“…..Do not sorrow, for the joy of the Lord
is your strength.”
Nehemiah 8:10

Nothing drains our emotional well being and physical strength like sorrow and discouragement. Life in itself is a challenge and is filled with all manner of troubles, trials and unexpected difficulties. As it goes by these can “pile up” upon us and turn our days into ones of bitterness and disappointment. This is exactly what happened to Naomi; the passing years and their challenges in Moab coupled with the loss of her two sons wore her down and left her bitter. She knew it well but could not do anything about it, or so she thought. (Ruth 1:19-20) A godly Moabites called Ruth taught her to sing again and rejoice. (Ruth 4:14-15)

I know of many of God’s children, who are likewise committed, living a clean and godly life but are filled with regret, sorrow and even bitterness. You could be one of them. Jesus wants you to know that the joy that He gives is real and can be yours no matter what challenges you are facing and no matter what disappointments you have had to cope with. The joy of the Lord is your strength and you must determine today to do whatever it takes to recapture it. This is the will of God for you. So, where does one begin? Well:

1.    By being properly related to God in Christ
There are things that rightly so rob of us of our joy. These things are living in such a way that we displease God. In short get right with God and do whatever it takes to get to a place where you are at peace with God and know it. This invariably means some soul searching, some repentance and getting our lives on a proper devotional footing with God. Christians who do not seek God cannot expect to be infused with His joy. The lack of joy in our lives then can be a catalyst to drive us into a new relationship with Jesus. After all Jesus said exactly this:

“Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep
and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you
will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned
into joy.”
John 16:20

Those in a right relationship with Jesus have a promise from Him that is really incredible. That is, Jesus said to His Disciples and therefore to you and me, “Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:24)

2.    By recognizing that joy is an evidence of the Kingdom of God
If one is truly in the Kingdom of God then joy is an outward evidence of it. This is really a challenge to all of us and we should think carefully about it. Paul recognized this and even though, at a human level, his life was a proverbial “train smash” he still knew that the air and atmosphere of the Kingdom of God is joy. So, writing to the Church at Rome he said:

“For the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking
But righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”
Romans 14:17

The Kingdom of God is defined as that place where God is present and reigns. This means that if God is present in our lives then joy is certainly one of the evidences of it.

3.    By speaking to ourselves
Yes, there are times when you just have to give yourself a jolly good speaking to! We can so easily let life’s disappointments overwhelm us and send us into a pity party. We’ve all done it! At those times you have to recount the goodness and faithfulness of God and shrug off your gloom by giving yourself a spiritual wake up call. With God on our side how can we possibly fail? (Romans 8:31-39) So, David of old, who had so many struggles, had cultivated the art of giving his soul a good reprimand. We need to do the same. This is what he wrote:

“Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you
disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise
Him for the help of my countenance.”
Psalm 42:5

It is important to note that David knew that he was suffering from a depressed countenance. He had allowed his many troubles to get on top of him and thus weigh his heart down. His remedy was simple: Speak to your soul!! There are times when you and I have to do the same.

So, then dear friends, rise up and claim you godly inheritance to be a person of great joy. God is with you and nothing at all can separate you from His great love in Jesus and no circumstance is outside of His control. These simple, but wonderful truths should in themselves fill you with much joy!

Malcolm Hedding

©Malcolm Hedding Ministries

“….with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering,
bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep
the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”
Ephesians 4:2-3

There is nothing more important to God than the unity of His people. This gives testimony to the power of redemption and that this redemption has been sincerely embraced by those that testify to it. The hallmark of sin is alienation and so the hallmark of salvation is reconciliation or unity; unity (harmony) with God and with those who belong to His family. When this unity is damaged our testimony is left in tatters and the Spirit of God cannot and will not work amongst us.

Moreover, as will be noted from this passage, unity is not something we have to struggle to attain to. No, when we embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior unity is given to us, by His Spirit, and so our calling is to preserve it. We have to “keep it” and not get it! This business of keeping the unity that God has given us in Christ has challenged the Church down through the centuries and no less today. Also this unity is not silly in that it does not mean that we all have to unite in one big global church. No, rather it means that Christians in local churches remain united and that these churches, given that they are Bible believing etc, are united by their leadership and the “cross pollination” of ministry between congregations. Paul wrote to the churches in Galatia not the Church; they were united by the ministry gifts that served them. (Galatians 1:1-2)

This passage in Ephesians tells us how to keep what God has already given. Given our divisions we would do well to heed its advice.

