Stop Bragging!
Romans 2:17 – 29
Introduction:
One of the things I can't stand about certain people is their tendency to brag about anything and everything under the sun. Have you ever met such people before? I'm sure you have. They're the kind who talks about their personal achievements, about the important people that they know or are acquainted with, about how great they are when they engage in sports or when they're doing business. They emphasize where they've studied (especially if its a prestigious school) as well as where they're working (if its a multi-national company). Such people are often termed as braggarts and I believe the reason they brag is because they want to feel important and they want others to think that they're important.
But sometimes people brag for other reasons, such as when they think and when they know that they're right and you're wrong. They brag when they have something that you don't have or something that is way much newer than what you have now. They even brag when they think that they are better and nicer people than you. Now before I keep on pointing fingers at others, I need to look at myself and admit that there are times when I am a braggart myself, when I begin to look at myself as being more superior than others or when I think that I'm smarter than others, or when I have something more superior to what you have. Why do some people brag or boast? It is because they feel a bit insecure about themselves as compared to others and thus, the need to elevate themselves or to put themselves on a pedestal in order for them to get attention.
Bragging is not an exclusive domain of an individual; it is also something that institutions do when they achieve a certain level of success such as a school winning a basketball tournament over a rival school, or a university achieving an engineering breakthrough, or of an alumni doing very well in the business world and in politics. Companies also brag about what they've accomplished such as inventions and patents.
Bragging is a trap we, as individuals, all have the tendency of falling into, when we are not careful in our thoughts as well as with our words. In fact, we may brag about certain things that may prove to be detrimental to us in the end. A southern California couple appeared in the talk show of Dr. Phil McGraw, the psychiatrist who became famous because of Oprah. This couple bragged to Dr. Phil that they had made US$ 100,000.00 by selling shoplifted toys on e-Bay, and even told Dr. Phil that they had stolen more than a hundred boxes of Lego toys. Their bragging led to their arrest by the police. The husband must serve a 27 months prison term while the wife must serve 12 months. There was also an incident involving an old friend of mine. One day he showed up in school wearing a Giordano T-Shirt. He was then boasting to another friend that he had a Giordano T-Shirt which was the fad in the early 1990s. Our friend then asked a seemingly innocent question, “What size is it?” My friend who was wearing the Giordano T-Shirt then answered, “Free Size.” Immediately, the other friend replied with a taunting chant, “Walang free-size ang Giordano. Fake iyan.” My friend who was wearing this fake T-Shirt had a deflated look on his face. His bragging led him to embarrassment instead!
While the examples that I've cited may cause one to be imprisoned or to be embarrassed, there is a kind of bragging that is dangerous to our soul and, if not addressed, will surely lead us to eternal damnation. What exactly am I talking about? As we will be examining Romans 2:17 – 29 this morning, we will see some things the Jews of Paul's time were bragging about and Paul warned them that their bragging would lead them nowhere close to God.
Context:
In the second half of Chapter 1, we find Paul talking about people having no excuses because of their rejection of the knowledge of God, their worship of idols, and the surrendering of themselves to their sins. Many scholars and commentators will tell you that Paul was talking about the Gentiles. A Jew would heartily agree that Paul was right – that the Gentiles were idol worshippers, people who have no idea whatsoever who the One True God really was. The Jews also despised the Gentiles as being terrible sinners, as described in Chapter 1.
Even as the Jews scoff and look down at the Gentiles, they also became arrogant and began to brag about what they had that made them superior to the Gentiles. From today's passage, we find a couple of areas that the Jews bragged about. As the Jews were beginning to feel that they were safe and secure from God's wrath, Paul reminds them that their bragging would lead them nowhere. What the Jews bragged about themselves and about their being God's people are the same dangers we may commit, bringing spiritual peril to us as we think wrongly that we are already safe and secure. What are these dangers?
Danger # 1: Religious Affiliation
The first danger that we can see from this passage is the danger of religious affiliation. Look at verse 17 carefully. Here we read that the Jews bragged about their relationship with God; this was because of their religious affiliation, the Jews being the chosen people of God. If one is familiar with the Old Testament Scriptures he would be aware that the Jews traced their lineage to Abraham. Furthermore, it was their ancestors who received the Law from God through Moses. If you were to compare the Jewish faith with the other religions existing together with it, not counting Christianity, you would easily conclude that Judaism was a superior religion with its ethical and ceremonial teachings as well as it elaborate rituals and sacrifices. But herein lies the danger: the Jews thought that they were right with God simply because they were Jews. They thought that their being descendants of Abraham would surely save them and give them favor before God. We know from the Gospels that being a descendant of Abraham was no guarantee of salvation and favor with God; just read what John the Baptist said to the Pharisees and the Sadducees in Matthew 3:7 – 9, and what Jesus said to the Jews in John 8:33 – 47 and you will conclude that being a Jew does not guarantee a right standing before God.
The danger of religious affiliation is not exclusive to the Jewish people; it applies even to people who claim to be Christians. There are many who claim to be Christians or, to be specific, who claim to be members of a particular denomination or followers of a certain theological position or of a particular church. They proudly declare that they are Methodists or Episcopalians or Presbyterians or Baptists. They proclaim that they are Calvinists or Dispensationalists or Arminians. They will claim that they are Christians because of their long-time membership in a particular church or denomination; they may also claim to be Christians because their parents and grandparents were Christians, or that they are saved because their parents were missionaries or pastors. The emphasis on religious affiliation poses danger because it will mislead people into thinking that they are OK with God on the basis of their membership and ancestry when in fact every person has to make an individual response to the message of the Gospel. No human being can ever do anything to give me salvation; a person's right spiritual connection with the Lord is no assurance that the next generation is saved and is right with God.
Danger # 2: Intellectual Knowledge of the Word
The second danger the Jews fell into, according to Paul, was that their understanding of the Word was merely intellectual and not transformative. In verse 18 we read that the Jews knew God's will and approved what was taught by the law. They gave their intellectual assent to the Word of God, however, there is no indication that they were truly practicing what the Word of God was teaching. In fact, Paul rebuked the Jews, saying that the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of them, meaning they had possession of the Word of God and they knew the Word of God but they failed to live out the Word of God and had become stumbling blocks for others. The Jews thought that they were blessed by God and even saved because they possessed God's Word, but sadly, no amount of intellectual knowledge about the Word will bring salvation.
We may think that it is rather far-fetched that there would be people who think they're OK with God because they know God's Word, but I do believe that there are people who think that way. They have read the Scriptures and are familiar with the different facts recorded. They know the order of the books of the Bible by memory. They can even memorize and quote Scriptures. However, these same people who know so much about the Bible do not have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They think that they are OK because they know the Word, but that's not the basis for our salvation. Many people come to church and they have heard countless sermons; many have attended Sunday School for so many years and have heard so many lessons from the Bible, yet they are not saved. Why? It is because they think that hearing the Word is enough. They think that possessing the Bible in their hands is enough. Well, the Jews had the Word of God but were they exempted from God's condemnation? NO! In fact, they stood even more condemned because they knew the Word but they failed to put it into practice.
Now, I am not in any way treating the Word of God as being unimportant, but what I am stressing right now is that the mere intellectual knowledge and possession of the Word of God will not save you. The Word of God must probe deep into our hearts, revealing our sins and bring us before the feet of Jesus. If we know the Scriptures solely for intellectual exercise, then we stand condemned by what it teaches. We shouldn't brag if we are in possession of God's Word – what is expected of us is our response and obedience to God's Word.
Danger # 3: Religious Duty
Related to the danger of mere intellectual knowledge is the danger of religious duty. If you look carefully at verses 19 and 20, you will read that the Jews understood that they had the responsibility of being guides for the blind, of being lights for those who are in darkness, as instructors for the foolish and as teachers of infants. In other words, they understood that, because they possessed the Word, they were responsible for teaching the word. They knew their duty as God's chosen people, and no doubt, they did exercise their duty; but they did not pay attention to their personal testimony.
This danger that Paul cited was something that had been happening for some time already. Jesus had rebuked the Pharisees and the teachers of the law numerous times in the gospels because they were too eager to teach but unwilling to follow what they were teaching themselves. We know this problem by the term, hypocrisy. What they taught others to observe, they themselves violated.
However, I would like for us to pay attention to the idea of duty. I have no doubts that the Jews, outwardly, were faithful in administering their responsibility as bearers and teachers of God's law to those who are ignorant and who are in the dark. What is sad is that they think that their being dutiful to the Law of God is something for them to brag about. They viewed their duty as a hallmark of a good Jew and probably thought that it would win more merits for them. Unfortunately, we know that doing good works is not going to save anyone. We've learned that in other passages of Scripture such as Ephesians 2:8 – 9 and Titus 3:5 – 7. We will also learn more about that in Romans 3. We do good works as a grateful response to what God has done in saving us, and not as a prerequisite for salvation.
Unfortunately, many people who go to church, even to an Evangelical or a Protestant church still fall into such a trap. They believe that, by doing good works, they will earn merit that will tip the scales in their favor. They believe that, by doing good works, they will be rewarded with eternal life. Some are even in positions of authority and they're doing a lot in the church but they do not have a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus.
The Jews of Paul's time fell into the trap of thinking that their good works or fulfillment of duties will win them God's favor. Many in the Christian community make the same mistake also and what is worse is that they brag about their goodness and falsely conclude that they are saved. Let us be careful that we don't make this mistake also.
Danger # 4: Ritualism
Finally, the fourth danger that would surely bring peril to anyone who adheres to this is the danger of ritualism. In our passage, we see indications that the Jews thought that their being circumcised surely meant that they were viewed with favor by God and that they were surely saved. I'm sure we all are aware that the rite of circumcision was something important for the Jews. It was the sign of the covenant between God and Abraham in Genesis 17, sort of a condition required of Abraham and his descendants as indication that they belong to God's covenant community. Sadly, the Jews thought that being circumcised or keeping this important ritual was key to their being the people of God. This was why Paul talked about the circumcision of the heart by the Spirit (v. 29), because the outward rite should be symbolic of what has taken place inside your heart. If circumcision symbolized separation unto God, then the heart must first affirm that it is devoted or consecrated to God in order for the rite of circumcision to be truly meaningful for the person who has undergone the rite.
I think the closest equivalent to circumcision in the church is the rite of baptism. We know that baptism is the outward rite that symbolized what has happened to us spiritually, namely the forgiveness of our sins and the new life that we have in Christ Jesus, attained not by good works but because of God's grace that operated through our faith. The inward reality of conversion must happen in order for the outward rite to become something meaningful. Unfortunately, many in the Protestant and Evangelical churches have the mistaken notion that, because they are baptized, they are already saved and they are in a favorable position with God. Baptism does not save us from our sins and give us salvation in the same way that ritual circumcision does not make one a true Jew. Ritualism is dangerous because it gives a false security or hope that, because we have gone through baptism we are already safe when in fact, we aren't.
Conclusion:
This morning, we've learned that the Jews made the mistake of trusting in four things for their salvation and for their gaining favor with God. First, they trusted in the religious affiliation. Second, they trusted in their knowledge of God's Word. Third, they trusted in their fulfillment of religious duties. Finally, they trusted in the rituals they had undergone. Now, note that I never said that these things are bad in themselves, however if we are to trust these things for our salvation and for gaining favor with God, we will soon find out that we are trusting in the wrong things. Being right with God does not depend on what we do or what we achieve; it depends on our having saving faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The Jews made the mistake of trusting in their own righteousness; some who attend church have committed the same mistake. I hope and pray that we will not make the same mistake of trusting our own righteousness; instead, let us trust only in the Righteous One – our Lord Jesus Christ.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
NO EXCUSES - Preached at GGC, May 02, 2010
NO EXCUSES
Romans 1:18 – 32
Introduction:
I will never forget the very first day I stepped into Rev. David Cheung's class in New Testament Exegesis. Upon the start of the class, Rev. Cheung passed out some handouts containing book references he expected us to use throughout the course. He also passed out a sheet containing the course requirements. Of course, the most prominent assignment in a subject like NT Exegesis is the exegetical paper, which is the analysis of a particular passage from the NT. In some sense, an exegetical paper is like writing your own commentary on a given passage. Now, the paper had to be passed on a certain time and date, either by dropping it on Rev. Cheung's pigeon hole or by handing it straight to him. If someone failed to pass on the given date, the supposed grade of the paper would be cut in half (example: if you got 100% on the paper but submitted it late, you only get 50%).
Now, I don't recall if anyone failed to submit his paper on time, but I am sure that if there was someone who did, he probably wouldn't have been able to get Rev. Cheung to give him an extension or to give leniency. Why? It was because he had made it clear already what was the submission date and time. He also made it very clear that he would not be lenient to those who submit their papers later than the said time and date. We were aware of the date and we had no excuse whatsoever to submit our paper late, nor could we complain about unfair treatment because we had full knowledge of the deadline and the consequences of submitting late.
In my particular case, we had full knowledge of deadlines and consequences, thus we could not give any excuses for submitting our papers late and get away with it. With regards to the laws of the land, we often hear the expression, “Ignorantia juris non excusat” or in English, “ignorance of the law excuses no one”. Ignorance of the laws of the land does not excuse us from the penalties and consequences when we violate these laws. Whether we have knowledge or we are ignorant of the law, we must suffer consequences when we break them.
As we continue our study of the Book of Romans, in particular our passage today taken from Romans 1:18 – 32, we learn that we are all under the wrath of God and that none among us can ever reason to God and say that we are not deserving of his wrath. In fact, none of us can ever offer an excuse as to why we should not be punished. However, we may be asking the question, “What makes us fall under the wrath of God and why can we not be excused or spared from it?” Today's passage holds the answer to our question, and I pray that as we study this passage, we will better understand why we need the gospel so badly.
Just a side note before I continue with our study: Paul's presentation of the Gospel began with the bad news. Why is this so? Why didn't he begin with the good news like what a popular gospel tract called “The Four Spiritual Laws” did? My personal interpretation is that Paul wanted the readers to understand the depths of humankind's sin and depravity as well as the punishment due in order for them to appreciate more deeply the salvation the Lord Jesus has won for us and the undeserved grace God extends to us.
There are three reasons why humanity cannot be excused from God's righteous judgment that we can find from today's passage. Let's examine these three reasons carefully.
Reason # 1: Knowledge of God is Readily Available
We cannot excuse ourselves from God's judgment because the knowledge of God is readily available, even for someone who doesn't have the Bible or know who Jesus is, even for someone who belongs to a different religion or even for someone who is an atheist. Just look at verse 18; here we read that God's wrath is being revealed against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Here, humanity is aware of the truth but they chose to suppress it in order to continue living a life of wickedness.
Now, how was the truth manifested or made known to humanity? In verses 19 to 20, we see that Creation was actually a showcase of God's invisible qualities – namely his eternal power and divine nature. All you have to do is to look at the created things such as the animals, the forests, the seas, the stars, the heavens, and you will see that these are truly marvelous sights to behold. Furthermore, they testify that a powerful, eternal God brought all these to existence. In Psalm 19:1 – 3, the psalmist wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night to night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” In Job 12:7 – 9 we read, “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and they will teach you; or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?” The creation testifies that there is a powerful, eternal God. Everything in it bears witness to this God.
Humanity's knowledge of God doesn't just come about because of Creation; it is also available through the decrees God has given in people's conscience. Look at the first part of verse 32. Here we read that humanity knows God's righteous decrees that those who do evil deserves death. Not everyone here on earth is exposed to the ethical teachings of the Holy Scriptures like Roman Catholics, Protestants and even Jews; however, if you look at the teachings of major religions, they actually have laws similar to the Ten Commandments. In Hinduism, adherents were expected to refrain from killing, stealing, sexual impurity and lying. In Buddhism, there is the teaching about having the right attitude, right speech and right action. An author pointed out that primitive tribes know when they have sinned and they have sacrificial systems in place in order to atone for their sins. You can investigate the different belief systems in the world and you will see that many of the ethical practices are similar to the Ten Commandments. What this reveals is that, even though many may not know the God of the Bible, they do know that there is a supreme being out there and that they must be careful not to offend this being by keeping certain moral laws. Even without the Bible, people do have their conscience to dictate what is right and wrong.
Sadly, people have chosen to reject God's revelation of himself through creation by saying that the universe came about because of evolution over millions upon millions of years. Also, people have chosen to deaden their conscience in order to continue in their sinful ways. The knowledge of God is readily available but we have rejected this knowledge. Therefore, we cannot make any excuses when God executes his wrath upon us.
