| T.R | Title | User | Personal
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| 803.1 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | I'd rather have Jesus | Thu Sep 21 1995 13:19 | 235 |
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DOING LOST, BEING FOUND
Luke 15: 1 - 10
I Timothy 1: 12 - 17
It is important to know WHY Jesus told these stories here in Luke
15. The very religious Pharisees and scribes were critical because
Jesus was spending time with "sinners." Jesus wanted them to know he
came to seek and save the LOST. The ironic thing is, they probably never
realized that THEY were lost and in danger of eternal loss. This
chapter is about what it means to be LOST. Sometimes when I think of
"lost" I remember the story of "Lady Be Good."
In the early years of World War II after the United States forces
invaded northern Africa, crude airstrips were established on the
desert, and bombing runs across the Mediterranean were begun on
Axis targets in Italy. "Lady Be Good" was a Flying Fortress, B-17
bomber, that was making these long and dangerous flights. The
night this plane was tragically lost the crew had made it to Italy
and was returning on a radio beam from the desert air strip. When
the beam would come on the Lady be Good made certain it was on a
straight line toward home. The crew never knew until it was too
late that they had a strong tail wind that brought them back much
sooner than expected. With no visual point of reference they
simply overflew the directional signal and kept straight on until
they ran out of gas and came down in the Libyan desert more than a
hundred miles south of the coast and water. They were LOST. They
simply disappeared off the face of the earth-- no one knew they had
overflown their base into the heart of the desert. Their plane has
been almost perfectly preserved in the dryness-- the men themselves
survived the emergency landing only to die of thirst in the desert
with no one knowing where they might be.
This story has always been a classic object lesson to me,
personally, that doing MY best and following rules, even good rules, is
not enough. These men were literally "on the beam." And perhaps the
chilling part of this story is that people can be lost and not even know
they are lost until it has ruined their lives or worse.
In order to find our way in this world there has to be a
dependable point of reference, a point of personal contact with God.
The Ten Commandments and the Beatitudes and the guidance of scripture
are all good, but they cannot save us, and we can keep them all so far
as human effort is concerned and still be lost.
"Lost" is being where you're not supposed to be. "Lost" is not
really knowing where you belong, or how to get there. "Lost" is having
no valid point of reference outside of "self." A great proportion of
society today is unaware that there is any reference point beyond what
looks good, or feels good, or seems good at the moment. The worst kind
of being lost is not having a clue that you are lost at all.
These Pharisees to whom Jesus addressed these stories about "lost"
and "found" did not have a clue that they were themselves LOST. They
were sure and certain they knew all about God and what God expects; they
"knew" they didn't need Jesus or anything he could tell them. The
Pharisees "knew" because they knew how to "do" religion. Whenever
religion becomes a matter strictly of "doing" with no reference point
for "being" we have people who are lost and don't even know they are
lost.
One thing for sure, the Pharisees Jesus confronted are not the only
people who ever thought they knew more than anyone else about being
God's people. Anytime we think we know how to DO religion apart from
that strong reference point of personal contact with God, and communion
with His Spirit in Christ-likeness, we are on dangerous ground. The
Pharisees are still with us, and sometimes I fear we could say, like
Pogo, "We have met the enemy, and he is US!"
In John Wesley's day the human nature was exactly the same as it is
today. The saintly man John Wesley hand picked to be his successor,
John Fletcher, was deeply concerned about people who DO religion apart
from the SPIRIT, apart from the REFERENCE point of accountability to
Jesus. If you can try with me to "translate" two- hundred-year-old
English, listen to John Fletcher's concern for his day:
TO CHRISTIAN PHARISEES: I address you first, ye perfect Christian
pharisees, because ye are most ready to profess Christian
perfection, thought [sic], alas! ye stand at the greatest distance
from perfect humility, --the grace which is most essential to the
perfect Christian's character; and because the enemies of our
doctrine make use of you first, when they endeavor to root it up
from the earth. That ye may know whom I mean by "perfect Christian
pharisees," give me leave to show you your own picture in the glass
of a plain description. Ye have professedly entered into the fold
where Christ's sheep, which are perfected in love, rest all at each
other's feet, and at the feet of the Lamb of God. But how have ye
entered? by Christ the door? or at the door of presumption? Not by
Christ the door; for Christ is meekness and lowliness manifested in
the flesh, but ye are still ungentle and fond of praise. When He
pours out His soul as a divine prophet, He says, "Learn of Me, for
I am meek and lowly in heart: take My yoke upon you, and ye shall
find rest unto your souls." But ye overlook this humble door; your
proud, gigantic minds are above stooping low enough to follow Him
who "made Himself of no reputation," that He might raise us to
heavenly honours; and who, to pour just contempt upon human pride,
had His first night's lodging in a stable, and spent His last night
partly on the cold ground, in a storm of Divine wrath, and partly
in an ignominious confinement, exposed to the greatest indignities
which Jews and Gentiles could pour upon Him. He rested His infant
head upon hay, His dying head upon thorns. A manger was His
cradle, and a cross His death-bed. Thirty years He traveled from
the sordid stable to the accursed tree, unnoticed by His own
peculiar people. In the brightest of His days, poor fishermen,
some Galilean women, and a company of shouting children, formed all
his retinue. Shepherds were His first attendants, and malefactors
his last companions.
Fletcher was saying we cannot be Christian apart from Jesus and the
Spirit of Jesus.
In a community that was concerned with its own salvation and
success the Lord Jesus was out of step. The Pharisees then found fault
with His actions and attitudes. The three stories about being "Lost and
Found" in Luke 15 are an answer to those who simply DO RELIGION. Jesus
is not in a defensive posture, but rather He is giving us a glimpse into
the heart of God. He sis trying to give a point of reference-- to say
that salvation-- true religion-- is GOD-CENTERED. Jesus is exposing the
self-centeredness that is at the very heart of all sin. (Don't forget,
sin is spelled with an "I" in the middle!)
The McLandress Coefficient When I was studying pastoral
care many years ago I read about the "McLandress Coefficient;"
Herschel McLandress was a professor of psychiatric measurement at
Harvard Medical School, and he developed a way to measure a
person's degree of self-absorption. In spoken and written material
he measured the use of "I," "me," and "my" and the "Coefficient" was
the longest span of time a person can remain diverted from himself.
Eleanor Roosevelt was supposed to have a McLandress coefficient
of two hours; John F. Kennedy's was twenty-nine minutes, and
Elizabeth Taylor's was three minutes. The reason I don't make
Jesus more at home at times is because I need to talk about me,
when maybe he wants to talk about something else. How is your
McLandress Coefficient?
How can we claim not to be LOST when everything we do and say revolves
around US? Even in our worship and praying we cannot escape this
selfish way of living. do we come to this "POINT OF REFERENCE?" How do
we escape our "Self?" A clue to the answer probably lies in the
question. "How do we DO? The answer is WE don't! [[[ In GOD-CENTERED
WORSHIP GOD IS THE SEEKER GOD IS THE SPEAKER GOD IS THE CELEBRATOR ]]]]
The stories of our Gospel lesson speak of one who seeks the lost--
one who turns the house upside down looking for the lost.
