Tag Archives: God

Syncretism

Gallery March 28, 2012 David

Syncretism
March 28, 2012	Sermon by DRW	Passage Revelation 2.15

What would you do if your dog sat down next to you and started talking to you? Would it seem weird? I hope it would. Sometimes, when we are in the heat of sin or frustrated, when we are not thinking clearly, a dog talking to us wouldn’t phase us. We might even talk back to our dog. I do realize many of you actually do this already, we will pray for you.

What does a talking dog have to do with Christianity? Absolutely nothing. It actually is a donkey not a dog. Over the past few months I have spent an overwhelming amount of time in the Old Testament. It has been wonderful. Some of the stories are outrageous, strange, and perplexing. Today I would like to highlight one of those perplexing stories and I pray it will have you rethinking your life.

Turn to Numbers 22.

Pray-for the Holy Spirit to convince and convict of our need to evaluate what we think and how we live

As you look at the titles in your Bible for this chapter, you find it is about two guys, one named Balak and the other named Balaam. The first one is a king and the second one is a prophet that God would speak to from time to time.

Numbers 22

Balak sends for Balaam asking him to curse the Israelites. If he does, Balak will give him riches and honor. Balaam answered Balak wisely. God told him no, so Balaam told Balak no.

Balak sends more people, more money, more everything to lure Balaam to Moab to curse the Israelites. Balaam’s answer changes a bit. He still will not go if God tells him not to ([Read] 19). I want you to notice something, God already told him not to in verse 12 [Read] . Why did he need to ask again. Sometimes when we want something so badly, even if it is wrong, we hope the person we are asking will change their mind. God allows him to go but he must only do what God tells him to do ([Read] 20).

Balaam rides out early. I think he saw the riches that could be his and was excited to get them. On his way there he is thwarted by a donkey (Numbers 22.21ff). The donkey leaves the road, the donkey pushes Balaam into the cliff, the donkey refuses to move. The donkey saved Balaam’s life. What I find funny is that Balaam doesn’t seem to notice what he is doing. His plans have been frustrated, he is not getting what he wants, and the donkey talks to him (28). And, Balaam talks back! They have a conversation (28-30).

The donkey was more aware of the spiritual dilemma Balaam was getting into than Balaam was. God stood before Balaam (31-35). He was told his path was reckless ([Read] 32). Pause to consider that thought. Would God state you are on a reckless path? Whom has he placed in your life right now to tell you to pay attention to where you are going and what you are doing? Maybe it is me, right now. Think about it, if God could use a donkey, don’t you think He could use me?

Balaam continues his journey to Moab.

In Numbers 23-24 Balak asks Balaam to curse the Israelites promising him great riches and honor if he did. Four times he tried and four times Balaam blessed the Israelites. Balak is upset. He demands an answer from Balaam as to why he is blessing the Israelites when he was paid to curse them. Balaam tells Balak why, “How can I curse what God does not curse” (Numbers 23.8 [Read] )?

That is a great story with a great ending. Balaam does what God has commanded, Balak goes away to his home (24.25 [Read] ).

Before we go further in the message, I would like to pause on that last point. “How can I curse what God does not curse?” Turn in your Bibles to Zechariah 3. Look at verse one. What is Satan doing? He is attempting to accuse Joshua the High Priest. What does God say to Satan? Basically, you cannot curse what is not yours. He also tells Satan that he cannot touch Joshua because Joshua is not his. We see this in 1 John 5.18-20 [Read] . Take note of verse 21, and remember it.

Isn’t this what God states in Romans 8? The only one who can bring a case against us is Jesus ([Read] 33-39) and He won’t because He has already made us righteous and He is on our side ([Read] 1 John 2.1).

With all this being said, why did I tell this story about Balaam to you today? I like stories, sometimes I tell them just to tell them. However, there is more here than meets the eye. Just like life. Connor, here is your shout out, what has become my or your or our favorite word? Syncretism.

In Numbers 22-24 Balaam is asked to and attempts to curse the Israelites. God would not allow it. God will not allow Balaam to curse them. He tries four times, all to no avail. But Balak and Balaam go home. It seems odd to include that verse if things did not work out. It doesn’t say they went home sad or mad or empty handed. It just states they went home.

Numbers 25.1, right after the final blessing, the people are engaged in sexual immorality and the worship of a local god (fornication [non-marital sex] and idolatry, activities God specifically condemns). This local god is from Moab, remember where Balak is from.

Read 1-9.

The people bring a curse on themselves, 24,000 people died. This seems like an odd passage after such a powerful three chapters before with Balaam apparently following the will of God and Balak going home, apparently dejected. At least that is how it seems we should read it. Something more must be going on here. Did Balaam actually please Balak with something, other than a curse on the Israelites?

When studying the Bible, it is always important to not create in our imagination what we think should be there. It is prudent, taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ, that we examine Scripture in light of Scripture. Is Balaam mentioned elsewhere?

Turn to Revelation 2.14 [Read]. This passage informs us that the way of Balaam is condemned. What is that way? According to Revelation, Balaam continually told Balak to place stumbling blocks in front of the Israelites. Balaam couldn’t curse the Israelites but he knew they would fall if stumbling blocks were placed in front of them. When that occurred, Balaam also knew that God would judge them because He cannot allow sin to continue in His people.

A stumbling block is anything that will get us to slowly change our mind about our beliefs. Hebrew 12.1-3 tells us to get rid of them by focusing on Jesus. Doesn’t it seem that every message comes back to this? If we focus on Jesus, the stumbling blocks are gone; if we focus on the stumbling block, Jesus is gone [not really but in our thoughts He is].

In Numbers 31 Balaam is blamed for Numbers 25. Balaam informed the king that the only way to bring a curse upon God’s people was to get them to compromise what they knew about God’s Word, God’s will, and God’s way. To set up for themselves idols, remember the warning of 1 John 5.21. And, we see in Numbers 25, that is what happened. They saw what others did and joined in with them. They intermingled with others who did not believe in God, and they eventually became like them. This is syncretism. My children were walking with me yesterday and said they wanted to watch a new movie that just came out. I was perplexed. I asked them why. They stated it was a cool movie. I asked them what it was about, and they had no idea. However, their friends watched it, so they wanted to. This is what happened with the Israelites. And, what happens with us.

The moral of the story: the only time a curse can be placed on us is when we walk away from God’s Word either by deliberately choosing to be like the world (Numbers 25), choosing to not do what we know we are to do (James 4.17 and 2 Samuel 11-David’s sin with Bathsheba was due to his neglect of going to war as he should have), when we refuse to discipline those in sin (Matthew 18.15-17 [cf. 1 Corinthians 5.1ff and 2 Corinthians 2.1ff]), and when we don’t know the truth to discern if what we are hearing is from God or not (David’s Census in 1 Chronicles 21 because of which many died).

In each case mentioned with David and other historical events, there is a corresponding judgment by God for the sin as a consequence of the sin and as God’s discipline. Remember, God will judge us because He cannot allow sin to continue in His people. Every time we allow other things to dilute what we believe and how we live we are inviting God’s discipline on us along with the natural consequences of the sin/syncretism.

We are to be our brother’s keeper. We are to hold him or her accountable to follow God’s Word, His will, and His way. It all seemed good with Balaam at the end of chapter 24, but it wasn’t. It may all seem good with your friend, and it may not be. Think about the people on your left and on your right, to the front and to the back of your seat. Do you know how they are doing spiritually. You should (Galatians 6.1-3). Take time to consider your friend’s walk with God and yours. How are each of you doing? Who holds you accountable to walk in God’s truth? Be in prayer for them today.

A closing point I made to the staff in devotions a week ago: We so much desire to walk in the will of God, to follow His purpose for our life, but we refuse to know His Word. Take time to read through the Scriptures to know this God of whom I am asking you to give your all to. You will find that He is worth it.

Romans 12.1-2: I urge you brothers (accountability), in view of God’s mercies (Bible Study–do we know it), to present your bodies as living sacrifices which is holy because this is what we are called to do. Do not conform any longer to the patterns this world offers you (syncretism), but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (take thoughts captive) in order for you to prove (by the way you think, live, and talk) that the will of God is perfect for our everyday life.

Let’s pray. Have them pray for themselves and those around them if time allows.

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1 John, New Testament, Sermons

Purity and a Changed Mind

Gallery February 20, 2012 David

Purity and a Changed Mind
February 20, 2012	Sermon by DRW	Passage 1 John 3.1-3

Kobe is getting old. Sorry to say it, but he is. People have asked who the next Kobe will be. When I was interested in basketball people asked who the next Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson would be. Nobody that I can recall said Kobe Bryant. That aside, I have read articles that stated OJ Mayo would be, lakersnation states it is Kevin Durant and others have suggested Jeremy Lin. Whoever your pick, think of the pressure that will be on him. When he plays he needs to reflect the persona of Kobe.

The same is true in any sport. I have seen many baseball players career ruined because one person labeled them “the next Nolan Ryan” or “the next Bonds.” The players get into mind that they have to live up to that persons ability and name. After awhile of failing they will either learn that they are never going to live up to that standard and redirect their abilities to be themselves or they continue failing and eventually quit.

Christians have that same pressure if you think about it. They have a standard to live up to, a standard that far exceeds a Bryant or Bonds. It is the standard of the Lord God Almighty. Christians do not compare themselves with mere men. God has asked us to be like Him. If the standard set by man is difficult to live up to, the standard God sets up is impossible to live up to and yet, He commands us to be pure, holy, and perfect as He is. Frightening.

God never compares us to others. He only compares us to Himself and the sad news is that “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3.23). The good news of the Gospel is that “but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness–for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead” (Romans 4.24). He keep us pure by continually cleansing us and empowering us to do His will. We will look at what purity isn’t, what it is, and how to maintain it.

1. Purity isn’t Legalism (not trying to push the ball under the water).

a. When Jesus came, Israel was in bondage to the Pharisaical rules and regulations.

i. do this but not that type of rules

ii. a system that was impossible to keep

(1) even the ten commandments show it is impossible to keep, unless you are God.

b. These led to frustrations with God, man, and themselves

i. with God because these men represented God

ii. with men because they failed to keep the law they espoused

iii. with themselves for they knew what evil was in their lives

c. They were looking for the coming Saviour. Someone who would deliver them from the bondage of legalism and bring them to the purity that Ezekiel spoke of:

“I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 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. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws” (Ezekiel 36.25-27).

i. they flocked to John the Baptist with the question: How can I enter the Kingdom of God? (Matthew 3.5-6)

ii. They flocked to Jesus with the same questions (Luke 10.25; 18.18; John 3.3).

d. Purity, focus, devotion is not legally following a list of do’s and don’ts; the people of Jesus day were steeped in this type of life and were dying miserably from it. No wonder the people sought Him: Come unto Me all you who are heavy burden . . .

e. It is not being religious

f. It is not going to church, carrying a Bible and memorizing verses

2. Purity is a changed mind

a. God is concerned with how we think

i. Romans 12.1-2 (verse one is devotion)

ii. Philippians 4.8, focus on Jesus

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.

iii. 2 Corinthians 10.5

5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,

b. The word “heart” in Matthew 5.8 is related primarily to the intellect.

i. Matthew 15.19

ii. Proverbs 4.23

c. God wants to purify our thinking

i. He wants us to think purely

ii. this means to think on Him (Philippians 4.8) not on ourselves

d. The word “pure” means “to cleanse”

i. morally: being free of filth

(1) unmixed, unalloyed

(2) unadulterated (not inviting things in that don’t belong)

(3) without syncretism

ii. spiritually: having integrity, being of one mind (Phil 2)

(1) being above reproach

(2) having sincere motives

e. pure thoughts and pure motives produce holy living, that is purity

3. How to maintain purity that God has granted us? Read 1 John 3.2-3

a. First of all realize that purifying the heart is the work of the spirit as we read earlier in Ezekiel 36.

Proverbs 20.9 Who can say, “I have kept my heart pure; I am clean and without sin”?

b. Secondly, we must also do our part by putting our faith in Jesus

Acts 15.9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.

c. Finally, we must study the Bible and pray.

Psalm 119.9-11 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all my heart [notice the focus]; do not let me stray from your commands [notice it is God working as we rely on Him]. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you [notice Bible study and prayer].

d. When this is said and done, we shall see God and be like Him (1 John 3.2-3)

When I was younger all the kids used to say they wished they were a little taller or faster or, something else, that way they could play basketball better or run track quicker. I used to say the same thing: If only I were taller, I could be a better basketball player. I am six foot and I kept saying I need five more inches. If I were six five I would be good. I did this because I saw Magic and Michael and they were all that tall or around that height. Then I looked and see Spud Webb and Muggsy Bogues. These people are five to seven inches shorter than me and still played in the NBA. I felt deflated. All my excuses seemed to go out the window. I kept saying height would make the difference. It’s not true. Height would make it easier. I needed to practice and train more. I didn’t want to so I chose to blame my non-ability on something I couldn’t change. If I really wanted to be better at basketball I would have to change my view of discipline and training. I would need to change my focus. This is purity, a single commitment to a single object for a single goal. In terms of Christianity, it is a commitment to God to be like Him. This is purity.

What then should we do in light of the need for discipline and focus, this purity? May I challenge you to think differently about God and His requirements? Turn to Isaiah 40.10-31 (p ). We read part of this passage every time we enter the gym. Far too often we turn to ourselves for strength and direction in overcoming our troubles in our attempt to have a pure focus on God. Yet, as we read through this passage, we find the focus is on who God is. Notice the pronouns are He, Him, His not me, my, or I. It is He who is in focus. He is the focus of the passage and should be the focus of our life. Read verse 28. Just as Philippians 4.8 reminds us. As we go through this passage, we come to the familiar portion in verses 29-31. This is what each of us seek for as we set our lives apart for Him. As we seek to live pure lives, we want to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6.10). We want to be like those who wait on the Lord, as it states in verse 31. So, let’s do what it says. Let’s wait.

Turn to Psalm 103 (p. ). What is the focus of this chapter? You can tell by reading the first verse. Has the focus changed from 1 John 3 (it is about purity that is ours because we are seeing Christ as He truly is) or Isaiah 40? Or, is it still God? The focus is Him, our awesome God. As you read this chapter do you get a sense of the wonder of God and His work in our life. Look: He blesses us (v. 2), forgives us (v. 3), satisfies us (v 5), works righteously (v 6), makes His way known to us (v 7), shows compassion and justice (v 8-9), shows grace (v 10), removed our sins (10-12), treats us as His children (13), knows our abilities (v 14), never fails in keeping His Word (15-18), He is sovereign (19), and the list goes on. This is the God with whom we have to do. This is the God who came down to save us from our sins. This is our awesome God. This is the God who calls us to purity, to wait.

Did you notice verse 5? David tells us that God will renew us like the eagle. Does that sound familiar to you? Isaiah 40.31. The picture of an eagle during times of trouble or distress is a picture of one overcoming trouble not by running from it but by going over it. An eagle’s focus is not to get away from the coming storm but to overcome the storm. When an eagle faces a hurricane, he rides the wind to fly over the storm in order to come out the other side of it unharmed.

Psalm 103.5 and Isaiah 40.31 informs us that we can be like the eagle. We can live a life of purity, of hope, of wonderment, of focus, we can live the life that we were created to live. How? By waiting. How do we wait? Here is the simplicity of the last few messages we have had–we remember who God is and what He has done for us.

So, wait on the Lord. Look for God in your life. Understand who He is through reading your Bible. Know Him better by talking to others about Him. As He works in your life, praise Him. As you struggle through your day, trust the simplicity of His Word, and ride over the storm as you focus on Him, not the sin. He is God, as a Christian, you are forgiven. Tell others who He is and what He has done for you.

New Testament, Philippians, Sermons

Christian Growth

Gallery June 27, 2004 David

Christian Growth
June 27, 2004	Sermon by DRW	Passage Philippians 1.1-11

Father,

I pray that you would allow us to see our growth in You. Be blessed as we come to understand better our identity, our growth, and our goal as Christians. Enable us this day to be changed by Your Spirit to reflect in a greater way Your Son that our lives may glorify, praise, and honor You. Teach us this day the wonderful truths contained in Your Word. Amen.

Would you please turn to Philippians 1.1-11.

Before we begin, let’s recall a little background to the passage we are about to study. By the way, when I first began at EFCC, this is the book the high school went through in our Wednesday Bible studies. Paul is writing to a church that owed its very existence to his ministry. It was his preaching that had opened the heart of Lydia to respond to the gospel. He had gone through flogging and imprisonment. His testimony had converted the jailer and his family. It was Paul who had strengthened and encouraged the young, new church. You can read about it in Acts 16.

And now Paul is is basically on death row. He is “in chains for Christ” as he says in v 13. He doesn’t know whether he will be released or executed.

As for the Philippians, they face the pressure of persecution. There are those among them who are distorting the gospel by their teaching, and leading the others away from a sound faith. There is some tension and hostility within the fellowship.

Paul’s eyes are wide open to the problems actual and potential. But for all that, this is an overwhelmingly positive letter. Why? Because it is full of God. In these first eleven verses that are thirteen direct references to God and Christ. It is saturated with Jesus, and full of excitement about what God is doing in the lives of those Christians in Philippi.

Paul is torn between the prospect of being executed and the prospect of being released from prison. For his own sake he would prefer to die and go to Christ. But for the sake of the church he knows that he still has work to do. He says in 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.

How would you react if someone took you aside and asked you about how you are progressing and finding joy in the faith? If you are anything like me there would be a twinge of guilt. I would prefer that people didn’t ask how my progress in the faith was progressing. The reason is that my progress seems to be too little and taking way too much time. The effort I put in, at times, is so half-hearted. Steps forward seem to be accompanied by just as many steps back. As one writer quipped: “Three steps forward and two steps back.” Better to draw a discreet veil over the whole thing, I thought as I pondered my title for this morning: Christian Growth. It is too shaming. Too depressing.

But then I began to study this passage. And I made a tremendously encouraging rediscovery. You see, that twinge of guilt at the thought of what I consider my lack of progress is quite telling. It reveals who I think is primarily responsible for my progress in the faith. Me. It is basically down to me, so I should be feeling guilty. I was saved by grace. But the quality of my Christian life is up to me. Wrong. That is precisely what Paul preached against in the book of Galatians. Now of course there is a right balance to be struck here. I must not abdicate all responsibility for my growth as a Christian.

The chief characteristic of someone living their life the way God created them to live it, who have confidence in God’s work in their life will be the characteristic of joy.

Joy comes from being centered in God. It comes from the liberation of knowing that every aspect of our Christian lives is lived by grace. Not only have I been saved by grace, but I am being saved by grace and I will be saved by grace, through faith – that is, through depending on the person and work of Christ to accomplish what needs to be accomplished, rather than by depending on what I can do. The truth is, Christ is taking us to heaven. We are not making our own way there. What a relief. What freedom. If it is up to me, I’m in trouble. Thank God it is not.

Let’s see how that works out in these verses. We can see three aspects of what it is to be a Christian here. Verses 1-2 focus on THE CHRISTIAN’S IDENTITY; verses 3-8 on THE CHRISTIAN’S PROGRESS; verses 9-11 on THE CHRISTIAN’S GOAL.

First, THE CHRISTIAN’S IDENTITY (v 1-2)

Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus,

To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Paul calls himself and his co-worker Timothy “servants”. Why? Far from exalting himself, he is drawing attention to the fact that he is not a free agent. He is not in control of his own life. It is not up to Paul what he does. It is up to Christ. Christ calls the shots. And what was true for Paul and Timothy was true also for the Philippians and it is true for every Christian. As Christians, like Paul, we are servants of the Lord of Lords. He deploys us. He commands. We are not our own.

Then not only are we servants of Christ Jesus, we are also “saints in Christ Jesus”. Paul certainly recognizes the particular leadership role of some of the Philippian Christians. There are the overseers and the deacons. Appropriate leadership structures are needed in any church. But the significance of those leaders does not lie in such roles. It lies in their relationship to God through Christ, as with everybody else. They are all “saints”. They have all been chosen and set apart by God to belong to him. They have been rescued from a life of rebellion and now they are the possession of Christ Jesus. They are holy. They are sanctified.

It is vital for us to grasp this. It is right that as Christians we struggle for holiness of living. But we must understand where we are starting from. It is not that holiness is an unattainable goal on the far horizon that seems to move farther and farther away the more we move towards it.

Holiness is something that we have been given in Christ. We have been taken into his possession. So it is not primarily in order to be holy that we should live lives of holiness. It is because we are holy. We are saints.

1.27 : “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” That is, live in the light of what Jesus has already done for you. Not to prove your worth or to earn your keep. But because of who you are, and what Jesus has made you. A saint.

A Christian is a servant of Christ. A Christian is a saint in Christ. A Christian is a sibling with Christ. A Christian is a subject of Christ.

“Grace and peace to you from God our Father… ” The Christian belongs in the family of God not only in the sense that all mankind is the creation of God and dependent on him. This is much more personal, much more intimate. The miracle of grace is this: that God is our Father as he is the Father of Jesus. By grace we are adopted into the nuclear family of God our Father, our “Abba”, our Dad. And in this sense Jesus is our brother.

It is not just that he shares our humanity (which he does, totally). It is that he has brought us into the inner circle of his relationship with the Father. We have open access to the Father through the Son. We share his Sonship. We are siblings with Jesus.

If that does not create a deep, inexhaustible, subterranean reservoir of joy in your life, then either you are not yet a Christian, or you have failed to grasp the immensity of the privilege that is yours. Jesus is your brother. Because you deserve it? No. No more than the fact that you are your parents child because you worked for it. God has done it for you.

Servant of Christ. Saint in Christ. Sibling with Christ. And subject of Christ. “Grace and peace to you from … the Lord Jesus Christ.” Not only are we on his staff, and in his possession, and in his family. We have a place in his kingdom.

Jesus is our King. He reigns at the right hand of God. There are no elections for him, and there is no legitimate or loyal opposition to his government, for he is eternally and rightfully King. He has supreme power. And he is in the process of returning not only for his people but to give the whole universe back to its rightful owner. No other authority has a claim on our lives that can override his claim. “Our citizenship” says Paul in 3.20, “is in heaven”. And the Lord Jesus Christ has power that enables him “to bring everything under his control.”

Such is our identity as Christians. Servants. Saints. Siblings. and Subjects. And we haven’t even got beyond the greeting yet! But that is OK because when we have begun to understand who we are as Christians, then the nature of Christian growth begins to fall into place. The notion of progress is put into a proper perspective.

The Christian has already been given everything in Christ. We have already been transformed by grace through faith. We are a new creation. And now God is growing us, like a master gardener. And that is what you can see in vv 3-8.

So secondly: THE CHRISTIAN’S PROGRESS (vv 3-8)

“I thank my God every time I remember you” Paul says in v 3. Why? Because it is the Lord who is responsible for the progress that they have made in their faith. He it was who brought them to faith. He it is who is nurturing them and caring for them, and ensuring that their faith develops.

He doesn’t say to them “Well done, you guys. I know it’s been hard but you’ve stuck at it. Great job! Pat yourselves on the back, and keep going.” He looks at them, sees their progress, and turns to God with gratitude in his heart for what God is doing among them.

Now of course that is encouraging for the Philippians. After all, he is telling them what he is praying. This is not just between him and God. He is making it public, because he wants them to draw strength from the fact that he can see God at work in their lives. But he leaves no room for pride. The credit goes to God and not them.

Perhaps we should be more alert to similar opportunities around us. What do you do if you see someone growing in faith? Do you do nothing? That is a missed opportunity. Do you tell them they are doing well? If you are not careful, that may encourage a misplaced pride. Do you give thanks to God and say nothing? Surely better, but still a missed opportunity. Or do you do what Paul is doing here, and give thanks to God, but tell them that you are praying for them?

When someone does that for us it can be a powerful spur. It helps us to see what progress we are making, and encourages us, and at the same time turns our minds towards God, and ensures that we give him the glory. Then we can have a growing heart without a growing head, swollen with pride.

Thanks to God is followed by joy in gospel partnership. Vv 4-5:

In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now…

Let’s not fail to notice the extent of Paul’s praying that is revealed here. Paul’s praying for his fellow Christians is not an occasional thought, an arrow prayer now and then. There are two “all’s” and an “always” just in v 4.

Paul is continually in prayer for those who are on his heart. And he rejoices in the fellowship that he shares with them. What is this fellowship? Not just a chat and a joke and cup of coffee. It is working with them in their common task of gospel ministry. This is what has brought me great joy over the years I have ministered here. There have been many faithful followers of Christ in fellowship with me in the ministry here over the years. I think of Eddie, Brian, Ben, to those you see here today, Christine, Cindy, and Erik. I can almost say that each one of you have played an integral part in the work of this church.

Such ministry is the work not just of some, but of the whole church. Paul singles no one out here. Evangelism is a task for all of us, not for specialists alone. It is a task undertaken not alone but together. It requires the whole range of gifts that are present in the church. And it rejoices Paul’s heart when he sees everybody pulling together consistently to further the cause of the gospel, as had been happening in Philippi right from the time when the first Philippians had become Christians. There is a strong bond of love between him and his brothers and sisters in Christ. V 8:

God can testify how I long for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus.

But he goes on, v 6:

being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Lest they miss the point, he spells it out in such a way that they cannot fail to get his meaning. The progress of the gospel among them, and the progress that they have been making in the faith, is not their work. It is God’s.

God began it. God is carrying it on. And for all the obstacles and hardships and detours that they may make, God will ensure that it gets finished. Because what he begins he finishes. He doesn’t forget. He doesn’t get distracted. He cannot be overcome by a higher power because there isn’t one. Paul knows that. No wonder then that he is confident. Not that there aren’t problems to be sorted out. That’s why he is writing to them. But the final outcome is not in doubt.

God’s grace wins through, and, as he says in v 7: “all of you share in God’s grace with me.”. There is no question then that they will reach the goal that God is leading them towards. That is a truth that needs to be engraved on that the heart of every Christian. It frees us from fear. It fills us with just the kind of assurance that God wants for us: an assurance based on confidence in him and his power to keep us safe in him to the end.

Our own goals for our lives are often very fragile and uncertain. It is as well to recognize that, so that we are not too devastated when they crumble before our eyes. But we need to know that God’s goals will be accomplished. Then we can have the freedom and boldness to follow Christ however risky the path looks, because we know that our lives are secure in his loving and powerful hands.

So let’s ask ourselves whether we share Paul’s attitudes in relation to his fellow believers and partners in the work of the gospel. What are his feelings towards them? They are these: thanks to God; joy in gospel partnership; confidence in good work; and affection through grace shared. These are my feelings toward each one of you too.

