Category: Sermons

How does God speak?

 Text: Exodus 3:1-6

Exodus 3 describes the commissioning and call of Moses. Little did Moses know that morning when he took his sheep out to pasture, that he would have such a significant encounter, one that would not only change his life, but would also change the lives of millions and the entire nation of Israel. But he was ready, not that he was ready to lead the Children of Israel, but he was ready for the voice of God. He was paying attention to the signs; he noticed the bush that was burning, but not being consumed. He was going about his business, being diligent and alert. God is still today looking for people who are alert, seeing the signs and being ready to respond.

What follows in the next two chapters of Exodus is one of the longest and most significant dialogues between God and man that you will find anywhere in Scripture.

After 40 years of being trained in the courts of Pharaoh in Egypt, Moses goes into a self imposed exile after murdering an Egyptian, and now at the age of 80, he is leading his father in laws flock of sheep in the desert or wilderness searching for good grazing. As he roams around he comes to a place that is known as Horeb. The name Horeb means “dry and I am sure Moses was walking around this region, he wondered if he would ever again see the wealth and fertile lands of Egypt. He was in a dry place, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

But then God spoke!

God himself calls Moses out of the Fire. “Moses! Moses!” Moses must have been scared to death, he had never heard the audible voice of God before, and he was all alone on the mountain. But Moses responds the same way as his forefathers Abraham and Jacob did before him and also the same way in which Samuel responded.

He simply said; “Here I am”. Moses was available – God is looking for people who respond when he calls still today.

What follows is the long dialogue between God and Moses. During this discourse with God, Moses is doing his best to disqualify himself for the task that God was giving him; Moses goes to great lengths arguing with God about his calling. You see Moses had been in the wilderness for so long, that he had disqualified himself in his own eyes. But God knows who he is calling, God knew exactly who Moses was, and that is the reason why he called him. Moses was suffering from a false humility that so is not uncommon today.

When God calls you, he knows you better than you know yourself, no need to remind him of your faults. But as a child of the King, when God calls you, he sees the only redeeming quality you have, he sees Jesus in you the hope of glory. Let me assure you none of us have any quality in and of ourselves that can impress God. If God calls you, do not resort to false humility, it is offensive to God, he knows what you can do. In fact false humility is the ugliest form of pride.

God still speaks today. So how does God speak? For Moses it was a fire in a bush, but what about us?

God speaks in a variety of ways:

Just because he used them in the past it doesn’t mean that he will use them again, also, he may speak in ways that he has never used before. We cannot place the omniscient God in a box, be wary of the reason given – “God has never done that before!!”

God desires and wants to communicate with people. And will not be limited to how.

• God speaks through scripture – This is our primary source for God to speak to us.

The bible is the starting point in our pursuit of a personal relationship with God, because it is His revelation of himself to mankind. God’s particular revelation of himself is in the Holy Spirit inspired word of God.

(See; Ephesians 6:17 & 2 timothy 3:16)

Having said that, God is not limited to speaking to us through the Bible, he is God after all and can speak in any way he wishes. After all God used a rooster crowing three times to speak to Peter at Jesus’ trial. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that God has limited himself to speaking through scripture. As we study the scriptures we learn about God, we grow in our relationship with him.

• God speaks through others: God will use other godly people in our lives to speak to us, we all need mentors and encouragers who will pray for us and then speak the truth in love. Isaiah 28:11.
• God speaks through circumstances – Gen 50:20. Joseph saw how God used the seemingly impossible circumstances and redeem them to his glory.
• God speaks through words of wisdom and knowledge – 1 Corinthians 12:7-9.
• The audible voice of God – 1 Kings 19:11-12 we read how God spoke to Elijah the prophet.
• God also speaks to us in that still small voice, the promptings of the Holy Spirit, Just as we discussed a few weeks ago on Pentecost Sunday. Knowing and being sensitive to that inner voice of God. That is living by the Spirit of God.
• God still speaks in Dreams; the life of Daniel was one filled with dreams and interpretation. But today we are hearing stories of thousands of Muslims who are encountering Jesus in a dream and being converted.
• Sermons- my prayer every week is that you don’t come here to hear the words of a somewhat educated man, but that you would be moved into action by the words of God as He speaks to you Sunday by Sunday.