If you even WANT to have a God-centered faith, you are a lot closer
that you might think. The worst kind of "lost" is the one who has no
idea he or she IS lost. If you have an inkling that maybe you need to
find and move closer to the Eternal Point of Reference, then you can be
sure that grace is already at work in your life.
I remember a story of the sea from days gone by. A sailing
vessel had become becalmed off the coast of South America and had
drifted for days with not enough wind to go anywhere. Their
supplies had been low when the wind had died, and now they were
becoming desperate for drinking water. They prayed for rain,
prayed for a wind, but just scorching sunshine. Then over the
horizon came a coal-burning steamship. They shouted and hoisted
flags, and soon the ship turned and came toward the becalmed
vessel. They shouted as soon as they could make themselves heard
"Do you have any water for us? We're dying of thirst?" They
thought they heard the reply "Let down your casks into the sea?"
They asked again-- and got the same strange answer. Anyone knows
that to drink sea water doesn't quench thirst and is inviting
death. "Let down your casks where you are right now!" Someone
threw over a bucket on a line and hoisted it on deck, and,
amazingly, it was sweet and fresh. The reason-- they has drifted
into the mouth of the Amazon River, which is 100 miles wide when it
flows into the ocean. They had been dying of thirst with water to
drink all around them.
There are people not far from where we are right now who are drying
up in spirit, and dying of spiritual thirst with the provisions of God
all around them. We don't have to DO anything to bring God where we are.
He is here, waiting for us to recognize Him and ask His help in putting
him at the center of our lives. But we can and we must respond to a God
that seeks us in our lost condition.
How, do you suppose, can we return to a God-centered life? How can
we put God at the center of our worship and our everyday, walking-around
lives? Could I suggest a couple of ways to begin with?
1. If you know you are a child of God, then begin again think about
BEING, before DOING! Ask God to help you give Him his rightful place
at the very center of your life:
1) Sabbath day observance puts God in His rightful place. Is your
Sunday in any way a day set apart for God and rest?
2) Value Being over Doing: Whatever we do, we must ask for the
Spirit of Jesus. If we want to win people to the Christ we love, the
first thing we need to do is NOT learn some sales speech, or some slick
technique. The first thing we need to do is ask Jesus to help us LOVE
people, and let that LOVE shine through all that we are. We are worried
about whether or not we should sing this or that kind of music. But is
we care about people they will understand that, and they might then just
listen about the faith we claim. Value Person values, family values
over thing values and career values reflects the Spirit of God who gave
His only begotten Son so that we could share His life. If we say we
follow Jesus, and then make all our life decisions based on money and
position and profit, or even on bigger and better ministry, will it be
any wonder if we lose our children to the spirit of "Bigger and Better"?
Don't sacrifice your children on the altar of ambition.
2. If you have never made a definite decision to make Jesus Lord of
your life, and give your self over to Him, you do not have to wait one
hour longer! You can let down your faith into His promises right now.
When our religion is a burden, when our so-called "faith" consists of
what we DO, of how good WE are, we are like the Pharisees that day a
long time ago that watched Jesus and criticized Him, to whom he told
these stories. It doesn't have to be that way! God is seeking every
one of us-- to bring us to Himself-- to give us His Spirit-- to make us
his own.
Pray with me:
Lord Jesus-- I turn my life over to You. I don't want to be the
center-- I want YOU to be Lord. Forgive my self-centeredness. Forgive
my trying to DO salvation. Help me to BE Your own dear child. I ask
this according to Your own great promises. Amen.
Sing with me: Just a Closer Walk with Thee (#607 STL)
|
| 803.2 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend will you be ready? | Fri Sep 22 1995 17:51 | 169 |
|
April 30, 1995
A QUESTION OF LOVE
John 21: 1 - 19
THE SETTING of the story in the last chapter of John's Gospel is a
beautiful lake at sunrise. The wind has died off as it often does just
at dawn, and some tired fishermen are rowing their boat through the
rising mists the last quarter mile to the beach. The sail hung limp in
the stillness, and the only sound was the thump of the oars against the
sides of the boat.
It had been more than two weeks since Easter. The disciples had
been in Jerusalem for the Passover; it was then that Jesus had been
taken from them and crucified. They believed he was alive- resurrected
from the dead. They had actually seen him twice, except Thomas had seen
him once. He had said something about meeting them back in Galilee.
They actually weren't quite sure what to expect, whether they would
start up their preaching from town to town again, whether now that Jesus
had risen from the dead he might set up his kingdom- they really didn't
know. The Bible makes that plain. But they did know that life goes on--
and they had to eat. Their boats were still on the beach-- their nets
were ready.
Peter said: "I'm going fishing!" There were finally seven
disciples whogot into the little sailing vessel and went off into the
evening to fish the night through.
As the boat got close enough to shore to begin to make out shapes
through the mist the fishermen could see a figure standing on the beach.
He called through the still morning air: "Children-- do you have any
fish?"
He might have been a shopkeeper from Capernaum looking for fish to
sell. He might have been another fisherman wondering if the fish were
anywhere to be caught. But we know, and the disciples were soon to find
out, it was Jesus Himself.
"Sorry! No-- no fish!"
The answer came back clearly through the still air: "Cast your net
off to the right side of your boat." It was not the first time these
men had fished all night and come up empty. And it was not the first
time they had been told to try again in the morning light. But as they
began to draw their big net back in this time they thought somehow they
had snagged bottom. As they kept pulling they realized the net was
completely full of big fish.
John immediately said, "That's the Lord! Jesus is on the shore!"
And before anyone could say a word Peter grabbed his robe and was over
the side swimming and then wading ashore. The other six had their hands
full with more than half a ton of fish. The cash flow of several
fishermen was about to improve dramatically.
It was probably as Peter was wading up the beach he remembered that
there was a cloud in his relationship with Jesus. He was so very happy
to see him that he would jump overboard, but then he was afraid to ask
him if he was really forgiven for denying him three times the night he
was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemene. So he just helped secure the
boats and haul the nets up on the beach.
THE WARM FELLOWSHIP that followed would never be forgotten by any of the
seven men. Jesus already had a fire burned down to a bed of coals for
broiling, and had some fish already cooking. He called to the men to
bring some more from what they just landed.
I don't know what they talked about around that breakfast fire. I
know there were a lot of questions yet to be asked. Somehow I am sure
that every one of those men was happy just to be near the Lord they
loved. But in the heart of one of those men was a big, hard lump that
wouldn't go away.
A TENDER PERSONAL SCENE is what came next. Jesus got up and motioned
for Peter to follow him down the beach. It was one of those very
private times; only John tagged along. And he took notes.
Jesus asked Peter some very tough questions that morning. Three
questions-- and yet they were all asked with the same words, or very
nearly the same words. [I know some ministers make a big deal out of
"agapeo" and "phileo." That's all right. But I don't think the main
lesson is as obscure as that!]
Three times Jesus said to Peter-- as Peter had denied Jesus three
times-- "Simon-- son of John-- do you love me more than these? Simon, do
you love me? Simon--son of John-- do you love me?" Tough questions--
and because John tagged along and took notes-- and wrote the questions
down-- and they are part of our scripture-- it must be that you and I
need to answer those tough questions, too.
