Should We Work On Good Friday?

In the UK Good Friday is a Public Holiday and so most people have a holiday. For others who work in essential services like the emergency services they have to work on Good Friday. But what of the self-employed person? What should they do about Good Friday? I want to address whether such a Christian person should ignore it or acknowledge it. In doing so I want probe into how, more generally, all of us should interface with Good Friday.

IGNORE IT

It should be ignored because it is a man-made day. There is no commandment or recommendation in scripture that we should have such a day. Our special day is a Sunday. And on every Lord’s Day we should be focussing on the death, burial and resurrection of our beloved Lord. So if you are given a holiday on Good Friday enjoy it. If you are not given a holiday carry on as normal and look forward to Sunday.

ACKNOWLEDGE IT.

Good Friday should be acknowledged because it is there. It is a day in our nation’s calendar when the death of our Lord Jesus is remembered. Although this is diminishing, there is still a general awareness in society that this day has something to do with the cross. So what should the Christian do? They should be careful so as to not stumble others.

There are believers who would see Good Friday as a very special day and you need to be aware of that. In 1 Corinthians 8:10-13 we read:

For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my brother stumble, I will never eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.

If you crassly go ahead ignoring Good Friday, “the weak brother” may well be led to think less of the cross of their dear Saviour. They will be stumbled. So you need to remember that Christ our Lord gave up everything for that weak brother: He died for them. So won’t you give up your freedom to do what you want on Good Friday, so as to bless them.

Similarly, due consideration should be given to the unbeliever. If they know that you are a Christian, and they see you carrying on as normal on the day which honours the death of our Lord Jesus, what will they think? They likely will think that if the cross is of not important to you, as a believer, then they have no need to to bother with Christ and His cross themselves. This reflects on the principle in 1 Corinthians 9:21-23 where Paul says:

To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.

And so we give up our freedom to work on Good Friday, so as to help others come to Christ. Thereby, we are reflecting a desire to do all for the sake of the gospel.

Furthermore, many Churches have a service on Good Friday. Although, there is no prescription in scripture to meet together on Good Friday, there is a prescription to be not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Hebrews 10:25). A service on Good Friday gives opportunity to fulfil this injunction. If you are not attending because of carrying on with your normal things, such as working, then the fellowship and witness of your church is diminished.

Each must be persuaded in their own mind what to do so as to honour the Lord who gave Himself for us. Do you ignore it or acknowledge it? Consider and pray and may the Lord grant us wisdom.

Finally, it is worth observing a subtlety here. A believer may ignore Good Friday pleading that it has no Biblical warrant. But, such conduct may well camouflage deeper problems. It may be that they are failing generally to spend time with their family and so continuing to work on Good Friday, because they see no scriptural warrant for keeping the day, is a smokescreen for their failure to properly take an interest in their family.

This would apply also in situations where church attendance has become infrequent or work, and especially the money acquired through work, have become idols. Again not keeping Good Friday might mask deeper problems of heart and conduct.

The Word and The Light

If you study John 1:1-18 it will lead you to focus upon the One who is the Word and the Light. He is Jesus Christ our Lord. The Word tells us of our God, in His Son, revealing Himself and speaking to us. God wants to communicate with us. The Light tells us of the One who determines to expose darkness and death and bring a better way of light and Life.

As we move into 2021 we move into a world of much confusion and darkness. The last two years have seen Brexit and Covid-19 dominate our nation. Millions of words have been spoken and written on these themes and yet very little light has been shed. We are surrounded by uncertainty and a degree of despair as we enter the new year. Into that mix we put the casting aside by so many, of any notion of there being a God. And following on from the rejection of God and His ways is the celebrating of lifestyles which are not in accord with God’s will and ways. whether they be adulterous, homosexual, transgender or many others. This can all leave us very apprehensive about 2021. But as Christians we should not be so.

Now I am not saying that we should be those who manipulate our minds to deny the reality of the situation we are in. What I am saying is that we should grasp that there are realities that are more real than the realities of this passing world. Truly Brexit and Covid-19 will come and go. It may not seem so at the moment, but that is for sure. But the Word and the Light go on for ever. They go on because the One who is The Word and the Light is the One who is forever; He is Jesus Christ our Lord.

