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

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.

The New Covenant has specific meaning and originates in the Old Testament and was a promise of God to the Jews. To the inhabitants of the kingdoms of Israel and the Judah.

The modern scholarship that the New Covenant is the whole New Testament is as lame as it gets and is a total distortion of the truth and God's intent as revealed in the two old testment propherts Jeremiah and Ezekiel!

And this should be evident in that the words Testament and Covenant are not symonyms in either of the languages of the original text of scripture. These two words have distict and separate meanings.

The New Covenant has specific meaning and to dilute it as the whole New Testament is to obscure it original meaning and significance!

        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 Lord's 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 own ability but to Christ ability to save us and take us to Him.

The words of Zechariah 4 applies "For it is not by power and it is not by might but it is by My Spirit sayeth the LORD" 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.

So those who wright about empowerment in the modern chruch are missguided in leadership and are consumed with lust for self achievement. 

We are to live humbly as followers of Christ with the Apostle Paul as our example!
 
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

Sermon For Sunday April11, 2010

THY WORD IS TRUTH

John 17:17

“Unless I See With My Eyes”

     Today is the first Sunday after Easter and the subject of today’s sermon is the appearance of Jesus to his disciples after his resurrection.

And we heard in the New Testament reading from the gospel of John that when the disciples met in a room that the door was locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus appeared to them with this greeting, “Peace be with you.”

And Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit on them and gives them the authority to forgive sins.

But Thomas the twin was not with them. And when the Lord had left them and Thomas returned and some of the disciples told him that they had seen the Lord. But Thomas did not believe them for Thomas responds. “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my fingers where the nail marks were, and then put my hand into his side, I will not believe!”

Thomas thought that the disciples were mistaken and that Jesus appearance was that of a ghost perhaps and not a real physical presence or perhaps was someone else that posing as Jesus someone who did not have the wounds of his crucifixion on his body. And so a week goes by and then Jesus appears to them again and this time Thomas is with them. And again the doors are locked Jesus gives them a same greeting, “Peace be with you,” And Jesus responds to Thomas as if he were with him the week before when Thomas expressed his unbelief.

He said to Thomas, “Put you finger here. See my hands. Reach out you hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” So Christ does not rebuke Thomas for not believing but gives him what he demandes the physical evidence that He had the wounds of crucifixion yet he was alive walking and talking to him.

And this is the departure point of modern biblical scholarship for Jesus gives Thomas the physical objective proof of his resurrection and these unbeliving so called scholars believe only in subjective metaphorical truth!

         But what is important is Thomas’s response to Jesus giving him the proof of his resurrection.

Thomas immediately draws the right conclusion!

Thomas does not respond to Jesus I am so glad you are alive and with us.

What was Thomas response! “My Lord and my God.”

Thomas immediately knew what this evidence meant.

Jesus was not only alive but he was more that just a man.

Only God could come to life with the wounds of death still on his body.

And Jesus says to him because you have seen me you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen me yet have believed.

And that includes everyone who did not witness the resurrection with their eyes or with their touching him for all the centuries after the His ascending into heaven.

What does it take for us to believe? Do we have to witness a miracle to believe or can we take someone’s word for it.

And that is where we are today are we not?

Many intelligent people some who are preachers do not believe that miracles are possible.

That the physical laws of nature do not have exceptions and if we allow exceptions to them then cause and effect cannot be relied upon any more.

That is the position of modern science today and many of the Naturalists or Materialist are lost because they do not see the intelligent design of nature and the beauty in it and therefore do not see the glory of the creation as the hand word of God himself.

But it make absolute sense that if nature is the result of an intelligent designer then that designer can make exception to every natural law because he made those laws himself.

But let’s look and the bottom line of the account of the Apostle John.

John put this resurrection appearance of Jesus in perspective of the all the other miraculous signs that Jesus did in his presence with this statement.

But this is written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

And that is what it is all about Jesus name that gives us life.

His name in Hebrew is “Yehoshua” which means, "The Lords Is Salvation".

Translated into English Jesus hebrew name would be "Joshua."

In believing that Jesus is the Messiah promised through 2000 years of the history of God’s chosen people Israel, you can have salvation and life through Him, alone.

So lets look at Jesus response to Thomas confession, “My Lord and My God”.

Jesus does not correct Thomas.

Jesus does not say, Thomas you are mistaken.

Jesus says you are blessed because you have seen me.

But Jesus does not say Thomas you are wrong.

Does Jesus let mistakes go by?

Surely, Jesus does not!

Jesus had to rebuke Peter time and time again for Peter was impulsive and many times jumps to the wrong conclusion.

Jesus claimed to be the Way the Truth and the Life, so there was nothing false of deceptive about Jesus.

Jesus becasue of His character could not let a mistake or a false statement about himself stand with out responding and correcting it.

Jesus was meek and mild but he was also bold and forthright when it came to the truth.