"Peter, do you love me more than these?"
OUR LOVE MUST BE
BEYOND COMPARING WITH OTHERS
Before Peter denied his Lord and stumbled he "knew" that his love
was stronger than anyone else's. His doctrine was purer. His
understanding was truer. But it is always the wrong approach to tell God
we love Him in any comparison to others. "Lord, if all these deny you,
I will still go to the death with you!" Or, "I could never love the
Lord like that person!" If our faith must be in comparison and in
contrast to others the chances are it is on shaky ground. Some churches
build their entire message and ministry on "NOT being like 'the
unbelievers'."
Jesus is not the spirit that takes shots at other followers. Peter
had to say "I love YOU, Lord, and not in relationship to THEM."
"Do you love me?"
OUR LOVE MUST BE
BEYOND COMPETITION WITH OTHERS
Life is NOT fair-- some will have glamorous assignments. Some will
die young. Some will suffer while others seem to prosper. Jesus told
Peter that hard times loomed ahead for him. That didn't shake
Peter. But Peter did say-- "Look at HIM, Lord-- the one following along
here-- what about HIM?"
And Jesus had what seem like harsh words for Peter. But they are
words that every one of us need to take to heart if we are to really
tell Jesus we love HIM. "What is that to YOU? You follow ME!"
"Do you love me?" "Feed my lambs, my sheep!"
OUR LOVE HAS TO GO
BEYOND THE WORDS OF CONSECRATION
Each time in response to Peter's anguished answer: "Lord-- you know
I do! You know I love you..." Each time Jesus said: "Then you take care
of my lambs, my sheep!" Love is more than warm feelings in worship
services or quiet times. Peter understood that love is God, not Peter,
at the center of life and all.
And it was then, and only then that in the same place as three
years before-- with the same words as when he started out-- Jesus
renewed Peter's call: "FOLLOW ME!"
SO, HOW DOES THIS INTIMATE STORY APPLY in a sermon on a Sunday
morning in the spring of 1995 A.D.?
Somehow I want to hear Jesus-- I want to make certain that there is
nothing between Him and me-- I want to answer His hard questions: "Lord,
you KNOW I love You!"
1. I love you with a love that I will not compare to other's love.
I will seek YOU-- not the recognition from others that I am
seeking you.
2. I love You with a love that does not compete for position. If I
am in a place of responsibility, I hold it only on your command.
I do not grasp. If you put me aside, or anywhere-- in a hard
place--that is your wisdom, your will-- and I will love you!
3. I love you with a love that wants to be obedient. Not just
words, Lord, but with my body, my reasonable service.
With Peter I say "Lord, you know all things! You KNOW that I love
you! Let me hear you say, 'FOLLOW ME!' "
Prayer
Hymn - # 133 I Love You, Lord
[Dr. Russell F. Metcalfe, Jr. can be reached at [email protected] .]
--
|
| 803.3 | Is There a God? | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend will you be ready? | Mon Sep 25 1995 12:09 | 175 |
|
May 29, 1994
THE GOD QUESTIONS
TRINITY SUNDAY
John 3:3 Jesus answered [Nicodemus:] "Very truly, I tell you, no one can
see the kingdom of God without being born from above."
On a day called Trinity Sunday you might imagine that we ought to
consider the deep and profound mystery of the Triune God. But when we
begin asking deep and profound questions, as Nicodemus did one night to
Jesus, we find that Jesus does not deal in abstract speculation.
Instead He challenges us about life in the Spirit, and He asks us if we
are ready to live by the very breath of the Spirit. We come to know God
when we respond to His self-revelation. We come face to face with that
revelation when we dare to ask what I call the God-questions. To begin
to think about God, as impertinent as it sounds, we have to ask at least
three God-questions: (1) IS THERE A GOD? (2) WHAT IS GOD LIKE? (3) WHAT
IS THIS GOD TO ME?
I. IS THERE A GOD?
It may seem sacrilegious to ask such a question from a Christian
pulpit. Of course there is a God! As a church we certainly are not
neutral in this matter. We believe it, we teach it. We certainly don't
intend to leave to our children to decide for themselves when they turn
eighteen. We have all been brought up on the (good) assumption that
there is, indeed, a God.
And yet for most people God is not very "real." The fact is that
many believers-- even professing Christians-- live from day to day as
though God did not exist at all.
"IS there a God?" YES! And yet each one of us has to answer that
question for ourselves! This is a God-question-- a question that only
God can finally answer by revealing Himself. There are what Morris
Weigelt calls "intersections"-- God-crossed moments in each of our lives
when we KNOW we have encountered God.
Oh, we could speak of evidences: (1) We see God in His Creation:
the heavens declare the glory of God! (2) We come up against the fact
of God in The written word: "God at sundry times and divers manners has
in the past spoken to us by His prophets! (3) The highest "proof" of
God is The Living Word: Jesus said, "If you have seen ME you have seen
the Father!"
But finally, God Himself must make Himself known to us. And He
does, He will, if we are prepared to respond. He does this in many
different ways.
[ I think on this college-dominated weekend of the godly men and
women who showed me God's face while they taught me here at E.N.C. I
have a portrait of Bertha Munro on my study wall. God has spoken to us
by their faith; faith revealed to faith. And I often wonder can OUR
LIVES answer, begin to answer that question for those who may be seeking
an answer?]
It is a question that cannot be satisfied by cold logic and
facts, but God still does convince and assure us when we dare to look
for Him (Hebrews 11:6.) We seek Him with the gift of faith, and He
makes Himself known. Have you been thinking of intersections in YOUR
life where this question has been answered beyond doubt for you?
But that brings us to a second question:
II. WHAT IS GOD LIKE?
There are plenty of people who are ready to answer this question
for us if we will let them. Some of the answers are helpful, or even
necessary.
We have our "official" definitions of God; the Manual of the Church
of the Nazarene states:
"We believe in one eternally existent, infinite God, Sovereign of
the Universe; that
He only is God, creative and administrative, holy in nature,
attributes, and purpose; that He, as God, is Triune in essential
being, revealed as Father, Son and Holy Spirit."
Such definitions are both good and necessary. But they are not
complete or exhaustive. And they don't leave us with a very warm
feeling.
The Bible gives more light on the question of what God is like;
there are names that are deeply significant. Names like Elohim (power;)
and "the unspeakable name" which the ancient Hebrews would not speak--
the name Moses heard as I AM THAT I AM, the name we call Jehovah and
scholars usually call Yahweh. The Jews had compound names Jehovah-Jirah
(the LORD will provide) and Jehovah-Nissi (the LORD my banner) and
Jehovah-Shalom (the LORD send peace) and Jehovah-Shammah (the LORD is
there) and Jehovah-Tsidkenu (the LORD our righteousness.) Another
Hebrew name for God was "El Shaddai" (God our Nourisher) "Adonai" which
means lord or master was usually spoken when the 'unspeakable name" was
read with the eye.
