Sermon For Sunday June 13, 2010

Today is the third Sunday after Pentecost and we are back from a two week vacation from preaching. And the theme of the sermon today is a progression from Pentecost where the Holy Spirit was poured out on all flesh as was prophesied in the Old Testament by the prophet Joel who live 500 years before Jesus Christ was born but whom Peter quoted in the first sermon of the church on the first Pentecost Sunday.


But today’s sermon speaks to the order of salvation and what happens to those who are given two necessary conditions for their salvation. And those things that are given are grace and faith. But all this presupposes that human beings are in a state that makes salvation necessary.

And as I have said many times who good in the good news of the gospel of Christ if there is no bad news.

So we must go back to the beginning or near the beginning after God created the first human being and then he created the second human being for in God’s words the only thing that was not good about His creation was that it was not good for the first human being to be alone.

God pronounced all of his creation to be good but for this one important detail.

If was not good for Adam to be alone, he lacked something.

So God did not create Adam to be self sufficient. According to God Adam needed a helper and God proceeds to make Eve from Adam’s flesh.

But Adam and Eve rebel against God’s one command that Adam not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil for if he eats of this tree He and since Eve did also, they will surely die. And when they do eat of the tree they must be removed from the garden for there is another tree of life in the garden and if they would eat of it they would continue in this fallen state forever. Genesis 3

But God is so angry at their rebellion that he curses the ground and all creation is cursed. Genesis 3:14-17

And so all human beings are born spiritually dead and have a depraved mind and in their flesh they inherit from Adam and Eve and natural rebellion against God.

But from the removal of man and woman from the garden, God has a plan of redemption, a remedy for this bent for sinning against him.

So today I will speak to what God’s remedy is for the fallen state of mankind being spiritually dead in their sins and unable to effect or accomplish their own salvation.

What is God’s plan for the reconciliation of mankind to himself? What are the steps to salvation and what is the theme or study of this plan.

The study of salvation is called "soteriology" or the study of salvation and this subject is taught in seminaries.

So we have all of mankind in a state of depravity unable to free themselves from their natural desire to rebel and be their own gods “so to speak”. To live their lives their own way and that is still as true today as it was in the garden of Eden. And Satan said it best. “Did God really say that you would die?" Genesis 3:1

Satan accuses God of duplicity and tells Eve that the reason God did not want her to eat of the forbidden fruit was that God did not want Adam and her to “be like God knowing good from evil”. Genesis 3:5

But back to the remedy and God’s plan for salvation.

So we have human kind living in a desperate state and needing a Savior for they cannot no matter how hard they try save themselves. And why? Because God gave them through the prophet MOSES a covenant of “WORKS”. The Ten Commandments was a covenant of works and was dependent upon obedience by human beings as a condition of the covenant.

But the Law became a curse for them because there was a blessing for obedience and punishment for disobedience and the standard of obedience to the law was to obey it completely and perfectly.

We know this because when the Savior of human beings came on to the earth what did he say in his ministry to his disciples, “Be ye perfect as my Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48 KJV).

The opening words of his ministry were, “Repent for the kingdom of God is at hand. (Matthew 4:17)”

Jesus Christ set the conditions of entering his kingdom and that is "repentance.”

And the condition of perfection is reiterated by the teaching of the Apostle Paul who tells us all that those who follow the law must obey it completely and that failing on one single part of the law makes us guilty of breaking the whole law.
Here are Paul’s exact words from the book of Galatians chapter 3 verse 10:

All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law."

So Paul testifies that the Standard the Jesus has set was to obey everything contained in the Law of Moses and to live by it perfectly.”

And since no one but Christ has obeyed the law perfectly where does that leave us. It leaves is a state of desperately needing rescue from out fallen state. We desperately need God to come to our rescue and redeem us, to save us.

So God provided us a Savior in His Son. And this promise goes back to the first substitutional sacrifice that the Bible Fast Forward class should remember when God told Abraham to take his son Isaac on Mt Moriah on a rock and sacrifice him. And when Isaac asks his father on the way up the mountain where is the lamb for the sacrifice father. Abraham replied, “God will provide the lamb.” Gen 22:7-8

And 2000 years later Jesus Christ would be sacrifice on that sane rock on Mt Moriah and the place was then called CALVARY. Today that rock is under the roof of the dome of the rock, the Muslim mosques on the temple mount and it golden dome dominates the sky line of modern Jerusalem.

But God calls all who he gives to his Son Jesus his gift of grace through faith. And grace and faith are so intimately connected that faith is also a gift of God for those who would repent and believe in God’s son.

And the most central of all scripture was written by the Apostle Paul in the book of Ephesians Chapter 2 verse 8 and 9 where Paul defines what grace is and what it does.


And here are the words, “8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

And so we have Paul telling us that grace of God was given to us as a gift and that God had created us to do good works by this His grace.

Are God’s kindness and mercy important aspects of his gift of salvation?

"For while we were still sinner’s Christ died for us". Romans 5:8

God could have left us in our fallen state could he not have?

God’s grace is his unmerited favor to those who he foreknew and for those he predestined to become conformed to the image of his son and to those who he predestined he also justified and those he justified He also glorified.

So this is the golden chain of the steps to salvation.

So let’s look at what justifies us for that is the title of the sermon. We are justified by faith in Christ, alone.

What does justification mean?

It means we are made righteous.

So what has to happen first! Remember before we are saved we are spiritually dead with a depraved mind and a flesh that is naturely bent toward rebellion against God.

In a word, we are "selfish", for that is what self-centered people are!

We are totally consumed by our selfish desires to gratify the flesh.

In words of John Calvin, we are totally depraved.

How can we now be justified in the sight of God without being changed in our nature?

The answers is, we can’t.

We must be changed?

And what was the subject of my sermon two weeks ago before vacation.

What did Jesus of Nazareth tell us we MUST do.

Jesus says we must be changed.

And he told this to the most self righteous religious people of his time.

What did Jesus tell Nicodemus and the Pharisees. "YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN".

No one can see the kingdom of God, unless he is born again! (John 3:3)

And Jesus means born of the Spirit of God.

And I said in that sermon last time, that the subject is "regeneration" in which there is a indwelling of the spirit of God in the believer.

And it is implied that without this fundamental change in the nature we cannot act in faith and believe in Christ.

Well some may object, is belief in Christ necessary for our salvation?

The answer is yes!

And how do we know that faith or belief in Christ is required?

Faith and belief are one and the same but some may say that trust is involved and they are also correct in this detail.

Well did anyone in the bible ask the question?

What must I do to be saved?

And the answer is yes.

In fact two people that I am aware of asked this most important of all questions anyone can ask of God for it effects our eternal destiny.

The first was the rich young ruler sometimes called the rich young fool. For he asks Jesus of Nazareth to his face "What must I do to be saved in Matthew 19:16. He asks the question, "What must I do to get eternal life." Jesus replies, "Obey the commandments."

Is obedience required for salvation or not?

And the young man replies, "I have kept them but what do I still lack.

And Jesus tells him, "sell all you have and follow me".