1.    Unity of belief. (V4-6)
In these verses Paul gives us the basic doctrinal beliefs around which we are to unite. They are all vital and important and to abandon any of these is to disqualify ourselves from being Christian. In other words we are called to major on the essentials of our faith and minor on the non-essentials of our faith. Sadly we have too often done the reverse in that we have majored on the non-essentials and minored on the essentials! Consequently we have disagreed on styles of clothing, head coverings, what we should handle, eat and drink and a host of relatively unimportant things. (Note Colossians 2:20-23 and Romans 14:17) By contrast we should uphold the unity of the Godhead (Trinity), the importance of the Body of Christ, the significance of  Baptism and the nature of our calling because of Christ’s finished work on the cross. These matters are not negotiable and yet today almost all of them are under assault and indeed, because we are not projecting what true unity is, a false unity and great deception is emerging that is witnessing many Christian leaders seeking to reunite with Rome.

2.    Unity in diversity. (V7-12)
The Body of Christ is unique because, by His ascension, Jesus has multiplied Himself by giving His ministry gifts to men by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is why we must be in a local church because none of us have all the ministry gifts of Jesus. He has distributed these amongst us and thus as we submit to one another so we expose ourselves more fully to the ministry of Jesus. He has therefore given us Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. These ministries, united in diversity, equip the believers so that they can themselves become effective ministers and all of this will edify the body of Christ. We should encourage such unity and look for it to be manifested in our communities!

3.    Unity in faith. (V13-16)
The goal of the unity of the Spirit and the unity in diversity is that we should embrace the unity of the faith. This means that we are all transformed into the likeness of Jesus in that our natures come to the “measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”  Paul warns that if we fail to embrace this unity we shall ultimately be like children “tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine.” There are far too many people like this in the Church today and all because we have not given attention to Paul’s exhortations about unity in this passage.

Unity is important to God and we should strive to keep it because by it God will do great things amongst us. This means that every believer should recognize that, how he lives his life impacts on the blessing of God in his church. We cannot hide from Him, with whom we have to do (Hebrews 4:13), and therefore, whether we like it or not, we are all making a contribution of unity or disunity to our local church. The question is; what is it? Is it one of unity or division? I sincerely hope that it is the former.

Malcolm Hedding

©Malcolm Hedding Ministries

“Do we, then, nullify the Law by this faith? Not at all!
Rather, we uphold the Law.” 
Romans 3:31

No subject is more misunderstood in the Church than the importance and role of the Law. By Law I mean the Majestic or Moral Law otherwise known as the Ten Commandments. It is to this aspect of the Law that Paul frequently writes about in his epistles and especially that of Romans. Paul then makes statements about the Law that preachers today never make; indeed it is not wrong to assert that most preachers totally ignore the Law and if they do refer to it, it is to disparage it. The result; anti-nomianism or rejection of the Law and behaviour that makes grace cheap.

For Paul then, and indeed Jesus, the Law holds a central and important place in the life of the Church. Paul tells us, in his Roman Letter, that the Law is good, spiritual and of great use in our preaching or should be!
(Romans7:12) Indeed as the verse above states, we should uphold the Law, meaning that we should hold it in very high esteem and use it for the purpose for which it was given. So, let’s consider what all this means:

1. The Moral Law will never pass away.

Jesus said that heaven and earth would pass away before this Law vanishes.
(Matthew 5:17-18) The reason is that it constitutes a written description of the character of God. It is in fact the glory of God and a sinner is defined as one who has fallen short of this glory. (Romans 3:23) So then to devalue the Law is to devalue God and those who do this will be called “least in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:19) This is precisely why Paul calls the Law “spiritual” and that which would impart eternal life, if only we could keep it perfectly all the days of our lives. (Romans 7:10) Sadly we cannot and therefore we come under its curse. (Galatians 3:10) The problem is not the Law but us! In other words the Law cannot save us because we are riddled with the weakness of sin. (Romans 8:3) We should however honour the Law fully and uphold it as it reminds us where we should be spiritually. This is precisely why the great church movements of history had the Ten Commandments emblazoned on their church walls. Churches today, to their shame, have no such use for them.

2. The Moral Law is embedded in your heart as a witness.

Paul then affirms, in the first chapters of Romans, that God has left a reminder of Himself, and thus a witness to His righteousness, in our hearts.
This means that every living being is without excuse. (Romans 2:14-15) This reminder speaks to us through our conscience and actually condemns us as sinners. This was certainly true of my life. When I blasphemed and did things contrary to the will of God something troubled me from within. This “something” was the embedded Law calling me to pursue godliness. It was a teacher of righteousness.

