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Living in God’s willServing in humilityPrayer that powers

Issue 4 2018

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Have you ever met people who think they are ‘numberone’; who always seem to get their own way; who arealways talking about themselves?

Do you know anyone who seems to think that their needsare more important than the needs of others? It’s worth acheck in the mirror, because many people live only toplease themselves, or to make a good impression onothers – and Christians are not immune from thischaracteristic of human nature.

That’s one reason why the apostle Paul wrote to theChurch in Philippi, encouraging them to worktogether with an attitude of humility rather than selfishambition or vain conceit.1

Being humble is to do with how we think about ourselvesand others, which is why Paul said, in humility valueothers above yourselves, not looking to your own interestsbut each of you to the interests of the others.2 In otherwords, it’s treating others with dignity and respect, givingpreference to their needs and wishes more than to ourown.

It’s not about putting yourself down and thinking thateveryone else is better than you. Paul made that clear inRomans 12:3 when he effectively said, “Don’t think ofyourself more highly than you ought, but don’t ignorewhat you are good at either.” He goes on to say thatwe’ve all been given different skills and we should usethem to the best of our ability.

So what does humility look like in practice? Paul told thePhilippian Christians to imitate Christ Jesus because He isthe perfect role model. Jesus said He was gentle andhumble3 and that He had “not come to be served, but toserve”.4 Throughout His life He always put the needs ofothers first, even when He was suffering so muchHimself.

Although Jesus is in very nature God (and therefore hasthe right to be served by everyone) He made Himselfnothing and took the nature of a servant, which eventuallyled Him to the cross where He gave His life for our sins.5

On the cross we see the supreme example of humblesacrifice, but another great example for us to imitate iswhen Jesus washed His disciples’ feet.6 In fact, He toldthem specifically that this was an example for them (andus) to follow – if He, their Lord and Teachercould wash their feet, they certainly should wash oneanother’s feet!

It wasn’t just an act of extraordinary love and kindness –doing something that no-one else was willing to do. Heknew how important it was that we learn humility so,putting aside His own rights and position, He didn’t just

wash their feet as a token gesture, He washed and driedtheir feet. He never did anything reluctantly or in halfmeasures and so, when we serve one another, we shoulddo likewise.

I said earlier that being humble isn’t thinking of otherpeople as more worthy than ourselves, but rather, it’srecognising our self-worth and still being willing to serveothers. The disciples at the time had no idea of howworthy Jesus was. They knew Him as their ‘Lord andTeacher’, but didn’t really understand that He was alsothe Lord of lords, the King of kings, creator of all things,giver of life, the Almighty God.

Jesus was fully aware of who He was,7 but He was stillwilling to get down and wash the disciples’ feet; andbecause we know now what the disciples didn’t knowthen, His example should have even more impact on us. Ifthe Son of God could wash the feet of His disciples, isthere anything, no matter how lowly, that we shouldn’t bewilling do for one another?

A favourite story of mine is the one about a group ofmonks who asked a local hermit how they could savetheir monastery which had gone into decline. The wisehermit said he didn’t know how to save the monastery,but he did know that one of them was chosen by God forgreat things. They had no idea to whom he was referringbut, believing that one of them was a great man of God,they each started to treat each other with more dignity andrespect. In time, this new attitude of humility towardseach other transformed the character of the monastery andit began to flourish once more.

We have all been chosen by God for great things. May welearn to follow the example of our Lord Jesus and serveeach other in humility.

References: (1) Phil. 2:2-3 (2) Phil. 2:3-4 (3) Mat. 11:29(4) Mark 10:45 (5) Phil. 2:6-8 (6) John 13 (7) John13:1,3

Bible quotations from NIV

Serving in humilityIan Seddon, Manchester, England

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Why should we pray together as well as praying asindividuals (aside from the fact we are commanded to)?Why have church prayer meetings? This article, based onthe mention of the church prayers in Acts 2:41-42, isabout collective prayer in church. It attempts to look atthe advantage of communal prayer, fully accepting thisseventh listed item in these verses is a characteristicfunction of a biblical church of God. We hope to establishthat there’s real power in praying together.

This becomes especially clear when we are broughttogether in crisis. Prayer is powerful when thecongregation of God's people have a shared understandingof their need. This was the case when they approachedSamuel at Mizpah in 1 Samuel 7. They were alreadyaware of their need of God as they called on Samuel tolead them in intercessory prayer for God to deliver themfrom their enemies.

That occasion for prayer related to dealing with sinamong God’s people. We might pause to observe that theprocedures God authorized for the forgiveness of sinamong His people1 showed a clear distinction betweenerrors of the whole congregation2 and those ofindividuals.3 The high priest represented the entire peoplein corporate approach to God.4 From such backgroundmaterial, we would wish to emphasize that corporate orchurch prayer is viewed differently by God from prayereven by groups of individuals.

Turning now to the New Testament record, a look at afew examples of actual church of God prayer meetingsserves to underscore the key point that they bring the

corporate activities of the local church (and of thefellowship of the churches of God) to our attention.

In Acts 4:23-31 (ESV), we find the Church of God atJerusalem in prayer. Prior to this, the apostles, Peter andJohn, had been arrested for performing a healing in thename of Jesus. It would appear their church friends hadconvened a church prayer gathering for ...

