Rooted in the Rock

Consider Colossians 2:6-7, 'So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in Him , rooted and built up in Him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.' (NIV) There is never a place for the Christian to live outside of Christ, He is who we have received, believed in and find our life, Jesus is truly our all in all.

Whilst travelling over the summer months, I came across these trees which had been blown over by a recent storm and strong winds. They were on a small island off the coast of Finland near Helsinki. I was immediately reminded of the vital need to be rooted into the rock that is Jesus Christ. Many Christians live as it were upon the rock, enjoying the stability which Christianity can often bring to their lives, but when trouble and storm comes, they have no root in Jesus Himself. The picture tells the story of what happens to those who have not given their hearts to the Lord Jesus. Living upon Jesus without getting into Him is never enough; that is just a church attendance; just a reading of your bible; a token testimony; the Lord wants to root us into Himself. This is real relationship...this is not a token gesture, but the vital need to survive this life, where sin and sorrow would break us, yet Jesus wants to forgive us and strengthen us by His grace.

The parable of the Sower in Matthew 13:5 where some seed fell on rocky places, the soil was shallow and the plants grew quickly, but the plants like the trees in the picture on that island couldn't withstand the weather. Verse:21 is stark in that it plainly tells us the facts 'Since he has no root, he lasts only a short time.' Spiritual truth is sometimes harsh to hear, but better to know the truth than to live decieving oneself of safety. Jesus said that the fall of such a person is based on the rejection of the word of the Lord, the message of the Kingdom itself being at the very central place in our lives. Have we believed the truth and are we willing to let our lives get rooted into the truth by the work of the Holy Spirit without compromise.

Matthew Armstrong

Blantyre Oct 15th 2010

Issue 29

3. Noah's baptism - flying free

The sending out of the raven and then the dove shows the great difference in the work of the flash and the work of the Spirit, the raven looked for scraps/carcasses - man can not find the things of God, hope comes to us in our humanity by the Holy Spirit, the dove looked for the green leaves that showed the promise and potential instead of only death, debris and decay. Have we given room for God to brings us hope by faith in His baptism of judgement and salvation...the dove returns with the olive leaf, hope of life to come, hope of the fruit of the olive...the precious olive oil of anointing. This leads us to the baptism of Jesus where the Holy Spirit ascends upon him like a dove and remains on Him (Matthew 3:13-17). The anointing of the Holy Spirit comes upon Christ and remnained upon him, for those who have repented and believed in Christ will recieve the hope of the restoration of their fallen humanity throught the person of Jesus. We can not experience the wonder of this baptism without Jesus.

It is like the open tomb, the stone is rolled away...hope is risen, the wonder of what is to come. It is crowned with the glorious expectation of the complete work of the Spirit, remember the dove flew away and didn't return, it had flew in freedom to find somewhere to rest its feet. Our hope is not in ourselves, friends, church, denomination or even our vocation in life, hope for eternity is found only in Jesus... the dove rests upon Him, the work of the Spirit was not fulfilled in the judgement of water in Noah's day, the baptism which we need to experience salvation in is the sacrifice of the cross itself. Many people get baptised into churches as a sign of membership...and not into Christ, this falls short of Christian baptism - we are to be baptised into God: Father, Son and Holy Spirit - this is a relational baptism, it is personal, it is not a locational, doctrinal nor denominational one. We can not position ourselves into blessing, it is only in Christ; there is only one Jesus, one Baptism, one Spirit (Ephesians 4:4-6).

Noah gave God room to bring faith and hope into his heart, he again heard the voice of the Father (Genesis 8:15-16) to come out of the ark to begin their lives anew, this is a wondeful picture of the new birth in Christ...we are crucified, buried, and raised with Him, and then wonderfully we shall ascend with Him in the glorious aroma of the sacrifice given to the Father, His Son. Our Saviour Jesus brings restoration not just to humanity but also to all of the creation. Let us turn and open our hearts and give God opportunity to bring His hope in us by the Spirit gently ascending upon our hearts through faith, putting our feet on solid ground.

Matthew Armstrong,
Blantyre,
Issue 22, 31st March 2010.

2. Noah's Baptism - window of faith

After the tremendous downpour, which was the judgement upon the world Noah still finds himself in the ark, he needs a way out of the waters of judgement, they must become for him waters of restoration, otherwise it has been a wasted expereince of grace. Noah when building the ark did so under the instruction of God (Genesis 6:15-17, 22). However we read in 8:6 that Noah opened the window that he had made in the ark, a place of looking and wondering of the life that was before him, is God faithful to save him?

The window in 8:6 has the sense of 'perforation' a making of a hole? Did Noah make a hole in the door looking and expecting God to call him out to salvation? This shows faith as Noah looked patiently into the work of God. The window was opened by Noah in contrast to God shutting the ark, Noah was looking for the hope that was before him, being saved into the ark was to be saved from drowning, but not saved to live life on the earth which God had given humanity to live, rule over and enjoy. Noah soon hears the voice of God calling him out. The 'window/door' has a sense of 'glistening', maybe as Noah looked out the waters glistened with the sunshine - the same sunshine that would latter mingle with the rain to produce the rainbow of the covenant. The root of the word also has the source of the type of glistening - that is olive oil. The window itself is rooted in the picture of the 'anointing oil', the work of the Spirit which is so graciously given as we turn our hearts to the Lord in faith. Noah made some effort to open the window, but if the window is in the door, it is a door into the life of God, and this great covenant and salvation - leading us to the wonderful person of Jesus...through whom we enter into, and out of to feed on the good pastures for which He has given His life to us (John 10:9).