But with all these and many more ways in which God speaks we must be very careful to test and make sure that it is the voice of God. Remember God will never contradict Scripture; the Word of God is still our standard. God will also not ask us to do anything that does not exalt the name of Jesus.

You may say, “well I don’t hear god speaking – he doesn’t speak to me – “

You are not alone in feeling this way, but the truth is that God does speak to you – you are just not listening – Remember PSALM 46:10:” Be still and know that I am God.” Just be quiet and let him speak!

But we find another piece of valuable guidance from Paul in Philippians 4:8. Think on these things – again as we meditate on scripture, and the things of the Lord, we are able to better hear his voice. The truth is that we tend to think about things that we focus on. Sometimes this is not always bad – but for example if you constantly listen to talk radio you will probably become depressed and make plans to move to Argentina. In our society we have an incredible access to information – not all bad – but not all edifying and up building. I am not saying that you need to become a monk – but rather limit your time dwelling on things that are not part of God’s plan and will for your life.

Proverbs 4:23 states; “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

If the goal of our lives is to become more like Christ we need to take this seriously. How do we know the will of God for our lives? Paul makes it very clear in Romans 12:2.

So I encourage you this morning to develop a lifestyle of listening to God, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead you and guide you. Start a prayer journal and write down what you feel God is saying, test it and be obedient to God.

Why does God speak?

Text: 1 Samuel 3:1-21

Sometime in their lives every Christian asks the question; “how can I know the will of God for my life?” or “does God speak to me?” The answer is yes!

So we begin the series with the question; why does God speak? And our text is the well known story of the calling of the prophet Samuel.

This is such a wonderful story of God revealing Himself to humanity. This story highlights a turning point in the nation of Israel and their history. The period of the Judges was coming to an end, roughly 350 years around 1000 years before Christ, and the Lord began speaking on a regular basis through prophets as the era of the kings was ushered in. Samuel is a wonderful example to us of someone who was attentive and waiting on the Lord. He responded quickly each time the Lord called him and ran to Eli. It reveals a lot about his character and his eagerness to serve.

According to the ancient Historian Josephus, Samuel was about 12 yrs old at the time and he had been in the temple for 9 or 10 years.

The first verse of our text says that the word of the Lord was rare in those days. During the period of the Judges we only have recorded 2 prophets and 5 revelations. But all that was to change with this young boy Samuel, a young man who was eager to serve the Lord.

The part of the account in Samuel that is left out when we tell children this story is the fact of the sin of eli’s sons, Phinehas and Hophni, they had abused the privilege and responsibility of serving in the house of the Lord, and the Lord had rejected them as we read in chapter 2. They did not recognize the word of the Lord and rejected the correction of their father. But the Lord chose to reveal himself to Samuel, this young 12 year old had the humility and perspective that God was looking for, someone who could be used by God in a mighty way.

There are two primary reasons why God spoke to Samuel and these same reasons apply to us today;

1. God speaks so that we can develop a relationship with him and know him as our heavenly father. Up until this point in time, Samuel did not know God, he did not recognize the voice of God, but as he became aware of the voice of God he grew in his relationship with him. The same applies to us, as we begin to recognize the voice of God, we learn more about his character and nature and we grow in our relationship with him.

2. To call people respond to him in obedience and to commit their lives to serving him” This account in the life of Samuel was his commissioning into the ministry of being a prophet, a spokesman for God to the people.
   

God is personally calling people today who are waiting on Him to proclaim His word. God is calling people from all walks of life and all spheres of society to be his spokesman in their area of influence.

Today we are blessed by what Jesus did on the cross and the indwelling Holy Spirit. God speaks to each one of us individually. We need to position ourselves to hear from the Lord, being attentive and willing to respond when He does speak to us. It is important to note that God does not speak to us for our benefit only, but rather it is usually in order to instruct us to do something that will have an eternal impact in the Kingdom of God.

So how do we hear the voice of God? Today God primarily speaks to us through His word; the inspired word of God. As we read the Bible and meditate on the message of the Bible, the Holy Spirit reveals it to us. God also speaks to us through His Spirit in what we often refer to as the “Still small voice”, as mentioned last week, as a believer you have the Holy Spirit in you and is the promised Parakletos, the Counselor, or Advocate, or Helper.

