John 4 v 35 Seeing People as Jesus sees them Introduction In 1947 with tears streaking her cheeks Evie Brand (1879-1974) pleaded with her mission board. Rules were rules, they answered. She was too old to go back to India. She must retire. Evie had sacrificed her comforts, her tiny income, her family for the work. With her husband, Jesse, she had pioneered on the Mountains of Death until he died of fever. Year after year, she lived entirely on a small inheritance and set aside her official salary to buy parcels of land for the mission. But the board said it made no sense to appoint a sixty-eight year old woman to another five year term. Evie did not see it that way. Years ago, she and her husband Jesse had vowed to reach five mountain ranges with the gospel. Four still had to be reached. Evie felt that God intended for her to fulfil that vow. She saw one last chance. "Please just send me back for one year," she pleaded. "I promise not to make any more trouble. At the end of one year I will retire." Reluctantly the board agreed. Had they known Evie's secret plan, they would surely have refused. When her year with the mission ended, fellow missionaries gathered to wish her goodbye. Then came the shocker. Evie gleefully informed them that she was retiring from the mission-- retiring to take up independent work in the mountains. She would fulfil the promise that she and Jesse had undertaken years before. Protests and warnings fell on deaf ears. Rejoicing, seventy-year-old Evie began to fulfil Jesse's dream. Everyone called her "Granny," now, but she felt young. She travelled from village to village, riding a hill pony, camping, teaching, and dispensing medicine. She rescued abandoned children. The work was hard because her body was thin now. Life became even more difficult when she was dropped by her carriers and whacked her head on a rock. She never completely recovered her balance after that. She took to walking with bamboo canes in her hands. Yet the face that she turned upon the world was full of joy and laughter. "Praise God!" she exclaimed continually. Despite broken bones and fevers, she laboured on. In fifteen years, she almost eradicated Guinea worm from the Kalryan range. (Guinea worms grow several feet long under a person's skin.) Through her efforts, the five ranges were evangelized, and a mission work planted on each. She added two more ranges. "Extraordinary," said people. Granny insisted it was all God's doing. Whether on her mountains or off, she proclaimed Christ. In a hospital with a broken hip, she scooted on a carpet from room to room and talked to the other patients. She painted landscapes for them. Her bones knit in record time and back she went to the mountains to fight marijuana growers. Her son Paul visited her and found her looking not older but younger. "This is how to grow old," he wrote. "Allow everything else to fall away, until those around you see just love." Granny tore some ligaments and had to go to the plains for treatment. Before she could return to her beloved mountains, her speech became jumbled and her memory failed. Seven days later aged ninety-five, on 18th December 1974, she died. The next day her body was taken back to the hills and laid beside Jesse's while a multitude wept. The woman who was considered too old for missions had carried on for twenty-four more years [story extract from www.Christianity.com; full story in Dorothy Clark, Granny Brand, 1976 ]. I think we would all agree that ‘Granny’ Brand saw people as Jesus sees them and was an extraordinary woman of God. Her particular commitment to India was her calling; the question for each one of us is this: will I be faithful to the calling God has entrusted to me to share the good news of Jesus with the people I meet in daily life? Our text for the year is John 4:35: You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest’ But I say, ‘walk up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest (NLV).’
However, in the earlier verses of this chapter Jesus modelled for us a response to the spiritual 1
needs around us. The pattern He set is a good one for us to copy today. How might we develop a lifestyle pattern that may over time produce spiritual fruit? 1.Building friendships with People (John 4:1-7) 1
Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that He was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John— 2 although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but His disciples. 3 So He left Judea and went back once more to Galilee. 4 Now He had to go through Samaria. 5 So He came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as He was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give Me a drink?” Jews did not
mix with Samaritans. It was as simple as that. Many even declined to walk on roads through Samaria, preferring to take the long route north to Galilee or south to Judea. There was no chance of Samaritans coming to worship with the Jews as it was made very plain that they would not be welcome at their synagogues, let alone in the Jerusalem Temple. The average Jew viewed Samaritans as inferior human beings and wanted nothing to do with them. Jesus, by contrast, deliberately made a point not only of travelling through Samaria, but stopping there for a lunch break in the heat of the day. And in addition, had sent His disciples into a Samaritan community to purchase food; This action would have been as noticeable to both the locals and the disciples as a person of the opposite race entering a prohibited area during apartheid-era South Africa. It would have been the talking point of the community. What kind of Jewish rabbi sends His followers to mix with Samaritans? One very different from the majority was certain! The application of this point in our own social and cultural context is obvious. First and most obvious, people of all faiths and none, together with people of all racial backgrounds or of whatever lifestyle choice are welcome to attend services in this church and what is more we will be pleased to welcome them here. Our message is clear. The grace of God is needed by all; the love of God is offered to all who will receive it and the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus on the cross covers the sins of all who confess their guilt and desire His forgiveness. But we must go further than that; building friendships with people outside the fellowship is essential. We praise God for the good number of individuals, couples and families we are connected with through our work in various activities and organisations during the week, though we need to go further to reach the many thousands of people in this district who would never think to attend any activity we may put on however good or beneficial to them. The Street Chaplains work is one way of reaching the pub/ club goers in the town, but fundamentally it is at the personal level that we need to build relationships in our neighbourhood, workplace or social settings. This takes effort and time, but our intentional missionary calling is to meet people where they are; the Just Walk Across the Room initiative that we used last year brought this home to me - and I’m sure to others who attended those sessions. The Christian Church, to use a medical analogy, has often confused separation and isolation. When an epidemic of something is diagnosed doctors try to isolate the germ carriers and preventing the disease spreading. This can be very effective. However, when Christians isolate themselves from people outside the faith what chance is there of any influence for good. Jesus prayed for His followers in this way in John 17:15: My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. In other words, that God would give us the wisdom and strength to live a constructive Christian life in the wider community, as much as that is possible. Pray with a sense of expectancy that God can use you by action or words to be an effective witness for Him, in the midst of the normal everyday activities we are engaged in. 2
2. Discussing Common interests (John 4:7-8) 7
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give Me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.). There are plenty of people in our town and
country who have had no meaningful contacts with any Christians. All they know about Evangelical Christians tends to come from the portrayal of deranged fanatics in the soaps on TV, like the plotline on EastEnders which portrayed Lucas Johnson, a Christian Pentecostal pastor, as a deranged killer whose deeds were motivated by his Christian faith. Viewers watched the pastor, played by actor Don Gilet, failing to help his ex-wife when she was dying, strangling a love rival to death, and attacking his current on-screen wife. Their image of church in general tends to be an
impersonal dreary affair with no relation to the real world, led by an effeminate man dressed in clothes you would never find in Next or TK Maxx, who may have a sense of humour in keeping with Rev. IM Jolly or a larger than life woman cleric like the Vicar of Dibley. This is actually rather serious because when you or I state that we are Christians to some people immediately these appalling stereotypes will come to mind and it takes time and the building of relationships to show that these images are totally false and symptoms of secularist prejudice. How do we overcome such barriers? By building friendships with people and talking with them about things of common interest. How many people did you meet for the first time when out clearing snow and ice in your street? Many of us had that experience –no need to think of what to talk about! Likewise in the school, university or workplace there are always plenty of things of mutual interest that show we are normal people engaged in the real world. For Jesus and the Samaritan woman it was as natural to talk about water and drinking it as the average British citizen converses about the weather! Over time as we build friendships with people we discover what special interests they have and mutual respect can grow. The problem many of us have had over the years is a time management one –we can be too busy rushing from one task to another to spend that 30 seconds to a minute with someone, which over a few years can build up to a sizable chunk of our time wisely invested in others. Jesus was the supreme example of utilising those spare minutes for good in very practical ways. 3. Arousing interest from other people (John 4:9-15) 9
The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him and He would have given you living water.” 11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” 13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” As the time progressed the woman’s curiosity increased. Why is
this Jewish man talking to me? Why is he respecting me in a way the average Jew of that day would not have done? In that culture Jews and Samaritans didn’t talk; men and women who were not relations or married did not talk to people of the other gender. Rabbis in particular were careful with whom they would converse. What is more people who were divorced or living together outside of marriage, like this woman, were socially ostracised and faced even more barriers at that time. The level of conversation was simple and practical and something 3
anyone could have done, but only Jesus chose to do it. Building friendships with people through showing interest in them and what is going on in their lives is not rocket science it is what Jesus would do today as he did then. People would notice you are a Christian if you went around with a sandwich board over your shoulders with the message ‘I’m a ChristianAsk me about it’ written on it. However, in twenty-first century Britain, the message such an action would communicate is not one that would enhance your witness or mine! This woman vocalises her curiosity and asks Jesus why he is asking her for help. Interestingly she is more than willing to assist him and appreciates being asked. There are many good people in our society who find it difficult to accept help from other people, but are more than willing to give it when others have a need. This may be the way we can connect with someone. In this case Jesus chose to make statements that aroused her curiosity to ask him more questions. It is important to note that although Jesus could have given an exhaustive lecture on the nature of God, and much more besides, he chose to engage with this woman on a level that she understood and at a pace she was comfortable with. He made no assumptions about her previous knowledge of God, but provided openings for her to ask him about who he was and the nature of his work. Over time the vast majority of people want to find out more about individuals who have shown an interest in them. Sometimes having copies of booklets like The Real Jesus or Ultimate Questions available to give away, may be more appropriate in some instances, than trying to engage in a longer conversation. We need to have the confidence to believe that we have something worth sharing and to recognise that many people are searching for a meaning or purpose in their lives and pray that God will put us into contact with them. 4. Be brief –and to the point (John 4:13-18) 13
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” 16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 17 “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.” At this stage Jesus limits the amount of
information He gives about who He is and why He has come to Samaria. The purpose of this decision is to see if she is really interested in Him, and if she is, then she will ask more questions. The tragedy for many of us as Christians is that too often we go to one of two extremes when an interest is shown in our faith. Either we treat it as the Official Secrets Act and decline to say anything or we unload large quantities of (good) information on the unsuspecting person and kill the conversation. Jesus calls us to be the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13), effective in small doses! In time Jesus will share a great deal of information with this lady about who he is and the nature of a true relationship with God, but he ensures that he engages her interest first at each stage of the conversation. The revelation of her marital history blows her away. But notice that the barriers are about to go up when the conversation becomes personal. Almost all of us by nature are sensitive about revealing personal information about things that have gone on in our lives. Sometimes it can be fear of 4
what others would think about our past mistakes or misfortune, but none of us likes feeling vulnerable in the presence of another person or people. At this stage she is feeling guilty at her past failures, but has forgotten that Jesus began the conversation with her some time ago while knowing all that information about her marital history. We need to be able to communicate clearly that God accepts people as they are and meets them where they are. It is a lie of the devil that a person needs to be as godly as an angel before they can be welcomed into his family. The gospel we share is one of grace to the undeserving – and that means all of us on a level together. 5. Be positive and don’t condemn people (John 8:10-11) 10
Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 “No one, sir,” she said.“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.” Although these words are taken from another passage in this gospel they reflect
the attitude of Jesus to everyone he met. He was not in the condemnation business, unlike some people –sadly including some Christians. Only perfect people with halos firmly attached are entitled to dish out condemnation to the imperfect –yet the only one who qualifies –Jesus- made a point of never condemning anyone outside the faith. He had strong words to say about religious people (for example, in Matthew 23) who were hypocrites, but that was a different matter. There are a range of lifestyle choices that people in our communities engage in which Christians hopefully would see differently. However, we will not make an issue of these things because their real need is Jesus. When a person comes to faith in Christ they will see the need to address these things, in time, but we must leave that to the Holy Spirit to direct them about these issues, not attempt to be a moral policeman/woman for the wider community. I remember an older pastor (and a strong Temperance advocate) illustrating this to me about a conversation he had overheard between a publican and a Salvation Army lady. She was urging the man first to quit the drink trade and then trust Jesus. Quietly when that conversation had concluded, my friend went over to the girl and indicated that she had missed the point completely. The man was interested in Jesus, choosing to condemn his choice of occupation was missing the point when eternal issues were at stake. Too often today in our very secular world Christians can make a similar mistake. We need to focus on the most important issue or issues and be patient trusting the Holy Spirit to attend to lesser things. As any doctor would declare addressing the symptoms rather than a root cause of a problem is missing the point. When our acquaintance, friend or family member has still to come to faith their big need is Jesus, not addressing their heretosexual /homosexual or whatever lifestyle issues; nor the way they dress or socialise or use of illegal substances, or possibly unethical work practices. It can be a huge pressure within us to want to ‘fix’ someone else’s symptoms of a life without Jesus, when we should be showing them unconditional love and acceptance with a view, in time, when they come to Christ, to helping them live a life that is pleasing to him. 6. Keep in mind the main issues (John 4:19-26) 19
“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true 5
worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” 25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am He.” Avoid red
herrings. The woman thought she had hit the jackpot with the issue raised in verses nineteen and twenty. This controversy had divided Jews and Samaritans for centuries. Which religious building should we worship in –on Mount Gerizim (the Samaritan Temple) or in Jerusalem at the Jewish place of worship. Or put in contemporary language: there are many different types of churches –which one is right? Or many different religions and religious buildings –which one would provide the best way to a relationship with God? Don’t go there… the issue primarily is about a relationship with Jesus as he explains in verses twenty-three and twentyfour. When a person has put their faith and trust in him then other issues, often, but not always, become considerably less important. The second red herring related to the Messiah (called the Taheb (Restorer) by the Samaritans). The Samaritans understood the Messiah as a teacher who would resolve all religious controversies. The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us.” 26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am He.” Jesus avoided being distracted by secondary
issues, we need to do so as well however tempting they may be! We need to ask God for wisdom to discern what is a real problem for someone and what is simply a device for erecting a barrier between us when the Holy Spirit is at work in someone’s life. 7. Keep focussed on your primary purpose in life (John 4:26-42) 26
Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am He.” 27 Just then His disciples returned and were surprised to find Him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” 28 Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” 30 They came out of the town and made their way toward Him. 31 Meanwhile His disciples urged Him, “Rabbi, eat something.”32 But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then His disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought Him food?” 34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour.” 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to Him, they urged Him to stay with them, and He stayed two days. 41 And because of His words many more became believers.42 They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Saviour of the world.” By keeping focussed Jesus brought this lady to faith and through her testimony
reached many other people in the village, who would never have engaged in a conversation with a Jew. Our text for the year is John 4:35: You know the saying, ‘Four months between planting and harvest’ But I say, ‘walk up and look around. The fields are already ripe for harvest’ (NLV). Jesus’ point to the first disciples and to us is this – be prayerful maybe with another
person or a prayer triplet, or prayer group; be expectant for opportunities to share your faith this year and trust that we will have great joy in seeing men and women and young people commit their lives to Christ, Amen. 6
Acts 18 vs 1-22 Taking the city for God Introduction On Sunday 14 November 2010 Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso entered the final race of the Formula One season leading the championship table. Although theoretically there were three other drivers, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber from Red Bull Racing and McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, that could win the race, it was his to lose. He needed to finish only in fourth place to secure another championship title. Alonso finished seventh at the chequered flag, at the end of possibly the most competitive season in that sport for years. What was it that went wrong on the day? It was nothing to do with the driver whose actions in the race were good. The mistakes were made by members of his Ferrari team in the garage. For the technically minded it was the team decision to call Alonso in for new prime tyres in order to cover title rival Mark Weber and the consequent problem of him coming back into the race lower down the field and eventually getting stuck behind the car of Renault driver Vitaly Petrov for the rest of the race. Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali admitted that his team had made a mistake and their wrong choice had cost Alonso the title on the day. [Ferrari: ‘Alonso strategy a team decision’ Jonathan Noble Autosport.com 14 Nov 2010] Most of us will not be particularly interested in that sport, but the principles behind what happened on 14 November 2010 are applicable to a wide variety of situations, including our work together for God. Had Alonso won the title there would have been little chance of reporters interviewing the majority of the backroom staff in the Ferrari garage; the focus would have been on the wonderful driver who was now receiving the acclaim for his magnificent driving. Yet each person had a vital role to play in the team supporting their man and his success or lack of it was shared with them. In so many life situations one or two people are the public face of a school or an office or company, for example, yet although the team leaders are entitled to their fair share of the credit for work accomplished, the success of the task undertaken requires the best efforts of all the other members of the team to make it possible. In our Western cultures the media focus is often on the individual ‘stars’ with inadequate attention to the other people who have contributed to that success. Yet this too often is unbalanced and as Christians we can set a good example in honouring and affirming each person’s contribution in our place of work; in our family circles and in our church family. Let us think about people we may not have expressed appreciation to, for the work they do in one of the many ministries of the church, and thank them for it. The success in God’s work in this church over recent years, in part, is down to so many people being willing to make available their skills and time to serve – I hope that each one of us asks the question, if we are not already active in some church ministry –Lord where can I use my gifts in this church and how can I best honour You in this work? 1.The necessity of teamwork (Acts 18:1-3,5a) After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them…5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching… A closer look at the New Testament church than is often given,
reveals that a far greater number of men and women and young people played their part in the spread of the Christian Church in those early years. It is understandable to concentrate on Paul, Barnabas, Peter or James, four of the great leaders, yet they made a point of working 1
with colleagues and inviting others to join them in their missionary journeys. Here in these opening verses of chapter eighteen four of Paul’s colleagues in ministry were named. All of them were church-planters, Aquila and his wife Priscilla, together with Silas and Timothy. There was a degree of informality concerning the team structures as is revealed in verse two. Aquila and Priscilla had to leave the newly formed congregation in Rome (where neither Paul nor Peter had visited at that stage), due to persecution of Jews and Christians (of whom a significant proportion were ethnically Jewish), following an edict issued by the Emperor Claudius. What was happening in Rome that caused this crisis? Roman historian Suetonius, in his Life of Claudius, wrote: ‘as the Jews were making constant disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he banished them from Rome.’ We need to understand that Christianity was considered a branch of Judaism at that time and the Roman authorities assumed that all Christians were Jews. Suetonius mis-spells ‘Christ’, but it is clear that there were at least heated arguments in the Jewish community at that time concerning the claims of Jesus, and severe enough to come to the attention of the authorities regarding a breach of the peace. Could the small native Gentile church survive when its Jewish leaders and many members had been forced to leave the city? Yes it could! What is more a well-planted church with native leadership will normally grow faster than an equivalent one planted by an equally gifted missionary. On the surface it appeared a tragedy with greatly reduced numbers at Sunday services, but the long-term impact was probably for the good of that church. Later myths about Peter or Paul leading that church have obscured the crucial role played by ordinary unknown local believers who helped that church to grow so impressively in the next few decades. This is not an isolated phenomenon. In 1949 the Communist government expelled the foreign missionaries that had done such a great work in China over more than a century. The one million believers were required by necessity to take care of themselves. Many churches were forcibly closed; members had to meet in a variety of home-based locations in different parts of the towns or cities of that country. It turned out to be a successful mission strategy as the church in China today numbers around 100 million people! Praise God that adversity can result in long-term blessing, despite short-term hardship or even severe trials. Aquila and Priscilla were the ideal people to assist Paul in planting a new church in Corinth. They would have been happy to stay in Rome, yet God overruled the persecution in Rome in order that a key couple might help a church get started in this tough Greek city, amongst other things. What Claudius had done was out of order and unfair, yet out of the mess of this situation God would bring something to pass in Corinth for good. In our lives we can experience unfairness in many situations; workplace issues, for example, where someone whose friendship with a more senior staff member gets them promoted ahead of a better qualified colleague, or lesser irritating issues might be better choices of time off for holidays or some other perks of the job, at the expense of other employees. Family issues of relationship conflict or actual breakdown; defaulting customers of a company who you suspect never had any intention of paying their bills, but whose actions can result in employees being made redundant or even the demise of a whole company; so many situations in which potential injustice seems to take place without redress. However, as Christians while acknowledging that human beings through their wrong choices can cause such grief and suffering to other people, we believe that there is no situation in which God cannot work and out of which there can be no redemptive blessings. An extreme example is the defining event of the violent and brutal twentieth century, the holocaust, in which over six million Jews and a minority of other people were slaughtered. Out of it within Europe came a concern for genuine human rights for each citizen, even if that legislation was later twisted to affect situations for which its founders had never intended it to be involved. Out of this tragedy came the founding of the 2
modern state of Israel in 1948. In any other decade in the twentieth century, other than the one after World War II, this vote would have been vetoed by at least one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Yet God’s hand was on this event, an extraordinary development of a people returning to their land, 2,000 years after their eviction from it. There were no parallels in human history. The teamwork of this small group of Jews led to the defeat of the armies of the surrounding Muslim Arab nations that had planned to drive them into the sea, or slaughter them, as the Turks had done with Armenian and Greek Christians more than thirty years earlier. The small group of Christian pioneers went out church-planting in teams. Certainly Paul and Barnabas, and possibly Silas and Timothy were single men freed from family responsibilities to work away from home for extended periods of time. A fair number of Christian women and men in later centuries also made that choice so that their mobility as missionaries would not be hindered by family responsibilities. There have always been missionary couples or missionary families on the field, but there are some situations where that has been seen as less advisable over the years. What has been essential, though, in such situations is teamwork; colleagues supporting one another to endure the pressures and trials that can arise when serving the Lord in difficult or hostile places. 2. The challenge of rejection (Acts 18:4-6) 4
Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.6 But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles. None of us like to be rejected or feel unwanted. It’s a
natural part of being human to want to be loved and welcomed and included as appropriate in whatever circles we are mixing at the time. Yet all of us have to handle rejection in a variety of ways. For our young people applying for college or university there are more potential students than places, especially on the most popular courses. This is often the first serious form of rejection which can be difficult to handle; especially in times of economic decline we need to pray for wisdom for our young people as they seek to discern God’s will for their lives and the potential career they may be trained for. In the job market we may make an application and even get as far as an interview, but only one person can get the post for which potentially a good number of people may have applied. When this is a repeated experience many times over it can become demoralising. For others in a variety of relational contexts there can be deep hurts as a result of things going wrong; sadly, it can also happen in a church context far too often. The difficulties that arise sometimes as a result of a rejection by unbelievers are no surprise, but what is hardest to accept is ungodly conduct by Christians amongst some of their brothers and sisters in Christ. However, we are all flawed and imperfect human beings who make mistakes and as a result need in a Christ-like way at times to offer or to receive apologies within the church family, as Jesus would have us do. We can have the impression from the New Testament that Paul was really tough, able to handle everything that was thrown at him and get up again, but that would not be the whole picture. In his first letter to the Corinthians he makes an autobiographical comment on how he felt about starting a work in Corinth. When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's 3
power (I Corinthians2:1-4). Have you ever pictured the apostle so fearful of the enormity of his task that he was shaking with fear? This may have been in private rather than in public, but it was how he viewed the challenge facing him. How many of us can say truthfully that we have never had our difficult moments as well? I suspect almost all of us have been in this situation at one time or other. Corinth was a tough environment in which to plant a church. It was a proud cosmopolitan city that had been rebuilt by Julius Caesar in 46BC. It has an enviable cultural scene and was fanatical about its sports –all things that were foreign to Paul’s experience. It hosted the Isthmian games every two years which drew in the crowds to watch this spectacle. If that was not enough Corinth was also the capital city of the province of Achaia, taking precedence even over Athens. Yet Corinth was known for its sexual promiscuity. Every vice and depravity available was openly available in that city. How can a Christian be an effective witness in a city like that? Paul certainly was thinking along those lines. To make matters worse he did not fare very well in the synagogue. A large majority of the Jewish men not only disagreed with his views about Jesus, but were verbally abusive and dismissive of him. Acts 19:6 recorded details of that encounter: But when the Jews opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads! I am clear of my responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles. What is the significance of these actions by Paul? We need to look back in the Old Testament for guidance. In Ezekiel 3:17-19 was a blunt message from God to the prophet Ezekiel about his responsibilities as a believer to people outside the faith: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me. 18 When I say to a wicked man, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to dissuade him from his evil ways in order to save his life, that wicked man will die for his sin, and I will hold you accountable for his blood. 19 But if you do warn the wicked man and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his evil ways, he will die for his sin; but you will have saved yourself. These are
challenging words to us, but a reminder that people need to hear about Jesus and we are his mouthpiece and witnesses. They are similar words to those of Jesus to His disciples in Mark 6:11: And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them. This was a Jewish custom adapted by Jesus. The general custom of New Testament days in Israel was that a Jew who went outside the country carefully removed all dust and dirt from that other country before re-entering the ‘holy’ Promised Land. Jesus took this general custom and said to His followers, if a village where you go to preach about Me totally rejects you and the message you are bringing, shake off the dust from your feet as you leave, implying that the village is being regarded as a pagan one and that you have fulfilled your responsibility to proclaim the truth to them. Implicit in these words is the assumption that there will be a number of people who will totally reject the message we bring and possibly us with it –be prepared is the lesson for us! 3. The certainty of encouragement (Acts 18:7-11) (a)Human responses (Acts 18:7-8) Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshipper of God.8 Crispus, the synagogue ruler, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptised. Paul
has been thinking I’m wasting my time here. No-one wants to know about Jesus. How wrong he was! It was not the outcome he had expected. Luke mentions two key people who came to faith during that time period. The first man Crispus was the senior elder in the synagogue. What a price he would pay for trusting in Jesus. His entire family group put their faith in Jesus, hallelujah! Yet it would be likely that he would lose his status in the synagogue and possibly friends and work as a result of his new-found faith. Within twenty-five years 4
followers of Jesus were excommunicated from the wider Jewish community and treated as if they did not exist. A young man I knew (later) as a 14 year-old professed faith in Christ in a Baptist youth group and was shown the door by his extremely strict Roman Catholic parents. He returned within hours to the pastor’s home clutching all his worldly possessions, but determined to follow Jesus. There was a reconciliation with his parents some years later, but for me at the time it was a shocking thing that a person could be kicked out of their home for their faith in Jesus Christ. The call to follow Jesus is a huge step to make and can be a difficult road to travel. However, it is the way to go, in the footsteps of our Lord and master who says: ‘Follow Me’. The second person was Titius Justus, a prominent Gentile, who was a wealthy Roman citizen who lived in the large house situated next door to the synagogue. He opened his home for meetings and would have had the space for a pretty large number of people to meet, as the church grew in the years to come. These first two prominent men and probably their families also were willing to count the cost and acknowledge Jesus before people. The consequence of their boldness? Many of the Corinthians who heard him believed and were baptised (Acts 18:8b). Gentile Corinthians in significant numbers came to Christ, almost certainly after seeing Crispus and Titius Justus confess their faith in Christ. You never know who might be wanting to trust Jesus, but has been afraid to do so. Yet when you or someone else is open about your faith in the Lord, it may give them the courage to take a stand as well. (b) Divine resources (Acts 17:9-11) One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.10 For I am with you, and no-one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.11 So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. Despite the very real blessings Paul was really fearful that he would get another beating and be expelled from the city. God gave him the reassurance he needed: noone is going to attack and harm you (Acts 18:10). Paul had many short ministries before being
chased out of town. However, God assured him that he would have a longer ministry in this large city, confirmed in verse 11. What was more exciting was God’s amazing statement in v10b: because I have many people in this city. In effect God was saying: Paul persevere and continue in this city. I want to bless it and will do so through the transformed lives of those who profess faith in Me. Who knows what resources we need to live for God? He will supply all our needs. Praise God for that! 4. The blessing of Roman vindication (Acts 18:12-17) 12
While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him into court. 13 This man, they charged, is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanour or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you.15 But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law— settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.16 So he had them ejected from the court.17 Then they all turned on Sosthenes the synagogue ruler and beat him in front of the court. But Gallio showed no concern whatever. Roman law allowed certain religions to be licensed. The Jews living in Corinth who
were unconverted wanted Christianity banned and were prepared to go to court to press their case. Gallio, the proconsul, was less than thrilled by their behaviour and threw the case out of court, thus guaranteeing the freedom of religion, at that time in much of Greece. This was a critical case to win and Luke no doubt was making that point through the book of Acts. Evil people eventually overreach themselves and become vulnerable to being caught and forced to pay the penalty for their crimes. We must not rely totally on the State, as its morality and values change significantly over time. However, there may be ministries and local churches that choose to partner with the state, in order to get alongside people in need, in a particular setting. The coming of Bethany, the charity for homeless people, to Dundee this winter is a 5
good example of potential partnership not only with the city council, but also with a host of private agencies. All kinds of obstacles will cross our paths, but also opportunities. Sometimes the former may result in us taking opportunities that we might never have considered if our life’s pathway had continued smoothly in a particular direction. In Corinth Paul was trusting God to a greater degree than in some other places because he felt his extreme weakness. Every Christian will have similar times when we feel totally inadequate in the light of a particular situation we cannot avoid. May we, like Paul, thrown ourselves totally on the Lord to strengthen us to handle the situation to the best of our abilities. When the problems are large our joy is even greater when they are overcome, through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit within us. Our God is a God of pleasant surprises –maybe you have been blessed in recent weeks in some way –if so tell someone else so that they can rejoice with you. 5. The preparation for the future (Acts 18:18-22) 18
Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken.19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined.21 But as he left, he promised, I will come back if it is God's will. Then he set sail from Ephesus.22 When he landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. The second missionary journey was coming to an end. Paul travels back to Antioch,
visiting a number of churches along the way. This was a pleasant trip with friends and encouraging new congregations in the faith. It is most likely that his time was spent almost exclusively with fellow believers and his presence was unnoticed by the people who had made life so difficult for him when proclaiming the gospel as new churches were founded. His good friends Priscilla and Aquila chose to move on from Corinth and accompanied him, at least as far as Ephesus. Paul will take only a short break before setting off on another missionary journey, but rightly wants to report to his home church what the Lord has been doing through his ministry, for which they will have spent much time in prayer. This journey had taken them to places Paul and his companions had never expected to visit. His approach to evangelism had to be flexible to relate to very different kinds of people, both in terms of their cultural, religious and educational backgrounds. Most crucially Paul had a small team that accompanied him on his travels. Even big cities like Athens, and especially Corinth, where he feared making no impact for the Lord had visits that resulted in some people coming to Christ and forming a church. We too at a personal or church level can be afraid of taking big steps forward because we are not sure how things will turn out. May we like Paul and his companions pray hard to sense God’s guidance and then go forward in faith, trusting Him to direct our paths, Amen.
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Acts 18:23-19:10 Discipleship and Discernment Introduction Why am I here? What are my priorities in 2011? What do I really want to achieve in the coming year or years? Many people are increasingly asking these kinds of questions in the Western world. The media message of more and more material consumption appears increasingly hollow and superficial and increasingly unattainable to a growing number of younger people who cannot find a suitable job. Last October I read an interesting article on an alternate approach to life entitled ‘The Cult of Less’ [The Times Magazine 30 October 2010] which attempted to articulate the philosophy of ‘Generation Zero’, a group of young, hightech, highly mobile and connected people who are choosing to take a minimalist approach to possessions, so that they have the most tenuous connection to any particular geographical space. In the words of one British citizen of Chinese ancestry, Jennifer Dang (19): ‘I had a lot of stuff I was attached to. But now because of minimalism, I can take my happiness with me wherever I go.’ The typical minimalist is in their late-teens or twenties and comes from a prosperous
middle-class background in the Anglo-Saxon world. I am not sure about the coherence of the group of people interviewed as to whether it is a social and cultural phenomenon that will be of major significance in the future, but I admire and accept their conviction that what is most important in life does not consist in the things we possess. However, given that the movement’s members tend to be either single or childless couples it would be interesting to see how these values would be worked out in a family context. As followers of Jesus Christ our priorities will also (or should!) be different, in some respects, compared with the majority of people in the wider community. What priorities would Jesus make with respect to the decisions you may have to make in the first few weeks and months of this year? Paul in Romans 12:1-2 made the following statement: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God— this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is— His good, pleasing and perfect will. Notice Paul is not saying here is a list of new rules that should be followed in the
next year to help you live for Jesus, rather he is asking these Romans Christians to seek God’s wisdom and guidance that their thought patterns and values might be increasingly in line with biblical standards. Human nature is often inclined to taking the easy way and a works-based religion, a tick box mentality, sadly practiced in some churches, is much more amenable to sinful human nature. However, the godly way, God’s way, is based on His grace, is worked out in relationship with Him and with other people, to their benefit and for His glory. I will gain the greatest fulfilment and sense of achievement in my life as a Christian, the more I hunger and thirst for the glory of God and the honouring of His name in my life. It will mean that my priorities may change; the things I am passionate amount may become more or less significant when seen in the light of the glorious gospel I have been placed here on earth to proclaim through my life and through my words. How did these values affect Paul and his colleagues in Acts 18 and 19? Two key things stand out in our passage from Acts which are as important today in the twenty-first century as they were when first recorded by the great apostle. 1
1.Discipleship (Acts 18:23-28) (a) Priority One –Disciples not converts (Acts 18:23) 23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and travelled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. The Great Commission of Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20 was very plain about our calling: Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. The moment of conversion when we respond outwardly to the inward
promptings of the Holy Spirit is but the launching pad for future growth in our relationship with the Lord Jesus and our understanding of God’s Word which He has revealed to us. Noone has ever arrived spiritually this side of heaven. Perfection may be our goal but only in heaven will it be accomplished. In Romans 8:29 Paul stated that For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son… have you ever grasped the significance of those words? In heaven you will reflect Jesus because you will be perfect like Him in thought and word and deed. However, we will still be human beings - so His divine attributes and powers will separate us from Him, but we will be the kind of human beings God envisaged on the earth in a world without sin. Returning to our present situation we face the challenge of growing in grace and reflecting more of the principles and values which our Lord modelled so well in His life on earth. At the beginning of a New Year – can I assume that as Christians we all spend at least a little time daily reading God’s Word and praying? If that is not true for you –can I ask you for 2011 to make that your commitment as a Christian to put in place the discipline of a short time alone with the Lord? The time of day may vary: for some people, the only free time is first thing in the morning before the working day begins ; for others they struggle to surface in a morning and come to life in the evening and find that more suitable. Other still find time in the middle of the day when other family members are out at school or work; whatever times work best for you –set aside that time and guard it with a passion! However, for many of us who have been Christians for years and have modelled a pattern of daily prayer and Bible study, there may be other ways we can grow in our faith. In Bible reading we can buy another Bible version for reading at home that can bring a fresh appreciation to our understanding of even familiar passages of Scripture. For some people making time in the diary for a home-group may be the next step of helping you grow in your faith; We can benefit from reading good Christian literature and a well chosen book can be very helpful, but for people with busy lives it can be hard to find those few minutes in a day to read a few pages or a chapter. Spiritual growth and physical growth should be natural developments, but they don’t just happen we need to put in place the resources to help this to happen in a natural way. (b) Priority Two – Ministries not one-person ministry (Acts 18:24-26a) 24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervour and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. A growing church will have a high proportion of its attenders
engaged in aspects of its work. A declining cause or one treading water will have only a small proportion of its members running around frantically trying to keep ‘all the balls in the air’. It is the same principle for any voluntary society or club that can only function effectively when its participants own the vision for which the cause was set up. One of my great Christian heros was Johann Gerhard Oncken (1800-1884), the great German Baptist leader, whose motto was: ‘every member a missionary’. Despite incredible persecution over a number of years, from an initial congregation of seven baptised believers in 1834 the work grew to more than 280 Baptist churches founded as a direct result of his work; in addition a further 1222 preaching stations (church-plants) formed, together with 771 Sunday Schools. This 2
work required each worshipper to be a witness for Jesus Christ and involved in working for Him. Part of the success of the work was the holistic nature of their community work- the church premises were used to distribute all kinds of practical aid to people who had lost everything after the great fire of Hamburg in 1842. This community service was acknowledged by the city council and led to the gradual ending of legal persecution of Baptists between 1848 and 1850. In the 21st century the biggest impact the Christian Church will have on the wider community will come through the personal interactions and relationships of individual believers, rather than big events of various kinds. The typical British person today is not primarily asking is it true, but does it work in your life? Pragmatism rather than a commitment to objective truth is where most people are coming from –even if we wish it was a different scenario. There are still sufficient people looking into the truth claims of the Bible and its reliability or concerned about the supposed conflict between the Bible and Science, [actually the conflict is with scientism –the belief that only certain restricted forms of scientific knowledge are valid and information gained, for example from religion or philosophy or other fields of knowledge is of little or no importance. In fairness, a number of key atheist / humanist scientists also reject this position as inadequate] but the majority want to see how your faith has impacted your daily circumstances. Don’t underestimate the impact some thoughtful words or a helpful action might have on someone in need. Apollos as a young Christian in the faith took it for granted that God wanted to use the gifts he had in the service of the church. He didn’t allow his limited knowledge to hinder his enthusiasm for speaking for Jesus, and neither should we. (c) Priority Three –Life-Long Learning (Acts 18:26b-28) When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28 For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. A number of key points here: First, this couple used their home as a tool
for doing God’s work. I thank God for the Christians willing to offer people a meal (in their own home or through our church ministry of offering meals to people who would value assistance at a time of particular need); I appreciate also those willing to offer a place to stay when a person needs a bed for the night or a few days. The ministry of hospitality is important in every congregation. Secondly, this couple were willing to invest time in helping this young man grow as a Christian and develop a deeper understanding of the faith. Younger people will have more energy, but older people should have picked up more knowledge and wisdom (both –most of the time!) which can be passed on to newer believers. Notice a wider group of people in the congregation took an interest in Apollos and his service for God and through their knowledge of and interest in God’s work further field they were able to commend him to a Christian cause in another place. Likewise we may not be able to invest a lot of time or resources in more than a few people, but we can have a prayerful interest in many more, both at home and overseas. Modern technology allows us to access information and people across the planet, in a way that was inconceivable to most of us less than two decades ago. Apollos here serves as an example of a believer with a teachable spirit, open to learn from other believers as well as serving the Lord. The day we stop learning or seeing the need for it will be a profoundly sad one. It may be appropriate at the start of another year to ask ourselves –in what areas of my life do I need to invest time in acquiring new knowledge or skills that might make me more effective in serving the Lord? 2. Discernment (Acts 19:1-10) 3
James 1:5 states: If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. All of us at times need wisdom or discernment as to how to act in a particular situation. I certainly need to ask for it regularly as I am very conscious of my need for it. The New Testament does not hide the mistakes of the prominent leaders of the church. Why? so that they serve as a reminder to us of our own fallibility that we too are vulnerable to make wrong choices and have to live with the consequences of those actions. Paul in his early years as a believer could only see the faults rather than the potential in other younger believers (Acts 15:37-39; some years later see II Timothy 4:11), unlike Barnabas who was superb at encouraging other people and finding opportunities for them to use their gifts (Acts 11:25-26, for example). Peter and Barnabas relapsed into observing Jewish religious rules under pressure from people of those persuasions in southern Turkey, which separated Jewish and non-Jewish followers of Jesus and prevented them sharing fellowship together, thankfully Paul was able to correct this error in those churches (Galatians 2:11-14). Had he not been successful Christian church life today might have been very different from the teaching of Jesus and closer to the practices of works-based versions of Christianity or even another form of Judaism. What were the particular issues addressed in this passage? (a) The necessity of conversion (Acts 19:1-2) 1 While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul took the road through the interior and arrived at Ephesus. There he found some disciples 2 and asked them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? They answered, No, we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit 3 So Paul asked, Then what baptism did you receive? John's baptism, they replied. When
Apollos was deputising for Paul in Corinth, the apostle took the opportunity to visit the prestigious city of Ephesus. Almost certainly through some Jewish contacts in the city he came across a group of twelve men (the number required under Jewish law at the time to constitute a synagogue) who were followers of John the Baptist. This is an extraordinary situation. How did Paul relate to them? Did he confront them and tell them they were not ‘saved’? He is very tactful and asks them questions to discern the nature of their understanding of divine truth. This step is so important for all of us to honour the people we meet by listening to them speak about their beliefs, as well as wanting to share our own understanding of the Gospel of Jesus. Listening to people goes beyond merely hearing their words. Paul, without saying so in direct language, is seeking to discern whether they had ever been converted to believe in God through Jesus. We can often make wrong assumptions about people, assuming in some cases that they know the Lord when they don’t or vice versa. A person can be a churchgoer for years, but never discern who Jesus is or why He came. We need the Holy Spirit to open our eyes to see our need of trusting Jesus. When a person becomes a Christian it is not merely the ascent to the truthfulness of some important theological propositions in our minds –though it helps! It is much more than that –it begins with the Holy Spirit enabling us to see our own sinfulness and need of God and eventually pointing us to see Jesus as the only means of salvation from our sin and estrangement from God. The act of conversion is that moment of response to the promptings of the Spirit when we receive for ourselves the wonderful blessings of God’s love and grace and are welcomed into His family. A conversion cannot take place without the inner work of the Holy Spirit. This is the point of Paul’s question. Are you still good Jews? Or were they men of Jewish ethnic origin who had come to see Jesus as their Messiah? Their answer to his question revealed that they had not yet put their faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour, but were keen to do so. Paul would have been thrilled to pray with them to settle this matter. Have you put your faith in Jesus as Lord and Saviour? Each one of us needs to take this step of faith. (b) The centrality of Jesus (Acts 19:4-5) 4 Paul said, John's baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the one coming after him, that is, in Jesus. 5 On hearing this, they were baptised into the name of the Lord Jesus. The difference between 4
Christianity and all other religions is the centrality and supremacy of Jesus Christ. All the major world religions attempt to find a place for Jesus in their tradition, but only one can accommodate Him on His own terms as the One who is truly God and truly man, the person who reconciles God to humanity and humanity to God. He was crucified by the religious authorities because of His exclusivist claims. In John 14:6 Jesus answered, I [and I only] am the way and the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me. This is not a popular message today. Some people want to proclaim universalism –that everyone gets to heaven anyway. Can you really imagine everyone on earth going to heaven as they are, but keeping heaven as a perfect, totally God-centred and wholly God-glorifying place? Others prefer inclusivism which has its attractions –in essence saying Jesus’ way is the preferred way, but other pathways will do. This will earn popularity here on earth, but not with our Lord in heaven. Where does that leave people who have never heard a meaningful presentation of the gospel? Paul addresses this issue in Romans 2:12-16 and makes it very clear that such people will be judged in the light of the knowledge they had of God and how they responded to their consciences in respect of obedience to His revealed law. No-one will be condemned for not responding to a message they never heard. Each person will be judged fairly in the light of the knowledge of God they had been privileged to hear. However, following Jesus includes the full package of what He stands for –to adopt an inclusivist or universalist position and still want to make sense of the cross is impossible. If there was another way for the world to be saved than by the cross - then the implications for the moral reputation of God the Father are unthinkable. After all in the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing exactly the agonies that lay before Him, Jesus raised this very question in prayer . He withdrew about a stone's throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, 42 Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. 43An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.44And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground (Luke 22:41-44). The question we face that cannot be avoided is
this? Is Jesus my Lord and Saviour, by which I am willing to trust Him fully with the whole of my life, knowing that many people will see things very differently? In this country it may cost some people friendships or a career, in a high proportion of other countries it may cost you your liberty or your life. Jesus made it very plain that one day when we stand before Him the choices we have made on earth will determine our eternal destiny. Matthew 10:32-33: Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. 33 But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven. When people in
Somalia and North Korea, for example, make the decision to follow Jesus, knowing full well it will end for them in probable torture and a brutal death, there is no excuse for privileged Western Europeans to expect any special favours for denying Him. What is important for us as Christians is that we live in a way that brings honour to the name of Jesus, so that people are attracted to Him and not repelled by the choices we make. Is Jesus central in your life yet? (c) The importance of the Holy Spirit (Acts 19:6-10) 6 When Paul placed his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. 7 There were about twelve men in all. 8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. 9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. When a person becomes a Christian, in that very moment the Holy Spirit enters their life on a permanent basis. In fact Paul bluntly declared in Romans 8:9 : You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. In I Corinthians 12:13 the 5
apostle made the same point in a positive way: For we were all baptised by one Spirit into one body— whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free— and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. The term ‘the baptism of the Holy Spirit’, in New Testament theology, refers to the initial reception of the Spirit into the life of a believer. However, although we receive, in principle, all God’s riches in Christ at that time; in practice, we receive His blessings to us over the whole of our lives and into eternity. We need to go on being filled with the Spirit [present continuous tense] (Ephesians 5:18b). All Christians are given gifts from the Holy Spirit to use in God’s service for the benefit of other people and for His glory. Why does this particular gift of ‘languages’ (not the old English word ‘tongues’) appear so often in Acts in a context where Jews are present? The answer goes back to a prophecy of Isaiah, more than seven centuries before the time of Jesus. He warned the people of Israel that a day would come when their disobedience to God’s revealed will would result in God changing the nature of His relationship with His covenant people and the sign of that change would be people praising God amongst the Jewish people in foreign languages. Isaiah 28:11: Very well then, with foreign lips and strange tongues God will speak to this people. How can we be certain that this interpretation is correct? In the section of I Corinthians that addresses worship (chapters 12-14), Paul quotes Isaiah 28:11-12 to support his point: Through men of strange tongues and through the lips of foreigners I will speak to this people, but even then they will not listen to me, says the Lord. Tongues then are a sign, not for believers but for [Jewish] unbelievers. The practical
application for us is clear. I am not to live for Jesus in my own strength, but to rely on the empowering of the Holy Spirit to equip and enable me to do all that God asks me to do. It is not about sheer willpower, though the Christian life at times does require serious selfdiscipline as we strive to live for Jesus, but Spirit-empowered service. Sometimes as Christians we forget to renew our spiritual resources by reading /studying the Bible; prayer and church attendance and fellowship with other believers, and allow our inner ‘tank’ to drift down to almost zero resources left. The problem is not God, but us for not seeking to fill up the tank! ‘Running on empty’ is not a pleasant place to be, but how many of us have been there, and maybe on several occasions not just one? May God help us to keep close to Him and living for Him each day of our lives. This passage has spoken to us about Christian discipleship: discipleship not just conversions; it highlights ministries not a one-person ministry. It has a vision of life-long learning that Apollos modelled so well. Luke also points to the necessity of discernment, not accepting every person’s claims to religious experience at face value, but to place it under the respectful scrutiny of God’s Word. A true follower of Jesus will have experienced conversion; will affirm and declare the centrality of Jesus in their lives; and will acknowledge the importance of the Holy Spirit empowering them to live for Jesus. May the Lord enable us to follow this pattern in our own lives, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
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II Corinthians 4:16-5:10 What happens when we die? Introduction In funeral services of various kinds an overwhelming majority will affirm some form of belief in life after the grave, apart from the conviction humanists and atheists. One of the early Christian statements of faith, recited in church is The Apostles Creed, which includes these lines: I believe in….The Resurrection of the body, And the Life everlasting. In the funeral of a believer it is common for the officiating minister to state words like these, which originated in the 1662 version of the Book of Common Prayer, though based on various biblical texts. Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God of his great mercy to take unto himself the soul of our dear brother here departed, we therefore commit his body to the ground; earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust; in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection to eternal life, through our Lord Jesus Christ; who shall change our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious body, according to the mighty working, whereby he is able to subdue all things to himself. This is a clear
description of the distinctive Judaeo-Christian emphasis on life beyond the grave. Jesus was the first to be raised, never to die again; but we as His followers will one day experience that same transformation as Paul told the Corinthians in I Corinthians 15:20-22: But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. Yet what happens when we die - between then and the
return of Jesus Christ? We have all sat around in bus stations or airport lounges and it has felt like ‘forever’! Some people, especially in some of the minor cults, have come up with a theory called ‘soul sleep’ in which after death we simply stay asleep, not conscious of the time between our death and Christ’s return. Is this what we have to look forward to immediately after death? More importantly how do we view the present circumstances we are experiencing in the light of the future God has prepared for us? These are some of the issues Paul will address in the next section of his letter to the church in Corinth. 1. Our Goal –Eternal Glory (II Corinthians 4:16-18) Paul has been speaking about the wonderful message we have to proclaim and the need to proclaim it with integrity, like a light shining in a dark place. Yet we do so in human weakness, totally dependent on His strength and resources. After all if God the Father has the power to raise Jesus from the dead then He can handle all the issues I am likely to face. In the final section of chapter four the apostle provides his and our motivation for serving the Lord and making the best use of our time here on earth. He speaks first about: (a) Perseverance (v16a) Therefore we do not lose heart. The apostle has made the same point in II Corinthians 4:1 Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. However, there he was looking back to the previous chapter and the glorious truths we have to proclaim about our amazing God, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Here he is looking forward to what lies ahead of us beyond the grave. There is a constant tension between the ‘now’ and ‘not yet’ of our inheritance in Christ. Paul explained something of this in his own experience in his letter to the Philippians: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your joy in Christ Jesus will overflow on account of me (Philippians 1:21-26). Our time
here is short so we must continue focussed on the calling to which He has entrusted us, maintaining that fire in our hearts, that passion for His glory, that determination to see His 1
name honoured throughout the earth. God is at work in our lives! God has used you and me to influence and indeed to reach other people for Him. Collectively the Christian Church is experiencing amazing growth, despite the horrific opposition and suffering being endured in many countries today. Thank God for the encouragements we hear from the Middle East and even from parts of Africa where God is working in people’s lives. We will not give up. (b) Transformation (v16b) Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Old age does not come alone. The aches and pains and loss of strength can be depressing and frustrating when we cannot do the things we once enjoyed. Yet even in an age when the cult of youth is king in our secular culture and those older, especially women, are banished from the TV screen, to be replaced with younger models, the perspective of the people of God should be different. We do not live in denial and pretend that we can vanquish the ageing process. Expensive face lifts, botox injections and innumerable creams only delay the inevitable! At each stage of life there are blessings and challenges, both are a part of the tapestry of life with its many inter-connected threads. One of the most powerful forms of witness through our church has been the partnership of younger and older people serving the parents and their children through the parent and toddler ministry on a Monday morning. This kind of inter-generational activity is increasingly rare in our society and is something we might sometimes take for granted. We may not have the energy we once had but it should not be a reason to diminish our prayer life. On the contrary time pressures might be less without the requirements of formal employment –even though many people have remarked in my hearing that they cannot imagine in the past how they found time to go to work! In the inner person, in our character and relationship with the Lord we can grow more like Him. Our goals and ambitions will of necessity, in terms of things of this life, be different to when we were younger, but our focus on Jesus and our passion for His glory should remain the same. In more general terms it was the Christian approach to human life that led to the value of and care for the very young and the elderly in society. In a world where the denial of the sanctity of life for the very youngest (in abortion legislation) and the lack of adequate care for the elderly is increasingly common, Christians (and not just Christians to be fair) will wish to honour older people and treat them with the dignity they deserve. We cannot stop the physical ageing process, but we can actively promote and encourage growth in grace and Christ-likeness in our inner person, because one day we will be like him. (c) Glorification (vs17-18) 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. Perseverance and
transformation are accompanied by glorification. Are there times when things get too much for us? Yes! work issues, health concerns, family matters, things in society, our neighbourhood and even at times in our church there are issues that cause us to be despondent and even sometimes distressed. In such a context Paul says remember what is temporary and what is eternal; how apt his words are; how often I need to be reminded of this fact, and I suspect many others of us here as well. A lot of people around us behave the way they do because they think that this life is all there is, which leads to short-term thinking and not building for the future. As Christians we know that we are part of something much bigger; of universal and eternal significance, even if our part in that is perceived as small and in the world’s eyes insignificant. This is a point that Paul repeated in a number of letters, including to the church in Rome. I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the 2
one who subjected it, in hope. 21that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. 22We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? 25But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently (Romans 8:18-25). Ira Sankey, the famous singer who accompanied D.L. Moody in his evangelistic campaigns in Scotland in the late nineteenth century, tells a story about Robert Annan of Dundee: Having carried in my pocket for several months the words of the hymn “Eternity,” which the author, Ellen M. H. Gates, had sent me, I handed them, one day in Chicago [Illinois] in 1876, to my friend P. P. Bliss, asking him to write music for them. Three days later he had composed the tune. The hymn was much used at our meetings both in Great Britain and the United States. Before singing it, I used to tell the story of Robert Annan, of Dundee, Scotland. He was one of the worst men who ever lived in that town, but after having been converted became one of the most useful missionaries of the place. On leaving his little cottage home one morning to go to his mission work, he took a piece of chalk from his pocket and wrote on the flagstone of the walk which led to his house the single word “Eternity.” A few minutes later he saw a child fall from one of the vessels in the harbour. Being a bold, strong swimmer, he threw off his coat and shoes, and plunged into the bay. He saved the child, but at the cost of his own life. His body was carried home over the word “Eternity,” which he had written a few hours before. On my last visit to Scotland, about five years ago, I went to see his widow, and found that the writing had been cut into the stone by direction of the Honourable James Gordon, the Earl of Aberdeen. Thousands go to see it every year. Mr. Annan’s minister took me to the beautiful cemetery at the place,
Some years ago that street was demolished, but the paving stone in question was rescued and is now located at the entrance to St Peter’s Free Church in Dundee. This man’s life and the word imposed on the memories of many citizens of Dundee as a result of his witness, is a word that we too would do well to keep at the forefront of our own memories, as it keeps everything else in perspective. where a fine monument ten feet high, marks the last resting-place of the hero.
2. Our Future – Eternal Life (II Corinthians 5:1-8) (a) The heresy of ‘soul-sleep’ It is likely that some of us here have never heard of this deviation from historic Christianity. In essence it teaches that after we die on earth our body decays in the earth and is destroyed but our spirit /soul may go to heaven but is in a state of unconsciousness until the return of Jesus and the end of the age when we get our new resurrection bodies. This is a practical issue as all of us know of believers who have died in the last few years and are deeply interested in what is happening to them just now. It is also of personal interest because if we die before Jesus’ return then we too will enter this intermediate state –if this viewpoint is correct. (i) It is essential to have a body Proponents of this viewpoint tend to argue first that a body is essential for a person to function in any meaningful way. The senses could not operate nor would the flow of thoughts in our minds. For example, should I be describing a house you have not visited, or a person you have not met, in a conversation with you, then it is likely that you would have a physical image of a house or a person in your mind; (ii) Scripture portrays death as sleep Furthermore advocates of this viewpoint draw our attention to the fact that Scripture often represents death as sleep. In Deuteronomy 31:16a, in the King James Version (but not modern versions), it states: And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; more modern versions, for example the NIV, render it And the Lord said to Moses: You are going to rest with your fathers. The same word is used in I Kings 2:10 where King David’s death is described using this same term: And the Lord said to David: You are going to rest with your fathers . Likewise in 3
Job 7:21, the great patriarchal figure declared in the KJV: And why dost thou not pardon my transgression, and take away my iniquity? for now shall I sleep in the dust; and thou shalt seek me in the morning, but I shall not be. In the New Testament similar vocabulary is also found. In John
11:11-14 Jesus had a conversation with His disciples about their mutual friend who had died. 11
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up. 12 His disciples replied, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better. 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. In Acts 7:59-60 after the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, Luke records: While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. 60 Then he fell on his knees and cried out, Lord, do not hold this sin against them. When he had said this, he fell asleep. They may also recall Paul’s words in I Corinthians 15:51, in that magnificent chapter on the resurrection of Jesus: Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed. (iii) Scripture records no information about things experienced by people raised
from the dead Proponents of this viewpoint also claim that there is no description in the Bible of what believers are doing in heaven, prior to Jesus’ return. This they claim supports their view that believers are doing nothing in heaven, prior to Jesus’ return. This is of course an argument from silence which logically proves nothing on its own. (b) A Response to this teaching (i) It is simply wrong to say that consciousness can only exist when connected with sense experience. In heaven our Lord Jesus is unique in that He has taken His resurrection body back to heaven. God the Father and the Holy Spirit, together with the heavenly beings do not possess physical bodies like us. In John 4:24 Jesus told the Samaritan woman that: God is Spirit. It was part of the humiliation of Jesus when He came into this world that He took a physical body like us, with all its limitations –such as being capable of being present in only one place at a time. Yet God and possibly also some of the heavenly beings are both conscious and exist perfectly happily without physical bodies. We may struggle to grasp life in that way, but that is part of our human limitations to be unable to understand it. Just because we as creatures cannot understand it does not make it impossible. We may have intelligent pets at home –but discussing law, physics and a whole lot more subjects with them is a waste of time –even if they appear to be listening to us very carefully! (ii) The use of the word sleep in the Bible to refer to the death of particular individuals is metaphorical language that gives a word-picture that describes someone who has ceased to engage in the activities they carried out when alive. There are, for example, a number of culturally-appropriate forms of expression that we can use to indicate that someone has died, yet they carry the same meaning. To build a theory out of a figure of speech is simply wrong. Proponents of this view would need to show from the Bible evidence that clearly supported this position, which is not the case. We take delight in verses such as Revelation 14:13: Then I heard a voice from heaven say, Write: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, they will rest from their labour, for their deeds will follow them , but even more
pleasure in verses that indicate active pleasure at our entry into heaven after death. (c) Our situation in heaven 1 Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, 3 because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. 4 For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. 5 Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 6 Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. David, in
Psalm 16:10-11 is conscious that there will be some extraordinary events taking place in the future life of the coming Messiah , such as His violent death (Psalm 22) and resurrection 4
(Psalm 16:10), but for David who would die before that time there will still be something to look forward to prior to the bodily resurrection. Why was he so happy?: because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. 11 You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
Neither David nor anyone else can have this pleasure while sleeping or unconscious! Jesus, in Matthew 8:11-12, spoke of life after death in these terms : I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. However we understand these verses it is clear that
the people described are conscious and active participants in what is going on. Jesus, in His high priestly prayer recorded in John 17, makes this request in verse 24: Father I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am , and to see My glory… [and not in our sleep!] Are the saved believers in heaven currently praising the Lamb that was slain in their sleep? [various references, for example, Revelation 7:9-10: After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no-one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. 10 And they cried out in a loud voice: Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb]. Do the martyrs (Rev.6:9-10: I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?) cry for justice in their sleep? Or the ones serving the Lord day and night (Rev.7:15) doing so while unconscious? In the light of the cumulative evidence of the Scriptures, not just II Corinthians 5:7-8: We live by faith, not by sight. 8 We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord. Part of the concern
behind these speculative theories is the apparent problem of ‘hanging around’ for two thousand years or more for the end of the age in heaven. What they have forgotten is that time is part of the created order. In the life to come we enter eternity and time is no more. We cannot be late or early for anything; a fact that will be a big encouragement for those of us who struggle with time-keeping! We will look forward to our resurrection bodies, but the joys of the age to come will more than compensate prior to Christ’s second coming. The Greek cultures of the Roman world looked forward to immortality free from a physical body and saw such a position as a future liberation. Paul stresses here this is not our hope- we look forward one day to a glorious resurrection body, when Jesus returns with His saints who have already died, to collect those who remain on the earth. Although followers of Jesus shared with these people the conviction that this life was not the end and that the best is yet to come, by contrast we believe it will be in a physical world in fulfilment of God’s original plans for His creation. 3. Our Accountability –Eternal Reward (II Corinthians 5:9-10) (a) Our Goal (II Cor.5:9-10a) 9 So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. 10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, In Roman cities the governor sat on the judgement seat to hear court cases, as Paul knew well from his time before Gallio’s court in Corinth (Acts 18:12). This was a serious matter as the most serious penalties could in principle be given to guilty defendants. 5
However, Paul is much more concerned by a much higher court and a greater judge, before whom we shall all one day appear, the Lord Himself. In the light of this reality it is no wonder that Paul says in II Cor.5:9: So we make it our goal to please him, whether we are at home in the body or away from it. Is that what you do? Much of our lives other people in our church family, and even our human family, know little about, unless we care to tell them. But, there is one person who knows and sees everything and it is before such a One that we will stand on that day. It is not your husband or wife, mother or father, son or daughter, brother or sister who makes that call but the Lord of glory. It is not the mocking person in the street, the cynical colleague in the workplace or the caustic critic on the TV, but the One who hung on a cross and said: Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). It is not the helpless victim of injustice or oppression or one of the starving multitudes in parts of Africa who will judge you and me, rather the One who rebuked Peter for chopping off Malchus’ ear in the Garden of Gethsemane and said in Matthew 26:33-34: Do you think I cannot call on my Father, and he will at once put at my disposal more than twelve legions of angels? 54 But how then would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way? Without exception, every man, woman, boy or girl, who has walked this earth will stand
before King Jesus –the King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). What is your number one goal? Is it the same as that of Paul? It needs to be as that is why you were placed on this earth in the first place. (b) Our Reward (II Corinthians 5:10b) that each one may receive what is due to him for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad. Our salvation is eternally secure because Jesus obtained it on the cross. However, our judgement as believers covers rewards for service rendered; and all our works will be tested to discern their quality. In I Corinthians 3:10-15 Paul explains this point in more detail: For no-one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13 his work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each man's work. 14 If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15 If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames. Are you /am I as Christians on course for a pleasant surprise or an awful shock or a bit of both when we stand before Him? May our goal be to put Him first throughout our lives and on that day be delighted to hear Him say: Well done good and faithful servant...come and share your master’s happiness (Matthew
25:23), Amen.
[The words of the Ellen Gates hymn mentioned in the sermon] Oh, the clanging bells of Time! Night and day they never cease; We are wearied with their chime, For they do not bring us peace; And we hush our breath to hear, And we strain our eyes to see If thy shores are drawing near, Eternity! Eternity! Oh, the clanging bells of Time! Now their changes rise and fall, But in under tone sublime, Sounding clearly through them all, Is a voice that must be heard, 6
As our moments onward flee, And it speaketh, aye, one word, Eternity! Eternity! Oh, the clanging bells of Time! To their voices, loud and low, In a long, unresting line We are marching to and fro; And we yearn for sight or sound, Of the life that is to be, For thy breath doth wrap us round, Eternity! Eternity! Oh, the clanging bells of Time! Soon their notes will all be dumb, And in joy and peace sublime, We shall feel the silence come; And our souls their thirst will slake, And our eyes the King will see, When thy glorious morn shall break, Eternity! Eternity!