First the raven was sent out, and then the dove...the great symbol of peace and rest. Each seven days Noah sent out the birds, it has been thought that this happend then on the sabbath day, and it was the dove and not the raven that brought hope of peace on the day of rest itself, that is a wonderful picture of the work of the Holy Spirit. Week by week we must seek to live in the hope of the life given to us by Christ, we must have the desire to look into that which God has done for us, otherwise we might be left sitting in the ark...wondering what to do, when God has brought to us a salvation which sets us free to live in Him, by the covenant of Christ's death to us. This is sacrificial grace that is offered to us...more than a rainbow...let us by patient endurance know the quality of this 'anointing' of the Saviour.

Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre, March 31st 2010

One Way, the road home

This is not a church article but are some thoughts about some teaching ministry that I have been involved with this week.

I have recently been to a pastors conference in Phalombe East District, this is situated right around the Mulanje mountian massif, over the 3 days whilst driving there and back, the road took me right around the mountain. I was surprised at the variety of views which I encountered on the road, the mountian surprised me again and again with some breath taking views. On the road I encountered the usual bumps and holes, cows and goats, bicycles and trucks which needed to be navigated around. On the way I met up with the Malawian director/pastor of the mission and he showed me the rest of the way from a remote town called Chiringa. I was reminded that we need to shown the Way, I would have been lost far from home. Jesus is the 'the way the truth and the life'.

The 'One Way Mission' is a Finnish organisation that is working in Malawi and it was a pleasure to have been able to go and help in the teaching of 60-70 pastors many of whom have had little or no previous training, the gospel certainly becomes vital, the gospel has been described as a 'good story' a 'God story' and it certianly needs to be. Many of the pastors attending don't yet even have a bible yet are leading congregations in very rural areas. This is both wonderful and yet full of potential problems in Malawi.

We spent the time looking at Malachi in the mornings and Ephesians in the afternoons, this surprisingly went very well together, Gods word complements it self in the most wonderful way. For many of these leaders and pastors the gospel is going to be the most important, as it should be for all reference point in their lives, the obvious poverty, yet willingness to learn from God is wonderful as Luke quoted Jesus 'Blessed are the poor', this true, yet in the midst of it all the similar words of Jesus quoted by Matthew 'Blessed are the poor in spirit' is also vital. Poverty itself does not bring a spirituality which is blessed, rather it is a heart given to Christ, where the self is poor and instead rich in Jesus.

I feel humbled by the grace of the Lord and sense the great need again for people to know Gods word, but more than just hearing, a listening and responding in faith needs to take place, which brings joy unspeakable as we submit to the Lord Jesus on the way to our eternal home.

Matthew Armstrong

Blantyre.

1. Noah's baptism - entering the ark

The building of the ark by Noah was the result of God's word and desire, we see that so early in the history of humanity people had already become entirely wicked and evil in both thoughts and motives (Genesis 6-8). The flood that the Lord sent upon the earth was first and foremost an action of the judgement of sin. This is also an essential element of what baptism is; it is a judgement of sin. The judgement of sin means death - Adam and his descendants had already found this out (Genesis 5), the waters of the flood reveal the baptism that is to be found in Christ Himself, where He takes upon Himself the wrath of God for us (1 Peter 3:20-22).

Noah wonderfully found grace in the eyes of the Lord - or 'grace found Naoh' as I have heard it rendered. Noah too was a human being with the problem of sin within him, this is seen after the flood with his drunkenness, and in the description of him as a 'man of the soil/earth' he is a man from Adam. Noah needed the grace of the Lord otherwise he would have been himself destroyed in the flood. For one hundred years Noah faithfully built the ark and preached to the people, who most likely returned to him ridicule and scorn, for it is thought that at this point in the history of the earth rain was an unknown experience and the earth was watered by the dew. But a new and heavenly experience was going to occur - this points to baptism in Christ - an unleashing of the water in the heavens. When this happened and as it began Noah his wife, three sons and their wives entered the ark and God shut them in...the sealing is God's work...Paul calls it the 'guarantee', that which we are marked in Christ with a seal - the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:13-14). Amazingly this salvation was not just for Noah but also for every form of the creatures of the earth, clean and unclean animals...all were included. We all need to know the work of the Holy Spirit saving us from the judgement of God, the righteous and unrighteous need it. How mighty were the waters that flooed the earth in Noah's day, think of the modern day experiences of floods, hurricanes, tsunamis' they are minor in comparison yet the destruction is great and our hearts torn for those who have suffered.