And the young man went away sad for he could not obey Christ's command for he was very rich.

And who was the other person who asked the same question and where in the bible did he ask it.

"What must we do to be saved?"

It is in the book of Acts and the question was asked and it was asked by the jailer who was in charge of keeping by the Apostles in jail and when an earthquake happened the jailer thought they had escaped and he would be killed but they assured him they were still there and the jailer asks, “What must I do to be saved?” And what was the Apostles, Paul and Silas answer him.

“Believe on the Lord, Jesus and you and your whole household will be saved” (Acts 16:31).

Is faith or belief in Christ important or not?

It is required for our salvation for it is in our faith so that we are made righteous just like Abraham.

But can we be saved by faith in someone other than Christ? Can someone else save us?

Is Jesus the only way to salvation!

What do the apostles teach in regard to this question?

The Apostle Peter tells us plainly in regard to Jesus Christ's name. Peter says in Acts 4:12, "There is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."

But Jesus tells his disciples that there is no other way to salvation except through Him when He says, "No one comes to the Father Except Though Me". John 14:6.

Jesus tells us himself that he alone gives eternal life only to those who believe in him in John chapter 10 and here are his exact words.

25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish...

Jesus is the only "WAY TO SALVATION " by his own words!

Amen.

Sermon For Penetcost Sunday May 23, 2010

THY WORD IS TRUTH

JOHN 17:17

“Do We Walk In The Spirit?”

  Today is the Pentecost Sunday and we celebrate the birthday of the church. For on that first Pentecost Sunday the Apostle Peter we learn in the Chapter 2 of the book of Acts stood up to address the crowd after the Holy Spirit had settles upon then as they were gathered together in one place.  And we have to read clear to the end of Chapter 2 of Acts to find out where that place was; for the author of the book of Acts identifies the place as the courts of the Temple which is just outside the Temple on the Temple grounds. And who is Peter addressing for Peter is about to preach the first sermon of the church.  And after this first sermon, three thousand souls will be added to the church on the very first day of the church’s existence. Who is Peter addressing as he raises his voice to address the crowd. Who is Peter addressing and what has just happen to them that would radically change their lives?

 The Apostle Luke gives us the description of the crowd with these words at verse 5.

 “5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven.
6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.
7Utterly amazed, they asked: "Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans?
8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?
9Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome
11 (both Jews and converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs-we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own tongues!"
12Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another, "What does this mean?"

And just before Peter got up to speak we have this description of the visible manifestation of the Holy Spirit coming upon the eleven and Peter as the crowd watched.

2Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
3They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them.
4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

          And what was the unbelieving reaction of some in that crowd to what they saw that day.  Luke tells us in verse 13,”

 13Some, however, made fun of them and said, "They have had too much wine." 

Those upon whom the Holy Spirit descended displayed such bizarre behavior that some in the crowd concluded that they must be drunk.

          So Peter has to set the record straight.  Peter says that these men in fact are not drunk for it is only 9 o’clock in the morning. But Peter who had the education of a fisherman then quotes the Old Testament prophet Joel.

And that was the Old Testament reading for today.

And Gods words through the mouth of his Prophet Joel who was given to the kingdom of Judah in the reign of king Joash 825 years before Jesus was born. And the bible fast forward class just learned this last Wednesday night when we studied the 398 years the kingdom of Judah’s history and the 21 kings of Judah before all of Jerusalem’s inhabitance every man woman and child were taken into captivity in Babylon and the Temple of Solomon was destroyed.

          Here are the words of the Prophet Joel and the opening words of Peter’s sermon.

 17" 'In the last days, God says,  I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

And to Peter’s mind this was like what would happen when the Messiah would come in judgment upon the earth at the end of the age.

          And sadly many protestant churches and in fact a whole denomination looks at speaking in tongues as the only manifestation of the Holy Spirit in a believer but the Apostle Paul speaks otherwise in several places in his 11 epistles to the church and I don’t mean to belittle those who have relatives or friends in Pentecostal churches for they display many more evidences of the Holy Spirit than just speaking in tongues in those churches and they still a growing denomination and must be recognized of that fact.

          But there are many warnings by the Apostle Paul about discerning what is appropriate in the church and what is not for those who would speaking in tongues and that happens in the 1 Corinthian’s 13 which is one of the most familiar of all the chapters in the bible for it is called the love chapter.

          And for obvious reason the focus is narrowed down to the subject of love and away from the rebuke and warning of speaking in tongues which is why Paul was writing the live chapter in the first place.  Since Paul defines the concept or doctrine of grace, Paul also define the concept of tongues and the Holy Spirit to the Corinthian church.

So let’s go to the chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians as see Paul’s warning. 

          Paul writes, “1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

And then Paul talks about what love is, love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not easily angered ... and Paul goes on but ends the passage with “LOVE NEVER FAILS!”

          But then Paul goes back to tongues and prophesy as out ward manifestation of the Holy Spirit with these warning about their abuse.

8 But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,
10 but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears.

What do you suppose Paul means by when the perfect comes the imperfect will disappear?  Who is the perfect in the bible. Jesus is the perfect lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world.  Any reference to perfect in the bible is a Messianic reference. Jesus of Nazareth says this, “Be ye perfect and my Father in heaven is perfect.”

         So Paul is making the point that the outward manifestations of the Holy Spirit are temporary but there are lasting or perfect internal manifestations of the Holy Spirit within the believer and they permanent and eternal? And are required for eternal life. 

Paul says in Romans 8, 9, "If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to him".

Did you notice that it says anyone and the conditional word “if” is used.  This is a condition of eternal life when Paul uses the conditional word “if”.

The laws of language and thought are higher than the law of God for without them we would not be able to understand God’s spoken word or written word!       

What are the internal manifestations or evidence of the Holy Spirit within a believer according to Paul in this Corinthian passage of Chapter 13?

There are three of them. They are in the last verse of the chapter.

What are the last words of the Apostle Paul in chapter 13 of First Corinthians?

Here they are, “13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

          Faith and Hope are included but the greatest attribute of a Holy Spirit filled Christian or should I use the term “fruit of the Spirit is “love”.

So what does the Holy Spirit by the Apostolic teaching of the Apostle Paul produce in the believer or disciple of Jesus Christ.  Yes, the Holy Spirit of Christ is within all who accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. All those who are “regenerate”. 

The doctrine of regeneration which appears in the Confessions of the Presbyterian Church is almost extinct in the sermons of the modern church but a whole page is devoted to it in the Westminster Confession.

And the central teaching of Jesus of Nazareth on the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit is his statement to Nicodemous,  “You must be born again.”

And being a born again Christian or believers is not just a catch phrase of a Tele-evangelist but are the very words of Christ. “You must be born again".

          And Paul knows this because of all the biblical conversions the Apostle Paul had the most dramatic and physically violent. Paul was knocked off his horse in the road to Damascus and blinded by the glory of the Resurrected Christ, Paul was changed from a murderer of Christians to a teaches and evangelist of Christians and a planter of Churches by the grace and mercy given to him by Christ. Paul’s conversion is so important to understanding the book of Act that Luke puts it in chapter 9 and then repeats the story late in the book in chapter 22 Luke thinks that understanding of the regenerated Paul is crucial to understanding the book of Acts which should have been entitled the Acts of the Holy Spirit instead of the Acts of the Apostles.

          So Paul would define what the indwelling of the Holy Spirit produces in a believer in his epistle to the Galatians in chapter 5 on the “Fruits of the Spirit”.  These are the attributes or fruit or produce of the Holy Spirit in human beings that are regenerated or born again in the Spirit of God.” 

Galatians 5 verse 22, “ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” 

These 9 attributes should be displayed by those born again; born again in the Spirit of God. And these are very convicting to day for this Pastor for by this measuring stick I fail on many. But that is what the Holy Spirit is suppose to do. convict every believer of their sins and to bring them to repentance.

          There is that word again.  Repentance!

For that is the call of the first sermon of the Church made by the Apostle Peter on the first Pentecost sermon if we could return to it, for after the sermon Peter makes this charge to the crowd. This is the alter call that Peter makes.

Verse 38 of Acts 2, “Repent and be baptized everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  And listen to these next words. “And you will be given the gift of the Holy Spirit.” The promise is to you and you children and for all who are far off. 

This promise is to all whom the Lord our God will call.

 May the elders come forward for communion:

Sermon For The Sunday Before Pentecost May 16, 2010

"I Pray For Those Who Will Believe In Me!”

          Today is the fifth Sunday after Easter and the next Sunday is Pentecost Sunday and the birthday of the church. The subject of today’s sermon is the last words of Jesus Christ on earth.  And I have given sermons on two bible characters last words before they died.

 And both of those characters God made everlasting covenants with and they were Jacob and David. 

The Abrahamic covenant was repeated to all there Jewish patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob for God love all three and the God of the Old Testament repeatedly throughout the Old Testament referred to himself as the God that brought them out of Egypt the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

  Some of you may remember that Jacob on his death bead blessed all of his twelve sons and also gave a blessing to his son Judah that identified Judah as the ancestor of Jesus Christ.

We heard the words of the Old Testament reading about Jacobs son Judah in the scripture from Genesis 49

“Judah is a lion’s cub and the scepter shall not depart from Judah nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet until Shiloh comes. Shiloh is an ancient name for the Messiah.

And he shall be the obedience of the peoples and he ties his foal to the vine and he washes his robes in the blood of grapes”. 

To me this is such a rich picture of Jesus Christ that these words are so rich and prophetic that Jesus would be descended from Judah, Jacob’s son. And Jesus is often referred to as the "Lion of the tribe of Judah."

          And when David dies and what were is last words and are they important and do they refer in any way to Jesus of Nazareth as the descendant of King David?

 The words are form 2 Samuel Chapter 23.  David’s last words on earth.  "David son of Jesse declares, "The anointed of the God of Jacob and the sweet psalmist of Israel." 

If you are knew to the bible and do not know Jesus of Nazareth as the Son of David then perhaps you never went to church on Palm Sunday for that is what the crowds were shouting at Jesus as he rode into Jerusalem of the first Palm Sunday morning on the foal of a donkey just like Jacob said he would on his death bed.

Almost all of us here have been to church on Palm Sunday morning and have heard what the crowds were shouting that day.

          So both of these men Jacob and David are covenant bearers and both are ancestors of Jesus.

          But today in the sermon, we will focus and hold in remembrance, Jesus of Nazareth’s last words to his followers.  The men that he personally chose to follow him and Jesus will offer an intercessory prayer in that upper room which is perhaps the most touching and loving prayer in all the bible.

Jesus has chosen the eleven men who had just celebrated the Seder, the Passover Meals, where he would eat of the bread and drink of the cup for the last time which becomes the Last Supper.  I say just eleven men because Judas has left the room and is going to betray Jesus for 30 pieces of silver.  And Jesus will also refer to him in this last prayer which is sometimes referred to as the other Lord’s prayer or our Savior’s prayer. 

And it is a three fold prayer in that Jesus first prays for himself and then secondly He prays for disciples and thirdly Jesus prays all those who would believe in him to accept the message of his disciples and all who would later through 20 centuries be baptized into the church of Jesus Christ and then obey Christ as their Lord and Savior.  And this last part of the prayer is the "Title of Today's Sermon."

          Should we not all expect Jesus would pray a three part prayer as his last words on earth?

These 11 men,  Jesus would identify as being given to him by His Father in heaven in His prayer for them that I read in the New Testament reading today. 

Jesus first prays for himself for he knows what is coming and it was heavy on his minds as we will find out few hours later in the Garden of Gethsemane when he sweats blood praying that the cup could be taken from him but he submits to his Fathers will and obediently goes to the cross.

          But let us recall his opening words to his Father about himself from the New Testament reading.

And Jesus gives in the opening words of the prayer His definition of eternal life so let’s listen for that definition.

Jesus says, “Father the time has come to glorify your Son that your Son may glorify you. After hearing the first line of this prayer do not let any on come to your door and claim that Jesus never said he was the son of God.” And then Jesus says, “For you Father granted him authority over all people that he may give eternal life to those that you have given him.”  Don’t let people come to your door and tell you that all people are saved.  Jesus says otherwise in this prayer.  Although Jesus claims to have authority over all people he only gives eternal life to those that were given to him by his Father.

And then Jesus gives us Jesus' definition of “eternal life”. 

And Jesus says in the next sentence of His prayer these words: 

"NOW THIS IS ETERNAL LIFE, that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent". 

What is the condition of eternal live? In other words, what are Jesus requirements to obtain eternal life?

The answers is that we first know God the Father first and them Jesus Christ!

The whole Old Testament is about the coming of the Messiah and if we do not know the Old Testament we can not know the Christ of the New Testament!

Where in the bible must we go to know Jesus’ Father?

The answer is in the Old Testament.  We can have eternal life from Jesus without know His Father first?

The answer is NO.

For when he comes back to get those whom His Father gave him what does Jesus say he will do?

He will take them to the Father and they both will abide with them there in heaven. 

We should be very familiar with what Jesus says in this regard for I have included Jesus words about what he will do when he comes for us in every funeral that I have given here at both churches.

From John 14, "Jesus says to his disciples "I go to prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am."

 And later in John 14 verse 23 Jesus says, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him". 

Jesus will come back for us to take us to live with His Father. 

We must know the Father to come to eternal live. 

Is it important to know the Old Testament God or not?

It is a requirement as I said before for eternal life.

Jesus sits a the eternal king at the right hand of the Father in heaven and he will come back to judge the quick and the dead. 

And then Jesus says to his Father.  I have brought glory to You Father by competing the work You gave me to do". 

Jesus will say the very next day on the cross, “It is finished.” He has accomplished his work here on earth and it is now time to go back to the Father.

Why does Jesus say go back to the Father? Here are his next words of his prayer.

          "Now glorify me in Your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began". 

Wow, what a claim!  There should have been exclamation points in the bible and this verse deserves one.

