From Paul's challenge to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:11-16 we look at the difference between a pursuit of popularity and the investment in influence. One emphasises external conformity, the other internal character. One is all about us, the other is all about God and others. One is temporary, the other eternal. Regardless of how much we try, we won't all be popular, but we can all be influential. God has prepared in advance good works for us to do. He has promised to produce good fruit through those who remain connected to Him. What would you rather be: popular or influential.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Chosen
"Chosen"
1 Peter 1:2c
Monday, February 13, 2012
Sanctified through the Spirit
In part 4 of our series in 1 Peter we continue to explore the glorious salvation that we have been given as Peter describes it in the first 2 verses of his letter. In this message we study what it means to be sanctified through the Holy Spirit. We discover 3 aspects of sanctification: Positional, Progressive and Perfect. It may sound like theological jargon but understanding these concepts makes a massive difference to the way we live each day and the priorities that drive what we do together as a church.
Audio Player
Sanctified Through the Spirit
1 Peter 1:1b-9
12/02/2012
Start of the new school term means the start of many of our activities. So what’s happening?
· Previously Fri - Y started
· Last Sunday - celebration of the Talibon trip & our ongoing partnership
· Last Sunday - Sarah Palmer’s baptism in front of family and friends
· Monday - Men’s Shed 1st week. Building Relationships (Keith sharing life story)
· Wednesday - Toddler Jam 1st week.
· Thursday - 1st week back for the craft group. This term they’re making welcome packs for new residents of Kingsley Lodge.
· Saturday morning - 1st men’s ministry event for the year, a bbq at the Mullane’s house.
All of these events have something in common - they are things that we do in order to share the message of our salvation or to prepare for opportunities to share the message of our salvation.
Why?
· Because salvation through Jesus Christ is something worth sharing.
· Because Life in Jesus is life worth living.
· Because Hope in Jesus is hope worth having.
I was at an event on Friday where it was observed that while people in Australia
Many people feel isolated. Many people feel depressed. Many people are stressed out. Many people feel like there should be more to life, and they’re right!
The Church must shine like a beacon in the midst of the gloom as our lives show that there is more. There is unshakeable and inexhaustible love, joy, peace, hope, security, acceptance, purpose all found in Jesus Christ our Lord.
How well are we demonstrating the glory of our salvation?
How well are you demonstrating the glory of your salvation to those around you?
Don’t take that question as a guilt trip, take it as an invitation.
Consider afresh with me today how wonderful our salvation is so that this week it may overflow from you to others.
Prayer
Truths from Last Week:
· Truth about Me: I do not belong here, I am a citizen of Heaven! Nothing here has a hold on me (no problem, person, circumstance, desire…)
· Truth about God: God works out everything for His good purposes.
· Truth about me: Every part of my journey in this life has an eternal purpose. I am part of God’s big story.
Just think about these glorious truths of our salvation shape our lives. How are you going to react this week when your boss or a family member is being unreasonable? Are you going to strike back, sulk about it, complain to an ally, lie in wait for revenge? No!! You’ll remember that even in that moment God has an eternal purpose and you play a part in it. You’re going to show patience, love, forgiveness, submission, peace… all by the power of God for His glory, bearing witness to His grace that may even reach the heart of that person and be part of bringing them to faith or causing them to grow in faith.
The truths we explore today will help this type of scenario become your normal experience of life as we discover salvation principles that lead to transformed living.
Text: 1 Peter 1:1-2
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance. [1]
Last week we talked about what it means to be chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father. What does it mean that we are also chosen through the sanctifying work of the Spirit?
To be sanctified simply means to be set apart. It means to be separated from some things and to be joined to others. In our case, it means to be separated from sin and joined to God and His people.
In order to properly explain what this looks like I need to describe to you the three facets of sanctification.
- Positional Sanctification.
This is simply where you stand. You are a citizen of Heaven. You were made part of God’s Kingdom when you believed in Christ, accepting His lordship over your life. At that moment you received the Holy Spirit who marks you out as a citizen of Heaven.
Eph 1:13-14
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory.
- Perfect Sanctification.
Ephesians 1:14 made reference to the fact that the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is a sure guarantee that we will inherit God’s Kingdom when He comes for those who belong to Him.
This is perfect sanctification. At that time God will transform us so that we will no longer struggle with sin and the effects of sin. He will create a new heavens and earth (Rev 21) which will be completely good - no longer suffering under the curse God spoke in Genesis chapter 3. All evil and suffering will be separated from it in what the Bible describes as the lake of fire - a place described using various images in the Bible which all convey it’s misery. We usually simply call it “Hell”.
God will also separate those of His kingdom from those who have rejected Him. Those who reject Christ will suffer eternal separation from God in Hell, while those who have received eternal life in Him will experience the full blessing of His goodness for all eternity.
That’s perfect sanctification. I hope it’s clear to you that you want to be on the right side of that separation. You want to make sure that the people around you are on the right side of that separation.