It is always so interesting to remember that we tell children that prayer is a conversation with God and then we somehow forget that somewhere along the way. Prayer is a conversation, and in order for a conversation to take place, you need to be silent as the Psalmist reminds us; “Be still and know that I am God” Psalm 46:10

I always have a journal during my early morning times with the Lord and I write down what He says to me, this is the developing of the relationship with God, he speaks through his word and through the Holy Spirit. Other examples of God speaking to us are through circumstances, through other Christians, or through nature. God is not limited by our understanding of Him and we need to be constantly attentive to hear His voice.

Remember the two reasons why God speaks to us;

1) To reveal God, his character and nature.

2) To give council and instruct us to do something.

Jesus speaking to his disciples in John 15:26 and 27 said; “²⁶When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me, ²⁷and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.”

There we have it in the words of Jesus, “He will testify about me” and then “you will testify also” because you have been with me – we can know God, God is knowable because of what Jesus did on the cross. God reveals himself to us and as we learn about him, trust him and grow in our love for him, we then begin to testify about him and tell others of the wonderful privilege we have in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

What about you? Are you growing in your relationship with God? Or are you going about your life living a dead religion like Eli did, doing all the correct rituals, but have no relationship with God.

Be filled with the Spirit – Our Counselor and Guide

Text: Acts 2:29-39

Life is made up of a series of decisions, in order to make the best decisions you need a guide, a counselor. What if I told you that you have available to you someone who knows you better than anyone else, someone who knows the future, someone who actually has a plan for your life, a plan to prosper you in all spheres of life and not to harm you.

I am talking about the Holy Spirit, our promised counselor and guide. When Jesus was preparing his disciples for his departure he promised them that he would send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7).

The departure of Jesus was necessary—though painful and difficult—for the disciples.

Before he ascended, Jesus told them to stay in Jerusalem, to stay and wait for the gift that the Father has promised (Acts 1:4). Can you imagine the fear and uncertainty of this group? The only thing holding them together was the promise of Jesus that a Counselor and advocate would come to them, and that they must simply wait. What faith that must have taken.

The tenth day after the ascension was the celebration on the Jewish calendar called the day of Pentecost (Leviticus 23). But for the disciples and the followers of Jesus the day started out just like the other nine that had gone before it. It was not their normal Pentecost celebration.

As they were all gathered together in that place suddenly the sound of a mighty wind came from heaven and filled the whole house. Then what seemed to be tongues of fire came and rested on each of their heads. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages. This is what Jesus had promised this is what John the Baptist had prophesied about. In an instant the church was born.

Suddenly they are filled with incredible boldness and began to declare the glories of God to those who were in the streets around them. They were so excited and filled with the presence of God that they worshipped God, told of his greatness, declared his praises. They were not preaching the Gospel, it was not a message of repentance rather it was a message declaring who God is to the people who had gathered in Jerusalem from all around the known world in order to celebrate the Pentecost festival. It is important to note that when the Holy Spirit came, he brought glory and honor to God the Father. Today when the Holy Spirit comes in a tangible and powerful way in meetings or a gathering of believers, it is not to bring glory to man or to emphasize the presence of the Holy Spirit, rather it is to bring Glory to God. The first indication of a true move of the Holy Spirit is the praise and worship of God.

But in Jerusalem on this day, there were people from 15 different regions as mentioned in Acts 2:9-11, and they each heard the praises of God in their own language. No doubt it created confusion and certainly some mocking as the Word says, but then Peter stands up and as he had already stood out as the group’s leader, he began to address the crowd. The account by Luke in the book of Acts goes on to say that the believers grew by about 3000 people that day. The church was born, the church of well over a billion people today and one that is still continuing to grow at an ever increasingly rapid rate as the day of our Lords return comes nearer. What a remarkable display of the power of God.

One of the primary roles of the Holy Spirit is to convict people of their sins (Acts 2:37). In all the great revivals in history and the great moves of the Holy Spirit, it starts with worship and acknowledging who God is, in all his glory and power, but then the Holy Spirit begins to convict of sin, because the Holiness of God cannot be found in the presence of sin. Repentance is the natural and following step leading to revival.