Jesus prays to his Father in front of His disciples that he was in existence before the world began! 

And much later after the Jesus Resurrection, the Apostle Paul will write in the book of Colossians that Jesus was co-creator of the world so he had to be in existence with the Father before the world was created. 

If someone comes to your door and tells you that Jesus never claimed to be God, point them to is prayer of Jesus in John 17 and let them read it to you. 

Do people comes to your door telling you that Jesus is not the son of God or He is not God or do they only come to my front door?

          So in the opening of this prayer Jesus 1. establishes himself as the Son of God and 2. preexisting with the Father in glorified state before the world began and 3. having the authority to give eternal life not to those he himself chose but to those whom his Father chose and gave to him.

           And then Jesus prays for those men that his Father gave him, His Disciples.  Jesus says, “I have revealed You Father to those whom you gave me out of the world.

They were Yours; You gave them to me and they obeyed Your Word.  Now they know that everything you have given me comes from You. For I gave them the words You gave to me and they accepted them. They know with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that You  sent me. 

And then Jesus says something that distinguishes His disciples from everyone else in the world at that time and for all time. So listen to what he says:

“I pray for them (His Disciples) and then he makes this distinction.  “I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are Yours.  All I have is Yours, and all you have is mine.  And glory comes to Me through them.  I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to Your.

Jesus clearly know he is about to die even before he is arrest that will take place in a few hours.

          Jesus says in the next line of his prayer that he protected them like a Good Shepherd while he was with them by the power of this Fathers name and not one of them was lost.

None except the one doom to destruction. And that is Judas Iscariot and Jesus says the reason Judas was destroyed was to fulfill what the Scriptures said. The prophet Zachariah say in Zachariah chapter 11 verse 12 and 13 that Jesus would be betrayed for exactly 30 pieces of silver.

And the words of that scripture are,” And I told them, "If you think it best, give me my pay; but if not, keep it." So they paid me thirty pieces of silver”.

Yes the price that Judas Iscariot was paid was revealed to us by the prophet Zachariah who lived 500 years before Jesus Christ was born.  And Jesus says that "the world would hate them (His Disciples) for they are not of the world just as I am not of this world". 

All Christian should not regard themselves as citizens of the world for as the Apostle Paul will says “Our citizenship is in heaven” in the book of Philippians 3:20.

James the natural brother of Jesus of Nazareth (Matthew 13:55) being the virgin Mary’s son says it best! (James 4:4):

“Anyone choosing to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God".

We as followers of Jesus should act in this way.

We are just passing through this world and are not of this world for our citizenship is in heaven.

We are not to live secular lives but sanctified lives separated from the world. 

We were bought out of this world with the price of Jesus blood as redeemed sinners.

The secularization of the modern church is Satan's greatest work!

In my lifetime the church has become a "friend of this world".  The modern church does not realized that Satan is the ruler of this world!

          It is almost as if Paul had heard Jesus Prayer but he did not know Jesus of Nazareth. 

And then Jesus comes to the end of his last words to his Disciples with this statement:

“Sanctify them with the truth, Thy Word Is Truth”!

Sound familiar?  What does Jesus tell us about why he came into the world. 

We find it in the book of John18 verse 37 when Jesus responds to Pontius Pilots accusing question, “Are you a king?”

Jesus responds to Pilot,

“You are right in saying that I am a king. For this is the reason I was born and the reason why I came into the world to TESTIFY TO THE TRUTH.

Everyone who is on the side of the truth listens to me!

Are we in the side of the truth? 

Are we on the side of Christ for they are the same thing!

Are we a Christian because Christianity is the truth or are we hear so some other reason or reasons?

Jesus continues in His prayer, “As You sent me into the world Father, I send them into the world. For then I sanctify myself that they too may be truly sanctified. 

What does the world sanctify mean?

Not as word that you use in every day conversation.

Sanctify them with the truth?

Sanctify means to make Holy. 

So it is the  truth that will sanctify us if we are true disciples of Christ. 

The truth that sanctifies us is the truth of the gospel.

The good news of the New Covenant that Jesus is Prophet, High Priest and King of the New Covenant.

 But before I close in prayer myself, Jesus prays for all believers as he closes his intercessory prayer.  Jesus says of his disciples, “My prayer is not for them alone.

I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message. 

And what is the message of the Disciples?

It is the gospel of Christ. 

May I close in prayer:

Sermon For Mother's Day May 09, 2010

THY WORD IS TRUTH

JOHN 17:17

 “Just Another Impossible Birth?”

         Today is the fifth Sunday after Easter and Mother’s day. And this is the third Mother’s day that I have had the privilege to preach here at Annapolis/Hopedale.  Many of you here have heard the two sermon’s I gave on Mother’s day but I wonder how many remember the bible character that was the subject of the sermon in 2007  and then  and 2008?

 The mothers name on 2007 was Sarah and her son was Isaac.  And last year in 2008 the mother’s name was Hanna and he son was named Samuel.  And Hanna and Sarah had one thing in common. 

They had waited most of their married lives without becoming pregnant and bearing a child.  And in fact, when both Sarah and Hanna conceived they were past the normal child bearing years so the birth of their sons Isaac and Samuel were impossible births. 

So both these sons were exceptional sons for they both had supernatural births.  And the faith that these mothers had sets them apart and draws attention to them and to their offspring.  For their faith goes beyond what their minds tell them is possible.

In fact Abraham and Sarah both laughed when they were told by God that they would have a son.  So much so that they named their son Isaac which in Hebrew means laughter.

        And the faith of Hanna was clearly as strong as Sarah's although she did not laugh when she conceived but she challenged God by praying that if God would give her a son she would dedicate him to the lord and give that son back to the Lord.

And when she gave birth to Samuel she took him to the Temple and she gave Samuel to the high priest Eli and the boy was raised in the Temple and became the first prophet in the age of the prophets and Samuel anointed the first king of Israel and that was King Saul. 

But when King Saul was rejected by God, Samuel then anointed the next King David.

        And today the sermon is about a woman who husband is too old to have a son. 

It is not clear from this story whether the Sulemmite woman womb was barren here. But she is childless.

Did you notice how many women that were barren have sons late in life in the bible.  The Sarah and Hannah stories are a repeat and we heard this story repeated a forth time in the New Testament reading for today. 

The birth of John the Baptist to his mother Elizabeth is the 5th sequel to Gods supernatural birth stories leading up to God’s own Son’s supernatural birth to the virgin Marry. 

God does not just spring the doctrine of the virgin birth of Christ on us but leads us to belief by several supernatural births of important bible characters before his miraculous son is born.

        And if we stop and think about the sequence of supernatural birth stories what was the purpose of these 4 births preceding the virgin birth of Christ?

 God is trying to tell us that God is behind the births of those character that He chooses to reveal himself to the world and also to his power of control nature for He is the author of nature. He is the creator and can call into existence any human being he chooses. 

And more importantly, it implies that God is in control of all human births!

And God testifies in the birth of his prophet Jeremaiah that God knew Jeremiah before he was born implying that he knew all these babies before they were born also.