In his second letter contained in Scripture the Apostle Peter reminds us that God “is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”
(2 Peter 3:9)
I hope you have brought God great pleasure in accepting His offer of salvation in Jesus and that you are now engaged in the work of holding out that offer to people around you, so that they may repent (turn around, change direction, change destiny) and may enjoy eternal life with you.
It is very easy to fall into the habit of just wanting to be around people like us. People who think the same and live the same. Christians sometimes live as though God has already separated them from those who don’t follow Christ in the perfect sense that we’re talking about here. He hasn’t. In fact, the opposite is true.
- Progressive Sanctification
Listen to what Jesus prayed for His disciples in
John 17:15-18
My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.
These words of Jesus are a great summary of progressive sanctification. It’s what God does to make us more like Jesus - to live more and more as citizens of Heaven - so that we can share His heart for the lost and so we can represent Him to the lost.
Most of us here today are citizens of
That’s what it’s like as citizens of Heaven too. We don’t always live as citizens of Heaven ought to live. But as the Holy Spirit works in us, teaching us through God’s Word and helping us to live it out in daily life, we show our citizenship by our conduct.
Remember how Philippians 2 describes it?
It talks about us as shining like stars in the universe as we hold out the word of life (Php 2:15-16).
Last week Colin shared with us the wonderful words of the Apostle Paul who said to the Corinthian believers “For the love of Christ compels us…”. His whole ministry - with all of the suffering that came with it - came out of that motivation.
The more you are changed to be like Jesus the more you will live like Jesus. You will not give in to fear or selfishness that has you pulling back from those who most need to see and hear the truth. You will not give in to the sinful desires in you that would have you join with people in their sin. On the contrary, you will invest yourself in relationship with others in ways that give them a taste of the goodness of God. That’s progressive sanctification.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
We need to be in proximity to people; and our lives need to shine brightly with the truth of Jesus.
Application - what are church services for?
Why do we get together each Sunday and at various other times?
There are lots of reasons and lots of good reasons. Two of the most common priorities people have in coming to church are to
1. Worship God, and
2. enjoy fellowship with each other.
Those are both great reasons to come to church. But let’s apply what we’ve just studied.
When perfect sanctification occurs our worship of God and fellowship with each other is going to go to a whole new level and it will never end. It’s going to be amazing!
However there is something that we are supposed to do together that will not be happening in Heaven. We are supposed to be being changed to be like Jesus and sent out into the world to be His ambassadors. We are supposed to be giving people who join us every opportunity to hear and respond to the message of salvation. Perfect sanctification is for the future, positional and progressive sanctification are for now!
When perfect sanctification occurs our opportunity to save the lost will be gone.
Friends do not neglect the sanctification through the Spirit that God has chosen to work in you.
Let God through His Spirit convict you of the truth of Jesus’ death on the cross for your sins and His resurrection for your eternal life. By believing in Jesus you will become a citizen of Heaven.
If you are already a citizen of Heaven allow God’s Spirit to help you to live like one! Don’t conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Rom 12:2).
Remember that God is holding off perfect sanctification so don’t you try to manufacture it. Don’t withdraw into a Christian ghetto where you feel more at home.
Be changed to have God’s heart for the lost, and have a firm hold of God’s truth for their salvation.
Truth about me: God has placed His Spirit within me to help me live as a citizen of Heaven instead of a citizen of this world. He helps me to bring the Kingdom of Heaven
[1]All Scriptures from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids
Monday, February 6, 2012
God's Sovereignty, Our Salvation
1 Peter 1:1b-9
05/02/2012
Introduction
· Series - Living up to our calling in Christ rather than being controlled by fears, circumstances or sinfulness.
· Last week - importance of right authority in our lives. Principles we discover will help make the choices we face easier, but regardless of whether they are easy or hard, we must have a determination to choose to come under the authority of Christ rather than be controlled by fears, circumstances or sinful desires.
· This week we will explore some truths that are going to be very helpful in making right decisions - truths that centre around the sovereignty of God in our salvation.
1 Peter 1:1-9
Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
Praise to God for a Living Hope
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. [1]
Handouts - as we go through you are going to be looking at some wonderful truths about God, particularly relating to His Sovereignty. We are also going to learn some wonderful truths about ourselves and the salvation we enjoy from Him.
Write them down! If you are not yet a follower of Jesus these truths will not yet be true of you - write them down anyway because I pray that as you discover God’s truth you will come to a place of receiving the wonderful salvation that we will be talking about today.
To God’s elect,
This isn’t in Peter’s letter, the translators of the NIV added it in so that the sentence would flow better in English.
strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia
The word “strangers” here is sometimes translated “aliens”. It was commonly used to describe people who came from other places and either settled down as temporary residents.
Philippians 3:17-4:1
17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!
Truth about Me: I do not belong here, I am a citizen of Heaven!
I wonder if any of you can finish the line from the first verse of a well-known hymn…
“Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land.”
That whole song is about the idea being expressed here - we are pilgrims from somewhere else on our way to somewhere else. We are just passing through.
And we’re not strangers in Perth, or Western Australia or Australia - we’re strangers in the world.
Here’s another song for you… “I still call Australia home”. Great song, not true for you if you’re a Christian!