As Noah was in the ark, the water came down, lifted the ark off the ground and the ark for fourty days was surrounded by water below and above... Noah and his family were kept safe by his obedience to follow God and His words and God's work of sealing him into the ark. The ark is a wonderful picture of Christ in whom we find salvation and the work of the Holy Spirit is an esential part of it. The baptism into Christ and the Spirit are essentially one baptism. The baptism into Christ is the judgement of sin and the giving of new life in us by the washing of the water...the Spirit's work is to be in us, above us and all around us...we need to get wet! We are wonderfully saved from the judgement of sin upon ourselves by the cross of Christ Jesus, where he died for us. This baptism is cosmically devastating and renewing at the same time, what a wonderful Saviour we have - Jesus.

Matthew Armstrong
Issue 20 - Extended: 26th February
Blantyre

We are born priests in Christ.

When we are found in Christ through new birth we are born priests in Christ, we are in His priestly body - that is the Church. This requires no special performance or test to join this priesthood, but rather faith and hope in Christ. The ability to minister comes from the Holy Spirit as we are under a new and better priesthood, one lived under grace and mercy, one that can accept those who are physically and even mentally handicapped to participate in 'ministry'. Where the children, youth, and women can also enter, and the older generation do not need to retire but all are able to continue in the capacity given to them by the Lord who gives to each a measure of His grace to minister.

All is made new in Jesus, His coming into the world is a moment of the transformation of the religious ministry, a way of life that reaches for the best of people has now come...how we often turn back to the lesser forms of ministry rather than living in the better. Jesus began His public ministry at the age of thirty, but does this mean all should wait until they are thirty years old until there can be a participation in the ministry of the Holy Spirit. This would seem presumptuous and ill conceived. The Church is to be a model of the ministry of the Holy Spirit; it is to be a priesthood of all believers; an ability to participate through God's gracious gifting and calling rather than just human effort and intelligence; a place of witnessing the way of Jesus, but lived out in a group of people saved by grace and continuing to live by that grace (1Peter 2:4-5, 9-10). Ministry in the church is not for just the educated and the popular, it is for those who have received something from Jesus - the head of the Church - something to share with the others in the community of faith.

The New Testament speaks of a church where there is a participation (1Corinthians 14:26), so that every part can give and share in the responsibilty of growing spiritually. In giving and sharing what God has given to you personally - the Lord gives back more abundantly, this is a wonderfully simple spiritual principle. "What can I give?" you might say, well you can give your-self, time, prayers, thoughts, hopes, spiritual gifts, help, administration, songs... the church should be a sharing community where fellowship is based in the grace that God has given each member. When I speak of 'member', I mean a member of the spiritual body of Christ into which we are born spiritually 'members'. This is not by a written or signed document, not by passing a spiritual test, but by entering into Christ by inward working of the Holy Spirit.

Matthew Armstrong
Issue 14, 26th Feb 2010
Blantyre.

4. Lost and Found - sons of the Father

The father in the parable in (Luke 15:11-31) is concerned about both of his sons, the younger 'prodigal' son and the elder 'responsible' son. the story which had mainly been about the younger sons choice to leave and then return home is dramatically switched and focuses upon the elder son's attitude and state of heart. The father has to go out and again call his son into his house. The party is in full swing; the fatted calf has been killed; the music is playing; and the dancing has started...yet he heart of the elder son when he hears what is happening stubbornly refuses to enter the father's house. The younger son doesn't deserve it and he feels himself unjustly dealt with, his self-righteousness is plainly seen. when discussing with his father he says that he has been 'slaving away, following orders' yet when the father gives him another request to enter the celebration, he refuses...he considers that the father is wrong...he is better, more righteous, more just!

How often do we refuse to enter the celebration of those who find Christ, or we don't even think others worth speaking to about Jesus. The Fathers heart is full of compassion to all his children that are lost, He desires that they are able to enter into His house, in which Jesus Himself says there are many rooms of which He is preparing for those that are the Lords (John 14:1-4) a place which is ours to live in and enjoy for eternity. We need to enter into Christ and experience the presence of the Father.

Consider even when you are attending church, do you actually consciously enter into the Fathers presence? The church should be a place of experiencing God in all His capacity, as Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We might consider that as long as I am a member of the house - that therefore all is ok, that you consider yourself in the Father's house. The parable we have been looking at reveals that we can be misdirected in our attitudes towards god, and think that the Christian life is just about working, serving and not celebrating the grace, love, mercy and forgiveness that is ours and our brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ most wonderfully won for us by His death upon the cross.

We should be living in His house...a spiritual house...where all is ours in Christ, but how often do we realise this and still think that we are outside and lost, we keep our minds full of a poverty mentality when it comes to what we have as Christians - wonderfully in Ephesians 1:3 it is our heavenly Father 'Who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus' (NIV). We need to trust our Father God in that He knows best as we are His children.

Matthew Armstrong
Issue 19 26th February 2010
Blantyre.