        But the major point of all these supernatural births of Isaac, Samuel, John the Baptist prefigure the supernatural virgin birth of Jesus, God’s own son.

        And so does this woman from the town of Shunem. For that is all we know about her, for God did not give us her name only that she was a Shunemite , a woman that lived in the town of Shunem .  And there is nothing special that I could find about the city of Shunnem except that is was in the region of promised land given to Jacob’s son Issachar. 
      
         But let us look at this third story of a woman too old to have children and how her son point’s to the Son of God and what Jesus would be in His life and what Jesus would do for all of mankind in his life.

And there is a twist to this story that points directly to Jesus.

        And this story takes place just where we are in the Bible Fast Forward Class.

We have just finished the story of the death of King Solomon and the division of the monarch into two kingdoms. 

And the division of Israel into two kingdom precedes the appearance of the prophets Elijah and Elisha during the reign of evil king Ahab by 50 years.

        So what was so special about the Shunemmite’s woman faith?

       We have to fast forward to the prophets given to the Northern Kingdom of Israel containing the ten tribes and their king Ahab his evil queen Jezabel.  And the prophets that were given to call these two monarchs to account were Elijah and Elisha. 

       Both these prophets were contemporaries meaning that they lived and preached at the same time under the reign of Ahab and that they knew each other. 

       You may remember at the Seder dinner last month on Maunday Thursday I taught about how the Prophet Elijah was be taken up into heaven in a whirlwind in a chariot of fire and that the Jews always expected his return to earth because he did not die and because his return to earth was promised in the last verse of the Old Testament in the book of Malachai.

        Remember that Elijah and Elisha were standing together next to each other when Elijah was supernaturally taken up to heaven and Elisha was left behind with the mantel of Elijah’s ministry as the man of God. 

        And here enters the Shunemmite woman to testify that Elisha was a man of God for she it is her hospitality to Elisha that identifies him as a man of God and with the supernatural powers that you would expect for a man of God.

         If we recall in the Old Testament reading this morning, this woman was well to do and she urged Elisha to stay in her house for a meal ao when he came by and he stayed with her. 

         And she said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man from God.”  Let’s make a small room on the roof and put a bed and a table and chair and a lamp for him so that he can stay there whenever he comes to us.” 

         The notes of the NIV Study bible tell us that this is the first time that the word “Holy” is applied to a prophet of God in the bible. And when Elisha came to visit he asked his servant “Gehazi to call the Shunemmite woman to him.  And Elisha said to her, “You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can we do for you in return? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of his army? But she replied, “I have a home among my people.”  And the notes of the study bible tell us that she did not want anything from the king and this was her humble state of mind that she took comfort from her own tribe and it elders.

Elisha asked Gahazi what he could do for her, instead?

Gehazi answers, “Well, she has no son and her husband is old”.  Elisha visits with her and the Elisha gives this woman a startling revelation.  Elisha tell her, “About this time next year you will hold a son in your arms”. “No my lord”, she responds, “Please do not mislead your servant, O man of God”.

But the woman becomes pregnant and the next year gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.

And the boy grew and one day went out into the field with his father and the reapers. And suddenly he complained to this father, “My head, my head! And his father told them “Carry him to his mother!”  And the woman held him in her lap until noon and then he died! But then the woman did something very strange. Instead of immediately telling everyone in her grief that her son had died in her arms she gets up and told no one.  She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God and then shut the door and went out.  She called to her husband, “please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and then return”. “Why are you going today”, her husband asked?  It is not the New Moon or the Sabbath? 

“It’s alright”, she said. She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on, and don’t slow down unless I tell you.  So she came up to Mt Carmel. And when she reached the man of God on the mountain she took a hold of his feet and Gahazi tried to push her away. “Leave her alone!” said Elisha, she is in bitter distress, but the LORD has hidden it from me and I don’t know why.  And the woman says to Elisha, “Did I ask you for a son, my Lord and didn’t I tell you “don’t raise my hopes”?

       And then Elijah gave Gahazi these orders, “ Take my staff in you hand and run. If you meet anyone, do not greet him and of anyone greet you do not answer, “Lay my staff on the boys face”. But when Gahazi went as did as he was told and he came back to Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened!” And when Elisha came to the house the boy was lying dead on the couch. He went on, shut the door on the two of them Gahazi and the woman, and he prayed to the LORD. He got on the bed and lay upon the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. Elisha got up and walked back and forth in the room and them stretched out upon the boy once more. The boy sneezed seven time and open his eyes.  Elisha called to Gahazi, “Call the Shunemmite” and Gahazi did.  And Elisha said to her, “Take your son.”

       And this is exactly what the prophet Elijah has done before for the woman of Zarephath in 1st Kings 17 when he laid upon her son who had died three times and that boy also came back to life.  And that woman’s response to the Elijah was, “know I know that you are a man from God and the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.

Let Me Close In Prayer:

Sermon For Sunday May 02, 2010

THY WORD IS TRUTH

JOHN 17:17

“Give Me Wisdom!” 

            Today is the fourth Sunday after Easter and the subject of the sermon today is on the monarchy of Israel in keeping with the seventh most important event of the bible which is the establishment of the monarchy of Israel. 

            The bible fast forward class created to give our two congregations Hopedale and Annapolis an over view of the 12 most important events of the bible leading up to the cross and the resurrection.

         This bible class gives us the 12 events that were the reasons for the sacrifice of God’s son to pay for the idolatry and sin of human beings and his resurrection to life and his glorification as the eternal king, high priest and judge.

        Last Sunday we considered the contrast between the first king of Israel, Saul and the second King of Israel David. And it is a study of the fate of two groups of people who are called by God.  Both groups are born into sin and fall just like Adam and Eve into sin but one group insists that they are righteous and the other group not only acknowledges their sin but repents of the sin and asks for forgiveness. 

        King Saul in his weakness and pride never confessed his sin before God but arrogantly insistes that he was right and that he followed Gods commands completely and he insisted that he had obeyed and wanted to worship God by sacrificing the animals of the Canaanites that God had commanded him to destroy.

        King Saul in his weakness and cowardess gave into the men of his army and spared the king of the Amalikites, Agag, and did not kill him as he was commanded to do. 

         Samuel had to execute Agag himself in order that God’s command might be obeyed.

        And so we have those groups of people who do not explicitly obey Gods commands and those who repent and obey after they come to their senses like King David. 

        And the contrast between David and Saul should be an example to us all. 

        And modern Christianity is equally slow to acknowledge out sin and repent as the people of David’s time.

         Christ first words of his ministry are “Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand”. 

         And those who go blithely on the way sinning and insisting that they are righteous will eventually be called to Justice when Christ comes back to judge the quick and the dead.

          For the implications of the contrast between Saul and David is that unrepentant sin is not forgiven.

          But repentant sin is forgiven and to an amazing extent. 

          David not only committed adultery and made Bathseba pregnant with his child when she was still married to Uriah but he compounded that sin and tried to cover it up by putting Uriah in the front line of battle and secretly commanding his officers to withdraw and let Uriah die in battle with out any support. So David premeditates Uriah’s death and becomes a murderer. 

