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Sermon, Sunday February 27, 2022 – I AM

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How often do you think about your name?

Research seems to suggest that your name has a significant impact on your life. People are judged by their names based on past positive or negative experiences.

Jesus identified himself with many different metaphors during his ministry. We will be looking at these “I am” statements over the next few weeks.  

In John 8, Jesus was addressing a group of Jewish religious leaders. The interaction was becoming aggressive, and Jesus was not holding back. In fact, in verse 44 he accused the religious leaders of being children of Satan. In return, they called him a demon possessed Samaritan in verse 48. For a Jew to be called a Samaritan was the ultimate insult.

Jesus doesn’t seem moved by their insults, and he immediately makes a profound statement, “…if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death.” John 8:51.

The religious leaders go back to the father of the nation, Abraham, and the fact that he died and so did all the prophets. Essentially asking Jesus, “Who do you think you are?”

Jesus responds in John 8:54-56 with some incredible statements.

Firstly, Jesus told them that God is his father, while Abraham is their father.  Every Jew would say that Abraham was their father, Jesus was beginning to reveal his true identity.

Then he said that Abraham saw him in that day. How did Abraham “see” our Lord’s Day, that is, his life and ministry on earth? This is answered in Hebrews 11:10.

God did not give Abraham some special vision of our Lord’s life and ministry, but He did give him the spiritual perception to “see” these future events that he was hoping for in faith.

They begin to understand where Jesus is going and push back with logic in verse 57, “…You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?”

Jesus makes a simple statement that causes the room to go into chaos, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.”

Jesus was declaring his eternal nature, his pre-creation eternal existence. He was and is God.

Their response was understandable under the Mosaic law. Jesus had committed blasphemy and deserved to die. They picked up stones to kill him, but Jesus supernaturally evaded their attack. His hour had not yet come.

Jesus was directly revealing himself to the religious leaders, but they were blinded by their religion. The same is true for many people who attend churches all over the world today. They have a knowledge of Jesus, they have religion, but they have no relationship with the Lord. They have no desire to have a daily growing relationship with Jesus.

These religious leaders are the people who crucified Jesus Christ. Jesus called them the children of the devil. Whose child are you? (John 1:11-12).

Why was Jesus’ statement so provocative? (“before Abraham was, I am”)

To understand this, we need to go back to Exodus 3, and the call of God to Moses. God tells Moses to go to Pharoah and instruct him to release the children of Israel. Moses asks God for His name in order to let the people and Pharoah know under who’s authority he was speaking to them. This leads to the most powerful revelation of God in the Bible up to this point, “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Exodus 3:14)

Up to this point in the Bible, God has been called in the Hebrew, Elohim which means God. But now God says, “I am WHO I am.”

“I am” is present tense. God has no past, present or future, everything about God is the eternal present.

The two words “I am” are pronounced in Hebrew as havah, and in verse 14, God identifies himself as, “Yahweh has sent you”. From this time onwards God is known by this statement, “I am Yahweh” this is the name God calls himself. A name that is so holy that most Hebrew people do not even pronounce it.  The Hebrew people would regard the name as so Holy they would simply say Adonai, meaning, Lord.

The name of God, “Yahweh”, speaks of his eternal existence, his majesty, and his nearness. What a promise for Moses as he considered the call of God on his life.

Jesus declared that he is, “I AM”, and even speaking in Aramaic, the religious leaders determined that he was blaspheming the name of God, and they determined to end his life by stoning him. This was in keeping with the Old Testament law found in Leviticus 24:14.

But it’s not blasphemy if it’s true. And it is true. Jesus is “I AM!”

We learn four things from this declaration of Jesus.

1. Jesus is God

Jesus was born of a virgin, conceived by the Holy Spirit. He did not carry the sin nature that was passed down to all generations through Adam. Jesus knew no sin, and as a result his sacrifice on the cross for our sins was perfect and sufficient to atone for all our sins.

2. Jesus saves.

In the Exodus, Yahweh kept his promise and led the children of Israel out of slavery, across the Red Sea and ultimately into the promise land.

The name, “Jesus”, in Hebrew is “Yeshua”, which means, “Yahweh Saves”.

Jesus leads us out of slavery to sin and ultimately into the Promised Land of eternity in his New Kingdom where we will be with him forever.

3. Jesus is present.

The “I AM” is forever present. He is with you right now. If you are a follower of Jesus, you have the presence of the Spirit of Christ in your life, you are never alone.

4. Jesus will give us his name.

In Revelation 22, John is given a vision of our life in the new kingdom. And in verse 4 he writes, “They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads.”

Will you have the name of Jesus on your forehead in that day?

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Sermon, Sunday January 31 2021 – The Sanctity of Life

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Psalm 8

Do you know your net worth?

What if I told you that your net worth is infinitely more than you can imagine?

It may shock you that in America today there is an abortion every 96 seconds, or 2362 Lives taken every day. As tragic as that is, there is a sinister and extremely worrying shift that has taken place in our world today. With an increase in atheism and godless narcissism, life is under attack at both ends of the spectrum, the unborn, the elderly, and even the disabled.

When it comes to the sanctity of life, Psalm 8 has a poignant message for us. No other Psalm draws attention to the dignity and value of mankind as this one. It begins and ends with worship, placing God the creator of all things, at the place of ultimate worship and glory.

In verse 2, the Psalm then takes a sharp turn, from the glory and majesty of God, to the weak and helpless babies and infants. Of all the scriptures speaking to the sanctity of human life, this one gives us the clearest evidence of why Satan is on a mission to destroy the unborn. Abortion is not a decision regarding freedom of choice, it is a war against the giver of life Himself.