3. Lost and Found - receiving the blessings of the Father.

The story of the LOST son (Luke 15:11-32) becomes a story of a FOUND son. The moment of the embrace of the father is a wonderfully powerful one, as the father it could be said 'fell upon his neck' and that he 'kisses him many times'. The son that was lost is now found in the presence of his father. Oh how we need to find ourselves in the embrace of the Father, this is wonderful in itself, the father as our Father in heavens mercy is not just embrace, but forgiveness, and His forgiveness is complete, it involves restoration through relationship.

After the embrace and repentance of the son, what the father does is shocking to our often religious and cautious selves. I want to focus for this article on Luke 15:22, "But, the father said to his servant, 'Quick! Bring the robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.'" This is outrageous, has the father gone mad, he is obviously not thinking properly and overcome with emotion...No...this is our Fathers way, this is grace, not based in what we have done for Him, but in His love and forgiveness as we give ourselves broken and repentant before Him, humbled by our own immorality ad selfishness. He calls for the BEST robe. The Lord wants the best for those who are His children, should we settle for anything else, we are in Christ, then, let us receive His blessings into our hearts. The servants were to bring the robe and put it on the son, an act of receiving and accepting honour that wasn't deserved, we need to be humbled to receive it from the Lord, an obvious sign of our sonship in Christ. It is a position given to us, based in our humanity, confirmed by repentance.

What of the ring for his hand and sandals for his feet, what a blessing! The ring is a sign of authority from the Father, we are His, and we have access to Him through Christ Jesus our Lord. The sandals speak of blessing and freedom, the son that had become a slave, who returned to be just a paid worker, now is given another visible sign that he is a SON. New sandals for his tired and worn feet; now he could go about his fathers business with a new sense of belonging, refreshed to serve. Again the son had to allow the servants to put them on him, he had to surrender all his thoughts that he lacked self-worth and let his father give him a sense of worth. It is the same with our Father in heaven. The greatest servant of them all is Christ, He came to serve and save the lost. Will we let Jesus do the work of the Father in and upon us, will we receive the blessings of the Father that allow us to live in Christ with authority to be that is by grace, and freedom by love. We can not earn this in Christ, it is always given, it is part of the truly being found.

Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre,
January 24th 2010.

'Mango stage' - a lesson in waiting.

The place where the church is presently meeting is next to a mini-bus stage on the main road, this stage has been known as 'mango stage' due to the numbers of mango trees which had lined the road by the mini-bus stage. However a few years ago those trees were cut down to make way for new electricity power lines to pass over head. This presently means the mango trees in our property are now the closest to the stage. We have four trees and each has produced fruit each year more often than not.

In the streets the mango trees are stripped of mango's in weeks - well before the fruit is ripe and enlarged. I have often seen children throwing stones to get the smallest of green mangos off the trees. The act of waiting for fruit to be ready to pick is a act of patience, not always easy - especially if you think someone else will get it instead of you. This ultimately means we don't wait, rather we think of ourselves before the quality of the fruit which is to be eaten, leaving the trees empty of fruit; and what we have consumed either bitter and certainly not as big as it could have been. We don't want to leave the fruit to long else it becomes too ripe and can often be eaten by the bird, or some large fruit bats which we have in our area. We have had mango poachers in the past, and those who have seen the fruit and banged on our gate and asked to get some. As a church recently, families have been able to take bag full's or chitenji full's of mangos home to enjoy.

As Christians we need to live fruitful lives, but we need real fruit, fruit that is sweet and not bitter, from what I understand 'Namiwawa' is rooted in the meaning 'bitter-waters', the deep bitterness in the society and in peoples lives due to sin and the darkness that blinds people from the light of Jesus Christ is often evident; this bitterness needs a transforming work so that it can be made sweet - this is the power of the work of the cross. As Christians we need to wait for real fruit in our lives, the church needs to grow in patient waiting upon the Lord to experience the sweetness of the work of the Holy Spirit, so that others may see and begin to taste the goodness of the Lord Jesus. the world needs to see Christians living lives that display goodness and not sourness, the people of God must be patient and learn to produce fruit faithfully year by year. The bible tells us we will be known by our fruit (Matthew 7:16)...bad fruit...bad tree...good fruit...good tree, its so simple.

Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre.
Issue 15 10th Jan 2010

2. Lost and Found - moving towards the Fathers house

We continue to consider the story of the lost son (Luke 15:11-32), the story is very clear that the younger son made a definite choice to go in the direction away from his fathers house. He asked for his inheritance and took it; remarkably the father gave it to him. To the father this was a great cost. The sons should have been working in the fathers house and by living and prospering together the fathers' wealth and therefore their own would have increased. The younger son shows signs of impatience, he wanted it now and he could not wait - the world today is much like this, and in the process others are trampled on, just like the father and the older son in the story, they are disregarded, they are the unwanted family. How often do we prefer something or others rather than God and His family - the Church. God is treated as unnecessary for living.

In our lives today we often make small choices that are in the direction away from the Fathers house, away from the true way of inheriting Christ. We might not consider ourselves as 'prodigals' but in the depths of our hearts we find ourselves along way from home, emotionally tired, spiritually hungry, without comfort or help and sometimes desperate - in need of turning back to the Father in heaven, least we begin to destroy ourselves. It seems at times that there are many who have been in such situations for a long time...we must decide in our minds and hearts to move towards God, and as we do so wonderfully He draws closer to us (See James 4:8). No matter how far we have gone away from God, we can turn, repent of our sin, and move towards the Fathers house.