But what exactly is the good work that God is doing among them? What are God’s goals for our lives? Paul expands on that in the last three verses of this passage: vv 9-11.

So to my third and last heading: THE CHRISTIAN’S GOAL (vv 9-11)

V 9: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more…”

Paul doesn’t specify the object of this love. But love for God and love for others cannot in the end be separated. That is we worship God and fellowship with others. No doubt he wants to see both kinds of love grow. And it is to be abundant growth.

And love depends on an understanding of the truth. So Paul continues:

that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best…

We grow in proportion as we know. This can be seen in the area of discipleship. Ignorance stunts growth. And knowledge of God comes through Christ.

Jesus said:

No one 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.

Knowledge of God is a gift of God. It comes through Jesus by revelation. Paul talks in 1Timothy 4.3 about Christians as “those who believe and know the truth.”

Truth is an essential ingredient in Christian experience. But with it must come the discernment to apply it to our lives. In Colossians 1.9 Paul says:

…we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Knowing God, knowing the truth, and knowing how to please God all belong together. So in Philemon v 6 Paul says:

I pray that you may be active in sharing your faith, so that you will have a full understanding [that is, knowledge] of every good thing we have in Christ.

We cannot begin to live lives that please God unless we have a knowledge of the blessings that are to be found in Jesus, and at the same time it is as we live for Christ – in this example by being active in sharing our faith – that our grasp on the blessings that Jesus brings gets tighter, and our understanding grows. This is through evangelism.

So Paul prays, too, for growth in holiness (v 10):

so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ.

Purity is what you might call “inner holiness” – a profound Christ-centeredness of mind and heart. Blamelessness you could call “outer holiness”. It is the outworking in life and example of that inner quality of obedience to God’s will.

Then finally Paul prays that they will be …

…filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ.

This is a picture of a full crop ready for harvest; effective service flowing from a loving, willing and mature obedience. And once again this is not something we can produce in ourselves apart from Jesus. It is the result of the work of Jesus. It is through him alone that such fruit can grow. This is ministry.

What is the harvest that Paul is looking towards? It is “the day of Christ” (v 10); the Second Coming; the Day of Judgement. And what is this harvest for? What is the purpose of it all? What is all this abundant growth in aid of? It is all “to the glory and praise of God” (v 11).

Paul’s praying always heads like an arrow for the glory of God. And there is nothing that glorifies God more than the spiritual growth of his people. Why? Because that growth is not in the end up to us. When it happens, we can take no credit for it. It is an answer to prayer. It is a work of grace in the lives of those who are servants of Christ, saints in Christ, siblings with Christ, and subjects of Christ. What a relief. What freedom.

So when we are challenged about our spiritual growth, let’s learn not to wince with guilt, but to rejoice. God is growing his people, as the master gardener.

Let’s with Paul be grateful to God for all he is doing amongst us and in us – rejoicing in our gospel partnership; full of affection for one another through the grace that we share; and confident that he who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus – to his glory and praise. Let us fulfill his purposes in our lives by trusting him to do this great work in us, as he has been doing, and going out and allowing him to work through us, as you have been doing.

Let’s pray:

Father, I pray for each person in this room. Grant us knowledge of Your Word that will transform us. Grant us knowledge of You that will transform others because of the work You have been doing in our lives. Let us live to glorify You, to bring others to praise and honor You as our lives are lived in praise and honor of You. Amen.

2 Peter, New Testament, Sermons

Remember

Gallery June 20, 2004 David

Remember
June 20, 2004	Sermon by DRW	Passage 2 Peter 1.1-15

Father,

As each of us enter your throne, let us glorify You by seeking Your Truth and by doing it. Help us to walk out of this room as changed people.

Amen.

I am not too sure how many people in this room remember Karen’s grandmother. She was a wonderful woman who, in the waning years of her life, was plagued with a disease called Parkinson’s Disease. She found it difficult to remember much. She had glimpses of her old self, periodically; but, overall, she couldn’t remember who she was, what she had done in life, nor who the people were that were taking care of her. She had it difficult. She was unable to understand what to do and couldn’t recognize what was happening nor who it was that loved her. I see this in out passage before us today. We have been called to remember certain things, but find it difficult to do so at times. We have been called to know who it is that loves us and to follow him, but forget who it is that loves us. We are plagued by a disease that keeps us from recognizing who we are, what has happened in our lives, and that keeps us from seeing the Lover of our souls. This disease is called sin.

Our passage sets before us great truths for us to overcome this terrible disease. There is only one cure and that is a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. Let’s read verses 1-15, making comment on the way.

1 “Simon Peter” is the Apostle Peter. The one who couldn’t say that his overwhelming passion in life was Jesus when asked in John 21. By this time in his life, he could answer the question Jesus asked with a “yes”. Yes, You are more than a friend, You are my overwhelming passion in life. I realize that at the ages most of us are at, we desire to love Jesus with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength. But, it is difficult. Be of good cheer, keep on seeking Him and you will be consumed by Him as the years go by. Be warned, forsake His Word, forsake prayer, and you will be consumed by this world as the years go by.

“To those . . . as ours.” He is writing this letter to Christians. He makes mention that their faith is as precious as the apostles faith. That is, they have the same faith, the same Lord, the same Holy Spirit, the same Father, they each have all that is necessary for living the life that God created for them to live.

2 “Grace and peace . . . Jesus our Lord” Peter is letting us know the only way for us to have growing favor before God and a relationship with God as He intended us to have it (this is encapsulated in the word “peace” or the Hebrew equivalent “shalom”). That is salvation leading to a life lived according to His plan. The only way for this to happen is we are growing in our understanding of who God is, of what Christ has done. This is the truth that James 1.22-25 presents to us as-well-as 1 John 2.3-5.

3 “His divine power” God has the ability to provide everything for us to live the life that He created for us to live. It comes only through our knowledge of Him. We need to understand that our lives need to be lived for His glory. We also need to see that whatsoever happens to us, as we seek His face, as we seek after His righteousness, according to Romans 8.28, will become good. We need to understand that all of our life’s circumstances pass through the loving hands of our God. All that we need is found in Him. We need to remember this. We need to understand this. We need to know this.

Karen and I, as-well-as Mike and Jamie, have experienced the need for this knowledge. I believe that God is a sovereign God. Which means God is in control of all things. If He is in control of all things, and, I know from Romans 8.28 and other verses, He is seeking to receive glory from my life and that only good would come, no matter the circumstance, because He is good and because evil doesn’t glorify Him, then I know that I can trust Him no matter what befalls me. I become troubled and in disrepair only when I do not focus my life on Him. When I see the circumstances: my house isn’t selling, I have no job, I won’t be able to pay the mortgage next month, and the like, I can be overwhelmed by them. When I focus on God, I see that He has a purpose for each of these things, although I may not see nor understand what it is—I still trust Him. As Job of old said: “Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.” I say all this to illustrate what the knowledge of God can produce.

4 read As we are growing in Christ, we begin to see the advantages that salvation bring to us. Each time we turn from sin to God we have escaped the corruption of this world. Positively, we have grown in fellowship with God that is what participate means. We will receive great promises from God. For a sampling of these promises read Ephesians 1-3, realize that these only come to us as we grow in Christ.

Before we go much further, I would like to comment on what a promise is and peruse some of the promises found in 2 Peter. A promise, according to American Heritage Dictionary, is a declaration assuring that one will or will not do something. A promise can be characterized by these three things:

1 What is promised is in the power of the one who promised

2 The one who promised can make a promise as it pleases him

3 The promise is received only from him, through no effort on our part

As we read through this book, we find a variety of promises:

1 What we need to live a godly life, the one God created us for (1.3)

2 Christians seeking after God will be fruitful in our life (1.8)

3 We have forgiveness of all sins (1.9)

4 We will receive rewards in eternity for what was done here, mostly a “well done” my good and faithful servant because you lived the life I had created for you to live (1.11)

5 Deliverance from trials or protection through trials (2.9)

6 The return of Christ to make all things right (3.4)

This is, by no means, an exhaustive list. We know there are thousands of others through Scripture.

5-7 This is a list of characteristics that each of us need to study in a way that we recognize what we are growing in and where we are lacking. We each need to read this list before God, asking Him to show us where we need Him. He asks us to work, to make an effort in our lives so this fruit will grow. Each of these characteristics must be found in our lives, must be growing. We need goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. We know from Galatians 5, these come only through the Holy Spirit. It is as we relinquish our desires and seek Him, that these things will be produced in our lives. We need to speak as John the Baptist spoke: “He must increase, I must decrease.” And as Jesus Himself spoke: “Nevertheless, not what I want but what You want.”

9 What happens to those who do not seek God, who do not live the life God created for them to live? What happens to those who fail to work to develop these qualities in their life by turning to God and His Word, and live by it? Read They become nearsighted. They become spiritually blind. They cannot see the things of God because they can only see what is in front of them, which is the world. They see only the circumstances and not the Savior. They live a life that doesn’t see God. Jesus tells us in Matthew 5.8 that only the pure in heart see God. We know from John 17 that the Word of God purifies us and from 1 Peter 1.22, that obeying that truth purifies us. Our only remedy from shortsightedness is to seek after God. This is the advice Jesus gave the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2 when He reminded them to remember and do what they know to be truth.

This person also forgets that all his sins have been forgiven the moment they became a Christian. They go forth living life as if they have not escaped the corruption of this world and are then overcome by it.

8, 10-11 What happens for those who seek after God? What happens to those who desire to live the life He created them for and then diligently seek to do His Word? Verse 8 tells us “you will not be ineffective nor unproductive”. Jesus promises us that we will bear much fruit as we abide in Him (John 15). Verse 10 lets us know that we can be sure of our salvation, that is we will not doubt if God has saved us. Verse 10 tells us that we will not fall if we are walking in His will as seen in His Word. This is the truth Jesus presents in the parable of the man building his house on the rock in Matthew 7.24-25. We have already mentioned verse 11.

In the passage before us, Peter is aware of his circumstances. He wants to remind those he has been ministering to about their privileges and duties in Christ. He so much wants to remind them, that in the four verses before us, he uses the word “remember” three times. He is actually pleading with them from a personal standpoint. He uses the word “I” over and over again. These are brothers and sisters that he loves and believes it is his obligation to tell them truths they should already know. We have seen what Peter wanted to remind his friends of Salvation (1.1-4), Growth (1.5-7), and Assurance (1.8-11).

12 I will always remind you

of these things-the things listed from verse 1 to verse 11.

even though you know them-do they know them in their head or in their heart? The actions they display will show where the Word of God is held. If they have them in their heart, this will lead them to do them.

and are firmly established in the truth-this solid foundation, the one upon the rock.

you now have-this is very keen. Philippians 3.12-16.

13 I think it is right

to refresh

your memory

as long as I live-Colossians 4.17 reminds us to do what God has equipped us to do, and to complete it.

in the tent of this body-for me it is EFCC

14 because I know that I will soon put it aside-for me it is next week

as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me-I believe that God has called me to a different, a new stage in my life.

15 And I will make every effort-I was going over the list of almost four hundred messages, three hundred CEs, and two-hundred fifty FNFs I have taught. Wow, we have come a long way haven’t we. It has been a good work, I pray that it is also a fruitful work. As I look out across this room, I see that it has been. More on that next week.

to see that after my departure

you will always be able to remember these things

I believe many of us are at the point where we do not need to know new things, we are at the point where we need to remember what we know. It is when we begin to do what we know that God will bless us with greater understanding of His Word and His purpose in our lives. The was a missionary to the Philippines who was trying to help a young convert grow. He encouraged him to memorize the Sermon on the Mount, particularly Matthew 5.3-10, what we call the Beatitudes. The young man became upset after trying to memorize these great truths after two weeks. He was unable to do so. He went back to the missionary who encouraged him to continue to memorize those 8 verses. The young man left. The missionary didn’t see him for a few months. When he did, the young man was overjoyed to quote all of Matthew 5-7 to the missionary. The man was impressed with the memory work. He asked the young man how he did it. He told him that he couldn’t memorize the passage and was getting ready to quit trying. One day, he decided to memorize it in a different way. He would do what it said. He figured if you did one verse a day he could memorize the 8 verses. His life was changed, the verses memorized, and many people were blessed.

This is where we stand today. We are trying so much to memorize the Bible or know about the Bible that we forget to do it. We want the Word of God to be so much a part of our lives that we read, listen, and memorize, but forget to do it. The CYA’s CHAT group has been studying the purposes God has created us for. In each lesson, Rick Warren reminds us that Jesus promised us that we would be blessed if we did what the Word of God said, not merely heard it. That is so important, we need to do whatever the Word of God tells us in order to be changed by it.

Turn with me to James 1.22-25. Read

My question for you today is, “What is God wanting you to do in your life?” It could be something as simple as reading His Word, being baptized, joining the prayer meeting, going on a mission trip to something as difficult as surrendering your heart, soul, mind, or strength to Him. We all have that one thing that God calls us to do. What is it that God is calling you to do? Let’s go back over that list in verses 5-7 and prayerfully choose one we know we lack and ask God to develop it in us this week. Remember, as you ask God to do this, He will but only as we seek the opportunities that He will provide for us.