Jesus himself quoted this verse in Matthew 21. He had just cleared the temple of the money changers and the traders, there was pandemonium, and the children were running around the temple shouting, “hosanna to the son of David!”. The chief priests are furious, but Jesus simply quotes this verse and leaves.

There is tremendous power in the prayer and praises of innocent children. If you are struggling to pray, invite your children into the prayer time.  There is power in the praises of children to break down spiritual walls of opposition. Satan quakes at the sound of children praying.

In 2007 we took a mission planning trip to Philadelphia as a family. Joshua was ten days old at the time. On one of the days, we decided to visit some historic sites and took the tour of Independence hall, the room where the declaration of independence was adopted on July 4th, 1776. As we were listening to the tour guide, he wanted to find the youngest person in the room. Joshua was by far the youngest and Debbie took him to the front. As he looked at Joshua, he made his point, “here is the person in the room with the greatest potential”.

At the time we thought his statement was quite special, but Joshua’s life has been filled with challenges. He has Autism, Epilepsy, and a host of other diagnoses. On two occasions, we have sat at his hospital bed, not sure if he was going to wake up.

Today, does Joshua still have that potential?

We say, “absolutely”, the fact that the enemy tried to destroy him, points to the fact that God has a special calling and purpose for his life. Every life is valuable and has unlimited potential when given over to the calling and purposes of God.

The Psalmist then goes back to gazing at the magnificence of the universe – the general revelation of God (Psalm 8:3-4). If you are struggling to worship and encounter God in your daily life, take a few minutes on a cloudless night and look up at the sky. Within a few moments you will be worshipping as you see a glimpse of the magnificence of God.

The next two verses of the Psalm seem jarring considering the world we live in today. Some educators and environmentalists tell us that the world would be perfect, if only mankind was eliminated. According to them, man is the problem, the weak link in the order of things.

Considering what we see in Hebrews 2, we know that Psalm 8, is a messianic Psalm. Verses 5 and 6 find their fulfillment in Jesus. When Jesus died and rose again, God put all things under his authority (Hebrews 2:8).

It was God’s original plan in Genesis chapter 1 for mankind to have dominion over creation.

But when Adam sinned, he lost that dominion. The original sin damaged the original design. Instead of being a king, mankind has become a slave.

When Jesus came, he began to show us the original design of God. Jesus displayed in many miraculous ways, the power and dominion that he has over creation, by calming storms, commanding fish, walking on water, multiplying food and much more.  The fact that Jesus died and rose again, is all the assurance we need that one day, when he returns, his people will reign over a renewed earth. Jesus is the firstborn of the new creation; he has the first resurrected body that is incorruptible and eternal.

What makes mankind so incredibly valuable, is that we are created in the image of God and as followers of Jesus, we have been adopted by God and have become co-heirs with Christ. God places no greater value on any other part of creation.

Post-modern teaching has lowered man to an animal and rejected the image of God in creation. All around us, we are seeing the effects of this because we don’t see human beings as being created in the image of God.

Whenever you are tempted to gossip or speak angrily to someone, remember they are created in the image of God. Next time you are tempted to dismiss someone or look down on them for their dress or personal decisions, remember that they are created in the image of God and God views them with incredible love and value.

This applies to all people, the unbeliever, the criminal, the homosexual, the disabled, the elderly, those suffering from Alzheimer’s or any other debilitating illness, it does not matter. God puts priceless value on every human being. Even those that the world says are of no value.

The value of something is based on the price someone is willing to pay for it.

How much is someone willing to pay for you?

Your creator has demonstrated your value (Romans 5:8).

Jesus gave his life for you and he redeemed you.  The cost of your redemption was the perfect priceless spotless lamb of God.

You are infinitely valuable (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).

How does this fact change the way you view yourself and the people in your life?

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January 17, 2021 The Power in Weakness

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2 Corinthians 12:1-10

How easily do you admit to weakness?

If you ever want to have me do something, just tell me I cannot do it.

If I am struggling to complete a household project, Debbie knows that I will be annoyed if she says, “why don’t you hire a professional to do that?” What? Now you have just thrown down the gauntlet.

Our culture despises weakness and values people based on their physical and intellectual strength. As we read the scriptures, we see a paradox. In the kingdom of God, there is power in weakness (Psalm 8:2).

The Apostle Paul was arguably the greatest theologian, church planter and missionary in history. Yet, he understood the power in weakness.  In 2 Corinthians 11:30 he wrote, “If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.” This is not false humility, the apostle understood something we do not.

As Paul goes to great lengths to diminish his own stature, he is aware of the power of God working through him.

To keep him from being conceited, Paul wrote that God gave him a “thorn in the flesh” (2 Corinthians 12:7). There is good reason why we do not know the specific nature of this thorn, because whatever ailments and challenges we experience, Paul’s thorn becomes our thorn, and we can identify with his struggles.

We do not know what the thorn in the flesh was, but we must never forget that God allowed it. Satan would never do something to keep someone from being prideful, that is the opposite of what he does. God is in control and allowing your thorn in the flesh for his purposes and his glory.

CS Lewis wrote, “we can ignore even pleasure, but pain insists on being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

God used Paul’s thorn in the flesh to focus his attention on Christ and to draw him into a place of greater dependence. Paul prayed for the thorn to be removed but Jesus responded by saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9.

