Acts 4 verses 32-35
Sometimes when you overhear children playing together you will hear the following phrase "that is mine and I am not sharing it with anyone!" You may hear those exact words or something similar which has the same purpose at its heart: to declare exclusive ownership of something. The sad thing is when it is not children expressing such sentiments but adults. Adults have become very good at expressing such sentiments today. We talk in terms of 'rights,' 'status,' 'respect,' and 'putting down markers' and similar phrases. Now this my intention is not to use the passage we read from Acts as a club to beat you with but to challenge us all afresh about what makes a powerful church. Lets look at Acts 4 verses 32-25.
Acts was written by Luke, originally it was part of a two volume letter but somewhere along the passage of time the gospel of Luke came to be separated and placed beside Matthew, Mark and John. The Acts of the Apostles was written around 64AD and has at its core the following purposes: How the gospel is related to the course of redemptive history. The gospels root and interaction with secular history. The universal character of the gospel. To reveal how the gospel has been freed from the Jewish law. How that behind the proclamation of the Word of God stands the power and activity of the Holy Spirit.
At the beginning of the book Peter dominates and then Paul dominates the scene. So lets look at Acts chapter 4. We have read in the preceding chapters of the ascension of Jesus into heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost and the first mass conversion of people as a consequence. Then in chapter 3 we read of the healing of the crippled beggar by Peter and his sermon to those who were watching with the consequence that he and John are arrested and put into prison. Their courage in speaking the gospel with boldness before the Sanhedrin and their subsequent release. Then we have these 4 verses, which almost appear out of place but if you turn back to chapter 2 verses 44-45 you will see that this is the second time Luke has mentioned the behaviour of the Christian believers in Jerusalem and their concern for their brothers and sisters in Christ.
These verses fall into three easily remembered areas:
Unity
Generosity
Witness
Unity - if you look at verse 32, we read here that the believers were of one mind and heart. That is a simple statement and yet it is probably one of thee most important, thee most profound and thee most significant statements in the book of Acts. C S Lewis in the Screwtape Letters has the senior devil writing to the junior devil and telling him that if he can keep those within the Christian church bickering over programmes, finance, procedures, status and personal hurts then he will continue to win significant victories and make the church of Christ ineffectual in the world. The outworking of this 'oneness of heart and mind (soul)' is seen in very practical ways amongst the believers in the early church at Jerusalem. But we will look at that in a moment. The effect of this unity of heart and mind (or soul) was that the church was powerful and effective in the spreading of the gospel and in their standing amongst the community around them. When you read Acts you are amazed at what the church was able to do. How effective they were in reaching people with the gospel, in a much more hostile environment than we find ourselves today. Their unity meant they all worked for the same purpose and they all put in the same effort. Unity is a key ingredient in the work of the gospel in Acts, and it is essential today. Let me leave a question with you: What would your curchbe like if everyone was of one mind and heart?
Generosity - Look back at 2.44 - they did not consider their possessions their own - there was personal property but there was not private property in the church in Acts. Do you understand the meaning of that? Do you understand the implication of that for us? There was personal property but no private property in the NT church. The outworking of their unity of heart and mind was seen in their generosity towards one another. They sought to use their property to help those in need. From their riches they shared the blessing with others. I want to say to you that I know that to be true of many churches, I know of many acts of generosity, not just financial, within churches and I want to say to you keep being generous. These NT Christians lived in their own homes and they had their own possessions but they did not see them as being exclusively for their own use but for the benefit of all the community of believers.
Allow me for one moment to take it one step further - organisational property. I may be treading on some toes here but they probably need treaded on, so here goes. There should be no private property in your church. Yes property should be respected and treated properly. Yes permission should be sought before use but there should be nothing in your church building that is not for the common good of all in this community and for the proclamation of the gospel. If such property is here and it is not for the use of all then there all I can ask you to do is to explain it to me, and others, in light of these verses.
Turn with me for a moment to verses 34 and 35. Sometimes we read a bible passage and we take it quite literally and think well there is no way I could do that because it is just taking things too far. I think these two verses are often misunderstood in just such a light. 'From time to time' - that is the important phrase here. The acts Luke alludes to here were extraordinary and voluntary acts of Christian concern done in response to a special need among believers and they involved both sharing possessions and selling real estate. By separating these actions from verse 32 I believe Luke is pointing out that they were never meant to be normative for the church. I think that is why in the incident with Annais and Sapphira at the beginning if the next chapter the disciples state that the property they had sold was their own to do with it as they pleased. So we are not expected to sell all our property and put it into a common purse but there are occasions when God will provide an opportunity for us to express our generosity to brothers and sisters in need and to do so may involve us selling something of value (earthly value) in order to meet the needs of a fellow believer.
Witness - verse 33. Another outworking of their unity of heart and mind was that they were powerful in their witness to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Luke says that this witness was with 'great power.' There is no doubt from reading Acts that some of that 'great power' came in the form of the powerful preaching of the apostles and the miracles that Holy Spirit worked through them but no doubt some of that 'powerful witness' was actually what non-believers witnessed amongst the believing community. Those outside the Christian community witnessed a community that cared for people and that shared what it had with those in need within that community. Some of that sharing was in the form of practical financial assistance but how would you know someone was in need if you did not spend time with them and become intimately acquainted with their circumstances. Were people in Jerusalem any different than you and I today? Do you think some of them did not hide the truth of their lives from one another? Do you think some of them did not put on brave faces and facades? The witness of the church was not just in its preaching but also in its caring pastoral concern for one another.
Should the same not be true today? Should our witness not be powerful in Word and deed? Again I want to encourage you all by saying I know of many who have come to faith because of the caring of others. Are we not trying to do that in the way we seek to use a church building for community use? You see you all work out Acts 4.33 in many simple and practical ways but you just don't realise you are. I want to encourage you to keep at it. To have this unity of heart and mind which expresses itself in financial generosity in meeting the needs of others and in powerful witness in Word and deed of the death and resurrection of Christ.
You see it is the death and resurrection of Christ that is at the heart of all this. It is this gospel which brings unity of heart and mind. It is the death and resurrection of Christ that so changes the heart and mind of a man that he no longer thinks of himself but of others and so radically changes a community of people that they no longer store up treasure on this earth but seek to be generous for the benefit of others and to bring others to the saving knowledge of Christ.
So the application for you is simple this morning - be united, be generous and be a witness to the death and resurrection of Christ.
Amen.
Tuesday 29 September 2009
Sunday 27 September 2009
pastors should live in the community they serve
I admire those Pastors that live in the community that their church is based. I admire those pastors that take a wage that is similar to those who are low paid in that community. There is something so real about their faith when they are willing to live as those living on the "bread line."
When we look at those in the Bible we see that they lived a hand to mouth existence but now when we look at many pastors we see that they are not living in the community that their church is in and they are not living a hand to mouth existence.
If we look around the world and look at the successful pastors we can see that they drive nice cars and live in nice houses which are furnished nicely. They are protected by their wealth and enjoy the best of everything.
How do we think this looks to the many that have nothing?
How do we think this looks to the many who struggle to put food on their table?
How do we think this looks to the single parent?(through no fault of their own)
How do we think this looks to the drug user seeking away out of their misery?
I believe a pastor must always live by example but I can guarantee you the majority of pastors will come up with a reason why its acceptable to live as they now do.
Can a pastor really preach about poverty when they have no idea what it is like?
I am not saying we need to be a drug user or begger or single parent to understand how that feels but to be respected in the community that we serve we need to show that we are willing to live as they do when it comes to money.
When we look at those in the Bible we see that they lived a hand to mouth existence but now when we look at many pastors we see that they are not living in the community that their church is in and they are not living a hand to mouth existence.
If we look around the world and look at the successful pastors we can see that they drive nice cars and live in nice houses which are furnished nicely. They are protected by their wealth and enjoy the best of everything.
How do we think this looks to the many that have nothing?
How do we think this looks to the many who struggle to put food on their table?
How do we think this looks to the single parent?(through no fault of their own)
How do we think this looks to the drug user seeking away out of their misery?
I believe a pastor must always live by example but I can guarantee you the majority of pastors will come up with a reason why its acceptable to live as they now do.
Can a pastor really preach about poverty when they have no idea what it is like?
I am not saying we need to be a drug user or begger or single parent to understand how that feels but to be respected in the community that we serve we need to show that we are willing to live as they do when it comes to money.
Saturday 26 September 2009
DO WHAT WE LIKE BECAUSE GOD FORGIVES ALL SIN
I CAN DO WHAT I LIKE BECAUSE GOD FORGIVES ALL SIN - ROMANS 6.1-23
The story is told of a man who had heard of a church where they believed in sinless perfection after you had come to Christ and were baptised. He joined the church, professed faith and was baptised in a freezing cold river in the middle of January. When he left the water he told the elders he was so delighted he did not even feel the cold. Whereupon one elder said to another "He is lying, it didn't work. We need to do it again." That is not a true story but it illustrates that perennial problem for all Christians: How are we forgiven for sin and yet keep on sinning? There have been those in the history of the church who taught that Christians could live as they pleased because Christ had forgiven all sin. It was called Antinomianism. In fact it is still around today within the church. You don't have to go far to meet Christians who think it is acceptable to live as the world lives and still claim to follow Christ. So you have Pastors teaching all sorts of immoral behaviours are acceptable for Christians. You have churches accepting lottery money as if Scripture says nothing about gambling. Antinomianism is alive and well in the 21st century church. Yet it is not such overt sinfulness that I wish to address this morning. It is the daily struggle you and I have in our lives to live free from sin. It is a daily struggle, isn't it? This is probably one of the most important sermons that I will preach this year in Holy Trinity.
look at Romans 6. I am only going to deal with verses 1-14 and not the whole chapter.
CONTEXT - Paul's letter to the Romans. Paul had never been to Rome before he wrote this letter. He had not planted or established this church. Paul most likely wrote this letter whilst in Corinth around 56-57AD. The book of Romans is the great theological work of the NT on the doctrine and application of salvation. Many believe it to be Paul's finest letter to the early churches.
Look at chapter 5 verse 20 - this is the background to what Paul seeks to answer in chapter 6. It is just possible that some in Rome were starting to teach that since the grace of God covered all sin then Christians could continue in sin to show the power of God's grace at work in forgiving sin. I know to you and I it seems illogical but actually how often do we justify our sinful choices and behaviour by just such a reason?
Paul is presenting a balance in chapter 6 - on one side is that we are saved by grace and by grace alone. On the other side of the balance is the working out of our salvation, of living out a life of holiness unto God. This balance is hard for us to grasp and maintain in our lives.
Chapter 6 verses 1-14 Shall we continue to sin so that Grace may abound?
Verses 1- 2 - read - it seems like a foolish question and yet it would appear that some in the church had begun to argue that we should go on sinning to allow grace to increase. The NIV translation does not do justice to what Paul says in the Greek. Literally he asks: "shall we remain in sin?" Paul is thinking of sinners staying where they are after they have come to saving faith in Christ. Shall we just drift along in our sin because it covered by God's grace? Paul speaks of Christians who decline to move from habitual sin. We have his immediate answer in verse 2: "By no means!" Paul will have none of it. He refutes the very idea that as a Christian you can continue to walk in the way of sin and remain wedded to sin after knowing the grace of Christ. He then asks them to reflect on the fact that they have died to sin. Once they were dead in their sins (Ephesians 2.1) but now they are dead to sin. This is an action rather than a state - 'we who died to sin' and not 'we who are dead in sin.' Becoming a Christian is a decisive step. It means the beginning of faith and the end of sin. Here Paul is referring to the dying to sin which is the characteristic mark of the beginning of the Christian life. It is the end of the reign of sin and the beginning of the reign of grace (5.21) in our lives when we come to Christ. Since we have died to sin it is a reasonable question to ask how we can continue to live a life of sin? John Knox, the Scottish reformer, translated this as "We have died, once for all, to sin; can we breathe its air again?"
Verses 3-5 Paul then uses the illustration of baptism to signify the depth of union with Christ. The union of the Christian with Christ in his death, though baptism does not accomplish that per se. Paul is here describing a spiritual reality and not a ceremony or sacrament. The importance of the burial is that it happens only at death. It attests to the finality of the life governed by sin. We have died to that old life, to the old Adam and have come under a new reign - that of God's grace in Christ. We are no longer ruled over by sin but by Christ. In dying with Christ - by faith being united to him on the cross where our sins were atoned for - we have moved from the dominion of sin and darkness to the dominion of Christ by grace. You see it is the death of Christ that makes you and I Christians, and without identification with that death we are not Christians. Christ's death alone is the justification for our salvation. It is by grace through faith that we are united with Christ in his death on the cross. Being united with him in his death, we are united with him in his burial. Being united with him in his burial we are united with him in his resurrection and in the resurrection life. There is no turning back (verse 5) from this. We have died to sin and been buried with Christ and raised with Christ and therefore we now live for Christ. Paul is emphasising that having been buried with Christ and having risen with Christ we are now living the resurrection life and therefore we cannot, we should not, may not continue to live a life of sin. We now live in resurrection power. The resurrection life is not something yet to come - it began the moment you came to faith in Christ. In that moment the old Adam was buried with Christ in the tomb and the new Adam rose with Christ - with sin and death no longer having power and dominion over you - 1 Corinthians 15.55-56. Verse 4 we now walk in newness of life in Christ - a life of grace in which Christ sustains and empowers us to walk in the ways of holiness and righteousness. This new life transforms you and makes you into a new person. Yes we still have contact with the old man, the old life which battles with us daily and keeps us frustrated daily.
When you plant seeds in the garden. You will bury them in the cold earth and over time you will watch for them to spring forth into life. The shoots will appear and then full grown the will bear the likeness of the plant from which the seeds were harvested. Having been buried with Christ, and now raised with Christ we are to bear the likeness of Christ in our daily lives. When you plant a seed you hope new life comes. We have been planted in the likeness of Christ's death but we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection - a new kind of life which comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit - a new life within. This means we are not alone in this struggle and battle. We are given an internal source of power - the Holy Spirit supplying us grace and spiritual power - making us a new person in Christ daily. We are not just an old person made better, we are a new creation. A 'you' who is made new to live for God and the things of God. The lost have no such life within. There is inside you a new man made in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not yet complete but daily we grow in Christlikeness.
Verses 6-7 Paul restates again what he has taught in verses 3-5. Paul wants his readers, and us, to understand that in the sight of God we were crucified with Christ. We were not physically there but the spiritual reality is that our sin was placed on Christ and crucified with him - hence Paul says we were crucified with him. The old you is now in the place of death, crucified with Christ. The old way of living for sin and self is gone - the nails are driven into the old nature. That is why you have such a battle in your life daily - the new nature says 'No' to the old ways of life. There is a path to travel that is not the old ways but is different by the grace of God. There is a new life growing within you which is destroying the old you. The Lord is destroying you a piece at a time, the old self is being destroyed a piece at a time so that daily you might become more like Christ. The new nature of desiring to please God and desiring the things of God are growing daily in your life.
Just as we were not in the Garden of Eden with Adam when he sinned but we are identified with him in the Fall - so we are identified, united, with Christ in the crucifixion, burial and resurrection. If we died with Christ then we should be dead to sin. We should not be living in sin, not enticed by it nor should we be travelling as far down the road of sin as we can. We are going a different direction. We are facing Christ and we are going upwards to a new home. The pathway is hard and step and we need grace to travel that direction.
Paul wants the believers at Rome, and us, to understand that the power of sin is dead in our lives when we are united with Christ. We are freed from the power of sin, even though we remain in the presence of sin. Please listen carefully here. It is not that we are no longer troubled by sin but that we are freed from the power and dominion of sin in and over our lives. We are not fighting this battle alone, he is with us and we have his grace to aid us.
Verses 8-11 - Paul now follows his argument on pointing out that there can be no separation from the union with Christ in his death which atones for our sins and justifies us before God and being raised to new life in Christ - which leads to a life of obedience, holiness and sanctification. The death of Christ (v8) is the basis of the whole experience of salvation for us sinners and yet our death in Christ is not an end in itself. By faith we go on to life with Christ. There is death to the old man, to the old way of life and an entering into new life in Christ. There was once a time (v9) when death had dominion over Christ, and us, but that is all past. There is no more death for Christ - the resurrection defeated death, once for all. Jesus rose triumphant and rose to glory - death defeated. The resurrection of Christ is the victory over death. Therefore if we are united with Christ, by grace through faith, then death no longer rules over us. In verse 10 the NIV has left out the word 'For' which keeps Paul's argument flowing. Paul says that the death which Christ died, on the cross, was all to do with sin and death, and the resurrection life he lives has all to do with God. Therefore, the logical conclusion is that the same should be true for us who are united by with Christ. We died to the dominion of sin and death in our lives and rose with Christ to new life which we now live to God (v11). You see you are to 'reckon' or 'count' yourself dead to sin but alive to God. One side is that we are to see ourselves as dead to sin but the other side is that we are to be alive to God. When temptation comes you are to remind yourself that sin no longer has power over your life. You no longer fear the power of sin because it does not have power in your life. The first part of verse 11 removes the penalty of sin and the second part gives us power over sin (alive to God).
Verses 12-14 Therefore live in the knowledge of this truth. In verse 12 Paul states that it is the duty of those who know the redeeming power of Christ to live according to that truth. Sin is still a force, but Paul has pointed out, and continues to point out, it is not supreme. It no longer has dominion or power over the believer and therefore the believer is not to allow it to reign within. Instead the believer is to yield himself to God. There is union with Christ and yielding to God - both are important. The believer who stumbles into sin should get out of it immediately and do everything he can do get out of sin. You don't lie there and wallow in the mess, get out of it. God has the power to deliver you from the sin and the grace to redeem you from it. Call on him to deliver you and he has the power to deliver you from sin. Constant yielding to God is vital. We must constantly be putting Christ on the throne of our lives. We must keep yielding ourselves to Christ. Little by little we give over our lives to Christ.That is a stated fact of the Word of God - the thing is will you believe it to be true? Not do you feel it to be true? Not do you experience it to be true? But do you believe what the Word of God teaches on this matter? You see sometimes my little son does not feel like I love him and he does not experience my love for him but the fact is that I do love him. Now which of those is the truth: The fact or the feeling? The same thing happens when it comes to the dominion of sin in your life as a believer. Do you believe your own feelings and experience or the Word of God? Paul warns us not to allow sin to reign any longer in our mortal bodies (v12). It is not that he is saying the body itself is sinful but that it is in the body, the flesh, that sin reigns and that we surrender to the evil lusts and desires of our hearts. You see we are men and women who have moved from death to life by Christ and we no longer belong to ourselves but to him and therefore we are to live for him. We are not to allow sin to reign in our lives by giving our lives, our bodies, over to sinful desires and lusts. Paul makes it clear that the decision is ours. We decide what we do with our bodies - whether it is to give it up to sin or to live for God. Sin has no longer any power over us because in Christ Jesus we died to the power of sin (v14). It is precisely because sin has no dominion over us that we can present our lives as instruments of righteousness to God. If you have a besetting sin that constantly traps you then you need to bring it before Christ - his grace is sufficient to deal with all sin. We are not in the clutches of a sin that is stronger than Christ. It may be stronger than us but it is not stronger than Christ. Sin shall not rule over you - Christ rules over you - you must lay hold of that truth of the Word of God. It is under grace and not law. God commands us to do what is right and inside he supplies the grace to obey.
APPLICATION.
Paul's discussion of union with Christ may appear to you to be quite and abstract thing and yet it holds an important truth for us today. Paul is describing a transforming reality that is ours in Christ Jesus. God's promise is that we have died with Christ that we might no longer be slaves to sin but be freed from its dominion and power so having been raised with Christ we might live to and for God. Faiths response to this is to be threefold;
1. We are to consider it true - verse 11.
2. We are to reject the sinful desires that stir within us - verse 12.
3. We are to continually offer ourselves to God to serve him - verse 13.
It is as we daily respond to this promise God's grace that He works in us to experience freedom from sin so that we can live righteously to and for him. Grace is not an open door to sin but an open door to obedience to God's will.
The story is told of a man who had heard of a church where they believed in sinless perfection after you had come to Christ and were baptised. He joined the church, professed faith and was baptised in a freezing cold river in the middle of January. When he left the water he told the elders he was so delighted he did not even feel the cold. Whereupon one elder said to another "He is lying, it didn't work. We need to do it again." That is not a true story but it illustrates that perennial problem for all Christians: How are we forgiven for sin and yet keep on sinning? There have been those in the history of the church who taught that Christians could live as they pleased because Christ had forgiven all sin. It was called Antinomianism. In fact it is still around today within the church. You don't have to go far to meet Christians who think it is acceptable to live as the world lives and still claim to follow Christ. So you have Pastors teaching all sorts of immoral behaviours are acceptable for Christians. You have churches accepting lottery money as if Scripture says nothing about gambling. Antinomianism is alive and well in the 21st century church. Yet it is not such overt sinfulness that I wish to address this morning. It is the daily struggle you and I have in our lives to live free from sin. It is a daily struggle, isn't it? This is probably one of the most important sermons that I will preach this year in Holy Trinity.
look at Romans 6. I am only going to deal with verses 1-14 and not the whole chapter.
CONTEXT - Paul's letter to the Romans. Paul had never been to Rome before he wrote this letter. He had not planted or established this church. Paul most likely wrote this letter whilst in Corinth around 56-57AD. The book of Romans is the great theological work of the NT on the doctrine and application of salvation. Many believe it to be Paul's finest letter to the early churches.
Look at chapter 5 verse 20 - this is the background to what Paul seeks to answer in chapter 6. It is just possible that some in Rome were starting to teach that since the grace of God covered all sin then Christians could continue in sin to show the power of God's grace at work in forgiving sin. I know to you and I it seems illogical but actually how often do we justify our sinful choices and behaviour by just such a reason?
Paul is presenting a balance in chapter 6 - on one side is that we are saved by grace and by grace alone. On the other side of the balance is the working out of our salvation, of living out a life of holiness unto God. This balance is hard for us to grasp and maintain in our lives.
Chapter 6 verses 1-14 Shall we continue to sin so that Grace may abound?
Verses 1- 2 - read - it seems like a foolish question and yet it would appear that some in the church had begun to argue that we should go on sinning to allow grace to increase. The NIV translation does not do justice to what Paul says in the Greek. Literally he asks: "shall we remain in sin?" Paul is thinking of sinners staying where they are after they have come to saving faith in Christ. Shall we just drift along in our sin because it covered by God's grace? Paul speaks of Christians who decline to move from habitual sin. We have his immediate answer in verse 2: "By no means!" Paul will have none of it. He refutes the very idea that as a Christian you can continue to walk in the way of sin and remain wedded to sin after knowing the grace of Christ. He then asks them to reflect on the fact that they have died to sin. Once they were dead in their sins (Ephesians 2.1) but now they are dead to sin. This is an action rather than a state - 'we who died to sin' and not 'we who are dead in sin.' Becoming a Christian is a decisive step. It means the beginning of faith and the end of sin. Here Paul is referring to the dying to sin which is the characteristic mark of the beginning of the Christian life. It is the end of the reign of sin and the beginning of the reign of grace (5.21) in our lives when we come to Christ. Since we have died to sin it is a reasonable question to ask how we can continue to live a life of sin? John Knox, the Scottish reformer, translated this as "We have died, once for all, to sin; can we breathe its air again?"
Verses 3-5 Paul then uses the illustration of baptism to signify the depth of union with Christ. The union of the Christian with Christ in his death, though baptism does not accomplish that per se. Paul is here describing a spiritual reality and not a ceremony or sacrament. The importance of the burial is that it happens only at death. It attests to the finality of the life governed by sin. We have died to that old life, to the old Adam and have come under a new reign - that of God's grace in Christ. We are no longer ruled over by sin but by Christ. In dying with Christ - by faith being united to him on the cross where our sins were atoned for - we have moved from the dominion of sin and darkness to the dominion of Christ by grace. You see it is the death of Christ that makes you and I Christians, and without identification with that death we are not Christians. Christ's death alone is the justification for our salvation. It is by grace through faith that we are united with Christ in his death on the cross. Being united with him in his death, we are united with him in his burial. Being united with him in his burial we are united with him in his resurrection and in the resurrection life. There is no turning back (verse 5) from this. We have died to sin and been buried with Christ and raised with Christ and therefore we now live for Christ. Paul is emphasising that having been buried with Christ and having risen with Christ we are now living the resurrection life and therefore we cannot, we should not, may not continue to live a life of sin. We now live in resurrection power. The resurrection life is not something yet to come - it began the moment you came to faith in Christ. In that moment the old Adam was buried with Christ in the tomb and the new Adam rose with Christ - with sin and death no longer having power and dominion over you - 1 Corinthians 15.55-56. Verse 4 we now walk in newness of life in Christ - a life of grace in which Christ sustains and empowers us to walk in the ways of holiness and righteousness. This new life transforms you and makes you into a new person. Yes we still have contact with the old man, the old life which battles with us daily and keeps us frustrated daily.
When you plant seeds in the garden. You will bury them in the cold earth and over time you will watch for them to spring forth into life. The shoots will appear and then full grown the will bear the likeness of the plant from which the seeds were harvested. Having been buried with Christ, and now raised with Christ we are to bear the likeness of Christ in our daily lives. When you plant a seed you hope new life comes. We have been planted in the likeness of Christ's death but we shall also be in the likeness of his resurrection - a new kind of life which comes from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit - a new life within. This means we are not alone in this struggle and battle. We are given an internal source of power - the Holy Spirit supplying us grace and spiritual power - making us a new person in Christ daily. We are not just an old person made better, we are a new creation. A 'you' who is made new to live for God and the things of God. The lost have no such life within. There is inside you a new man made in the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not yet complete but daily we grow in Christlikeness.
Verses 6-7 Paul restates again what he has taught in verses 3-5. Paul wants his readers, and us, to understand that in the sight of God we were crucified with Christ. We were not physically there but the spiritual reality is that our sin was placed on Christ and crucified with him - hence Paul says we were crucified with him. The old you is now in the place of death, crucified with Christ. The old way of living for sin and self is gone - the nails are driven into the old nature. That is why you have such a battle in your life daily - the new nature says 'No' to the old ways of life. There is a path to travel that is not the old ways but is different by the grace of God. There is a new life growing within you which is destroying the old you. The Lord is destroying you a piece at a time, the old self is being destroyed a piece at a time so that daily you might become more like Christ. The new nature of desiring to please God and desiring the things of God are growing daily in your life.
Just as we were not in the Garden of Eden with Adam when he sinned but we are identified with him in the Fall - so we are identified, united, with Christ in the crucifixion, burial and resurrection. If we died with Christ then we should be dead to sin. We should not be living in sin, not enticed by it nor should we be travelling as far down the road of sin as we can. We are going a different direction. We are facing Christ and we are going upwards to a new home. The pathway is hard and step and we need grace to travel that direction.
Paul wants the believers at Rome, and us, to understand that the power of sin is dead in our lives when we are united with Christ. We are freed from the power of sin, even though we remain in the presence of sin. Please listen carefully here. It is not that we are no longer troubled by sin but that we are freed from the power and dominion of sin in and over our lives. We are not fighting this battle alone, he is with us and we have his grace to aid us.
Verses 8-11 - Paul now follows his argument on pointing out that there can be no separation from the union with Christ in his death which atones for our sins and justifies us before God and being raised to new life in Christ - which leads to a life of obedience, holiness and sanctification. The death of Christ (v8) is the basis of the whole experience of salvation for us sinners and yet our death in Christ is not an end in itself. By faith we go on to life with Christ. There is death to the old man, to the old way of life and an entering into new life in Christ. There was once a time (v9) when death had dominion over Christ, and us, but that is all past. There is no more death for Christ - the resurrection defeated death, once for all. Jesus rose triumphant and rose to glory - death defeated. The resurrection of Christ is the victory over death. Therefore if we are united with Christ, by grace through faith, then death no longer rules over us. In verse 10 the NIV has left out the word 'For' which keeps Paul's argument flowing. Paul says that the death which Christ died, on the cross, was all to do with sin and death, and the resurrection life he lives has all to do with God. Therefore, the logical conclusion is that the same should be true for us who are united by with Christ. We died to the dominion of sin and death in our lives and rose with Christ to new life which we now live to God (v11). You see you are to 'reckon' or 'count' yourself dead to sin but alive to God. One side is that we are to see ourselves as dead to sin but the other side is that we are to be alive to God. When temptation comes you are to remind yourself that sin no longer has power over your life. You no longer fear the power of sin because it does not have power in your life. The first part of verse 11 removes the penalty of sin and the second part gives us power over sin (alive to God).
Verses 12-14 Therefore live in the knowledge of this truth. In verse 12 Paul states that it is the duty of those who know the redeeming power of Christ to live according to that truth. Sin is still a force, but Paul has pointed out, and continues to point out, it is not supreme. It no longer has dominion or power over the believer and therefore the believer is not to allow it to reign within. Instead the believer is to yield himself to God. There is union with Christ and yielding to God - both are important. The believer who stumbles into sin should get out of it immediately and do everything he can do get out of sin. You don't lie there and wallow in the mess, get out of it. God has the power to deliver you from the sin and the grace to redeem you from it. Call on him to deliver you and he has the power to deliver you from sin. Constant yielding to God is vital. We must constantly be putting Christ on the throne of our lives. We must keep yielding ourselves to Christ. Little by little we give over our lives to Christ.That is a stated fact of the Word of God - the thing is will you believe it to be true? Not do you feel it to be true? Not do you experience it to be true? But do you believe what the Word of God teaches on this matter? You see sometimes my little son does not feel like I love him and he does not experience my love for him but the fact is that I do love him. Now which of those is the truth: The fact or the feeling? The same thing happens when it comes to the dominion of sin in your life as a believer. Do you believe your own feelings and experience or the Word of God? Paul warns us not to allow sin to reign any longer in our mortal bodies (v12). It is not that he is saying the body itself is sinful but that it is in the body, the flesh, that sin reigns and that we surrender to the evil lusts and desires of our hearts. You see we are men and women who have moved from death to life by Christ and we no longer belong to ourselves but to him and therefore we are to live for him. We are not to allow sin to reign in our lives by giving our lives, our bodies, over to sinful desires and lusts. Paul makes it clear that the decision is ours. We decide what we do with our bodies - whether it is to give it up to sin or to live for God. Sin has no longer any power over us because in Christ Jesus we died to the power of sin (v14). It is precisely because sin has no dominion over us that we can present our lives as instruments of righteousness to God. If you have a besetting sin that constantly traps you then you need to bring it before Christ - his grace is sufficient to deal with all sin. We are not in the clutches of a sin that is stronger than Christ. It may be stronger than us but it is not stronger than Christ. Sin shall not rule over you - Christ rules over you - you must lay hold of that truth of the Word of God. It is under grace and not law. God commands us to do what is right and inside he supplies the grace to obey.
APPLICATION.
Paul's discussion of union with Christ may appear to you to be quite and abstract thing and yet it holds an important truth for us today. Paul is describing a transforming reality that is ours in Christ Jesus. God's promise is that we have died with Christ that we might no longer be slaves to sin but be freed from its dominion and power so having been raised with Christ we might live to and for God. Faiths response to this is to be threefold;
1. We are to consider it true - verse 11.
2. We are to reject the sinful desires that stir within us - verse 12.
3. We are to continually offer ourselves to God to serve him - verse 13.
It is as we daily respond to this promise God's grace that He works in us to experience freedom from sin so that we can live righteously to and for him. Grace is not an open door to sin but an open door to obedience to God's will.
Friday 25 September 2009
Use what you need
I wonder how many of us look at life and see problems. There is no doubt that life has problems and we all have our fair share of them but if we change the word "Problem into Challenge" its amazing how we then begin to look at situations that once bothered us.
A challenge is something that most of like to face but a problem is something we tend to avoid or we see it as overwhelming. It is when we begin to change how we look at life and situations that our life begins to change.
My gran had a favorite saying or mantra if you like "Everyday and in every way I am getting better and better". Jill Ireland an actress who had cancer imagined a small shark inside of her eating away the cancer she had. She did die eventually but lasted longer than all the doctors said she would.
Our mind is capable of great things if only we think out of the box.
There is nothing unchristian about these things in my mind but I am sure many will have issues with them.
Aromatherapy,Acupuncture,Hypnotherapy to name a few are beneficial and have helped many through out their life. Positive thinking is now part of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and I am sure no one would have an issue with it.
I have an issue with those who see the above as something from the devil and believe me many small minded people have seen it as such.
Would I say anything should replace prayer or our dependence on God? No of course not but I would be wrong to judge those who use alternative medicine or therapy to improve their life.
Would a person bleeding to death just pray or would they reach a hospital?
A challenge is something that most of like to face but a problem is something we tend to avoid or we see it as overwhelming. It is when we begin to change how we look at life and situations that our life begins to change.
My gran had a favorite saying or mantra if you like "Everyday and in every way I am getting better and better". Jill Ireland an actress who had cancer imagined a small shark inside of her eating away the cancer she had. She did die eventually but lasted longer than all the doctors said she would.
Our mind is capable of great things if only we think out of the box.
There is nothing unchristian about these things in my mind but I am sure many will have issues with them.
Aromatherapy,Acupuncture,Hypnotherapy to name a few are beneficial and have helped many through out their life. Positive thinking is now part of CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy) and I am sure no one would have an issue with it.
I have an issue with those who see the above as something from the devil and believe me many small minded people have seen it as such.
Would I say anything should replace prayer or our dependence on God? No of course not but I would be wrong to judge those who use alternative medicine or therapy to improve their life.
Would a person bleeding to death just pray or would they reach a hospital?
Wednesday 23 September 2009
MY SONS IDEA OF FAITH
I asked my son what was a christian and what does that mean to him. He is nearly 1o and this is what he said.
A christian is someone that believes in Jesus as their own personal saviour.
I asked him what that meant
It means that Jesus died for my sins and everyone sins even if its just a small sin its still a sin.
So what does this mean to you
It means that I am going to heaven when I die but I don't plan to die soon. It means that God looks after me and listens to my prayers when I pray for you or anyone else.
So at the moment my son has a simple but wonderful grasp of what it means to be a christian and I encourage him to learn and ask question. I try hard not to impose my own views on him and hope he will learn from what we read and his own experience of the Christian faith.
I love simple Christianity
At one time I thought we did have to intellectualise it and discuss point after point after point but the truth is we don't. That's the work of the Holy Spirit to convict a persons heart, all we can do is give the truth and live by the Word of God.
A christian is someone that believes in Jesus as their own personal saviour.
I asked him what that meant
It means that Jesus died for my sins and everyone sins even if its just a small sin its still a sin.
So what does this mean to you
It means that I am going to heaven when I die but I don't plan to die soon. It means that God looks after me and listens to my prayers when I pray for you or anyone else.
So at the moment my son has a simple but wonderful grasp of what it means to be a christian and I encourage him to learn and ask question. I try hard not to impose my own views on him and hope he will learn from what we read and his own experience of the Christian faith.
I love simple Christianity
At one time I thought we did have to intellectualise it and discuss point after point after point but the truth is we don't. That's the work of the Holy Spirit to convict a persons heart, all we can do is give the truth and live by the Word of God.
Monday 21 September 2009
WHO ARE CHRISTIANS
Who are Christians? A Whole new Person Romans 5 verses 1-11
If I were to ask you to give me a definition of a Christian I wonder what you would say? You may describe how that person lives or behaves. You may even include Jesus Christ in your definition. The description may be positive or it may be negative depending largely on your experience of Christians and your understanding of Christianity. If I was to change the question slightly and to ask you: Are you a Christian? I wonder would you say 'Yes' or 'No.' Often I meet people who genuinely answer that question by saying "I hope so" or "I think so." I want to look at exactly what is a Christian and how do you then live that out in all areas of our lives.
If we look at Romans chapter 5 verses 1-11. We are going to base ourselves primarily in this text , though we will draw from other verses in Scripture. Romans 5.1 is based on the argument begun in Romans 3.21 with the phrase 'But now...' from chapter 1 to 3.21 Paul has outlined the dire situation that mankind, all, find themselves in. He begins 3.21 with a phrase which tells us that something has changed and now in 5.1 he says "Therefore..." What follows is an outline of the wonderful work that Christ has brought about through His death and so we are going to learn what the Bible says is a 'Christian.' I want you to look for a moment at verse 1 because it tells us something very significant has changed because of Jesus. Do you notice Paul says "we have been justified through faith." It is an accomplished fact. It is not something that will happen in the future but is something which has already happened. The result of this is that "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The implication of that phrase is that at some point in time Paul, his readers and presumably we also, did not have peace with God. I want you to note something here - we have peace with God - which is an objective fact. It is not a subjective feeling but an objective fact for all who are in Christ. Paul goes on then in verse 2 to tell us that through justification by faith in Christ not only do we have peace but we also have gained access to God the Father. Again the simple conclusion is that at some point we did not have access to God the Father. I want you to note also that this place where we now stand is because of 'grace.' It is not because of anything that we have done but is all of grace. Let me illustrate this with a story from the OT. Some of you may know the story of Mephiboseth. Mephiboseth was of the family of Saul. One of the servants dropped him as they ran from the oncoming army of David. As a result he was crippled. David had made a promise to Jonathon to be kind to the house of Saul. When David became king he sent for Mephiboseth and he was carried in and seated at the king's table. You can read the whole story in 2 Samuel 4 and 2 Samuel 9. In fact in 2 Samuel 9 David refers to Mephiboseth as "a son" and not a cripple. This was an act of grace. Mephiboseth was born of royalty but because of the rebellion of his family against God he lost his royal status but under king David that status was returned. He was no longer referred to as a 'cripple,' a badge he had carried all his life, but as a 'son.' Do you think Mephiboseth understood grace? In a far greater way we are like Mephiboseth. We were born of royalty, made in the image of God, we fell and were crippled by sin but one day a king kept his promise and restored us to the banqueting table and referred to us as 'sons and daughters.' The result of this is made plain by Paul - we now "rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." Let me read you Romans 3.23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - but now we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. What has changed? Well move on in chapter 5 to verse 6. Let us stop here for a moment because it is important.
"At just the right time..." - it is a simple enough phrase. One we probably would normally Passover in the bible but here we need to linger for a moment. This is not speaking only of 'tick, tick' tick time' but of kairos time - it was the God given moment in history for God to act to save His people from their sins. This little phrase tells me that the cross, the death of Christ Jesus, the Son of God, was no afterthought by God. It fitted God's perfect purpose and plan for the salvation of man. This was the way God always planned and intended to deal with sin. At the appointed moment in history Jesus died for the ungodly. We will come back to that phrase in a moment, but before that we read that 'when we were still powerless...' Paul makes it clear that he, and all mankind, were unable to get themselves out of sin. We were powerless. To be powerless is to be totally dependent on someone else to do what you cannot do for yourself. It was while we were still powerless in sin that Christ died for us. I want you to hear that - Christ died for you when you could do nothing to help yourself and when you had nothing to commend you to Him. So many of you fail to understand that and therefore you fall into the trap of thinking that somehow there is something you must do before God will accept you. God did it before for you when you were unable to help yourself.
Verses 7-8 well Paul wants us now to understand this awesome work of God. He does not want them to be under any illusions about themselves or to take for granted the enormity of the death of Christ for them. In verse 7 he points out the utter folly of the cross. A righteous man believes he has no need for anyone to die for him. Often those who are self-righteous are the hardest to live with and live up to. They are ruled by Law and not grace. They believe by keeping the rules they will be justified before men and God. Paul knew all about this as he had spent a considerable period of his life living according to the meticulous regulations of the Pharisees, until that day on the road to Damascus when he met the risen Christ. Well for a good man someone may possibly die but for a sinner, for an evil and wicked man no one would give up their life. I want you to understand that whether or not you consider yourself a good person or the worst of the worst Christ died for you. The contrast is between the worthiness of the life laid down for the unworthiness for whom it was laid down. God loved: Christ died: sinners benefited. Is that not amazing grace to you ? You know 4 times in verses 6-8 we read the phrase 'dies for.' The emphasis is on the death of a substitute - someone dies in the place of someone else. Christ dies in our place. Paul is not trying to speak of the number of times it happens but the fact that it is almost impossible to find someone to die for someone else, but certainly not for an evil person. Notice as well will you how verse 8 begins 'But God...' once more we are reminded that it is God who has taken the initiative and acted for sinful men. The cross is a demonstration of God's love for us. While we were still in our sins, still at war with God, still turned away from God, He sent His Son to die for us.
Verses 9-11. Now the height of God's love is declared - it brings salvation. We are invited to take our stand on the fact of an achieved justification. Verse 9 begins with the word "For" - here is outworking of verse 8. If we have been justified, that is restored to a right standing before God by the blood of Christ, that is by His atoning death on the cross, then Paul says we will be saved from the wrath of God. The implications are clear - God's wrath is on those who are not justified. But what does that mean? Justification is a legal term. It is a legal declaration by God. God declares us righteous in His sight. Forgiveness of our past sins is part of justification and the imputation of Christ's righteousness is the other part of justification. When we say that God imputes Christ's righteousness to us we mean that God thinks of Christ's righteousness as belonging to us, or regards it as belonging to us. Justification comes to us entirely by God's grace and it is not on account of anything of merit in us. God justifies us through faith in Christ. Galatians 2 verse 16 and Romans 5.1 tells us that justification comes through saving faith.
Verse 10 Paul draws out more of the outworking of this change in status brought about in our lives through faith in the death of Christ. By Christ's death we have been reconciled to God, that is brought in to a new relationship of peace with Him. You see there is a time in all our lives when we were, or maybe some of you still are, God's enemies. Please note it is not an accident that Paul uses the term 'enemies.' It is not that we were, or are, friends who have come up short. We were, or are, in the opposite camp to God. That is why in the gospels Christ says that we either for God or against God. There is no middle ground here. You see wrath and enmity go together. Sinners are God's enemies. Enmity is not the last word, thankfully. God reconciled us - made peace through the death of Jesus. Having been reconciled to Him by Christ Paul says we will also be saved. This salvation is from the wrath of God which in the first few chapters Paul has outlined is God's actions towards sin.
Verse 11 - Paul therefore rejoices in this change of status. He spontaneously bursts into celebration at this. Did you notice the end of this verse? We have received - an accomplished fact. Nothing we do achieves this reconciliation. It is done for us. We do not take the initiative God does. We do not bring about this reconciliation - God does. We do not contribute anything to it - save our need of it. This is amazing grace at work.
Application:
I want us to understand from God's Word that a Christian is someone who through faith in Christ Jesus now stands in a completely different place before God. This is accomplished by Christ's death on the Cross to atone for our sin. We all stand before God as sinners. We all need Christ Jesus. When we come to Christ and confess our sin and ask His forgiveness we move, legally move, from someone on whom the wrath of God is directed to being reconciled to God. We no longer are His enemies but have peace with God. We are counted righteous by God because of Christ. This act of grace re-creates us - we have become a new creation - no longer under condemnation but saved by the blood of Christ. This is the beginning of Christian discipleship.
If I were to ask you to give me a definition of a Christian I wonder what you would say? You may describe how that person lives or behaves. You may even include Jesus Christ in your definition. The description may be positive or it may be negative depending largely on your experience of Christians and your understanding of Christianity. If I was to change the question slightly and to ask you: Are you a Christian? I wonder would you say 'Yes' or 'No.' Often I meet people who genuinely answer that question by saying "I hope so" or "I think so." I want to look at exactly what is a Christian and how do you then live that out in all areas of our lives.
If we look at Romans chapter 5 verses 1-11. We are going to base ourselves primarily in this text , though we will draw from other verses in Scripture. Romans 5.1 is based on the argument begun in Romans 3.21 with the phrase 'But now...' from chapter 1 to 3.21 Paul has outlined the dire situation that mankind, all, find themselves in. He begins 3.21 with a phrase which tells us that something has changed and now in 5.1 he says "Therefore..." What follows is an outline of the wonderful work that Christ has brought about through His death and so we are going to learn what the Bible says is a 'Christian.' I want you to look for a moment at verse 1 because it tells us something very significant has changed because of Jesus. Do you notice Paul says "we have been justified through faith." It is an accomplished fact. It is not something that will happen in the future but is something which has already happened. The result of this is that "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." The implication of that phrase is that at some point in time Paul, his readers and presumably we also, did not have peace with God. I want you to note something here - we have peace with God - which is an objective fact. It is not a subjective feeling but an objective fact for all who are in Christ. Paul goes on then in verse 2 to tell us that through justification by faith in Christ not only do we have peace but we also have gained access to God the Father. Again the simple conclusion is that at some point we did not have access to God the Father. I want you to note also that this place where we now stand is because of 'grace.' It is not because of anything that we have done but is all of grace. Let me illustrate this with a story from the OT. Some of you may know the story of Mephiboseth. Mephiboseth was of the family of Saul. One of the servants dropped him as they ran from the oncoming army of David. As a result he was crippled. David had made a promise to Jonathon to be kind to the house of Saul. When David became king he sent for Mephiboseth and he was carried in and seated at the king's table. You can read the whole story in 2 Samuel 4 and 2 Samuel 9. In fact in 2 Samuel 9 David refers to Mephiboseth as "a son" and not a cripple. This was an act of grace. Mephiboseth was born of royalty but because of the rebellion of his family against God he lost his royal status but under king David that status was returned. He was no longer referred to as a 'cripple,' a badge he had carried all his life, but as a 'son.' Do you think Mephiboseth understood grace? In a far greater way we are like Mephiboseth. We were born of royalty, made in the image of God, we fell and were crippled by sin but one day a king kept his promise and restored us to the banqueting table and referred to us as 'sons and daughters.' The result of this is made plain by Paul - we now "rejoice in the hope of the glory of God." Let me read you Romans 3.23 - for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God - but now we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. What has changed? Well move on in chapter 5 to verse 6. Let us stop here for a moment because it is important.
"At just the right time..." - it is a simple enough phrase. One we probably would normally Passover in the bible but here we need to linger for a moment. This is not speaking only of 'tick, tick' tick time' but of kairos time - it was the God given moment in history for God to act to save His people from their sins. This little phrase tells me that the cross, the death of Christ Jesus, the Son of God, was no afterthought by God. It fitted God's perfect purpose and plan for the salvation of man. This was the way God always planned and intended to deal with sin. At the appointed moment in history Jesus died for the ungodly. We will come back to that phrase in a moment, but before that we read that 'when we were still powerless...' Paul makes it clear that he, and all mankind, were unable to get themselves out of sin. We were powerless. To be powerless is to be totally dependent on someone else to do what you cannot do for yourself. It was while we were still powerless in sin that Christ died for us. I want you to hear that - Christ died for you when you could do nothing to help yourself and when you had nothing to commend you to Him. So many of you fail to understand that and therefore you fall into the trap of thinking that somehow there is something you must do before God will accept you. God did it before for you when you were unable to help yourself.
Verses 7-8 well Paul wants us now to understand this awesome work of God. He does not want them to be under any illusions about themselves or to take for granted the enormity of the death of Christ for them. In verse 7 he points out the utter folly of the cross. A righteous man believes he has no need for anyone to die for him. Often those who are self-righteous are the hardest to live with and live up to. They are ruled by Law and not grace. They believe by keeping the rules they will be justified before men and God. Paul knew all about this as he had spent a considerable period of his life living according to the meticulous regulations of the Pharisees, until that day on the road to Damascus when he met the risen Christ. Well for a good man someone may possibly die but for a sinner, for an evil and wicked man no one would give up their life. I want you to understand that whether or not you consider yourself a good person or the worst of the worst Christ died for you. The contrast is between the worthiness of the life laid down for the unworthiness for whom it was laid down. God loved: Christ died: sinners benefited. Is that not amazing grace to you ? You know 4 times in verses 6-8 we read the phrase 'dies for.' The emphasis is on the death of a substitute - someone dies in the place of someone else. Christ dies in our place. Paul is not trying to speak of the number of times it happens but the fact that it is almost impossible to find someone to die for someone else, but certainly not for an evil person. Notice as well will you how verse 8 begins 'But God...' once more we are reminded that it is God who has taken the initiative and acted for sinful men. The cross is a demonstration of God's love for us. While we were still in our sins, still at war with God, still turned away from God, He sent His Son to die for us.
Verses 9-11. Now the height of God's love is declared - it brings salvation. We are invited to take our stand on the fact of an achieved justification. Verse 9 begins with the word "For" - here is outworking of verse 8. If we have been justified, that is restored to a right standing before God by the blood of Christ, that is by His atoning death on the cross, then Paul says we will be saved from the wrath of God. The implications are clear - God's wrath is on those who are not justified. But what does that mean? Justification is a legal term. It is a legal declaration by God. God declares us righteous in His sight. Forgiveness of our past sins is part of justification and the imputation of Christ's righteousness is the other part of justification. When we say that God imputes Christ's righteousness to us we mean that God thinks of Christ's righteousness as belonging to us, or regards it as belonging to us. Justification comes to us entirely by God's grace and it is not on account of anything of merit in us. God justifies us through faith in Christ. Galatians 2 verse 16 and Romans 5.1 tells us that justification comes through saving faith.
Verse 10 Paul draws out more of the outworking of this change in status brought about in our lives through faith in the death of Christ. By Christ's death we have been reconciled to God, that is brought in to a new relationship of peace with Him. You see there is a time in all our lives when we were, or maybe some of you still are, God's enemies. Please note it is not an accident that Paul uses the term 'enemies.' It is not that we were, or are, friends who have come up short. We were, or are, in the opposite camp to God. That is why in the gospels Christ says that we either for God or against God. There is no middle ground here. You see wrath and enmity go together. Sinners are God's enemies. Enmity is not the last word, thankfully. God reconciled us - made peace through the death of Jesus. Having been reconciled to Him by Christ Paul says we will also be saved. This salvation is from the wrath of God which in the first few chapters Paul has outlined is God's actions towards sin.
Verse 11 - Paul therefore rejoices in this change of status. He spontaneously bursts into celebration at this. Did you notice the end of this verse? We have received - an accomplished fact. Nothing we do achieves this reconciliation. It is done for us. We do not take the initiative God does. We do not bring about this reconciliation - God does. We do not contribute anything to it - save our need of it. This is amazing grace at work.
Application:
I want us to understand from God's Word that a Christian is someone who through faith in Christ Jesus now stands in a completely different place before God. This is accomplished by Christ's death on the Cross to atone for our sin. We all stand before God as sinners. We all need Christ Jesus. When we come to Christ and confess our sin and ask His forgiveness we move, legally move, from someone on whom the wrath of God is directed to being reconciled to God. We no longer are His enemies but have peace with God. We are counted righteous by God because of Christ. This act of grace re-creates us - we have become a new creation - no longer under condemnation but saved by the blood of Christ. This is the beginning of Christian discipleship.
Thursday 17 September 2009
HIS NAME WAS TAM
A man died in my street yesterday.
He was a drunk
He was a drug user
He was a beggar
He was a pest
He is the man that we all see in every town in every country begging for small change for his bus fare but we know just by looking at him that the money is for drink or drugs.
Everyone in the area knew him but very few even liked him. He had lost all respect for himself and would soil himself and walk about without cleaning himself. He was someone that everyone talked about, the laughing stock of the area.
Every week he would have another bruise on his face from being punched because of his behaviour. He was a nasty piece of work and very few if any will mourn his passing.
Yet he was someones son, maybe someones brother.
What brought him to live the way he lived?
What demons was he fighting that drove him to self destruct?
I dont know what we can do as christians to support others like him. If we can do one thing then lets pray for the individual that we may pass everyday. Maybe offer to buy them food, even if they tell us to beat it, lets keep offering.
He was a drunk
He was a drug user
He was a beggar
He was a pest
He is the man that we all see in every town in every country begging for small change for his bus fare but we know just by looking at him that the money is for drink or drugs.
Everyone in the area knew him but very few even liked him. He had lost all respect for himself and would soil himself and walk about without cleaning himself. He was someone that everyone talked about, the laughing stock of the area.
Every week he would have another bruise on his face from being punched because of his behaviour. He was a nasty piece of work and very few if any will mourn his passing.
Yet he was someones son, maybe someones brother.
What brought him to live the way he lived?
What demons was he fighting that drove him to self destruct?
I dont know what we can do as christians to support others like him. If we can do one thing then lets pray for the individual that we may pass everyday. Maybe offer to buy them food, even if they tell us to beat it, lets keep offering.
Wednesday 16 September 2009
faith
My church teaches the truth
No my church teaches the truth
You guys have no idea, my church teaches the truth
There are so many different christian churches that are separated over the most basic ideas of Christ's teaching that I am sure if Christ came just now we would fall to the ground in shame.
I am amazed that so many people, so many intelligent people can argue over nothing but that nothing becomes massive in their eyes.
Be baptized and follow me. What can be more simple than that?
One is baptized because they believe that Jesus Christ is who He says He is and they believe He died on the cross for their sins leading to their eternal salvation. But when man gets a hold of this basic truth they change it and add to it and make things more difficult.
What did Christ say "have faith like little children" Why? Because children don't try to rewrite the Bible to suit themselves. They don't argue over silly points. They accept without questioning.
You can read and reread and reread and reread the Bible and still not understand what it means to have faith. You cant intellectualise the Bible because faith is a free gift. You don't get it because you have a PHD or you have studied at a Bible collage or go to church every Sunday. You get it because God in His grace gives it to you.
Stop thinking that you must read your daily portion of scripture to be a christian
Stop thinking that if you miss church you are not a christian
I have heard people say "oh I missed reading my Bible today and I had a bad day or I never prayed this morning and what a terrible day I had" so they then read more of the Bible and pray more.
People do you really think God is going to punish you for not reading or praying every morning?
Come on your not stupid!!!!
Your Christian heart will lead you to read and pray because you desire to know God and to spend time with Him.
The fruits of the Spirit will move you to meditate on scripture
The fruits of the spirit will move you to pray
A church that teaches Christ as Lord and saviour and preaches the word of God with Love is all you need.
Throw the rule book in the bin because its just a chain around your neck
No my church teaches the truth
You guys have no idea, my church teaches the truth
There are so many different christian churches that are separated over the most basic ideas of Christ's teaching that I am sure if Christ came just now we would fall to the ground in shame.
I am amazed that so many people, so many intelligent people can argue over nothing but that nothing becomes massive in their eyes.
Be baptized and follow me. What can be more simple than that?
One is baptized because they believe that Jesus Christ is who He says He is and they believe He died on the cross for their sins leading to their eternal salvation. But when man gets a hold of this basic truth they change it and add to it and make things more difficult.
What did Christ say "have faith like little children" Why? Because children don't try to rewrite the Bible to suit themselves. They don't argue over silly points. They accept without questioning.
You can read and reread and reread and reread the Bible and still not understand what it means to have faith. You cant intellectualise the Bible because faith is a free gift. You don't get it because you have a PHD or you have studied at a Bible collage or go to church every Sunday. You get it because God in His grace gives it to you.
Stop thinking that you must read your daily portion of scripture to be a christian
Stop thinking that if you miss church you are not a christian
I have heard people say "oh I missed reading my Bible today and I had a bad day or I never prayed this morning and what a terrible day I had" so they then read more of the Bible and pray more.
People do you really think God is going to punish you for not reading or praying every morning?
Come on your not stupid!!!!
Your Christian heart will lead you to read and pray because you desire to know God and to spend time with Him.
The fruits of the Spirit will move you to meditate on scripture
The fruits of the spirit will move you to pray
A church that teaches Christ as Lord and saviour and preaches the word of God with Love is all you need.
Throw the rule book in the bin because its just a chain around your neck
Tuesday 15 September 2009
follow God
I am not a great one for sprinkling my blog with bible quotes because we can all use a quote to suit our own view. Sure I use them when I write something longer and its in the right spirit and context but for the most part I like to write from the heart.
There are 10 basic rules or commandments that God gave us and in my mind if we follow them we cant go far wrong. I say far wrong because we can never follow them absolutely and that is why we ALL need Christ Jesus as our saviour.
Does God love me because I follow His rules or does God love me because I trust and rely on Him?
Those who know me well, know I suffer from panic attacks and I admit many times I have ran about like a headless chicken before I stop and call out to God for help. By nature I am a fixer, that is I like to fix the problem, I like to rely on me but I cant fix all problems and I have learned to go to God first.
For a while there I was trying to live up to what a certain individual wanted me to live up to. I read the books they gave me, tried to think the way they wanted me to, in fact I was trying to please them but the end result was "How could I ever please anyone and at the same time be me?"
I know I should have said NO! I should have said something but I was afraid of not being liked. Afraid of not being accepted. I wanted to please them so much that I was having more anxiety because I couldnt.
Dont base your faith on anyone else but God.
Sure you'll mess up
Sure you'll get somethings wrong but thats were loving friends come and wrap their arms around you and with gentleness guide you.
I will add that the person I was trying to live up to is a good person and I am sure I lack a lot spiritually but with God's grace I hope to be more Christ like.
There are 10 basic rules or commandments that God gave us and in my mind if we follow them we cant go far wrong. I say far wrong because we can never follow them absolutely and that is why we ALL need Christ Jesus as our saviour.
Does God love me because I follow His rules or does God love me because I trust and rely on Him?
Those who know me well, know I suffer from panic attacks and I admit many times I have ran about like a headless chicken before I stop and call out to God for help. By nature I am a fixer, that is I like to fix the problem, I like to rely on me but I cant fix all problems and I have learned to go to God first.
For a while there I was trying to live up to what a certain individual wanted me to live up to. I read the books they gave me, tried to think the way they wanted me to, in fact I was trying to please them but the end result was "How could I ever please anyone and at the same time be me?"
I know I should have said NO! I should have said something but I was afraid of not being liked. Afraid of not being accepted. I wanted to please them so much that I was having more anxiety because I couldnt.
Dont base your faith on anyone else but God.
Sure you'll mess up
Sure you'll get somethings wrong but thats were loving friends come and wrap their arms around you and with gentleness guide you.
I will add that the person I was trying to live up to is a good person and I am sure I lack a lot spiritually but with God's grace I hope to be more Christ like.
Saturday 12 September 2009
love
I have been in churches were the preaching has been 100% true to the word of God but what was lacking was love. That may sound like an oxymoron but its true. There is no doubt the church today needs solid preaching but without a heart of love a church is nothing more than a clanging bell.
How many times have you listened to a sermon and left the church feeling that you have been preached at?
A church is not just about hearing a sermon. A church is about the love that you feel from the moment you enter until the moment you leave but it still does not stop there, because that love extends to each person 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Remember we are all damaged people who need love
How many times have you listened to a sermon and left the church feeling that you have been preached at?
A church is not just about hearing a sermon. A church is about the love that you feel from the moment you enter until the moment you leave but it still does not stop there, because that love extends to each person 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Remember we are all damaged people who need love
Thursday 10 September 2009
self control
2 Peter 1.13-16 - a ready mind. What is your mind filled with each day? Is it a diet of soap-operas, unrealistic fantasies, glossy magazines with airbrushed models and unachievable expectations? Is the Truth of God's Word applied to your mind? Do you bring every thought captive before Christ? Do you actually have a Christ centred mind. You lacking self-control? Where is your mind this morning? Colossians 3.2 tells us it should be focused on the things above - but how often do we actually think of eternity? Of Christ during a day?
1 Peter 5.8 be aware of what is around you. we often lack self-control because we are blind to what is going on around us and within us. We are often spiritually blind to the spirit realm around us. We seriously need to open our eyes - not to see demons under everything and every common cold as a spiritual attack but we are so reluctant to see spiritual things at work in and around us.
Daily Reading of God's Word - there is no substitute for the Word of God in our lives. As humbly as I can say to you this morning - you will not hear God speak and you will have no self-control in your life if you do not read the Bible.
Regular prayer - again there is no substitute for this basic discipline in your spiritual life. There will be no self-control if you are not praying regularly.
Stop sinning. I want to be honest with you and this applies to me as well,I am tired of hearing excuses for sin. I am tired of hearing 'therapeutic' reasons being given for people's sinful behaviour. I am sorry, I am not dismissing therapeutic work but it is time for a reality check - sin is sin. You can dress it up how you like but it is sin and it is an abomination before God. You lack self-control - stop sinning. Be disciplined.
Keep good company. That sounds like old-fashioned advice doesn't it - but let me read to you some verses from Psalm 1. You know if you took each of those verses this week and applied them to your life you would see a remarkable development in your self-control. Bad company corrupts good character. Please do not come to me and tell me that it is a means of evangelism - the truth is you are more likely to fall down than for your friends to come to Christ. I want to say something to some of you which you will not want to hear. God is not fooled by your life. It is a sinful lack of self-control to run with the fox and hunt with the hounds. You cannot be a Christian on a Sunday and live as you please with your friends. Your company reveals more about you than you realise. Keep good company. Ecclesiastes 4.10 - cultivate spiritual friendships. I Corinthians 15.33 curtail the bad influences on your life.
Admit you have a problem with self-control and yield to the Lordship of Christ in your life - Galatians 5.16. Job 31.1 practice good habits and welcome gracious corrections - Samson should have listened to the correction and he would not have fallen into sin and captivity.
Babies have no self-control - they need someone else to feed them, clothe them, bathe them but eventually they grow and mature and do all these things for themselves. Self-control is a sign of growing up. So this morning - it is time that as Christian believers and as a Christian church we held one another accountable to be self-controlled. To lovingly no longer accept the respectable sin of not controlling ourselves.
You know the area in your life that you need self-control. You need to pray about it and then you need to get on board and be disciplined about it.
1 Peter 5.8 be aware of what is around you. we often lack self-control because we are blind to what is going on around us and within us. We are often spiritually blind to the spirit realm around us. We seriously need to open our eyes - not to see demons under everything and every common cold as a spiritual attack but we are so reluctant to see spiritual things at work in and around us.
Daily Reading of God's Word - there is no substitute for the Word of God in our lives. As humbly as I can say to you this morning - you will not hear God speak and you will have no self-control in your life if you do not read the Bible.
Regular prayer - again there is no substitute for this basic discipline in your spiritual life. There will be no self-control if you are not praying regularly.
Stop sinning. I want to be honest with you and this applies to me as well,I am tired of hearing excuses for sin. I am tired of hearing 'therapeutic' reasons being given for people's sinful behaviour. I am sorry, I am not dismissing therapeutic work but it is time for a reality check - sin is sin. You can dress it up how you like but it is sin and it is an abomination before God. You lack self-control - stop sinning. Be disciplined.
Keep good company. That sounds like old-fashioned advice doesn't it - but let me read to you some verses from Psalm 1. You know if you took each of those verses this week and applied them to your life you would see a remarkable development in your self-control. Bad company corrupts good character. Please do not come to me and tell me that it is a means of evangelism - the truth is you are more likely to fall down than for your friends to come to Christ. I want to say something to some of you which you will not want to hear. God is not fooled by your life. It is a sinful lack of self-control to run with the fox and hunt with the hounds. You cannot be a Christian on a Sunday and live as you please with your friends. Your company reveals more about you than you realise. Keep good company. Ecclesiastes 4.10 - cultivate spiritual friendships. I Corinthians 15.33 curtail the bad influences on your life.
Admit you have a problem with self-control and yield to the Lordship of Christ in your life - Galatians 5.16. Job 31.1 practice good habits and welcome gracious corrections - Samson should have listened to the correction and he would not have fallen into sin and captivity.
Babies have no self-control - they need someone else to feed them, clothe them, bathe them but eventually they grow and mature and do all these things for themselves. Self-control is a sign of growing up. So this morning - it is time that as Christian believers and as a Christian church we held one another accountable to be self-controlled. To lovingly no longer accept the respectable sin of not controlling ourselves.
You know the area in your life that you need self-control. You need to pray about it and then you need to get on board and be disciplined about it.
Monday 7 September 2009
A PURE HEART
A pure heart begins with a fear of the Lord God and a right understanding of sin. If you want to understand a pure heart then you must know the holiness of God - you will only know that if you know the truth of the Bible and what it teaches about the holiness of God. Do not neglect the OT and the countless examples from Genesis 1 onwards that reveal the total separateness of God from Creation and His purity, holiness, which will not tolerate any presence of sin. You cannot read the OT without realising how seriously God treats sin and how devoted He is to purity/holiness. We would do well to get that right understanding into our own hearts and what a difference it would make. We need to see with the eyes of God. Too often as Christians we look at a situation and ask ourselves "What is wrong with this?" God looks at a situation and asks "What is right with this?" We need to see with the eyes of God and we can only do that if we know the Word of God. If you do not know the Bible and the truth of the Bible you cannot expect to have a heart that is pure nor will you have a desire for a heart that is pure. There is no shortcut to a heart that is pure. James 2 verse 17 - a heart that is pure is the evidence that we are saved. Purity of heart is evidence of true Christian faith and therefore we should seriously question our faith if we do not have a pure heart or a desire to have a pure heart. You see without purity of heart you will not live a holy life and holiness of life is an assurance of salvation - 1 John 2 verse 3 and 3 verse 19. You see Judas Iscariot had the name of a disciple and he followed Jesus closely for years but he had no purity of heart and his heart led him to betray Christ and to his ultimate damnation. In the opening chapters of Revelation God condemns the churches of Sardis and Laodicea for having hearts that were not pure.
Would you have a heart that is pure? Then you must begin with Jesus Christ. You can have no purity of heart without Christ Jesus in your life. In Romans 6 verse 6 Paul tells us that when we come to Christ our old selves are crucified with Him and they are gone, dead and buried. I need to remind myself of that constantly. My old self is dead. It is Christ who lives and reigns in me today and not the old Adam. When I repented of my sin and put my faith and trust in Christ there was a clean break with sin in my life. As I identify with Christ Jesus I become alive to God and the ways of God. Recognise that when you came to Christ your sin was taken away. Would you continue with a pure heart? Then you must abide in Christ Jesus - John 15 verses 4-5. When Christ abides in me and I in Him then I am called to stop sinning and to stop living the old life - Romans 8 verse 13. You see if I continue to live a life which reflects an impure heart the consequences are eternal damnation - Ephesians 5 verse 5. I must seek the help of the Holy Spirit through prayer and the study of God's Word. When sin is exposed in my life I must repent of it and turn from it. 'I' must do that and not someone else. 'I' need to take responsibility for my own sin because one day 'I' will be answerable before God for it. You see too often Christians want an easy way out and they do not want to put any effort into changing their lives. It is sad, but true, that there is all too often nothing to distinguish the Christians from the non-Christians in this world. A heart that is pure will make you distinctly different from those of the world and the ways of the world.
Would you have a heart that is pure? Then you must begin with Jesus Christ. You can have no purity of heart without Christ Jesus in your life. In Romans 6 verse 6 Paul tells us that when we come to Christ our old selves are crucified with Him and they are gone, dead and buried. I need to remind myself of that constantly. My old self is dead. It is Christ who lives and reigns in me today and not the old Adam. When I repented of my sin and put my faith and trust in Christ there was a clean break with sin in my life. As I identify with Christ Jesus I become alive to God and the ways of God. Recognise that when you came to Christ your sin was taken away. Would you continue with a pure heart? Then you must abide in Christ Jesus - John 15 verses 4-5. When Christ abides in me and I in Him then I am called to stop sinning and to stop living the old life - Romans 8 verse 13. You see if I continue to live a life which reflects an impure heart the consequences are eternal damnation - Ephesians 5 verse 5. I must seek the help of the Holy Spirit through prayer and the study of God's Word. When sin is exposed in my life I must repent of it and turn from it. 'I' must do that and not someone else. 'I' need to take responsibility for my own sin because one day 'I' will be answerable before God for it. You see too often Christians want an easy way out and they do not want to put any effort into changing their lives. It is sad, but true, that there is all too often nothing to distinguish the Christians from the non-Christians in this world. A heart that is pure will make you distinctly different from those of the world and the ways of the world.
Wednesday 2 September 2009
Christ died so that we may live
A few years ago I read a story in a National Geographic magazine. The story was set in a National Park in the USA. A fire had destroyed many acres of trees and when the rangers went to investigate they found a surprising survivor. They came across a little bird at the base of one of the charred trees. The little bird was dead but when the ranger poked it with a stick and it fell over, out from underneath its wings fled three little chicks. In the midst of the raging fire all around, that mother bird had gathered her chicks and spread her wings covering them, shielding them from the flames. She gave her life that they might survive.
Tuesday 1 September 2009
Never leave the house without this
Can you imagine the looks we would get if we left the house without getting dressed! Its something that we would never do but we do leave the house spiritually undressed and the truth is its so important that we are spiritually dressed or to put it another way "spiritually prepared to face the day".
Our attitude to prayer is a reflection of our relationship to God.
Prayer gets you there
Our attitude to prayer is a reflection of our relationship to God.
Prayer gets you there
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