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Acts 19:9b-41 The extraordinary power of Jesus Introduction How do you react when another person in the class gets better marks than you in school or university? Or colleagues at work get better appraisal marks for their work performances than you have done? Or a neighbour gets planning permission for a house extension or alteration maybe even similar to something you had applied for but had been turned down by the planning authorities? Or as a Christian you heard of reports from other believers who have apparently had some amazing answers to prayer requests, but your heart cries have still to see any evident results? Or another church in the locality has been the recipient of some significant encouragements in its work, but your own church, just as faithful and dedicated in its ministries has had disappointments at the same time- how would we view the blessings in the other cause? All of us here today could add to this list of scenarios about the kinds of ethical struggles we can experience, maybe even at the present time. When we are happy and all is going well for us the above issues and much more may be non-issues, but when we are exhausted or stressed; or struggling with work pressures, or other demands, something that in itself may be a little thing crossing our pathway, may be the proverbial ‘straw that breaks the camel’s back’. Paul had seen probably more people converted and churches planted in the Roman world than anyone else in the first generation of followers of Jesus, yet the challenges he overcame to accomplish those goals were little short of remarkable. In contrast to the struggles he experienced continually in Corinth we can easily make the mistake of assuming that the establishment of a Christian witness in Ephesus was much easier. After all once constituted this congregation appeared to grow both in maturity and numbers and show no apparent evidence of the kind of struggles experienced in some of the other churches of that era. A more careful reflection on the biblical text reveals that here also there were some major tests of faith and victories to be won before the apparent triumph of the gospel. Likewise if we as a church are to see the blessings God has in store for us in coming days then we too may have to take some major steps of faith, without human guarantees of success, for the glory of God and the extension of His kingdom in Broughty Ferry. 1.Triumphing over the occult (Acts 19:11-20) (a) Unusual events (Acts 19:11-12) God did extraordinary miracles through Paul,
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so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them. In times of extraordinary movements of the Holy Spirit in church
history there have been some extraordinary events that have taken place. Usually they were not planned in advance by the participants and only as they looked back in calmer moments did they see what the Lord had done through them, or in spite of them. Sadly one of the mistakes Christians have made over the years has been to try and copy the exceptional and extraordinary and seek to institutionalise the supernatural. God cannot be put into a box like that and it can only lead to denial (that it must be a person’s lack of faith when ‘everyone’ is not healed when sick, for example) or disillusionment when the reality on the ground is clearly in contrast to the claims made from the pulpit. Many Christians have seen a small number of very visible answers to our prayers for specific matters-which in all honesty, in some cases, we had not really expected to see happen! It can be over a financial need; a health concern; a job situation or a family problem, for example. However, we cannot assume that God must work in exactly the same way the next time a similar issue arises. Life would certainly be easier that way, but neither the Bible nor daily experience would support it. Acceptance of this reality has tended to move Christians in our culture to want to play safe 1
and not to expect too much from the Lord to avoid ‘being disappointed’. Yet this falls short of the biblical understanding of walking by faith. Paul reminded the Corinthian Christians in this way: We live by faith not by sight (II Corinthians 5:6). This means, for example, that we seek to determine what the Lord would have us do as a church, cost it and set a budget in accordance with the vision, rather than what we think is likely to come in. In the near future we have major decisions to take about a building project. The key question as a congregation is this: do we believe that God wants us to upgrade these premises and if the answer is ‘yes’, are the proposals sufficient to allow us to carry out our ministries in the way He has placed it on our hearts? if again the answer is in the affirmative and the cost implications are a reasonable price for the work then we must step out in faith trusting that the Lord through His people will provide the funds that we require to pay for such a project. This is not a burden for the treasurer alone, but a covenanted agreement of the whole congregation to step forward and play our part in the fulfilment of the vision. This will include additional people stepping forward to give a lead in fundraising ventures; in working groups dealing with building issues; additional deacons and pastoral leaders and much more as together we trust God for the miraculous provision of a particular financial need. In the words of Paul’s prayer in Ephesians (3:20-21) we come to: Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. In every generation God will
allow our faith to be tested –close to the limit- over different issues, but He is able to meet those needs through His extraordinary power. God’s miraculous provision includes surprises in the way that He works. At Ephesus during those two years God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them (Acts 19:11-12). We have insufficient
evidence to declare that this was a unique occurrence, but it was certainly very unusual even then. However, we serve a miracle-working God –I trust we all believe that? We dare not miss the blessings He has in store for us because we fail to seek His supernatural intervention in our lives, both individually and collectively. James challenged his readers with these words: You do not have, because you do not ask God. 3 When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures (James 4:2-3). The question is this: will you rise to the challenge and play your part if the Lord leads us to take a major faith step in the near future? I hope and pray that our answer collectively will be ‘yes’? (b) Unexpected exorcists (Acts 19:13-16) 13Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon- possessed. They would say, In the name of Jesus, whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.14Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15One day the evil spirit answered them, Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you? 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. He gave them such a beating that they ran out of the house naked and bleeding. In our sceptical secular country to mention a belief in the devil and evil spirits is not likely to win you many murmurs of approval. The devil has been domesticated into a little red creature with horns and a forked tail, who, for example, tempts you into eating a cream cake when you should be sticking to your diet …! When God’s people want to take significant steps of faith that will in a major way advance God’s kingdom expect the evil one to attempt to disrupt, discourage and divert our attention. Paul told the Ephesian Christians: Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:10-12). There is a clear pattern to the devil’s activity. He is limited in what he can do
compared to God, but can cause a great deal of mischief amongst the people of God who do 2
not recognise what may at times be going on. In my previous congregation there were a handful of key moments when we had planned to take big steps for the Lord and suddenly from nowhere a major problem arose. In the clearest example, in one particular year, we had scheduled a major evangelistic mission over a period of eight days. We had outreach initiatives both in the daytime and in the evenings and in a congregation of half this size we saw seven formerly unchurched people truly and clearly converted and altogether seventy unchurched people attend at least one event that week. Taking a step back to just over a week before the mission, months of planning had appeared to have been successful when suddenly within a few days every member of that committee apart from myself was taken out of the action, either by a major health issue themselves or in their immediate family circle. None of these illnesses had been anticipated and each situation was distinct. Within a week or so after the mission all those health problems that had arisen were gone as quickly as they had arisen and those key people in the church were able to serve in the way they had done before. Although I will be the first to admit that the vast majority of health problems occur simply because we live in a fallen sin-damaged world and Christians are not exempt from the trials and tribulations that befall our fellow citizens, there are occasions when the picture is more complex. It was a sobering moment, as well as an exceedingly joyful one, at the end of that mission to recognise that the powers of hell were bothered by what was going on through the witness of our small congregation in Scotland. The evil one had anticipated the blessing that would follow from our obedience to God at that time and was doing everything in his power to divert us from it. Remember these words of Peter: Be self- controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith (I Peter 5:8-9a). Direct occult manifestations, like those described in this passage,
are mercifully rare in our land. But there is no doubt that when God is at work in unusually special supernatural ways in a church or community there is often a corresponding rise in challenges from the evil one. This is not something to fear because Jesus has already defeated Satan on the cross and His final triumph is assured. Satan is on borrowed time, and he knows it, but will not go down without a fight. Remember this say John in I John 4:4: You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. Praise the Lord! Very few wars or battles are won uncontested in both
the physical and spiritual realms, but by prayer, and at times also with fasting, and faith in our all-powerful God we will prevail, for our good and for His glory. (c) Unsurpassed exchanges (Acts 19:17-20) 17When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honour.18Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. 19A number who had practised sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. Evidence of this
occult manifestation had an impact not only on the church, but also in the wider community. Read verse seventeen; it took the people of God well beyond their comfort zone, but had an even greater impact on people outside their ranks. As we go forward with the Lord in the next few months and years the pathway to greatest blessing may well be one in which we are stretched to the limits of our faith and resources, prior to seeing the remarkable and wonderful provision of God at work in our community. We will need faith in a great God to see opportunities rather than obstacles when significant difficulties cross our individual or collective pathway. However, at such times we need to recognise that if God has called us to walk this way, then He will provide what we need to merge triumphant. The occult goods burnt when these Greek citizens came to faith in Christ was roughly worth around ÂŁ4-5 million in our money today. Following Jesus in Ephesus was a decisive and costly step a significant number of people were willing to make. No wonder this church was so strong in the next couple of generations when the commitment of its members had been so visibly 3
proved. Are the words of William Carey in his famous sermon on world mission to Northamptonshire Baptists all those years ago relevant for us? Expect Great Things (from God) Attempt Great Things (for God). I think so, as He leads us! 2. Triumphing over obstacles (Acts 19:9b-10, 20-22) (a) Creative opportunities (Acts 19:9b-10) He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. 10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord. Paul had been excluded from the
synagogue so he needed some other venue to hold his evangelistic meetings. He rented, probably at nominal cost paid for either by Paul or local supporters, the equivalent to a college or school hall and gave daily lectures on the Christian faith, followed by a lengthy time for responding to the questions of the people who had gathered. Two years of meetings indicate that Paul viewed it as a success. What is most probable here is that many local Gentiles would never have entered a synagogue, but would have had no problem visiting the premises of a local educational establishment. In the longer term it may have been a blessing in disguise that Paul was able to use this secular venue. What other information do we know about this ministry? One early manuscript has more information including reporting that Paul hired this facility from 11am to 4pm each day. Why was Paul able to hire this prestigious facility to promote what was a new faith in that city? The reason is simple. The working day in Ephesus ran from 6am to 11am and then from 4pm into the evening. In the middle of the day when it was hot and at times unsuitable for work the majority of local people went for a siesta. More people were asleep there at 1pm than at 1am! Paul, by contrast, worked as a tentmaker during the morning, in order to fund his ministry, and when the majority of people were heading for bed he seized the opportunity to engage with those who were interested in what he had to say about God. All the roads in the province of Asia converged on Ephesus. Thousands of people visited the city to shop, visit relatives, watch a drama in the theatre or the games in the sports stadium. Over time news about this Christian preacher/teacher spread and many people dropped in to listen to him, but more remarkably significant numbers were converted. It is considered likely that the people who founded the Christian churches in Colossae, Laodicea and Hierapolis, the major cities of the Lycus valley, and possibly even in some of the smaller communities in that region, were converted through this particular outreach ministry. We too need to be creative, planning approaches that might be effective in reaching people of the twenty-first century for Christ. (b) Combating fears (I Corinthians 15:32; II Corinthians1:8-9) This venture all sounds great and highly civilised. We have to look very carefully to find any information to the contrary. Yet in Paul’s correspondence with the church in Corinth there are two passages that suggest all was not straightforward in Ephesus. Sadly we have but tantalising glimpses of some of the problems he faced there, but would you like to have had to face what he experienced? Listen to these words: If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for merely human reasons, what have I gained? If the dead are not raised…(I Corinthians 15:32) How on earth did he survive that one! It would certainly have been a colourful reason to explain why he was off work for a while, but being serious he cannot have expected to come out alive from the ordeal of being thrown to the lions. They were kept hungry to ensure they quickly hunted down their prey. Yet God arranged the sparing of his life. Your time and mine is in His hands. For some of us, humanly-speaking our time appears to be cut short –not least Robert Murray McCheyne, in this very city. Others, by contrast, live longer than they ever expected and sometimes wonder: ‘Lord, why have I been kept alive when others much younger are taken?’We have no answers to these questions, but trust in the God who we believe has a bigger picture and purpose that we believe is for the greater good of His people. In his second letter to the Corinthians, the 4
apostle makes a more general, but still very clear point about the difficulties of the work of evangelism in the cities of western Turkey.8We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. 9 Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead (II
Corinthians 1:8-9). You and I will also have times when we struggle to cope with things that cross our pathway. We will have our ‘why’ questions which may often remain unanswered. Yet in a world in which many people live lives without hope and a sense of purpose, we can share with them the truth about a God who loves them and sent His Son to die in their place, so that they can know life in its fullness here on earth and even greater blessings in the world to come. Isaiah 40: 28-31 provides encouragement for us at these times: Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and His understanding no-one can fathom. 29 He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. 30 Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (c) Careful planning (Acts 19:20-22) 20In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power. 21After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. After I have been there, he said, I must visit Rome also. 22He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer. Paul and
his team had a clear strategy. Plant a church in the main city of a region and teach and train the converts to move out into the smaller cities, towns and villages planting churches in a systematic fashion community by community. The timescale was never predictable, but it was a practical and effective scheme carried out with careful planning. It is no different today. We too need to pray hard; plan and prepare effectively and trust the Lord to accomplish that which is outside our power to achieve. 3. Triumphing over persecution (Acts 19:23-41) (a) The Reason (Acts 19:23-27) 23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24
A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. 25He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. 26And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. 27There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshipped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty . In Greek and Roman times, Ephesus was the centre
of worship of Diana (or Artemis), goddess of the hunt. The city's religious life was centred on the Temple of Artemis (Diana), one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. In addition to Diana, it is estimated that as many as seventeen gods and goddess were worshipped in Ephesus at one time. The Temple of Artemis was badly damaged by a Goth invasion in 262 AD. It was rebuilt, but not to its former splendour. The population of Ephesus has been estimated to be in the range of 400,000 to 500,000 inhabitants in the year 100 AD. In addition to the great Temple of Artemis, Ephesus boasted a civic library and a theatre, which was the largest in the world, capable of holding 50,000 spectators. Also built in Ephesus around this time were the Roman Baths, including what is believed to be the first instance of indoor plumbed toilets (flushed by running water beneath the latrines) [www.sacred-destinations.com]. God had accomplished something amazing if so many people had been converted that it was influencing the economics of Ephesus. I can only assume, if Demetrius is telling the truth, that several thousand people had been converted. If only a few hundred had become 5
Christians in a city up to three times larger in population than Dundee, then I cannot see how as ordinary citizens they had had such an impact on the life of the city. However, what legitimate forms of evangelistic outreach should we be engaged in that would have a similar impact on this city? Sometimes we need to stop and think –can we be more effective for God by working another way? The message never changes, but the approach will in each generation. How best can we use the internet and social networking technologies as Christians? These and other questions need to be asked in a week in January 2011 when through Facebook and Twitter people have organised to overthrow a government in Tunisia and look close to accomplishing the same in Egypt as well. (b) The Riot (Acts 19:28-34) 28When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's travelling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theatre. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theatre. 32The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33The Jews pushed Alexander to the front; and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defence before the people. 34But when they realised he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: Great is Artemis of the Ephesians! Demetrius and his colleagues had been making a fortune out of
selling the small silver statues of Artemis to both local people and the large number of visitors to the city. He is too smart to draw attention to this fact. Instead he whips the crowd into a frenzy as he highlights his concern that his trade will loose their good name (19:27); the temple its reputation (v27) and their goddess her divine majesty. He has also craftily gained the support of the ordinary working people to take on board an issue that was irrelevant to their lives, namely the lucrative business of a few men who operated a ‘closed shop’ in the city. A huge uproar ensued and a riot took place which the authorities struggled to control. It was a most dangerous situation, yet God had His hand on the situation. Paul was not viewed as being associated with the Jews in this city by the mob. The early separation from the synagogue which must at the time have been viewed as a setback had been in fact a blessing in disguise, in that location. God knew what He was doing behind the scenes. (c) The Resolution (Acts 19:35-41) 35The city clerk quietened the crowd and said: Men of Ephesus, doesn't all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today's events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it. 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly. The leader of the city council skilfully pointed out the folly of
the protestors’ actions and chastened they went home quietly. God had triumphed in and through His people. Romans 8:28 states: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. God hasn’t changed. May we trust Him to work for our good and His glory in our lives in coming days, both individually, in our families and in our church family, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
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Acts 20:1-12 Signs of life in a God-centred church Introduction What kind of indicators are there within a church to suggest that it is in a spiritually healthy state? Or conversely what things would point to the opposite conclusion that a congregation was in need of a spiritual health check to restore its vitality towards God and the community it is called to serve? It is always helpful to keep in mind the kind of church we ought to be if we are to glorify God and honour Him as we should as a people redeemed by the sacrificial death on the cross by His Son Jesus Christ. We thank God that in the United Kingdom overall there has been growth in church attendance overall over the last three years –the first time this has occurred for the best part of a hundred years. Yet this has occurred principally in England, with only pockets of growth in Scotland. We have a huge mission-field around us of people who need to come to know Jesus and experience the life transformation that He wants to bring to their lives. However, so many people have been brought up in families that have had no meaningful contact with a church for several generations and have lost the knowledge of what we believe and stand for and how they can come and experience the blessings of the Christian faith for themselves. Others in our community had some limited contact in their childhood and though they never actually rejected the faith –simply drifting away when other things took a higher priority in their lives, reconnecting with them is a major challenge for us. I believe that a spiritually healthy church where its congregation is seeking to live out the faith in practical ways, will attract people who are seeking after God and who will want to join us in our journey of faith. We have had many blessings over recent years, but the Lord has even more in store for us if we keep our eyes on Him and keep focussed on the biblical goals and values He has set out for us in His Word. 1. Genuine love within the fellowship (Acts 20:1) (a)Starting where we are (Acts 20:1a) When the uproar had ended…The city has been experiencing a riot of thousands of angry people shouting and milling around in the centre of its business district. It is in turmoil. The old order and way of doing things is in the throes of passing away, but whatever is coming has not yet arrived –like the situation in North Africa and the Middle East throughout January and February 2011. It can be like that sometimes in church life as well when changes need to be made, but while there may be agreement on what will not continue there is less clarity on what will take its place. It can happen in our personal lives – a major health situation, an unexpected redundancy in the workplace or a whole range of other issues that arise and we wonder what is the Lord trying to say to me through this set of circumstances that may have arisen as part of the natural ups and downs of life on earth, but as Christians we recognise that obstacles across our pathway are also opportunities to ask the Lord afresh for guidance and direction into the future. This time was a poignant moment for Paul. He has spent possibly as long as three years on his third missionary journey in Ephesus and will be setting off for a lengthy trip to Jerusalem (Acts 21:17), that somehow would result in a trip to Rome. He had presumably shared this plan of action with his closest colleagues, as Luke records it in Acts 19:21: After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. After I have been there, he said, I must visit Rome also. It is probable that Luke sees a parallel between Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem to
fulfil His calling, recorded in his Gospel, and Paul’s likewise, in his second book the Acts of 1
the Apostles. [John Stott, Acts, p.315] (i) Paul like Jesus travelled to Jerusalem with a group of his closest disciples (Acts 20:4); (ii) like Jesus hostile Jews were continually plotting to harm or even kill him (Acts 20:3, 19); (iii) like Jesus he made or received three successive predictions of the suffering that lay ahead of him (Acts 20:22-23 And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 21:4: through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem; and 21:11 Agabus’s prophetic word), (iv) including his being handed over to the Gentiles: 21:11: Coming over to us, [Agabus] took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles. ' (v) Paul, again like Jesus, expressed his readiness to lay down his life and that nothing should deflect from it (Acts 20:24: However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me— the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace. Acts 21:13: Then Paul answered, Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. I don’t know how many years I have left to
serve the Lord –neither do you? Too often because our health is good and our circumstances okay we assume (often correctly to be fair) we have many similar years to come –but we can never presume that to be the case. With the mix of life circumstances that we may experience we need one another; to support each other and together to accomplish the goals He has set before us. We must keep our eyes fixed on Jesus if this is to take place. (b) Intentional support for one another (Acts 20:1b) Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-bye and set out for Macedonia. The principle of loving and caring for one another by our words and through our actions could only be denied by individuals who wanted to live in complete isolation from other people. However, when we all lead busy lives it is often only when we plan ahead of time to show Christ-like love in practical ways, that it actually happens. We can think I should do…but the moment passes because so many other ‘must do’ things appear on the horizon! Paul here at Ephesus in his remaining hours would have been restricted to using words, but followers of Christ are called to model agape (practical care) love as he provides opportunities for us. I am not necessarily thinking here exclusively or primarily of activities organised officially by the church, it may be something you do privately unknown to other people. I am so pleased when I hear of people in this church showing that love for the Lord, through their love to other Christians in the church and beyond it. At many Christian weddings Paul’s words in I Corinthians 13 about Christian love are read. This is good and appropriate; likewise they are equally applicable to every other relationship in our lives, to a different degree. However, our role model is always the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, in Philippians 2:1-5, issued this challenge to that first century church and to us: If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus. This means in practice –do the words I want to say to my brother
or sister in Christ encourage and build them up or have the opposite effect? Does this action I am contemplating serve to enhance Christ’s kingdom or diminish it? If we think in these 2
terms in our congregational life, and in similar ways in other contexts, our impact on other people will be constructive and helpful, rather than destructive and harmful. 2. Commitment to relationships with other churches (Acts 20:2-6) (a)Interdependence amongst the churches (Acts 20:2-3) He travelled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, 3 where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. A local congregation, in New Testament terms is
autonomous, that is responsible under God for conducting its own affairs without outside interference or control. However, a New Testament church is not an independent cause, rather it is consciously in fellowship with other local autonomous congregations. It is, therefore, not merely making pious statements about its relationship with other Christian churches, but taking active steps to show that unity in practical ways. In New Testament times Paul and his colleagues made repeated trips from one church to another to encourage their members in the faith. In days before modern communications this kind of intensive visitation was essential, especially when all these congregations were relatively new churches. What should this look like today? (i) Every local church should under God decide which network of churches it ought to affiliate with. Our church has been a longstanding member of the Baptist Union of Scotland on the grounds that the core principles and values for which we stand is best articulated by the Baptist understanding of New Testament church life. Every year we give a generous sum of money to the home mission fund to support sister churches who have more limited resources; to provide funds for new church-planting ventures; and amongst other things to support our national leaders and support workers in the office in Aytoun Road, Glasgow. (ii) Each local congregation, in addition, should have worked out its relationships with other churches in the village, town or city in which it is located. There is no one blueprint for determining how these decisions are taken, as each local setting will be different. In our case many years ago this church decided to join the Broughty Ferry Churches Group and participate in a number of its initiatives such as Lent studies or Holy week services and an annual pulpit exchange. Although the nature of these commitments has changed over the years the core principles remain the same. Likewise, when the Dundee Evangelical Christian Association was formally constituted three years ago in Central Baptist church, I had the honour of being one of the sixteen signatories on the covenant, representing that number of Evangelical congregations in Dundee. All participating churches must be in agreement with the Evangelical Alliance statement of faith. (iii) The world is a much smaller place than it used to be, in terms of communications and travel. Over the last hundred years Scottish Baptists have played a significant part in funding evangelistic work and church-planting initiatives in Europe. Our decision to support Igor and Anita and their church in Ruma is in line with that visionary commitment of previous generations of Scottish Baptists. Our Baptist Union plays as large a part as funds allow within the European Baptist Federation. On the biggest stage are the international networks of churches, for example, the Baptist World Alliance. I have the honour of having been re-elected to serve on the History and Heritage Commission of that body, alongside fifty other colleagues, together with over 400 additional men and women in the other branches of our world communion. In addition to church-based fellowship ties we support various mission societies, not least our own Baptist Missionary Society. The task of reaching the world for Jesus Christ in our generation is one we own, but equally one we share with brothers and sisters in Christ from every region of the globe, and from a vast array of different Christian traditions. (b) Teamwork amongst the church leaders (Acts 20:4-6) 4 He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy 3
also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. 5 These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas.6 But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days. Good relationships between churches are
usually linked with strong ties between the respective leadership teams. It is the responsibility of pastors in particular to cultivate relationships with their colleagues. There is no prescriptive guide to carrying this out, but fraternals are a good place to begin. There we can listen to each others’ stories and pray for each other, not just on the day, but at other times as appropriate. Tayside Baptist Ministers’ Fraternal normally meets on our church premises once a month; most other ministers’ fellowships take place with a similar frequency. Working with other church leaders in God’s work serves to remind us that we are not on our own and that together we can accomplish far more than would be possible on our own. The funding and support provision for bringing Bethany to Dundee last month, happened because the DECA churches collectively determined to support this initiative. As a result, a task that might have been beyond almost all the individual churches was fairly easily attainable with the support of twenty or so congregations. We are building God’s kingdom not our own. This can be forgotten sometimes in churches, but it is a simple statement of fact. The challenge always before us is this: will what I want to do enhance and strengthen God’s kingdom in this community or will it make it less effective in transforming people’s lives? Paul and his colleagues made a point of keeping close ties between the churches and each other, both for prayer and also because of a genuine love and care for one another. This is a good role model for twenty-first century Christians. 3. A heart for worship at the centre of the fellowship (Acts 20:7) We have to be careful not to be too prescriptive about using information from Acts for our church life when Luke may be simply describing what took place in a particular congregation at a particular time. So, for example from Troas, we would be wrong to conclude that church services should be held only in upper rooms, with a large number of oil lamps providing light and heat, with sermons that go on into the early hours, or even dawn after a refreshment break! There are clearly elements of proceedings here that are exceptional, rather than their normal practice. However, it is likely that we can gain some details from this occasion about the normal pattern of Christian worship in the Early Church. There were first of all: (a)Regular gatherings On the first day of the week we came together The hallmarks of the followers of Jesus included Sunday meetings. Jewish followers of Jesus continued also to observe the Jewish religious practices on the Sabbath (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown) for at least another generation and possibly longer; however, distinctive Christian worship services were held on the day on which all the dated resurrection appearances took place – Sunday. They understood that this day was to be special for Christians –although it did not become a day of rest from work in the Roman Empire until the reign of Constantine the Great in the fourth century AD. These first Christians made a big effort to see that nothing would prevent them meeting with fellow believers each Sunday. As a result of serious persecution some Italian believers grew discouraged and were less regular in their attendance at church. The letter to the Hebrews was written to them to encourage them in their faith. It included these words: And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:24-25). If they could normally get
their priorities right under persecution in the Roman world then we can be expected to do the same in the free society we benefit from in twenty-first century Scotland. I trust we can share the attitude of David in Psalm 122 when he wrote: I rejoiced with those who said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” 4
(b) Communion to break bread. From the limited number of sources we have it appears that
the followers of Jesus met on Sunday mornings, prior to going to work at 6am, the start of the working day! If a service was of an evangelistic nature then this is the one to which an outsider would have been invited! After the conclusion of the working day for free people at 12 noon, and allowing a longer time for the many slaves who became Christians, the community of believers gathered in the home that they used as a church for a meal –possibly the one meal of the day for the slaves and poorest members of the congregation. This was an important act of fellowship and a statement of their oneness in Christ. Once that was concluded, the central focus of the worship service was communion. It was, therefore, this occasion at Troas that provided a fitting conclusion to the week that the apostle spent with these young Christians. Baptism is something believers carry out once; partaking of the Lord’s Supper is something we repeat regularly until He comes (I Corinthians 11:26). Why do we do this? (i) It is a reminder of the wonderful love of God to us. (ii)It is a constant statement of the cost of our redemption –it cost Jesus His life to reconcile us to God; (iii) It is a declaration of provision of God for His people. Romans 8:31-32: What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
(iv)It is lastly a challenge that our time here as His witnesses is limited between the two comings of Jesus. It also is a warning that the second time He will come as king of kings and Lords of Lord to judge the world and usher in the end of the age. If God in Christ fulfilled the promises relating to His first coming then we can be even more certain that His second coming will take place as He said. And that it will take place when we do not expect it –be ready (Matthew 25:13)! (c) Bible teaching Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. The vocabulary Luke uses to describe Paul’s ministry here combines teaching and dialogue –so no need to picture a marathon sermon of eight hours duration! The time would have passed quickly as they eagerly sought information about Jesus and the Christian faith. As an undergraduate student I shared a flat for a year with a fellow Christian theology student. On one special occasion we hosted a visiting lecturer who had spoken at our college. This man was one of the greatest living authorities on the background in the Ancient Near East and knew the languages of the peoples mentioned in the Bible. From the respectable time we got back to our flat from the evening event. We spent till 6am asking questions and hearing amazing answers about a whole range of Old Testament background issues. He lived in that world and brought it alive. You could almost picture being there it was an unforgettable occasion. A God-centred, Christ-honouring, Spirit empowered church will be hungry for God’s Word. It will be central in our thinking; decisive in its guidance on issues on which it speaks; entirely trustworthy and reliable, because it was uniquely inspired by almighty God. Is this how you view God’s Word? For Jesus, for example, when tempted by Satan, He declared: it is written (Matthew 4:1-11) followed by quotations from the Bible to silence the evil one. It is our one spiritual offensive weapon- all the other parts of the armour of God (Ephesians 6:10-20) are defensive. Treasure it personally and store it in your mind and hide it in your heart. It is the very Word of the glorious God we love and serve! 4. A vision for the transformation of lives within the fellowship (Acts 20:8-12) 8
There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third storey and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. Don't be alarmed, he said. He's alive! 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 5
The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted. Apparently the word used
to describe Eutychus’ age was normally used of boys aged eight to fourteen years. The setting is in an upper room that would have been very hot and stuffy with fumes from the oil lamps that gave light to the people present. This young man has got a privileged seat next to a window where the air will be fresher –and in an age before the average home had glass in the windows he is in close proximity to a sizable hole in the wall! It has been a busy day. He is most likely to have been at work with his parents, up well before 6am and the same again on Monday morning. Its not really a surprise that he is asleep by midnight. His name means ‘good fortune’. Therefore, it is likely that his parents were Gentile converts to Christianity, rather than of Jewish ancestry. A sudden gasp goes round the room as this young man falls out of the third floor window onto a solid path and after a quick examination is pronounced dead. Paul laid hands on him and apparently his life returns and he is able to go home within a few hours in pretty reasonable shape. What is incredible to us is that the congregation troops back upstairs and carries on with the service, which by then had got to the communion. It had got so late that sleep was given a miss that night and they all had breakfast before most of the people went for work and Paul and his companions set off on the next stage of their journey. The miracle here is extraordinary and by definition rare. Yet this is our God also. This is also the message we share with people in our generation, one that can transform their lives as it has ours. I trust we can say with Paul: For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile (Romans 1:16). Luke in these few verses has given us some glimpses of life in a God-centred
church; may something of that reality be our witness and experience in this place in the coming days, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
6
Matthew 24 Signs of the Times Introduction This major discourse of Jesus is largely concerned with the coming judgement and the conduct of His followers in the period prior to this event. The big challenge in understanding this chapter is that two future events are described in these verses; the destruction of Jerusalem in the 66-70AD War and the second coming of Jesus. The former event of judgement will take place because the Jewish leadership and many of the people in the nation did not recognise Jesus for who He is, and even when they understood His claims they rejected them. Mathew 23:37-39 roots this message in a context of profound sadness in the heart of Jesus at what would happen to His people and nation in the not-to-distant future. The beautiful building before them looks so good, but within their lifetime it will be in ruins. “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. 38 Look, your house is left to you desolate. 39 For I tell you, you will not see Me again until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’” This was the last time Jesus taught
in the temple –He knew it, though His disciples were oblivious to this fact. Matthew 24:1 explains clearly the prompting Jesus got from His followers which led to this powerful message. Jesus left the temple and was walking away when His disciples came up to him to call His attention to its buildings. The symbolism of Jesus turning His back on the temple is not accidental. What Jesus will accomplish on the cross in a very short space of time will relegate what happens in that beautiful building to a secondary place, in terms of God’s people’s relationship with Him. Prior to Calvary atonement was made through the priests offering the blood of sacrificial birds and animals on the altars in the temple; after Jesus’ atoning sacrifice the relationship of God and His people –Jew and Gentile alike –had changed for ever. Hebrews 10 makes this point very clearly: The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. 2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins (Hebrews 10:1-4). Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool. 14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy (Hebrews 10:11-14). The later event of judgement, at the second coming of Jesus, was explained as a result of their question in Matthew 24:3: As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of Your coming and of the end of the age?” Various signs will be explained but the most significant is given in Matthew 24:14: And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Some Christian scholars want to interpret the whole passage as applying only to the first century AD and they would claim that all the signs listed here have already taken place; others, by contrast, have sometimes claimed the whole passage exclusively applies only to the end times. I think that neither of these two views can be correct. However, how do we divide up the signs here? Some scholars (for example, R.T. France, The 1
Gospel according to Matthew, p.333),
for example, argues that Matthew 24:1-35 relates to the fall of Jerusalem; and 24:36-51 to the second coming of Jesus. If correct, this kind of division would make interpreting the passage much easier, but it is more likely that the truth of what Jesus was saying was not as neatly packaged as this position would suggest. After all, Matthew 24 verses 6, 8 and 23-28 do appear to indicate that Jesus is hinting that His return may not be quite as soon as His first followers were hoping. After all, at this stage they had not even grasped that He was soon to be crucified, raised from the dead and ascending to heaven, so it is most improbable that they would have had any expectation of a second coming. It is best to accept the possibility of references to both the judgement on Jerusalem within one generation of this prophecy, combined with other indicators of signs preceding Jesus’ second coming in judgement and in glory. 1.The Beginning of the Troubles (Matthew 24:1-14) Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.”(24:1-2) An initial conversation about the amazing temple Herod had built,
(The project, by the time of Jesus’ public ministry, had been underway forty-six years (John 2:20) and was only completed a few years before its destruction some time after 60AD), led to discussions about both the near and ultimate future of God’s plans and purposes for Jerusalem and His people. (a) The Context of the Teaching (Matthew 24:3-4) As Jesus was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately. “Tell us,” they said, “when will this happen, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” 4 Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. Teaching on the end times was given privately by Jesus not in public. It was an important
subject, but so capable of misunderstanding that our Lord declined to say more than absolutely necessary when people outside the faith were present. This is possibly because their need is to trust Jesus as Lord and Saviour; anything else is of secondary importance to salvation. However, to His followers Jesus was prepared to give some general information about the end times. The disciples (then and now!) wanted to know roughly a date of His coming and a checklist of the events preceding it. Why did Jesus consent to give the limited information He offered? Verse four indicates very clearly that there will be people who will make convincing efforts to deceive believers concerning the end times. Therefore, Jesus said, be very careful to stick closely to the information I have given you. This is all you need to know. It is sufficient to help you remain faithful to Me, until I call you home or come again to take you home, forever. I suspect many of us have heard some fantastic and amazing pronouncements about the end times –so amazing that you would never have thought of them, nor can you find these insights in the Bible! Be very careful –never confuse the fertile imagination of even a sincere believer with the reliable truth of God’s Word. If Jesus has only inspired a limited amount of information then we need to accept that it is sufficient for what we need this side of heaven. He may also have limited the information in order that ordinary believers can grasp it, rather than giving a huge mass of details that only great experts can interpret for the church. We have a priesthood of all believers who have a God-given responsibility to ready and study the Bible for ourselves, on this subject as any other. (b) The Predicament to be faced (Matthew 24:5-8)5 For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and will deceive many. 6 You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. 7 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 All these are the beginning of birth pains. What does Jesus predict will happen? (i) Many
false messiahs (24:5) all kinds of religious leaders will claim to be Jesus –look for the nail2
pierced hands! A false messiah will have no evidence of the cost of our redemption. (ii) Many successful false messiahs (24:5) and will deceive many. This is not a possibility. Jesus is stating plainly that human leaders claiming to come from God, even brandishing Bibles, will lead people astray from the faith. This is a most serious predicament. There have been enough cults that have emerged over the last couple of centuries alone to confirm the accuracy of Jesus’ teaching. They may even have knocked at your door this year already! (iii) more wars and cultural breakdown (24:6) Samuel Huntingdon, a perceptive American political scholar wrote a powerful book called The Clash of Civilisations in1996. He argued that the 21st century would be marked by major conflicts between western secularised nations and Islamic-controlled nations. Jesus mentioned that the later days would be marked with the overturning of the old order in nations; violence between nations, together with an increasing range of natural disasters across the globe. We might want to suggest that such observations are not inconsistent with events taking place in the world at the present time. Yet Jesus makes a clear pointed statement in v8 that: All these are the beginning of birth pains. What does He mean by this? When the world around us is falling apart, socially, economically, militarily and in any other possible way- don’t be afraid because God still has the bigger picture under His control. Remember in what or whom do you place your security? If it is in material goods or money or health or …? All these things can be swept away in a moment –our only place of security is in God. Verses like Isaiah 43:1-3a are our comfort and assurance at this time: But now, this is what the Lord says— He who created you, Jacob, He who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. 3For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Saviour; God never abandons His children. (c) The Persecution to be experienced (Matthew 24:9-13 11and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13 but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. (i) Institutional Persecution (24:9) “Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. Jesus has now moved from general signs in the world (especially with
reference to the Jews) to more specific guidance to His followers. Prior to the judgement in Jerusalem (for Jewish followers of Jesus) and in the end times for both Jewish and Gentile believers in Jesus things will get worse and persecution and oppression, simply for following Jesus, will take place. This is not sporadic mob violence by a few, but state instigated acts of evil against the people who confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour. The day will come when evil politicians, not just dictators will exclude followers of Jesus from the public square altogether and such leaders will make unceasing prejudicial statements about Christians that a growing proportion of the populace will be influenced by and adopt their hatred. Does any of this sound familiar? Do we see any signs that this is beginning to happen in Britain and Western Europe as a whole? I believe that we do –though only in the early stages, but it is very possible that we are in the latter days –but take heart and do not be discouraged God has not been taken by surprise. He knows what is going on and will ultimately be victorious over it. We know the outcome in the ‘final chapter of the book’! (ii) Intentional Apostasy (24:10-12) At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other… (24:10) hatred and opposition from outside is expected at times, but betrayal from apostates from within is deeply painful and discouraging. Josephus, the Jewish historian of the war with Rome 6670AD, gives horrific examples of Jews attacking Jews and treating each other in the most abominable ways. In fact had the Jews been united they might even have held out against the Romans, but when they were divided, then their slaughter was a forgone conclusion. Whether to avoid suffering for the faith or bought off with money or some other secular reward, some people will behave in this appalling manner in the days prior to Jesus’ second coming as well 3
as in earlier generations. Do not be surprised, Jesus said, I am giving you notice so that you keep your eyes on Me and do not lose heart when other people let you down. After World War Two, in 1946, Youth for Christ International hired two men as evangelists one a country preacher and the other a successful city minister, destined, many thought to be the greatest evangelist of his generation. The two men were Charles Templeton and Billy Graham. How many of us have even heard of Charles Templeton? He died in 2001, far from the faith he had professed. His colleague in ministry, Billy Graham, who may not live too many more years, will be viewed in the opposite light, as one of the most significant men of God of His generation. Paul’s warning to Christians in I Corinthians 10:12-13 is so important here: So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! 13 No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
Biblical warnings are in place so that we heed them and avoid making shipwreck of our lives. 11
and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. 12Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold… these words are not in the Scriptures to discourage
us, in fact they are intended to encourage true believers to kept faithful to God when surrounded by such sinful and ungodly behaviour. This reality will be true in some places that have been blessed with a great Christian heritage, prior to Jesus’ return. However, at the very same time great blessings will be happening elsewhere. (d) The Proclamation to be announced (Matthew 24:14) And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. Newspaper proprietors want to create an impression of ‘doom and gloom’ to sell more copies of their papers. Jesus takes a very different view. Here, although things may be exceedingly difficult in some countries to live as a Christian, remember the missionary mandate given to the whole church to reach the whole world with His good news, prior to Jesus’ return. These words were not spoken to the hundreds of millions of Bible-believing Christians alive around the world today, but to a congregation of frightened Jewish believers in one place on the planet. Even after Jesus’ resurrection the Church began on the Day of Pentecost with no more adults than would be typically present in this church on a Sunday morning. Does that put our forthcoming building project into perspective? These people set out in faith (and with all their weaknesses and problems) and within a generation had planted congregations in every major city of the Roman Empire. Do we worship the same God? If so, we too can accomplish the tasks He has entrusted to us in this, our generation. God is not in the business of asking us to do the impossible –rather, in the power of His Spirit we will be equipped to do more than we ever thought possible for our good and His glory! When we see the growth of the Church in China and India –is it not exciting? In proportion to population size South Korea is probably sending more overseas missionaries to witness than any other branch of the Christian Church at the present time; can you imagine what it will be like when China sends a similar proportion of missionaries to reach other nations for Christ! Be encouraged – God has some incredible blessings yet to pour out on His Church in the world, although, they may be accompanied by great suffering and persecution. 2. The Climax of the Troubles (Matthew 24:15-28) (a) The dreadful events (24:15) So when you see standing in the holy place ‘the abomination that causes desolation, ’spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand — This next section of the discourse (especially 24:15-22) most probably concerns the troubles which would precede the disastrous fall of Jerusalem and the war with Rome in 66-70AD. However, Jesus has made no prediction of the date for this event, but the phrasing here would alert any Jewish believer to think of the book of Daniel and the incidents there ( ‘the abomination that 4
causes desolation, ’spoken of through the prophet Daniel—let the reader understand Matt.24:15) in
a time of great calamity for the nation. It refers to the desecration of the Temple by Antiochus Epiphanes, who built an altar to Zeus there, offering swine and other animals as sacrifices (see I Maccabees 1:41-61). It points forward to a time when forbidden objects would be on display in the holy city of Jerusalem. Roman standards linked to the victorious legions in the 66-70AD war would be carried into the city and displayed to the remaining populace. Yet unbelievable cruelty, Jew against Jew, had already polluted the city long before the Romans gained access, following the successful siege. The trauma experienced by the Jewish people then was only exceeded by the holocaust in the last century. It was that bad. No wonder Jesus was distressed for the city about what lay ahead. Luke 19:41-44 explains that most clearly: As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” (b) The desperate actions (24:16-22)16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 Let no one on the housetop go down to take anything out of the house. 18 Let no one in the field go back to get their cloak. 19How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! 20 Pray that your flight will not take place in winter or on the Sabbath. 21 For then there will be great distress, unequalled from the beginning of the world until now—and never to be equalled again. 22“If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened. Jesus was clearly hinting in that time of calamity ahead there would be
some narrow window of opportunity when some people would be able to save their lives, but pregnant women and those with young children, amongst others would have no chance. The slaughter in the city was appalling and its impact harrowing on observers, like the experiences of the liberators of Nazi concentration camps after World War Two. Failing to live God’s way ultimately is too heavy a price to pay, not only in eternity, but also for some people in this life also. (c) The discernment required (24:23-28) At that time if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Messiah!’ or, ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told you ahead of time. 26“So if anyone tells you, ‘There he is, out in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here he is, in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27For as lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. 28 Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather. Here in more general terms Jesus warns His followers not to be deceived by false claimants who profess to have brought a message from God, but who have not been sent by Him. In every generation there have been such people. Josephus gave one example of an Egyptian false prophet who gathered several thousand followers on the Mount of Olives, prior to an attack upon Jerusalem. Roman governor Felix’s troops routed them, killing or imprisoning most of them (F. Josephus, The
Then and now we need to trust only God’s Word and not the false claimants who offered alleged extra information from God. This warning from Jesus is applicable in every generation, not just to His first hearers and the people alive at the very end of human history. Jewish War, Vol.2, pp.261-263- see also Acts 21:38).
3. The Second Coming of Jesus (Matthew 24:29-51) (a) The Warning concerning His coming (Matthew 24:29-41) “Immediately after the distress of those days “‘the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.’ 30 “Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. 31And He will send His angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other. 32 “Now 5
learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. 33 Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. 34 Truly I tell you, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away. 36“But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. 37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. It is probable that the majority of the text in this last section of this chapter refers to
Jesus’ second coming. The reference to extraordinary phenomena in the heavens is familiar to readers of the Old Testament prophets, for example, Isaiah 13:10, 34:4; In Joel 2:28-32, words quoted by Peter (Acts 2:16-21) on the Day of Pentecost, the first part of his citation was clearly fulfilled with the coming of the Holy Spirit, the latter part concerning these phenomena in the heavens refers to the second coming of Jesus in line with the words of Jesus here in Matthew 24. The reference to His angels with a loud trumpet call (24:31) is explained more fully by Paul in I Thessalonians 4:16, a passage we looked at a few weeks ago. Jesus is very clear that life in the world in the years immediately preceding His return would be marked by much apathy towards spiritual things, but also the sense of ‘normality’ of the rhythm of secular daily life. In order to stop His followers trying to chart a timetable for His coming, Jesus (24:36) stressed that no-one except God the Father knows the date of His return, so don’t try to guess or you will be wrong! Numerous explanations have been offered to explain Matthew 24:34; but although it is true that the generation of Jews hearing Jesus utter these words had not passed away by the time of the 66-70AD War, it is less clear if there is a secondary fulfilment prior to His second coming. I suspect that there is one, but we will only know for certain in heaven who got it right! (b) The Witness prior to His coming (Matthew 24:42-51) 42“Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him. 45 “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? 46 It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns. 47 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his possessions. 48But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’ 49 and he then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 The master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. 51 He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth . Much more important for us are the
challenging final words of Jesus on this topic. The repeated warnings in Scripture on this theme imply that Christians will be prone to complacency Whether Jesus’ return is tonight or many years in the future we must live in a way that retains that sense of imminent expectancy. The solid fact is this: Jesus is coming back. The warning is this: Be ready! May each of us put our faith and trust in Him and live in a way we would be comfortable with explaining to Him on that great and glorious day of His return in glory, Amen.
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Matthew 25:1-13 No Second Chances Introduction The events described here by Jesus were extremely familiar to His hearers. A wedding banquet is about to take place in the home of the groom. Remember that a year earlier at the betrothal ceremony all the legal niceties have been taken care of, this wedding will consist of a celebratory service and the party to follow. Many family members and friends are present to share the joyful celebrations. As the assembled crowd gathers, the groom, together with a few close friends makes his way to the home of the bride, which was assumed to be either in the same community or in a nearby village or town. The groom will collect his bride and escorts her back to his family home, where the marriage feast takes place. The bride will have usually ten girlfriends dressed in white who will accompany her on the journey to her new husband’s parents’ home [S. Kistemaker, The Parables of Jesus, p. 129]. The groom and his friends will wait at the bride’s home till she is ready to set off and when that time comes she is placed on the back of a donkey and the happy group set off on a meandering route to his home. They take a long route wandering down many streets in their community to indicate the nature of their celebrations and allow other people to offer their congratulations. This process could take many hours and unlike modern Western culture there was no fixed arrival time. Weddings at that time in the Middle East normally took place in the seven months of the hot and cloudless summer. It is of no consequence that people are waiting out in the evening, even for part of the night, for the groom and bride to arrive as the cooler air was probably more refreshing than earlier in the day [K.E. Bailey, Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes, pp. 271-2]. A wedding was a community occasion. Particular days of the week were chosen for the wedding and reflected the status of the bride. A virgin would be married on a Wednesday and a widow, for example, on a Thursday [Ketubot 1:1, LL. Morris, Matthew, p.621]. Processions from the bride’s home normally took place after dark and were torch-lit which added to the drama of the situation. The context in which Jesus told this story is the same as His message on the signs of the end of the age in Matthew 24. He is near the Temple in Jerusalem and although talking to His disciples, He may have been joined by a growing number of other people eager to hear what Jesus was saying. As with other parables He told, Jesus will take a scene very familiar to all His hearers and use it to convey a spiritual truth. The question before us is simply this: in a context of teaching about the end times and awaiting His second coming, the wedding scene before us invites us to reflect on how this ordinary life situation relates to our own lives in a very different social context more than twenty centuries later. 1. The Character of the young women (Matthew 25:1-2) 1
“At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. Jesus’ story focuses on a
small number of young women attending a wedding. Each of them has a lamp and all ten of them are pictured as having lit their lamps. In that cultural context a young man was not expected to carry a lamp with him when out after dark, but women, young and old, were assumed to adopt this practice. The main purpose of the lamp was not to provide light to walk outside after dark, as the starlight or moonlight was usually sufficient to see by in the dry, clear air of the Middle East. Carrying a lamp was deemed appropriate to safeguard the woman’s moral integrity. With the light of the lamp shining on their face they were highly visible and no-one could harass them in a public place without being visible. The lamps were held directly in front of their faces so that every other person out walking on that street could observe who they are and possibly where they were going. Therefore, Jesus’ hearers quickly 1
pick up that all the participants in this parable are virtuous young women. Their intentions in being out late that evening were entirely honourable and directly associated with the forthcoming wedding celebrations. They had no other purpose for being outside their homes. In other words each of them was assumed to be a believing Jew who wished to share in the joy of the occasion. These were not words intended for people outside the faith community directly, although all Scripture is profitable for all of us; its primary audience, in particular passages, may be a smaller group of people who are outside the faith or in this case within it. As these verses are in our Bibles we can contextualise the story for ourselves and picture the ten young women as professing Christians awaiting the second coming of Jesus. Every one claims that they are looking forward to the coming of Jesus. There would be something wrong if this was not the case! However, Jesus adds a qualifying statement about the picture He has painted: 2 Five of them were foolish and five were wise. How is it we may ask can some Christians be considered wise and others foolish in the light of His coming? Jesus will point us to see that it concerns how ready we are for His coming and how prepared we are for that occasion. Can I ask you a question? If Jesus was definitely coming back to earth in the next twenty-four hours would it change your plans? If it would, why would that be the case? Would there be sins to confess to Him? Would there be wrong words to apologise for to another brother or sister? Would there be inappropriate conduct we would be seeking to put right now, rather than Him asking us about it in public when we stand before the Lord at His judgement seat (II Corinthians 5:10)? If one of these suggestions strikes a chord, Jesus would say to us please deal with the issue today, don’t put it off, you never know which day I will return. I want you to live in a manner that you would be comfortable with on the day of My unexpected return. Our intolerance of sin and wrongdoing in our personal lives and collective community witness must be faced as if Jesus’ return was imminent, even if it turns out to be after we have left this life. This parable also will point to priorities. How many of us as we get older have exactly the same priorities as we did in our youth? Are we wiser now and therefore living more closely to Jesus’ way than we did when much busier in our youth when starting a career or raising a family? Or were once passionate about serving the Lord and nothing was too much trouble, but now we do our bit but don’t want to go the second mile because ‘other people’ wouldn’t do so? Jesus said of these companions of the bride some solemn words: Five of them were foolish and five were wise. Observers passing these girls in the street would never have come to such a conclusion as they all looked the part. In a local congregation God’s people can all look the part on a Sunday in a worship service, but what is going in your heart and mine? Remember the words the Lord spoke to Samuel when choosing a son of Jesse to anoint as King over Israel in place of Saul: The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (I Samuel 16:7). Am I, are you, represented by a wise or a foolish attendant in this story? Noone else here can answer this question for anyone else; it is between each one of us and the Lord. 2. The Preparation by the young women (Matthew 25:3-5) 3
The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. 5 The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep. Everyone knew that these occasions could be long and drawn out so it
was normal practice for attendants of the bride to take with them extra olive oil in a small flask or container. The girls in the story and in real life at a wedding at that time would have made their way to the bride’s home and waited outside. They would have lit their lamps when their journey had commenced and would have carefully placed their burning lamps on a window ledge or other appropriate place where they would have burnt out a short time later. 2
If, as is often suggested, it was the normal custom for the groom to arrive fairly late in the evening up to the middle of the night then it would have been sensible for them to try and get some sleep. Jesus in the story does not condemn the participants for getting their necessary rest. They are expected to take reasonable care of their health and be prudent with their preparations for the forthcoming event. Businesses were run from home in that culture. So an attendant short of oil would have known where to go to replenish her supplies in that village and could have done so at any point in the evening. If it was late the trader may have had to be woken from his bed and that would have taken some time, but a purchase would not have been a problem. Jesus noted that: 3 The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. 4 The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The resources were available, but incredibly five young ladies chose to wait for the bridegroom in an inappropriate way. The lamps were usually long sticks with rags wrapped tightly around one end. The rags were soaked in olive oil and once lit would burn brightly for around fifteen minutes before some more oil needed to be applied. The crowd listening to this story would have struggled to understand how any bridal attendant would act in this fashion. They would all have identified with the wise young women in the story. How does this apply to us today? Jesus would suggest to us, I believe, that to live our lives for Him in our own strength is a foolish course of action. We need to make time to read God’s Word each day and reflect upon it and to give some time to prayer; we need the empowering resources of the Holy Spirit to fill us and enable us to be the witnesses God desires us to be. We need to be regular in attendance in God’s house on His day and at other times to make the right choices about how we use our time and gifts and finances and everything else we possess that we may bring honour to the Lord. All these attendants were believers yet Jesus called some wise and others foolish. The time for the bridegroom coming was longer than expected, but that was no excuse as they had been warned to be ready when he came; all these girls had chosen to be in the right place, but half of them would be of use to the bride and bridegroom and the others considerably less so. Why is it that some Christians are so willing to put themselves out to serve the Lord and His people and others so reluctant? Why is it that some Christians not only give tithes and offerings, but also give sacrificially to God’s work from the finances entrusted to them and yet others redeemed by Jesus on the cross give only from their spare change? Jesus speaks here of people who are wise and others who are foolish –in which category are you /am I? Jesus expects an answer from us. 3. The Request from the young women (Matthew 25:6-10a) 6
“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ 10 “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. When Jesus came to earth the Jewish people were often
speaking about the coming of the Messiah in their synagogues, as they had done for generations. However, they were not ready for Him. There were exceptions of course, such as Simeon and Anna (Luke 2:25-38) Luke described Simeon in this way: Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah (Luke 2:25-26). He also wrote this of Anna: she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem (Luke 2:38). The solemn challenge given by Jesus is that Jews or Gentiles who
believe in God and look forward to His coming will not all have been living in a manner consistent with preparing for His return. What needed to be done by half these attendants was 3
a simple task that would only have taken a very short time. It was well within their capabilities to have carried it out but they didn’t. The Lord does not expect the impossible from us. He does not require us to work for Him twenty-five hours out of every twenty-four! An even more serious point must be raised for anyone here who has not trusted Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Do you realise that this world is not the end of life, there is a heaven and a hell awaiting those who have prepared adequately for eternity and those who have ignored that reality until it was too late respectively. This is a most solemn and important matter. In this life nothing is more important. Each of has to realise that a holy and perfect God cannot allow unforgiven sinners into heaven. He has sent His one and only Son into the world to show us how to live and then to die in our place on the cross. If God could have provided salvation any other way than through the sacrifice of His Son –do you not think He would have done it? The foolish attendants lived as if all was well instead of taking action to remedy their situation. It was not lack of opportunity, rather a lack of willingness to take action. Is that your problem –you know your need of Jesus, but have not been bothered to cry out to Him to save you and commit your life to Him? Matthew 25:6-8 records: 6“At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ 7 “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. 8 The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’ 9 “‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves. The wise virgins in the story were not mean in
declining the request from their panic –stricken companions. They knew that the stores of olive oil they possessed was limited and had they shared then none of them would have been able to fulfil their responsibilities to light the way for the bride on her triumphant procession to the house of the bridegroom. Christians, if they only they could, would willingly share their gift of salvation with unsaved friends and family members, but we cannot make people Christians; each individual must ask Jesus for salvation on a personal basis. There was no shortage of olive oil in the village they needed to go and get it –it took effort. They heard the cry: Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him! -what was their response? A mad dash to the oil-seller in the early hours of the morning; naturally, before the days of twenty-four hour trading in big supermarkets, the shop-keeper would not be expecting customers in the early hours. He would have to get out of his bed and get suitably dressed and go to his place of supply. All this took time, but the purchases were made and the five young ladies rushed back to the house of the bride. However, the story reported: “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet
(Matthew 25:10). The bridal party did not wait. All those who were ready set off to the house either in another part of the village or another community where the bridegroom lived. The indication of timescales given here implies that the trip to the trader took longer than the triumphal procession. The very honour for which these girls had been chosen had passed them by. The reward for friendship with the bride had been lost. One day you and I will stand before Jesus on the day of judgement not because we might potentially lose our salvation – that is impossible. Romans 11:29 reminds us that: God’s gifts and His call are irrevocable. We are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, and in Christ alone! God accepts you and me because Jesus was good enough. When He looks at you and me He sees the perfect righteousness of Jesus and says welcome because of His love for His beloved Son, our substitute and sin-bearer. However, what Jesus will declare is what rewards, if any, particular believers will be given for service here on earth. I Corinthians 3:10b-15 notes that some Christians will live lives that are a major investment in heaven and the impact of their Christian service will have eternal consequences for the blessing of many people. Sadly others will lead equally active lives, but what they have done will be primarily of benefit down here and of less or limited lasting effect; what is worst of all some Christians will get into heaven but will have done nothing to commend them. How sad that is! Christian love is 4
shown by our actions and our words. It is deeply practical, acting in a Christ-like way. Wise Christians invest their limited time and resources for the good of their families; for God’s church; for other people in a variety of contexts and for their own spiritual well-being. Our time here on earth is so limited. We cannot assume how long we have to live. On the day I wrote this message I had a brief conversation with a Baptist colleague in pastoral ministry who had taken four men’s funerals in the past three weeks –the oldest man was in his thirties. This is not a call to forget a work-rest balance as God in the creation week in Genesis1-2 modelled for us a pattern of labour and cessation from labour to enjoy the wonders of His creation. By contrast it is a challenge to work wisely and to choose what is most important in our priorities, in order to accomplish the most we can with the gifts entrusted to us by God. 4. The Consequences for some young women (Matthew 25:10b-13) And the door was shut. 11 “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ 12 “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ 13 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour. However fast they walked or ran to the house where the celebrations were taking place, it was not fast enough. Jesus solemnly declared: And the door was shut
(Matthew 25:10). The reward to which they would have been honoured by the bride and groom was lost because they had not disciplined themselves to prepare for that occasion. May we not miss out on blessings God has for us because of wrong choices or priorities in our lives. Sometimes we have decisions to make and struggle to discern which pathway to take because both seem equally plausible. However, we can but pray and take the best advice we can and step out in faith along the pathway in life we believe the Lord would have us take. The Middle-Eastern audience would be very familiar with this kind of negotiation and not be in the least bit troubled by the initial response of the bridegroom. One of the leading Christian scholars of this culture, Kenneth Bailey, made this comment: ‘In the Middle East the word no is never an answer, rather it is a pause in the negotiations.’ ( Jesus through Middle Eastern Eyes, p. 273) In the end the bridegroom would let them in and as the feasting continued often for several days, unlike our cultural custom of one day’s celebrations, in chronological terms they had not missed the majority of the wedding celebrations. However, the embarrassment would live with them in that community: ‘Do you remember the five attendants who showed up a couple of hours late for the wedding……?’ This story has its focus on the second coming of Jesus and concludes with these words in Matthew 25:13: “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour when Jesus will return. May each of us live now in a way that ensures we are ready for His coming whenever that may be, for His name’s sake, Amen.
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Acts 20 vs 13-38 Our Calling as Ambassadors for Jesus Christ Introduction What kind of impression do you and I want to leave with other people who have been in our company? What kind of impression do we as a church wish to convey to new people who come along to a service in this congregation? All of us are witnesses by virtue of the way we live. The question is this: What kind of witness am I? What impression do other people have of Jesus as a result of my interaction with them? In his 1984 book Boy: Tales of Childhood, Roald Dahl tells a number of stories about his early life. In one chapter entitled ‘The Headmaster’ (pp.144-146) he described the most significant influence in his life against believing in God. The individual in question was the head-teacher of Repton Independent School in Derby. They had very few conversations, but Dahl described him as having ‘lots of energy but not much charm’. What was of huge concern to this schoolboy was the violence meted out in corporal punishment. Dahl was not opposed to corporal punishment and was of the view that moderate use of the cane was probably justified in some cases of misbehaving pupils. However, what disturbed him was the excessive violence and wounding that was carried out by masters and especially by the head-teacher. Roald was never a victim of this excess, but his best friend Michael gave a graphic description of his experience of this ordeal. It was a surreal experience of multiple heavy blows on bare flesh with pauses between the strikes during which the head-teacher alternately smoked his pipe or lectured the pupil bent over his sofa about evil and wrongdoing or sinning and malpractice. At the end of the session a basin, sponge and clean towel were provided for the pupil to wash away the blood, before he was allowed to pull up his trousers. Where does the link to God come in? The headteacher was also an ordained Anglican clergyman. Dahl remembered chapel sermons from this man, preaching about the Lamb of God and of mercy and forgiveness, but in sharp contrast to his brutal treatment of the pupils under his care. Forgiveness and mercy appeared to be in short supply to the small boys who broke the school rules. The head-teacher, Geoffrey Fisher, left the school at the end of Dahl’s third year to become Bishop of Chester in 1932. Soon after he became Bishop of London (1939) and finally Archbishop of Canterbury (1945-61); and had the honour of crowning our present Queen in Westminster Abbey. Dahl concluded the chapter by stating: ‘It was all this, I think, that made me begin to have doubts about religion and even about God. If this person, I kept telling myself, was one of God’s chosen salesmen on earth, then there must be something very wrong about the whole business.’ Fisher’s religious views were far from Evangelical. He advised Harold Macmillan, the Prime Minister, about his possible successor as Archbishop. He was reported to have said: I have come to give you some advice about my successor. Whoever you choose, under no account must it be Michael Ramsey, the Archbishop of York. Dr Ramsey is a theologian, a scholar and a man of prayer. Therefore, he is entirely unsuitable as Archbishop of Canterbury. I have known him all my life. I was his
To which Macmillan replied, Thank you, your Grace, for your kind advice. You may have been Doctor Ramsey's headmaster, but you were not mine [quotation on wikipedia]. Fisher was an ardent Freemason and Grand Chaplain in the United Grand Lodge of England. The Prime Minister with more discernment than the Archbishop ignored the advice and appointed Ramsay to the post. What influence do you and I have as Christians? Are we good ambassadors for Jesus Christ? Headmaster at Repton.
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1.Our Past Ministry (Acts 20:13-21) 13
We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. 14 When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. 15 The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Chios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus. 16 Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost. 17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church (a)Our Lifestyle (Acts 20:18-19a) 18 When they arrived, he said to them: “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears. After a description by Luke of Paul’s
travel plans in Acts 20:13-16, he records how Paul asked the leaders of the Ephesus Church to meet him in the nearby port of Miletus. This record of his conversation with his fellow church leaders reveals some clear principles about the nature of effective Christian discipleship. First of all, Paul draws attention to something that was clearly open to challenge if untrue. He said ‘you know how I lived when I was with you’; the apostle wanted to stress the consistency of his daily life. He was far from perfect, and so are we, but there was a serious attempt to live a life that brought honour to God. To say: I served the Lord with great humility and with tears (Acts 20:19) is only effective if it true. If this claim was unsubstantiated then what followed would have been seriously undermined. Other people notice how we go about our everyday lives. How we handle the ordinary situations which everyone goes through; there will always be people who observe what difference our claim to follow Jesus makes. Why do they do this? simply because a significant number of people are less than happy with their lives and they are looking to see if there are other people managing significantly better. In the testimonies of the majority of people who profess faith in Christ there is usually an acknowledgement of the influence of a Christian family member, friend or work colleague who has modelled in the ordinary situations of life that their faith does indeed make a difference. None of us are perfect this side of heaven; and people aren’t looking for that, but they do react very badly to hypocrisy and want to see a serious attempt by Christians to live out the truth they proclaim. It is an astonishing claim to speak of your own great humility truthfully, but it appears that this assertion was accepted as accurate. Paul’s behaviour provided openings for him to use words in his witness for Jesus Christ and will do so also for us today. The great third century AD advocate for the Christian faith, Tertullian, in his Apologeticum, chapter 39, verse 7 stated the clear contrast between the Christians of his day and the majority pagan community amongst whom they lived .: Look," they say, "how they [Christians] love one another" (for they themselves hate one another); "and how they are ready to die for each
It was a time of severe persecution and martyrdom, but the church continued to grow as more people were attracted by its higher ethical principles and its strong emphasis on a high quality community life within the congregation. Never underestimate how effective a consistent Christian lifestyle can be. Even if it provides verbal opportunities for other Christians to witness rather than ourselves, we are building God’s kingdom. A second quality of ambassadors for Jesus Christ is: (b) Our Perseverance (Acts 20:19b) and in the midst of severe testing by the plots of my Jewish opponents Christian service is not all happiness and a stress-free existence this side of heaven. Paul speaks here of ‘tears’ and being in the midst of severe testing by Jewish opponents of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Few people in this country, outside the Armed Forces, can even begin to imagine the kind of violence Paul suffered. Yet he continued serving the Lord year after year with astonishing perseverance. He challenged the Corinthian Christians to display this characteristic in I Corinthians 15:58: Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let other" (for they themselves are readier to kill each other).
nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain. Here was a man who as much as any Christian alive was 2
practising what he was preaching to others in this regard. If Paul were here today I have no doubt that he would ask us how we are getting on in our service for the Lord. Can you, can I, be relied upon, week after week, in serving the Lord? Are we willing to put ourselves out to ensure that His work gets done, and done well? In the good times most people can keep going pretty well, but it is when we are seriously under pressure that the strength of our character is revealed. Only in the power of the Holy Spirit can we keep going for the Lord. In view of the major building project that lies ahead of us, there will be increased demands not only on our finances, but also on our time and concerning our willingness to step forward and take up leadership positions in a variety of areas of church life to ensure that all that needs to be done is accomplished. The work of the gospel is like a farmer planting seed. Our investment, in time, will produce a harvest. We have been blessed in recent years in no small degree by the hard work of a much smaller group of people who remained faithful to the Lord and this church when there was very little sign of blessing, in comparison to what has been experienced in the last decade. It is only as we take a step back and recognise the bigger picture of what we are doing that we get a right perspective on the decisions we are making at the present time. (c) Our Consistency (Acts 20:20-21)20You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you, but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus. This
is a sign of true friendship when people can be totally honest and open with each other when difficult things need to be said. The cheesy grin and superficial friendships that characterise too great a proportion of friendships in our society today are tragic. Everyone needs to be loved and to love; to have friends and to be a friend to other people. The rapid rise of the percentage of our population, albeit currently fairly small, whose friends are ‘Facebook Friends’ or belonging to some other equivalent social network on-line, at the expense of meaningful relationships with living human beings in the real world, is so sad. The Church is not immune from this phenomenon. There are a growing number of virtual churches whose members co-operate exclusively online through their characters in a virtual congregation. We value the internet and the potential it brings in terms of communication opportunities and the provision of vast quantities of information on any conceivable topic, but there is nothing that can replace consistent Christ-like conduct and speech in our churches for strengthening the integrity of relationships between us. I praise God for the positive reports of our church in the wider community in this town but may we never get complacent thinking that there is no room for further improvements in coming days. This side of heaven whether it is preaching from the pulpit, pastoral care, or any of the vast number of other activities carried out under the auspices of this congregation, we have the potential to do ever better. We thank God for Paul’s consistency over many years. May that be equally true of you and me in the years to come in the work of this congregation, for the glory of God. 2. Our Future Mission (Acts 20:22-27) (a)Realistic about the challenges (Acts 20:22-23)
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“And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. There are special times in our lives
when we cannot miss what God is saying to us. It may be something we have resisted doing, but the words of a number of people, or a variety of unexpected circumstances and often God speaking to us through His Word or as we engage in prayer presents a powerful call to us. This was one of those times for Paul. He knew that some serious difficulties would cross His path, but he did not shrink from the challenge. Each of us at times faces health issues, personally or in our families; employment issues; the pain of bereavement; the 3
disappointment of unfulfilled career expectations; and a whole lot more besides, but we declare that God’s grace is sufficient to get us through these difficult times. Paul never entertained any notions of cheap grace or a prosperity gospel that proclaims an easy life free from the trials and tribulations so many Christians around the world have experienced. Jesus made some equally frank comments to His disciples at the Lat Supper. In His concluding words in John 16:33, He declared: I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world. The Church of Jesus Christ is growing at its fastest rate in history since the first century AD, not in areas of great material prosperity but in some of the most difficult and dangerous places on earth. Why? because the gospel of God is good news for the needy. Remember Jesus’ Nazareth manifesto at the start of His ministry in Luke 4:18-19: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.” In a country with economic hardships, with job concerns; with pension problems;
with a whole host of concerns for so many people we have good news that they so desperately need, even if many are not even aware of their need of Him. Many people are searching for meaning and purpose to their lives, but they are not rushing to the churches; the largest proportion of them have never ever been associated with a church and wouldn’t have a clue how to connect with us. This is why we have to be His witnesses in the wider community, knowing that the work will be hard and that the spiritual harvest may take much longer to reap than we would have wished. (b) Resolute in maintaining our priorities (Acts 20:24)24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me— the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. How we start out in our spiritual lives is
important, but it is less so compared to how we finish at the end of our days. Paul’s secret was to grasp the bigger picture. In essence, it is not about me, but all about Him. This truth releases us from taking all the pressures onto ourselves and contains a recognition that what I am doing is part of something far bigger than I ever imagined; for a Lord and Saviour who is greater than I have ever grasped; Paul wanted to keep his eyes fixed on Jesus for the remaining weeks, months, or as it turned out years of life left to him, at the time of this address to the Ephesian elders. Shortly before the end of his life, in his last letter to Timothy the pastor of that church, Paul wrote: For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time for my departure is near. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing (II Timothy 4:6-8). It is not a question of whether you are young or old; or whether
you think you have decades to live or a much lesser timescale, are you, like Paul able to say: my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (c) Conscious of the shortness of time (Acts 20:25-27) 25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of any of you. 27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. We live in time, in the light of eternity. There is a heaven to gain and a hell
to shun. There are people even in this wonderful community who give no thought to their eternal destiny. There are even people attending places of worship, and some even in pulpits, who have made no provision for eternity. In a society where we take insurance for an endless series of possible events, why is it so many fail to plan and prepare for the biggest day of their lives when they will enter eternity? I am thrilled that this church agreed to go ahead with our building project, not primarily for our comfort, but to enable many more people in this community to come through these doors for a range of activities through which they will experience something of the love of God as they interact with His people here. There will be 4
great inconvenience for that time when we are out of the building, but in the coming days let us keep before us the urgency of our mission of bringing God’s wonderful love and grace to people who need to place their faith and trust in Him. 3. Our Present Message (Acts 20:28-38) In the last part of his message the apostle turns to these relatively young Christians with advice about how they should live in the present and into the future. How best can we serve the Lord? The advice here is applicable to all Christians, but primarily directed in context to people in positions of leadership within the local congregation. Are there people entrusted to your spiritual care and direction? If the answer is yes! then these words apply to you. The fundamental priority, says Paul, that undergirds everything else we may say or do is: (a) Keep watch over yourselves (Acts 20:28) Keep watch over yourselves invest in your own relationship with God. It is right to hold the JOY principle (Jesus first, others second and ourselves last) in ministry, but if we are giving out spiritually and not taking in His Word then eventually we will dry up. A mean farmer, according to the probably apocryphal story, was once alleged to have decided to save costs by reducing his donkey’s food to a few carrots a day. The weeks passed and the donkey was still completing his work which pleased the owner no end. The animal was a bit thinner, but otherwise all was well. There came a day when he began to wonder if costs could be trimmed further and the carrots dispensed with and only water provided for the donkey. Unfortunately the poor animal got weaker and weaker and died, to the surprise of his foolish owner. Are you being mean to yourself? Do you need to pamper yourself with more time for reading God’s Word and prayer? It may currently be Lent, but too many Christians choose by neglect to fast from personal time alone with God in prayer and the study of His Word. Do you need to prioritise over time? Time for God personally but also prioritising time for meeting with His people each Sunday; unless we think it reasonable for God to take time off from listening to our prayers or being available to run His universe for a fortnight! Why do His people act in this way? Watch over yourselves with financial priorities, does God’s Work have first claim on your financial choices? Or do we only give our tithes and offerings if we have enough left at the end of the week or month? In Malachi 3 the prophet brought one of a number of accusations against the Jewish people of God in his day. He wrote: Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty. “But you ask, ‘How are we to return?’ 8 “Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob Me. “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing You?’ “In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—your whole nation— because you are robbing Me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in My house. Test Me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. I thank God
for the increases each year in the offerings in this church, not just because it helps us meet our financial needs, but without it the mission work of this congregation could not take place. I praise the Lord also for the effective tithe of our income that is used to invest in mission work elsewhere in Scotland and overseas in a number of different countries. Keep watch over yourselves; the apostle wrote first, if this is not done everything else will eventually fall apart. The sad scandals that occasionally befall the Christian Church, especially when key leaders dishonour their Lord, is primarily due, in the first instance, to a failure by these people to keep watch over themselves; We will all face trials and temptations to sin, but with the enabling power of the Holy Spirit we can be victorious every time. This does not mean we are, but potentially in Christ we can. Listen to these encouraging words from Paul in I Corinthians 10:16: No temptation [or test] has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. We do fail and need to repent of our sins, but we need not fail through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, there is 5
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. However, this is only a reality
if through the enabling power of the Spirit we keep watch over ourselves. (b) Keep watch over all the flock (Acts 20:28) and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He bought with His own blood. I love sheep and lambs and spent many hours on the farm on which I grew up seeking to assist in caring for them, especially the young lambs. Frequently the people of God are called His flock and our Lord took up the Old Testament image of God the Father as the shepherd of His people (many references, for example, Ezekiel 34) and described Himself as the Good Shepherd (John 10), who provides the best possible care for His flock. These words are very apt for myself as a pastor, for the deacons and pastoral team members; but let it not stop there; leaders of various children’s and youth organisations linked to the church have the blessing of teaching and working with several hundred people; together with those who work with older people both through meetings in the church and residential home services each month. When sheep on a farm have problems they rarely have the ability to solve them on their own. The walk round in circles getting nowhere or stand still frozen with fear, or simply get lost, if the problem has been how to return to a field from which they had escaped through a hole in the fence. This pastoral care is a privilege that can be exercised by all God’s people towards others. We don’t need a title or an office or a label to share God’s love in different practical ways. (c) Guard against wolves (Acts 20:29) 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. A near-neighbour to our farm kept a number of dangerous dogs. One morning my dad who was rather deaf heard some awful cries from his flock of sheep. He went to the fields where his sheep had been kept and saw a brutal sight. One of these dogs had attacked a number of the sheep. Some had already died from their injuries; others would do so later; the dog ran off but the shepherd saved the flock from further attacks. Getting the dog’s owner to admit liability and put down that dangerous animal was another matter altogether. Dangerous animals or even humans who cause death or physical injury to others are easily dealt with, but those who cause spiritual harm are much harder to call to account. This passage warns that there will be religious leaders who deny the truth of God’s Word, from outside mainstream Christian Churches, who claim to believe the Bible, but whose religious input can only cause harm rather than good amongst the people of God. Be on your guard against such people says Paul. (d) Guard against deceivers (Acts 20:30-31) 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears. Much more serious are
Christian leaders from within the Church who deny the truth of God’s Word. When someone in a pulpit says: the Bible says this –but I disagree, be on your guard! The damage to the witness of the Christian Church in the last hundred and forty years in Scotland through liberal theological views and denial of the authority of God’s Word is very serious. Watch carefully and don’t believe all you hear or read in Christian (or other) books. Test it by God’s Word. Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, also addressed this issue: “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. The worst punishments on the Day of
Judgement will be meted out to those who set themselves up as Church leaders and led the people of God astray by their false teaching on foundational issues. Never say it cannot happen here. Be vigilant all the time is what matters. Like the Berean Christians (see Acts 17:11) may we always test by the Scriptures whatever we hear proclaimed as God’s Word. 6
(e) Maintaining our principles (Acts 20:32-38) 32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ” 36 When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship. We thank God for those whose earthly witness has been completed. However, will
you, will I, complete my service on earth with the same passion and dedication as a good ambassador of Jesus Christ? May He help us to do that for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
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Acts 21:1-16 The courage to make the right choices Introduction Some things in life are easy to choose. For the average day at school or work or whatever you would typically do on a routine day our choice of clothing or what we might eat for breakfast is easily taken care of. Yet other decisions are much more challenging. On Scott’s famous Antarctic expedition in horrific weather during March 1912, Captain Oates decision to sacrifice himself led to his bravery being acknowledged by many. His last words: ‘I am just going outside and may be some time’ are justly famous. Sadly his three companions died in their tent eleven miles short of their destination. Much more recently, a decade ago, a similar act of heroism took place in the USA. Gareth Griffiths, aged 27, was on his first sky-dive over Umatilla, Florida in June 1997. His life was saved by his American instructor after their chutes failed to open properly. The pair jumped linked together in tandem, and as they fell, the instructor Michael Costello (aged 42) turned his body to hit the ground first, breaking Gareth's fall. The heroic instructor died. Incredibly, Gareth escaped with his life. Last night from his hospital bed, Gareth said: "All I can remember was we pulled the ripcord for the main chute and it didn’t open properly. It was just streaming behind. "When we pulled the reserve chute it didn't open fully - but both of them must have helped slow us down."The next thing I remember was the sensation of the ground rushing up to meet us really quickly." Housewife Chris Rader was first on the scene. As Gareth lay moaning on the ground, still strapped to the dead instructor, he said to her: "I think I've been in an accident." Chris said: "Gareth was in so much pain but tried so hard to be brave, I nearly wept. He had no idea what he had been through." She knelt beside him, holding him and stroking his forehead. Management consultant Gareth suffered severe spinal injuries and underwent a seven-hour operation. Surgeons believed that he would not be paralysed. He was, though, unaware of Michael's heroic sacrifice. His twin brother David said: "He is not strong enough at the moment to cope with that shock. He will be devastated. "Gareth's instructor gave his life to save him. It must have taken extraordinary presence of mind and courage to manoeuvre himself in that short space of time." The chute was supposed to open at 5,000ft but horrified witnesses said it jammed and they spiralled out of control, crashing into a field. Michael's friend Wilma Godwin, owner of the Paragators sky-diving club, said: "Michael knew exactly what he was doing. He would have done that, he was that type of guy. "He must have landed on his back because he was doing all he could for Gareth." Michael's sister-in-law Kathy Gill said: "He died a hero. He knew there was nothing he could do so he tried to save his student's life." Mortgage banker Michael, who was married, had 18 years' experience and had made 8,000 jumps - 3,000 in tandem. [Orlando Sentinel date unknown] What these two incidents have in common is a clear and courageous
decision of two brave men to sacrifice themselves for others. In Acts 21:1-14 there is a similar picture of courage and conviction. Here the apostle Paul was well aware that by continuing his trip to Jerusalem it might cost him his life. However, no person or circumstance could persuade him to change course. After all he probably reasoned that attempts on his life had taken place on several occasions since he trusted the Lord and, as a result, his death would only occur when God permitted this to take place. Acts 21:1-14 gives us some insights into the life and motivation of the apostle to the Gentiles. It is a reminder that we need a similar focus to accomplish the goals God has placed before us in our generation. 1. The Attitude of Paul’s heart (Acts 21:13) I am ready…to die…for …Jesus How would you describe your own commitment to following Jesus? Paul appreciated the love of these believers mentioned in this chapter and their concerns for his wellbeing, but his determination to continue following the pathway he believed God had laid before him was absolute. Self-preservation is not on the agenda of the man or woman of God who puts Him first. Jesus is Lord and we place our lives in His hands. In a world where people of principle are in short supply we must not waver in standing firm for Jesus Christ. Paul, in Acts 21:13, declared: Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem … These are not simply pious words, but ones grounded in his experience of living day by day with the very real possibility of dying 1
for his faith. He was a follower of the Lord who said in Mark 8:34-37: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. 35 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? All but one of the eleven disciples who led the Christian Church from the day
of Pentecost were martyred for their faith. Until the fourth century AD there were periodic killing sprees of Christians by various Roman Emperors, but the Church continued to grow. Martin Luther King, the great American Baptist civil rights leader, in a speech in Detroit Michigan on 23 June 1963 said: ‘I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.’ In other words, that the life of such a person lacks the depth that can give us a real sense of meaning and purpose. A willingness to stand firm until death is the repeated pattern of Christian history. Tertullian, the great Tunisian Christian, in 197AD, made a famous statement: ‘the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church’ (Tertullian, Apologeticus, Chapter 50). At my home church in England, until a new pastor introduced new words in the early 1990s, candidates who had been baptised emerged from the water hearing words from Revelation 2:10: Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945), the great German Christian and opponent of Hitler, who was hanged in Flossenburg concentration camp on 9 April 1945, days before its liberation, declared: To endure the cross is not a tragedy; it is the suffering which is the fruit of an exclusive allegiance to Jesus Christ. When it comes, it is not an accident, but a necessity. … the suffering which is an essential part of the specifically Christian life. It is not suffering per se but suffering-and-rejection, and not rejection for any cause of conviction of our own, but rejection for the sake of Christ. If our Christianity has ceased to be serious about discipleship, if we have watered down the gospel into emotional uplift which makes no costly demands and which fails to distinguish between natural and Christian existence, then we cannot help regarding the cross as an ordinary everyday calamity… We have then forgotten that the cross means rejection and shame as well as suffering. [D. Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship]. His brother-in-law and best friend, Gerhard Liebholtz, recorded these words about Bonhoeffer’s time in that evil camp: When war seemed inevitable, Bonhoeffer’s friends abroad wanted him to leave Germany to save his life, for he was unalterably opposed to serving in the German army in an aggressive war.... In June 1939, American friends got him out of Germany. But soon he felt that he could not stay there, but that he had to return to his country. When he came to England on his return from the United States, his friends quickly realized that Bonhoeffer’s heart belonged to his oppressed and persecuted fellow Christians in Germany and that he would not desert them at a time when they needed him most.“I shall have no right,” Bonhoeffer wrote to Reinhold Niebuhr before leaving America, “to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people."... Bonhoeffer never regretted this decision, not even in prison, where he wrote in later years: “I am sure of God’s hand and guidance... You must never doubt that I am thankful and glad to go the way which I am being led. My past life is abundantly full of God’s mercy, and, above all sin, stands the forgiving love of the Crucified.”Bonhoeffer (together with his sister Christel and her husband, Hans von Dohnanyi) was arrested by the Gestapo in the house of his parents on April 5th, 1943. In prison and concentration camps, Bonhoeffer greatly inspired by his indomitable courage, his unselfishness and his goodness, all those who came in contact with him. He even inspired his guards with respect, some of whom became so much attached to him that they smuggled out of prison his papers and poems written there, and apologized to him for having to lock his door after the round in the courtyard. His own concern in prison was to get permission to minister to the sick and to his fellow prisoners, and his ability to comfort the anxious and depressed was amazing
We either fear God or death. When we are able to commit our lives fully into His hands then we can truly acknowledge that the future is in His hands. Paul had already told the Church at Ephesus, in Acts 20:22-24, that he was aware of the real possibility of suffering and death awaited him in Jerusalem, yet like His Lord and Saviour earlier he insisted on continuing the work God had given him to do. Luke recorded these words of Paul: “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what [www.crossroad.to/Persecution/Bonhoeffer.html]
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will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace (Acts 20:22-24). What is your principal aim in life for the remaining days,
weeks, months or years that the Lord has reserved for you and for me? In our beautiful and safe town we do not face the horrendous difficulties many of our brothers and sisters face over seas. However, we like them are equally called to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace (Acts 20:24). Can He count on you and on me in this task? 2. The Authority in Paul’s life (Acts 21:13) for the name of the Lord Jesus. The secret of Paul’s determination and success in ministry was not primarily because he was stubborn and unwilling to ever concede defeat, even if that was probably true! It was in his loyalty to the Lord who loved him and had laid down His life to save him. A few years later from prison, the great apostle explained his motivation in a letter to Christians in Philippi: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me (Philippians 1:21-26). Life is not ultimately about ‘me’ it is about
‘Him’ for every Christian. When we grasp this liberating truth it enables some Christians to accomplish some remarkable feats of service for their Lord. For example, American Baptist missionary Adoniram Judson (1788-1850) and his wife Ann who endured such persecution for their faith from the Buddhist authorities, yet remained faithful to Jesus. The law of the country, in the early nineteenth century, was capital punishment for anyone who converted to Christianity. No wonder it took them twelve years to see eighteen people come to faith in Christ. The result of such a dedicated witness was a Christian Church that was planted ‘in good fertile soil’ that is today four million strong, primarily in the north of that land, despite the routine rape and murder of believers by Government soldiers, together with the destruction of their homes, churches and places of work. [J. Mandryk, Operation World, 7th ed. 2010, pp. 609-613) Remarkably it is growing currently at around 2.5% per annum. How do you think we would fare in evangelism if the consequences for conversion were as tough in our land? It is sobering to reflect the conditions under which the Church of Jesus Christ is growing around the world. What was it about Jesus that had led Paul to commit his life to serve in this way? (a) Because of what Jesus had done (Romans 5:7-8) Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. The innocent dying in the
place of the guilty; the deserving One in the place of undeserving humanity; in your place and mine; our desire to live the best we can for Him comes from the fact that we should have been punished for our sin, but Jesus hung there in our place. The agonies He endured were rightly ours, but He bore them as our substitute. Notice the amazing prophetic words of Isaiah 53:4-5: Surely He took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered Him punished by God, stricken by Him, and afflicted. 5 But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him and by His wounds we are healed.