In this spiritual journey which we live, breathe and move, we need to constantly be aware of the direction we are travelling. As the lost son drew closer to his father's house, the father was watching and waiting and moved closer to his son, so it is with our Heavenly Father, He has chosen to move towards us by His precious Son Jesus Christ. He has left His house, breaking the rules...shocking the world...moving towards us in grace. Let nothing hinder us from moving in this direction, the way of grace; of acceptance; of love and mercy; of forgiveness and restoration. How many people are half hearted in this spiritual direction, they will repent but will not move towards God physically, emotionally and spiritually - it is in the Father's arms, in His house, in eating His food and wearing His clothes where we find ourselves His children again. His house is the house which restores, feeds, and loves with all mercy.

Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre
Issue 17: 18th Jan 2010

1. Lost and Found - the embrace of the Father

The story of the prodigal son or the lost son is one of the most moving stories in the New Testament. We find this story in Luke's Gospel only in Chapter 15:11-32. There is however more to the story than just a lost son and in this series we will explore a few different angles of looking at this story as we also explore it as a congregation together.

I want to briefly consider one of the changes in the lost sons' attitdue which can be observed from before and after the embrace with his father on his return home. This change is in his plan and motive for returning - revealing what he thought about his father. In Malawi this motive is clearly a problem and is often unspoken about or not dealt with in many churches. There are many "pastors" and church attendees who have made the Fathers' house a business venture, and many attend churches with the hope they will become the hired help. For as much as many people have the need for work and employment and may be part of the initial reason for some church attendance, an experience like that of the son who returned home and had his father run to greet him, breaking the cultural expectations of his day. A compassionate embrace and kiss put an end to such primary aspirations and expectations that were based in his heart, mind and stomach (See Luke 15:18-22), the phrase 'make me like one of your hired help' has been removed by a real experience of God's confirming love, we are His children. We might not be expecting the embrace of love by God, but He will give it as we return /repent and move towards Him, even if our full intentions are not at first 100% for God. God's perfect love drives away our fears and allows us to be His Children, forgiving us and fully embracing us.

The loving embrace of the Father is by grace...it is about the restoration of relationship and not the approval of a business plan. Such a real experience of God is what we should be concerned with; it should be a God like this that we declare to others, a confirming love based on our sonship in Christ, rather than our performance and ability to serve. The returning son probably smelt bad, he had worked in the pig pens and had travelled along way without money to buy new clothes or to polish his appearance - he came as he was. We need to come to God as we are, without pretending to be better, the Almighty Father accepts those who come to Him through Christ despite our faults and sins, but as we experience His embrace - all is changed...our hearts are stirred with having recieved compassion when we did not deserve it. We are given the wonderful right to be children of God.

Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre.
Issue 16: 10th Jan 2010

God Speaks: are we listening?

Reading the first three chapters of the Book of Hebrews it is evident that not only has God spoken in the past, but God has spoken clearly to us by His son Jesus today, one by one each member of the Godhead speaks:

Father speaks; (Hebrews 1:5-13)

Son speaks; (Hebrews 2:12-13)

Spirit speaks. (Hebrews 3:7-11)

The Godhead is not silent, all the members speak to each other and of each other. They also speak to us, the title of this article is God Speaks: are we listening? Have we listened to the voice of God. I trust that as you read you might take time to quiet your hearts and begin to hear more of that still small voice of the Spirit; hear more about Jesus and what He has done for us all on the cross and how both the Spirit and the Son declare the Father to us; and hear more of the Fathers voice so that we can enter a true dialogue with the Lord - we need to know His presence, give chance for our hearts to hear and to get past all our emotions.

He has spoken, have we heard? Have we responded in faith? Are our hearts open to the resonating wonder of the Person of God, the Saviour of us all? Who He is speaks, what He has done speaks, what He requires of us has been SPOKEN. Have we heard the cry of the cross to our hearts, the desire of Gods love towards us for salvation?

The Book of Revelation ends with the wonderful combination of the voice of the Spirit and the Bride -the Church, the Spirit first determining what is being said, the cry of

"Come!" And let him who hears say "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; whoever wishes, let him take of the free gift of the water of Life. (Revelation 22:17 - NIV)

The Spirit and the Bride echo the reality of what Jesus has spoken (Revelation 22:7, 12), and the Lord Jesus confirms this (Revelation 22:20). The apostle John is left to join in and confirm by faith that this is true, that he and the Bride have heard the voice of the Saviour and joined with the work of the Spirit. This work of the Spirit wants recognition in the lives of ordinary human beings that love the Lord. May we learn to hear His voice.
Matthew Armstrong,
Blantyre December 2009

The indestructible life of our Priest - Jesus

When Jesus was born, even conceived the intention of His mission and life was a priestly one. We shouldn't see His priesthood as just determined by how He lived and died, and what He had to offer, although these are important and wonderful, it is also based in who He is, the eternal Lord. When He came into the world as a baby - a heavenly man had arrived in the flesh to offer a perfect sacrifice as our High Priest before the Throne of God to save people from their sins. The sacrifice was not one that could be learned from the religious traditions of the day, it was completely different, perfect and sinless. A once and for all sacrifice, something we cannot attempt to repeat, that religious traditions will never get close to it or be able to save us - only Jesus as we put our trust in Him and His life that He offers to us, both as a sacrifice for forgiveness, but also as a gift to us so that we might be able to live, grow and develop as men and women of God.

