Now in the morning, having risen a long while before day-

            light, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and

            there He prayed.”

                                                            Mark 1:35

            “And take up the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the

            Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all

            prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this

            end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints.”

                                                            Ephesians 6:17-18

Prayer can be defined as talking to God. This, of course is a very simple definition of the practice and yet it is true. More definitely, prayer is working with God to bring forth His purpose in the world. This is a privilege that every Christian should shoulder. The Bible clearly teaches us that all of life is to be handled with prayer but indeed there comes a time when prayer must move away from concentrating on ourselves but rather on the will of God for the world around us. The great intercessor Rees Howells bore the prayer burden of saving Britain from Nazi invasion during the Second World War. God heard him and did just that!

Jesus invites us into a meaningful prayer life and in this study I want us to lift our horizons to see what types of prayer we can move into if we are prepared to enter this adventure with God. Prayer is hard work, it demands discipline but God does nothing without it! It is also rewarding because we observe the hand of God moving in response to it. Prayer is thus the ultimate demonstration of a life that is fully submitted to god!

The Call to Prayer

“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers,

 intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,

 for Kings and all those who are in authority, that we may

 lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”

                                                1 Timothy 2:1-2

      It will be noted from this passage that there are different types of prayer. Namely; those that plead with God (supplications), those that please God (prayers), those that do for others what they cannot do for themselves (intercessions) and those that give thanks. It will also be noted that our state of national security and peace is dependent upon the people of God praying in these ways! No wonder Jesus said that His house should chiefly be a “house of prayer for all nations.” (Mark 11:17)

The Nature of Prayer

“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according

to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal

but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the

knowledge of God……”

                                                2 Corinthians 10:3-5

There are five types of prayer in the scriptures and these, as far as Paul was concerned, constituted our mighty weapons for the ”left and right-hand.” At some point we need to learn how to pick them up, as our effectiveness is dependent upon it!

Responsive Prayer

This is caring and instant prayer that introduces the recipient to the love and grace of God. Jesus employed it when upon the cross He prayed, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.” We call it the “Let’s pray model.”

Conditional Prayer

Prayer is made powerful and effective by lives that reflect the character of God. Clean lives attract the power of God. James wrote that “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much”. (James 5:16) Peter warns that if husbands do not treat their wives in a godly way God will not hear their prayers! (1 Peter 3:7) God honors the prayers of godly men and women.

Importunate Prayer

This is the type of prayer that never gives up. It is sincere and earnest and those who utter it cast themselves on the grace and mercy of God like Cornelius did. (Acts 10:1-4)  The early church also employed it on Peter’s behalf. (Acts 12:5) Jesus said, “Keep knocking and the door will be opened up to you.” (Matthew 7:7)

Battle Prayer

This type of prayer takes hold of the Word of God and its promises and holds them up before God until He does what His word proclaims.  (Isaiah 62:6-7) Daniel prayed in this way and consequently great spiritual strongholds, that held the people of God captive, were brought down. (Daniel 9:1-3) A great spiritual stronghold in our nation is that of abortion. The Word of God is against it and believing Christians can bring it down but this will demand dedication and commitment. Paul acknowledged this realm of prayer when he wrote that out conflict is “not against flesh and blood but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)  Meanwhile other spiritual strongholds are growing and threaten to engulf us with evil. We must lift our prayer horizons urgently and deal with these dark powers.

Regular Prayer

The early Church believers were together all the time in regular prayer meetings. (Acts 2:42) Prayer was undoubtedly  “the lungs of the Church.” They could not survive without it and so the book of Acts states, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication…” (Acts 1:14) It is from regular prayer that the local Church derives its power and we would see more evidence of the power and presence of God amongst us if more people would gather in this manner. The fact that too often the prayer meeting is the smallest weekly meeting of the local church is evidence of our spiritual weakness. We will not change our world until this changes. Indeed we will sing and shout the victory but it will remain just words! (Exodus 32:18)

The Content of Prayer

As far as Paul is concerned prayer should cover all things in life. He again wrote, “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be known unto God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7) Prayer has more to do with our mental well being than we imagine or care to admit.. Anxiety leads to fear and fear to depression and prayer is the way out of these crippling mental disorders.

I firmly believe that we should employ the “Lego Principle” in living this out. That is, enlarge your prayer life by adding new issues and topics to it all the time; just as one adds one Lego piece to another. If you are faithful and regular in this you will not believe how God can use this and thereby entrust to you a memorial that will be raised up in heaven before Him. God answers prayer like this.

Malcolm Hedding

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways.”

2 Peter 2:1-2

The Bible warns that the end time, designated by the restoration of Israel, will be characterized by false teachers. These will introduce destructive heresies that will lead the people of God into deception and error. These days are certainly upon us and we should be aware that deception is close enough to the truth to be embraced as truth! Only a close walk with Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, will protect us from these spiritual delusions.