What could be a clearer statement of the suffering of the Messiah than these words from Isaiah, more than 700 years before the birth of Jesus? It is often said that the Jews up to the time of Jesus never grasped the notion of a suffering Messiah. This is untrue as a number of 3
Jewish commentaries on the passage indicate not only knowledge about, but also acceptance of this interpretation. In the famous Jewish collection of Bible interpretations, the Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 98b records these words: The Rabbis said: His name is "the leper scholar," as it is written, Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him a leper, smitten of God, and afflicted. [Isaiah 53:4-- Soncino Talmud edition.] A leper in that era was someone regarded with horror and put out of civil society. People did not touch them or go near them, even relatives leaving food would be very fearful of approaching a leper in case they also caught the dreaded disease. The only way they could express absolute revulsion of the suffering of the Messiah was to describe him as being like a leper. Many more Jewish scholars in the medieval era acknowledged this interpretation, but were reluctant to accept that the Messiah had come for obvious reasons! In a section of one of his letters that read like a personal testimony, Paul uttered these wonderful words: I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me (Galatians 2:20). (b) Because of what He is doing and will do (i) His present provision (I John 2:1-2) My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. What a wonderful assurance about His present
work. God’s grace must never be abused, but provision is made for forgiveness and restoration to fellowship with our heavenly Father when we fail. The person who truly knows Jesus and has been forgiven will not want to live without reference to Jesus’ plans for their lives; by contrast they will want to experience the quality life He has purposed for us. Paul, in Romans 6:1-4, put it this way: What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. We are never on our own
as Christians, even though sometimes it may feel that way. Some fearful Italian Christians were encouraged with these words in Hebrews 13:5-6: God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Why should you and I share the same confidence as
Paul? Because the Lord is the same yesterday, today and for ever (Hebrews 13:8); At times the Christian faith is hard and we struggle and must be honest about that. No-one will sail through life without any troubles or hardship, but His grace will be sufficient for all our needs our needs in this life. Paul expressed it so succinctly in Philippians 4:19-20: And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. 20 To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen. This is good news in itself, but the best is yet to come! (ii) His future provision (Hebrews 9:27-28) Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him. Christ has
died, Christ has risen and Christ is coming again, hallelujah! This is the biggest encouragement to realise that the final outcome of our salvation and that of the whole created order is guaranteed. Romans 8:18-21: I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated 4
from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. What a
glorious future in prospect! Therefore, in the light of such a glorious future, let us take heed of the words of I John 3:2-3: Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 All who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure.
3. The Acknowledgement of Paul’s stance (Acts 21:1-14) When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” The impartiality
of Luke’s position as a historian slips on occasions as he remembers vividly being present at this meeting. We gave up Paul was not a man easily persuaded by others to change his course. The journey from Ephesus to Jerusalem had a number of stops along the way (a) The advice from Christians in Tyre (Acts 21:1-6) After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. 2 We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. 4 We sought out the disciples there and stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 When it was time to leave, we left and continued on our way. All of them, including wives and children, accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. 6 After saying goodbye to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home. These are difficult words to interpret. After all the Holy Spirit had clearly revealed to
these believers what would happen to Paul in Jerusalem, and on that basis they had urged him not to continue his journey. We too when facing choices receive advice from family members; from friends and from fellow church members and at times from other people as well. It is not easy, on some occasions, knowing how to proceed with the course of action open to us. The majority view is not always correct. Paul would have remembered the occasion in his home church in Antioch (Galatians 2:11-21) when he stood alone at a church meeting and rebuked Peter, Barnabas and other people of mature faith who had lost sight of the necessity of Jews and Gentiles being one in Christ and sharing table fellowship with one another. On this occasion the apostle respectfully heard the advice of fellow Christians and continued on his journey. Only God knows who was right that day, but each of us is accountable to one another, but supremely to God. He and we must do that which, with a clear conscience, we believe the Lord would have us do. Yet alongside it each of us must have the humility, when required, to admit it when we make mistakes. (b) The advice from Agabus (Acts 21:7-11)7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day. 8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied. 10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul’s belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.’” In line with the words from the Christians in
Tyre, what Agabus declared was true. He did not tell Paul how to respond to his message, at least in the account before us, but it was a clear confirmation that a defining moment in Paul’s ministry lay before him. However, Paul, like Jesus (for example, in Mark 8:31; 9:31; 10:33-34), did not allow potential suffering or even death to deflect him from making the choices he believed to be right. Agabus was also a good Christian in being willing to provide possibly unwelcome news to someone he greatly respected. Paul received this news with apparent humility recognising the love of a Christian brother towards him. There will be times for all of us when we will need to speak to a fellow Christian about a matter we would rather avoid, but out of love for God, and hopefully out of love for them also, we will 5
persevere and address the issue in question. When we have demonstrated to someone that we love them we have earned the right to seek to help them address more difficult issues. Pastoral care which is deeply practical sadly sometimes includes church discipline where a situation has become fairly serious, but in each case action must only be taken out of genuine love for the wellbeing of that brother or sister. (c) The advice from Christians in Caesarea (Acts 21:12-16)12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, “Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.” 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, “The Lord’s will be done.” After this, we started on our way up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples. Notice the consistency of the
advice to the apostle from his fellow believers; they were all thinking about what was best for him. This was real Christian love in action. However, the apostle was equally motivated by a selfless motive; in this case the calling he believed had been entrusted to him by God. When life is at its toughest only a sense of divine calling can get us through. It is not just a challenge for a previous century, but in our own as well. On the day I began writing this sermon, 2 March 2011, courageous Pakistani Christian politician, Shahbaz Bhatti, was murdered for standing firm for his principles. He had been threatened with death on many occasions, but would not be deflected from standing firm in defence of what he believed. We thank God for such people. In our community we may never have to pay such a terrible price for standing firm for our faith. However, may we all resolve to honour the Lord each day of our lives. May each of us be able to say with Paul: I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day
(II Timothy 1:12), Amen.
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Matthew 25:31-46 What Jesus expects from us at the Final Judgement Introduction These verses from Matthew’s Gospel are part parable, part prophecy and part eschatological discourse (teaching about the end of the world). The outward form of the account follows on from the story about wise and foolish young girls scheduled to accompany a bride to her wedding feast and the employees of an employer absent for some time who entrusts his wealth to their care in his absence; all three point beyond the story format to challenge the followers of Jesus to be ready for His unexpected coming; to prepare for His unannounced return, that is in the sense that none of us knows even the approximate date of His return; The message is set in a rural scene in which a shepherd gathers his flock of sheep and goats together and separates them for the night. The sheep in that context were happy to sleep outside with their thicker woolly coats, whereas the goals less well insulated against the cooler air preferred to have a more sheltered place to sleep. However, it needs to be noted that sheep and goats in Israel in Jesus’ day were very similar in appearance. To an outsider it was not easy to tell them apart. This is not the case with sheep and goats in the United Kingdom today. The point of this choice of animals is deliberate. We may not know someone else’s spiritual state but Jesus does and on the Day of Judgement He will not make any mistakes. He knows those who are His and those who have consciously turned their backs on Him. On that day He will confirm the choices made in this life to follow or to turn away from Him. The teaching of Jesus in this passage not only makes a clear distinction between the saved and the lost, it also draws attention to the rewarding of the saved for their honouring of Jesus in their daily lives. This is a reward unsought and unexpected. It is not a parable teaching salvation by works, but a vivid warning that one day we will stand before King Jesus to give an account of our lives here on earth, good or bad, so be ready to account then for the life we are now living on earth. 1. The lesson Jesus wants to explain (Matthew 25:31-33) (a)Who is the Son of Man? (Daniel 7:13-14) In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshipped Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. In popular Christian thought it is
often assumed that there are two biblical terms ‘Son of God’ and ‘Son of Man’, that point to Jesus’ deity and humanity respectively. Although this perception is understandable it is not quite accurate. The title ‘Son of Man’ was deliberately chosen by Jesus because it was not in common usage in His day and therefore less likely to have been misunderstood and misused by the popular teaching of the Pharisees that the coming Messiah would be a military conqueror who would defeat the Romans and set up another great Jewish kingdom on earth, hopefully in their lifetime. He had to be very careful in speaking to people about being ‘the Messiah’ or ‘the Saviour’ because so many of them viewed these terms in a purely earthly way and would have reinterpreted His words to fit in with their agenda, rather than theirs with His. Jesus had a totally different conviction about the nature of His calling as the Servant of the Lord who had come to suffer and die as a substitute for sinners (in line with the prophetic message of Isaiah 52:13-53:12); only in His second and final coming would He come with power and authority to rule over the nations. This title ‘Son of Man’ was taken from Daniel 7 and refers to someone who had the right to enter the immediate presence of the Ancient of Days (God the Father), something no ordinary human being could entertain. In Exodus 33 1
at the height of his blessing by God, there is a record of an extraordinary encounter with God: And the Lord said to Moses, I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name. 18 Then Moses said, now show me Your glory. 19 And the Lord said, I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. 20 But, He said, you cannot see My face, for no-one may see Me and live. 21 Then the Lord said, There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. 22 When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Jesus came in humility to live among us. This is put so clearly in Mark 10:45 : For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. The cost of that obedience to His
heavenly Father is revealed so clearly in the prophecy of Isaiah, over 700 years before Jesus.
3
He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. 4Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered Him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted. 5But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. 6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Was this an accident or did something go seriously wrong with god’s plan for Jesus’ life? No! Isaiah 53:10-11 states with confidence: Yet it was the Lord's will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the Lord makes His life a guilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand. 11 After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied; by His knowledge My righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. This self-designation of Jesus as the Son of Man is
a way of stopping the people of His day to stop and ask what does He mean by that? It would lead to a great many people coming to place their faith in Him once His resurrection was confirmed as a glorious fact of history! (b) Why is He coming? (Matthew 25:31-33) 31 When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, He will sit on His throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on His right and the goats on His left. His coming is to judge the nations. He came the first time in humility as the servant-Messiah; His return will be in power and majesty as the King of kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16). He will give to each person the due reward or punishment for the life here on earth. Earthly rulers make mistakes and issue bad judgements on occasions, leading to ‘miscarriages of justice’. King Jesus will make no mistakes as the thoughts and desires of each individual are as visible to Him as information on the pages of a book to us. He will pronounce the eternal destiny of each person, that is, he will confirm the choices already made to follow or reject Him on earth. In Matthew 10:32-33 Jesus declared: Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. 33But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven. Where will you be
spending eternity? We all make travel plans in this life. It would be insane to miss out on the biggest step we need to take, the choice over our eternal destiny. We will only be in heaven when we ‘opt in’ to following the pathway God has chosen for us. None of us will do it perfectly, but God accepts the people who will be in heaven because Jesus was perfect. His perfect righteousness is credited to our account and our sin to His was debited on the cross (II Corinthians 5:21). Are you ready for His coming? If not –is it not the most important thing in all the world for you to put your faith and trust in Jesus?
2. The blessing Jesus expects to provide (Matthew 25:34-40) 2
34
Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave Me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited Me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed Me, I was sick and you looked after Me, I was in prison and you came to visit Me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You something to drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?' 40 The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.' (a)The grounds of their acceptance (Matthew 25:34, 37a) 34Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by My Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world… Then the righteous will answer Him (i) Your inheritance This
is a point so often missed when we read this passage. There are two key words in verse 34 your inheritance. An inheritance is a gift bestowed upon us by someone else, in this case by God the Father. It is a free gift to us, not something we have earned. His free choice to bless us with this extraordinary privilege is an amazing blessing for us. Romans 6:23 states: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. This verse is speaking about our salvation. It is a gift from God, not something we have earned or merit. No-one will have their place in heaven because they have been good enough; instead every human being in heaven, without exception, will be there because Jesus is good enough. When did God plan to give you this gift? prepared for you since the creation of the world - before you were born! If human parents pray for their children’s conversions before they are born; if other parents start saving for their children’s university education before they are born, for example, then such actions only follow on from the planning of our great God and Saviour for His chosen people before they were even conceived in their mother’s wombs. There is nothing you can do to earn it; nothing you can do to loose it. It is a gift of God’s grace –given at the expense of the sacrificial death of our great Lord and Saviour. If salvation was based on our being good enough, as many people believe in the wider community, then it could so easily be lost when we fall into sin. Taking to people in the town who do not attend church, there are a proportion of them whose reason is along the lines of –‘I couldn’t keep it up’, ‘I am not good enough to be in church amongst such good people’ – The reason some ministers fail to proclaim God’s free unmerited grace is out of a genuine concern that people would start living as they liked, rather than seeking to live holy lives pleasing God. Paul did not share their concern, as he made plain in Romans 6:1-4: What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? 2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? 4 We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. God deserves
all the credit for saving us. All we did was willingly reach out and accept it. Jesus in Matthew 11:27 declared: 25 At that time Jesus said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. 26 Yes, Father, for this was Your good pleasure. 27 All things have been committed to Me by my Father. Noone knows the Son except the Father, and no-one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. However, what we need to remember is that God does not have
any obligation to provide you with more than one opportunity to hear His Word and respond to the Gospel invitation. Even to have one opportunity is a privilege not a right. If God treated us as we deserve and allowed each person to go their own way then no human being would enter heaven. The difficult question for the child of God is this: Why would a holy perfect God allow an imperfect sinner like me in to His heaven? It is not why would a loving God allow people to go to the eternal destination they have freely chosen, by rejecting the 3
gospel of Jesus Christ. (ii) the righteous How are we given this status if we could never merit it? II Corinthians 5:21: God made Him (Jesus) who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. This is one of my handful of favourite verses in the Bible. It gives me great joy whenever I read it as I marvel at the amazing grace of God. Jesus on the cross was treated as the sinner, in the place of sinners, so that we might be treated as righteous, as if we possessed in ourselves His perfect standing before the Father. When God looks upon you and me He sees the perfections of Jesus. Because of His extraordinary love for His beloved Son He welcomes you and me with open arms as His sons and daughters into His eternal kingdom. This is what Paul is describing in Galatians 4:4-5: 4 But when the right time came, God sent His Son, born of a woman, subject to the law. 5 God sent Him to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that He could adopt us as His very own children. 6 And because we are His children, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are no longer a slave but God’s own child. And since you are His child, God has made you His heir [New Living Version]. Do these words not thrill your heart as they did the
apostle Paul? I hope they do. You may in human terms be the child of a human commoner, but in spiritual terms you are the son or daughter of the King of Kings! (b) The evidence for their assurance (Matthew 25:40) The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for Me.' Some people can recite accurate theological statements. This is a good thing to know your Bible, but head-knowledge is not enough as James 2:18-19 reminds us: Now someone may argue, “Some people have faith; others have good deeds.” But I say, “How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.” 19 You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. The devil knows the Bible better than any Christian who has ever lived, but he doesn’t
practice it. A person who claims to have faith but never shows any evidence of it in their daily life calls into question their profession of faith. We all have bad days and make mistakes; we all say words we regret and think thoughts that we are glad only God knows besides ourselves! In addition, we all know some people who lead exemplary lives and make no profession of faith at all. However, here Jesus emphases a couple of things here that characterises the righteous people: Firstly, whatever you did… Or in the words of James 2:22: You see, his faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. Secondly, for whom did the righteous people carry out this work for which Jesus honours them on the Day of Judgement? You did for one of the least of these brothers of mine... This is a specific term used by Jesus exclusively of fellow believers. Matthew 12:47-50: Someone told Jesus, “Your mother and your brothers are outside, and they want to speak to You.” 48 Jesus asked, “Who is My mother? Who are My brothers?” 49 Then he pointed to his disciples and said, “Look, these are My mother and brothers. 50 Anyone who does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!” This is not denying that we should help other people as we are able and have an opportunity. Galatians 6:10 reminds us of this fact: Therefore, whenever we have the opportunity, we should do good to everyone—especially to those in the family of faith.
This term, My brothers, was also used of believers after His resurrection in Matthew 28:10: Then Jesus said to them, “Don’t be afraid! Go tell My brothers to leave for Galilee, and they will see Me there.” There is a clear emphasis in the New Testament that the genuine Christian will
show practical evidence of the credibility of their claims to Christian faith. These people honoured in this way by Jesus practised their faith in a natural way and here appear surprised that their service for other Christians was worthy of recognition by the Lord. They showed practical love and care to others because it was the natural thing for them to do, not because they thought I hope God is noticing how good and considerate I am being! Matthew 25:38-39 describes the astonishment of these people to these words of recognition from Jesus: 38 When did we see You a stranger and invite You in, or needing clothes and clothe You? 39 When did we see You sick or in prison and go to visit You?' God is more willing to bless His people 4
than we are ready to receive it. However His blessings may not be in the way we had expected. Have you received Jesus as your Lord and Saviour and entered God’s kingdom by this step of faith? I trust so! To those who profess faith in Christ Jesus wants to ask you and me- how are you demonstrating the reality of your profession in your daily life? Is there evidence of the transforming grace of God at work, that indicates that your profession and your practice of the faith is genuine? (c) The position of those who have never heard of Jesus (Romans 2:12-16) It is also important to note the situation of the people who have never heard of Jesus. Where do they stand on the Day of Judgement? Paul deals with this situation in Romans 2:12-16: All who sin apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who sin under the law will be judged by the law. 13 For it is not those who hear the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but it is those who obey the law who will be declared righteous. 14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) 16 This will take place on the day when God judges people’s secrets through Jesus Christ, as my gospel declares. These people will be judged on how they have responded to the God-given
promptings in their conscience concerning matters of belief and practice. No-one will be refused entry to heaven for failing to believe something, or in some one, of whom they had no knowledge. God will always be just. 3. The punishment Jesus expects to enforce (Matthew 25:41-46) (a)The grounds of their rejection (Matthew 25:41-44) 41Then He will say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave Me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave Me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite Me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe Me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after Me.' 44 They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help You?' There is here a clear contrast in the description of these people in verse 41 with the comparable verse concerning the righteous in verse 34. A place in heaven (25v34) is prepared by God’s sovereign choice of His people, but a place in hell is prepared for the devil and his angels. Here is a clear passage that the Bible does not teach a double predestination. Election is of God working for good in the lives of His people bringing them to faith in Himself through the gracious work of the Holy Spirit, so that we might receive all the wonderful blessings He has in store for us as His children. By contrast, no human being was born to be damned against their will. This is very important to grasp. God is a just God. No-one who calls on the name of the Lord will be rejected. No-one who desires to put their trust in our precious Lord and Saviour will be turned away. Jesus, in John 6:3740, explains this matter clearly: All those the Father gives Me will come to Me, and whoever comes to Me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do My will but to do the will of Him who sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that I shall lose none of all those He has given Me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” What
wonderful and precious words these are from our Lord and Saviour. Notice that these people are not condemned for being murderers, rapists, blasphemers or thieves, or some other obvious acts of sinful conduct. Instead their condemnation is for sins of omission. A person who knows about Jesus and fails to put their faith in Him is by that very act committing the greatest sin of all, by ignoring the sacrifice of the Son of God on Calvary and then failing to live a life of obedience to Christ, the natural outworking of such a faith. Jesus in Matthew 10:32-33 gave a very strong challenge: “Everyone who acknowledges Me publicly here on 5
earth, I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven. 33 But everyone who denies Me here on earth, I will also deny before My Father in heaven (NLV). There are many people, I am sure,
who will state that they intend to become Christians one day, but not yet. They are too busy with work or too concerned about bringing up their families or enjoying some sinful activities too much just now, but one day I will make that commitment to Jesus. That day may never come II Corinthians 6:2 declares: For God says, “At just the right time, I heard you. On the day of salvation, I helped you.” Indeed, the “right time” is now. Today is the day of salvation (NLV). What a tragedy to ‘intend’ to get right with God and to spend eternity regretting a failure to take that step of faith. Have you trusted Jesus? If not don’t put it off –you may never get another opportunity. Saul of Tarsus who thought he was pleasing God by imprisoning and killing the followers of Jesus got a big shock on the road to Damascus. Luke reported this extraordinary incident in Acts 9:3-6: As he was approaching Damascus on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul! Saul! Why are you persecuting Me?” 5 “Who are you, lord?” Saul asked. And the voice replied, “I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting! 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” (NLV) This is an extraordinary statement that has serious implications
concerning the way Christians relate to one another, even apart from how those outside the faith treat us. Jesus is saying: speak to your brother and sister in Christ as you would speak to Me. In your conduct act towards your brother and sister as if it was Me physically the recipient of your actions. These people whom Jesus will reject on that day, may have used some right words, but their actions revealed that they were not genuine followers of Jesus. This interpretation of Jesus’ words is consistent with His teaching in Matthew 7:21-23: 21 “Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter. 22 On judgment day many will say to Me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in Your name and cast out demons in Your name and performed many miracles in Your name.’ 23 But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from Me, you who break God’s laws.’(NLV) These are, to my mind, the most solemn words of all in the Scriptures, and
spoken by our Lord Himself. (b) The consequences of their action (Matthew 25:45-46)45 He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for Me.' 46 Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life. These words are in line with the same emphasis from the Old Testament. Daniel 12:2 states: Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt. 3 Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever. The time of the experience of bliss or perdition is the same. It lasts
forever. There are some Christians who teach that after a period of time in hell the wicked are annihilated by God. These two verses are abundantly clear and come from the lips of our Lord, who will be the judge on that day. Where are you currently heading if you were to die tonight? This is the most important matter you can ever address. May each one of us put our faith and trust in Jesus and receive eternal life, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
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Psalm 22:1-21 The Suffering Saviour Introduction Aishtan Shakarian is a seventy-five year old woman who lives in the small village of Ksani, sixty kilometres from the Georgian capital Tiblisi. To earn a meagre income she scavenges for scrap metal with her shovel. On this particular day, 28 March 2011, she was thrusting her spade into the ground and located a fibre-optic backbone cable. Expecting there to be some copper inside the casing she decided to cut off a length of the cable to strip out the copper. However, this was no ordinary cable. It was an international cable that connected the southern Caucasus to Europe. Very quickly the vibrations on the cable were recorded at a control room in Tiblisi and police were dispatched to arrest the person who was interfering with the cable. This was a not infrequent occurrence in Georgia. She was arrested on the spot and admitted her offence. However, given her age and deep poverty, she would have difficulty paying the fine imposed for this offence; the courts would be reluctant to impose the alternative sentence of a year in prison and even some time working in community service might pose serious problems for her. This elderly lady thought her actions would not affect other people, nobody would notice! For twelve hours she took the whole of Armenia off the internet, together with a lesser time for many people in Georgia and caused service interruptions in Azerbaijan [The Wall Street Journal, Fri-Sun, 8-10 April 2011]. ‘No-one is an island, entire of itself…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee’ [John Donne, poet 1572-1631]. In our Western culture
over the last few centuries we have focussed to much on the individual and their rights at the expense of our responsibilities to other people in our families and the wider community. We may never do what Aishtan Shakarian did, but the mindset that I can do what I like it won’t affect other people is deeply engrained in us all and takes a conscious decision to live in Godhonouring way that causes us to think of needs of other people as well as our own. No-one more than Jesus exemplified the way we ought to live. In John 10 He is described as the good shepherd because He lays down His life for the sheep. In Hebrews 13:20 He is described as the great shepherd of the sheep… brought back from the dead…in order to equip you with everything good for doing His [Father’s]will. In I Peter 5:4 Jesus is described as the Chief Shepherd who is coming again to reward and honour those of His flock who have served Him faithfully during their earthly lives. Peter wrote: And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away . This progression from the suffering servant of God, to the resurrected Lord and then the coming king is also seen in the Old Testament in Psalms 22 to 24. Psalm 22 is the Psalm of the dying shepherd revealing the words on which Jesus meditated on the cross prior to His death and the familiar words by which He cried out from the cross to God. Psalm 23 is the Psalm of the living, resurrected shepherd who guides His people throughout their lives on earth and then invites us to share His eternal presence, life in all its fullness beyond the grave. Psalm 24 is the Psalm of the coming triumphant King of Glory welcomed by His subjects when He comes to reign in glory. Unlike most other Psalms which are based on the experiences of the writers this one is outside the experience of not only David, its author, but that of any other human being than Jesus Himself. David wrote these Psalms approximately 1000 years before Jesus’ birth at Bethlehem. It was not a lucky guess or great poetic imagination, but divine inspiration that led to the composition of these lines. Peter, at the start of the Christian Church, on the Day of Pentecost, said this of the author of this Psalm: 29Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here to this day. 30 But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. 31 1
Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that He was not abandoned to the grave, nor did His body see decay (Acts 2: 29-31). Peter for the rest of his days was amazed that
God could give in such detail a series of events in Jesus’ life so far ahead of time. (I Peter 1:10-11: Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It is appropriate for you and me to ask what should my response be to the
God who has gone to such lengths in providing salvation for me, through the sacrifice of His one and only son on the cross, 2,000 years ago? 1. The New Testament connection to Psalm 22 A The three hours of light (9am-12 noon) On the day that Jesus died, He had been the victim of a series of show trials before Pilate and Herod, following the equally dubious legal process by which charges were brought against Him by Caiaphas and the other leading religious officials in the Jewish faith in Jerusalem. However, as early as nine o’clock He, together with two convicted bandits, was visible outside the city walls of Jerusalem hanging on three crosses. It is instructive to ask who or what was Jesus thinking about during that awful day? All the indicators we have in the biblical text show, remarkably, that between nine and twelve noon He was thinking about the needs of other people, rather than His own. For whom did He express His concern? (a) The Women of Jerusalem (Luke 23:27-31) 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' 30 Then 'they will say to the mountains, Fall on us! and to the hills Cover us!' 31For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry? This is not the first time Jesus envisaged the slaughter of the Jewish-Roman war of 66-70AD when horrific things took place in Jerusalem. In Luke 19:41-44 we have the record of Jesus’ grief re the people of that city –in this case on the previous Sunday, Palm Sunday. As He approached Jerusalem and saw the city, He wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.” The compassion of Jesus was so evident
to all kinds of people in the Gospels. It is a model for us in our love for people as well. (b) The Soldiers who put Him on the cross (Luke 23:34) Jesus said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing. And they divided up his clothes by casting lots. His concerns were also directed towards specific people who interacted with Him, in this case the soldiers who physically put Him on the cross. Instead of the usual curses and abuse it was incredible love and compassion to men who were just ‘doing their job’, a brutal and violent one. (c) The Criminal on the cross next to Him (Luke 23:39-43) 39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: Aren't you the Christ? Save yourself and us! 40 But the other criminal rebuked him. Don't you fear God, he said, since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong. 42 Then he said, Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. 43 Jesus answered him, I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise. Here was a man from Barabbas’ gang of violent
criminals who deserved his punishment. This was a justified execution along with his colleague on the other side of Jesus. Neither of these men deserved any sympathy. One man continued a bitter and twisted man to the end, but the other, seeing a glimpse of who Jesus is, begged for forgiveness and mercy. Jesus forgave his sins and assured the man that salvation 2
is a free gift of grace, available to all, the moment we reach out by faith and receive it. Have you accepted this gift from Jesus? (d) His mother Mary (John 19:25-27) Near the cross of Jesus stood His mother, His mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw His mother there, and the disciple whom He loved standing near by, He said to His mother, Dear woman, here is your son, 27 and to the disciple, Here is your mother. From that time on, this disciple took her into his home.
Another person for whom He showed great love was His mother Mary. He entrusted her to the care of His closest disciple, and her nephew, John. What a tragedy today when people who have no excuse fail to love and maintain a relationship with their elderly parents, yet Jesus in a time of extreme pain and anguish wanted to ensure that His mother was taken care of. B The three hours of darkness (12 noon to 3pm) Yet for the last three hours when His sufferings were at their most intense as our substitute and sin bearer God the Father covered that place in thick darkness when it ought to have been bright daylight. Yet the agonies of the Son of God were hidden from view at that time. The Gospels record His words and indicate a glimpse into some of His thoughts at that time which are closely linked to Psalm 22, the Psalm on which He was meditating, at least for part of those hours. This is most apparent in: (a) The Cry of Agony (Mark 15:34) And at the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?— which means, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? These are the opening words of Psalm 22; and in this passage it describes the agonies of crucifixion, a form of execution not invented for 500 years after this Psalm was composed. (b) The Cry of Thirst (John 19:28) 28 Later, knowing that all was now completed, and so that the Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, I am thirsty. 29 A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus' lips.
Another Psalm which follows the same pattern as Psalm 22 is Psalm 69. The first part of the Psalm describes suffering (Psalm 69:1-29), followed by victory and triumph (Psalm 69: 3036). It is the source of the Scripture to which Jesus referred when He cried out I am thirsty. Psalm 69:21 states: They put gall in my food and gave me vinegar for my thirst. Gall served as a kind of anaesthetic to dull pain and was often given to people hanging on crosses. The wine vinegar was close to the standard drink of the day that ordinary people had with their meals. From our modern perspective it is not a drink of choice, but it was what was available for Jesus at the time (c) The Cry of Victory (John 19:30) When He had received the drink, Jesus said, It is finished. With that, He bowed His head and gave up His spirit. What is most significant is that the last public declaration from Jesus, It is finished (tetelestai) is from the last verse of Psalm 22 where our English versions usually translate it He (God) has done it, but as there is no object for the verb in the original Hebrew it can equally be translated It is finished. In this message I want to briefly touch on the first part of Psalm 22 that covers the Messiah’s grief. 2. The Messiah’s Grief (Psalm 22:1-21) There is an alternating pattern in this section of the suffering of Jesus alternately described next to statement of confidence in God, or prayer to God. We are treading on holy ground here and can make but the briefest of comments on the intense agonies of the Son of God dying for us on Calvary, but it serves as a reminder to us when we go through the dark days of ill-health, bereavement, the loss of employment or breakdown of relationships or whatever difficult times you have faced or are facing, that the One who takes our prayers to the Father understands the difficulties we are going through. He knows what it is to suffer unspeakable agonies; He understands the sense of utter weakness when our bodies are no longer under our own control. Yet at another level His most painful trial was the separation from His Father, 3
with whom He had enjoyed perfect communion throughout eternity past. The agony of complete loneliness for the first time in His life was the cause of His cry, uttering the opening words of Psalm 22. (a)The Cry (22:1-2) My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from my cries of anguish? 2 My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, but I find no rest. The
silence of God in our dark days and trials has troubled many a believer down the centuries. Jesus has been there on the cross. It was not that Jesus simply felt forsaken, He was deliberately forsaken by the Father, because He was hanging there in our place, taking the punishment we deserve for our sins. God the Father had never loved Him more than when He was on the cross, but treated Him as if He was the sinner, punishing Him in our place. We could never be good enough to atone for our sin. Jesus willingly went to the cross out of love for His people in each generation who by grace would receive the gift of salvation purchased by His sacrifice. ‘There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin. He only could unlock the gate of heaven and let us in’ –wrote hymn-writer C F Alexander (CMP674There is a green hill far away). The details of the separation within the Trinity we will never know nor understand. What does matter is this: have you received the gift of salvation provided by Jesus’ death on the cross. That is your responsibility and mine –we will have no excuse when we stand before God on judgement day if we have not accepted this gift purchased for us in Jesus. (b) The Plea (22:3-5) 3
Yet You are enthroned as the Holy One; You are the one Israel praises. 4 In You our ancestors put their trust; they trusted and You delivered them. 5 To You they cried out and were saved; in You they trusted and were not put to shame. In the midst of His very real agonies Jesus pleads the biblical
promises of past deliverances and answered prayers for the people of God. If You have been faithful in the past (assumed), then please help me in the present. This is a principle so applicable to us when we are discouraged and low. God does not change. If in the midst of his tears, as he sat in the ruins of Jerusalem, Jeremiah could be assured of the faithfulness of God so can we in our difficulties today. Lamentations 3:22-24 declares: 22Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. 23They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him.
(c) The Adversaries (22:6-8) 6
But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by everyone, despised by the people. 7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads. 8“He trusts in the Lord,” they say, “let the Lord rescue him. Let Him deliver him, since he delights in Him.” Matthew 27:39-44 recorded: 39 Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads 40 and saying, You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, save yourself! Come down from the cross, if you are the Son of God! 41 In the same way the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders mocked him. 42 He saved others, they said, but he can't save himself! He's the King of Israel! Let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God. Let God rescue him now if he wants him, for he said, 'I am the Son of God.' 44 In the same way the robbers who were crucified with him also heaped insults on him. The hatred of the man of peace who declined to support violence as
a means of overthrowing the Roman occupation knew no limits. Jesus knew that the forthcoming revolt would end in total disaster for the nation, but His foolish mockers could not grasp this truth. Little has changed in our world meekness and humility is mocked and despised as weakness and folly. The assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in India, in January 1948, by a group of militant Hindus opposed to his plans for peaceful relations between the religious and ethnic peoples of India is a current reminder that little has changed in our world. There is a price to pay to standing up for truth and maintaining your integrity. In a small proportion of these cases it can cost people their lives. However, the difference is that Jesus 4
voluntarily laid down His life for us. His enemies were totally responsible for their actions, but God brought the greatest possible good out of this situation. (d) The Testimony (22:9-11) 9
Yet You brought me out of the womb; You made me trust in you, even at My mother’s breast. From birth I was cast on You; from My mother’s womb You have been My God. 11 Do not be far from Me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. In the second section of this Psalm (22:310
5) there was a recalling of God’s faithfulness to His people in the past, by implication an assurance that He will assist us in the present time of need. Here the progression in thought leads to personal testimony: You have been My God (22:10). Can you say the same? Has there been a time in your life when you have trusted Jesus as Lord and Saviour? Each of us needs to take this step. It leads to encouragement to seek God’s help once more in the present time of trial. (e) The Adversaries (22:12-13) 12
Many bulls surround Me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle Me. 13 Roaring lions that tear their prey open their mouths wide against Me. Poetic images of the people in power against whom no-one
can resist (in human terms) getting their way. How many countries in the world at the present time are ordinary people suffering unjustly at the hands of oppressive rulers? Gaddafi’s brutal suppression of his people in the city of Misurata is the most prominent story in the news, but numerous other examples could be given. In most cases there are no NATO planes and missiles to assist the victims. Is their case (sometimes yours or mine) hopeless? No! In the short term evil people may appear to triumph. On many occasions the innocent are dead and buried before justice is seen to be done. However, if not righted in this life it will be by God beyond this life. Evil will never ultimately triumph. It will never have the final word. (f) The Suffering (22:14-18) 14
I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted within me. 15 My mouth is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death. 16 Dogs surround me, a pack of villains encircles me; they pierce my hands and my feet. 17 All my bones are on display; people stare and gloat over me. 18 They divide my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment. This is a graphic description of
crucifixion in which the bones of the hands, arms shoulders and pelvis are out of joint (22:14); there is excessive perspiration due to the intense suffering (22:14); the heart is working overtime, strength rapidly exhausted, together with extreme thirst (22:14-15); His feet and hands were pierced with the hungry wild dogs that lived in and around many urban communities of the Roman world hoping to get some flesh to eat from the dying men on the crosses (22:16); the victims could see their bones because they were stripped naked as part of the humiliating punishment of this form of execution (22:17); to add insult to injury the solders threw dice to decide who got the victim’s clothes because ‘he wouldn’t need them again’ (22:18 –see Mark 15:24 for its fulfilment). Crucifixion we need to remember had not been invented at the time David wrote this Psalm. It was also a Roman not a Jewish form of execution. The Roman authorities were both unfamiliar with and disinterested in this prophecy. One thousand years earlier God had inspired David to write this description of Jesus’ death. Does this not make you stop and think about the God who has called you to follow Him? Does it not compel you to respond to the love of the One who died there in your place and mine? No wonder Charles Wesley penned these famous words: ‘And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Saviour’s blood. Died He for me who caused His pain? For me, who Him to death persued? Amazing love! how can it be that Thou, my God, shouldst die for me.’ [C.M.P.33 v1] (g) The Climax (22:19-21) 19
But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me. 20 Deliver me from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. 21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; 5
save me from the horns of the wild oxen. Did God abandon His beloved Son for ever? No it must
have felt like an eternity to Jesus, but it was ‘only’ for a few hours. These verses are the hinge that take the bleak and utter darkness of the earlier part of the Psalm and point to the triumph and confidence in God of the latter part of the Psalm. Verse 19 is an acknowledgement once again that God the Father can grant Him the strength to complete the remaining part of this ordeal. His sense of communion with the Father is being restored. This reminds us that many genuine believers living a life pleasing to God can have times in their lives when they experience the silence of God or a sense of His absence. In the mystery of His will we may never understand why, but in such times we need to plead for strength to remain faithful to God and come through our trials. Verses 20-21 indicate an awareness of the imminent end of this time of trial, though that may not readily be apparent from the NIV text of v21. A better translation of v21 is: Rescue me from the mouths of lions, from the horns of the wild oxen. You have heard Me! ‘This single (Hebrew) word is a cry that greets a last minute deliverance’ (D. Kidner, Psalms,Vol.1, p. 108). Assuming the truth of this insight it points to the moment when Jesus in His spirit knew that His atoning sacrifice in the place of sinners had accomplished the goal of our redemption and reconciliation with God. Hallelujah! Have you benefited from Jesus sacrifice by accepting Him as your Lord and Saviour? Or do you need today to put your faith and trust in Him? I hope each one of us can sing with a full assurance: ‘Long my imprisoned spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature’s night; Thine eye diffused a quickening ray –I woke, the dungeon flamed with light; My chains fell off, my heart was free. I rose, went forth and followed Thee.’ (C.M.P.33 v4) Amen.
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Matthew 28 A Day that changed the world Introduction Am I imagining this or is it real? With both good and bad news all of us at times would have experienced these emotions at some times in our lives. The more significant the news is for us the greater will be the shock we have experienced. The joy of holding your new-born child and the numbness of hearing the news of the death of someone very close to you are the two contrasting emotions experienced very day in thousands of families around the world. The events of the first Easter rank as the most amazing of all. The Lord Jesus Christ was not expected by any of His earthly followers to come back to life on Easter Sunday morning, despite Him telling them on a number of occasions that on the third day after His death He would come back to life. We know the wonderful story. At the time they were totally shellshocked and turned in on themselves. Why? because although as good Jews they believed in the resurrection of the dead when the Messiah comes at the end of the world, no-one seriously expected a resurrection now. Even though Jesus had raised Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:49-56), the Widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-17) and His friend Lazarus from the dead (John 11:1-44), their resuscitation was only temporary as they would die again. Real permanent resurrection was deemed a step too far. We might be tempted to say, but surely they had been with Jesus and seen all His miracles and heard His amazing sermons, how could they not believe? How could they not grasp what He was saying as the world’s greatest teacher? Our list of criticisms of these men and Jesus’ wider circle of followers could easily grow quite lengthy, until we stop to look within our own hearts and minds. We have access to the Word of God and have the New Testament to add to the Bible, the Old Testament, they possessed. We look back in the light of the Day of Pentecost and the miraculous start of the Christian Church; we look back in the light of the bodily resurrection of Jesus; can we honestly say we have always taken God at His word and never had our doubts and fears? When we ask that question we realise that they were people just like you and me. If anything we have less excuse for our doubts and fears because we have so much more information than they had; after all at the start of the Christian Church it was a body of people. Maybe this morning you have come with your doubts or fears? You might be new to church wanting to find out if the extraordinary events of that first Easter can transform your life as it to the first followers of Jesus? or here as a Christian feeling battered and bruised by life’s circumstances and want to renew your faith afresh in the One who gave His life for you on the cross. This passage reveals a variety of responses to the extraordinary events of that day. 1. The dedication of the two Marys (Matthew 28:1-3, 5-10) (a) A Solemn Occasion (Matthew 28:1) After the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. Anyone visiting that place of burial that day did so to pay their last respects; and in accordance with local customs took spices to anoint the body of their dead loved one before the tomb would be left undisturbed until the next family member was placed nearby. These ladies were amongst the most devoted of Jesus’ followers, but their perspective on the significant of what had taken place on the cross, like many others, was that it was a tragedy and a disaster that crushed their hopes. This is something we need to remember; they were not playing mind games convincing themselves that Jesus ‘had to be alive’ somewhere. Only when this fact is firmly lodged in our minds can we walk with these followers of Jesus to the tomb borrowed from Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent MP from the party of the Pharisees, in the Jewish ruling Council, the Sanhedrin, and also a secret follower of Jesus (Matthew 27:57-61). Some people over the centuries have claimed that the ladies were mistaken in locating Jesus’ tomb, but this claim does not hold up 1
in the light of Matthew’s careful note indicating that they had been present when Jesus was placed in the tomb (Mathew 27:61). (b) A Surprising Occasion (Matthew 28:2-3, 5-8) 2 There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.5The angel said to the women, Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. 7 Then go quickly and tell his disciples: 'He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.' Now I have told you. 8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. The accuracy and dependability of the
resurrection accounts is much greatly than we often realise. In that culture women were not used as witnesses in court, only men could serve in that capacity. The Bible records that the first witnesses of the resurrection were women. This serves to make two points. First of all it implies that God valued women as equal persons to men and their testimony was equally valid in His sight. Secondly, the first followers of Jesus would not have made it up. It was hard enough to convince other people in that culture that Jesus had risen from the dead without having to admit that your primary witnesses were women. The Bible tells the story as it happened, the most extraordinary day in human history since the creation of the world. In this light the presence of an angel or angels at the tomb seems pretty reasonable. There had been an angelic presence around the time of the birth of Jesus, to explain the miraculous nature of His conception. Therefore, there is a pattern which fits very well with this supernatural intervention in history on the first Easter day. No wonder the angel told them Do not be afraid (28:5)! Any one of us would have been totally transfixed with wonder at the events unfolding before our eyes. There is a place for time alone with God; times of quiet and reflection, but there is also a time for telling others who need to hear this wonderful good news. Would the two Marys do as they were commanded? Yes! it appears that with a high degree of promptness they set off to report the extraordinary news. How willing are you and me to bear witness to Jesus? They had mixed emotions of fear and joy; and at times so do we, but let’s never be ashamed to testify to our faith in the risen Lord Jesus Christ. (c) A Sacred Occasion (Matthew 28:9-10) 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. Greetings, He said. They came to Him, clasped His feet and worshipped Him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid. Go and tell My brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see Me. In our relationship with the Lord we too will
have special times when we sense His nearness and are overwhelmed with a desire to offer Him worship and praise. Be thankful for these precious moments, but remember that they are special treasures not to be expected on a regular basis in our lives. However, like these ladies we have a mandate to fulfil to make Him known. These first witnesses got special honour for their faithfulness to the Lord, but we too will be blessed as we give our lives in service for Him. 2. The confusion of the soldiers (Matthew 27:62-66; 28:2-4,11-15) (a) A Simple Duty (Matthew 27:62-66) 62 The next day, the one after Preparation Day, the chief priests and the Pharisees went to Pilate. 63 Sir, they said, we remember that while he was still alive that deceiver said, 'After three days I will rise again.' 64 So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day. Otherwise, his disciples may come and steal the body and tell the people that he has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first. 65 Take a guard, Pilate answered. Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how. 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone and posting the guard. Imagine you are a gifted
mathematician and you have just started an interview for a prestigious post and your interviewers state that they have only one task for you to perform at the interview –should you complete it satisfactorily then the post is yours. You would wonder what the challenge might be, but if it was simply to recite the two times table then you might have serious doubts about the credibility of the whole occasion. It was this kind of scenario experienced by a 2
detachment of possibly as many as twelve Roman soldiers. Their commanding officer told them to report to a particular location and guard Jesus of Nazareth. You can imagine the conversation: But he’s dead?’, ‘yes’ – ‘you are going to guard his tomb for three days’. ‘Why to prevent grave robbers?’ ‘No’ ‘to stop his followers who are currently in hiding coming and stealing the body.’ In effect, their task was to stop Jesus of Nazareth leaving a sealed tomb. For twenty-four hours, approximately, absolutely nothing happened. They would not have been human had they not questioned the necessity of such a strong body of troops being required to guard the final resting place of a condemned man. Our lives too have their moments when life is relatively easy and we can so easily take it for granted, but how suddenly it can change (b) An Impossible Task (Matthew 28:2-4)There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men. All of us have times of
regret when we know we could have done better in particular situations. This was not one of those moments. It was in the opposite category where we are totally helpless to do anything about events unfolding before our eyes, like the people in North East Japan when the tsunami came ashore on 11 March 2011. We should not be ashamed of our weaknesses. We are not supermen or wonder women, such people only exist in comics. Real people need help and support to get through a whole range of situations in their lives. The question is simply this: do we have enough courage to ask for it when those moments arise. They are windows of opportunity from God to look at life in a different way. A young man I know in his late 30s was doing exceptionally well in his career. He was a Christian and a fine family man, but an unexpected stress-related stroke stopped him in his tracks. Some time later he went back to work and his work resumed, but his priorities were changed from that moment onwards. God fine tuned his priorities through that experience, according to his testimony. In your life just now are you listening to God and heeding His claims on your life? Or what will it take for you to give your life to serve Him? (c) An Unethical Action (Matthew 28:11-15) 11 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened.12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. Bribes all
round covered the backs of the soldiers and the Jewish religious leaders, but what a price to pay. Rather than face the truth about the resurrection of Jesus they were prepared to live in denial of the facts. This is the day that changed the world, but some people would rather bury their heads in the sand and pretend it never happened, or if it did that it has no relevance to their lives. Has this been your choice up to now? Do you now need to look afresh at the significance of what happened that first Easter? If Jesus is who He claimed to be, the Son of God and if God the Father raised Him from the dead, then I have to take seriously His claims over my life. For two centuries this lie was passed on in the Jewish communities of the Roman world –yet the men most enthusiastic about spreading it did so for money knowing that their story was demonstrably false. Yet by contrast many of the followers of Jesus who saw Him that first Easter were martyred for that faith, because they refused to deny the reality of what they knew to be true. Would you rather give your life for what you know to be true or get rich perpetrating a lie? To the present day thousands of people each year choose to lose their lives rather than deny their faith in Jesus Christ. No wonder the Christian Church is growing around the world. Do you need to commit your life to Christ today and begin the journey of faith? 3
3. The hypocrisy of the priests (Matthew 28:11-15) 11
While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 When the chief priests had met with the elders and devised a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money, 13 telling them, You are to say, 'His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.' 14 If this report gets to the governor, we will satisfy him and keep you out of trouble. 15 So the soldiers took the money and did as they were instructed. And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day. What the
soldiers had done in accepting the bribes was wrong, but it pales into insignificance compared to the wicked choice of the religious leaders who paid them to lie about the most important day in the history of their faith. What kind of witness was that? None of us are perfect and that is not expected of us. However, other people do watch how we live and have certain expectations of us as Christians. What kind of witness are we showing at the present time? Our lives are the only Bible many people will read. What view of Jesus are we presenting to them? 4. The responses of the disciples (Matthew 28:16-17) 16
Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted. Matthew returns to the followers of
Jesus and their response to the extraordinary events of that first Easter. Had this account been fictional no gospel writer would have recorded that some of the followers of Jesus doubted that it could really be their Lord risen from the dead. After all dead men don’t come back to life again, do they? When you have had your life transformed by the power of the gospel you don’t mind the truth being told. This is why the story of the cowardice of the disciples in Gethsemane is recorded; why the denials of Peter are reported; these are not the most obvious candidates for leadership positions in the Early Church, yet this bunch of inadequate people, empowered by the Holy Spirit, rocked the very foundations of the worlds greatest empire to date, within four centuries, by the power of prayer and the effectiveness of their testimonies as to what god had done in their lives and by the practical love and care they showed to each other and fellow citizens throughout that period of time. However, both responses can be part of the experience of genuine believers. Sometimes our faith is very strong; at other times we can have our doubts and fears, but God does not reject us for our frailties. He wants us to come to Him as we are and make ourselves available to serve Him and in His name to serve the people around us. Have you come to that place in your life today? Have you put your faith and trust in Jesus? if you can say ‘yes’ to that question, then He says ‘follow me’. This journey of faith is with Jesus and its ultimate destination is known, spending eternity with Him; However, the pathway through this life will be very mixed, sometimes the going is very tough and we may even need Him to carry us through those times; However, He has promised: never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. So we may say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? (Hebrews 13:5b-6). Will you trust Jesus with your future?
5. The message from Jesus (Matthew 28:18-20) The final scene in this Gospel is the commissioning of Jesus’ followers to carry on the work He had begun on earth. (a) All Authority (Matthew 28:18)Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority has been given to me. The one who had come as the humble servant was now in a different role. Philippians 2:9-11: Therefore God exalted Him to the highest place and gave Him the name that is above every name, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. We either acknowledge Him voluntarily as Lord and Saviour now or
compulsorily after leaving this life! No wonder that a sense of awe overcame the aged disciple John, in Revelation one, when he had that extraordinary encounter with the risen 4
Lord Jesus. John reported that: When I saw him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said: Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. This is
my Lord and Saviour; is He yours? (b) All Places (Matthew 28:18)Then Jesus came to them and said, All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. An earthly government has more powers than we are sometimes comfortable with them possessing, but they have their limits. We can never be outside the limits of His grace and love as children of God. Psalm 139 is a meditation on the fact that God can be everywhere at once –so we can never hide what is going on in our lives from Him. In Psalm 139:7 David declared: where can I go from Your Spirit? Where can I flee from Your presence? These are rhetorical questions. He knew that the answer was no-where! We are never alone in the universe. This is a great blessing, but it also means we are accountable to Him for the way we live our lives. We can never hide anything from Him. (c) All Nations (Matthew 28:19)19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit… We have a duty to be witnesses for Jesus in Broughty Ferry and Dundee; we have a responsibility for our nation, in partnership with other churches; but it goes beyond that to a duty to take the gospel to the world, every people group on the planet. The first step of discipleship here is believer’s baptism. This was actually quite shocking for these Jewish people. They were already part of the covenant community of God having been welcomed in as babies. Praise God for those of us who had believing parents who committed us as young children into His care. However, our faith needs to be personal, accepted by each person individually. Have you taken that step of obedience to Jesus? the focus here in this verse is the next step of testifying to the Lord through the act of believers’ baptism. Is God speaking to you about taking this step of obedience to the commands of Jesus? We are all disciples, that means believers with ‘L plates’, always more to learn from Him, in the process of taking the good news of the gospels to all people groups wherever He has placed us. (d) All Things (Matthew 28:20a) and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Obedience to Jesus does not mean picking and choosing which bits of the Bible we follow, it means following in His footsteps – wherever he leads us. This is a matter of trust, like a little child in their parents. Is there some step of faith he wants you to take today? Please be obedient to His calling.(e) Always (Matthew 28:20b) And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. What a wonderful assurance He gives. May each of us experience it as we follow Him in coming days, Amen.
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Genesis 11:31-12:9 A Call to Start a Journey Introduction Living by faith and trusting God is a journey. We know where it begins and we know where it will end but the pathway between our conversion and our eternal destiny can contain many surprises we had not anticipated. The stories of the patriarchs in Genesis illustrate this point so well. Their good days and their struggles are all seen so clearly in the pages of Scripture. Our lives are no different, except for the fact that the details of our faith journey may only be known between you and God or with a few close friends or family members. The church has been on what seems a long journey already in its exploration for fit for purpose premises for the twenty-first century. We have taken different steps over the years and seen certain choices removed from our list of possibilities –thankfully, because a more significant change was required than had previously been considered. Our recent proposals formally put to the Council planning department were ones we had been expecting to see accepted. However, we prayed, I hope, that the Lord would either open this door and confirm that this was the right way to go or close it and give us a pointer that He must have something better for us in the future. We have consistently said that doing nothing is not an option open to us, so we need to seek the Lord further and ask Him to guide us in which ever way He has for us. But we do it with confidence in Him. Our church motto for 2010, Jeremiah 29:11, is a clear reminder of why we can go forward with confidence in the Lord. It states: For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
This is why we have decided to go ahead with the Church Gift Day on May 22 nd. Our future is in His hands and that is the safest place to be. Placing our security in any other person or place leaves us vulnerable to losing it as no-one else can guarantee their support for us into the indefinite future. However, the Lord who never changes is always trustworthy and reliable. 1.The First Call from God to start the journey (Genesis 11:31-32) (a) The World in which Abram lived Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran. After the flood in the days of Noah there are some quiet centuries
in which nothing major is recorded in God’s Word. Plenty of things would have happened but none had major significance in the purposes of God. It was a world very similar to our own where rulers like Nimrod, possibly the most powerful ruler in the Middle East after the Flood and before Abraham, focused on building a secular empire without reference to God (Genesis 10:8-12; 11:1-9). At the centre of that empire was a huge tower built to display his power in the presence of the gods and to show that he could do anything he wanted, the sky was the limit! Was the apparent silence from God evidence that He didn’t care? Was it evidence of a lack of interest in humanity as a result of our persistent sinfulness? After all we might have been tempted to walk away if other people treated us like God was treated by the creatures He created. From the standpoint of a neutral observer it didn’t look promising for the God of Israel. The nations of the world 4,000 years ago were all offering adoration to other gods, not their creator. The few remaining believers, a faithful remnant, must have wondered what kind of future remained when so few people wanted to acknowledge their Creator. Yet over time there have been various dark ages when only a handful of believers remained on earth, yet in each of these dire situations God raised up godly men and women to proclaim the truths of 1
the Gospel to their generation. God will never leave Himself without a witness. Here the story of Abraham begins in the family home in Ur of the Chaldees, southern Iraq. The people living there were worshippers of the moon god Sin. This did not look very promising for a witness to the one true God. Yet God was able to take the people that were there and begin this work. Never underestimate what God can do with people available to Him. This is all He asks that we offer our lives to Him and trust Him to do the rest. (b) The Call that Abram received Genesis 11:31-32 records: Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32 Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran. This call was given to Abraham specifically, but did not exclude
his entire extended family. Stephen in his speech before the Jewish High Priest said, in Acts 7:2-4: Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. 3 'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.' 4 So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. God had placed it in all
their hearts to go to the cultural backwater of Canaan. Initially it looked so promising as they all packed up their possessions in the idyllic city of Ur and their comfortable two-storey homes, not that dissimilar from comfortable homes in the region today (apart from modern technologies). They moved to a place called Haran in Syria. This was a huge trek with all their possessions, but they willingly left their homes knowing that it was very likely that they would never return. This was not a holiday or even a mission trip. It was like the missionaries of former years who knew that when they set sail there was little likelihood of ever returning home alive again. We too both individually and in our families as well as our church family have set out on a faith journey. We have got to our Haran moment. We agreed to go forward with discussions and plans re the premises, but many I’m sure felt they had a fair idea of what the final decision might be. However, that is not now the case; we do not know the future, but I want to invite you to join me in following the Lord into the good future He has prepared for us. He is trustworthy and we can go forward with confidence in Him. The faith journey we have embarked on may take a new direction in coming days, but let’s agree together wholeheartedly that we do not fear the future for the work of this congregation, because it is in His hands. 2. The Second Call from God to continue the journey (Genesis 12:1-3) (a) The Second Call 1 The Lord had said to Abram, Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. A second call comes to the man whom God called in Ur to travel on to the Promised Land. Why did it need to be repeated some years later? This was because the first call had been forgotten. The Lord had asked them to go to Canaan, but despite the good start they stopped at Haran. It was perfectly permissible to stop in Haran on the way; the problem was that having taken a great step of faith to embark on a journey the majority of this family group chose to give up along the way. Terah, Abram’s dad, would die in Haran, having settled for missing out on the blessing God had provided for him and his family in Canaan. We have set out on a faith journey in our commitment to erecting fit-for-purpose premises for a more effective mission in our community in the twenty-first century. Will we like most of Abram’s family stop part way along the journey, never finding out what God has ultimately provided for us? Or will we, despite some disappointments along the way, renew our determination to continue seeking His will, so that we will in His time see the rewards of 2
obedience as we follow in the way He has provided for us? This is not a small matter. All the members of Abram’s family had made significant material and financial sacrifices to take the trip to Haran; possibly lucrative careers had been giving up to heed God’s call; certainly they were now following a simpler lifestyle. Did they think we’ve made enough sacrifices for God He cannot expect any more from us? We will never know the answer to such questions. What is important to note here was that God intended Abram to move on to the place of future blessing. They may have had many encouragements in the years at Haran, yet God had a better place in store for them. This did not mean a place free from challenges and difficulties, but a calling to heed the voice of their Lord who invited them to continue their journey of faith. There are times when we, personally or collectively, want to take a break, take a step back, but God calls us once more to continue on in the journey with Him. He is Jehovah Jireh, the God who will provide the strength that we need. Do we really believe that? I think that we do, sometimes we need a little reassurance that this is the case, but we know that God can be trusted to guide and direct us into the future He has planned for us. (b) The Nature of the Call 1The Lord had said to Abram, Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. 2I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (i) A call to leave your country Abram can tick that box. Lord I have already done that one. Isn’t God gracious to begin with words that would encourage His servant to see the progress he has already made. Sometimes we forget our progress in the Christian life and dwell too much on the negatives of our failings and shortcomings. The devil would love to keep us in that place. God doesn’t because His grace is sufficient to cover all our needs whatever we have done. Abraham, God says, I appreciate that you loved the placed where you have lived and worshipped and worked for generations in your family, but it is now time to move on to another place in another country. Sometimes that may literally occur to us today in a call to missionary service of whatever form overseas. This is of course a much more radical proposal than a congregation possibly moving the site of its main premises. Abram in the light of the call of God and the circumstances before him was called to leave Haran and move on to Canaan. (ii)It was also a call to leave your people. He was very comfortable with the community of what we would today call Iraqi people in Haran. His family felt very much at home there. It is natural that when people emigrate to another country that they choose to settle in locations where their fellow countrymen have settled. This has happened over the centuries, but God wanted to remind His servant that his calling was to go to Canaan. Sometimes the people of God can be too comfortable in our churches that we neglect to cultivate or maintain friendships with people outside the church community. How can we ever hope to lead people to Christ if we never spend time with them? We rightly value our Sunday gatherings and our home groups and it is right that they are a priority to us in our weekly schedules, but we also must remember the priority of mission and the situations and people whom we can serve in the name of Jesus. Although we value fellowship, we must constantly remind ourselves that our primary calling is to mission and evangelism. This ought to be reflected in our prayer life too. (iii) It was also a call to leave your father’s household His physical family did not want to go on with God and the only way Abram would fulfil the calling God has for him was by leaving them behind in Haran. It is really tough when a Christian is the only believer in their family. It was a huge shock to the family of our link BMS missionary, who at that stage, were not believers and were stunned when she told them what she planned to do with the rest of her life. This is a tough challenge for every Christian. But Jesus did not water it down in His call to prospective disciples. Luke 9:23-25 states: Then he said to them all: If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. 24For whoever wants to save his life will lose 3
it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it. 25What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self? Luke is not implying that following Jesus wholeheartedly is
all about what we give up. It may include some of that without question. However, we may also gain greater blessings than we had imagined also. Luke 18:29-30 reports Jesus as declaring: I tell you the truth, Jesus said to them, no-one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life. What Jesus is teaching primarily, therefore, is not
so much what we are separated from, but whom we are separated to (God) and His priorities for our lives. (iv) A call to receive a land (Genesis 12:2a) 2I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; Even now, in this second call, God did not give Abram a geographical location; instead he received a fresh invitation to continue a journey with God, to start once again in obedience to His call; When we have our setbacks it is so easy, like Abraham’s family, to settle in our ‘Haran’ rather than trusting the Lord to go forward with us into the better place He has prepared for us. It may be some time before we know for certain the place for our future premises, but the geographical location is less important than in being in the place of obedience to the revealed will of God. The promises of blessing in verses two and three of Genesis 12 only applied if Abram honoured God and moved to the Promised Land. This was not an optional extra for a spiritual expert; rather it was a bottom line essential act for a child of God who wanted to be in the place of blessing, rather than in the barren land. Abram you have ‘lost’ your country, but you will gain a country for your descendants. (v) A call to receive a name (Genesis 12:2b) I will make your name great and you will be a blessing. I believe that this promise was not just to this one person, but to the extended family he would father through Isaac; and ultimately to the Jewish people in the Land. Yet these words are carefully chosen here. The presence of Abraham and his descendants in Canaan was not just for their benefit; it was not even solely to bring glory and honour to God, though it did. Notice the phrase at the end of Genesis 12:2: you will be a blessing. By your obedience to God, neighbours and other fellow citizens will have their lives enriched as His people live in the way God wants them to. The Jews were called God’s Chosen People, but for the benefit of others currently outside God’s kingdom. In the same way in John 15, in Jesus’ powerful message on our relationship with Him, using the picture of a vine and its branches, He makes a similar point regarding the place of the Christian Church in the purposes of God. John 15:16: You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit— fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in My name. Notice the causal link here between the blessings and obedience. It is easy to vote to go forward in God’s work when all appears plain sailing, but our faith and reliance on God is proven when we make the same faith commitments when the going gets tough. I believe that the Lord would have us go forward with this building project, but whether it be here or elsewhere we will affirm ‘Lord Your will be done’. Please open the door to that place and close the door to others –even if it is the option I would have preferred. In years to come it is these kinds of moments that later generations highlight to see how we have been willing to trust God (or otherwise) to lead us forward into the next phase of our service for Him. (vi) A call to be a mission-focussed people (Genesis 12:3) 3 I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. In this immediate context these words are directly applicable to Abraham individually and then to the Jewish people collectively. The Jewish people in history have never been numerous. They have accomplished far more than any other race, in proportion to numbers. When other nations have abused and suppressed them God brought low that nation from its former glories. The Egyptians who enslaved the Jews were over powered by the mighty miracles of God in the time of Moses (Exodus 1 -15); when the mighty Greek Empire, in the person of Antiochus IV 4
Epiphanes, desecrated the Temple in Jerusalem in 168BC, the Romans soon overwhelmed that decadent empire. The Spanish Inquisition against the Jews between 1486 and 1492 so barbaric in nature would lead to the fall of that mighty nation. Spain and Portugal so dominant at that time in world affairs would loose their place due to the barbarity of their conduct in the centuries that followed. The freedom loving Dutch gained their independence in 1581 and welcomed the Jews into their territories. The House of Orange was strongly associated with Jews, especially after 1593 in the Netherlands, and their tolerant and openminded version of the Christian faith was brought to Britain when William of Orange took the British crown jointly with his wife Mary in 1689. The British Empire that largely disappeared in the twentieth century, in part may have been hastened in its decline by its deceitful treatment of the Jews and the Palestinians in the Holy Land, in the promises made about the future of that geographical region. It may be no accident that America has been the only country in the last century to be a consistent friend of the Jewish people, and that she has prospered as a result of God’s blessing, in line with this promise. This principle also has a New Testament application to Christian believers. The people that persecute Christians are not attacking believers primarily, but our Lord and Saviour Jesus. As a result they are storing up judgement upon themselves. Remember the words of Jesus to Saul of Tarsus, the brutal young Jew who had been beating, imprisoning and killing followers of Jesus. In Acts 9 we have the account of Saul’s trip to Damascus with the intention of committing acts of violence against believing Jews in that city. Jesus intervened into that situation with an extraordinary message to this unpleasant young man: As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4 He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? 5 Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, he replied. 6 Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. When the gospel
transforms peoples lives it makes a far greater difference to the quality of their existence than they ever expected. Historians have often argued that the Christian (Methodist) revival in eighteenth-century England saved that country from a French-style revolution. By leading people to Christ we do far more than see an individual changed it can have a huge impact in a family and in a community and even on occasions in a country. And as Paul reminded us in Romans 4:16-17, we are all children of Abraham if we share His faith in our great God, and consequently can be partakers in the blessings associated with Abraham. Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham's offspring — not only to those who are of the law but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: I have made you a father of many nations. He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed— the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were. What an honour in our journey of faith to be walking in the spiritual
footsteps of Abram’s literal and physical journey of faith, 4,000 years ago. 3. The Response to God’s Call by His servant (Genesis 12:4-9) (a) A Willingness to obey (Genesis 12:4-6) 4So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran. 5 He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated and the people they had acquired in Haran, and they set out for the land of Canaan, and they arrived there. 6Abram travelled through the land as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. Here is a man of seventy-five years who is asked by God to take the lead in going to a
new place. In the previous generation the older men like Terah had failed to give the necessary lead and obedience to God and enter the Promised Land. Once again, in this case to Abram, the call comes to start a journey. He will not live to see the fulfilment of these promises and the settlement of his descendants in the land, but Abram was committed to setting out on the journey. Some of the older people in our midst may not live to see the 5
erection of the premises God has for us at a future date, but like Abram, I invite you to wholeheartedly come with us on this journey. Like Abram it may be hard to face the possibility of greater changes than we expected, but like him also we have in mind that obedience to God is the only place of spiritual blessing. Hebrews 11:8 reminds us that: By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. I invite the younger people of our
congregation to join us on the journey into the future God has for us. Sometimes when we are younger we have less patience and want things to happen quicker than the Lord may have planned for us. I ask you to pray with us for wisdom and patience that as a whole congregation we may step out on the next stage of this spiritual journey united and determined to honour God in the way we proceed. (b) An assurance of blessing (Genesis 12:7-9) 7 The Lord appeared to Abram and said, To your offspring I will give this land. So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 8 From there he went on towards the hills east of Bethel and pitched his tent, with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram set out and continued towards the Negev. Only after Abram and his immediate family group had
travelled through the land did the Lord appear to him with the assurance of blessing. Abram had to start out on that journey of obedience into an unknown future. The place of greatest blessing for us will be when we commit to continue on the journey He has called us to undertake, with the express purpose of enabling us to reach more people for Jesus in the communities amongst which He has called us to live. Therefore, I want to suggest that rather than being merely a disappointing time, it is also an exciting time of opportunity for us to affirm our confidence in God in continuing on the journey which we began some years ago. As we honour Him on this journey we will see the greater blessings of conversions, baptisms and lives transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit, for the glory of His name’s sake, Amen.