The remarkable thing to notice about the work of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost was the unity of the believers. There was an unusual unity there that time, the church was founded on different nations, languages and cultures coming together in unity (see 1 Corinthians 12:13).

Today we like labels, it helps us understand the bias or viewpoint of others; Liberal, Conservative, Pentecostal, Evangelical, Charismatic, Reformed, Orthodox, protestant, Spirit filled, etc, the list goes on and unfortunately these classifications do not bring unity rather they have brought division and even incredibly bloody wars over the centuries.

The good news is that in heaven we won’t be known as Baptists, Methodists, Pentecostal or any other name we will simply be known as children of the living God. We as a church must become focused on the Word of God bringing unity in the greater body of Christ and getting about the task that Jesus gave us to do, that is to preach the Gospel to all the people groups of the world, starting with our community.

The Holy Spirit is a special gift from God. When you believe in Jesus Christ and you make him Lord of your life, you receive the Holy Spirit; a deposit and a seal of the promises of God (Ephesians 1:13). The Holy Spirit is a wonderful supernatural gift. In Matthew 13 Jesus speaking about the Kingdom, mentions a man who discovered a pearl of great price, he gave everything he had to buy this precious jewel. In the same way in order for us to gain the full benefit and blessing of the gift of the Holy Spirit, we need to give up everything in order to attain the prize. Every moment of our lives, every possession, every thought, the love of the world and the love of pleasure; we need to forsake all in order to allow the Holy Spirit to completely work in and through our lives.

In order to be completely led by the spirit as your counselor and guide, you need to release control of your life to God. Allowing him full access to your life, you will see and experience more of the power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit does not simply invade your life and force you to become a super spiritual warrior who never sins. We will only feel and know the presence of the Holy Spirit as much as we submit to him in our lives.

The best life is one led by the Holy Spirit, abandoned to his will and plans for your life. You will find that as you live by the Holy Spirit, you will experience a life of adventure, peace and fulfillment unlike anything you could ever imagine.

 

 Text 2 Timothy 1:1-10

Timothy was a young man from Lystra which is in modern day Turkey. Timothy’s father was a Greek, but his mother was a Jewish Christian. It is likely that Paul led Timothy to faith in Jesus Christ when he visited Lystra on his missionary Journeys, and on his second visit to the town, he asked Timothy to join him on his missionary journeys. This is true discipleship; Paul takes Timothy along with him, showing him the good and the bad times. It is one thing to allow a young person into your life and say you will nurture them in their Christian walk, but it is a totally different scenario when you invite them to walk beside you and see how you respond in both the good and the bad times. Real Discipleship does not happen in the Sunday school class, it happens in the streets and in the community.

Paul was encouraging Timothy to endure hardship and not run away from it (verse 8). Paul was not asking Timothy to do something that he was not prepared to do himself. We need to be careful not to encourage younger believers to do things that we are not prepared to do ourselves.

Let us ensure that our lives are the testimony that others want to emulate as they follow our example.

Paul obviously knew Timothy really well and knew that he had a tendency to be timid and fearful. Paul had seen Timothy in ministry and knew that he had been given a pastoral gift by God; he was concerned that Timothy was not using and cultivating this gift.

When we become a true follower of Jesus Christ and make him Lord of our lives the Holy Spirit comes and lives in us, and gives us spiritual gifts, we each have them. But we need to put them into practice and exercise these gifts, cultivating them for the glory of God. We need to cultivate our spiritual gifts by serving and being obedient to the prompting of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

How we need this today, not just in our own lives but this needs to be something that we intentionally speak about and cultivate in the next generation of believers. The Christian life is not easy; it is the narrow road and one that has many challenges. If we are telling people about Jesus and promising them that he will solve all their problems then we are being misleading. Jesus himself said in Matthew 16:24; “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

This is the life that Paul was speaking about when he was encouraging Timothy to not be timid or fearful.

There are many intimidating things in this world but do not have to be timid or fearful, because we know that Jesus Christ won the victory on the cross and as a result we don’t have to fear what man could do, we are even delivered from the very fear of death.

