Last night’s Bible study looked at the topic of spiritual wisdom (1 Cor 2:1-5).  The desire for wisdom was part of the reason for the Fall of mankind (Gen 3:6), but there is a vast difference between man’s wisdom and God’s, as Paul has been expounding in 1 Cor 1:18-25. Human wisdom tends to be arrogant,desiring to know more than God, or even to be God. Wisdom is more than simply knowing facts, but involves applying these things correctly so that life is lived well; human wisdom starts (and ends) without God, but true wisdom starts with God (see Ps 111:10).

Fear of God involves not terror, but respect and awe. It also involves obedience (see Deut 4:1-6). Nowadays, obedience to God is likely to provoke scorn and ridicule, not respect, from others, as people’s hearts are hardened (see Rom 1:22-24). Nonetheless, spiritual wisdom leads to life, and it is imperative to understand life from the perspective of eternity (Ps 90:12), rather than from our own limited perspective. God’s ways and understanding are so much greater than ours since He is eternal, and we do well to heed His advice and commandments, especially when it comes to choosing the way we should live. Paul is adamant that eloquence and sophisticated marketing techniques are not the way to salvation. Christ crucified demonstrates God’s power and wisdom to us in ways that defy logic and reason but which are God’s appointed means of salvation. Despite being a gifted orator and undoubtedly intelligent, Paul chose the way of God-dependence to reach the Corinthians with the message of salvation. That is truly wise, but will always leave us in fear and trembling, for our lives must rest not on human wisdom but on God’s power. As the Message version says, what truly matters is ‘first Jesus and who he is; then Jesus and what he did—Jesus crucified.‘

This version goes on to say ‘your life of faith is a response to God’s power, not to some fancy mental or emotional footwork by me or anyone else.‘ Manipulation, particularly of the emotions, is always a popular method of appeal; we are in the middle of a general election campaign in the UK, and p0liticians are especially adept at this. God does not manipulate us, however. His wisdom is pure and peace-loving (see James 3:17-18), showing us not only how to know things but how to live well, getting along with people and loving them. (see 1 Cor 8:1) We need to be soaked in God’s Word to know God’s mind, but even the devil knows Scripture, as the temptations of Jesus make plain (Luke 4:1-13) Spiritual wisdom helps us not only to know God’s Word, but to apply it correctly so that we live well.

Your prayers for Steve and Katuska Davies in Mozambique are particularly appreciated at the moment, as tensions rise between South Africa and Mozambique. There have been demonstrations in Maputo following the deaths of some Mozambicans in South Africa and the border post between the two countries was closed for a while last week. As Steve points out,  ‘to an angry Mozambican here, we can easily pass for South Africans; to an angry South African across the border, we’re driving a car with Mozambican number plates.  Either way we’re praying for peace and safe passage!  Please pray with us that calm will prevail.’

Spring is my favourite season. When the coldness and barrenness of winter begin to pass and flowers begin to bud and blossom, there is a real sense of hope which rises in my heart. I think of the words in Song of Solomon which bring encouragement and hope to us after the sterility and apparent deadness of winter:

^‘See! The winter is past;
    the rains are over and gone.
Flowers appear on the earth;
    the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
    is heard in our land.’  (Song of Songs 2:11-12)

Our chillies continue to be the living proof that spring has arrived. Mummy is producing chillies at such a rate we can barely keep up with counting them!

The thing that has gladdened our hearts the most, however, has been the development of Runty’s bud into a real flower:

We await the development of the flower into a chilli, but Runty’s ongoing life reminds us that barrenness does not last forever. As Isaiah reminds us, ‘Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? (Is 43:18-19)

We wait for God’s ‘new thing’ with longing hearts and refuse to believe that winter will have the last word. Just as God’s faithfulness is revealed in the constancy of the seasons (Gen 8:22), we know that He will bring to pass all that He has promised and will do new things in our lives and in the life of our church. Runty’s chillies are taking a lot longer than the others to appear, but we see the signs and know that there is hope. Spring reminds us of God’s faithfulness and that there is a time and season for everything. (Eccl 3:1-8)

There are 4 aspects to making disciples mentioned by Jesus in Matt 28:16-20:

1. Obedience

The ‘Great Commission’ is a command, not an optional extra. Our love for God is proved by our obedience to actually doing what He says (see John 14:15, 1 John 2:3-4). We need to understand that we are not our own, but have been bought at a price (1 Cor 6:19-20) and therefore have an obligation towards God.

2. Be Filled with the Holy Spirit

We are not called to make disciples in our own strength. There are many things that we are good at doing, but making disciples on our own isn’t one of them! The disciples were radically transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit which enabled them to be the witnesses they were called to be (Acts 1:8). Only as we are filled daily with the Holy Spirit (Eph 5:18) will we too be radically transformed.

3. Be Baptised

Baptism in water is the outward sign of the inward change God has made in our lives. Paul says to the Romans ‘We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.’ (Rom 6:4) Baptism in water is a sign of our allegiance to Christ and a sign of our obedience to Him.