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John 2:1-12 Do whatever He tells you Introduction In July 2000 I had flown to the USA with an elderly friend with a schedule of both visiting some of their friends, together with attending a Baptist history conference in North Carolina. We were fortunate for the first part of the trip in having lifts provided and that was greatly appreciated. For the rest of the trip I was hiring a car in North Carolina that would carry me around several states during the next part of my particular schedule. This all seems rather ordinary, but in the back of the car one day, our host for the first part of the trip, happened to remark about his difficulties on a particular visit to the UK, some years earlier when a wallet was lost. How could he hire a car without his driving license? In my mind a sudden doubt cropped up-where was my driving license? It was across the Atlantic back in my home in Cumbernauld and the rest of our family were away on holiday. Acute embarrassment and panic on my part as I wondered how can I get my license here to the USA within the next couple of days? Cutting a long story short a friend from our church had a key and they found the license and posted it to the USA by courier and I got it 48 hours later, just in time! It was actually more complicated than that, but the point here is that something very ordinary had been overlooked and threatened to derail an otherwise well-planed trip. Two thousand years ago at a wedding in Galilee, what had begun as a happy and successful celebration was on the brink of total disaster and embarrassment for the bridegroom and his family. This was of course Jesus’ first miracle, which in itself was important, but John, the Gospel writer, sees a much greater significance in the context of the life and ministry of Jesus. This reminds us that our lives and the various things that happen to us can have a greater significance than we had ever expected or anticipated. In all of our lives there are special moments when the Lord touches us in ways that we had not expected nor anticipated. For John, the events of the seven days culminating in this miracle at Cana would transform the rest of his life –only the events of the first Easter and Pentecost would rank higher in their transformative impact on his life and experience. 1.The Special Marriage (John 2:1-2) On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. (a) The significance of this event in John’s
Gospel A wedding in a village in Galilee could not have been a more natural or familiar event to the participants of this particular celebration. No-one attending expected anything out of the ordinary to take place. Such events were a welcome relief from the hard manual labour they were all engaged in year after year. Life was simple and basic and short. You married in your teens and many would have died before reaching the age of thirty and the vast majority before the age of forty. The comfortable existence of most people in the western world could not be further removed from the spartan, subsistence economies and lifestyle of people in Jesus’ day. However, John sees this wedding as the culmination of a week of special events. John chapter two begins On the third day… this is to be counted from the last event narrated in the Gospel at the end of John chapter one and by their inclusive reckoning to mean two ‘twenty-four hour days’ later than the meeting with Nathanael. John in John 1:19 to 2:11, recounts how, with his friend Andrew, as followers of John the Baptist, their lives were totally changed. The sequence began on the first day with representatives of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem coming out to John the Baptist in the desert to ask for proof of his authorisation to teach and preach to Jewish people, and to see especially if he was claiming to be the Messiah, which he had not claimed. On the second day (John1:29-34) Jesus was baptised by John in the Jordan river; on the third day (John 1:35-39a) the Baptist explained 1
something of the significance of Jesus to two of his closest followers John (the apostle) and Andrew, in effect saying that man is the Messiah, it is him you ought to be following not me. As a result of their rabbi’s direction the two men approached Jesus and in effect enquired about the possibility of becoming his disciples (John 1:39b); it was crucially at the end of that third day (4pm) when they met Jesus, so the statement that they spent the rest of the day with him (John 1:39b) refers to the fourth day on which Andrew would introduce his brother Simon Peter to Jesus (John 1:40-42); on the fifth day Jesus encounters Philip and Nathanael (John 1:43-51); nothing of note happened on the sixth day, but on the seventh day of that time sequence we come to the wedding at Cana, that would have taken place on a Sabbath day (Saturday). John has already in John 1:1 made a pointed reference back to creation and Genesis 1:1 and it is likely that he sees this ‘new creation’ week as a spiritual parallel to the physical creation week of the world in the first book of the Bible. [D. Carson, John, pp. 167-168] In effect here, John is suggesting that Jesus’ gospel message is a new creation, pointing forward to the re-creation of God’s sin defaced universe in the new heavens and the new earth (Revelation 21:10). It is, therefore perfectly natural in wedding services today to remind the congregation that marriage is a creation ordinance (Genesis 2:24-25) and a foundational pillar of human society. The question naturally arises - how is Jesus going to make such a difference in the lives of people attending a wedding that it will have a transformative impact upon them? And upon readers of this account in future generations? (b) The significance of the participants in this wedding who had been invited? Jesus' mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding (John 2:1). This was not just any wedding in that community. It is almost certainly one that involved relatives not least of Mary, Jesus’ mother, who was a participant in the preparations, but also Jesus and His disciples, many of whom were also related to one another. Mary’s sister Salome, for example, was the mother of James and John. However, in any case the vast majority of people at the wedding knew each other very well because they lived either in that village or in a nearby community. The vast majority of people at this wedding would have had some knowledge of Jesus growing up; they would have seen him in his school years; when he was learning his trade as a carpenter; the hardest place to be an effective witness for our faith is amongst the people that know us best in our families and amongst our closest friends. The reason is simple; we cannot hide anything from them. They see us as we are and that includes our weaknesses. Yet having given the bad news, here is the good news! It is in these circles of our family and closest friends that we are most likely to have an impact for the Lord and see people come to Christ, because they cannot deny what God has done in our lives –when we live lives honouring to the Lord. Jesus, in effect then, was about to enter a situation where he had expected to be anonymous in the ‘crowd’, yet in the sovereign purposes of God he was going to perform an incredible miracle that no-one could forget. The challenge to us in our daily lives is to say –Lord here is my ordinary week in front of me, in the ordinary events of life help me to honour you by the way I do my work; or carry out my social life; or relate to others in my family; may something of your love shine out through me. We must never be simply Sunday Christians –our faith must permeate all aspects of our lives, as was revealed in this social context, two thousand years ago at Cana in Galilee. 2. The Anxious Mother (John 2:3-5) (a)The Way she felt (John 2:3) When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, they have no more wine. Weddings were community celebrations that could last around one week. The majority of the costs were shared as people all brought food for the feast, but ultimately the groom’s family were in charge and assumed to be responsible for making up any shortfall in refreshments. In a context where people lived ‘from hand to mouth’ this potentially could be 2
disastrous. Even if you had the finances there were no supermarkets offering twenty-four hour availability for those necessary purchases. All the food and drinks had to be planned and prepared in advance. Something went wrong at this wedding and there was a shortage of wine, the only drink available. This common vinegary drink would be considered tasteless to us today, but it was the staple beverage of the population. We must not assume that there had been excessive consumption and that people were intoxicated, as the alcohol content was much lower than today and getting drunk involved drinking much larger quantities of wine which was strongly discouraged in that culture, unlike our own. We all make mistakes in life. However, in that culture failing to provide adequate refreshments at a wedding was near the top of the list of things to avoid doing. If I understand it correctly that the family of the bridegroom were relatives of Mary and her sister Salome then it puts in some sort of context the request of Mary to Jesus to ‘do something’ to sort out this predicament. After the death of Joseph, Mary would have been totally reliant on the support of Jesus as the head of this family. From this account we can appreciate Mary’s sensitivity to people in need. May we seek to be those who are open to spotting when people need our assistance, but who may be too embarrassed or proud to ask for it. Or who may think we might not have time to help them. Sometimes we hesitate to volunteer to help people because we know that we cannot solve their problems, but most of the time there is no expectation of that. (b) The request she made (John 2:3-4) When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, They have no more wine. 4 Dear woman, why do you involve me? Jesus replied. My time has not yet come. We have no way of knowing whether Jesus was already aware of the impending crisis for the host family at the wedding. What is clear is that Mary wished to draw the problem to his attention. We must assume in the first instance that she is hoping that Jesus has some ideas about how a natural solution could be found to solving the problem. It is a very normal and natural scene when a family member is asked to give a hand when the pressure is on. As Christians we can sometimes read back into a text of Scripture a potential outcome that might only have been possible, for example, at a later time. Jesus had not performed any miracles or carried out any acts until this time beyond what could have been expected of a devoted and obedient son in a Jewish home of the period. Of course there were glimpses of his fuller identity and mission, such as he displayed in the incident described in Luke 2:41-52. At that time Jesus had become detached from the larger community group from Galilee with whom Mary and Joseph had travelled to Jerusalem for the Passover Feast. The plan had been for the whole party to return together. It must have been a large number of people for this couple not to spot for twenty-four hours that twelve-year-old Jesus was not with them. He was eventually located in the Jerusalem Temple. Luke 2:45-52 states: When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” 49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”[or be about my father’s business] 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. Jesus is now at least in his late 20s, but
until this time has faithfully provided for Mary and her younger children, running the carpentry business that Joseph had managed until his untimely death. Mary didn’t tell Jesus what to do she simply informed him of the need. Is this not a good picture of prayer? we come to bring our needs, or those of other people, to the Lord and ask him to work in these situations. Sometimes we cannot resist the temptation to tell the Lord how he might resolve the problem we are raising! Here was a picture of trust. Mary is concerned enough about the need to raise it and thereby indicating confidence that Jesus could do something about it. In 3
our prayer life we will naturally have preferred answers to our petitions, but ideally we will, in our better moments, trust him to decide how best to answer our prayers. Jesus’ response in verse four although readily understandable in the context of John’s Gospel, as we look back from the period after the start of the Christian Church and in the light of Jesus’ death and resurrection, yet at the time his words might have raised more questions than understanding. What is most important for us to learn from Jesus’ response is how focussed he is on what is most important in life. It is about priorities. All of us could gainfully fill the twenty-four hours of each day several times over. The people that accomplish the most in life, in whatever social context-not just in Christian circles- are those who have grasped the difference between that which is most important to choose and the things that need to be put to one side. Dr Oakley, my old colleague principal, repeatedly stressed that time management was at the heart of success in daily life. On a good number of occasions he repeated a saying that puzzled me for a time. The gist of it was that someone making the best use of their time ‘knew the difference between ten minutes and quarter of an hour’. It was not because of his divine nature that Jesus had this discernment; it was a closeness to God and a sensitivity to accomplishing what needed to be done at that time in his earthly ministry that was the key. The fact that people live so much longer now in our country can dull our minds to the shortness of time and the immanence of eternity. Robert Murray McCheyne deliberately chose to visit the dying residents of his parish on a Saturday evening in order to focus his mind ahead of preaching God’s Word the following day. (c) The trust she displayed (John 3:5) His mother said to the servants, Do whatever he tells you. Mary recognised that she could not pressure Jesus into doing something inappropriate, but instead had an incredible faith in his ability to do what needed to be done. She didn’t keep that perception to herself. Instead she informed the servants employed at the wedding of her faith in Jesus in a perfectly natural way. Our verbal witness to people around us ideally should fit naturally into our conversations and daily circumstances. We need to pray that the Lord will place such opportunities across our pathway and that we will have the wisdom and sensitivity to take them. Mary was not leading these employees in a prayer of commitment to God, but the impact of her witness might have been one step on the way to trusting the Lord. This point was made so clearly in the course we utilised last autumn –Just Walk Across the Room. What small step do you want me to take today? Might be a prayer we pray this week? God will provide opportunities for us if we are actively seeking them. However, they may be very different to what we had in mind and with a completely different person to those for whom we pray regularly to come to faith! Yet on the journey of faith each week of our lives – we commit that week to the Lord and offer our availability to him to use us through our words and actions as a witness for him. This is exciting and challenging at the same time – someone who thinks the Christian life is boring has completely missed the point! 3. The Unexpected Miracle (John 2:6-11) 6
Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet. They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realise where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now. 11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. This miracle had a number of key features. First it was: (a)
Supernatural in character This was not a trick played on the guests or a moment of great relief when more wine was located in another room on the premises. What happened here 4
was an extraordinary transformation of a crisis situation. It was impossible at such short notice for the host family to purchase it, had they the finance to do so, because the likely quantity of wine needed for the remaining days (?) of the wedding for a party comprising the vast majority of people in the village, together with a few extra family members and friends, was substantial. What can we learn from this extraordinary event? Jesus took the ordinary things that were available to use for this miracle. The large stone jars containing this water were common in that day as people needed to wash before eating and our modern conveniences had not been invented! The servants had done their job in filling them with water. They played their part and Jesus did the rest. If they had not been willing to do what they could then Jesus would not have performed the miracle. It reminds us in our witness today that we have a responsibility to live in a way that reflects our faith and honours our Lord. We cannot just open the doors of the church and expect people to come in –we must go to them and invite them; we need to do what we can, together with regular prayer for other people and at the same time to have confidence that God is at work in the lives of people we pray for, even when we are yet to see evidence of that. (b) Discrete in execution possibly between 120 and 180 gallons of water was turned to wine. Guests at the wedding might have overheard Jesus reminding servants on duty to keep the water jars topped up with water. This was a simple ordinary task carried out every day. Taking some to the master of ceremonies was a novel step as this water was normally used only for washing not drinking purposes. I wonder what went through the servant’s mind as he took a drinking container or jug full of ‘water’ down to the top table at the wedding. The servants were used to obeying orders, but this was rather exceptional. Again servants taking wine samples to the host at the wedding would also have been routine at that time. It would only be natural that this man checked what might be served to the guests. You and I wouldn’t invite people to our homes and deliberately serve out of date food, would we? What took place at this wedding happened behind the scenes. Our witness for Jesus is unlikely to be helped by placard-waving, banner erecting or bumper-sticker mounting proclamations that ‘I belong to Jesus’! It will be discrete often one-to-one encounters as we share what the Lord has done for us. If in the last two decades around 90% of people have come to faith primarily through the effective witness of one person close to the individual, rather than major outreach events as the primary cause, then this should indicate to us clear guidance about our strategies today. Incidentally the overwhelming number of people converted on Christianity Explored or Alpha courses came and stayed and subsequently came to faith because a friend invited them and went on the course with them. (c) Generous in scope It is indicated in John chapter two that possibly between 120 and 180 gallons of waster was turned to wine. This, on the surface, seems a ridiculously large quantity, but we must not forget that it was a whole community celebration that lasted for a week and when seen in that context is much more proportionate to the needs of the occasion. However, it is certainly generous. This is a reflection on the God we serve whose grace is more than sufficient for our needs. Whose mercy to us when we let Him down and seek forgiveness, time and again shows His amazing love to us. Is this the image of God we convey as Christians to the wider community? God has never watered down His holiness; His principles and values nor the doctrinal content of our faith, but the way He treats us is much better than we could possibly deserve. God does not accept you and me because we are good enough and have earned our salvation –that is impossible. He accepts us because Jesus was good enough. A lot of people even in a nice community like that will need reassurance that God will accept them, if they want to come to Jesus, because they are currently convinced they cannot live up to the standard required to get in to ‘the church’. (d) Symbolic in significance the jars had a two-fold purpose, as John 2:6 indicates: Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing. It was not merely a hygiene issue, rather the guests at the wedding knew that in Jewish ceremonial law it was a requirement to 5
wash your hands before meals and on various other occasions. I think it is most likely that God put in place some of those Jewish rules in order to maintain good hygiene standards, in an age long before human beings knew anything about how infections are spread and good health is maintained. The stone jars were symbolic representations of the Jewish law with its unyielding demands. Jesus took that law and transformed it and just as the water was miraculously turned into wine, so He can transform the lives of people who put their faith and trust in Him? It happens gradually, rather than instantaneously as in this story, but it is no less a supernatural work He performs. Have you entrusted your life to Jesus? (e) Life changing in effect the master of ceremonies would have thought nothing of tasting a sip of the ‘wine’ brought by the servants. He had no idea of the source of his drink. His view of the wine is very clear in John 2:9-10: and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realise where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.
An argument ensues as the bridegroom (and in effect his family) were criticised for keeping the best wine till last. A much bigger row would have broken out had their been no wine for the guests, but this man knew nothing of the predicament that has unfolded over the previous hour or two! What God can do with a life totally committed to Him can be nothing short of extraordinary. He delights to use ordinary people to accomplish great things for Him? the question is this – does He have all of your life? Is He your no.1 priority? May we give our lives to Jesus and trust Him to lead us and guide us in our daily lives, for His name’s sake, Amen.
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Genesis 12:10-20 An Opportunity to exercise our faith Introduction Why did [x] happen? We can all put in here a number of things that turned our world upside down? It may in some cases that something ‘just happened’ and is part of what happens in life in the world where the good and the difficult or even the evil might overshadow our pathway. The recent batch of stories linked to Madeline McCann’s disappearance reminds us afresh of every parent’s worst nightmare with respect to their young child or children. To loose sight of your child or children for a moment, a few minutes or a few hours causes your life to stand still, and it is worse still when it is on holiday. How many million times must they have replayed in their heads the moment they left Madeline in her bed while they went for a meal a short distance away and regretted it every painful time. The ‘if onlys’ are a part of all our experiences –thankfully most are less significant than what the McCann’s have had to go through, but bad enough at times to cause us to be deeply shaken with the challenges we are facing. For many of us it can revolve around our financial needs being met. News of a job loss when we had reasonable expectations of a career and its associated financial security and suddenly with the bills coming in a financial nightmare looms over the horizon; for other people it can be our health; Brian Irvine, the gifted former Aberdeen footballer, recalled the day in a small room in an Aberdeen hospital when a doctor told him he had multiple sclerosis. For a young man at the height of his career at the most successful club, outside the Old Firm of Celtic and Rangers, this was bleak news indeed. Aberdeen were to release him from his contract though John McCormick, manager of Dundee, offered him a two-year contract. However, on the day Brian came to Dundee one of the tabloid newspapers had as its sports headline ‘why would Dundee want to sign a player with MS?’ The directors had a copy of that paper on the table in the room where they met to discuss the matter with Brian. He wondered: ‘why could the papers not have found out about his health situation a day later?’ All credit to the manager who insisted that the board honour the deal he had agreed with Brian, but it might have been so different. All of us, if not already, will have those dark days when we ask our difficult questions about why life has to be the way it is. And what adds to our trials is the fact that so often we never locate a definitive answer as to why a particular difficulty has taken place; although sometimes there may not be a ‘reason’, we naturally want to make sense of life and struggle to live with the tension of not-knowing. 1. The problem Abram faced (Genesis 12:10) 10
Now there was a famine in the land, and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe. (a) The significance of ‘going to Egypt’ in the Bible In the
Bible there are a handful of references to God’s people being assured that it is appropriate to go and stay in Egypt for a time. In the Old Testament, the aged Jacob was given this encouragement from God in Genesis 46:3: I am God, the God of your father, he said. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. Later, in the New Testament, Joseph, the step father of Jesus was given this advice after the wise men had left: When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him (Matthew 2:13). However, as a general rule, going to Egypt in the biblical
text is a synonym for backsliding. God’s people are usually urged to stay away from Egypt. Isaiah 31:1 is an example of this fact : Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in the multitude of their chariots and in the great strength of their horsemen, but do not look to the Holy One of Israel, or seek help from the Lord. To trust in ‘Egypt’ was to rely on 1
additional human resources alone rather than God –when that is inappropriate. There is a legitimate seeking of human resources –when ill we seek medical support; when a job loss is experienced we seek the best way to get another appropriate one; but the point to be made here was that the problem Abram faced was this: should he step out of the revealed will of God –only for a short time- to alleviate a pressing problem? It may be that the equivalent dilemma for us might be something like: ‘borrowing’ some money from work to pay a debt that would definitely be paid back next month. Or cheat in a test/ exam at school because we genuinely didn’t have time to study –next time we would go back to the hard work of adequate preparation. Or a sportsperson just the once taking a performance-enhancing drug to help them get through a difficult time; the list goes on, but we can see how easily it is to cross the line when the pressure is on –maybe even now for you in something you are facing? (b) The difficulties Abram had already endured (i) Infertility Sarai had struggled with her infertility /ability to conceive a child. In a culture where status was associated with the number of children you had this was a painful experience for this couple. It is bad enough today in our culture where there is a much smaller expectation of children being produced when a couple get married. I understand that around one on seven couples cannot conceive a child ‘naturally’; (ii) Cultural adjustment moving from an urban society to a basic nomadic one. It is far easier adjusting to having more comfortable surroundings, much harder travelling the other way; when we lose jobs or health on a medium to longer-term basis, it can also mean major financial and social adjustments, which depending on existing commitments might be very difficult. Abram might have been rich compared to the locals in Canaan, but compared to the people back in Ur he and his family were living in much reduced circumstances. Our missionaries overseas, in the two-thirds world, may be in a similar context. What is worse Abram did not know where God wanted him to finally settle down when they left Ur, this must have brought a degree if insecurity. (iii) Loss of family support the smaller group that went to Canaan left the extended family behind. Many of us may also live a big distance from our families and miss them, but at least we can phone or e-mail each week; they had no means of regular communication. This fact when combined with other pressures makes it a much greater sense of loss than it would have been had all been going well. (iv) The death of his father Terah The loss of immediate family members is inevitably painful. There is a sense for most people of an unwanted closure that is keenly felt. In a foreign land the distance from family would have felt much greater at such times. (v) The Canaanite social and religious culture As Christians we can be aware of being a minority in our own land at the current time, yet no-one could deny the Christian heritage of Scotland. The Canaanites had no knowledge of the God who had called Abraham. This family was professing a minority religion in a land where people enthusiastically worshipped other gods. The pressure to conform would be immense, like that of Christian brothers and sisters in Islamic-majority lands today. (vi) A famine in the land (Genesis 12:10) Life for this family was hard enough and now on top of the other challenges they faced Now there was a famine in the land… This was not a problem of food price inflation which can be a struggle to deal with; it was a growing absence of food for animals and humans. How would he, how do we address the next obstacle that lands unexpectedly on our pathway? Christians do not face fewer problems than other people, in most of the world they face more than the average citizen due to persecution and oppression. Nonsense like the prosperity theology peddled by some God Channel preachers and the extremist fringe of the Charismatic Movement is a lie. Our sympathies lie with this struggling family and the pressures they faced at that time. 2. The proposition Abram suggested (Genesis 12:11-13) 2
(a)A wrong choice God had not led this family to Canaan to let them die of famine. He would have provided for their needs in the land, even if for a time it was really hard to get by. We know that Abram only intended a temporary stay, as Genesis 12:10 indicates, but he was in effect saying, ‘God I’ll need to take care of this one and do it my way’ –by implication suggesting that God’s plan for his life needed a little ‘adjustment’, to say the least. Most of us have been there at one time or another; if we haven’t said these words, we may have thought them or acted in a manner consistent with it. In times of famine in that region ‘everybody’ was gong to Egypt. An Egyptian wall painting, dated 1878BC, depicted the ‘whole nation’ of Canaan travelling there in the midst of a famine. Another example from written texts produced during the reign of Egyptian Pharaoh Merneptah (1224-1214BC) records Edomite families coming to that country with all their possessions, including their cattle, to find food and water. ‘Every-one was doing it’, does that expression sound familiar? Therefore I must… In every generation there are occasions or contexts where the pressure to go with the flow seems irresistible. Or we can follow the writer of Psalm 91 who wrote: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. It is not the complicated things in the Bible that
we find difficult to handle or the things we don’t understand. So often like here it is things that are very plain to understand, but exceedingly difficult to practise. This wrong choice was followed by (b) A wrong proposal 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai, I know what a beautiful woman you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, 'This is his wife.' Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you. Had he remained in Canaan Abram would
probably not have considered this step. What is the point here –in order to save himself from any danger he now pressures Sarai, his wife, to potentially make herself available sexually to another man –if that becomes necessary while they are in Egypt. [maybe he was thinking but not saying, after all she is infertile and cannot get pregnant, therefore…its nearly okay?] This is seriously out of order. In the Hurrian culture, it has been argued, that a man was allowed to adopt his wife as his sister. Likewise a woman given in marriage by her brother, as Rebekah was by Laban (Genesis 24) to Isaac, could legally become her husband’s sister, thus allowing him the option of another marriage if the first one was less than successful, for example, no children were produced. The major Hurrian city was Haran where Abram lived for many years (E.A. Speiser –see V.P. Hamilton, Genesis, pp.381-2). By contrast Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us: 5
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. This is not only the best way to go, but it
also avoids us being faced with more problems and difficulties than God ever intended us having to face in our lives. 3. The point Abram missed (Genesis 12:14-16) (a)The problem suddenly gets much bigger (Genesis 12:14-15)
14
When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that she was a very beautiful woman. And when Pharaoh's officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. I am sure Abram intended to 15
keep a low profile in Egypt. Sarai was clearly a rather beautiful lady that all the men in her company could not avoid finding attractive. Instead he spend the whole time in that country ‘negotiating’ over the status of his wife with Egyptian officials who were in the business of procuring additional wives for the Pharaoh. The lie, or legal half-truth about Sarai’s status only makes matters worse. Had Abram said, Sarai is my wife, thanks for the complements, I quite agree she looks great! They might have backed off right away and not bothered him anymore. Instead by failing to take a moral stand up front it suddenly got much harder to do so at each later stage. In today’s society Christian sexual morals are unfashionable with the 3
majority of the population. There is an expectation of sexual availability outside of marriage. It is hard for many young Christian adults to take a stand, fearing they might be considered peculiar or something worse for declining the invitations that might come their way. Actually when you and me stand firm for our principles, in a wide variety of social contexts there are other people who wanted to do the same but didn’t have the moral courage to do it on their own, but seeing a Christian stand firm gives them the inspiration to do what is right as well. (b) The problem of Abram’s success (Genesis 12:16) 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels. Abram has done wrong and prospered materially. It happens all the time, tax fiddles;
insurance scams; all kinds of ways in our land that people clever enough to arrange it carefully can get away with wrongdoing and make themselves rich and materially prosperous. It can also happen in ways that may be legal but less than ethical –such as a business withholding payment to a supplier in economically difficult times, in the hope that they may go bust due to cash supply problems. This and many other forms of unethical practice might be legal, but it is lacking in integrity. It raises questions about the kind of person I am and how I might define success in life. As a Christian sports-person would I be happy to cheat to win, knowing if I don’t (and lose) that almost certainly others will be less scrupulous? Is my integrity of paramount importance? Remember the furore in 2001 when it was discovered that Alder Hay Children’s Hospital, Liverpool, had retained hundred’s of children’s bodies for medical research, without parental consent. The goal of being better trained to help sick children was a worthy one, but the public outcry made it very plain that there was a better way than that to proceed with medical research. We need to be honest here as Christians about sin. In the short-term many people can be much better off and get ahead in life by doing wrong. Over the longer-term sinful misconduct does not pay, but it can take years, sometimes many years for this to come to light. One big moral issue today is cohabitation before marriage. The facts from thousands of marriages in the recorded data are plain. A marriage is more than three times more likely to be successful if the couple have not cohabited before marriage, and this fact is most pertinent in noting that the vast majority of these couples have children. Yet it is hard for a man or woman pressured to cohabit to say ‘no’ when the vast majority of their generation are doing just that –apparently oblivious to the fact that the rising divorce rate in the UK, amongst the highest (if not the highest) in the Western world, points to a serious failure somewhere in how we are relating to one another in many of our marriages in Britain. In this latter case it appears sadly that many people are choosing short-term convenience or pleasure and risking possible future loss. We are not ‘kill-joys’ for taking a stand on Christian moral principles. The social data is compelling –our permissive society is not working! However, in some situations it genuinely appears likely that people can get away with wrongdoing. But as Christians we have to take a stand doing the right thing for the right reason. In passing here note that Abram acquired menservants and maidservants as a gift from Pharaoh for Sarai. In Genesis 16:1 it states that Sarai had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar… This moral compromise would open the door for others in future years. The pain that would bring could all have been avoided by following God in the present situation. This principle is so true for us as well. God our Father in heaven loves us so much that He wants to prevent us from facing heartaches that could so easily have been avoided in life. After all there are more than enough challenges and difficulties we can face when we do live God’s way, without facing additional difficulties. There was a price to pay for Abram’s prosperity, but it was not apparent until years later. This is something we need to remember when we are tempted to envy people who appear to have got away with flouting God’s laws and on the surface are doing very well indeed in their lives. 4. The protection Abram experienced (Genesis 12:17-20) 4
(a)God’s protection of Abram (Genesis 12:17)
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But the Lord inflicted serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household because of Abram's wife Sarai. Remember that Genesis as a book was
not in circulation until the time of Moses and the Israelites after they had escaped from slavery in Egypt. Can you think of what connection they would have made to their day? It is obvious, the plagues in Egypt that forced Pharaoh to finally let them go (Exodus 7-11). God helped Abram in the way He answered our prayers. On the surface this is correct, but there are huge differences. The Israelites in Egypt in Moses’ day had done nothing wrong and faced hardship from the Egyptian authorities. God rescued these people from gross injustice. Abram and Sarai were rescued, something Abram did not deserve, but it was damage limitation. There would be negative consequences in the longer term for Abram, he had not got away with his wrongdoing. The same principle applies to us today that we need to bear in mind in making our choices at work, at home and in our church meetings. God is often merciful and forgiving, which we may not deserve, but we must not sin with impunity as there is always a later price to pay. (b) Pharaoh’s challenge to Abram (Genesis 12:18-20) 18
So Pharaoh summoned Abram. What have you done to me? he said. Why didn't you tell me she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, 'She is my sister,' so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go! 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had. This man, God’s chosen man, leaves Egypt
humiliated. He has got his money and possessions, but his credibility has been shot to pieces. Abram will go back to Canaan and to the place where he ought to have been all along, but has he really learned his lesson or is he thinking ‘I have got away with it’. God preserved Sarai’s honour when her husband was unwilling to do so. The Pharaoh comes out of the story with a lot of credit and sympathy looking a more decent person than the one who professes to believe in Almighty God. What a tragedy when people of the world show us up by their maintaining of higher standards than we who profess to honour God’s name. Notice there is no reference to Abram worshipping God in Egypt. Then and now it is very difficult to maintain our walk with God when consciously living out of fellowship with Him. May we always guard our thoughts, words and actions so that we show by faith our trust in the Lord and His guidance for our lives. God wants the best for us and we will only receive it as we stand firmly on the pathway He has laid out for us in the Bible, Amen.
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Genesis 13 What are your priorities? Introduction What is most important in your life? What are your priorities? If we who are parents had to ask our children to write down the top handful of priorities in our homes (as they grew up for those who are no longer at home), what do you expect they would write down? Over the years many parents have seen children reject the things they believer and stand for and have wondered why this is the case. It is not just what we say is important that they notice; much more important are the values that we live out in daily life. One of Napoleon’s biographers was thrilled to find his chequebook and declared that he would now be able to discern the heart of the man by observing the financial priorities he held. Are money or material possessions the top priority for any of us? If it is then everything else will be aligned to that priority; other people will take a lesser place and ethical standards that might hinder the acquisition of money will be modified. Jesus said: where your treasure is there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21). Is academic success at school or promotions at work and career advancement the top priority? These questions are about good things in which we can celebrate success when appropriately obtained. Yet if we tell our children that their identity is shaped by the grades they obtain at the end of high school where does that leave the many whose attainment levels are different to what had been expected? Particularly for us men (but not exclusively so) if our total identity is associated with our work where does that leave us when we face unemployment or retirement? If you were given the challenge of describing yourself for sixty seconds – how would you get on in performing this task if you were not allowed to mention your work /career? For other people their social life or leisure pursuits or holidays are the axes around which their life revolves. Who am I? why am I here? what is the purpose of my life? These are fundamental questions that many people avoid answering because deep down they are afraid of where such a journey might lead. For the Christian the first question of the old seventeenth century catechisms addresses this issue and it gives the following answer: ‘Man’s chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.’ Eric Liddell, arguably Scotland’s greatest athlete of the twentieth century, memorably ran to glorify God and bring pleasure to Him. Many people drift through life without ordering their priorities and as a result can miss the purpose for which they were created. This chapter, Genesis 13, reflects on the issue of priorities of two individuals and the consequences of their choices. It can act as a mirror for us and provide an opportunity to consider how the choices we make align themselves with God’s purposes for the lives of His children. 1.Conflicting values (Genesis 13:1-7) (a)The restoration of worship (Genesis 13:1-4) So Abram went up from Egypt to the Negev, with his wife and everything he had, and Lot went with him. 2 Abram had become very wealthy in livestock and in silver and gold. 3 From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord. Abram, we need to remember, had
spent time in a place where God had not intended him to live. He had left Egypt in disgrace (Genesis 12:20). The Pharaoh was disgusted that this man could compromise his wife’s honour to save any risk to his own life. It was a negative witness of the most unacceptable kind. We might say that weaving recklessly at high speed through traffic, while prominently displaying a bumper stick that invited readers to consider whether they are ready to meet Jesus, would invite a similar moral dilemma. Abram has got away with what he did and has now returned to the land of Canaan. Genesis 13 begins by reported that the family had returned home. Yet it adds an additional piece of information. Abram had become very wealthy 1
in livestock and in silver and gold (Genesis 13:2). Although it is not mentioned here at this
point, it is likely that a similar point could be made about Lot. Almost certainly he too was also richer than he had thought possible when the family had fled to Egypt. Had you and I been living in Canaan and observed this extended family returning to Bethel then we might have been tempted to think that they were much better off having been in Egypt. This is how we as a society often judge people today by the kind of homes they live in or cars they drive; or what kinds of clothes and accessories they purchase for their children. Yet the outward trappings of success are no guide to the kind of person or family that displays them. Abram and his nephew Lot would soon see their relationship break down and never recover its former strength. Yet there is a sign here that Abram wants to get his life back on track. Genesis 13:3-4 stated: From the Negev he went from place to place until he came to Bethel, to the place between Bethel and Ai where his tent had been earlier 4 and where he had first built an altar. There Abram called on the name of the Lord. I take this statement to mean that Abram had
backslidden from worshipping God in Egypt, keeping a low profile and not standing out from the crowd. Yet now a little older and wiser he recognised his need to put God in the centre of his life and decision-making. Do you need to do that at the present time? Has God been in your life, but on the periphery rather than in the central place? We have the wonderful assurance in I John 1:9 that when we seek to be restored to full fellowship with God that He hears us and forgives us all our sins. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. Abram had chosen to live in a place where he could have good fellowship with God. One of the most crucial tests for a Christian thinking about moving home or location for a new job, for example, is this: is there a good Evangelical Church close by for me (and my family) to attend? If you would not think of moving house without thinking about the choice of schools for school-age children surely as a Christian the highest priority of all is to ask what spiritual provision would there be in that location? Abram had regained a sense of spiritual perspective here by being in the place where God wanted him to be where he could most easily worship the Lord and serve Him. For those of us with children when these kinds of decisions are being made it may be appropriate to explain to them how as a Christian parent we endeavour to make right choices in our lives. This would allow them to have a framework on which to build when they become of age to make those choices for themselves. (b) The mixed blessings of prosperity (Genesis 13:5-7) Now Lot, who was moving about with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. 6 But the land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. 7 And quarrelling arose between Abram’s herders and Lot’s. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time. There is no indication here that Lot was joining in the worship of
God at Bethel. We must be careful not to read something into Scripture, but it is possible that this young man liked the thought of adventures with uncle Abram, without following the faith of his relative. There is no indication in the biblical text that prior to their time in Egypt there had been any problems between the two men and their employees. Why was there a problem now? Genesis 13:6 has the answer: The land could not support them while they stayed together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to stay together. In the Middle East fertile ground for lifestock was at a premium; in the past with more modest possessions they had no problem living in the same location. Greater wealth does not automatically bring greater happiness. A high proportion of lottery winners wish they had never won the huge cheque that came their way because they could not handle, amongst other things, all the changed expectations of the people around them that came with it. In a materialistic culture adverts are continually shouting out –buy this, get that and the quality of your life will greatly increase! Most of the time the adverts are for things we had never heard of , lived happily without and would make at best make a marginal difference to our lives. Abram, we are 2
reminded in Genesis 12: 16 had gained the following possessions in Egypt: sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels. Genesis 13 covers the consequences of the majority of these listed items; Genesis 16 will address the remaining one. Paul, in his first letter to Timothy passed on a prophetic warning about holding a wrong sense of priorities concerning money and material things. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs (I Timothy 6:10). May God help us to not only articulate, but also model an
attachment to God-honouring values in our daily lives. 2. Contrasting visions (Genesis 13:8-13) (a) The freedom of walking by faith (Genesis 13:8-9) 8 So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have any quarrelling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. 9 Is not the whole land before you? Let’s part company. If you go to the left, I’ll go to the right; if you go to the right, I’ll go to the left.” Abram was quick to spot the trouble brewing over the horizon
and sought to deal with it promptly. We can at this point take a step back and think about the first readers of this narrative. Moses is usually credited as editing the text of Genesis and ensuring the material was presented to a wider audience of people than would have been the case prior to the creation of the nation of Israel. The Jewish people would certainly have heard these stories read to them during their wilderness wanderings. Literally in verse 8 Abram says to Lot Let’s not have any quarrelling (meribah) between you and me. This would have struck a chord with the Israelites in the desert as it connected to the story recorded in Exodus 17:1-7: The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, travelling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. 2 So they quarrelled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” 3 But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” 4 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 5 The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. 6 I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. 7 And he called the place Massah (testing) and Meribah (quarrelling) because the Israelites quarrelled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?” The
context of those verses from Exodus 17 related to water shortages for the large Israelite population. It was too large for the arid desert lands to provide for their needs. There were too many people and too many animals to sustain without the modern methods and technology of agriculture and horticulture that really only became a feature of life in Israel since the return of the Jewish people in the last hundred years. Egypt had been a place of plenty –in material terms- but the price to pay, slavery, was too high. Moses was reminding the people that there can be significant hardship to experience on the way to the Promised Land, to the place where God wants His people to be. As they heard, or a handful of them read, Genesis 13 they would quickly recognise that Abram and Lot and the people with them were experiencing, on a smaller scale, exactly the same difficulties they were struggling with. They would naturally sympathise with this plight and wonder how did they cope with this crisis? Did they pick up the link between Abram’s unexpected prosperity and the problems that would not otherwise have arisen? I suspect not! Human nature causes us to filter out the things we would rather not see or acknowledge! In the same way in our own generation we can be tempted to think, speak or do things that will be to our apparent advantage, but at a cost to our own wellbeing or of that of our family. For example, a promotion accepted at work might bring in more money, but is the extra time and pressure really worth it? I have known a few men over the 3
years who have rushed into taking new jobs in other parts of the country, but who did not think through the implications for their families. It was a kind of tunnel vision. The choices each of us makes affect not only ourselves but also the people closest to us. Getting what we want doesn’t necessarily provide the greater happiness or fulfilment we had been seeking. Psalm 106:15 in the New King James version reads: He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul. In the context the Psalmist was referring back to Numbers 11 verses 18-20 and 33-34 where the Israelites in the desert had been complaining about the inadequate food and their continual ingratitude angered God. He allowed them to have what they sought, an act of amazing grace, but them allowed them to face judgement as a consequence. The reason why God does not answer some of our prayers in the way we wish is because He can see down the line unforeseen consequences if our wishes were to be granted. Things that if we had known them would have led to us changing our prayer requests. Human parents on many occasions ask their children to trust them (and rightly so) while declining some of their pleas! In the same way our heavenly father wants the best for His children and we need to trust Him to bring that to pass in His time. Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount expressed it this way: If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him! (Matthew 7:11). In Egypt Abram had been prepared to sacrifice his wife’s reputation to look after himself, when it was to his advantage. Culturally that might have been acceptable in that day to the vast majority of people, but it was not to God or those individuals who claimed to follow His standards. Here instead of asserting his right to choose where to divide the land Abram allows the younger man to make the choice. It could have resulted in his material loss, but he was sufficiently confident that God would keep His promise to him concerning the land that he allowed Lot to make the decision. In many situations in life this is so hard. Yet how many law suits between Christians take place that ought never to have happened (see I Corinthians 6:1-8). By contrast Abram was modelling here the mindset of Jesus which Paul sets out so memorably in Philippians 2:1-5: If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus . Humility and consideration of the
needs of other people begins in the small things of life with common courtesies. It is unlikely someone would take a big step like Abram did here were they not normally thoughtful and considerate in smaller things. However, living this way as Abram did here is an eloquent statement of our trust in God that our needs will be met and that we do not need to trample on others in order to get what we want; Notions such as the ‘survival of the fittest’ are totally alien to the follower of Jesus. (b) The folly of walking by sight (Genesis 13:10-13) 10 Lot looked around and saw that the whole plain of the Jordan toward Zoar was well watered, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt. (This was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah.) 11 So Lot chose for himself the whole plain of the Jordan and set out toward the east. The two men parted company: 12 Abram lived in the land of Canaan, while Lot lived among the cities of the plain and pitched his tents near Sodom. 13 Now the people of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord. Abram may have learned his lesson, but unfortunately his nephew was only thinking of how he might get even more rich and prosperous. It was a pattern of spiritual decline that was salutary. If ever there was a powerful warning about the consequences of sin it is found in this story. Abram had repented of his sin and returned to fellowship with God, but Lot whom he had influenced into going away from God’s plans for his life now continued on that downwards trajectory. Your witness and mine can be seriously undermined by a momentary act of folly or some seriously 4
unhelpful words that despite later repentance have inevitable consequences. It doesn’t have to be as serious as David’s sin with Bathsheba and Uriah and its disastrous impact on his son’s lives. Notice what happened here with Lot: (i) Lot looked up and saw…(Genesis 13:10) (ii) Lot pitched his tent near Sodom (Genesis 13:12) then (iii) Lot was living in Sodom (Genesis 14:12); and finally (iv) Lot was sitting in the gateway of [Sodom] (Genesis 19:1) that is, he had been recognised as a civic leader in Sodom. It would take years for this regression to take effect, but the sad story of Lot’s compromise is salutary and a warning to us. It began with looking at inappropriate (for him) images; the sight of the plains of Jordan was good in itself, but the way Lot viewed it was unwholesome; in our culture the viewing of pornographic images on the internet or periodicals can so easily be a gateway to serious moral failure. What we regularly view on the internet, TV or the cinema shapes our thought patterns – sometimes we need to stop and ask are my choices appropriate? To begin with Lot would not have countenanced the thought of living in Sodom he could gain the material advantages of living in the plain of Jordan, without getting involved in the ethically questionable culture of that city. We warn our children about playing with fire in case they get burned. As adults we are equally vulnerable if we do not keep watch over our life choices. Sometime later Lot rationalised compromise with other people’s sin, its their choice, I cannot live their lives for them and moved his family into the city. Did he not think about the young people his daughters would play with, socialise with, and their values? It appears not to be the case. Fast forward a few years and Lot has been made an elder of Sodom involved in the decisionmaking processes of that place. Was social reformation, Wilberforce-style taking place? No! On the contrary he was completely silent and thereby associated with the wrongdoing of that place. Psalm 1 could have been written as a meditation on this story, with the figures of the righteous man (Abram) and the wicked man (Lot) and the long-term consequences of their lifestyles. Reflect on it carefully when tempted to compromise your principles. On the surface many people who look out only for number one appear to prosper. Asaph the writer of Psalm 73 for a time struggled deeply with that issue. He admitted how he had been seeing things: But as for me, my feet had almost slipped; I had nearly lost my foothold. 3 For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong.5 They are free from the burdens common to man; they are not plagued by human ills (Psalm
73:2-3). Sometimes because we only see a part of what is happening in other people’s lives we can miss the cost of compromises. Asaph came to recognise the folly of going away from God’s standards and renewed his trust in God. May we do the same when we are tempted to water down our principles and risking undermining our witness for the Lord. 3. Confirmation of the promise (Genesis 13:14-18) (a)The reassurance from God (Genesis 13:14-17) The Lord said to Abram after Lot had parted from him, “Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. 15 All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. 17 Go, walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you.” Lot’s envious looks at
the material prosperity of the people in the plains of Jordan would lead to his spiritual shipwreck; he had also chosen to live outside the Promised Land and so would forfeit any share in the promises of the land to Abram and his descendants. He would never be a potential heir of Abram. His actions actually confirmed God’s promise in Genesis 12:7 that a biological descendant of Abram would inherit the Promised Land. Lot’s life choices would go in time from an unwise but legitimate one, later to bad and then to utterly foolish choices, a little misstep at first leading to potentially much more serious problems; so can our envying of other people’s homes, cars, careers, clothes or whatever it may be. Abram had appeared to 5
have learned his lesson on this issue. Was he to be the looser because he had been humble and allowed God to provide for His needs? No! Notice what God said in verse 14: Look around from where you are, to the north and south, to the east and west. It was only after Lot had got his way and left that God gave this assurance to him. In the same way for us today one door may have to close before another is opened for us by God. Actually what God said to Abram was stronger than rendered in the NIV. God uses a small Hebrew particle na (Please) in verse 14. Please look around… On only four occasions in the whole Old Testament does God speak to humans in this way; in each case God asks someone to do something that appears most unlikely to happen. Here God is saying Abram you have given away any rights to the best land, but your honouring of Me in this situation will lead to the guaranteeing of this whole Promised Land to your descendants –take a good look at it! The second example is in Genesis15:5 Please look up at the heaven… you will have a son in your old age; the third in Genesis 22:2 Please take your son, your only son Isaac… and sacrifice him; the final one in Exodus 11:2 where Moses was told to ask fellow Israelites to ask for parting gifts from the Egyptians prior to their departure from Egypt. Abram you have put Me first I will vindicate you, in time, and honour you for making this right choice. This is exactly the same in each generation of the covenant between God and His people. The way He may honour you and me will be different –we are not personally promised a geographical territory in the Middle East! But the principle is exactly the same. Be encouraged to keep faithful to God’s priorities for your life –he will vindicate you too. (b) The resolution of Abram (Genesis 13:18) 18 So Abram went to live near the great trees of Mamre at Hebron, where he pitched his tents. There he built an altar to the Lord. The simple step Abram took demonstrated that he had trusted God to fulfil His promises in the future. Years would pass before Abram saw any visible evidence that God had kept His Word. Patience is a real problem in our culture. ‘Lord give me patience –and give me it NOW!’ We know how true this is, and trusting in God for our future is so counter-cultural. Abram had reached a cross-roads in his life. Would he trust God completely with his future or not? He faith had seriously wobbled and he had gone off to Egypt, but in this passage he is back on track. Will you reaffirm your confidence in God to take care of your future? I hope each one of us will do that, knowing that God honours those that honour Him, Amen.
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Genesis 14 The Lord your God is with you Introduction Joanne Brooks experienced one of the things that many people dread; a phone call in the middle of the night from the police because something unfortunate has happened. In this case some years ago she was informed that her husband had been involved in a car accident and was now in police custody. The reason for the call was that he had requested that she come and visit him in the police station in Nottingham. The shock of the call would have been bad enough, but the nature of the request was even more troubling for Mrs Brooks. It was to be just one more nightmare of a twenty-seven-year ordeal that she and her husband had to endure. The reason for this difficulty did not lie with either party in this marriage, but with a man who had been her husband’s best friend. In their teens and twenties the two men had been practically inseparable, but at some point in that era his friend decided to assume Mr Brook’s identity. Over a period of time he collected all his personal data and applied for things like driving licenses in the name of David Brooks. They later lived in different parts of the UK and then drifted apart, but Mr Brooks was unaware of the theft of his identity until a series of unfortunate incidents made them suspect that this problem had occurred. Back to the phone call Mrs Brooks declined the request to travel to the police station and visit her ‘husband’ for the good reason that her husband was in the house with her at the time of the call. The officer at the end of the line would not believe her until Mr Brooks took the call and gave his personal identifying data, which the impostor in custody had already given. After twenty-seven years David Watkins was finally caught and sentenced to time in prison. What had begun all those years earlier as a simple lie pretending to be his best friend had led to a tragic situation that had caused all kinds of heartache and grief to two families. In a statement to the press Mr Watkins’ lawyer claimed that his client regretted so much that he couldn’t turn back the clock. [Daily Mail, 28 May 2011] Abram and Lot had gone their separate ways; and for some years life went on in its familiar routine and both men and their families appeared to be prospering. The apparently small error Lot had made in his choice of location appeared to have been no disadvantage, in fact the very opposite. Did Abram in his quieter moments wonder why Lot was doing so well and yet for him in more difficult surroundings life was okay but not how he had envisaged things turning out? Abram was acutely aware that he and his family had little in common with the native Canaanites and yet God had promised him the land, but why was there no sign of progress. In our lives today as we hit middle-age or maybe retirement or some other milestone, we too may question the turns that our life has taken. So many questions to which we have no answers; In the midst of whatever life is throwing at us we have this wonderful promise in Hebrews 13:5-6: Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? Abram
certainly had his melancholic moments, but news of the capture of Lot and his family must have ranked amongst some of the darkest of them. Death or slavery were the two probable outcomes for his relatives –his only relatives in the region. This was a vicious war and the major regional power was a participant and along with their allies had swept over all before them. He must have had a sense of his utter weakness to do anything to change this situation. Liberal Old Testament scholars, from the nineteenth century onwards, like Julius Wellhausen in Germany, claimed that this account was all fictional –just a story to make Abram look great. However, American archaeologist Nelson Glueck investigated this area thoroughly and stated: ‘I found that every village in their path had been plundered and left in ruins, and the countryside laid waste. The population had been wiped out or led away into captivity. For hundreds of 1
years thereafter, the entire area was like an abandoned cemetery, hideously unkempt, with all its monuments shattered and strewn in pieces on the ground’ [N. Glueck, Rivers in the Desert, pp.72-73].
Life in the patriarchal era from around 2,500-2000BC was extremely tough. We too have our health issues, family difficulties and work pressures, yet in all these kinds of situations we must remember those encouraging words from Hebrews 13 –do not be afraid because God is in there with you to bring you through this difficult time. 1. An Unnecessary Problem (Genesis 14:1-12) At the time when Amraphel was king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Kedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of Goyim, 2 these kings went to war against Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar). 3 All these latter kings joined forces in the Valley of Siddim (that is, the Dead Sea Valley). 4 For twelve years they had been subject to Kedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year, Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him went out and defeated the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim, the Zuzites in Ham, the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim 6 and the Horites in the hill country of Seir, as far as El Paran near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and they conquered the whole territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar. 8 Then the king of Sodom, the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah, the king of Zeboyim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) marched out and drew up their battle lines in the Valley of Siddim 9 against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits, and when the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some of the men fell into them and the rest fled to the hills. 11 The four kings seized all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food; then they went away. 12 They also carried off Abram’s nephew Lot and his possessions, since he was living in Sodom. [Show Israel map of this period] (a) The choice to get involved ? It
happens all the time –you see a hit and run driver as a witness do you get involved or do you pretend you didn’t see anything. Maybe a neighbour or an acquaintance is going through a tricky time and needs help it would be so easy to look the other way and ignore them. When Gaddafi was bombing and killing the citizens of Misrata the easiest option for Governments like our own to say we have enough on our plate in other parts of the world we cannot get involved. We cannot afford to financially, even apart from other considerations. There are not any necessary right or wrongs in these kinds of situations. There can be good cases made for different responses, but in our minds and consciences so often we instinctively know what we should do-whether we do it is a different matter altogether! Abram did not need to get involved in this disastrous situation. It was a political and military conflict that had got rather messy. Lot could not have expected him to intervene. After all, he had taken his chances by living in fertile valley. It was not without a good reason that there was a shortage of people living where Lot chose to settle. If Abram had decided to intervene there were still various options that he might choose to follow. Could he have tried reasoning with the Iraqi king? Might they have been open to handing over Lot and his family, had Abram pointed out their shared ethnic origins? If he was planning to attempt a rescue by force what chance did a large employer with his civilian employees have against a larger number of well-trained soldiers? This was a far from easy choice. It is no different in our world. Jesus in Matthew 5:9 declared: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God. Does that mean Christians should automatically be total pacifists? Were Jesus’ words here spoke to believers concerning how we ought to relate to one another in local congregations or were they a warning to governments and the wider society about the futility of violence and war? Were these words spoken to 2
individuals or to us collectively? In the 1920s and 1930s, as a result of the horrors of World War One, many people were deeply attracted to pacifism. A willingness to do anything to avoid another major war was a popular feeling in the land and served as a backcloth for Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s 1938 attempts to gain ‘peace in our time’. With hindsight his approach was misguided, but at the time very few politicians would have taken a different approach. Yet doing nothing was not an option. Whether it is Abram thousand of years ago or today we cannot ‘turn a blind-eye’ to evil and wrongdoing, but do need to ask God for wisdom to know how we should seek to intervene to resist injustice. (b) The cost of getting involved? To stand up for what is right can result in unexpected consequences. There is a price to pay for standing up for what is right. In 2004, a US military reservist named Joe Darby passed a CD containing shocking images to a member of the army's criminal investigation command. The photographs on the disc were taken at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, and depicted US soldiers torturing, humiliating and abusing Iraqi prisoners. The images caused an international uproar. In the weeks that followed, after an investigation, instances of rape and homicide were also uncovered at the prison, photographs of which have since been suppressed by the Obama administration. Eleven soldiers were eventually convicted of charges relating to the incidents at Abu Ghraib, and Darby was awarded a John F Kennedy Profile in Courage Award in 2005. But not all Americans have celebrated Darby's actions. Some, including members of his own family, have branded him a traitor. He now lives in an undisclosed location and has started a new life out of the army [Ryan Gallager, 5 April 2011, www.frontlineclub.com]. We are familiar with Jesus’
story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37) and rightly applaud the man from the ethnic minority who intervened to save the robbery victim’s life, while risking his own and at the cost of paying for the man’s recuperation expenses. If a vote was taken in our land I fear that the actions of the priest or the Levite would be ranked higher than the man that sought to provide assistance to the needy. I must applaud the leaders of the coalition government and remarkably also the official opposition for resisting calls to reduce the levels of international aid to some of the most vulnerable people in the world. Just as I honour this church for the level of giving we set aside for work overseas, together with that in other parts of Scotland. The question posed by Cain, in anger, to God: Am I my brother’s keeper? (Genesis 4:9), to which he expected the answer ‘no’! actually requires the opposite response where that is reasonably possible. Jesus’ audience may have been shocked by the implications of the Good Samaritan story, but that ought not to be the case for us today. 2. An Unexpected Deliverance (Genesis 14:13-16) (a)The Information that was necessary (Genesis 14:13a) 13 A man who had escaped came and reported this to Abram the Hebrew. Have you ever wondered why this man came to see Abram? It would be easy to assume that he was associated with Lot and naturally the one place he could turn was to his relative Abram. Yet we have no way of knowing the man’s ethnic identity or anything beyond his association with the five cities of the plains. The one thing that is clear is that Abram is described in a way that marks him out as an ethnic outsider. This was not because he was unwilling to talk to his neighbours or work with them, but he was clearly different from the majority population in the way in which he conducted his life. We have no way of knowing in what ways he was different, but it does open the door to us to reflect on this point for our own lives in a very different era. Are my values, my vocabulary, the things that I do –are they no different to the people around me who profess no faith or a different faith or is there something distinctive about the way I live my life? Is this a positive and wholesome distinctiveness or is it simply that I am known for a list of things, for example, I don’t join in at work /on social occasions? It can be difficult to know how best to 3
seek to live out our faith in a range of social contexts, but we can ask the Lord for wisdom; we can ask other Christians how they would handle the kind of challenges you may be facing just now; we are in it together with a view to encouraging and supporting each other in the faith. This is why in a number of professions or careers there are Christian agencies that seek to bring together fellow-believers who are hopefully able to encourage one another to maintain a good witness in that particular working environment. My impression of this passage leads me to suggest that though his neighbours may have had a different worldview to Abram, they respected him for his integrity and the standards by which he lived. Hopefully, people around you and me will, in their own minds, acknowledge the sincerity of our faith and the integrity by which we seek to live it out in everyday contexts. (b)The planning that was essential (Genesis 14:13b-16) (i) Building friendships (Gen. 14:13b) Now Abram was living near the great trees of Mamre the Amorite, a brother of Eshkol and Aner, all of whom were allied with Abram. Abram was not alone with his family and workers. He had formed alliances, therefore friendships, with some local tribal leaders, Mamre, Eshkol and Aner. Genesis 14:13 refers to a key fact: all of whom were allied with Abram. This incident reminds us that it is good to build friendships with people outside our church and who may not share our Christian faith. Those groups of Christians who oppose their people having any ties of friendship with people outside their particular churches have lost something of biblical Christianity. Jesus in Matthew 5:13-16 makes it very plain that we are meant to live in such a way to have a positive influence on the people and circumstances around us. You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. 14You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Salt is no use safely
stored in the salt cellar. It has to be released into contact with, for example, some kinds of food to act as a preservative in certain cases or to enhance the flavour of the food when eaten. Light is only effective at night when let loose on the darkness. If we cover it up in some way it will have no impact on the darkness. Yet in our world there are people of good will who hold to very different faiths or none. Sometimes brave people reaching out the hand of friendship can build relationships that can be transformative in our communities. In Egypt since the fall of President Hosni Mubarak there has been a huge rise in religious hatred by extremist sections of the Muslim community on the small vulnerable Christian minority in that country. In a number of communities these people deliberately burned down churches knowing that Christians rarely got permission to rebuild damaged places of worship. However, something extraordinary happened in the village of Sol, in Helwan governate, two hours south of Cairo. It has been a painfully depressing situation for the Christians in that community. But in Cairo a group of young Christians and young Muslims who had worked together during the revolution in the capital city took a decision to go together to this fractured community to seek to restore community harmony. Led by a Christian layman, Hany Hanna, a delegation from the capital included Muslim Brotherhood political head Mohammed el-Beltagy, Salafi Sheik Mohamed Hassan, together with various military leaders; The delegates hosted reconciliation talks in the home of a prominent citizen in Sol and then afterwards, Muslim televangelist Amr Khaled (whose nickname is ‘Islam’s Billy 4
Graham’) addressed the crowd outside. He repeated one clear theme to the large number of people present: ‘My message here today for Muslims and Christians is, Let’s be one hand.’ He reported that the military had agreed to rebuilt the five storey church and community centre. A matter of weeks later the shell of the new premises was finished and the interior work well underway carried out by people from across the faith divide in Sol. Hany Hanna, shared his dream with the reporters that day: ‘I think we can be an example to other countries where Muslims and Christians live side by side’. What had taken place in Cairo that had led to this remarkable event? A group of young Christian men in Cairo had noticed that the authorities were treating rather roughly the young Muslim men protesting for greater freedoms in the now well-known Tahrir Square. They gathered a large enough group of Christian men to surround the Muslims and linking arms protected them, especially when they stopped the protests for their times of prayer. Some days later impressed by this kind action a group of young Muslim men did exactly the same for Christians during a time of worship. And even more remarkably they joined forces to surround the historic synagogue in Cairo and protect it from damage and looting during the worst of the troubles at that time. The banner or badge of these protestors had an interlocking crescent and cross and they declared it the symbol of a new Egypt [‘Faith in the Arab Spring’, Time, 6 June 2011]. Thank God for Coptic Christian Hany Hanna Aziz Hanna for his courage and boldness, with others, to offer the hand of friendship. (ii) Working with likeminded people for the common good (Gen.14:14-16) When Abram heard that his relative had been taken captive, he called out the 318 trained men born in his household and went in pursuit as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He recovered all the goods and brought back his relative Lot and his possessions, together with the women and the other people. This is an extraordinary success. Abram has 318
trained men of his own, Aner, Eshkol and Mamre have their own small private armies that all combine under Abram’s leadership to defeat a much larger army and recover the people and property that had been taken from the five communities at the southern end of the Dead Sea. There is a parallel to the latter success of Gideon (Judges 7) who also under cover of darkness defeated a much larger enemy force. Abram and his colleagues harassed the raiding parties of these foreign kings over a matter of days or weeks as far as Hobah, north of Damascus (Genesis 14:15). This is a distance in excess of 125 miles. With God nothing He asks us to do is impossible. I have chosen these words carefully- ‘With God nothing He asks us to do is impossible’. Will you? Will I? be willing to say, Lord is there a ‘bridge I can build’, a friendship I can make that might have a transformative impact in a workplace, a home or a social setting? Trust the Lord to handle the details but be open to Him using you in ways and contexts you had never thought possible! 3. An Unlikely Encounter (Genesis 14:17-24) There are two kings Abram met after this glorious victory; two men with very different perspectives on what had taken place. (a) The King of Sodom (Genesis 14:17, 21-24) 17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King’s Valley). 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the Lord, God Most High, Creator of heaven and 5
earth, 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I will accept nothing but what my men have eaten and the share that belongs to the men who went with me—to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. Let them have their share.” The words of the King of Sodom reflect the standard terms of settlement in
the Ancient Near East at that time. The people were able to regain their liberty, but their liberators, in lieu of risking their lives and the expenses incurred along the way, were entitled to have all the stolen property and either keep it or sell it and keep the proceeds. What response does Abram give here? does he say that’s fair and go along with an arrangement that no-one present would have dreamed of disputing? No! this man has grown spiritually since the events of Genesis chapter 12. Money is no longer a motivating factor in the choices he makes. Abram is now motivated primarily to bring glory to God and his issue now is how can I honour God in these circumstances in which I find myself just now? This is the kind of big picture question that we can ask ourselves at times. It gives a whole new perspective on the earthly circumstances in which this believer was immersed. What Abram does is an act of extraordinary generosity which the King of Sodom and the four other city-state rulers would not forget for the rest of their days. Around this time a similar incident happened in Syria. Niqmaddu, King of Ugarit was plundered by his enemies. He asked his Hittite (Turkish) overlord to help. King Suppiluliuma rescued the people of Ugarit and their goods, but declined the offer of a material gift from the grateful King of Ugarit. The Hittite ruler declared: ‘Suppiluliuma, the Great King, saw the loyalty of Niqmaddu, and as far as what belongs to Ugarit…Suppiluliuma, the Great King, will not touch anything, be it straw or splinter.’ [V.P. Hamilton, Genesis 1-17, p. 414] Suppiluliuma was generous in response to prior
loyalty shown to him; Abram was even more generous when he had no reason to make such an offer, except for his witness to his faith in God. How do others around you interpret your motivation for living life the way you do? This is a challenge; hopefully, they will grasp something of your faith being lived out in daily life. (b) The King of Salem (Genesis 14: 18-20) 18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High, 19 and he blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth. 20 And praise be to God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.”Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything. Melchizedek is
possibly the most mysterious person in the Bible. There are various references to him in Psalm 110 and a detailed discussion in Hebrews chapter 7, but from a picture of Abram and his extended family being apparently the only believers in the land we come across this extraordinary man of God who leads and speaks at a celebration service that culminates in the sharing of bread and wine. During the gathering Abram gave a tithe (10%) of his income, the basis for the Jewish and later Christian model of giving to the work of the local church. What a witness at a gathering with a ‘who’s who’ of Canaanite nobility hearing in effect an evangelistic message about our great God and Saviour. Abram would never in his wildest dreams of ever imagining getting these five rulers to attend a worship service, yet here God has opened this door of witness through the faithfulness of His servant Abram. Melchizedek honours Abram for what he has done, but then directs the assembled gathering to bring their praises to God. Abram, the stranger in the land, has acted like a royal monarch in showing kindness to the kings in restoring their people and property, but now following the example of a life honouring to God an opportunity has naturally arisen in which the gospel message has been proclaimed. How many years has he been in the land hoping for this day? I would suggest quite a lot of years. Has he been praying about this –almost certainly yes? Has life been easy for him? No! His life and that of his wife Sarai has been overshadowed by their inability to conceive a child. They have struggled with the ‘why has God allowed this to happen in our lives when we are honouring Him in our daily lives’. When we stop to reflect on this story the similarities to our day are clear. We too can have major issues overshadowing our lives with which we struggle and may never understand yet like this couple we want to trust the Lord even through the darkness of our trials. We can be 6
encouraged that God provided the opportunity for personal witness for Abram and that he, in partnership with another believer Melchizedek, welcomed these people outside the faith to this extraordinary service. I would be very surprised if there were not people coming to faith in the Lord that day. Be encouraged God can use you, like Abram, to point people to Him. May we commit our future into His hands, for the glory of His name, Amen
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John 6:1-15 How big is your vision? Introduction What kind of person are you? An optimist or a pessimist? Some people can look at a situation and see how what is proposed might work, but someone else with a different temperament might simply see only the potential for things to go wrong? It is important that we know ourselves and what our natural reactions are to the real-life situations we face, but we it is even more important to know our great God and Saviour of whom Paul wrote: Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen (Ephesians 3:20-21). Paul says some simple yet profound things about our God. First of all concerning: Him who is able; There are lots of things you and I would like to be able to do, but we do not have the power or resources to do it. There are other things for which we do not have the gifts with which God has blessed other believers. Yet we need to always remember when we come to Him in prayer that He is able he is the God of all power and might. May the Holy Spirit
keep us from ever having too small a vision of our great and glorious God! May we be filled with praise and glory at the majesty and awesomeness of who He is. May we be thrilled that this amazing God has chosen to reach out to us as sinful creatures by His amazing grace and draw us to Himself, through the all-sufficient substitutionary sacrifice of His beloved Son. Secondly: to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine – When you pray or when I pray –do we ever think I cannot ask for this….it is too difficult for God? Let these words of Paul for these followers of Jesus in western Turkey who were a small minority in a country passionately devoted to other faiths, sink deep into our hearts. No heartfelt prayer is too bigif we pray according to his will He will hear and answer our prayers, because He is able. Thirdly here the how - according to His power that is at work within us, in other words here, the Holy Spirit. John will put it similarly in I John 4:4: The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. In the light of this reminder of the greatness of our God –let us turn to John 6:1-15. 1.The Occasion and the Context (John 6:1-4) 1
Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), 2 and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the miraculous signs he had performed on the sick. 3 Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. 4 The Jewish Passover Feast was near. John gives only a vague reference of the timescale of the
ministry of Jesus in this passage, but approximately twelve months have passed since the cleansing of the Jerusalem Temple (John 2:23). The Fourth Gospel has little record of the Galilean ministry during this year, though the other Gospel writers by contrast cover more of the Lord’s work in Galilee at that time. However, in John six we have a detailed account of our Lord’s ministry in that region, in which He performs both a notable miracle and follows it with important teaching on the significance of what He has done for these people. It is important to remember that Galileans had more simple lifestyles than their more prosperous fellow citizens in Judea, especially around the capital city Jerusalem. Most Galileans were peasant farmers or fishermen or carried out some other manual trade such as builders and carpenters. They lived hand-to-mouth, most probably bartering for services and goods, rather than the cash economy with which we are more familiar. The vast majority of these people had no savings or insurance and like the majority of people in the world then and a proportion today were very vulnerable to climate changes or unseasonable weather that could mean the difference between getting by and risking starvation or the endurance of real hardship. Unlike the comfortable Pharisees and Sadducees in the south whose concerns about Jesus’ teaching 1
were academic and often theoretical (For example, a women with seven husbands on earth because six died-whose wife shall she be in heaven? (Luke 20:27-33)! Galileans wondered where their next meal was coming from? Or could they provide for their families essential needs, not abstract ideas and academic debates. What happened on this hillside was so important that it was only the third sign identifying who Jesus is, alongside the Lord’s death on the cross and His bodily resurrection that appears in all four Gospels. Yet this miracle would take place unexpectedly. Jesus had consciously taken time off he was exhausted. He had gone away to this rural location with His disciples for a break. Yet in this unsolicited moment one of His most profound encounters with His fellow Galileans would take place. Do you realise the significance of what happened here for our witness in this century? So often we focus on our formal evangelistic meetings and schemes as our means of sharing the good news of God with people around us –or at least those who are willing to attend the events we put on. Yet in the New Testament evangelism was, most of the time, one-to-one sharing of personal faith in the context of everyday life by Christians in their families or their workplace; it was through the personal initiatives of countless unknown Christian men and women, old and young alike, every bit as much as Peter and Paul and James and other apostolic leaders. The most powerful witness for Christ this church can offer is not inspiring worship services (though praise God for them); not edifying and relevant sermons (though praise God for them when they meet that criteria!); not beautiful, appropriate and well cared for premises (though praise God for them); rather it is when the people of God practice in daily life the principles we proclaim, in a way that the people who need Jesus see their relevance to their own lives and want to follow Jesus too. This is one of the reasons why as Baptists we proclaim the principle of the priesthood of all believers. Every church member has an equal responsibility to be a witness for Jesus Christ, wherever we are found throughout the week, every bit as much as the pastor or deacons or other congregational leaders. It is good to plan intentional evangelistic events, I was not for a moment criticising them, but we can so often forget that the most powerful witness is your daily life. How big is your vision to see and to pray for opportunities to speak for Jesus and to show, maybe through a small act of kindness something of the love of God to people around you. Ask the Lord to prompt you whom you might call on the phone or e-mail or via one of the even newer forms of personal communications. Have a sense of expectancy that God can use you to be His representative to someone –even this week. In the United Kingdom, but especially in England just now, we have an increasingly secular country. Christians can feel pressured to stay silent and not share their faith when a small but increasing number of workers have lost jobs and careers simply for following Jesus in the last decade, as a result of hostile policies put in place by the previous Government. Faith –steps can be a risk and they can be costly, but they can also be exciting as the Holy Spirit works through the people of God. The Jewish Passover Feast was near (John 6:4). John reminds us that a special Jewish festival was about to take place. Apparently nationalist feelings were at their highest during this time of the year. Large crowds gathered, especially at the Temple in Jerusalem, to affirm their Jewish faith and identity during the Feast of Passover. This feast and its significance to the Jewish nation serves as a backcloth to this Gospel. How did John the Baptist describe Jesus? Behold [NIV ‘Look’] the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World’ (John 1:29; 36). At the heart of Passover a lamb was sacrificed but in the celebrations, participants were warned: ‘Do not break any of the bones’ (Exodus 12:43-50); the blood of the lamb, marked on Israelite homes had caused the Angel of death to pass over the homes of the Israelites in Egypt and spare their first born sons (Exodus 12:13), but the Egyptian homes not covered by the blood paid the price of their sin and experienced the last plague on the firstborn (Exodus 11); later in John 6 as Jesus speaks of the bread of life and eating His flesh, 2
which so many on the day misunderstood as physical eating, rather than a spiritual act of identifying with what Jesus had done for them by faith; it points forward to His extraordinary death in the place of sinners and despite His execution being by the gruesome mode of crucifixion, prophecy was fulfilled at that Passover festival, on the day the lambs were slaughtered in their thousands for the sins of the Jewish nation. Jesus the Lamb of God was slain for us. These things happened so that the Scripture would be fulfilled; Not one of His bones will be broken (John 19: 36 –see also Numbers 9:12; Psalm 34:20) ; we look back in the Gospels and see a pattern of God at work through Jesus. We rejoice also as we look back and see how God has been at work in your life and mine over the years we have followed Him.