One of the most powerful and effective weapons that Satan has in his arsenal is the weapon of fear, but if we are secure in Jesus Christ as our foundation, fear does not have to have any hold on us.

Fear has prevented many Christians from experiencing all that God intends for you in your life. Fear of death, fear of failure, fear of financial loss, fear of tomorrow – and the list goes on and on. Fear’s goal is to create a cowardly, joyless soul. He wants you to take your eyes off the mountain peak and settle for the dull existence of the flat lands. We need to live fearless as we live by faith. Satan has been overcome and Jesus won the victory on the cross (Hebrews 13:6).

Many of us have a wonderful heritage of faith that we have received from our parents and grandparents, much like Timothy who received his example from his mother and grandmother. But the role of parents is to shelter and protect, make sure that our children are not hurt or exposed to anything that might create pain.

But Paul here as the spiritual father of Timothy, sees things from a different perspective he sees things in the light of eternity, and the fact that risking it all now for the sake of the Gospel is the best way to spend our lives in order to receive an eternal reward.

A recent pew report showed that many of the younger generations are leaving the church. Why is this we ask ourselves? The truth is that young people today want to be challenged and want to have a cause worth dying for. They are bored with the neatly packaged professional church Christianity. That holds no appeal to them because they don’t see how it impacts and changes lives. They read about the great missionaries of the past, Hudson Taylor, William Carey, Adoniram Judson and others and they want that life, a cause worth dying for. The church needs to become a risk taking movement and relies on God for direction and power.

Who is your timothy? Who are you setting example for?

Remember two things;

Firstly: that the person you are training and encouraging, needs to see in your life the example of faith and reckless abandon. Not fearing man or anything that man could say or do. Then your “Timothy” will take to heart quickly everything you say and do.

Secondly: make sure that you do not become overprotective, trust the Lord for the development of that person; you cannot do what only God can do. Your role is to expose that person to the truth in word and deed and then allow them to go and try out their wings.

You may feel inadequate; you can quickly point to all your own failings and weaknesses. Well I have good news for you; “God only uses weak and broken people” He can use you to as long as you are willing.

Ask God to bring someone into your life that you can nurture and disciple.

Text: Ephesians 2:1-10

 In our churches today, unfortunately we have Christians who do not fully realize this life. The degree to which we as the church are fully alive, determines our effectiveness of bringing life and salvation to our community.

Being led by the spirit we will be truly alive and as a result our community will be changed for the glory of God.

Are you truly alive? Are you truly living your life? Or are you going through life as one who is just getting by, getting through this life, but numbed by the cares and entertainment of the world.

Jesus said in John 10:10 that Satan wants to kill and destroy, but Jesus came to give us life, true life now, and the ultimate promise of life after death.

 The Bible talks constantly about truly living, being alive in Christ. (See; Romans 6:1) He is the life! Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

When we allow Jesus to be the Lord of our life, he comes in by the Holy Spirit and brings truth to the way, and abundant life.

 “without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living” 

Thomas A Kempis;

 Today the world is full of people who have no spiritual life; they have natural life and eat regularly to keep that in order; people have intellectual life, reading and learning new information; people have emotional life, and love others as a result; people have social lives and struggle to keep their social status in line with their neighbors. People have a business life, and keep their work and business with diligence. But yet in everyone there is a spiritual void that yearns for true spiritual life and this can only be found in the giver of life Jesus Christ. Are you truly alive?

 We think and talk of Christianity as a changed life, or a series of changes that we must make in order to become a better Christian. But we cannot earn our salvation; there is nothing we can do to earn the love and forgiveness of God. God does not offer us a changed life, he offers us the exchanged life, the life of Jesus substituted for our own. We don’t have to produce the perfect Christian life, it is the life of Christ that he produces in us, our role is to release the control that we are trying to have on our life and allow God to transform us.

 You may know about the life of William Borden, a Yale graduate and heir to great wealth, he rejected a life of ease in order to bring the gospel to Muslims. Refusing even to buy himself a car, Borden gave away hundreds of thousands of dollars to missions. He felt called to the Muslim people of northern China, and after attending Yale he stopped at Egypt in order to learn Arabic. After only four months of zealous ministry in Egypt, he con­tracted spinal meningitis and died at the age of twenty-five on April 9, 1913.