Jesus gave Paul the key, power is found in weakness. The perfect power of Jesus is experienced when the grace of God is able to minister to us in our weakness. Our inability is the beginning of the manifest power of God.

Notice the two nouns, “Grace” and “Power”. We agree that the definition of grace is unmerited favor, that is the true message of the Gospel. But we do not often see grace as power. There is power in the Grace of God. Grace is more than a noun; it is a powerful verb.

Grace is not something we receive at salvation and then put on the shelf as a memorial. The Grace of God is active and powerful in our lives. The key to this power is our weakness.  

The Gospel is a picture of power in weakness. Jesus the all-powerful creator God, took on the form of a weak baby, and lived a life of humility setting aside his glory for a season.

The cross of our salvation, where Jesus paid the price for our sins, was where Jesus submitted himself in a picture of weakness and hopelessness. God’s plan of redemption was that there was to be weakness, on the cross, before there was power at the resurrection. God displayed His power when he raised Jesus from the dead. This same power is at work in us as we read in Ephesians 1:19-20. This gift of salvation is available to anyone who truly admits how weak they are. Only then can we experience and begin to live out the immeasurable power of God.

Doing what we cannot do, that is Christ in me. As you submit your life to the will of God, there will be times when God calls you to do something that is impossible to do…in your own strength. God calls you to take a stand against corruption, start a non-profit to help orphans and widows, stand in front of a crowd and preach the Gospel, witness to your family, or any other mission that seems impossible or impractical. The purpose of God is that we step out in faith, relying on Christ to do the impossible through us.

God needs our weakness more than He needs our strength. Our strength is often His rival. Our weakness is His servant as we rely on His resources to accomplish His purposes, to bring Him glory (Galatians 2:20).

We have a wonderful example of this in the life of Jesus in John chapter 6. Here we read the account of the feeding of the 5000 from just five barley loaves and two fish.

Before the miracle, Jesus asked Philip how they were going to be able to buy enough food to feed all the people.  Jesus was testing Philip; he was asking him to do the impossible. We know that Andrew, in faith brought the little that they could find to Jesus. The five loaves and the two fish represented our weakness, that must be brought to Jesus as an offering in faith. And Jesus used what little was offered and miraculously fed a multitude.

At the beginning of 2021, give God what you have, your talents, your finances, your gifts and see what He can do with them.

What vision has God given you that you cannot do in your own strength?

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Sermon, Sunday November 8, 2020 – Spirit Filled Marriage.

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Ephesians 5:22-33

The starting point for discussing any relationship is found in Ephesians 5:18-21. Living a Spirit-filled life leads to healthy relationships and communities.  

Ephesians 5:22 to 24 has been challenged, thrown out, and ignored, because it doesn’t seem to sit well with our 21st century, post-modern, post-sexual revolution era. However, I believe it is extremely relevant to our culture. This passage gives us instruction in Spirit-filled marriages and the eternal purpose of God in marriage.

Sadly, in the 21st century, we must define marriage as it has been torn apart and challenged by our secular society. Marriage is ordained by God for an eternal purpose; thus, Satan hates marriage and has a specific purpose in destroying marriage.

John Stott wrote a definition of marriage: “Marriage is an exclusive heterosexual covenant between one man and one woman, ordained and sealed by God preceded by the leaving of parents, consummated in sexual union, issuing in a permanent mutually supportive partnership, and normally crowned with the gift of children”

In Ephesians 5:22-24 Paul addresses wives: “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. 23 For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. 24 Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.”

Our culture struggles with this language of submission, but this is not about subjection or controlling power. Rather, as followers of Jesus, every aspect of our life is about submission.  

The key is in verse 25; a wife is called to submit to her husband who in turn is willing to die for her.  

“While some may view submitting to one’s husband’s authority as something negative, a more accurate way of looking at marital roles is to understand that wives are called to follow their husband’s loving leadership.” – Andreas Kostenberger.

Husbands and wives have equal value, but different roles within marriage. When both are fulfilling their roles, marriage is a beautiful thing to observe. If we struggle with these verses, we have to go back to the basics, this is God’s authoritative word to us and He does not instruct us to do anything that is outside of His perfect nature and for our good.

We must be careful to reject any teaching that says that women are subservient to men, or that the husband is a form of a CEO in the marriage. Submission must be voluntary and follows sacrificial love. Christian wives freely follow the loving leadership of a faithful husband, they should not be forced to do so for a tyrannical husband.

What does it mean to submit? To put the will of the other person ahead of your own, to prefer the other person.

What does it mean to love? To put the needs of the other person ahead of your own needs, to prefer one another.

Love and submission are two sides of the same coin.

In Ephesians 5:25-33 Paul addresses husbands.

The first instruction we find is that Husbands are to display Christ-like love. Christlike love is a sacrificial love, it is the love that took Jesus to the cross to give his own life for the church.

Men, marriage is a call to die to self. It is daily giving yourself away for the good of your bride. It is sacrificial and preferential love.

You cannot love your wife like Christ loved the church and be passive. This is loving by serving and giving of your time and energy.

It is also a sanctifying love, as we see in verse 26. This does not mean that a husband can atone for sins, only Jesus can do that. But men are to be the spiritual leader in the home. Encouraging their wife and children to read and to allow the word of God to bring transformation.

Married men, are our wives more like Christ because she’s married to us?

Or is she more like Christ in spite of us?

Husbands are instructed to prefer their wives and care for her emotional and physical needs as we read in verse 28 and 29. The husbands’ role is not to simply occupy the couch and expect to be waited on. Our role is to care for the health and the needs of our spouse as we would care for our own bodies.