Deception almost always attacks the truths surrounding the cross, the nature of Jesus and the truth about end time events. Paul teaches us that if teachers come preaching strange doctrines about the cross they should be resisted and damned. (Galatians 1:8-9) Strong words indeed but if the message of the cross is corrupted we end up with no gospel. Martin Luther struggled against this problem and at great cost restored the meaning and significance of the cross to the Church. Jesus alone saves us by enduring the wrath of God on the sinner’s behalf on the cross. We cannot save ourselves and it is only He, by His substitutionary death on the cross, who saves us. It is all grace and not of works lest we are tempted to boast. We are put right with God by faith alone!

“For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit.”  1 Peter 3: 18

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,”

Ephesians 2:8

One of the great false teachings besetting the church today is that of Kingdom Now or what is called Dominion theology. Its popularity lies in the fact that it is very triumphant and promises the believer power and influence in and over the world. A positive message like this is easily embraced and indeed the scriptures can be twisted to make it look and feel like truth. It is not.  In fact, it is a great deception.

Its essential nature is that Jesus cannot come again until the world has been Christianized. That is, the Church must take dominion over the structures of the world and become the dominant influence in all spheres of society before Jesus can come again. They call this assuming control over the so called “seven mountains” of human endeavour. One strong propagator of this deception recently stated that one’s eschatology must be influenced by one’s missiology. What he meant was that Jesus told us to disciple the nations and thus our vision of the end time must be that of global conquest and dominion for Christ. This will be achieved, we are told, by a new type of anointing of the Holy Spirit that the Church has not witnessed before. For many unsuspecting Christians this teaching is exciting, very positive and triumphant. However, it is not biblical as it totally side lines the significance of Israel’s modern day restoration which enjoys huge biblical verification.

The truth is, the kingdom of God, in its final glorious nature, will be ushered in by the coming of Jesus to a restored Jewish Jerusalem. This is the clear teaching of scripture and indeed, just prior to this glorious day, the Church in all the world is going to suffer a great persecution and a great falling away. (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3; Revelation 13: 7) This my friends is the picture scripture paints of the end times. Very dangerous days are ahead of us and we need to be sounding the alarm. The warning signs are everywhere. Beware of false teachers!

This in no way means that the Church should huddle away in fear. No, we must do all we can to preach the Gospel as a witness to the world and we must strengthen our spiritual lives by coming out of the world and living holy lives. (Revelation 18:4; Hebrews 12:14) Anything less than this will leave us weak and unprepared for all that is coming. So then our eschatology should not be defined by our missiology but by the word of God! This precious “word” must be read and taught in context and not in pretext.

Malcolm Hedding

“…besides the other things, what comes upon me daily:  my deep concern for all the churches.” 2 Corinthians 11:28

“The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the messengers of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.” Revelation 1:20

“For this reason I left you in Crete, that you should set in order the things that are la King, and appoint elders in every city as I commanded you.” Titus 1:5

While attending various meetings of late, including prayer meetings, I have noted the disdain that people have for denominations. Disparaging comments about these are made as if it were spiritual and a badge of maturity to put denominations and their leaders down. Sadly still, others stand by and let this happen. Now of course I realize that exclusivism is dangerous and unacceptable but, to be honest, I mix with and preach for a lot of denominational leaders all over the world and I have rarely found any of them caught in the sin of exclusivism and pride. On the contrary I have found them to be open minded, kingdom orientated and determined to harness their strengths as a movement in order to do more for the expansion of the Kingdom of God. Truly those who put them down are saying more about themselves.

Who can deny the amazing impact that denominations have had on the world. Multiple thousands of people and in some cases millions of men, women and children have been and are being swept into the Kingdom of God. Just last year I visited the Apostolic Faith Mission denomination of Namibia only to find out that in just twelve months they had reached 219,000 people for Christ and this in a country of only two million people. They had successfully harnessed their churches to ” assault” the nation for Jesus. An independent non-denominational church would never be able to do this. Now I could go on and on talking about the multiple hundreds of thousands of people that denominations are winning to Christ everywhere but the point is made. We must stop being sectarian and carnal and appreciate all the various manifestations of the true church in the world. We grieve the Holy Spirit when we denigrate His work in the world and we should desist from doing so.

Now I am certainly not endorsing denominations that depart from the truth of God’s word, embrace liberal and liberation theology and deny the place that Israel holds in God’s plan of world redemption. These certainly exist as do independent churches that propagate these errors as well. I am simply drawing attention to the fact that we must honour God’s work everywhere and those who pursue it no matter the banner flying over them.