Nowhere in this world is home for us. Home is where the heart is as the saying goes.
Colossians 3:1&2
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.
If you want to be free from the control of fear, circumstance and sin you need to train your heart and mind to operate according to this truth - you do not belong here, you are a citizen of Heaven.
How does remembering that we are citizens of Heaven help us when we are struggling with fear and stress? How does it help us when our problems seem overwhelming? How does it help us when temptation seems to have an unshakeable grip on us so that we do things we know we ought not to do?
The answer is quite simple - it corrects our perspective. It helps us to see with the eyes of faith instead of by natural sight.
To explain what I mean, we need to get into verse 2:
…who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:
We are citizens of Heaven because of God’s choice and God’s action in saving us.
We are saved according to God’s grace, not according to anything we have done to deserve it. The reassurance that Peter gives to us through this letter is that just as God saved us by bringing us into His kingdom by His choice and His action; so He continues to save us by His choice and His action. Our security is completely wrapped up in who God is and what He does - it never depends on us. Neither our security in the next life nor our security in this life is in our own hands, it’s in God’s.
If you are a stranger in the world, someone who has been chosen by God to belong to Him, you are completely secure in Him.
Some of you might be feeling a little bit uncomfortable by the whole “chosen by God” part. Didn’t you choose Him? Isn’t it up to you to decide to be saved, to “accept” salvation that He offers to everyone but which most refuse?
What does it mean that we have been “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”?
Does it mean that God chose to save those who He knew in advance would believe in Jesus?
That’s what I used to think when I was younger, before I’d studied this concept in detail.
No, it means much more than that. The best way to explain it is to look at the life of Jesus, and how this same word “foreknowledge” is applied to His life.
I want to read to you from Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost - the sermon in which Peter for the first time publicly used the “keys to the Kingdom of Heaven” that we talked about last week, by telling people how they could be saved and be part of God’s kingdom through faith in Jesus.
Acts 2:22-23
“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. 23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.”
Here’s the concept that most of us struggle to get our heads around: even as humanity was carrying out the ultimate act of rebellion - nailing God the Son to a cross - we were still acting in accordance with the set plan and purpose of God. God was not powerless to intervene. God was not surprised, or a victim of circumstance.
If you look at the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ execution, there are a huge number of factors that were each critical in leading up to His crucifixion in order for it to occur and also for it to fulfil prophecy.
Let me list just a few:
- One of His disciples needed to be a betrayer.
- The rest of His disciples needed to abandon Him.
- The Jewish leaders needed to be corrupt.
- The Roman governor needed to be weak.
- The Roman soldiers needed to be excessively cruel.
- The execution needed to be by crucifixion and not some other method.
- Jesus’ bones must not be broken.
- The soldiers must gamble for His clothes.
- Jesus needed to be buried in a rich person’s tomb.
etc. etc. !
God made His control over these events obvious by revealing in the Old Testament precise details of how He would bring these things about. That’s what foreknowledge is talking about. It’s God knowing in advance how He would bring about His plan.
Proverbs 6:4 says
The Lord works out everything for his own ends—
even the wicked for a day of disaster.
Ephesians 1:11
“ In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will”
What’s left out of everything? Nothing! There is nothing that lies outside of the sphere of God’s sovereignty. He is moving everything toward His own ends.
That’s a staggering truth.
Truth about God: God works out everything for His good purposes.
As we go through life there are times that it gets pretty tough to see that.
There are times that we feel that God is either not that good or not that powerful… why would we be suffering so much otherwise? Surely a good and powerful God would do a better job of looking after us!
Surely He would hold back the tsunamis, prevent the abuse, cure the addictions, ailments and so on.
It’s much easier to like a god who wants to help but is held back for some reason - maybe it’s because he’s not powerful enough, or because he’s respecting our independence or whatever.
But that’s not what the Bible teaches about God.
He is Good, He is completely in charge, yet bad things still happen.
How is that possible?
The truth is that only God knows. We simply aren’t able to know how He is able to move a world which is under the curse of sin and spiritual darkness according to His purposes, while never Himself either doing evil or tempting anyone else to do evil (James 1:13).
What we do know is that someday it will all make sense to us.
When Jesus was about to go through the horrors of His arrest, torture and execution do you know what He did?
He got His disciples together and He told them the end of the story. He explained that His sufferings were necessary in order to bring about the glorious purposes of God - our eternal enjoyment of Him and His eternal pleasure in us. He told them of Heaven (John 14-16).
We need to know that whatever suffering we are going through, have been through or will go through, God is leading us to a wonderful destination, and every part of our pilgrimage here as strangers in the world has a purpose that is linked to eternity.
Truth about me: Every part of my journey in this life has an eternal purpose. I am part of God’s big story.
Illustration - the story of Joseph in Genesis - remember what he went through? Where was God in the midst of all those injustices?
Genesis 50:20
You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.
Principle - we need to enlarge our vision of God and of God’s story in which we are a part.
Illustrations
· we’re one character in a very large book!
· solar eclipse - God is much bigger than the things that sometimes block Him from our view. (Sun is 400 times wider than the moon, but also 400 times further away).