So that is the passage as it is traditionally taught, but there is a greater and more important message in this text. There is an eternal purpose in marriage.

The key is found in verse 32, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Paul writes that this mystery is profound and beyond our understanding. When God created the world, and the covenant of marriage, he had Christ and the church in mind. Not the other way round.

Christ loves the church (v25), he gave his life for the church (v25), he sanctifies the church (v26), he cleanses the church (v26), he will present the church in splendor (v27), he provides and cares for the church (v29).

Marriage is not the ultimate, Christ is. If, the starting point for marriage is my own selfish desires, then I am starting at the wrong place. Marriage exists for the glory of Christ.

Marriage in this life is a shadow of the ultimate marriage of Christ and his bride the church. Christ is ultimate, not our husbands or our wives, our primary loyalty must be to Jesus.

Marriage is ordained by God for the glory of God. Therefore, He is the source of love and the only one who can cause a marriage to flourish and proclaim Christ to the World. The eternal purpose of marriage is to point us to the Gospel message. The church submitting to the headship of Christ, and Christ who already gave his life for the church. Christ is now sanctifying the church, his bride and preparing her for his return and the great marriage feast (Revelation 19).

As followers of Jesus, we need to celebrate marriage, we must pray for marriages, we must fight for marriages, because they have eternal significance.

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Resurrection Sunday, April 12 2020 – The Power of God Displayed

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Matthew 27:62-28:10

He is Risen….!

Last week was Easter, normally a joyous time, but what an unusual and sad season. We celebrate our risen Lord Jesus, with a large shadow over our celebration in 2020.

This year everything is different. The familiar traditions have been set aside, because there is something more pressing. I am not saying that traditions are necessarily bad, but it is good for us to stop and pause and look at the real reason for the celebration, the resurrection of our Lord and savior.

Jesus disrupted traditions all the time, even good ones. The time and season of his crucifixion was the Passover week, one of the most important festivals and traditions on the Jewish calendar. It was a busy time in Jerusalem, as people were gathering and feasting to remember the time when God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt.

The fact that Jesus was crucified during Passover is obvious and crucial. Jesus the spotless lamb of God who was sacrificed for the sins of the world, so that we who place our faith in him, will be saved for eternity.

The Passover was a huge celebration, and Jesus disrupted it. On Palm Sunday, he came into Jerusalem with tremendous fanfare. The following day he turned over tables in the temple and disrupted the festivities. The trial and subsequent crucifixion of Jesus caused a major disruption to life in Jerusalem.  Then there were the earthquakes, the temple veil being torn, sudden darkness and even dead people coming alive and walking through the streets (Matthew 27).

Jesus was disrupting traditions; he was establishing the New Covenant.

Jesus is still upsetting traditions and challenging authority today.

The chief priests and the pharisees wanted Jesus dead because he was a threat to their power.

Satan wanted Jesus dead because he was a threat to his domain and influence on the earth.

But Jesus did the unexpected. He rose from the dead and defeated Satan’s plan!

The primary message of the early church was the resurrection, which became the hope and foundation for the church.

A few weeks ago we looked at Ephesians 1:18-21, and the Apostle Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus:  “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”

Someone being raised from the dead is pretty significant,  and there is certainly a lot of power involved in raising someone from the dead. But Jesus raised people from the dead and it didn’t seem like a tremendous display of cosmic power. He raised Jairus’ daughter by speaking two words, “Talitha koumi”, which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!” (Mark 5).  

Jesus raised Lazarus by calling into the tomb for him to come out (John 11).

But Jesus was no ordinary resurrection, if there is such a thing. When Jesus died, Satan and his demonic legions, celebrated their assumed victory. The messiah, the second person of the Trinity had failed in his quest to come and establish the kingdom of God on the earth.

Satan thought he had won the victory and he was going to use every ounce of power at his disposal to ensure that Jesus remained in that tomb. Satan planned to hold Jesus captive.

This was the battle for the ages, the culmination of all of Satan’s evil plans and God’s redemptive plan.

God destroyed Satan’s plans with a never before seen display of His matchless power. Jesus was raised back to life by the greatest display of power in all of History. And all of creation felt the impact. There was an earthquake when Jesus died and an earthquake when Jesus rose from the dead. All of creation participated in the war that took place in the spiritual realm when Jesus was crucified and raised from the dead.

More than that, everyone who has ever been raised from the dead, has died again. But Jesus was raised in an imperishable and eternal body, the eternal body that we will all get one day

Jesus was raised to life; he took on a resurrected body and has been given all authority as he said in Matthew 28:18.

Ephesians 1 says that this power is working in us, do we fully grasp and experience this power?

As followers of Jesus, we have aligned ourselves with Christ, we have been born again, into a new life with new power as we read in Colossians 2:12, “having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.”

In 1 Peter 1:3-5, we read that this salvation power is also the power that keeps us until Jesus comes again. This is the power of the resurrection working in those who follow Jesus.

Do you know the power of the resurrection in your life?

I am not asking if you are a Christian. I want to know, if you know the power of the resurrection in your life, the saving power of God in your life on a daily basis.

In these unprecedented days, you cannot go about life as usual. As followers of Jesus we need to know and experience the power of the resurrected Lord in our lives.

This is the kind of power that will enable you to thrive in this season, overcoming fear and doubt. Power to help you make the right decisions, and to display God’s glory to those you encounter.

Do you know the power of the resurrection in your life?