        How many times did he rebuke the Pharisees for their misinterpretation of the scriptures.

There are so many times it is hard to count them all.

For instance, Jesus tells the Pharisees in Matthew 23:33, “How will you escape being condemned to hell and earlier in Matthew 22:29 "Jesus told them that they did not know the scriptures or the power of God.”

So Jesus lack of rebuke to Thomas when he calls him “God” means that Jesus agrees with Thomas’s conclusion.

But many doubts remain today even those who are supposedly knowledgeable in the scriptures and sadly teach others in the religion departments of some of the major universities of the United States.

They appear on TV on the history channel and they say that Jesus only appeared to those who already believed him.  That His post resurrection appearance are metaphoical and depend on faith.

That is factually incorrect for it was by his physical appearance that they became believers.

In fact, His brothers James and Jude did not believe in him until after they say Him resurrected.

And it is only after Jesus breathes his Holy Spirit that is described as the Spirit of Truth did the disciples believe.

Did we not hear that Jesus breathed his Holy Spirit into them at his first appearance to them before he appeared a week later to Thomas?

But let us go to the scripture that tells us that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.

            In the gospel of John, after Judas has left the table to go an betray him, Jesus tells his disciples that he will be leaving them and he will send them someone in his place to be with them forever.

In John 14, Jesus says, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live”. So Jesus will send the Holy Spirit who is the Spirit of Truth who will be with them and in them.

And true follower of Jesus has the Holy Spirit within them according to Jesus before he dies.

And this is confirmed by the resurrected Christ who spoke through the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans chapter 8 verse 9 when Paul says, “You, however are not controlled by your evil nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. If anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ in him does not belong to him.”

But as I have said many times before that God does not tell us something important just once and the account of the proof of the resurrection and Jesus appearance in his physical body does not happen just once either.

In the Gospel of Luke we have this account of Jesus appearance in Chapter 24. Again the greeting is the same, “Peace be with you”, so we can be assured it is the same appearance as in the gospel of John.

But there are a few details that the Greek Doctor Luke adds that prove that this is not just a spiritual appearance but a supernatural physical bodily appearance.

 As a Greek physician Luke was the scientist of Jesus day. 

The conclusions Science even in those acient times depends upon observations of the physical world not the metaphysical world!

Jesus says to his disciples according to Luke, “Look at my hands and my feet. It is I, myself. Touch and see".

But the disciples were afraid for they thought he was a ghost but Jesus reassures them saying. “Why are you troubled and why do you doubt? A ghost does not have flesh and bones like I do.

But then the scientist Luke gives them better proof the their sense of touch that Jesus in indeed not only physically present but alive.

Jesus asks them if they have anything to eat. They gave him a piece of fish and he ate it in their presence.

Luke knew that this fact would prove to everyone who read it that Jesus was truly alive and not there as a spirit but physically and alive.

Spirits do not eat for they have no need to eat.

With these two accounts of the same event, we can be assured that the resurrection of Jesus was the truth and a scientific fact.


Let me close in prayer:

Sermon For Easter Morning April 4, 2010

THY WORD IS TRUTH

John 17:17

“The Stone Was Rolled Away”

Introduction: He is risen: Response He is Risen Indeed. Alleluia!

I would like to welcome all who have come to visit Annapolis / Hopedale Presbyterian Church on Easter Sunday Morning 2010 and I hope this visit will be uplifting to your spirit and you life for it is the events of the first Easter Sunday morning the day after the Jewish Sabbath is the most important events of all time in human history.

For it is the evidence that Jesus of Nazareth was more than just a mere human man for in His rising from the grave after being dead for three days, He proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that he not only has the power of nature but has the supernatural power over death itself.

He proves in His resurrection that he is God incarnate.

He is indeed not only risen but He was and is God with us; God in the flesh.

“The word became flesh and dwelt among us” the Apostle John tells us in his gospel

And Jesus promise in the Book of Revelation also rings true in chapter 2 verse 15, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last and the living One; and I was dead, and behold I am alive forevermore, ...”

And these last words of the resurrected Christ dictated to the Apostle John on the Isle of Patmos where the book of Revelation was given to the Apostle John echo thorough out all human history as Christ declaration of victory over death.

So after the claim of victory over death and his promise that we will join him in that victory one day with the resurrection of our bodies in the last day, that great and awesome day of the Lord when all shall rise from the grave just as it was foretold through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah in the Old Testament reading this morning. “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the due of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead.

And we have a beautiful spring morning on April 4th where the tulips are blooming and the birds are singing and the new life is coming again arising from the dead of winter this ywar in the coldest winter and heaviest snow fall in 50 years has given way to the new life of spring.

So let’s look at the evidence of the Resurrection of Our Lord on that first Easter morning.

And what was the evidence that demands a verdict on the most important and significant morning in all of human history.

What is the test of truth for Jesus Christ and the bible itself?

And this is one of the most important questions a Pastor can ask for it is a life or death question one of the big questions of life.