2. The Problem or the Opportunity (John 6:5-9) (a)The Problem is too big (Philip) (John 6:5-7) When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming towards Him, He said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat? 6 He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do. 7 Philip answered Him, Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite! There are times when
God allows our faith to be tested. This situation, like the one when Peter was invited by Jesus to join Him in walking on the water, required an active response from the disciple in question. The theory was good, but Peter could only practise his faith in Jesus when he got out of the boat and kept his eyes on Jesus. Matthew records that part of that account in this way: Lord, if it's you, Peter replied, tell me to come to you on the water. 29 Come, He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came towards Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, Lord, save me! 31 Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. You of little faith, He said, why did you doubt? (Matthew 14:28-31). In John
6 Philip is the disciple facing the challenge Jesus had allowed him to address. Philip was a very practical believer and a great man to have in the apostolic group. He was a worker who could be relied on to get things done and a great witness who brought his friend Nathanael to Jesus (John 1:43-51); he was good at maths and starts to calculate the cost of providing dinner for such a large gathering. Imagine after church today everyone here showing up at your home for a meal –how would you handle that? Multiply that several times over, John 6:10 indicates there were approximately 5,000 men; given that they would have come in family groups add a similar number of women and a couple of children per household is not unreasonable and you have approximately 20,000 people. Philip is doing mental maths on a scale beyond anything his teacher had taught him at school. Maybe you are brilliant with figures and working out such numbers would be easy for you; I was at the other end of the scale at school struggling with mathematics! Factor in the reality that there were no supermarkets or other large food stores at which to buy food; in fact not even a corner shop or convenience store to buy a pint of milk and a loaf of bread. In addition, I doubt if Jesus or the disciples carried much cash on them in any case-in fact a certain Judas carried any money they possessed. The longer Philip thinks about the situation the bigger the problem grew and the less likely it looked as if a solution could be found. Have you had that experience in your family recently? Maybe in church life or in your employment an issue has come up that seemed too big to handle and you struggled to get a sense of perspective? It might even be something you had taken in your stride in the past, but this time it emotionally blew you away! In such times as this we need to remember how big is our vision of God? Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations
(Ephesians 3:20-21). We can so easily take our eyes off the Lord and our sense of perspective goes completely and we panic. Lord, I cannot handle this! God has placed us in church families for a purpose, many purposes actually, but including this one; there are times when you and I will need the wise words and encouragements of a brother or sister to get us 3
through tough times. On other occasions other believers in the congregation will be helped by you supporting them through their times of hardship or discouragement. We all have our moments, like Philip here, where our eyes are off Jesus and on the situation and we need help. Are you in that place today? Do you need a sister or brother to pray with you into your situation? Actually the situation was under control. Jesus knew exactly what He was going to do (John 6:6). Do you need to be reassured today that your life is secure in the hands of your Saviour and Redeemer? Things are never out of control when He is in charge. This does not mean they are easy, often far from it, but in your trials remember this promise from Isaiah 26:3-4: You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you! 4
Trust in the Lord always, for the Lord God is the eternal Rock.
(b) The Opportunity to resolve the situation (Andrew) (John 6:8-9) 8Another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, spoke up, 9Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many? The situation hadn’t changed yet here
was another disciple Andrew who was also very practical and good at resolving problems. His approach was so different. Instead of scheduling a panic because he cannot solve the problem on his own he makes a conscious choice to involve other people and hopefully together their problems can be resolved. Philip’s natural instincts were to try and solve the problem on his own Andrew was a more natural team-player. In a church family we need both people who can be trusted to get on with a task given to them without having to check up on them, but also we especially need team-players believers who consciously look to work together, to involve other people, so as to accomplish a goal that needs to be met. Andrew also came up with a solution that was unexpected. It was not an adult he brought to Jesus with a large supply of food. –enough for a family group; instead it was a young boy with an older child’s lunch. Here was an adult willing to use what a young person in their midst offered to resolve the problem. Had the young boy offered his lunch to Jesus? Or had Andrew spotted it and asked if he would give it to Jesus? We will never know the correct answer. What is important is that he was willing to offer himself and all he had to Jesus and trust Jesus to do the rest. What a wonderful picture that presents to us of what it means to follow Jesus. It is a person who knows themselves with their strengths and weaknesses, but who recognises their need to respond to the call of Jesus on their lives. Has there been a time in your life when under the prompting of God the Holy Spirit you gave your life to Jesus? Is today the day? There are no accidents of timing with the Lord. He brought you here today to hear His Word and respond to the promptings of His Spirit in your heart and mind? If you have never put your faith in Jesus can I encourage you to take that step of faith today? As a Christian does this boy and his offering to Jesus all that he had speak to your heart about some step of obedience He has been calling you to make in recent weeks or months or maybe very recently, will you respond: ‘Yes Lord, I am willing to obey You’. The boy in offering His lunch did not know what difference it would make, but he offered it all the same. You may think that the money you can afford to give in tithes and offerings is so small to make a difference in the work of this church –what’s the point? The Lord who noticed the widow’s offering of two copper coins of negligible worth (Luke 21:1-4), honoured her and said that her father in heaven had noticed. It may be our time that we struggle to prioritise and church or family looses out unduly to work or social choices and we need to ask the Lord to give us mastery over our weekly schedules. For other people it may some gifts that are needed in God’s service and we may be reluctant to offer for a variety of reasons. Sometimes we think someone else is more gifted they could volunteer –maybe they could but has God asked you? I thank God for Andrew and people like him in our churches today. He did what he could and trusted Jesus to do the rest –which of course He did! This is Christian discipleship in action. We, for example, cannot convert anyone –only God can do that, but He uses people to be His witnesses to pass on the good news to people who need it. We need to pray that God will 4
open the hearts of people around us that they may be receptive to hearing God’s truth, that we or other Christians will share with them, and most of all that in God’s time we may have opportunities to pray with them to put their trust in Jesus and start following Him as His disciples. There will be many times in our Christian service when the problem seems insurmountable but how often when we step out in faith the Lord supplies our need in unexpected ways. May we be people of faith like Andrew here. 3. The Blessing and the Response (John 6:10-15) (a)The Miraculous Provision (John 6:10-11) 10 Jesus said, Make the people sit down. There was plenty of grass in that place, and the men sat down, about five thousand of them. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. We know what Jesus planned to do from the benefit of hindsight. His
disciples genuinely had no idea. In addition, this was meant to be time off work and a rest in the countryside, so this whole incident may have taken them by surprise. Can you imagine the scene as Jesus gave thanks for the food? Do you imagine some people near the front thinking, or even saying to their friends, there’s not much food there it will run our before it gets to us? Can you sense the excitement as the food kept on replenishing itself and feeding an ever larger number of people. What about the sense of awe and wonder at this mighty miracle from God? The best view of proceedings was in the midst of the apostolic group who were organising the food distribution. If I had been in their midst, I would have been very nervous organising people into rows to sit down for a meal for which, self-evidently, there was not enough food. Do we have a similar attitude when we come to church on a Sunday that nothing special will happen? Rather than praying that God will use the service to bring someone to faith in Christ, or trusting that a backslidden Christian can be restored or that we may grow in our knowledge and understanding of the faith and be prompted to apply it better in daily life? Jesus is totally trustworthy. Here we read in John 6:11: Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. This was not a tiny morsel suitable for a snack rather than a meal. Nor was it a small
or medium portion –extra-large was on the menu for the person who sought it! Do you have a particular need just now? Jesus can meet that need and will assist you in every way to live for Him. Our God is a generous God and gives us this promise as Paul relays in Philippians 4:19: And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Notice the all your needs…Paul writing from prison means what he says. We must be careful to state needs not wants – there is no statement in the Bible indicating that the Lord will give us everything we want, no wise parent on earth would promise that either to their children! God has not changed –this is our great God and Saviour who is so generous to us with the resources we need to be witnesses for Him. (b) The Careful Stewardship (John 6:12-13)12 When they had all had enough to eat, He said to his disciples, Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted. 13 So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. God’s
provision is generous. He is the God of all grace. Sometimes as His people we miss out on His blessings because we have not asked Him. James 4:2-3 reminds us that though sometimes God says no to our requests because our motivation for the request is not pleasing to Him, on other occasions, he writes, You do not have, because you do not ask God. it is appropriate from time to time to examine our own hearts before the Lord as Christians to see if we have retained a sense of expectancy of God working in our lives and through us in the lives of other people around us; the same can happen sometimes in churches who give up hope of ever seeing unchurched people coming to faith or having any expectancy of growth in Christian maturity of those who have professed faith; over the history of the Christian Church 5
in these last two thousand years each generation of believers has faced a different set of challenges that could undermine our witness for Jesus. The powerful message from John 6:12 is that God’s provision for our need is always sufficient –as Abraham found on Mount Moriah (Genesis 22:14 So Abraham called that place ‘The Lord will provide’. And to this day it is said ‘on the mountain of the Lord it will be provided’. ) This passage also teaches careful stewardship of resources the spare food was collected so it could be used on another occasion. One small lunch given to Jesus was used by God in ways beyond the giver’s wildest imagination. When you and I make ourselves available to God to be witnesses for Him in sharing our faith in word or action we never know what impact that might have in the lives of other people, to the glory of God. Sometimes pressures from other people outside the faith can cause us to withdraw into the safety of our church communities and neglect our witness to people who need Jesus. William Carey’s great sermon with the points, ‘Expect Great things (from God)’ and ‘Attempt Great Things (for God)’, in context about world mission, but applicable in all areas of Christian ministry, is a wonderful inspiration to the Baptist family. What is more he followed up his sermon with a lifetime of service in India. Who knows what God might do in coming days through you and me –if we are wholeheartedly available to Him? (c) The Misunderstanding and the Withdrawal of Jesus (John 6:14-15) After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world. 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make Him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by Himself. How did the people respond to
this amazing miracle? In two ways they praised Jesus as the Prophet and wanted to force Him to become their earthly king and messiah. Unfortunately it was on their terms not His. Nationalist feelings ran high at the time of the Passover festival commemorating the foundation of their nation, in the time of Moses. Yet they failed to acknowledge Jesus on His terms. Where do you stand at this moment in time? Are you here as someone yet to come to faith and you have wanted to keep control of your own life, on your terms; Jesus’ message to you is trust Me today. Allow Me to take charge of your life and you will accomplish things in the power of My Spirit that you never thought possible. Will you make that response today? Are you here as a Christian, but having lost your vision of what God can accomplish through you? Will you ask the Holy Spirit this morning to fill you afresh with God’s power so that you may once more regain a greater vision of what God can accomplish through you? In Paul’s words, in Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us… To those here with a real passion for the Lord and faithful in His service, may the Lord give you greater blessings and joys than you have yet experienced in this church. Despite the trials and challenges that cross our pathways, may He enable you not only to continue stepping out in faith, but to see God’s kingdom extended in ways He will put in your hearts in the days to come. To Him be all the glory and praise, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
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Genesis 15 The Nature of True Faith Introduction ‘Don’t forget’: to do your homework, clean your teeth, take your house key, to pick up certain groceries on the way home from work; to call someone back…the list is endless. We all have our memory aids from hi-tech gadgets to diaries or even a note on the back of your hand is the preferred choice of some people. Life is a rush for most people with an endless series of lists that fill up from the bottom, no sooner than you appeared to have covered everything further up the record of tasks requiring attention. As a Christian sometimes we need the Lord to prompt us about things we need to address in our lives, which we either were unaware of or had forgotten to do something about. On other occasions we are very familiar with promises or reassurances that the Lord has given us and, years later, what the Lord has laid on our hearts has yet to take place. We ask the question, ‘why?’; sometimes there is a simple explanation, but many times there is no known reason; most of us have those times when we struggle to come to terms with life’s circumstances with which we are presented. Abram and Sarai had come to one of those times. In our last study in Genesis, the glorious victory over the group of kings that included at least one from as far away as Iraq, recorded in Genesis 14, the culmination of the victory was the celebration service led by Melchizedek. After living in the Promised Land for a number of years and not seeing how things could work out in line with God’s promises, at last there was a major step forward and a great encouragement and vindication of Abram for living God’s way. Yet further years passed by and nothing seemed to be happening. After this… chapter fifteen will begin. The specific length of time is not the important point here. Instead it is the sense of not knowing when their prayers would be answered. In their case the issue was one of childlessness when God had promised them an heir who would inherit the land. For you or me the issue may be very different. It may be something so personal that no-one else in the fellowship has a clue what it may be. For others of us there may be a few close family members or friends that are aware of something that we are struggling with, yet over the course of our lives all of us have issues at one time or another that cause us to wonder why God has allowed these things to take place, or why other things have never happened when we expected them and they seemed to be consistent with God’s guidance for our lives. We have no idea how many years of apparent silence Abram and Sarai endured between the end of Genesis 14 and the revelatory encounter of Abram with God in Genesis 15. What is important is that when we too have our years of heartache and wondering why, we do not give up hope trusting that God has a plan and a purpose in allowing our pathway in life to unfold this way. 1. The Divine Reassurance (Genesis 15:1-5) (a)God’s Promise (15:1) After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward. You can be certain that when in the Bible God encourages someone by saying Don’t be afraid or Fear Not that the recipient of those words is experiencing that emotion. These words are found in both the Old and New Testament. Each of us will have in our minds examples of Bible stories where these words are uttered. In Luke 1:11-13 the angel Gabriel was sent by the Lord to His servant in thew Temple in Jerusalem, who may even have been praying at that very moment about this issue on his heart. Luke given this account of the meeting of the angel with Zechariah: 11 Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. 12 When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. 13 But the angel said to him: Do not be 1
afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. Years had gone by since that prayer had first been uttered by this
devout couple yet for reasons unknown the Lord allowed them to pass through this time of trial prior to their request being heard. John the apostle on the island of Patmos, a slave in the Roman slate quarries, knowing that he was likely to remain in that place for the rest of his earthly life, yet he experienced the presence of the glorified Lord Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:17 states: When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. Then He placed His right hand on me and said: Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. The reassurance of the Lord we all need to sustain and strengthen us to get through our lives. Why might Abram and Sarai have needed it at this particular time? The previous chapter has reported an extraordinary victory over a confederation of kings and their armies. There would be no doubt that Abram and his allies had a much smaller number of men at their disposal. A series of surprise night-time attacks which they had mounted had been successful. The enemy they had faced was totally taken by surprise. They had planned thoroughly to defeat the forces of the city states in that region and had convincingly destroyed both their armed forces and their walled towns and villages. Was it likely that they had gone home and thought –tough luck Abram and his friends are the winners we are not going back there again? Is it not more likely that the next year or a future year that they would return to attack the isolated shepherds and herdsmen of Abram and his friends? Feelings of extreme vulnerability would have been no surprise. Maybe it had even begun to affect Abram’s ability to sleep? This has been, I suspect, a problem from time to time for most of us and for some of us over a more extended period of time due to particular pressing circumstances. In his time of vulnerability these words of reassurance come to Abram: Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward (Genesis 15:1). Maybe this is the word you need to hear from the Lord today with something you are experiencing? Whom do you trust? (1) The Lord can protect His people from other human beings who wish them harm. David rejoiced in God’s protection from his enemies. II Samuel 22:2-4 : He said: The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;3 my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation. He is my stronghold, my refuge and my saviour— from violent men you save me. 4 I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. (2) God also protects His people from the attacks of the evil one. The problem is stated in I Peter 5:8-9a: Be self- controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith… The solution is given in James 4:7: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (3) God also protects us against the influence of temptation I Corinthians 10:13: No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. (4) God can also shield us from bitterness. Paul in prison in Rome was well
aware that some Christians in that city were rejoicing in his exclusion from his regular ministry, because they wanted to get the credit ahead of him for leading people to Christ. I struggle to understand this kind of mindset, though I have come across it a few times over the years. Yet there have been some churches who think they have been doing God’s work by trying to put another evangelical cause out of God’s business; some Christian leaders who wanted to promote their ministries with a view of weakening or undermining a brother or sister in Christ. In Philippians 1 the great apostle uttered these courageous words: Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13 As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.14 Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly. 15 It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. 16 The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defence of the gospel.17 The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing 2
that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. 18 But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. Yes, and I will continue to rejoice … (Phil.1:12-18); only someone empowered by the
Spirit of God could be so gracious in these kind of circumstances. However, many of us will also have different but similar experiences with which we struggle –may God’s grace enable us to overcome such trials. (b) Abram’s Question (15:2-3) But Abram said, O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus? 3 And Abram said, You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir. Lord thank you for the promise. I appreciate your protection. However, my underlying problem is still to be addressed. I have no heir. One of my servants currently stands to inherit all I possess. This is not consistent with the calling You gave me to leave my country, my extended family and come to Canaan. God -why is this circumstance happening or not as the case may be? All of us from the bottom of our hearts will cry out to God at different times in our lives, if not for ourselves then for other people in our families or circle of friends. We know life is very tough at times; but some things emotionally ‘hit us in the face’ as being particularly unfair. God, In Genesis 13:15-16, God had made this promise to Abram: All the land that you see I will give to you and your offspring for ever. 16 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth, so that if anyone could count the dust, then your offspring could be counted. Abram
was hardly a spring chicken when he and Sarai had left Haran. He was seventy-five years old. Ten years later they would try and help the Lord out by having a child by Hagar the servantgirl, born when Abram was eighty-six (Gen.16:16). A further thirteen years later, aged ninety-nine (Gen.17:1), the longed-for child was finally acknowledged growing in Sarai’s womb. Allowing for the fact that they lived up to twice our average ages at that time, this is like a young couple having an early marriage but waiting until their forties to conceive a child naturally. You and I will have our questions. Maybe even a growing list of questions, but as with Job, in the book of that name, God normally does not give an explanation for the apparent delay in answering their prayers to the individual concerned. It must be stressed that it is quite legitimate and normal as a Christian to have things over which we have serious struggles. We are not being ‘unspiritual’ in acknowledging it. Many of the greatest Christian men and women down the centuries had their ‘dark valley’ experiences and we are not exempt from facing our difficulties as well. Honesty with the Lord especially and where appropriate with another Christian with whom we can pray about our trials is most appropriate. Never think it’s just me that has these problems. On the contrary, if you have never had an issue over which you have seriously struggled then praise the Lord, but remember you are an exceptional Christian if that is your experience. (c) God’s Guarantee (15:4-5) Then the word of the Lord came to him: This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.5 He took him outside and said, Look up at the heavens and count the stars— if indeed you can count them. Then he said to him, So shall your offspring be. First of all (i) God repeated His earlier promise God is so gracious to Abram and is equally so to you and me as well. How many times do we need assurance? Some of us only need to hear something once and it sticks for life, no matter how long the timescale for fulfilment. Others of us, I suspect the majority, need reassurance from the Lord that we havn’t missed the moment or misunderstood the promise or that for some other reason we have missed out on the promised blessing. (ii) God explained His earlier promise Abram is trying very hard to see how the promise can be fulfilled under his existing circumstances. Could it be through my servant that we inherit the land? I don’t want to think that God has made a mistake here. All credit for Abram for not blaming the Lord. How many of us have to hold our hands up and admit that we have at least insinuated that the Lord might have made a mistake of one kind or another with the way things have turned out in our lives. 3
Abram it is through a son, your biological son, not an adopted son that the promise will be fulfilled. Although God doesn’t spell it out specifically here there is an implied suggestion that it will be through his wife Sarai as well. Yet the Lord has dealt with the specific problem with which Abram was struggling and although it didn’t take away the underlying problem it did make it easier to bear. Then using the sky as a visual aid He asked the patriarch to start counting the stars. In an age of no light pollution he had no excuse for not getting started! However, this was not a mathematical statement but an assurance that the day would come when his descendants would be too many to count and instead of a family, even an extended family, they would become a nation of people! Sometimes God lays things on our hearts maybe about your work and career; on other occasions about your family or concerning our church family. Nearly all the time we only ever have part of the picture and so must constantly walk by faith and not by sight. We must acknowledge this honestly as Christians; other people who don’t share our faith, or any other faith, sometimes delude themselves into thinking that they don’t do anything by trust or faith, yet every relationship and much more besides in life is only workable on a degree of trust, however, reasonable and certain we think it might be. You are loved by God as a Christian, if you have put your faith and trust in the Lord; His promises are reliable and although we may not see their fulfilment for many years, let us not doubt that He is faithful and will honour us for trusting Him. Jeremiah, in the depths of despair and in the ruins of Jerusalem, through his tears, could declare: Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.24 I say to myself, The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for Him. 25The Lord is good to those whose hope is in Him, to the one who seeks Him (Lamentations
3:22-25). If necessary, even though our tears, let us renew our trust in the Lord. 2. The Divine Declaration (Genesis 15:6) Abram believed the Lord, and He credited it to him as righteousness.
(a)What is Justification? This is a fundamental doctrine in both the Old and New Testament. At its heart is the issue of how a sinful person can be right with God and in fellowship with their Creator and Redeemer who is totally holy and perfect? The root issue is explained by Paul in Romans chapters one to three in which he explains that all human beings (Jesus excepted) are in this together. He concluded in Romans 3:23: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Hebrews chapter eleven reminds us that it was not only New Testament believers that live by faith, our Old Testament counterparts also lived this way. In essence it is acknowledging that we can do nothing to earn God’s favour; we must simply receive the gift of grace God offers to us and live in the light of His promises to His children. Some people struggle with it because it seems too simple. However, when we grasp what the Bible is teaching on this topic it can bring joy to our hearts and peace to our minds. David in Psalm 32:1-2 expressed it this way when he grasped and experienced the joy of having his sins forgiven by God. Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. 2 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. It is a legal term by which the guilty person is genuinely declared not guilty through the actions of another person. Paul comments on Genesis 15:6 in Romans chapter four, a most wonderful passage of God’s Word. Romans 4:5, with reference to obtaining our salvation, states: However, to the man who does not work [striving to be good enough to be accepted by God for salvation] but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. On the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross alone we are saved. That message had still to be communicated to Abram, but in Genesis chapter twenty-two God will reveal the essence of what Jesus would do in our place on the very spot where the Temple would later be built; on ground that would later be at the heart of the city of Jerusalem where Jesus would lay down 4
His life for us. Abram had a revelation of God in which he grasped to a degree beyond his earlier experience of God the need to place his faith wholly in the Lord. If you are a Christian then there will be a small number of key moments in your relationship with the Lord when you will renew afresh your trust in Him for your future. Is this one of those times when such a step needs to be taken? (b) What did Abram believe? God’s promise to him about an heir, despite his old age. This was a moment of complete surrender to God. Lord you know this thing you have promised appears to be beyond the realms of human possibilities –in fact it is miracle territory. But there is no-one else in the universe who is able to work miracles, so I’m not going crazy, instead like a little child trusting a parent, I’m going to say Lord I don’t know how you are going to bring this about, but I accept that in Your way and Your timescale You will bring it to pass. Forsaking all I trust Him. We all have those crossroads situations where a step of faith is required to go forward on our faith journey. It is at the heart of the Gospel, as Jesus explained in John chapter three to the Jewish religious teacher Nicodemus. John 3:14-16 declares: Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15 that everyone who believes in Him may have eternal life. 16 For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. In context the
reference in John 3:14 is to Numbers 21:8-9 where God wanted, through Moses, to persuade the Israelite people to trust Him fully not only concerning their past, but in their present experience and for all that lay ahead of them into the future. God wants us to do exactly the same thing and like Moses to commit our uncertain futures into the hands of almighty God who is mighty to save. Some times we need to admit that believing children are better at this than adults. But however we get there, lets wholeheartedly commit our future into His hands. 3. The Divine Reminder (Genesis 15:7-21) (a)God’s Promise (15:7) He also said to him, I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it. The parallel promise to the Israelite readers and hearers of this passage in the Wilderness is Exodus 20:1-3, words spoken at the giving of the ten commandments: And God spoke all these words: 2I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 3 You shall have no other gods before Me. Some promises, it will be your children or grandchildren who will benefit from their fulfilment, but don’t think I will forget to deliver what I have promised. Sometimes we too need reassurance. For Noah and his family after the flood, the rainbow (Genesis 9:12-17) was the sign that it would never happen again. (b) Abram’s Question (15:8) But Abram said, O Sovereign Lord, how can I know that I shall gain possession of it? God help me see in practice that You will bring this promise to fulfilment. Please give me some kind of sign that I can know I’m not making the whole thing up or dreaming! Does God have a go at His servant for such a question? No! His patience is so encouraging because we too raise similar questions to the Lord at times and He will show such kindness to us as well. Looking back on this encounter with God, the writer of Hebrews 11:11-12 states: By faith Abraham, even though he was past age— and Sarah herself was barren— was enabled to become a father because he considered Him faithful who had made the promise. 12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore. Will you and I receive the blessings God has in
store for us because we are placing our trust in Him? No-one else can believe for you. We can do so much to support each other in other ways, but in this matter it is between each individual and the Lord. (c) God’s Covenant (15:9-11, 17-21) So the Lord said to him, Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon. 10 Abram brought all 5
these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. 11 Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away… 17 When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking brazier with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces. 18 On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram and said, To your descendants I give this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates— 19 the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, Kadmonites, 20 Hittites, Perizzites, Rephaites,21 Amorites, Canaanites, Girgashites and Jebusites. Covenant ceremonies in the Ancient Near East involved slaughtered animals and altars. Participants walked between the sacrificial animals on the altar and in effect say may this happen to me if I break this promise. It is the ancient equivalent of the oath we say in court prior to giving personal testimony. It was practiced for many centuries in Israel certainly at least to the time of Jeremiah (Jer.34:18-20). Here only God passed between the sacrificed animals with His presence signified by the smoking brazier with a blazing torch (15:17). This object was a rudimentary furnace for purifying metals. It reminds us of the words of Peter in I Peter 1:6-9: In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.7These have come so that your faith— of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire— may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. For Abram and for later generations of
believers the journey of faith would have some difficult stages, but the good news is that God never forgets the end-goal and purpose for your life and mine. He always succeeds in getting His people home at the end of their faith journey. Never forget that glorious truth! (d) God’s Timetable (15:12-16) As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him. 13 Then the Lord said to him, Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and ill-treated four hundred years.14 But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterwards they will come out with great possessions.15 You, however, will go to your fathers in peace and be buried at a good old age.16 In the fourth generation your descendants will come back here, for the sin of the Amorites has not yet reached its full measure. Hebrews 6:13-15 comments on these verses: When God made His promise to Abraham, since there was no-one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself,14 saying, I will surely bless you and give you many descendants. 15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. The lesson for the Israelites in the wilderness
was this: don’t be impatient God will get you to the Promised Land. The same revelation in principle is true for all of us. May God help us to trust His promises and live in the light of that both personally and collectively, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
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Genesis 16 Does God make mistakes? Introduction Life is sometimes a mess. It maybe that in any given situation it is someone’s fault, but it is not always clear who that someone might be? However, even knowing the cause of a predicament does not resolve it. Older people will be familiar with the gifted comedians of a former age Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Hardy’s famous catch-phrase was: ‘Well, here's another nice mess you've gotten me into!’ In the United Kingdom, and increasingly in other parts of the English-speaking world the troubles of News International, the media empire of Rupert Murdock, are never far away from the headlines. Eventually the cause of this crisis will emerge, but sadly too many people on its fringe appear to be suffering. Sir Paul Stephenson, former Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and his assistant Commissioner JohnYates have both resigned their posts for apparent errors of judgement in this case, but with politicians of the major Westminster parties so closely connected to the leading figures of this corporation, it is hard to see how they are not equally considered culpable for getting too close to some people who may have been operating on the wrong side of the law. Sadly there will be totally innocent people who will end up loosing their jobs and paying the price for the wrongdoing of others. Yet it is not just the prominent and powerful in society that makes mistakes. How often as parents do we hear the words ringing in our ears, ‘but you said…’! Maybe a treat was promised that could not be delivered; sometimes a later bedtime might have been sought and there might have been some ambiguity as to what was negotiated with respect with the family rules! However, there are situations when we raise issues with the Lord, because of something that happens that we think ought not to have done, or doesn’t happen when it ‘should have done’. For Abram and Sarai their big issue was childlessness. There were times when they were handling it okay, but on other occasions one or the other or possibly both of them were struggling with their plight. In a culture that advocated the taking of additional wives or concubines to address this very issue, their fellow citizens practising other religious beliefs would have insisted that this was a situation that could easily be resolved by lawful means. The issue for Abram and Sarai was this: would they stand by the marital arrangements they believed God has given them –monogamy- or would they attempt to assist the Lord by following the standard moral conventions of the day? The test then and in every generation for God’s people is not just -is what I want to do lawful? Rather it is a different standard: how would God want me to act in this situation? 1.Undeserved Trouble (Genesis 16:1-6) (a)Sarai’s Problem (Gen.16:1a) Now Sarai, Abram's wife, had borne him no children. This is a much bigger problem in our country than many people realise. The percentage of couples who will struggle to conceive a child naturally is claimed by some medical sources to be as high as one in six couples, which if correct is a staggeringly high proportion of the population. There are a wide variety of reasons for it from the delaying of pregnancies to safeguard careers in earlier years; the inability to afford the costs incurred by a reduced income or increased expenditure (or both!) following the birth of a child to a range of environmental or medical issues. What is clear, though, is the (almost) unchallenged assumption in our culture that anyone who wants a baby has a ‘right’ to have one, regardless of their personal or family circumstances. This human rights argument is an abuse of that legal provision and a usage that was never anticipated when that legislation was framed after the Second World War. The rights of the child that is conceived are rarely taken into 1
consideration, if at all, and as Christians our principles on this matter are strongly contested by a militant minority that has had huge influence in parliament for far too long. However, another current difficulty at the present time is that as a result of the easily-obtainable abortion service, the number of babies available for adoption is at an all-time low compared to the numbers of people who might like to adopt a young child. We need to pray for couples in this situation who are struggling with being unable to have children, but also at the same time thanking the Lord for the huge medical advances that have been made which can in a morally acceptable way provide a way that some of these couples can have children of their own to rear. (b) Sarai’s Plan (Gen.16:1b-4a) (i) An unfortunate opportunity (16:1b) But she had an Egyptian maidservant named Hagar; Up to this point in the book, apart from various long lists of names, Genesis has mainly looked at the lives of prominent and powerful people. Here the principal character is someone at the other end of the social scale. The interest God will show in Hagar and her child will remind us that He is just as concerned about ‘ordinary folk’ as those in prominent positions. In Matthew 10:29-31 Jesus sought to impress this point on His followers by comparing their value to God with the common sparrow. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.30And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. If God cares for these little birds, and the implications of the passage
are that He does care for the wider creation, then be assured that He cares for you. Hagar, in human terms was in the worst possible category of humanity, as a possession of her mistress. It is hard for us to grasp that another human being can be traded as if they were a packet of cornflakes or a potted plant, but that was the plight she experienced. Sadly there are more people in that status in the world today than when William Wilberforce and his colleagues won their famous victory over slavery in the British Empire in 1807. Had it been God’s intention for Sarai to possess Hagar? No! is the clear answer. She was one of the possessions Abram and Sarai acquired years earlier during their embarrassing stay in Egypt. At that time this couple were living outside God’s plan for their lives. Genesis 12:16 notes that: Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, menservants and maidservants, and camels.
This fact reminds us that although our past sins and failures are forgiven we are still partially shaped and influenced by what we have experienced in the past. There are blessings that result from past obedience, but also the affects of past disobedience to God. His grace is never cheap grace rather it is costly, obtained at the infinite cost of the precious blood of Jesus. (ii) An unwise suggestion (16:2-4a) so she said to Abram, The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my maidservant; perhaps I can build a family through her. Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian maidservant Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived. The life of Abram as seen in these chapters of Genesis has consisted in a
series of tests. He had to overcome his natural ties to family and leave his native land. Then in Canaan the test of circumstances –famine- would he trust God to provide? Then a trial due to family tensions over herdsmen fighting over grazing rights for their cattle; next his courage was tested, would he attempt to rescue Lot at the risk of his own life? Then God allowed him the opportunity to resist a temptation to materialism, when the King of Sodom offered all kinds of material goods as a gift. Now (Gen.14:22-24), unlike in Egypt (Gen.12:16), Abram has learned to say ‘no’ to this temptation (These points highlighted by A.W. Pink, Genesis, p.173). The strength of this temptation that came from Sarai came about from a past failure, but in principle it might still have arisen. The legal documents that have survived from Syria, that would have been in force in the Canaanite culture around Haran made it plain that if a wife could not bear children for her husband then she should purchase a slave woman to carry out that duty on her behalf (V.P. Hamilton, Genesis, Vol.1., p. 444). It is legal –but that didn’t make it right, then or now. We are called to do God’s work in God’s way in God’s timescale. This 2
has never been easy in the past, in the present, nor will it be in the future either. Biblical morality during most of humanity’s existence has been at variance with the majority opinion in the wider culture. ‘Everybody’s doing it’ – so what! How does God view a prospective course of action is the approach His people have to take. Sometimes we will be greatly admired, like Mary Slessor, one of Scotland’s most influential lady missionaries in western Nigeria; but don’t count on it. More often a more negative perspective will be in the ascendancy, but we must follow His guidance because He knows the longer–term perspective about the right way to live. (c) Sarai’s Predicament (Gen.16:4b-6)When she knew she was pregnant, she began to despise her mistress 5 Then Sarai said to Abram, You are responsible for the wrong I am suffering. I put my servant in your arms, and now that she knows she is pregnant, she despises me. May the Lord judge between you and me. 6 Your servant is in your hands, Abram said. Do with her whatever you think best. Then Sarai ill-treated Hagar; so she fled from her. God is not a kill-joy. It is not difficult to
predict that Hagar whose self-esteem must have been at rock-bottom would be euphoric at the thought of bearing the heir of master Abram. From being viewed as disposable as a used nappy she had become a person of worth and value who could hold her head up high. Hagar’s apparent attitude problem may simply have been wanted to be treated as an equal human being now that she was bearing Master Abram’s child. Verse 4b has been translated: her mistress lost status in her estimation; if this is a valid translation then it supports the point made here and is in line with many recent Bible commentators. We don’t live in a hierarchical society where everyone has a rigid place in that system. In this context it is not difficult to sympathise with her plight. However, this decision led to tension between Abram and Sarai. He had followed his wife’s advice and slept with Hagar, but when that had produced the desired outcome he is blamed by his wife for her predicament. Sarai fails to acknowledge that she made the first wrong judgement call. He ought to have questioned the appropriateness of her request, but didn’t. Then Sarai blames Abram for Hagar’s changed attitude and he responds by saying do what you want with her, she is your possession and has no rights! The final sad step here from Sarai is her abuse, possibly violence against a pregnant defenceless woman under her care. What is additionally problematic is that Hagar is never named by Abram or Sarai in these exchanges. The abuse she will suffer at Sarai’s hands comes after there is a pre-existent lack of respect for Hagar. What is more Sarai’s opening words in Genesis 16:5 are literally: The violence done to me is because of you. Hagar is being set up for unjust treatment. Abram had abused his position as Sarai’s husband in Genesis 12 when they had gone to Egypt. And what is worse, he will repeat the offence in Genesis 20 in another place some years later. It is no surprise that in such a context with an absence of adequate respect for Sarai from her husband that she feeling insecure may want to ‘secure’ her place in the family by disposing of Hagar. The Bible does not portray the characters in its pages as ‘angels’; they are flawed and imperfect human beings. This story here very clearly reminds us that abusive behaviour that goes unchallenged will probably be repeated and victims of abuse may be tempted sometimes to inflict their own pain on other vulnerable people. What does this passage teach us? God works with people who are sinners and inadequate to accomplish His goals. Sometimes people outside of church ranks think that regular churchgoers are (almost) perfect people; therefore, as they could never attain such a status invitations to church or exploring the Christian faith are declined. The clear lesson is that if God could accomplish so much through flawed people like Abram and Sarai, then be expectant about what He can accomplish through you –if you are wholly available to Him? 2. Unexpected Mercy (Genesis 16:7-9)
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(a)The person who met Hagar (Genesis 16:7) The angel of the Lord found Hagar near a spring in the desert; it was the spring that is beside the road to Shur. Here is the first mention in the Bible of this very important person called in the Old Testament the angel of the Lord. The first person he speaks to is a slave and a fugitive. God saw the ill-treatment of Hagar and was outraged that a couple who claimed to be His followers would behave in such an inappropriate manner. In the light of this encounter, Hagar would I suspect have identified with the words in a psalm David wrote, many centuries later: I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He delivered me from all my fears. 5 Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame. 6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him; He saved him out of all his troubles.7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and He delivers them
(Psalm34:4-7). This figure is not a typical angel or even an archangel like Gabriel (Luke 1:19) or Michael (Daniel 10:13), it is a preincarnate manifestation of Jesus, the second person of the Trinity. H.C. Leupold, a prominent Lutheran Old Testament scholar, explains the reasons for this claim. First, this being explicitly identified Himself with Yahweh on a number of occasions. Secondly, individuals to whom He makes His presence known recognise Him as divine. Thirdly, the biblical writers identify Him with Yahweh. Fourth, the doctrine here implies plurality in the Godhead. This is consistent with the Hebrew terminology for deity which appears in plural form from its first usage in Genesis (Gen.1:26 Let us make man…) and interestingly in the Quran in Arabic similarly plural terminology is used with respect to Allah (confirmed by Muslim scholars to me). Fifth and finally the organic unity of Scripture would be broken if it could be proved that the central point in the Old Testament revelation was a creature angel, while that in the New is the incarnation of the God-man (H.C. Leupold, Genesis, pp.500-501). Exodus 3:1-6, the classic passage of God’s revelation of Himself to Moses, confirms these points. Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the desert and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. 3 So Moses thought, I will go over and see this strange sight— why the bush does not burn up. 4 When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, Moses! Moses! And Moses said, Here I am. 5Do not come any closer, God said. Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground. 6Then He said, I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.
This incredible passage reminds us that God is aware of everything that happens. In Psalm 139:7-10 David makes this point that there is nowhere in all of creation where God cannot find us or observe what we are doing. 7Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.9If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. This truth assures us that we are never alone, but
also reminds us when tempted to do wrong that we are never out of God’s sight and He takes a particular interest in watching over the most vulnerable people which are named repeatedly in the Old Testament as widows, orphans and asylum-seekers (For example, Exodus 22:2122; Deuteronomy 14:29). God is a God of justice – wrongs will ultimately be righted if not in this life, then in the world to come. (b) The message given to Hagar (Genesis 16:8-9) And he said, Hagar, servant of Sarai, where have you come from, and where are you going? I'm running away from my mistress Sarai, she answered. 9 Then the angel of the Lord told her, Go back to your mistress and submit to her. Abram
and Sarai had treated Hagar very badly, but the solution was not to run away from it, rather to deal with the issues in that unpromising place. Paul did exactly the same with the runaway slave Onesimus (see the book of Philemon for details). Did Hagar want simply to try and forget the problem had arisen and simply walk away? Almost certainly yes! However, God wanted Abram and Sarai to come to terms with what they had done and put right the wrong to 4
Hagar. It would never be the quality relationship we might have desired for them, but the Lord understood that for each of these three persons ‘sweeping the wrongdoing under the carpet’ would not have been the best means of closure to this incident. Yet God’s approach to resolution would not have been anticipated by any of the participants. In our society today, there are a proportion of men and women who have abused people under their care and who are living in self-denial pretending that it never happened. There are victims of these individuals who would rather never see the perpetrators of their pain again and who can blame them. Our police and court systems are often less than ideal means of resolutions of many of these situations, but can be a means of protecting the public from those who would seek to harm others. As a church, like other charitable and public bodies, we have protection policies in place to ensure our love and care for all within our church family is maintained. Hagar must have been terrified to go ‘home’, but she did not go alone as the Lord was with her to watch over and care for her. Numerous passages of Scripture affirm this promise to all God’s people, including you and me today. Psalm 91:1-2, for example: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.
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I will say of the Lord, He is my
3. Unsought Blessings (Genesis 16:10-16) (a)The Promise from God (Gen.16:10-12)10The angel added, I will so increase your descendants that they will be too numerous to count. 11The angel of the Lord also said to her: You are now with child and you will have a son. You shall name him Ishmael, for the Lord has heard of your misery. 12 He will be a wild donkey of a man; his hand will be against everyone and everyone's hand against him, and he will live in hostility towards all his brothers. Hagar, willing to trust the divine
messenger, agreed to return to Abram and Sarai. She has received unexpected mercy and will obtain unsought blessings, but only in the place where God had called her to be. A woman who thought she would never be permitted to have a child as a slave will not only have one child in the future, but so many descendants that they will be too numerous to count (Gen.16:10). Hagar you have been praying to have one child. I will give you many offspring. You are trusting Me and I will honour that beyond your greatest expectations. This insight fits so well with Paul’s words of prayer for the Ephesian Church in Ephesians 3:20-21: Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, 21 to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. Do you and I need to ask what this might mean in our
personal circumstances re trusting God and obediently following Him? Do we need to ask how this might be applicable in our church circumstances at the present time? What is most important to grasp is that God keeps His promises. God reveals to Hagar that she is carrying a boy and says you should call him Ishmael (meaning ‘God hears’) because the Lord has heard of your misery (Gen.16:11). Or literally Yahweh has been attentive to your humiliation (Hamilton’s translation p.453). When Hagar had almost given up hope God stepped into to begin the transformation of her predicament. Note that this would probably happen gradually and require a fair bit of patience on her part, but the assurance from God enabled her to take the courageous steps required to bring a resolution to her situation. (b) The Proclamation by Hagar (Gen.16:13-14)13She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: You are the God who sees me, for she said, I have now seen the One who sees me. 14 That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered. How does she describe the One who has intervened in her situation? You are the God who sees me, for she said, I have now seen the One who sees me (Gen16:13b). the God who first heard her cry was the God
who saw her need and responded to it. This is our God also who hears our cries and sees what we need to live our lives for Him day by day. Hagar was a transformed woman by this revelation from God. As we accept God’s Word and live in its light our lives also can be 5
transformed into the way of living He desires for us. Paul, in Romans 12:1-2, made the same point: Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God— this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is— His good, pleasing and perfect will. The challenge to
us is this: will I walk in God’s way or go my own way? The blessings He has for us, though, are conditional upon our obedience to Him. Will we like Hagar without seeing proof of the outcome step out in faith and yield ourselves totally to Him? (c) The Birth of Ishmael (Gen.16:15-16)15 So Hagar bore Abram a son, and Abram gave the name Ishmael to the son she had borne. 16 Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael. Hagar was a transformed woman. Abram and Sarai could not deny what they had
witnessed upon her return. It was also a powerful rebuke to their mistreatment of Hagar. God valued her and so must they, a profoundly counter-cultural statement in that social context. How can we be certain that this is the case? Quite simply because the boy was named Ishmael; Hagar was still a slave; she had no right to even offer a name for the boy. The fact that her master and mistress obeyed the word of God, mediated through a slave, was proof of that. When you and I show something of the reality of God’s transforming work in our lives other people will notice. They may not want to become Christians at that moment in time, but will acknowledge, if not to us then within themselves, something of what has taken place. The next thirteen years of life in this family were peaceable and blessed. Certainly not perfect, not least because the promised heir was still to be born, but the peace of God was upon them. In our lives as we walk by faith in the Lord we may retain many questions that puzzle us; we may experience difficult circumstances with which we struggle, but we can have a confidence that the Lord both hears our cries and sees our needs and will answer our prayers, for the glory of His name, Amen.
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Genesis 17 Rededicating ourselves to God Introduction If only….I am sure that all of us in our private thoughts could complete this sentence with particular circumstances from our past experience. Things we have done that we might not have done; things we neglected to do that we would eagerly agree to carry out if the opportunity arose again. Does that memory for you relate to your spiritual faith journey? If it does then remember that God can forgive all our past failures and wipe the record clean. We cannot change the past, but in the remaining years God has for us on earth we can use every moment for His glory through the choices that we make. In Psalm 103:10-13, David declared: He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. 11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on His children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; Never think because of your past,
whatever it may be, that God cannot use you in significant ways for your God and His glory in the present and the future. Here the covenant renewal was with an old man and an old woman; he was older than anyone in this congregation and her not a great deal younger! God keeps His promises. The timescale is often far longer than we imagine, but remember He is on the throne and in control. Do you need to be reassured about that fact this morning? We may live with numerous questions of ‘why this’ or ‘why that’ in our personal or collective circumstances, but we learn with Abram here that though we may have memory lapses He never does. Therefore the remarkable words of Genesis 17:1-2 can come with fresh power and encouragement to us today. Let’s look at them once more in the light of who He is and His faithfulness to us as His people. 1. The Confirmation of the Covenant (Genesis 17:1-8) (a)The Declaration (Gen.17:1-2)When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, I am God Almighty; walk before Me and be blameless. 2 I will confirm My covenant between Me and you and will greatly increase your numbers. Thirteen years had passed since Ishmael had been born (Genesis 16:16). It may be one verse in the Bible, but if your only baby has become a teenager then you are out of the habit and custom of changing nappies, sleepless nights (at least for the routine of young babies!) and all that goes along with child-rearing. If you were an older parent the first time round that gap has become a gaping canyon, as the possibility of further children becomes less likely. We must remind ourselves that the birth of Ishmael was never intended by God as part of His purposes for Abram and Sarai. Although God will bring good out of that situation, it may be that the wait for the conception and birth of Isaac was longer than might otherwise have been the case had they patiently waited for God’s purposes to be fulfilled. I think God waited until there was no human possibility of this couple naturally conceiving a child, and their acceptance of that reality, before He stepped in with an extraordinary miracle of grace. Romans 4:19 hints in this direction: Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead— since he was about a hundred years old— and that Sarah's womb was also dead… In a similar fashion after the Israelites left Egypt they were pursued by the Egyptian army and hemmed in by the Red Sea with nowhere to go and no-one else to whom they could turn. Exodus 13:10 records that they were terrified and cried out to the Lord. 11They said to Moses: ‘Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us to the desert to die?... How did God’s servant reply? Moses answered the people, Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you 1
will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again.14 The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still. In the purposes of God the time had
come, a new chapter in the lives of this couple was about to commence when they thought their most significant days were well and truly over. This fact reminds us never to underestimate what the Lord could do through each one of us –never think you are too young or too old or too whatever… He is able to accomplish His purposes through whoever is available to be His man or woman. God declared I am El Shaddai (God Almighty) –the one for whom nothing is too difficult. This compound name has an association with might or strength, yet the root Hebrew word behind it is shad which is the Hebrew word for the female breast [J.M. Boice, Genesis vol.2, p.137]. This adds a new dimension to this image of God, not only one who is all powerful, but also one whose nurture and care for His children is truly important as well. In verse two is the reassurance that God will keep His promises. He never forgets what he has agreed to do for His children. (b) The New Name (Gen.17:3-8) Abram fell face down, and God said to him, 4 As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. Verse 3 is a picture of worship not shock or the wrong sort of fear; Abram fell face down in a sense of awe and reverence and a
sign of his acceptance of what God had announced to him. After this step of obedience was taken Abram received the blessing. This is a biblical pattern of obedience by faith when we cannot see the blessing then God honouring our steps of obedience. What did God say here? You will be the father of many nations. This seems an unbelievable thing to say to an elderly man! However, God took a further step and changed his name in Genesis 17:5: No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations.
Chinese evangelist Leland Wong had three biblical sentences on his headed notepaper. The sun stood still (Joshua 10:13); The iron did swim (2 Kings 6:6); and This God is our God (Psalm 48:14) [Boice, Genesis vol.2, p.128]. This was to constantly remind him of the greatness of God who can do what is humanly-speaking impossible. However, names in that culture were highly significant with respect to their meanings. The majority of Bible commentators understand Abram to mean ‘exalted Father’ or in ordinary language an ‘important dad’! In the social conventions of the day when travellers passed by there would be all kinds of lengthy enquiries about health and family circumstances, not because there was a particular personal interest, rather because it was the social convention to show an interest in your guest or your host’s personal circumstances. This entailed enquiries about things we would today consider out of bounds and private to all except close friends and family. It is not difficult to imagine the comments on his name as enquiries were made concerning the number of children he had fathered. At first until the birth of Ishmael it would have been humiliating to admit- actually none so far! That’s’ called a conversation stopper! Maybe a joke would be made to cover the embarrassment, but it would begin to weigh heavily on his mind whenever such conversations began. What a relief when Ishmael was born. Now thirteen years later there is a fresh revelation from God to a ninety-nine year old man God said to him, 4 As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. Abraham means ‘Father of many’. Can you imagine the thoughts of his
family and employees when they gathered together for the announcement of his name change. God has changed my name from ‘exalted Father’ to ‘Father of many’. From a human point of view his servants must privately have laughed. They could not have been unaware of the struggles of Abram and Sarai to conceive one child in the past few decades. All of us in the course of our lives will have days when it is really tough to stand up for our faith because of some particular pressure or other. This had to be one of Abram’s toughest moments. To 2
declare what God had said to him left him no place to hide as the evidence would be absolutely clear one way or the other. Either he would be vindicated or humiliated; there was no middle ground here. This is emphasized in verse six. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. The reference to kings here is unclear. However, if we assume knowledge of Matthew’s genealogy where he lists the royal line of Jesus back to King David this would be a sufficient explanation. (c) The eternal covenant (Gen.17:7-8) I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.
This is a repetition of the promise made by God to Abram in Genesis 15. The stakes then and now are very high. His claim on the Holy Land then in legal terms was nil. He did not purchase his first bit of land until after the death of Sarah when Isaac was in his thirties (Genesis 23). Even then a field with a cave in it to serve as a burial site must have seemed far short of what God had promised to give to him and his descendants. In the world’s eyes, in his lifetime, it must have appeared foolish to make the claims he did. Only after his death, hundreds of years later did his descendants obtain an inheritance in the land in the time of Joshua. Time and again the Bible challenges us to work on a timescale greater than we want to imagine, so that purposes far bigger than we may be seeking will be fulfilled for the glory of God. In a world today when things must happen ‘instantly’ or they are forgotten, it is a completely different perspective on reality. We like Abraham are called to live by faith knowing that we will be honoured for standing firm for Him over the longer term even if in the short-term things seem very different. We need to remember that God’s covenants are one-sided He sets the terms. They are not bargained for like a human agreement. His covenants are also eternal and as a result never change. Hebrews 6:16-18 makes this clear: Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath.18 God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. They are also
gifts of His grace to us. We have no entitlement to them. However, covenants are also contracts between two parties. Genesis 17:4-8 as for Me…indicates what God promises to do and then in vs 9-14 as for you...indicates what Abraham and his Jewish successors were required to perform to fulfil their obligations to the Lord. Notice here in Genesis 17:1-8 God’s seven declarations that: I will…do a variety of things for Abraham and his successors. It is no surprise that when God through Moses reminded the Israelites four hundred years later of His covenant that He confirmed it with a sevenfold declaration in Exodus 6:6-8: Therefore, say to the Israelites: 'I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.7 I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. 8 And I will bring you to the land I swore with uplifted hand to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.' In response to His commitments
in Genesis 17:1-8, verse nine onwards turns to the party with whom God is making this agreement. God says, you must… God is sovereign in His world, but we are also responsible for our actions. In the New Testament era the Holy Spirit opens our hearts and minds to sense of our need of Jesus, but we are responsible to yield to His promptings to trust the Lord. A person in whose life God is at work will show evidence of that work. A person whose words claim a Christian profession but whose lifestyle is at variance with it must by definition call into question their claims. We are saved by grace alone, but saved unto good works (see Ephesians 2:8-10). 3
2. The Sign of the Covenant (Genesis 17:9-14, 23-27) (a)The Explanation from God (Gen.17:9-14) Then God said to Abraham, As for you, you must keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. 10 This is My covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised.11 You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between Me and you.12 For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner— those who are not your offspring. 13 Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. 14Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken My covenant. Why can God move on to this next part of the encounter? Simply because Abraham
had believed and accepted the promise from God. Paul emphasizes this point in Romans 4:18-22: Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, So shall your offspring be. 19 Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead— since he was about a hundred years old— and that Sarah's womb was also dead.20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised. 22 This is why it was credited to him as righteousness. What extraordinary
words. What incredible faith. His words remind us that increasing age provides no excuses for doubting the promises of God. Impetuosity in youth can tempt us to be impatient regarding the promises of God; a lack of evidence of the fulfilment of His promises could tempt us to be cynical or doubtful as the years pass by. Abraham made some huge mistakes which are clearly acknowledged in the Scriptures. However, in the light of that reality we must take great encouragement that such a fallible man could also accomplish so much for the Lord on his spiritual journey. His trust in God in old age was as profound here as that of a little child in their parents. To follow up the confirmation and explanation of the covenant God gives a sign of the covenant –circumcision. The act of circumcision was not unique to Israel. In fact of the neighbouring peoples only the Philistines were not practising this rite (details in Hamilton, Genesis Vol.1, p. 469). Proof that this rite was being carried out in the region is found on bronze statuettes in northern Syria as early as 2,800BC. In those wider cultures this rite was a social one carried out at puberty or at the time of marriage. However, in Israel it has religious significance declaring allegiance to the God of Israel and carried out when a male child was only eight days old. What is most significant is that there was no distinction between the highest social classes to the lowest of servants or slaves- this agreement was applicable to all equally. A male person in Israelite society who did not fulfil his commitment to the covenant was ‘cut off’ from the blessings of God’s favour to Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 17:14). (b) The Obedience from Abraham (Gen.17:23-27) On that very day Abraham took his son Ishmael and all those born in his household or bought with his money, every male in his household, and circumcised them, as God told him.24 Abraham was ninety-nine years old when he was circumcised,25and his son Ishmael was thirteen; 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were both circumcised on that same day. 27 And every male in Abraham's household, including those born in his household or bought from a foreigner, was circumcised with him . This outward sign was evidence
of inward obedience. Old Testament language in a number of verses illustrates this point. Deuteronomy 30:6 does so in a positive manner: The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love Him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live. Leviticus 26:41 illustrates the mercy of God to those Israelites who had turned their backs on the Lord: …when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin (through exile from the land) ,42 I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. 4
How long did it take Abraham to carry out this step of obedience? On that very day…This is why Abraham was known as a man of faith because of His willingness to take prompt action at these critical moments in his life. In 2000, during the Republican primaries to select their candidate in the US Presidential election, senator John McCain made a memorable speech in New Hampshire on 2 February that year. Speaking of George W. Bush, whom he defeated in that primary, he declared: ‘he is good at talking the talk but not good at walking the walk’. However, within three weeks the race was over as Governor Bush won the nomination as the Republican voters in several southern states took a different view, concluding that Mr McCain was the one whose actions were less consistent with his words than his rival candidate. This challenge though comes to all of us as Christians. How consistently do I seek to live in a way consistent with what I profess? Or in the words of James from his letter: Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it— he will be blessed in what he does (James 1:22-25).
3. The Evidence of the Covenant (Genesis 17:15-22) (a)The New Name (Gen.17:15-16) God also said to Abraham, As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah.16 I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.
The covenant blessings were also for Sarai and her descendants also. Her name would be changed to Sarah (meaning ‘princess’), in honour of the son that would be born from her womb. Here was another announcement that would astound the gathered crowd around Abraham’s tent. My wife has a new name in honour of the son she will bear next year at the age of 90! Even Abraham laughed at the extraordinary nature of this event. Some things in life are mathematically improbable, like the McCauley family from North Carolina who won the US lottery for the third time in July 2011, having previously been successful in 2007 and 1991 [BBC News website 27 July 2011]. Yet when God makes a promise He keeps it. This promise to Sarah is a parallel promise to that made to Abraham in Gen.17:6. God wants to make it crystal-clear that it is not through Ishmael that the covenant will be confirmed. God does not make mistakes. May He help us to honour our promises. (b) The New Son (Gen.17:17-22) Abraham fell face down; he laughed and said to himself, Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety? 18 And Abraham said to God, If only Ishmael might live under your blessing! 19Then God said, Yes, but your wife Sarah will bear you a son, and you will call him Isaac. I will establish My covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his descendants after him. 20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you: I will surely bless him; I will make him fruitful and will greatly increase his numbers. He will be the father of twelve rulers, and I will make him into a great nation. 21But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you by this time next year. 22 When he had finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him. We can join with Abraham in his amazement at the way God works.
We too have difficulties in understanding why God works in particular ways at times. Abraham had tried to resolve his problem by taking Eliezer his servant as a surrogate son; then by producing an heir through his wife’s servant-girl Hagar. Yet God meant what He said. Many of us have struggled with the issue of guidance from God at the time of key decisions in our lives. This is not so much an issue in contexts of right and wrong. We know God’s view in those situations even if we would have preferred the alternative! However, in many other situations there are options or choices that might in principle all be possible. There are further situations where we are distracted by what is going on in someone else’s life rather than giving the necessary focus to what God would have us do. Simon Peter was a 5
classic example of this scenario when he met with Jesus by the Sea of Galilee in John 21. Instead of concentrating fully on the profound things Jesus was saying to him, Peter noticing John nearby asked: Lord, what about him? Jesus’ reply was blunt and clear; Peter that’s none of your business. Your task is to follow Me on the pathway to which I have called you. If we sincerely dedicate or rededicate our lives to follow Jesus then He will not lead us in the wrong direction. I have many times taken much assurance from two verses in Proverbs: Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths (NKJV). May God help us to trust Him
implicitly with our lives as Abraham did with his so many years ago, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
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Genesis 18 vs 1-15 Friendship with God Introduction Friendship is one of the most important aspects of human existence. Everyone needs friends and to be a friend to other people. The word in its most vague terms can refer to acquaintances like ‘Facebook friends’; who may be people whose paths cross our own at infrequent intervals. Yet in its fullest and richest sense refers to a small and select group of people whose support to us and influence on us can be most profound. In life we cannot choose our relatives, but we do choose our friends. In the Bible there is one person, Abraham, who was described as a friend of God. This is not stated in Genesis 18, but in three other passages of Scripture. The first is in II Chronicles 20, at a time of a crisis in the Jewish nation. Jehoshaphat, the godly king was on the throne and led his people out to face a mighty army of three neighbouring states. In an extract of the prayer that Jehoshaphat prayed prior to the battle, there is a specific reference to Abraham. O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no-one can withstand you. 7 O our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it for ever to the descendants of Abraham your friend? (II Chronicles 20:6-7); the other Old Testament reference is found in Isaiah chapter 41:8: But you, O Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, you descendants of Abraham my friend. The final reference is from the New Testament in James 2:21-23: Was not our ancestor Abraham considered righteous for what he did when he offered his son Isaac on the altar? 22 You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did. 23 And the scripture was fulfilled that says, Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness, and he was called God's friend. What an extraordinary tribute to this man to be
described in this way. This designation came about supremely because of his trust in God, despite his circumstances and his willingness to continue believing as decades passed by before this fulfilment of God’s promises. The extraordinary willingness to offer his only son Isaac in Genesis 22, something God could only have asked Abraham to do if He was willing to do the same, was a demonstration of his faith in an amazing God. However, here in this passage in Genesis 18 we have an insight into the nature of this friendship. 1.The Special Visitors (Genesis 18:1-8) (a)Unexpected Guests (Gen.18:1-2) The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. Abraham and Sarah were not expecting to receive any visitors that day. Yet in that world there was no way a person could inform their friends or relatives of a forthcoming visit. This was a world of nomadic herdsmen from various tribal groups. Hospitality was culturally expected when any guest appeared, not just your relatives and friends. This tenet of Middle-eastern society is still powerful to this day amongst those who hold closely to their inherited values. We need to remember that when guests appeared in front of Abraham he had no more expectations of a divine visitation than you or I would have if we received a knock at our door. The degree of welcome the aged patriarch offered went beyond anything that could have been expected. Abraham took the initiative in offering hospitality. Unusually in a culture where everything proceeded at a leisurely pace there is a reference to him hurrying to greet them. Then the bowing to greet them, which although culturally appropriate in that context showed the willingness of this older man to use his gifts and abilities to serve God and other people with 1
his remaining health and strength; in the following chapter Genesis 19:1-3 we see another enthusiastic welcome from Lot when the two angels visited him after meeting with Abraham. In Hebrews 13:2 the author makes the following statement: Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. It is often assumed that he is referring back to this gathering here in Genesis 18. This viewpoint is likely to be correct, but an incomplete account of the visitors Abraham and Sarah entertained that day in Mamre. The principle of generous hospitality towards people around us is not only taught in the Old Testament, but equally in the New. Jesus in an account of the Day of Judgement when all will stand before Him on the Day of Judgement made the following observations about people He described as the righteous: Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.' 37 Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' 40The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me'
(Matthew 25:34-40). Paul in the list of spiritual gifts recorded in Romans 12:13 wrote: Share with God’s people who are in need. Practise hospitality. Not everyone is in a position to invite others to their homes, but there are occasions when meeting someone for a coffee and a chat in a public place might be just as appropriate and helpful. It does not have to be a major dinner in our homes or overnight hospitality, though that is needed at times, but sharing food together whether as a church family or in other contexts is something very familiar amongst Christians over the last two thousand years. (b) Unreserved Hospitality (Gen.18:3-8) (i) The welcome (18:3-5) He said, If I have found favour in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by.4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way— now that you have come to your servant. Very well, they answered, do as you say. Abraham here saw three men standing in front of him. Yet his words in verse three are addressed only to the central figure of the three, whom he addresses as My Lord. This is a title in Hebrew used for God. Then in verses four and five Abraham’s vocabulary indicates that he is now speaking to all three men as he used the ‘you plural’ form of address. In my sermon on Genesis 16, with reference to Genesis 16:7-9 [page 4 in the sermon notes on the BFBC church website], I explained that the reference there to the angel of the Lord, was a pre-incarnate manifestation of the Lord Jesus Christ. On that occasion the Lord Jesus met with the servant girl Hagar; here He comes to share fellowship with Abraham. Although Jesus was not revealed in His glory until the New Testament era there is plenty of indications of His work and ministry amongst the Old Testament people of God. We live in the privileged position of knowing who Jesus is and why He came to earth, truths that amazed His first followers. We can sense the amazement of John as he writes about it in his gospel and first letter. The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 14:6). That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched— this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ (I John 1:1-3). We will never know what Abraham was thinking that day
for certain, but it appears from his words that he senses that his visitors were of sent from God. In particular that the leading figure here was God in human form. Yet this 2
understanding of the text is consistent with other references in the passage. Genesis 18:13 mentions God speaking directly to Abraham about the child Sarah is soon to carry in her womb. This is such an incredible event that we can scarcely imagine ourselves in his shoes entertaining such exalted company in our own homes. We echo the feelings of Solomon, who in his dedication prayer for the Jerusalem Temple declared: But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant's prayer and his plea for mercy, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day (I Kings 8:27-28). Yet God also reminds us through the prophet Isaiah how it is possible for Him to meet with His people . For this is what the high and lofty One says— He who lives for ever, whose name is holy: I live in a high and holy place, but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and to revive the heart of the contrite (Isaiah57:15). Jesus on earth ate both with religious
leaders and social outcasts like tax-collectors and other people of ill-repute, together with a wide range of ordinary people as well. He invites all who will heed His call to become His disciples. Have you put your faith and trust in Jesus? Has there been a time in your life when you took this step of faith? If not why not today? (ii) The meal (18:6-8) So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. Quick, he said, get three seahs of fine flour and knead it and bake some bread. 7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree. The one quantity of food stated concerned the quantity of flour to make bread. In I
Samuel 25:18 there is a reference to Abigail, wife of Nabal, providing food for David’s army and camp followers in the Judean desert. It included five seahs of roasted grain. From the numbers of people listed in I Samuel 25:13 it is not unreasonable to assume at least 1,000 individuals were associated with David in that place, including 600 soldiers under arms. Two hundred loaves of bread was also donated by this lady and her servant girls. Although we cannot be certain about the precise quantities of food, both the meal organised by Sarah and Abraham and the one planned by Abigail nearly a thousand years later, would have been sufficient to feed a large number of people. This was a banquet and the participants viewed as honoured guests. It seems likely from the hints we have in the passage that Abraham and his household had delayed partaking of the food until their special guests had completed their meal, something that might have been a pattern for household servants. If this reading of the story is correct it displays humility on Abraham’s part and a recognition of the heavenly status of these guests. In general terms, here are hospitable hosts who make their guests welcome, no ‘you’ll have had your tea havn’t you?’ stingyness on their part! Abraham has more than complied with the conventions of hospitality of his day. Water was provided to wash their feet; a place of comfort in the shade was offered for them to rest and the provision of a main meal, on the assumption that these travellers would have found it difficult to obtain food elsewhere in the locality (Genesis 18:3-5). Our Lord would go further in John 13 with His disciples, not only ensuring a special meal was arranged that evening, but also in washing their feet, a task reserved for a lowly Gentile servant. Later that evening in words recorded in John 15:9-15, Jesus would explain the kind of relationship He had with the Father while on earth and how His followers would be treated as His friends if they followed in His footsteps. As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Now remain in My love. 10 If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have obeyed My Father's commands and remain in His love. 11 I have told you this so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no-one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do what I command. 15 I no 3
longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you. Although
there was something special about the relationship between Jesus and His first disciples, compared with believers in subsequent generations, yet there is also a degree of continuity when we too obey His commands and follow in His way. We struggle to comprehend the nature of friendship between this patriarch and God, but this chapter reveals elements of their friendship. There has been fellowship and communion over many long years since Abraham was convinced that the God who revealed Himself to Him had called him to leave his family, culture and lifestyle in Ur and travel to a destination unknown that would become the Promised Land for him and his descendants after him. The very best of provisions was made for his guests and undoubtedly they would have appreciated his generosity. Friends confide in one another and know that their confidences can be respected. This trait of friendship will also be found in this passage in Genesis 18:16-17: When the men got up to leave, they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? This decision to reveal His plans to Abraham led to the plea for Sodom and Gomorrah
and their citizens in the second half of this chapter which is a model of intercessory prayer. It is an encouragement to us that God wants to hear our cries about situations of need and takes into account the petitions of His people in determining the course of action He takes on some occasions. This is utterly mind-boggling to us as human beings on this planet, but this truth is revealed here in this passage in the context of illustrating the friendship of God with His servant Abraham. In the middle of Genesis 18 we see the reason for this divine visitation. God would keep His promise to this couple. They would have the son they had desired for so many years. What had been stated on a number of years in general terms was now to be articulated in precise and specific terms. They and we can struggle with being patient with respect to the fulfilment of God’s promises, but we always remember that the Lord Jesus, the friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24), keeps His word. 2. The Special Promise (Genesis 18:9-15) (a) It was Specific (Gen.18:9-10) Where is your wife Sarah? they asked him. There, in the tent, he said.10 Then the Lord said, I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son. Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. In Genesis 15:4 God told Abraham: This man [Eliezer] will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir. Then in the covenant renewal in Genesis 17, approximately
fourteen years later, there was a similar reassurance with respect to Sarah being the mother of the promised heir: I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her (Genesis 17:16). Now God specifies that in one year the longed for child would be born. God’s promises to Abraham and Sarah –and to each believer –are usually given in general terms as principles and promises, urging us to trust Him for the future. There are a much smaller number of occasions where Christians appear to have assurances of more specific and detailed promises from the Lord. The pattern observed in the Scriptures appears to be that the people blessed with these more detailed encouragements have often been faithful trusting the more general promises of God over an extended period of time. However, we can never proscribe the details of how God may work in a particular life situation as He is sovereign and knows what is best for His people. Romans 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love 4
Him, who have been called according to His purpose, is often cited as the general principle, but
we must be very careful how we use it and not use it in a harsh or unloving way when a fellow believer is struggling with some difficult life circumstances. (b) It was Supernatural (Gen.18:11-12) Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced in years, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 12 So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure? The time of the
menopause was long past for Sarah. Today with the aid of IVF techniques even this obstacle can be overcome in enabling a woman to become pregnant, but then it was utterly inconceivable. It would be interesting to know how much of God’s previous messages to Abraham had been passed on to his wife. It would have been so easy for Abraham to keep it to himself, reasoning that Sarah would only feel sadder that her inability to conceive had been highlighted once again. Well her hearing was certainly as sharp as ever, overhearing the conversation between the guests and her husband. Yet she would not have been human had she not strained to hear what was being said when it was clear that the conversation was at least partly about her. How did she view the prospect of motherhood in old age? Sarah laughed to herself (v12); this is no surprise, when we pass certain ages in every family the probability of additions diminishes sharply! We have to be careful here. On the one hand we must not close our minds to the possibility of the Lord working supernaturally in ways that are beyond what we thought might be possible. But on the other hand the claims from some people in ‘Words from the Lord’ are so inaccurate and sometimes distressing that they can do more harm than good. In Evangelical Churches of reformed persuasions we can be too sceptical, often based on previous bad experiences; yet in causes holding more charismatic views there can be a naivety that can be exploited by leaders as members are coerced to accept opinions reported as messages from God. Spiritual discernment in testing whether a message may be from God (see I John 4:1 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God… ) is essential. The most obvious test is does this message fit with what we know of biblical teaching; does it fit in with other guidance God has given me? seeking the advice and counsel from wise Christian friends can also be most helpful. Yet having said that, we are called to walk by faith and not by sight (II Corinthians 5:6) and sometimes this means we face challenging steps along our faith journey. But it can also provide encouragements as we see the Lord provide for our needs. (c) It was Wonderful (Gen.18:13-15) Then the Lord said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year and Sarah will have a son. 15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, I did not laugh. But he said, Yes, you did laugh. The verb in verse 14 translated too hard is literally too wonderful. This phraseology is used in Psalm 139 where David, after reflecting on the amazing omniscience of a God who knows everything; and the fact that there is nowhere in the whole of creation where we can hide from His presence, declares: Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain (Psalm 139:6). One of the titles of Jesus in Isaiah 9:6 is Wonderful Counsellor. The Lord takes delight in exceeding our expectations. Sarah’s initial scepticism is no surprise. How many of us would have reacted any differently? Yet she came to a point of trusting God to keep His promises, as Hebrews 11:11[marginal reading] makes clear: By faith even Sarah, who was past age, was enabled to bear children because she considered Him faithful who had made the promise. We have to be careful not to be guilty of the sin of unbelief. Moses had a weak moment in Numbers 11:21-23 over the provision of food for the Israelites in the desert: Moses said, Here I am among six hundred thousand men on foot, and you say, 'I will give them meat to eat for a whole month!' 22 Would they have enough if flocks and herds were slaughtered for them? Would they have enough if all the fish in the sea were caught for them? 23 The Lord answered Moses, Is the Lord's arm too short? You will now see whether or not what I say will come true for you. The 5
Lord had to remind the people of Judah through the prophet Jeremiah, in the midst of some very dark and difficult days of war: 26Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? Is this a message you need to hear today, to encourage you in some particular situation? Abraham was called a friend of God. There is no doubt that aspects of that relationship were unique to that friendship and that cultural era. Yet God does not change; Jesus does not change, His promises and assurances will stand until He returns to take us home to be with Him forever. In the letter to the Hebrews it states so clearly: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever (Hebrews 13:8). The Holy Spirit is with us and within us each day of our lives to equip and empower us for service for God. In those times when we are so low we cannot pray, He prays for us in accordance with God’s will: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.27 And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. May He encourage
us to trust Him and live in fellowship with Him and one-another as we live for Jesus together in coming days, Amen.