Application
· How can I rest in God's sovereignty so that I am free from the control of fear, guilt, doubt etc
· How can I tune in to the bigger picture of what God is doing for His eternal purposes instead of being caught up in the near-view picture of my problems and my priorities?
[1]All Scriptures from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Peter: The Man and His Ministry
In this message we look at the author of 1 Peter, the Apostle Peter. From Matthew 16 we discover the unique authority given to Peter and the Apostles to serve as the messengers of God's new covenant with humanity. They are given the "keys to the Kingdom", which is the message of salvation in Jesus; and they are given the authority of "binding and loosing", which is the authority to make moral judgements relating to how followers of Jesus should live. As Jesus explains in this passage and Scripture affirms elsewhere, their teaching would in fact not come from themselves but from God as He spoke through them. This is why Apostolic teaching preserved in Scripture remains the authoritative guide for Christian faith and practice today.
1 Peter 1:1a, Matthew 16:13-19
29/01/2012
Introduction - who are we listening to?
It’s an Olympic year - London is hosting.
Last Olympic Games were in China, where Lin Miaoke performed the rousing rendition of “Ode to the Motherland” as the Chinese flag was paraded into the stadium. What most people didn’t realise at the time was that they while they were watching Lin Miaoke, they were listening to the voice of Yang Peiyi, who was deemed to be not pretty enough to perform on the big occasion by Communist Party officials.
When we read the words of this letter, whose words are we reading - whose voice are we listening to?
It makes a difference!
If one of my children says to another “Don’t do that”, or “You have to…”, it doesn’t necessarily make any difference to the behaviour of the other child they are talking to.
If, on the other hand, they say “Dad said you’re not allowed to…”, or “Mom wants you to…”, then it usually does make a difference - even if it’s just to cause that child to come and verify those claims for themselves!
Keep that in mind as we begin our study in the book of 1 Peter by reading these words…
1 Peter 1:1a
“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ…”
When we listen to the words of Peter, who is it that we are listening to? I think you’ll discover today that it’s worth finding out a little bit more about this man and his ministry so that we are ready to hear his message in this letter.
Matthew 16:13-19
When we read the words of this letter, we don’t read Peter’s own thoughts or ideas that he gleaned from anyone else, we are reading the very words of God. We are reading truths revealed to Peter by God Himself and transmitted faithfully to us.
Just as Peter’s words “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” were attested by Jesus as coming from God, so the Bible itself attests to the words of Peter’s letter as coming from God.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. [1]
When we recognise that words come from God and not man, all of a sudden those words have tremendous authority. (Much greater authority than words spoken by a child on a parent’s behalf)!
That’s what Jesus goes on to talk about from verse 18 onward of Matthew 16.
A True Picture of Authority
Remember last week? Sometimes we get the meaning of Scripture wrong because we read our own assumptions and ideas into it instead of putting in the work to properly handle the word of truth, as Paul advised Timothy to do in 2 Timothy 2:15.
There’s a couple of key ideas here that are really important but sometimes people go off on the wrong tangent with them.
When Jesus talks about the gates of Hades (or Hell) here, He is using a common metaphor for death. The idea is simply that the gate serves as a marker passing from one realm to the next. He’s not talking about storming spiritual strongholds, He’s simply saying that death will not overcome – or prove to be stronger than – His Church.
Keep that idea in mind as it will soon become important!
Let’s move on though to the concept of binding and loosing. Peter’s told that what he binds on earth will be bound in heaven, and what he looses on earth will be loosed in heaven.
First, let’s clear up that misunderstanding – it’s not just Peter that Jesus is talking to here. The authority for binding and loosing is in fact being given to the disciples together.
Peter was the key leader among the disciples it is true. He was the one who first declared the reality of Jesus being the Messiah and the Son of God. This truth is the foundation on which the whole church is built. It was as the Apostles declared the truth of Jesus and was through that truth that Jesus built His Church. That message was then taught, passed on by others and recorded for us and it is still how Jesus is building His Church today.
What are the “keys to the kingdom of heaven”? Sometimes we have this cartoonish image of St Peter at the pearly gates, deciding who gets to go in and who does not. That’s not it!
Jesus may at this point be speaking to all the disciples, because we know that while Peter was certainly the most prominent disciple early on He was never recognised as having any authority that the others did not possess.
It may be that Jesus is speaking directly to Peter here, and will convey the same privilege to the rest of the disciples as they also come to the same point that Peter did of acknowledging the truth of who Jesus really is.
In any case the keys to the kingdom of heaven is not the power to decide who gets in and who does not – that job is given to none but God alone.
Rather, it is the power to unlock the gates of heaven for all who would enter. It is to reveal the truth about the death and resurrection of Jesus by which we are delivered from sin and death and granted eternal life upon our repentance and faith.
Jesus is taking his disciples on a bit of a road-trip out of Jewish territory into Gentile territory. The Jewish leaders and many of the people keep demanding more signs and wonders from Jesus but they are not receptive to the truth of who He really is. So Jesus withdraws with the disciples to a region further north and spends some time preparing His disciples for a really important transition. He wants them to know what His mission really is and He wants to prepare them for their role in it.