Jesus told us a lot about God; He showed us that God is SPIRIT, and
that God is LIGHT and God is LOVE and God is LIFE ETERNAL. Interpreted
and illuminated by the other New Testament writers we learn to say that
God is HOLY, God is ETERNAL, God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We say
that God is OMNIPRESENT and OMNISCIENT and OMNIPOTENT.
And the very highest insight we can have into the question WHAT IS
GOD LIKE? is Jesus Himself. It was E. Stanley Jones who was famous for
saying, "We have a Christ-like God!"
But once again-- this is a God-question. Many people are genuinely
convinced that God exists. But all too many of them do not know for
themselves that God is like Jesus, His Son-- loving, full of grace and
truth; and that God is present in this world by His Holy Spirit. In His
great love, God reveals that He truly is like His Son, Jesus. In Jesus
God has come all the way to where we live.
But there is a third God-question. And if we are open and honest before
Him we will face the challenge:
III. WHAT IS THIS GOD TO ME?
God IS, and that's a fact which we may be convinced of. God is
like Jesus, and we can believe that, too. But nothing really happens in
the spiritual world until by grace we respond to God in a
person-to-Person connection. The greatest question is not just what God
is, or what He is like, as important as those questions are. But the
important question for you and for me is Who is God to YOU?
Jesus put it to Nicodemus this way: You can't even SEE the kingdom
of God until you are born again! The Spirit has to breathe life into
your being! If you don't have a personal relationship with God you are
window dressing in the kingdom of God, absolutely void of spiritual life
and power.
Two-hundred-fifty-six years ago last Tuesday-- although in 1738 it
was a Wednesday- - an Anglican priest went half-heartedly to a small
group Bible study and prayer meeting. The study was Romans. The leader
read an introduction to the book by Martin Luther. The Anglican priest
said later that as the leader was reading he felt his heart was
strangely warmed, and he knew in his heart that he was a Christian, his
sins forgiven, the assurance of his salvation certain.
Before that hour John Wesley had eloquently answered God-questions
one and two both with word and with deed. He knew more about God then
than most of us will ever know, perhaps. But after he answered the
third question he did not just know about God, he knew that he KNEW GOD!
And his Gospel message abruptly changed, and he began to go about his
duties with a different emphasis. "You can KNOW God! You can KNOW YOU
ARE SAVED!" And in the next 50 years John Wesley changed the course of
history!
Jesus does not deal in abstract speculation. He asks us if we are
ready to live by the very breath of the Spirit. He says to YOU "Are YOU
born of the Spirit of God?" If you want to know more about God, let Him
have your heart! God has made Himself known to you in many ways! You
know that He is a God who loves you so much that He gave His only
begotten Son so that you might have eternal life. But who is this God
TO YOU just now?
Prayer: Great God, our Father, our Friend! Speak again to us
today! Help us to know not only THAT You are, and WHAT You are-- but
help us to KNOW YOU! Help us to belong to YOU! Help us to return Your
great love, and share it with a world that needs You. Amen
#42 (in Sing to the Lord) Praise, My Soul the King of Heaven
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
|
| 803.4 | Confidence in Prayer | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend will you be ready? | Fri Sep 29 1995 09:58 | 259 |
| September 15, 1991 pm
Luke 18:9-17
"Two men went up to the temple to pray ..."
CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER
Confidence is a great thing; but clearly in the matter of prayer it
is important where we place our confidence. Jesus told a story to warn
us not to place our confidence in our own righteousness while we look
down on others.
I. A VERY SIMPLE STORY
Instead of giving long abstract lists of rules, Jesus often clothed
the truth in stories. Here in just a few words Jesus gives a picture of
two men going up the place of prayer, the temple.
1. One key thought of this story is that we do not always know
what is going on in someone else's prayer life. We cannot see other
people as God sees them. One thing we can be sure of, people are
probably not what we think they are. An Old Testament scripture
tells us that man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD
looks on the heart! (I Samuel 16.)
2. Here were two very different men. One was a man obviously
accustomed to the temple and its surroundings. The other was in a
line of work that the average Jew of his day despised; he collected
taxes from the Jews for the occupying Roman government to make a
living for himself.
One man was used to prayer; he was at home in the temple; he
lived for the established religion. The other was not the kind we
might think of as religious. But there they are. Both of these men
have climbed the Hill of Zion to the beautiful temple in order to
pray.
Jesus described first the Pharisee:
II. THE PIOUS MAN AND HIS PRAYER
A. It isn't wrong to be pious
1. If you read the story carefully, it does NOT say that all
Pharisees are bad; not all religious people are suspect. As a
matter of fact, the thing that makes the story striking is the fact
that here was a religious man who is not all that he would seem to
be on the outside.
2. A popular negative reaction to piety today- to religion-
would seize this story, as it does every failure of every prominent
Christian, and use it as proof that there is nothing at all to
supernatural faith. That is not what Jesus intended.
3. Pharisee means something negative to us now, but Pharisee
was not the dirty word then it has become. Paul was a Pharisee!
This greatest Christian, perhaps, that ever followed Jesus claimed
to be a Pharisee; he was raised a Pharisee, and told a throng in
Jerusalem that he WAS a Pharisee.
Pharisees were people who loved God's word; who strove to live
by God's Word; who believed in eternal life-- who would make
wonderful church members if they were also people after God's own
heart.
Pharisees-- people who "live by the book"-- make good
Christians if they ever really get thoroughly converted! They
TITHE! They APPLY THE BIBLE TO THEIR EVERYDAY LIVING! They go
beyond what they were taught of the letter of the law, and live out
the JOY that comes from serving whole-heartedly!
B. True piety is inherently humble
1. Where this Pharisee's faith went wrong was in a misplaced
confidence. It is one thing to have poise and self-confidence in
the normal sense of the word; it is quite another thing to come to
the place of prayer and face Almighty God like this man in Jesus'
parable did.
2. How was that? How did the Pharisee pray?
a.The Pharisee prayed with Thanksgiving! Isn't that good?
Thanksgiving is good-- except that this man thanked God for being
so fortunate as to know him! I know that doesn't "make sense" but
there it is!
b.The Pharisee prayed with an awareness of sin It is necessary for
us to see that humans are sinful, and God is holy, or we cannot
appreciate the need for salvation. This man had a well-developed
sense of sin---- except the only sins he saw were the sins of other
people! He saw every sin except his own!
c. The Pharisee also was aware of others as he prayed. When we
pray, we are made conscious of the fact that we do not, we cannot
live in a vacuum.
Real prayer makes us aware of others,. and of their needs.
But this dear religious pious Pharisee compared himself with
others-- to his own advantage. "I thank you that I am NOT like to
others-- especially that wretched tax gatherer over there!"
In summary, here was the Pharisee's prayer:
Thanksgiving ... for what he had to give to God!
Litany of self-righteousness (good things!)
Awareness of sin ... of everyone but himself!
Comparison ... not with Jesus but with weak and obvious.
3. And what was the result? The RESULT of this great
utterance was exactly ... nothing! ZERO. Dead air.
When souls go away from the place of prayer-- from worship--
dry and empty-- it could be that there was no spiritual food and
drink available; it could be that there was spiritual food and
drink in abundance, but no means of receiving the supply.