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John 2:23-3:17 The most important message we need to hear Introduction ‘Do you believe me?’ –someone has told you a story which matters a great deal to them, but they detect from the look on your face or your body language in general that you are less than convinced of the accuracy of their statement. There are many scenarios where this is familiar to us. In various English cities during the recent riots and troubles a whole range of people have been picked up and taken to police stations along with goods which had been stolen from various stores that had been looted. The explanations were varied. Some were admissions of guilt with no attempt to cover up what everyone knew had been the case. Others claimed to find goods in parks or on the streets and saw no reason why they could be facing a time of imprisonment for their actions. ‘Do you believe me’ – it happens in our families when something goes wrong and it may not be immediately apparent who should take responsibility. On a more positive note the story told may be a presentation at a college or university or job interview. Or a business proposal seeking the necessary financial support for it to succeed; or a sharing of an account of spiritual experience as happened in this passage in John’s Gospel; Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover festival, a week of celebrations that was a highpoint of the Jewish religious year. The vast crowds had much time on their hands and many would gravitate to the many rabbis holding meetings in which they were explaining some aspect of their faith. In Jesus’ case that year the crowds were larger as many had heard of the extraordinary miracle of water being turned into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee and possibly some other miraculous signs which are not described in the Gospel accounts that have been recorded for us. In John 2:23-25, the author gave a summary of what had happened and how Jesus viewed the new apparent popularity of His cause amongst the ordinary Jewish people. Now while He was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs He was doing and believed in His name. 24But Jesus would not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all men. 25 He did not need man's testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man. Jesus was aware that performing miracles drew great crowds. Some of these people
would have viewed it as great entertainment as the shows of Paul Daniels or David Copperfield would be viewed today. Others more open to the spiritual truths He was teaching would have enjoyed His meetings, but without wanting to commit themselves to following Him. They were not willing to pay the price of probable unpopularity with the religious authorities and so hung around on the fringes of His meetings. It appears that John is suggesting that this interpretation of what was going on covered the views of the vast majority of people who might have been listening to Jesus preaching in Jerusalem at that time. Yet it was not the whole story. There were others, fewer in numbers, who were serious seekers after truth concerning God and who wanted to explore more deeply what Jesus was proclaiming. This was not a few easily influenced and uneducated people; rather it included some of the leading religious figures of the day. Most were exceedingly nervous about expressing an interest in following Jesus, although it is likely within a few years after His death and resurrection that a significant proportion of them had come out as followers of the way (Acts 9:2) taught by Jesus. Acts 6:7 recorded: So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith . John chooses to illustrate his point by choosing the example of one man, Nicodemus. This was no ordinary rabbi, but one of the most prominent men of his day. Had there been tabloid newspapers then and the story of his visit to Jesus had leaked out, almost certainly a headline story or two would have been generated. Why was he talking with Jesus the prophet from Galilee? 1
1. The Problem which is puzzling (John 3:1-2) 1
Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with Him. What do we
know about Nicodemus? (a)First of all he was a Pharisee This was the most devout Jewish group of religious leaders of that day. The Pharisees were a movement with around 5,0006,000 laymen as members who had a variety of occupations by which they supported themselves and their families. At the same time they spent years in their spare time studying the Bible and Jewish traditions of interpretation of the Scriptures as to how people could please God in the way they kept His laws. They had a very high view of Scripture, but too high a view of their thousands of traditions which overwhelmed many ordinary Jewish people. Their motivation was highly commendable, but their mindset was totally legalistic. The concepts of love and grace were unintentionally missing from their theological mindset. The Pharisees led all the services in the synagogues throughout the land. By contrast the Sadducees, a much smaller group of landed gentry who owned and ran the Temple in Jerusalem, were all inter-related and held to much more liberal views of God and the Bible. The Sadducees denied any supernatural elements in the Bible and, in addition, only recognised the first five books of the Old Testament. (b) Secondly he was a member of the Sanhedrin The Jewish ruling council was like a parliament for Israel to which a small number of the affairs of the nation had been devolved by the Roman authorities. Its membership was fixed with two-thirds of the seats held by the Sadducees as the upper classes and one-third Pharisees representing the views and concerns of the majority of the ordinary people! Nicodemus comes across as a very devout man, but also an intelligent able leader in his nation who was highly respected in his native land. Nicodemus was a man of great integrity and honesty and with an openness to new ideas that was uncommon amongst people at the highest levels of that society. He was aware that many in Jerusalem had simply dismissed Jesus out of hand as yet another Galilean rabbi with outrageous ideas that would be popular for a few years then fade away. The claims of some Pharisee colleagues that if Jesus’ miracles really did happen that they must have been carried out under the influence of the evil one (Matthew 12:24-28), did not ring true to this religious leader in Israel. (c) Thirdly he came to Jesus by night Nicodemus had come to the unmistakable conclusions that God was at work through Jesus. His mind could not reconcile the teaching of Jesus with the understanding of the Jewish faith he had held as a Pharisee, but he was sure that he had something to learn from Jesus. In academic terms Nicodemus was as highly qualified as anyone in the land, yet he did not assume he knew all the answers. His humility shines through this passage. None of us either has all the answers, but have you come to learn from Jesus to enquire into His message to hear what He has to say to you concerning your own life today? Each one of us like Nicodemus needs to come to that point in time when we acknowledge a need to give God first place in our lives and to investigate how best we can do that in practice; it can be difficult to take this step as our personal or professional pride can get in the way. What will my family think if I say that I have become a follower of Jesus? Or in a place of work what will my colleagues think if I come out as a Christian and want to live my life in accordance with the teaching of Jesus? There is absolutely no doubt that Nicodemus was thinking that way 2,000 years ago. This was why he came to visit Jesus during what we would call the evening, after six o’clock, at a time when very few people would be out on the streets. He did not want anyone to know that he was interested in Jesus. There are people like that today who read the Bible or Christian literature in private where no-one else can see –or they might think that I am actually interested in it! 2
John gives a further slant to the story. He often used dramatic and vivid imagery to highlight the importance of Jesus and His message. John 3:19-21 is the nearest section of the Gospel that makes this point: This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God.
Later in John 8:12 Jesus used that same imagery in a sermon He gave in the Temple courts in Jerusalem: When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.
At that time of day he could expect to have an uninterrupted meeting with Jesus –and he was correct in that assumption. Maybe the meeting was prearranged. He needed to set aside time when his head was clear of other things –the busyness of the week; the noise and sounds of daily life- in order to think about that which was most important in life. Do you need to do the same? Too many people fill up their lives with ‘noise’ of various kinds to drown the sound of the promptings of the Holy Spirit in their conscience to consider their eternal future. Yet all of us need to put aside the good and the necessary at times for that which is essential and for our eternal good. Without Jesus you and I are eternally lost. Romans 3:23 reminds us that: All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Paul in that letter goes on to remind us that the wages of sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 6:23). This was never intended to be a polite chat about religion round the fireside. It was far too important for that. Nicodemus came very respectfully to Jesus and very openly and honestly declared what he had already discovered concerning Jesus in John 3:2: Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no-one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with Him. What is it that Nicodemus (and us) need to hear most of us
from the One whom God has sent into the world? It may not be wanted or even welcome, but the message that Jesus brought is the one each one of us has to reckon with. Our response to it will determine whether we spent eternity with or without Christ. 2. The Process which is humbling (John 3:3-15) (a)A clear declaration of the truth (John 3:3) In reply Jesus declared, I tell you the truth, no-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Can you recall any parties or functions where someone’s inappropriate or tactless words brought a disbelieving silence to the gathering? Or when in less dramatic circumstances you or someone else said something that was a conversation stopper. This clear declaration of Jesus to the most pre-eminent theologian in Israel fits clearly into that category. Jesus didn’t mince His words nor engage in the usual pleasantries of conversation, unless John has omitted them for economy of space in his book. Nicodemus was totally floored by them. He knew from Jewish traditions that:’ A proselyte who embraces Judaism is like a newborn child’, but this language was never associated with a person born into a Jewish family. This was an evangelistic message to Gentiles, outsiders to the family of faith not committed orthodox Jews. Now there was a precedent in the Old Testament in the sermons of Ezekiel, the main preacher to the Jews who had been exiled to Babylon in the 6 th century BC. In Ezekiel 36:26 the prophet had declared these words in a sermon to a Jewish audience in Babylon (Iraq): I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. This
inner transformation of the person by the Holy Spirit had been forgotten in the Judaism of that era, not intentionally, but the effect was the same. The assumption had been that if we only keep enough laws, fulfil enough religious obligations then everything will be okay with God –with respect to that individual. Yet years earlier in the courts of the Jerusalem Temple Jeremiah had challenged the congregation with these words (Jeremiah 31:31-34):“The days 3
are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Nicodemus these
words were spoken to Jews. Each personally must make their peace with God by faith. Each one must be born ανωθεν (again or from above). Pointing to a spiritual beginning that is as significant in the inner person as physical birth is from the natural human point of view! How serious is this matter? Does it really matter if I am not born from above, as long as I do good works or do my religious duties over the course of the year? No-one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. Jesus says without handing your life over to God to direct, by a conscious response to the inner promptings of the Holy Spirit, you cannot even begin to grasp what God’s rule or vision for human existence is all about, let alone live a life pleasing to Him. There is nothing more profoundly shocking that Jesus could have said to Nicodemus than these words and the message they contained. They will also be equally shocking to sincerely religious people today. Let me tell you a little of the story of Hugh whom I encountered twenty-eight years ago. It will have a happy ending because this man in his later years found Jesus. Do you need to find Jesus and put your faith and trust in Him today? (b) A firm explanation of the truth (John 3:4-8)4 How can a man be born when he is old? Nicodemus asked. Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born! 5 Jesus answered, I tell you the truth, no-one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7 You should not be surprised at my saying, 'You must be born again.' 8 The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.
Nicodemus for possibly the first time in his life, or at least the first time probably in years, when he was deep in a theological discussion and yet feeling totally out of his depth. No-one had ever spoken to him like this. No-one had ever made such demands on his life. Nicodemus struggles with too literal a picture of the birthing process. He visualises an adult seeking to be physically ‘born’ from a mother’s womb and find the imagery totally over-the –top and impossible. But deep down he knows Jesus doesn’t mean that, but he cannot think what else Jesus could have in mind. Nicodemus asks for clarification and asks Jesus to explain His point in other words. Jesus first repeats the point made earlier acknowledging a need for physical natural birth (born of water), but insists that a person who enters God’s kingdom has also been born…of the Spirit (John 3:5). No-one goes to bed a non-Christian and wakes up a Christian. Anymore than someone sleeping in a garage overnight turning into a car by morning; this inner transformation by the Holy Spirit is God at work in our hearts minds and consciences, helping us to repent of our sins, accept that Jesus Christ died on the cross to forgive us our sins and to enable us to have a new life in fellowship with God. Becoming a Christian is a conscious decision made in response to God opening the eyes of our understanding to see our need of Him. Like the movement of the wind in nature we cannot see it, though its effects when powerfully displayed cannot be avoided. Likewise no-one can see God at work in bringing someone to faith, but we can see the impact and transformation that can happen in their lives when God is at work helping them to be the man or woman He created them to be. (c) An authoritative explanation of the truth (John 3:9-15) How can this be? Nicodemus asked.10 You are Israel's teacher, said Jesus, and do you not understand these things? 11 I tell you the truth, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.12 I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will 4
you believe if I speak of heavenly things? 13 No-one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven— the Son of Man. 14 Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,15 that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. To admit the
inadequacy of our human efforts to earn God’s favour is humbling and cannot be anything else. We have to come to the end of our efforts to be ‘good enough’ to earn God’s favour and our ‘right’ to go to heaven. Only when we grasp that the gift of salvation is given to those who know they are not good enough to merit it; but who have received it through accepting that the One who was good enough, Jesus Christ, gave His life in our place, in order to bring us to God; Paul put it this way in Ephesians 2:8-10: For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Our good works are a response of love, because God has
saved us, not in order to earn salvation. In John 3:14-15 Jesus has directed Nicodemus back to an Old Testament passage with which he would have been familiar. In context it concerned the forty-year wandering of the Israelites in the desert after leaving Egypt under Moses, prior to entering the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua. In this particular story the people were most ungrateful to God and constantly complained about His provision for them. These verses record the punishment and the means whereby the people could live and not die when bitten by poisonous snakes. They travelled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 6 Then the Lord sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Pray that the Lord will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The Lord said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived (Numbers
21:5-9). Looking at a bronze snake in itself was neither here nor there it could not bring about a medical cure. What God had in mind was that by looking at the snake they were in effect putting their faith in Him by doing exactly what He asked them to do in order to be saved. Are you willing to take such a step? Have you put your faith in Jesus as Saviour and Lord of your life? 3. The Prospect which is thrilling (John 3:16-17) (a)The Gospel explained (John 3:16)16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. The supreme motivation behind God’s actions in the world is to demonstrate His amazing love for humankind. How did He reveal this is practise? God sent Jesus from heaven to come down to earth to show us how to live and then on the cross to die in our place taking the punishment that was due each one of us for our sins, taking our condemnation so that in its place we might be forgiven and welcomed into God’s family. His sacrifice on the cross was sufficient for every person who calls on His name for salvation, but that is the challenge. Each one of us needs to take the step of consciously putting our faith in Him. Have you done that yet? If you haven’t, what has been stopping you up to now? This challenge to the rightly proud Pharisee who had accomplished so much good over his life comes to all of us. Earlier in John 1:12-13 there are 5
words that can encourage us if we are thinking I’m not good enough to be accepted by Jesus. Listen to these amazing words: Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. Will you accept God’s salvation on His terms,
through Jesus? (b) The Purpose of the Gospel (John 3:17) 17
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. What is the motivation behind God sending Jesus? John 3:17 gives it clearly that God is
not in the condemnation business, rather seeking to welcome the people He created in His image into His family. Do need to be saved? May you take the opportunity to receive Jesus this morning if you have never done so before and God will give you His amazing gift of salvation, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
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Psalm 23 / II Samuel 17 Light at the end of the tunnel Introduction The expression ‘Light at the end of the tunnel’ undoubtedly portrays the feelings of David when this Psalm was written. Although we can never be 100% certain that we have reconstructed the background context to any author or artist’s composition, in a later generation, it is to my mind probable that II Samuel 17 sets the backdrop to the writing of this Psalm. Now the message of the Psalm is so familiar to us all that we can grasp so much of its teaching without finding out what may or may not have prompted David to pen these words. Yet I believe that it can be helpful to contextualise the experiences of God’s people down the ages as we seek encouragement from their witness for our own in this generation. David had experienced severe trials on many occasions in his life, as well as great joys and successes. I believe that the context in which this and a number of the other Psalms were set was the rebellion of Absalom. After the initial traumatic hours and the frantic decision-making, David and his supporters quickly abandon Jerusalem and set off in the direction of the River Jordan. However, they are on foot and some of the party are aged or very young so progress is slow. In addition, they had no guarantee of ever returning home in safety so some of their limited possessions must have been taken with them. I believe that David and his friends had reached a place of safety where they felt secure from any pursuing force from Absalom. The conflict was very far from over and the outcome uncertain, yet God was with them and they had an inner peace despite the storm raging around them. Psalm 91:1-12, although written much later than the time of David, captures something of the feelings experienced at that time. He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust. 3Surely He will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness will be your shield and rampart. 5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 9If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the Lord, who is my refuge— 10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent. 11 For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. We too can face our times of darkness and despair with all
manner of difficulties strewn across our paths. In such arenas the Lord upholds and sustains us, assuring us that there is light at the end of the tunnel. He will bring us through the valley experiences of life, sometimes to the pleasant green pastures, on other occasions to yet more challenging situations, but ultimately to our eternal home with Him forever. We can rest assured that the Lord who upheld and sustained David will also stand alongside His people in our day. 1. The Setting of the Psalm Absalom, the son David idolised and never disciplined, had finally launched a coup d’etat to take the throne of his father David. It had been carefully prepared over several years (II Samuel 15:1-9) and finally he invited the people he considered essential to have on board to a gathering in Hebron where he launched his attack on the government of his father. It appeared on the surface to have every likelihood of success, as the biblical account in II Samuel 15:10-14 makes clear: Then Absalom sent secret messengers throughout the tribes of Israel to say, As soon as you hear the sound of the trumpets, then say, 'Absalom is king in Hebron.' 11 Two hundred men from Jerusalem had accompanied Absalom. They had been invited as guests and went 1
quite innocently, knowing nothing about the matter. 12 While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he also sent for Ahithophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, to come from Giloh, his home town. And so the conspiracy gained strength, and Absalom's following kept on increasing. 13 A messenger came and told David, The hearts of the men of Israel are with Absalom. 14 Then David said to all his officials who were with him in Jerusalem, Come! We must flee, or none of us will escape from Absalom. We must leave immediately, or he will move quickly to overtake us and bring ruin upon us and put the city to the sword. This was a masterstroke from David to evacuate the city. He may have been
failing in physical strength, but had never been outthought on the battlefield. He was a master tactician who kept a clear head whatever the pressures upon him. David then ensured that all the people with him were totally committed to his cause by checking on the loyalty of the Philistine mercenaries, led by a man called Ittai from Gath. He set up a secret service to spy on the opposition using the priests. This was brilliant as he drew Absalom into Jerusalem, the very place where his network was in place. This would allow him to keep one step ahead of his errant son. The final piece of his jigsaw was to send his closest personal adviser Hushai back to Jerusalem. This individual was one of two men whose advice David had taken in running the country. The other was Ahithophel, grandfather of Bathsheba, whose bitter memories of her marriage to Uriah destroyed by David (II Samuel 11), had waited for an opportunity to exact revenge for that crime. Incidentally the fall of Tripoli in Libya (August 2011) to the rebel forces came about for similar reasons. Colonel Ghadafi had arranged the murder of the brother of the man who commanded the defences of Tripoli many years ago. However, the family had been in no place to get justice, but waited patiently for the day when this crime would receive its punishment. This man had contacted the rebel forces to indicate that when the day came that they were ready to advance on the capital city he would arrange that they would have no opposition at the main sites for defensive positions in Tripoli. The lesson here is very clear. A person may appear to get away with wrongdoing for years, but justice will eventually be done; sometimes it may have to wait till eternity, more often than not it comes in this life. David, in many ways a man of God, but he had some serious flaws that led to significant consequences. Our calling to honour the Lord and obey His commands is not to stop us having fun; rather it is to keep us from the long term harmful consequences of going our own way and reaping a very bitter harvest that may result from sinful choices. Under severe pressure on the way David meets a number of people with particular agendas. An administrative official named Ziba, who spots an opportunity to swindle his master the invalid Mephiboshesh out of his inheritance (II Samuel 16:1-4); a relative of Saul named Shimei, who was a more intelligent and powerful man than the impression given in the passage of a buffoon. However he was also an opportunist who prophesied at the top of his voice to make a name for himself about who God would bless and who He would punish (II Samuel 16:5-14). How did David handle that distressing incident? II Samuel 16:12 said this: It may be that the Lord will see my distress and repay me with good for the cursing I am receiving today. In other words although David could have responded in kind and sent Abishai to dispatch this man to his eternal reward, instead he chose to stay silent and leave God to bring about the vindication. David made many mistakes, but with the exception of his family members (how ironic is that!) his people management skills were excellent. Yet what is more important was his total confidence in God with respect to the bigger picture. This is why he could sleep so well at night. Do we need to learn from David to do what we can and then genuinely leave things with Him when we lay our heads on the pillow at night? The battle for the attention of Absalom between the two most skilful advisers in the Kingdom, Hushai and Ahithophel was one that would determine, in large measurer, the success or failure of this revolt. Although David and his close circle of leaders had the major details of both proposed plans of action in their minds it would be a day or two before they knew for certain the course chosen. A few days had passed and the destination of David’s forces, Mahanaim, was reached without being overtaken along the way. This location was 2
outside the boundary of Israel, in the territory of client states. Would they remain loyal or would they transfer their allegiance to Absalom? The first of these men was Shobi, ruler of Rabbah, head of the Ammonites (now called Jordanians); his jurisdiction covered most of modern-day Jordan with the same capital city. His brother Hanun had played a dirty trick on David some years earlier and as a consequence lost the throne. Would this second son stay loyal to David or would he be a treacherous as his brother? The second ruler was Machir of Lo Debar. This was a small city state around Mahanaim. He was been a supporter of Saul, but had been impressed with David’s care of Mephibosheth. The third was Barzillai, a wealthy landowner who owned much of the region of Gilead. He was a genuinely old friend of David over many years. Would he stay loyal in the closing years of his life when a civil war might be looming? It is often rightly said that we find out who our friends are when life is at its toughest. Sometimes unexpected people rise to the occasion in ways we never thought possible. Yet others we had banked on assisting us let us down. Proverbs 18:24 records these words: A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. David knew that God would stand by him even if everyone else deserted him. If we know Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour we are never alone as He is with us by His Holy Spirit to equip and empower us to live for Him. Have you put your faith and trust in Him? What a scene awaited these weary travellers at Mahanaim: When David came to Mahanaim, Shobi son of Nahash from Rabbah of the Ammonites, and Makir son of Ammiel from Lo Debar, and Barzillai the Gileadite from Rogelim 28 brought bedding and bowls and articles of pottery. They also brought wheat and barley, flour and roasted grain, beans and lentils, 29 honey and curds, sheep, and cheese from cows' milk for David and his people to eat. For they said, The people have become hungry and tired and thirsty in the desert. It was hardly a five star hotel with the best of
facilities, but it was the better than anything they could have dreamed of receiving. These men showed total loyalty to David. In addition to the provisions, the men under their command would also be available to fight with David. In the hills and woods through which Absalom’s army would need to march in due course a smaller committed force was waiting for them. In effect Absalom’s fate was sealed. The army he would gather would be much larger and with heavier equipment. But in the densely wooded location where David and his men were waiting his numbers and equipment were of no advantage at all. Had Absalom accepted Ahithopel’s advice and sent a small detachment of troops after David at once then there was a high chance of success; by delaying as Hushai counselled, David was able to regroup and quickly take charge of the situation. At the end of the fourth day of this crisis David had time to stop and think about how his life had been spared so far. It was a time for rest and reflection, like a sheep resting besides quiet waters in a green pasture. It was a picture of contentment. His confidence was in the Shepherd of Israel and David was convinced that this would not be misplaced. Fresh in his memory was that walk when totally exhausted up the Jabbok gorge with the high cliffs on either side, that valley of the shadow of death when he and his men were coming to the end of their physical strength, not knowing whether a fit and health enemy might pounce upon them. David had known God’s discipline (His rod) in his life, due to sinful actions such as his treatment of Uriah and Bathsheba; yet he was equally conscious of God’s staff, that brought relief when he cast himself totally on God. Here in a place of safety, awaiting his enemies a banquet was provided which so refreshed all of this group of men. God’s undeserved goodness and mercy was clearly revealed in this situation; no wonder David wanted to praise the Lord and rejoice greatly at His love and care. Do you? Or do you need to take time to stop in the midst of the good or bad times you are going through to reflect on His blessings and encouragements over the years? What is more God’s provision was guaranteed not only for this life, but also beyond the grave. 2. The Picture of God revealed in this Psalm 3
This Psalm reflects on the character of God in the light of David’s experience. Here seven of the Old Testament titles for God are seen in His care of His people, including David and you and me. (a)Jehovah-raah the Lord...my shepherd (Psalm 23:1); Apparently there is no is in the original Hebrew. David is making a bold assertion about the character of God in relation to him. Yet the is is not out of place, because this is not merely a vintage testimony of decades ago, but a declaration of current reality. Even in this time of maximum stress and everything falling apart, he said, I want everyone to know that: The Lord is my Shepherd. Can you say these words in relation to your life experiences? Only those who have a personal relationship with Jesus can make such a claim. (b) Jehovah-jireh the Lord will provide (Psalm 23:1b) I will lack nothing This name for God comes from Genesis 22 in the time of Abraham. In context, Do not lay a hand on the boy, he said. Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son. 13 Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided. 15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time 16 and said, I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore
(Genesis 22:13-17). The one and only son willingly carried the wood for the sacrifice up Mount Moriah, but God did not ask Abraham to sacrifice his son. However, God did not ask His servant to do something He was unwilling to do Himself. His one and only son (John 3:16) gave His life in our place on the cross. God provided all we need for salvation. Have you received it? David here has the assurance of God’s provision for all his needs –not all his wants, or ours! (Psalm 23:1b) I will lack nothing. I hope we can share his confidence in God’s provision for our needs. (c) Jehovah-shalom the Lord our peace He leads me besides the still waters (Psalm 23:2), a beautiful picture of tranquillity in the countryside. All of us love the opportunity to get away from it all. For some a walk in the hills or a trek across the moors; for others still walking barefooted in the sea on a warm summers day, listening to the waves as they roll in across the shore. Whatever your place you chose it is precious and relaxing, not least because it contrasts greatly with the hustle and bustle of regular daily life. However, the quiet place can be somewhere in our own homes alone with God and away from it all. It is not necessarily the avoidance of life’s issues; rather it is sensing the presence of God with us that enables us to appreciate His peace. Gideon concerned about the overwhelming odds of talking the Midianites is crying out to the Lord about the needs of his people when he is visited by the angel of the Lord. Once the identity of the visitor becomes apparent this young man wishes to provide hospitality. What follows gives some insight into this aspect of the character of God. 20 The angel of God said to him, Take the meat and the unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth. And Gideon did so. 21 With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of the Lord touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock, consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the Lord disappeared.22 When Gideon realised that it was the angel of the Lord, he exclaimed, Ah, Sovereign Lord! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face! 23 But the Lord said to him, Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.24 So Gideon built an altar to the Lord there and called it The Lord is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites (Judges 6:20-24). David’s sensing of the
peace of God was not on his summer holidays. By contrast it was in the midst of a national crisis and on the edge of a potentially brutal civil war that could rip his country apart. Today we too may be facing real difficulties, but in the midst of our trials have a real sense of God’s presence upholding and strengthening us. Praise the Lord for this revelation of His name. How much we need it in the midst of some of the pressures we can experience and may even be going through them at this moment in time. Paul, prayed for this blessing for the church in Philippi in Philippians 4:7: And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard 4
(d) Jehovah-rapha the Lord that heals He
your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
restores my soul (Psalm 23:3) (Exodus 15:26) He said, If you listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in His eyes, if you pay attention to His commands and keep all His decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you. The context of that story was set at a place called Marah, in the Desert of Shur,
where the water was undrinkable because it tasted so bitter. The Israelites complained bitterly about God’s provision to Moses. The Lord used His servant to heal the waters so that they were drinkable. Exodus 15:26 provided the spiritual lesson obtained from this incident. David here declares He restores my soul (Psalm 23:3). He received inner transformation through God’s Holy Spirit at work in his life. Do you need to cry out to God for inner healing today? God can renew our spirits and restore our spiritual vitality. There are times when our walk with the Lord is not what it should be and we feel dry and arid in our souls. At such times as we read God’s word and seek His presence in prayer we cry out for restoration from our great God and Saviour. He blessed David in this way and can do so with believers in each and every generation. (e) Jehovah –tsidkenu the Lord our righteousness He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake (Psalm 23:3). This title of God was revealed in a later era through the prophet Jeremiah. He spoke to his nation about God as the shepherd of His people. His people would follow their shepherd and be established in righteousness. Jeremiah’s prophecy was messianic in nature, that is it was pointing forward to Jesus and His second coming to reign in glory. Jeremiah 23:5-6 states: The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. 6 In His days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which He will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness. God promises to direct our paths.
David comes forward and affirms that He has done that for him and invites us to trust the Lord in a similar way. The outcome for David here was uncertain, but the principle holds even when we cannot see what lies ahead of us. What counts most to us is who goes with us guiding our footsteps. (f) Jehovah-shammah the Lord ever-present I will fear no evil for You are with me (Psalm 23:4); We can survive all kinds of storms if Jesus is in the boat! A person outside the faith can have no such assurances. For the Christian Hebrews 13:5-6 are such helpful words: God has said, Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. 6So we say with confidence, The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? For the Jewish believer in the Old Testament era Ezekiel 48:35 provides part of a vision of Jerusalem in the future messianic kingdom: And the name of the city from that time on will be: THE LORD IS THERE. Oh that this may be said of every gathering of His people today? There are times on earth when we feel alone –remember this assurance David had which is also for us -The Lord is always present with us. (g) Jehovah-nissi the Lord our banner You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies (Psalm 23:5). God’s sustaining and strengthening grace is supremely what we need. Our faith has to be grounded in the real world by our great God. This insight into God’s character was revealed in Exodus 17:14-16: Then the Lord said to Moses, Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven. 15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner. 16 He said, For hands were lifted up to the throne of the Lord. The Lord will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation. Vindication of His
faithful people; Whether in this life or the next he will provide the light we need at the end of the tunnel, for His precious name’s sake, Amen.
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Genesis 18:16-33 Persistent and powerful praying Introduction Can we afford not to pray for the needs of other people, for the needs of the world around us? The book of Ezekiel is probably not high on the list of favourite passages of Scripture today, but it contains some powerful messages that seriously challenge us as God’s people. In chapter 22 the prophet quoted God as saying that the wickedness of the people of Judah and Jerusalem in particular, prior to the exile, had been so bad that He had sought representatives of His people who would pray for their nation to turn back to God and repent of their sins. The short passage below indicates what happened at the conclusion of God’s ‘search’. This is what the Sovereign Lord says….29 The people of the land practise extortion and commit robbery; they oppress the poor and needy and ill-treat the alien, denying them justice. 30 I looked for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in the gap on behalf of the land so that I would not have to destroy it, but I found none.31 So I will pour out my wrath on them and consume them with my fiery anger, bringing down on their own heads all they have done, declares the Sovereign Lord (Ezekiel 22:28b-31). It did not say that God searched for a large congregation
of His people who all were busting a gut to prioritise the prayer meeting in their weekly schedules, it was at least one individual or small group that He would have heard. In the book of James chapter five verse sixteen we read these words: Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Do we truly believe that or do we think this is not the case? If we do genuinely
believe it then can I encourage each of us to put in into practice? We have several prayer meetings for men and women, together with times of prayer in house groups on top of our personal times alone with God – do you have a good reason for not attending a prayer meeting? Most people genuinely might struggle to make every week, but once a month as other commitments allow? It is far better to put it this way round because we make the time out of our 144 hours for the things that matter most –can I ask you to raise prayer up the priority list, in practice, this coming church year? In James 5:17-18 the author selects an individual’s intercessory prayers to illustrate his point: Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops . For over three years the lead
news story in the land was directly associated with this man’s personal prayer life! Could you imagine substituting your name, your prayers and the lead subject on the 10’O Clock News each evening? Although Elijah’s name was not mentioned in public in association with the drought and then the later restoration of the rainfall, he was personally blamed for praying to this end! There are passages in the Bible where we wonder how they can be applicable to life in the twenty-first century. This is not the case here in Genesis 18:16-33 as this is so clearly and directly applicable to each follower of Jesus Christ who comes to the heavenly father through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit, in the all powerful and all-prevailing name of Jesus (Ephesians 2:18). 1. The Solemn Responsibilities of Intercessors (Genesis 18:16) 16
When the men got up to leave, they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. (a)Our Special Position before God We often forget that the
blessing of God upon individual unbelievers or on countries is due not to their intrinsic goodness or merit, but as a result of the prayers of God’s people. God can use the affairs of human beings to carry out His will, and that includes matters of international diplomacy that seem far removed from topics for prayer compared with specific concerns for individual prayer needs. Jacob, with all his problems and messed up life, was a believer. His uncle 1
Laban who worshipped foreign gods, nevertheless, recognised that Jacob’s presence in his family had made a specific positive difference. In Genesis 30: 25-28 we eavesdrop on a discussion of this subject: After Rachel gave birth to Joseph, Jacob said to Laban, Send me on my way so that I can go back to my own homeland. 26 Give me my wives and children, for whom I have served you, and I will be on my way. You know how much work I've done for you. 27 But Laban said to him, If I have found favour in your eyes, please stay. I have learned by divination that the Lord has blessed me because of you.28 He added, Name your wages, and I will pay them. Sadly both Laban
and Jacob were deeply influenced by a materialist understanding of what is valuable in life and thought that there was a financial price for everything. This is a real problem today in the Western world, but interestingly less so in the poorer two-thirds world where the Christian Church is growing. Yet the principle remains here of Laban’s blessing through the presence of Jacob. The same was true for Potiphar when Joseph was in his employment. Genesis 39:16 tells this story. Now Joseph had been taken down to Egypt. Potiphar, an Egyptian who was one of Pharaoh's officials, the captain of the guard, bought him from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there. 2 The Lord was with Joseph and he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master. 3 When his master saw that the Lord was with him and that the Lord gave him success in everything he did, 4 Joseph found favour in his eyes and became his attendant. Potiphar put him in charge of his household, and he entrusted to his care everything he owned. 5 From the time he put him in charge of his household and of all that he owned, the Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field. 6 So he left in Joseph's care everything he had; with Joseph in charge, he did not concern himself with anything except the food he ate. This was not just an Old Testament principle, but also appears
to be true in the New Testament. In Acts 27:21-26 the lives of the crew and passengers of the ship on which Paul was sailing to Rome, would all be spared, as God in His sovereign purposes had determined that Paul would reach Rome to stand trial for His faith. After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island. The fact that he
was ultimately executed by being beheaded on the orders of the Emperor at a later date, reminds us that the point being made here is not in any way implying that life will be easier for Christians than for other people. Yet, it does affirm that other people may be blessed by God as a result of association with God’s people in some contexts. And that the opposite may also be true that the judgement of God may fall more swiftly or to a greater degree if there are not believers praying for specific needs in their country or cultural context. Listen to these words of challenge from God to the prophet in his home city, recorded in Jeremiah 5:1: Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city. There were
believers in that city, not very many, but none were persistently praying for God to have mercy on their city or their land. Our society has been as privileged as Judah in hearing the Word of God, yet the moral boundaries are continually being removed by those in authority. The question is whether we will take the responsibility as God’s people to act, sometimes by petitions, letters or phone calls or visits to see MSPs or MPs, but always to pray for God to work in our land. (b) Our openness to see the need God did not tell Abraham to pray in this situation. He would simply share the problem that existed which needed prayer and divine action. We too need to have our eyes open to the world to see the need that lies around us, the injustice and the pain and ask the Lord to place on our hearts particular matters for prayer. Don’t worry about running out of things to pray for! If you ask the Lord He will provide more than enough 2
issues for prayer. Radio 5 Live on Thursday 1st September had a debate on the question: ‘Is there spiritual poverty in the land?’ It was apparently based on the claim by the chief political commentator of the Daily Telegraph, Peter Oborne. This journalist had apparently suggested that a significant contributory cause of the recent riots in our land was as a result of spiritual poverty. It was no surprise with an unsympathetic Nicky Campbell chairing the debate, that Christian contributors were treated significantly less sympathetically than other people who phoned in. However, the truth remains that a land without its moral compass intact will require increasingly the prayers of God’s people to plead for undeserved mercy for it. 2. The Wonderful Possibilities of Intercession (Genesis 18:17-22, 26) (a)Divine Encouragement (Genesis 18:17-18)17 Then the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19 For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what He has promised him. 20 Then the Lord said, The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 21 that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know. There was
a two-fold explanation behind God’s decision to reveal this information to Abraham. First of all God had promised that all the nations would be blessed through Abraham (Genesis 12:3). Here was a practical opportunity to illustrate the significance of that prophetic statement. But by contrast the opposite of that, the prospects for a people with no thoughts of God and no people of God praying for them was potentially bleak. God sought to instruct Abraham to see people as He sees them and to have a heart for their good. Yet at the same time it was not a sentimental ‘love’, but one consistent with righteousness and justice. In II Peter 2:4-10 the apostle reminded his readers of God’s consistency in judgement against wickedness and made reference to the case of Sodom and Gomorrah. He concludes : the Lord knows how to rescue godly men (and women) from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment until the day of judgement (II Peter 2:10mg). Abraham, the Lord was saying, keep your eyes on what is going
on in the world, don’t be wilfully ignorant. Do so in order to pray for it and where appropriate to take other forms of action that will make it a better place. The same principle is applicable today: evangelism and social action are two sides of the same coin. We have a holistic gospel. In Amos 3:7 we read these incredible words: Surely the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plan to His servants the prophets. How can we pray in an informed way for the world? There are numerous Christian organisations that provide prayer diaries about their work at home and overseas. Whether via paper copies or websites vast quantities of up-todate material can be obtained to assist you in your prayers. Excellent Christian newspapers like Evangelicals Now give a digest of information from around the world as well as news from different Christian Churches at home. Prayer changes things and is the most powerful weapon Christians possess. The question is are we motivated to fight the good fight with this spiritual weapon? (b) Abraham’s willingness to pray (Genesis 18:22) The men turned away and went towards Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord… The work of intercessory prayer will often be a private work alone before God as it was here with Abraham. There are times when God’s people do so together in pairs, triplets or small or larger groups. It doesn’t matter how we do it –it is whether we will do it that matters most! William Carey was motivated to pray for world mission and ultimately spend the rest of his life overseas, in the first instance, by reading exploration reports from Captain James Cook’s lengthy sea voyages between 1768 and 1779. [James Cook (1728–1779) was a British explorer, navigator and cartographer, ultimately rising to the rank of Captain in the Royal Navy. Cook made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean during which he achieved the first European contact with the eastern coastline of
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A growing awareness of the spiritual darkness in which millions of people lived without Christ led to prayer and then a commitment to Christian service overseas. In his case it was overseas missionary service; in your case and mine this might not be the case, but be warned if you become passionate about praying for things you might be changed as well as the situation for which you are praying! Will you spend time ‘standing’ before the Lord? (c) Divine Openness (Genesis 18:26) 26 The Lord said, If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake. God knew exactly what He was doing but invited Abraham through intercessory prayer to participate in the work of God. It is very difficult to put into words, but this passage appears to indicate that somehow Almighty God in planning His world takes into account the intercessory prayers of His people in the shaping of His will in particular situations. Do we catch a glimpse of what that means? Your prayers and mine may have an influence on situations beyond our physical control or input at the human level. This is absolutely amazing. Listen to these words of Jesus from Matthew 18:18-19: I tell you the truth, whatever you bind on earth will already have been bound in heaven, Australia and the Hawaiian Islands as well as the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.]
and whatever you loose on earth will already have been loosed in heaven. 19 Again, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven [v18 my translation of the pluperfect tense to bring out the meaning more clearly]
Now we must give a
little clarification on this point from I John 5:14-15: This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us— whatever we ask— we know that we have what we asked of Him. Within the
sovereign purposes of God is an invitation to you and me to participate in the determination of God’s actions in His world –do you plan to take up His invitation? 3. The Essential Conditions of Intercession (a) An Urgent Plea (Genesis 18:23-25)23 Then Abraham approached him and said: Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing— to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? 26 The Lord said, If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake. The basis
of the request was God’s justice. God cannot act in a manner inconsistent with His character. He will not break His covenants or go back on His Word. It is stating the obvious that a perfect holy God cannot do evil or engage in conduct that is inappropriate or inconsistent with who He is. Therefore, this was a strong ground, for example, in World War Two to plead for the overthrow of Hitler and his allies, not because the British Government and its allies were saints, far from it, they would willingly have allowed all the Jews to be gassed, along with any other group Hitler wanted to dispose of. It was self-interest that made our Government go to war in 1939. Yet God would use that as part of His judgement on the evils of Nazism. Like Abraham in his fight in Genesis 14 the British Armed Forces really had little chance of winning the war. Hitler should have won, but catastrophic errors of judgement together with incredible bravery and dedication of his opponents combined to turn the tide against him. Even when the nation has been guilty of grievously dishonouring the Lord He can still be sought to assist His people. In Exodus 32, after the idolatry of the golden calf incident and the other sinful actions, Moses went to plead for mercy for his guilty nation. He admitted the sinfulness of Israel and made no attempt to cover it up. However, he did plead the promises of God, requesting that the Lord honour His own name and do what everyone in Egypt knew He was planning to do. In essence Moses was enquiring which course of action would bring most glory to God’s name. He was undoubtedly clear that continuing to take them to the Promised Land would be the best course of action. Here are Moses’ words and 4
the Lord’s response: But Moses sought the favour of the Lord his God. O Lord, he said, why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?12 Why should the Egyptians say, 'It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth'? Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster on your people. 13 Remember your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self: 'I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land I promised them, and it will be their inheritance for ever.' 14 Then the Lord relented and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened (Exodus 32:11-14). This is the strong ground for our own petitions in prayer. God this is what You
have promised, please honour Your name in this situation, despite the shortcomings of the human beings involved! God does not miss anything, but notices when His people cry out to Him for mercy and deliverance. (b) Deep Humility (Genesis 18:27) 27 Then Abraham spoke up again: Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes , we are children of God, but we remember it is not another human being to whom we come in prayer, but our heavenly Father. The arrogant demanding prayers of some tele-evangelists are cringe worthy. We must come with humility. Why because we are not worthy in ourselves to ask a perfect holy god for anything in ourselves. We come in the name of Jesus, clothed in His perfect righteousness, so that His Father sees the merits of Jesus when He hears our prayers. Now be encouraged Jesus is praying for you today and every day before the Father’s throne. He is praying that you and me will be gradually transformed to be one day like Him –perfect. He takes our inadequate petitions and presents them to His Father on behalf of His people. Hebrews 7:25 reminds us of this fact : Jesus is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them. Remember also that we also have the aid of the Holy Spirit in our prayers, especially in those times when we are so broken or weak or distressed that we are simply unable to formulate words in prayer. Be encouraged by these words of the apostle Paul in Romans 8:26-27: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. 27 And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will. Our prayers when they
appear to be answered in accordance with our wishes, are answered because our requests are in tune with the perfect will of God and therefore, it is not that we are better prayers than other Christians, rather sometimes some Christians are closer to their Father and are more aware of what is on His heart and more naturally sense how He would have them pray. He alone must get all the credit and glory –none of it is for us. May we never forget that or the devil will lead us astray with the sin of pride, with which he also fell from the presence of God. (c) Earnest Persistence (Genesis 18:28-33)28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city because of five people? If I find forty-five there, he said, I will not destroy it.29 Once again he spoke to him, What if only forty are found there? He said, For the sake of forty, I will not do it. 30 Then he said, May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there? He answered, I will not do it if I find thirty there. 31 Abraham said, Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there? He said, For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it. 32 Then he said, May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there? He answered, For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it. 33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, He left, and Abraham returned home. We need to grasp that this is not a five second plea and the whole matter is wrapped up
in minutes. It is earnest persistent wrestling in prayer . One of the most famous prayer warriors in Scottish Church history was John Welch (1568-1622). He averaged seven hours a day in passionate intercessory prayer. In John Howie’s old classic on great Scottish Christians of the past, Scots Worthies, the following was said of this minister of the Gospel: As the duty wherein John Welch abounded and excelled most was prayer, so his greatest attainments fell that way. He used to say, he
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wondered how a Christian could lie in bed all night, and not rise to pray; and many times he rose, and many times he watched. One night he rose and went into the next room, where he stayed so long at secret prayer, that his wife, fearing he might catch cold, was constrained to rise and follow him, and, as she hearkened, she heard him speak as by interrupted sentences, “Lord, wilt Thou not grant me Scotland?” Abraham pleaded with
God for Sodom and over a period of time saw progress in his prayers. It is idle speculation to ask if he had reduced the total of righteous people in the city to one (Lot) as a precondition of Sodom being spared –would the whole overthrow of these cities have been halted? The issue for us is this: how persistent will I be in my prayers for the things God lays on my heart? Am I willing to persist to my dying day for people to be saved and for other specific needs He lays on our hearts? Jesus, in a story in Luke 18:1-8, urged the fruitfulness of persistent praying. Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.' 4 For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!' 6 And the Lord said, Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? May God help us to
see the incredible power of earnest and persistent intercessory prayer, for the glory and honour of His name, Amen.
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Luke 3:21-23, 4:1-13 A Call to Focus Introduction It is all too easy to switch off for those few vital seconds. A car driver momentarily dozing at the wheel; it can be of no consequence when no other vehicles are around, but in heavy traffic and at speed it might be fatal. In a hospital if a member of staff writing down the dosage a patient needs to receive puts a decimal point in the wrong place, a patient might die or receive medication too weak to effect a cure. We can all insert appropriate examples from our own lives that fit this scenario to remind ourselves of the need to stay alert! Most decent people want to do the right thing, but how many have the determination to stay focussed consistently over the longer-term? Jesus, our role model, demonstrated a willingness to obey His Father’s will and face the consequences of that obedience through opposition from the devil and other people. How do you respond to the voice of the Holy Spirit prompting you to take action? How do you handle the temptations that are part of our every day experience of life? Many people want to be good, they’ve got good intentions, but when temptation comes along they give up without a fight. Most people who make an effort to do what is right often find themselves struggling with one specific sin that they just can’t seem to shake off. We remember Jesus’ words in the Disciples prayer in Matthew 6:13 And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from the evil one – a prayer to ask God for the strength to resist temptation and to be kept out of its sphere of influence. What is temptation? How do I understand it as a Christian? German pastor and martyr under the Nazi regime Dietrich Bonhoeffer described it in this way: ‘At this moment God is quite unreal to us, he loses all reality, and only desire for the creature is real; the only reality is the devil. Satan does not here fill us with hatred of God, but with forgetfulness of God ... The lust thus aroused envelops the mind and will of man in deepest darkness. The powers of clear discrimination and of decision are taken from us.’ (Quotation from Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Creation and Fall). For the believer Satan does not make us think
the vilest of thoughts often either lesser views of God doubting His goodness or in some way implying that He is less generous to us as His children than He really is. Or at other times minimising the impact of participating in the sinful thought, word or deed. It is interesting that it was reported by readers in a survey some years ago in the American magazine the Discipleship Journal (Nov/Dec 1992) that temptations were more potent when they had neglected their time with God (81 percent) and when they were physically tired (57 percent). Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84 percent), avoiding compromising situations (76 percent), Bible study (66 percent), and being accountable to someone (52 percent). What kind of things do you struggle with? Don’t mention out loud –silently reflect for a moment then ask yourself what strategies do I put in place for overcoming these problems in order that I may be victorious over them? 1. The Big Call regarding Baptism (Luke 3:21-23) (a)A Step of obedience (Luke 3:21)21 When all the people were being baptised, Jesus was baptised too. In Matthew’s account of Jesus’ baptism there is a major focus on this event and its significance, both to John the Baptist and Jesus. However, Mark and Luke, although recording the basic details of this event point beyond it to the launching of God’s kingdom (Mark) and the powerful temptations in the desert (Luke). In fact Mark, after the account of Jesus’ baptism, records this of the time of
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testing: At once the Spirit sent Him out into the desert and He was in the desert for forty days, being tempted by Satan (Mark 1:12). Taking a step of obedience in your Christian life does not mean life will get easier; on the contrary it might become significantly harder! We can tend to assume that if we are good for God then He will ‘look after us’ and help us avoid the hard times other people face! Nothing could be further from the truth. If this was the case here for Jesus who faced His greatest tests on earth, so far, in this time of temptations in the desert, then we must assume that the devil will act in a similar way with us as well. Luke places a great deal of emphasis on the humanity of Jesus and His prayer life and hints that this will be a similar pathway for us to follow, if we want to catch a glimpse of God at work in our lives. Jesus’ decision to be baptised upon profession of faith by John was also an act of solidarity with the ordinary people who were willing to stand up and commit their lives to follow God’s way, under the preaching of John. When all the people were being baptised, Jesus was baptised too (Luke 3:21); He identified with humanity in wanting to be in fellowship with God and had the humility to stand in line behind the ordinary Galilean workers and their families who had stood to profess their trust in the God who had called them to repentance and faith. Taking a stand for God in whatever situation we find ourselves can be a lonely place, even in a crowd. (b) A Sound of confirmation (Luke 3:22-23) And as He was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased. 23 Now Jesus Himself was about thirty years old when He began His ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph…Only after Jesus had completed this step of faith and obedience was God the
Father’s blessing conferred on His conduct in this situation. We would naturally prefer to have some signs of guidance in advance of such steps yet God expects us to accept what His Word says and act upon it without requiring further prompting. It is important to note that the blessing came when Jesus was engaged in a time of prayer. There is no substitute for setting apart time individually for prayer and the reading and reflecting on God’s Word. We have plenty of Bible reading schemes that can assist us in planning our devotional schedules; the important step is creating and safeguarding that time. God delights to honour the obedience of His servants. Is there some step of obedience Jesus wants you to take today? Most obviously, if you have never committed your life to Jesus then this is the essential starting point, but only the start of a faith journey with the Lord. 2. The Big Picture regarding Temptation (a) It is not a sin to be tempted (1 Corinthians 10:13) This verse tells us that: No temptation had seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. This verse points out that everyone
will be tempted which is a test for us all to see if we really mean in practice what we say we believe. We are all individuals –something that is no problem at all to your neighbour may be a real problem for you. Something you have never experienced may be a major issue for them. Sometimes a person can be on their guard in an area of weakness but fall with respect to areas they thought strong and took chances that were unwise. After all temptations are only that if there is an attraction in the potential sin to us. Temptation is having a desire to do something wrong; to be willing to step over the line and take a chance with respect to the consequences. Luke gives draws attention here to the humanity of Jesus. In his genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3 he
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concludes in 3:38: the son of Adam, the son of God. It is as a human being, in his human nature that Jesus experienced temptation just as you and I experience it. Yet Hebrews 4:14-16 record some amazing words. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathise with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are –yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. What an encouragement to us to
know that Jesus understands our weaknesses and our struggles. Sin is only a temptation to us because it is attractive on the surface and we find pleasure in entertaining such thoughts at least some of the time. Martin Luther once made the following remark: “You cannot prevent birds from flying overhead; you can prevent them from nesting in your hair. (b) No Sin is Irresistible Temptation may be inevitable, but giving in to temptation isn’t. Remember I Corinthians 10:13: No temptation had seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. To illustrate that what people believe or say is inevitable isn’t always the
case, comes from the story of a man whose house was the only one in an area to withstand Hurricane Andrew on 24 August 1992 in southern Florida, because he was the only one to build his home in the area in line with the recommended building code in the period before it became mandatory. Scott Barry, away at University in Oklahoma, called home to Florida and found out that neighbour Leonard Greer had the only complete house left standing in the area. This house had been the one most exposed to the wind in the neighbourhood, yet it was in so much better shape than others nearby. What was the reason? He had built his house himself of local Pine wood and had fastened additional supports to the wood to stand in the face of hurricanes many years earlier. He explained that when he and his wife Nelly were in their small living room, he could literally see his south wall breathe in and out and moving back and forth during the peak of the hurricane (This storm had winds in excess of 175 mph). He announced that it was the most incredible sight he had ever seen. Though his south wall oscillated back and forth throughout the storm the house remained intact, while neighbours’ properties were obliterated or at least put beyond use. Hurricane Andrew later landed in south central Louisiana causing damage in that state. It was the most expensive natural disaster in history, up to that date, with estimated damages exceeding $20 billion. More than sixty people were killed and approximately two million people had to be evacuated from their homes. Leonard and Nelly Greer and their home stood the test. As Christians God can help us stand firm in the time of trials. Through the power of God’s grace you can experience victory over temptation. (c) God will help you resist temptation Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation had seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. Here is a promise from God: If we look to
God for deliverance, He will show us a way out. We never need to sin. We must also remember that God is not the source of temptation – James 1:13-14: Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. 13 When tempted, no-one should say, God is tempting me. For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; 14 but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.15 Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death .
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Remember I John 4:4: He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world (NKJV). Hallelujah! Peter warned Christians to stand firm in I Peter 5 giving us this challenge: Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith… (I Peter 5:6-9a).
3. The Big Challenge resisting Temptation (a) The Temptation to be different from what God has called us to be (Luke 4:14) Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, 2 where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. 3 The devil said to him, If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. 4 Jesus answered, It is written: 'Man does not live on bread alone’. Here is a challenge to the boundaries given by God and takes us back to Eden
and the restriction on eating from the tree in the centre of the Garden. To Adam and Eve Satan asked: 1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'? 2 The woman said to the serpent, We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'4 You will not surely die, the serpent said to the woman.5 For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. 8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, Where are you? 10 He answered, I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid. 11 And he said, Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat? 12 The man said, The woman you put here with me— she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it. 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, What is this you have done? (Genesis 3:1-13)To Jesus Satan does not bother trying to
get Him to question the goodness of God –by contrast he urges Jesus to exercise the independent use of His divine powers –something (Phil.2:6-8) He had given up when He took human flesh and came to earth. Adam could not alleviate hunger by such a miracle; Jesus in His human nature alone could not do so either. Would Jesus take the easy option and sacrifice His solidarity with us –even before His ministry had begun? Jesus determines to live in a manner appropriate for the second Adam, being victorious where the first Adam failed. How does He respond? By quoting Scripture; It is written from Deuteronomy 8:2-3: Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3 He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Can we trust God to work in our lives His way? This applies across
the whole of church life from evangelism to discipleship; worship and relationships – can I trust God enough to lead me and guide me in the right way? Or do I have the option of being a spiritual ‘Del-boy’ or ‘Arthur Daly’ –bending the rules –just a little bit. Remember It is written!
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(b) The Temptation to exercise authority in the wrong way (Luke 4:5-8) 5 The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. 6 And he said to him, I will give you all their authority and splendour, for it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. 7 So if you worship me, it will all be yours. 8 Jesus answered, It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only. The
question here was not about who Jesus was as in the first temptation, but on the nature of the authority which the devil claimed to exercise. Now the devil is very powerful; Revelation 13:2 states: The dragon gave him his power, his throne and great authority. This is a reference to the Anti-Christ (the Beast) in the end-times exercising powers given by Satan. What was on offer here all their authority and splendour for it has been given to me. Had it been given to Satan? If Jesus was tested first to exercise faith in God to provide for His earthly needs; here He was tested on the question of whom did God desire to have spiritual authority on earth? Daniel 7:18 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom and will possess it for ever, yes for ever and ever. Had God gone back on His word or had Satan stolen this authority? Would Jesus offer a little compromise ‘serving God and mammon’? watering down His principles? Is He really confident that God has everything under control –or will He yield to the voice in His ear- Do it my way and it will all be yours. God’s work has to be done God’s way to get the blessing. His response: Jesus answered, It is written: 'Worship the Lord your God and serve him only (Deuteronomy 6:3a); To go against this principle Deut.6:15 For the Lord Your God who is among you is a jealous God and His anger will burn against you, and He will destroy you from the face of the land . A Christian who lives a life outside God’s will must forfeit the blessings He has for them. An unholy church will have its witness removed and ultimately its doors closed. Where are your eyes fixed this morning? Unless we are a God-centred Christ exalting Spirit empowered people we are nothing and will achieve nothing. Apart from Me, Jesus said, you can do nothing (John 15:5) (c) The Temptation to test God rather than trust Him (Luke 4:9-13) The devil led him to Jerusalem and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. If you are the Son of God, he said, throw yourself down from here. 10 For it is written: 'He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully; 11 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 12Jesus answered, It says: 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.13 When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time. There is a place for practising what we preach? As a Christian we are
called to exhibit the fruit of the Spirit in our lives? Called to demonstrate our calling – in the words of II Peter 1:10 Therefore my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure . However, we are not to put God to the test and presume on particular blessings or answers to prayer that is not in accordance with His will. This is a fine line to tread –at stake is the witness of the Holy Spirit. God did not want Jesus to do this stunt –nor does He want His followers today to do things to impress other people. To jump off the temple would have forced God to act to prevent the mission of Jesus ending before it had really begun. However, to have carried out this act would have been to follow Satan’s agenda. The hardest temptations to resist are not ones inviting us to commit gross sin, rather to do legitimate and lawful things that are outside the will of God for us, individually and collectively. What was Jesus’ response again? It is written: Do not put the Lord your God to the test (Deuteronomy 6:16). The devil was subtle not stupid. The first test appealed to a legitimate need for food. The second was to question who had the authority on earth and to challenge who He really is - God the Son. The third is an apparent biblical invitation to take 5
God up on an apparent Old Testament promise. Satan is quoting the Bible (Psalm 91:11-12)! The temptations were deceptive, appearing legitimate. Ephesians 6:11 warns us to take your stand against the devil’s schemes. Praise God Satan was defeated however v13 warns us that he left him until an opportune time. Jesus modelled God’s call to focus in His life. He knew and accepted that life would not be easy when He travelled the road to the cross. In His case baptism, in ours it may be something else? Whatever the Lord has placed on our hearts may we listen to that inner voice of the Spirit and respond with obedience. Praise God for the victories you and I have, but be on your guard the devil will be back. However remember the words of James 4:7: Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Amen
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Luke 18:15-30 A Call to Follow Introduction Paul and Maida Contento were Italian-American Christian missionaries who had served in Inner Mongolia between 1929 and 1936. Three years away for studies in the Islamic faith, to assist their work amongst Muslim people, led to them returning to China in 1939. It was a most difficult time with the Japanese having invaded and occupied significant parts of eastern China and the majority of the people living in the great cities of Peking, Tientsin, Shanghai and Nanking had fled to western parts of the country to evade the horrors of living under their occupier’s rule. For Paul and his wife, who had re-entered south-west China and were staying in Kunming, capital of Yunnan province, there was a prayerful concern about how they could get back to their mission station. Yet their prayers to return were declined –why? into their city came thousands of Chinese university students who had fled from the invading army. For the past three decades Chinese students had been very hostile to what they saw as the imperialistic Christian message, linking the missionaries with the colonial aspirations of Western powers. Yet God did answer their prayers in a most unexpected way. One day, shortly after their arrival in Kunming there was a knock at the door –a group of student refugees asking to be taught English. At first the missionaries declined because they had no textbooks and were not qualified to be language teachers. ‘Use your English Bible, we know that it is better [for this purpose] than Shakespeare’. Classes were formed and as one finished another group of students appeared to take their place. This work led to a remarkable number of conversions and the start of Christian work amongst university students in China organised by Intervarsity Fellowship (International Federation of Evangelical Students today) . Under the leadership of Calvin Chao (1906-1996), a Christian medical student, the work spread across the country and resulted not only in university work, but many churches also being planted in the next few years before the Communist crackdown began [taken from Bob Davey, Power to SaveA History of the Gospel in China] . All over the country the seeds of the future phenomenal growth began at that remarkable time. Yet it was a remarkable set of circumstances that God arranged or permitted that led to these blessings. Sometimes it is not what we are doing for the Lord but our openness and availability to Him that is most important. Like Paul and Maida we too may be surprised at which doors of service the Lord opens. Pray that the Lord will bring people across your pathway, even this week, with whom you can share your faith. It may be a small step or one of significance in someone’s life- what matters is that like Jesus here in Luke 18 we are willing to be His witnesses when He invites us to follow Him in witness and service. 1. A Particular Context (Luke 18:15-17) (a)An unsought opportunity (Luke 18:15) People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them... In first century Judea it was a popular custom for parents of children to ask a rabbi for a blessing on their child around the time of their first birthday. It was not a formal religious requirement, more of a cultural tradition that some people chose to follow. However, Jesus is on His way to Jerusalem. His ordeal there that will result in His crucifixion, death and resurrection is clearly on His mind. The disciples are conscious of the pressures He is facing and want to shield their master from any additional engagements that might add to His load. Their motivation then was honourable and fair, though it may not have looked that way to the parents who were rebuked by them (Luke 18:15). Jesus knew His followers on this occasion meant well, but He wanted to take the opportunity to share something of the love of God and His grace with the people who had 1
sought His advice or blessing. In Luke 18:15-30 Jesus revealed something of the urgency of proclaiming God’s kingdom and the shortness of time at our disposal to communicate the greatest news in the world to people around us. He calls us to follow His example and be open to taking the opportunities that will cross our pathway, over time, if only we are willing to be available to Him. (b)A God-given opportunity (Luke 18:16-17)16 But Jesus called the children to him and said, Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17 I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. Apart from the obvious message of being friendly to
children which is taken for granted today, though not in most previous centuries, what teaching was Jesus seeking to declare through this meeting with young children? In what ways are we as adults to be like children? (i) A sense of wonder Little children get excited at sometimes quite minor things, but to them an adventure beckons. In this world, sometimes, as adults we can be so tired and flat that we loose the sense of anticipation and expectancy of what a new day may bring or a new situation may result in; when most of us became Christians a whole new world opened up to us which thrilled our hearts; do you still have real joy at meeting with God’s people; do you come with expectancy to read His Word and to seek His presence and blessing in prayer? Do we need to recapture our first-love for the Lord Jesus? A church where its people are passionate about Him will attract other people, because so many in our land have their basic material needs met, but it fails to give them a sense of fulfilment or purpose. (ii) A depth of trust in God and people Little people are convinced that their parents know everything, can do everything…we all know the story that by the time you have reached your teens you have become aware of the gaps in your parents knowledge and abilities; as the years pass by many of us have been hurt, even sometimes deeply wounded by people we trusted; some to the extent that they struggle to place their trust in anyone at all on the deepest level. Most of us have become quite cynical at times by the claims of adverts; the call to declare for the umpteenth time that you have won… or the endless e-mails telling you that someone in West Africa wants to share their family millions with you in return for the most modest of favours. Do you need to stop and reflect on how you trust the Lord at the present time? Our wariness may be justified in some human interactions, but sadly it can transfer over into our relationship with Him. Do we trust more in a bank balance, a secure career or something else instead of Him? Jesus will very soon meet a rich official in that place, but the point is as applicable to penniless disciples as well as to a wealthy administrator. (iii) A willingness to follow Children can play a host of games in the playground using their imagination. Their leader may be an adult associated with the school or another child, but so quickly their minds are in another world as they follow the instructions and play the game. Our commander-in-chief, the Lord Jesus Christ, has a vision for us to follow also that is out of this world. He calls us to follow Him. Now the joys will likely be greater; the difficulties deeper; the challenges faith-stretching, but the blessings will last for eternity. He says will you come and follow me? It is no surprise that the majority of people who come to faith in Jesus do so as a child or young adult; praise God for the smaller proportion who are converted later in life, but they are a minority of the total number; We will be as a church reflecting on our mission statement in the coming months and hopefully recommitting ourselves to complete the work He has entrusted to us in this community we serve. Together, I trust we will say, Yes Lord I will follow You, wherever You lead me. (iv) An ability to forgive and be forgiven An alarming number of congregations have their fellowship damaged and weakened by unforgiveness; both by people who are unwilling to put right mistakes they made in the past and others unwilling to accept their need to apologise for failings in the past. In the kingdom of God we are called to keep short accounts with each other and with God. Is that an issue you need to settle at the present time? Is there a slate that can be wiped clean once something is dealt with, maybe even something that has been buried 2
for years but never truly resolved? Here Jesus invited His followers to reflect on the approach and mindset of the children that approached Him as a key to their attempts to follow Him. Have you entered God’s kingdom? Have you put your faith and trust in Jesus? Are you currently following Him as you know you should? 2. A most important question (Luke 18:18) 18
A certain ruler asked him, Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life? (a) The Form of Address Good Teacher A short while after that encounter with the parents and their children a man approaches Jesus and asks a question that relates directly to the teaching Jesus has given. The man was unaware of what Jesus had said, but His disciples would learn a lot from that encounter. The form of address to Jesus was most unusual in that religious context. In the Jewish literature of that period there is no record of any rabbi being addressed in that way. The likely response to such a statement would have been: ‘there is nothing that is good but the law [of God]’ (William Barclay, The Gospel of Luke, p. 237) . Jesus’ focus was in honouring and glorifying God the father. What is the main focus of your life? If you had to put it into a sentence what words and thoughts would be central in your composition? Now in his favour the man had recognised that he was not living in a way that would guarantee eternal life. He had come to Jesus, assuming correctly, that this was the key person to assist him resolve this matter. Have you come to trust Jesus? Have you put your faith in Him? This young man would make some big mistakes, but he had begun in the right place with Jesus. Have you come to Jesus and put your faith in Him? (b) The means whereby salvation is gained what must I do to inherit eternal life? All credit to this man for being honest enough to admit that he needed to make changes in his life in order for God to save him. Do you need to take some steps of faith in order to be the person God wants you to be? However, what this young man had yet to learn was that entering God’s family comes about not through us becoming good enough, rather through God the Father accepting the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross in our place. Salvation is all of God’s grace not where our good deeds outweigh our bad ones. Paul makes it clear in Ephesians 2:8-10; verses that illuminate what Jesus was explaining to this man. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith— and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no-one can boast.10 For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Have you grasped the
extraordinary nature of the gospel, good news to the undeserving? The focus of some people who want to follow Jesus is what can I do to be good enough for heaven, despite all the warnings on that subject in the New Testament. The true child of God comes more and more to grasp the nature of God’s grace, His unmerited favour. Hallelujah what a Saviour! ‘Died Him for me who caused His pain; for me who Him to death pursued, amazing love, how can it be that thou my God shouldst die for me? (Charles Wesley hymn, ‘And can it be’ verse one, CMP 33). Eternity will be insufficient to wonder how God could go to the lengths He did to save undeserving sinners such as you and me –but He did! The difference between risking eternal ruin and receiving an eternal reward is only two letters of the alphabet: done vs do. Either it is finished (Psalm 22:31; John 19:30) or we are still working on it, with no certainty of the outcome. I know which kind of salvation I want to have! Yet this young man had not even begun to grasp it- have you?
3. An Unexpected Answer (Luke 18:19-22)
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(a)The Central Importance of glorifying God (Luke 18:19) Why do you call me good? Jesus answered. No-one is good— except God alone. In Luke 17:11-19, there is the record of an event that must have happened in the recent past, and also on the journey of Jesus towards Jerusalem for the last time. In that context Jesus healed ten men who were lepers. However, only one of the nine bothered to come back and say ‘thank-you’ once their healing was confirmed. The only one with the appropriate manners was a foreigner, a Samaritan. Yet Jesus’ concern here was not the ingratitude of the nine, though it would have been legitimate to have had such thoughts; rather Luke 17:17-19 indicates that the motivating force behind the life and ministry of Jesus was honouring His Father in Heaven. Jesus asked: Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? 18 Was no-one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? 19 Then he said to him, Rise and go; your faith has made you well. However, Jesus
may not have been rebuking this seeker as he actually had told the truth, even if flattery had been a more likely motivation for his choice of words. Could Jesus have been pushing him to reflect on what he had been saying and continue to their logical conclusion –that is, that He is God in human flesh and acknowledging Jesus as Lord and Saviour? Is your chief ambition and mine to glorify our great God and Saviour and to be inspired by the thought of honouring Him in the way that we live? Or is there something or someone who is hindering that development in your life? When this principle is clear in our lives it becomes easier to know how we ought to prioritise certain choices in our lives –if we are living the way we should as Christians. Of course we can have all kinds of pressures upon us to fit in with people around us who may have other priorities or make other lifestyle choices. The success of Jesus on earth, and that of His most effective followers has been significantly down to their ability to discern the difference between the good and the best choices in life. May God help us to do this also; (b) The Cost of glorifying God (Luke 18:20-22) You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honour your father and mother.' 21 All these I have kept since I was a boy, he said. 22 When Jesus heard this, He said to him, You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me. How many commandments are there? Easy question –ten! Did
Jesus ask this young man if he had kept all ten? Strangely enough there is a careful selection of five of them that relate to our interaction with other people. There is no mention here of the four that relate to our relationship with God or the last one: You shall not covet… (Exodus 20:17). It is always a risk to make something of arguments from silence or to interpret why someone omitted to say something expected in a given conversation. There are, though, times when our intuition is correct. All of us, at different times, have picked things up from someone’s body language or speech that was not communicated directly to us or other people. We must remember the context here. Jesus, prior to the arrival of this man, had been explaining about living in God’s kingdom. Luke 18:17 stated: I tell you the truth; anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it. We are never to be childish, immature, but what attributes of a child was this man lacking, despite all his qualities? Is there something you or me need to learn from the children in our church in the way they follow Jesus? We always assume it is the children who have things to learn from us as adults, and normally that is fair, but it is not all a one-way street. The values of God’s kingdom are challenging and humbling and contrary to the ways of the world. During his recent visit to the church Brian Irvine mentioned one of his moves to another football team and an awkward moment in contract negotiations. The manager in question had offered a particular financial package for Brian to accept. There was a long silence while Brian reflected on the offer. The manager broke the silence asking if the offer was not seen as adequate. On the contrary, Brian replied, I was thinking it was far too much I would have signed for half that amount. The manager had never encountered a footballer player hesitating to accept a contract on such grounds. God’s kingdom values are sometimes a real contrast to 4
those held by the majority in our culture. May God help us to be child-like in our trust of Him, but never childish and immature, and therefore excited about what He can potentially do through you and me and with a willingness to exercise the patience required to see this take place over the medium to longer term. 4. An Unpalatable Choice (Luke 18:23) 23
When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus has been
emphasising total trust and dependence on God. The practical advice He gave to each person who sought to follow Him was often different, dependent on their particular circumstances. To this man, bearing in mind his excessive love of material possessions, Jesus asked if he was willing to let go of those things that mattered most to him in order to follow Him? It is very clear that Jesus knew this man could not have said he had kept the tenth commandment: You shall not covet‌ because it was a problem with which he struggled. If that was true for him in that culture, how much more is it the case for us in a western materialistic culture. Retail therapy, until very recently had become almost an end in itself, rather than a means to an end for a growing proportion of the population. About fifteen years ago, Donald Macleod, Principal of the Free Church of Scotland College, Edinburgh, wrote an article in their monthly magazine comparing the financial giving of Presbyterians to overseas missionary work, as a proportion of their incomes at the beginning of the twentieth century compared with its end. He noted that living standards had increased beyond recognition over the century, but that mission giving whether in terms of numbers of missionaries or the finances to support their work had not kept pace in real terms. In fact it had declined significantly. He wanted to give a wake-up call to his denomination to consider whether the materialist culture was not only a problem in the world, but also in the church? A person can be living on benefits and have a materialist mindset as bad as someone who might be a millionaire. Or in both cases a person with very limited finances and another who was wealthy might not suffer from this limitation. In the latter case, I was aware of a Christian businessman, who was unusually successful in his line of work. With the exception of a rather nice car he appeared to live very simply. Behind the scenes he had an understanding with a number of Christian missions that if at the end of a financial year their finances were in the red, he would take care of the shortfall. I know from a man involved in more than one of these causes that the promise was honoured time and again. The point Jesus was seeking to communicate to this young man was not about how much he owned, but how tightly he held onto it. A Christian couple I knew some years ago in Glasgow had very little in the way of material possessions, but the careful and planned financial giving they carried out will have touched many lives. Do you own the things you possess or do they control you? It is a constant challenge for us in this culture to be a counter-cultural people who live by God’s values rather than by those of the majority in our Western materialistic and secular culture. 5. An Unbelievable Reward (Luke 18:24-30) 24
Jesus looked at him and said, How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! 25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.26 Those who heard this asked, Who then can be saved? 27 Jesus replied, What is impossible with men is possible with God. 28 Peter said to Him, We have left all we had to follow You! 29 I tell you the truth, Jesus said to them, no-one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God 30 will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life. The message Jesus wished to communicate here was about priorities. What
is most important in your life and mine? We will all find the time and the money for our top priorities, even if that means cutting back severely if necessary on other things. It was 5
reported once that a visitor to David Livingstone in Africa expressed sadness at the hardships he had endured, including the loss of his wife and his own health problems on that continent and included the words: ‘what sacrifices you have made’. Livingstone’s reply ‘Sacrifices, I have never made a sacrifice in my whole life. For a man who walks the Christian way, there may be things that the world calls hard, but, beyond them all and through them all, there is a peace which the world cannot give and cannot take away, and a joy that no man can take from him.’ Our lives will inevitably be different to his, lived a century earlier, but I trust in principle our motivation can be the same. Jesus challenged His followers to have a child-like trust in their heavenly Father, something with which this rich young man struggled. It was part of the spiritual secret of King David in the Old Testament, with his many flaws. In Psalm 131:1-2, David wrote: My heart is not proud, O Lord, my eyes are not haughty; I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me. 2 But I have stilled and quietened my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me. May God help us
both individually and as a church that we will have such a trust in Him that we will follow Him willingly wherever He leads us, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
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Malachi 3:1-18 A Call for Spiritual Investment Introduction Galatians 6:7-9 reminds us about the biblical policy of spiritual investment: Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. 8 The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. 9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. In 1928 a small congregation in down-town Toronto was formed.