When they were released, they went to their friendsand reported what the chief priests and the eldershad said to them. And when they heard it, they liftedtheir voices together to God and said, “SovereignLord, who made the heaven and the earth and thesea and everything in them, who through the mouthof our father David, your servant, said by the HolySpirit, “‘Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoplesplot in vain? The kings of the earth set themselves,and the rulers were gathered together, against theLord and against his Anointed’- for truly in this citythere were gathered together against your holyservant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod andPontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and thepeoples of Israel, to do whatever your hand and yourplan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord,look upon their threats and grant to your servants tocontinue to speak your word with all boldness, whileyou stretch out your hand to heal, and signs andwonders are performed through the name of yourholy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, theplace in which they were gathered together wasshaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit

At the core

Prayer that powersBrian Johnston, Leigh, England

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and continued to speak the word of God withboldness.

Peter and John surely felt supported in prayer. The churchtogether brought its ongoing evangelical programmebefore God. It was not all about Peter and John. Throughpraying together about our shared activities we gain asense of shared involvement in the life of the localchurch. This sense of mutual responsibility is largelydeveloped in the prayer meeting. For it’s there we face thestrain of care together and express our emotional responseto unfolding situations which affect us all as a believingcommunity in our locality. Has permission for a specificwitness occasion been denied by the authorities? What ifsomeone shares a strongly negative response they'vereceived. We respond corporately by uniting in prayer forGod's overruling. The challenges of recent missions toZimbabwe and Mozambique energized prayer effectivelyacross the international community that resulted in twochurches being established. This is meaningful fellowshipin the Gospel when in partnership together we engage inthe furtherance of the ‘Great Commission’.5

In no other gathering of the church can the truth be betterlived out that we are in character what the body of Christis.6 In a well-functioning church prayer meeting, we losesight of ourselves as individuals as we view ourselves inprayer as part of a whole. Whenever sincere and uprighthearts are involved, this has the greatly beneficial effectof bringing us closer together, with a deepening sense ofunity against a common foe. Nothing strengthens ties witheach other and our respect for one another more than tohear each praying with integrity for the other.7 Anexample of this can be found in Acts 12:1-12.

Now about that time Herod the king laid hands onsome who belonged to the church in order tomistreat them. And he had James the brother of Johnput to death with a sword. When he saw that itpleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also… On the very night when Herod was about to bringhim forward … an angel of the Lord suddenlyappeared and … struck Peter’s side and woke himup … his chains fell off his hands … And he went outand continued to follow … they came to the iron gatethat leads into the city, which opened for them byitself; and they went out and went along one street,and immediately the angel departed from him … Andwhen he realized this, he went to the house of Mary,the mother of John who was also called Mark, wheremany were gathered together and were praying.

Editors of this magazine recollect a time when a life-threatening car accident had befallen our fellow-editor,Peter Hickling. Prayer was called for urgently across theworldwide community of churches of God. Those prayergatherings were energised with a deep sense ofdependence on God, as each prayer offered was aligned inagreement to ask for God’s intervention. This displayedthe efficacy of church prayers featuring a shared burden,intensively requested.

Such times show best our dependence on God, especiallywhen it’s a very focused, united, themed prayer meeting.It also demonstrates most clearly to us all how Godlistens. It reveals the power of prayer publicly. We are allwitnesses of what we have asked for, and of that whichwe have received. A public prayer meeting is a witness toany observers as to how seriously we take the practice ofthe presence of God.

A Spirit-led church will be a prayer-led church, as we findin Acts 13:1-3.

Now there were at Antioch, in the church that wasthere, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeonwho was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, andManaen who had been brought up with Herod thetetrarch, and Saul. While they were ministering tothe Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apartfor Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which Ihave called them.” Then, when they had fasted andprayed and laid their hands on them, they sent themaway.

The church prayer meeting can become the source ofinitiative and of volunteers for the work of the Lordlocally. It is such prayer times together in the presence ofthe Lord, and as led by his Spirit, that expand our visionof the Lord’s work. It’s then we ‘lift up our eyes’ to thesovereign Lord and then lift them up on the ripe harvestfields.8 God invites us to see things on a grander scale,and to broaden our horizons9 beyond the confines of ourown desires and at times rather petty ambitions. God’sagenda is impressed on us for the advance of his kingdomand we are lifted out of our own little world.

Of course, in the church prayer meeting, less maturebelievers learn the art of prayer. Different temperamentsand styles can benefit greatly from interaction: thereserved and the effusive; the analytical and theemotional; the generalities and the specifics.

But what if the sense of power is lacking? How can wemaximize the effectiveness of church prayer meetings onan ‘average week’? In an earlier issue of NT this year, wewere helpfully directed to the use of Scripture in prayer.A short additional ministry time before the church turns toprayer is helpful for focus. As we see from 2Thessalonians 1:11 (NIV), the Apostle Paul did not turnto prayer with a blank mind, but after first bringing tomind relevant concerns. We do well to encourageinformed praying at a church level (as well as personally),perhaps using a prayer-board to stimulate and collateprayer requests. Most importantly, brothers need to comewith a real desire to lay hold of God. If the weeklyprogramme allows, it may be better for the prayergathering not to follow back-to-back after other churchactivities, so that saints can be fresh and focused beforethe Lord.