It is worth remembering that the denominate expression of the Church in the book of Acts is the denominational form of it! Paul went out from Antioch to plant churches and these he strung together under the care of an Apostolic Band from which he gave correction, ministry and care to the churches. They were, in a good way, his churches and consequently they had a common way of working and thinking and thousands of people were won for Christ. In fact, it is because of the denominational work of Paul that we have the many wonderful Epistles of the New Testament. So, we should be a little more humble and careful when talking about denominations, The Wesley brothers built and left us a denomination that in its hay day swept millions into the Kingdom of Heaven. One can have and should have concerns about Methodism today but one cannot deny that for two centuries and more it was God’s engine to save souls on a scale hardly seen before. Powerful denominations came out of the Azusa Street revival and some of these are still winning millions to Christ all over the world.

We must pray for denominational leaders and bless them. Jesus wrote to the seven churches of Asia and viewed them as being strung together by the “messengers of the churches.” These “messengers” are gift ministries or preachers that hold them together and bring Christ’s message to them. The whole denomination was His concern and still is!

Malcolm Hedding

   “But there were also false prophets among the people

even as there will be false teachers among you, who

     will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying

the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves

swift destruction.” 2 Peter 2:1

For some time now a new breed of Pastor has appeared on the horizon of Christian endeavor. This new preacher is a motivational in style and content. For these preachers the major themes of the Bible are neglected in favor of what they call “positive projection”. All of this is designed to make the hearer feel comfortable and not challenged. Consequently, the great doctrines of the Bible having to do with the wrath of God, sin, hell, the cross and repentance are neglected if not totally ignored. The call to live crucified lives is never made and so what we have is churches filled with people who really know very little about their faith, if anything at all. One wonders what type of Christians these people are and no doubt when trouble, trial and suffering comes they will fall away and abandon what little faith they have. The problem lies with unfaithful preachers who use their pulpits to “tickle the ears” of their people.

Both Peter and Paul warn us about preachers like this and so even the early church was filled with false teachers who led people astray. Paul calls them wolves as behind all the sweet talk and positive projection was the ravaging teeth of a beast determined to corrupt the body of Christ.

          “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock,

         among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers,

         to shepherd the church of a god which He purchased

         with His own blood. For I know this, that after my

        departure savage wolves will come in among you, not

         sparing the flock.” Acts 20: 28-29

All this means that we must seek refuge in churches where the whole counsel of God is faithfully preached. The most blessed style of preaching is that which wounds and heals by addressing the great biblical themes of sin, the wrath of God, repentance, the cross, grace, a crucified life and the soon coming of Christ. Don’t be fooled by the motivational preachers and get yourself into a local church where Jesus is really preached and honored. The time is really too short to play around.

Malcolm Hedding

                        “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace

                         with God through our Lord Jesus Crist, through whom

                         also we have access by faith into this grace in which we

                         stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not

                         only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that

                         tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance

                         character; and character hope. Now hope does not dis-

                         appoint, because the love of God has been poured out in

                         our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

              Romans 5:1-5

Definition:

The term justification means that all the legal and righteous claims that God has against you are fully met and settled and no longer count against you.

1. The nature of God’s claims against us

That we:

• Rebelled against Him thus questioning His love for us.
• Transgressed (sinned against) His laws and thereby questioned the nature of His character.
• Became His enemies and thereby revolted against His rule.
• Willingly partnered with His antagonist Satan and thus questioned His power.

Consequently we were:

• Given over to death and separated from God
• Given over to the wrath of God
• Given over to bondages of all types….and;
• Given over to despair

2. The nature of our deliverance

Is by faith. This implies that we trust someone other than ourselves to save us and it underscores the fact that we can do nothing to save ourselves. We were truly helpless and given over to what the Bible calls “dead works” (Hebrews 6:1). Our very best efforts at attempting to do good could not satisfy God’s righteous claims over us; we could not be justified by them! We were truly doomed and only a perfect Godman could save us. As John the Apostle discovered no such person could be found on earth. (Revelation 5:3-4)

Jesus, by His death, burial and resurrection satisfied every single claim that God ever had against you or will have against you. By His death He brought the blessing of being justified to our lives. This is what we mean by being free! It is by having faith in Jesus finished work on the cross that you can begin a new chapter in your life with very blessed eternal consequences! (Romans 5:6-11)

3. The nature of our new life in Christ

We have:

• Peace with God
• Access to God’s real presence. Note that we “stand” in this glorious place.
• Much joy. This joy is inspired by the expectation of a fully transformed life; body, soul and spirit! The very image of God in all its brilliance will be restored to our lives. This will happen when Jesus comes again (1 Thessalonians 5:23).
• A firm foundation upon which to stand as life’s troubles assault us; all the while knowing that these troubles become redemptive.
• A true hope because, by virtue of being in Christ, we have received and already enjoy a real deposit or down payment of our heavenly future. The Holy Spirit, the very agent of Jesus, makes this unique blessing real to us!

