In classical antiquity, an oracle was a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions of the future, inspired by the gods. Later, an oracle became associated with the words such people gave; the word in English comes from the Latin ‘orare’, to say.

It is good for us to acknowledge wisdom and counsel, but the Bible makes it plain that the words of God, spoken by God, are powerful beyond any human words. God spoke creation into being (Genesis 1); Ps 33:6 and 9 say, ‘By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth… For he spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm.’  Jesus is referred to as ‘the Word’ (Jn 1:1); Heb 1:1-2 says ‘In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe.’ We need to pay careful attention to all God says.

In Ps 110, we are twice told that God speaks: Ps 110:1 (‘The LORD says to my Lord’) and Ps 110:4 (‘the Lord has sworn and will not change his mind.’) Our responsibility as God’s people is to have ears that hear, rather like the character in Ezra Pound’s poem who wishes to know everything: ‘I guzzle with outstretched ears’. Listening to God is no easy task (it is all too easy to be like the people in Isaiah’s prophecy, ‘ever hearing, but never understanding.’ (Is 6:9)), but God is looking for people who will ponder and weigh all He says and has said. Ps 110 reminds us that God is a God who speaks, a God who wishes to communicate with us. Jesus frequently spoke about having ears that hear (Matt 11:15, Matt 13:9, 43; Mark 4:9, 23; Luke 6:47), about hearing leading to action (see Matt 7:24-27). The question is not so much ‘does God speak?’ as ‘are we listening, really listening?’ (Matt 11:15, The Message)

There were few things I liked about maths when I was at school, but one of the things I found relatively easy to grasp was the idea of symbols. Mathematical symbols to me represented a form of shorthand. = was a very easy way of saying ‘equals to’. x wasn’t an alegebraic letter to me, but a way of saying ‘multiplied by’. I had no problem learning these symbols, and so came to understand > (greater than) and < (less than) as a way of shorthand that was extremely useful.

(This led to complications with textspeak as I grew older, however, as I<3 was read as ‘1 less than 3’ which was so obvious as to leave me frowning over the message, only to be told by my son that the <3 was meant to be looked at at an angle to represent a love heart, and simply meant ‘I love you’. Clearly, mathematical symbols were not part of that language!)

In terms of symbols, however J>M. In our Bible studies on the Messianic Psalms, we’ve been looking at Psalm 110, and one of the truths there is that the Messiah would be ‘a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek’. (Ps 110:4) Melchizedek is one of those Old Testament characters who appears briefly (Genesis 14) and then disappears, but as this psalm makes clear, and the writer to the Hebrews expounds at some length, Melchizedek is a type of Christ, a foreshadow of the Messiah who would not only be king but an eternal priest. Once again, the Jews were familiar with the idea of a Messiah who would be king and rule in justice and with truth, but the Levitical priesthood was so familiar to them that the idea of a priest coming from the tribe of Judah (as Jesus did) would have been unthinkable (see also 2 Chron 26). Hebrews 7 makes it plain, however, that this reference from Ps 110 illustrates the truth that the Messiah really is a priest and that this superior priesthood paves the way for our reconciliation to God. Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant (Heb 7:22), establishing a permanent, eternal priesthood. (Heb 7:23-25) His sinlessness meant there was no need for endless sacrifices: ‘But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.’ (Heb 10:12-13, see also Heb 7:27 & Ps 110:1).

There are some who feel that Melchizedek represents a theophany, a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ on earth. What is definite is that the Messiah’s role as priest, interceding before God (Heb 7:25) and offering that perfect sacrifice (Heb 10:9-10), gives us confidence to approach God (Heb 4:16) and ultimately provides the basis for a better hope (Heb 7:19).

In our Bible studies, we have been looking at Messianic Psalms, and this week turned our attention to Psalm 110, the most quoted psalm in the whole of the New Testament (one of those Bible facts which tend to be more obscure than we might otherwise think!) It is quoted 8 times and alluded to even more; as Eugene Peterson says, ‘No other psalm comes close. The community of first-century Christians pondered, discussed, memorized and meditated on Psalm 110. When they opened their prayer book, the Psalms, the prayer that they were drawn to and that shaped their common life was Psalm 110.’ (‘Where Your Treasure Is’, P 37)

One reason that the psalm was so important to early Christians is its reference to the divine nature of the Messiah. Ps 110:1 (‘the LORD says to my Lord’, where the first reference is to Yahweh, a clear pointer that this is God speaking with all the creative force His words always bring) points us to a Messiah who is more than a human descendant of David; He too is Lord (Adonai). Jesus asked the Pharisees to interpret this verse (Matthew 22:44; Mark 12:36; Luke 20:42, 43), and their failure to respond to His question reminds us that whilst they accepted David’s authorship of the psalm, its inspiration by God and its references to the Messiah, they could not make the next logical step to admitting that the Messiah would be both divine as well as human. The nature of Christ – fully God and fully man – continues to be a major stumbling-block for people today, with most cults going astray at this point, and as always, we need to be clear about the identity of Jesus as this is a foundational truth at the heart of the gospel.