[Transition:] It is probably hardly worth our time to listen
in on the prayer of the other person in the story Jesus told. He
isn't a seasoned, initiated spiritual giant just as yet. He isn't
quite "at home" in this beautiful temple. All the same, here he is:
III. THE SINNER AND HIS PRAYER
A. A sense of distance
One thing that strikes us as we look at the word-picture Jesus
has given us of these two men at prayer is that this other man,
this not-so-attractive, not-so-religious man is standing a distance
apart from the others; perhaps a distance from the altar itself.
What is this "sense of distance"? What is this feeling of
separation? Do you think you ever know what I am talking about?
Does God ever seem far away, ever?
Do you seem somehow set apart from others who seem to be "in"
and you are "out"?
Is it hard to draw near to God? Does it seem so,
sometimes? Drawing near to a great God-- is not small
stuff. Beware of the person who has God all figured out;
who never stands in awe of the holiness and power and
justice of God.
Yes, God has taught us to call Him "Father!" And yes, God is
love. God is also Other.
Am I saying we ought to stand at a distance? Or that we should
recognize the distance that is already there?
What this tells me is that this unlikely pray-er-- this
publican-- had a healthier concept of God than the Pharisee had. He
sees God as HOLY! He sees himself as unworthy to draw near!
B. Awareness of need
The next thing that strikes us about Jesus' description of
this publican is that he is NOT telling God how GOOD he is! As a
matter of fact, he is having trouble looking up into the face of
God! There is a keen awareness of unworthiness manifest here.
Can you identify with that at all?
C. There is somehow boldness to ask for grace
Somehow the holiness of God has drawn him to the place of
prayer; somehow the gift of faith is being imparted. In spite of
the OTHER-ness of God, this poor sinner is emboldened to ask for
forgiveness!
Courage to ask is a step of faith; a gift of God to those who
come to Him.
D. Sorrow for sin
We don't have much to go on; but Jesus said this man 'smote
his breast,' with his head bowed. I believe this is evidence of
sorrow for sin. It was enough for a loving Father God!
Not much of a prayer, you'll have to admit. But what was the
result?
E. A prayer that reached the Throne of God
RESULT: This man, not the pious, religious one, went back down
the hill to his home justified !! On the basis of Christ's
provision-- on the basis of the love of God forever identifying
with sinful men of all ages-- even though he didn't understand--
even thought this is just an illustration, remember it is a parable
of truth told by Jesus-- and Jesus said this man's prayer hit the
center of the bull's eye.
Did he KNOW he was justified?
Well, remember it WAS just a story. But it is a story that
has happened over and over again across the millennia-- and the
answer is:
I like to think he KNEW he was justified, too!
Conclusion:
There you have it: a contrast of ways to come to God-- of ways
to seek God's face-- of approaches to the need for God and
salvation.
But wait a minute-- there is a little story at the end of this
story. It isn't a parable, this time. It really happens.
IV. THE 'OTHER STORY' -- "COMING LIKE A CHILD"
A. It may have been just a coincidence. But I think it perfectly
fits. The other story is that just then some mothers came by with
their children, and they wanted Jesus to touch them, to bless them.
B. You know how the disciples reacted: "This isn't kid stuff--
beat it! Don't bother the Master!" Jesus seems to say: "This is
exactly what I have been talking about! No "important people"
understand! Only the true in heart may come!"
C. What do the tax-gatherer and little children have in common?
The stories are really NOT so unrelated: Whoever does not receive
the kingdom of God like a child does not enter at all!"
What do the tax-gatherer and a little child have in common?
Honesty? A certain humility? Children may be self-centered
(aren't we all underneath?) but they know that they aren't "big
folks" either!
D. Our confidence is to be placed in the willingness of God to
meet us, cleanse and save us, and accept us by grace into His
family. When our confidence is in our own spiritual wealth we are
in grave danger!
In the last book of the Bible are messages for every church,
of every age. But the most serious warning is to a church which
acted very much like this Pharisee in Jesus' story, The Church at
Laodocia. The Church at Laodocia had everything! Except it had
lost the simple, straightforward, humble, life-changing love of
God!
E. How can we pray with confidence? The place for our confidence
in prayer is in the holiness and the love of God! In Him we can
know that we are justified freely!
Prayer
Hymn #60 (Exalt Him) Give Me a Holy Life
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
|
| 803.5 | A Man of God in the Church | CSLALL::HENDERSON | But what are they among so many? | Wed Oct 04 1995 17:02 | 167 |
|
Acts 21:10 A MAN OF GOD IN THE CHURCH
Philip, the Evangelist
Intro:
When Paul was on his last journey before his arrest and
transportation to Rome, he stopped several days at a home in
Caesarea. It must have been a spacious home, and I'm certain it was a
pleasant home. The entire party travelling with Paul were made
comfortable there.
The name of the home's owner was Philip. Not Philip the Apostle,
but Philip the evangelist-- the same man who was chosen to be part of
the first "church board" and serve tables, as recorded in Acts 6.
Even though Philip was called an "evangelist," I'm not sure he was
an evangelist like we think of evangelists. He was a layman, not part
of the recognized clergy. But he was chosen to a place of leadership
because he was full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.
We get the first glimpse of Philip in Acts 6, where he is chosen as
one who help in practical ways within the church. Philip is the second
deacon mentioned.
A second passage highlights two episodes of evangelism in which
Philip had key roles. In Acts 8, Philip is used to spark a revival in
Samaria, and then leads an Ethiopian official to faith in Jesus Christ.
The last passage in Acts 21 we have read. It mentions that Philip
has four daughters, all of whom are prophetesses. You might say in
summarizing this man of God's life that he was (1) a servant in the
church; and (2) a witness to Jesus in the world; and (3) a Christian in
his own home. It was because of men and women like this that the church
of Jesus Christ changed the course of history.
I. PHILIP WAS A SERVANT IN HIS CHURCH
If the church is really a unit bound in the life and love of
Christ, there is no room for rivalry, jealousy, or pettyness. There are
no "mean" positions. There are no "privileged classes." And all exist
to serve the good of the whole body. Jesus Himself served. Mature
Christians will serve the church because in so doing they are serving
Jesus.
II. PHILIP WAS A WITNESS IN HIS WORLD
The 8th of Acts tells of persecution, and the church, including
Philip, had to leave Jerusalem. They proclaimed Jesus wherever they
went. Proclaiming Jesus is the total task of the total church!
Proclaiming Jesus is all that the church needs to do. But proclaiming
Jesus must be done by each one of us. Proclaiming Jesus is done from
the pulpit. But proclaiming Jesus is done wherever Christians go, and
whatever they do. It is much more than preaching. In fact, the pulpit
is NOT the primary means of evangelism in God's agenda!
In Samaria Philip proclaimed Christ. I wish I had more details
(Acts 8) but it seems a community was stirred because of Philip's
witness. As we said above, the "clergy" saw fit to supplant Philip, but
that was "all right" with him! In the desert (where the Holy Spirit led
him) Philip proclaimed Christ to a solitary man. but in so doing Philip
may well have influenced an entire NATION for Jesus Christ!