The biggest question of life is. “What happens after I die?”

And before Jesus reappearance after the death, what was the answer to that most important question in life for all in the Old Testament? “What happens after I die”?

What was the answer to that question before that first Easter morning?

The answer was “NOTHING” Your dead! You had to obey the law of Moses perfectly.  No one is perfect!

Only your bones will remain and even later those bones will also return to dust; Ashes will return to ashes, dust will return to dust.

But again the promise of God in Isaiah 700 years before Christ was born in Bethlehem’s stable,

“You dead will live”.

Remember the test of truth in the bible is based upon eyewitness testimony.

The witness of Christ the Messiah is based upon the truth of eyewitnesses.

In the Law of Moses better know as the 10 Commandments, the test of truth was based upon the testimony of two or three witnesses.

And one of those commandments (the 9th commandment of the 10) is about tell something that is false, better know as "a lie".

But this commandment is stated in the 20th chapter of Exodus, “You shall not bear false witness.”

Remember that every one of Jesus of Nazareth disciples and all the women of Galilee were born under the Law of Moses.

They knew what it meant to bear false witness.

To bear false witness was to die without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

The Apostle Paul tells us this in exactly these words his second letter on his third visit to them to the church in Corinth Greece in 2Cor 13 verse 1,”This is my third visit to you and “Every matter must be established on the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

But the evidence of the resurrection is given to us by 4 independent witnesses Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and in Paul first letter to the Corinthian church in Chapter 15

“The Resurrection Chapter” where Paul says that there were 500 witnesses to the resurrection at one time.

The Resurrection had a cloud of witnesses by the words of the Apostle Paul. It was not something done in a corner with only friends of Jesus seeing it as some New Testament scholars would have is believe and they teach in the religions departments of the Major Iniversities of America and are interviewed on TV in the history channel!

It was a public not a private event! And all you had to do to corroborate their testimony was to go and talk to the witnesses most of whom were still alive at Paul’s writings in 17 to 20 years after the crucifixion.

And how many witnesses do we have in the New Testament upon what happened on that first Easter morning.

We have 4 gospels witnesses don’t we.

We have Matthew and John who were disciples chosen by Jesus of Nazareth to be fishers of men and then we have Luke as Greek physician and historian who was the travel companion of the Apostle Paul and the author of the book of Acts and then we have Mark who was the scribe of the Apostle Peter who testified that he wrote down faithfully all that the Apostle Peter had told him and especially about the empty tomb that Peter had seen as an eyewitness.

We learned form Luke’s gospel in the NT reading this morning that the women who had traveled with Jesus and his disciples throughout his ministry in Galilee had taken spices to cover the odor of decay they might experience at the tomb.

The stone that they saw put into the opening of the tomb three days before had been rolled away.

But more importantly that tomb was empty. Halleluiah!

And then what do they tells us about what they saw?

They saw two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning. And it frightened them and they bowed their faces to the ground for it is implied the light hurt their eyes as it does when we witness as close lightning strike.

And what does one of these two lightning like figures say to these frightened women.

“Why are you looking for the living among the dead? He is not here; He is risen!”

The announcement of the resurrection is from an angel of God just like the announcement of Jesus' birth was from an angel of God.

And these supernatural figures looking like men witness to what Jesus has told them when he was with them as they traveled with him in Galilee, “The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raise again.” And all the women then remember that Jesus of Nazareth had indeed said these words to them but at the time Jesus told them they did not understand him.

And we learn from Luke that it was Mary Magdalene, and Joanna and Mary the mother of James that told this to the apostles. But the apostles did not believe them for it sounded like nonsense to them.

But Peter got up and ran to the tomb to see for himself and he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself “What had Happened.”

This morning at Easter Sunrise service the community service at Hopedale with the Methodist Church and other churches of the Hopedale, we had read from all the gospels the witnesses of the other events on that first Easter morning. From the Gospel of John, we learned that John also ran to the tomb to see for himself and he arrived at the tomb before Peter and we have his testimony.

When the apostle John saw the grave clothes laying there as Peter did, John also testifies that he saw the face cloth folded as set aside. Peter apparently does not see it and walks away confused but John does see this folded face cloth for it appears only in his gospel and what does John say after he sees the fold face cloth of Jesus?

We hear the witness of the Apostle John after he and Peter looked into the tomb chapter John 20 verse 6, “Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb.

He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.

“Peter was behind John and perhaps did not see that separated folded face cloth but John was a better witness because he actually walked into the tomb.

And what does John tell us next?

What does this other disciple, John, say about what he saw, verse 8, “Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and he believed”.

John said he believed in Jesus resurrection when he saw the folded face cloth.

And why?

Because John realized that the person who had the cloth on his face must have folded it.

For if it were someone else in the tomb who took Jesus face cloth off, that another person would have just laid the face cloth aside with the linen strips that covered his body!

Could the Elders please come forward for communion: