Pilgrim Heart

Arthur Wallis and Spiritual Heritage

The ultimate accolade must surely be to be called a friend of God. One of the marks of a friend of God is that they leave a heritage for people of faith (see 2Chron 20:7, Isaiah 41:8, James 2:21-23). By such a standard Arthur Wallis can be truly called a friend of God.

I am currently reading, to my shame for the first time, Aurthur's book "In the Day of Thy Power" available here on Amazon, and I am struck by how familiar it all is. I don't recall ever hearing Arthur preach (I was 18 when he died), and although my father was a friend of his, I only recall ever meeting him once, shortly before his death.

So why are his words so familiar? Because in them he left a heritage, not primarily on the pages of his books, but in the hearts and minds and on the lips of men and women of God who were genuinely revolutionised by the revelation he carried.

"Write the vision, make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it." (Hab 2:2)

Arthur wrote the vision, he didn't merely write books with good biblical exegeses or clever ideas: he saw something in God which people then caught, became infected with, became consumed by.

I am grateful to God that I was raised spiritually by those who had caught this vision and were running with it; and now in turn my aim is to faithfully pass on these same truths: not the teachings of a man, but the heavenly vision (Acts 26:19) imparted by the Holy Spirit through faithful servants.

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children" (Pro 13:22)

To those of you who preach and teach, disciple and nurture God's people, are you writing the vision on people's lives in ways that will leave an inheritance for generations to come? Arthur did, and that made him a great man in the kingdom of God.

The Nations and the Kingdom of God: Commentary on Psalm 2 (part IV)

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Ps 2:10-12)

Now the psalmist summarises his thoughts and reveals his intended audience: the rulers of the kingdoms of the earth. This psalm is a warning, but it is also a teaching and an unveiling. It serves to teach earthly rulers that their first responsibility is to God – to serve him, yes to worship him: ‘kiss the Son.’

They are called to acknowledge that God’s Son, his Anointed, his King, who has now been revealed as Jesus, has authority over them. It is an unveiling because it shows that their earthly rule is not merely a physical, temporal thing; but a spiritual activity which places political leaders in the realm of the spirit along with the other ‘powers’ (see Rom 13:1f, Eph 3:10, Col 1:16).

However, for all the warnings there is also a promise to earthly political leaders: ‘blessed are all who take refuge in him.’ This is not set up as a further expression that God is on the side of the oppressed, that his blessing is upon those who need refuge from the evils of this world; rather it is an offer to all, and here explicitly to political leaders: God’s blessing is available to all who will put their trust and confidence in him.

So we see that God does not conceive of political rule as inherently in opposition to Jesus’ heavenly rule: the two can find harmony and peace with one another; what is required is that earthly rulers acknowledge their God-given responsibility of exercising government for the good of the people; that they reject the temptation to see positions of authority as a means to a personal end, that they humbly acknowledge that they are under a higher authority and that they ultimately find their security and fulfilment in the God who established their positions of rule.

The Obedience of Faith

...Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations... (Romans 1:4-5)

The goal of apostolic ministry is not to make people live in obedience to "The Faith" but to produce faith in people which creates of itself, quite naturally and without any external compulsion, obedience to Jesus Christ.

So one mark of true apostolic ministry is that it produces faith-filled people who freely and instinctively live the life of Christ and so bring honour to his name: this is the obedience of faith. Apostolic ministry does not first and foremost say "this is what you should do," but rather says "here is Jesus Christ." It is not a revelation to law, but a revelation from grace.

Apostolic authority is not primarily a right to command, but an entrustment to make known the mysteries of Christ. An encounter with true apostolic ministry will leave you full of faith and knowing Jesus better.

Refreshed and Renewed

I've given the blog a bit of a spring clean - hopefully freshened things up a bit. I need to update the reading and listening lists, I've read a lot of great books and listened to some excellent music lately. What to choose...?

I will be posting some short book reviews as I update my reading list, let me know if you find them useful, especially if you actually read a book because you saw it here.

The Nations & the Kingdom of God - Commentary on Psalm 2 (III)

I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you." Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. Your shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel." (Psalm 2:7-9)

Everything changed in the Incarnation: it was a breaking forth of divine revelatory light (Jn 1:9) into the history of humanity which changed forever the relationship between mankind and God, regardless of whether each individual has had the gospel preached to them.

When is the "today" that the Father begot the Son? Not at some point in eternity past - the Father, Son and Spirit eternally co-exist. Rather, the NT writers show us that "today" is marked by the Incarnation - the breaking-in of God's new day for the world. "Today" is the time of Jesus' birth (Heb 1:5-6), the beginning of his public ministry (Heb 1:8, Lk 4:18), his resurrection (Acts 13:33), and his ascension to the throne of heaven (Heb 1:13). And "today" continues as long as the gospel is being preached (Heb 4:6-7).

In his begetting of the Son, the Father bestows on him an inheritance of all the nations, the ends of the earth. The Incarnation is the breaking in of the Kingdom of Heaven upon the Kingdom of this World. In sending his only-begotten Son (Jn 3:16) (or "God the Only-Begotten", Jn 1:18) the Father ushers in a new era for the governments of this world: the Son will rule not only in Zion, the Holy Hill, but also over the nations with a rod of iron.

This is a rod of iron rather then a scepter of gold because fundamentally this earthly rule of Christ is a judgment which comes to break forms and structures of government which do not filful their God-given duties - they are like a potter's vessel to be smashed. This is exactly the imagery God uses through Jeremiah (ch19) to show the elders of his day that they had been remiss in their duties as the government of the city: the vessel may be great at doing a certain job (e.g. worshiping false gods), but if it's not God's purpose that it's fulfilling then it will be destroyed.

So how is this administered in this present age? In Rev 2:27 we find that overcomers (that is the church in the power of the Spirit) share in this judgment with Christ, they are the New People (1Pt 2:10) of the New Day. In the Incarnation, and especially in the Atonement, God judged the world in Christ and thereby reconciled the world to himself (Col 1:20). As the witnessing community in the Spirit, we too speak that judgment to the world, and continue Christ's ministry of reconciliation (2Cor 5:18).

As part of that ministry we will be instrumental in "dashing to pieces" forms and patterns of government which do not serve and fulfil their God-given duties and roles. Human government is enacted through a continual reshaping of forms and patterns through the passing and enacting of new policies and laws. The political witness of the church is to ensure that new policies and laws are not more "christian" but better help the government to fulfil those things for which God holds it responsible.

It is not possible for the church to witness to Christ and be a-political: the gospel is political. We have a responsibility before God to speak to governments (particularly the one we are subject to) as to what is right and just.