The inscription on his grave in Cairo ended with a phrase: “Apart from faith in Christ, there is no explanation for such a life.”

After his death, Borden’s Bible was found and given to his parents. In it they found in one place the words “No Reserve” and a date placing the note shortly after he renounced his fortune in favor of missions. At a later point, he had written “No Retreat”, dated shortly after his father told him that he would never let him work in the company ever again. Shortly before he died in Egypt, he added the phrase “No Regrets.”No Reserves. No Retreats. No Regrets. And I would add; but truly alive!

 I can talk all day about the need to live in new life and to be fully alive but how do we live this way?

Paul writes in Galatians 5 about the “life by the Spirit”. Paul explains the difference between living according to the flesh and living according to the spirit. We know verses22 and 23 very well; “²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Note Paul says fruit – singular. This fruit is the byproduct of a life that is submitted to God and one that is dead to self.

 We often pray for individual aspects of the fruit of the spirit, we pray for patience and peace and we pray for self control, when all the time God is offering us a life where the fruit of the spirit is complete as we live by the Spirit of God. Look at the common theme here – verse 16 says; “walk by the Spirit” and verse 18 says; “Led by the Spirit” We need to live lives attuned to the Holy Spirit and alive to Christ. Paul clarifies this in verse 24 and 25 of Galatians 5; “²⁴ those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.” As we are led by the Spirit in our lives, the process of becoming more like Christ takes place and we are transformed into living beings who display the fruit of the Spirit.

 They key here is to stop trying to be better Christians or better people, working harder at being good. We are trying rather than trusting. Trying to be a good Christian, rather than trusting Jesus for our new life in Christ. Watchman Nee wrote that the difference between trusting and trying is the difference between heaven and hell.

 Without faith it is impossible to please God, we need to live a life of faith that is completely given over to Christ for him to be our way, our Truth and our life. Sadly Christianity has been known for a list of rules and things that we should not do, rather than the abundant life that Jesus offers to rich and free. Romans 6:23 states that our salvation is a free gift from God that we can do nothing to earn. When we lay down our own efforts that in many ways are driven by pride, and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us to become more like Christ in our everyday life, we will truly experience life and life to the full.

William Wallace the Scottish hero once said; “every man dies, but not every man really lives”

Are you really living?

He is Risen – the power of the resurrection

Text: 1 Corinthians 15:1-8

I love resurrection Sunday, spring is evident everywhere, the trees are blooming and new life is all around. It is as if nature celebrates our risen Lord along with us.

 “Our Lord has written the promise of the resurrection, not in books alone, but in every leaf in spring-time.”

Martin Luther

 But two thousand years ago the followers of Jesus must have been emotionally destroyed; their best friend and their hope for future glory had been humiliated and killed like a common criminal. Jesus had done so many powerful miracles, but he simply did not respond to any of the questioning or the beatings. Why did he not perform a miracle? They must have watched him on the cross and hoped against hope that he would finally do something. Maybe they thought that Jesus was waiting for the right moment to get down off the cross and begin to conquer the might of the Roman Empire. But that was not to be. They heard Jesus cry; “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me. They went home that Friday night devastated and hopeless.

But then Sunday comes! Slowly the news is spread. First Mary, then the disciples saw for themselves that the stone had been rolled away and the body was missing. The angel appeared and told them that they were looking in the wrong place, Jesus was not amongst the dead, but alive. Jesus appears to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, and then Jesus meets with the disciples in Galilee and after that to over 500 people.

In this text, Paul was writing to the Corinthian Church and needed to set some things straight. Corinth was a Greek city and the Greeks did not believe in the resurrection of the dead. The Greek philosophers considered the human body to be a prison and that nothing good is to be found in the flesh. Thus when you die, you were delivered from bondage, there was no resurrection. This attitude had invaded the church and still does today in the form of Gnostic heresies.

In the first 8 verses of chapter 15 Paul reminds the reader that this is the Gospel that he has been preaching all along, and they had believed him. What he received he passed on to them, not as a suggested way of life, but as of first importance! This was vital truth, Jesus Died, he was crucified and buried, but on the third day God raised him back to life and he lived on the earth for another 40 days appearing to many people, eating with them, touching him it was their reality and not a temporary dream.