Up until now the disciples would have recognised the religious authority of the Pharisees and Sadducees – the religious leaders of Israel.
These leaders had authority in Israel to “bind” and “loose”. This is an expression that means to forbid or to allow, to prohibit or permit. They made judgements about right and wrong.
However not all the religious leaders agreed with each others interpretations of the law and of their traditions. It was a common saying around this time that “the school of Shammai binds while the school of Hillel looses”. Shammai and his followers had very strict rules which they imposed on people, which Hillel and his followers did not agree with!
So how could the common person know which was right? That was one role of the Great Sanhedrin, where the 70 senior religious leaders came together to deliberate. Any difficult cases of law were decided by the Great Sanhedrin. This is the group that sent Jesus to Pilate to be condemned to death.
It was said that what the Great Sanhedrin decided on earth was a reflection of what had been decided in heaven. Together they were God’s voice and had authority to exercise judgement according to His will.
But Jesus says to His disciples in Matthew 16:5-12 to be on their guard against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. He is saying that these people do not speak for God at all!
Suddenly, in the very next conversation that Matthew records, we find Peter and the disciples being given the authority that used to belong to the Pharisees and Sadducees of the Great Sanhedrin!
They are being appointed as God’s spokespeople on earth. They are being told that the decisions that they make together will be a reflection of God’s will and that God will place His blessing on the decisions they make together. (The sentence can be read either way).
They now know for sure that they are not just followers of a particular Rabbi, they are part of something brand new that will not fit into anything they have known up until now.
Watch what happens as Jesus explains this some more…
Matthew 16:20-28
Remember Jesus saying that “the gates of Hades will not overcome” the church that He is building? He’s just told them why that is so – He is going to personally defeat death by rising from the grave on the third day.
Peter doesn’t like all this talk of suffering and death, so he says “No way, we’re not going to let that happen”!
Suddenly he goes from being an instrument of God to being an instrument of Satan. He goes from uttering truths of God rather than human ideas to not having in mind the things of God, rather the things of man.
Jesus then goes on to talk about suffering in the light of eternity. Pay attention to what Jesus says here, because you will discover these same truths expressed in 1 Peter. It is clear that Peter took on board Jesus’ rebuke and his understanding of suffering and death were completely changed by the time the day of Pentecost rolled around.
Many of us are a bit like Peter in this story. We have embraced the truth of Jesus as our Saviour and Lord – with a greater understanding of what that means than what Peter had in Matthew 16. Yet like Peter we may need to be challenged about some of the ideas we hold to which are human ideas rather than godly ones.
There’s an authority issue here. Jesus had the authority to rebuke Peter. Jesus gave Peter and the other disciples authority to speak on His behalf and to make judgements on His behalf when He returned to Heaven, and these are the things we have recorded for us in the New Testament.
Will you acknowledge the role of binding and loosing that was given to the Apostles? Will you allow the words of Scripture to have authority in your life/ Will you do what Scripture allows and commands you to do and will you refrain from doing those things it forbids?
Some people treat Scripture a bit like a counsellor or therapist. They go to it hoping to find something that will make them feel better or help them to live better. Or perhaps they go to it simply looking for something to learn.
Friends as we study the book of 1 Peter together – or any part of Scripture – we need to recognise the authority it must have in our lives. It is the outcome of what Jesus did in Matthew 16 (and 18) in giving authority to the Apostles to speak for Him.
I mentioned last week that studying this book is going to be really helpful for us in overcoming our fears and being free from their control in our lives.
That’s true and it’s wonderful, but have you ever tried to get someone to do something that’s good for them if it’s a bit difficult, scary or unpleasant?
Think of it in these terms – how do you get a child to eat healthy food when they prefer sugar-saturated or fat-filled rubbish?
Do you explain the benefits of healthy eating? Of course!
Do you warn of the dangers of unhealthy eating? Definitely!
Do you then rely on your children to make enlightened choices? No way!
When our kids state their desire to skip veggies and go straight to desert we often need to say simply – “I know you don’t want to eat up your vegies, but I want you to”. That’s enough, because Carolyn and I have the authority to say that.
(OK, our kids aren’t perfect so there’s plenty of haggling attempted, but eventually we get there!)
That’s a bit like what God does for us with His word. He describes for us the benefits of doing what He says. He describes for us the dangers of not doing what He says. But in the end we must obey simply because He says.
I hope that I never fall into the trap of trying to sell obedience to you. I hope that it will be enough to simply say “This is what God’s Word says”, and then rejoice together as we learn by experience that God’s ways are always best.
You might think “well, I am already committed to the authority of God’s word and I do my best to obey it”. I would think that most of us here today would be like that.
What I’m asking you to do though is to raise the bar.
But what about when a crisis hits?
My kids are happy to obey me when I ask them to do things they enjoy. It’s when I ask them to do things they will not enjoy that we begin to have issues.
Those of you who are parents will have probably also seen that your child’s behaviour also can change if they are around other people that they are trying to impress or fit in with. I’ve also seen my kids behaviour change dramatically when they are tired.
We’re all like that! I want to challenge you today to not lower the standards you have when it comes to the authority of God’s Word or your obedience to it.
Times of crisis when its hardest to obey are usually the times that it’s most important to obey. It’s those times that our fears tend to bight, but it’s not just our fears, it’s our sinful desires that really leap up in crisis moments and try to wrest control over our lives.
It’s in those moments that our training in obedience kicks in. If we have trained ourselves to believe that the Bible always has authority beyond our own ideas or the advice and example of others, then that will stay true for us in the crises.
We need to train ourselves to obey despite difficulty - that’s a big emphasis of what Peter writes about in his letter.
Blessings follow obedience. But that’s not what will cause us to obey in the hard times. Only a rock solid commitment to the Lordship of Christ and the authority of God’s Word will see us through the tough decisions and tough circumstances.
It’s the first step toward overcoming our fears and the control they have in our lives.
Let’s close by looking at the last stage of this handing of authority to Peter and the disciples.
Jesus says at the end of chapter 16…
27 For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. 28 I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”
So Jesus has given authority to the Apostles, He’s talked about His own suffering for our sake and the fact that His followers will need to be prepared to also suffer for His sake. Then finally He promises eternal reward that will follow. But what’s this, some of the disciples will see Jesus coming in His kingdom? Well the disciples are all dead and Jesus has not returned in power as He promised – is this a mistake?
No! We simply need to read on.
Matthew 17:1-9
Peter, James and John got to see Jesus in the glory of His second coming – they got a sneak preview! They were permitted to see the glory of God’s Son that no-one else during His earthly ministry was permitted to see – in fact no-one else was even allowed to hear about it until after Jesus’ resurrection.
As we read from 1 Peter keep in mind that we are hearing from a person who has witnessed the sufferings of Jesus, who has suffered himself for Jesus, and who has also seen first-hand the glorification of Jesus. He knows that Jesus has won. He knows that Jesus has overcome the grave. He knows that Jesus will return as promised and He even has an image seared into his mind of the glory that will be revealed at that time (read 2 Peter 1:12-21).
So like Peter let’s live in joyful anticipation of Christ’s return. Let’s fix in our minds Jesus glorified, the rightful ruler of our lives and the One who holds us safely in His hand.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Surprised by Suffering?
Surprised by Suffering? - Audio
1 Peter pt 1
Introduction to the Letter
22/01/2012
As we begin a series of messages from 1 Peter we familiarise ourselves with the story behind the letter. Peter writes to Christians who suffer in various ways for their faith, and who will undergo greater suffering in the future.
God in His providence gives them the help they need through this letter so that they may be secure in His grace and not give in to fear. As we examine the role of fear and worry in our own lives and discover that we too need help to be freed from being controlled by fear. Only then can we truly set apart Christ as Lord in our lives.
Monday, January 16, 2012
Sowing Generously: Playing Our Part in the Global Body of Christ
As we send a team to the Philippines on a 2 week church-building mission, we take the opportunity to study principles of sowing resources into the work of God's Kingdom. We expose the poisonous error of the prosperity gospel which promises personal wealth and instead rejoice in the genuine promise of God to richly provide all we need in order to do what He calls us to do.
(click for audio)
2 Corinthians 9:6-15
15/01/2012
Introduction
My encouragement about the Talibon effort:
· 8 people who have given time, invested $2,500 each plus their personal expenses in order to go on our behalf.
· The effort of the congregation in contributing over $10K to the building project
I believe that this is just the latest example of a pattern of growth in how God is being pleased to provide generously for His work and His people through this congregation; and I’m very excited as I look toward the future and what God might do through us.
This morning I hope that you will share my encouragement and excitement about what God is doing and that together we will set ourselves to continue the journey of being invested in the things that matter, the things of eternal value. I hope that as we explore our passage in 2 Corinthians 9 that you will have a deep sense of resonance that says “Yes, this is what I’m about.”
God can do amazing things through people who align themselves with His purposes. I want the members of our Talibon team as well as the rest of us to be reaffirmed in that truth today. Our passage has some great things to say on that subject.
Prayer
What Does God’s Provision Look Like?
Let’s put our attention first of all on verse 11, which sits at the heart of what Paul is saying in this section.
2 Corinthians 9:11
You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. [1]
I want you to imagine what that looks like for a moment. Imagine yourself being made rich in every way, so that you can be generous on every occasion and that your generosity results in thanksgiving to God.
What does being made rich in every way look like? What sort of house do you live in? What sort of car/s do you drive, clothes & accessories do you wear, food do you eat, places do you go? How big’s your TV?
Aren’t these the sorts of things that we think about when we think of wealth?
Wouldn’t most of us like to be wealthy? Wouldn’t you enjoy being able to give big amounts of money to all sorts of good causes because you’ve got a big stash to start with?
Isn’t that exactly what God is promising here?
How the Church in the Developing World Sees Us
You know that when we get involved with churches like the church in Talibon, they see us as being incredibly wealthy.
Sadly they often associate our faith in Jesus with our wealth, and the good news about eternal life in Jesus can actually be corrupted to become good news about a more comfortable life on this earth.
It’s something that we need to be very careful about, because we have seen many occasions where the work of the kingdom has been shipwrecked by the pursuit of money.
We have sometimes hindered our Christian brothers and sisters in poorer circumstances by putting temptation in front of them through easy access to resources and a lack of accountability in how those resources are used. Our church has certainly learned a lot about that over the last few years and so we are very conscious of putting good systems in place so that we use our resources to help and not hinder.
But tragically, there have been false teachers who have sold a lie to millions of believers in the developing and the developed world, that says “God wants to make you rich”.
The Poison of the Prosperity Gospel
Usually the way to start receiving these riches from God is to first give generously to these churches or ministries which begins a vicious cycle. The false teachers get richer, so it looks like their message is true. Church buildings get fancier, people get dressed up in their absolute best in order to look like they fit in with the prosperous faithful, so a whole veneer of prosperity is build up. Secretly though people are still struggling financially, waiting for God to give them the blessing that others are obviously receiving. They cling to hope in desperation, listening to the testimonies of the fortunate few who get paraded out as “success stories”.
Eventually they get completely burned out and leave, disillusioned not just with the false teacher but with God. But never mind, they will be replaced by many others who are easily hooked by the hope of a god who wants to make them rich.
The prosperity gospel makes an idol out of money, turns God into a vending machine and leaves lives destroyed. If you hear anyone listening to or even teaching this sort of nonsense you need to warn them with all earnestness. It is poison.
But isn’t it Biblical?
Didn’t we just read it?
No, we read into it! We read a text and with my encouragement we imagined our desires into the text. That’s not the way to understand God’s Word, but I asked you to do that in order to highlight the fact that it is what we naturally tend to do, and it is what false teachers encourage people to do.
2 Timothy 4:1-4
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
Reading our desires into Scripture is popular but it is not right. We need to expose myths with the truth of God’s Word which is actually far more exciting and wonderful than the myth that seeks to replace it.
So let’s do that with this passage.
Remember our slogan - you can’t understand a text unless you understand it’s context. What is the literary context - how does this sentence fit with everything else being said in this section of Scripture? What is the historical context - what was God saying to a particular group of people at a particular time and place in history?
Let’s start with the historical context.
Famine in the Empire
In Acts 11 we read that a prophet named Agabus in Antioch Jerusalem Turkey and Greece decided to raise funds to send to Jerusalem
The Corinthian church was one that asked to join in, so Paul recommended that they take up a weekly offering so that when he and the other people entrusted with the mission arrived, there would be funds waiting for them. He even suggested that some Corinthians could be entrusted with the task of delivering the money to Jerusalem
Already at least one contribution has been sent (2 Cor 8:10), but the need is still there and so they are being urged to complete what they have started.
I want you to remember that Agabus predicted that the famine would strike the whole Roman world. In other words, the areas that gave to the church in Jerusalem were themselves affected by the famine, just not as severely as what Judea was.
Now Paul is on his way to Corinth
He writes this letter to prepare the church for his visit. One way that he wants to prepare the people is for them to have their gift for the Judean Christians ready to go. He doesn’t want to get there and find them unprepared. He doesn’t want to have to try raise the money as a last-ditch appeal. He wants them to put their love and commitment into action by being generous as part of a regular Christian discipline.
The last part of the historical context is revealed in chapter 8 of 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians 8:1-5
And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. 2 Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. 3 For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, 4 they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. 5 And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.
Notice here that the Macedonians are not wealthy. Their overflowing joy does not stem from financial abundance or even security - they are extremely poor.
Yet their joy in Christ despite their trials produces a desire to help other believers worse off than themselves.
They discerned for themselves that it was God’s will for them to give - they were not coerced or even expected to do so, but their love for God and His people found expression in giving beyond their ability. Their trust in God was proven by the fact that they relied on Him to meet their needs even as through them He met the needs of Christians elsewhere.
Paul mentions the Macedonians because they are an example of the very principles he is about to teach.
He mentions them for another reason also. He is aware that some of them might travel with him down to Corinth
How do you think the Corinthians would feel if they - as people who are better off than the Macedonians - had not followed through on their promise of help? How would the Macedonians feel visiting a wealthier church that showed no concern for their poorer brethren?
Paul wants to make sure that doesn’t happen, so he gives the Corinthians fair warning.
If you hold to a prosperity gospel, the Macedonian Christians were failures. But inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul holds them up to the Corinthians and to us as examples.
Moving from Poison to Promise
So if God is not promising us financial prosperity in 2 Corinthians 9:11, what is He promising us?
Let’s look at the immediate literary context, starting at verse 6…
2 Corinthians 9:6-11
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.
7 Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. 8 And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. 9 As it is written:
“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;
his righteousness endures forever.”
10 Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. 11 You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.
Picture this - you have a bag of seed that represents the material resources God has entrusted to you. How much of that are you going to sow into God’s work and how much are you going to keep for yourself?