3. The Moral Law should be the power of our a Gospel Preaching.

One can only be convicted of being un-godlike (a sinner) when one has to measure up to what God is like. This is why the preaching of the Law is so crucial to gospel preaching. It teaches the high standard of God’s character and the utter everlasting ruin of our condition. Paul rightly states then that the Law makes all peoples accountable to God and condemns them. (Romans
3:19) and that by it then comes ” the knowledge of sin.” (Romans 3:20) Righteousness is then what God is like and unrighteousness is what we are like and the Law drives this home. Sin then cannot be understood unless we preach the Law and sinners will not be saved as God wants them to be until we make good use of the Law. The modern preacher generally knows nothing of these things!

4. The Moral Law is Fulfilled on Our Behalf by Christ.

Paul once again tells us, in his Galatians epistle, that the “Law is our teacher to bring us to Christ.” (Galatians 3:24) By His death on the cross Jesus deflected the curse of the Law from our lives and He imputes His righteousness to us. We become the “righteousness of God in Him.” ( 2Corinthians 5:21) Or, to state it as Paul does in his Roman letter, by Christ living in us the righteousness of the Law is fulfilled in us” as we walk in the Spirit. (Romans 8:3-4) This is what it means to pursue godliness; it is to pursue Christ recognizing that the Law is that which He, by His life, will entrench in us. This is the very foundation upon which the New Covenant is built. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

So, let us remember then how important the Law is and let us “uphold it” as Paul did for by do doing we will give the Holy Spirit the opportunity to convict the sinner of unrighteousness that he or she may repent, follow Christ and pursue godliness.

Malcolm Hedding.

©Malcolm Hedding Ministries

“But in those days, after that tribulation, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, And the stars of heaven shall fall, and the powers that are in heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. And then shall he send his angels, and shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from the uttermost part of the earth to the uttermost part of heaven.”
Mark 13: 24-27

For Mark this is the great climax or high point of Jesus’ Olivet discourse. It is truly an amazing and uplifting passage of scripture in that it sets forth some wonderful truths that we would do well to meditate upon. I therefore wish to point you to these realities:

1. That Tribulation
As God’s plan of restoration, especially in Israel, accelerates the conflict between light and darkness will intensify until it manifests in “that tribulation.” This means that a conflict is looming that will be unique and it will involve much of the world. Events in the Middle East are certainly building to this point and one has to be blind not to see it. The Church of Jesus is now suffering the greatest persecution of its history and this will broaden out into the world. “That Tribulation” is certainly getting nearer.

2. The luminaries will fail
Jesus clearly teaches that the sun and the moon will falter and thereby constitute the “sign of the coming of the Son of Man” in that no part of the world will be exempt from this phenomenon. Even the “stars of heaven” will fall! There is no doubt that God will keep His promise to shake all things so that He will humble the arrogance of humanity that has pushed Him out of its affairs and even claimed that He was never the creator. This is all about to change!

3. The powers in the heavens will be shaken 

Here Jesus is referring to the demonic authorities that have dominated humankind from the second heaven. Paul calls the Devil “the prince of the power of the air” in his Ephesian’s Letter and John, in his Revelation, tells us that the Devil and his dark hordes will be thrown down to the earth. All this means that the defeat of the Devil at the cross will be fully implemented and finally, in the days of Jesus second coming, made evident. Praise be to our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ!

4. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds with great glory 

The “they” is a reference to all the peoples of the earth. Every false god will be humiliated, the ungodly will run for cover and cry out, “Mountains cover us” and the enemies of Israel will be destroyed as Jesus sets His course for the Mount of Olives, to the east of His holy city Jerusalem. The clouds of heaven are a vast company of Angels that will descend with Him as He returns with power and glory such as the world has never seen. This day is truly upon us for “behold He is coming quickly and every eye will see Him.”

5. His angels will gather His elect from the farthest part of earth to the farthest part of heaven 

When Jesus comes His great cloud of angels will go to every corner of the earth gathering up His faithful, holy and dedicated church. Not one saint will be left behind, they will all be escorted to that glorious place in the sky which marks His steady course to the Mount of Olives. It will be an incredible day filled with light and much glory for them that have faithfully loved and served Him but, for the ungodly, it will be a terrifying day of destruction and removal eternally from the presence of the Lord. Those gathered to Jesus will in the end, be gathered to the farthest part of heaven. That is, they will share in a place of unimaginable beauty and glory for all eternity and they will never exhaust its wonders.

This then is what Jesus wants us to know, meditate upon and prepare for. It is indeed a blessed hope and we should thus look up because our redemption draws nigh. Even so Lord Jesus come!

Malcolm Hedding.

©Malcolm Hedding Ministries

“He who overcomes shall inherit all things,
and I will be his God and he shall be My son.”
Revelation 21:7

He who overcomes
Life is a journey regulated by birth and death wherein we have to pick up its true meaning and challenges. Essentially this means coming to grips with our sin problem and through real repentance fleeing to the cross of Jesus for grace and mercy in our time of need. This grace saves us, changes us and sets us on the right road of life to follow. But here too we have to discern between good and evil and constantly make choices that honor God and His will for us. This too is a challenge and we have to overcome! Jesus said that the one that endures to the end will be saved. So, many of God’s dear children have strayed off His way resulting in sin, pain and disillusionment. The problem is not with God but with ourselves!! Yes we can pick ourselves up repent and press on but in the process we fall short of the potential that God planned for us. Some Christians will make it in the end but just; as they will be saved as by fire! Overcoming means recognizing that God in Christ has given us everything we need for life and godliness in Christ and thus, if we stay close to Him, we, like Paul can finish our personal journey between life and death. Think on this.

Shall Inherit All Things
Our futures in eternity will reflect our dedication to Jesus in the period between life and death. Today is your eternal inheritance! This is quite an awesome thought and the Bible refers to it by saying, “As you sow, you shall reap.” So, your future is definitely what you are doing in the present. A day is coming when all of this will be brought before the judgment seat of Christ and He, on assessing it, will assign you a place in heaven that will reflect your faithfulness to Him as you journeyed between life and death. Some, according to scripture, will be highly rewarded since their dedication to Christ will be deemed “gold, silver and precious stones”; but others will see their poor commitment to Him likened to “wood, hay and straw.” Jesus tells us that he who overcomes will inherit all things. This is amazing and we should think deeply about it.

I will be His God and he shall be my son
Sin separated us from God and placed us under His terrible wrath. We were truly reprobates or evil people without any hope of becoming God’s children. God’s love for us changed all of this and by the sacrifice of His son on the cross He has adopted us and made us a part of His incredible family. To be called God’s son or daughter is a wonderful thing because it implies an eternity of wonders and blessings that we cannot even hope to imagine. This is too wonderful for words to describe and for thoughts to dwell upon but we should attempt to do so because this will fix our spiritual gaze in the right place and keep us true to our journey. We are indeed pilgrims and while we will face many dangers and toils we know, just as Paul did, that a crown of righteousness is waiting for us in heaven. Paul knew that all that God had planned for Him between birth and death had been accomplished and thus he had successfully completed his journey. We should all think on this!

Malcolm Hedding

©Malcolm Hedding Ministries

“Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is noble, what-
ever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever
Is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think
about such things.”
Philippians 4:8

There is no doubt the Christian life is played out in the area of our minds. This is the battle ground for the Christ follower and the quicker we learn this the better. Our minds must be fed with truth so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, our emotions are moved which in turn will dictate our actions. Essentially then this means that we all should have a thorough grasp and working knowledge of the First Principles of our faith as we find them laid out in Hebrews six verses one and two. That is, we should know what the following subjects are all about and how they impact our lives:
Repentance from dead works and faith toward God, Doctrine of baptisms, The laying on of hands… and, The resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment.

Failure to grasp these teachings will lead to weak spiritual foundations and lives that constantly fail to mature into the image of Jesus. Paul stated, when writing to the Church at Galatia, that he was in spiritual labour pains until Christ was formed in them.

Your mind must then be focused

Peter writes in his first epistle that we are to gird up the loins of our minds. (1Peter1:13) The under garment worn around the loins held one’s clothing in place. We can liken it to a modern day belt; if this was loose and not properly attached the other garments would fall off exposing our nakedness. Many a Christian is “exposed” spiritually today because they have little understanding of their faith. Consequently their behavior patterns are carnal and inappropriate. Paul addressed this type of Christian in his first epistle to the Corinthians. (1Corinthians 3:1-4)

Your mind must be freed

This means that we understand that Christian transformation can only take place when our minds are freed to agree with God’s word. The Bible states time and time again that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds. (Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4: 22-24) Your mind is the real you and only you can agree with God’s word and allow it to work powerfully within you. Your mind then turns on the power of God and this leads to character change and this is what Christianity is all about. Remember that your mind will affect your emotions and your emotions will determine your actions. Whoever then controls your mind will ultimately control your actions. Hopefully Jesus is in charge of your mind? Paul, knowing these things full well, wrote that we should not let the sun go down on our anger. (Ephesians 4: 26) That is, if we do not free our minds to do the will of God we will dwell on something negative, that someone has done to us. Thus feeding our anger and hurt and then, in the end, responding not as Jesus would and thereby causing more pain for ourselves and those around us.