Jesus is alive; this was not some mystical event or made up story. Paul highlights 3 proofs of the resurrection.

• Firstly their own salvation. The people believed in the gospel message and their lives were changed, a dead savior cannot save anyone. The fact that they were standing firm in their faith was proof that Jesus was alive.
• Secondly Paul refers to the Old Testament scriptures, but note he clarifies that Christ died for our sins in verse 3. Many historians will recount the fact that Jesus died, but his death was different, he died for our sins. Many people were crucified, but only the pure spotless son of God could die for the sins of the world. When Paul referred to the Old Testament scriptures, he was also looking at scriptures such as Leviticus 16 where the law stipulated the requirement of a sacrifice for sins, and also he would be referring to the great Isaiah 53 and the suffering servant, pointing to Jesus as the fulfillment of these scriptures in incredible accuracy.
• And finally Paul points to the witnesses; the disciples, James, over 500 people and finally Paul himself all saw Jesus in his risen form. Every encounter with the risen Lord led to a transformed life.

Since then resurrection is so important, it is no wonder it is the focus of attacks by Satan to cover it up and deceive people regarding the truth of the resurrection. Notice that the chief priests and the Pharisees wanted to make sure that the tomb was sealed and that Jesus was not removed from the tomb by his followers (Matthew 27:64). When the soldiers came and reported to the chief priests that the tomb had been opened, with a bright light and an earthquake that the body of Jesus was not in the tomb, the chief priests hurriedly paid them to change their story and fabricated a rumor that became widely told.

If Satan had been able to produce the body of Jesus then the story of Jesus and Christianity would have remained a dead religion and stayed in the tomb. But Jesus is alive and every sermon that the early church preached was about the resurrection- and that should be the theme and cry from every street corner and pulpit today. Jesus is alive! Jesus never said I am the cross, I am the dead sacrificial lamb, no; he said I am the way, the truth and the life. The bodily resurrection of Jesus is the determining factor in our salvation; it is our hope of glory.

The reason there is so little faith in the church today, the reason there is so little power in the church today is because we have forgotten the power and the promise of the resurrection. The power of the resurrection is available to all those who are the children of God. But we have to lay aside our own lives; we need to realize that to gain the power and the benefit of the resurrection we need to die to our own abilities and our own prideful self (Matthew 16:25).

Our lives are so wrapped up with the temporal, we struggle to make ends meet, or we struggle to pay off the debt we got into because we just had to have that new car or the latest cell phone, why? Just so that we can be noticed or have the latest gadgets. On this side of the resurrection everything is temporary; everything that we are striving to have will not be around in eternity. Only the things that we cannot see are eternal. An encounter with Jesus makes all the difference, our perspective changes; we begin to see things from an eternal perspective. The resurrection makes all the difference. Have you encountered Jesus?

Text: Luke 19:28-44

 Today we celebrate what is commonly known as Palm Sunday, it is a wonderful part of scripture as our Lord is exalted and worshipped, we love this part of the Gospel account. Jesus even tells the Pharisees that if the people keep quiet then the very stones on the ground will cry out. Nature itself recognizes its creator. Up until this point in his 3 years of ministry Jesus had tried to keep his identity somewhat hidden.

Every spring, hundreds of Hollywood “stars” gather for the Academy Awards. Very few “slip in the back door:” instead, they make an entrance. They walk down the long red carpet, smiling at the cameras and waving to the people in the, showing off their clothing, chatting with the reporters. Some will go to great, great lengths just to be noticed.

Contrast that with Jesus: to the man healed of leprosy in Matt. 8, He said: “See that you don’t tell anyone.” To the two blind men He healed in Matt. 9, He, “warned them sternly, ‘See that no one knows about this.’” And in Mark 1, a demon possessing man in Capernaum yelled out “I know who you are – the Holy One of God!”, to which Jesus replied “Be quiet!” Jesus often chose not to be in the limelight. In fact, most of Jesus ministry happened outside of the capital city of Jerusalem, away from the big pomp and ceremony of the Temple, in small towns and villages along the way. Until today. Until the event we know as “The Triumphal Entry,” the day we remember each year as Palm Sunday. This day all of that changes. Now, we see Jesus entering the city of Jerusalem being proclaimed as Messiah and King.