For instance, if I ask God for knowledge or a way to express my knowledge, I need to be seeking those opportunities to express the knowledge He has given me in a loving and godly manner. I was listening to the radio last night on the way home for our fellowship night. The man basically said that people give up their intellect when they become Christian. I was fuming, I wanted to call in and give the announcer a piece of my mind. That wouldn’t have been

Let’s say that God has called me to self-control. What would this mean? In the area of our lifestyle, we would need to ask God to show us areas that we are doing things on our own power and then seek the Holy Spirit during those times. Do we dress appropriately, are our hobbies godly, is our entertainment pure, what bad habits do I possess, is my speech proper, how do I present myself to people? The list can go on, but you get the picture.

Each of us need to ask God what area we need to work on, to ask God for the strength to overcome that sin, and then go out and do it in His strength.

Father,

As we go from here to CE and beyond, help us to remember our salvation and how great it is, help us to remember the growth You have brought about in our lives already and the life You have called for us to live and let us grow in it, and by the fruit we see, let us gain assurance that we are following the Truth that sets us free.

Amen.

1 Peter, New Testament, Sermons

Praise, Glory, and Honor

Gallery June 13, 2004 David

Praise, Glory, and Honor
June 13, 2004	Sermon by DRW	Passage 1 Peter 1.3-9

Many, if not all, of us have read or are aware of the Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren. As you know, it presents forty days of readings, questioning, and studies to encourage us toward the habit of living out the five purposes God has for our life. The purposes are worship, evangelism, fellowship, discipleship, and ministry. There is now even a CHAT Bible study that covers, so far, the first seven days of the book. CHAT is an acronym standing for Check-up, Hear the Word, Act on it, Talk to others about it. All this is exciting and beneficial for the individual and the church. Today, what I would like to do is remind us of the why. Why did God present us with all things? Why did God give us His Son? Why did God give us His Word? Why did God . . . ? The questions are endless; the answer is always the same: He gives us all things for His praise, His glory, and His honor. Thus, the title for today’s message.

If you have your Bible, turn with me to 1 Peter 1. We will be looking at verses 3-9. We will be looking at three causes of joy in our lives. We will look at our inheritance, our Savior, and our challenges or trials.

Let’s pray:

Father, thank You so much for Your Word. Thank You for the opportunity given to each one of us to open this life changing book and seeing Your work in our lives. Today was ask as we open the Words that bring life, that our relationship with You would grow, our reason for living would be altered, that we would be changed people. Speak to each of us today for Your glory, honor, and praise. Amen.

1. Rejoice in Our Inheritance

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has cause us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Our inheritance as we see from verse 3 is the most life changing experience anyone will encounter. It is our salvation. Through Jesus Christ we are born again, we become part of God’s family. If you haven’t experienced this wonderful relationship with Jesus Christ, and you would like to talk about it, see one of the church leaders or you can e-mail me if you would like to do that. My wife will have that information for you if you would like to talk with her after the service.

a. Hope

Salvation brings to us a hope that is not known apart from God. The word hope doesn’t mean wishful thinking, that someday this might happen. In the Bible it means the assurance that it will come to pass. Such as the hope mentioned in Hebrews 11.1: faith is the assurance (proof if you would) of things hoped for, the conviction that things unseen will come to pass. This tells us that what we read in God’s Word, the Bible, will come to pass. All the promises of God are going to be fulfilled. We can see the marvelous examples of His Word being fulfilled throughout the Bible, from a coming Savior in Genesis 3 to the very day that Savior will enter Jerusalem in Daniel 9 to the destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The most telling evidence of the promises of God being fulfilled is in our own lives. I remember when I was in Junior High School. I was small and an easy target for gangs to take their troubles out on. I would go to school every day in the seventh grade only to go home with a little less money or a project that I had worked on so hard in shop classes taken away from me. All this happened to by the hand of the black gangs called the Crips and the Bloods. I was a white guy walking through the dividing line of both gangs. I had become a Christian in 1972 in Germany. I walked into a church on a Sunday evening, tired from a long walk, not even knowing it was a church because I had never been in one before. The pastor was giving the salvation message. I went forward to receive Christ as my Savior. The pastor there didn’t tell me to go home and read the Bible or to go to church. He just welcomed me into God’s family. Shortly after this, we moved to California when all this turmoil at school began. I dropped out of Junior High School. When it came time for High School, we had moved. I went to a safer school, graduated with high honors. The reason I bring this story up is what God did in that time. Remember, I still loved God, but didn’t know anything about Him. I didn’t pray regularly. But God was doing a work in my life that I would begin to see evidence of in High School but come to fully realize later in life. When I read Galatians 5.24-25, I can’t help but praise God for fulfilling His promises in my life. My family is from Iowa and North Carolina. Their beliefs about people who are not white are less than godly. When my family heard what was happening to me in school, they were angry at black people. When they hear my story, they are amazed that I have pastored Taiwanese churches all my life, over 22 years now. They marvel that my best friends are black, Filipino, Chinese, Taiwanese, Hispanic, and the list goes on. They wonder how it could be so when my Junior High years were so tumultuous. This is why I marvel at Galatians 5.24-25. You see, God promises that His Holy Spirit will work in our lives producing love, not bitterness, joy, not anger, peace, not turmoil, patience, not frustration, kindness, not vengeance, goodness, not hatred, and so the list goes on. God was doing what He promised in my life without me realizing it was happening. The hope that is within me, is that God will accomplish His work in me and through me. We all have this hope. God is at work in the world, we just need to see it.

Let’s read verse 4:

4 to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

b. Eternal Life

As we read through these verses, we see that inheritance, that salvation, provides us with something imperishable, pure, and eternal. This lets me know that my salvation is never going to be taken away from me. This fantastic gift, this inheritance, is mine because of the new birth that has caused me to become God’s child. This is my faith, my hope. If you want to read on your inheritance, read through Ephesians 1-3. You will marvel at all that God has done for us and will do through us.

Let’s read verse 5:

5 who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

c. Protection

The third aspect of our inheritance is protection. We have a hope, we have eternal life, and we have protection during this life. It is God’s work to protect you and to bring you through this life.

Let’s look at the second cause for our rejoicing and that is our Savior.

2. Rejoice in Our Savior

6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,

7 so that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

I would like to read verse 8 at this point

8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

When we come to a greater realization of what God has done for us in Christ, we cannot help but rejoice. Peter was talking to people who were close to Christ’s era but were not alive when Christ walked the earth. Peter did. They didn’t. I figure the argument he was hearing went like this: “It is easy for you to believe that God will help you through this life. You used to walk with Him and talk with Him. We never did. How can we have such faith?” His response: “You don’t need to see Him to love Him. You don’t need to see Him to believe in Him. You have the opportunity to experience what I had experience and it will produce great joy in your life. That opportunity comes through the work of the Holy Spirit in your life as He reveals Jesus Christ to you.”

For the sake of time, let us look at the third point for today:

3. Rejoice in Our Challenges

To this point, I have been talking about good things: salvation, inheritance, hope, eternal life, Jesus. What about the hard things in this life. More and more, we are seeing that life is difficult and not always bringing us into circumstances in which it is easy to rejoice. In order for us to understand that joy doesn’t come in circumstances but in our Savior, even through trials, I would like to closely examine verses 6-9. Please walk with me through a dissection of verses 6-9.

6 In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,

8 and though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory,

9 obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.

What does all this mean? Our lives are to bring glory to God by the way we live our lives, even in the dark times. We are to bring praise to God in our lives, as often as possible, despite the circumstances we find ourselves in because of His promises and His Son. We are to bring other people to praise God because of our lives too. We are to honor God in our daily decisions based upon the promises of His Word and the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

Hebrews, New Testament, Sermons

Running the Race

Gallery May 16, 2004 David

Running the Race
May 16, 2004	Sermon by DRW	Passage Hebrews 12.1-3

1 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside (Romans 13.12, Ephesians 4.17-32) every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run (1 Corinthians 9.24-27) with endurance the race that is set before us,

2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Galatians 6.9).

Introduction

I use to be a runner. Not many people believe that. I have slowed down some but I use to be fast. I can reflect back on my senior year in high school and a few years after that and recall many races won. I could do the 100 meter in just over 10 seconds. The 200 meter in just over 22 seconds. The 800 meter in 1 minute 50 seconds. My mile was pretty slow, just under 6 minutes. My three mile run was in the low 16 minutes. I only ran one 10k and that was pacing a man in a wheelchair. And I personally think Nancy is crazy. My most memorable race was the 200 meters.

Each year we went to an invitational and every year I cam in second to the same guy. This was the fourth time we had done this invitational (through the church I attended). This year I knew I was going to win. There was nothing that could stop me. I looked for the guy that beat me every year and felt sorry for him. I had my church in the stands cheering me on, my coach was giving me final words of comfort and strategy. The starter told us all to get in the blocks. We set ourselves, he raised the gun, he fired and we ran like the wind. Going around the curve, I was in the lead. I knew I had him. Fifty yards to go and the victory was mine. A thought crossed my mind. Despite my church and my coach’s encouragement, I listened to this voice in my head. In one split second I found myself doing what no runner should ever do. The voice in my head told me that I couldn’t win the race. The voice told me that I would never beat this guy. The voice told me to look back because the guy was getting ready to pass me. I listened, I looked, I lost.

It is my desire that this look into my past will help us in our present and future walk in Christ. Let us pray.

Father,

We ask that Your Holy Spirit show us the truth contained in Your Word. Allow us to see what Your Word has for us. We seek Your presence in this service and Your Holy Spirit to be actively teaching us as we look into Your Word, please look into our hearts. Help us to see what You created us for and how we can live that life that You have created for us to live.

In Jesus name, amen.

If you haven’t done so as of yet, turn in your Bible to Hebrews 12. We will be looking at verses one through three. I would like to discuss and present for you today a look at our Christian walk as seen in the eyes of a runner.

The first thing we notice in this passage is that there is a crowd surrounding us, cheering us on, who have lived their lives as an example for us. This crowd is comprised of those people in Hebrews 11 and all who have lived their lives for Christ.

A. The Crowd (1)

Let’s read that verse again:

1. The Saints Before

This passage provides us with a reminder that there are those in Heaven who are looking at our every move, seeing what God will do in and through us. Peter reminds us that the angels long to see what is going to happen to God’s people (FIND REFERENCE). With this in mind, we need to live a life that brings Him glory, living a life of purpose (1 Peter 2.21).

a. Old Testament

b. New Testament

c. Post New Testament

2. Brothers and Sisters

We should also see that those who cheer us on are our fellow brothers and sisters today, who are alive and sit beside us on a day-to-day or week-by-week basis. Our Christian friends are looking to us to be an example of one who runs the race well, just as we are looking to them for an example of the same.

a. Christian friends

b. Our Church

One of the biggest opportunities our church offers for encouragement to run the race well is our Friday Night Fellowship for the younger groups and CYA (CHAT) for the collegians and up. It can also be evidenced in our activities as each of us lead a life to glorify God. I see the forum at efccerritos.com being used, for the most part, for this purpose. People are posting questions, doubts, concerns, and are asking for help. For the most part, many of us are seeking to bring biblical advice into these discussions and this is what will help each of us press on in the race that God has set before us.

c. CHAT or FNF

3. Satan

There is another in the crowd. Not being the best cheerleader. He is Satan. He provides us with doubts, fears, he places people in our paths that will give us the wrong example, and he seeks to keep us from running the race that has been set before us.

If you remember the voice that came into my head when I was running that told me that I couldn’t beat the guy I was running against, that is what Satan does for us. His entire purpose is to keep us from the purpose that God has for us. Most of the time, as we are running, he places doubts and fears into our minds. He tempts us to doubt God’s goodness and promises or to live in fear through believing a lie. A good acronym for fear is Falsehood Existing As Reality. He places people in our lives that will lead us astray. He places temptations in our lives to cause us to stumble [REFERENCE STUMBLE FROM ISAIAH 40 FROM LAST WEEK AS THIS PART OF THE VERSE COMES UP IN THE DESCRIPTION OF THE RUNNER].

When we believe his lies, when we follow his examples, when we fall into temptation and sin, we lose. His desire is for us to believe his lies. Second Corinthians 4.3-4 tells us that Satan wants to blind our eyes from the truth because that is how he holds us captive. When this is done, 2 Timothy 2.24-26 tells us, Satan has us trapped. The only way to be freed, according to Jesus and Paul, is through the truth that is found in God’s Word not in the wisdom of this world (2 Corinthians 4.1-4; 2 Timothy 2.24-26).

Allow me to is illustrate this with two balls. As you can see, I can palm both of these balls but it is easier by far to palm the one with less air in it. I can control this ball with the greatest of ease. It is harder for me to grip the ball filled with air, and harder, therefore, to control it.

Satan cannot indwell us (possess us) for the Spirit of God does. When Satan tries to control Christians, he does so through what is called oppression. He places pressures in our life that make us think it is coming from God or from ourselves. An example of this is when David took a census in 1 Chronicles 21.1-8. It says that Satan moved David to take a census of the military men which was against God’s express will. He wanted David to rely on Him not on his army. When David spoke to Joab to number the troops, he didn’t say that Satan told him to do it. He told Joab that he made a decision to count the army. When this happened, God was displeased (7) and David confessed that he had sinned. Although David knew the truth he didn’t live it out, because of this, David sinned.

Back to the two balls. Satan can only get a grip in our lives as we are deflated. Let us compare the air in the ball to the Holy Spirit, who is called the Spirit of Truth. The more we allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives (pump up the Infusion ball), the less Satan can grip our lives. The more we have the Word of God (continue to pump the ball) in our lives, the more we can resist Satan, the more he loses grip in our lives.