Spend time in prayer asking God to reveal Ephesians 1:18-21 in your life.

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Sermon – April 21, 2019 Resurrection Sunday

He is Risen!

We were all struck by the spectacle of the fire that destroyed the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris.

As I was watching the coverage, somthing struck me, I began thinking about why this burning building caused so much grief and angst. One of the reasons was that we as God’s created beings, desire transcendence, we have a desire for something that endures beyond our lives. We desperately want to know that eternity is real and achievable. The thought that everything around us that we see will one day fall to decay is simply too hard for us to face (see Ecclesiastes 3:11).

We were made for so much more than the accumulation of wealth, knowledge and the pursuit of comfort and happiness, we were made for eternal glory with Jesus.

On Easter Sunday, we celebrate the fact that Jesus rose from the dead and that he paid the price for our eternal salvation. Isaiah 53 is one of the clearest Old Testament prophetic Scriptures that points to the death and resurrection of Jesus. These words also remind us that Jesus was not a victim of a terribly botched trial, or mistaken identity. Jesus was the creator God, who took on flesh, was born and lived at a specific time in history to die on a Roman cross and then to be raised to life. Only Jesus could do what He did, only Jesus who was fully God and fully man, was the one who could pay the price for the sins of man.

In Isaiah 53:10-12 we see five key attributes of Jesus, starting at verse 10a, “Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt,”
Jesus is – the Perfect Sacrifice.

Under the Law of Moses, there were multiple different offerings, the prophet Isaiah wrote that Jesus was a guilt offering. The guilt offering was to provide a way to be cleansed from unintentional sin, or a way to provide restitution when someone has been personally wronged because of a sinner’s actions. Jesus knows what sins we have committed in the past, but the guilt offering was for unintentional or yet unknown sin. On the cross, Jesus paid the price for our sins and for the sins we are yet to commit even our unintentional sins. Does this mean I sin without consequence? Absolutely not, it was our sin that drove Jesus to the cross, past present and future. Jesus is the perfect sacrifice, the only pure spotless lamb of God (see Hebrews 10:11-14).

Jesus is – the Risen Lord.

Jesus is alive! Isaiah 53:10b-11a says, “he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. 11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;”

Only living people see their offspring, only living people have extended days and prosper.

This is the line in the sand that differentiates Christianity from any other world religion. Our God is alive, the tomb where he was buried was only occupied for a few days. Paul clearly stated this in 1 Corinthians 15:3-6, this is the Good News, he is risen!

Not only that, Jesus was raised with a body that will never decay, the same kind that we will also get one day if we believe in Jesus as Lord. The resurrection of Jesus is our glorious hope of a certain eternal future.

Jesus is – our Righteousness.

Isaiah 53:11b, “by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities.”

The word righteous means that there is no longer a need for justice or punishment. For the Christian, to be righteous means to be in right standing before God. This is the privilege that we have as those covered by the perfect sacrifice of Jesus. We cannot stand before the all-holy God without the righteousness of Christ.

Without the righteousness of Christ, we have no hope of any sin being forgiven, but because of what he had done, no sin is too great for his forgiveness.

In Isaiah 64, we read that those who trust in their own righteousness or good works, are described as filthy rags in God’s sight. There is no good work that we could do that would make us righteous.  Nothing we can do will make us righteous before God, only through Jesus can we stand righteous before the all-holy God

In Jeremiah 23:6 we read that Jesus is Jehovah Tsidkenu, meaning Jehovah is our righteousness.

Our being in right standing with God is only because of us placing our faith in the completed work of Jesus on the cross. Righteousness comes through faith.

Jesus is our Inheritance

Isaiah 53:12a, “Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,”

The Bible is full of references to the inheritance believers have in Christ (see Ephesians 1:11).

Our inheritance is the sum of all God has promised us in salvation. Our inheritance is not dependent on our works, our inheritance is based on our family, being part of the family of God, being a Christian makes us heirs along with Christ (See Romans 8:16-17).

When we understand and value the glory that awaits us, we are better able to endure whatever comes our way in this life. With an eternal perspective, we realize that this life is gone in a flash and eternity awaits us all. We can praise God during trials because we have His guarantee that we will receive all He has promised (see 2 Corinthians 4:17).

Jesus is our Advocate.

Isaiah 53:12 closes, “because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many and makes intercession for the transgressors.”

An advocate is someone who pleads the cause of another before a court or tribunal, Jesus is our advocate (see 1 John 2:1).

Jesus, the creator of the universe, gave his life for you, and now he is seated next to God the father and he is pleading and advocating for us (see Hebrews 7:23-25).

In addition to this, Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Do you know Jesus?

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Philippians – Paul’s letter of Joy – Philippians 3:15-21 – Sermon February 24, 2019

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Philippians 3:15-21

 The Apostle Paul often refers to the Christian life as a race and the Bible is full of stories of men and women of God, who began the race well, but failed in the end because they disregarded God’s rules for the race (see 2 Timothy 2:5). As a Christian if you don’t follow the rules, you don’t lose your salvation, but you miss out on the rewards (see 1 Corinthians 3:14-15).

In 2 Corinthians 5:10, we read that every believer must appear before the judgment seat of Christ, and we will be called to give an account for how we made use of our spiritual gifts and the calling of God on our lives.

Paul writes in verse 15, “Let those of us who are mature think this way…”

Spiritual maturity is not perfection, but it is daily making progress towards holiness and purity in our lives. The plan for our lives this side of heaven is progress not perfection.

