What is Forgiveness? Part 2.

If a husband violently attacks his wife and then apologises. Should she forgive him?
If he then bashes his wife and apologises and then does it again and again, and each time he asks for forgiveness, should she forgive him?

Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”

• Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times. Matthew 18:21-22 (ESV) 

Does this mean if he bashes and hurts her every week for a year and each time asks for forgiveness, she should stay with him and not leave?

Jesus is our example. What can we learn from his life?

When the time came for Jesus to lay down his life by dying on the cross, he did not resist violence but gave himself up. 

However, on other occasions, God protected him and he escaped. 

• When he was a baby and Herod tried to kill him, Mary and Joseph escaped with him to Egypt. 
• When he grew up, God protected him from premature death.

And they rose up and drove him out of the town and brought him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. But passing through their midst, he went away. Luke 4:29-30 (ESV) 

Jesus never bore a grudge. 

He was always willing to forgive but that did not oblige him to submit to violence or physical danger until the time came for him to offer himself as a sacrifice on the cross.

Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing.

• But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people 
• and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man. John 2:23-25 (ESV)

Jesus was never bitter or unwilling to forgive but he did not trust untrustworthy people. He did not put his life in the hands of dangerous people until the time came for him to die.

Christians are often told never to defend themselves or speak up against abuse because Jesus did not resist evil when he was arrested and killed. Christians are told they have no rights.

• Is this true? 

Jesus used very sharp language to speak against his enemies on many occasions. It was only when the time came for him to die, that he laid aside his rights and laid down his life.

When the Apostle Paul was arrested savagely beaten, he defended his rights as a Roman citizen.

Acts 16:37-39 (ESV) 37  But Paul said to them, “They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned, men who are Roman citizens, and have thrown us into prison; and do they now throw us out secretly? No! Let them come themselves and take us out.” 38  The police reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Roman citizens. 39  So they came and apologized to them. And they took them out and asked them to leave the city. 

It is a sad irony that some preachers who teach Christians not to protect themselves are very quick to speak against anyone who challenges them. 

So it is clear that you must forgive every time someone attacks or abuses you, especially if they say they are sorry, even 490 times. 

However, that does not mean that you have to stay in a situation where you are certain to be attacked again and again, even if each attack is followed by an apology.

You can forgive and pray for blessing on your persecutor but you can do it from a safe distance.

Some might say that if you forgive, you must forget and not talk about the offender. 

However, if you are badly injured, you need to talk about your injuries to a doctor. If you are under threat, you need to talk about it to the police and to lawyers.
If you are damaged emotionally and spiritually, you need friendship and spiritual support. 

So, of course you need to talk about your persecutor but at the same time pray for blessing and help for him.

What is Forgiveness? It is not ...

One of the biggest problems with forgiveness is this. People don’t understand what forgiveness really is. 

• If someone terrorises you, rapes you, steals your wife or husband or children, you read the Bible and you see that God expects you to forgive the person who ruined your life. 

• You are a woman in hospital because your husband beat you up and not for the first time. You go to the funeral of your son who killed himself because a priest or pastor raped him.

You go to a pastor for counselling and he says: “Just forgive.”Of course that is at least half right. The Lord’s Prayer says:And forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone indebted to us...Luke 11:4 (NRSV)

It is true that if you do not forgive, you will not be able to fully enjoy the mercy of God, the peace of God, the comfort of God or perhaps the healing power of God.

• So what is wrong with the advice to “Just forgive?”

The word “JUST” is an insult, a slap in the face, a kick in the stomach. It is the arrogance of a Pharisaical priesthood.

When a father, a mother, a wife, a husband, a priest or pastor destroys your life by condemnation, rejection, adultery, slander, violence or rape and your life is in ruins, you feel violent indignation. You are burning with a sense of injustice. 

• Supposing the injustice is ongoing and not just something that happened in the past. If you “just” forgive, you feel you are submitting to evil and excusing or even condoning evil. 

It is wrong to excuse evil or condone sin and you are right to feel this.

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He said: 

Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." ... Luke 23:34 (NKJV)

Jesus was not excusing their sin. He was not trivialising the sin of murder. He was releasing them from the judgement of God, so they would be able to seek forgiveness and receive mercy from the Father.

When you counsel a person who has been terribly abused, never tell them to “just forgive.” A terrible injustice has been done. 

Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. Romans 12:15 (NKJV) 

We could perhaps add, “Rage with those who rage.” 

When a man abuses, rapes or bashes his children, the mother of the children should be angry. There is something wrong if she is not angry. Do you imagine God Himself does not feel angry about this?

If you counsel such a woman, the first priority is to help her to protect her children and herself, often by leaving her husband and taking her children away.

It is also essential to minister to her broken heart by entering into her trauma and taking her side.

"The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; 

He has sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; Luke 4:18 (NKJV) 

Then you must help the woman to forgive. This does not mean she must go back to her husband or allow him to continue beating, raping or abusing.

• Many Christians are wrongly taught that forgiveness must include excusing the sin. Wrong!
• Many Christians are taught that forgiveness requires them to continue in fellowship with a violent or dangerous partner or parent. Wrong!
• Many Christians are taught to believe forgiveness requires them to forget that their daughter committed suicide because she was seduced by her father or her pastor. Wrong!
• Many Christians are taught that if they are still traumatised, they have not forgiven. Wrong!

When Jesus prayed for the forgiveness of His tormentors on the cross, did He then not feel tormented any more? What a ridiculous idea!

If Christian woman is raped, and she forgives her attacker, does that mean she should not then report the crime and cooperate with the police and the courts? That would expose other women to danger. 

To be continued.

When God called Mary, she Alone Decided.

You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, Lk 1:31–32 NIV
 

God did not ask Mary’s parents or fiancé for permission.

“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. Lk 1:38 NIV

Young Mary made one of the most important spiritual decisions in the history of the world without consulting any man or older person.

What about Mary’s father? The Holy Spirit did not mention him.
What about Mary’s fiancé, Joseph? God told him after Mary was already pregnant.

Mary’s response was magnificent. She made perhaps the most important spiritual decision in history all by herself, even though it meant losing her reputation for chastity, risking the loss of her fiancé and her prospects of marriage and making her a social outcast.

Perhaps you have been trained to submit important spiritual decisions to elders, pastors, fathers or your husband. Mary did none of these things, and the Bible story commends her for her bold faith and her sacrificial obedience, obedience to God alone.

Suppose God is challenging you to make a decision which could lead to rejection by your church or even your family, is it possible the Holy Spirit wants you to follow the example of Mary?

If God is really calling you, and you know your parents or church leaders would not agree, asking these same people to discern or confirm your call is not obedience, as you may have been taught but actually disobedience to God.

Sometimes it helps to discuss a decision with friends or wise elders, but there are times when you have to step out in raw faith and suffer the consequences as well as reaping the blessings.

GOD GIVES SIGNS TODAY

Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, "Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you."

• He answered, "A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Matthew 12:38-39 (NIV) 

What a strange thing for the Pharisees to say! They had been witnessing the most amazing miracles day after day but they asked for a sign from heaven as though they had seen nothing unusual at all.

In the Gospel of John, we read that the many miracles of Jesus were signs from God.

Of course the Pharisees knew all about miracles that Jesus worked but they refused to recognise them as signs from God. 

However, even amongst the religious leaders there were some who were humble enough to recognise the hand of God at work.

There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 

This man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” John 3:1-2

So it is today that many Christians who believe in the Bible are like the Pharisees who saw themselves as the defenders of Biblical truth. 
When evangelists today pray for the sick, many are healed but quite a number are not healed. There are also some who are apparently healed but then get sick again or go back to their wheelchairs. Then there are others who are healed but not converted.
So many pious Bible believers today point out these apparent failures and accuse men and women with miracle ministries of being fakes and frauds.

However if they sought out the many people who really were healed and stayed healed they would change their minds but clearly they don’t want to change their minds.

I was privileged to hear a wonderful man of God preach in Germany. He was a pastor and evangelist from West Africa. He leads a church in Düsseldorf where there are over 750 baptised members who converted from Islam, mostly because they had received miraculous healings or seen their friends healed by the power of Jesus. 

But the critics are not interested in success stories. They are only looking for evidence to discredit miracle ministries and prove themselves right, just like the Pharisees.

• Please don’t think I am an arrogant and aggressive Pentecostal. I dislike this brand of Christianity myself. I am not against non-Charismatic Christians in general but I will not tolerate the negative unbelief of the people who are completely anti Charismatic and do nothing but criticise and attack.