Sometimes we see giving to the Lord’s work as giving away what’s ours. But who is the real owner of everything we have? God is! He is the one who supplied the seed (v.10).
So we can either hog God’s resources for ourselves or we can invest them into others.
It’s interesting isn’t it that what we keep for ourselves does not multiply, but what we give away does. It produces more than what it starts out as.
Many of us have seen the practical reality of this. What a dollar can achieve if I spend it on myself here is far, far less than what it will achieve if I invest it in a child in Malawi
But this principle is not just true practically but also spiritually. When we allow God’s spirit to guide our giving so that we are not giving reluctantly or because we feel compelled, but cheerfully; God has a way of making His grace abound to us so that we have enough to do the good things He wants us to do.
We may think that we only have enough seed for a certain amount. We only have so much to give. But when we start, we find that God provides more than we expect or causes what we do have to stretch further so that we are able to do far more than what we expected to be able to do. We find that just as He promises, we have everything that we need in order to abound in every good work.
I want to tell you a little bit of how this has worked out for Carolyn and I in our married life.
We got married straight after I finished Bible college and had no real resources behind me. We moved to Busselton to take up a 2-day a week youth ministry position with an understanding that the church was going to work toward increasing the number of hours as the ministry grew and as their resources increased.
So we moved down and I started looking for other part time work. Carolyn got some cleaning work but for some reason the other work I applied for never worked out - until God provided work for me teaching in Christian schools in Busselton and Bunbury. It was a bit discouraging not getting work straight away, but when God provided work in ministry to young people we began to see His plan for us.
Despite working a number of different jobs we weren’t bringing in a lot of money. We were able to afford to rent a fairly compact unit which was full to overflowing when we had youth bible study. We had a rusty old Mazda hatchback named Faith - I think it was probably only faith that got her going on cold winter’s mornings!
Then God provided through an Elder in the church a house for us at below market rental which really helped us in being able to work from home and host the young people together as a group. It was a great ministry base for us.
Not only that, but when my parents finished their ministry as missionaries to indigenous Australians they needed somewhere to live as they sought God’s direction for the next chapter of their lives. Having the house in Busselton gave us the ability to help them out.
So in our early years in ministry God provided not only the extra income to sustain us, but also the extra opportunities to do good works in the process. That’s exactly what Paul is talking about in this passage. We were given everything we needed to do every good work that God planned for us to do.
That’s what 2 Corinthians 9:11 is actually saying. The English Standard Version translates it like this: “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way”[2]
False teachers would argue that it’s saying that we will be made rich in every way that we desire, so that as well as being rich ourselves we can give generously to others.
People who swallow this lie therefore look forward to becoming rich so that then they can also become generous. That’s not what the Macedonians did. It’s not what the vast majority of faithful Christians in history have done and it’s not what this passage teaches.
It’s saying that God will enrich you - He will generously provide you - with everything you need in order to be generous to others.
Does God want you to provide money for the work of the Kingdom? He will generously give you everything that you need in order for you to do that good work.
Does God want you to provide wisdom for those who need it? He will provide it generously so that you may offer it as a service to others.
Does God want you to perform an act of service? He will generously provide you with the strength to carry it out.
Does God want you to invest time in serving others? He will generously provide you with enough time to do that good work.
God will give you everything you need in order to serve Him. Is that what you want to do? That’s what Paul is challenging the Corinthians about. He’s saying “Don’t keep the seeds in your bag. Sow them! Watch God multiply them and increase your joy and your righteousness”.
This section comes to a close with a series of reasons why generosity matters.
2 Corinthians 9:12-15
12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 14 And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
Through our financial generosity:
- The needs of God’s people’s and others are met (v. 12,13 - see Gal 6:10)
- The people of God are given reason to thank and praise Him; and those who do not know God see evidence of what we believe (v.12-13,15).
- We prove that we are truly children of God who share His heart and are obedient to His will (v.13)
- We build a real sense of unity, love and concern for each other (v.14)
According to the principles taught in this passage, these outcomes will continue to multiply as we prove faithful in sowing generously.
Conclusion
I’m excited to see how this is unfolding in our mission to help the Church in Visayas region of the Philippines Scotland , to train church leaders in East Asia and among indigenous Australians as well as many other people and places.
I’m excited at what we are sowing into the lives of people in the community surrounding Kingsley and particularly as we plan for the year ahead there are some wonderful new opportunities that God is opening up for us.
Will you be a generous sower?
Will you be encouraged and amazed by what God does to multiply the things you release from your hands?
Do you want to be part of reaping a harvest of fruit that is eternal, being diligent to guard your heart from the obsession of saving for and spending on things that are temporary?
There’s nothing wrong with saving and there’s nothing wrong with spending - I recommend that you do both! But will you guard your heart from being controlled by what you save and spend for?
Jesus said that we cannot serve both God and Money (Matt 6:24). Does your discipline of giving show that you are a true servant of God, that you trust Him as your Provider?
Let’s be like the Macedonian believers. They gave themselves first to God, and then to doing God’s will.
[1]All Scriptures unless otherwise noted from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids
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