Author: Proud Mpofu

By Martin Morrison

Grace is a delightful word. People in hundreds of languages sing “Amazing Grace”. Just as Andrea Bocelli sang on Easter Sunday from the steps of the cathedral in Milan. How ironic for a blind Italian man to sing “I once was lost, but now am found; was blind but now I see”.

John Newton the author of “Amazing Grace” wrote those words to explain the profound effect of God’s grace in his life. He was eternally lost and now found, he was spiritually blind but now he could see. Most of us know that Newton before his conversion to Christ, was the captain of a slave ship that transported slaves from Africa to the Americas. The familiarity of that fact, can disguise the horror of what kind of man he must have been. Quite recently I read a biography of John Newton. The author explained that he not only profited from transporting human beings as slaves with not the slightest care for their life or death on the ship, but often he raped the women on the journey. That rocked me. That shocked me. Do we really want that kind of person in our church or sitting next to us in heaven?

You see I am hugely pleased that Harvey Weinstein the Hollywood producer who abused and raped countless women has finally been brought to justice. He deserves it, let him rot in prison I say. Justice has been served. Good. Throw the keys away. And then I hear “Amazing Grace” and realize that John Newton was possibly the original Harvey Weinstein! That’s a shock! Is that hymn still so delightful?

And yet that’s precisely for whom Christ came. Which is precisely why grace is not only beautiful but scandalous. Paul tells us in Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this; While we were still sinners, Christ died for us”. He died for sinners, for his enemies. Many religions would offer us mercy if we sought it or deserved it. But there is no other religion on the face of this planet that offers grace to the guilty. You see if you think you deserve grace, you don’t understand it. Outside of Christ, we are not merely misguided subjects. No, we were rebels and traitors against the King. Yet, it’s precisely those rebels and traitors for whom Christ died. People like John Newton, like Harvey Weinstein, people like you and me.

“The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise”
Psalm 51:17

Perhaps if I give you some of my time.
Perhaps if I give you some of my strength.
Perhaps if I give you some of my things.
Perhaps if I give you some of my thoughts.
Perhaps if I give you some of my success.
Perhaps if I give you some of my relationships.
Surely these sacrifices will bring you delight.
Surely these offerings will bring you joy.
I’m quite willing to give a tithe.
I’m quite willing to interrupt my schedule.
I’m quite willing to volunteer to serve.
I’m quite willing to do my part.

But I get the sense that you’re not satisfied with a piece of me.
I get the sense that momentary giving, momentary service,
momentary sacrifice, momentary ministry, momentary turning

of my heart to you will not satisfy you.
But I must admit that I’m afraid of what you require.
I’m afraid of a broken spirit.
I’m afraid of a contrite heart.

By Martin Morrison

There are many Christians who lack certainty about their relationship with God. Very often they are anxious whether they are good enough for God. Periodically, they look for some or other sign from God to give them assurance in their spiritual journey. I have often wondered whether people who continually look for signs or miracles or special experiences from God, are not in fact looking for assurance. Unconsciously they hope that the experience or miracle will assure their troubled soul of God’s presence in their lives.

Lacking assurance as a Christian is not what God wants for his children. In fact, the Bible is quite clear that those who have trusted and submitted to King Jesus ought to have full confidence that they are God’s children. They ought to have complete security that they belong to Jesus for all eternity. They should have the absolute certainty echoed in Paul’s teaching, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). “No condemnation”, can that really be true?

Contrary to what most people think, the basis of that assurance is not found in what we do or achieve. No, it lies entirely in what Christ has done for us on the cross. The basis of assurance is not found in our efforts or our experiences, but it is found in Christ who died for all our sins, past, present and future. “Christ suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God” (1 Peter 3:18). Paul tells us, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ… and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1 – 2). This is amazing, wonderful and true! No matter how bad you have been, what harm you may have caused, how unworthy you may feel, when you trust in our Lord Jesus Christ, all your guilt is taken away and you are given a new standing with God that makes you acceptable to him.

Think for a moment of all you have done that makes you ashamed or causes regret. Do you think you are worthy of forgiveness or acceptance? Of course not! What God has done for us in Jesus is for the unworthy, for people like us. Because we do not deserve it, it is called “grace”. Randy Alcorn correctly says, “God knows everything, so no sin surprises him. He knows all our worst secrets. No skeletons will ever fall out of our closets. Jesus will never say, Had I known you’d done that, I’d never have let you into heaven. He’s seen us at our worst and still loves us. Or as David Powlison said, “Are you too bad to receive grace? How could you be too bad to receive what is for the bad?” I love that!

Let me try and illustrate this amazing concept. “…just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin” (Romans 4: 6 – 8). The first part of verse 7, tells us that the truly happy, blessed man is the one whose sins or wrongdoings are forgiven. Then in typical Hebrew poetic style, this statement of forgiveness is repeated, whose sins are covered.

Frank Retief explains the word covered by showing us how this word “covered” is used elsewhere in Scripture which fleshes out this concept. Firstly, it is used in Genesis 9:23 of the action of Shem and Japheth when they covered their father Noah who was lying naked in a drunken stupor. Clearly, there was something shameful which Noah’s two sons correctly covered. The word is used again in Exodus 15:10 after God had miraculously saved the Israelites from the Egyptians through the Red Sea. Moses and Miriam extol God’s greatness and sing, “You blew with your wind: the sea covered them”. The Egyptian army was completely covered by the waters and annihilated. Thus, we get the idea of how this word is used. It means to cover over shame, enmity, defeat.

There is a third example to note. This illustration occurs in Deuteronomy 23:13. It is a daring analogy of what it means to have our sins covered. “And you shall have a trowel with your tools, and when you relieve yourself, you shall dig a hole with it and turn back and cover up your excrement”. Have you ever wondered how the vast number of Israelites wandering through the desert for forty years, took care of their toilet arrangements? How amazing that God should legislate about such a thing! Each Israelite, had to have a kind of spade or paddle. With this he covered up his own excrement so that there would be no disease in the camp.

There is a connection we should grasp. The same word used to “cover” human excrement in Deuteronomy 23:13 is the word God uses in Psalm 32:1 to describe what he does with our sins. Can you imagine anything as gross as someone going back and digging up their human waste! Yet this is what we often do in relation to our sins. When God has covered them, we dig them up. We use them to plague us with anxiety and doubt. No wonder we are robbed of our assurance.

Turn again to Romans 4: 8, “Blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sins”. The Lord will never count it against us. Did you get that? Often our friends or family or conscience continue to hold our failures against us. But the wonder of the Gospel is that when we come to Christ in faith, God takes our sins and covers them.

So the basis of our assurance, is that God has covered our sins and no longer counts them against us. Assurance comes from knowing this. This assurance is breathtaking! It means I can have absolute certainty that I am right with God, that I am his legally adopted child, that I am destined for heaven. You don’t deserve it, you don’t earn it. It is yours by faith. It’s grace. It’s a gift.

For Further Reading: Randy Alcorn, Grace: A Bigger view of God’s love. Frank Retief, Blessed Assurance.

By Stephen Le Feuvre    

Extracted from The Gospel Coalition Africa

At age sixteen I was first told of the curse of Ham. A man a little older than me fleetingly tried to persuade me to join a right-wing militant organisation. His starting point was to try and persuade me from scripture that black African people were a cursed race descended from Noah’s son, Ham.

This was a startling conversation for me. I had been brought up reading my Bible but I was unaware of this curse. But having studied it now I am even further from being a recruit. Rather it has filled me with a deepening awareness of two things. First, I am increasingly aware of both the inclination of humans to turn everything to wickedness; and, secondly, of God’s awe-inspiring grace towards humans.

The Curse of Ham used for Wickedness

Here is the passage of Scripture in which the curse of Ham appears: “[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][Noah] drank of the wine and became drunk and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father and told his two brothers outside. Then Shem and Japheth took a garment, laid it on both their shoulders, and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father. Their faces were turned backward, and they did not see their father’s nakedness. When Noah awoke from his wine and knew what his youngest son had done to him, he said, “Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” He also said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, and let him dwell in the tents of Shem, and let Canaan be his servant”’ (Genesis 9:21-27).

So here is the infamous curse of Ham. This curse has played a part in the oppression of black African nations through the centuries. Most particularly this influence has been present in the Atlantic slave trade, in Nazi Germany and in Apartheid South Africa. However, there are two things we need to understand about this passage before we succumb to the grace-reducing misapplication of the curse of Ham.

Getting the Facts Straight

Scripture tells us that Noah had seventeen grandsons. And from their names we have a pretty good – if not perfect – idea which nations developed from which grandchildren. Four of those grandchildren were Ham’s four sons: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan (Genesis 10:6). The Canaanites settled in the Middle East. They appear frequently in the Old Testament of the Bible. For the most part they have dissolved into other nations or died out. Egypt is even more obvious. For it is a nation that appears often in scripture and is still present today.

In biblical Hebrew, the name ‘Cush’ seems to mean ‘Ethiopian’ or ‘blackness’. Black African nations seemingly developed from the offspring of Cush. But that is exactly where the so-called curse of Ham is misapplied. The curse never fell on Ham or on Cush. For whatever reason, not truly given in the text, it fell on Canaan. In Genesis 9:25 Noah pours out his anger, ‘Cursed be Canaan!’ There is no record of a biblical curse put on the descendants of Cush or the nations of Africa.

Getting the Context Straight

But there is a broader context to this curse of Ham. All mankind is under a curse – whether we are offspring of Shem, Ham or Japheth. Adam and Eve, our original forebears, already disobeyed the Lord God when they ate of the forbidden fruit: “of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:17).

Just before the event known as the curse of Ham, God did wipe out all of mankind, except for Noah’s family, in a flood. God immediately issued a chilling warning to those who survived the flood: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6). God clearly harbours no illusions about the righteousness of mankind despite the awful punishment that he had just meted out! Even though God almost completely wiped out mankind in the flood, he had no doubt that they would sin again—and soon!

The New Testament does not alter this message one bit. When quoting Psalm 14 Paul says, “there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:22-23). Whether you are of the line of Shem, Ham or Japeth there is no distinction; all fall short of the glory of God.

Awe-Inspiring Grace instead of the Curse of Ham

And yet incomprehensibly God shows an unwavering commitment to the people of the earth. He chose not to wipe out the entire human race in the flood. He chose to reiterate his command to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 9:1), and he chose to make a covenant with Noah and his offspring (Genesis 9:9).

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By Martin Morrison

Here are some quotes from the old classic, The Art of War by Sun Tzu:
• The supreme art of war is to subdue the enemy without fighting
• Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win
• In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity
• There is no instance of a nation benefitting from prolonged warfare

Cicero famously said, that you need to first start a war before you can work out how to win it! It seemed to work for 40 years of his political life in the bruising politics of the Roman empire. Though, this strategy does seem to be somewhat flawed, when you consider that he was beheaded by the Second Triumvirate on 7 December 43 BC at the age of 63!

Spiritual warfare for the Christian is vastly different and vastly more complex. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”, Matthew 5:44. Again on the mount, Jesus says, “But I say to you. Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also”, Matthew 5:39. On the cross, Jesus cries, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do”, Luke 23:34.

However, what if your enemy is inside the church perverting the Gospel. In the churches of Galatia (modern-day Turkey), false teachers inside the church were subverting the faith by preaching “Jesus plus”. For Paul, there is no turning the other cheek! Paul attacks them head on, “As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed”, Galatians 1:9. That is the closest you will get in the Greek language, to telling someone to go to hell!!

As I said, it is complex!

Here in Ephesians 6, where Paul has outlined the whole armour of God, the primary weapon of attack is the sword of the Spirit. Paul explains that the sword of the Spirit is the word of God. The Christian sword is not a knife or a gun, but truth as found in the word of God, the Bible. The Spirit works through the word of God. The word of God is applied by the Spirit. You can never, never separate the two.

Paul further explains that the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, must be accompanied by fervent prayer. The energy of attack seems thus far to be found in relying totally on the power of God, through prayer. There is a hidden danger, in that some erroneously place their trust in prayer. This is hugely dangerous and totally false. We are not to place our faith in prayer, but entirely on the object of prayer, God.

Furthermore, the purpose of having the sword of the Spirit and fervent prayer is in order to proclaim and verbally share the good news of the Gospel. “Praying at all times on the Spirit with all prayer and supplication… for all the saints…and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak”, Ephesians 6:18 – 20.

Spiritual warfare is not an academic exercise or a merely a prayer meeting. Understanding is key and fervent prayer is critical. However, the sword of the Spirit needs to be wielded. And here in Ephesians 6, Paul asks for prayer in order that he may proclaim the mystery of the Gospel. Wielding the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, is by proclaiming, not merely praying.

As John Stott says, Paul asks the Ephesian believers, for their prayers and God’s strength, not only for his personal confrontation with the devil, but for his evangelistic ministry by which he sought to rescue people from the devil’s dominion. We know from the end of Acts, that when Paul was under house arrest in Rome, that their prayers were abundantly answered, “He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, proclaiming the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance”, Acts 28:30 – 31.

An essential activity in spiritual warfare is to share, preach, proclaim the Gospel. St Francis of Assisi famously said, “Preach the Gospel and if necessary use words”. No doubt, he was correctly emphasising the importance of your life matching your lips. However, the statement on its own is dead wrong. The Gospel is words. An essential part of spiritual warfare is to proactively share and preach the Gospel in words.

For many years, I have determined to share the Gospel or some aspect of the Gospel with an unbeliever at last once per week, apart from my normal church ministry opportunities. Sometimes, it is with a petrol attendant or waiter. Other times, it is with a service provider or family member. I had to wait for 8 years to share the Gospel in words with the chairman of a large company. God opened a natural door for me, and thankfully gave me the alertness and words to speak. Only God knows if a seed was planted. Perhaps the seed that was planted was not with him, but the others that were listening in on that occasion. It’s not for me to know. God knows.

There we have it. For the Christian, there are many aspects to the art of war. However, in attack there are three key aspects. The Word. The Spirit. The Proclaiming. Never, never, separate the three.

By Martin Morrison

Exercise Tiger or Operation Tiger was one of a series of large scale rehearsals for the D-Day invasion of Normandy, which took place in April 1944 on Slapton Sands in Devon, during World War II. The training was on a large scale with thousands of troops on landing ships. However, tragically due to communication problems, friendly fire from their own troops, killed 749 American servicemen. Total disaster.

In any warfare, accurate communication is critical. Without communication, the whole exercise is futile.

“Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the Gospel”, Ephesians 6: 18 – 19.

Aware of the need of good communications on the battlefield, Paul might have equipped his soldier with two iPhones, if he was writing today! We will not get far in spiritual warfare if we neglect prayer. Indeed, Satan’s strategy is to get us to forget God and to make decisions in the way of the world. Remember that we are to be strengthened continually by the power that comes from God. We need to be asking for it.

Prayer is a supernatural, spiritual activity. A prayerless person is ignorant of the spiritual conflict that is going on all around us. I share with Dr Chris Warton, my dear friend, the fact that though we have both been Christians for countless years, we still find ourselves at times praying as a last resort, rather than as a first resort. Sometimes, the bigger the crisis, the longer I take to actually talk to God about it! That’s extraordinary, I teach this stuff! The reason is that sometimes both Chris and I have hearts of concrete! Lord have mercy.

Remember how Jesus, in the garden of Gethsemane asked the disciples to watch and pray. “And he said to Peter, Simon are you asleep? Could you not watch one hour? Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation”, Mark 14:37 – 38. The words of Jesus to Simon Peter sometimes haunt me. For I also, too often fall asleep when I should be praying. I too, sometimes fail to pray intentionally and urgently for God’s will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven.

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication

By Martin Morrison

So, if we’re in a war, it’s fine to have proper defence, but what do we use for attack? Don’t we have heat-seeking missiles or nuclear arms or at least an AK-47? What must we use to win? Surely we want to conquer the enemy? Surely we want to win the battle? So far all you’ve given us are pieces of armour that defend? Or are we supposed to be wimps or doormats? Wave a Christian white flag in defeat!

“… and take the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God”, Ephesians 6:17.

The sixth and last weapon to be specified is the sword. Of all the six pieces of armour or weaponry listed, the sword is the only one which can clearly be used for attack as well as defence. The weapon of attack is for close personal encounters as the Greek word used, is machaira, the short sword. This sword of the Spirit is immediately identified as the word of God. In Revelation the sharp two-edged sword comes out of the mouth of Jesus. “The son of man….and from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword…”, Revelation 1:16. This is not gentle Jesus meek and mild, but Jesus wielding an immensely powerful instrument of war.

The sword is the word of God, the Scriptures, the Old and New Testament. Remember how Jesus used the word of God to counter the devil in the Judean wilderness. On every occasion when the devil presented a massive temptation to Jesus, he responded by quoting a particular Scripture, “It is written….it is written…it is written. Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him”, Matthew 4:1 – 11.