This is seen as it was into the tribe of Judah that Jesus was born, but this was not the priestly tribe, this was not the way it was supposed to happen. So then He was born without the possibility of being a Levitical priest according to the Law. He was born however beyond the Law as Christ is the origin of the Law itself in eternity - based in the LIFE of God (Hebrews 7:11-28). His priestly ministry is based in this indestructible life, from eternity to birth; from birth to death; and from death to physical bodily resurrection and ascension into eternity again. This life sinless and unsoiled by the world, what power, what purity, what passion, what a High Priest!

Someone mentioned to me that they were thinking of entering the priesthood, I asked him "Which type of priesthood?" This question was unexpected and surprised him, there is truly only one priesthood in the Christian sense that is legitim

ate before God and that is the priesthood that is found in Christ, we cannot be priests in any other form and still think it truly Christian. In Christ Jesus is found the only place of real priestly ministry, no matter the form and religious manner of others, Christ's High Priestly ministry is the only acceptable one now. Considering His birth, His priesthood came out of a very real human experience; He was made vulnerable and dependent; He needed food and sustenance; He required physical and spiritual growth as a man; He grew, asked and answered questions; He made friends and enjoyed their friendship; He even obeyed His parents - our ministry is so often missing the reality of these very human tendencies, are we so much more sophisticated and more intelligent?

Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre, December 2009.

What's so good about Mary?

The story of the virgin conception and the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary tells us about qualities of the heart and attitudes of the mind that allowed the Eternal Word of God become flesh (Luke 1:26-38, John 1:14). The work of Holy Spirit in the incarnation and in our own lives is fundamentally the same. We need to know how we must respond to God so that we may experience the reality of Christ in us and know His Kingdom within, remember this is a kingdom which will never end.

Mary displays honesty and integrity in her reaction; she does not put on any religious pretence as is so often seen in many churches today. Some people as they enter the church change themselves their voice and faces take on a religious and often superficial tone. I have realised at times this is something that I have done personally and had to stop myself and learn to be me. Jesus wants us to be honest and open, Mary is clear about her fears and speaks honestly to the angel, she listened to the response given and believed in faith the word spoken. Mary is also clear about her sexuality and experience this should not be underestimated such an honest devotion to God.

She believed in faith the word of God, her motives were not false, she declared herself a 'servant' of the Lord, and the most miraculous event to ever happen occurred without so much as a song and a dance. Such a clear honest statement of being a servant of the Lord combined with obedience to His ultimate eternal purpose of making Christ a reality in humanity is a great lesson for us all to learn, her will and Gods will had become one through listening, believing and simply obeying in faith. When she says "May it be to me as you have said" (Luke 1:38 NIV), the angel just leaves her, there is no prolonged session of prayer, no fasting and praying here, no giving of money, no miracle meeting to attract the crowds and no promise of an easy life either. As soon as she believes and responds, are we to believe that the Saviour had become flesh, how often do we look for the special moment of special feelings before we believe, we expect stars and lights. The Holy Spirit moves as we believe and the silent internal eternal work of the Spirit is done. We can follow her example in honesty and clear motives to give all the Glory to the Lord and see the Saviour nowlive amongst men.

Matthew Armstrong

Blantyre, December 2009.

Defining the mystery of God.

Many people desire to know of the mystery or the secrets of the Christian faith, I have heard on numerous occasions in prayer ‘Lord reveal your secrets to us’, such prayers have an element of faith and trust in the Lord, but yet they have failed to grasp what the bible says plainly and clearly – that Christ is the mystery and that He has been made known to us (Colossians 2:2). This ‘mystery’ can be known, it is not a happen chance that we might discover in a dark cave the mystery and have it revealed to us by a special revelation or spiritual being, No it is Jesus Christ Himself. We can read of the mystery of God in the Gospels and read about His life and learn about the wonder and greatness of God, we can consider His grace to sinners and love to the world in His death.
I believe many people consider themselves insignificant and unable to know the mystery of God unless they can perform a special task or feat. Many people go to great lengths in fasting and prayer so that they might have ‘secrets’ revealed to them. Why is this so when Christ is the glorious secret of the cosmos that has been revealed to men, ‘slain from the foundation of the world’ that which even angels desire to understand. The mystery was revealing in flesh, the Christ became a man, lived, breathed, shed his blood and died for our sins so that we might be forgiven ours. This is a great mystery – that God should love sinners like you and I. Often the clear and straightforward truth of scripture is ignored and considered old or boring, it is known and therefore not relevant or exciting, this is just not the case when it comes to knowing Jesus and the salvation that He was won for us.
In 1 Timothy 3:16, the mystery of godliness is declared…whose godliness? – Christ. Our righteousness is found in the wonder of His, our salvation in His very human death, our resurrection in the power of the resurrection by the Holy Spirit who would live within us. Have we grasped as an hymn says the ‘old, old story’ have we heard the message of the glorious gospel of God, that has been seen and witnessed by the angelic beings, preached about in the nations – yet have people believed the simple message that Jesus is salvation. This mystery is our hope of glory because Christ Jesus was received up into glory by His and our heavenly Father. Salvation is won; it is a ‘no contest’ in the heavenly realm, the hope is now ours.
Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre, December 2009.