Reason # 2: Failure to Honor God
Our second reason is connected with the first reason but I believe it stands on its own because it is a clear reflection of humanity's rejection of the knowledge of God. The second reason why we cannot be excused from God's wrath is because we have failed to honor God properly. We find this in verse 21 where it says that we neither glorified God nor gave thanks to him, even though we have the knowledge of God.
Now, how did humanity fail to glorify and give thanks to God? This is not a simple case of failing to say “thank you” or “praise God” when you receive blessings or when people honor you, although expressing these words are appropriate; rather, humanity fails to glorify and to thank God by becoming futile in their thinking and their hearts becoming foolish. A Bible scholar suggested that because man refused to acknowledge God, he must now substitute God with a being greater than himself, which explains why he fabricates myths and idols. The result: images of mortal men and animals are made to be gods or deities.
Just imagine that: man takes the place of God as the object of worship. This was very much true during the time of Paul when people worshipped Caesar or the emperor as a god. It is very much true today when people kneel, bow and burn incense to Buddha, or when people pray to the statues of Mary, Santo Niño and all the other saints. It is also true that we worship men when we bow and burn incense to our departed ancestors. At times, when we claim glory for ourselves or when we view ourselves as more superior than others, we make ourselves to be gods and, in effect, we are worshipping ourselves.
Ancient myths such as those of the Greek and the Roman Empire were also fabricated by men in order that they could have objects of worship in place of the true God. However, these Greek and Roman gods and goddesses behave not like the true God but just like fallen, depraved human beings.
Humanity also made animals as objects of worship. We see this in the Book of Exodus where the Israelites, upon the absence of Moses, demanded Aaron to make gods for them to worship. Aaron asked that the people give them their gold earrings, and from these he fashioned a golden calf. Aaron then declared to the people that the golden calf was their god and he even instructed the people to build an altar for the calf. If you remember the second plague that God inflicted upon the Egyptians when Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go, God sent countless numbers of frogs upon the land. There is significance to this, as the Egyptians had a god who had the head of a frog. Today, people still worship animals such as the Hindus who treats the cow as a deity as well as the elephant.
Our trip to Southern India in 2007 was a memorable experience for us not only because we got to do ministry but also because we saw firsthand what India was like,especially the city of Madurai with all the shrines, temples and images found in almost every corner of the city. We also got to see from a distance one of the fourteen towers of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, where each of the towers are filled with thousands of idols. It was fascinating to see such a sight, but at the same time, it was also saddening because the people chose to worship these idols rather than seek after the one true God. The same is true for the whole of humanity – we know that God exists but we refuse to worship him and give glory to him. We have chosen to worship the creation rather than the Creator. Thus we are not excused from the wrath of God.
Reason # 3: We Deliberately Sin Against God
Finally, we cannot escape God's judgment nor give excuses because we have deliberately sinned against God. Again, this reason is connected with the two previous reasons we've looked into. If you look at the progression, it goes something like this: Man rejects God's revelation of himself through the creation and conscience; they give glory and worship instead to idols; because of their failure to worship God, God gave them over to their sinful desires.
Now, the idea of God giving humanity over to their sinful desire does not mean that God caused us to sin; on the contrary, what it means is that God gave us up to what we want to do. If we want to abandon him and go after other gods, fine. But we better be ready to face the consequences of our actions. It is our willful rejection of God that produces ugly results in humanity.
There is a long list of various sins people commit as a result of their rejection of God. We do not have time to look at each one of these sins in detail. However, I would like for us to pay attention to one particular sin mentioned in verses 26 to 27. It is the sin of homosexuality. The media as well as the gay rights movement want us to believe that homosexuality is not a sin but rather, it is a choice people should be free to make. Psychiatrists on the other hand say that homosexuality is in the genes of some people, thus making them more prone to become homosexuals; therefore such people should not be hindered from being their “true self”. They can justify all they want, but when God says its a sin, its a sin.
Now, I don't want you to leave this sanctuary later thinking that homosexuality is the worst sin of all. In God's sight, sin is sin, regardless of what kind of wrong act you've committed. You cannot blame your environment for making you a sinner. You can't blame the people around you for making you a sinner. You made the choice to rebel against God. You made the choice to worship anything and anyone other than God.
In the 1960s, psychologist Dr. Stanton Samenow and psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Yochelson, sharing the conventional wisdom that crime is caused by environment, set out to prove their point. They began a seventeen-year study, published in 1977, titled, The Criminal Personality. To their own astonishment, they discovered that the cause of crime cannot be traced to environment, to poverty or oppression. Instead, crime is the result of individuals making, as they put it, “wrong moral choices”.
Well, sinning is a poor choice humanity made as an act of rebellion against God. Because of this poor choice, we are left without an excuse as we must face the wrath of God.
Conclusion:
Today, we have learned that none of us are excused from God's wrath. It is because we have rejected God's revelation of himself through creation and our conscience by instead believing in the lie of evolution as well as in deadening our conscience. We cannot be excused because we have failed to honor God by bowing our knees and offering our prayers and allegiance to false gods – idols. Finally, we cannot be excused because we deliberately chose to sin against God instead of choosing to follow God's way.
While it is true that most, if not all of us are already believers of Jesus Christ and we have been justified by faith in Christ such that God's wrath is no longer upon us, I believe today's message should be a reminder to us that God's wrath is real. While we may be spared from his wrath, there are still many who are lost in their sins and in their rebellion. We must take seriously our responsibility of sharing the good news to the lost.
Today's discussion should also help us to see the gravity of our sins and why Jesus had to pay for our sin and rebellion with his death on the cross. As God's redeemed people, we should no longer allow sin to dominate us, going back to the old way of life. Instead, let us live the new life which Christ has already bought for us through his death and resurrection, forsaking our sins and choosing instead to please God.
Romans 1:18 – 32
Introduction:
I will never forget the very first day I stepped into Rev. David Cheung's class in New Testament Exegesis. Upon the start of the class, Rev. Cheung passed out some handouts containing book references he expected us to use throughout the course. He also passed out a sheet containing the course requirements. Of course, the most prominent assignment in a subject like NT Exegesis is the exegetical paper, which is the analysis of a particular passage from the NT. In some sense, an exegetical paper is like writing your own commentary on a given passage. Now, the paper had to be passed on a certain time and date, either by dropping it on Rev. Cheung's pigeon hole or by handing it straight to him. If someone failed to pass on the given date, the supposed grade of the paper would be cut in half (example: if you got 100% on the paper but submitted it late, you only get 50%).
Now, I don't recall if anyone failed to submit his paper on time, but I am sure that if there was someone who did, he probably wouldn't have been able to get Rev. Cheung to give him an extension or to give leniency. Why? It was because he had made it clear already what was the submission date and time. He also made it very clear that he would not be lenient to those who submit their papers later than the said time and date. We were aware of the date and we had no excuse whatsoever to submit our paper late, nor could we complain about unfair treatment because we had full knowledge of the deadline and the consequences of submitting late.
In my particular case, we had full knowledge of deadlines and consequences, thus we could not give any excuses for submitting our papers late and get away with it. With regards to the laws of the land, we often hear the expression, “Ignorantia juris non excusat” or in English, “ignorance of the law excuses no one”. Ignorance of the laws of the land does not excuse us from the penalties and consequences when we violate these laws. Whether we have knowledge or we are ignorant of the law, we must suffer consequences when we break them.
As we continue our study of the Book of Romans, in particular our passage today taken from Romans 1:18 – 32, we learn that we are all under the wrath of God and that none among us can ever reason to God and say that we are not deserving of his wrath. In fact, none of us can ever offer an excuse as to why we should not be punished. However, we may be asking the question, “What makes us fall under the wrath of God and why can we not be excused or spared from it?” Today's passage holds the answer to our question, and I pray that as we study this passage, we will better understand why we need the gospel so badly.
Just a side note before I continue with our study: Paul's presentation of the Gospel began with the bad news. Why is this so? Why didn't he begin with the good news like what a popular gospel tract called “The Four Spiritual Laws” did? My personal interpretation is that Paul wanted the readers to understand the depths of humankind's sin and depravity as well as the punishment due in order for them to appreciate more deeply the salvation the Lord Jesus has won for us and the undeserved grace God extends to us.
There are three reasons why humanity cannot be excused from God's righteous judgment that we can find from today's passage. Let's examine these three reasons carefully.
Reason # 1: Knowledge of God is Readily Available
We cannot excuse ourselves from God's judgment because the knowledge of God is readily available, even for someone who doesn't have the Bible or know who Jesus is, even for someone who belongs to a different religion or even for someone who is an atheist. Just look at verse 18; here we read that God's wrath is being revealed against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. Here, humanity is aware of the truth but they chose to suppress it in order to continue living a life of wickedness.
Now, how was the truth manifested or made known to humanity? In verses 19 to 20, we see that Creation was actually a showcase of God's invisible qualities – namely his eternal power and divine nature. All you have to do is to look at the created things such as the animals, the forests, the seas, the stars, the heavens, and you will see that these are truly marvelous sights to behold. Furthermore, they testify that a powerful, eternal God brought all these to existence. In Psalm 19:1 – 3, the psalmist wrote, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night to night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard.” In Job 12:7 – 9 we read, “But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and they will teach you; or let the fish of the sea inform you. Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?” The creation testifies that there is a powerful, eternal God. Everything in it bears witness to this God.
Humanity's knowledge of God doesn't just come about because of Creation; it is also available through the decrees God has given in people's conscience. Look at the first part of verse 32. Here we read that humanity knows God's righteous decrees that those who do evil deserves death. Not everyone here on earth is exposed to the ethical teachings of the Holy Scriptures like Roman Catholics, Protestants and even Jews; however, if you look at the teachings of major religions, they actually have laws similar to the Ten Commandments. In Hinduism, adherents were expected to refrain from killing, stealing, sexual impurity and lying. In Buddhism, there is the teaching about having the right attitude, right speech and right action. An author pointed out that primitive tribes know when they have sinned and they have sacrificial systems in place in order to atone for their sins. You can investigate the different belief systems in the world and you will see that many of the ethical practices are similar to the Ten Commandments. What this reveals is that, even though many may not know the God of the Bible, they do know that there is a supreme being out there and that they must be careful not to offend this being by keeping certain moral laws. Even without the Bible, people do have their conscience to dictate what is right and wrong.
Sadly, people have chosen to reject God's revelation of himself through creation by saying that the universe came about because of evolution over millions upon millions of years. Also, people have chosen to deaden their conscience in order to continue in their sinful ways. The knowledge of God is readily available but we have rejected this knowledge. Therefore, we cannot make any excuses when God executes his wrath upon us.
Reason # 2: Failure to Honor God
Our second reason is connected with the first reason but I believe it stands on its own because it is a clear reflection of humanity's rejection of the knowledge of God. The second reason why we cannot be excused from God's wrath is because we have failed to honor God properly. We find this in verse 21 where it says that we neither glorified God nor gave thanks to him, even though we have the knowledge of God.
Now, how did humanity fail to glorify and give thanks to God? This is not a simple case of failing to say “thank you” or “praise God” when you receive blessings or when people honor you, although expressing these words are appropriate; rather, humanity fails to glorify and to thank God by becoming futile in their thinking and their hearts becoming foolish. A Bible scholar suggested that because man refused to acknowledge God, he must now substitute God with a being greater than himself, which explains why he fabricates myths and idols. The result: images of mortal men and animals are made to be gods or deities.
Just imagine that: man takes the place of God as the object of worship. This was very much true during the time of Paul when people worshipped Caesar or the emperor as a god. It is very much true today when people kneel, bow and burn incense to Buddha, or when people pray to the statues of Mary, Santo Niño and all the other saints. It is also true that we worship men when we bow and burn incense to our departed ancestors. At times, when we claim glory for ourselves or when we view ourselves as more superior than others, we make ourselves to be gods and, in effect, we are worshipping ourselves.
Ancient myths such as those of the Greek and the Roman Empire were also fabricated by men in order that they could have objects of worship in place of the true God. However, these Greek and Roman gods and goddesses behave not like the true God but just like fallen, depraved human beings.
Humanity also made animals as objects of worship. We see this in the Book of Exodus where the Israelites, upon the absence of Moses, demanded Aaron to make gods for them to worship. Aaron asked that the people give them their gold earrings, and from these he fashioned a golden calf. Aaron then declared to the people that the golden calf was their god and he even instructed the people to build an altar for the calf. If you remember the second plague that God inflicted upon the Egyptians when Pharaoh refused to let the Israelites go, God sent countless numbers of frogs upon the land. There is significance to this, as the Egyptians had a god who had the head of a frog. Today, people still worship animals such as the Hindus who treats the cow as a deity as well as the elephant.
Our trip to Southern India in 2007 was a memorable experience for us not only because we got to do ministry but also because we saw firsthand what India was like,especially the city of Madurai with all the shrines, temples and images found in almost every corner of the city. We also got to see from a distance one of the fourteen towers of the Meenakshi Amman Temple, where each of the towers are filled with thousands of idols. It was fascinating to see such a sight, but at the same time, it was also saddening because the people chose to worship these idols rather than seek after the one true God. The same is true for the whole of humanity – we know that God exists but we refuse to worship him and give glory to him. We have chosen to worship the creation rather than the Creator. Thus we are not excused from the wrath of God.
Reason # 3: We Deliberately Sin Against God
Finally, we cannot escape God's judgment nor give excuses because we have deliberately sinned against God. Again, this reason is connected with the two previous reasons we've looked into. If you look at the progression, it goes something like this: Man rejects God's revelation of himself through the creation and conscience; they give glory and worship instead to idols; because of their failure to worship God, God gave them over to their sinful desires.
Now, the idea of God giving humanity over to their sinful desire does not mean that God caused us to sin; on the contrary, what it means is that God gave us up to what we want to do. If we want to abandon him and go after other gods, fine. But we better be ready to face the consequences of our actions. It is our willful rejection of God that produces ugly results in humanity.
There is a long list of various sins people commit as a result of their rejection of God. We do not have time to look at each one of these sins in detail. However, I would like for us to pay attention to one particular sin mentioned in verses 26 to 27. It is the sin of homosexuality. The media as well as the gay rights movement want us to believe that homosexuality is not a sin but rather, it is a choice people should be free to make. Psychiatrists on the other hand say that homosexuality is in the genes of some people, thus making them more prone to become homosexuals; therefore such people should not be hindered from being their “true self”. They can justify all they want, but when God says its a sin, its a sin.
Now, I don't want you to leave this sanctuary later thinking that homosexuality is the worst sin of all. In God's sight, sin is sin, regardless of what kind of wrong act you've committed. You cannot blame your environment for making you a sinner. You can't blame the people around you for making you a sinner. You made the choice to rebel against God. You made the choice to worship anything and anyone other than God.
In the 1960s, psychologist Dr. Stanton Samenow and psychiatrist Dr. Samuel Yochelson, sharing the conventional wisdom that crime is caused by environment, set out to prove their point. They began a seventeen-year study, published in 1977, titled, The Criminal Personality. To their own astonishment, they discovered that the cause of crime cannot be traced to environment, to poverty or oppression. Instead, crime is the result of individuals making, as they put it, “wrong moral choices”.
Well, sinning is a poor choice humanity made as an act of rebellion against God. Because of this poor choice, we are left without an excuse as we must face the wrath of God.
Conclusion:
Today, we have learned that none of us are excused from God's wrath. It is because we have rejected God's revelation of himself through creation and our conscience by instead believing in the lie of evolution as well as in deadening our conscience. We cannot be excused because we have failed to honor God by bowing our knees and offering our prayers and allegiance to false gods – idols. Finally, we cannot be excused because we deliberately chose to sin against God instead of choosing to follow God's way.
While it is true that most, if not all of us are already believers of Jesus Christ and we have been justified by faith in Christ such that God's wrath is no longer upon us, I believe today's message should be a reminder to us that God's wrath is real. While we may be spared from his wrath, there are still many who are lost in their sins and in their rebellion. We must take seriously our responsibility of sharing the good news to the lost.
Today's discussion should also help us to see the gravity of our sins and why Jesus had to pay for our sin and rebellion with his death on the cross. As God's redeemed people, we should no longer allow sin to dominate us, going back to the old way of life. Instead, let us live the new life which Christ has already bought for us through his death and resurrection, forsaking our sins and choosing instead to please God.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
What Drives You? - Messaged preached at GGC, April 11, 2010
What Drives You?
Romans 1:1 – 17
Introduction:
You are probably familiar with the slogan, “what drives you?” if you pay attention to TV commercials. It is the slogan used for Caltex. The point of the slogan is that Caltex fuels will bring you farther and faster compared to other fuels. However, what is interesting about the Caltex commercials, like the one you just saw, is that the person has a motivation for excellence or great performance and the means to achieve these would be through the use of Caltex fuel. In the commercial, it is the desire to provide the freshest produce on time to his customers that drives the farmer to work hard and to use Caltex fuel.
Now, I am not here to tell you to fill up your cars with Caltex gasoline nor am I endorsing their products. However, I would like for us to pay attention to their slogan, “What drives you?” What is the driving force of our lives? What motivates you to excel or to survive? What is the goal that you are aiming for? For some people, the motivator may be their families – the desire to see that their families would be well-provided for and that the children would grow up as fine individuals; for others, it may be the desire to make a reputable name for one's self. Some are motivated by the money and the things they can buy with it, thus they strive to gain much of it. Still, there are those who are motivated by what is called altruism or simply the desire to do good without selfish reasons because they desire for a better world.
What about us as believers? What drives us? This morning, we will begin our study of the Book of Romans. In today's passage, we find that Paul had a particular motivation as to why he was so zealous in working for the Lord. Now, his motivation is not like what some believers have when they serve the Lord. Some believers think that when they serve the Lord, they will surely be blessed materially. This explains why many believe in the prosperity gospel. Others think that when they serve the Lord, they will gain favor with the Lord which they can claim later when they have a need or want. Paul however served the Lord with the motivation being nothing less than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, what is the Gospel of Jesus Christ? So often, our comprehension of the word “Gospel” is limited simply to the salvation we have because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. Nothing wrong in thinking like this, but this isn't exactly the whole picture when we use the word, “Gospel.” According to a Bible scholar, the central message of the gospel is the person of Jesus Christ himself, how he lived his life, how he died and rose again, with the desired result that we will believe him for our salvation as well as follow his example and abide in his grace in our sanctification and glorification. In fact, the Kerygma or the proclamation of the Christian church centers on Christ. The same scholar, in his online commentary, wrote on the topic of kerygma and I found the following to be the essential proclamation of the church or, we could say, the very message of the gospel:
1.The promises by God made in the O.T. have now been fulfilled with the coming of Jesus the Messiah
2.Jesus was anointed as Messiah by God at his baptism
3.Jesus began his ministry in Galilee after his baptism
4.His ministry was characterized by doing good and performing mighty works by means of the power of God
5.The Messiah was crucified according to the purpose of God
6.He was raised from the dead and appeared to His disciples
7.Jesus was exalted by God and given the name “Lord”
8.He gave the Holy Spirit to form the new community of God
9.He will come again for judgment and the restoration of all things
10.All who hear the message should repent and be baptized
(Online Commentary on Romans by Rev. Dr. Bob Utley)
What drove Paul in life was the Gospel or the very person of Jesus Christ. Before his conversion along the road to Damascus, Paul was simply driven because of his zeal for the Jewish religion and his desire to conform to the Law of the Jews; his encounter with Jesus changed all that. He became so enamored, so in love with Jesus Christ, that everything he did and say were all done for the sake and for the glory of the Lord Jesus. What made Paul so zealous for the gospel message? I would like to share with you three things we must have if we want to have the zeal Paul had for the gospel. To help us remember these three things, each starts with the letter “C”.
I. Confidence in the Message of the Gospel
Paul had great confidence in the message of the Gospel. In Romans 1:16, Paul wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” He was confident that it had the power to bring about salvation, that any person, whether Jew or Gentile, who believes in the message, the person of Jesus Christ, will surely find salvation. If the apostle Paul were a gambling man, he would, without hesitation, put everything he has at stake. This, I am sure, was the extent of his confidence in the gospel message.
Why would Paul have such a great confidence in the Gospel message? I believe that his confidence came about because he had personally experienced the Gospel in his own life and had seen how powerful it was as to transform him from a persecutor of the church to becoming an apostle of Christ. He had seen for himself how the gospel had changed him from a violent, angry man to someone who was tender and loving. Let me give a word of caution regarding experience – when I speak about experience, I am talking about the transformation that God brought about in a person's life, of how God changes a person from a sinner to a saint; I am not talking about ecstatic, supernatural experiences. Although believers can have supernatural experiences, these are not accurate gauges of a person's transformation because even Satan can duplicate supernatural events and use these to deceive people into thinking that they are right with God. The most important experience that we can have with regards to the gospel is the experience of real transformation.
Aside from the experience that Paul had which confirmed his confidence, I believe his confidence in the Gospel also stemmed from the truth of God's Word. Paul was heavily grounded in the Word of God and he knew that Jesus fulfilled the OT prophecies regarding the Messiah. Both his experience of Jesus in his life as well as his familiarity and love for the Scriptures gave him confidence in the Gospel message.
When we are properly grounded in the Word of God and when we are continually experiencing the transforming power of the Gospel in our lives, we will not be easily swayed by the false teachings that proliferate today that tells us that all roads lead to God or that the gospel is an insufficient message for salvation. What is sad is that many people who profess to be Christians are not going deep into God's Word and they are not experiencing God's transforming power at all. Such people will never form true confidence in the gospel and it will be extremely easy for them to sway from one false teaching to another, from one wrong practice to another. I pray that we will all have real confidence in the message of the gospel, that it is indeed powerful to bring about salvation.
II. Conviction in Bringing the Gospel to the Lost
It is great to have confidence in the message of the Gospel, for it means that you don't doubt the message; it means you believe it to be true and effective. However, what good would that be if you are not moved to see the great need out there, of the countless souls who are lost, who will forever be lost unless they hear the Gospel and respond to it? Thus, the second “C” that we all need is conviction – a conviction that we are all responsible for bringing the gospel to the Lost.
The apostle Paul had conviction regarding his personal responsibility in preaching the Gospel. In fact, in today's passage, he viewed his conviction as being an obligation – he was obliged to the Gentile people to preach to them the gospel (1:14); however, this obligation was not something he did begrudgingly but he did this with eagerness. I would surmise that conviction entails both a sense of obligation and a sense of eagerness. Without obligation, we would not go about doing what we have to do; without eagerness, we will simply be doing our responsibility but without excitement and joy. We need both obligation and eagerness – that's what conviction is all about.
In 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul proclaimed a curse upon himself if he did not fulfill his obligation of preaching the gospel. On the other hand, when you look at how Paul seemed unstoppable when it comes to preaching the gospel, you see his eagerness to get the message across to the lost. Consider what Paul had gone through just to preach the Gospel and you will see that he was truly a man with conviction about the gospel message:
1. Stoned in Galatia (Acts 14:19)
2. Imprisoned in Philippi (Acts 16:23-24)
3. Smuggled out of Berea (Acts 17:4)
4. Chased out of Thessalonica (Acts 17:10)
5. Laughed at in Athens (Acts 17:32)
6. Regarded as a fool in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:18, 23)
What about us? Do we have conviction with regards to the gospel that we are eager as well as obliged to share it? Again, it is not enough that we have confidence in the message, but we must also be convicted as to actually be proclaiming it to the lost.
There is the story of a woman who had seen a beautiful needlepoint picture being sold in a garage sale. The message of the needlepoint picture was “prayer changes lives”. The woman bought the picture and she brought it home, seeking for an appropriate place to hang it. She finally decided that the best place to hang it would be in the dining hall area. When her husband came home, she excitedly showed him the picture. The husband looked at the picture but did not make any response, whether favorable or unfavorable. The next day, the wife noticed that the picture was missing while she was cleaning the house. She continued her chore and then found the picture behind the bookcase. She took the picture and returned it to the dining hall. The next day, the picture was again missing and the wife looked for it and found it behind the bookcase. When her husband returned home, she confronted him, asking why he moved the picture. She asked if the artwork was not pleasing to him and the husband responded that the picture was beautiful. She then asked if the problem was the location; the husband replied that the location was perfect. The wife then concluded that it must have been the message of the picture, but when she asked her husband, the husband said the message was great. Baffled, the wife then asked, “So, what's the problem?” The husband replied, “I just don't like change.” The husband, no doubt, believes that prayer really can change life; in fact, we could say that he had confidence that prayer really works, however, he has no conviction whatsoever about praying – he has no eagerness nor sense of responsibility about praying. The same is also true for preaching the gospel. If you have no conviction whatsoever regarding your responsibility to share the gospel, your confidence in the gospel would be something useless.
III. Consecration to the Task of Sharing the Gospel
Finally, the third “C” we need to have if we want to have zeal in sharing the gospel is the need for consecration on our part. What does the word “consecration” mean? It is simply to devote one's self to a specific purpose. We find this to be true of the apostle Paul, for in verse 9 Paul expressed that he serves God with his whole heart in preaching the Gospel of Christ. He was not half-hearted at all when it comes to preaching the Gospel; but rather, he gave himself wholly to the task. Even when he faced so much trials and persecutions for preaching the gospel, he remain committed and devoted to the task. It is because he devoted himself to the preaching of the gospel.
Without consecration or a personal commitment to share the gospel, we will never get around to actually doing it. We can be confident about the message of the gospel; we can be convicted that we need to share the gospel; but if we do not make the personal resolution that we will share the gospel, we will never get around to doing it.
We do not need to become great orators in order to preach the gospel. We do not need to work in church or to be in full-time ministry in order to preach the gospel. The gospel is a message all believers, whether laypeople or clergy, must bring to the lost. We all have our spheres of influence – our colleagues, our classmates, our family, our friends – they all need the gospel. If we are not devoted to the task of sharing the gospel, no amount of confidence or conviction will give the lost the chance to hear the gospel. It is your consecration or devotion that will ultimately drive you to speak the words of life and peace to the lost.
Conclusion:
Let's review what we've learned this morning. What will drive you to make the preaching of the gospel your lifestyle? First, we must have confidence in the message of the gospel. Without confidence, we will be easily swayed by false teachings or we will be hesitant about sharing the gospel with others. Second, we must have conviction regarding our responsibility to share the gospel. If we do not believe that we have a God-given responsibility to share the gospel, we will not go out and do it, even if we are confident in the message of the gospel. Finally, we must be consecrated or devoted to the work of preaching the gospel. We can be confident about the gospel, we can have conviction about our responsibility to share, but if we do not say to the Lord, “Here am I, send me,” or “Here am I, use me,” then the likelihood that we will be zealous in sharing the gospel will be quite thin.
I pray that we will, like Paul, be driven by the message of the Gospel to go and preach it to those who we come in contact with everyday. Let us have a passion, a zeal for sharing the gospel, because it is a life-giving message that everyone needs to hear.
Romans 1:1 – 17
Introduction:
You are probably familiar with the slogan, “what drives you?” if you pay attention to TV commercials. It is the slogan used for Caltex. The point of the slogan is that Caltex fuels will bring you farther and faster compared to other fuels. However, what is interesting about the Caltex commercials, like the one you just saw, is that the person has a motivation for excellence or great performance and the means to achieve these would be through the use of Caltex fuel. In the commercial, it is the desire to provide the freshest produce on time to his customers that drives the farmer to work hard and to use Caltex fuel.
Now, I am not here to tell you to fill up your cars with Caltex gasoline nor am I endorsing their products. However, I would like for us to pay attention to their slogan, “What drives you?” What is the driving force of our lives? What motivates you to excel or to survive? What is the goal that you are aiming for? For some people, the motivator may be their families – the desire to see that their families would be well-provided for and that the children would grow up as fine individuals; for others, it may be the desire to make a reputable name for one's self. Some are motivated by the money and the things they can buy with it, thus they strive to gain much of it. Still, there are those who are motivated by what is called altruism or simply the desire to do good without selfish reasons because they desire for a better world.
What about us as believers? What drives us? This morning, we will begin our study of the Book of Romans. In today's passage, we find that Paul had a particular motivation as to why he was so zealous in working for the Lord. Now, his motivation is not like what some believers have when they serve the Lord. Some believers think that when they serve the Lord, they will surely be blessed materially. This explains why many believe in the prosperity gospel. Others think that when they serve the Lord, they will gain favor with the Lord which they can claim later when they have a need or want. Paul however served the Lord with the motivation being nothing less than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, what is the Gospel of Jesus Christ? So often, our comprehension of the word “Gospel” is limited simply to the salvation we have because of what Jesus Christ did for us on the cross. Nothing wrong in thinking like this, but this isn't exactly the whole picture when we use the word, “Gospel.” According to a Bible scholar, the central message of the gospel is the person of Jesus Christ himself, how he lived his life, how he died and rose again, with the desired result that we will believe him for our salvation as well as follow his example and abide in his grace in our sanctification and glorification. In fact, the Kerygma or the proclamation of the Christian church centers on Christ. The same scholar, in his online commentary, wrote on the topic of kerygma and I found the following to be the essential proclamation of the church or, we could say, the very message of the gospel:
1.The promises by God made in the O.T. have now been fulfilled with the coming of Jesus the Messiah
2.Jesus was anointed as Messiah by God at his baptism
3.Jesus began his ministry in Galilee after his baptism
4.His ministry was characterized by doing good and performing mighty works by means of the power of God
5.The Messiah was crucified according to the purpose of God
6.He was raised from the dead and appeared to His disciples
7.Jesus was exalted by God and given the name “Lord”
8.He gave the Holy Spirit to form the new community of God
9.He will come again for judgment and the restoration of all things
10.All who hear the message should repent and be baptized
(Online Commentary on Romans by Rev. Dr. Bob Utley)
What drove Paul in life was the Gospel or the very person of Jesus Christ. Before his conversion along the road to Damascus, Paul was simply driven because of his zeal for the Jewish religion and his desire to conform to the Law of the Jews; his encounter with Jesus changed all that. He became so enamored, so in love with Jesus Christ, that everything he did and say were all done for the sake and for the glory of the Lord Jesus. What made Paul so zealous for the gospel message? I would like to share with you three things we must have if we want to have the zeal Paul had for the gospel. To help us remember these three things, each starts with the letter “C”.
I. Confidence in the Message of the Gospel
Paul had great confidence in the message of the Gospel. In Romans 1:16, Paul wrote, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.” He was confident that it had the power to bring about salvation, that any person, whether Jew or Gentile, who believes in the message, the person of Jesus Christ, will surely find salvation. If the apostle Paul were a gambling man, he would, without hesitation, put everything he has at stake. This, I am sure, was the extent of his confidence in the gospel message.
Why would Paul have such a great confidence in the Gospel message? I believe that his confidence came about because he had personally experienced the Gospel in his own life and had seen how powerful it was as to transform him from a persecutor of the church to becoming an apostle of Christ. He had seen for himself how the gospel had changed him from a violent, angry man to someone who was tender and loving. Let me give a word of caution regarding experience – when I speak about experience, I am talking about the transformation that God brought about in a person's life, of how God changes a person from a sinner to a saint; I am not talking about ecstatic, supernatural experiences. Although believers can have supernatural experiences, these are not accurate gauges of a person's transformation because even Satan can duplicate supernatural events and use these to deceive people into thinking that they are right with God. The most important experience that we can have with regards to the gospel is the experience of real transformation.
Aside from the experience that Paul had which confirmed his confidence, I believe his confidence in the Gospel also stemmed from the truth of God's Word. Paul was heavily grounded in the Word of God and he knew that Jesus fulfilled the OT prophecies regarding the Messiah. Both his experience of Jesus in his life as well as his familiarity and love for the Scriptures gave him confidence in the Gospel message.
When we are properly grounded in the Word of God and when we are continually experiencing the transforming power of the Gospel in our lives, we will not be easily swayed by the false teachings that proliferate today that tells us that all roads lead to God or that the gospel is an insufficient message for salvation. What is sad is that many people who profess to be Christians are not going deep into God's Word and they are not experiencing God's transforming power at all. Such people will never form true confidence in the gospel and it will be extremely easy for them to sway from one false teaching to another, from one wrong practice to another. I pray that we will all have real confidence in the message of the gospel, that it is indeed powerful to bring about salvation.
II. Conviction in Bringing the Gospel to the Lost
It is great to have confidence in the message of the Gospel, for it means that you don't doubt the message; it means you believe it to be true and effective. However, what good would that be if you are not moved to see the great need out there, of the countless souls who are lost, who will forever be lost unless they hear the Gospel and respond to it? Thus, the second “C” that we all need is conviction – a conviction that we are all responsible for bringing the gospel to the Lost.
The apostle Paul had conviction regarding his personal responsibility in preaching the Gospel. In fact, in today's passage, he viewed his conviction as being an obligation – he was obliged to the Gentile people to preach to them the gospel (1:14); however, this obligation was not something he did begrudgingly but he did this with eagerness. I would surmise that conviction entails both a sense of obligation and a sense of eagerness. Without obligation, we would not go about doing what we have to do; without eagerness, we will simply be doing our responsibility but without excitement and joy. We need both obligation and eagerness – that's what conviction is all about.
In 1 Corinthians 9:16, Paul proclaimed a curse upon himself if he did not fulfill his obligation of preaching the gospel. On the other hand, when you look at how Paul seemed unstoppable when it comes to preaching the gospel, you see his eagerness to get the message across to the lost. Consider what Paul had gone through just to preach the Gospel and you will see that he was truly a man with conviction about the gospel message:
1. Stoned in Galatia (Acts 14:19)
2. Imprisoned in Philippi (Acts 16:23-24)
3. Smuggled out of Berea (Acts 17:4)
4. Chased out of Thessalonica (Acts 17:10)
5. Laughed at in Athens (Acts 17:32)
6. Regarded as a fool in Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:18, 23)
What about us? Do we have conviction with regards to the gospel that we are eager as well as obliged to share it? Again, it is not enough that we have confidence in the message, but we must also be convicted as to actually be proclaiming it to the lost.
There is the story of a woman who had seen a beautiful needlepoint picture being sold in a garage sale. The message of the needlepoint picture was “prayer changes lives”. The woman bought the picture and she brought it home, seeking for an appropriate place to hang it. She finally decided that the best place to hang it would be in the dining hall area. When her husband came home, she excitedly showed him the picture. The husband looked at the picture but did not make any response, whether favorable or unfavorable. The next day, the wife noticed that the picture was missing while she was cleaning the house. She continued her chore and then found the picture behind the bookcase. She took the picture and returned it to the dining hall. The next day, the picture was again missing and the wife looked for it and found it behind the bookcase. When her husband returned home, she confronted him, asking why he moved the picture. She asked if the artwork was not pleasing to him and the husband responded that the picture was beautiful. She then asked if the problem was the location; the husband replied that the location was perfect. The wife then concluded that it must have been the message of the picture, but when she asked her husband, the husband said the message was great. Baffled, the wife then asked, “So, what's the problem?” The husband replied, “I just don't like change.” The husband, no doubt, believes that prayer really can change life; in fact, we could say that he had confidence that prayer really works, however, he has no conviction whatsoever about praying – he has no eagerness nor sense of responsibility about praying. The same is also true for preaching the gospel. If you have no conviction whatsoever regarding your responsibility to share the gospel, your confidence in the gospel would be something useless.
III. Consecration to the Task of Sharing the Gospel
Finally, the third “C” we need to have if we want to have zeal in sharing the gospel is the need for consecration on our part. What does the word “consecration” mean? It is simply to devote one's self to a specific purpose. We find this to be true of the apostle Paul, for in verse 9 Paul expressed that he serves God with his whole heart in preaching the Gospel of Christ. He was not half-hearted at all when it comes to preaching the Gospel; but rather, he gave himself wholly to the task. Even when he faced so much trials and persecutions for preaching the gospel, he remain committed and devoted to the task. It is because he devoted himself to the preaching of the gospel.
Without consecration or a personal commitment to share the gospel, we will never get around to actually doing it. We can be confident about the message of the gospel; we can be convicted that we need to share the gospel; but if we do not make the personal resolution that we will share the gospel, we will never get around to doing it.
We do not need to become great orators in order to preach the gospel. We do not need to work in church or to be in full-time ministry in order to preach the gospel. The gospel is a message all believers, whether laypeople or clergy, must bring to the lost. We all have our spheres of influence – our colleagues, our classmates, our family, our friends – they all need the gospel. If we are not devoted to the task of sharing the gospel, no amount of confidence or conviction will give the lost the chance to hear the gospel. It is your consecration or devotion that will ultimately drive you to speak the words of life and peace to the lost.
Conclusion:
Let's review what we've learned this morning. What will drive you to make the preaching of the gospel your lifestyle? First, we must have confidence in the message of the gospel. Without confidence, we will be easily swayed by false teachings or we will be hesitant about sharing the gospel with others. Second, we must have conviction regarding our responsibility to share the gospel. If we do not believe that we have a God-given responsibility to share the gospel, we will not go out and do it, even if we are confident in the message of the gospel. Finally, we must be consecrated or devoted to the work of preaching the gospel. We can be confident about the gospel, we can have conviction about our responsibility to share, but if we do not say to the Lord, “Here am I, send me,” or “Here am I, use me,” then the likelihood that we will be zealous in sharing the gospel will be quite thin.
I pray that we will, like Paul, be driven by the message of the Gospel to go and preach it to those who we come in contact with everyday. Let us have a passion, a zeal for sharing the gospel, because it is a life-giving message that everyone needs to hear.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
A Funeral To Remember - Preached at GGC on 2/21/10
A Funeral to Remember
John 11:25 – 26
Introduction:
I am sure we have all attended funerals with a degree of regularity. I know I have in the 16 years that I have been a pastor of Grace Gospel Church. In fact, the pastoral team have not only attended funerals but they have also officiated many memorial services and funeral services as well interments. Why? It is because people eventually die. Some die of diseases, others die of old age and age-related complications, and others because of accidents. Thus, because death is unavoidable, funerals are also unavoidable.
Maybe you have personally suffered loss of a loved one – a parent, a spouse, or even a child, and you've felt so much grief and anguish. In their attempt to comfort you, your friends come to the wake and when they greet you, the first words that they blurt out is the word “condolences.” The word “condolences” is a French word which simply means “an expression of sympathy, especially on the occasion of a death.” When you first heard the word, you probably felt comforted, but as the days of the wake drag on and you continue to hear the words uttered, the words may become somewhat senseless or meaningless to you, becoming nothing more than a word we mechanically say when we encounter death.
But what would happen if a friend came to your loved one's wake and then he uttered these words to you, “Your spouse will live again” or “Your child will live again”, what do you think will go through your mind at that very moment? Will you think that this friend is so insensitive and callous? Do you think that your friend is giving you false hopes? Do you think that he's just saying it just to make you feel better or does he really mean it?
In John 11, we find the story of two sisters who were grieving the loss of their brother. As was the custom of their day, people would say words of comfort to the two sisters who were mourning. However, instead of saying the words, “condolences”, the people would normally say something like “your brother will rise again.” The Jews of Jesus' time had been grounded in the teaching and doctrine of the future resurrection of the dead and they expressed their sympathy by giving words of assurances to the sisters that their brother would rise again. However, did the words really sink in to the hearts and minds of the two sisters? Probably in the course of their mourning, they had heard the supposedly reassuring words but it had become nothing more than a cliché oft repeated, having lost its significance for the two sisters.
So, when Jesus came at last, some four days having passed after the death of Lazarus, the sisters, Martha and Mary both sought Jesus and they blurted out the same words of mild rebuke to him, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died”, an acknowledgment that Jesus could have prevented Lazarus' death if only he had been there on time. However, it is to Martha that Jesus makes an important revelation about himself after Jesus had said the same words of comfort to her, “your brother will rise again.” Martha's response was typical for Jews who were in mourning; probably out of courtesy for the person giving comfort, Martha replied that she believed that her brother would rise again in the future. Whether or not she actually believed that it would happen is another question, for she may have been simply responding in the same way she responded to those who sympathized during the wake.
Jesus however did not stop with simply saying these words of comfort, but he proceeded to tell Martha that what he was saying was the truth. He then made one of his “I AM” statements, a powerful claim regarding himself. In the past weeks, we've learned that Jesus is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, and the Door. This morning, we will examine Jesus' claim as being “the resurrection and the life”. What was Jesus saying when he made this claim? What are the implications of such a claim for us today? Before I proceed to answer these questions, let's set the background or the context.
Context:
At the start of John 11, we find Lazarus of Bethany, a close friend of Jesus, very ill. Most likely his illness was a cause of great concern to his two sisters, Martha and Mary, such that they requested for Jesus to come immediately in order to heal their brother. However, Jesus does not respond immediately to their request but chose to tarry for two more days. As he tarried, he told his disciples and probably to the bearer of the bad news that the illness Lazarus was experiencing would not lead to death. Instead, his illness would bring glory to God and to Him. Two days have passed and Jesus now decided to go to Judea, to Bethany, to visit Lazarus. In verse 11, Jesus told his disciples that Lazarus had fallen asleep and that he was going to awaken him. The disciples did not comprehend what Jesus meant and thought that Lazarus would recover from his sickness. You see, back then, if someone who was seriously ill fell asleep, it was a hopeful sign that they would soon recover, for they understood that if someone fell asleep, then they would surely wake up at some point later. Jesus had to make it plain to the disciples that Lazarus was already dead, but he had chosen not to go to Lazarus while he was still alive and fighting for his life, in order that they (the disciples) would believe. Jesus gives no indication to the disciples as to what would happen and this caused more misunderstanding, which is why Thomas made a rather strange response, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Upon arriving in Bethany, Jesus and his disciples discovered that Lazarus had already been dead and laid in a tomb for four days already. Now, what is the significance of the number of days here? According to a Bible scholar, the Rabbis or religious teachers of Jesus' time believed that the human spirit stayed close to the physical body for three days. Once a person has been dead for four days, then he is truly dead, and there is no chance whatsoever that the person would live again or that his spirit would return and give life again to the body. Jesus timed his “delay” such that there would be no doubt whatsoever in every one's mind that Lazarus was truly dead.
When Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, we see her rushing to meet Him. This is very characteristic of Martha who is a woman of action, as compared to Mary who is a woman of contemplation. Upon meeting Jesus, she makes the statement, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”, A mild rebuke to Jesus. In a way, no one can truly find fault in Martha for saying such a statement, for it was most likely made in a time of anguish. Sometimes, when people are going through a period of mourning and sorrow, some of the things that they say are made without really carefully thinking through what they're saying. Yet, we find that Martha has faith in Jesus, for she said that whatever the Lord Jesus would ask from God, God would surely answer (v. 22). To this, Jesus answered that Lazarus would surely rise again. It was the same words Martha had heard over and over again during the wake. She thought that the Lord was just offering her some words of sympathy. What she didn't realize was that Jesus was serious when he made the statement. He then reveals himself as being the resurrection and the life.
When Jesus made this powerful claim of being the resurrection and the life, what was he talking about? Simply put, Jesus was saying that the very power to raise people from the dead was in him. The resurrection was not just wishful thinking, something people sincerely hoped for but were uncertain as to whether or not it would happen; instead, the resurrection is a reality because the very power, the very embodiment of the resurrection was in the person of Jesus Christ. With that resurrection comes life, a life of immortality, a life that knows no bounds. This power becomes real for the believer when he believes in Jesus Christ. True, death will still happen, but then it has lost its stinging power, for what Jesus promised was not just resurrection in the future, but he also promised eternal life as a present reality.
Browsing through the New Testament, we find Jesus affirmed by the apostle Paul as being the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18), the very first to rise from the dead, no more to die. His very own resurrection affirms the declaration that he made; by his own example, he proved to everyone that he is truly the resurrection and the life and that all who believe in him would experience the same power in his life.
As we read on the rest of Chapter 11, we find that Jesus demonstrates his power to give life back to the dead when he raised Lazarus from the dead, defying the notion that a man who has been dead for four days is forever lost and can never return to life. This led many to put their trust in Jesus as well as solidify the desire of the religious authority to get rid of Jesus once and for all. Although what Lazarus experienced was not a complete resurrection since he would one day die, still, the fact that Jesus raised him from the grave proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the very embodiment of the power of God. To make this truth clearer, think of Jesus as being like the power plant that creates or generates electricity. This is different from the distribution company like MERALCO that simply buys the power and sells to final users like household and industry. Jesus is not just a conduit of God's power, the power resides in him.
We know that Jesus was the embodiment of resurrection power and that he demonstrated this upon the dead body of Lazarus and then later on upon himself in a perfect fashion. What then are the implications of his claim to being the resurrection and the life? There are three key points we need to consider here. All three points begin with the word victory, because that is what the resurrection has brought forth for us.
(1) Victory Over Death
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and when he himself rose from the dead no more to die, Jesus defied the power of death over the entire human race. You see, humanity is under the curse of sin. I'm sure we are familiar with the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2 and 3. The first couple had been warned by God that they were not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for at that very moment when they eat of that fruit they would surely die. Adam and Eve were warned and yet, when Satan tempted them, they immediately fell for the lie. This brought about their death, though not immediately.
The death that both Adam and Eve and their descendants experienced was two-pronged in nature. The first idea behind the word death is, of course, physical death. Whether we like it or not, we are all bound to die physically. We may be able to prolong our life by healthy living and medicine but it doesn't mean that we can defy and win over physical death. Sooner or later, we will all have to go through it. Moses, in Psalm 90:10, wrote that the average span of life of a human being is around 70 to 80 years of age, while in verse 3, Moses wrote about humanity returning to the dust. Physical death is a reality we all must face and go through. There can be no avoidance of it, unless Jesus returns quickly.
However, the death that Adam and Eve experienced at the very moment when they disobeyed God was not physical. Both of them lived well to nine centuries before they physically died. The immediate death they experienced was instead the severing of their once intimate relationship with God. Before the fall, the relationship was similar to that of a father with his children, but after the fall, the relationship soured and humanity became enemies with God.
Through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, what happened was that the power of death was broken. It had no hold on the Lord Jesus when he emerged from the tomb. Furthermore, the resurrection of Jesus was not temporary. He rose again no more to die! The promise that Jesus made that all who believe in him will not die and that all who have died but have faith in him would live again is true in light of what Jesus himself did when he came out of the tomb. We now have victory over physical death. We are assured that this thing called death is temporary for those who believe in Jesus and have died will be raised from the dead when Jesus comes again.
Not only will we experience physical resurrection but we also have “resurrection” in our relationship with God. All who believe in Jesus are no longer enemies of God but we have become his children, his precious possession. We are restored to God the Father through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the first victory that we have through the resurrection of Christ – the victory over death.
(2) Victory Over Sin
The second victory that we have as a result of the resurrection is our victory over sin. According to Paul in Romans 6, the death Jesus died was not just a physical death but it was also a death to sin. We know that Jesus was sinless but he went to the cross, bearing our sins. Thus, when he died, sin was buried with him. When Jesus rose from the grave, the sins he bore on our behalf has already been buried and it no longer has a strangling hold over us.
Thus Paul encouraged the believers in Rome and us today to reckon ourselves as dead to our sins. It is because sin has already been disarmed of its power. Sin no longer has a hold over us; we have the power to resist temptation as well as to run away from it. Jesus' resurrection assures us that we who believe have new life; our old self is already dead. We just need to constantly remind ourselves over and over again that we are already dead with regards to sin and are alive in Christ Jesus.
There may be some here who are trapped in the snares of habitual sins and we think that we can't break the grasp of sin upon our lives; well, the good news is that Jesus' death and resurrection enables us to break away from the grasp of sin, to say no to sin and yes instead to righteousness. This power is available for all who believe in Jesus Christ and who are willing to appropriate it in their lives. So, when you sense that Satan is up to no good in your life, just remind yourself that you are already dead to your sins and you are now alive in Christ, which means you live now to please God and no longer to indulge and stay trapped to sin.
(3) Victory Over The Second Death
Finally, the resurrection of Jesus assures all who believe in him that they will surely not face the second death, a death that is permanent in nature, a death that entails eternal suffering and eternal separation from God.
In Revelation 20, the apostle recorded that death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire, which is also known as the second death. Furthermore, anyone whose name was not on the Lamb's book of life was thrown into the lake of fire were eternal torment awaits him. Believers however need not worry about the Second Death. In Revelation 20:6 we read, “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Who will share in the first resurrection? All who have repented of their sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They will be exempted from the penalty of the second death, and instead, they will be rewarded by being part of God's kingdom, as co-rulers.
Isn't it great to know that our eternity is already safe, that no punishment awaits all who follow Jesus? This is the victory that we have in Christ in the future – escape from eternal punishment as well as reward of reigning with Christ.
Conclusion:
Max Lucado, in his book entitled Six Hours, One Friday, related a story about a missionary who worked in the remote jungles of Brazil among a tribe of people who lived by a river. A contagious disease was spreading among the people and they needed medical attention very badly. Now, there was a hospital that was located just a few miles across the river; however, none of the natives wanted to cross the river because they thought the river was inhabited by evil spirits and thought that if they entered the water would mean certain death. To prove that nothing would happen to the people, the missionary decided to demonstrate by sticking his hand into the water. The natives were not impressed. He then walked until he was waist deep in the water and splashed some water on his face. The natives were still not impressed. Finally, he dove into the water, swam until he reached the other side of the river and then he punched a triumphant fist in the air. The natives cheered for the missionary had bravely entered the water and escaped, then they, for the very first time, proceeded to cross the river. The missionary showed the Indians that the river was not something they need to fear. The Lord Jesus did just that. He has entered the river of death and triumphantly emerged on the other side alive.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life. His resurrection ensures that we have victory over physical death as well as spiritual death; it also ensures that we can have victory over our sins; finally, it ensures that we will have victory over the second death. Because of these victories that Christ has won for us, we need not be fearful of anything. We need not be fearful of death, we need not be fearful of Satan, our enemy, and we need not fear about our eternal destiny. May the truth of Jesus being the resurrection and the life bring us victory in our walk with God everyday!
John 11:25 – 26
Introduction:
I am sure we have all attended funerals with a degree of regularity. I know I have in the 16 years that I have been a pastor of Grace Gospel Church. In fact, the pastoral team have not only attended funerals but they have also officiated many memorial services and funeral services as well interments. Why? It is because people eventually die. Some die of diseases, others die of old age and age-related complications, and others because of accidents. Thus, because death is unavoidable, funerals are also unavoidable.
Maybe you have personally suffered loss of a loved one – a parent, a spouse, or even a child, and you've felt so much grief and anguish. In their attempt to comfort you, your friends come to the wake and when they greet you, the first words that they blurt out is the word “condolences.” The word “condolences” is a French word which simply means “an expression of sympathy, especially on the occasion of a death.” When you first heard the word, you probably felt comforted, but as the days of the wake drag on and you continue to hear the words uttered, the words may become somewhat senseless or meaningless to you, becoming nothing more than a word we mechanically say when we encounter death.
But what would happen if a friend came to your loved one's wake and then he uttered these words to you, “Your spouse will live again” or “Your child will live again”, what do you think will go through your mind at that very moment? Will you think that this friend is so insensitive and callous? Do you think that your friend is giving you false hopes? Do you think that he's just saying it just to make you feel better or does he really mean it?
In John 11, we find the story of two sisters who were grieving the loss of their brother. As was the custom of their day, people would say words of comfort to the two sisters who were mourning. However, instead of saying the words, “condolences”, the people would normally say something like “your brother will rise again.” The Jews of Jesus' time had been grounded in the teaching and doctrine of the future resurrection of the dead and they expressed their sympathy by giving words of assurances to the sisters that their brother would rise again. However, did the words really sink in to the hearts and minds of the two sisters? Probably in the course of their mourning, they had heard the supposedly reassuring words but it had become nothing more than a cliché oft repeated, having lost its significance for the two sisters.
So, when Jesus came at last, some four days having passed after the death of Lazarus, the sisters, Martha and Mary both sought Jesus and they blurted out the same words of mild rebuke to him, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died”, an acknowledgment that Jesus could have prevented Lazarus' death if only he had been there on time. However, it is to Martha that Jesus makes an important revelation about himself after Jesus had said the same words of comfort to her, “your brother will rise again.” Martha's response was typical for Jews who were in mourning; probably out of courtesy for the person giving comfort, Martha replied that she believed that her brother would rise again in the future. Whether or not she actually believed that it would happen is another question, for she may have been simply responding in the same way she responded to those who sympathized during the wake.
Jesus however did not stop with simply saying these words of comfort, but he proceeded to tell Martha that what he was saying was the truth. He then made one of his “I AM” statements, a powerful claim regarding himself. In the past weeks, we've learned that Jesus is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, and the Door. This morning, we will examine Jesus' claim as being “the resurrection and the life”. What was Jesus saying when he made this claim? What are the implications of such a claim for us today? Before I proceed to answer these questions, let's set the background or the context.
Context:
At the start of John 11, we find Lazarus of Bethany, a close friend of Jesus, very ill. Most likely his illness was a cause of great concern to his two sisters, Martha and Mary, such that they requested for Jesus to come immediately in order to heal their brother. However, Jesus does not respond immediately to their request but chose to tarry for two more days. As he tarried, he told his disciples and probably to the bearer of the bad news that the illness Lazarus was experiencing would not lead to death. Instead, his illness would bring glory to God and to Him. Two days have passed and Jesus now decided to go to Judea, to Bethany, to visit Lazarus. In verse 11, Jesus told his disciples that Lazarus had fallen asleep and that he was going to awaken him. The disciples did not comprehend what Jesus meant and thought that Lazarus would recover from his sickness. You see, back then, if someone who was seriously ill fell asleep, it was a hopeful sign that they would soon recover, for they understood that if someone fell asleep, then they would surely wake up at some point later. Jesus had to make it plain to the disciples that Lazarus was already dead, but he had chosen not to go to Lazarus while he was still alive and fighting for his life, in order that they (the disciples) would believe. Jesus gives no indication to the disciples as to what would happen and this caused more misunderstanding, which is why Thomas made a rather strange response, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Upon arriving in Bethany, Jesus and his disciples discovered that Lazarus had already been dead and laid in a tomb for four days already. Now, what is the significance of the number of days here? According to a Bible scholar, the Rabbis or religious teachers of Jesus' time believed that the human spirit stayed close to the physical body for three days. Once a person has been dead for four days, then he is truly dead, and there is no chance whatsoever that the person would live again or that his spirit would return and give life again to the body. Jesus timed his “delay” such that there would be no doubt whatsoever in every one's mind that Lazarus was truly dead.
When Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, we see her rushing to meet Him. This is very characteristic of Martha who is a woman of action, as compared to Mary who is a woman of contemplation. Upon meeting Jesus, she makes the statement, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”, A mild rebuke to Jesus. In a way, no one can truly find fault in Martha for saying such a statement, for it was most likely made in a time of anguish. Sometimes, when people are going through a period of mourning and sorrow, some of the things that they say are made without really carefully thinking through what they're saying. Yet, we find that Martha has faith in Jesus, for she said that whatever the Lord Jesus would ask from God, God would surely answer (v. 22). To this, Jesus answered that Lazarus would surely rise again. It was the same words Martha had heard over and over again during the wake. She thought that the Lord was just offering her some words of sympathy. What she didn't realize was that Jesus was serious when he made the statement. He then reveals himself as being the resurrection and the life.
When Jesus made this powerful claim of being the resurrection and the life, what was he talking about? Simply put, Jesus was saying that the very power to raise people from the dead was in him. The resurrection was not just wishful thinking, something people sincerely hoped for but were uncertain as to whether or not it would happen; instead, the resurrection is a reality because the very power, the very embodiment of the resurrection was in the person of Jesus Christ. With that resurrection comes life, a life of immortality, a life that knows no bounds. This power becomes real for the believer when he believes in Jesus Christ. True, death will still happen, but then it has lost its stinging power, for what Jesus promised was not just resurrection in the future, but he also promised eternal life as a present reality.
Browsing through the New Testament, we find Jesus affirmed by the apostle Paul as being the “firstborn from the dead” (Colossians 1:18), the very first to rise from the dead, no more to die. His very own resurrection affirms the declaration that he made; by his own example, he proved to everyone that he is truly the resurrection and the life and that all who believe in him would experience the same power in his life.
As we read on the rest of Chapter 11, we find that Jesus demonstrates his power to give life back to the dead when he raised Lazarus from the dead, defying the notion that a man who has been dead for four days is forever lost and can never return to life. This led many to put their trust in Jesus as well as solidify the desire of the religious authority to get rid of Jesus once and for all. Although what Lazarus experienced was not a complete resurrection since he would one day die, still, the fact that Jesus raised him from the grave proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that Jesus is the very embodiment of the power of God. To make this truth clearer, think of Jesus as being like the power plant that creates or generates electricity. This is different from the distribution company like MERALCO that simply buys the power and sells to final users like household and industry. Jesus is not just a conduit of God's power, the power resides in him.
We know that Jesus was the embodiment of resurrection power and that he demonstrated this upon the dead body of Lazarus and then later on upon himself in a perfect fashion. What then are the implications of his claim to being the resurrection and the life? There are three key points we need to consider here. All three points begin with the word victory, because that is what the resurrection has brought forth for us.
(1) Victory Over Death
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and when he himself rose from the dead no more to die, Jesus defied the power of death over the entire human race. You see, humanity is under the curse of sin. I'm sure we are familiar with the story of Adam and Eve in Genesis 2 and 3. The first couple had been warned by God that they were not to eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for at that very moment when they eat of that fruit they would surely die. Adam and Eve were warned and yet, when Satan tempted them, they immediately fell for the lie. This brought about their death, though not immediately.
The death that both Adam and Eve and their descendants experienced was two-pronged in nature. The first idea behind the word death is, of course, physical death. Whether we like it or not, we are all bound to die physically. We may be able to prolong our life by healthy living and medicine but it doesn't mean that we can defy and win over physical death. Sooner or later, we will all have to go through it. Moses, in Psalm 90:10, wrote that the average span of life of a human being is around 70 to 80 years of age, while in verse 3, Moses wrote about humanity returning to the dust. Physical death is a reality we all must face and go through. There can be no avoidance of it, unless Jesus returns quickly.
However, the death that Adam and Eve experienced at the very moment when they disobeyed God was not physical. Both of them lived well to nine centuries before they physically died. The immediate death they experienced was instead the severing of their once intimate relationship with God. Before the fall, the relationship was similar to that of a father with his children, but after the fall, the relationship soured and humanity became enemies with God.
Through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, what happened was that the power of death was broken. It had no hold on the Lord Jesus when he emerged from the tomb. Furthermore, the resurrection of Jesus was not temporary. He rose again no more to die! The promise that Jesus made that all who believe in him will not die and that all who have died but have faith in him would live again is true in light of what Jesus himself did when he came out of the tomb. We now have victory over physical death. We are assured that this thing called death is temporary for those who believe in Jesus and have died will be raised from the dead when Jesus comes again.
Not only will we experience physical resurrection but we also have “resurrection” in our relationship with God. All who believe in Jesus are no longer enemies of God but we have become his children, his precious possession. We are restored to God the Father through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is the first victory that we have through the resurrection of Christ – the victory over death.
(2) Victory Over Sin
The second victory that we have as a result of the resurrection is our victory over sin. According to Paul in Romans 6, the death Jesus died was not just a physical death but it was also a death to sin. We know that Jesus was sinless but he went to the cross, bearing our sins. Thus, when he died, sin was buried with him. When Jesus rose from the grave, the sins he bore on our behalf has already been buried and it no longer has a strangling hold over us.
Thus Paul encouraged the believers in Rome and us today to reckon ourselves as dead to our sins. It is because sin has already been disarmed of its power. Sin no longer has a hold over us; we have the power to resist temptation as well as to run away from it. Jesus' resurrection assures us that we who believe have new life; our old self is already dead. We just need to constantly remind ourselves over and over again that we are already dead with regards to sin and are alive in Christ Jesus.
There may be some here who are trapped in the snares of habitual sins and we think that we can't break the grasp of sin upon our lives; well, the good news is that Jesus' death and resurrection enables us to break away from the grasp of sin, to say no to sin and yes instead to righteousness. This power is available for all who believe in Jesus Christ and who are willing to appropriate it in their lives. So, when you sense that Satan is up to no good in your life, just remind yourself that you are already dead to your sins and you are now alive in Christ, which means you live now to please God and no longer to indulge and stay trapped to sin.
(3) Victory Over The Second Death
Finally, the resurrection of Jesus assures all who believe in him that they will surely not face the second death, a death that is permanent in nature, a death that entails eternal suffering and eternal separation from God.
In Revelation 20, the apostle recorded that death and Hades were thrown into the Lake of Fire, which is also known as the second death. Furthermore, anyone whose name was not on the Lamb's book of life was thrown into the lake of fire were eternal torment awaits him. Believers however need not worry about the Second Death. In Revelation 20:6 we read, “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Who will share in the first resurrection? All who have repented of their sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. They will be exempted from the penalty of the second death, and instead, they will be rewarded by being part of God's kingdom, as co-rulers.
Isn't it great to know that our eternity is already safe, that no punishment awaits all who follow Jesus? This is the victory that we have in Christ in the future – escape from eternal punishment as well as reward of reigning with Christ.
Conclusion:
Max Lucado, in his book entitled Six Hours, One Friday, related a story about a missionary who worked in the remote jungles of Brazil among a tribe of people who lived by a river. A contagious disease was spreading among the people and they needed medical attention very badly. Now, there was a hospital that was located just a few miles across the river; however, none of the natives wanted to cross the river because they thought the river was inhabited by evil spirits and thought that if they entered the water would mean certain death. To prove that nothing would happen to the people, the missionary decided to demonstrate by sticking his hand into the water. The natives were not impressed. He then walked until he was waist deep in the water and splashed some water on his face. The natives were still not impressed. Finally, he dove into the water, swam until he reached the other side of the river and then he punched a triumphant fist in the air. The natives cheered for the missionary had bravely entered the water and escaped, then they, for the very first time, proceeded to cross the river. The missionary showed the Indians that the river was not something they need to fear. The Lord Jesus did just that. He has entered the river of death and triumphantly emerged on the other side alive.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life. His resurrection ensures that we have victory over physical death as well as spiritual death; it also ensures that we can have victory over our sins; finally, it ensures that we will have victory over the second death. Because of these victories that Christ has won for us, we need not be fearful of anything. We need not be fearful of death, we need not be fearful of Satan, our enemy, and we need not fear about our eternal destiny. May the truth of Jesus being the resurrection and the life bring us victory in our walk with God everyday!
Thursday, February 11, 2010
The True and Only Door - February 07, 2010, GGC
The True and Only Door
John 10:1 – 10
Introduction:
“Doors. Why do there have to be doors?” This is the first line of a sad love song sung by Michael Johnson where the singer laments about the existence of doors in the first stanza because it was through a door that his girlfriend walked out of his life. At the end of the song, the singer is hoping that his girlfriend would come back through the same door that she used earlier. While the question being asked in the song sounds rhetorical, I think we sometimes take our doors or gates for granted.
So, what is a door? I'm sure that the word itself conjures images that we are familiar with, such as the door to our homes or the door to our business establishment. The same is true with the word gate, it evokes images of the huge gates of our homes or the gates of our school building. Now, according to the Oxford American Dictionary, a door is a hinged, sliding, or revolving barrier at the entrance to a building, room, or vehicle, or in the framework of a cupboard. A gate is a hinged barrier used to close an opening in a wall, fence or hedge. Both function in the same way, although our semantics or our way of using words will make a certain degree of distinction in the way we use the two words. For example, we tend to use the word door when we are referring to the barrier between rooms in a building or the barrier between the inside of a building and the outside surroundings. Gate on the other hand, is used to refer to the barrier that separates the street from the compound or outer surroundings of the building.
A door or a gate basically has three functions. First of all, it functions as an entrance. You enter inside your house using the door. You come inside this sanctuary using the doors. You enter inside a restaurant using the door. You enter the toilet or restroom using the door. Related to this is the second function: A door functions as an exit. The same door or gate that you used to enter into a building or room is the same door or gate that you will use when exiting. Of course, there are some doors that you will never use unless there is an emergency such as a fire exit inside a hotel or a theater; but basically, doors function as exits. A third important function of a door or a gate is that of protection. Our gates and doors all have locks that we activate when needed and these serve as protection for our property as well as for our lives.
Currently, we are looking into the series of “I AM” statements Jesus made regarding himself and it is fascinating to note that Jesus made the claim that he is the door or the gate. We may be wondering as to what Jesus meant when he declared himself as the door or the gate and this morning we are going to dissect this short and yet profound phrase and understand how this particular statement of Jesus should impact the way we follow Jesus Christ.
While we will be paying attention to just one statement that Jesus made as found in our text, this saying is very closely related to another saying of Jesus. In John 10:1 – 21, Jesus made two statements regarding himself, one about his being the good shepherd and the other about his being the door or the gate. Both statements are closely interrelated to each other, but each statement's analogy can stand on its own and can be interpreted on its own.
Context:
Before we discuss about today's passage, we need to set the context as to why Jesus declared himself as the true door or gate as well as being the good shepherd. In John 9, we find the story about a blind man who was healed by Jesus. The man was very grateful for what Jesus had done for him but this caused great displeasure to the Pharisees because Jesus performed this miracle during a Sabbath and so, they questioned the former blind man regarding his healing as well as making a nasty accusation against Jesus (“He is a sinner”). When the man defended Jesus by saying “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing”, the Pharisees accused the man of being a terrible sinner and then threw him out of the synagogue, having excommunicated him, barred from entering that synagogue ever again.
When Jesus heard that this man was thrown out of the synagogue, he sought for him and when he found the man he revealed himself as the Messiah and the man responded by believing and worshiping Jesus. The Lord Jesus responded by saying, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” The Pharisees who happened to be around when all this was happening felt slighted or insulted, because Jesus was saying that they were the real blind men. They had seen the miracles of Jesus and had heard his powerful teaching and yet they refuse to believe that he was the Messiah. Thus, although they had seen with their own eyes, yet they were spiritually blind to the reality that was before them.
This now leads us to John 10 and to his two “I AM” statements, and for today's study, the statement about his being the gate or the door. Now, we need to understand that John 10 was, in a way, an attack on the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law because, instead of caring for and helping the blind man, they had judged him as a sinner and threw him out of the synagogue. So, when Jesus was talking about thieves and robbers who were out to attack the flock of sheep, he was implicitly referring to the religious authority of his time who were not interested in the welfare of the people but only in their own self-promotion; supposed leaders of God's flock who were not doing their jobs but instead, were leading people far from God.
When Jesus talked about a gate or a door, two images would come to mind for a typical Jew living during that time. The first was a wooden gate. Shepherds aren't always out in the fields but, at times, they are in town and they would have their flock be kept safe in large corrals or public sheep pens where other shepherds entrust their flock to a caretaker or a gatekeeper who keeps watch over the gate and guards the sheep at night. These large corrals have a wooden gate and they serve as the main entrance into the corral. By morning, the shepherd would come to the pen and the gatekeeper, recognizing the shepherd, would open the gate and the shepherd would then lead his flock out simply by calling out instructions or by calling each member of the flock by name.
The second picture of a door was none other than the shepherd himself. When a shepherd and his flock are in the open country and are far from the town where the corral is located, what a shepherd would usually do at night is to herd his flock inside a cave; once inside, the shepherd then lies down at the cave entrance. He becomes the door that keeps the flock inside as well as prevents thieves, robbers and predators from entering in and attacking the flock. When a sheep attempts to go out, he would have to step over the shepherd and the latter would immediately be alerted and prevent it from happening. If a thief or robber or even a wolf attempts to enter and steal from or attack the flock, the shepherd would be alerted and would defend the flock, sometimes even laying down his life for the flock. If you are familiar with the expression, “over my dead body”, which is an expression of defiance, well, the shepherd's action of lying down over the door is a very literal way of saying that expression, as he is making it clear to all intruders that, for them to attack the flock, they have to kill him first! According to some scholars who visited the Holy Land and have interviewed Middle Eastern shepherds, the respondents affirmed that not a few shepherds have died defending the flock from thieves and robbers.
No matter what kind of door is being referred to, what we must note is that the flock enters in and exits through that same door. There is no other entrance or exit to speak of.
So, we have set the background and we are now aware about the concept of doors and gates, especially in what Jesus was referring to, there are three important lessons Jesus taught regarding his being the gate.
I. Jesus is the Gate of Salvation (v. 9a)
First and foremost, Jesus is the gate that leads to salvation. Check out the first part of verse 9. Here we read, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” I believe that statement is clear enough for us to see that Jesus is the way to salvation. In another section in the Gospel of John, we read a familiar passage that affirms that Jesus is the way to salvation. In John 14:6 we read, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus did not say that he is one of many ways but the verse simply means he is the way or, he is the only way to approach the Father, the only way to attain salvation. Just as there is no other gate or door to the corral or sheep pen by which the sheep may enter, there can be no other way to enter into heaven and to attain salvation unless it is through faith in Jesus Christ.
Biblical Christianity has often been accused of being an exclusivist religion because it teaches that no one can be saved unless a person has faith in Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ alone. I confess that the accusation against Biblical Christianity is true and I am unashamed to say that it is true. The Scripture clearly teaches that there is only one way to salvation and that is by having faith in Jesus Christ. By faith, we are not just talking about head knowledge but we're talking about trusting that what Jesus did for us on the cross was sufficient to pay for our sins and that his resurrection from the dead is our assurance that there is eternal life and there will be a future resurrection. Jesus himself is an exclusivist; after all, he was the one who said that there can be no other way by which people can be made right with God except through him. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used the same analogy, the door or gate, and said that we must enter by the narrow gate for the way that leads to destruction is easy and many make the mistake of taking the easy way, any which way but Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:13, 14). Even the apostles affirmed the exclusivism of the Christian faith when they proclaimed, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Paul wrote that there is only one mediator between God and man, and that is the Lord Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5) The Bible is very clear – salvation comes only through Jesus Christ. It comes by having faith in Christ and not by our trying to perform to God's standards. If we think that we can perform to God's standards, we are dead wrong. God demands sinless perfection. We can't attain that on our own strength. Only Jesus could do it for us because he was the sinless Son of God who came to earth as a human being to die for our sins.
While the claim of Jesus is an exclusive claim – that he is the only way to salvation - we need to realize that his invitation is an inclusive invitation. When Jesus died on the cross, he died for the sins of the entire world and not just for the sins of a few people. Furthermore, he commissioned his disciples to go and make disciples of every nation and not just to a few, select group of people. In Matthew 11, we read Jesus clearly saying to the people, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy ladened, and I will give you rest.” He invited everyone to believe in him. Biblical Christianity is not an elite membership club where only the well-behaved are saved; instead, Christianity is for all people, for all who are willing to accept the exclusive claim of Jesus Christ and to turn their backs on their sins. It doesn't matter if a person is rich or poor, male or female, a criminal or an upright citizen; everyone needs Jesus and the offer of salvation is given to all.
Before I proceed to the next point, I want to ask you all this question: Have you already passed through the narrow door that leads to eternal life? Have you sincerely repented of your sins and trusted Jesus Christ as your only Lord and Savior? There is no other way to salvation nor can you earn your way to salvation. God is giving salvation as a gift to us, we need only accept that gift by putting our faith, our trust in Jesus alone. Have you done that already? If you haven't, why not make that decision today? You can approach any of our pastors or church leaders and they can share with you more clearly how you can enter through the gate of salvation.
II. Jesus is The Gate of Protection
The second lesson we can learn about Jesus being the gate is that he is the gate of protection. It is apparent from our understanding about doors and gates is that these serve to protect those things that we deem valuable, especially the life of the people we love. Without doors and gates, our homes become vulnerable to thieves and robbers who intend to steal whatever valuable possessions we have. We also become susceptible to people who have intentions to harm us physically as they have easy access whenever there is no door or gate to keep them out.
Because Jesus is the gate, he is the protector of the flock. As we've learned a moment ago, the shepherd served as the door to the sheep pen when the flock is camped out in the open. For any predator to successfully attack the flock would entail passing and overcoming the shepherd. Satan is the predator who is out to attack God's people. He is described as being a roaring lion who prowls and seeks for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Satan is also named as the accuser of the brothers who, without ceasing, is attacking the church. How does Satan attack us? He attacks us through temptations. He attacks us by using other people who would cause us either physical or emotional harm. He use false teachers and false prophets to lead us astray spiritually. He brings charges against us before the throne of God in his attempt to take away our salvation.
However, Jesus is our protector and he will not allow us to become easy prey to Satan. In fact, the Lord Jesus will enable us to be victorious. When we are tempted, he enables us to either resist the devil (James 4:7) or to successfully flee from the temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). He will also give us the strength and the grace in order to bear up to Satan's attacks that come from other people. He gives us discernment through the Holy Spirit in helping us to know and embrace the truth while renouncing the lie. He gives us the assurance that we will never be separated from God's love (Romans 8).
Jesus is our protector and he is able to protect us completely. However, we do need to do our part. Just as the sheep who stays within the sheepfold will be safe from predators, the believer who stays within the will of God will find safety. How do we stay within the will of God? We stay within the will of God when we are careful in reading the Word and then obeying it without question. We stay within the will of God by spending time to pray and listen to God's voice. We stay within the will of God when we are constantly in fellowship with God's people and we build each other up through accountability and encouragement. By being in the center of God's will, we will find true protection. Is Jesus your protector? Are you keeping yourself within his fold and not straying away? Are you keeping yourself within the will of God?
III. Jesus is the Gate of Satisfaction
Finally, the Lord Jesus is the gate that leads to real and lasting satisfaction. If we look at verse 9, we see Jesus stating that he, as the gate, not only gives salvation and protection, but he is also the gate that leads to pastures or rich feeding ground for the sheep. Here, Jesus is using the picture of Psalm 23:2 where we read that God makes the flock lie down in green pastures and leads them beside quiet waters and he is declaring that he is God himself and that he is the one who will constantly be leading his people to experience real satisfaction. Here, we also find a fulfillment of the OT prophecy where Ezekiel wrote, “I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel” (Ezekiel 34:14).
Jesus further elaborated on this point in verse 10, a verse that we are all familiar with - “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Jesus didn't come just to give us eternal life in the future and then leave us like destitute or poor people; instead, Jesus also gives us an abundant, meaningful life right now. Now, abundance doesn't necessarily mean material blessings, although God does give those things to us; instead, abundance means that our life here on earth becomes purposeful or meaningful. We go beyond just existing to actually enjoying life when we have Jesus in our lives and we continually cultivate our relationship with him.
Brothers and sisters, are you enjoying abundance in your life right now because of your growing relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you finding that there is meaning in what you do every day because of Jesus? The key to experiencing the abundant life is to let Jesus lead you – to give him control of your life. We simply need to surrender our desires, thoughts and ambitions to him and ask him to give us the directions we should take. Without surrendering ourselves to Jesus, I doubt that we will ever experience the abundant life that he intends for us to have. For the sheep to find green pastures, it must follow where the shepherd is going. It must follow the shepherd through the door where the shepherd enters and exit. Likewise, we must follow Jesus carefully and completely in order to experience real, lasting abundance.
Conclusion:
Jesus declared, “I am the Door” and we have learned that Jesus is the door to salvation. If we do not believe in him, we cannot be saved from our sins. He is the door of protection; in Him we are safe from the attacks of the enemy and our salvation is sure. Finally, he is the door of satisfaction, the one in whom we find real and lasting abundance.
Have you acknowledged Jesus to be the door by personally accepting him as your Lord and Savior? Have you continuously surrendered your life to him and kept yourself in the center of his will? I pray that Jesus will truly be the Door in your life because, apart from him, there is no real, lasting joy and security.
John 10:1 – 10
Introduction:
“Doors. Why do there have to be doors?” This is the first line of a sad love song sung by Michael Johnson where the singer laments about the existence of doors in the first stanza because it was through a door that his girlfriend walked out of his life. At the end of the song, the singer is hoping that his girlfriend would come back through the same door that she used earlier. While the question being asked in the song sounds rhetorical, I think we sometimes take our doors or gates for granted.
So, what is a door? I'm sure that the word itself conjures images that we are familiar with, such as the door to our homes or the door to our business establishment. The same is true with the word gate, it evokes images of the huge gates of our homes or the gates of our school building. Now, according to the Oxford American Dictionary, a door is a hinged, sliding, or revolving barrier at the entrance to a building, room, or vehicle, or in the framework of a cupboard. A gate is a hinged barrier used to close an opening in a wall, fence or hedge. Both function in the same way, although our semantics or our way of using words will make a certain degree of distinction in the way we use the two words. For example, we tend to use the word door when we are referring to the barrier between rooms in a building or the barrier between the inside of a building and the outside surroundings. Gate on the other hand, is used to refer to the barrier that separates the street from the compound or outer surroundings of the building.
A door or a gate basically has three functions. First of all, it functions as an entrance. You enter inside your house using the door. You come inside this sanctuary using the doors. You enter inside a restaurant using the door. You enter the toilet or restroom using the door. Related to this is the second function: A door functions as an exit. The same door or gate that you used to enter into a building or room is the same door or gate that you will use when exiting. Of course, there are some doors that you will never use unless there is an emergency such as a fire exit inside a hotel or a theater; but basically, doors function as exits. A third important function of a door or a gate is that of protection. Our gates and doors all have locks that we activate when needed and these serve as protection for our property as well as for our lives.
Currently, we are looking into the series of “I AM” statements Jesus made regarding himself and it is fascinating to note that Jesus made the claim that he is the door or the gate. We may be wondering as to what Jesus meant when he declared himself as the door or the gate and this morning we are going to dissect this short and yet profound phrase and understand how this particular statement of Jesus should impact the way we follow Jesus Christ.
While we will be paying attention to just one statement that Jesus made as found in our text, this saying is very closely related to another saying of Jesus. In John 10:1 – 21, Jesus made two statements regarding himself, one about his being the good shepherd and the other about his being the door or the gate. Both statements are closely interrelated to each other, but each statement's analogy can stand on its own and can be interpreted on its own.
Context:
Before we discuss about today's passage, we need to set the context as to why Jesus declared himself as the true door or gate as well as being the good shepherd. In John 9, we find the story about a blind man who was healed by Jesus. The man was very grateful for what Jesus had done for him but this caused great displeasure to the Pharisees because Jesus performed this miracle during a Sabbath and so, they questioned the former blind man regarding his healing as well as making a nasty accusation against Jesus (“He is a sinner”). When the man defended Jesus by saying “If this man were not from God, he could do nothing”, the Pharisees accused the man of being a terrible sinner and then threw him out of the synagogue, having excommunicated him, barred from entering that synagogue ever again.
When Jesus heard that this man was thrown out of the synagogue, he sought for him and when he found the man he revealed himself as the Messiah and the man responded by believing and worshiping Jesus. The Lord Jesus responded by saying, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.” The Pharisees who happened to be around when all this was happening felt slighted or insulted, because Jesus was saying that they were the real blind men. They had seen the miracles of Jesus and had heard his powerful teaching and yet they refuse to believe that he was the Messiah. Thus, although they had seen with their own eyes, yet they were spiritually blind to the reality that was before them.
This now leads us to John 10 and to his two “I AM” statements, and for today's study, the statement about his being the gate or the door. Now, we need to understand that John 10 was, in a way, an attack on the Pharisees and the Teachers of the Law because, instead of caring for and helping the blind man, they had judged him as a sinner and threw him out of the synagogue. So, when Jesus was talking about thieves and robbers who were out to attack the flock of sheep, he was implicitly referring to the religious authority of his time who were not interested in the welfare of the people but only in their own self-promotion; supposed leaders of God's flock who were not doing their jobs but instead, were leading people far from God.
When Jesus talked about a gate or a door, two images would come to mind for a typical Jew living during that time. The first was a wooden gate. Shepherds aren't always out in the fields but, at times, they are in town and they would have their flock be kept safe in large corrals or public sheep pens where other shepherds entrust their flock to a caretaker or a gatekeeper who keeps watch over the gate and guards the sheep at night. These large corrals have a wooden gate and they serve as the main entrance into the corral. By morning, the shepherd would come to the pen and the gatekeeper, recognizing the shepherd, would open the gate and the shepherd would then lead his flock out simply by calling out instructions or by calling each member of the flock by name.
The second picture of a door was none other than the shepherd himself. When a shepherd and his flock are in the open country and are far from the town where the corral is located, what a shepherd would usually do at night is to herd his flock inside a cave; once inside, the shepherd then lies down at the cave entrance. He becomes the door that keeps the flock inside as well as prevents thieves, robbers and predators from entering in and attacking the flock. When a sheep attempts to go out, he would have to step over the shepherd and the latter would immediately be alerted and prevent it from happening. If a thief or robber or even a wolf attempts to enter and steal from or attack the flock, the shepherd would be alerted and would defend the flock, sometimes even laying down his life for the flock. If you are familiar with the expression, “over my dead body”, which is an expression of defiance, well, the shepherd's action of lying down over the door is a very literal way of saying that expression, as he is making it clear to all intruders that, for them to attack the flock, they have to kill him first! According to some scholars who visited the Holy Land and have interviewed Middle Eastern shepherds, the respondents affirmed that not a few shepherds have died defending the flock from thieves and robbers.
No matter what kind of door is being referred to, what we must note is that the flock enters in and exits through that same door. There is no other entrance or exit to speak of.
So, we have set the background and we are now aware about the concept of doors and gates, especially in what Jesus was referring to, there are three important lessons Jesus taught regarding his being the gate.
I. Jesus is the Gate of Salvation (v. 9a)
First and foremost, Jesus is the gate that leads to salvation. Check out the first part of verse 9. Here we read, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.” I believe that statement is clear enough for us to see that Jesus is the way to salvation. In another section in the Gospel of John, we read a familiar passage that affirms that Jesus is the way to salvation. In John 14:6 we read, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus did not say that he is one of many ways but the verse simply means he is the way or, he is the only way to approach the Father, the only way to attain salvation. Just as there is no other gate or door to the corral or sheep pen by which the sheep may enter, there can be no other way to enter into heaven and to attain salvation unless it is through faith in Jesus Christ.
Biblical Christianity has often been accused of being an exclusivist religion because it teaches that no one can be saved unless a person has faith in Jesus Christ, and in Jesus Christ alone. I confess that the accusation against Biblical Christianity is true and I am unashamed to say that it is true. The Scripture clearly teaches that there is only one way to salvation and that is by having faith in Jesus Christ. By faith, we are not just talking about head knowledge but we're talking about trusting that what Jesus did for us on the cross was sufficient to pay for our sins and that his resurrection from the dead is our assurance that there is eternal life and there will be a future resurrection. Jesus himself is an exclusivist; after all, he was the one who said that there can be no other way by which people can be made right with God except through him. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus used the same analogy, the door or gate, and said that we must enter by the narrow gate for the way that leads to destruction is easy and many make the mistake of taking the easy way, any which way but Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:13, 14). Even the apostles affirmed the exclusivism of the Christian faith when they proclaimed, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Paul wrote that there is only one mediator between God and man, and that is the Lord Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5) The Bible is very clear – salvation comes only through Jesus Christ. It comes by having faith in Christ and not by our trying to perform to God's standards. If we think that we can perform to God's standards, we are dead wrong. God demands sinless perfection. We can't attain that on our own strength. Only Jesus could do it for us because he was the sinless Son of God who came to earth as a human being to die for our sins.
While the claim of Jesus is an exclusive claim – that he is the only way to salvation - we need to realize that his invitation is an inclusive invitation. When Jesus died on the cross, he died for the sins of the entire world and not just for the sins of a few people. Furthermore, he commissioned his disciples to go and make disciples of every nation and not just to a few, select group of people. In Matthew 11, we read Jesus clearly saying to the people, “Come to me all you who are weary and heavy ladened, and I will give you rest.” He invited everyone to believe in him. Biblical Christianity is not an elite membership club where only the well-behaved are saved; instead, Christianity is for all people, for all who are willing to accept the exclusive claim of Jesus Christ and to turn their backs on their sins. It doesn't matter if a person is rich or poor, male or female, a criminal or an upright citizen; everyone needs Jesus and the offer of salvation is given to all.
Before I proceed to the next point, I want to ask you all this question: Have you already passed through the narrow door that leads to eternal life? Have you sincerely repented of your sins and trusted Jesus Christ as your only Lord and Savior? There is no other way to salvation nor can you earn your way to salvation. God is giving salvation as a gift to us, we need only accept that gift by putting our faith, our trust in Jesus alone. Have you done that already? If you haven't, why not make that decision today? You can approach any of our pastors or church leaders and they can share with you more clearly how you can enter through the gate of salvation.
II. Jesus is The Gate of Protection
The second lesson we can learn about Jesus being the gate is that he is the gate of protection. It is apparent from our understanding about doors and gates is that these serve to protect those things that we deem valuable, especially the life of the people we love. Without doors and gates, our homes become vulnerable to thieves and robbers who intend to steal whatever valuable possessions we have. We also become susceptible to people who have intentions to harm us physically as they have easy access whenever there is no door or gate to keep them out.
Because Jesus is the gate, he is the protector of the flock. As we've learned a moment ago, the shepherd served as the door to the sheep pen when the flock is camped out in the open. For any predator to successfully attack the flock would entail passing and overcoming the shepherd. Satan is the predator who is out to attack God's people. He is described as being a roaring lion who prowls and seeks for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Satan is also named as the accuser of the brothers who, without ceasing, is attacking the church. How does Satan attack us? He attacks us through temptations. He attacks us by using other people who would cause us either physical or emotional harm. He use false teachers and false prophets to lead us astray spiritually. He brings charges against us before the throne of God in his attempt to take away our salvation.
However, Jesus is our protector and he will not allow us to become easy prey to Satan. In fact, the Lord Jesus will enable us to be victorious. When we are tempted, he enables us to either resist the devil (James 4:7) or to successfully flee from the temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13). He will also give us the strength and the grace in order to bear up to Satan's attacks that come from other people. He gives us discernment through the Holy Spirit in helping us to know and embrace the truth while renouncing the lie. He gives us the assurance that we will never be separated from God's love (Romans 8).
Jesus is our protector and he is able to protect us completely. However, we do need to do our part. Just as the sheep who stays within the sheepfold will be safe from predators, the believer who stays within the will of God will find safety. How do we stay within the will of God? We stay within the will of God when we are careful in reading the Word and then obeying it without question. We stay within the will of God by spending time to pray and listen to God's voice. We stay within the will of God when we are constantly in fellowship with God's people and we build each other up through accountability and encouragement. By being in the center of God's will, we will find true protection. Is Jesus your protector? Are you keeping yourself within his fold and not straying away? Are you keeping yourself within the will of God?
III. Jesus is the Gate of Satisfaction
Finally, the Lord Jesus is the gate that leads to real and lasting satisfaction. If we look at verse 9, we see Jesus stating that he, as the gate, not only gives salvation and protection, but he is also the gate that leads to pastures or rich feeding ground for the sheep. Here, Jesus is using the picture of Psalm 23:2 where we read that God makes the flock lie down in green pastures and leads them beside quiet waters and he is declaring that he is God himself and that he is the one who will constantly be leading his people to experience real satisfaction. Here, we also find a fulfillment of the OT prophecy where Ezekiel wrote, “I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel” (Ezekiel 34:14).
Jesus further elaborated on this point in verse 10, a verse that we are all familiar with - “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.” Jesus didn't come just to give us eternal life in the future and then leave us like destitute or poor people; instead, Jesus also gives us an abundant, meaningful life right now. Now, abundance doesn't necessarily mean material blessings, although God does give those things to us; instead, abundance means that our life here on earth becomes purposeful or meaningful. We go beyond just existing to actually enjoying life when we have Jesus in our lives and we continually cultivate our relationship with him.
Brothers and sisters, are you enjoying abundance in your life right now because of your growing relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you finding that there is meaning in what you do every day because of Jesus? The key to experiencing the abundant life is to let Jesus lead you – to give him control of your life. We simply need to surrender our desires, thoughts and ambitions to him and ask him to give us the directions we should take. Without surrendering ourselves to Jesus, I doubt that we will ever experience the abundant life that he intends for us to have. For the sheep to find green pastures, it must follow where the shepherd is going. It must follow the shepherd through the door where the shepherd enters and exit. Likewise, we must follow Jesus carefully and completely in order to experience real, lasting abundance.
Conclusion:
Jesus declared, “I am the Door” and we have learned that Jesus is the door to salvation. If we do not believe in him, we cannot be saved from our sins. He is the door of protection; in Him we are safe from the attacks of the enemy and our salvation is sure. Finally, he is the door of satisfaction, the one in whom we find real and lasting abundance.
Have you acknowledged Jesus to be the door by personally accepting him as your Lord and Savior? Have you continuously surrendered your life to him and kept yourself in the center of his will? I pray that Jesus will truly be the Door in your life because, apart from him, there is no real, lasting joy and security.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Sow and Reap - preached on January 3, 2010 (GGC)
SOW AND REAP
John 4:35 - 36
Introduction:
First and foremost, I would like to greet everyone a very Happy New Year. My wish for everyone this New Year is that you will prosper in every area of your life, but more importantly, I pray that your relationship with God will go to greater heights this year and for every New Year that comes your way.
I believe I have shared with you a few years back about an experience that I had in high school. Back in first year high school, we did vegetable gardening as part of our Practical Arts subject. Admittedly, I did not possess a green thumb and I barely passed this subject because I had a hard time making my vegetables grow. However, as I look back on that experience, I realized that gardening or farming for that matter is hard work. I remember that we spent the first few days just breaking up the soil. It was only after we had done this could we then sow the seeds. After sowing the seeds, we didn't just sit back and do nothing. We also had to visit the field everyday and water it as well as to remove unwanted weeds and we did this for a period of time, depending on what was planted. Planting was never easy but you could sense our excitement when we see the sprouts coming out and we become more excited when we see the plant grow taller or bigger everyday. Finally, the most exciting day for us was the day of harvest, when we would pick our produce and show it to our teacher for our grades. It was hard work but it was quite rewarding when you see your effort bearing fruit, be it pechay, corn or mongo.
Interestingly, the growth of God's kingdom is compared to farming. From today's passage, we see that the principles of sowing and reaping exist within the Kingdom of God. Of course, along with the sowing comes hard work or effort that needs to be poured in. These tasks – sowing and reaping – are not the exclusive domain of pastors, missionaries, church workers and leaders; these are responsibilities we are all called to participate in. Let us make that point clear. Even if you were to forget everything I will say after this, remember that the tasks of sowing and reaping – the task of sharing the gospel and helping bring people to faith in Christ – is the responsibility of every person here this morning.
All of us are called to be part of the work of the kingdom, of sowing the message of the gospel and reaping the harvest of souls. While reaping means we lead people to the make a decision or a commitment to faith in Jesus Christ, sowing means we prepare people to hear the Word and we plant the Word in their hearts. This morning, I would like for us to see how Jesus demonstrated the work of sowing to his disciples through our study of a familiar passage in the Gospel of John – the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman by the well at Sychar – and learn important principles when we sow God's Word.
Context:
In the interest of time, I have chosen for us not to read the entire passage during our Scripture reading, however, our message does revolve virtually the whole of chapter four.
At the start of Chapter four, we find Jesus was gaining a significant following and his disciples were baptizing them. This aroused the attention of the Pharisees who felt threatened by the ministry of Jesus. According to a Bible commentator, the Pharisees tolerated John the Baptist but Jesus was definitely viewed as a threat to the religious institution of his time, and, with what had happened earlier (in chapter 2) when he cleansed the temple, the Pharisees were definitely alarmed and disturbed by the ministry of Jesus.
Knowing the negative sentiment of the Pharisees, Jesus left Judea and went back to Galilee. Was Jesus afraid for his life? I don't think so, but Jesus probably did not want to have any premature confrontations with the Pharisees. Furthermore, Jesus knew that he had an important mission that he had to fulfill, which necessitated his leaving Judea and travel to Samaria. This leads us to our first principle about sowing the Word.
I. Don't Just Stand There, Get Going!
I would like for us to pay attention to the word “go”. In our passage this morning, we find that Jesus “had to go” to Samaria. He felt compelled to go and reach out to someone in Samaria, in particular, in the town of Sychar. Jesus did not wait for this woman to come to him in either Judea or in Galilee. He went out to her because he knew this woman would never step foot in his town or in his country.
The same is true for us. If we are expecting a non-believer to step inside a church and listen to the gospel, we are deluding ourselves. This is an extremely rare occurrence, like when a person is so desperate he is beginning to seek for God. Other than that, a person under normal circumstances would never step inside a church unless invited by you. Thus, it is necessary that each believer shouldn't just sit down and wait for someone to be saved but that he should go out and look for the lost.
Who are the lost? They are the people who don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They can be your friends, your family, your classmates, your business clients and customers. The lost can be anyone whom you encounter regularly in the course of doing business or studying or working. They all need the gospel and the best person who can reach them is none other than you because you have contact with them. As I have said, don't expect them to just come to church and hear the gospel and be saved without human participation. That is why, you need to go to them, you need to be among them. While the Bible does command us not to love the world or to be of the world, it does however say that we are in the world and that we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
What is unfortunate for many Christians is that, once they become saved, they tend to gain a lot of Christian friends to the point that they have lesser contact with non-Christians. Another unfortunate thing is that some Christians feel inadequate about sharing the gospel and they expect the paid professionals – the ministers, the pastors, the church workers – to do the work. You need to understand this: You have been placed in your office, your school, your business establishment in order to be a witness for the Lord through your words and deeds. The “paid professionals” cannot do what God wants for you to do.
So, I want to encourage you as you are in your respective spheres of influence, don't isolate yourselves but interact with people, befriend them without compromising your faith and conviction. In so doing, you will eventually be able to win a hearing for the gospel.
II. Cross the Cultural Barrier
The second principle is a sensitive one, especially for us who are Chinese-Filipinos. I am talking about crossing the cultural barrier. Now, I am not necessarily saying you should become a cross-cultural missionary unless God did call you to be one, but I am saying that we all need to remove our blinders and see that everyone needs the gospel, regardless of color or race.
When Jesus went into Samaria, he was crossing a cultural barrier. You see, the Samaritans were nothing like the Jews. In fact, they were hated by the Jews because their ancestors had betrayed their heritage as Israelites when they intermarried with the pagans or gentiles. Thus, the Jews wanted nothing to do with the Samaritans; Jesus, however, knew that the Samaritans also needed the good news and thus, he willingly entered into Samaria in order to proclaim the gospel to the Samaritans.
While we may not be called by God to enter into a different country and to immerse in her culture, we do live in a multi-cultural society. We come in contact with people from different races in our offices and in our schools. We should not shy away from befriending them and letting them hear the gospel because they also need the Lord. The gospel is not just for the Chinese-Filipinos or for the Chinese race, it is for everyone. Regardless of who we come in contact with, we must be willing to cross the cultural barrier and bring the gospel to them. Jesus did just that when he entered Samaria in order to reach out to a Samaritan woman by the well. We can do the same without having to cross over to another country.
III. Engage With the Lost
Jesus did not only go to meet a lost person nor did he just cross a cultural divide, but he also engaged with the Samaritan woman in conversation that led to spiritual things and eventually, to the revelation of himself as the Messiah. Just being there, just showing up isn't enough. We have made a huge case for living out the Christian life by our honesty and integrity, by our excellence and diligence, and these are important in maintaining a good testimony; however, if we're not going to engage the people around us in conversation, then we cannot build a relationship with them and we will not be able to share the gospel to them when the right opportunity comes along. Jesus could have just sit there by the well, smiled at the Samaritan woman, acknowledged her presence, and even help her draw water; this would have made the woman appreciate him but she would still be lost because she didn't get to hear the life-changing message of the gospel. I think we're often guilty of that. We behave very well in school or in the office. We're model employees, employers or students but we are poor witnesses of Christ, simply because we do not engage people in conversation.
Now, when I am talking about conversation, I am not saying that we always have to be talking about the gospel because that would make us obnoxious to a lot of people and they'll think that our only motive for talking to them is because we want to talk about becoming a Christian. We don't need to pound the gospel on people's heads all the time. Sometimes, we can talk about how God helps us when we have problems at work or in school, or we can talk about what God means to us. We can even offer to pray for people who have needs – they will be more than happy to hear that we're praying for them. These will get people interested in the Lord Jesus whom we worship and follow. At times, even if we're not talking about religious things but when we're talking about sports or common interests and hobbies, these can serve as a bridge to strengthen our relationship with people and, hopefully, make them open to hear the gospel.
Conversation builds friendship and friendship makes it easier for us to convey the gospel message when the right time comes, when the person seems ripe for the gospel. Without friendship, it would be hard, although not impossible, to tell a stranger or a mere acquaintance about the gospel. So, don't be shy to engage with people in good conversation. Who knows? Those conversations may one day lead you to sharing the gospel to others.
IV. Love, Don't Judge
Finally, when we engage people in conversation and when we share the gospel, be sure to do it in a manner that is not judgmental. When Jesus was in conversation with the Samaritan woman, he knew that she was living in with someone who wasn't her husband, that she had already been in five marriages and all of them ended in divorce, yet how did Jesus react to this truth? He never condemned the woman, although he did let her know that he knew the details. He never pressed on the issue any further after that, but rather, he showed love and acceptance to this woman who desperately needed it in her life.
When we meet someone like that, do we shudder at the thought that here is a terrible sinner and we should shun her, or do we see a terrible sinner who needs our love and compassion, someone who needs to hear that we care for them and God cares for them?
So often, Christians are guilty of being judgmental, of being “holier than thou” and we often unleash this on the sinner and make them feel worse or defensive or both. We make them feel as if their sin is the worst of all but we fail to see that we are just as sinful as they are. We're all aware of the statement, “hate the sin, love the sinner”, but unfortunately, we have not distinguished the two and we end up hating both sin and sinner.
Last November, the leaders of the church had a seminar on disciple making and the question was asked as to what was the impression of the typical American regarding a Christian and there were three impressions mentioned – Christians are hypocrites, judgmental and hates homosexuals. Sadly, I believe this is true for American Christians and even for Christians here in the Philippines. We say one thing and behave in another way; we judge people as if we're always right and others are always wrong; and we hate homosexuals. But then its not only the homosexuals that we dislike, but we dislike anyone whom we classify as a “sinner”.
I will never forget an incident that happened to me sometime late 2008. I was going to meet with my wife for dinner with someone and I had to take the LRT (light rail transit) from Sta. Mesa to Recto terminal. From Recto terminal, I decided to walk all the way to my wife's office since I felt the distance was way too short for me to spend seven pesos for a jeepney ride. The short cut was to walk along Rizal Avenue (aka Avenida) and enter into Gonzalo Puyat St. (aka Raon). As I walked along Rizal Avenue, I suddenly felt a hand holding my arm. I then saw a woman looking at me and muttering some words that I couldn't decipher. Immediately I reacted by pulling my hands away and I made a sound that startled people usually make and I walked away as quickly as possible. As this was happening, I made the assumption that this woman was a street prostitute and she was probably asking if I wanted to be with her. When I pulled my hands away from her, I reacted as if I had been touched by somewhat who had leprosy. As I looked back on that incident, I felt that maybe I shouldn't have reacted so negatively towards her because in so doing, I had judged her and had given her the guilty verdict.
What ever happened to the impression that Christians are loving and gracious? I think we need to recover these two impressions and we can do this in how we treat the people we meet and engage with. We must not judge them or make them feel worse for their sins – that's the Holy Spirit's work. Our job is to tell them God's love as well as the need for repentance but not to make them feel guilty or that what they're practicing is the worse of all sins. Remember, in God's sight, sin is sin. Whether a person cheats in school or he is a homosexual, both fall under God's judgment, thus we are in no position to judge a homosexual, an adulterer, or a murderer, because what we've committed against God would merit the same punishment.
Jesus never judged the woman but showed grace to her and this led her to eventually become a believer in Jesus as well as a leader in bringing others to Jesus. It was because she felt accepted and love that she wanted others to have the same thing, too.
Conclusion:
This morning, we've learned four important principles when sowing the Word of God. First of all, we cannot wait for people to come to church to hear the gospel, instead we must go to them. Second, we must be willing to cross the barrier of culture. We cannot stay only with people who are like us but we must reach out even to those who are different from us because they also need the gospel. Third, we must engage the lost with meaningful conversation that would pave the way for our presenting the gospel in its proper time. Finally, we must be loving and not judgmental towards people who have sinned heavily. Only God can judge them; our role is to let them know who God is, that God loves them and desires for them to be made right with him.
Before I close, I would like to make a challenge to you all. Our theme for this year is, “A Willing Church for A Waiting World”. Brothers and sisters, the church is not a building but it is you and I, men and women who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ who make up the church. Our calling as the church is to go into the world and proclaim Jesus. We also have for our goal an attendance in our worship service of 600 people. This cannot be accomplished unless each of you will do your part in sowing the seeds and reaping the harvest. Will you take part in sowing the seeds of the gospel? You are all needed for this task. I hope you will all be up to the challenge of sowing the Word of God and reaping the harvest.
John 4:35 - 36
Introduction:
First and foremost, I would like to greet everyone a very Happy New Year. My wish for everyone this New Year is that you will prosper in every area of your life, but more importantly, I pray that your relationship with God will go to greater heights this year and for every New Year that comes your way.
I believe I have shared with you a few years back about an experience that I had in high school. Back in first year high school, we did vegetable gardening as part of our Practical Arts subject. Admittedly, I did not possess a green thumb and I barely passed this subject because I had a hard time making my vegetables grow. However, as I look back on that experience, I realized that gardening or farming for that matter is hard work. I remember that we spent the first few days just breaking up the soil. It was only after we had done this could we then sow the seeds. After sowing the seeds, we didn't just sit back and do nothing. We also had to visit the field everyday and water it as well as to remove unwanted weeds and we did this for a period of time, depending on what was planted. Planting was never easy but you could sense our excitement when we see the sprouts coming out and we become more excited when we see the plant grow taller or bigger everyday. Finally, the most exciting day for us was the day of harvest, when we would pick our produce and show it to our teacher for our grades. It was hard work but it was quite rewarding when you see your effort bearing fruit, be it pechay, corn or mongo.
Interestingly, the growth of God's kingdom is compared to farming. From today's passage, we see that the principles of sowing and reaping exist within the Kingdom of God. Of course, along with the sowing comes hard work or effort that needs to be poured in. These tasks – sowing and reaping – are not the exclusive domain of pastors, missionaries, church workers and leaders; these are responsibilities we are all called to participate in. Let us make that point clear. Even if you were to forget everything I will say after this, remember that the tasks of sowing and reaping – the task of sharing the gospel and helping bring people to faith in Christ – is the responsibility of every person here this morning.
All of us are called to be part of the work of the kingdom, of sowing the message of the gospel and reaping the harvest of souls. While reaping means we lead people to the make a decision or a commitment to faith in Jesus Christ, sowing means we prepare people to hear the Word and we plant the Word in their hearts. This morning, I would like for us to see how Jesus demonstrated the work of sowing to his disciples through our study of a familiar passage in the Gospel of John – the encounter of Jesus with the Samaritan woman by the well at Sychar – and learn important principles when we sow God's Word.
Context:
In the interest of time, I have chosen for us not to read the entire passage during our Scripture reading, however, our message does revolve virtually the whole of chapter four.
At the start of Chapter four, we find Jesus was gaining a significant following and his disciples were baptizing them. This aroused the attention of the Pharisees who felt threatened by the ministry of Jesus. According to a Bible commentator, the Pharisees tolerated John the Baptist but Jesus was definitely viewed as a threat to the religious institution of his time, and, with what had happened earlier (in chapter 2) when he cleansed the temple, the Pharisees were definitely alarmed and disturbed by the ministry of Jesus.
Knowing the negative sentiment of the Pharisees, Jesus left Judea and went back to Galilee. Was Jesus afraid for his life? I don't think so, but Jesus probably did not want to have any premature confrontations with the Pharisees. Furthermore, Jesus knew that he had an important mission that he had to fulfill, which necessitated his leaving Judea and travel to Samaria. This leads us to our first principle about sowing the Word.
I. Don't Just Stand There, Get Going!
I would like for us to pay attention to the word “go”. In our passage this morning, we find that Jesus “had to go” to Samaria. He felt compelled to go and reach out to someone in Samaria, in particular, in the town of Sychar. Jesus did not wait for this woman to come to him in either Judea or in Galilee. He went out to her because he knew this woman would never step foot in his town or in his country.
The same is true for us. If we are expecting a non-believer to step inside a church and listen to the gospel, we are deluding ourselves. This is an extremely rare occurrence, like when a person is so desperate he is beginning to seek for God. Other than that, a person under normal circumstances would never step inside a church unless invited by you. Thus, it is necessary that each believer shouldn't just sit down and wait for someone to be saved but that he should go out and look for the lost.
Who are the lost? They are the people who don't have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They can be your friends, your family, your classmates, your business clients and customers. The lost can be anyone whom you encounter regularly in the course of doing business or studying or working. They all need the gospel and the best person who can reach them is none other than you because you have contact with them. As I have said, don't expect them to just come to church and hear the gospel and be saved without human participation. That is why, you need to go to them, you need to be among them. While the Bible does command us not to love the world or to be of the world, it does however say that we are in the world and that we are the light of the world and the salt of the earth.
What is unfortunate for many Christians is that, once they become saved, they tend to gain a lot of Christian friends to the point that they have lesser contact with non-Christians. Another unfortunate thing is that some Christians feel inadequate about sharing the gospel and they expect the paid professionals – the ministers, the pastors, the church workers – to do the work. You need to understand this: You have been placed in your office, your school, your business establishment in order to be a witness for the Lord through your words and deeds. The “paid professionals” cannot do what God wants for you to do.
So, I want to encourage you as you are in your respective spheres of influence, don't isolate yourselves but interact with people, befriend them without compromising your faith and conviction. In so doing, you will eventually be able to win a hearing for the gospel.
II. Cross the Cultural Barrier
The second principle is a sensitive one, especially for us who are Chinese-Filipinos. I am talking about crossing the cultural barrier. Now, I am not necessarily saying you should become a cross-cultural missionary unless God did call you to be one, but I am saying that we all need to remove our blinders and see that everyone needs the gospel, regardless of color or race.
When Jesus went into Samaria, he was crossing a cultural barrier. You see, the Samaritans were nothing like the Jews. In fact, they were hated by the Jews because their ancestors had betrayed their heritage as Israelites when they intermarried with the pagans or gentiles. Thus, the Jews wanted nothing to do with the Samaritans; Jesus, however, knew that the Samaritans also needed the good news and thus, he willingly entered into Samaria in order to proclaim the gospel to the Samaritans.
While we may not be called by God to enter into a different country and to immerse in her culture, we do live in a multi-cultural society. We come in contact with people from different races in our offices and in our schools. We should not shy away from befriending them and letting them hear the gospel because they also need the Lord. The gospel is not just for the Chinese-Filipinos or for the Chinese race, it is for everyone. Regardless of who we come in contact with, we must be willing to cross the cultural barrier and bring the gospel to them. Jesus did just that when he entered Samaria in order to reach out to a Samaritan woman by the well. We can do the same without having to cross over to another country.
III. Engage With the Lost
Jesus did not only go to meet a lost person nor did he just cross a cultural divide, but he also engaged with the Samaritan woman in conversation that led to spiritual things and eventually, to the revelation of himself as the Messiah. Just being there, just showing up isn't enough. We have made a huge case for living out the Christian life by our honesty and integrity, by our excellence and diligence, and these are important in maintaining a good testimony; however, if we're not going to engage the people around us in conversation, then we cannot build a relationship with them and we will not be able to share the gospel to them when the right opportunity comes along. Jesus could have just sit there by the well, smiled at the Samaritan woman, acknowledged her presence, and even help her draw water; this would have made the woman appreciate him but she would still be lost because she didn't get to hear the life-changing message of the gospel. I think we're often guilty of that. We behave very well in school or in the office. We're model employees, employers or students but we are poor witnesses of Christ, simply because we do not engage people in conversation.
Now, when I am talking about conversation, I am not saying that we always have to be talking about the gospel because that would make us obnoxious to a lot of people and they'll think that our only motive for talking to them is because we want to talk about becoming a Christian. We don't need to pound the gospel on people's heads all the time. Sometimes, we can talk about how God helps us when we have problems at work or in school, or we can talk about what God means to us. We can even offer to pray for people who have needs – they will be more than happy to hear that we're praying for them. These will get people interested in the Lord Jesus whom we worship and follow. At times, even if we're not talking about religious things but when we're talking about sports or common interests and hobbies, these can serve as a bridge to strengthen our relationship with people and, hopefully, make them open to hear the gospel.
Conversation builds friendship and friendship makes it easier for us to convey the gospel message when the right time comes, when the person seems ripe for the gospel. Without friendship, it would be hard, although not impossible, to tell a stranger or a mere acquaintance about the gospel. So, don't be shy to engage with people in good conversation. Who knows? Those conversations may one day lead you to sharing the gospel to others.
IV. Love, Don't Judge
Finally, when we engage people in conversation and when we share the gospel, be sure to do it in a manner that is not judgmental. When Jesus was in conversation with the Samaritan woman, he knew that she was living in with someone who wasn't her husband, that she had already been in five marriages and all of them ended in divorce, yet how did Jesus react to this truth? He never condemned the woman, although he did let her know that he knew the details. He never pressed on the issue any further after that, but rather, he showed love and acceptance to this woman who desperately needed it in her life.
When we meet someone like that, do we shudder at the thought that here is a terrible sinner and we should shun her, or do we see a terrible sinner who needs our love and compassion, someone who needs to hear that we care for them and God cares for them?
So often, Christians are guilty of being judgmental, of being “holier than thou” and we often unleash this on the sinner and make them feel worse or defensive or both. We make them feel as if their sin is the worst of all but we fail to see that we are just as sinful as they are. We're all aware of the statement, “hate the sin, love the sinner”, but unfortunately, we have not distinguished the two and we end up hating both sin and sinner.
Last November, the leaders of the church had a seminar on disciple making and the question was asked as to what was the impression of the typical American regarding a Christian and there were three impressions mentioned – Christians are hypocrites, judgmental and hates homosexuals. Sadly, I believe this is true for American Christians and even for Christians here in the Philippines. We say one thing and behave in another way; we judge people as if we're always right and others are always wrong; and we hate homosexuals. But then its not only the homosexuals that we dislike, but we dislike anyone whom we classify as a “sinner”.
I will never forget an incident that happened to me sometime late 2008. I was going to meet with my wife for dinner with someone and I had to take the LRT (light rail transit) from Sta. Mesa to Recto terminal. From Recto terminal, I decided to walk all the way to my wife's office since I felt the distance was way too short for me to spend seven pesos for a jeepney ride. The short cut was to walk along Rizal Avenue (aka Avenida) and enter into Gonzalo Puyat St. (aka Raon). As I walked along Rizal Avenue, I suddenly felt a hand holding my arm. I then saw a woman looking at me and muttering some words that I couldn't decipher. Immediately I reacted by pulling my hands away and I made a sound that startled people usually make and I walked away as quickly as possible. As this was happening, I made the assumption that this woman was a street prostitute and she was probably asking if I wanted to be with her. When I pulled my hands away from her, I reacted as if I had been touched by somewhat who had leprosy. As I looked back on that incident, I felt that maybe I shouldn't have reacted so negatively towards her because in so doing, I had judged her and had given her the guilty verdict.
What ever happened to the impression that Christians are loving and gracious? I think we need to recover these two impressions and we can do this in how we treat the people we meet and engage with. We must not judge them or make them feel worse for their sins – that's the Holy Spirit's work. Our job is to tell them God's love as well as the need for repentance but not to make them feel guilty or that what they're practicing is the worse of all sins. Remember, in God's sight, sin is sin. Whether a person cheats in school or he is a homosexual, both fall under God's judgment, thus we are in no position to judge a homosexual, an adulterer, or a murderer, because what we've committed against God would merit the same punishment.
Jesus never judged the woman but showed grace to her and this led her to eventually become a believer in Jesus as well as a leader in bringing others to Jesus. It was because she felt accepted and love that she wanted others to have the same thing, too.
Conclusion:
This morning, we've learned four important principles when sowing the Word of God. First of all, we cannot wait for people to come to church to hear the gospel, instead we must go to them. Second, we must be willing to cross the barrier of culture. We cannot stay only with people who are like us but we must reach out even to those who are different from us because they also need the gospel. Third, we must engage the lost with meaningful conversation that would pave the way for our presenting the gospel in its proper time. Finally, we must be loving and not judgmental towards people who have sinned heavily. Only God can judge them; our role is to let them know who God is, that God loves them and desires for them to be made right with him.
Before I close, I would like to make a challenge to you all. Our theme for this year is, “A Willing Church for A Waiting World”. Brothers and sisters, the church is not a building but it is you and I, men and women who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ who make up the church. Our calling as the church is to go into the world and proclaim Jesus. We also have for our goal an attendance in our worship service of 600 people. This cannot be accomplished unless each of you will do your part in sowing the seeds and reaping the harvest. Will you take part in sowing the seeds of the gospel? You are all needed for this task. I hope you will all be up to the challenge of sowing the Word of God and reaping the harvest.
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