This is such good (and stabilizing) news for our souls. It is so because the Word and the Light are just exactly what we need in our situation. We need revelation; The Word, and Illumination; The Light, so as to move ahead in life now and forever. In Jesus Christ, God has appeared in flesh to teach us the way, to show us the way, but above all to make the way. 

As the light of God word shines we have our darkness revealed. My darkness of sin and rebellion within me is the root cause of all my problems. When I am living in a world where everyone excuses their darkness; we tend to do the same. And history and the present happenings of the nation teach us that when we are left to ourselves we tend towards more and more darkness. 

Great turnings around and times of thrusting back the darkness have only come when the written Word of God which reveals the living Word of God has been declared to show Jesus Christ as The true Light. We need to receive into our lives the One who is the revealer of God. We need to be rescued from all of our sin-caused darkness. 

We cannot fool ourselves any longer with the propaganda that things, including us as human beings, are getting better. Let us get real and let us get with God’s view of our condition..

Everything that we need to know of God has been revealed in His Word. And everything that is revealed of God is suitable for our need. We are a confused people, full of death and darkness without the Lord God. He is known through Jesus Christ. He is everything we need. We read in John 1:14: And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. And again in John 1:18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known. The revealing of God has come in His Son and He is a grace and truth revelation. As truth he reveals things as they are as grace He intervenes to make things as they should be.

As we go into 2021 let us take into our hearts and minds the reality of knowing who we are because we have received Jesus Christ into our lives. We are children of God. We are connected to the God of glory. So let us come and adore Him who is Christ the Lord.

Previously published (and adapted from) in Feltham Evangelical Church newsletter of January 2021

Church Newsletter

Here is our church newsletter for September 2023. It contains an article on our spiritual experience.

What Is Love?

Love does no wrong to a neighbour; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13:10). Love is always seeking to benefit others. Loves sees another person and takes action to bring good into their lives.

When we see the word “wrong” we must realise that it has meaning according to the code of right and wrong that it functions within. If I am the arbiter of right and wrong then my background, character and experience will determine how right and wrong are defined. And if in society my definition of right and wrong prevails in a collective sense then it is each man for himself. And if a government, with no reference to the Word of God, establishes the code then similarly right and wrong can pitch down anywhere.

So when we are thinking of doing no wrong to anyone we need something beyond ourselves and our governments, we need the Word of God. The scriptures establish the code of God for right and wrong. So I am freed from other means of establishing right and wrong and can simply go to the Word of God.

With the source of right and wrong established I can now come to living with my fellow human beings in all the different circumstances of life with a solid guide. The law of God guides me and instructs me. And as I implement the statutes of the Lord with the enabling of the Holy Spirit I am fulfilling God’s call upon my life to be obedient to his Word.

We must dismiss the notion though, that when we do no wrong to our neighbours we will be warmly received by them. In many situations we will be. But if their idea of right is not God’s idea of right and we are seeking to live by God’s standards, we may well suffer a negative response to our actions. So true love does not always make us popular, but we must still love because our aim is to please God.

Two Peoples

Isaiah 52:13-53:12 is the pivotal passage in the book of Isaiah. In it we see the Servant of the Lord, our Lord Jesus, doing everything to provide salvation. He dies so that others will receive eternal blessing. After all the foregoing revalations in Isaiah 40:1-52:12 of the failure of the servant of the Lord, Israel, we find One, the Servant of the Lord, who totally succeeds.

With the achievement of a perfect salvation by the self-giving love of the Servant we might expect that all would run smoothly on into blessing upon blessing thereafter. However, with the wretchedness of humanity as the back-drop, the rest of Isaiah is certainly not “happy-ever-after”. The rest of the book will tell us that salvation is not the default position of humanity, rather sin is. It is only when transforming grace reaches our lives and makes good the achievements of the Servant of the Lord that blessing comes.

So as we come towards the end of Isaiah we see Isaiah presenting this contrast. Let us look then specifically at Isaiah 65:1-12;

Salvation is not earned (v1). We learn straight away that the natural tendency of humanity is to turn from God. No matter how much revealing and speaking is done by God the tendency of mankind is to turn away. So we deduce whenever there is blessing that it never comes because people deserve it, it is all through God’s grace.

False Ways (vv2-7). The heart of the problem for the unbelieving was that they were pursuing their own imaginations. This sets such a challenge for ourselves. What is it that drives our lifestyle. Are we driven by our imaginations or by the Lord through His Word?

The character of our life flows out of the origin of our life. There can be lots of religious activity, and the people in vv 3-5 had lots of that, but it was all really a sham. At their hearts they were a people full of sin and defiance of the Lord (see v7). We need to be very careful as we consider this because religious activity is very likely a part of your life if you are reading this. Ask yourself is this activity just a cover for my sin and defiance or is it out of a heart devoted to God?

Moreover, we need to note the endpoint of a religious, but defiant life. It is is judgement; it is to fall under the condemning hand of God. It is always good to consider what will be the end of my ways. Stop and think right now! If you are not in Christ and are still defiant then your end is BAD; very bad.

Blessed Ways. (vv8-10). In vv8-10 we see the servants of the Lord appear. This is not surprising when we remember that the Servant of the Lord came to make servants from among the servant of the Lord, Israel. These people are anticipating blessing. The land was so important to the nation of Israel as it was God’s special gift for them and v9 indicates how a blessing, which will be fully realised in the still future millennium, is set for them.

It is interesting to note that the cause of the life of these blessed people was that they were people who sought the Lord (see v10b). Their passion was to know the Lord. The origin of their lifestyle was seeking the Lord, which means that it was the Lord Himself who brought them blessing.

The Wretched. (vv11-12). The final verses present us with the wayward again. They are forsaking the Lord (see v11a); they are pursuing all kinds of religious practices, but not godly practices (see v11b). The dubious ‘Fortune’ and ‘Destiny’ are the gods they serve, as many do today.

At the heart of their problems was that they refused to listen to the Lord: “when I spoke, no one listened” (v12b) is what the Lord said to them. As a result you “did evil in my sight and chose what displeases me.’ (v12c) is the Lord’s assessment. Our attitude to the Lord is vital. If we reject the Lord’s Word we set ourselves in a bad way.

Oh this passage is so sobering. Are you One of the wretched living out your life refusing to hear God’s Word whilst following your own imaginations? Then think about the deadly end of such a way. If you are of the godly seeking the Lord then you have the brightest of futures. The contrast could not be bigger. And finally remember that there is NOT a third way or a third people. You are either saved or lost; blessed or condemned.

This post was taken from the July 2018 Feltham Evangelical Church Newsletter.

Kindness

“Most people are too busy to be kind.”  These were the words my Auntie Kath once said to me. They are sobering words. Has kindness been sidelined in my life as a result of being too busy?  Do I justify my non-interest and non-involvement in the needs of others by saying: “I’m too busy.”

It is good to remember that one aspect of the fruit of the Spirit is kindness (see Gal. 5:22). So for myself as a Christian, kindness is to be an essential part of my life. If the inclination towards kindness is not manifest in my life then I am most likely not a true follower of Christ.

But what is kindness? It is that desire to bring goodness and benefit into the lives of others. It is a generous, warm-hearted concept. The Good Samaritan was a kind man. We read that:  a Samaritan, as he travelled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him (Luke 10:33-34). He saw the need of the man who had been attacked by robbers and got involved to do good and bring benefit to that man.

But sadly, as my Auntie said, most of us are too busy to show that generous interest which brings benefit to others. We say that we just cannot spare the time. Accordingly, parents never get a call or visit from sons / daughters who are too busy.  Shut-in neighbours never have contact with anyone, because those nearby are too busy, of course. And there is no listening ear for our work colleagues who are carrying the burdens of life because we cannot spare them the time. This list could go on – and all because people are too busy to be kind.

We must remember, though, that the Good Samaritan did not have to go and help the man who had been attacked on the road from Jerusalem to Bethlehem (he was after all on the road to Jericho), if there was such an individual. His responsibility was to be kind to the pressing need on the road to Jericho. This is because he was on that road. But when the need did press upon him; he did meet it with kindness. It is not ours to chase around for situations into which to express our kindness. Rather, the important thing is to show kindness into the next situation we encounter which requires it.

So, am I, are you, too busy to be kind?

(Originally published at Venabling on 2nd  August 2013. Re-published here with slight alterations)

Get On And Live.

Churches exist in a messed up world with messed up people in them. Yes they are redeemed messed up people, but still, whilst we are in this world we still have the flesh, and therefore are prone perpetrate ungodliness.

In such a situation we are to get on and live. We are to live with a desire to sort out all of the vile consequences of sin in terms of damaged relationships and damaged lives. But we are to nevertheless, get on and live.

There can be the tendency to have an alternative mentality; the hang on and wait mentality. The hang on and wait mentality says that we cannot do anything until we have sorted things out. “It is all such a mess that nothing can be done until we have at least reduced the size of the mess” is the thought. Concomitant with this thinking is the expectancy that a big sort out will cleanse everything and then we can get on. Often this means arranging a big meeting or something of that ilk.

In preaching on the calling of the twelve in Luke 6:12-16 recently two things struck me. Firstly they were such mixed bunch. Just to mention a few things:

• You have two sets of brothers. Oh the danger of family loyalties.
• James and John were hot-heads (see Mark 3:17).
• Philip was a man for detail (see John 6:7). Peter was the “go for it” man. Not much time for details.
• Matthew was compromised with the Romans. Simon the zealot was part of the insurgency group against the Romans. A recipe for conflict there.
• Then there’s Thomas the depressive, who knows if anything could go wrong it will do.

Secondly the Lord did not tell them to sort out all of the issues between them and reach a settled “working agreement” and then get on and live and work for Him. Rather, they would have to live together and sort out the differences as they went along.

Similarly if you look at the New Testament letters we do not see the hang on and wait mentality. The letters generally refer to the mess in messed up churches and how it should be sorted. But the churches are never told to stop everything else while they go through a sorting out period. Rather thy are to get on and live whilst doing the sorting out.

I am not saying here taht we need to ignore stuff that needs to be sorted out; certainly not. Such a response is to seal the death-knell of pour churches. What is necessary surely is that we sort out the issues whilst seeking to live.

Accordingly, the church in Philippi had its problems with divisions and these are specifically alluded to chapter 4 vv2-3. Here we see encouragement to the church to make sure that Euodia and Syntyche resolve their differences. But then notice what Paul says in vv4-7. He calls them to be rejoicing, to be sweetly reasonably, to not be anxious and to pray. These spiritual exercises were not to wait until the problems were resolved, but were to be engaged in whilst sorting out the problems.

How Effective is My Life?

As you read this, where is your soul with the Lord? What spiritual state are you in? And I want to know the force of these questions for myself. So I ask: where am I at with the Lord? To develop these thoughts I want to muse upon the interaction between doing and dwelling.

It is good to be active for the Lord. It is good to be among those who spend and be spent in arduous service for the Master. There is much to do; many have not been evangelised, many have not been instructed in the ways of the Lord. many are lonely, many are suffering. We need to be those who willingly and devotedly expend ourselves for the benefit of others in the Lord’s Name. However, the great danger is that we are ever flowing in service for the Master without ever asking the Master how and where He wants us to serve. We see a need and just respond. Should we not consult the Master first?

But there is a further danger and that is that we get serving without getting the energy to serve. The energy to serve comes to those who take time to dwell with the Lord, look upon the face of the Master and contemplate His glory. One the dangers of our age is that of activism. We must be up and doing. This is good, But doing without dwelling soon leads to drudgery. If we are not knowing the Master through dwelling with Him then we will not be fruitful. As our Lord said in John 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 

Where is the tendency among us to spend time stopping and beholding the beauty of the Lord. As I mention these things I am drawn to the comparison of Martha and Mary. Martha was the activist; Mary was the contemplative one. The Lord’s summary observation about them as He spoke to Martha was “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.” (Luke 10:41b-42).

The danger is that we start to think that the contemplative person tends towards inactivity and achieving nothing. But that is not the case. The one who stops to contemplate the beauty of the Lord will want to serve the Lord and on account of being more in the presence of the Master will tend to be more effective in service.

So what of me and what of you? For those of us with activist tendencies we need to make sure that our laudable desire to be up and doing for the Lord is not just a fleshly impulse. We do that through fighting to spend time with the Lord. For those of us of a more contemplative disposition we need to make sure that that tendency does not just lead us in to being sedentary mystics who are engaged in spiritual exercises, but not in gazing on the Lord.

And amidst all this we discern that the dwellers are the ones who end up being the effective doers. The Lord makes His work to continue through the dwellers who flow out from His presence in mighty power.

Our Satisfied God

There is only one being in the universe who is self-satisfied. That being is our God. That being is the God who being One exists in three persons. In the relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit there is perfection and each finds full fulfilment in this sharing together. There is no stifling of their persons in this serene atmosphere of perfect Oneness.

As the being created of God, as head over His whole creation whether animate or inanimate, we are formed in the image of God. That image has been marred disastrously by sin. Notwithstanding this, the reality remains that we who are in the image of God have been made for fellowship with God. And it is only when we connect into the all self-satisfied God that we enter into satisfaction.

Satisfaction seeking is a phenomenon which is essential to our human existence. The idolatrous practices that we engage in are an expression of a search for meaning and satisfaction. Driving these pursuits is the mantra “And when I am satisfied I will be comfortable with who I am”.

Alas the satisfaction seeking in this world does not deliver because the place of all satisfying rest, God Himself, is eschewed. We only enter into satisfaction when we enter fellowship with the God is is essentially self-satisfied.

The Word of God says For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit (1 Pet. 3:18). The purpose of God is that we should be brought to Himself. The purpose of Christ coming to this world was that we should have a relationship with God. And this is NOT misery and it is not just something that some who are of the more religious bent might find beneficial. It is the finding of life and that in all its fullness.

Our God is Life and offers that life to us, His image bearing creatures. Oh come enter in and enjoy. Enjoy God; enjoy life.

Fundamentals Of Care / Counselling

The community of God’s people should be a community of love. That is our calling. Our Lord Jesus said: By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). Our love has multifarious ways of expressing itself. One particular way is in how we help one another, with our character flaws and failures, to walk for the Lord as we ought.

One thing for sure though, we should be committed to helping one another. To allow there to be deficiencies in each others lives and never get involved to help is not loving. We need to remember the basic call of our Lord for us in our lives, following the original eleven, is Go therefore and make disciples of all nations (Matt. 28:19a). In your church you should be continually working towards all of your fellow brothers and sisters in church membership being formed into Christ-likeness as disciples of Christ.

But how should we get involved? There are three stages we need to go through.

Examination. We need to take time to thoroughly establish what the issue might be. This would normally involve speaking with the person as regards to things going on in their life. We might ask why they did a certain thing. And we will very, likely ask other people as regards to any concerns they might have.

Diagnose. Having considered the matter fully, and sought the Lord in prayer, we reach a conclusion about what the problem is. Sometimes this might be a tentative conclusion at other times it will be firmer. Whatever way it is we will be loving and kind and gentle in the way we express our conclusion. The other person must know that we have their best interests at heart.

Remedy. Finally we will seek to offer a remedy. To offer a diagnosis without a remedy can be cruel. There may be times though when you have to go away and seek further counsel before you can give a remedy. As regards to the remedy, it may be  giving specific biblical exhortation. It may be recommending certain changes in lifestyle. It may be simply talking through the issues with the person. It may be getting others in to help.

 

So love gets involved in each others lives in the church. This is not out of busy-body activity, but out of love.

In the process described above the similarity to a medical approach should be evident. There is a sense that love makes us doctors to each others souls.

Finally to finish on a medical thought we need to remember the truth of Matthew 7:3-5 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’, when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye. Before engaging in eye surgery on another do some I surgery on yourself to cure yourself first.