A Word for 2019 Part 1 by Clifford Hill
Some insights from the Editor-in-Chief at the head of the year.
1. What is God Doing Today?
We are entering a time of immense turbulence that is of
great significance in the history of the nation. It is essential to understand
what God is doing and not be blinded by what human beings are doing. What is
God doing today?
In the past God has spoken to us about shaking the nations.
Back in 1986 he highlighted Haggai 2:6 and 7: “I
will once more shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. I
will shake all nations…”Much of what we are seeing today is God’s
activity in shaking the nations, exposing corruption and turning
upside-down the institutions in which people have put their trust; which is a
modern form of idolatry. We need to keep our eyes upon him and understand what
he is doing.
There is still a faithful remnant of Bible-believing
Christians in Britain who are greatly needed in this time of turbulence. The
message that Jesus gave in Nazareth when the scroll of Isaiah was given to him
in the synagogue is important. Jesus chose to read from Chapter 61, “The Spirit
of the Lord is on me because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news…” The
whole of this chapter is significant for the faithful remnant today and it
needs careful study. The faithful remnant will be called “Oaks of
righteousness” and be “a planting of the Lord for the
display of HIS splendour.”
Their task is to “rebuild the ancient ruins”;
to recall the nation to the biblical foundations of truth upon which the nation
was founded. This requires study and teamwork, working together, honouring one
another and in everything keeping our eyes upon the Lord and only doing what he
tells us to do. A key Scripture is John 5:19: “The
Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.”
So, what is God doing? What are we
seeing all around us in Britain? An excellent description is in Ezekiel 12:2: “Son of man, you
are living among a rebellious people. They have eyes to see but do not see and
ears to hear but they do not hear, for they are a rebellious people.” This
provides the key to understanding what is happening in the nation – a nation
that is under judgment, whose leaders have no vision, who rush about in
confusion looking for solutions that cannot be found; because there are
no political solutions to the spiritual problems in the nation.
It is essential to understand what God is doing and not be
blinded by what human beings are doing.
But this is not only the condition of our political
leaders. It is also the condition of church leaders of all denominations, most
of whom have either been swept up into the maelstrom of secular humanist values
in a post-Christian world or have retreated into a cosy little pseudo-biblical
world, feeding pastoral comfort to their flock, but have lost the prophetic
cutting edge of the Gospel and no longer fearlessly declare the unchanging word
of God to a lost generation!
The words of Jesus in telling the parable of the sower
applies to the Church in Britain today: “Though seeing, they do not
see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand” (Matt 13:13). They do not understand
because they do not have the Spirit of God. Paul makes this very clear in 1
Corinthians 2:12-14, “The man without the Spirit does
not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually
discerned” … but the faithful remnant can say “But we
have the mind of Christ”.
The faithful remnant in Britain today is largely composed
of the older generation: but God is doing something quite remarkable! He is
using the spirit of rebellion that is sweeping the nation to bring young people
into the kingdom!
There are many signs that thinking young people are tired
of the antics of our politicians and in their search for the truth they are
rejecting the post-modernist philosophy that has driven society to the point we
have reached today. They can see the social disaster vividly portrayed in
social media that reflects their world. But God is actually using the spirit of
rebellion to work out his purposes.
Young people are joining the faithful remnant and it is in
the purposes of God to ensure that his precious word that has been kept in the
old wineskins will not be lost, but will be poured out into the new wineskins
before the older generation are taken into glory. My own grandson, Mark, who is
due to be ordained this year, is an example of this.
2. The Faithful Remnant
The faithful remnant is a stump in the land. Isaiah 6:13 is
significant and needs to be studied. As the oak leaves a stump when it is cut
down so “The holy seed will be the stump in the land”. Issachar Ministries has
a special calling for mobilising and resourcing the older generation of
believers.
The Lord has given to Monica and me a living parable. In
our garden we had a beautiful old plum tree that bore luscious fruit. In the
middle of a very dry summer some six years ago it was heavily laden with fruit
when a great storm with a powerful wind blew it down. We had no alternative but
to harvest its fruit and then cut it in pieces for our log fire. With great
sadness we cut its trunk near to the ground just leaving a stump. To our
amazement another tree has grown up from the stump and in the past two or three
years it has been producing fruit – not quite the same kind of fruit, smaller
but good quality and very eatable.
The faithful remnant is the stump in the land – but that
stump can bear good fruit.
The Lord spoke to us through this parable that the stump
can produce good fruit, like the potter working at his wheel when Jeremiah
called to see him (Jer 18) and the piece of clay he was working could not be
fashioned into the intended pot. Instead of throwing away the clay the potter
put it back onto the wheel and re-fashioned it into another pot – not the
original beautiful vase intended to grace a rich person’s living room, but a
useful pot that would bless a busy housewife in her kitchen.
The message for the faithful remnant is that the Lord never
throws away any of his people, even when they have messed up their lives.
Repentance and reformation are a key part of the Lord’s intention for all his
people and it is this message of salvation through death and resurrection that
is at the heart of the Gospel. It should always be present as part of the
message of hope proclaimed by the faithful remnant. [Prophetic Insights by
Clifford Hill]
Let us as God’s remnant people seek God’s forgiveness for
the state of the Nation today and confess our sins by using Psalm 51 remembering
our call in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
Please pray and share with your
intercessors, Bible Study Groups, Prayer Groups, Church Prayers, Men &
Women’s Groups. Thank you.
Las & Arlene Ratnayake
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