Shortly afterwards possibly, 1929 or 1930, the young pastor Oswald J Smith was leading Sunday worship in an overseas mission focus week. It was the time for the offering. Unknown to the pastor a man in the congregation wrote some words on an envelope and handed it to the pastor – not a normal practice. The man had written ‘In dependence on God I will endeavour to give $________towards the missionary work of this church in the coming year.’ It was a generous sum given his income and at the time of the Great Depression. Without mentioning the sum the pastor, I understand, asked the congregation to consider putting the Lord first in their finances and trust Him to provide the blessing. The first overseas missionaries from that church were commissioned in 1936 and the Lord added to that number in later years. The small church grew in the next few decades to several thousand strong and became known around the world as one of the foremost supporters of world mission. According to its website this month, this 3,500 strong cause supports in varying degrees 153 national workers in different countries and 300 foreign missionaries. It is the principle of spiritual investment. God honours those that honour Him. One of Oswald Smith’s memorable sayings was this: Give according to your income lest God make your income according to your giving’. You may need to think about that one! However, in terms of principles this is incredibly biblical. Investing our resources in God’s work is the best investment policy we can have. Our passage today is from the Old Testament, but it is teaching truths that are equally evident in the New Testament. Jesus in Matthew 6:19-21 made a similar point: Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. In Malachi’s day, in a time of economic uncertainty it
appeared that God’s people in Israel were cutting back on their investment in God’s kingdom and as a result forfeiting the blessings He had planned for them. The implication for future generations of God’s people is that a similar challenge must be overcome when the pressures are on us to give less to God’s work than He has laid on our hearts to give. 1. A Call to Return (Malachi 3:1-7) (a) The Old Testament principles of giving in Judaism The first example is seen in the life of Abraham in Genesis 14 where, after the extraordinary victory of his makeshift guerrilla army had defeated a much larger force of invading kings, the patriarch chose to celebrate the triumph with a service of worship. Although there is much we will never know about Melchizedek, the passage indicates that there were prayers of praise, the offering of bread and wine in the service, together with the offering in which Abraham chose to donate a tithe of his income to the Lord’s work. This practice was continued by his family. In Genesis 28:22 Jacob as a young man made a promise to God that out of his future income I will give You a tenth. The guideline given to the Israelites when they entered the land followed along these lines. Leviticus 27:30 states: A tithe of everything from the land, whether grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord…The entire tenth of the herd and flock…will be holy to the Lord (v32)…These are the commands the Lord gave Moses on mount Sinai for 1
the Israelites (v34). In their worship services the Levites were told: You will also present an offering to the Lord from all the tithes you receive from the Israelites (Numbers 18:28). The tithes of the food would be used to provide for the basic necessities of the poorest people, the asylum seekers, widows and orphans, who had no means to produce their own food or provide an income for themselves (Deuteronomy 14: 28-29). When the tithes were not paid in full it was the most vulnerable in Israeli society that suffered the most, hence the warnings of the prophets not to neglect this ministry. There were also offerings made for additional purposes. Exodus 29:27-28 [see also Leviticus 7:32 and Numbers 5:9;] speaks of the fellowship offering to provide for Aaron and his sons who served as the priests. Exodus 25:17 described the voluntary practical gifts for the construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishings. Nehemiah 13:10-13 described the collection of the support for the Levites who assisted the priests in their work at the Temple: I also learned that the portions assigned to the Levites had not been given to them, and that all the Levites and singers responsible for the service had gone back to their own fields. 11 So I rebuked the officials and asked them, Why is the house of God neglected? Then I called them together and stationed them at their posts. 12 All Judah brought the tithes of grain, new wine and oil into the storerooms. 13 I put Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, and a Levite named Pedaiah in charge of the storerooms and made Hanan son of Zaccur, the son of Mattaniah, their assistant, because these men were considered trustworthy. They were made responsible for distributing the supplies to their brothers. There is here a clear pattern running
through the Old Testament of the Jewish people bringing their tithes and offerings for God’s Work from Abraham onwards. It was a pattern that would go on to be assumed in the New Testament people of God as well. (b) The problems experienced in Malachi’s day (Malachi 3:1-5) 1
See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come, says the Lord Almighty.2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, 4 and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. 5So I will come near to you for judgment. I will be quick to testify against sorcerers, adulterers and perjurers, against those who defraud labourers of their wages, who oppress the widows and the fatherless, and deprive aliens of justice, but do not fear me, says the Lord Almighty. 6 I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty. But you ask, 'How are we to return?' God is coming to judge His people, says the prophet, and expects a return to
practising the standards He has laid down. Malachi, writing his messages and proclaiming God’s truth after the return from exile, notes that there has been a pattern of violating God’s commandments even amongst His own people. His book lists the many violations of God’s laws, by His people –he is not interested in the violations of the unbelievers as they do not profess to love the Lord. Their offerings of animals that were not fit for purpose; God’s standards were not taught with clarity, possibly out of fear of the reaction from the people; God’s moral laws regarding marriage and family life were being ignored and easy divorces were making a mockery of marriage promises. Industrial relations were at an all-time low with the lowest paid workers vulnerable to reduced or non-payment of their wages. Once again people on the margins of society were suffering the most and asylum-seekers were being denied justice. In times of economic hardship in the land racism was rearing its ugly head and calls to focus on providing for the people who can shout the loudest were increasingly being heard. Does this sound familiar to life in Britain in the 21 st century? I think so! The economic cycles will go through their various phases, but the priorities of God’s people do not change. He gets the first call on our resources; we have responsibilities for our own needs and those of our families, but must always also be open to assisting the most 2
vulnerable in their times of need. In social and economic terms the message of the Old and New Testament shows great continuity over the centuries. In each generation, though we need to remind ourselves that our values will have some clear differences from those of some of our fellow citizens. Where we do share good moral principles in common lets work together for the common good, but where our standards depart from contemporary priorities may we not be intimidated into silence, forgetting that God’s laws were put in place for the common good of society, not just for the wellbeing of committed believers. A society that operates in God’s way is significantly better off than one that does what is right in its own eyes. 2. A Conviction for Robbery (Malachi 3:6-9, 13-15) (a)The highlighted characteristic of God (Malachi 3:6) I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Geoffrey Grogan, the recently deceased former Principal of the Bible Training Institute, Glasgow, recalled an encounter he had on a bus journey in the late 1960s with a Roman Catholic priest. The man in question was recovering from a nervous breakdown. The cause of his health problem was unrelated to his work. The issue for him was the changes brought about in his church at the Second Vatican Council. He had been (wrongly) convinced that his church had never changed anything over the centuries, especially in its theological beliefs. This was the ground of his security –which had now been indisputably taken away. However, he needed to look up to an authority higher than his denomination to the One who Malachi says does not change. God’s characteristics remain the same from eternity to eternity. His promises will be keep for ever. We let Him down, but He never turns His back on us. In fact the unchangeableness of God is pastorally important. In Malachi 3:6 we read I the Lord do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed. Each and every one of us has had to say sorry at some time or other because we have made mistakes. Yet God never needs to do that because He never fails. God’s promises to stand by His people and bring us home one day to our eternal rest with Him is secure; Our weak love for Him is at times embarrassing, but His grace is available to meet all our needs. Our desire to honour the Lord in each area of our lives is not based on fear of His punishments rather out of a heartfelt desire to respond appropriately to one who in Christ has given His very best for us. No wonder Paul, in Romans 8:31-33, can state these words of real assurance and joy: What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all— how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. For the Jewish believer the Old Covenant promises of God were wonderful and a delight. Jeremiah declared: The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the Lord. 33 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbour, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Jeremiah 31:31-34). This prophetic declaration was fulfilled in
Jesus. Each time we celebrate communion we read or hear these words from I Corinthians 11:25: This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of Me. In the light of the faithfulness of God this makes our sinful ways even more embarrassing and should place within our hearts a greater desire to want to live more closely to our Saviour. 3
(b)The charge laid by God (Malachi 3:7-9) 7 Ever since the time of your forefathers you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord Almighty. But you ask, 'How are we to return.' 8 Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. But
you ask, 'How do we rob you?' In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse— the whole nation of you— because you are robbing me. This was a most serious charge to level against anyone. When God brings such a charge against some of His people it is even more serious than accusations from other human beings. This is an exceedingly comprehensive charge sheet. We have all been aware of items on the news when someone has been convicted of maybe half a dozen offences and asked for another ninety or even more to be ‘taken into consideration’, at the time of sentencing. Yet how often the sentence imposed appears to be incredibly lenient for the damaged caused by that person’s wrongdoing. Here God invites us in our failures to return to fellowship with Him or to gain greater and deeper communion with Him as we obey His commandments and observe His decrees. Are there things this morning that the Lord has placed on your heart in recent weeks, but you have yet to do anything about it? God’s invitation to you is to heed the voice of His Spirit in your mind and put into practice the way He has called you to go. The specific charge in this chapter was the failure of God’s people to invest their tithes and offerings in God’s Work. In those economically challenged times the resources given to it had been reduced inappropriately. Instead of trusting in God’s provision some of these people had made some wrong choices with their finances. Fast forward 2,500 years we too face uncertain times –what will the Lord say to us? We rejoice in the blessings received in this church and the investment faithfully given by God’s people over many years, but it is our responsibility to give in faith for the future work of His Church in this community in the present and future days. There is the temptation we can all face not to give our tithes and offerings to our local church or the other mission causes at home or overseas that we support; just as there is pressure on the current Coalition Government to cut back on International Aid at the present time. It is ironic in the New Testament that the most generous congregations faced the toughest socio-economic circumstances. In proportion to income the poor Macedonians gave vastly more than the Corinthians and it is possible that in cash terms they gave more as well to support Paul which was remarkable. How did Paul describe these Christians? And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God's will (II Corinthians 8:1-5). The Corinthians,
on the whole had not got into the discipline of planned giving. For them, paid weekly, Paul gave this advice: Now about the collection for God's people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do.2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made (I Corinthians
16:1-2). For most of us paid monthly we can budget ahead of time for our various commitments; using standing orders or direct debits to pay for them. In giving to charitable causes, like the church, we can also significantly increase our giving by gift aid. However, planned giving is wiser giving and more sensible stewardship of the resources He has entrusted to us. Our model for giving is the Lord Jesus who gave His life for us-so we can never outgive Him. Some Christians today claim that because we are living under grace not law we are not required to give tithes and offerings, with the implication that they can get away with giving a lesser percentage of their income to the Lord’s work. But this is completely at variance with the mindset of Jesus and New Testament principles. Paul expresses it this way in II Corinthians 9:6-7: Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful 4
giver; In essence, God asks us to give of our finances, time and abilities to His work as we
would want Him to respond to our prayers and requests. May the Lord help us to reflect His generous nature in our commitment to financial giving and our other forms of Christian ministry. (c) The challenge to the mindset of God’s people 13 You have said harsh things against me, says the Lord. Yet you ask, 'What have we said against you?' 14 You have said, 'It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out his requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty? 15 But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly the evildoers prosper, and even those who challenge God escape.' Why should I bother? In my workplace to do the full shift when others start late and leave early or do less work than I do? Why should I be honest with my tax returns when some ‘other people’ will try to get away with as much as they can? Why should I offer to do all kinds of duties in the church when ‘x’ or ‘y’ may have more time and energy than me, but rarely offers to do….? In every area of life we can raise our questions and wonder about the futility of it all. The book of Ecclesiastes in the Old Testament seems to focus on that kind of questioning. We all recognise that in this world some evil people do prosper at the expense of good people. There are numerous situations where life is anything but fair. Yet as God’s people we need to learn to trust our heavenly Father, that He knows what He is doing and like a young child with a parent (parents) place our complete trust in Him. We cannot right all the wrongs in the world-but maybe this week you might make a difference in one person’s life? Our vision is to change the world one person at a time. Instead of focussing on the things we cannot accomplish, think instead of what we can do and these little things over time can add up to something of real significance. In this immediate context the issue is the use of our finances. Will we honour the Lord by committing to His work our tithes and offerings? If this is an area of your Christian discipleship that you have never seriously thought through then take the time to address it as you may have been missing blessings God has for you as you engage in honouring Him with this ministry of giving. It may be only part of what we give to the Lord, but in a materialistic culture it is easy to have misplaced priorities regarding the appropriate use of the financial resources entrusted to our care. 3. A Comprehensive Reward (Malachi 3:10-12, 16-18) In this final section of the chapter is God’s action plan for His people. He will give them a proposition and explain the implications of taking on this course of action. (a)The requirement of obedience (Malachi 3:10a) Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Will we obey this call from God. Do we trust Him for the provision of our own needs from what remains of our income if we guarantee to give His work this proportion of our monthly or weekly income? (b)The test of obedience (Malachi 3:10b) Test me in this, says the Lord Almighty, It appears that some of these people were sceptical that it would ‘work’. Charles Spurgeon, the most prominent and most successful Baptist minister in 19 th century England once said: ‘It is proven by all observation that success in the Lord’s service is very generally in proportion to faith. It is certainly not in proportion to ability, nor does it always run parallel to a display of zeal; but it is invariably according to the measure of faith, for this is a law of the kingdom [of God] without exception, ‘According to your faith be it unto you’ [C.H. Spurgeon, An All Round Ministry chapter 3]. In almost every area of church life we must exercise faith to believe that what we are doing for the Lord will make a difference. I believe that it does for the glory of God. Numerous examples over church history prove this in practice –the question is will we add our names to the roll-call of people who will live by faith and expect to see God at work, in response to our trust exercised in Him? 5
(c) The reward of obedience (Malachi 3:10c-11) and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit, says the Lord Almighty. God promises to honour those that honour Him. For these people the practical visible application would be in the crop yields in their fields. This is not a pressing issue for us in a different cultural context! However, the principle here is that God guarantees to meet all the needs of the men and women and younger people who place their faith and trust in Him. In that context there was a material reward, normally in the New Testament era there is a spiritual reward, but notwithstanding that fact, it may not exclude the provision of all our material needs, sometimes in an extraordinary way. Some years ago I had a discussion with an academic scholar who was not a professing believer about the bulletins of answered prayers issued by the great Scottish social reformer William Quarrier. It was a wonderful opportunity to explain that if you assume the existence of God and accept that He has the attributes the Bible records and recognise the significance of prayer to God, then it is not too difficult to see how such things might result when God’s people take prayer seriously. I have no idea about the long-term consequences of that conversation, but all I can say is that although there are prayers we will pray that will be answered in different ways to what we desire –God does answer our prayers. If we fail to trust Him and honour His calls to obedience the Bible is clear that we will miss out on the blessings He has in store for us. Will you take this step of faith in this area of your Christian discipleship –if you havn’t taken it already? (d) The result of obedience (Malachi 3:12, 16-18)12 Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land, says the Lord Almighty. 16 Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honoured his name. 17 They will be mine, says the Lord Almighty, in the day when I make up my treasured possession. I will spare them, just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him. 18 And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not. Blessings are
personal and they are collective. Nations that live righteously will be blessed by God. Here in the Old Testament the primary reference was to Israel and her conduct, but it is by application relevant to other nations as well. Our nation that has largely turned its back on God and His standards has no right to expect anything but judgement from Him. When churches do likewise they can only expect the same. There is a powerful promise given by the Lord to King Solomon in II Chronicles 7:14: If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Revival and renewal begin with
individuals, you and me – will we put the Lord first in each area of our lives? In this passage in Malachi the particular problem was over the use of finances by God’s people –may He help each one of us to wholeheartedly engage in spiritual investment of the resources entrusted to us, for the glory of His name’s sake, Amen.
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Matthew 28:16-20 A Call to Mission Introduction What matters most? Mission is not the ultimate goal of the individual Christian or the Church established by Jesus; the worship and glorification of King Jesus, our great Lord and Saviour, exalting and lifting high our God and King is our goal. This is ultimately what is most important. Psalm 96:1-4a: Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, praise His name; proclaim His salvation day after day. 3 Declare His glory among the nations, His marvellous deeds among all peoples. 4For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise; Why do we do this because: The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad; let the distant shores rejoice (Psalm 97:1). Our heart-felt desire is
that every person living on the plant gives glory and praise and adoration to our magnificent God May the peoples praise You, O God; may all the peoples praise You. 4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You rule the peoples justly and guide the nations of the earth. 5 May the peoples praise You, O God; may all the peoples praise You (Psalm 67:35). Worship motivates us to catch a vision of the billions of people who one day will
gather around God’s throne in glory (Revelation 7:9-11). A vision that will be fulfilled because millions of Christians in each generation are bold and creative enough to find ways to share the love of God in Christ with their families; neighbours and work colleagues –no matter what the personal cost. After I close this message we will listen to the testimony of a Christian North Korean student with a passion for reaching her homeland for Jesus. The challenge for each one of us is this –how can I most effectively share my faith in Jesus by word and action in the places where He has placed me during the week and amongst the people with whom I interact with varying levels of frequency? Jesus in Matthew 28:16-20 leaves His final words, a kind of manifesto for His followers to remember as our primary calling, our ultimate purpose for living here on earth, but this is a part of a bigger picture of a call to mission from God in the Bible. We need to keep the grander vision of God’s purposes before us as we live our lives for Him. 1. God’s Purpose (a)Through Abraham (Genesis 12:2-3) Mission was not an afterthought in the mind of God. He has throughout human history had a plan for our salvation, even before He created the world. Abraham was called from worshipping idols in Iraq to serve the living God, but not only for his benefit, but for the salvation of humankind. God told Abraham in Genesis12:2-3: I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you… all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. It was a New Testament vision also as Paul stated in Romans 1:5: Through Him (Jesus) we received grace and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles (nations) to be obedience that comes from faith. What is your vision for the mission of this church in our community? John Wesley once famously declared; ‘The world is my parish’. Did he mean that he was responsible for witnessing to every person on the planet? No! but as the servant of a great God with a world vision he was called to step out in faith beyond his own resources and accept the incredible calling that God had given to him. In Abraham’s case it was a wealthy city dweller living a lifestyle not exceeded in this country by most people until the 20 th century, to step out into a nomadic lifestyle
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not knowing where he was going, living among people whose languages and cultures were different to anything he had previously experienced- but was he willing to heed the call of God? Genesis 12:4 tells us the answer: So Abraham left, as the Lord had told him. The same world needs the good news of the gospel; it is the same God who calls his 21st C followers to pass on the glorious message of deliverance and freedom that God has for His creation in Christ. In the 1790s Evangelical Christians began for the first time to grasp the challenge of the Great Commission –a small number had kept on fulfilling it, especially the Moravian Christians from what is now the Czech Republic, but at a time when the overwhelming majority of Christians alive lived in the UK and a small part of the eastern seaboard of the USA it was a huge step but God called and in faith these pioneers went across the globe. (b) Through His Servant (Isaiah 42:6) I the Lord have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light to the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit
in darkness. This was one of several prophecies given through Isaiah concerning a special servant who would come to declare God’s salvation as a light in a dark world. The familiar words of Isaiah 9:2 illustrate this: The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned . Jesus came to demonstrate that what God was asking us to do was not only possible but the only way to live for God. It was equally a calling for Israel; Isaiah 60:1-3 declares: Arise shine for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. God’s commission then and now was a practical calling for His people in every
generation. The Psalms provide praises that see the aspiration of the nations coming to acknowledge the Lordship of Jesus. Psalm 47 is an exhortation to praise in anticipation of a spiritual harvest in the nations: v1 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy..the nobles of the nations assemble as the people of Abraham… He is greatly exalted (v9).
2. God’s People (Matthew 28:16-17; Jonah 3:10-4:11) 16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17 When they saw Him, they worshipped Him; but some doubted. Good news, the
disciples had been told by Jesus to meet Him somewhere in Galilee and they showed up at the appointed meeting place. So far so good; Yet Matthew 28:17 is a verse that contains information so shocking that most other religions would have omitted it from their sacred texts. Our Muslim friends cannot accept that a prophet or key religious leader could make a major mistake. So when we read of the sins of Abraham or David or whoever in the Old Testament they struggle to recognise that such events could have taken place or that God could use such flawed people to accomplish His work here on earth. The Bible, by contrast, shows the people of God as they really are, which is actually in some respects an encouragement to us; if God can use people like this then maybe He can do something with me, despite all my shortcomings. Remember the context of these words, a meeting at which the risen Lord Jesus is presiding. I don’t know about you, but if I had been a disciple who knew Jesus had died and was buried and then sometime later attended a service presided over by Jesus I don’t think I would have been doubting during the service. I might have done so prior to meeting Him, wondering if the resurrection could really happen, but no, even though He was in charge some of those present were struggling to accept that Jesus 2
was alive. Now, today, most if not all of us have had our doubts and our fears, maybe someone here today is struggling with some of them. The Lord knows and understands what you are thinking. The good news is that these people were going to ‘turn the world upside down’ in a few weeks when the Christian Church started. The Lord uses very ordinary people to accomplish great things for Him. Think of Jonah. He was a preacher who had been serving God faithfully in the reign of the evil ruler Jeroboam II in Israel (II Kings 14:25). Jonah, much to his personal displeasure was called to serve God overseas as a missionary to the people of the capital city (Ninevah) of their hated enemies the Assyrians. The message God had given him to pass on was not a problem, as Jonah was happy to concur with such sentiments. Jonah 1:2 stated: Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me. Jonah’s problem was that he was frightened that the people might repent of their sins and seek God’s forgiveness. He wanted them all to go to hell, but had such a high expectancy of people coming to faith when they heard the gospel message that he didn’t want to go where God had asked him to go. Amazingly this is exactly what happened and Jonah was angry as his book later records: 10When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, He had compassion and did not bring upon them the destruction He had threatened. 1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry. 2 He prayed to the Lord, O Lord, is this not what I said when I was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from sending calamity. 3 Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live. 4 But the Lord replied, Have you any right to be angry? 5 Jonah went out and sat down at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city. 6 Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine.7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, It would be better for me to die than to live. 9 But God said to Jonah, Do you have a right to be angry about the vine? I do, he said. I am angry enough to die. 10 But the Lord said, You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight. 11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left, and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city? (Jonah 3:10-4:11).
What kind of people does God use? Flawed people like Jonah who was very comfortable serving faithfully in his own believing community, but reluctant to speak to people outside the faith in case they got saved! His problem was not doubting whether his prayers and preaching would ‘work’; rather it was not wanting to be bothered with evangelism and having a lack of concern for people who needed the Lord. Are you here this morning thinking like Jonah? Too often in Western Christianity, because of the negative reactions from people at work or from others we witness to, it is easier just to stay quiet and not risk the flack. What kind of people does God use? People like these disciples in Galilee who have serious doubts that God will do anything through them or even more fundamental doubts about God or His work in the world. What kind of people does God use? People like you and me very ordinary people who will step out in faith and who in the medium-to-longer term will see the results of their hard work. Galatians 6:9 reminds us: Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. May we resolve to be available to be His witnesses.
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3. God’s Plan (Romans 5:8-10; Matthew 28:19-20a) Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners Christ died for us…for if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to Him through the death of His Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through His life. How can a perfect and holy God be just and forgive guilty sinners? You and I
deserve only rejection by God –we failed to keep His perfect standards; in our place stood the perfect substitute who bore our sins in His body on the tree (I Peter 2:24). Instead of condemnation we receive the forgiveness of sins by grace. As Paul puts it in II Corinthians 5:21: God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God . God’s plan involves you and me. Jesus in Matthew 28:19-20a gives His answer to the question of how this plan will be put into practice: 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.(a) Our Orders Therefore go our responsibility is to take the
good news to people not to expect them to come to us; Jesus doesn’t need to say it again –while people still need Jesus this commission is in force. The ‘how’ will vary; first of all through our lives, demonstrating that what we believe works through our lives in how we behave; then through our words or at times our silence as God guides us; go where? Each of us is a missionary for Jesus in our street, our school, our place of work, in the social meetings with our friends; 90%+ of people who come to faith do so through the personal witness of someone close to them in some area of their lives. You and I are always on duty for Jesus; (b) Our Calling make disciples not converts; it is not just a discipleship course to be completed but the introduction to a way of life in a Christian community (church); and in which a person will grow and develop as a Christian; (c) Our Context all nations a world vision –not just for our families and neighbours in Broughty Ferry, but Scotland wide and across the world. We cannot do it on our own, we work as part of a local church –N.T. knows nothing of solitary Christians who are not part of a local congregation; a N.T. Christian is committed to the work of one church and not floating around between churches; a N.T. church is committed to being part of a wider network of churches with whom it works in partnership for the sake of the gospel, both in the local area, nationally and internationally; in addition special mission agencies may also be a vital part of the picture in enabling the people of God across the globe to fulfil our calling. (d) Our Symbol baptism –Romans 6:3-4: Don’t you know that all of us who were baptised into Christ Jesus were baptised into His death? We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. The first step of public obedience for the new
follower of Jesus is to confess the Lordship of Jesus in baptism- have you taken that step or is today the day you give Jesus 100% of your life and pledge to totally all for Jesus. (e) Our Obligation teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. Christianity is not a one hour a week activity –it is a way of life 24 hours a day 7 days a week 52 weeks a year; This is God’s plan so simple but how on earth can we carry it out? 4. God’s Promise (Matthew 28:18, 20b) (a) God’s Power Then Jesus came to them and said; All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. We do not go in our strength but His. This is why Paul, from prison can say in Phil.4: 13 I can do all things through Him (Christ) who strengthens me.
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You and I cannot –but He can by His mighty power at work in us. Do you feel weak, inadequate and afraid to live and work for Jesus –this may be a true reflection of what we can do in our strength alone, but by faith in God through earnest and believing prayer we can accomplish great things for God. Our God is an awesome God He reigns in heaven and earth! We need at times to stop and acknowledge that: “Our God reigns”. We must reach out by faith and claim His promises and live in the light of them –often in spite of the circumstances. It is a struggle to wait to see the fulfilment of His promises very often; Think of Abraham all those years for the promised son Isaac –many years and his ups and downs times of great faith and times of trying to help God out by taking an alternative course of action. When we think of world mission we can struggle to believe that we can make a difference. Does the little I can do count? Yes it does. How can we reach the hundreds of millions in India and China who have never heard the good news of Jesus, for example? Support national Christians who despite their small numbers are making a huge difference today. Two examples, K.P. Yohannan, founder and director of the Gospel for Asia mission, began with only his immediate family who accepted a calling to evangelise in north India after a mission in his home area led by an Operation Mobilisation team in 1966. Gospel for Asia launched in 1978. By 2004 this mission alone had more than 14,000 national missionaries, operated 54 Bible Colleges with in excess of 8,000 students, and a church-planting movement that pioneers on average twelve new fellowships every day. Is this unique? The second example an American Baptist doctor in North India witnessed to a high-caste Hindu army officer G.S. Nair, who some time later through friendship and witness came to Christ in 1972. People’s Baptist Ministries began with seven men pushing a handcart with all their worldly goods on it around villages whose residents had no knowledge of Jesus. They left with almost no money or knowledge of how the future would turn out. By 2007 over 1,000 churches planted with around 100,000 people converted, baptised and active church members today as a result of this witness. [2011 1,300 local churches with 150,000 active disciples of Jesus Christ now in 27 Indian states, Nepal and Myanmar www.gsnair.org] Pastor Nair’s vision for the future was breathtaking, but having seen God at work in India in spite of huge difficulties that confidence in God was well placed. Do you need this am to declare your confidence in God or to renew it afresh after a time of secret doubting? Just think of Jesus’ amazing words concerning the source of our power in ministry, in Him! (b) God’s Presence And surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age. For how long? Always! Good news you are not alone in the school playground; in the office or the office social function; or possibly as the one Christian so far in your family –Jesus is there with you to encourage and support you and keep you keeping on. We are not given a task to do and left to get on with it on our own His presence is there to uphold and support us each step of the way. In August 1906 leaders of some of the small number of North Korean Christians met to seek God to pray for revival – not caring about their denominational background –a prayer meeting that went on for four months and led to an extraordinary movement of the Holy Spirit convicting the Christians of sin and the following year in 1907 to the Pyongyang Revival, which the Lord had told them would be followed by great tribulation. Many thousands converted, many thousands martyred by Japanese fascists then North Korean communists with most of the survivors moving south into what is now South Korea where by the witness of these survivors this Buddhist nation is now 25% Evangelical Christian, with probably the most committed Christian communities on earth, in terms
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of prayer meetings and sending people out in mission. The same God desires to work here in Scotland and promises to be with you and me. Can He count on you? (c) God’s Provision John 16:7-15: 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counsellor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. 8 When He comes, He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in Me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see Me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.12 I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is Mine and make it known to you.
How can we be confident in the final success of the work of God in the salvation of His church in earth? it is through the enabling power of the Holy Spirit who brings God’s purposes to fruition. God calls us to exercise faith like a little child taking its parent’s hand and walking side by side into the future He has prepared for us. Why can we be confident? As Joshua reminded Israel shortly prior to his death: You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed (Joshua 23:14). How can we be sure today? Jesus in John 17:20 in His high priestly prayer said: My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their (our) message.
As soldiers in the army of God we are a people under authority. Our leader has given us our marching orders and calls us to carry them out –can He count on your obedience and mine? Jesus’ church will grow throughout the world; will you play your part in fulfilling the great commission for Jesus’ sake? Amen
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Micah 6 vs 1-8 A Call to Ministry Introduction Micah, like his fellow prophets, often had to deliver unpopular messages to the people of his day. Israel the northern kingdom and Judah its southern counterpart had both engaged in behaviour that fell seriously short of that required of nations seeking to follow after the Lord. The Northern kingdom was soon to be destroyed by the Assyrian superpower and its people forcibly exiled to other lands. Judah was being warned that a similar fate would befall her if she refused to repent of her sins and turn to the Lord. The issue was not primarily of wrong beliefs, though this may in part have been an issue; rather it was that the majority of people were living in a lifestyle that contrasted sharply with what they professed to believe. No-one is perfect, but there are limits to the mistakes we can make without attracting serious criticism about the choices we are making. There are times when someone’s behaviour is so seriously short of acceptable standards that disciplinary actions have to be taken. One example of such shortcomings was seen in a league football game in the Czech Republic on 22 or 23 October 2011. Jestrabi Lhota were playing Tynec-nad-Lebem. There were concerns about the referee prior to kick-off as he had apparently ‘smelt like a brewery’. This increased when the game kicked off and he was staggering around the park and falling over for no apparent reason. After one particular fall he got to his feet and promptly red carded three Jestrabi players for no reason, unable to explain why he had taken this decision. The team managements and players agreed that the score at the time of the bizarre dismissals (1-1) would be the ‘final’ score and the remaining time of the match was played out in the middle of the park. League officials later annulled the result and suspended the referee. It will be of interest what charges are brought against the official as it is not against the league rules to officiate at a game when seriously intoxicated [Metro 24 Oct. 2011]. Maybe the rules might be changed after that embarrassing incident. Yet amongst the people of God are there not times when words are uttered or actions carried out that fall short of how the people of God ought to behave. Although I thank God for the excellent quality of relationships that is the norm in this church, we can never take it for granted that it will always be the case. The evil one rejoices most of all when God’s people can be tempted to dishonour their Lord and Saviour by their choices. We must constantly keep in mind whose we are and why God has placed us here on earth –to honour His name and bring delight to Him by the way that we live. Here was a strong challenge to the people of Judah –would they heed the call and would they make the necessary changes to their lives? 1.The Covenant Challenge (Micah 6:1-2) Listen to what the Lord says: Stand up, plead your case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say. 2 Hear, O mountains, the Lord's accusation; listen, you everlasting foundations of the earth. For the Lord has a case against His people; He is lodging a charge against Israel. The form
of message Micah utters is a legal challenge. In Old Testament times there was a common practice of covenant-making between individuals; between nations and in the Bible between the Lord and His people. These covenant treaties stipulated how the two parties ought to behave now that an agreement was in place. It spelled out the consequences if one or both parties violated the promises they had made. The most well-known form of these agreements were between a ‘super-power’ and a ‘subject-state’. If the minor party had violated the agreement its leader had signed, it did not mean automatic warfare. Instead a representative of the major power would come and present the accusations to the guilty party and see if they were willing to admit their mistakes and correct the wrong done. If, however, there was no 1
change of heart and conduct then the ‘carrot’ would be followed by the ‘stick’. An example of this pattern with reference to Judah’s sin is seen in II Chronicles 36:15-21, from a time period a little later than Micah’s proclamation: 15 The Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them through his messengers again and again, because he had pity on his people and on his dwellingplace.16 But they mocked God's messengers, despised his words and scoffed at his prophets until the wrath of the Lord was aroused against his people and there was no remedy. 17 He brought up against them the king of the Babylonians, who killed their young men with the sword in the sanctuary, and spared neither young man nor young woman, old man or aged. God handed all of them over to Nebuchadnezzar.18 He carried to Babylon all the articles from the temple of God, both large and small, and the treasures of the Lord's temple and the treasures of the king and his officials. 19 They set fire to God's temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. 20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his sons until the kingdom of Persia came to power. 21 The land enjoyed its sabbath rests; all the time of its desolation it rested, until the seventy years were completed in fulfilment of the word of the Lord spoken by Jeremiah. A similar pattern is seen in II
Kings 18 where Hezekiah, King of Judah, rebelled against the Assyrians and then apologised when he knew he had made a mistake. However, the apology was not accepted, but God miraculously defeated the mighty army camped outside Jerusalem and the siege was lifted. Here in Micah 6:1-2 nature is called to serve as a ‘witness’ to the offences committed by God’s people against their Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth. In a dispute between the people of God and their Lord, ordinary human witnesses could not stand between the two parties. In other places ‘heaven and earth’ are called to be witnesses between God and His people, for example, by Moses in Deuteronomy 4:26: 26 I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you this day that you will quickly perish from the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess. You will not live there long but will certainly be destroyed (They are also the witnesses in
Deuteronomy 32:1). In a court cases the witness evidence is crucial. Evidence in a criminal case presented without witnesses may be circumstantial and lacking that clinching piece of evidence that removes all doubt over a possible conviction; If, however, a witness places a criminal at the scene of the crime at the right time and offers a motive for the action then it may be the vital piece of evidence required. Micah declares: For the Lord has a case against His people; He is lodging a charge against Israel. There are times when He speaks to you and me with a challenge about some area of our lives. Sometimes it is directly through our conscience; at other times through another person; maybe a private conversation with a friend or family member, or through the words of a sermon in church; when we go astray we need other people or the Lord to convict us of our need to sort out our lives –because this is a loving thing to do. Remember these words from Hebrews 12:5-12: And you have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines those He loves, and He punishes everyone He accepts as a son. 7Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? 8 If you are not disciplined (and everyone undergoes discipline), then you are illegitimate children and not true sons. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live! 10 Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees! At the human level as parents when our children misbehave we take time to seek to
correct their behaviour, hoping to show them why it is better to do what is right in that situation. God here calls Judah to listen. We too need to have our spiritual ‘ears’ attuned to ‘hear’ His voice speaking into our lives. 2. The History Challenge Micah 6:3-5) 2
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My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me. 4 I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam. 5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counselled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord. 3My people, what have I done to you? There is anguish in the voice of the prophet as he articulates the pain in the heart of God when His people go astray. Can you provide examples where I have been unfaithful to you? Are there situations where your Lord has failed you? This question provides a window of opportunity for the people of Judah to respond if they think the charge is unjust or unfounded. What have I done to you? In some form of words might be uttered by a spouse to the one they had just found out had been unfaithful to them; or a business partner who has discovered that a trusted colleague has been stealing from the company purse and risking its financial future. It is a respectful question and the assumed lack of a response implies that the charge God brings against His people here is just. There is then a second question: How have I burdened you? This is a hint that many people in the nation had considered their religion old fashioned, that its rules were out dated. They viewed God as a bit of a ‘kill-joy’ when they wanted to ‘let their hair down’ and have some fun. Is that any different to many people today? They may know something about the Christian faith but say ‘Not for me!’ I want to live my own life, to do my own thing. ‘I did it my way’ – sang Frank Sinatra articulating the mindset of many people outside of Christ. Yet what is tragic is that it can at times be also true of believers when we wander away from the pathway that the Lord has for our lives. We have to be honest that our Christian lives are not spent on ‘cloud nine’, though we may have particular times when we feel particularly close to Him and blessed by Him. There are many very ordinary days when we must follow the guidance He has given us for living in His Word, without any special feelings or sense of direction about the choices before us. As we look back over our lives since we first trusted Jesus there are times for which we give thanks to the Lord, but also we are acutely aware of times when we made wrong choices and messed up our lives. The ‘if onlys’ that we cannot change. Thank the Lord that He forgives and forgets the sins we have confessed to Him. Psalm 103:11-13 speaks words of real encouragement to the child of God who is truly sorry for their sins and turns from them to the Lord. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear Him; The prophet pictures the ‘guilty
silence’ from the people and reminds them of God’s urgent demand: Answer Me. There was of course no answer so God reminds them through the prophet of the extent of His love for them. The most important event, to which the prophets turned time and again, was the exodus from Egypt. The redemption from their sins and the formation of a nation out of a rabble of slaves (Exodus 20:1); Then He highlighted the provision of Moses, Aaron and Miriam to lead them on their journey through the wilderness, and how the prophetic utterances of Baalam in Moab (Numbers 23-24) intended to ‘curse’ Israel yet became a blessing to them instead in the purposes of God. Last of all, God said here: Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord. What journey was this? The final one from the last place where the Israelites camped for sometime on the far side of the River Jordan (Numbers 33:49; Joshua 3:1), to the first place they had on the west bank of the Jordan River (Joshua 4:19). The previous generation had crossed the Red Sea on dry ground; Joshua’s generation had likewise crossed Jordan forty years later. Joshua 4: 19-24 provided a permanent reminder to God’s people of His goodness to them. On the tenth day of the first month the people went up from the Jordan and camped at Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho. 20 And Joshua set up at Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken out of the Jordan. 21 He said to the Israelites, In the future when your descendants ask their fathers, 'What do these stones mean?' 22 tell them, 'Israel crossed the Jordan on dry ground.' 23 For the Lord your God dried up the Jordan before 3
you until you had crossed over. The Lord your God did to the Jordan just what He had done to the Red Sea when He dried it up before us until we had crossed over. 24 He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the Lord is powerful and so that you might always fear the Lord your God. God has shown His people the evidence of His faithfulness and will come to
ask them how they ought to live for Him in the light of such kindness. Do you pass or fail the history challenge today? Are you thankful for His goodness and mercy in former days and responding to such love with a life lived that is honouring to the Lord? Or have you and I forgotten His blessings and have become totally consumed with our problems and difficulties in the present time? I have mentioned it before that it is good to write down in a private notebook a record of our blessings at the time –so that when times are hard and we are really struggling that we can turn to it and be blessed all over again by our recollections of His grace in earlier months and years. God, through Micah, invites His people to take the history challenge and give Him all the praise and glory. 3. The Memory Challenge (Micah 6:6-7) 6
With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? 7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? Micah pictures the people of Judea of his day asking these questions in
response to the message of judgement he has proclaimed? In essence what does God want me to do to please Him? How ought I to live my life? What must I do to ensure I have eternal life when I die? Variations of these questions, expressed in a culturally appropriate form have been uttered down the centuries, including our own day. These hypothetical respondents recognise that they have a responsibility to do something, to change their lives in order to please God. However, what they are suggesting is less than sincere. The tone of the responses is so pious and the examples offered so extreme that it is clear they have missed the point completely. In a Christian context a person might say: shall I insist on coming to Church not once, not twice, but a minimum of three service on a Sunday; will the Lord be pleased if I insist on putting 90% of my net income in the offering plate not a mere tithe and offerings like other Christians; I hope you get the picture of the absurdity of the questions –such a person is not being serious with these proposals. Sacrifices with calves more commonly were with animals from seven days old. To offer a one-year old animal was a much more expensive sacrifice to give and beyond that which God has required in the Levitical offerings. Then the hypothetical respondent graduates to offering thousands of rams. Solomon, at the dedication of the Jerusalem Temple (I Kings 8:63) offered thousands of animals as sacrifices on that occasion, but it was not required by God for an ordinary citizen to do that, even if they could afford to do so. The fact that these huge quantities are not being seriously entertained is in evidence with the reference to oil. In grain offerings, as in our cooking today a small amount of oil is added to the mix (see Exodus 29:40; Leviticus 2:1-8). No-one could take seriously the quantity mentioned here. The ultimate mockery of the worship of God is in reference to the sacrifice of a firstborn son. It was a Canaanite practice in the land that persisted for many years, but in the time of Abraham (Genesis 22) the Lord made it plain that killing children for any reason was not acceptable to Him. What appears here to be good religious language is at best a mockery of it. Anyone speaking to Micah in this way was not taking him –or God- seriously. These people had access to the Word of God, had they chosen to listen to it. Would they remember what God wanted them to do and act upon it or would they fail to heed God’s Word? It is salutary to ask how many hundreds of thousands of people have passed through Sunday Schools and Youth groups and adults through Churches and heard something of how God wants them to live their lives, but chose currently to do nothing about it. It is in many 4
cases not a lack of knowledge but a lack of will to take the step required to follow the Lord. Not too long ago, for example, two of us had a conversation with a man who had claimed to have read the holy books of a number of faith traditions and much else besides. He claimed a clear knowledge of the Bible and mentioned a man in a neighbouring church and one in our own church who had sought to guide him in God’s way in earlier years, but he had chosen not to heed their advice. Yet there are plenty of others we have met who had a surprisingly good factual knowledge of some aspects of biblical truth but no desire to go God’s way. There are of course other people who know nothing of God’s love and grace and we have a solemn responsibility to seek as far as we are able to make Christ know to such people. Someone unknown once said it is not the parts of the Bible that I don’t understand that I have difficulty with, but the parts that I do, and don’t want to put into practice. The question of verse six: with what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? is still the question today. The answer has to be nothing, simply yourself claiming the sacrifice of Jesus in your place, acknowledging that your sins are forgiven through what He did, and receiving Him into your life as Lord and Saviour. Our good deeds are a response of love towards God not a means to receiving salvation. Micah will declare in the final verse of this section how a person ought to live –if their claim to follow the Lord has credibility. 4. The Credibility Challenge (Micah 6:8) 8
He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. What does the Lord require of us? This is the fundamental question in Micah’s prophecy –what is good. How does this translate into daily
life? He gives three principles for action: (a)To act justly What does this mean for me in daily life in a secular society? Examples from this book include fair prices for both buyer and seller when houses are sold; integrity in legal and financial transactions (both in Micah 2:2); proper provision for the needs of the most vulnerable in society (Micah 3:1-2); Micah described a society where leaders priests and prophets are no longer respected as authority figures, due to malpractice on their part; In our own land how many politicians at Edinburgh and Westminster parliaments have not milked their housing allowance or expenses claims to extract untold thousands from the taxpayers? Of course most could do it within the rules they made for themselves and thus avoid prosecution that would be the fate of lesser mortals. Yet as we start going through society naming professions and vocations –how many are as respected as they would have been half a century ago? In the midst of declining standards around us to determine that we as Christians will commit to treating every one fairly and with respect; that we will do a fair days work for a fair days pay; if employers likewise to honour appropriately the dedication of those employed in your company; it is not only Christians who may choose to behave honourably, people of other faiths and none may also opt out from the crowd. Recently in a conversation with a really decent man who openly declared he was an atheist, yet had a high respect for what we were going as Christians. He mentioned in his workplace overseas that virtually all the men in his department were cheating on their wives with other women. It was the norm and expected –yet he had pointedly said that his values and standards were different and as a result stood out from the crowd. He saw it as clearly as a Christian should that there were standards of right and wrong and he wanted to live on the right side of the line. he also mentioned in his industry some business practices that were common, but thoroughly dishonest even if they were legal. God says here through Micah, no matter what other people are doing act justly, stick to your convictions. Will you and I do that –even if there may at times be a price to pay? 5
(b) to love mercy This word speaks of covenant loyalty, both in secular agreements and with the Lord. The language of Micah here is expressed in a legal covenant term hesed, implying that not only do we want to do the right thing –act justly- but to remember the basis on which we make such choices. We make agreements /promises when we get married; when we purchase a house or a host of other transactions; supremely when we commit our lives to the Lord Jesus Christ; Yet God says here through the prophet it is not about ticking boxes – we all do more than enough of that with paperwork. What is being asked here? to love hesed. In other words to take delight in doing what is right before God and in our relationships with other people, not to do it grudgingly –because we ‘have to’. Why? because God is the compassionate and gracious God (Exodus 34:6); He delights to show mercy (Micah 7:18b); Why is this important? Because if we have pleasure in doing what is right, because our heavenly Father wants us to have pleasure in it as He does, then it will not affect our attitudes when others around us are giving into temptation and delighting in inappropriate conversations or behaviour; we are not legalistically following a list of ‘Thou shall nots’, and with a solemn face; rather we are taking pleasure in doing what is good and honourable and appropriate for the best of reasons, supremely to please God, but it is also for the benefit of ourselves and other people around us. This is far more than playing with words; it is an approach to life. It is so easy to focus on what some other people are doing wrong and be tempted to lower our own standards and get down; rather than aiming higher to please our Lord and Saviour in whatever place we are and in whatever company we are found. This is so incredibly relevant to every day life at home, in the workplace or wherever we may be. (c) to walk humbly with your God Here is a summary statement of the lifestyle of a man or woman of God. In Genesis 5:24 there is the obituary of a man called Enoch: Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, because God took him away . Can you imagine the impact that man had on his peers? Every now and then there are Christian men and women who so radiate Christ that loads of people are just drawn to them. In a particular High School in my home area there was a Christian teacher in the school who was an extraordinary influence on the pupils. There were other fine Christians on the staff, but this man got through to the pupils in an incredible way. Several hundred wanted to come to the CU when he ran it; in the school I attended a couple of miles away we were fortunate to get half-a-dozen to the weekly meeting in the school! It is an attitude of heart and a passionate Christ-centredness. However, Micah is not speaking about results or the fruit of a godly lifestyle in our Christian ministry or vocation, rather his focus is more on our character and disposition. We are all called to be ministers or representatives of Christ wherever He has placed us. May we take up His call to minister in what ever setting and gain delight and satisfaction in pleasing Him as we act justly and love mercy and walk humbly with [our] God, Amen.
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I Corinthians 11:17-34 A Call to Obedience - The Lord’s Supper Introduction Some years ago in England there was a profoundly sad event - the death of a young child. However, the nature of the death was the reason for the national attention. The date was the child’s birthday aged one or two. The parents had decided that the child was too young for a party and put the child to bed on that evening, having invited adult friends to celebrate the occasion downstairs. It was a winter’s evening and all the guests had heavy winter coats - that were laid down on a bed - the child’s bed. Somehow I’ve forgotten the details but the medical report of the cause of death I believe suggested that the child had been smothered by the coats. The point of that celebration had been missed and would indelibly be fixed on the minds of every adult at that event - not least the grieving parents. The apostle Paul in writing about public worship in Corinth in general and in this passage the Lord’s Supper in particular suggests that they too had been missing the point of the celebration. 1.The Perversion of the Lord’s Supper (I Corinthians 11:17-22) 17In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. 18In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. 19No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God's approval. 20When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not! (a) The Context When we think of the Lord’s Supper we naturally focus on verses 23 to
26 of I Corinthians 11 as these are the words of institution used in the Early Church yet Scripture verses always are embedded in a context, which in this case is verses seventeen to thirty-four, passages preceding and following the familiar words. The apostle has three aspects to his teaching on this subject beginning with the context in which Communion was observed in Corinth, the liturgical form of the observance of the rite, followed by guidance concerning preparation before receiving the bread and the wine. When a regular pattern of worship took shape in the Early Church it appears that the morning service was the most likely one to invite unchurched people to find out about the faith –services held 5:30 /6:00am! Prior to the start of the working day with the congregation also gathering for a ‘Jacob’s join’ fellowship meal concluded by a service that had as its climax the observance of communion at the end of the day. The Lord’s Supper was instituted in the context of a Passover meal. The host blessed the first cup of unfermented red wine, followed by bitter herbs dipped in a fruit sauce of which all partook. Then there was a talk on the meaning of Passover followed by the singing of Psalms 113 and 114. Next the second cup of wine was drunk after which unleavened bread passed round. The main dish of the meal contained the roasted sacrificial lamb. The third cup was passed after prayer prior to the singing of Psalms 115-118. The fourth cup of wine celebrating the coming kingdom of the Messiah was drunk immediately before leaving. It is usually suggested that the Lord interpreted the unleavened bread and the third cup of wine with reference to himself, but that the fourth cup was not drunk according to Matthew 26:29-30. The early Christians celebrated communion in their house churches, usually in a home that could accommodate the whole congregation of less than one hundred people. The average size of a church congregation in Western Europe and North America possibly was very similar to the Early Church in having 60-70 people. It tended to be a weekly event on a Sunday late pm / early evening at the end of the working day (Acts 20:7-12 at Troas), and in the context of a 1
communal meal (agape meal), that may have been the only meal of the day for the poorest members, many of whom would have been slaves. This was a special time of fellowship and care for the most vulnerable members of the church in particular. (b) Communion at Corinth What description does Paul give of their agape meal / communion services? (vs17-22) 20When you come together, it is not the Lord's Supper you eat, 21for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. 22Don't you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you for this? Certainly not! Corinth was a city like
Edinburgh until relatively recently with a very wealthy elite few and a majority of poorer people. There was little social interaction between the two. Meetings at church had become a scandal. Some members of Chloe’s family (I Corinthians 1:11) were so alarmed that they travelled to Turkey from Greece to tell Paul what was going on. He had also been visited by Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus (I Corinthians 16:17) men of high Christian integrity who may also have confirmed the difficulties that the church was experiencing. The other problems listed in the first letter to the Church at Corinth were bad enough but to behave as they did at the agape meal and communion was as bad as anything Paul had ever come across. The wealthy minority who provided all the food and drinks, as the slaves and very poor would have had nothing to bring, were eating to excess and getting drunk having started before the arrival of the poorest members who may have eaten nothing that day and to add to their misery got almost nothing at church as well. What kind of witness was that? Paul has already stated what is happening in communion in I Cor.10:16: Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation [fellowship /sharing] in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? How true was this of Corinth church? It was the exact opposite! In fact in I Corinthians 12:19 Paul expresses serious reservations about whether some of the most serious offenders have ever truly trusted the Lord as their Saviour at all, if there is no evidence of Christ-like character in the way they treat other people. What were the future implications for the church if their behaviour continued? Quite bluntly Paul says if you cannot behave in a Christian manner then you had better stop the pretence of such folly. I have never heard of such behaviour taking place in any church in recent centuries, but the principle behind Paul’s words of the non negotiable commitment of followers of Jesus to show love and respect to one another is a ‘given’ whatever the culture and context of the life of a local church. 2. The Preparation for the Lord’s Supper (vs27-34) 27Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is why many among you are weak and sick and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment. 32When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. 33So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions. Paul here indicates to us that it is to
our spiritual profit to prepare to come to worship services, especially when coming to the Lord’s Table. (a) How can I or we do that? (i) Pray for People taking part in the services I would want to encourage you to pray for the people taking part in our worship services, not just for me or whoever is preaching, though I would desire that, but for all who are taking part in some aspect of Christian ministry at a worship service. To start to do that will ensure you recognise just how many people offer their gifts and time as an offering of worship to the Lord. From the people serving as stewards, or in catering, sound and music ministries, or working as Sunday School and Bible class teachers, together with the range of people who 2
may lead some part of a service. We all have some weeks that are great together with others that are lousy! Health issues, financial pressures or work and family issues can influence how we feel in coming to a worship service, but to pray that God will grant strength and wisdom and His peace and power that He might be glorified through our offerings to Him. (ii) Pray for people attending church that Sunday, especially for those who are seeking that they may come to know Jesus, and for those present who are already believers that we might learn or be reminded of something that can help us grow in our faith or encourage us to stand firm in our faith, or help them in whatever challenges they are experiencing at the present time. God is a living God and we need to expect that He will speak to people as we sing His praises, hear His Word preached and share fellowship together. (iii) Pray for yourself as you come to church that God may minister into your life what He wants you to hear. It may be a word of encouragement, or a word of rebuke; a word of challenge or a word commending patience, or of some actions to take or words to speak to another person; It may be confirmation of guidance from God, or step along the way on an issue about which God has been speaking to you, a conviction over the need to repent of some sin or a call to get involved in a form of ministry in the church; a call to mission overseas. James 4:2 says: You have not because you do not ask God. Have you been missing out on blessings God has for you, simply because you have not asked Him? It would be helpful to have a time of prayer before church at home to help you focus your thoughts on the Lord as we come to worship and praise Him, though it is also very profitable to do the same at church prior to the start of the service. However we do face pressures upon us. Parents with children or elderly relatives to care for may have a real battle with time pressures. Others of us may have so much to get done before 11am that we are too busy to pray? Making time for ourselves alone with the Lord is a self-discipline no one drifts into it by accident. For people with more time on their hands reading a few pages or a chapter of a devotional Christian book can lift your thoughts to the Lord. As an undergraduate student I remember profiting greatly from reading a chapter of one of the many A.W. Tozer books prior to going to church. There is no set way, but the more we invest in worshipping the Lord the more we will benefit from it. (b) What does Paul suggest here? (v28) In this specific context it is about coming to the Lord’s Table but the principle is applicable to other parts of worship services as well. 28 A man [Greek person] ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. Paul speaks here of self examination. Is there some sin I need to confess to the Lord in thought word or deed? If nothing specific comes to mind then a general silent prayer of confession of sin. In Psalm 24:4 David speaks about how we should enter God’s presence in worship. He refers to the person who has clean hands and a pure heart. Right with God but also right with other people in our conduct; The early Christian manual for worship, The Didache (c.100AD) in its guidelines on attendance at the Lord’s Supper stated: ‘Let none who have a quarrel with his fellow join in your meeting until they are reconciled, lest your sacrifice be defiled’. This teaching is based on Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:23-24: Therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift –these words of Jesus were a general principle not
simply restricted to the Lord’s Table. The key issue is our attitude of heart as we come to His table as His invited guests. (c) What are the Consequences of failing to act? (vs 27, 29-34) 27Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord 29For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is why many among you are weak and sick and a number of you have fallen asleep. 31But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment . Before I comment on the consequences here of wrongful
participation. (i) What does Paul mean by an unworthy manner or unworthily (v27)? These are words spoken to Christians. This passage is not a criticism of someone who in good faith took communion when offered it in the past prior to coming to Christ. These words are 3
addressed to believers in the Lord Jesus. What does it say to us as Christians? First of all we are required to come with reverence to receive the bread and wine. The elements are still only bread and wine, nothing magical happens to them. However, it is what these natural elements represent in symbolic form as we receive then by faith as visible tokens of our Lord’s sacrificial love for us. Secondly we have a time of quiet at the start of communion in order to allow each of us to pray and prepare our hearts in order that we may partake of the bread and wine. None of us are good enough to be invited on merit. However Jesus was good enough and just as God accepted His sacrifice for us on the cross, in like manner He welcomes us to His table as His honoured guests. (ii) What are the Consequences of failing to do what God says? (vs 29-30)? 29For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. 30That is why many among you are weak and sick and a number of you have fallen asleep. Paul says that some of the Corinthian Church are unwell as a result of
their sin and in the most serious cases God has shortened the earthly life of some believers there for the same reason so that they will stop bringing shame and dishonour to His name. Many of us are familiar in the Old Testament with God’s judgement on Israelites who sinned. In Leviticus 10:1-7 Nadab and Abihu decided to experiment with the offerings in God’s presence – were they ‘carrying on’ /having a laugh or wilfully disobedient? God alone knows, but Leviticus 10:2 records: fire came out from the presence of the Lord and consumed them and they died before the Lord . In II Samuel 6:7 Uzzah lost his life for touching the Ark of the Covenant, something forbidden to those who were not set apart for that ministry. I Chronicles chapters13 and 15 explain what happened and why. Wilful disobedience by God’s people can have serious consequences. It was not just an Old Testament matter. In Acts 5:1-11 in the Early Church Ananias and Sapphira were struck down dead for lying to God and the local church in Jerusalem. No wonder Acts 5:11 states: Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these things. In terms of the principle Hebrews 12:5-12 points out that God disciplines His children when we do wrong. Imagine you are shopping in Dundee and a child deliberately damages a display in the shop –is it your responsibility to discipline that child? Only if you are their parent? If we are not His children then He will not take this action in our lives, but we may face the eternal consequences of being outside His love and grace. However there is a purpose in His disciplining of us, just as there should be when a good parent disciplines a child for inappropriate behaviour. Hebrews 12:10-11 records: 10Our fathers disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in his holiness. 11No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. God wants the very best for you and for me and will do what it takes to stop us completely messing up our lives, but if a believer is insistent on living a life away from the Lord then He will not force us to be good, but we will miss out on the blessings He has planned for us. 3. The Purpose of the Lord’s Supper (vs23-26) 23For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, 24and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
There are seven purposes for the Lord’s Supper that I will mention only briefly. (a) Thanksgiving Episcopalians call Communion ‘The Eucharist’, that is the Greek word for thanksgiving, giving thanks to God with a grateful heart for what the Lord has done for us on the cross. We must always have the element of thankfulness in our prayers as we come to His table. (b) Fellowship Communion is not a solitary act rather it is a sacred communal gathering of a local church sometimes with other Christians also joining in this act of worship. I 4
Corinthians 10:16 draws attention to this aspect of the observance of the Lord’s Supper. The same word in Greek also means ‘communion’, ‘participation’ and union in Christ. It is a family celebration. The Bible knows nothing of ‘solo’ Christianity outside a community of faith in a local church. (c) Memorial Jesus said: do this in remembrance of Me. This was a parallel to the reminder God gave to the Jewish people concerning their festival of Passover in Exodus 12:14: This day shall be to you as a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations (NKJV). There are many things we need to remember in our lives but this act of Jesus 2,000 years ago tops the list of essential items! (d) Obedience do this what we are doing today is not simply a regular and good habit like cleaning our teeth or observing the Highway Code when driving –it is a command of the King of Kings we are required to obey. The Bible does not specify how often each year a local congregation should hold communion services or the form they should take –only that we do it with a reasonable degree of regularity –which in most Scottish Baptist congregations is most Sundays. (e) Evangelistic When we reflect how much it mattered to God to ensure you and I can have salvation then it must matter to us. This in turn reminds us of our need to share the good news of Jesus with other people. Are you praying for named people in your private prayers to come to Christ? I hope so –God may chose to use you as the human instrument used to answer your prayer in terms of whom He chooses to witness to them and sometimes lead them to faith in Christ. Might that be you even this week? (f) Eschatological (this word refers to the end of the world when Jesus returns) we hold communion services for a limited period of time: until He comes. Each week it is once more, but also once less until the return of Jesus. In heaven we will be with Jesus Himself no more need there for symbols to remind us of Him –then we will see Him in all His resplendent glory. (g) God’s Purpose before he [she] eats (v28). God does not put this passage in the Scriptures to keep us from His table, on the contrary He wants us to benefit more from it by recognising more and more its wonderful significance for us as His children. May we each be able with great joy to come now to His table for His glorious name’s sake Amen.