But David’s repentant prayer of Psalm 51 should be a model for our own prayers of repentance.

        And why is grace and forgiveness so amazing?

It is amazing because God offers his Amazing grace to those who would repent and turn to him.  Grace is given to those who repent and sin no more. 

         Grace is due to God’s forbearance and mercy to those who will turn towards him and forsake their evil ways. 

         God’s grace is no different that the grace periods given in the market place today.  It is that period of time where punishment is withheld until till performance can be done. 

         It is that time period that the landlord gives to the tenant to pay rent after the due date of the rent before they are asked to leave the property for unpaid rent!

         God gives his grace on expectation that people like David will see their sin and repentant.

        Is God gracious in his forgiveness of David? 

        Is King David only partially restored. NO! 

        David is completely restored and competely forgiven and sits on his thrown as “A Man After God’s Heart”.

        And the marriage of David to Bathsheba is restored also and not only restored but blessed as well.  For after the child of their adultery dies shortly after birth and David repents. 

        God’s promise that King David would have a descendant after him whose kingdom would have not end.

        God blesses the formerly adulterous marriage of Bathsheba and David with another son and his name was Solomon.

David had other wives but the offspring from those wives are not in the genealogy of Christ. 

Only Solomon is in an ancestor of Christ. Solomon becomes the son who will build the house for the Lord, the temple.

Solomon is the greatest king of Israel except for one and He is the eternal king Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the covenent God made with King David!

        And we heard in the Old Testament reading today that Solomon was put on David’s throne after David’s death.

Solomon builds a house for the LORD and God took up residence in that temple confirming his promise to David.

And the glory of the LORD was the light of the temple both day and night until it was destroyed in 536 BC by Nebuchazessar.

        But what does Solomon ask for when he was made king of Israel.

         Solomon says. “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 

And what was Gods response to Solomon?  God says, “Since this is your heart’s desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life…, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given to you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you and none after you will have.  And then Solomon reigns over Israel.

        End of story right! Not exactly! 

        For Solomon did in his youth ruled with wisdom. And we all remember the account of Solomon who was presented with the problem of two women who claimed to be the mother of the same baby.  And to determine who was the birth mother, Solomon give the order to cut the baby in half and give both women their half of the baby.  And of course the real mother gives up her claim to the baby not wanting the baby to be harmed and she in Solomon’s wisdom is rewarded by having the baby returned to it’s real mother.

        And we have the Queen of Sheba comes to Solomon to witness for herself the wisdom of King Solomon.

But all is not well with Solomon.  For all of the wisdom, wealth and power did not satisfy him or prevent him from falling.  For Solomon made treaties with all the nations of the world at that time and as a act of making peace and  ratifying and confirming those treaties by Solomon marrying those pagan king’s daughters.

        And so Solomon late in life is unhappy.  And although his wisdom is written recorded on the book of Proverbs and it is gift of God there is also recorded in Solomon’s writings distraught to the point of despair.  For the riches and power of this world given to Solomon more than any king of this earth did not satisfy him. 

        For Solomon also wrote of his dissatisfaction of his life in the book of Ecclesiastes. The opening lines of the book of Ecclesiastes let us know what Solomon thinks of his life.  And I quote from the New American Standard to get the word by word confession of Solomon. 

1The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem. 2"Vanity of vanities," says the Preacher,


"Vanity of vanities! All is vanity." These are the opening lines but later verse 12 we have this statement of Solomon,

12 I, the Preacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem.  13And I set my mind to seek and explore by wisdom concerning all that has been done under heaven It is a grievous task which God has given to the sons of men to be afflicted with. 14I have seen all the works which have been done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and striving after wind. 15What is crooked cannot be straightened and what is lacking cannot be counted. 16I said to myself, "Behold, I have magnified and increased wisdom more than all who were over Jerusalem before me; and my mind has observed a wealth of wisdom and knowledge." 17And I set my mind to know wisdom and to know madness and folly; I realized that this also is striving after wind. 18Because in much wisdom there is much grief, and increasing knowledge results in increasing pain.”

        For with all Solomon’s knowledge and wisdom he did not do what God had commanded Moses and Joshua and especially king Saul not to do!

And we heard God’s words to this effect just last Sunday.

What were the words to King Saul just one generation previous to the first king of Israel?

Here are the words of God to Saul which were a reiteration ot the commands to Moses and Joshua of Deuteronomy chapter 7.  “Utterly destroy these people.” Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy. 3 Do not intermarry with them. Do not give your daughters to their sons or take their daughters for your sons, 4 for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD's anger will burn against you and will quickly destroy you.   

        Did Solomon with all his wisdom and knowledge follow the commands of the LORD given to Moses, Joshua and a recently as king Saul.  The answer is NO he did not!

        Solomon made treaties and took wives of every nation of the worlds and to please the thousand wives he built high places of worship of their idols and Israel will pay the price for Solomon’s idolatry.

        The monarchy of Israel will last for only three generations.  The monarchy will be divided to the kingdom of Israel to the north and the kingdom of Judah containing Solomon’s temple to the south.

 God hates idolatry.



Let me close in prayer:  Eternal God we should remember Solomon and take the example you give us from his life.  We should member all the teaching of our savior that we should store up riches in heaven where neither rust nor moth can destroy or thief can come and steal.  We should remember his example that the wealth of this world no matter how much does not satisfy the soul and is in Solomon’s words “striving after the wind” and the “vanity of vanities”.  Help us to understand the example if Solomon and the vast difference between the world knowledge and the knowledge that comes from God.

Help us to understand the difference between wisdom and intelligence because the most intelligent of men can do the most foolish acts and lead others into disaster.  Amen.

Sermon For Sunday April 25, 2010

THY WORD IS TRUTH

John 17:17

“I Am The Good Shepherd!”

            Today is the third Sunday after Easter and the subject of the sermon today is the Good Shepherd.  And the word "good" before the word "shepherd" implies that there are bad shepherds otherwise there is no point to the title. 

What is the difference here?

We are talking about qualities of leadership here aren’t we? 

Sheep are not the strongest animals on the planet are they.  Sheep are not able to protect themselves in a savage world.  And that is what a good shepherd should be, a good protector of the sheep.

And to make the distinction between a good and bad shepherd, we heard what God said about the difference between a good and bad shepherd is this morning in the Old Testament reading from the prophet Jeremiah chapter 23. 

And the opening warning to the bad shepherds of this world was “Woe to you.”  Quite a familiar opening phrase don’t you thinks for Jesus of Nazareth used this rebuke time and time again to the High Priests and scribes of his time (The Pjarisees) who were excellent examples of bad shepherds.

Let look as what the God of the Old Testament says through the mouth of his prophet Jeremiah about the characteristics of bad shepherding. The opening line of the passage is “Woe to the shepherds who are destroying the sheep of my pasture!” declares the LORD.  “Because you have scattered my flock and driven them away and have not bestowed care upon them, I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done.” I myself have gathered a remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number. I will put shepherds over them who will tend them, and they will not longer be afraid or terrified, nor will there be any of them missing".

The days are coming when I will raise up to David the righteous branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land.  In his days, Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And his name will be called The Lord Our Righteousness.  And so the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah foretells of a person who will be raised up to David who will be the Good Shepherd of the flock and will reign with justice and righteousness and wisdom.

        So the Davidic covenant is where God promises David when he has his prophet Samuel anointed him King of Israel.  And what did God Promise David?”  And the bible fast forward class will cover this in detail this week.  The Davidic covenant is recorded by the Prophet Samuel and later King David himself records it in the Psalms. 

        Lets look at Samuel first and I have preached upon this covenant a number of times before for the Davidic covenant is an everlasting covenant and Jesus of Nazareth uniquely fulfills this covenant.  It is the proof that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah or Christ.

        But before we go to the words of the Davidic Covenant, lets look at the first king of Israel and what happened to him.  The first king of Israel was also anointed by the prophet Samuel.  And God leads with an example of a bad shepherd for God had  Saul anointed as Israel’s first Kings but the self centered characteristics of Saul lead him into disobedience and eventually into rejection by God and removal of him as king of Israel.

          So what did Saul do that got him fired as king?  What were his lack of leadership skills that God chose to remove him as king of Israel.  We have to go the 15th chapter of 1st Samuel to see the problem. Saul had been anointed by Samuel and he at first had the Holy Spirit and prophesied as we learned in chapter 10  and Samuel tells Saul, “The Spirit of the LORD will come upon you in power, and you will prophesy with them; and you will be changed into a different person. 7 Once these signs are fulfilled, do whatever your hand finds to do, for God is with you.  And these are the key words to understand what got King Saul in trouble with God.

“Do what ever you hand finds to do for God is with you.”

All Saul had to do was to obey what God had for him to do”.  But Saul did not follow exactly what God wanted him to do and he paid the price for it.

            What were God’s instructions to Saul? And perhaps Saul got in trouble because he saw God’s instructions as just that. Helpful suggestions that Saul as king could follow was Saul thought fit.  And that exactly as Saul did for the most part he followed what the thought God wanted him to do but he made exceptions and those exception cost him dearly. 

What did God tell Saul to do?  Samuel told Saul after he anointed him King, “"I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. 2 This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. 3 Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.' "

And in these commands to Saul we see the Jealous God of the Old Testament who despised the idolatry of the Amalekites so much that the wanted them utterly destroyed down their livestock and animals every one of them. 

But Saul was weak and could not carry these commands out.

        Verse 1 of Samuel 15 reads, “Then Saul attacked the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, to the east of Egypt. 8 He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and all his people he totally destroyed with the sword. 9 But Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs—everything that was good. These they were unwilling to destroy completely, but everything that was despised and weak they totally destroyed.  10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel: 11 "I am grieved that I have made Saul king, because he has turned away from me and has not carried out my instructions." Samuel was troubled, and he cried out to the LORD all that night. 12 Early in the morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul, but he was told, "Saul has gone to Carmel. There he has set up a monument in his own honor and has turned and gone on down to Gilgal." 13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said, "The LORD bless you! I have carried out the LORD's instructions." 14 But Samuel said, "What then is this bleating of sheep in my ears? What is this lowing of cattle that I hear?" 15 Saul answered, "The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best of the sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but we totally destroyed the rest."

16 "Stop!" Samuel said to Saul. "Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night." "Tell me," Saul replied. 17 Samuel said, "Although you were once small in your own eyes, did you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18 And he sent you on a mission, saying, 'Go and completely destroy those wicked people, the Amalekites; make war on them until you have wiped them out.' 19 Why did you not obey the LORD ? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the LORD ?" 20 "But I did obey the LORD," Saul said. "I went on the mission the LORD assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal." 22 But Samuel replied: "Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the voice of the LORD ?

        So Saul interpreted Gods commands as if Saul had the option to follow as Saul saw fit. He instead of destroying these animals as God had commanded him, Saul would sacrifice them to God instead in order to bring glory to Saul in the sight of his men instead of glory to God by his obedience.

        And what was the result. Verse 23, Samuel tells Saul, “For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king."

Pride and arrogance is like the evil of idolatry. 

        So what does God promise to David whom God chooses to replace Saul as the anointed king of Israel?

For the words of the Davidic covenant we have to go to the second book of Samuel when Samuel tells David, “'This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel. 9 I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth. 10 And I will provide a place for my people Israel and will plant them so that they can have a home of their own and no longer be disturbed. Wicked people will not oppress them anymore, as they did at the beginning 11 and have done ever since the time I appointed leaders over my people Israel. I will also give you rest from all your enemies.

       " 'The LORD declares to you that the LORD himself will establish a house for you: 12 When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be his father, and he will be my son.”

 And these last words are the most significant.

And he will be my son.  Jesus of Nazareth claimed that the Lord God was his father and they tried to kill him for saying it. 

        And so we have the good shepherd of the flock in Jesus of Nazareth and he alone fulfills the Davidic covenant for he was obedient but how was he obedient?

He was obedient unto death.

And although King David was not obedient to God the descendent of King David was in Jesus Christ..

David in his adultery with Bathsheba was disobedient to God but there was an important distinction here with King Saul’s disobedience. 

King David repented and Saul did not.

Saul was sorry for his sin but he did not pray to God and repent and ask for forgiveness. He arrogantly insisted that he had obeyed God.

            But remember that God called David, “A man after my own heart” and  then Samuel anointed the little shepherd boy as king of Israel for the psalmist is King David.

 He wrote most of the psalms by his own hand and we heard this morning the most familiar one “The Lord is My Shepherd or had written for him all the other psalms. But the most significant psalm that David wrote was his Psalm of Repentance and that is Psalm 51.

For the after God heard this psalm David was forgiven and remained a man after God’s own heart.  And here are words of David’s repentance. “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight.

        And later in Psalm 51 we heard David ask God, “Create in me a clean heart O God and take not you Hold Spirit from me.  David had just had the example of King Saul and how God had taken his Holy Spirit from Saul. 

And God in his compassion between these first two kings of Israel restored David and kept him on the throne of Israel and God kept his promised to David.

 Let me close in prayer:  Eternal God you reveal your self by the truth of you word.  You give both negative and positive examples of leadership and you give the negative self centered example first so that those who follow that example can change their behavior to conform to your instructions and commands for a good and righteous life. 

Help us to recognize in our leaders that we choose both in the church and in our nation who protect and guide both our congregation members and citizen of the US with justice and wisdom and are willing to sacrifice their own lives for the protection and well being of those whose care and protection they have been entrusted. 

Help us to remove and reject those leaders who would throw us to the wolves for their own personal gain and achievements like King Saul.   Amen

Sermon For Sunday April 18, 2010

THY WORD IS TRUTH

John 17:17

“This Man Is My Chosen Instrument!”

       Today is the second Sunday after Easter and the subject of today’s sermon is about the resurrected Christ’s choosing of a man to replace Judas Iscariot as one of the twelve. The bible does not say that Christ is replacing Judas.