Paul continues in verse 15, “Only let us hold true to what we have attained.”

The Christian life must be one of consistency, holding on to the ground that has already been taken as we grow in the Lord.

There are two primary reasons why people do not grow and mature in their walk with the Lord.

  1. They assume they are already mature.  A person who makes a decision for Christ is not mature, they are spiritual infants. In this life spiritual maturity is a journey and not a destination.
  2. They are not willing to pay the price for maturity. Maturity comes at a cost. We must give up things that hold us back. There is pain involved in growth and we naturally shy away from pain. James 1:1-4 explains the common process of spiritual growth.

To mature as a Christian, we need role models, mature Christians who have walked the road ahead of us, that we can look to for inspiration and encouragement.  Paul writes in verse 17 that the Philippian Christians should imitate him as an example. As Christians our life is what other people scrutinize. What kind of role-model are you for a younger Christian?

If that sounds intimidating, we need to be reminded that this is the design that God has for the church.

But then in verse 18 and 19 Paul describes a group of people that we should not follow as role-models. These people were in the church, members of the church in Philippi. This is why he says that he is writing with tears, it grieves him.

Paul says that these professing Christians are actually enemies of the cross, and he lists 4 rebukes against these people:

  1. “Their end is destruction” – These people are playing at being Christians, but they are wasting their lives.
  2. “their god is their belly” – They are driven by sensual appetites, this doesn’t mean that they are all gluttons, rather they run after every desire they have without self-control. Living for the moment and they have no concern for their eternal destination.
  3. “They glory in their shame” – People give themselves over to their passions and their appetites and then try to find a way to justify their actions, even declaring that what they are doing is right and good. God’s standard never changes, but the world and sadly many churches today have so embraced sin, even celebrating sin, “They glory in their shame”.
  4. “with minds set on earthly things “– Much like the modern Western church, we are programmed by materialism and the present world full of entertainment. One of my goals is to have an eternal perspective on everything and one of the goals of my ministry is to convey that passion to others.

Can you imagine the impact a church could have on the world if we saw everything we did and every dollar we spent through the lens of eternity?

Paul picks up that theme in verses 20 and 21: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.”

As Christians, we are under the rule and the authority of the kingdom of heaven. The people of Philippi grasped this easily, because even though they lived in Greece, they were under Roman rule. They submitted themselves to the higher authority of Rome. While we are here on the earth, living in the United States of America, we are subject to the laws of the land where we live. But these laws are temporary, this land is temporary, but our citizenship in the kingdom of God is eternal. So, while we adhere to the laws of the land, where those laws conflict with the laws of the eternal kingdom we must submit to the higher authority.

Paul has an eager expectation of Jesus coming again, this is what it means to have an eternal perspective. Our residence here is temporary, the things we spend most of our time stressing about are temporary (see 2 Corinthians 4:18).

Everything we have is temporary, but what will endure is the lasting effects of a life lived for Jesus, how you spend your time, how you spend your money will determine the eternal rewards that Jesus has in store for you. Are you living with an eternal perspective?

Are you living as a true follower of Jesus?

Are you a citizen of heaven or are you an enemy of the cross?

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Sermon Sunday April 22, 2018 – The Reality of Hell

Luke 16:19-31

There was a day when all one seemed to hear was “fire and brimstone” sermons, we’ve now gone to the opposite extreme. There is so much preaching on love, grace, and forgiveness, but little or nothing is said about hell. The undeniable truth is that no one in the Bible places more stress on hell as the final consequence of God’s judgment of condemnation than Jesus. Jesus compared hell to the burning trash dump outside of Jerusalem called the valley of Hinnom or Gehenna, he also compared hell to a prison and outer darkness. Jesus likened hell to “a fire” at least twenty separate times.

In Luke 16 we read that Jesus told the Pharisees a story of a poor man called Lazarus and an unnamed rich man. Jesus doesn’t say that this was a parable. It may have been a true account of which only Jesus knew the truth. Or it was a parable that Jesus used to teach the Pharisees the truth of their own lostness.

The rich man was extravagant in his lifestyle, dressing in fine linen, Jesus even said that he feasted every day. And then as if a divinely arranged contrast, we have Lazarus, a poor beggar sitting at his gate, who was possibly a cripple. The name Lazarus means “God is my help”, in contrast, the rich man trusts in his wealth.

Both these men died, and Lazarus taken by the angels to Abraham’s side. He was given special treatment for a man who was never treated well in this life. In contrast, the rich man, “died and was buried”, no angels, no special treatment. His friends probably began fighting over his estate and soon forgot that he even existed.

The rich man may have had a prestigious funeral with many dignitaries, in contrast the poor Lazarus, probably didn’t have a funeral at all, in fact the body of Lazarus might have been thrown on the burning rubbish dump, Gehenna, the place where unclaimed bodies would have been disposed. But even though his body was burned and discarded, he was taken by angels to Abraham’s side.

The rich man is sent to Hades, a place of torment and utter loneliness, where he begins to cry out for mercy. First, he asks that Abraham sends Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water to cool his tongue. The rich man was experiencing torment and real flames, it was a very genuine experience, so much so, that a little cool water on his tongue would bring some relief. Abraham responds and explains to the rich man that he has already received his good things in his life, but by rejecting God, he is never going to experience anything good ever again.

But aside from that, Abraham says it is impossible for Lazarus to come to him, there is a great divide between heaven and hell.