If we are willing, and if we ask God to fill us with His Spirit and
keep us full day by day, we will have opportunity to proclaim Jesus! It
is exciting! It is rewarding! It is what we are all called/privileged
to do!
III. PHILIP WAS A CHRISTIAN IN HIS HOME
As we read at the beginning, the last reference to Philip has to do
with his home in Caesarea, and his four daughters who were all engaged
in Christian endeavor. (Acts 21)
It is great to serve in the church. It is perhaps even better to
witness to Jesus in the world outside the church walls. But to my mind,
the real acid test of a Christian, and the kind of Christian that makes
the church a healing place is the woman or the man who is at home the
same kind of Christian he or she professes to be in the public arenas of
life. A powerful Christian is one who is a Christian in the home!
How might we describe such a home? What sort of man was Philip at
home?
There has to be "reading between the lines" here. But when a godly
man has godly children, there is something wonderful and holy going on!
I would make these suggestions:
In a Christian home there is:
A. DISCIPLINE THAT IS UNSELFISH
Discipline is good and necessary. But it must flow from LOVE, and
not from fear or selfish ambition.
[Illus: I saw "ambition" that grabbed a little boy's arm in anger--]
B. FAITH THAT IS HEURISTIC
We "do things" in certain ways. But we learn to serve God for
better and better reasons. We are not spiritual because we copy our
godly mothers and fathers. We are spiritual because we dare to break
new ground and follow Jesus.
A mother or father that is growing in his/her faith will NOT
confuse the children in the home. They are smarter than that!
C. COURTESY BEYOND ETIQUETTE
Some peoplethink that courtesy is a matter of rules. there is a
right way and a wrong way to hold a knife and fork, and a proper order
in which to pass the dishes. And that is all well and good.
But happy is the home that has discovered that the heart of
courtesy is respect for the individual, and kindness. [Who was it that
said that "a gentleman is one who never inflicts pain"??]
And happy is the home that considers every member of the household
worthy of courtesy!
There is weight in words!
Too often parents become prophets with their prophecies of gloom
and doom, with their pronouncements in anger.
"You are no good!"
"You are stupid!"
Say that to your BOSS! Or to a perfect stranger! But don't say it
to your little daughter or son!
Conclusion:
Perhaps I've taken a little poetic (or prophetic) license in
filling out Philip's life. But I believe the outline of Acts will bear
me out: He was (1) a servant in church. He was (2) a witness in the
world. And (3) He was a Christian in his home!
I think we can each do all three of these things!
We can have a servant-spirit in our church, and relating to our
church. We can "find the open man!" We can talk up our brothers' and
sisters' strengths!
We can proclaim Jesus in our world! Make this a matter of prayer--
to ask Jesus to give us a chance to talk about Him outside the walls of
the church each week!
We can pray every day we live for grace so that we can live like
Jesus in our homes!
We cannot afford to omit ANY of these three things. But if we
MUST-- lets not omit #3!!!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.6 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | But what are they among so many? | Wed Oct 04 1995 17:03 | 170 |
|
April 10, 1994
BLACK HOLES AND ANCHOR LINES
John 20:31
One afternoon several years ago I was fishing along the edge of
Nantasket Roads-- the shipping channel that goes past the Boston Light.
It was well into the fall and past the summer heat. I had a VIP guest
in my little boat, and I really wanted to make sure he caught some
flounder. (He was Sam Hunt, the biggest line backer in the NFL and a
starter for the Patriots.) I was ready for a couple hours of good
fishing over the high tide and I swung my boat around to face the tide
and threw out my anchor. It was fifty to sixty feet deep and the tide
was beginning to run, and I let the anchor line run out through my
hands. As a matter of fact it ran out so fast that I came to the end
sooner than I thought and I watched with a sick feeling as the end went
overboard. I grabbed for it, and then I quickly started the engine and
tried to swing back and grab for it but it was out of reach and the line
was slowly sinking out of sight. We were drifting with no way to hold
steady.
How we finally got an anchor and had a good day of fishing is
another story. [Should I tell you?]
But I never will forget the sinking feeling when my anchor was
lost. It was a mini picture of what it is like whenever things we
really count on aren't there any more. Have you ever lost an anchor?
THOMAS LOST AN ANCHOR WHEN JESUS DIED. When Jesus died something in
Thomas died, too. Jesus simply had not performed according to Thomas's
idea of what a Messiah was supposed to do. Thomas thought he knew
Jesus. He found out he didn't know Jesus quite as well as he thought he
did. Thomas loved Jesus. Make no mistake about that. Do you remember
how when, before that last Passover when Jesus wanted to go to
Jerusalem, and the rest of the disciples tried to tell Him it was too
hot, too scary, too risky-- and Jesus insisted--do you remember it was
Thomas who said, "Well- let's go with Him and die!"
But when the actual death came it shattered Thomas. Thomas had
seen Jesus calm the wind and sea. He knew that Jesus had stopped a
funeral procession and given a mother back her son. He believed that
Jesus was powerful. but then Thomas had seen Jesus die in
weakness. Jesus was really dead!
Thomas really wanted to believe Jesus is alive. The rest of the
disciples had said they were convinced that Jesus was risen. They were
all hyper about it. Two men said they had met Jesus on the road to
their home in Emmaus; the disciples said that the Sunday evening three
days after the awful crucifixion Jesus had suddenly appeared in the
Upper Room with them, had actually eaten a little fish. They were so
sure. But not Thomas. "I'll have to see-- no, I'll have to feel it for
myself!" is what Thomas said.
Did you ever get the feeling that just about everybody else had a
closer, tighter faith than you? Did you ever wonder how they could be so
sure, when you have doubts? It may just be that there is more of Thomas
the doubter in each of us than we like to admit.
The fact is that Christians are not always honest and transparent
about the battles of doubt that we fight. We like to testify about our
victories, and it is right and good that we witness to our faith. But
also we need to be dead honest with ourselves and with God, never
seeking to hide the places where we fail, or where we fight a running
battle with temptation.
We think 'I am probably the only one who fights the battle I fight
like this. I am unworthy of being esteemed as a Christian.' Or, 'If
"they" knew the thoughts that come to my mind! they would never have any
faith in me.' What we may not realize is that every Christian has to
fight the good fight of faith. The wars and battles of faith are not
the neat, textbook, cut-and-dried black-and-white illustrations we hear
in sermons. They are real, and they are often confusing.
The only people who never fight battles with doubt are people who
never address the problems faith presents in a real world. There is a
name for these "ostrich people." It is "obscurantist." Only
obscurantists never fight battles of faith, and they give up their inner
core of integrity. They fight with everyone who dares to disagree with
them. They become the true fanatics. In some ways fanaticism is only
insecurity turned inside out. But genuine faith is forged on the anvil
of honest doubt. It says I wish I could believe, but here is reality I
cannot understand! Please, God, I want to know!
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HONEST DOUBT AND THE SIN OF UNBELIEF.
Sometimes they superficially look alike. Perhaps sometimes they are hard
to tell apart.
Unbelief is grounded in a heart that will not give up its worship
of self. It says to God "Show me and I'll think about it and maybe I
will and maybe I won't!" Doubt, on the other hand says, "Show me and I
will gladly own You as Lord!"