Malcolm Hedding

“I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. I will give to you and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojourning, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.”   
Genesis 17:7-8

The debate that rages over Israel’s modern day restoration is undoubtedly a heated one and there are good, honest Christians on both sides of “the divide”.  It is crucial and important for us to make this observation because it is highly dangerous to treat each other with disdain and disrespect because we do not agree on this issue.  Our salvation is not regulated by issues like this, but by our personal repentance and acceptance of Jesus as Lord and Saviour, all based on His finished work on the cross.

The Heart of the Matter

Some Christians see no biblical significance in the modern day restoration of Israel.  For them the State of Israel is just like any other.  The national destiny of the Jewish people in the “Promised Land” has been lost since the time of Christ because of their rejection of His Messianic credentials.  They believe this even though the Scriptures affirm that the promise to them in this regard is an everlasting one! Consequently the church is exclusively the “New Israel of God” (The new Promised Land) and the only hope for all men, be they Jew of Gentile, is the acceptance of the Gospel.

From a certain perspective I must say that the latter statement is true. There is indeed “no other name give among men, under heaven, by which we can be saved”.  We cannot and should not be dual covenant by belief!  (Acts 4:12)

But is this the whole truth?  I think not.  The heart of the matter or the real issue is; has the everlasting promises of God in the Abrahamic Covenant bequeathing the land of Canaan to the Jewish people been revoked?  And if so, what evidence of this “revoking” is in the Bible?  In other words, the debate is about what one thinks of the Abrahamic Covenant.  This alone is the heart of the matter!

The Nature of the Covenant

First mentioned in Genesis 12:1-3 and reinforced time and time again throughout all of Scripture mostly, in fact, in the New Covenant Scriptures, the Abrahamic Covenant sets aside a people and a land for the blessing of the nations.  “In you all the nations of the earth will be blessed…” For the Apostle Paul this was one of the earliest proclamations of the Gospel. (Galatians 3:8)  Thus, the Abrahamic Covenant is that great covenant of the Bible that promises salvation to a world lost in sin.  It is made with Abraham and his descendants after him. (Genesis 17:7)  It is, therefore, “the covenant of decision” and all the other great covenants of the Bible flow out of it.  So, John the Baptist and even Jesus come into the world because of the promises made to Abraham in this covenant. (Luke 1:54-55; 72-75)  The Jewish people, as Abraham’s descendants, are chosen as the servants of the covenant.  In other words, the nation of Israel is not brought into existence as an end itself, but as a means to an end – the salvation of the world.  They are the means by which God delivers His redemptive initiative to the world.

Jesus said “salvation is of the Jews.” (John 4:22) Paul wrote that “they are the custodians of the oracles of God” and from them come the prophets, the giving of the law, the covenants and the Messiah who is God blessed forever.”  (Romans 3:1-2; Romans 9:1-5)

It is truly hard to believe that the covenant has been replaced in the light of all this, because if it has, then the decision to bless the whole world with salvation has also been replaced!!

The Nature of the Debate

The debate over Israel’s modern day restoration is over the continuing power and existence of the Abrahamic Covenant.  In other words, has this covenant been abolished or reconstructed and if so, what biblical evidence is there for it?

Firstly, the “abolitionist theory”, (the total removal of the covenant) is not possible because of the New Covenant.  For instance, in Galatians 3 we are told that “if we are Christ’s, then we are Abraham’s children according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:29) Moreover, Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law “so that the blessing of Abraham” might come upon us by faith. (Galatians3:14)  The writer of the book of Hebrews insists that the wavering messianic believers can trust God and His promises in the New Covenant because he is faithful, completely, to His promises made in the Abrahamic Covenant. (Hebrews 6:13-20)  Hence, there is absolutely no hint whatsoever that this covenant has been in any way disempowered, replaced, or abolished.  On the contrary, it is affirmed and established, and this after Israel’s rejection of Jesus’ Messianic credentials!  Indeed, in Galatians 3 Paul argues that it cannot be annulled, (Galatians 3:17) and in Romans 3:3-4 Paul clearly states that Israel’s rejection of Jesus has not in any way altered the faithfulness of God to them and, finally, in Romans 11 he argues that Jewish unbelief has not removed from them God’s calling and purpose. (Romans 11:11, 29)

Secondly, then there is the more popular “reconstructionist theory”, otherwise known as Replacement theology, that claims that the Abrahamic Covenant has been altered or adjusted because of Jewish unbelief.  This is an argument from silence, but it must be made by those who see no significance in Israel’s modern day restoration to what was called Palestine. Given the New Testament evidence, that is overwhelming, they inadvertently accuse God of lying! (Romans 3:4)  A covenant that promises the world salvation and promises everlasting possession of the land of Canaan to the Jewish people is not trustworthy!  This is truly amazing when one considers that John the Baptist and Jesus came into the world because of this covenant and that our embracing of the Lord Jesus as Lord and Saviour places us in the promises made in it.  The God we serve does not lie!  (Titus 1:2; Numbers 23:9) Actually, according to Romans 15:8, Jesus came to confirm the promises made to the fathers and not to reconstruct or replace them. For the reconstructionists the words of Paul in Galatians three, attesting to the promise of God in Abraham, as applying to the “seed” (Christ) and not to the “seeds” (many) is taken to support their reconstructionist thesis. They are wrong because the Abrahamic Covenant makes a promise to both; the seed (Genesis 22:18) and the seeds! (Genesis 17:7-8) Paul’s point is that God’s ultimate plan of salvation brought to the world by the people of Israel is appropriated by faith in Jesus and not by the works of the law. (Galatians 3:15-18)

The Nature of Evidence
It has to be acknowledged by all in this debate that Jesus returns visibly and physically to Jerusalem; (Acts 1:11; Zechariah 14:4) that is, in terms of the context of scripture, to the Old City of Jerusalem.  Indeed, in a mysterious way, He links this return to Jewish acceptance of His Messianic credentials.  (Matthew 23:39) He also Himself stated, in His Olivet Discourse, that one of the signs of His return is the return of the Jews to East Jerusalem. (Luke 21:24) When we add to this the interesting conversation that He had with His disciples on the Mt. of Olives concerning the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel, (Acts 1:6)    the picture becomes clear. That is, a latter day return of the Jews after 70 A.D. to Jerusalem is expected!  On what grounds?  Clearly as the New Testament everywhere affirms, on the grounds of an everlasting promise made to them in Abraham (Hebrews 6:13-20)

Those embracing the “reconstructionist”, or replacement, view of the Abrahamic Covenant not only have to grapple with the weight of evidence in the New Treatment, but also with the weight of evidence in the Old Treatment.  Exile and correction are always followed up with a promise of restoration. (Amos 9:9-15) On what grounds? The answer is the promises of God given in the Abrahamic Covenant. (Haggai 3:14-15; Psalms 105:7-15; Deuteronomy 30:1-10)

It is precisely here that the “reconstructionists” misuse Scripture.  That is, in contradiction of the context of Old Testament Scriptures, which in most cases, in this regard, is literal they affirm that the passages, in this regard , have to be read allegorically!  In short they wrest from scripture its own authority and they assume to themselves this authority and therefore they will decide what Scripture means. As a consequence they debunk any literal interpretation of scripture pointing to a physical restoration of the Jews to the land of Canaan and instead assert that the Church is now the new Promised Land or Canaan.  This assertion is totally unacceptable as a method of exegesis.

The truth is; we are not literalists or spiritualists (the allegorical method of interpreting) but “contextualists.”   The context of Scripture will alone decide our exegesis of it.  If we follow this erroneous method of exegesis to its logical end we can ¬¬¬equally assume that Jesus’ death on the cross was not literal! In fact an early church heresy did precisely this.  There is nothing new.
The Nature of the Divide
While the Abrahamic Covenant promises salvation to the world (Galatians 3:8) and land to Israel as an everlasting possession, the Mosaic Covenant (Moral Law), that flows out of it, demands from Israel that:

1.    She live out the light and blessing of God that she gives to the world (Exodus 19:1-6)
2.    She live out the heavenly demands of justice and righteousness (Micah 6:5-8; Exodus 23:11; Isaiah 5:7)
Failure in these two areas would lead to correction, judgment and exile, but not loss of possession, only loss of domicile!  In all honesty, Christian Zionists fail in these areas.   That is, they stress the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant but ignore the commands of the Mosaic Covenant or Moral Law. They thus stray into political Zionism! Israel’s spiritual condition matters to God and determines her borders.
How sad it is that the church can never find balance.  We always think that “the other side” is wrong when in reality we are both wrong and both right.  Scripture is therefore clear that Israel’s possession of the land of Canaan is unconditional and everlasting (Exodus 32:13) but her domicile (privilege of living on the land of Canaan) is conditional.  That is, conditional upon her righteous behaviour.  This includes treating the stranger with respect and justice. (Two devastating exiles in her history have proved this point well.) In this regard the Church and the Christian Zionist world should find its “voice.”  For Arabs, Palestinians, Christians and other minorities living in the Holy Land this is the issue.  The failure of Christian Zionists to address these issues has prevented these minority groups from hearing their message.  But equally, the failure of Christians who champion these issues to address the consequences of the Abrahamic Covenant adequately has diminished their voice in the Jewish world.  The truth is; we all need to “grow up” and be more balanced.
In the End
In the end Scripture affirms that Israel will exist forever as a nation before God and He will not cut her off because of all that she has done.  (Jeremiah 31:35-37). Scripture clearly implies that her long historical journey will be characterised by two exiles and two returns. (Isaiah11:11) She will finally return a second time in unbelief (Ezekiel 36:24-28) and, through a process of affliction and correction, be spiritually recovered (Hosea 5:14-15; 6:1-3) Paul saw Israel’s “interlude of unbelief “as a time of the salvation of the nations to be followed by Israel’s spiritual recovery. The Deliverer will “come out of Zion.” (Romans 11:25-27) It is surely no co-incidence that we have now witnessed the second return of the Jewish people from exile. We are all “caught” in this unique transition point in history trying to make sense of it all. This is much like the early Church trying to make sense of gentile inclusion in the Church. It is a challenging process requiring grace and much love from those who tackle it. It is deeply troubling when Christians use Scripture as a weapon against each other.   I do not write in this vain.  I believe that in the end we must all acknowledge that there are great Christians on both sides of this debate.  I have set forth my position in this devotional paper.  A position I believe to be true.  More true than all of this however, is faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love.

Malcolm Hedding

                        “For when we were still without strength, in due time

                         Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous

                         man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone

                         would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own

                         love toward us, in that while we were still sinners,

                         Christ died for us.”

The ultimate wickedness of sin is that it convinces many that they are quite good and can even make it to heaven if they live good lives. This is just not true and the Bible everywhere, as it does in the passage above, rejects this notion. We are in fact wretched and wicked and deserve nothing more or less than God’s wrath and rejection. Our preoccupation with ourselves, with all the horrific consequences, has totally corrupted us and left us depraved. We cannot please God by our good works as they are all tainted by evil. Paul “hits the nail on the head” when he declares that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” God’s glory is His character and if we are to enter heaven by our works then these must equal the perfection of God’s image and nature. No one can do this! We are wretched and evil! Paul underlines this when he writes:

1. That we are without strength

Meaning that we have no power to attain to God’s likeness and therefore no hope beyond the grave. We are just weak and corrupted by sin and in fact to the degree that we are enemies of God and in constant rebellion against Him.

2. That we are ungodly

We are unlike God in all aspects of our lives. In Adam we were created in His likeness but our rejection of God has severed us from Him, and left us deeply impacted by everything that is not of God. Truly we were the ungodly!

3. That we are sinners

This description of our lives rightly describes us as those who did everything that was contrary to the wishes and desires of God. We were sinners! That is, those who took pleasure in deeds of darkness, encouraged others to join us in them and these in turn brought meaningless, ruin and hopelessness to our lives. We were wretched and blind!

The wonder of this passage is that it tells us that God in Christ loved us. We can only fully appreciate this statement when we grasp, once and for all, the depth of our depravity and the consequences that this brought upon us. We were children of wrath destined to be separated from God for all eternity. But God stepped in, we are told because He loved us, and sent Jesus to die for us. This is amazing love because, humanly speaking, no one would lay his or her life down for a wicked person. Would you lay your life down for a murderer like Paul? I think not. Actually, we would hardly give our lives for a good person but God demonstrated His great love for us by laying His life down for each one of us. “Us” being wicked ungodly sinners! This great demonstration of God’s redeeming love is not only amazing but it is powerful because being in Christ we are forgiven, delivered from the wrath of God and empowered to change until we are no longer “the ungodly” but the saints of the living God! We are holy ones! No wonder the writer of the book of Hebrews declared that this great salvation is able to save us to the uttermost. That is, in Jesus we become God’s children and all that He ever wanted us to be. This friends is good news indeed and we should never forget it.

Malcolm Hedding.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that you present
your bodies a living sacrifice, holy
acceptable to God, which is your reason-
able service”
Romans 12:1

This verse is a response to the failure of Israel as Paul outlines it in Romans nine, ten and eleven. We need a living faith and anything short of this will allow routine, ritual and habit to corrode and govern our spiritual lives. We can have a form of godliness but all the while denying the power thereof; and many do! So, Paul’s exhortation has three thoughts worth pondering:

1.    We should be ever mindful of the mercies of God.
We were sinners living under the wrath of God and without God in the world and without hope. We could do nothing to change our circumstances and were thus dependent entirely on the “mercies of God” to save us. These mercies are supremely demonstrated in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus for us. It is His saving work on the cross alone that saves us. There is no greater demonstration of the mercy of God than this and because of it we should surrender our lives completely to Christ and live for Him. Because of God’s mercy we can only but respond appropriately and this means:

2.    We should present our bodies a living sacrifice
While we have life in our mortal bodies we should lay ourselves down on the altar of God’s purpose. This is a decision of the will and it means beginning each day with a choice to serve God and love Him. It is to be noted that what we do with our bodies is important to God. We live in a world where people abuse, disfigure, misuse and destroy their bodies. We see this all around us every day but we are to honor and care for our bodies and surrender them with our minds to the will of God. The true Christian must embrace this choice with the break of every new day and then:

3.    We should thirst after holiness
God in Christ died for us so that we can, by His power, live lives that reflect His character. The Bible calls this holiness and Paul defined it as being conformed to the image of Christ. It is only this pursuit that is acceptable to God and Christians that do not make this their chief joy are in a sense fooling themselves because without holiness they shall not see the Lord! It was Israel’s neglect of these things that led to her failure and we too can fail if we are not mindful of them; hence Paul’s exhortation. Let us heed it well!

Malcolm Hedding

1 Corinthians 3:9-11; Acts 13:1-2; Titus 1:5-6

Paul the Apostle believed in “church craft”as he saw himself as a “master builder”. That is, he went about his ministry with intentionality and purpose. He knew what he intended to build and gave himself to it, but sadly today it is not so!

Much of Christian work is haphazard and fad driven. There are in fact four types of churches in the book of Acts. Which type of church are you called to build?

1. The Blending Church

This type of church speaks into the culture of which it is a part and it is typified by the church in Jerusalem led by James. It is therefore led by a strong ministry gift around which others gather to enable. This gift ministry can be seen as the tip of the spear enabled by the shaft; those who gather around the lead ministry.

The dangers are compromise and lack of succession. An example of this compromise is the apartheid era churches in South Africa that embraced segregation in the house of a God! They became a reflection of society and not of Christ!

2. The Sending Church

This church is typified by the church at Antioch which had a number of leaders described as Prophets and Teachers; Paul was amongst them.(Acts 13:1-2)  The church was then led by a ministry team and not one individual or so called Senior Pastor. The sending church is an incubation church in that it brings forth strong Ephesian four gift ministries and then gives them away to the work of God. It therefore has a high degree of commitment to equipping and is dependent upon a strong sense of submission to be successful.

The dangers facing this church are schism and discouragement. The former  because strong gifted leaders have to dwell together in love and the latter because this model of church gives away its best ministry gifts as we see with Paul and Barnabas.

3. The Missionary Church

This is the dominant expression of the church in the New Testament. It is in fact the denominational church! That is, a number of churches held together in fellowship by a team of ministers (Apostles) and empowered by a gathering or synod. This is the type of church that Paul built! It requires a well defined manner of working and a strong unified vision. In this regard note 1Corinthians 11:16 and Titus 1:5-6. This remains the most effective and powerful expression of the church in the world.

The Wesleys built the Methodist Church

John Wimber built the Vineyard Church

Dudley Daniels built the New Covenant movement Azusa Street led directly to the birthing of the Apostolic Faith Mission, the Church of God ( Full Gospel Church) and the Assemblies of God Count Zinzendorf built the Moravian Church Bhengu planted thousands of churches of the Assemblies of God of Southern Africa.

The Apostolic Faith Mission of Namibia has in one year led 209,000 people to Jesus!

It is worth noting that we have much of the New Testament because Paul planted a missionary church. The dangers facing this model is exclusivism and fossilization; a movement becomes a monument.

4. The Persecuted Church

Pictured by the Church at Rome requiring a high degree of caring and connectedness. Though Paul had never been to Rome he nevertheless was able to name and greet the churches that were everywhere meeting in homes. (Romans 16)

Things to Check in 2016

1. Worship leaders or song leaders John 4:23 Most churches today have song leaders, albeit good ones, but not worship leaders. Those who worship God must do so “in spirit and truth.” Truth informs us about the nature and character of God thus enabling us to “worthship” God correctly. Worshipping “in spirit” means connecting with that eternal place within us where God indwells us. We thus begin to mingle with heaven and so Paul states that we should worship God with our minds, involving musical instruments and our languages, and with our spirits, involving our heavenly tongues and languages corporately orchestrated by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 14:14-15)

It is important to note that song leading only touches the mind or soul of people. It can be moving and blessed and is worship but the song leader must know “when to the turn the tap off”, thereby abandoning instruments of all types, and how to bring the people into worship by their spirits in the power of the Holy Spirit. I well remember the days in Cape Town when we would sing in tongues for ten and fifteen minutes and in heavenly spiritual songs that were nothing short of glorious. This sadly, in most churches, even so called Spirit filled ones, is a thing of the past. Why?