That is enough of a description of the crowd, let’s look at the course that we are called to run.

B. The Course (1-3)

Let’s read those verses again:

2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3 For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart (Galatians 6.9).

One of the first things we notice is that a course has been created for us to run. It is our duty to understand that course to the best of our ability. I remember running cross country in High School at Pierce College, in the San Fernando Valley. This particular meet was the preliminaries to the finals. If we won this race, or came in second or third, we would have gone to the CIF finals. It was an important race. I recall it being a hot day with a lot of smog. The job of each runner is to walk the course to familiarize ourselves with the turns, the hills, and the finish line. Remember, it was hot and smoggy. Most of the team from my school, Narbonne, walked the hilly part of the course. It was hot so we looked for shade to sit in. We said we would look at the rest of the course after we rested. Well, we never did. We didn’t know where the finish line was nor what the course looked like before it. In order for us to qualify, I had to finish fifth overall. That was it. My pattern for running was to run in the middle of the pack until the last half-mile of the run and then do my 1 minute 50 second half-mile sprint. I was getting ready to do just that. I said that I would begin my sprint when I turned the next corner. The corner came, I sprinted around the corner passing people on the way. I moved up from thirtieth to seventeenth. I knew as soon as I turned the corner that I could easily finish in the top five. I saw the entire crowd in front of me, within yards. I rounded the corner, and there was the finish line. I finished somewhere around tenth. We lost the opportunity to go to CIF finals because I didn’t know how the course finished.

If there is a course created for us to run, we need to know what the course is like, how to run it, and where it ends. This will enable us to run the race with endurance. Our course was created by Jesus Christ. The great thing about Christianity is that

1. Jesus Christ

not only created the race but He has run it to show us that we can complete it as well. He designed it and ran it to show us it could be done. He tells us how to run it well, this is what the Bible shows us. He also shows us through living examples (remember the crowd?) of what needs to be done and that it can be done. We can run the race as we focus on Him and follow the godly examples He has set before us. Remember my 200 meter race? I lost it because I looked back, taking my focus off of the finish line. We do the same as we forget to look to the author and finisher of our race. Remember Peter as he sunk in the water when he took his eyes of Jesus.

a. He ran the race

b. He designed the course

c. He tells us (Bible) and shows us (saints) how to run it

God knows that we are going to stumble, lose our way, and want to give up in the race that He has set before us to run. This is one of the reasons He has provided us with the Holy Spirit.

2. The Holy Spirit

The Holy Spirit guides us during the race, He indwells us to keep us focused on what is important. John 14 and 16 tell us that He is our guide and comfort that directs our focus on Jesus. He gives us the strength to finish the race set before us.

a. He guides us through the race

b. He gives us comfort as we compete in the race

The last part of this passage tells us a little about us.

C. The Cruiser (1-2)

The first thing we need to notice is that those who are being addressed are Christians. If we are not Christians, this is meaningless to us because we won’t see a need to do these things. A Christian is anyone who believes that Jesus Christ is God, that their sin has separated them from God, that each of us has sinned, that Christ’s death was the payment for the debt sin made, and then personally accepting this for ourselves. If you haven’t done this, please talk with Mike or myself today.

1. Christians

a. Only those who believe can run this race

b. Believe that Jesus is God

c. Accept His death for your sins

In order for us to run this race effectively, secondly, we must be in condition to complete it.

2. Conditioning

We need to prepare for the race. This involves quite a few things as a runner. To begin with, each runner needs to be loose continually. That is, we need to be in the habit of stretching out quite often. We also need to train for the race on a continual basis. We cannot just go and run a 100 meter or a three-mile race and expect to win without practice. We also need to have a strategy to overcome the difficulties during the race itself. When running in a few sprints in a day, there needs to be a strategy to compete successfully in each race. When running a distance race, a strategy is required too.

a. Preparation for the race

b. Stretch

I see stretching as analogous to personal devotions, prayer and Bible study. If we are not continually stretching ourselves out we will become stiff and unable to run. The moment we stop our personal reading of Scripture and prayer time, we become unable to compete in the race that God has set for us to run. We will be unable to live the life He created us to live.

c. Train

I see training as analogous to doing what we have learned through personal and corporate Bible study and prayer. That is, we act what we have learned. This is done privately and corporately. We do, we run, what we have learned. We see this as happening through FNF and CHAT, through talking with others about what we have learned, by living what we have learned.

d. Strategy

I see the strategy as devising a plan to live out the life, to run the race set before me. The strategy for running a three-mile race was to run with the pack and then sprint at the end. The strategy I had for running a few sprints in a day was to run, hydrate, eat bananas, stretch, rest, and then run. It may not be the same thing Becky does, but it worked for me. When need to understand that Satan has a strategy to make us fall, we need to have a strategy to run successfully. This strategy should involve fellowship, church, worship, Bible study, prayer, and ministry to the church and to those outside the church through evangelism and the like.

As you can see, this is a tough thing to do and requires a level of commitment that runs deep.

3. Commitment

This commitment needs to be deep because it requires are all. It is like when Christ was heading to Jerusalem where He would be crucified. We are told in Luke 9 that He set His face like stone. He would not be moved from completing His task. We are told the same thing by Peter in 2 Peter 1. We are to be committed to this race. This is seen in our passage in verse 1. We need to lay aside everything that will keep us from running well. There are few, if any, runners who are overweight. Most runners refuse to carry anything with them because they know it will slow them down. What is weighting you down, keeping you from running well? Whatever it is, we need to get rid of it. Our journey is a long, hard one that requires we be persistent and committed. I refer you back to last week’s message that explained how we can gain strength to finish well.

a. Hard

b. Long

c. Journey

We also see in this passage that we are to actually run this race and complete it.

4. Completion of the Course

When running a distance race we need help to complete it. I have never run a marathon and don’t plan to run one either. But, from my understanding, all along the course there are markers that letting you know how far you have gone. There are also markers with people there providing you with needed refreshment. There are orange markers, banana markers, first aide markers, water markers, and so on. Each one of these markers are intended to replenish what your body is losing during the run. We need to be in close fellowship with brothers and sisters that we are being replenished by them as we are running. Our problem is that we place people who are not believers at these markers. We are seeking to be refreshed through people who don’t have the ultimate Refresher living in them. We can never be fully refreshed by people who are not Christians nor by Christians who are not living for Christ. Who is it that you are seeking to refresh you?

a. Markers

b. Crowds (who you are hanging with)

Finally, in each race there is a finish line.

5. Commencement (or conclusion)

The race that we are in has many winners. A winner is someone who crosses the finish line. Ask Nancy if she felt like a lose when she ran the LA Marathon. She didn’t finish first. What caused her to be a winner was that she finished. That is how we need to see this life. The goal is to finish. Are you running in such a way as to finish well?

a. Crown of life

I want to commend you to do the following:

1. Focus your eyes on Jesus.

2. Devote yourself to prayer and Bible study as a personal and corporate habit.

3. Have Christians who are following Christ as part of your support group.

4. When you find yourself starting to stumble, refer to number 1.

New Testament, Philippians, Sermons

Pressing On!

Gallery March 17, 2004 David

Pressing On!
March 17, 2004	Sermon by DRW	Passage Philippians 3.10-4.1

I really like Boba. It is a milk tea with balls of tapioca in it. I remember giving Coach Brent, Coach Jackie, and Mr. McGee an opportunity to taste it a few years ago. They refused to take a drink. Most places that sell Boba don’t sell it before ten in the morning. I wanted one to drink, stopped in, and ask Joe if he could make me one. I told him that I really wanted one. He told me it would take ten to fifteen minutes. That seemed like quite a bit of time. So, I told Joe to forget about it and the wait wasn’t worth it.

Why did I change my mind? I really wanted one and then when I found out what it would cost, I didn’t think it was worth it. How often we say we want something. And then we find out how much it’ll cost – in terms of time, or trouble, or money or whatever. And suddenly it doesn’t seem worth it.

There is a verse in Philippians 3.10 that is wonderful. It presents us with a goal in life that is magnificent. Paul tells us the thing he most wanted in life: “I want to know Christ.”

And when you think how much he’d lost for knowing Christ, that is remarkable. Just think what it had cost Paul to be a Christian. Think what he was in Philippians 3.5: he’d been a respected Pharisee. He’d studied at the best Jewish theological college; he was a rising star; he was well-respected.

Then think of him now. He’s in prison because the Jews didn’t like what he said about Jesus. His old friends had disowned him. He’s on trial for his life. He’s no longer respected or liked or popular or comfortable. And all because he’s a Christian. And still he says, v10: “I want to know Christ.”

For most of us, I don’t know what it costs us to know Jesus as Lord. What it costs at home – trying to be a witness to parents or family and friends; trying to bring friends to know the Lord, with no guarantees that they’ll ultimately want to. I don’t know what it costs at school – what issues we’ve had to take a stand on, what isolation we’ve experienced, how we may have been disadvantaged or discriminated against. I don’t know what the public struggle with peer-pressure has cost you, or the private struggle with temptation. I don’t know what knowing Christ has cost you emotionally, mentally, physically, socially.

But I do know that if you’re a Christian, it has cost you. And that either you have faced, or sometime will face, the question: “s it worth it?”

And Paul must have known that that question would be in the minds of the Philippian Christians. In Philippians 1.27-30, Paul tells us:

Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then… I will know that you stand firm in one Spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel, without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you… For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have.

They knew what it was to be poorly received as Christians; to be argued against for what they said and how they lived; to be frightened by how negative the reaction could be. They knew what it was to wobble in their faith. To ask, “Is it really worth it?” And to help them, Paul lets them in on what kept him going.

Let’s return to Philippians 3.10:

“I want to know Christ,” he says, “And the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” [ie, I want to keep going whatever the cost – even if it is death.]

Well, what gets someone to that point of Christian maturity where they can say, ‘I want to know Christ, whatever it costs’? The answer lies in this morning’s passage: the person who says, “I want to know Christ whatever it costs,” is a person whose eyes are fixed on heaven, and on the cross.

1. Press on all the way to heaven (v12-16)

To people who were wobbling in their faith, Paul says, in verse 12-16:

“The way I keep going is this: I press on with my eyes fixed on heaven. Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect. But I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining towards what is ahead, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.”

He’s just been telling us what his goal in life is. Verse 10: to know Christ personally; to experience God’s power so that he can serve Christ as he should, and be the person Christ wants him to be; to be willing to go all the way in obedience – no half-measures or half-heartedness.

That was Paul’s goal. But he wasn’t claiming to have achieved it: “NOT that I have already attained all this, or have already been made perfect” (v12); “Brothers, I do NOT consider myself YET to have taken hold of it” (v13) Paul knew that that would be true only beyond the grave. So he says, “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.” So we can know Christ personally. But we can only know him imperfectly this side of heaven. We are going to experience what it is to be raised from the dead in a new resurrection body when we’ll be sin-free. But not yet, not this side of heaven.

And because that’s the way things are, Paul says “I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me” (v12), and “I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus” (v14). [And by the way he doesn’t mean he has to earn his place in heaven. He’s just using an illustration to make the point that his eyes are on the finishing line.]

And our mistake as Christians is to forget the not yet. We forget that most of the benefits of knowing Christ come beyond this life. So we get dissatisfied, and feel like giving up, and ask, “Is it worth it?” And that’s the mistake Paul is out to correct.

So, for instance, we say (rightly) that the Christian life is a personal relationship with Jesus. But it’s a “long-distance” relationship with someone we can’t see. It’s indirect, praying and reading the Bible and living by trust. And Paul says, “Yes, but we haven’t got it all yet. One day we will be with him. We will see him. We won’t struggle with doubt any more. But that’s future, not yet.

Or take the struggle of witnessing for the Lord. The lack of interest or negative reactions to invitations keep us from telling people about Jesus. When heaven comes, this struggle will end, as well. But that’s future, not yet.

Or take the struggle of personal holiness. The sinful nature doesn’t get any less sinful as the Christian life goes on. The strength and frequency of many temptations remains the same. They’re quite a bit like the Energizer Bunny. They just keep coming and coming and coming. But, says Paul, we haven’t got it all yet. But we will. We will have resurrection bodies in which we are perfectly sin-free. No more letting the Lord down. No more shame-faced confession, over and over again. No more despairing with ourselves and giving up. That struggle will also end. But that’s also future, not yet.

Paul is saying: don’t calculate the” worthwhile-ness” of the Christian life purely on the present. No-one in their right minds would be a Christian purely on the strength of the difference it makes in the present. Because the difference it makes in the present is that it makes it harder. It gives you struggles and problems you didn’t have as a non-Christian. It’s like that quote about marriage: “A wife is a great help to a man in all the problems he’d never have had as a bachelor.” Well likewise, knowing Christ creates new problems in the here and now. And no-one would be a Christian purely on the difference it makes to the here and now. At least, that’s what Paul says elsewhere in 1 Corinthians 15. Where he says: if Christ wasn’t really raised from the dead, nor will we be. And if that’s the case, there’s no life after death; the here-and-now is all there is. And then he says this. “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men” (1 Cor 15.19). But there is a heaven. It’s real. And Paul says in verses 13 and 14:

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind, I press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus.