Thinking about an avodcado tree.

Eight years ago I bought a few avocado tree seedlings for 20 Kwacha each; one of these survived the trials of a building site and began to grow into a healthy young tree. Each year would go by and I would joke with my friend that if the tree didn’t produce any fruit I would like my Kwacha back! Well after five years it did begin to flower and produce fruit, however I was back in the UK. While I was away the avocados were almost ready to pick and someone else wanted to pick them, but they were stopped because I had mentioned that I wanted to be able to pick the first fruit. Well I returned to Malawi and I was able to pick and taste of the first fruits of that tree after five years waiting, we have had another 3 years of blessing from this one little 20 kwacha worth seedling. Also my children have enjoyed climbing the branches of this tree, helping to pick the avocadoes and just having fun, climbing up and down.
This story makes me think about how important the little things in our lives are to God, He knows the potential of our lives when they are planted, watered and feed by the grace and love of Christ. Things that at first don’t look like much can become in Christ fruitful and a blessing for others. Such a steady year by year fruitfulness enduring and producing fruit in season. Wonderfully God’s fruitfulness enables the children to enjoy the blessing of the Lord also, can you not imagine the children climbing up into the arms and sitting on lap of the Saviour, He is not so untouchable as some would present Him to us, He desires us to come close to and know Him, remember when we touch Him in faith, His power moves within us, to change our inner being cleansing us from sin and declaring us righteous and clean in Christ (Mark 10:13-16 ,Luke 8:42-48).
The Lord God is patient, and sometimes fruit takes a number of years to appear on a tree, yet the tree is planted in good ground, the capacity of producing fruit is within the tree, let us seek the fruit and gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives with perseverance and faith, don’t give up – if you are not the most patient person, seek the Lord, touch Him and let Jesus do His work in you. His work is eternal and not a ‘flash in the pan’, it lasts and year by year can keep being fruitful, it is not produced by personal effort, but by the inward change of the Spirit of the Lord, let Jesus pick and taste the first fruits of your heart.
Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre, December 2009.

Whose directions are you following?

This question should if we considered it in relation to the various parts of our lives be a very challenging statement to answer. Often we like to say we are following Jesus, but often we follow the ways and practices of the world. We follow the advice of those whose knowledge is founded in anti-Christian belief, and at times the advice and following action of an individual or even a congregation may be against Jesus himself. The wonderful and yet simple call by Jesus to some of his disciples was "Follow Me." Have we heard this call to become disciples – that is followers of the Messiah, the Saviour of the world?
Jesus Himself in the New Testament is described as the Cornerstone, and from and upon this ROCK the Church, the family of God is built. The direction of the Church must be consistent with the standard of Jesus. Where do we deviate and compromise? Where has the Church of God turned back to look at what it has accomplished behind it and moved its focus from the present directing of the Holy Spirit and become lost in its traditions and methods rather than the present experience of Jesus. He who with His Shepherd heart leads the Church after Him to green pastures. The Holy Spirit never leads the Church in a direction which is contrary to Jesus Christ, never against the fruit and gifts of the Spirit. If the Christ has not changed, how can the Church decide to change?
May be we must again consider our lives and what we do and think and align ourselves with Jesus, something which is a work of grace, that brings freedom from the condemnation of sin and guilt. Should God’s people be full of grace, as they have received so shall they do to others? Are we willing to be cast upon the rock and follow it in the direction it will take us, the obstacles in our paths we yet do not know, but will we change our direction when Jesus does not? Remember faith as little as a small seed can move mountains. Come close to Christ and you will see how He will be your rock of salvation in the reality of your life ; supporting you; uplifting you; showing grace and mercy to you; forgiving you; cleansing you; supplying you both materially and spiritually on the path that you tread out as you follow the Great Shepherd of your soul.
Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre, December 2009.

Is the Spirit of Prophecy today a testimony to Jesus?