4. Teach Others to Obey

To be a disciple of Christ is to be involved in a lifelong learning experience! We learn, not simply to have head knowledge, but to grow in obedience and in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Being able to give a reason for the hope we have means having some understanding of what Christ has done for us!  We have hope because while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom 5:8) and brought us into a relationship with the living God, giving us eternal life and showering blessings upon us. Although it is good to seek to understand more about our faith and to be able to defend what we believe, a witness is someone who reports what they have seen and heard. All who are called by Christ have a testimony of His transforming power and saving grace to share.

Everyday witness is part of our everyday lives. Being a disciple of Jesus means that we live to please Him. We take His commands seriously and so we don’t ignore this final command to go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything He has commanded. Instead of believing that this means forcing our beliefs onto other people, we ask God to s; we work for Him form His character within us and ripen His fruit in our lives; we work for Him with all our might; we look for opportunities to minister grace and love to people because we know that mirrors His heart. We evaluate everything we say and do according to His word, not being squeezed into the world’s mould, but allowing God to re-mould our minds. (Rom 12:2, J. B. Phillips) We pray for the courage to be mouthpieces for truth and justice because we know He is a God of truth and justice and we ask for opportunities to give a reason for the hope we have. One of the most amazing reasons we have for hope is found in this final verse. ‘And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’ (Matt 28:20) Jesus doesn’t ask us to go forth in our own strength, on our own. He promises to be with us always: ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ (Heb 13:5) However daunted we may feel, however inadequate we may feel, we can have confidence because all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus and He is the One who is with us always, empowering us by His Spirit. The resurrected Jesus who defeated death is the very One who accompanies us on our journey to go and make disciples of all nations. We’re not on our own.

If we are to be ‘fruitful on our frontlines’ (a phrase used by LICC in their ‘Imagine Church’ project), we need to see that our whole lives count for God and are to be used in our everyday witness.

Model godly character

God is interested in who we are, not just what we do! We need the fruit of the Spirit to grow in our lives: ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.’ (Gal 5:22-23) Spiritual growth is essential to our witness, but this work is often unseen by us as God works deep within the roots of our lives.

Make good work

. Paul tells the Colossians ‘whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.’ (Col 3:17)The quality of our work and our attitudes towards work are all part of our everyday witness.

Minister grace and love

God seeks us to receive His undeserved grace and favour and love and then pass it on! We are called to show grace and love to everyone, to reject the world’s ‘dog-eat-dog’ philosophy and to be merciful to others (see Matt 5:46-47). This makes an impression on people, who are unused to grace and mercy.

Mould culture

If we are serious about praying ‘Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matt 6:10), we will find we cannot go along with so much in our culture which shuns God’s ways of doing things and His values. Instead of simply saying ‘that’s the way we do things round here’, we find ourselves saying ‘what would Jesus do?’ and reacting accordingly.

Be a Mouthpiece for Truth and Justice

Moulding our culture often means taking a stand for what is right against all the many things that are wrong. God is a God of truth and justice; He is ‘a faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is he.’ (Deut 32:4) Moses told the people ‘Do not follow the crowd in doing wrong. When you give testimony in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.’ (Ex 23:2) Micah made it very clear that the requirements of God are ‘to act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God’ (Micah 6:8) As we speak out for the underdog and become a mouthpiece for truth and justice, opportunities to explain why we say what we say and believe what we believe will come about.

Be A Messenger for the Gospel

We ask God for opportunities to explain the reason for the hope we have (1 Pet 3:15) and accept our God-calling as His ambassadors (see 2 Cor 5:17-21). We do so confident that God wants people to be saved (see 2 Pet 3:9) and that angels rejoice when they are! We can be utterly confident that God wants us to be messengers of the gospel. This is His plan for us all. Equally, however, we must be very aware that it is God who saves people, not us. The wonder of everyday evangelism is that He wants us to have a part in His great saving work. He allows us to become partners with Him: ‘as though God were making his appeal through us,’ Paul says. (2 Cor 5:20)

Our service last night looked at the subject of ‘Everyday Witness’, focussing on Jesus’s words to His disciples known as the ‘Great Commission.’ (Matt 28:16-20) Even after the Resurrection, there was a mixed response amongst the disciples, with some worshipping but others doubting. They needed these instructions to give shape and purpose to their lives and it was only after the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost that they were equipped to go forth and make disciples of all nations.

Often, we feel inadequate to this task, but we need to understand that all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Jesus, and therefore we have all we need to witness in Him. The Jesus who gives these final instructions to His disciples speaks with the total authority of the Godhead, for He speaks as the resurrected One whose resurrection proves our faith is not futile, whose resurrection becomes, therefore, the motivation for how we live our everyday lives.

Everyday witness involves more than speaking; whether we are gifted in this area or not, our very lives are called to be light for God. ‘Imagine Church’ (a project run by the London Institute of Contemporary Christianity) talks about the 6Ms which we all need in our lives to be effective witnesses:

1. Model godly character
2. Make good work
3. Minister grace and love
4. Mould culture
5. Be a Mouthpiece for truth and justice
6. Be a Messenger of the Gospel

Our everyday witness must involve our character and our actions as well as our words.