Years ago there was a pastor in a very conservative denomination who was taught not to pray for miraculous healings. 

He was called to minister to a little girl who was terribly sick with a terminal condition. He was moved with compassion, just as Jesus often was. The pastor prayed for the little girl to be healed and to his astonishment God raised her up and healed her completely. 

The conservative pastor was very confused and troubled. Was the doctrine of his church right after all? Had he done the right thing?
When the pastor attended a preachers’ conference he told his story to the famous evangelist, Oral Roberts. He asked Oral Roberts: “How can I know if I did the right thing?”

God gave Oral Roberts a supernatural inspiration in the form of the “word of wisdom”. He said to the confused pastor: “If you are not sure if you did the right thing, why don’t you ask the little girl?”

The revelation was a like turning on a light. The pastor went around the conference telling everyone the story and repeating the wise words of the evangelist: “Why don’t you ask the little girl?”

GOD MAKES YOU FREE TO BE DIFFERENT, TO BE YOU.

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Mt 5:14 (NKJV) 

When you travel through the night, whether by car or by plane, you can see a city far ahead as a blaze of lights.

Jesus says his followers are like a city filled with light. This is a representation on earth of the City of God in the glorious Kingdom of God which is to come.

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Rev 21:10-11

What is a city like? It is a community filled with diversity, different kinds of businesses and trades, different kinds of organisations. There are government offices and private companies, big businesses and small family businesses. In a healthy city the government does not own or control businesses and big businesses do not totally dominate small businesses. 

So it is with the people of Jesus. There are big churches and denominations and there are house churches and informal prayer groups. There are fellowships where believing business people meet to pray and bring their faith into their work. There are missions to the homeless and prayer groups in colleges. These are just as important as congregations which meet on Sunday. 

In a secular city there are very creative people who are self employed writers, artists, architects and consultants. No company boss or government official controls their lives. Their free creativity keeps the society open to new ideas. 

So it is in the Kingdom of God. CS Lewis was a great Christian writer but he did not hold a senior position in his church and he did not have a church leader telling him what to write or what not to write. 

Some of the most influential Christian leaders have not been church leaders. 

Bach and Handel wrote worship music that moved the hearts of millions. Bach was a humble church organist and music director in a local church. Handel was a commercial composer who wrote operas and music for public occasions.

God does not want all his people to be the same. 

He wants different kinds of churches, different kinds of ministries, different kinds of people doing different kinds of things to demonstrate His own glorious creativity. 

Maybe you are copying other Christians or trying to fit in with what your church, your leaders or your family expect of you.  

Stop, look around and listen to God. What did HE put you on this earth to do? He will show you and your life will never be the same.

For centuries we have been locked into a narrow stereotyped idea of church and the Kingdom of God. God is now saying: LET MY PEOPLE GO!

WHERE DID CHURCH HIERARCHY COME FROM?

In New Testament times, local churches were led by teams of elders, and there was no one man in charge. 

The words PRESBYTER (elder) EPISCOPOS (overseer) and SHEPHERD (Pastor) were used interchangeably. 

The ministry of Pastor is mentioned only once in the entire New Testament.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the SHEPHERDS and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. Ephesians 4:11-12 (ESV) 

• There is no New Testament text indicating that one preacher dominated the ministry of a local church. 

Ephesians 4:11-12 does not define a pastor as an office holder who governs a congregation or dominates its teaching and preaching ministry.
The Apostles were missionaries, evangelists, teachers and church planters. When the Apostle Paul planted a church, he stayed for a while and then moved on without appointing office holders or official leaders. Later he would return and appoint elders. These pioneer churches were small networks of house churches. 

• No text tells us that Paul put one man in charge. 

When Paul wrote 1 Corinthians, he addressed serious problems of sin and disorder but he did not address his letter to a leader or leadership group. 

1 Corinthians 1:1-2 (ESV) Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 

• To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 

Paul addressed his letter to the whole community of believers. 

It was up to the community of believers to work out how to make decisions, who should be delegated to exercise leadership, how to manage their affairs. 

• Paul was very conscious of his spiritual authority but he was clearly against authoritarian hierarchy and micro management. 

Some years later, some preachers had set themselves up as religious rulers over the Corinthian church. The Corinthian believers submitted to the domination of these leaders and Paul was not happy at all.