How wonderful it is that the Christ we worship is a God of prophecy. Many would consider this dangerous to the point of ignoring the reality of the Spirit, who would choose to speak today through men and women in the context of a church functioning as the body of Christ, where each person with their part to play may have an ability by the Spirit to voice the word of God through the use of the gift of prophecy.
The coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the hearts of those believing in the saving work of the cross of Jesus Christ has brought the ‘Spirit of Prophecy’ which is a strong Old Testament concept into the New Covenant of Christ, where prophecy is under the constraining element of the spirits of men and women – much of what is spoken as prophecy today is far removed from the Spirit of Jesus. The prophetic gift is to be used in Christ, those who use the gift are not free to voice their own opinions through this gift. With the gift of prophecy, the Holy Spirit gives the fruits of self-control, love, joy and peace etc… these are vital so that the gift can be used in the Spirit of Christ. Jesus brought to us grace and truth, truth at times demands judgement, yet it will be wonderfully brought first to us through His grace so that the truth would come alive to the hearers. The righteous indignation of some prophets today leads us to ask what about the fruit of longsuffering, is it not part of the work of the Spirit also – or is the prophet excused!
Today there are people putting themselves forward as ‘prophets’ and even have the title before their names, yet is their message consistent with the message of Jesus? Is it a message of good news; full and free; liberty from sin and bondage; a spiritual renewal through the death of Christ. Does their message demand money from you? Does it demand that they are respected above others? Rather than take their humble part in the body of Christ where all are to be honoured because Christ is the Head, who is to receive the glory, because He is God. Yet it seems in many prophetic ministries and the use of prophecy that Jesus is not even considered as being in authority – rather the man, the woman, or the ministry has taken control. Test the spirits…accept the Spirit of Jesus only, have courage to exercise discernment. Let us confer rather with the Holy Spirit that truly ‘Jesus is Lord’ (1 Corinthians 12:3) in more than just words, but also in spirit, truth, right attitude, motive and action. The prophet is not greater than Jesus.
Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre, November 2009.

Amos the 'Burden Bearer'.

Since I have been in Malawi, it has been my privilege to be able to teach on the book of Amos on a number of occasions. What I have found very interesting is that the message is relevant for life to today more than we might at first imagine, this is true whether we are living in the West or in Malawi. Amos’ strong message of judgement upon Israel is very striking and reveals the heart of God that is serious about sin and blatant disobedience in the light of His word.
Amos is a man who is often considered as rugged and rough, uneducated and a little bit simple – after all he was only a keeper of sheep. Well, all is not as it might seem at a first glance. In Malawi we could say that Amos was an ‘Abusa’ – a shepherd, but what type of shepherd/pastor was he? He was not a loner, but a man respected by his community and was probably an elder in his own small unknown little town of Tekoa. He would have known Gods word and Law and been able to apply it into the lives of people with compassion and truth. It seems that his message is one sided with judgement, but closer inspection shows that it is filled with the grace and sovereignty of God. Amos was a man who was not afraid to speak truth, but spoke it with life and compassion, and had the desire to see people enter the life of God (Amos 5:4). Today there are many ‘prophets’ of doom and judgement, but where is the grace in their message, where is the song of the sovereignty of God? The fullness of the shadow of the man Amos is seen in Jesus’ death and sacrifice on the cross. Too many seem to love preaching people into hell, rather than preach a gospel of the life saving power of the grace of God. Amos bore a heavy burden of having to take a message of destruction and end to a nation, yet his heart was that the nation would not be destroyed. He considered the reality of God’s word more important than the popular religious opinion of the day, which as the bible reveals was full of idolatry and worship that was mixed, the hard and fast opinions were based in a 200 year history of unaccepted worship because the ‘golden calf’ was still present. What are the golden calves of today’s Christianity?
There is only one sacrifice that needs to be made for sin, and that has already been once and for all in Christ. Another prophet cried out "Behold! The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!" (John 1:29 NKJV) – pointing to merciful Jesus.
Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre, November 2009.

Is my God in control or not?

Often the troubles in our lives and the changing circumstances around us that affects us can bring to our minds and hearts the consideration of whether God is in control or not?
The Bible teaches of a Sovereign God who reigns as King and whose will is done, the prayer which Jesus teaches His disciples to pray speaks of asking God for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10) – this is somewhat risky because we don’t always know what is the will that God has for a situation in heaven, it is known by God alone. But the fact that God is a God who loves and has our best at heart means that we can trust in Him even when circumstances turn against us.
As a person you are more than a random chance of reproduction, rather you are known by God and fearfully and wonderfully made through Christ, who is the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world, this is far before you were conceived or born. God’s will in heaven is that you would know Him and know the life and faith that He can give to those who would believe in Jesus Christ.
Can you still trust the Lord even when things don’t seem to be going well, whether materially, or if your harvest fails or the rain washes away your seed? Consider the prophet Habakkuk declares that even though everything around him is failing, he will ‘rejoice in the LORD’ and ‘be joyful in God’ because God is his Saviour (Habakkuk 3:17-19 NIV). Trusting in the Lord as ‘Sovereign’ gave him strength and put power in his feet beyond his own ability to keep going - to rising to heights of real faith and he continued the difficult path upon which he had found himself, which to the world around him would have seen as complete failure and that he may have even been cursed, it looked like God had abandoned him, but the Lord was in control of the events of his life and he believed it, and was able to say such a prayer of faith which became a song to be sung.
Why do we so often doubt that God is in control? May be it is because we don’t consider God’s rule when things are ok and we are prospering. We need a God who is Lord of the good days and the bad days as well, a God of the day and of the night.
Matthew Armstrong
Blantyre, November 2009.