David of Bethlehem: A man after God's own heart!

I was originally going to write a sermon on King David involving the series I wrote on the Holy Spirit and the Old Testament but found it got away from. I have decided instead to do a series on a recent survey of the 50 most well known Biblical and post Biblical men and women of God. I have prayed long and hard about it and am excited about this series. One of these sermons will also be written while I am on a train travelling through India! There are countless wonderful Biblical patriarchs and matriarchs to start with but I chose David of Bethlehem (1040-970 BCE). I sort of covered Abraham and Moses before, this will not just be a compressed biography but also an analysis of lessons we can take from their lives and circumstances. But above all else how God directly worked in their lives even if it did not seem direct at times. The sermon will look at David's life in three portions, the first being his rising action; the Spirit of God falling on him to be the next King of the united kingdom of Israel, his conquering of the Phillistines and then Jebus, and finally one of the lowest points for him, the adultery with Bathsheeba and murder of her husband Uriah the Hittite.

David has a lot to claim. Still recognised as the progenitor of the only royal line of Israel even today, a warrior, general, poet, and musician that was thought to be allegorical until archaeological evidence found evidence of his existence and confirmation of his kingship. But it did not start like that. Truthfully NO ONE EVEN KNEW HE EXISTED BUT GOD! Samuel had been told to go to this remote place called Bethlehem, a small, dusty village no where on anyone's radar. He was told to sacrifice with the house of Jesse that one of the sons would replace the disobedient and disowned King Saul. See the Holy Spirit is not something that makes an appearance after Christ in the New Testament but something that has been referenced since the book of Genesis and whether it was a burning bush, a pillar of fire, a dove, an angel of the Lord or a whispering voice the Spirit had been ready to pour its blessing on David that day; "Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.” But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” “There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.” Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.” So he sent for him and had him brought in. He was glowing with health and had a fine appearance and handsome features. Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David." (1 Samuel 16:6-13)
I love it when the Lord says do not look for what you would expect. He wanted a king unlike what anyone would have expected. God said David was a man after My own heart and that is what He was looking at. David's physical nature, age, and abilities in the grand spectrum of eternity made little difference-and no one could argue with what was expected because it already had been ordained since before time began, Samuel's annoiting and the Spirit's descent were merely a physical and divine affirmation of what God had already decreed. Now you might be thinking what could this POSSIBLY have to do with me? Often times we are called to difficult tasks. It could be something like a difficult missions trip, a demanding post, or even a difficult decision that would make us unpopular and we are hesitant to take that calling up, but the catch is this; we were assigned that task long before the nature of our lives were put into place and so for the sake of our own ease, sanity, and faith, we should just take it up and trust the Lord because not only will it be ok but glorious! And we see that next in David's confrontation with the one known as Goliath.
Saul had been at war with the Phillistines for some time but it seemed their champion could not be beat, now Jesse's sons had been involved with Saul's war (1 Samuel 17) but the Spirit of the Lord after the annoiting continued to grow in David as he grew in the Lord. We see this in his conversation with Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”
The confidence with which David speaks is one who has had his spirit changed, altered, and overtaken by that of God's. Certainly David has no other training or has not changed in any real way outwardly since Samuel but God has began to change the Temple inside of him. What can we take from this? David was at great risk going before Saul every time, and certainly at risk going before Goliath but when the Holy Spirit comes into us, it changes us from the inside out. Sometimes we live, sometimes we die, but always we are successful and victorious in God. I think of a modern example, a missionary known as Hudson Taylor; Taylor was the founder of the China Inland Mission (now known as OMF) and had seen emperors rise and fall, regimes take their place, and survived the Boxer Rebellion of the 1800's. All the time with authority, truth, and confidence to overcome physically, mentally, and spiritually the tyranny that had a throat grip on China.

 

The final portion of David's life in this sermon I wish to address is that of one of the lowest points in David's life. When the golden boy became slightly tarnished, his adultery with Bathsheeba and murder of her husband Uriah the Hittite. Adultery and murder are some of the most serious sins one commit, yet they are viewed as equally sinful to others. Sin is sin to paraphrase the Bible but for anyone to do those two things are quite serious, one was to cover up the other. And there are consequnces to these things, in modern day immorality can bring broken relationship, stress, anxiety, and even death. For David it brought three punishments which the prophet Nathan informed him of, "I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’' (2 Samuel 12:11) After this one would assume that like Saul the Spirit and blessing Yahweh would depart. But we do not see that, David is convicted, mourns, laments, and repents at the temple. He has been shamed, lost his son, and put his kingdom ins jeopardy-yet God says that his line will continue and the son born of an adulterous relationship will be the greatest king of all time. His descendents will even produce the Messiah. God covers David's shame and shows him more blessings than any man should deserve.

So what does this mean for us? It again reinforces our God is a merciful God, that we should have fear of the Lord but that we should have hope. When we sin, we can deal with it, confess it, repent, and move on. We need not be prisoners of the past. Regrets and guilt not only can be let go but because of God's forgiveness must be let go. Who are we not to forgive ourselves if God has? God gave the wisdom to David via His Spirit to conquer Jebus (now Jerusalem) which had been untouchable for centuries; a seemingly minor military movement was directly guided by God and yet we feel God cannot possibly love us for what we have done? David was a warrior, king, poet, musician, general, and the unifying force of Judah and Israel but he was also an adulterer, murderer, liar, and manipulator. If God calls him a man after His own heart, we should be a little bit more forgiving of ourself, Christ has paid the price. Repent, accept the gift of forgivenss, take a lesson from David and be great for God whether the task is minor and in the background or leading a movement. Praise be to God!     

Should Christians go on strike?

I always get so thoughtful when travelling on a train or tram, I write some of my best sermons when travelling. I guess that is why they call me the the travelling preacher in some ways. But I am also a teacher. The other day over 75000 of Victoria's teachers went on strike. I was torn ethically on what to do. Truly I sort of wished I had worked so I could have the money but it got me thinking about supporting my coworkers but I did not want to go to the rally. I decided to get involved with some charity work at my church and then I could use that as a support to witness. but through all this I wondered what does the Bible say about Christians going on strike? There is actually no formal word in the ancient Greek or Hebrew for work stoppage. The Bible clearly says, "slaves obey your masters" and Christ the Lord said short before he was crucified, "no servant is greater than the master/" Later in the Bible it says "masters be kind to your slaves." But there are verses regarding employers and employess, below some are listed, and then I will discuss some of the modern work issues surrounding modern Christians with striking and what are some of the things we should think about.
EMPLOYERS

Now most of the Bible's verses about employers come from the New Testament and it really refers to Christian employers but it really is universal for everyone, below is just a few:
1 Peter 2:18-20: "Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. "
Proverbs 22:16: "Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth, or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty."
Matthew 20:10-15: "Now when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more, but each of them also received a denarius. And on receiving it they grumbled at the master of the house, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what belongs to you and go. I choose to give to this last worker as I give to you."
Leviticus 9:13: "You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired servant shall not remain with you all night until the morning.

EMPLOYEES
One of the main tenents of the Christian faith is submission to authority. God commands it, whether it be to Him, the government, our masters, or our spiritual elders. Below are some verses listed about employees. Again at the time it was written this was directed at Christian workers but again the principles should be universal. Below are just a few verses:
John 10:12: "He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them."
Luke 10:7: " And remain in the same house, eating and drinking what they provide, for the laborer deserves his wages. Do not go from house to house."
Colossians 3:22: "Slaves, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord."

So then I started to wonder should a Christian particularly in a country of plenty go on strike. Unlike less developed countries I do not suffer injustice, and I live a very comfortable life. So why should a Christian strike?

Pros:
It shows you support your comrades, as well as you can use it as a witnessing tool, it opens up conversations.
You can find Bible verses and talk about work relations in Biblical times.
If it is for a just cause for example an employer putting the employees at risk.

Cons:
Is it part of the employee hype?
Does your strike action cause others undue stress?
Have you prayed on it?

In this modern day whatever our decisions we should always come back to the question of what does the Bible say and where do we feel the Spirit leading us? Now if you do not want to strike there are still ways of supporting your coworkers as to not burn bridges.

Donate your day's salary (Matthew 5:16: In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.")
Help set up, use your own personal time to assist in whatever way they need.
When people attack the strikers verbally or otherwise stand up for them as you would for Christ.
In this day and age life is never black and white there is so much grey but thankfully God keeps us focussed on what is right and when we are unsure we can always and should go to Him. Hallelujah!     

God Speaking out of the Storm

Today’s first part of the sermon comes from one of my favourite portions of the Bible Job 38-41. Specifically when God confronts Job out of the whirlwind and humbles him. I always enjoy reading these verses aloud when I am camping because it reminds me of the awesome power of God’s creation and the fact it is a gift from Him. The Lord always seems to speak out of storms in the Bible, or clouds, or other weather phenomenon. There is an account of a slave trader in the 1700’s who was on his ship and there was a giant storm, he was at the helm and sure of his eminent death and the death of all those aboard he prayed to “the God to which I had known but not given a concern.” In that moment this young man became a Christian and he actually did survive the storm. He left the slave trade and became an Anglican priest. We all remember John Newton for writing Amazing Grace but I will always remember him for two very famous quotes, the first is “though my memory is fading I remember two things, I am a great sinner and Christ is a great saviour.” And the second, God does not always speak out of storms sometimes he speaks out of a drizzle, drip...drip drip...
Now in this sermon I will be looking at three key ideas, the first is hearing God’s voice in the storm, the second is, recognizing His authority by what He says, and the third is acting on it. Now when the Lord confronted Job there were some extenuating circumstances. Job had lost his children which in ancient Middle Eastern traditions meant the end of your bloodline and the end of your contributions to the world. He had lost his health, and he had lost his financial empire. He had nothing. He had more than nothing because as the song goes no man is poor when he has friends. And Job didn’t even have that. He had friends that came to try and support him at first. But with friends like this who needs enemies. Job’s wife was unsupportive telling him to curse God and die! His friends coming to comfort Job inform him it’s his fault and surely he must have sinned against God. Now the Lord can speak to us through our family and friends by the way of the Holy Spirit but that is not the case here. Job and his friends are talking about the mind of God in the earlier chapters. What I am interested in with this first part is what did Job say just before God confronted him? In fact it is not Job who speaks but his friend Elihu. Job remains silent, passive, and self pitying. I believe that it was possible all the friends are with Job when God speaks but they run off when confronted by the being they had claimed they knew so much about. What is interesting is that God does not go onto introduce Himself but confronts Job to account for his despair. “Who is this that obscures my plans?” He never once acknowledges that He is God or that Job has a problem, He presents a small amount of His power to show Job and make Job’s problem to what it actually is. See friends, when in the storms that come in life God will never introduce Himself and ask you what the problem is He knows. He will declare His majesty and confront you with the harshest truths. And yet it does not even have to be a loud booming voice but the drip drip drip of the Spirit. Dietrich Bonheoffer, the minister and spy against the Nazi’s was asked when he had decided to go against Hitler. His answer was that the Lord kept speaking softly and tugging at his heart over many years. See hearing the Lord out of a storm is not hard; it is hearing Him in the drizzle. In 1st Kings the author writes The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a still, small voice.” Brothers and sisters we cannot hear that voice if we never stop talking like Job and his friends.
But now that we have recognized God’s voice how do we really know it is Him? In this day and age people do horrid things in the Name of God or because they claim it was His will; mercy killings, abortions, genocide, all in the name of God. People claim there is no way to know and that God gave no proof of His will. This is rubbish! Whenever we are feeling prompted by the Holy Spirit we should always do two things. The first is lining it up with the Word, if it isn’t in the Book it isn’t from God. And secondly ask other Christians to pray about it and if they confirm it then chances are that this is the Will of God. And the ultimate proof is the result. God will always bless anything that is of His Will and in line with His heart. If what you feel God is saying to you out of a storm or drizzle is about glorifying His presence or authority then you are at least on the right track. Now often times we never stop talking to God because we are afraid of what He will say. And we should fear the Lord with all our heart because everything He says is just a fraction of His truth and power. I remember in university I was at a very blessed Christian reformed church. From my first year of uni to my 5th they had grown from a few families to 1500. And in that church God spoke with authority through many people and because they recognized what He was saying as quite possibly the most important message of their lives they were blessed. See Job didn’t recognize his circumstances as a test, he questioned God and what He said and eventually God had to literally come down and beat sense into him. If you ever feel God leading you to something other than the Biblical truth, rebuke it because it is like the wisdom of Job’s friends and wife. Tomorrow I will be posting the second part of this message and my final chapter in the Holy Spirit and the Old Testament.

Christian Unity

Recently there was a brother in Christ who approached me after a sermon. He began to berate me and yell at me for something that he had misheard and misunderstood. However, it did get me thinking on the concept of Christian unity. We are called to live in unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It says in the Bible that when we hold a hard feeling against our brother we should go and make amends with that brother before the sun goes down. We are called to love each other as Christ loved the church, serve each other as Christ served us. I take for my inspiration Epeshians 4:1-16:

"I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, 3 being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8 Therefore it says, “When He ascended on high, He led captive a host of captives, And He gave gifts to men.” 9 Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. 11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, 16 from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love."

This passage can be divided into several components with the overall theme of Christian unity. The first being maintaining the fundamental Christian unity.

Unity as Christians cannot be created because it is through the Holy Spirit. It is something that must be given by God. It must be preserved and we can preserve this through our meek and humble spirits towards our family of God. We are all the body of Christ and a body out of unity will not function and indicates signs of severe distress. We are of one faith with one Father, while fighting amongst brothers and sisters are common in the end we must maintain unified as a family, we may not like each other and that's ok but we must never do anything to discredit the work of God. We all comes from different cultures, creeds, and backgrounds we can maintain unity in diversity.

Unity does not mean we must all follow the beat of the same drum, or to be uniformed. For example, in the Bible Paul says if a brother or sister worship in a certain way do not stop them, for as long as it is glorifying and pleasing to God it is all good. Another example of unity in our diversity is in the example of spiritual gifts. We all have different ones, some are teachers, prophets, healers, pastors, but each role is important, none is higher than the other. Each part of a human body has a specific function and role, if it is not performing that to its full capacity then the entire body suffers. It is the same with the body of Christ. And when we recognise this uniqueness in ourselves and each other we can become closer to the mind of Jesus in understanding how we are unified and connected. So an Orthodox Christian can join in common prayer with a Charasmatic Evangelical-this is the beauty of our faith. However there are characterisitics of unity to recognise and protect:

1) The ultimate measure of unity is the Lord Jesus Christ. We must always use the Bible as a guide to our interactions with other Christians. If we have a harsh conversation with a brother or sister we must consult the Bible and pray to know how to respond.

2) Unity can be measured by the stability of the church. When parishoners grumble and complain about various issues in a church it is a clear sign of disunity. But it is not the ministers job to bring about this unity. We are the ministers and it is our job to preserve and protect this unity.

3) Unity can be measured by the loving gestures we demonstrate towards each other and towards pre-believers. How can we possibly witness to people when they see us squabbling and fighting amonst ourselves?

4) Our final charactersitic of unity is maturity. As we grow in maturity in Jesus Christ the natural evolution is unity. When we are in sync with God's will blessings, maturity, and unity of believers is inevitable. Christianity is the one faith where we do not have to work, create, or by our own merits gain the blessings and power of God, we just need to accept the salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ.

5) Unity must exist not only in our church but between all churches since we are not islands unto ourselves. We loose something beautiful when we segregate ourselves.

6) Unity is useless unless we use it to bring the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to those who do not yet know him.

These are some reflections I have had and some thoughts. But what happened with that parishoner who ripped me a new one? I tried to reconcile with him, he wasn't very keen, when we try to reconcile even if the person does not want to, we have done all we can and must commit it unto God. The Bible says we must try to live as peacekeepers, it says try because we will fail at one point or another. The brother in Christ left our church and from what I have heard has come and gone through several churches. Unity can be preserved but first we must push our hearts and minds closer to God.     

Reflections on Sacraments and Ordinances of the Lord's Supper

I recently preached a sermon on the Lord's Supper. It got me thinking about how the set up of the Christian church has changed over time. The Lord's Supper used to be considered the literal Body and Blood of Christ and it could only be delivered by a priest or senior pastor. Services had a formal set up and followed a certain tradition which was steeped in the Bible. It was called the Eucharist, Holy Communion, and the Lord's Supper. But as time went on, and the Anglican Church came into being we saw a change. It was still the centre of the service, but they were meant as emblems, sacraments. Many Orthodox denominations held the Lord’s Supper to be somewhere in between these two, depending on the devoutness of their beliefs. As Protestantism became more common the set up of the Lord’s Supper went from a priest or pastor serving crackers and wine to a lay person serving grape juice and wonder bread; this was a far cry from the unleavened bread and desert wine that Christ instituted over 2000 years ago.
When we were called to take communion we are told to examine our hearts, minds, and confess any sins. It is said anyone who drinks this cup or eats this bread in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgement on themselves. We were told that only believers in the Lord Jesus Christ were to partake of the emblems. It seems nowadays the services are not centred on the Lord’s Supper, we are given very positive messages that in an age of PC correctness is more concerned with giving a loving view of God rather than portraying Him as He was originally portrayed in the beginning, a Holy God to be feared, loved, and obeyed. And that fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge and it is that knowledge which we should take to the table of the Lord Jesus Christ. But what does the Lord’s Supper mean to us nowadays?

1500 years ago, 150 years ago, 50 years ago most people had it drilled into them that the Lord’s Supper represented suffering, fear of death, betrayal, and the solemn, sombre, and holy preparation for the sacrifice of the Lamb. Many people now think of Christ’s life when they approach the time for Communion. They reflect on His birth, His infancy, His adolescence, and His teenage years. They focus on His laugh, His tears, and His ministry. Many picture Him spending time with His family and His friends, they imagine Him showing kindness to the adulteress woman, the Samaritan, and healing those who are sick. But as we reflect on the Lord’s Supper I find it is a very self-centred endeavour. How often do we wonder what was going through Christ’s mind on that Passover night? Passover is meant to be a time of hope and holiness. But what was Christ thinking as He was saying those words? What thoughts passed through His mind as He was washing their feet? I think that we should try to align ourselves to the Mind of Christ, if we can do this, we may come closer to a deeper appreciation of what Christ did for us on the cross. See the face of God never changes but His clothes of worship sometimes do. The danger there is that we must wonder, first is it Biblical? Does it add to the Glory of God? I think that when it comes to Communion a church must consider carefully before they alter an order of service.     

Holy Spirit in the Old Testament Part 2

Hello brothers and sisters in Christ. Today we continue on from the last sermon on the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Old Testament. Last day we looked at Abraham and how God frequently communicated with him through His Spirit and how certain characters in the Bible were the representation of that Spirit. Today we will be looking at Moses. Moses, a Prince of Egypt felt God on his heart. The Spirit of God guided Moses even before he knew of the God of the Hebrews. The Spirit guided the basket through the Nile, protected him in the house of pharoh, and helped him to grow in wisdom, stature, and honour. But unlike Abraham, Moses came to be aware of God's presence the way many of us do; through a horrible hardship, event, or crisis, whether it is through our own doing, or by some external force.

After the murder of the Egyptian overseer Moses was compelled into the desert, but the question is what compelled him to do so? What preserved him throughout the desert? And what brought him to the well of the Sheihk of Median? The Spirit of God; It was an unseen force pushing him foward, unlike Abraham Moses did not know what was pushing him foward, the Spirit was much more subtle than with Abraham. It was not until decades later in the form of the burning bush that the Spirit addressed Moses. But why this different form? So very different than Abraham's or others experiences. Throughout Exodus we see a very indirect relationship between Moses and the Spirit of God, this is due to the fact that it was inside Moses, and the miracles of God were evident outside. The Spirit of God gave Moses the strength, determination, and wisdom to lead the three million people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land. Judaism considers Moses to be the greatest man who ever lived, but it was the Holy Spirit who made him great.

When things got too much for Moses, at one point he even asked God to kill him. God's response was,

"And The Lord said unto Moses, Gather unto Me seventy men of the elders of Israel, whom thou knowest to be the elders of the people, and officers over them; and bring them unto The Tabernacle of the congregation, that they may stand there with thee. And I will come down and talk with thee there: and I will take of the Spirit which is upon thee, and will put it upon them; and they shall bear the burden of the people with thee, that thou bear it not thyself alone." (Numbers 11:16-17 KJV).

Like Moses when we cannot handle life's load, God's Spirit reinforces, strengthens, and gives us hope. Even since the beginning of time we see this. Let us take comfort and hope from Moses' interactions with the Spirit of God because the same issues we have today, Moses had thousands of years ago. The Spirit of God may not speak to us from a burning bush but speaks just as loudly in our hearts, through His Word, and through our spiritual elders.     

The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament Part 1

More than a century ago before the age of Ozone holes and other pollution the rain that fell on the earth was the same rain that fell at the beginning of time and creation. In the same way the Holy Spirit of God has rained golden drops of grace on us since time forgotten, ancient days, modern times, and will so until the end of time and beyond. Some theologians believe that the Holy Spirit really had not arrived until the time of the Acts of the Apostles. This is due to an over-literal reading of Christ's words, ""But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."—John 14:26. However, this is not the case. In fact the first mention of the Holy Spirit is before the beginning of time, "Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters."-Genesis 1:2.

A common misconception is that the Trinity came consecutively. But what we need to understand is that they are all the same being, and yet different forms. Before you say WHOA, this sounds like some sort of Pagan religion. Think of the Trinity as the States of Water. I just taught this to an elementary school class the other day. We have water, ice, and steam. All are the same element, they have the same properties and yet exist as different forms, and by different names. Think of it another way, when you take a drop from the ocean, it is the same thing but in a different form, size, shape, and name. But once you return it, it becomes part of the ocean. But I am focusing on the Third Being in the Trinity, the Holy Spirit.  Long before Christ came to earth we see references to the Spirit in the Bible and even in extra-Biblical accounts. There are references to the Spirit of the Hebrew God in Babylon, Egypt, and even as far as China.

There are two giants in the faith I would like to look at in this sermon and their personal relationship with the essence of the Father. The first of these is the progenitor of our faith, Abraham.
Abraham, or Abrahm as he was once called hailed from the land of Ur, now known as modern day Iraq, many believe around Baghdad, or possibly Mecca. We see that God first appears to Abraham in the earlier chapters of Genesis. But we know from other references in the Bible that no one could look upon God's face so when the Lord called Abraham it was His Spirit. In fact, almost every instance of God speaking in Genesis to any of the Patriarchs involves a "voice" or a "calling" the actual original ancient Hebrew has the grammatical sense of a non-specific proper noun, meaning a thing but with the same properties as a person. In every instance though of Abraham's interactions with the Spirit it is to do the following:
1) To teach Abraham.
2) To correct.
3) To guide.
The most obvious examples of the Spirit taking the forms of the Trinity was in the visit of the Three. In Genesis 18:1-8, Abraham was in the terebinths of Mamre when three men "in the presence of God." There has been debate that these beings are angels but Abraham clearly addresses them as Lord. God goes onto destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the rest is history. The next example of Abraham's interaction with the Holy Spirit is in the form of Melchizedek. In Genesis 14:18 we see that Abraham recognises Melchizedek for who he is by giving him proper tithes and offerings. You may be wondering why am I just recounting Biblical history? Abraham was a father of nations, a world traveller, a general, and a holy tribal leader. And yet when it came to the Holy Spirit Abraham submitted to the will of God and His Spirit and he felt that grace.

The next giant of the faith I would like to examine is Moses. A cornerstone of our faith, and a fighter for the Lord and human rights.     

Centered in Christ. Colossians Style!

Today we are looking at Colossians 2:6-15. The focus of today’s sermon is staying centred in Christ. We live in a day and age where the line between truth and myth is becoming increasing blurred. Some myths are harmless, like Loch Ness, Bigfoot, and Atlantis. Others are more dangerous, like it’s ok to lie when it’s for a good reason, or that illnesses can be cured with magic. Other myths have eternal issues. For example, all paths lead to God-the B’ahai’s keep this as the centre of their faith. We keep two main beliefs as the centre of ours, that Jesus was the Son of God and that he died and rose again. Today in Colossians 2:6-15 we see Paul plainly lay out that we are to be thankful and centred on Christ, he warns not to be led astray, and then he gives even more detailed reasons to stay centred.

When I was a younger man in my early 20’s I was pretty set on becoming a Roman Catholic priest. I had applied to the largest seminary in Ontario, St. Augustine’s in Toronto, and had reaffirmed my Catholic beliefs. I believed that there was something more that I was missing being in mainstream Christianity. And a good friend of mine Father William whom I had met through this process, had said to be really focussed on Christ you cannot go searching for something more, because he is the centre and everything else should focus us back towards him. He then proceeded to point out how the Bible constantly points towards Christ in the OT. He pointed out dozens of verses that were prophecies of Christ’s coming, life, death, resurrection. But what we are focussing on today is how Paul instructs the church in Colosse to avoid false doctrines and to remind them that they are to be thankful and why.

Many believe that these verses are the centre point and summary of the entire book of Colossians. I personally see it as Paul simply laying out who we are as Christians, why we should be thankful, and why we should keep the first two in mind.

6 “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness-“

More than half a century ago the Pastor and preacher Dr. W.A. Criswell said in a commentary about Col 2:6-7, “The text is very simple, but it also is a great deep—”As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” Paul is saying in this passage rejoice and be thankful you will not die but live. But you must continue to grow as you were taught or dangers could arise and these dangers are as Criswell says “the characteristic of human life that is enticed by and enjoys and seeks change.”
“It is good when we rejoice in a new discovery, when we seek a new adventure, when we delight in a new truth. But it can be sad and tragic if our delight for change removes us from the old landmarks, when it takes us away from the great fundamentals. So I say, our delight in a change, in a new thing, in a different thing, can be a wonderful experience. But it also can be a sad perversion if it takes us away from the ground of our faith and the object of our hope.” So Paul does acknowledge being thankful but you must grow as you were taught, but what does he say in verses 8-9? How does he grow on this?
8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces[a] of this world rather than on Christ.”
Here we see that Paul warns of something that the church in Colossi was guilty of. They had started off with a fundamental faith in Christ but as of lately had lost their centre of balance, they started to bring in other worldly traditions. In verse 8 Paul warns us to avoid deceptive beliefs or to be taken captive by world traditions. And it could be something to subtle you do not even notice it, for example Mormonism-they are absolutely so sure that their way is correct; they have added to the Bible to fulfil some spiritual fulfilment. These nudge Christian’s off centre, for example:
Islam: Jesus was only a mortal human being and a prophet
Judaism: Jesus is the most influential, and consequently the most damaging, of all human false messiahs
Scientology: Jesus is only one of many good teachers.
Hinduism: The teenage Jesus was a yogi and guru to the Jews. As a human, through rigorous spiritual practice, he realized his own universal "god-consciousness”
Mormonism: In the pre-mortal life, Jesus Christ was the firstborn spirit child of God the Father and thus the eldest brother and preeminent above all other spirit children of God.
Jehovah’s Witness: Jesus was a created spirit being who, post-resurrection, was “exalted” to a level higher than an angel.

The danger lies in the deception. We may think we are growing in Christ but we are being taken captive. When we are studying the Bible let us not become religious and theological but the study of the Bible should reinforce the personal relationship. Paul is not saying to avoid the world at all costs; in fact we are to be in the world, but not of the world, not to be taken captive. Avoid getting off centre by adding to Christ to try achieving full spiritual enlightenment (Buddhist Christians). The author C.S. Lewis was attending a conference on the validity of other religions in the world. C.S. Lewis had been an atheist, then an agnostic, then a Christian. When he was asked what made Christianity so different from the other world religion and philosophies he said plainly, grace is the difference, Christianity is the only religion where you have to do nothing, just accept the gift and the change will come. But how do we avoid being taken captive? We need to know and explore more in depth who Christ is.
Look at verse 9-10-Here it is, “9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.” A Jewish man who lived over 2000 years ago, in a remote Middle Eastern area now known as Palestine, who was executed in the worse way possible, and who was God in the flesh. There have been debates for centuries on the identity of Christ. Many religions like I said earlier believe he was man but became more after the descent of the Holy Spirit when he was baptised by John. Others believe he was a transfigured to God on the Mount but before He was just a man. While these questions are on Christ’s humanity and deity is interesting, it’s doesn’t affect our faith. Christ is the Son of God, He loves us, He died for us, He rose again, our sins are forgiven-that’s it, that’s the most important everything else leads up to or points back to it. If you think you need to go outside of Christ for whatever reason is be aware of what is happening, you are being taken away. Paul says we have fullness of Christ already right now. We have it for what Christ achieved in his life, death, and resurrection, and now we can say that what happened to him has happened to us in spirit.     

But Paul goes even further in verses 11-13, “11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh[b] was put off when you were circumcised by[c] Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins.” In verse 11-12 Paul references the custom of the OT. Circumcision in the old testament was a way of showing the covenant between God and Abraham they were to be set apart as God’s chosen people, and in this verse Paul is making reference that we are to be set apart, yes we are all sinners but since we have died to ourselves we are set apart, we have been set aside in our baptism and as Christ has died so we have and as he has been raised so we are raised. We are holy priests set apart, co-heirs with Christ, and through that same co-heir we are princes and princesses set apart with those who have gone home to be with the Lord, those we are on earth together with and those who will come after us, until Christ comes again. Paul points out that Christ has fulfilled a debt that we should have paid. A common trick of the enemy is that even though we are saved we should be afraid of coming before God’s judgement because all our sins will be exposed. I was walking along the beach recently on kangaroo island and I picked up a single grain of sand, and looked at the entire beach, realising that me picking up that grain would not make a single difference in the spectrum of how much is on the beach, in the same way our sins are so vast we could not ever hope to fix them. Sin is degenerative, not just in our actions but in our genetics (the fault of Adam). So here Paul is saying that two issues are being resolved-our personal sin and the inherent sin caused by the fall of man. But see what Paul is doing he is emphasising that what Christ experienced, we also experienced so he is at the right hand of the Father thus we will go to the Father. And how is this accomplished? He forgave us all our sins. Paul is being quite blunt here, laying it out plain and simple. He does this so there is no confusion, no way can people contest it. Paul is saying that if we accept Christ, we are dead to what we were and alive in him-we are to explore that meaning and explore what that means throughout the Bible. There is no fullness of God or greater spirituality outside of Christ.
How does Paul close these verses up?
14 having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
Paul uses powerful imagery here, so that we make no mistake about the centre of our faith, it is nailed to the cross-it is on Christ-our sins are there- you need nothing else, if you move away from that you do an injustice to Christ’s sacrifice that is unspeakable.
The record of my debt no longer exists, it has been wiped clean. We may have sins that we are so ashamed of we have buried them deep, and perhaps you may be worried if you have blown it but Paul says that Christ died for that sin, that sin is gone once you ask for the forgiveness of it.
Just remember that when the enemy tries to throw our sins back in our face saying we deserve death and judgement you can look them square in the eye and say, “I admit that I deserve death and judgement, what of it-for I knew someone who made satisfaction in my stead, his name is Jesus Christ Son of God and where he is I shall be also.”
In the final verse Paul gives us an image to emphasise the victory of Christ. When Paul talks about a public spectacle, he’s referring to an old custom where Roman generals would bring the losers of battles fought and parade them through the streets. It’s quite a degrading process where the victor humiliates them; the Roman citizens would laugh at them, throw rotten food at them, and rob them of any dignity. Paul is saying that Chris came down, defeated Satan, and is now parading him and his other fallen around as the disarmed defeated beings of a battle they are. He is intent that true freedom was won by the cross of Christ, freedom from demonic forces, darkness, and danger are not something we need to go outside Christ to achieve, and it is done.

Ladies and gentlemen do you see why it is important and vital to be aware of our own spiritual health?
 Some applications to avoid losing our centre:
1) Everything you feel God calling you to line it up with a Spiritual elder and the Bible.
2) Get planted in a good church and a good cell group or Bible study. These people can keep you accountable and correct you in love.
3) Be in the world but not of the world, sociologists say that your personality if a composite of the 5 people you spend most of your time with. That being said try to surround yourself with only the strongest Christians.
4) Avoid spending extended times in worldly situations without returning to Christ for a refocus and a re-centre.
So this has been a very scripturally heavy sermon but we can take Paul’s words as our hope, our warning, and our truth. We are a new creation in Christ. We are saved; let us take this new life into our work, our social lives, and into eternity. Let’s pray.
Benediction: The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore. Psalms 121:7, 8

God of Wrath? You're kidding right? God's love right?

This is a topic we always tiptoe around, people often distinguish from the Old Testament God who is vengeful and angry compared to the loving, forgiving representation of Christ in the New Testament however they are one in the same. Ancient Christian sects had many reason to explain this, some believed there were actually two seperate gods and they were battling. Others believed that God had put all his goodness and gentleness in the embodiment of Christ like multiple personality disorder. What many of us do not understand is that God's wrath is aroused from a lack of holiness and an abundance of disobedience. Christ was not sent to be the velvet glove over the iron fist, He was sent to be the one to take that wrath. But what we now forget often is that God's wrath is still there. We may accept Christ as our Lord and Saviour but if we continue to sin that wrath is still there. When we accept Christ we need to move our way from our old lives and that is the very definition of repentence. To not repent means that mark of wrath is still there. But in this blog/sermon we will look at the nature of God's wrath and the conditions of that and forgiveness.

The Characterisitics of God's Wrath

1. Godly wrath is vastly different from the wrath of man.
James 1:20: “because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”

2. The wrath of God is always in accordance with the standards set down in Scripture for humanities conduct and the warnings God has given for disobedience
Deuteronomy 29:26-28; 30:15-20; 2 Samuel 12:9-10; 2 Kings 22:10-13; 24:2; 2 Chronicles 19:8-10; 34:18-28; 36:15-16; Jeremiah 22:11-12; 44:2-6

3. The wrath of God is in accordance with the deeds of humanity. God’s wrath is always in direct proportion to human being’s sin.
Psalm 28:4; Isaiah 59:18; Jeremiah 17:10; 21:14; 25:14; Ezekiel 20:44; 24:14; 36:19

4. God’s wrath is slow and controlled, not sudden and explosive
Exodus 34:6; Numbers 14:18

5. God’s wrath comes after warning of judgment.
See, for example, the warnings given to men in the days of Noah (Genesis 6-9), of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19), and throughout the Old Testament by the prophets.

6. God’s wrath is always provoked by man’s sin.
Deuteronomy 4:25; 9:18; Jeremiah 25:6-7; 32:32

7. God wrath is not exercised in sin but in righteousness.
Romans 2:5; James 1:19-20

With these characterisitics in mind lets delve deeper into the Word and meditate on the mind of God. Wrath meant very different things in the Old Testament. It was not only anger but could also be the description of trials God would send the righteous.
In the New Testament there are over 20 references to wrath in the Bible which are more so warnings of the future and not immediate examples. The following are some NT verses about wrath:
John 3:36
Romans 1:18
Romans 5:9
Romans 12:19
Ephesians 5:6
Revelation 6:17
Revelation 14:19
Revelation 15:1
Revelation 19:15

In almost all these verses they give a very clear method to extinguish that wrath. Acceptance of Christ as our saviour and repentence of our old sinful lives. We must die to ourselves daily. When we truly accept Christ the Spirit changes us from the inside out, if the acceptence is sincere then we naturally begin to change but we must always fight against our carnal nature. As we fight against this nature we realise that we do not want to disappoint the Father so we actively do our best to please God which is and should be the goal of every Christian.

Conclusion
In this day and age it is tough to witness to people because the image of the angry God puts people off. But in the OT it says to fear the Lord your God as it does in the NT. That means the type of fear one would have of say the sun. But the examples of wrath in the OT should serve as a warning, they are very real events and real images set in our minds of how actions have consequences. But thank God that we as Christians do not have to worry about. Through the Lord Jesus Christ our sins are not only forgiven, but forgotten, "punged to the sea of forgetfulness...our transgressions are covered...blotted out" and as such so is God's wrath-thank God!     

Oh Ye Few but Faithful

As I said before this blog may contain some personal reflections but will also be a large amount of theology. I feel that Christianity has gone away from the history, culture, and deep study on the Word and the deeper mysteries of our faith. As such here is my first blog, it is one of my sermons entitled "Oh ye few but faithful" it examines the trend towards these mega churches which is fine but also the benefit and blessing of the smaller churches. My picture there is of a small outback church north of here which is a lifeline to that community. It is important to remember, the first churches were very small and the first band of the followers of Christ were only 12.
"OH YE FEW BUT FAITHFUL"

Some scriptures for thought: John 20:19-29
Acts: 1:12-19
I grew up in a church and it had a small youth group, and a small congregation but a large hearted one. My brother had joined a church in Canada with 1500 people, which blew my mind. To an energetic young person, my little church seemed dull and uneventful. But I think back now and some of my best memories were of that little church. In fact my entire family can trace their salvation to that church. That small congregation will receive their just reward for their dedication in planting a seed. Then I began to think of how in the Bible there are very few examples of large, spectacular displays of God’s power through armies of holy soldiers, or countless worshipers that experience the miracles. It’s the exact opposite. The Alpha and the Omega, Living God, Father Almighty, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, shows us that big miracles occur in the smallest groups.

In this day and age it seems a congregation’s fruitfulness is judged by its size. We have churches such as Hillsong that boasts members in the thousands. A church in Bogotá Columbia claims 40000 members! And of course we know of the church in Korea with 4 million members nationwide. Christ never saw those numbers! The highest we have that He saw was 5000 people and that number had been confirmed by historians. We live in a day and age where churches too small are closed and the congregations merged, moved, or disbanded. The buildings are sold and become homes, restaurants, and mosques, abandoned, or destroyed. Certain church denominational leadership councils actually has set criteria to assess the financial feasibility of a church.

But that is interesting...see it seems to me that the most profound moments with Christ came with only a few people surrounding Him. Consider some of the following. His birth-no more than 10 people are considered to be there. If you have seen the Church of the Nativity where it is believed Christ was born only two people can fit into the cave at a time that marks His birth spot. There in the smelliest, dirtiest location draped in obscurity a few were blessed in a way beyond understanding. Christ only surrounded Himself with a few in His life. Yes, He spoke to large crowds but He felt most at peace when he was with His small entourage-the 12, the women, the children. Most of Christ’s healing miracles were 1-2 people, yes there were witnesses there but He never said to an entire crowd, “ok guys, you crowd of 20 000 or so, you’re healed and you other 5000 your sins are forgiven!” It was always a personal experience because he knew that was a more effective witness. Some of His other miracles include the quieting of the storm, just a few there. How can we forget the Transfiguration? Again only for a select few. Unfortunately He even died with just a few around... But when the miracle of his Resurrection came He appeared to only a few at first then to the 12, keeping it to the few and faithful.

Christ said “where 2 or more are gathered in my name I am there.” He lists such small numbers because it promotes intimacy, individualism, and importance of the individual. I want to stay focussed on these miracles. Some of the greatest miracles in the Christian church come from the underground churches in China. Small, unknown communities of believers no bigger than a handful of Christians meet, pray, and face persecution armed with nothing but their faith. In this case smaller churches are essential for survival.

It seems now more than ever Christianity in many countries is dwindling. Christianity is the world’s largest religion but statistics show only 40% are actually “practising”. Islam is now the fastest growing religion, why is this changing? It comes back to the intimacy and closeness of fellowship. People crave that and in absence of True Water they would be willing to drink the sand of the dessert because they may not even know the difference. The early church was very small, for example how it started in the reading of Acts today. It was almost non-existent. Then there was an explosion which changed the world. We mark this as Pentecost.
The largest miracle revivals will always and must always come from near failure. The condition for a good miracle is improbability and the condition for a great, awesome miracle is impossibility! Christian history is splashed with stories of spiritual hibernation and then a revival is brought to an area by the Holy Spirit. Some of the more notable ones are:
• The Reformation
• Radical Reformation
• The great Awakening
• The Second great Awakening
• The 18th and 19th century revivals in Europe (i.e. Methodist)
God does not condemn large churches but He also goes for the smaller crowd as did His Son. It is hard to be involved in the family of God when that family has 15000 members in a building. I find Christ personally in the church that has a burnt out building as shelter located in the heart of an inner city. I see Christ in the country parish fighting to keep the town it has been intertwined with from drying up due to lack of jobs. And I see Christ in here. In your love for each other, in your love for one another, and in His Holy Word.

Many of the great giants of faith started in smaller congregations, men such as Dwight L Moody, Charles Spurgeon, Amy Carmichael, Oswald Chambers, Padre MacKenzie, Jonathan Edwards, Christmas Evans and more. No my friends, huge churches are fine but I think in a church like that we run the risk of losing the fellowship that comes from Bible studies, small groups, cell groups, and our close Christian family. Let’s pray that there is always room and blessings for both churches, great and small.