So he forgets what’s behind. He doesn’t dwell on what he’s lost. Position, popularity, freedom, comfort. Why dwell on the state of your prison cell when Jesus has said, “In my Father’s house are any rooms…I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14.1-3)? He doesn’t dwell on the cost because it looks very small against the certainty of heaven. And nor should we. The Lord never trivializes the cost. Jesus knows from experience how real it is. But he calls us to get it into perspective.

Nor does Paul dwell on his regrets. Remember verse 6: he had more than most to regret. He persecuted Christians to death in his non-Christian existence. He had blood on his hands. But he’s a forgiven man. And Paul knows that if God has forgiven the past, he can put it behind himself, too. And so can we.

Maybe some of us need to hear that, particularly. I can’t remember how many times I have had people who became Christians later in life or who were Christians but squandered away their youth come up to me and tell me with tears in their eyes that they wished they had gotten right with God sooner. “I wish I hadn’t wasted so much time,” they tell me. People need to hear verse 13: from now on, “One thing: forgetting what is behind, and straining towards what is ahead, press on…heavenwards’

Or maybe there’s a particular thing in our past which dogs our footsteps. Something on our consciences for which we find it hard to accept forgiveness. Well, regrets are right and proper. But they can keep us from the other right and proper thing, which is to believe God’s forgiveness of our past – our pre-Christian past, and our past since coming to Christ. “Forgetting what is behind, and straining towards what is ahead, I press on…heavenwards,” said Paul. And so should we.

That’s what kept Paul going. Don’t calculate things as if the here and now was all there is, he says to us. The best is yet to come, so press on all the way to heaven.

Then verse 15:

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.

Doesn’t that overturn our natural ideas of what makes a mature Christian? We tend to think of ourselves as “nearly there” in the Christian life; almost “arrived’; bordering on first class holiness. We grow very easily satisfied with ourselves. We lose the urgency we had in our early Christian days for holiness and serving the Lord more. Perhaps we even look back and think we were a bit foolish when we first became Christians. But that isn’t maturity, according to Paul. That’s stagnation.

And I guess we tend to think that older Christians or Christian leaders are “nearly there’. They’ve pretty much arrived, we tell ourselves, putting them up on a pedestal. I remember thinking that leaders and pastors don’t struggle with pride or lust or envy or temper anymore because they have grown so much in Christ. I then became a pastor and realized what dangerous nonsense those pedestals are. And how dangerous it is as a leader of any sort to let people put you on a pedestal.

What a contrast with verse 15. The mature people are the ones who know they haven’t arrived; who are dissatisfied with themselves; who are still pressing on in holiness; who are more concerned, not less, to find time to read the Bible and pray; who as they get to know the Lord better detect more within themselves, not less, that’s imperfect and needs God to change it. And Paul says, literally, “If somehow you think differently, God will reveal this to you.” In other words, if you think differently about maturity, you need God to change your mind. Because the really mature are the ones who know how far they still have to go.

Then verse 16:

Only, let us live up to what we’ve already attained.

We’re all at different stages in the Christian life. Some know God better than others. Some know better what to aim for than others. That’s not the point. I’m to live up to how well I know the Lord, and you’re to live up to how well you know him. What matters is not so much where we’ve got to, or what we know, but whether we’re moving forwards.

Press on all the way to heaven.

The second point I see in this passage:

2. Beware here-and-now religion (v17-19)

Paul knew that there were other religious voices in Philippi apart from his own. And he knew they’d be attractive to hard-pressed Christians for one simple reason: the religion they offered was much easier. So he has to say, verse 17:

Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

I take it that the pattern Paul gave is in Philippians 2.6-11. That passage is really the centrepiece of the letter – the jewel at the heart of Philippians. It’s the pattern of Jesus death and resurrection: costly obedience NOW, and glory LATER. That’s the pattern that Paul lived by. So he could rejoice in a prison cell facing death – because he knew the deal was: suffering now, glory later. Back in chapter 2, Timothy could happily work his socks off for the gospel (2.19-24) and Epaphroditus risk his life for it (2.25-30) – because they knew the deal was: suffering now, glory later. If the Lord Jesus had been obedient to the point of death, what right did they have to a more comfortable ride in the Christian life? “No servant is above his Master,” after all. (John 13.16, 15.20)

And Paul says (v17): follow those who live by that pattern: costly obedience now, because they’re sure of heaven to come. And he has to warn them against following others in verses 18 and 19:

For, as I have often told you before, and now say again with tears, there are many who live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction. Their “god” is their stomach and their “glory” is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

In other words, beware: there are plenty of religious people who live according to a different pattern – a pattern that makes for an easy life, here and now. He’s talking about people who had a religion, but a religion without the cross of Christ.

You see, the trouble with the cross is twofold. For one thing, it’s humbling. It tells us we’re not good enough for God, however good we think we are. It says our sin is so serious it deserves the judgment Jesus faced when he died for us. It says we need saving from judgment and can’t save ourselves. Very humbling. Which is why the message doesn’t go down well. The other thing is that the cross is demanding. If Jesus did that for me, how can I say to him, “I’ll follow you, but only up to this point’? If I follow a Lord who suffered for me, it will mean suffering for him.

So, if you want an easier religion, an easier message and an easier ride, just forget the cross.

And basically, these people in verses 18-19 did exactly that. They had a message about a God with whom you’d be OK if you did the right things. Nothing very humbling there. Nothing that ruffles human pride and says things like, “You’re a sinner and you need to be saved.”

We’re all natural suffering-avoiders. We’d love a more acceptable message that went down better. I remember being with a group of people and I was introduced as a pastor. Everything was great. People were having a great time. People were talking with me about Jesus. Everything was easy-going and jovial – until one guy said, “But you’re not saying that the Jews and Buddhists and Muslims are all wrong, are you?” That’s the crunch, isn’t it? Either I opt for a continuing easy, jovial time. Or I tell the truth. So I said, “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying. According to the Christian message, they’re all wrong.” And the joviality disappeared. That wasn’t what he wanted to hear. The cross goes down like a lead balloon.

Isn’t that a choice we all have to make on a day-by-day basis. We are having a great time. Then someone says something that goes against what we believe. Our choice is to continue as if nothing happened or to stop and stand up for Jesus. Tough choices.

We’re all natural suffering-avoiders. So we’re all attracted to easy religion: religion that amounts to just a few “add-on’s, but doesn’t actually demand anything of us. I can recall junior high students coming to Christ at camp, all excited, went home and told their parents. And the parents told them, “That’s lovely, dear. I just hope you’re not going to go religious on us.” In other words, don’t take it too seriously. A little bit of Bible reading, yes. But no more. Nothing demanding. Nothing life-involving.

We’re all attracted to easy religion: either other religions, or false versions of Christianity. Versions of Christianity that say you don’t have to speak for Christ, because everyone’s way to God will get them there in the end. That “P.C.” version makes for a quiet life. Or versions of Christianity that say God affirms us as we are, so we don’t actually use words like sin or call on people to repent of sin. Or versions of Christianity that say that God is out to fulfil us completely in the here and now, or to bless us materially or physically without fail in the here and now.

All very easy. All totally false. And if -end of v19 – our minds are on earthly things, if we have no eternal perspective, if in practice we too only really believe in the here and now, we will buy in to them. We will miss out the cross, because that’s what makes for trouble in the here and now.

Which brings us to the last point:

3. Only firm conviction about heaven will make us stand firm in the present (3:20-4:1)

In a way, this just brings us back where we began, pressing on to heaven: Verse 20:

But our citizenship is in heaven [ie, that’s where we belong, we’re just temporary residents down here]. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies to be like his glorious body.

Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and my crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord dear friends!” (3.20-4.1)

Back in 1:27, Paul’s main command to them was: stand firm. And after another two chapters he sums up, 4:1 “There you have it. That is how you should stand firm. That’s the secret to standing firm.’

And the secret is to be convinced about heaven. That’s what this whole passage has been about – from verse 12 down to 4:1. We’ll only be able to accept costly obedience now if we’re convinced about heaven. We’ll only press on in personal holiness if we’re convinced about heaven. We’ll only witness to Christ in a way that could lose us friends if we’re convinced about heaven. We’ll only stand up for what is right when all others opt for what is wrong if we’re convinced about heaven. We simply can’t and won’t live the Christian life on “here and now” reasons and incentives. It just doesn’t work.

What gets you through the costliness of knowing Christ? What keeps you going as a Christian? Paul says: the prospect of heaven. The Christian life isn’t just life here and now. This is just the waiting room, there is heaven to follow.

Martin Luther was once asked how he lived the Christian life the way he did. He said this: “I live as if Jesus died for me yesterday, rose today, and is coming to take me to heaven tomorrow.” And I said Paul would have said “Amen” to that. Do you?

Matthew, New Testament, Sermons

I Can’t Do It!

Gallery March 9, 2003 David

I Can’t Do It!
March 09, 2003	Sermon by DRW	Passage Matthew 7.24-27

Our 8^th grade class has been studying through the book of Proverbs through out this school year. We have read through the book a few times. We have found many interesting things throughout our studies. We have been learning about diligence, humility, pride, contentment, patience, anger, foolishness, poverty, wealth, and the like. It has been somewhat overwhelming to learn all this.

One of the things I have been trying to accomplish, is to get each student to practice at least one of these a week. The goal is to have them make the positive character traits part of their life and to overcome, through Christ, the negative ones. What I have been trying to do is to allow them to see the truth of the Bible and find ways to apply it to their lives. They wrote a paper on a positive characteristic from a Bible hero. Their Memory Quiz final from Romans 12 included an application of one verse or section from the verses they had memorized. For many, this part of the final was very difficult. I will be asking them how they are doing in the completion of the application this coming week. I wonder how they did.

In all the years I have been in ministry and in teaching, I have found applying the Bible to be the most difficult. Just doing what it says is so hard. Most of us want to follow what the Bible says but find it difficult. I have often been asked why that is so. I can see at least four reasons why this is so.

I. Forget to do it

James 1.22-25

22Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 23Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror 24and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 25But 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.

We really mean to do it, but we don’t memorize the Word, we don’t put it into our hearts, we don’t seek to know the author of the Book. In so doing, we end up forgetting what to do. It is much like the student that places his homework assignments in his assignment book but forgets to look at the book.

[tell the shaving story here]

II. Don’t follow instructions (do it our own way)

2 Timothy 3.10-17

10You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11persecutions, sufferings–what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

All through Scriptures we find God calling out to us to follow His instructions, to do things His way and not our own. He has called us to be followers of the Word of God not the word of man.

It would be as if I were to ask you to collect 250 of these water bottles and place them into a single trash bag for me. You would look at me, say it couldn’t be done and walk away. You would look at the size of the bottle, the size of the bag, and conclude that it is impossible to accomplish. We do this in our lives as-well. God asks us to overcome a sin through Him, and we say we can’t because it is impossible for us to do so. We look at our own situations and tools we have, but we forget to follow the instructions in the Bible. God says what is impossible for man is possible for God. He commands us to be pure, He will give us the power to be pure. He commands us to be victorious, He gives us the tools to be victorious. We need to read the instructions and follow what He says. This is where Hebrews 12.1-2 comes into play. God calls us to focus our eyes on Jesus, when we do we will overcome the impossible. [tell the Peter walking on water story here].

By the way, if we follow the instructions on the bottle (crush the bottle here), we have no problem getting more than 250 in a trash bag.

III. Don’t want to

Most of the time, we don’t live the life God has called us to because we just don’t want to.

James 4.17

17Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

For example, let’s see how we maintain purity from Psalm 119.1-9.

1 Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD .

2 Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.

3 They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways.

4 You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.

5 Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!

6 Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.

7 I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.

8 I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.

9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word.

If we want to remain pure we need to keep God’s Word and to seek Him with all our heart. If you were to recount the times that you have sinned this week, and asked yourself the question: Why? You probably will find out it is because you willingly disobeyed one or more of His commands and sought the things this world has to offer and not God. Sometimes we know the right thing to do and still refuse to do it, we sin.

IV. Building on the wrong foundation

This brings us to our passage today.

Matthew 7

24″Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

We need to build our house on the Rock of Jesus Christ, nothing else will do for all else will collapse under the weight of the world.

1 Corinthians 3.10-15

10By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. 11For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 13his 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. 14If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. 15If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

All too often we are building our live upon what we think, what others tell us, what we remember to be what God wants. If we were to truly analyze our lives, the foundation upon which we live, we would come up short and realize we have been building upon the wrong foundation, upon the wrong rock.

What is His foundation? Jesus Christ according to Isaiah. What does He build with? According to Psalm 89.14

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before you

Luke 6.46-49

46″Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? 47I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. 49But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

This passage shows us the importance of building our lives on Jesus Christ and that involves doing what He tells us to do, applying His Word. We need to take time out to memorize, study His Word so we can know the truth that will set us free to do His will. How can we do His will if we don’t know His will? We need to evaluate our lives to see if we are truly living our lives according to His will or our own way. If we are living our own way, we need to turn back to Him in repentance. Jesus promises us if we live our lives following His Word, our lives will be blessed for He will be glorified. We will become wise, for we have hid His Word in our hearts. And, we will be living the life He has created for us to live.

I want to ask you one question today: What are you building your life upon?

If your life were to come crashing in on you what would happen to you? Would you remain standing firm in your belief or would your life fall to pieces?

1. ___________________ to do it (James 1.22-25)

Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. 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 and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. 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.

2. Don’t ___________________ instructions (2 Timothy 3.10-17)

You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, persecutions, sufferings–what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

3. Don’t ___________________ to

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. James 4.17

Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the LORD .

Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.