Jesus taught that Hell is a real place of eternal suffering, but the worst part of hell is not the physical pain, it is the absence of the presence of God. We have all heard someone say, “Well, I don’t mind if I go to hell. I’ll have a lot of company!” But there is no friendship or “company” in hell! Hell is a place of total loneliness and abandonment.

So how can a loving God permit such a place to exist, let alone send people there?” In asking that question, we reveal that we don’t understand the love of God or the wickedness of sin. God’s love is a perfect holy love, not a shallow sentiment, and sin is rebellion against an all holy and loving God (1 John 1:5).

God does not send people to hell, they send themselves there by refusing to believe on His Son. Hell, ultimately is the absence of God and sin is what separates us from God (Isaiah 59:2). Hell is the natural response of the all-holy God to the wickedness of sin, and unbelief in Jesus as the son of God is the primary source of that wickedness.

God hates sin and evil so much, that he sent his only son Jesus to suffer and die on the cross as the perfect sacrifice, atoning for our sins. Jesus went to the cross as our substitute because he does not want anyone to go to Hell (2 Peter 3:8-10).

The rich man begs Abraham to send Lazarus to warn his five brothers about their eternal destination. But Abraham tells him that they have the words of Moses and the prophets, the Old Testament Scriptures, the word of God. But the rich man argues that this is not enough, they need miracle. We are no different, we struggle to believe in the power of the word of God to transform lives. We must never underestimate the power of the word of God, under the direction and conviction of the Holy Spirit to transform lives (Romans 1:16).

Jesus loved us so much that he spoke about hell a lot. He did not hold back in describing the consequences of sin.

Do we believe in Hell enough to care for our friends and neighbors? If we really believed in Hell, we would not hesitate to share the Gospel, we would give our lives to praying for the lost. We would re-organize our lives in such a way that we would maximize our time on this earth to be able to be witnesses for Jesus Christ.

Sadly, the way our churches operate, the way we struggle to pray for our neighbors, the way our evangelism and mission efforts are so weak and small, we give evidence to the fact that we do not believe in hell.

In the 21st century in the western culture has become a source of unending distractions and entertainment. We focus on our careers, movies, food, sport or hobbies, while all the time our perspective of eternity is being whittled away and we seldom think of the fact that our lives are so very brief.

Live your life in the light of eternity. Every pleasure you could have here on earth ultimately passes away, it is fleeting, but if we live for eternity, storing up for ourselves treasures in heaven, we will experience pleasure that is lasting.

“The safest road to hell, is the gradual one—the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.” C.S Lewis.

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Sermon Sunday March 4, 2018 Jesus came to Destroy the works of the Devil

We are in March! Spring is coming and naturally we begin to think about Easter. The danger is that we become so accustomed to the season, that we can easily gloss over the fact that this single event is the pivotal event of all human history. No other event carries more weight and no other event has more impact on humanity than the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As we focus on the cross, we must ask ourselves the question, why did Jesus have to die? The very simple answer is found in 1 John 3:8b, “…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

 Satan deceived Adam and Eve into thinking that God’s ways were not perfect. Sin is ultimately a failure to trust God, to trust that His ways are perfect, to know and be satisfied with the goodness of God and His perfect will for our lives. Sin is ultimately idolatry, when we sin we are saying to God, in this area of my life currently, you are not on the throne, rather I choose to worship a god of my own choosing.

As we read this letter from John, we see that John constantly compares the glory and the light of Jesus against the evil and darkness of sin. He very directly states that when we sin, we choose to follow the devil. To show us how vile our sin is, John holds up the pure spotless lamb of God (see 1 John 2:29, 1 John 3:3 and 5).

In contrast to the purity of Jesus we have the statements of verses 6 and 9. Those are some harsh words, and not well accepted in our post-modern culture. But does John mean that a Christian never sins? Of course not, what it does mean is that if you have made Jesus Christ Lord of your life then persistent sin is inconceivable in the light of his presence and glory. No one who is a follower of Jesus can actively persistently walk in sin.

If your life is united with Christ, you hate sin as much as he does. But we are so casual and minimize sin, in the church today, we talk about “stumbling” or “areas of weakness”, rather than seeing the death and destruction that it causes in our lives and those around us. Because of our new birth in Jesus, persistent sin impossible. Being born of God, being filled with the Holy Spirit, you and I cannot keep on sinning without any remorse.

The idea that we are saved from our sin, but still live as the rest of the world making light and trivializing sin, the idea that this is even possible is inconceivable, and yet this is today’s church. We rationalize sin, we make light of the grace of God, the gift that God gave us that cost him everything.

Today’s church has made the goal of large churches and church membership so important that we don’t call people to the standard of what it means to be a Christian.

But verse 6 and 9 say that if you continue to sin, and it does not consume you with guilt and shame, you have never encountered Jesus, you are not saved, I don’t care if your name is on the membership role of the church, your name is not in the Lamb’s Book of Life and that is the only list that matters.

As a Christian you have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside you and when you walk into a room, you bring into that room the fragrance of Christ. Your life must be characterized by, all the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

The fruit if the spirit is not some vague ideal that only a few sanctified believers hope to attain to, these are to be the mark and the evidence of a believer in Jesus Christ.

Are you a Christian? Do you have a growing relationship with Jesus Christ? Or do you harbor sin, and even enjoy sin?

Are you holding a grudge against someone? That is persistent sin.

Do you like to gossip? That is persistent sin. We are so quick to identify the sins of various addictions, drugs, pornography, lust, but we tolerate the sins of unforgiveness, lack of faith, fear and gossip.