I have based my entire life and my life's calling on the trust that
God answers that cry! Hebrews 11:6 says that the faith that destroys
doubt is a seeking faith. What do we do when we are seeking a Jesus who
seems hard to reach? What do we do in the dark moments of life when it
almost seems our God has failed us? Black holes of agony when we send
our desperate prayers winging their way to the Father, while NOTHING is
happening!
What sort of proof does it take to dispel doubt? How many times do
we have to break through again to spiritual reality?
THOMAS LOST HIS ANCHOR, BUT JESUS AS HE REALLY IS CAME TO THOMAS AND
BECAME HIS SURE ANCHOR!
Thomas said, "I need proof positive!" Jesus came and I think that
Thomas was almost embarrassed. Maybe not. But then Jesus told him that
there would be people who could not see or touch Him that still would be
able to believe. But still, we need that personal touch!
We need Jesus to speak salvation to us! Others can help-- we can
show you what the scriptures say. Here is where our text comes in.
John said that personal touch is the very reason that he wrote his
Gospel: "These words were written that you might believe that Jesus is
the Messiah; and that believing, you might have LIFE through His name!"
Come to the Word, come seeking the Savior. Ask the Spirit to show you
that Jesus died for YOU!
And Jesus does come! He comes with His own assurance to those who
seriously seek Him!
We need Jesus to be our anchor in the storms of life. Even after we
know Jesus, there are times when our faith is tested. It seems that
from time to time we walk as it were in the dark by naked faith. As
Dr. William Greathouse wrote years ago in a little book called The
Fullness of the Spirit, "Again and again we need to break through to
spiritual reality." In those times if we will trust Him, and cry to
Him, He will not fail us! He hears us!
I almost wish that I could share with you some of my darker
moments-- the desperate prayers that I have prayed. Some are simply too
involved with other people's lives. I have prayed those quiet prayers of
desperation. And even though at the time I could not see His hand, God
has been there.
[This past week a voice out of the past; a time when there was a
desperate prayer, and very little reason to think there was hope. After
the confrontation - and tears there were a few years of, from my
viewpoint, little spiritual progress. Imagine my joy to hear a clear
testimony from a professional person, a leader in his field of science,
saying: "My wife (he named her) and I have found the Lord. We're
teaching the fourth grade Sunday School class here in our local church!]
Conclusion
I lost the anchor on my little boat because I failed to hold on to
the end of the anchor line. But our eternal life does not depend on how
well we can hang on, but rather it depends on our saying to the Savior
who comes to us: "My LORD and my GOD!" God does not reveal Himself to
unbelief. But God always reveals Himself to seeking, honest
doubt. . . the doubt that wants to become faith.
The God of the Bible has always been a God who sets before us the
alternatives. Choose to live with CHRIST! The Resurrection is an
invitation to us to choose life!
Shall we pray:
Hymn 264 Thine Is the Glory
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.7 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | But what are they among so many? | Wed Oct 04 1995 17:04 | 236 |
|
May 28, 1992
THE JOY AND WONDER OF WORSHIP
John 4 / 2 Kings 6: 12 - 23
I. A LESSON ON THE HEART OF WORSHIP
The story of Jesus at Sychar, of His conversation with the
woman at the well of Jacob there, is itself a "well" to which we
go again and again for an inexhaustible supply of refreshing
truth.
Jesus is returning from the Passover holidays in Jerusalem,
returning to Galilee, and He has chosen to go through Samaria
instead of around it. Samaria is simply a no-man's-land to be
hurried through, so far as the disciples are concerned. But to
Jesus it is different.
Jesus engages a Samaritan woman in conversation; He asks her
a favor, actually. She is not exactly a 'pillar in the
community,' nor any expert in things holy. But she is precious
to Jesus. He reveals Himself as Messiah. He tells her that He
has a source of living water that eternally satisfies; He tells
her that He is what LIFE is all about! She believes-- she goes
and brings back a crowd from the town. They prevail on Jesus,
the Messiah for the pure Jews, and Jesus stays with them three
days. Evidently Jesus believed He was their Messiah, too!
But during the course of the conversation the subject of
worship was brought up by the Samaritan woman. It is perhaps not
the main point of the conversation at all. But Jesus "throws
away" a line which we may well ponder here this evening:
The woman is personally wounded by the knowledge that Jesus
knows all about her, and her failures. She seems to try to
divert the conversation, to "squirm" to one side or the other
with a question about "religion." She lifts here eyes to the
twin peaks above the well, Ebal and Gerazim, the mountains of
blessing and cursing-- the well and the two high hills are there
at this very moment:
"Our fathers worship HERE," she says. "You (Jews) say that
we need to come to Jerusalem for true worship. Which is true and
right?"
Here comes the throw-away:
"You worship what you do not know," Jesus says,
"But we (Jews) know what we worship, for salvation is of the
Jews." But without a pause Jesus continues:
"But the time is coming-- in fact, it now IS, when neither
here nor there will be the place to worship, for God is Spirit,
and they that worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in
truth! The Father is actually SEEKING such, those who will
worship in spirit (Spirit!)"
A. Three ways to worship
1. IGNORANT WORSHIP; sincere, tradition - informed only; not
to be despised, but to be superseded:
Samaritans, polyglot; scriptural antecedents diluted and
polluted by mixture; despised by Jews
Innocents in our midst, informed second-hand; their ideas of
God come from what they observe (Luther: "I did not like to think
of God as "Father" because my father was so severe ..." )
Danger of any second-generation from reality in revelation:
if it departs from first-hand attention to revelation its worship
is IGNORANT
2. INFORMED WORSHIP; based on God's Word; "salvation is of
the Jews" Theirs was the Torah; theirs was the history of Exodus;
theirs was the physical witness of Jerusalem, the Temple:
Psalm One: Blessed is the one who meditates in God's Word
day and night
Levitical truth: Sacrifices, observances, .. all pointing to
Schema: Hear, O Israel, the Lord is ONE!
3. INSPIRED WORSHIP: They that worship must worship in
Spirit and truth. The true worship of God must both be INFORMED
and INHABITED BY GOD HIMSELF!
B. SPIRITUAL WORSHIP is the intended way we shall worship.
Spiritual worship requires ONE THING! God's Presence! "When
Messiah comes, He will take care of this dilemma!" "I that speak
to you right now, I AM Messiah!"
1. The PLACE is not unimportant: "Our fathers worshiped
here; you Jews worship in Jerusalem... which is right?"
Jesus did not say that the place means nothing:
"This is My Father's house, and you have ...
"Jesus went to synagogue as was His habit..
"My house shall be an house of prayer ..
1.a And the METHOD is not unimportant, either:
The very coming together is ordered: "Forsake
not the assembling of yourselves together...
Prayer is proscribed: "Our Father ...
Sacrament is ordered: "When you come together
2. But everything else is subservient to God's Presence
The Spirit of Jesus
The Spirit of glorifying HIM
The Spirit of truth, guidance
The Spirit that does His three-fold work of conviction,
conversion, and inspiration (John 16:8)
II. A SURVEY OF THE STYLES OF WORSHIP
A. Worship defined by William Temple:
"Worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of
God, to feed the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the
heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of
God." It is finding in God the real purpose of our being, and is
the ultimate joy in all of Creation.