2 Corinthians 11:19-21 (NIV) You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! 

• In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. 

• To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that! ....

Paul calls dominating preachers FOOLS and he sharply criticises the Corinthians for submitting to them.

Paul’s approach to leadership was very different and he ironically calls his own leadership “WEAK”. 

• But today we see many churches ruled by a rigid patriarchal hierarchy. Many leaders are like the FOOLS and BULLIES described by Paul in 2 Corinthians 11.

Where and when did the church abandon the free brotherhood and sisterhood of Paul’s time? 

Between 100 AD and 250 AD, bishops became the absolute rulers of the churches. They claimed to inherit the absolute authority of the first Apostles but unlike Paul, they practised extreme authoritarian micro management. 

• Only a bishop or an ordained priest was allowed to celebrate the Lord’s supper or baptism. 

Cyprian was Bishop of Carthage from around 248 to 258 AD.

• “He taught that a bishop had no superior but God. He was accountable to God alone. Anyone who separated himself from the bishop, separated himself from God.” (Pagan Christianity. Viola and Barna p.114)

But Jesus said to the first Apostles.

• "But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 

• And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 

• Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ. Matthew 23:8-10 (NIV) 

In Paul’s farewell address to the church leaders in Ephesus, he gave this warning:

I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. Acts 20:29-30 (NIV) 

Are all senior pastors wolves or dictators? Far from it. Many are wonderful men or women of God and some lay down their lives as the first apostles did.

Nevertheless, a good pastor must remember he may be a leader but he is above all a fellow disciple, a brother or sister in the Church.

CAN WOMEN BE PRIESTS?

It is often said that the husband and father is, or should be, the priest of the family. 

What biblical foundation does this have? 

It may be based on the Jewish family rituals of Shabbat and Passover, where the male head of the house lead the family in prayer.

However, the New Covenant was ushered in when Jesus died on the cross. The apostles had run away except for John, the youngest, who was standing with Mary, the Mother of Jesus. 

Therefore the soldiers did these things. But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, "Woman, behold, your son!" John 19:25-26 (NASB) 

It was the women who returned to the tomb of Jesus on Sunday morning to embalm His body. 

• It was the priests who were responsible for the sacrifices under the Old Covenant.

The priestly function of women is clearly demonstrated even before the cross.

Mary (the sister of Martha and Lazarus) therefore took a pound of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. John 12:3 (ESV)

When Judas objected, Jesus defended her.

But Jesus said, Let her alone. It was [intended] that she should keep it for the time of My preparation for burial. [She has kept it that she might have it for the time of My embalming.] John 12:7 (AMP)

Under the Old Covenant, it was the High Priest who sacrificed the unblemished male lamb for the sins of Israel at Yom Kipur (The Day of Atonement) every year. 

• He entered into the Holy of Holies and killed the lamb. 
• Then he would come out to tell the people that God had accepted the sacrifice.

To whom did God give this office, to announce that God had accepted the sacrifice of His Son for our sins? 

• Certainly it was the Apostle Peter who preached on the Day of Pentecost but this was a prophetic office. 

When He returned alive from the tomb, Jesus appeared first to Mary Magdalene. Two angels appeared to her and then she saw Jesus Himself.

John 20:15-18 (NASB) 

15  Jesus *said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing Him to be the gardener, she *said to Him, "Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away." 

16  Jesus *said to her, "Mary!" She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, "Rabboni!" (which means, Teacher). 

17  Jesus *said to her, "Stop clinging to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, 'I ascend to My Father and your Father, and My God and your God.'" 

18  Mary Magdalene *came, announcing to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord," and that He had said these things to her. 

• It was the women who were given the high priestly privilege of being the first to announce that God had raised The Lamb of God from the tomb.

Sadly, the Apostles did not take the women seriously, just as many ordained men today dismiss revelations given to women who live close to God.

• Jesus was not impressed.

Afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they had not believed those who had seen Him after He had risen. Mark 16:14 (NASB) 

• In the Old Testament, only men were priests but Jesus died and rose again as our Lamb of God to restore men and women to the high calling that God intends us all to enter into.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the One who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light. 1 Peter 2:9 (HCSB) 

The ROYAL PRIESTHOOD of the New Testament includes all believers, not just ordained preachers and it also clearly includes women.