Your mind must be fed

Paul writing to the Church at Colassae states that they must fix their minds on things above (Colossians 3:1-2) and in his Philippian letter he tells them to think and dwell on good and godly things. (Philippians 4:8)  We must feed our minds every day with God’s truth so that we have the ways of God built into our lives. We will then become a spiritual epistle that everyone can read and thereby recognize the Bible in us. (2Corinthians 3:1-3) Finally,

Your mind must be fenced

We all need a spiritual fence to protect us from the attacks of the devil. As Christians we have three enemies; ourselves, the world and the devil. All of this is real and the devil prowls about like a roaring lion seeking who he may devour. Do not minimize this reality. ( 1Peter 5:8-9) Some tell us, yes this is true but his teeth have been pulled! This my friend is wishful thinking and nonsense. If you do not appropriate the power of Christ by submitting your mind to Him the devil will get his opportunity and bring chaos to your life. You must know that you are at war and, as he did to Adam and Eve, he will attempt to do to you and his winning strategy has always been, “Did God say this and this?” If your mind is not fenced as Jesus’ mind was on the hill of temptation, you will fall prey to his schemes. This is no game!

So, in the light of the above, I urge you to think on these things!

Malcolm Hedding.

©Malcolm Hedding Ministries

“Come and see…….”
Revelation 6:1

With these words John is invited to witness the great judgements of the end time. These judgements are certain and cannot be avoided because sin, rebellion and the worship of the occult must be judged and dealt with by a loving and just God. The God of the Bible is just such a God and He is the only true God since He is the creator and sustainer of all things. All other so called gods are impostors, man made and demonic. We must have no doubt about this.

John is therefore invited to “come and see” and what he sees are four horses; all of which are about to ride out and deceive humanity or bring forth God’s judgment against it. These are often termed the, “The four horses of the apocalypse.” The scary reality is that they are riding out into the world today and we must be so close to the heart of Jesus that we recognize them and call them out for what they are. We do this, not to protect the world, but to prepare the “bride of Christ” for His coming. So, we must recognize that a horse is a symbol of beauty, power and strength and thus the challenges of what they represent will be great!

The Great White a Horse of Deception (Revelation 6:2)  This horse is a symbol of deception, error and resistance to Christ. Its rider has a bow and a crown, symbols of conflict and authority. It constitutes a warning about the reality of false Christ’s and thus it is white; having the appearance of all that is good and right. This horse will lead the unsuspecting into dark spiritual conflict and bring them under its rule. The Bible warns us that many antichrists have come and gone out into the world and, indeed, one final antichrist is about to step onto the stage of history. He will be an “angel of light.” The biblical concept of antichrist is first and foremost “another Christ” meaning the presentation of an alternative to the true Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. Herein lies his great evil in that he will appear to be the real thing but in fact deny the essential doctrines that embody the truth of the person of Jesus, the Son of the living God.

Today we hear much teaching that tells us to ignore doctrine and unite around Christ. But doctrine tells us who Jesus is and without good doctrine about Christ we can very easily be misled. For this reason Paul exhorts Timothy to give attention to sound doctrine and to ensure that good doctrine is preached to the church. The message is clear; it is good biblical teaching that informs us about who Jesus is and what He did on the cross for us. The doctrine about the person and passion or work of Jesus is essential in order to avoid the deception of the “white horse.” This horse is deceiving Christians every where and especially those who are running back to Rome. Jesus is a perfect Godman who died on the cross once for all for the sins of the whole  world and rose again from the dead on the third day for our justification. His is not a perpetual sacrifice and His work is therefore complete and able to save to the uttermost those who repent and come to Him in faith. This is not the gospel of Rome and of many others who claim to follow Christ but it is the gospel of the Bible.

According to Paul the great threat to the church in the end time will be deception. This deception is coupled to the strong white horse of Revelation that rides out to deceive those who “did not love the truth.” The abandonment of truth is today the popular past time of many Protestant churches as well since they deny the authority of scripture, the deity of Christ, His only way of salvation, the nature of the family and the natural use of sex. Many other churches that claim to be interdenominational have embraced a so called “grace message” that encourages sloppy Christian living, prayerlessness and a concept of God that turns Him into an”anything goes God.” The truth is we are to work out our salvation “with fear and trembling” and we are to discipline ourselves “for the purse of godliness.”

Truly the spirit of antichrist is everywhere today infiltrating all churches and deceiving many. This is just the preparation for an individual who will arise from the abyss to lead the world to hell. He will do it all couched in the appearance of supposed blessing and goodness for all the world. He, like Hitler, will be joyfully followed but he will drown the world in evil. We have all been warned by John! Indeed, come and see!

Malcolm Hedding.

©Malcolm Hedding Ministries