Ps 110 makes it plain that the Messiah would be a king, ruling in the midst of enemies, holding out a royal sceptre, judging and reigning with truth, even if we wait for the ultimate demonstration of that (see also 1 Cor 15:20-29). His position at the right hand of God is assured (Ps 110:1), a view echoed in the New Testament (Eph 1:20, Heb 8:1, Col 3:1, 1 Pet 3:22, Heb 1:3). The psalm celebrates the exaltation of Christ in His resurrection and ascension (see Acts 2:29-36), reminding us that the Messiah will reign forever, demonstrating also an eternal priesthood which will never end. The fact that the Messiah is King forever should fill us with hope and courage, even as we presently wait for his enemies to be made his footstool. We are so often in a hurry for this, but Christ shows no impatience. We too need to learn to wait patiently for God, secure in His sovereignty.

In order to experience the fire of the Holy Spirit, we need to covenant with God to:

1. stay in the room of expectation. God wants us to position ourselves for change, keeping expectation in our hearts. In Acts 1:4, the disciples were urged to wait for the promise of the Father, and this they did patiently. As William Carey reminds us, we should expect great things from God and attempt great things for Him. So often, we allow ourselves to become disillusioned and lack faith that God will actually move in answer to our prayers. We need to cultivate expectancy as we linger with God.

2. stay in the room of sacrificial prayer. In Acts1:14, we see how the disciples continued in prayer. The acronym PUSH stands for ‘Pray Until Something Happens’! We have to overcome our feelings (which often don’t want to pray – not surprising, since we have an enemy who fears the praying Christian!) and press on in sacrificial prayer. So often, the prayer meeting is the least attended meeting in a church’s life, but we need to continue praying. Do join us for the ‘Churches Together’ Day of Prayer on Friday 16th March (at Furlong Road Methodist Church, or simply pray at home with us!)

3. stay in the room of agreement. Unity is so important, as Acts 2:1 makes clear. The enemy loves to cause division in churches, often through criticism, negativity and discord, but unity brings anointing and blessing (see Ps 133:1-3). Acts 2:42 reminds us that we have to choose to be in unity (‘devoted themselves’ to fellowship). As we stand united in Christ, we pray the fire of the Holy Spirit will fall on us.

Guest speaker Yan Hadley spoke tonight on ‘Combustible Christianity’, how we need the fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Is 64:1-2 expresses a yearning for God to meet with us, ‘as when fire sets twigs ablaze’, and certainly, we need the fire of God to bring conviction of sin, reviving the church and drawing unbelievers to conversion. Revivals in the past (eg 1857 in the USA when over a million people were converted, or 1859 in Ulster, when 100,000 were converted, with men falling in the mud outside churches as they repented, or the Welsh Revival of 1904 when in three months, 100,000 people were converted) remind us of the power of God which can sweep through areas: in 1906, the Pentecostal movement began in a ‘tumbleown, dirty, wooden shack’ in Azusa Street, USA: there are now over 600 million Pentecostal/ charismatic Christians in the world. Revivals can occur anywhere (the 1907 North Korean revival lasted for almost 40 years; the Hebridean revival in 1949 saw four services held every night at 7 p.m., 10 p.m., midnight and 3 a.m., such was the hunger of people to meet with God. We pray God will revive His church once again, for we need the passion, enthusiasm, boldness and eagerness which revival brings.

Matt 3:11 reminds us that Jesus will baptise with the Holy Spirit and with fire. As we surrender everything to God, set aside all distractions and seek God with all our hearts (see 2 Chron 7:14), we can be aglow and burning in our service to God (see Rom 12:11, Amplified version).

The ‘fire triangle’ speaks of the three elements necessary for fire to burn: oxygen, fuel and heat.

In the spiritual realm, oxygen is the presence of the Holy Spirit with us (Acts 2:2-3). Fuel is provided by God’s Word (Matt 4:4). Jeremiah described God’s word as a fire burning within him (Jer 20:9), and we need to hunger and thirst for the presence of God if we are to see God move in power (see Ps 42:1, Ps 63:1, Ps 84:1 for descriptions of this yearning.) Heat consists of a consciousness of God’s presence, conviction of sin and a compulsion to share Christ. The disciples on the road to Emmaus knew something of the ‘burning hearts’ which God can bring (Luke 24:32). May our hearts too burn for God.