christ died and redeemed us and saved us and propitiated God’s wrath by His blood – for those God gives freely salvation and imputes Christ’s righteousness to us.

He considers us RIGHTEOUS apart from what we do!

There are two responses that go through to the end of chapter 4. This is what that good news does in us. Firstly it humbles us. Paul talks about application. Applying v21-26. “Let no one boast” – we have nothing to boast about because God has done it ALL in Christ! We cannot say “Didn’t I do great?”. The second part of application is assurance. Two things take place when we understand the glories of the gospel. One is humility and secondly assurance “It is ALL of grace”. This has got to be personal. We can know this theologically in our head but we have got to KNOW it so it completely fills us – we have GOT it – we are saved by grace alone and that I am in Christ and kept by Christ and be ultimately be with Christ!

I hope this Scripture serves you this morning – this is all about future hope because of what God has done. That is why you get the word “promise” here. In fact the word “promise” in vv13-25 is used five times if you see it! It keeps coming! Get the picture. Promise and faith! They keep coming back and back. At the beginning of chapter 1 Paul opens it up by talking about the gospel which He promised beforehand. So now he is opening up this promise of the gospel which should affect our hearts and minds.

We need to move from theology – understanding it – to doxology - embracing it, feeling it and glorifying God in our response to it.

We have just seen this incredible promise in the Gospel that God will count us as righteous with redemption through His death on a Cross. This incredible promise! The question comes – is this promise for me? Will God do this or has God done this for me? Can I know my future is secure? More importantly IS my future secure?

Knowing it is one thing but having it as a reality is more important.

And there will be very few people in this room who haven’t asked that question and haven’t at times struggled with that. I grew up understanding promises a bit. If dad made a promise it was concrete. If I could get out of him “I promise” – I would know that is secure as it can be. One circumstance that could change his promise for say us to go to the park is if I had been a very, very bad boy that week. There were a few weeks that I was particularly obnoxious. “You forfeited that promise because of how awfully you have behaved” – and you know the Bible is full of promises that come together with commands. If you don’t obey this command and do this. “Cast your care on the Lord” (command) “for He cares for you” (promise). “Delight yourself in the Lord” (command) “and He shall give you the desires of your heart” (promise). But not with justification! We will blow that apart! Sometimes dad would withdraw that promise or sometimes his intention would be to do it but he would have to go into work. The intention was there but sometimes I forfeited that promise or sometimes he was unable to keep it.

When we come to this Scripture, God wants to show us that when He makes a promise concerning our eternal salvation how we live has NOTHING to do with it at all – it is ALL by grace and He wants to show us that He has the power to carry it out.

That is the message! He goes into Abraham and comes back to this man who is their hero of faith. Abraham started it all up. God met Abe and told him to go and started the whole ball rolling with this man who will be the father of nations. If you look back into Genesis 15 and 16. You see God cutting a covenant with Abraham which is a picture of the Cross to come. God makes this covenant that he will be the father of many nations and shows him the stars and says “So will your descendants be numbered”. In Genesis 17 Abe tries to work it out for himself with Hagar but then God comes back and says “My promise is still here” and says it isn’t Hagar but Sarah. God says “I will call you father of multitudes”. This all points to Christ and essentially through a son – you will be the father of multitudes, the heir of the world and your descendents will fill and be the blessing of the world and …. You must be joking!!

When we examine the promise of grace alone by faith alone – He comes and shows us the picture of the promise to Abraham and says “See what I did and why I did it”. This is nuts! Abraham is 99 years old (almost 100) and I don’t want to get explicit here – but Abraham considers his own body and he says “I am past it”. He looked at Sarah and laughed and said “Her womb’s like a dried up prune!”. Excuse me ladies. You are telling me that I will get her pregnant?! He is twice my age! I know I am good for 50! But at the same point Abraham is 100 years old and his wife is 90 and God says you will get her pregnant! He presented Hagar and Ishmael – and he laughed to himself. Later on when Sarah overheard the Lord coming and speaking and she laughed too. It was ridiculous and absurd and naturally impossible. It provoked absurd hysterical laughter.

What?! This is MY promise to you. When we read verse 21 through 26 we should experience something of the same emotion that Abraham and Sarah experienced when God came and promised them the earth. When God came and said “I will do this for you” and it was beyond their ability to conceive or understand or grasp. The only natural response is “What?!”. “But now a righteousness from God is revealed apart from faith” – if we really get the promise of the gospel, our response should be hysterical laughter! This is how glorious and holy God is and how guilty God is – and yet He is counting us as righteous in the death of His Son!

The problem with so many Christians is that we don’t take it as it is. We try to add so much into it. As we see the gospel our response should be; “It can’t be so good that it doesn’t matter how I live”. You will say “Well I shouldn’t say that because that is close to antinomianism because the Bible says it does matter”.

I know the Bible says it matters how we live but the Bible says it DOESN’T matter how I live in order to be justified!

We must get this point otherwise we move from grace to works and fall from grace. Nothing from me? Nothing at all? No. A bit? No. Nothing! What does God want our response to be to this – this is why He is taking us back to Abraham. He wants us to see Him and His faithfulness and He wants us to see our response to it. So I have got four things that I will go through. It is all about where our hope can be found.

1. The Ground of Abraham’s Hope.

We find that he majors on what the ground isn’t. There is a negative that comes in here. (v13); “That he would inherit the promises … did NOT come through the law (what he does) but through the righteousness of faith”. He is saying “I tell you what his grounds weren’t – they weren’t ANYTHING of himself or what he could do”. This was God’s promise to him!

If you try and do something about this promise then it becomes null and void!

You have to trust completely. If you start to put your hand out (which is the natural thing to do) then the promise of me catching you is gone. If I see that hand move then my promise is over. You must trust completely. You can’t tense – I will catch you just before you hit the floor.

In your spirit – everything in you when God says “Grace alone by faith alone in Christ alone” – your very nature is towards works. I want to do something to support myself and God says “No”.

What could Abraham have done? He could have started a fitness regime or gone to the chemist or done something! This is real life stuff! This isn’t Aladdin – this guy was 100 years old and God said that they were going to get pregnant. Everything in him said “What can I do?”. He had already tried to make it happen! Abraham gave up and said there is nothing I can do to make this happen. That’s why the Scripture says he didn’t waiver in faith! It was absurd – so much so that only God could do this.

Our salvation – Romans 3:21-26 is ALL of grace. APART from works! Nothing that you do! Abraham knew this and did this but if you try and add works in then the promise is void. The promise is only based on what God would do – it is all of grace. So when we look that – we find he believed against hope! He hoped against hope! His hope was now outside of himself against the natural hope he had within himself. He gave up his own hope and hoped only and entirely on God. It is that giving up and refusal for self-atonement – even the smallest bit. You can have 99% promise and 1% works. It must be 100% or nothing.

C H Spurgeon says this. He said you would sooner yoke a gnat to an archangel than try and help Christ save you – it must be all of grace or none at all It is all of grace! It was 100% trusting God!

2. The Object of His Hope.

It turns from not himself to God alone. This is 100% proof grace. God alone and completely alone with grace alone. See (v16b) – this is why it depends on faith. The promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring. God’s promise of saving you by grace must rest on that grace – it must rest there! We have nothing to bring! Paul says it again and again – we must feel it and know it and get it.

It is not how we live but what He has done through Christ – His life and His death. Grace is the only guarantee!

You buy a computer and there is a thing on the back that says “If you peel this off or try to unscrew this computer to mend it – the guarantee is null and void”. You cannot touch it! Everything in you thinks I can sort this – how hard can it be? You peel it off carefully and unscrew it – but the moment you do that, it has gone.

God is saying that the moment you think you can go in to do something to aid Christ, the promise is no longer the promise.

In hope in God – in verse 20 you find it is all about God for him. “Fully convinced that God was able to do what He had promised”. That is what God wants for us this morning. Would you jump out of the plane and flap your arms without a parachute? And when you have a parachute – flapping your arms doesn’t work either. Unless Christ saves you – all our works count as nothing. For us the promise is that we now see Christ. It is not just a promise to Abraham – now there is a righteousness of God revealed and it is apart from works! It is the salvation and redemption we get in Christ Jesus – we see Christ crucified and later on in Romans 8, he takes that. “If God did not spare His own Son … how much more will He not give us all things” – he expands and expands and it gets more and more scandalous!

This is too free and too good and too simple! This is ridiculous! It is amazing if you get it! Paul says “Get it!”. Abraham got it! Abraham gave up his own works and put his trust totally and utterly in God. That is how the Galatians started you know! The Galatians started by seeing Christ and Paul said in Galatians 3; “You have moved away from the gospel!”. Your faith centred around him and now you are hoping for the future in what you are doing rather than continually relying on Him. You are flapping your arms. You are far from grace! It is finished – it is sorted once and for all! Christ and His finished work is the object of our hope. He is an example for us to rely and trust on God alone.

3. The Certainty of His Hope.

He has the will and He has the power to make us and keep us righteous for all eternity. Remember my dad – you have blown this promise. Here he shows us that we cannot forfeit the promise. He has the power to keep this promise and nothing that we can do – He has the grace to keep this promise. This is the proof (v17b) – he says; “In the presence of the God who gives life to the dead … and calls into existence the things that do not exist”. Abraham believes God because God creates something from nothing. Paul is saying apply this to yourself. Righteousness apart from works – he takes nothing – he takes that which is dead and to the dead one, he brings life and creates from nothing. He creates someone who is loved, known and saved by Christ. He does it and He makes it. Here am I – Pete Greasley – not a Christian but before the foundation of the earth God calls into existence and He takes me from darkness to life, He takes His Spirit and places it within me and imputes Christ’s righteousness to me – and Paul says now I am a new creation! He promised it and He did it!

How can I undo that? You can’t! Will my works and failure undo it? No – because it is only promise! Promise with no added mixture of works! Will God reject Christ’s work on the Cross – no never! It is always going to be there!

My salvation and your salvation is entirely and completely outside of yourself. God takes that which is nothing. And brings it to something – so no one may boast and that we may trust in “grace that has brought me safe thus far and grace will take me home”. Will God show me grace? Romans 8:32 – He gave up His Son – what more proof do you need? He rose Christ from the dead – God can do this and it is the proof of His power and grace and the proof of His certainty!

4. The Effect of this Hope.

Faith and assurance! He is standing on something entirely outside of himself. How many times have I preached this?! There will be times when you haven’t got this and if they knew what I was like inside, they would question this! Challenges do come! He believes and did not waver or distrust but grew strong in faith and glorified God and most importantly – not just how he felt – but (v22) that is why his faith was counted to him as righteousness.

Those words were counted for us too – who believe in Him. He took the promise of Abraham and has transferred it into the New Testament. “Christ died for our sins”. Because he trusted on what Christ has done, therefore he was counted righteous before God. If our salvation is outside of ourselves then we are counted righteous before God.

How you feel is irrelevant. What you do is irrelevant. What you don’t do is irrelevant. What do think or don’t think or say or don’t say – nothing! How you put your arms out – nothing!

You are saved by grace! That is entirely outside of you and it is a gift of God through faith. That is a gift too by the way! That is why I know I am safe and secure in the promise of God and it will never ever be taken back or voided – because it was Christ alone! Faith alone by grace alone through Christ alone for the glory of God alone – the word is “ALONE”. For the glory of Christ alone! It is all outside of ourselves! On that day some of you (self-righteous people) and say “Did we not do this or that?” and He will look them in the eye and say “Depart from Me I never knew you”. But also on that day He will give us our reward. A lot of people who thought they would never make it will be there. You will be there and stand before Him and hear “Well done – thou good and faithful servant” and you will fall on the floor flabbergasted.

I believe God wants you to have an assurance of your faith. You can live your whole life without assurance and still be saved. Have you received Him? Yes. Do you feel saved? No not always – doesn’t matter, you are saved!

It is not your strength of your assurance that will get you there. We are in Christ! Christ has died for me and there is nothing I can do to find myself in hell. It is all of grace. Our assurance – that assures His promise by Christ’s atoning death – my hope is built not on my feelings or on my works or thoughts but my hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness. What happens when you move your hope outside of yourself and how you feel – it all floods back. We preach the gospel to ourselves daily – all of grace – all of faith – all of Christ! We worry about grace because we look within. Just like Abraham we can not waver in our faith but be fully convinced.

The conclusion? If God declares me righteous then who can condemn me! Can this or that? Or life or angels? Or anything? No! It can’t be that good! It is that good.