They do nothing wrong; they walk in his ways.

You have laid down precepts that are to be fully obeyed.

Oh, that my ways were steadfast in obeying your decrees!

Then I would not be put to shame when I consider all your commands.

I will praise you with an upright heart as I learn your righteous laws.

I will obey your decrees; do not utterly forsake me.

How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. Psalm 119.1-9.

4. ___________________ on the wrong foundation

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.” Matthew 7.24-27

By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If any man builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, 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. If what he has built survives, he will receive his reward. If it is burned up, he will suffer loss; he himself will be saved, but only as one escaping through the flames.

1 Corinthians 3.10-15

Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; love and faithfulness go before youPsalm 89.14

“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Matthew, New Testament, Sermons

I am a Child of the King

Gallery June 16, 2002 David

I am a Child of the King
Who Am I
June 16, 2002	Sermon by DRW	Passage Matthew 7.24-27

The people in South Central L.A. are having an identity crisis. They have based their hopes on a King, named Rodney. Their whole history was culminated in this one man. They based 27 years of tension, 130 years of frustration and over 400 years of hopelessness in this country in one man, a King. He, through the faulty verdict, proved to be a false hope for them. Their identity as humans and citizens on equal footing with others was literally beaten and the world saw this, and the verdict affirms this, and now they “know” this. What followed was a re-action which the stereotype of these people predicted: they lived up, or down (depending upon your perspective), to what others thought of them. They re-acted as “hoodlums.” The world around them, namely the US and specifically LA, considers most blacks to be gang-bangers: they acted as “gang-bangers.”

Allow me to illustrate this point. I grew up in Carson, home of the Crips and Pyroos. As most know, I was mugged on a daily basis for money and durable goods. My attitude towards blacks has been coloured. Yet, now, my best friend is black. This shows me that my attitude toward blacks have changed. But an interesting incident occurred this past Thursday (30 April 1992) that showed me that I, too, agreed with the stereo-type. One of the people from EFCSB was driving in South Central on Wednesday night, after the riots began. He was one of the many who was injured in the rioting. He was shot in the chest. After Dan bribed a local family, they took him to Martin Luther King Hospital in Compton. On Thursday, Dan and I decided to visit him and present the Gospel to him. Such noble and grandiose plans fell victim to stereo-type. We were heading up Wilmington Blvd. and ran into the locals looting a liquor store. We passed them with great expediency, then came the test. A rather large gentleman was crossing the street with his hand in the air displaying the Crip hand signal (a “C” in sign language). I notice this real quick and told Dan, who was driving the church van. He immediately rabbited out of the area. With much fear and stupidity we did leave the area but not after having objects thrown at the church van. We never did get to see Jean to present the Gospel to him.

We all hold to some stereo-type and we do expect people to re-act to that stereo-type, in one way or another. The people of South Central LA, with sinful re-actions to their false identity, will cry out the truth of the poem in the bulletin.

Lend me your hope for awhile,

I seem to have mislaid mine.

Lost and hopeless feelings accompany me daily,

pain and confusion are my companions.

I know not where to turn;

looking ahead to future times does not bring forth images of renewed hope.

I see troubled times, pain filled days, and more tragedy.

Lend me your hope for awhile,

I seem to have mislaid mine.

Hold my hand and hug me;

listen to all my ramblings, recovery seems so far distant.

The road to healing seems like a long and lonely one.

Lend me your hope for awhile,

I seem to have mislaid mine.

Stand by me, offer me your presence, your heart and your love.

Acknowledge my pain, it is so real and ever present.

I am overwhelmed with sad and conflicting thoughts.

Lend me your hope for awhile;

a time will come when I will heal,

and I will share my renewal, hope and love with others.

(author unknown)

Allow me to ask you a question: Who are you?

Picture this dialogue as an answer to that question:

1. Excuse me, but, who are you? Have you thought about that?

2. Well…sure. I’m Fred Smith.

1. No, I mean who are you? Not just your name.

2. Oh…well, I live in Monrovia, and–

1. Excuse me. But let’s try again. Who are you?

2. You know. I’m the guy who drives the red Mitsubishi. I work at Denny in Arcadia. My sister married the son of the owner of Carl’s Jr.

1. No–you misunderstand me. I’m asking you who you are–way down deep inside. Who are you?

2. Come on now, this is getting stupid. I’m a member of the human race. What planet did you come from?

1. Let’s try it again, who are you?

2. Who am I? I’m a Baptist. Sure am. No–wait–I get you now. I’m a Christian–you know.

1. Tell me.

2. Well, he’s a person who has accepted Christ.

1. But I didn’t ask you what you’ve done. I asked you who you are.

Is who you are determined by what you do, your name, your address, your church, your height and weight; or, is what you do determined by who you are? The people in South Central LA lived up to the stereo-type of who-you-are-is-determined-by-what-you-do syndrome and forgot the what-you-do-is-determined-by-who-you-are truth. We as Christians sometimes forget as-well.

When we think of who we are, we think in terms of what we have done or hope to do. We think in terms of: I’m a student, a businessman, a teacher, a basketball player; I’ll be a father or mother.

What happens though when what you do is taken away?

“I’m a student.” What happens to your identity when you graduate, if you graduate? Then, who are you?

“I’m a businessman.” When the economy goes sour, your place burned down and you are looted, what becomes of your identity? Who are you?

“I’m a singer.” What happens when your voice goes, who are you then?

“I’m a mother.” What happens when the children leave or die? Who are you then?

“A cross-country runner.” What happens when you are kicked off the team or incur an injury, who are you then?

This was my goal, my way of being somebody in high school. While there I was classified as a “nerd”. I had above average intelligence (sometimes I wonder if I still have it). One thing I was not and that was popular. In my senior year I tried for popularity. If I could run far and fast I would finally be somebody, popular.

Believe it or not, I became somebody during those first few months of my senior year. I wasn’t the fastest but I was exciting to watch. I knew how to play the cross-country crowd. I was six-feet tall and weighed 150 pounds–grace in action. I would run the first two-and-one-half miles at a decent pace, with the crowd–even to where I fell behind: 14 minutes. That last half-a-mile was mine. This is where I stood out. I was a fast 200 meter runner and a good half-miler. As we said back then, I booked in that last leg. I ran as hard as I could and as fast as I could. Passing everyone. Hearing the wild cheers of the by-standers (usually cheerleaders). Then with the keen sense of victory in my grasp, I would cross the finish line and tumble to the ground appearing dead tired but soaking the popularity. One thing, it didn’t even matter that I was running with the Junior Varsity.

I was somebody: the number three JV runner at Narbonne High School in Harbor City. Until, when we count on things and people for our identity there is always an “until”, that fateful day. That day when I lost the league championship for our school. They finally brought me up to the big leagues–Varsity. It was the CIF finals. We were to run a course we had never seen before. The course was easy but unfamiliar. Well, as my usual I stayed with the pack, toward the back. I thought the course was longer. All I needed to do was finish sixth and we had victory. I thought the course was longer. “After this corner,” I thought, “after this corner I will speed to victory and steal it from the clutches of the ‘enemies.'” Well, that corner, that lousy corner, was 100 feet from the finish line–no glory only frowns and jeers. I was no longer somebody.

Anthony Campolo once said, quoting from psychologists and sociologists, that we tend to react and think according to what we think the most important person in our life or a large group of people thinks of us. That is, our identity, who we are, is determined by those we uphold as most important or influential in our lives.

He says, if everybody I think is important or a large group thinks that I am brilliant, I will be brilliant; if they think I will be stupid, then I will be stupid. How long, he continues, do you think it would take for me to think I was the best looking person in the entire world, if I was in a room full of people who considered fat white guys to be handsome? It would take no time at all. That room full of people would affirm me.

We will falter if our parents are the most important people in our world. We will falter, like South Central LA, if we place others opinions as our most important influence. We will falter if we hold ourselves to be the most important in the world. Each of these, and others, will fail us, give us wrongs ideas and hopes, will destroy our feelings of self-worth, at one time or another in our lives.

We will not falter if we hold God as the most important person in our life. As Christians, if we believed that God was the most important person in our life, our life would change. Because what He thinks and knows of us is far greater and magnificent than any society or person, including self, could ever be–He calls us His children, we are children of the True King.

Who we are is far more important than what we do or what others may think us to be.

Scripture: 1 John 3.1-3

1 John 3:1-3 tells use something exciting. Lets read those words together. I don’t want you to miss the excitement that John must have had as he was writing. Lets look again at those verses. He said in verse 1, “See how great God’s love is for us, for we are called the children of God.” He must have been really excited as he wrote those words. What follows is an exciting exclamation. “For this is what we truly are!”

Have you ever thought about that? If I were to repeat the question, “who are you?” This should be your answer: “I am a child of God.” When you don’t understand the doctrinal truths pertaining to your position in Christ, you have no ground for success in the practical arena” (Anderson, 2000, 54).

If you remember three weeks ago we talked about who we are. Linus, you remember that sermon, it was called “Butterflies and Kings.” In that we learned that we are not called sinners but saints. We do God an injustice when we call ourselves sinners for He calls us saints.

We need to realize that a Christian is not simply a person who gets forgiveness, who gets to go to heaven, who gets the Holy Spirit, who gets a new nature. Remember this a Christian is a person who has become someone he was not before. He becomes a saint. Isn’t this the truth that Jesus spoke of in John 3 to Nicademus? He told him, “You must be born again.” He said to him, “Unless you are born again, you will not see the Kingdom of God.”

What does Jesus mean by being born again? He says, “That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” He makes this new birth analogous with physical birth. Let us consider the similarities. When we are born or conceived we are not being added to something. Being born physically is becoming something that was not there before. Therefore, being born spiritually is to become something that was not there before. It is not getting something added on. In other words, when we received the Holy Spirit, He was not an addition but He caused a transformation. He did not make us to be sinners going to Heaven (Heaven would be the addition). Instead, He transformed us like the caterpillar becoming the butterfly: we once were sinners but now we are saints. I realize that this concept is easy to understand. But the truths of it we seem to miss. We are like the bird who was mysteriously hatched into a family of rabbits. He never knew he was a bird. Oh, he realized he didn’t look like the rest, but they accepted him. He thought he was a rabbit. He hopped with them, ate with them, slept with them. One day another bird came up to him, he said, “Why are you hopping, don’t you know you can fly?” The little bird thought about this. “Sure, I guess if I hopped high enough it would look like I was flying.” But the bigger bird showed him his wings and said, “No, with these you can really fly.”

This is where we are right now. We have just learned an exciting truth. What we do with that truth is of utmost importance. We can either continue thinking we are rabbits or we can start flapping our wings and fly away. Whichever choice we make, the truth will remain the same, we are birds or in this case, saints.

We most remember, who we are is more important than what we do. We must understand who we are. When we understand who we are then we can do the right things. “A productive Christian behaviour system is the by-product of a solid Christian belief system, not the other way around” (Anderson, 2000, 53).

For example, many times in the past few months people have asked me how to get along with people. “… getting right with each other begins with getting right with God. And getting right with God always begins with settling once and for all the issue that God is your loving Father and you are His accepted child” (Anderson, 2000, 56). Therefore, we need to know who we are before we know what to do.

This is seen in Paul’s writings where he writes to the believers who they are before he tells them what to do. Too often we jump ahead to see what we should do instead of waiting to see who we are. We desire to know how to be in right relationship with people. So we jump to Eph 4-6. We forget to read Eph 1-3 which tells us who we are in Christ and the basis for those right relationship. When we skip the first three chapters and try to practice the last three chapters we will fail. Romans 12.1 shows us this in a simple fashion. Paul writes “Therefore”. A rather trite saying concerning this is, “What is the therefore there for?” Paul is saying by that “therefore”, everything that you’ve learned about who you are to God and in God by Christ is now to be applied to your life. In other words, if you don’t know chapters 1-11 of Romans don’t even think you can do what he asks in the rest of the book of Romans.

Can you see how easy it is to understand this and yet how hard it is to practice. The reason why is it’s too great a truth for us to understand. Eph 2.10 tells us that we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ. And yet we don’t believe it. We think we’re still a rabbit, nothing but a sinner saved by grace. Yet He says we are his workmanship. Is God’s masterpiece created by simply adding something spiritual onto sinful clay? 2 Co 5.17 tells us that if anyone is in Christ he is a brand new creation; the old is gone, everything is brand new.

At the beginning of the message I talked about being somebody. The only way we can be somebody is to be in Christ. If we are a teacher one day we will no longer able to teach. If we are a parent someday we won’t be. If we are an athlete one day we will be old, fat, and injured; we are no longer an athlete.

Jesus said all things will pass away. This includes jobs, childhood, parenthood, and activities. But he also said in that same breath, I will never pass away. When our identity is in Christ that identity is forever.

The people in Christianity are having an identity crisis. They have based their hopes on a King, named Jesus. Their whole history was culminated in this one man. They base their lives filled with tension, frustration and hopelessness in one man, a King. He, through the faulty verdict, proved to be a false hope. Our identity as humans was literally beaten, crucified and buried while the world watched, and the verdict upon Him affirmed this, until He rose from the dead. What should follow is a re-action of our true identity in this risen King. Do we live up to what God has stereo-typed us to be or do we live down to what others think of us? Do we re-act as “saints” or “hoodlums”?

Today is a simple message of the truth we find in God, a truth tha will never change. Have you ever thought of yourself as something lower than what God does? Some people think that we are more noble than angels yet lower than the worm. This is not so for God calls us His child–now we are His children. Praise Him.

