Author: missionspaul

The dove has come. The voice from heaven has spoken. We are ready.

Let’s begin with a miracle or a teaching, let’s get this plan started.

“Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be temptedby the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him …” (Matthew 4 v 1-3)

It begins with a wilderness, a fast and a battle with temptation.

We see three characters.

The Spirit is the agent that will enable Jesus throughout his ministry. He leads him into the difficult arid and dangerous place of the wilderness.

The devil is the agent who will consistently try to thwart what God is wanting to do through Jesus. He is always ready, especially in the dry place.

Jesus, the Father’s plan, chooses to fast for forty days and forty nights.

In a few sentences we see here the keys to a move of the Spirit.

1. He is moving in our lives more than perhaps we recognise. He takes us into the difficult places. He is leading us into the wilderness. He takes us into the circumstance of being alone.
2. Your move is crucial. Fast. Go without. It is to forgo normal activity so that you can focus on what God is wanting. Move to make things uncomfortable for yourself, pay a price, ‘he was hungry’. However you choose to fast, do so until it hurts.
3. The tempter will move towards you so be ready. However we view these temptations eg money, power and pride, many fall and do not see the move of the Spirit in their life that they longed for. Why is the tempter even there? It is a test. Ultimately it is to strengthen you. You can resist most things when you know it will be worth it. It always is.

Our churches need a new beginning. To move into being the people God has called us to be. What Moses and Israel failed to do within the forty years Jesus stepped in to fulfil within the forty days.

Our churches need Eden again. The presence of God. Jesus would fulfil what the first Adam failed to do. He faced the temptation in the wilderness and towards the end of his life would meet him in the garden for a final battle.

We need a move of the Spirit and it will always and only ever be found in what Christ has done. Following, worshipping and witnessing of Jesus.

May our churches fall in love with Jesus as their first-love; may they speak of Jesus more than anything else; may all their plans and programmes be about Jesus. For we long for a move of the Spirit.

In any crisis there is a call for leadership. Many will step forward to try and fill that gap. What kind of leader do we need? What kind of person will we choose to be? Let’s read some more verses of Matthew …

“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John. But John tried to deter him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” Jesus replied, “Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfil all righteousness.” Then John consented. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3 v 13-17)

• He didn’t come with a vitriolic advertising campaign riding in from Jerusalem or with a band of discontented rebels. I don’t want to line up with self-proclaimed conquerors or complainers anymore. He came in from Galilee to be baptised by John. He came from Nazareth (it means hidden place). ‘Can anything good come from Galilee?’ We need leaders who know the hiding place. Heroes are to be found in humble surroundings. Throughout his ministry he was known as ‘Jesus of Nazareth and when he died it was written above his head. Where you have been is as important as where you are going.

• He didn’t come to fulfil his personal dream and desires with a 10 point plan for greatness. I don’t want to line up with man-made strategies and the latest business plans guaranteed to solve problems. He came to fulfil all righteousness and by doing so he was baptised along with the common man. His identification with the baptismal sin-confessing candidates showed his desire to be obedient to God’s plan of salvation revealed through the prophets. We need leaders who know the Bible and who have a desire to fulfil the directives of God within it.

• He didn’t come out of the water surrounded by an angelic army. When heaven opened all the riches in heaven didn’t fall on him. I don’t want to line up with leaders who live lavish lifestyles and pursue worldly gain. I do want to follow the dove. He got the dove. A poor man’s sacrificial offering for the Temple; what Noah sent out to determine if the floodwaters had receded and it is a term of endearment in the Song of Songs. We need leaders who are sent out as a sacrifice of love.

• He didn’t come to crave man’s praise, appreciation and acceptance. He didn’t pursue the popular vote. I don’t want to line up with leaders who are concerned with what people think about them. There is no confidence in that approach. We need leaders who live confident in the love and appreciation of God and that this is all that matters to them.

This pandemic is a breaker. The world is shaking. It is not as strong as we thought it was. It has given time for us to pause, to reflect and to re-evaluate what is important. Choose who you will follow and choose who you will be.