References: (1) Lev. 4 (2) Lev. 4:13 (3) Lev. 4:27(4) see Ex. 28:29 (5) Mat. 28:18-20 (6) 1 Cor. 12:27(7) Gal. 6:2 (8) John 4:35 (9) John 14:12

Bible quotations from NASB unless otherwise stated

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Josiah was king of Judah in the seventh century BC. Hecame to the throne as a boy of only 8 years of agefollowing the assassination of his father.1 The story of hisreign is found in 2 Kings 22 to 24 and in 2 Chronicles 34to 35. Josiah was the last king of Judah of which it wassaid: He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD andfollowed the ways of his father David, not turning aside tothe right or to the left.2

There had been an alarming spiritual deterioration in thethree hundred years since the magnificent reign ofSolomon. In place of a people rejoicing in their God,3Judah had become a people of whom the Lord said, theyhave forsaken me and burned incense to other gods andaroused my anger by all that their hands have made...4Josiah’s grandfather, Manasseh, had done more evil thanthe Amorites who preceded him.5

How was a young lad to follow half a century ofspiritually bankrupt leadership and total abandonment ofthe Lord? God’s Law was only a distant memory and thetemple was filled with images to pagan gods. The Book ofthe Law was missing, later to be found among the ruins ofthe temple, obviously unread and unknown! Josiah wouldonly succeed by the promises of God and the influence ofgodly people. That is the same for each of us today if weare to survive as disciples of the Lord Jesus in a pagan,ungodly, environment.

InfluenceWe can all feel the benefit of a godly influence in ourlives. Maybe, like me, you had that: people who helpedyou. Maybe you can be that godly influence for someone

now. Josiah had Hilkiah. He was the high priest and heseems to have been the positive influence for good in thelife of a very young and inexperienced king. Let’sremember that Josiah was brought up in a godless family,among a people who were set on doing their own thingwith no thought for the Lord their God. We have here anexample of the Lord choosing to reveal Himself to ayoung person who, otherwise, would have been as much apagan as those around him. Thank God for revealingHimself to you!

CommitmentWe are either committed or we are not! If not, we drift.We read, In the eighth year of his reign, while he was stillyoung, he began to seek the God of his father David.6 A16 year-old teenager taking God seriously. Later on weread: The king stood by the pillar and renewed thecovenant in the presence of the LORD – to follow theLORD and keep his commands, statutes and decrees withall his heart and all his soul...7

When God prompts us, we start to seek Him and Heresponds to us. Later on, we may become aware of ourneed to rededicate our lives in fuller commitment. Maybethat’s something for you to think about today. I certainlyhave known those times of committing my life to theLord and renewing my promises.

Respect for God’s WordHow could the people of God lose the Word of God?8 Thedistinctive place God should have had in the people’shearts and minds had been lost by compromise with the

world around and by syncretism: the bringingtogether of different religions and ideas. Does thatsound familiar in the twenty first century?

We may have Bibles on our shelves and in ourcupboards. But God’s Word can still be lost to us.Let’s get into the habit of not only reading God’sWord, but believing it and acting upon it. Let’sput God above all and let’s do what He tells us todo even if it is out of ‘sync’ with our society andits values.

References: (1) 2 Kings 21:23-24; 22:1 (2) 2Chron. 34: 2 (3) See 2 Chron. 7:10 (4) 2 Chron.34: 25 (5) 2 Kings 21:11 (6) 2 Chron. 34:3 (7) 2Kings 23:3 (8) See 2 Kings 22:8, 10-11

Bible quotations from the NIV

A good king of Judah

King Josiah of JudahThe right influencesDavid Webster, Liverpool, England

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A Gentile monarch

Darius IPhilip Allen, Mountain Ash, Wales

In around 538 BC, Cyrus king of Persia, inspired by God,issued a decree allowing the Jews to return to Jerusalemfrom exile in Babylon. Many returned, cleared away therubble of the former temple and laid the foundations for anew one. However, there was opposition to the work andthe temple was not completed. In the book of Ezra weread that the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin1 offeredto help with the rebuilding, but were turned away andthey then tried to frustrate the builders until the secondyear of the reign of Darius.2

Darius I, also known as Darius the Great, ruled thePersian Empire at its peak. How he came to become kingis not known with any great certainty, but it seems that heused both force and cunning to achieve his purpose. Hewas a great administrator and divided his empire intoprovinces, organized a new monetary system and madeAramaic the official language. He built roads, majorconstruction projects and introduced standard weightsand measures. Through these changes, his empire wascentralized and unified.3

Darius became king in 522 BC. During his reign, throughthe encouragement of the prophets Haggai andZechariah, Zerubbabel and Jeshua recommenced therebuilding of the temple.4 Once again, the Jews’ enemiesattempted to disrupt their efforts and Tattenai, the Persiangovernor of Judea, challenged the Jews and asked, “whohas commanded you to build this temple and finish thiswall?”5 Despite this challenge, in all these things the eyeof their God was upon the elders of the Jews, so that theycould not make them cease till a report could go toDarius.6

Consequently, Tattenai wrote a letter to Darius warninghim that the temple was being rebuilt. The purpose of theletter was to turn the king against the Jews and to stop thework. It asked Darius to check whether Cyrus had, infact, issued a decree to permit the work and advised himto search the archives to see if the decree could befound.7

Darius ordered that a search should be made and thedecree of Cyrus was found, not in the main archive inBabylon, but in an out-of-the-way repository in theprovince of Media.8 Whether the decree had been placedin an obscure location for malign purposes is not known,but God ensured that His purposes were fulfilled and thedocument was found.

Once the decree had been found, Darius commandedTattenai and the enemies of the Jews to stay away fromthe building works and to let the Jews continue with the

rebuilding. Furthermore, the king decreed that theJewish workers were to be paid from the royal treasury,and that the builders should be given whatever suppliesthey needed for the offering of acceptable sacrifices atthe restored house of God. In addition, he ordered thatanyone attempting to destroy the temple or disobey hisdecree would be impaled on a beam, and his house madeinto a pile of rubble.

Interestingly, Darius states that the purpose of all of thiswas that the Jews may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma tothe God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king andhis sons”.9

The temple was finished in the sixth year of Darius’ reignand the Jews assembled to celebrate its completion.

It seems that Darius (550-486 BC) followed theZoroastrian religion during his life, but nevertheless Godused him to bring about His purposes for His people. Byhis decrees, Darius behaved in a friendly way towards theJews, and they prospered under his reign.

Later in his life, in 490 BC, Darius was defeated by theGreeks at the battle of Marathon and, despite strugglinghard to re-establish his rule, he died four years later, abroken man.

These events remind us that ‘the Most High rules in thekingdom of men.’10 and:

His dominion is an everlasting dominion,And His kingdom is from generation to generation.All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as

nothing;He does according to His will in the army of heavenand among the inhabitants of the earth.No one can restrain His handOr say to Him, “What have You done?”11

References: (1) Ezra 4:1 (2) Ezra 4:5,24 (3) As noted insecular history e.g. Wikipedia article on Darius I(4) Ezra 5:1-2 (5) Ezra 5:3 (6) Ezra 5:5 (7) Ezra 5:6-17(8) Ezra 6:1-2 (9) Ezra 6:2-15 (10) Dan. 4:17 (11) Dan.4:34-35 Bible quotations from NKJV

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Praying in faith“And whatever you ask in prayer, youwill receive, if you have faith.”1

“Therefore I tell you, whatever youask in prayer, believe that you havereceived it, and it will be yours.”2

These striking words, recorded byMatthew and Mark, were spoken bythe Lord Jesus to His disciples inJerusalem, just a few days before Hewent to Calvary. It represents abeautiful and challenging promise forall praying Christians, but they arewords that could be easily misapplied.Do we really have the right to expectanything from the Lord so long as we‘believe’ it will happen? Is Jesusteaching us the power of positivethinking here? Could these words beused to justify the message of the socalled ‘prosperity gospel’? Tocorrectly understand what Jesus ispromising, we address the question,what does it actually mean to ‘pray infaith’?

Faith foundationsLet’s say a few opening things aboutfaith itself. First, what is faith?Hebrews defines faith as, theassurance of things hoped for, theconviction of things not seen.3 Thisverse illustrates at a basic level thenecessity of faith when we pray,because the very act of prayer istalking to an invisible God.4 Second,what is our faith based on? Romanstells us that, faith comes fromhearing, and hearing through theword of Christ.5 So our faith in prayermust be founded on a correctunderstanding of who God is, whatHe is like and what He desires to do.We must never mould God into animage that suits our own taste. Noamount of belief, no matter howsincere it is, will prompt God to dosomething that is inconsistent withHis character and will, which He has

revealed in His word and through theperson of Jesus Christ.

Faith honours GodFaith in God when we pray honoursHim because we are trusting what Hesays about Himself. We are trustingHis divine attributes: Hisomniscience, His omnipotence, Hisbenevolence and His faithfulness.

Abraham was commended for hisfaith; Paul writes about him, he grewstrong in his faith as he gave glory toGod, fully convinced that God wasable to do what he had promised.That is why his faith was counted tohim as righteousness.6 Note thatAbraham’s faith was based on whatGod had already promised, that isbased on God’s word. The Romancenturion was commended for hisfaith when he trusted in the supremeauthority of the words that Jesusspoke.7 The Lord often commendedthe faith of those who came to Himfor healing.

Ironically, it was often His discipleswho were lovingly berated by theirmaster for lacking faith. For example,they failed to trust that He was incontrol of their lives during the stormon the sea,8 and they were told thatthe reason they could not heal a boywith a demon was because of their“little faith”.9

Believing is receivingThe Lord Jesus teaches that we willreceive what we ask – if we havefaith.10 In contrast, James tells us thatthe person who doubts, must notsuppose that he will receive anythingfrom the Lord.11 This is not talkingabout the strength of positivethinking, but about having confidencein the person to whom we are makingthe request. We know that in realitywe do not possess perfect faith. TheLord’s first disciples asked the Lord,“Increase our faith”,12 to which Jesus

replied, “if you had faith like a grainof mustard seed”13 then they woulddo things that are only possible forGod.

Well guided faithWe know that “with God all thingsare possible.”14 However, believingin what God can do must beaccompanied by an understanding ofwhat God desires to do, or else ourfaith is misguided. Who would doubtthat God had the power to removewhatever it was that Paul referred toas his ‘thorn in the flesh’,15 but,despite Paul’s repeated pleadings,God’s sovereign wisdom knew that itwas in Paul’s best interests for thethorn to remain; Paul had to trust thatGod does what is right, and wouldgive him the grace to cope with this.

There are requests we can make ofGod which we know without anydoubt God will grant us, because wecan base it on an unequivocal promisein His revealed Word. For examplepursuing wisdom – James declares, Ifany of you lacks wisdom, let him askGod who gives generously…but lethim ask in faith.16 We must also trustGod’s earnest desire to give us thethings He promises. Matthew recordshow Jesus assured His disciples thatour heavenly Father is certain to“give good things (or the “HolySpirit”17) to those who ask.”18

The Apostle John writes: And this isthe confidence that we have towardhim, that if we ask anythingaccording to his will he hears us. Andif we know that he hears us inwhatever we ask, we know that wehave the requests that we have askedof him.19 Of course, it is not alwayseasy to know what God’s will is whenit comes to specific issues in our lifefor which we cannot quote anapplicable scripture used in context.In such cases we acknowledge ourlack of knowledge as we seek the

Praying …

In faith and righteousnessAndy Seddon, Swindon, England

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Holy Spirit’s guidance, but withoutdoubting God’s power and goodnessto do what is right.

Praying in righteousnessThe prayer of a righteous person hasgreat power as it is working.20

Righteousness is faith’s guide. Livinga righteous life means that our desireswill be increasingly tuned to God’sdesires, and therefore what we ask ismore likely to be in accordance withGod’s will. This is why, the desire ofthe righteous will be granted,21 and“those who hunger and thirst forrighteousness… shall be satisfied.”22

The trouble is that we are so oftenled, not by godly desires, but byselfish and worldly desires, and thiswill obviously have an impact on ourprayer life. James seems to have thisin mind when he writes, “You askand do not receive, because you askwrongly, to spend it on yourpassions.”23 The remedy is to Delightyourself in the Lord, and He will giveyou the desires of your heart.24

Sin’s destructive influenceThe negative impact of unaddressedsin should not be understated. ThePsalmist was conscious that, If I hadcherished iniquity in my heart, theLord would not have listened.25 It isnot because sin weakens God’spower, but because of the damagethat sin does to our fellowship withGod. Isaiah writes: Behold the Lord’shand is not shortened, that it cannotsave, or his ear dull, that it cannothear; but your iniquities have made aseparation between you and yourGod, and your sins have hidden hisface from you so that he does nothear.26

If we are knowingly toleratingdisobedience to God’s commands,this must change. When we addressthis we have a wonderful anticipationof God’s mercy and blessing. Theapostle John assures us, Beloved, ifour heart does not condemn us, wehave confidence before God; andwhatever we ask we receive from him,because we keep his commandmentsand do what pleases him.27 This iscontrasted with a solemn warning in

Proverbs that, If one turns away hisear from hearing the law, even hisprayer is an abomination.28

We are not presuming moralperfection, but rather our attitudetowards sin and God’s righteousnesswhich is important. When we repentwe can be assured of God’s mercy;God says: But this is the one to whomI will look: he who is humble andcontrite in spirit and trembles at myword.29

References: (1) Mat. 21:22 (2) Mark11:24 (3) Heb. 11:1 (4) Col. 1:15(5) Rom. 10:17 (6) Rom. 4:20-22(7) See Mat. 8:10 (8) See Mat. 8:26(9) Mat. 17:20 (10) Mat. 21:22(11) Jas. 1:7-8 (12) Luke 17:5(13) Luke 17:6 (14) Mat. 19:26(15) See 2 Cor. 12:7-9 (16) Jas. 1:5-6(17) Luke 11:13 (18) Mat. 7:11(19) 1 John 5:14-15 (20) Jas. 5:16(21) Prov. 10:24 (22) Mat. 5:6(23) Jas. 4:3 (24) Ps. 37:4 (25) Ps.66:18 (26) Is. 59:1-2 (27) 1 John3:21-22 (28) Prov. 28:9 (29) Is. 66:2

Bible quotations from ESV

Our faith in prayer must be foundedon a correct understanding of whoGod is, what He is like and what Hedesires to do.

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In my younger days (as a teenagerthat is!) a favoured pastime was tomeet a couple of friends at the localcoffee shop in town, claim the sofa bythe window and enjoy a coffee whilewatching and commenting on thepassers-by going about their business.We said that we were ‘people-watching’, but in retrospect theinnocence of that phrase belies adeeper issue – with the watchingcame comments, and those commentsusually turned into judgment of thosewe saw. With even a brief study ofscripture we can condemn this‘judgmentalism’ as sinful,1 and yet itis also something that is easy to fallinto and often tolerated in Christiancircles.

To better understand the issue inquestion, a working definition ofjudgmentalism is useful. ‘Judge’, orkrinō in the Greek, means to separate,as in separating the wheat from thechaff, the useful from the useless, orthe good from the bad. A judge in thelegal context would separate theinnocent from the guilty bycomparing a person to a standard setout in law, and interpret whether ornot they meet that standard. Oneacting judgmentally outside the legalcontext takes a similar role uponthemselves – to interpret whetheranother person has met a certainstandard. In the earlier coffee-shop-example, the standard was not one setby lawmakers or scripture, but myown preferences and taste. Even tojudge someone based on the onlyrighteous standard – the Law of God

– requires interpretation (for example,the Pharisees’ interpretation of theLaw did not produce the kind ofrighteousness God really desires) andis ultimately a role that God hasreserved for Himself.2

It is worth clarifying that, based onJohn 7:24, in certain circumstancesjudgment may be correct – it is in ournature to make judgments aboutthings, and in this instance the LordJesus gives instruction to judge ‘withrighteous judgment’. In this example,too, though, we see the fundamentalreason why humans are inadequatejudges – Jesus commands us to judgenot based on appearances, and yetGod himself reminded Samuel somany years ago that “man looks atthe outward appearance, but theLORD looks at the heart.”3 As theLord Jesus countered the hypocrisy ofthe Jewish leaders, he also exposesthe tendency of humans to judgebased on outward appearance in away that tends to damage thosearound us.

Being judgmental of others can beparticularly damaging when it takesplace in the church context (though,again, this is not to deny that churchdiscipline is necessary at times). Thederogatory comment made over achoice of outfit, or out-of-tunesinging, creates our own standard andenforces it upon a fellow member ofthe body of Christ in such a way as todiminish them and exalt ourselves.Indeed, a study of young peopleleaving churches in the US back in2007 had ‘church members seemed

judgmental or hypocritical’ as one ofthe most commonly-cited reasons forleaving a church.4 In small, close-knitgroups word can travel fast and thejudgmental attitude of one can causeanother to stumble and be broughtdown – contrary to Paul’s clearexhortation in Romans 12:9-13 to Bedevoted to one another in brotherlylove. Even in this context, a lack ofobedience to Paul’s inspiredcommand would be sinful, and thejudgment of others, particularlyothers in the body of Christ, isdamaging where the apostle wouldinstead seek for us to build oneanother up.5 But perhaps there is amore sinister and damaging root fromwhich we can trace the sin ofjudgmentalism.

Many people can quote Matthew 7:1,and quite often in the old English –Judge not, that ye be not judged(KJV), but the familiarity of thismessage may have removed from usthe solemn importance of thecommand. The Lord Himself explainsHis meaning for this in the context ofthis verse – that the judgment ofothers for failings that we ourselvesexhibit is the essence of hypocrisyand a strong condemnation of theattitudes showed by the Jewishleaders of the day.6 As the apostlePaul reminds us, all have sinned andfall short of the glory of God,7 and sonone of us truly have the right tojudge others, since we are all as guiltyas they. Paul clarifies the error anddanger of hypocrisy perhaps mostexplicitly in Romans 2:1-11 – when

Respectable sins?

JudgmentalismBen Jones, Toronto, Canada

There are some sins that we judge to be very serious and agree thatthey are worthy of punishment – or at the very least require

repentance and a change of behaviour. There are other attitudesthat some may see as more minor character flaws.

But, more to the point, how does God view them?

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we judge other people, we accusethem of the very things that weourselves do, and occupy a place asjudge to which we have no right. Forthis reason, James reminds us thatThere is only one Lawgiver andJudge, the One who is able to saveand to destroy; but who are you whojudge your neighbor.2

Since God is the only Judge, and Hisstandard is His Law, whenever wejudge others we are not onlyhypocritical but also usurping (orattempting to usurp) the position ofGod Himself. With even a moment’sreflection on this thought, we canbegin to appreciate the magnitude ofthis seemingly ‘respectable’ sin: we,as flawed and sinful people, claim tohave authority to fill the judgmentseat of the righteous and holy God.Talk about a slippery slope! With thisin mind, two questions arise: why dowe tolerate it in others, and how dowe avoid falling into this trapourselves?

Perhaps at least one reason why wetolerate this particular sin is to dowith its prevalence – when a sin isfrequently committed and frequentlyobserved, the sense of shock anddistaste that we feel when witnessing(or committing) certain sins can bedulled and replaced with a worryingtolerance and acceptance. However,this in no way diminishes the severityof the sin in God’s eyes. Paul isexplicit and clear in stating that thewages for sin – any sin – is death.8

Our first solace in this meditationcomes from that very same verse: butthe free gift of God is eternal life inChrist Jesus our Lord.8 Despite thegravity of any judgment we pass onothers, or our tolerance of it in ourown churches, we are covered andredeemed by the grace of our greatGod. In this, too, we see a morepositive and fundamental reason whywe, as sinners, should not take themantle of judgment upon ourselves –we are all sinners, and as Christianswe have no righteousness ourselves,but only that which was granted to uson the basis of faith in Christ.9

The wonderful truth of our salvationis that God’s grace is available to all,because we all need it! While God isperfectly entitled to judge us againstthe perfect standard of His Law, wecan now be confident that each andevery imperfection is covered by thegrace of God and the sacrifice of ourLord Jesus Christ. In this is both theultimate condemnation of the sin ofjudgmentalism, and also our ultimateopportunity for freedom from it: ifsalvation is available to all, we canand should focus on sharing this newsinstead of judging those who fallshort (and ultimately bring judgmentto ourselves, because we all fallshort).

Just as Paul exhorted the Romans toveer away from being judgmental andinstead focus on positiveexhortation,10 based in brotherly love,

we too should have this as the focusin both our church context and in ourconversations with unbelievers. Outof that love, we should remind oneanother of the salvation we have inChrist. Instead of judging orattempting to condemn others inhypocrisy (without Christ, we are allcondemned), we should insteadcelebrate the gift of eternal life.8

References:

(1) Mat. 7:1-6; Jas. 4:12; Rom. 2:1(2) Jas. 4:12 (3) 1 Sam. 16:7(4) https://lifewayresearch.com/2007/08/07/reasons-18-to-22-year-olds-drop-out-of-church/ (5) 1 Thes.5:11 (6) Mat. 7:1-5 (7) Rom. 3:23(8) Rom. 6:23 (9) 2 Cor. 5:21(10) Rom. 12:9-13

Bible quotations from the NASB

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Until recently, the most likely place you’d read about‘tariffs’ would be in an economics textbook – but nowthey’re very much front-page news! China has justthreatened tariffs of between 5% and 25% on $60 billionof US goods. That’s retaliation for the US recentlythreatening to impose tariffs of $200 billion on someChinese goods. A similar tit-for-tat is ongoing betweenthe US and two other major trading ‘partners’ – Canadaand the EU.

What are tariffs and how do they work?Tariffs are a bit like VAT – the % is added to the saleprice of the product, which the government then collects.The government imposes tariffs on selected products fromselected countries to make them more expensive for theirown consumers to purchase.

Why on earth would they want to do that?It’s all about ‘protectionism’ of a country’s industries – ifproducts from other countries become more expensive,it’s hoped that consumers will decide to buy domestically-produced goods instead, therefore helping the localeconomy. They often work in tandem with governmentsubsidies that make local products cheaper.

Why are they suddenly in the news?Recent decades have seen a lot of global trade dealswhich have significantly reduced barriers to internationaltrade. The US President believes that the US has got a baddeal and been taken advantage of, and that these tariffswill level the playing field and help struggling industriesthat produce steel, vehicles and coal.

Are they new?Actually, the USA was a fan of tariffs almost from itsvery start – the second piece of legislation that wasenacted post-independence brought in tariffs to help thenew nation to survive and thrive. The defeat of the free-trade South in the Civil War meant their continued use,notably in response to the Great Depression, until after the

Second World War, when the impoverished state of manynations called for a new world order and greaterinternational co-operation.

Are they effective?You’d have to search to find an economics expert whosays that they are. As we’re seeing, retaliatory measuresescalate so that things end up more expensive foreveryone and more jobs are lost than created – theopposite of what’s intended! For example, the EU’s37.5% tariff on American-made jeans threatens to wipeout domestic manufacture. Although getting ‘tough ontrade’ initially seems politically attractive, the wholescheme carries a huge risk of completely backfiring. Atthe risk of spiritualizing economic theory, it does seemquite a ‘worldly’ solution, doesn’t it?

How does it affect me?You’ll be paying more for some everyday goods.However, we don’t have a choice, for Romans 13instructs us to give to everyone what we owe them,including punitive taxes and tariffs! But it can make usthink about whether we might be guilty of actionsourselves, which might seem a good idea at first, but carrythe risk of ultimately being counter-productive, and arecertainly not the hallmarks of a disciple of Jesus. In fact,Jesus commands a completely different approach:

“If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them theother also. If someone takes your coat, do notwithhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone whoasks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you,do not demand it back. Do to others as you wouldhave them do to you. … love your enemies, do goodto them, and lend to them without expecting to getanything back. Then your reward will be great, andyou will be children of the Most High, because he iskind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, justas your Father is merciful.”1

It’s interesting that Jesus promises a great reward, theexact opposite of what His commands seem to indicate –gain instead of loss! Of course, He’s talking aboutspiritual, not financial, gain which is much more valuable.That’s why Peter urges not to repay evil with evil or insultwith insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing,because to this you were called so that you may inherit ablessing.2 We’re unlikely to have the opportunity toimplement this anti-protectionist strategy on the worldstage, but it will probably be enough of a challenge to doso with our friends, family, fellow-Christians, workcolleagues and the other people we come into dailycontact with!

References: (1) Luke 6:29-31, 35-36 (2) 1 Pet. 3:9 NIV

A titanic tariff tussleMartin Jones, Hamilton, Canada

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Personal story

Living in God’s willThawng Lian Khup (Khupboih) interviews Thang Khaw Lian ofthe Church of God in Khumnuai, Myanmar

Could you tell us what youbelieved before you receivedGod’s salvation?I believed that by our own effort wewould be saved and go to heaven.

How and when did you believe inthe Lord Jesus Christ as yoursaviour, since we can’t get toheaven by our own effort or goodwork?On 14 October 1992 our brotherJames shared the good news withme. On that day I accepted the LordJesus Christ as my personal saviour.He baptized me soon after and I wasadded to the Church of God inKhumnuai, Chin State.

Following that, what changesstarted happening in your life?I felt like my burden was rolledaway. With a new heart and mind Ihad a great desire to live and do mybest for God by being committed. Iwas active in the church gatheringsand activities.

How did you face up totemptation and backsliding inyour Christian life?In the year of 2002 I went to India toearn money. When I came backhome, unfortunately I was agreeingwith my friends and started to drink.So, instead of meeting with thechurch, I was backsliding. Wheneverbrothers and sisters from the churchinvited me to attend the churchmeeting I always got angry andwhen I drank I felt like stoning them.As I continued drinking alcohol, Ialso started smoking drugs (Canza)and I even sold to other people.Many times James and our churchelder Lian Khaw Thawng came andvisited me in my house and taughtme from God’s Word and wanted me

to change my life. I know that theylove me so much and care for me.

Unexpectedly the village chief andelders in Khumnuai chose me tobecome one of the defenders in thevillage to work with them. Withoutdoing any proper work, I spent mylife eating and drinking and sellingCanza, which is against thegovernment and they arrested me on11 July 2012.

What made you change?They first took me to Endailay Jailfor three months as a criminal andafter that they put me to anotherplace called Zebet. Around onemonth in that place, I suffered a lotfor the need of Canza such that Icould not even think. After onemonth I found a Bible inside theprison. I came to realize that, thoughI can’t change my life, God wantedto change my life and bring me herethrough God’s word in Jeremiah18:4, the vessel that he made of claywas marred in the hand of the potter,so he made it again into anothervessel. I also read from Hebrews12:8, But if you are withoutchastening, of which all havebecome partakers, then you areillegitimate and not sons. And in thebook of Proverbs 3:11-12, My son donot despise the chastening of theLord … for whom the Lord loves Hecorrects, just as a father the son inwhom he delights.

In repentance, I prayed to God withtears and I committed my life in Hishand to lead me according to Hiswill.

Inside the prison, except forindividual prayer, there was noChristian fellowship. I read in a bookwritten by William Carey: ‘Expectgreat things from God; attempt greatthings for God.’ That word reallytouched my heart and, in 2013, with

one of my friends, we approachedthe keeper in the jail and asked fortheir permission to have Christianfellowship on Lord’s Day, but theyrefused. On 27 April 2015 we had anew officer and keeper in the jail.We approached them again and gotpermission from them.

As you were turning back to God,what comfort did you receive fromHim?

There was no one to depend upon inthe prison except God. He hassupplied all my need on time frommy mom and the church with theirsupport in prayer. As I was leadingthe Christian fellowship in theprison, some people misunderstoodme and told the officer that if theChristians continued their fellowshipit will not be good. By prayer, Icommitted my life to God that,because of His unfailing love, when Iget release from the prison I willseek first the kingdom of God andHis righteousness and live for Him.By God's blessing, although I wassentenced to be in the prison for tenyears, after five years and a month Iwas released.

What was the first thing you did?I have asked forgiveness from mymom, uncles and also the church forwhat I have done, with repentance,and I was added again to the church.Even though I have heard my wifemade a mistake with another, I haveforgiven my family also and livewith them again.

I am starting a new life again for theLord. I am so grateful that my mom,people in Khumnuai and thechurches of God, rejoice with me.

Bible quotations from NKJV

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The apostle Paul had a problem – he couldn’t be intwo places at once! A pioneer with an internationalperspective, he understood that God wants all peopleto be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth1 –and so in Romans 15 he reveals that, It has alwaysbeen my ambition to preach the gospel where Christwas not known.2 He then admits that, for many years,that’s what had prevented him stopping off at Rometo spend time with the church there. And when hefinally made it to Rome, Paul found himself bound inprison, his pioneering days now an impossibility!How did Paul overcome these frustrating physicallimitations? The answer is largely in his preciousparchments,3 a vital tool used strategically to reachpeople and places he otherwise couldn’t – as he wroteto Timothy from prison: God’s word is not chained.4And so people in Rome, Corinth, Laodicea,Thessalonica, Colossae and beyond could be edified,encouraged, exhorted and educated. He encouragedthe recipients to share what they’d received withothers,5 seeding a virality that’s reached all the way tous, 2000 years later!

And what of today? We’ve the same commission asPaul and basically the same physical limitations,despite global travel being much quicker. We mightfeel bound by work, family, health and/or financesthat impede our ability to “Go into all the world”6 to7.5 billion people; and even our so-called ‘full-timeworkers’ only have so many hours in the day andmust make wise decisions to best utilize time andenergy. But we can be very thankful that God’s given usan internet resource that’s so much more powerful than aparchment that could only be accessed one place at atime.

The Churches of God have utilized this resource for abouttwenty years, but entered into a new phase of activity withthe launch of a revamped website in late 2017. Withoutgetting into the technical details, it allows us moreflexibility in the content we can publish, as well as givingour website a more contemporary feel. If you haven’tvisited recently, check out www.churchesofgod.info,where you’ll find a couple of dozen videos, over 200Search For Truth podcasts, over 2,000 Soundcloud Bibletalks, plus written content (including twenty eBooks andover 90 years of NT archives in pdf format). There is nowalso a searchable map where you can find all currentlocations of churches of God, and a summary of what webelieve, information about our Bible camps – and muchmore. We intend to keep adding content fairly regularly,so bookmark the site and keep returning to it!

Comparing ourselves to the first century again, Paul hadkoine Greek as the ‘lingua franca’ of the day, and we’reblessed with English as a fairly common world language,but we’re certainly open to finding effective ways toreach people in other languages as well, so it’s a case of‘watch this space.’ Even so, we receive messages almostdaily from somewhere around the world, quite often witha request for help or seeking more information about alocal assembly. Google Analytics tells us that our largestsegments of traffic are from the UK and North America,but we tend to hear more frequently from visitors in Indiaand Africa. Only the Lord knows what will result fromthese enquiries.

As well as engaging with the work at some level – as acontent contributor or a consumer – you will make this24/7 ministry of ours a regular prayer focus, won’t you?

References: (1) 1 Tim. 2:4 (2) Rom. 15:20 (3) 2 Tim.4:13 (4) 2 Tim. 2:9 (5) Col. 4:16 (6) Mark 16:15

Bible quotations from NIV

Mission

Into the netMartin Jones, Hamilton, Canada