2. Preachers of a gnostic gospel Ephesians 1:3; 2 Peter 1:3 The gnostic gospel is the proclamation by preachers of special revelation truth that, if acted upon when heard, will give the hearers more of God. I have heard this error all over the world. The truth is God’s “more box” is empty; He has nothing more to give you as He has already blessed us ” with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” The truth is, we do not need more of God, He needs more of us! Paul prays that God’s children will have their eyes open to understand “His inheritance in them!” (Ephesians 1:15-18)

What we need is more devotion, prayer, submission, faithfulness and discipline by which to appropriate all that God in Christ has already given us. Beware of the gnostic preachers.

3. The house of God Matthew 21:13 Jesus said that “His house” should be a “house of prayer for all nations.” Today the local church is anything but a house of prayer since the weekly prayer meeting is routinely tucked away in a small room where less than ten percent of the congregation gather for prayer. The truth is, prayer should be the main function of the whole congregation and the local church must urgently restructure itself to make this happen. Indeed the local church is and should be a house of teaching, preaching and singing but its most important function is that of prayer. Until we get our spiritual priorities right in this regard we will not see the revival we all claim we desire and the nation will not be touched again by the power of God.

4. The new apostles Titus 2:15, 1John 2:17; Revelation 2:2 Apostles are those Prophets, Teachers and Evangelists who are sent out to plant new churches where Jesus has not been proclaimed. (Romans 15:14-21) This alone is the qualification of a biblical Apostle. Apostles are not sent out to rehabilitate the cities of our world and their so called “seven mountains” of human endeavor. The truth is, God is determined to overthrow the world order and it is already passing away. You cannot rehabilitate the “Titanic” as it is already sinking but you can get as many people as possible off it if you are “salt and light.” We are called to retard wickedness so that the Gospel of Jesus can be preached everywhere and so our hope is not in a rehabilitated world system but in the visible and real second coming of Jesus.

The so called “New Apostolic Movement” is not going to take over the systems of our world before Jesus comes as this is not our calling. We call people out of the world by our preaching and Jesus when He comes will take over the world and rule it with a “rod of iron.” Blessed be His name!

Malcolm Hedding.

                “But The Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel
                 of Mine to bear My name before the Gentiles, Kings, and
                 the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things
                 he must suffer for My Name’s sake.”
Acts 9:15-26

No doubt one of the great privileges of life is to be called into the “Five-fold” ministry of the ascended Christ. These are not people with gifts but they are themselves the gift of Jesus to His Church in the world. Paul defines these people in his letter to the church at Ephesus as Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers. (Ephesians 4:11) While they do have gifts of the Spirit and unique leadership skills they are chiefly called to beautify the church. That is, their focus is to bring every believer under their sphere of influence to the fullness of the stature of Christ. This is not an easy task and those who embark upon it have to themselves demonstrate the life of Jesus before they can call others to embrace it for themselves.

This high calling means that the servant of Jesus will have to walk the way of the cross and this in turn means embracing the way of suffering and trial. ( 2 Corinthians 3:7-11) To assume that Jesus can be implanted in people’s lives apart from this road is foolishness. Paul’s calling was great but to achieve it he had to face a journey punctuated by intense suffering. Jesus had to have His way with Paul since Paul’s ministry required a vessel so committed to Christ that He could impart to the world through him much of the New Testament. I once heard a great man of God share his testimony and then, in the question time afterwards, a young man commendably stated that he desired to be like him. The man of God looked lovingly at him and replied, “Young man make sure you are willing to pay the price before setting out to follow me.” That’s it exactly! We need men and women who are willing to embrace the road of suffering as well as the one of blessing. I fear that the latter has been over emphasized in recent years.

Of course Jesus will never ask you to bear more than you can handle since He knows our limitations but the calling to serve Christ requires resolve and determination. Jesus made this plain time and time again. Also commitment to the heavenly task imparted to one is also required from the servant of Jesus. Paul knew that he was called as an Apostle to the Gentiles and therefore he made this his lifelong focus and commitment. I know some remarkable men who have dedicated their lives completely to a heavenly calling. They were never distracted from the calling that they knew was theirs in Christ. Very often their road was a lonely one and even a misunderstood one but they held to it and never gave up.
The call of God is a precious thing and we all have it in one way or another. To let it manifest in our lives we must welcome the work of the Holy Spirit in us that weakens our flesh by trials and difficulties. It is only by this weakening process that we become the life giving bread that Jesus desires to give to the world. (2 Corinthians 1:8-10) The truth is, we must welcome Christ fully into our lives and then accept all and everything that comes our way. He will work it together for our good and make us a blessing to the Body of Christ and the world. Who is sufficient for these things?

Malcolm Hedding.