But I want to draw your attention today to verse 41; “As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it” Why did Jesus weep on such a joyous occasion? And what does this mean for us today?

We see in the preceding verses the fascinating account of how Jesus obtained a young colt to ride on, His disciples dutifully obeyed and went and got him this wild animal that had never been ridden before. It must have been strange for them, because we are not told anywhere else that Jesus ever rode a donkey. But riding into the city was a public declaration that Jesus was a king coming in peace – The Prince of Peace. Five hundred years earlier, the prophet Zechariah prophesied about this moment in history (Zech 9:9).

But then the mood shifts, something dramatic takes place. Jesus abruptly stops and begins to cry out loud.

The mood in the crowd changed the person they were praising and celebrating suddenly begins wailing. There must have been an awkward silence, but why was Jesus crying?

As Jesus looked at Jerusalem and he saw the eager faces of those around him, he was overcome by the awareness of their emptiness. They were empty because they had not heard the truth of his message; they did not understand the true purpose of his coming to earth. They had eyes, but they did not see, and ears but they did not hear.

As Jesus looked at Jerusalem, he wept because it had destroyed itself. Wherever Jesus looked he found a reason to weep.

• As he looked back; he saw a nation that had missed his coming, and had wasted its opportunities.
• As he looked within the hearts of the people he saw spiritual blindness and a hardness of their hearts, they had all the signs and the prophets to convince them, but they still rejected him.
• As Jesus looked around he saw a lot of dead religious activity that was not accomplishing anything. The temple, which he was about to clean out, had become a den of thieves, and the city was full of people celebrating Passover with little understanding of its true meaning.
• As Jesus looked ahead, he saw the City of David that was shortly about to come under attack and judgment. Jesus knew that in 70 years time the city would be under siege by the Romans for 143 days. The end result of the siege was destruction of the city and the Temple leaving about 600 000 Jews dead.

And all this because the people did not recognize the time of Jesus’ coming. The tragedy of the national disaster could have been averted. But Jesus knew that judgment must come and that rejection of the Word of God, who is Jesus, ultimately leads to punishment. It grieved Jesus because of his great love for the lost, the people he came to save.

Today as we sit here what does Jesus see as he looks at the hearts and minds of all of us sitting here? Is he grieved because we are going about the motions of church? Is he grieved because we are so encumbered by the weight of the problems of the world that we have no faith or time for a relationship with him?

Does He see people concerned about so many things; worried about income taxes, worried about job security worried about their health, or lack of it? Does He see people who are so busy doing things, so busy that they never bother to consider those things that are eternally important?

As Jesus looks out over us, does he see a people who acknowledge and receive the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of the living God? …. Or does he weep, because of the lost opportunities for a deeper relationship with him.

Jesus calls out to us today just the same was as he did over the city of Jerusalem; we read again in verse 42; ““If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace..”

If Only! If only you would see and acknowledge the true risen Lord, and stop living a life of performance and religion. If only you would stop trying to be good enough for God, you cannot be good enough, you don’t have to be, Jesus Died so that you are forgiven and nothing you can do is good enough to earn the grace of God. If Jesus was to walk in here in the flesh, would he stop next to your chair and weep over you and say; “if only”.

Do you just follow Jesus because of his miracles and what you can get from him? Or do you truly have a relationship with the King of Kings and it brings you peace that is beyond understanding. Do you follow Jesus because it is your tradition? Do you follow Jesus because that is what you have always been taught to do? Do you truly recognize him for who he is?

You know, the last book in the Bible tells us that Jesus is coming back again, and this time he will be coming back as the warrior King on a white horse (Revelation 19), and on that day there will be no doubt who is Lord, every knee will bow before him and every tongue confess that he is God.

You don’t want to wait till that day before you acknowledge him as Lord of your life. Make the choice today, you may be a long time attendee and member here at Grace Point, but you know that you do not have the relationship with Jesus that he offers to you, something is missing, you are dry in your spirit. Make that decision today, Jesus is weeping for you.