2000 years ago, Jesus came to destroy the work of the Devil, so why would those who have been born again continue to wallow in doing the works of the devil?

As a true Christian we are not perfect, there is a daily transformation taking place in us, Christians are people who are daily becoming more like Christ. This is called sanctification. As we gaze on the glory of our savior, it leads us to become like him. We will never be sinless, but we will be quick to repent (1 John 1:9).

But John begins chapter 3 with the wonderful truth of the Gospel message (1 john 3:1). God calls us to be His Adopted Children, not because of anything we have done, but only because of His great love for us? (Ephesians 5:1).

In a few weeks we will focus our gaze on the beauty and the horror of the cross, may we never forget that Jesus came to destroy the works of the devil. We have been set free from slavery, and yet we hold on to our chains (Hebrews 2:14-15).

Jesus, in the Gospel of John sums up this whole argument in one verse, John 10:10. Satan hates Jesus, Satan hates us. Why do we give the devil any control in our lives? My friends, don’t ever be deceived into thinking that sin is not a big deal, because of our sin, the pure holy Son of God suffered and died, Sin should make our knees tremble, we must learn once again to hate sin.

What do you need to repent of today?  Prayerfully read Psalm 139: 23-24.

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Thanksgiving part 1 – November 12, 2017

Psalm 107

As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday what are you thankful for? As Christians we have been given something that is so immeasurably good and wonderful, that it should be the very first thing we share around the dinner table. Psalm 107 is a Psalm of thanksgiving and praise to God for deliverance and freedom, it starts with an exhortation to give God thanks (Psalm 107:2). To be redeemed means to have one’s debts paid for and to be set free. As Christians this is you and me, Jesus bought and paid for our freedom on the cross.

But, to be thankful, we need to be aware of what have you been saved from. Do you remember the day you gave your life to the Lordship of Jesus, the redeemer? Do you remember the hopelessness you felt before you encountered Jesus? For many of us, we need to be reminded of our lives before we met Jesus to awaken a heart of thanksgiving in us.

Continuing in verse 3 as the Psalmist paints a picture for us of the exiles returning to Jerusalem from the four corners of the earth and beginning in verse 4 we have four different examples of people being set free. Each of these four represent distinct characteristics of lostness.

The Wanderer (v 4).

The picture we have is of a group of people who have been banished from the promised land, they are lost and wandering in the desert, possibly the Sinai desert. These people were hungry and thirsty, but worse than their physical condition we read that their spirits failed them, they had given into the hopelessness of their situation.

People who do not know Jesus as their lord and savior, wander aimlessly, without the hope of eternity for them life is a hopeless gathering of possessions and wealth to lose it all when you die, what a miserable existence! However, in verse 6 they cried out to God and he rescued them, and led them to a city where they could live. It is a beautiful picture of a people being restored to their God and His Promised Land.

The Rebel Prisoner (v10).

Here the Psalmist paints a picture of someone in chains, in prison because they intentionally went against God’s perfect plan and will. Many of us have experienced the prison of intentionally going against the will and plan of God for our lives. There are many forms of imprisonment; addiction to drugs, pornography, alcohol, and pleasure. And then there is the prison of fear of man, the of fear of failure or guilt and shame from our past. Are you in prison today because of your rebellion to God? He can set you free as he did these prisoners in verses 14 and 15.

The Sick (v17).

This group of people are suffering affliction as a result of their sins, in the form of sickness as we see in verse 18.  This is a group similar to the previous one, whereas the previous group are in prison because of their rebellion, this group suffers sickness because of rebellion.

I want to make clear that not every sickness is because of sin, however, there are times when sickness is the result of our rebellion against God. The fact is that sin separates us from God, it separates us from the peace and joy of the Lord, as a result we suffer from stress, which is a known contributor to many kinds of ailments. Anxiety and hypertension are just two of the symptoms of stress that may be as a result of not walking in the way and the peace of the Lord. In many people’s lives, God has used the desperation of sickness to draw them back to himself, and through his healing power they are redeemed. In verse 19 and 20, the sick people cry out to God and he healed them. Is that your story? Do you remember being healed and set free by the healing power of the cross?

The Sea Traveler (v23).

This is such an interesting picture, because during this time in the history of the nation of Judah, they were not seafarers like the Philistines. But the picture here rather is of someone on a ship consumed by the wind and the waves, it is a picture of someone consumed by a busy life. In verse 27 we read that they were at their wits end, desperate and overwhelmed.  The ocean traveler on a small vessel during a storm is constantly looking at the storm and the waves, just trying to survive. If your life is so busy that all you are doing is simply trying to stay alive, that is not God’s plan for you. Business is not a sin, but business that consumes you and takes your eyes off the plan and purposes of God for your life, can leave you desperately in need of redemption.

So, we have four pictures of desperation, four groups of people who are lost and in need of a touch from God.

Each of these 4 pictures ends with the person, or group of people crying out to God during their troubles. And the psalmist says that God rescued them, he brought them out of their distress. Verses 8 is a verse that is repeated at the end of each of these pictures like a chorus, “Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind”. These verses echo verse 2, “Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story—  those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,”

We can all relate to being in one or more of these categories at one time or another in our lives, maybe you are there now, and you are crying out for freedom. God will hear your cry and he is waiting to set you free.

During this season of thanksgiving, I want to challenge you to think back and remember what Jesus saved you from. If you know what you have been saved from, you will never hold back praising God and declaring His wonderful works.

“Let the redeemed of the Lord tell their story…” (Psalm 107:2a).