Peter reminds us that our adversary the devil, “prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour”, 1 Peter 5:8. So the devil will try to break down or tempt the believer in a myriad of different ways. For instance, because of an abusive past, you may feel worthless, your self-confidence may be non-existent. So, when you want to serve God or speak for God in some way, the devil whispers in your ear, “Who do you think you are? Just keep quiet, everyone knows you’re a loser!” Surely, you are to attack the devil’s lies with God’s Word. “I have infinite value because I’m made in the image of God! Christ loves me so much that he died for me! I am so precious to Christ that he bought me with his blood!! Get out of my life! Go to hell!! By the way, the devil is the only person to whom you can say that!

Or perhaps you have become addicted to pornography. You hate it, but you can’t break it. You hate it, but the addiction has consumed you. God’s word is your weapon. “For when two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them”, Matthew 18:20. There is only one key to break the power of addiction and that is to meet with two or three others and talk about your addiction, pray together and hold each other accountable. There is no other way! And when someone asks you to meet with them remember, “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted”. Galatians 6:1. Our weapon is the word of God. There is no other.

Or perhaps you occasionally worry that money and possessions have become too important in your life. You find your heart strangely drawn to want more, all the time. Your wife mentioned that you have become just like your materialistic colleague. In fact in the past, you distinctly remember disliking his unpleasant greed and covetousness. Remember Job who said, “naked I came, naked I shall return”, Job 1:21. Remember that you can’t take it with you. Hearses don’t have trailers or tow-bars! Remember Jesus who said, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money”, Matthew 6:24.

Two last things, before we close. Firstly, the Bible is not called the sword of the Spirit for nothing. The Holy Spirit is the author of the word of God. The Spirit convicts us of sin. The Spirit applies the truth of God’s word to our consciences and hearts. The Spirit brings words of truth and comfort to us from the Bible. You can never separate the Bible and the Spirit. Just as much as you cannot separate a tomato from its’ skin, I think! The Bible and the Spirit are inseparable. They cannot be divorced.

Secondly, it’s counter intuitive in our world, that our only weapon of attack is not a gun or a knife or hatred or anger but, but simply a word. A word of truth. The word of God. Nothing more and nothing less.

By Martin Morrison

“In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation”, Ephesians 6:16 – 17.

Let me remind you again, of the context of these verses. Paul is instructing the believers in the churches of Ephesus, present day Turkey, that being a Christian, is not a life of ease and comfort. On the contrary, he makes crystal clear, that having become a Christian, you are now on the front line of a great battle. Warfare. Spiritual Warfare. It is not a game. It is not an optional extra. No, you are right in the middle of a fight to the death. Whether you know it or not!

Your enemy is not only the world and the disciples of the world. It is not only your own weak flesh and your own sinful nature. No, your enemy is also most profoundly the “… the schemes of the devil…the rulers, the authorities, the cosmic powers over this present darkness, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places”, Ephesians 6:11 – 12. On first reading it’s unbelievingly terrifying! This is the worst possible horror movie, but it’s not a movie! Not sure this is what I signed up for, you say!

If you look carefully at those verses, you will see the formidable power of the enemies arraigned against each one of us individually and collectively. We are beaten before we even start! Better just throw in the towel. In and of ourselves, you and I are defenceless and will be taken out in a heartbeat. We need help. We need armour. We need defences. We need back-up and front-up and side-up. Now.

Thankfully, the impenetrable defence we have is, “… to be strong in the Lord”, Ephesians 6:10. Our only defence is the Lord. The Lord, nothing more and nothing less. The Lord and the armour he gives us to fight the battle.

Firstly, the shield of faith, “In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one”, Ephesians 6:16. The word shield, is not the small round shield, but the long oblong shield used by Romans soldiers, measuring 1.2 meters by .75 meters. The heavily armed infantryman had a huge shield like a curved door made of layers of wood covered with leather and metal. It was constructed to stop and put out burning arrows, the soldier’s greatest fear. In combat the soldiers would stand side by side with their shields together, facing the enemy with a solid barrier that could even stop pitch-laden burning missiles. (EXPLORE. David Seccombe).

What a picture this is for the Christian under attack! Our trust in God and his promises will see us through. “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world – our faith”, 1 John 5:4.