Anderson, N. T. (2000). Victory over the darkness. Ventura, CA: Regal.

1 Corinthians, New Testament, Sermons

Communion March 2001

Gallery March 3, 2001 David

Communion
March 03, 2001	Sermon by DRW	Passage 1 Corinthians 11.17-29

Teddy Roosevelt, the man who would become the 26th President of the United States, was afraid to go to church when he was a child because of a creature he called “The Zeal.” His mother eventually realized the reason for Teddy’s fear was a Scripture verse he had heard the pastor read, John 2:17, “It is written, ’’The zeal of thine house has eaten me up.’’” Teddy did not really know what that verse of Scripture meant. There are other parts of the Bible, however, which can cause some fear even when we do understand what they mean. One frightening Bible passage is our text today, 1 Corinthians 11:17-34. I remember reading this portion of Scripture when I was a teenager and getting a little nervous. What disturbed me was verse 11:27

Therefore, 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. And also verse 11:30 That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

I understood that this passage is about sharing in the Lord’s Supper. I also knew that “a number of you have fallen asleep” was really just a nice way of saying that “some of you have died.” I got concerned that every time I took communion, I might be risking my life. What would happen if I ate the bread or drank the cup in an “unworthy manner”? And how was I supposed to know what an “unworthy manner” was? Well, eventually my fears subsided, but it was not until quite a few years later that I really started to understand what the Lord is saying to us through this text. As that has happened, I have also grown to realize what a wonderful privilege we as Christians have in coming to the Lord’s Table together. So, let’s pause and pray that God would use His Word to help us grow in our understanding and appreciation of this important part of our Christian life.

We start with the Lord’s Supper in 1st Century Corinth.

11:17 In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good.

Throughout the book, Paul has been addressing problems in this church and now he turns his attention to some more.

11:18 In 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. He’s mentioned various divisions in the congregation a couple of times already in this letter. 11:19 No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.

That is a God-inspired use of sarcasm on Paul’s part and then he makes a point.

11:20-22 When you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for as you eat, each of you goes ahead without waiting for anybody else. One remains hungry, another gets drunk. Don’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!

Christian congregations in the 1st Century liked to eat together. That is one tradition we’ve kept up real well. Apparently they would gather regularly, maybe once a week, for what they called an Agape Feast, or a Love Feast. To close their meal together, they would share the bread and the wine, the elements of the Lord’s Supper. But, it was not working out in Corinth. I don’t know what type of picture came to your mind as we read these verses, but it sounds pretty chaotic. They are all trying to grab food and drink for themselves, afraid there will not be enough for everybody to get what they want. The result in Corinth is that some gorge themselves on food and get drunk, while others get nothing to eat. Paul finds the whole thing totally disgusting. And so does God.

In verses 23-26, Paul reminds the Corinthians what the Lord’s Supper is really about, and we will come back to that later.

11:27 Therefore, 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.

Now, what is the “unworthy manner” of which Paul speaks? That is an important question. The word, “therefore” probably gives us a big clue. Does “therefore” refer back to something Paul said in verses 23-26 where Jesus’ words at the Last Supper are recorded? I don’t think so. I think “therefore” refers back to verses 20-22, where Paul is talking about the conflict and division in Corinth. Thus, I am convinced Paul is saying that those who take part in the Lord’s Supper after they have been grabbing everything they can at the meal; who mistreat others in the fellowship; whose lives are characterized by total selfishness and lack of concern for others, those folks are eating and drinking in a manner which is unworthy of the Lord.

Paul then says,

11:28,29 A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. Participating in the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner is not a good thing to do.

So, he says, before you eat…examine yourself. Make sure you are qualified to participate. What should we look for in a spiritual self-exam? Should we look for sin? Some folks say, “Examine yourself to make sure there is no sin in your life.” No sin in my life?? Remember, 1 John 1:8 says,

“If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves…”

Or, we are lying. Others say, “Make sure you don’t have any known sin or any serious sin.” Really? Are there types of sin which are not serious to God?

Whenever I examine my heart, I find some sin, either something I have done, said or thought that I should not have, or something I have not done, said or thought that I should have. I guess I would think I was a pretty rotten, creepy person if I didn’t know that almost all the Christian leaders I admire—Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Spurgeon, Billy Graham—all say the same thing. We are sinners saved by grace. So, if the prerequisite for coming to the Lord’s Table is that we need to have stopped sinning before we come, I don’t think anyone would be worthy to partake.

Others say, “Yes, we all sin, but the way to prepare for taking communion is to confess those sins. When we confess our sin, God cleanses us, and makes us worthy to come into His presence.” Now, that is essentially true, but is that what Paul has in mind here? Or do we need to look at our relationships with other Christians? I believe a key phrase in understanding this passage is in verse 29,

“without recognizing the body of the Lord.”

What does that mean? Maybe you have heard that it has something to do with thinking about Jesus’ physical body as we share in the Lord’s Supper, but I don’t think that fits the context. Rather, I would suggest “the body of the Lord” is the body of Christ, the church, people who are believers in Jesus. I think the person who participates in the Lord’s Supper without recognizing the relationship he has with other Christians, who is interested not in serving people but in using them, is the individual who is participating in an unworthy manner and may face God’s judgment. Thus, I would say that when we examine our lives before we eat at the Lord’s Table, the focus should not be so much on our vertical relationship with God, but on our horizontal relationships with other Christians. Obviously the two are connected. In many ways the vertical relationship is more important, but in this passage, I believe Paul is saying we should make sure we are treating those within the body of Christ in the right way, make sure we don’t have bitter or hateful attitudes toward a Christian brother or sister before we eat and drink the Lord’s Supper.

I suspect a number of you are thinking that my explanation of these verses seems a little different. Let me give you some reasons why I think what I have said makes sense. The first reason is 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.”

Now, certainly Jesus is not talking about the Lord’s Supper here. But it makes sense that God might want us to follow the same procedure when we do come to the Lord’s Table. “First, go and be reconciled with your brother, then come to eat and drink.”

The second reason is the context of 1 Corinthians 11 and really the whole letter. Divisions, factions, conflicts were ripping apart the church in Corinth. Certainly Paul saw those as urgent problems with which to deal.

Thirdly, the New Testament teaches that bad attitudes toward other Christians is a very serious spiritual problem. Ephesians 4:27 says that to be continually angry with someone gives the devil a foothold in our lives. That is why Paul says, Ephesians 4:31

Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.

What better time to do that than before we eat together at the Lord’s Table.

The fourth reason is: I believe that part of the purpose of the Lord’s Supper is to remind us of the unity we ought to have as believers in Christ. Yes, we come together to remember the Lord’s death, but I think we also come together to remember that through His death, Jesus has taken down the walls that divided us from each other and made us members of one family. Observing the Lord’s Supper is not something we do individually at our kitchen table or something like that. It is something we do together as a congregation, as a group of Christians. Roger Williams, the fellow who started the first Baptist church in North America in Providence, Rhode Island, separated himself from so many folks that he was only willing to take communion with his wife, and eventually he was not sure about her either. It is not supposed to be that way. Sharing in the Lord’s Supper is intended to be a corporate activity, something we do together, and that is why it makes sense that Paul would tell us to examine our relationships with other Christians before we eat.

Well, what will happen if we participate in communion in an unworthy manner? In Corinth, this was a sin which God dealt with rather severely. 11:29,30

For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.

Is Paul saying what he seems to be saying? Yes, “fallen asleep” is a 1st Century euphemism for death. Some of the people at Corinth had gotten sick and even died because of their abusive attitudes they exhibited at the Lord’s Table. That certainly seems like a harsh punishment. Maybe you are thinking, “But, Pastor Dan, God is a loving God; He would never do anything like that.” Yes, God is a loving God, and out of love He sometimes disciplines very harshly, as we see in other parts of the Bible, including Acts 5 where the Lord strikes Ananias and Sapphira dead for lying. But, remember, 11:32 When we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world. This is our Heavenly Father disciplining His children. The pain that is experienced by those who receive it is intended to keep them from experiencing greater pain in the future.

Now, it is a mistake to think that God always disciplines those who abuse the Lord’s Supper in this way, or to think that He would never do something like that. There may be people here today who have brought some terrible, hateful attitudes to the Lord’s Table, and who are in perfect physical health. I am certain there are plenty of Christians whose sickness or death had nothing to do with punishment for this or any other sin. It would be foolish for someone to think, “I bet the reason Jim got the stomach flu last month was because he did not have the right attitude when he took communion.” But at the same time, it would be foolish for us to try to take out of God’s hand the right to discipline very directly a sinner whom He loves. If I have a cold, there is nothing wrong with just making sure and asking, “Are my attitudes toward my brothers and sisters in Christ what they should be?” If they are great, the cold will be gone in seven days or one week, whichever comes first. If my attitudes are not what they should be, it is time to get them straight, whether I am sick or not. 11:33,34

So then, my brothers, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. If anyone is hungry, he should eat at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment.

Paul is very practical. Instead of fighting with each other over food at the Agape Feast so that you are bringing bad attitudes to the Lord’s Table, eat at home before you come. Make sure your hearts are full, not of jealousy or bitterness, but of love for those who, like you, have been redeemed through the blood of Jesus Christ.

OK, that is what our text says. What does this mean for us?

1) Remember, the Lord’s Supper is meant for those who are Christians, believers in Christ. Being a church member, or a religious person, or a nice guy doesn’t qualify one to participate in this event. How does one become a Christian? By trusting in Jesus Christ as your personal Savior. If you have never done that, I encourage you to do so today. As God’s Spirit enables, you need to turn away from your sin and pride, stop pretending you are good enough the way you are and instead, by believing in your heart, receive the marvelous salvation that the Lord offers. If you do that, if you have done that, then the Lord’s Supper is for you. In our church we require Christians to be baptized before they participate in the Lord’s Supper.

2) We need to make sure we have good relationships with other Christians. If there is any hatred, bitterness, jealousy or, as Paul said, “any form of malice,” we need to get rid of it. It doesn’t matter what the other person has done to us, what they have said about us, or what they are like. If I am hateful, bitter or jealous, I have a problem. These are destructive attitudes. When a rattlesnake is cornered, it can become so frenzied that it accidentally bites itself with its deadly fangs. In the same way, a Christian who harbors hatred and resentment poisons his own soul. As we have seen today, bitterness makes us unfit for the Lord’s Table. Paul’s specific concern is our relationships within a local congregation. It is not good to have bad attitudes toward someone who attends another church, but bad attitudes toward someone else here at EFC Cerritos is especially destructive. Now, this doesn’t mean we need to be great friends with everyone else in the church. We are all different personalities, and we will naturally get along better with some folks than with others. We are called to love every fellow Christian. We need to keep working on that, but the first concern is to get rid of bad attitudes that so easily seep into our souls. Michelangelo and Raphael, the painters, were commissioned to paint the inside of a cathedral at the same time. They were so jealous of each other that they never spoke, even though they were both supposedly working for the glory of God.

Is there someone in this room that, if you see them somewhere, you turn around and go the other way? It is not supposed to be that way. If there is any form of malice toward a Christian brother or sister, I encourage you to confess this to the Lord, ask for His help and then, if necessary, go to that person and seek reconciliation. Even if the other person hates you, you need to do your part in getting rid of every form of malice.

3) We should not participate in the Lord’s Supper if we have a wrong attitude toward a Christian brother or sister. If there is bitterness, jealousy or hatred in your heart toward someone else in this room, it is best that you don’t eat and drink with us today. If you do, I am afraid you might be eating and drinking in an unworthy manner and would be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of Jesus. Now, whether or not you choose to participate is really up to you. Paul says, “A man ought to examine himself.” It is up to each individual to determine whether or not they can partake in a manner worthy of the Lord.

4) We should approach the Lord’s Table with joy. Taking part in communion should not be a fearful experience. If we have examined ourselves and don’t see any obvious bad attitudes, we can approach the Lord’s Table with confidence knowing that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. As we do, we are reminded in our minds and hearts of the most magnificent reality in the world, God’s love and grace, given to us through the death and resurrection of His own Son, and experienced by all who trust in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 1 Corinthians 11:23-26

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In 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.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Let us enjoy a joyous communion with each other today.

What is the _______________ _______________ ?
What does it mean to “eat in an ______________ manner?”
How do I _______________ my heart?
1. _______________ 5:23,24
2. 1 _______________ 11
3. _______________ 4:27, 31
4. The _______________ of the Lord’s Supper
What does this _______________ for us?
1. The Lord’s Supper is meant for those who are _______________ .
2. We need to make sure we have _______________ _______________ with other Christians.
3. We should not participate in the Lord’s Supper if we have a wrong _______________ toward a Christian brother or sister.
4. We should approach the Lord’s Table with _______.
  1. What is the _______________ _______________ ?
  2. What does it mean to “eat in an ______________ manner?”
  3. How do I _______________ my heart?
    1. _______________ 5:23,24
    2. 1 _______________ 11
    3. _______________ 4:27, 31
    4. The _______________ of the Lord’s Supper
  4. What does this _______________ for us?
    1. The Lord’s Supper is meant for those who are _______________ .
    2. We need to make sure we have _______________ _______________ with other Christians.
    3. We should not participate in the Lord’s Supper if we have a wrong _______________ toward a Christian brother or sister.
    4. We should approach the Lord’s Table with _______.

Scriptural Truths for Today's World