John is baptising for repentance. He was calling the people to turn their lives around. To change and to come back to God. It involved their effort of course. If they were not going to be determined to change then it wouldn’t happen. But then John says something else …

 “I baptize you withwater for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you withthe Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” (Matthew 3 v 11-12)

Chaff is the outer, protective shell of a grain which needs removing as it is inedible for humans. It is then usually burnt or used for animal fodder.

This is not about burning non-believers in an unquenchable hell but about winnowing believers so that our hard self-protection is removed and burnt.

What is that self-protection?

Of course there is no excuse for any form of abuse and every one of us should protect ourselves in such situations.

But we can easily create an outer layer, a mask of protection or we build around us addiction or over working because no one is going to get to the real me.

Only Jesus can deal with the chaff and it is through the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire.

After the pandemic, I don’t want to go back to:

• The big charismatic personalities who the crowds chase after. There is ‘one more powerful than I’ and we need to chase after Him.
• The ‘Jesus is my mate’ attitude. His ‘sandals I am not worthy to carry’ and so less presumption is what we need.
• The hard exterior of churches who will not bend or break to the will of God. May the winnowing fork do its work and the chaff be broken away.

I do want to see fire.

I want to see lives saturated with the Spirit of God.

I want to see passion for Jesus possessing them with an intensity of a fire.

I want to see the spirit of cold obedience kindled with an eager devotion.

I want to see the baptism with the Holy Spirit and fire.

John the Baptist would have been raised to learn the Torah, the Talmud and the oral traditions of the Jewish faith. Many would have thought he would become a priest like his father Zechariah. But God had other plans for him and he lived in the wilderness.

Matthew has told us that he looked and lived like the wilderness. We have images of a rugged wild man who hadn’t combed his hair in a while or eaten a decent meal for years. The impact on lockdown!

In the last lockdown people laughed at how long my hair had got and I am doing all I can to make sure in this lockdown I don’t put on weight!

Wherever you are reading this blog from. Whether you are in lockdown or simply describing your circumstance as somewhat of a wilderness experience then please be encouraged that what you are struggling with is having a positive impact on you.

We may not realise this fully yet, however, when you are going through difficulty whether a war, a debilitating illness, persecution or the lockdown of a pandemic, it changes you. Deserts change you. This could be a season of refinement for us. There may be losses. Some may walk away within the wilderness but those that emerge could come forward changed. Let’s read some verses:

“But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.” (Matthew 3 v 7-10)

Whatever you think of John the Baptist he had courage!

So what had the lockdown done to this wilderness man?

Maybe you can describe your life as a period of wilderness, it has been difficult for you and you know you have changed. Let me suggest what may emerge from you from these verses.

He could see through the united front of two parties that were usually opposed to one another.

We will have a greater discernment. Seeing what is false and what is behind masks of pretence. Being able to spot strange alliances. Not being taken for a fool. The wilderness has slowed us down and we know what matters now.

He called for change.

Going through the motions of Christian duty are not enough for us anymore. Church going is over. Being the Church that Christ died for is all that we want to give our time to. Fruitfulness is not weighed within the Church building but in how we conduct our lives outside it.

He wasn’t enamoured with the past.

Our heritage will always be something to be thankful for. However a fresh experience of God with a daily in-filling of the Spirit is crucial to us now rather than how many ancient stories you know and how many people know you.

He believed God can start all over again.

We will want to do this. We do not want to return to what we once had and were. There is a repositioning of our lives. We will come out of our wilderness from a different place than how we went into it. People died in there and out of honour to them we cannot simply go back to life as normal. Everything is special now. Life has become even more precious. Thankfulness for what was normal before is on our lips and in our hearts. A new day is dawning.

He didn’t want to waste time on trees that were useless.

A major clean-out will happen. As when we throw out clothes and items we have never used for years there is a radical need to be real and if it doesn’t work then we stop it. ‘Because we have always done it’ will be scrutinised.

I am really looking forward to coming out of the wilderness to see the impact of what God has done in and through us within it.

In the last few days I have been told by some that this year is going to be the best year ever and by some that it is going to be a right off. I wonder what it will be!

People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. (Matthew 3 v 5-6)

Slow this down. Picture it. Can you imagine it? People from all over the place travelled to hear this new preacher man.

For years many have prayed this would happen for their churches. That people on the outside would come on in to the inside.

The people were ready for a new kingdom to come. John reminded the crowds of Isaiah’s prophecy. The Messiah would come.

Is it just crazy thinking that movements of people can happen like this today? Are we setting ourselves up to fail? This week I hosted a zoom induction service for an incoming Pastor to a church, my first, I heard people pray for ‘revival’ and I realised I hadn’t heard a public prayer for revival for some time. I’m not sure what a revival would look like. Would it involve the masses coming to a church service? One church said to me a few months ago that they had 3,000 viewings on their online service. That sounds like a revival to me. Well it would be if the 3,000 made a decision to follow Jesus.

These people were confessing their sins and being baptised. Can you imagine the baptism tanks open again? Can you see the confessing of sins in that place? Changed lives. I was lost but now I’m found, blind but now I see.

I don’t know what 2021 will bring but I feel better believing for something than nothing. So I choose to look forward to revival and baptisms!

When people look at you what do they see?

When they looked at John the Baptist what did they see?

“John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey.” (Matthew 3 v 4)

850 years previously wicked King Ahaziah had injured himself but instead of seeking God he sent messengers to a false god, Baal-Zebub and along the way they met a man who denounced the king with judgment. Later when the king sent 50 soldiers with a captain on 2 separate occasions this same man brought fire from heaven down to consume them. Who was this man? Well before we find that out let’s read some verses but remember what John the Baptist is wearing.

2 Kings 1 v 7-8 “The king asked them, “What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?” They replied, “He had a garment of hair and had a leather belt around his waist.” The king said, “That was Elijah the Tishbite.”

“John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist.”

So here comes John. Matthew says he is the voice that Isaiah the prophet spoke about and he came looking like the prophet Elijah. But there’s more.

Remember this? “Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity. …“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten— the great locust and the young locust, the other locusts and the locust swarm—my great army that I sent among you.” (Joel 2 v 13, 25) God sent the locusts as a sign of judgment. They are destructive even today wiping out the entire year’s crops in split seconds. The message from the prophet Joel was if you repent and turn to me then I will restore and repay you.

“His food was locusts and wild honey” (Matthew 3 v 4)

And what of the honey? Every Jew knows about the honey. When their ancestors were freed they were promised a land flowing with milk and honey.

John looked the part.

Matthew will record Jesus’ words later: ““What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed swayed by the wind? If not, what did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings’ palaces. Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. .” (Matthew 11:7,9)

The outward appearance is important for someone who is a voice calling in the wilderness.

Malachi said Elijah would come again and John certainly looked like him.

The voice of repentance had to have the appearance of rejecting what the world could offer to support its claims.

It is important for us also. Not that we have to walk around looking like John the Baptist! But our voice and our lifestyle needs to match.

It is not what we believe that is of the greatest concern. You can attend all the courses in the world to become proficient at what you believe but if you cannot use the Koran to reach a Muslim or if you do not know that the Buddhist holds to values such as purity of heart, compassion, charity and humility very similar to Christianity then we are going to struggle to reach them. It is not what you know that is everything it is also what ‘they’ know. You need to build a bridge for them to walk towards you.

In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea and saying, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.’ (Matthew 3 v 1-2)

John the Baptist began to preach at a time when the Roman kingdom was all over them. The thought that the prophesied kingdom of David would come again was fading. ‘Will we ever see the kingdom?’ John the Baptist comes and says ‘Yes, it is near.’

But what kind of kingdom is coming?

More to the point will they receive it?

Matthew’s gospel will tell us that the generation of Jesus missed it.

So a similar but hidden question is now posed throughout his gospel, will the readers of this gospel miss the kingdom again?

Matthew will use the phrase 33 times. He prefers to use it rather than the other gospels use of ‘Kingdom of God’.

If he had not used ‘Kingdom of heaven’ his Jewish audience would have turned away instantly for they would not even write the name for God such was their honour of His name.

Matthew knew his audience.

We must know not only what we are talking about but who we are talking to.

Know the context of people’s lives.

Today when you are with people who do not know Christ, try and find out what they do believe. What values do they hold dear? What inspires them? What is the foundation of their life?

Maybe knowing them will mean you use different vocabulary which may give them a better chance to hear what you have to say.

The enemy of your soul will do all he can to say you haven’t done anything with your life and it simply isn’t true. God has done amazing things through you the great and the small and you should be thankful. And the good news is there is more to come. Most probably the highlights of your life have been the moments when you remained focused on the person God created you to be and you positioned yourself or created the context so that you could give of your best.

“In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.” (Matthew 3 v 1)

Your identity

John, son of Zechariah, yes that’s true. But he was known as John the Baptist because that is what he did. Of course he never called himself that. Nor did he call himself John the Christ or John the Prophet as we discover in John’s gospel. He described himself as a voice calling in the wilderness. Matthew will tell us this soon. The whole world knew him as the Baptist but he thought of himself as a voice. The world wasn’t wrong but what he thought of himself would be what sustained him. If he had truly believed he was the Baptist then when the crowds stopped following him and started following Jesus and the baptisms decreased (see John 3:26) John could have been jealous. But he tells us that we must decrease and Jesus increase. What you think of yourself can block your way. His identity was a voice. We will eventually get to Matthew 14 where on being arrested his baptism ministry had certainly dwindled in size and what was left was his voice. He certainly wasn’t baptising in prison, put there because he spoke up against Herod Antipas divorcing his wife and had taken his brother, Philip’s wife. His voice, his identity, stayed with him to the end. It is important to know who you are and not let your world move you away from what is your true identity.

Your context

Where are you positioned? I have started to play chess recently after many years. The aim is to corner the King so that he cannot move without being destroyed. You do that by getting your pieces into position.

John had positioned himself in the wilderness ready for God. There is no better place than the wilderness. The wilderness is a special place for us in the Bible because it teaches us many lessons from the story of the Israelites. For years we have been preached at to get out of the wilderness but for the Jew they long to be there for it is where God met them the most.

The wilderness years were not wandering years. Nearly 1 year was spent at Mount Sinai where Moses was up and down the mountain getting revelation and instruction for the building of the tabernacle. They then at the foot of Sinai built the tabernacle and then moved on. But for 38 years they were in Kadesh Barnea because spies had brought a bad report, they never moved on and a generation died. Their total travelling time took less than 2 years arriving at the Promised Land with a fresh generation of leaders. It was the wilderness where they died except for 2 men, Joshua and Caleb.

The goal of the Exodus was to take Egypt out of the Israelites. The people at the Exodus are a fearful and frightened people. By the time they get to the Jordan they are ready to fight as an army. It was the wilderness that changed them.

‘Wilderness’ in Hebrew is ‘Midbar’ and it means ‘word’. Where did the Torah (first 5 OT books) come from? It wasn’t from Egypt nor the Promised Land. Where did they encounter God? It was the wilderness where revelation was given and they experienced God.

Further to this we know from Jewish history that the Maccabean armies launched their attacks from the wilderness and that other groups of orders such as the Qumran lived in the desert.

John had purposely left his parents and gone into the desert of Judea to live. This was the context for where he would develop his identity, his voice, in order to fulfil the reason for his life.

Maybe today you will need to make positional decisions to create the context for the next chapter of your life. Maybe you already have and you can describe it as a wilderness. It is probably the best place for you right now.

Your identity and your context are crucial so that the reason for you being here can be fulfilled.

‘It’s a wonderful life’ made in 1946; ‘Dad’s Army’ made in 1971; ‘Erin Brockovich’ made in the year 2000. Just a few of the films I watched over Christmas that were made 74 years, 49 years and 20 years ago. Each time I watched the film I was caught up in one thought, ‘where has the time gone?’ Life has flown by. Do you ever ask yourself how you got to the age you are today so quickly?

We move to a new chapter. Approximately 25 years have gone by in the turn of a page. The CEV says ‘Years later …’ The NIV says, “In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea.” (Matthew 3 v 1) Luke has the gap shorter because we have the story of Jesus as a 12 year old boy in the Temple.

“In those days …” What has happened in those silent years?

Mary and Joseph have had more children. Jesus grew within a family. You also know the security of a family but also perhaps the turmoil that families go through.

Joseph has most probably died. Jesus has known grief. Your loved ones have died also and you have had to contend with all the emotion of that.

Jesus became a carpenter/builder. Jesus has known tiredness and joys of work. You have known the successes but also perhaps the instability of work.

The reason

After a period of time, two men would emerge from different places, one from the Judean desert and the other from Nazareth to fulfil the reason for their life. Yesterday I caught the end of a news report about Marie McCourt who has campaigned for what is called ‘Helen’s Law’ after her daughter who was murdered in 1988 and whose killer has not revealed where her body is. The law will go a long way to make sure that a murderer is not paroled without confessing those important details. Marie McCourt said this, “As a person of faith I believe I have been put here on this earth for this reason, Helen’s law.” Today I will write a eulogy for a funeral I am conducting this week. As in all funerals details will be given of the person’s life. I will speak of perhaps his reason for life was when he and his wife rescued a girl from a difficult life and adopted her. That decision was a turning point for that girl’s life and it could be said the reason for his.

There are high points in our lives that are behind us and in front of us still and we need to highlight them even whilst we are alive and draw encouragement from them. The enemy of your soul will do all he can to say you haven’t done anything with your life and it simply isn’t true. God has done amazing things through you the great and the small and you should be thankful.

I was moved the other day reading an old man’s Facebook status. He had been a minister all his working life. His wife has died and he is struggling with grief. He took some pictures of his new apartment he has moved into and though it could rightfully be said that the most active part of his life is behind him, he wrote how he still has a reason to live, he writes to people to encourage them and he studies the Bible.

We are going to need to adjust throughout this life. Today, the UK has entered into another national lockdown, more adjustments are needed, but the reason for our life continues.

Life passes by very quickly, live in the moment, take your opportunities, adjust and be who you are called to be. Be ready for a new chapter even after many silent years.

Can God trust you? Can you be trusted to follow Him into a situation of uncertainty and to find that He is your peace?

“Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.” (Matthew 2 v 23)

There is a sense of relief in this verse. He made it. Jesus was born and now was safe growing to become a man. But let us remind ourselves of some of the problems (with a little help from Luke):

Mary had to say yes.

Mary spends 3 months away from Joseph and comes back obviously pregnant.

Joseph was going to divorce her.

There was no room anywhere for them to have the baby.

Threats from Herod.

The mass slaughter of the innocents.

Fleeing to Egypt as refugees.

Threats from Archelaus and the disturbance brought about by his reign.

It is an incredible story.

God restricted His power on earth and chose to use people like you and me to create the miraculous to happen.

When it looks impossible, God can make a way. He can manoeuvre and change circumstances so that His will, will be done.

At any time God could have sent the army of angels not with a message but with the instruction to supernaturally open the way for Jesus to be born in peace and safety. He is still the God of the Exodus and the God of the parting of the Red Sea.

One thing is clear – we are called to walk by faith.

To walk through the Christmas story, from one place to the next and waiting for further instructions, it calls for faith.

The birth of Jesus shows us that God will make a way when there seems to be no way.

Can God trust you to walk with Him? Just hold on to Him and wait to see what He does next.