In Acts chapter 1, Judas was replaced by the elders choosing lots and a man named Metthias was chosen. We never leaning anything more about Matthias in the bible. 

But Christ had other plans to personally choose Saul of Tarsus to be the Apostle to the gentiles as the New Testament reading today told us.

       Saul of Tarsus will be in the Resurrected Christ’s own words “My chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings. And we need to think about what Christ is doing in choosing Saul of Tarsus for Saul was not a likely choice to be an Apostle, was he?

In fact Saul of Tarsus because of his behavior was the least likely choice to bring Jesus name before the gentile and their kings. For in the reading from the NT this morning we have what the other disciples  thought of Saul for he was raising havoc in Jerusalem for he was taking people of The Way, as the followers of Christ were first known, prisoners to the chief priests.

     Let’s examine the words of the passage this morning again to get exactly what the other disciples thought about Christ’s choice of this new Apostle. Verse 21 of Acts 9 reads, “Isn't he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name? And hasn't he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?

      And what were Jesus words to Paul as he chose him as his disciple, “Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?

And Saul replies as he was knocked to the ground off his horse and blinded by a flash of light from heaven. Immediately Saul knew who the voice from heaven came from.

What was Saul’s response? “Who are you, Lord”.

Saul soon to become the Apostle Paul knew it was the Lord but he asks specifically who it was. Saul was born under the Law of Moses and was not sure if it was Jehovah speaking to him or someone else.

 But Jesus identifies himself to Saul in the very next sentence. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6"Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

And since Jesus has just been crucified a short time before; Saul knew immediately that it was the light of Christ’s glory and now his words identified Jesus in Saul’s mind as the Messiah and had given him a command to do his will.

Saul of Tarsus was converted supernaturally from a persecutor and enemy of Christ and his church to a disciple and ambassador of the Way and planter of churches for  Christ.

And Saul’s name became Paul for his conversion to the Way was immediate and complete and miraculous. Saul of Tarsus name was changed to Paul for he was truly a new creation in Christ. Paul’s life was so radically changed that he was truly “Born Again” as Jesus of Nazareth taught Nicodemous (also a Pharisee).

The fact that Paul was a Pharisee also made him an unlikely choice for Jesus of Nazareth had to time and time again rebuke and oppose the Pharisees for their misunderstanding of miss-applications of the scriptures.

Jesus was constantly saying to them “Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites.”

Saul of Tarsus was indeed such an unlikely choice of a disciple that it would take a few years before the other disciples would trust him for they had good cause afraid of him.

Many of the disciples may have seen Paul’s behavior first hand when the Steven was stoned to death. Saul of Tarsus stood by and held the coats of those who threw the stones that killed Steven and it is implied that Saul gave the orders for them to take up stones and kill Steven, the first Martyr of the church.

But there is even more reasons, why Saul of Tarsus the Pharisee was an unlikely choice and potentially incompatible with the other disciples.

Jesus of Nazareth chose ordinary common men who worked with their hands just like Jesus did as a carpenter. Paul was chosen because of his education as a Pharisee of Pharisees.

This description of Paul the Apostle is actually a confession about his former life before he became Christ’s disciple and Apostle.

Listen to what Paul reveals about himself. Paul says this about himself in his first letter to the church at Corinth Greece in his first letter to them from chapter 15, “For I am the least of the apostles and do not even deserve to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me”.

So Paul knows painfully well that he was not worthy to become an apostle but it was grace that made him so. It was Christ’s unmerited favor and mercy that made Paul an apostle.

For Saul of Tarsus deserved punishment and not favor by his own words.

But the choice of Jesus was not only full of mercy and kindness but also full of wisdom.

For in choosing Saul the persecutor, Jesus reveals his power to radically change lives.

 And Jesus used Paul’s superior knowledge and understanding of the scriptures to Christ’s advantage.

Saul was educated under the foremost Old Testament scholar of Jesus day and his name was Gamaliel.

And Paul was a citizen of Rome.

Again Paul confesses to us in the book of Acts chapter 22 verse 3 about his education, “Paul says: "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel, I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today.

 So what were the benefits to the church of a man with Paul’s educational background?

Paul was a Greek speaking Jew and his writings to the church that he planted all over the Roman Empire would define the difference between the Old Covenant defined in the Ten Commandments and the New Covenant as Promised in Jeremiah 31:31 and later in Ezekiel 37:24.

Paul would define the gospel of grace in his writings and what grace means to the believer.

Paul would write to the congregation of believers at Ephesus that we are save by grace through faith and they would be adopted into the family of God and forever changed by the Holy Spirit.

Paul would later write on the same theme to the church at Rome and in Chapter 8 of his epistle Paul defines what makes a believer belong to Christ.

Paul knows first hand because when the Lord called to Paul and he was blinded by his glory, Paul life was forever changed.

The old Paul with his murderous zeal and with vengeance in his heart was changed to a humble man who knew that he did not deserve the mercy and favor of Christ.

And this lead Paul to say that we are not controlled any longer by our sinful nature but we are controlled by the Spirit if indeed that Spirit of God dwells in us for if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him.

This theme of the transformed life is a repeating thread in all of Paul’s writings and later in the book Romans chapter 12 Paul urges the Roman Christians, “Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is that is good, acceptable and perfect. For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself that he ought to think but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to as a measure of faith.

And so Paul with all his anger, pride, and zeal and was brought down to earth from his horse and was restored and became the Resurrected Lords humble and faithful servant.

Paul was told directly by Christ what he was to suffer for Christ as we heard in the New Testament reading today.

And what was Paul’s response. While in prison Paul writes in His epistle to the Philippians these words of submission, “I count all things as loss for the in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish in order that I may gain Christ and that I may be found in Him not having a righteousness of my own derived from following the Law but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes form God in the basis of faith, and that I may know Him and power of His resurrection and fellowship of his sufferings in order that I might obtain the resurrection from the dead.

Paul set the example of not looking to our ability but to Christ ability to save us and take us to Him.

And here the words of the prophet Zecharia chapter 4 apply:

For it is not by power and it is not by might but it is by My Spirit that we are changed so that we might not live for our selfish desires or what we can acquire or what we can achieve but we should live for Christ and what the power of His resurrection can do for us.

For those in the modern church who write about the empowerment of the church members are misguided in leadership and are consumed in the lust for power and their own achievements

For what is require of us as believers as the words of the prophet Mica chapter 6 "And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God!"

We are to walk in the humility of the Apostle Paul "I consider all thing loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord."

  May I close in prayer: Eternal God you can radically change any life no matter how consumed in sin that person’s life may be. We pray for those in our families that so desperately need the power of the Holy Spirit to change their lives and free them from the compulsive habits of greed, lust and addictive habits. We pray that they will turn to you out of their desperation and that you would change them like you changed Saul of Tarsus. We pray for the regeneration of the Holy Spirit for those who would lead us both in the church and those who would lead this Nation.

We pray for those who would stand in the gap and rebuild this Nation and free us from the slavery of debt and protect our freedoms. Amen