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I Corinthians 13 Catching a Glimpse of the Future 1 If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn't love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn't love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. 3If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn't love others, I would be of no value whatsoever. 4Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud 5or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. 6It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 7Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 8Love will last forever, but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will all disappear. 9Now we know only a little, and even the gift of prophecy reveals little! 10But when the end comes, these special gifts will all disappear. 11It's like this: When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now. 13There are three things that will endure--faith, hope, and love -and the greatest of these is love. [New Living Version]
Introduction What is it that makes people happy? Or what is it that gives people a sense of wellbeing and purpose in their existence? There was a major survey carried out by NOP between 28-30 October 2005 on a sample of 1001 representative adults [reported by the BBC on 3 May 2006] linked to various scientific research projects to gauge what it is that is key to our happiness. In the population as a whole there has been a significant drop in the number of people who are very happy with their lot in life from 57% in the 1950s to 36% in 2005. Despite growing material prosperity this does not translate to satisfaction with our lives. British people are not unique a parallel picture emerges from the USA where by the late 1990s a mere 30% of people were very happy with their circumstances. What was especially significant was the question in the surveys about the role of the government. Politicians generally assume that the prime objective people give to them is greater wealth in our pockets, yet a mere 13% of people interviewed said that this was the main role of governments. 81% of the one thousand people surveyed stated that the prime objective of the government should be to enable us to be happier people. Naturally, the reporters questioned how this could be possible. What did the answers centre on? The major focus was on quality family life and good friendships. The top indicator for inducing happiness was a good marriage. Nearly half of the married people surveyed claimed they were very happy, compared to 25% of single people –yet ironically government policy in the last ten to fifteen years has been anti-marriage, taking away financial and other supports to marriage. The second most important criteria for personal happiness in the answers provided concerned inner contentment and peace, spiritual, faith based answers. There is no contest in the debate over the value of faith based schools – children have added personal value and achieve better exam results in church schools – yet how, in an age where currently church attendance is very low and has been in decline for the best part of a century, can the government help reverse this trend? –if we believe it has a role to play!! The answers will be an acute embarrassment for the militant secularists who run our major political parties – but in summary happiness results from attention to human relationships and our relationship with God, even though the later point was not articulated quite that clearly by some of the respondents. The Apostle Paul has plenty to say in I Corinthians 13 about these issues in the context of the internal life of probably the most dysfunctional church in the first century AD. Anyone who was very happy in the Corinthian church in the mid50s AD needed urgent medical assistance from people in white coats! It was anything but an ideal church, despite the incredible spiritual claims made by some of its members, especially in II Corinthians. In the goodness of God, this mess was the vehicle through which God guided His servant to write these extraordinary words in I Corinthians13. 1
1. The Pre-eminence of Love (I Corinthians 12:31-13:3) So you should earnestly desire the most helpful gifts. But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all. Eugene Peterson in The Message paraphrase renders vs1-3 in this way: 1If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love . These words of the apostle are set in the context of three
chapters that cover the church worshipping at Corinth. How to engage in it and how not to behave in the way they had been conducting their affairs in recent years. This letter, I Corinthians, addresses a series of issues raised by concerned members of that congregation with the apostle and he then responds with his inspired advice to remedy this situation. These words in I Corinthians 13 are not an isolated utterance of great eloquence floating about in the air. They are grounded in the life of a local church. It was a congregation that contained some members who appeared to have little regard for fellow church-members and their conduct was little short of disgraceful. Although I Corinthians 13 contains statements that can be used in almost any context, they were (and are) intended to serve as a reality-check for Christians with respect to their relationships with fellow-believers in a local congregation. In the American Presidential election in 2004 George Bush won in a hard-fought contest with John Kerry, though there was an unusual defining feature of that campaign. Not a phrase or policy, but a style to canvassing. George Bush was, and is, a ‘people-person’ who won over almost every person he met on the many months campaigning. For him human relationships have a priority over public lectures and official spin. The ability to show people that he cared for them and valued them was critical in some swing states. As Christians there is much that we can learn from placing a high priority on human relationships. Paul in chapters 11-14 of I Corinthians is addressing the way the church family should treat each other, in particular in the context of church meetings, including Sunday worship services. In context these Corinthians had been guilty of valuing people by their spiritual giftedness, with respect to a handful of spiritual gifts. Valuing the possessors of these gifts highly but looking down at best and actively despising people at worst who had other gifts. These words of the apostle are often read and considered at weddings –which is great- if a wedding is not focussing on human relationships then something is definitely missing! However, the apostle is speaking in more general terms about treating people equally –as God does. In the book of James, written by the senior pastor of the church in Jerusalem, seven years earlier, a similar point is made, with respect to new people coming into church in chapter two: 1My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim that you have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favour some people more than others? 2For instance, suppose someone comes into your meeting dressed in fancy clothes and expensive jewellery, and another comes in who is poor and dressed in shabby clothes. 3If you give special attention and a good seat to the rich person, but you say to the poor one, "You can stand over there, or else sit on the floor"--well, 4doesn't this discrimination show that you are guided by wrong motives. 8Yes indeed, it is good when you truly obey our Lord's royal command found in the Scriptures: "Love your neighbour as yourself" (James 2:1-4, 8). The question comes to us in the
twenty-first century with the same challenge: Do we equally welcome people from all social / ethnic backgrounds into this church- should they choose to come? I should hope that all of us could enthusiastically say yes. Would we as sincerely welcome someone with an apparent series of needs as much as another individual that appeared to possess gifts we would love to use in the life of this congregation? In theory every church would say yes to these questions, but it is only as we intentionally reach out to those people God places across our pathway that we can discern how we would respond in practice. A welcome though is more than just a hello on a Sunday- it is welcoming people into our circles of friends and into our homes. Many Christian Churches are not quite as good at stage two in integrating people into the church family in succeeding years. A study into the success of a select group of churches that were good at retaining the people who came through their doors, found 2
that a person is likely to feel part of a church if there are approximately six people they consider friends or at least people they would look out for each week. This is important for us to grasp as our congregation continues to grow and it becomes essential for us all to make a real effort to ensure that anyone new in our midst is welcomed and not ignored. One of the most effective ways to get to know people –not the only one- is in small groups. Paul is telling us here that God does not, and we too should not, ever value someone more because of their theological knowledge, their spiritual giftedness, or some other factor that is placed higher than because they are a person made in the image of God whom He values and we ought to reflect His love to other people. God also in assessing a church, places the love for people in its midst far above a congregation’s style of worship, or choice of programmes or range of ministries. We cannot be guilty of loving someone too much. Here in this passage we see in part something of the Lord’s unconditional love to us. He appreciates deeply what you do for Him, but values even more fundamentally our relationship with Him as His sons and daughters. How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (I John 3:1). Could we as an example, take a few moments this week to show a particular act of kindness, asking the Lord to put someone into our minds who we might not normally meet in a typical week? It may be inviting someone for a coffee? A card of appreciation or a phone message to the same effect, or some other little demonstration of love; too often we think a little thing does not count. Jesus even spoke, in the hot Middle Eastern climate, of someone offering a cup of water in His name as engaging in a generous action. Increasingly Christian values are seen as different from the secular world. Most of the time our values are portrayed in a negative light about things we are opposed to, but it is amazing how often people know how we ought to behave in given situations, despite having no church connection themselves. The recent protests outside St Paul’s Cathedral in London have been a good case in point; what would Jesus do in that situation? - has been discussed at length on various on-line forums. Sadly the majority of respondents have concluded (and probably correctly) that the majority of the Cathedral staff made some big mistakes by failing to engage adequately with the new congregation on their doorstep. Surely opposition to outrageous wage increases by city bosses when workers were suffering pay cuts or a pay freeze, even apart from the changes in pension provision, was a cause around which they could unite. It appeared a ‘gift’ issue – who could justify these average pay increases of 49%!! (This story was in various newspapers in late October 2011). The challenge for us, though, is not how we think someone else should have acted, in another social context, rather being wise and creative in our own when we are given an opportunity to demonstrate the love of Jesus in a particular practical way. 2. The Portrayal of Love (I Corinthians 13:4-7) Listen to this modern translation of verses 1-7 and let it sink into our spirits as we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit ministering to us through God’s Word. If I could speak all of the world's languages and were a perfect communicator, but were unable to love people, I would simply be making noise, not reaching anyone. If you love people, you have patience with them and treat them fairly. You do not permanently point out your own good points, or talk down to others. You speak with people, not to them. If you love people, you can understand their feelings. You do not always seek your own good. You can control your ego, and do not take your frustration out on others. If you love people, you do not hold a grudge, or repeatedly point out their old mistakes. You are not secretly happy when others fall, but rejoice when they are successful. If you love people, you will not give up. You trust them, believe in them, and give them hope and encouragement [Dr Siegfried
Buchholz’s translation] Love is patient Love is kind the word patient means more than a willingness to wait a long time, or endurance of hardship or suffering over a period of time, but a willingness to be disadvantaged because of our love for the Lord without exacting revenge- that is to treat people as they treat us. A few years ago, a Christian from another church, told me the story of a fellow-Christian who in order not to work Sunday shifts in their workplace, offered to be more flexible in other work arrangements Monday to Saturday. One company manager had been supportive and helpful, but he moved on. A new manager came in who was antagonistic to this person’s faith and deliberately gave them all the 3
most menial and unpleasant tasks to do, despite the Christian’s experience in that field of work. Although that person felt obliged to change their job some months later, they did not react harshly to the new manager as they could easily have done when deliberately provoked. Love is kind Grace under trial –something we struggle with at times. Life isn’t fair. Most of the time we thankfully exclude from our conscious memories just how unfair –it doesn’t take away the pain. Loving through the pain, and keeping on showing the love of God to those who have hurt us intentionally or unintentionally is possible with the aid of the Holy Spirit – modelled supremely by our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane and then on the cross. It does not envy, so easy to want to have the gifts someone else possesses. Oh to be able to play a musical instrument like James Galway (outstanding flute-player); or football like Lionel Messi, or…! you fill in the example that comes to your own mind; At high school I was one of pupils who really struggled to do much of the work and spent months revising for O and A levels and did not take kindly to the brighter ones in my year boasting how an hour was enough the night before to prepare for the exam in question. We can struggle with someone getting a promotion ahead of us at work when we had a stronger claim. Even in Christian organisations, the handling of such issues can leave a lot to be desired. All of us have the potential to be eaten up with this weakness and it can do immense harm to our sense of wellbeing if we allow it to grow. It does not boast This uncommon word literally means ‘to be a windbag’! For Paul there was real concern that these immature Christians were boasting that they possessed particular spiritual gifts-and hinting that they were superior to other believers who had different gifts. This issue is one that Scots are generally good at handling. There is a natural tendency to support the underdog. Neutrals undoubtedly supported Gretna in the Scottish Cup Final in May 2006 against Hearts for example, after their fairytale climb up the leagues –sadly they lost on penalties! In the early days many West of Scotland people might have been quietly pleased at the earlier success of Tommy Sheridan in Holyrood elections to the Scottish Parliament, prior to his later downfall –not because they shared all his views, but because it added colour to proceedings that an individual with talent could make it against the influence and teams of workers of the long established political parties. People do not take kindly to others boasting about how they are better than other people. Only a fool will do it on a regular basis. The Bible wants us to handle success and failure with Christian grace, taking into due account the feelings of other people. It is not proud a wrong sense of our own importance. It includes a lack of an appropriate awareness of our own gifts and abilities, or an unduly negative view of those of other people. ‘Pride comes before a fall’- a popular saying as well as a biblical proverb. Humility is a difficult quality to develop and the moment we decide we have attained it we are back to square one. Ultimately it is other people who are the judges of whether we are proud or humble in our understanding of ourselves and our achievements, together with that of other people and what they have accomplished. Paul, in the earlier section of his letter that addressed this issue issued this challenge: Therefore I urge you to imitate me (I Corinthians 4:16). Unless it is true and he was genuinely a model for fellow-believers in this area of his life, such an invitation could only provoke amusement or ridicule! It was accompanied by a warning to the individuals in that church who were failing to amend their ways (I Corinthians 4:18-21: Some of you have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19 But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power. 21 What do you prefer? Shall I come to you with a whip, or in love and with a gentle spirit? We only grasp the strength of such a warning if we try and imagine a
contemporary church leader writing to some individuals under his care in this way! Even allowing for a different era and culture and an exceedingly dysfunctional church in Corinth, these are strong words from the apostle. However, the persistent problems of inappropriate behaviour by church members continued throughout the first century AD and were an embarrassment to fellow Christians across the Roman Empire. Maybe in this extreme situation there was a place for such frankness. It is not rude the coarsening of our culture, seen so obviously in the language and topics covered on post-9pm TV programmes is a source of shame on our land. Vulgarity and depravity can pass as if 4
unnoticed, yet secularists can take offence at a person of faith holding their arguably higher moral standards in the public square. On example of this was the senior Italian politician Rocco Buttiglione, who failed to be appointed as European Commissioner for Justice, Freedom and Security in autumn 2004. He lost that post because as a devout Roman Catholic his religious views on marriage and on homosexual practices offended the large Socialist group in the parliament who refused to accept his appointment. These are difficult days, dirty jokes and unhelpful gossip are common in workplaces, but churches are not always immune to people failing to respect others by our words and actions. We need to be ever vigilant that we stand firm against lowering our values in this respect. It is not self-seeking our motives for our words and actions are honourable not underhand. How often do people say one thing and do something else. What kind of reputation do you and I have? Paul has already addressed this issue in chapter ten. Paul, in I Corinthians 10:24 wrote: No-one should seek his own good, but the good of others. The apostle asks these believers, and us today, to consider how choices we might make could impact the lives of other people. He summarises his though in I Corinthians 10: 31-33: So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 32 Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— 33 even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved; we have worked hard on this
value as a church in our Church Meetings and Deacons’ Court in the way we listen to one another and as we speak respectfully in meetings. No church will ever be perfect, but I thank the Lord for so many meetings where we have sought and found the mind of Christ on an issue in a God-honouring and united way, for which I thank the Lord. The individualism of the modern Western world is so foreign to the New Testament where the emphasis is on ‘we’/ ‘us’ in congregational life. We have so much to learn in this respect from Asian and African brothers and sisters in Christ who are ahead of us – generally speaking in this area of Christian discipleship. It is not easily angered some Christians have very short fuses –the fruit of the Spirit is …self-control (Galatians 5:23). Some of us, temperamentally, are easily wound up; others of us by nature can be so laid back it is virtually impossible to lose it. Lets’ know our strengths and weaknesses and seek to compensate for them so that we can be more like Jesus. Paul knew to his own cost how in his early years as a follower of Jesus that he had been less careful than he ought to have been in controlling his temperament. His row with Barnabas (Acts 15:36-39) led to the ending of their partnership in the Gospel. Now God over-ruled this problem, and in the end probably more work was accomplished for the Lord than if they had continued together, but it could so easily have been avoided. We never know how many other Christians observing such behaviour are damaged in their faith when believers act in this way. My impression over the years is that an alarming number of Christians have been seriously damaged in their faith journey by observing the sinful loss of control of their temper by ‘older’ Christians. James 3:1-12 records a strong warning to keep our tongues under control and to focus on saying constructive and Christ-like words when engaging in conversation with fellow-Christians. It keeps no record of wrongs how many of us can go back years listing when people hurt us and did some wrong action. We may say we have forgiven them but we have never let it go. Sometimes a person will never apologise because for inexplicable reasons they don’t think they have done anything wrong. We have to bring things to the Lord and let Him deal with them and as far as we can wipe the slate clean. This action is a reflection of how God treats us. II Corinthians 5:19 reminds us that: God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them . After all does Psalm 103:12 not tell us: as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us ? The Lord invites us to reflect His conduct in this matter. Does not delight in evil, rejoices with the truth is it possible to be too happy when someone deservedly gets their comeuppance! -sometimes yes; other people may seem like news repositories for all kinds of bad news stories about the failings of others. All true maybe – but Paul urges us to aim to have more wholesome thoughts and conversations where possible. Phil. 4:8 Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable –if anything is excellent or praiseworthy –think about such things. Good news stories may not sell many newspaper copies but they
ought to bless our hearts as we see people using the gifts that God has given them for His glory. This 5
will mean in practice that our attitude to the criminal justice system or wars between countries, for example, might be different to that of some of our fellow citizens. Verse 7 contains a summary statement: It always protects; always trusts; always hopes; always perseveres the influential people in Corinth had an excessive focus on spiritual gifts. God is most interested in the spiritual character and conduct of His people, far more than in our use of gifts. When we grasp this point we will, therefore, be at least as concerned with our own lack of Christ-likeness than the failings of others and be as enthusiastic in seeking to remedy our own short-comings as to assist someone else with theirs; in essence seeking to reflect something of the characteristics of our Lord in daily life. Paul expressed it this way in Philippians 2:1-4: If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. This for
Paul was a glimpse of the future for congregational life in each church owning Jesus as its head. 3. The Permanence of Love (I Corinthians 13:8-13) 8Love will last forever, but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will all disappear. 9Now we know only a little, and even the gift of prophecy reveals little! 10But when the end comes, these special gifts will all disappear. 11It's like this: When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child does. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. 12Now we see things imperfectly as in a poor mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God knows me now. 13There are three things that will endure-faith, hope, and love -and the greatest of these is love Gifts and their usage are for a limited period of
time. Love and its impact lasts for ever, including in heaven. There was a stronger emphasis on revelatory charismatic gifts prior to the coming of the Scriptures –a characteristic seen repeatedly in some mission-fields in later centuries. Christians may disagree whether the perfect referred to here is a reference to the availability of the whole Scriptures, described by James 1:25 as the perfect law that gives freedom or heaven when all will be perfect and sin banished. There is, however, unquestionably a call for maturity- I may here on earth only see in part, but one day in fullness how we ought to live in the love of God. In life getting our priorities right is a real problem. It was one said that as yet there had been no-one on their death-bed who declared: ‘I wished I’d spent more time in the office.’ The pressures on all of us at times can be immense but Paul invites us to keep ever in mind that we are preparing for heaven and to put character ahead of gifting; people ahead of things; others before ourselves –following the example of the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me (Gal.2:20) Amen.
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Luke 1:1-4 Setting the Scene for the Christmas Story Introduction Increasingly in our society there are people who have no knowledge of our faith, even in its most basic aspects. In a gathering recently of a large number of younger children I posed the question: ‘In the weeks leading up to Christmas we are preparing to celebrate someone’s birth –who is it?’ The vast majority did not offer to answer. The one that did said ‘Santa Claus’. After receiving this answer I had to say it was incorrect and eventually someone else –a boy from a Muslim family- said it was the birth of Jesus. Allowing for their ages and the fact that I was an unfamiliar face to some of those children it is still sobering to catch a glimpse of the extent of the challenge we face in sharing our faith with people today. I have had increasing numbers of conversations with adults in recent years who are respectfully curious about our faith, but wonder if it is based on religious myths or pious stories, rather than on a secure historical basis? They are usually distinct from the ardent atheists who have their own objections, but from their own ‘faith’ perspective. For generations we have taken for granted the fact that the basic outline of our faith is well-known in the wider community, even if people choose not to believe it or practice it. Yet from the boffins on the challenging TV Quiz shows who can easily give answers to some of the most obscure questions on specialist topics, but are stumped by questions an intelligent Bible class student could answer, to the average man or woman in the street, there is no longer a common basis of knowledge. Now we are naturally disappointed, as ignorance is never a cause of rejoicing in any educational context. Many years ago a fellow student joked that he was proud to be ignorant of some topic on which the lecturer was speaking. It was the one time I saw that fine scholar lose his temper in a class. A boundary had been crossed that was inexcusable. We were forcefully reminded that education keeps us humble because no matter how much we learn, it only brings to our attention even more areas of knowledge of which we were previously unaware. Luke takes an opportunity he had been given by a friend to explain the solid foundation of Christianity in the life and work of its founder Jesus of Nazareth. At the start of advent it is good to be reminded afresh of the secure ground on which we stand as Christians. 1. The Pattern of His Composition (Luke 1:1-3a) 1
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eye-witnesses and servants of the word.3 Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning , (a) The
Different Gospels Christians can sometimes be surprised to learn that many more than four gospels were written to describe the life and teaching of Jesus. Prior to the circulation of the four gospels we possess it was only natural that a variety of individuals would attempt to record and preserve what they knew of Jesus once it became clear that the first generation of believers who had known Jesus during His earthly ministry were nearly all dead and no longer able to verify as primary witnesses the events and teaching described in the New Testament. Papias, a second generation Christian, stated that Peter ‘used to adapt his instructions [about the life and teaching of Jesus] to the needs of the particular audience he was addressing. John Mark was the person who wrote down what Peter used to tell of the ‘Jesus story’ (Eusebius, Historia Ecclesiae, Book III. p.39). Luke, at the start of his Gospel, admits that what he is doing was quite common in the Early Church –writing an account of Jesus’ life and work. Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us (Luke1:1). It is unknown how many genuine Christian accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus were written, but Luke’s Gospel was as thoroughly prepared and 1
researched as any that have been written. Sir William Ramsay, the famous archaeologist and biblical scholar from Aberdeen, began his professional life holding the standard view in university circles of his day that Luke’s work, especially his Acts of the Apostles ‘was fabricated in the middle of the second century… [but] was gradually driven to the conclusion that it must have been written in the first century and with admirable knowledge.’ (Sir William Ramsay, Pauline and Other Studies, 1906, p.199). In another of his works Ramsay wrote: ‘You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian’s and they stand the keenest scrutiny and the hardest treatment.’ (Ramsay, The Bearing of Recent Discovery on the Trustworthiness of the New Testament, p.89). Ramsay’s many books over a lifetime of academic research and archaeological expeditions in the Graeco-Roman world give countless examples of the accuracy of the details of Luke’s scholarship. However, it was not just orthodox Christians who were writing gospels or accounts of the life and teaching of Jesus. In addition, a rival faith that pretended to be a genuine form of the Christian faith (like Mormonism or Jehovah’s Witnesses today) also produced its own ‘gospels’ in later centuries. The Gospel of Thomas is the best known Gnostic gospel, but there are apparently more than fifty Gnostic gospels made up in later centuries, but named after genuine biblical characters to give them an air of respectability. Dan Brown’s Da Vinci Code draws a lot of his strange ideas based on these dubious texts. There is even a 15 th century ‘gospel’ the Gospel of Barnabas written by a Muslim to promote his religion, which was first translated from Italian to English over a hundred years ago. (This spurious document ought not to be confused with the genuine Christian document, the Epistle of Barnabas which dates between 70 and 135 AD). However, some Muslim apologists still use this forgery to criticise Christianity to the present day, but others in fairness have asked for it to stop as it is not advancing their cause. (b) The Sources of the Gospels (Luke 1:2) just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eye-witnesses and servants of the word . Luke has probably spoken to hundreds of people who saw and heard Jesus carry out His ministry, something that Luke had not experienced. He was one of the second generation Christians, and probably a Gentile also, who had joined the new communities in the early years after the Day of Pentecost. At the outset of his work this Christian author is making it very clear that what his readers need to know is that he has not made up the information he is recording; on the contrary it all comes from people who were eye-witnesses and who were also committed to the proclamation of the Christian faith. The very fact that they had met with Jesus had transformed their lives and given them a new purpose for living. Unlike Matthew (Levi), and John who had been with Jesus and could at first hand give testimony to what Jesus had said and done Luke did the next best thing, like Mark, and record the experiences of those who had been with Him at the crucial times in His ministry. After all there were a lot of people who were still alive at the time he was doing his research in the Holy Land. In a letter of Paul from that time period which referred to the primary witnesses for the faith Paul wrote these words: After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me … (I Corinthians 15:6-8a). This epistle was written about twenty years or so
after the start of the Christian Church and these people were able to check what others had written to confirm or deny its accuracy. If Paul was glad to refer back to them then Luke also would have acknowledged his indebtedness to them (c) The Content of the Gospels (Luke 1:1b) Luke has very carefully interviewed eyewitnesses of Jesus’ life and ministry and recorded for posterity what these people referred to as an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us (Luke1:1b). the style of Luke’s writing was in keeping with the best historians of the Roman world who felt it necessary to emphasise when they were attempting to write accurate factual history, rather than fictional stories based on the past. One historian commonly quoted in this context was Dionysius of 2
Halicarnassus (60-c.7BC), author of a History of Rome who wrote these words: ‘Before beginning to write I gathered information, partly from the lips of the most learned men with whom I came into contact, and partly from histories written by Romans of whom they spoke with praise (Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Antiquitates Romanae 1.6.1) . It is clear from the information we have in this Gospel that Mary, Jesus’ mother and probably Elizabeth and Zechariah were amongst the individuals who recounted the amazing intervention of God in their lives and their testimonies would have served as the basis for the account of the birth of Jesus and the related events that took place around that time. Part of the reason why certain things are recorded in other gospels, but not in Luke’s account, is that he has chosen to include things he can independently verify as well as the restrictions of space he would have had on his parchment. With the length of his Gospel it is unlikely that he could have included many more words without incurring the heavy expense of starting another scroll. He did do that, but for his second book The Acts of the Apostles. He also has a purpose behind what he has written: Luke is drawing his readers’ attention to an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us (Luke1:1b). He has selected from the greater mass of information he must have collected in order to show that Jesus is the Messiah, the Saviour of the World, the One who has come to seek and to save the lost (Luke 19:10). Although factually accurate he is not writing a modern critical biography, instead he has a clear purpose, he wishes his readers to come to faith in Jesus and to follow Him, as Luke has done for some years. In effect each of the Gospel writers has the same intention as John who wrote in John 20:31: But these [accounts of the life of Jesus] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name.
2. The Nature of His Presentation (Luke 1:3b) it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus In many
ways all the orthodox Christian Gospels had two clear purposes, namely accurate records of the words and actions of Jesus to contrast with the false gospels made up by followers of other faiths seeking to draw people away from Christianity, together with an evangelistic intent to lead people to see Jesus as He really is and then acknowledge Him as their Lord and Saviour. Luke on his Gospel exhibits: (a)Thorough Research While Paul was in prison in Caesarea Philippi waiting to be sent to Rome for trial before Caesar, Luke wanted to use his time well over the more than a year he had to spend waiting to see the legal process be completed in that province of the Roman Empire. He has taken his time and has an eye for detail. Luke, a Syrian by birth, came from the cosmopolitan city of Antioch. He was a trained G.P. who came to see his vocation as keeping Paul in reasonable health after all the brutal ordeals he had faced at the hands of his persecutors. Colossians 4: 14 states his occupation Our dear friend Luke, the doctor…sends greetings. Like Paul and Barnabas he is single and lived to the remarkable age of eighty-four, something very uncommon for Christians in the Roman world before the time of Constantine, the first Christian Emperor in the 4 th Century AD. His geographical references bear the hallmarks of someone who had been to the places he describes, for example, in Luke 8:26 in his reference to the region of the Gadarenes. Or his awareness of the travel route through Jericho (Luke 19:1) and the distance of the village of Emmaus from Jerusalem. Although a non-Jew his descriptions of Jewish history are clear such as the priestly heritage of Zechariah (Luke 1:5) and most remarkably the details of Roman history in Luke 2:1-2 about Caesar Augustus and the Governor of the Province of Syria Quirinius – until the detailed researches of William Ramsay a century ago many New Testament scholar had dismissed Luke’s statement here as fiction (a few still do!), but he got it spot on; Again in Luke 3:1-2 the listing of the regional governors and the high priests (Annas was the occupant in Jewish eyes, but 3
the Romans insisted on regular changes of occupants so Annas appointed his sons or in this case his son-in-law Caiaphas to keep the Romans happy –and kept the job in the family!). His references to the Old Testament are clear, but as a Gentile writing for Gentiles he does not have the repeated biblical quotations that Matthew provides in his Gospel –as a Jew for fellow Jews, though he is not afraid to follow the Jewish practice of listing the genealogy of Jesus through Mary; Matthew uses Joseph’s line to David in Matthew chapter one. However, for Luke his purpose is very different –the list of names is provided to reveal Jesus as the son of Adam, the son of God (Luke 3:38). In other words Jesus is the Saviour for the descendants of Adam – all humanity- if they will repent of their sins and accept Him as their Lord and Saviour as various people like Zacchaeus, the Jewish traitor (Luke 19:1-10); and the woman with the colourful sexual history (Luke 7:36-50) did. It is interesting that his use of the Greek language varies. In Luke 1:1-4 it is the equivalent of the ‘Queen’s English’, formal prose. In accounts where he is clearly repeating information provided in Aramaic or Hebrew such as Mary’s song (Luke 1:46-55) there is a Hebraic feel to the text –like the difference between the regional news presenters on the BBC and the main national broadcasts from London. Luke has immersed himself in his work and we thank God for the thoroughness with which his task was accomplished, both in the Gospel and in Acts. (b) Order it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus If you havn’t done so try reading through Jeremiah whose prophecies are not in chronological order and see the contrast with the Gospel writers. There are of course many ways books can be written, but most of us prefer to see the progression of thought in a work. His orderliness is most in evidence in Acts where once the Church has begun in Jerusalem (Acts 1-2), he charts the spread of the faith in waves to cross new frontiers, reaching the Samaritans (Acts 8), then the Gentiles (in Acts 10 with Cornelius); then the followers of John the Baptist at Ephesus (Acts 19:1-7)); interweaving the narrative with a focus on the ministries of the key leaders of the Church, in particular Peter, and Paul whom he was accompanying for part of the time period under discussion. All four Gospels lead to the cross and resurrection of Jesus, but Luke highlights features that are less prominent in the other three such as the importance of prayer and the key contribution of women in the ministry of Jesus. 3. The Purpose of His Gospel (Luke 1:4) 4
so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught. Christianity is a faith
grounded on factual historical events, purposed by God and recorded to encourage us to trust God’s future plans for His people from now until eternity. Michael Wilcocks, in his commentary on Luke, draws our attention to the key word here in v4. It is translated in the NIV as the certainty. He suggests that it might accurately be translated infallibility (The Message of Luke, p. 31). This is the strength Luke declares of my work. Some people outside the faith will be sceptical of your claims regarding Jesus and may even ridicule you for standing firm for it. Luke, at a time when all these eyewitness can verify or contradict his account makes this bold declaration of the accuracy of his work and he was vindicated by the recognition of the Christian Church in the first few centuries of the Christian era and in the last hundred years or so by the best biblical scholars who have studied his work. Luke knew the questions many early followers of Jesus were asking? Why did Jesus have to die in such a cruel manner –was it a tragic accident or had God planned to save us through such a sacrifice. In his account of the glorious encounter with Moses and Elijah in the Transfiguration in Luke 9:28-36, Luke records a key detail in verse 31 where he highlights the fact that the conversation was about what Jesus would undergo around the time of his death in Jerusalem – in fulfilment of the purposes of God –it was no accident or tragedy. Others were asking: why is it that so many people have no interest when we share with them 4
such good news – is there something wrong with how we are doing it? there may be some times, but Luke will record Jesus weeping over Jerusalem (Luke 19:39-44) because of their hardness of hearts in response to His preaching and witness. We struggle sometimes in our prayers and at times feel overwhelmed by the challenges we face in living for God. At such times, says Luke, join our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:39-46) and sense a little of the agonies He went through as he yielded to the Father’s plan for the culmination of His earthly ministry. In a culture where the word of a man was acceptable and a woman had to stay silent, Luke risks the credibility of the Gospel in that cultural context by highlighting the betrayal of Judas (Luke 22:1-3) and the denial of Peter (Luke 22:54-62), despite Jesus’ prior warning only hours earlier (Luke 22:31-34); together with the ultimate irony that the first evangelists privileged by God to share the good news of Jesus’ resurrection were women. Luke 24:9-10: When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. Our Lord may have consciously chosen men for his
apostles (Luke 6:12-16) and following the pattern recorded in I Timothy 3, the same gender for the offices of Pastor-teacher and elders, but His treatment of women was light years ahead of both Jews and Gentiles of that day. Our Lord and the first Christians showed no fear in challenging social conventions of their day where they were wrong. Luke very sensitive to this fact records the significance of this in his Gospel –something we may miss in our unrecognisably different cultural context more than two thousand years later. Some key features of this Gospel include: (a)God is in control therefore there is no need for you to be afraid – notice the repeating of this message, for example to Zechariah in the Temple in Jerusalem (Luke 1:13); to Mary at home in Nazareth, rural Galilee (Luke 1:30); to the shepherds in the fields outside Bethlehem (Luke 2:10); don’t be afraid because God is in control of history and is watching over you life and mine. Do you need to hear this message in your personal circumstances? All of us have times in our lives when circumstances threaten to overwhelm us. In Luke’s account of the Christmas story this theme is so prominent and persistent –because many of us need this truth repeated to us time and again because we are afraid and are feeling vulnerable concerning what the future may hold for us in our families, in our workplace or with respect to a major health issue in the family and countless other things that arise. (b) God’s timing is accurate time and again Luke emphasises today or this day in some translations. Luke 2:11 records words spoken by the angel to the Shepherds: Today, in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; at the beginning of Jesus’ ministry in Nazareth there is the summary of the key points of His sermon which included these words spoken immediately after the completion of the Scripture reading from Isaiah 61: Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing (Luke 4:21). On the last journey towards Jerusalem Jesus refused to be intimidated by some Pharisees who tried to make Jesus afraid of King Herod, declaring in Luke 13:32-33: He replied, Go tell that fox, 'I will drive out demons and heal people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.' 33 In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day— for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem! All of
us have our doubts and our fears wondering sometimes why our prayers appear to go unanswered and our difficulties continue unabated. Luke assures us that God has not forgotten you. The timing of events in your life is on schedule with Him, even if we are not privileged to glimpse the timetable –trust Him to work it out, He did that first Christmas and the first Easter, surely He can do so in our more ordinary lives as well? (c)God’s grace is sufficient for everyone In the secular world the rich and powerful get the lions share of all rewards and privileges and sometimes trample on the weak. Mary, the extraordinary teenager chosen by God would sing in Luke 1:52-53: He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
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He has filled the hungry with good things but has
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sent the rich away empty. The social outcasts of Jewish society, the Shepherds would hear this
extraordinary message: I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people, even people like you (Luke 2:11). The aged Simeon holding the baby Jesus in his arms will pray some extraordinary words: For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 which You have prepared in the sight of all people,32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to Your people Israel. John the Baptist will declare in Luke 3:6: All mankind will see God’s salvation. This did not
please all the religious people of the day who were unhappy that some unsavoury individuals were now following Jesus (Luke 15:1-2: Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering round to hear him.2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them. Do you need to put your faith in Jesus for the first time this
morning? He will receive you if your respond to His gracious invitation today. As a follower of Jesus at the start of Advent Luke reminds us of the extraordinary plans the Father made for the coming of His Son to earth that first Christmas. He is in control and His timing is perfect and His grace is sufficient for your circumstances today. Maybe you need to be assured of that fact today? Such blessed news should lead us to rejoice with Elizabeth and Mary (Luke 1:42-55) and with the shepherds as they returned home from Bethlehem glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told (Luke 2:20), Amen.
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John 1:1 The Incredible Revelation Introduction One of the greatest journalists of the last generation, the late Bernard Levin, described how, when he was a small boy, a celebrity came to visit his school. The headmaster, thinking perhaps to impress his guest, called one of his brightest pupils, Bernard to the platform, in front of the whole school. The celebrity was not sure what to ask the young man, so he thought he would play safe and ask him what he had eaten for breakfast. Surely whatever answer the child gave would be the basis for a brief conversation or dialogue! Levin, extremely nervous at standing on the stage, was delighted to be asked such a simple question –it was so easy to answer, because like most of us he had a standard routine each morning. ‘Matzo Brei’, he replied. It is a typical central European Jewish dish, made of egg fried with matzo wafers, brown sugar and cinnamon; Levin’s immigrant mother had continued to make it even after years of living in London. It was to Levin a perfectly ordinary word for a perfectly ordinary meal in his home. The celebrity, ignorant of such cuisine, thought he had misheard as the word uttered was not found in his vocabulary. So he asked the question again. Young Bernard, conscious of the pause in the conversation, was becoming a little anxious, but naturally repeated his answer- ‘Matzo Brei’. The celebrity now knew he had heard correctly the first time, but was none the wiser and started to glance at the headteacher, not knowing what to do next. Surely the wise head-teacher would know what to say next and take over from the increasingly embarrassed guest. However, it appears that the head-teacher was equally unfamiliar with this term –so in a bold voice he took charge of the situation; for the third time the young boy is asked what did you have for breakfast? Once more he utters the now familiar word- ‘Matzo Brei’he cannot say anything else as that is the truth. [picture on screen] Now two adults on the platform are both exchanging anxious glances at each other, unable to comprehend something that the little boy takes for granted as something the adults ought to have understood. The now terrified little boy is sent back to his place in the assembly hall quite unsure of what he has done wrong. The incident was never referred to again, but it stayed in Levin’s memory for the rest of his days [story found on many internet sites]. 1. The Extraordinary Introduction to the Gospel (John 1:1-18) A person unfamiliar with the Christian faith, and previously unacquainted with the Bible, might have a similar reaction if presented with a copy of the text of John 1:118. I wonder how many other members of staff in that London school, let alone the other pupils, recognised what Bernard Levin had said. I suspect a tiny minority would have done so, if they had a similar Jewish background or maybe Jewish friends. Here in this opening section of John’s Gospel are eighteen verses that set the scene for the whole Gospel. They are an overview description of the life and significance of the One whose words and actions are centre stage throughout its twenty-one chapters. They will illustrate what it means when John declares in 1:14: The Word became flesh and lived for a while among us. The language of these opening verses about the Word is more familiar in some respects to the thought of certain philosophers in the wider Greek-cultural world who were struggling to express what God was like in His interaction with His created order. The imagery here of light and darkness, the battle
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between good and evil resonates not only in the life of Jesus as revealed in many of the incidents John will describe in his Gospel, but also in the lives and social context of each of his readers. Although Jesus is never formally described or referred to again in this Gospel as the Word there are hinted references to this theme throughout the book. In John 6:60, following teaching in vivid pictorial language about being the true bread from heaven and the significance of His death on the cross and our identification with Him by faith, the disciples struggled to make sense of what He had been saying: On hearing it, many of His disciples said, This is a hard teaching (literally ‘a hard word’). Who can accept it? After teaching about His origins with the Father in heaven in John 7, again there was incomprehension not on the part of the disciples this time, but other Jews less sympathetic to His claims: What did He mean [literally ‘what is this Word’) when He said, 'You will look for Me, but you will not find Me,' and 'Where I am, you cannot come'? (John 7:36). In the midst of a heated exchange with unbelieving Jews, Jesus declared in John 8:37: I know you are Abraham's descendants. Yet you are ready to kill Me, because you have no room for My word. In a powerful passage that makes reference to the Day of Judgement, Jesus reminded some Jews who were sceptical of His claims, of the significance of heed what he had said to them . As for the person who hears My words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept My words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day (John
12:47-48, although it is a different Greek word here translated as ‘word’ or ‘words’ –it means the same in this context, according to CK. Barrett, The Gospel according to John, p. 434). Towards the end of the Gospel when Jesus was on trial before Pilate, the Roman Governor is acutely aware that the issue at the heart of the accusation against Him is His claim to be the Son of God. John 19:8 states: When Pilate heard this (literally Therefore, when Pilate heard the word), he was even more afraid … The Governor, like many of his subjects had encountered the Word of God in person. The only point at issue was how would he respond to the challenge of the claims of Jesus? This man was officially the judge yet it was he who was being judged. He was put on the spot and was afraid because he sensed the significance of the moment of whether He accepted or rejected the claims of Jesus on His life. What about you? What is your response to Jesus? Our particular focus today is on the first verse of this Gospel: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In John 1:1 God has given us something incredible to contemplate. This verse, the NT equivalent of Genesis 1:1, goes back before the creation of the world and makes a bold declaration: ‘In the beginning was the Word’. Genesis 1:1 opens the Bible with these words: ‘In the beginning God’ and then goes on to say ‘created (bara – out of nothing)) the heavens and the earth.’ It is not a tentative offering of an opinion, rather the declaration of a revelation from Almighty God about how this world came into being and the context in which it received its birth. Mark began with the ministry of Jesus, Matthew began with the birth of Jesus in a Jewish context fulfilling OT prophecy, Luke again describing his miraculous birth places it in human history from Adam the first human being, but John takes an even greater revelatory step in his gospel. Very briefly there are three amazing claims made concerning Jesus in this verse: 2. The Eternity of Jesus In the beginning was the Word. The link to Genesis was as clear to the first readers / hearers as it is to us, but it was declared in a context in which there were people who said that Jesus was a created being – the first created being. They were called Arians, the forerunners of Jehovah’s
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Witnesses today, who misuse a phrase in the glorious hymn of praise to the Lord Jesus, in Colossians 1:15, firstborn over all creation. In context it is a statement of honour in Jewish thought, not a biological description of his origins. In the Old Testament this title of honour of being ‘the first born’ was used first of the whole Jewish nation in Exodus 4:22-23, where Pharaoh is told in no uncertain terms what the significance is of such a claim: Then say to Pharaoh, 'This is what the Lord says: Israel is My firstborn son, 23 and I told you, Let My son go, so that he may worship Me. But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’ Later, in Hosea 11:1 (Matthew
2:15), this same title is used of both the nation of Israel and Jesus, but in later years used exclusively of Jesus: When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son. Who is Jesus is a determinative question and it always has been in the identity of the Christian church. It is not a secondary matter of importance, but the top question that we have to answer. Only if He is as He claimed to be - God with us, identified with the Father (I and My Father are One (John 10:30). One who has always existed at the side of the Father in absolute and perfect harmony with Him. In case anyone misses the point in v2 John states: He was in the beginning with God. Yet to our ears John uses a strange term to describe Jesus - the Word. Yet was not really surprising as there is a clear link back to the Old Testament; Psalm 33:6 states: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were made. Genesis 1 reveals that creation came into being as God spoke the word – only in Genesis chapter two verse seven is there reference to God making something from pre-existent materials and forming it into something special (Adam). Here is a picture of the authority of God. Isaiah 55:11 declares: ‘My Word…will accomplish all I want it to’ (NLV) – sometimes in blessing and sometimes in judgement. Politicians speak of ‘a week being a long time in politics’, what is eternity in the context of the long-term plans of God. The one who created time and space for His world –something we cannot live without is not tied to His creation, is not controlled by time, has forever been here. Listen to the words of Psalm 90. Before the mountains were created, before You made the earth and the world, You are God, without beginning or end. (NLV) or as the NKJV puts it: even from everlasting to everlasting You are God. We rush from pillar to post- or most of us do- trying to find a few minutes of time here and there, remember God knows what He has planned and will carry it out. Your life is precious to Him. He knows what this New Year shortly to arrive has in store for us – He has gone before you. He is not taken by surprise, He loves you and wants the very best for you as His child – to reflect on this attribute of God in Christ- helps us to take a step back from our lives to remember God’s purposes and His plans and to have confidence to go forward with our lives in the security of the love of such an amazing God who has always been there. But what else do we know about the Word? John tells us more: 3. The Personality of Jesus and the Word was with God. There are some people who will stand out in any crowd. Either they are very ‘loud’ or their dress sense is ‘original’, to put it kindly! Or in some way or other they are larger than life characters. Of more recent politicians Peter Mandelson and Martin Bell are two of those interesting individuals whose lives at times seem much more interesting than anything they ever achieved in parliament. There are sporting figures and the catch all class of ‘celebrities’ who pop up too frequently in our newspapers and appear on ‘I’m a celebrity –get me out of here’ or ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ and similar format shows. Yet in each area of life there will be many men and women who focus on the job in hand who achieve much more yet are comparatively
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anonymous. In the New Testament there is a constant emphasis on keeping focussed on what God would have us do. Paul told Timothy in II Tim. 2:4: as Christ’s soldier, do not let yourself become tied up in the affairs of this life, for then you cannot satisfy the one who has enlisted you in His army.’ (NLV) Our model is Jesus. In Mark 10:45 Jesus gave a version of His purpose statement: For even I, the Son of Man, came here not to be served but to serve others, and to give my life as a ransom for many. (NLV) In John’s Gospel Jesus indicates just how close He is to the Father. A literal translation of this part of John 1:1 could be: and the Word was face to face with God. It speaks of the closest possible fellowship in which both take absolute delight. Jesus’ prayer in John 17:5 included these words: Now Father glorify Me together with Yourself with the glory which I had, with You, before the world existed. In John 8:28 Jesus said: I do nothing on My own [authority], but speak just what the Father has taught Me. To Philip in John 14:9 Jesus declared: Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father. In our relationships with other people we can sometimes have fun watching someone display family characteristics or mannerisms. Isn’t he like his dad? Or isn’t she like her mother? There are many situations in which we can have a laugh or smile at this behaviour – quite innocently. Yet it is a fair question to ask: how much do you / I reflect something of the character of our heavenly Father? Jesus perfectly resembled His father. Hebrews 1:3 states: The Son reflects God’s own glory, and everything about Him represents God exactly. (NLV) Colossians 1:15 describes Jesus as the visible image of the invisible God. (NLV) What test can we use to examine how we are becoming like Jesus? Paul’s benchmarks are described as the ‘fruit of the Spirit’, character qualities which he lists in Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Am I seeking to develop these character
qualities – do other people see something of what is described in Galatians 5:22-23 in me? Paul declared that: Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. (Gal.5:24-25 NLV). Oh that people may see more of a resemblance of Jesus in each one of us as we go about our everyday lives. John has more to say and his concluding phrase is the most extraordinary one of all, explaining why he had written this Gospel, having recognised this truth! 4.The Deity of Jesus and God was the Word. “That’s not fair, you are twisting what I am saying to mean something quite different.” – Have you ever made such an accusation against anyone? All of us will at sometime or other have uttered such words. The press are superb at mincing up quotations from people and presenting a person’s viewpoint in a way that may be unrecognisable. We had a great example in our local paper a few weeks ago with the article about the Street Pastors ‘coming to Dundee’. All the information was accurate, but related to an earlier period of time and thus in 2011 conveyed the wrong impression to potential readers. It has always puzzled me why this kind of poor journalism is found in the more respectable parts of the press. However, so consistently does this kind of thing happen that whenever anything controversial is reported in the media, if there are difficulties, the allegedly injured party will nearly always insist that they had been misquoted or misrepresented. Some times it is nearly impossible to find out with clarity who said what, and in what context. It is no different with God’s Word as there have been many sects or cults down the centuries
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who have twisted it to mean something it can never have meant. Yet there are still people today who will knock your door and who will twist these words in John 1:1 to mean something that grammatically John would never have meant. The New World Translation, the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ version renders this part of v1: and the Word was a god, on the grounds that John omitted the definite article in the original Greek here. They do this because they fail to understand the precision of John’s words, had he written the definite article in the text he would have been stating that Jesus alone and exclusively was God in opposition to the Father. Instead John is declaring that Jesus is God in exactly the same way as the Father is God –and later reference will also be made to the Holy Spirit. The same grammatical style without the definite article is used elsewhere in this gospel. For example John 1:49: You are the king of Israel (not ‘a king of Israel’). Or in I John 4:8 where we read these very familiar words: God is Love (not God is a love!) (excellent discussion on this point in Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, p. 234).The four gospels are very clear about the humanity of Jesus, recording that He was hungry, tired, cried at a graveside, joined in celebrations, but the uniqueness of Jesus was not His humanity, but His deity – that God had come down to live in our world in human form. What does this incredible revelation communicate to us? First of all, the extent of God’s love to show His care for us, that He was willing to accept the limitations of human existence to demonstrate that love to us in a life of obedience to the Father. Then in Romans 5:8 it is written: God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. It ought to give us confidence in our prayer life to know that the One who goes to such lengths to provide our salvation, will also have our best interests at heart in the other matters that we bring to Him. There are many times when as ordinary people we feel powerless to change all kinds of situations, but in Jesus we come to a person who is able to plead on our behalf to the Father and through His Holy Spirit equip us for all the work we have to do - to the praise of His glory Amen.
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John 1:4-9 The Light of the World Introduction Have you ever tried driving a car outside of an area with street lights at night –without any lights on? This is of course not something to try on a public road! Or maybe you have been camping and found that the batteries in your torch or torches have gone flat –so you end up fumbling about in the dark trying to find things. Maybe you have experienced this sensation at home when a light bulb has blown and the trip switch has put the other lights off for ‘health and safety reasons’. It’s not difficult to put it back on, but it might mean a bit of a walk if you are in the dark in another part of the house and might include tripping over some things that someone has left lying around on the floor where they ought not to be! No-one disputes that light is essential, though we take it for granted most of the time. In more recent years power-cuts have been largely absent, but some of us can remember back to years when they were a more common experience and we had to fumble around to find the candles to get some light and to find alterative means of cooking or heating one’s home if they occurred in the winter. In our world we depend on the light of the Sun to provide the balance of heat and cold for life to exist as we know it on planet Earth and of course the ozone layer to filter out much of the harmful radiation that potentially reduces the quality of life we experience. Light brings energy into our environment and ensures that we can have a high quality existence in the years God grants to us. After the initial creation of the Universe and our local galaxy Genesis records some interesting words about our planet prior to the arrival of the light. Genesis 1:2 states: Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. However, the focus of John chapter One was not the natural world and its need for physical light, but the spiritual world also requires illumination from God to enable the people He has created in His image to live the kind of lives He intends us to live. This light and life supremely came to us through Jesus as John 1:4 declares: In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. Have you come to His light? Have you put your faith and trust in the One who said of Himself in John 8:12: When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows Me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. Have you received it?
1.The Characteristics of the Light (a)Light is Pure It is so pure that evil cannot stain it, nor impurity defile it. It can pass through various kinds of atmospheres without being tainted; under all reasonable circumstances it cannot be diverted it from its course. Surely this is an appropriate description of the Lord Jesus Christ and His commitment to the calling entrusted to Him by the Father. He was totally pure; whatever challenges He faced he overcame. The opposition to His ministry did not divert Him from His course. When temptation sorely afflicted Him He resisted it firmly from God’s Word. He proved the words of I Corinthians 10:13, written to encourage us in our Christian discipleship, but modelled in His earthly life. No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it. So perfect was His life, unique amongst humanity, that He was qualified to take
the place of guilty sinners on the cross, as the spotless Lamb of God. The One born of a virgin was truly innocent of all sin and at His Ascension left the earth around thirty-three 1
years later equally sin-free. In church we sometimes sing these words: ‘Father’s pure radiance, perfect in innocence, yet learns obedience to death on a cross: suffering to give us life, conquering through sacrifice; and, as they crucify prays ‘Father, forgive.’ O what a mystery, meekness and majesty: bow down and worship for this is your God, this is your God!’ (C.M.P.465 Meekness and Majesty by Graham Kendrick). (b) Light is Gentle We feel the presence of the wind even when it is a gentle breeze. It doesn’t have to be a howling gale to be noticed. By the time it becomes a tornado or hurricane we need to take drastic action to get out of its path. Yet on a hot summer’s day inland a gentle cooling breeze is so appreciated. Yet natural light is normally different. Of course we would strong discourage anyone from looking directly into the sun as its intensity could damage our eyes from a repeated direct observation of its rays. We would also want to exclude the dangerous portable laser beams that irresponsible people have used to shine in other people’s faces when they are driving cars or even flying aeroplanes, amongst the various accounts of incidents reported in the press. Yet leaving aside the exceptions and concentrating on the natural typical light we experience on a daily basis the transformation between light and darkness over the twenty-four hour period is so gentle and quiet; one fades into the other so smoothly that we can sometimes be unaware of how much the light has changed over a period of time as our eyes are so good at adapting to it. What is clear is that darkness cannot stand in the way of the light. As John puts it here in John 1:5: The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome (NIV marginal reading) it; Here is an appropriate illustration of the Lord Jesus. He is gentle and gracious, but never let that be misunderstood as weakness, it was the very opposite. Underneath His quiet disposition was an absolute determination to complete the work entrusted to Him by His Father in heaven. Jesus has never and will never impose Himself on anyone by force but that is by His choice. Isaiah prophesied of Jesus this message from God the Father: Here is My Servant, whom I uphold, My chosen one in whom I delight; I will put My Spirit on Him and He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break and a smouldering wick He will not snuff out. In faithfulness He will bring forth justice; He will not falter or be discouraged till He establishes justice on earth. (Isaiah 42:1-4a). James in his letter to the churches stated: But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate [or gentle], submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness
(James 3:17-18). Linked to these quotations from the Old Testament and the New Testament epistles are some words of Jesus to His followers, recorded in Matthew’s Gospel: Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Matthew 11:28-30). The Lord knows what is going on in our lives
we don’t need to pretend with Him. There are times when other people ask us how we are and the last thing we want to do is admit that our world is falling apart or that a major crisis is scheduled to arrive in the next minute or two. So we declare with a smile, that has the strength of the winter sun, that we are fine to ensure our cover isn’t blown. Thank God for the family members or very close friends to whom we can admit that things are not fine and be honest when they ask us a personal question –something not appropriate to all and sundry who may cross our path in a given day. Yet even with these people there are things we may omit to declare for a whole variety of reasons. By contrast the Lord Jesus, who by His Spirit knows everything going on in your life and mine, invites us to come to Him as we are so that together with Him we can put back together the pieces of the mess we may be trying to resolve; to give purpose and meaning to a life that is getting by- but wondering if there isn’t any big or better reason for our existence that simply going through the motions of an 2
everyday existence. John says this of Jesus: In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. Is He the light of your life? (c) Light is Pervasive There is no country on earth that the light doesn’t reach. Even the most obscure recesses of North Korea or Saudi Arabia do not escape its beam; no race misses out on the benefits of its glorious rays. It does not distinguish between Buckingham Palace in London or a bed-sit in Sighthill in Glasgow, or any place in between –all are treated the same with His glorious light. Light is given to all people equally whether they are good or bad, rich or poor, theists or atheists. It is part of God’s blessings in common grace to all. As Jesus puts it in Matthew 5:45: He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. God’s impartiality in natural blessings and the indiscriminate offer of His amazing grace to all humanity, guilty sinful humanity, entirely undeserving of His goodness, is truly wonderful. Jesus’ ministry reflected that in terms of the people He associated with. It was not just the respectable working classes in the synagogue; He spoke clearly and without compromise to the people in authority like Pilate and Herod, but made a particular focus on reaching out to the people on the margins of society. They included the despised businessmen like Zacchaeus in Jericho who had made his ‘millions’ legally, but in breach of the Jewish ethical code of the day. The people murmured of Jesus: He has gone to be the guest of a sinner (Luke 19:7). What was significant for Jesus was that he could see the philanthropy Zacchaeus could carry out once he had come to faith in Jesus. Luke 19:8 recorded this man’s extraordinary decision once he had been converted: But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount . This was far beyond
what the law required, but here was a man in whose heart the all-pervasive love of God had penetrated and his future life would be marked by God’s grace. Yet Jesus also saw the potential in the lives of the people others had written off as hopeless cases. Take the example of the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet at the house of Simon the Pharisee in Luke chapter seven. This banquet is taking place outdoors in that Mediterranean climate so it is not difficult for a passer-by to interact with Simon or one of his guests. We must never imagine a dinner party behind closed doors, as we might find in a typical house in twenty-first century Scotland. Simon saw this woman make a bee-line for Jesus and had these thoughts which are recorded in Luke 7:39: When the Pharisee who had invited Him saw this, he said to himself, If this man were a prophet, He would know who is touching Him and what kind of woman she is— that she is a sinner. Simon’s logic was –she is a sinner, therefore get rid of the hopeless case. Jesus’
logic by contrast was – this woman is a sinner she needs salvation! Simon could only dwell on her past. Jesus whose gaze could see into this troubled heart focussed on the potential she possessed to be the woman God had created her to be and wanted to assist her on her journey of faith. What was the outcome? Luke 7:50 states: Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’ Simon had intended to use the dinner to grill Jesus about His teaching and put Him on the spot. Jesus, the light of the world, intended to use that occasion to bring the light of God’s love to shine in the darkened corners of various people’s lives, including Simon’s, not just this woman’s. She would go away rejoicing; Simon by contrast would have been left perplexed or disturbed. When the light of the world entered his home neither he nor his other guests could be untouched by spending time with Jesus. How about you and me? has Jesus been invited to be Lord of your life? (d) Light Reveals Remember the old transparency slides families had for giving picture shows in their homes on winter evenings? Some of you may be too young to remember such occasions? My mum’s dad used to do that in my childhood. Various trips to the north of Scotland with some memorable images –one in particular in a remote location, away from centres of population; The picture showed my newly married parents with my mum’s parents about to eat lunch. Besides them a folding table and chairs had been erected and the table laid 3
for the meal with cutlery and other items just as naturally as if in the dining room at home. Sometimes though the pictures were out of order and one after another might be taken and held up to a light and a faint image observed and recognised. But what a difference when that same slide was put in the projector and its powerful light shone through the photographic film and portrayed a clear and bright visual image on the screen; When God’s searchlight shines in our hearts it sometimes reveals things we would rather had stayed hidden; it can uncover some things we never intended to deal with; some people with God reason are unwilling to come to church or some other Christian event because they are well aware of changes that would need to be made if God came into their lives. Jesus in John 3:19-21 declared: This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God. In the darkness Laban could trick
Jacob into marrying his elder daughter Leah, rather than his younger daughter Rachel (Genesis 29:22-25). Jacob probably ought to have been suspicious about a wedding ceremony conducted in near total darkness. However, to accuse your prospective father-in-law of planning to con you on your wedding day is a rather big step to take. Unfortunately in that case he would have been within his rights to do so. For some reason their relationship never recovered from that setback. In a more heroic and appropriate setting, Gideon with a force of merely 300 men caused such confusion and panic amongst the thousands of men in the Midianite army that they turned on each other and by morning light had lost convincingly (Judges 7). How embarrassing could it get! It is hard to see how it could have happened in the daylight! Civic officials tell us that the presence of working street lights deters criminals. How does it affect you and me in our behavioural choices to know that the One who is the Light of the World will one day ask us to give an account of our lives before Him? 2. The Ministry of the Light (a)In Paradise Before the fall of Adam and Eve, God has fellowship with His first human creations. Sadly this blessing was lost when this couple chose to defy God and consciously engage in sin. Their choice of darkness over light led to the necessity of a work of redemption and the shedding of blood to pay for the cost of their transgressions. (b) In The Ancient World The light of God’s love and His wonderful gospel was at work in the world prior to the coming of Jesus. Paul in Acts 14:15-17declared to a crowd of Gentile people in Lystra: Men, why are you doing this? We too are only men, human like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made heaven and earth and sea and everything in them. 16In the past, He let all nations go their own way. 17 Yet He has not left Himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons; He provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.
Paul argues that the natural blessings of this life should be sufficient in themselves to make people think of their Creator. This natural light should point beyond itself to our amazing God. He makes this same point even more clearly in Romans 1:20: For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities— His eternal power and divine nature— have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. The spiritual light radiated
by the natural world may have been dim compared to the fuller revelation in Christ, but the apostle was convinced that it was sufficient for people to see something of God. In Athens he returned to this theme before an audience of Philosophers on Marsh Hill, recorded in Acts 17. On that occasion he pointed to an altar with the inscription: ‘To the Unknown God’. This altar had been erected six centuries earlier when a prophet called Epimenides told these people in a time of national crisis that they needed to pray to a God they did not know to take away their predicament. It worked. However, they didn’t know which God had answered 4
their prayers, but did nothing to try and find out. The histories of many people groups over the centuries have recorded pointers to the light of God, preparing the way for Jesus. (c) In the Human Conscience Paul in Romans 2: 15 stated that unbelievers who live in a right way show that the requirements of the law [of God] are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts now acc using, now even defending them. It was this instinctive sense of right and wrong that started C.S. Lewis, very reluctantly, on the road to Christian faith from the atheistic standpoint he had been proclaiming. Everyone has a conscience in which are basic feelings of what is right and what is wrong; social conditioning does play a part, but is an inadequate explanation for the incredible fine tuning of our conscience guiding us in our moral choices. Some people through misuse have a conscience that is warped and damaged, but it is not an excuse for failing to see that the conscience is a gift from God to guide our lives like a moral sat-nav! In Romans 1:21, on this topic, the great apostle wrote: For although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened . In some people’s minds the light of God’s revelation is not welcome. Some atheists are quite honest in admitting that their faith is for them a liberating one freeing them from accountability for their lives to anyone. They don’t want to look at evidence for a God to whom they must one day give an account. For others the evil one has influenced them to reject the truth. Paul wrote these words in his second letter to the Church at Corinth: by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake (II Corinthians 4:2b-5). This is why we must pray for the Lord to open people’s
spiritual eyes to see their need of Jesus, or to bring them back to Him when they have gone away from Him. (d) In God’s Old Testament People God down through the years of recorded history has never left Himself without a witness on earth. There were times when very few individuals acknowledged Him. In the days of Enoch or Noah, the dark days of the Judges; the era of Elijah and Elisha, or that of Jeremiah and other prophets before the exile; In the years prior to Jesus’ ministry John the Baptist was described as: a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy His light (John 5:35). Was John the light for whom the people had waited? No! John 1:6-9 makes this plain: There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world. The Old Testament Scriptures pointed to Me
said Jesus as He expounded them to Cleopas and Mary on the road to Emmaus on the first Easter Sunday (Luke 24:27). (e) The Light-in Human Form! The light in all His glory could not be seen by human beings. Moses had to cover his face in the presence of God’s glory; yet even the reflected light on his face made a very powerful impression on the Israelites who saw him afterwards. (Exodus 34: 29-35: When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant bec ause he had spoken with the Lord . 30
When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him.31 But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. 32 Afterwards all the Israelites came near him, and he gav e them all the commands the Lord had given him on Mount Sinai. 33 When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. 34 But whenever he entered the Lord's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, 35 they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the Lord.) Yet if this reality was frightening for Old Testament 5
Israel to observe, God had something even more wonderful lined up for His people in the future. The light of the world (John 8:12) would become a human being and live in this world to point people to God so that they would have even less excuse than before. As Paul expressed it in II Corinthians 4:6 For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ . The appearing of the light of the world requires a response from us –have you trusted Him? Will you entrust Him with your life today? When we do acknowledge Him we then have a responsibility to share that light with other people who may be walking in spiritual darkness. Daniel, six centuries before Jesus wrote: Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever (Daniel 12:3). Jesus gives us this challenge: You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:14-16). How are you /How am I
reflecting the light of God’s love this advent season? But this is not the end of the story: (f) The Light in Eternity John, writing about heaven, in Revelation 21:23 stated: [that in God’s new world, it does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. Praise God for His light, may each of us respond by faith to it and in simple trust and obedience to our Lord and Saviour reflect something of it this Christmas, for Jesus’ sake, Amen.
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Isaiah 11:1-16 A Vision of the Future Introduction In Isaiah chapter seven to twelve we have the emphasis on God as Immanuel, the One who identifies with, or draws alongside His people. The nation of Judah is in deep trouble and the young, inexperienced King Ahaz was completely out of his depth. The Lord sent Isaiah, a prophet and a distant relative of the King to speak God’s message in this critical situation. The gist of the message was that the king ought not to be afraid of neighbouring governments or even the superpower of the day because God was ultimately on the throne. He has made a covenant with His people to care for them and provide for their needs and, therefore, whatever troubles they faced He would go with them through those trials. Ahaz was offered the opportunity to suggest a sign by which God could demonstrate His sovereignty in this situation. Ironically this offer was repeated to and accepted by Hezekiah, Ahaz’s son years later when the same kind of pressures were facing the nation (Isaiah 38:4-7). The difference being that Hezekiah was a follower of the God of Israel, unlike his father, and he was, therefore open to heed the message from the Lord; However, God, through Isaiah, declared that a sign would be given whether he wanted it or not, of a virginal conception that would be the evidence of God with His people. Either side of the extraordinary prophecy in Isaiah 9:17 the prophet expounded the judgement of God against the nations for their sins, including His own people, and the consequences of that judgement. It appeared a totally bleak scenario, a totally dark landscape but yet a reference to a remnant of God’s people coming through their trials (Isaiah 10: 20-22) gives hope for a brighter future. This links in with the call of Isaiah years earlier when this young man was told of his calling to a people who would resist his message and fail to return to the Lord, yet at the very end of that call from God there is a mysterious reference to the holy seed that will be the stump in the land (Isaiah 6:13). This was a reminder that the judgement of God was not His final action with respect to His people; there was always a hope and a future for those who put their faith and trust in Him, in spite of the circumstances. Isaiah chapter eleven will explain in more detail what is the hope of Israel and who is the One in whom they could place their hopes. Ironically this pivotal chapter so significant in biblical revelation is rarely preached or reflected on, yet is so important for understanding the mission of the Messiah God was to send. 1.The Character of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:1-3a) 1
A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord— 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord. At a time when the Assyrian Empire is ancient history not a present reality, at a time
when the surrounding nations no longer are a threat to Israel this special person will be born. At that time the Jewish people will be like a forest reduced to mere tree stumps after the timber has been harvested. It will be a picture of hopelessness. When Jesus was born Israel was again occupied by a foreign army –this time the Roman Empire held sway. It was a time when messianic hopes were high, but more a dream than a realistic expectation. Interestingly in the passage where Isaiah will prophesy about the nature of Jesus’ death it contains these words about His birth: He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground (Isaiah 53:2). Here in Isaiah 11:1 this section begins: A shoot will come up from the stump of 1
Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. Assyria with all its might when cut down in
605BC by the combined forces of Babylon, Media and Persia would disappear forever from the records of history. Yet out of this weak vassal state of Judah, despised and condemned, would arise the One who would bring hope to the world in the future. The reference to this figure as both the shoot and the root of Jessie (Isaiah 11:1, 10) gives a clear pointer to the fact that it was not just another king in David’s line, but rather another ‘David’. In the books of Kings, successive kings are compared with their father David (eg. II Kings 18:3), but no king is called ‘David’ or ‘Son of Jessie’. However, the introduction to this figure indicates that he is at least as great as David by this introduction. Jeremiah 30:9, prior to the exile to Babylon, speaks of the coming ruler in this way: Instead, they will serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them. Ezekiel, the main prophet during the Babylonian captivity, likewise refers to this coming figure in similar terms: I will place over them one shepherd, My servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. 24 I the Lord will be their God, and My servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken (Ezekiel 34:23-
24). Hosea, again before the exile, spoke concerning the future, of a glorious day of restoration for a repentant Jewish nation: Afterwards the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days (Hosea 3:5). The hymn-writer, James Montgomery captured this in his well-known
hymn: Hail to the Lord’s Anointed: Hail to the Lord's Anointed, great David's greater Son! Hail in the time appointed, his reign on earth begun! He comes to break oppression, to set the captive free; to take away transgression, and rule in equity. [C.M.P.204] This special figure is called a Branch (Isaiah 11:1). This imagery is picked up by Jeremiah (and in the post-exilic era by Zechariah in his book in Zech.3:8, 6:12): 5The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. 6 In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. This is the name by which he will be called: The Lord Our Righteousness (Jer.23:5-6). No
earthly ruler of his day could have delivered such prosperity, but the future Messiah of the line of David would one day usher in such an era of blessing. Yet how could this figure achieve such goals? Isaiah 9:2-3a provides the answer: The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord— 3 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord…the answer is clearly the power of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament era the holy
Spirit was given as a temporary endowment of power to accomplish a task –for example Bezalel (Exodus 31:3) was inspired to design and produce all kinds of products out of gold, silver, bronze, wood and cut stones. Samson, by contrast as a judge in Israel, was empowered by the Spirit to demonstrate extraordinary physical strength in a series of engagements with the Philistines (Judges 14:6); David was filled with the Holy Spirit from the time he was anointed as the future king of Israel. Yet he was acutely aware of the potential loss of the Spirit’s empowerment after his sin with Bathsheba. Psalm 51, the Psalm of penitence, included these words from David: Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me (Psalm 51:10). Isaiah longed for the day (Isaiah 32:15-20) when God’s Spirit would be poured out on all God’s people. The blessings this would provide for the nation would transform them. Little did he know that a further eight hundred years would pass until the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2) when all people, Gentiles as well as Jews, would be eligible through Jesus to be baptised and then repeatedly filled with the Holy Spirit. However, Isaiah 2
in chapter eleven verse two of his book declared that one special person would be particularly endowed with the Holy Spirit, namely the Messiah. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him— the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord. You will notice that there are three pairs of attributes possessed by him
to ensure his rule will be qualitatively different to that of inadequate Ahaz. (i) The Spirit of wisdom and of understanding (Isa.11:2a) these are judicial and governmental characteristics. The picture painted here is of a person who can clearly grasp the bigger picture, but also have the skill to discern the key issues at the heart of a matter. These mental faculties contrast with the idle boasts of the King of Assyria in Isaiah 10:10-11. (ii) The Spirit of counsel and of power (Isa.11:2b) This pair of attributes is also found in Isaiah 36:5 and rendered as strategy and military strength. This practical gift is to discern a right course of action, together with the strength of character to see it through. (iii) the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord (Isa.11:2c) This knowledge is a complete grasping of the truth and appropriate application of it to real-life situations. The word translated ‘knowledge’ is a relational one – used in the Old Testament of the intimate knowledge shared by a married couple. Or of the exclusive relationship between God and His people: you only have I chosen (NKJV known) of all the families of the earth (Amos 3:2). This person’s actions are totally taken up with Godcentred holy living. In relation to the Lord this fear is a moral boundary marker (Genesis 20:11) restricting choices of action to appropriate limits. It motivates our obedience to God’s revealed will (Exodus 20:20, words spoken at the time of the giving of the Ten Commandments: Moses said to the people, Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinnin g.). It moulds our conduct (Nehemiah 5:9, 15). It is the spirit of true loyalty and worship (Psalm 2:11; Psalm 5:7). This was the secret of David’s ministry, for example (2 Samuel 23:2). This person will understand and know God in a full and thorough way; he will be completely taken up with pleasing God and being Godcentred in everything he says and does. In summary Isaiah 11:3a declares: and he will delight in the fear of the Lord . What else does Isaiah say about this Spirit-empowered individual? This person will be able to say in the words of Isaiah 61:1-3: The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release f rom darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn,3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of right eousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendour. Luke 4:16-21 records Jesus reading these words at the start of His earthly ministry and adding at the end of the reading: Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing .
He was either telling the truth and He is the Messiah not only of Israel but the Saviour of the World. The empowerment of the Spirit on Jesus will be transformative for the Jews who grasp His message. Isaiah 59:20-21 states: 20The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins, declares the Lord. 21As for Me, this is My covenant with them, says the Lord. My Spirit, who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of their descendants from this time on and for ever, says the Lord. However, this blessing is not just for Jews. Three verses later in Isaiah 60:3 it states: Nations will come to Your light, and kings to the brightness of Your dawn. What a vision of the future! What an extraordinary message to deliver in the midst of a
despairing nation of Judah. God’s plans and future were more exciting for His people than they could ever have imagined or grasped at that time –this is our God also. Likewise to God’s people in this generation, remember this: the best is yet to come-hallelujah! 2. The Conduct of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:3b-5) 3
(a)The Manner of the Messiah’s Rule (Isaiah 11:3b-4a) He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; 4 but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth. This is an overview statement describing the perfect fulfilment of His duties. The people on whom He will focus most attention are on the margins of society, those who too often are overlooked in favour of the rich and powerful. The Messiah who will take an interest in those who miss out under normal circumstances, will in effect rule with justice and fairness for everyone. His judgements will not be based like ordinary human rulers on partial knowledge and insight. He will have a comprehensive oversight of the issues and thus be in a position to make the correct choices. This standard for government is beyond anything an earthly ruler, whether dictator or democrat can deliver. In Psalm 72 similar sentiments are expressed regarding the hopes for the earthly kingdom of Solomon, but he did not deliver on them. Listen to what that Psalm proclaimed: He will judge your people in righteousness, your afflicted ones with justice. 3 The mountains will bring prosperity to the people, the hills the fruit of righteousness. 4 He will defend the afflicted among the people and save the children of the needy; he will crush the oppressor. 12For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no-one to help. 13 He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. 14 He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight (Psalm 72:2-4, 12-14). No-one in their right mind
could disagree with such noble sentiments, but Solomon did not deliver on these words, like many a politician who takes office after uttering some splendid words about the great things they will do for the good of the people. Isaiah is saying that the One of whom I am talking will not disappoint and let you down. He can and will deliver on His promises. The rule of God’s messiah, though, is a radically different kind of authority and kingship. Jesus attempted to explain to Pilate during His trial just how different His rule was compared with the secular kingdom of Rome. Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is from another place. 37 You are a king, then! said Pilate. Jesus answered, You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.38 What is truth? Pilate asked. With this he went out again to the Jews and said, I find no basis for a charge against Him (John 18:36-38). May this king come soon to reign!
(b) The Justice of the Messiah’s Rule (Isaiah 11:4b-5) He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips He will slay the wicked. 5 Righteousness will be His belt and faithfulness the sash round His waist. Principled decision-
making will mean genuine justice for all not positive discrimination at the expense of other people. Favouring the poor and marginalised will not be at the expense of the legitimate needs and rights of other people in the community. During Messiah’s rule punishment will fit the crime. The guilty will not get away with wrongdoing and the innocent will not suffer for the mistakes of other people. In such a context of Jesus’ reign over the whole world, things will make sense. What is going on in the world, will for the first time be understood in a coherent and consistent manner. Righteousness here is a stress on always doing the right thing in all circumstances and consistently keeping our promises. Faithfulness highlights personal integrity and consistency so that the complete dependability of the Messiah will be acknowledged by the citizens of Messiah’s Kingdom. This form of rule expressed with human characteristics, nevertheless, could only be delivered by One who was truly divine as well as human. This fact will be highlighted in the boldest of colours in the next section of this extraordinary prophecy. 3. The Context of the Messiah’s Reign (Isaiah11:6-9) 6
The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. 7 The cow will feed with the bear, their young will 4
lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. 8 The infant will play near the hole of the cobra, and the young child put his hand into the viper's nest. 9 They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. This idealistic picture of how life should have been in the original Eden prior to the
entrance of sin will one day be realised in Christ’s reign in God’s new heavens and earth at the end of this age. At that time all the fears associated with insecurity, danger and evil will be banished for ever. Notice the pairs of creatures living in harmony, one wild the other domesticated, climaxed by the words: and a little child shall lead them (v6). It is not just humans who long for a new world order; the rest of creation also feels the pain of the loss of how this world ought to have been (Romans 8:18-23). This Immanuel section of the book of Isaiah has emphasised the references to a baby or a child at the centre of God’s purposes for His World. Messiah’s conception and birth would be anything but ordinary. Attempts to create a just world order based on mutual self-interest (the capitalist system) will ultimately fail. Only a world of people united in fellowship with the Holy One of Israel, who is completely righteous and faithful, can produce an environment where such blessings may be experienced. Isaiah will return to this theme later in his book with the acknowledgement that no earthly ruler could even begin to attain such lofty goals. Isaiah 65:17-25 is the key passage here. Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice for ever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. 19 I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in My people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more…The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all My holy mountain, says the Lord (Isaiah 65:17-19, 25). These
words must not be taken to mean that only Jerusalem will experience this peace –Isaiah 11:10 dispels this notion for starters. On the contrary, Isaiah is suggesting that if Jerusalem finally experiences true peace, then the whole world will get it as well. Other prophets in the Old Testament also in the midst of the trials of their own day look forward to this coming glorious kingdom, not just for the Jews but also for us all. For example Habakkuk 2:14 states: For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. What a great future we have to look forward to!
4. The Impact of Messiah’s Reign (Isaiah 11:10-16) 10
In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to reclaim the remnant that is left of His people from Assyria, from Lower Egypt, from Upper Egypt, from Cush, from Elam, from Babylonia, from Hamath and from the islands of the sea. 12He will raise a banner for the nations and gather the exiles of Israel; He will assemble the scattered people of Judah from the four quarters of the earth. 13 Ephraim's jealousy will vanish, and Judah's enemies will be cut off; Ephraim will not be jealous of Judah, nor Judah hostile towards Ephraim. 14 They will swoop down on the slopes of Philistia to the west; together they will plunder the people to the east. They will lay hands on Edom and Moab, and the Ammonites will be subject to them. 15 The Lord will dry up the gulf of the Egyptian sea; with a scorching wind He will sweep His hand over the Euphrates River. He will break it up into seven streams so that men can cross over in sandals. 16 There will be a highway for the remnant of His people that is left from Assyria, as there was for Israel when they came up from Egypt. The folly of Ahaz led to the defeat of Judah and her later exile (Isaiah 8:6-8). Yet
the coming of the Messiah will result in the restoration of God’s people. (i) This will include 5
the restoration of the historic nation of Israel to its land in the last days. The Jewish exiles in Jeremiah and Ezekiel’s day had not spread to the four quarters of the earth (v11), nor had the Messiah been revealed in their generation –it was still hundreds of years too early. Isaiah’s list included the known countries where exiles had gone and then more general terms to cover the rest of the globe. Was this ever fulfilled prior to the re-formation of the State of Israel in 1948? I don’t think so. Since that date have Jews been returning to their homeland from all over the world? Yes they have! (Ezekiel also prophesied this return in Ezek: 20:34) Jesus also spoke to His disciples about an ingathering of believing Jews from across the globe (Matthew 24:31). (ii) Rebirth of the Nation in a day Isaiah also declared in Isaiah 66:8: Who has ever heard of such a thing? Who has ever seen such things? Can a country be born in a day or a nation be brought forth in a moment? Yet no sooner is Zion in labour than she gives birth to her children.
Israel, a nation that had not really existed as a separate nation for nearly 2,500 years, was declared a new sovereign state by an act of the United Nations on May 14, 1948. The nation was born in a day. (iii) What about the order of return? Isaiah 43:5-6 states: Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west. 6 I will say to the north, 'Give them up!' and to the south, 'Do not hold them back.' Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth. The first Jews returning to the Holy land came in
significant numbers from Arab countries in the east. Then there was a major influx from western European countries such as Germany. In the 1980s larger numbers of Russian Jews from the north of Europe arrived, followed by Jews returning from Ethiopia in the south. This order followed the one prophesied in Isaiah. (iv)The transformation of the desert once again into fertile ground Isaiah 35:1-2: The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus,2 it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. The glory of Lebanon will be given to it, the splendour of Carmel and Sharon; they will see the glory of the Lord, the splendour of our God. The dramatic reclaiming of the desert by
pioneering agricultural methods and the replanting of trees has turned areas of country from a wasteland and useless desert sands into flourishing forests and fertile land that supports a flourishing agricultural industry, whose produce is exported around the world. (v)What was the purpose of this divine activity? Isaiah 43:21 reminds us that the restoration took place with a view to the salvation of His chosen people: the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim My praise. Isaiah is pointing forward to the future ingathering of Jewish people who will acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah, described by Paul in Romans 11. I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: The deliverer will come from Zion; He will turn godlessness away from Jacob. 27 And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins (Romans 11:25-27). Israel’s sin is not
the final word, but repentance and acknowledgement of their Messiah. Aspects of the prophecy have come to pass with many Jews now back in their homeland. More Jews have accepted Jesus as Messiah in the last hundred years than in the previous 1,500 years; the return of Jesus is close –Isaiah’s vision of the future may even become a present reality in some of our lives –praise His name, Amen.
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