"His is my soul, redeemed from all sin
His is my heart, purified within
His is my life, transformed from above
His my whole being, an offering of love!"
-NYPS Theme Chorus '60- '64
1. Worship is the expression of one's true self in love
before God. There is personal worship, with an intimacy known
only to the two participants; and there is corporate worship,
when individual bodies of believers express their worship.
And it is when two or more people expose their hearts in
worship that potential disagreement and lack of trust begin to
rear their ugly heads. For each true self is different from each
other true self. There must be some give and some take.
2. The temptation is to make judgments of methods of worship
in terms of value before God: i.e., "Cathedral worship" is better
than "Banyan-tree worship" is better than "Appalachian worship."
a. The critical, judging spirit excludes "outsiders"
b. The non-discriminating spirit offends the Spirit: Jesus
must be lifted up; excitement does NOT equal inspiration.
c. The Spirit will do what He will; there are "mixtures" of
humanity and divine blessing in the best of worship, perhaps;
3. There is a temptation to imitate other methods and miss
the vitality; to despise one's own roots/reality and see only the
best/beauty in other ways. God wants us to give OUR best to Him!
William Willimon on "Episcopal converts;"
"Baptists make overly-gung-ho Episcopalians.. "I like
Episcopalians who were born Episcopalians..."
Conclusion:
A. Explore our own sincerity in worship; the element of trust
in daring to bring OUR best to God, and not to despise others.
In the 6th chapter of 2 Samuel is a scene right
out of a Shakespeare drama: David has been successful
beyond his dreams; God has blessed him. He goes to the
house of Obed-Edom with proper preparation and brings
the Ark of the Covenant to the center of the capital
city as a symbol of the fact that Israel shall be
centered in God.
As the ark moves toward the city David is overcome
with joyous emotion and begins to dance before the ark
with all his might. He gets right down with the slave
girls and the street people in a genuine expression of
his delight.
But in an upper window, standing half-hidden
behind the curtains, stands David's wife, Michal,
Saul's daughter, intently watching. She is a princess,
and not used to seeing the king mingle with the help.
She is disgusted in her heart, and when David finally
comes in she tells him as much. "You really
distinguished yourself today, King David! It wasn't
your finest hour!"
David's reply was, "It wasn't for your benefit! It
was before the Lord! And I will give to God whatever I
believe I should give to Him!"
And the account goes on: (23 And Michal, the
daughter of Saul, had no child to the day of her death.
She was barren from that time forward!
B. Even now, the way you are applying this scriptural message
may tell you more about yourself than you want to know:
No doubt you are vindicating the way YOU love to worship, or
the way that YOU believe is true worship. We are made that way--
truth at first seems to reinforce our own position.
But however you consider worship to be ideal, there are
those who truly worship in Spirit and in truth who on the surface
of it would be uncomfortable with your style; and there are those
who know God and worship in truth whose ways of approaching God
would not be comfortable to you.
The most unattractive attitudes I know about have
been (1) Kentucky Nazarenes; and to a lesser extent,
because I have had lesser exposure, (2) snobbish "High
Church"-types, which I have usually written off as
"liberals."
1. Please see that each one of us can be both the
discriminator and the discriminated against; and it is imperative
that we do not go the route of barrenness and despise those who
are worshiping God in truth, even though in their humanness they
may seem culturally out of it.
2. Please pray that the expression of our worship here will
be the sincere expression of who we are in total love and
obedience before the great God we love. Pray that the evolution
of our worship will enable the tasks of the church, EVANGELISM
and EDUCATION and FELLOWSHIP and SERVICE to flourish in powerful
ways, for WORSHIP IS THE HEART OF THE LIFE OF CHRIST'S BODY, THE
CHURCH!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.8 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | But what are they among so many? | Fri Oct 06 1995 11:06 | 228 |
|
October 9, 1994
GOD, OUR HOME
Psalm 90:1 Lord, Thou hast been our dwellingplace through all
generations.. & Hebrews 3:6 [Christ Jesus] whose house are we.. if we
hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end
... & Ephesians 3: 14 - 21 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith
...
There is a recurring theme here of "home" or "dwelling" or
"abiding." The Psalmist says, "Lord YOU have been our dwelling place."
Then in Hebrews and again in Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 God is spoken
of as dwelling or living in us. Hebrews seems to say that together, as a
body, Christ is building us into a house where he can dwell. Paul prays
"that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." And do you remember
Jesus saying to us (John 15) "If you abide in ME, and my words abide in
you . . . ask what you will!" We do not dare overlook this theme of
abiding, dwelling, being "at home."
There is a deep longing built into your heart and mine for "home."
What makes "home" is more than place (although that can be very
important.) People-- PERSONS - are really what "home" is all about.
God has made us for community. It is great when families love each
other and trust each other. It is great when communities are more than
just isolated individuals. Friends I made while in college are still as
close to me or closer than some blood relatives. God has made us for
lasting fellowship with Himself. Beyond human love (and what escapes us
sometimes) is the lesson that God has also made us to be more and more
at home with HIM.
He does not demand that we be hermits and give up human friendship
to draw near to Him. He has made it clear that He certainly intends that
we love one another. But God does desire that we learn that He is the
reason for that deep longing for "home." That ache in our hearts for
God is the most important desire we will ever have.
We hesitate to call this God-hunger the most important quality of
our faith We think the most important thing is success, or productivity,
or ministry. (The elder brother in the story of the Prodigal-- was
faithful in his chores-- but the father wanted his affection, and wanted
him to love his brother.) The most important thing in all the world is
being "at home" with God. God our dwelling place; Christ "at home" in
us.
Henri J.M.Nouwen, as reported in the most recent Christianity
Today, once told a gathering of Baptist ministers these shocking words:
"Ministry is the least important thing. You cannot NOT minister
if you are in communion with God and live in a community. A lot of
people are always concerned about:'How can I help people? Or help
the youth come to Christ? Or preach well?' But these are all
basically non-issues. If you are burning with the love of Jesus,
don't worry: everyone will know. They will say,'I want to get
close to this person who is so full of God.'" CT, Oct 3, '94, 28
This strikes home to me as I read it, because drawing close to God,
being filled with Him is demanding work. It begins when we decide that
God's will is worth anything, that God's way is best even when we don't
understand it. It begins in earnest with the "BREAKING" part of
sacramental living. It seems sometimes that we are willing to do almost
anything to avoid "being broken"!
"Who is Henri Nouwen?" "Does he do any ministering?" " Has he
ever accomplished anything?" Many of you are "old friends" with Henri
Nouwen, but others have yet to meet him. He is one of my favorite
devotional authors, a Hollander who began studying to be a simple parish
priest, but had such a brilliant mind he was almost pushed into
academia. After years of what might only be termed "brilliant"
successes, as a tenured professor at Yale, as the author of a score or
more good books, and working in Latin America and spending time in a
monastery in Genesee, New York, and teaching at Harvard University, for
the last eight years Henri Nouwen has been pastor of a community of
mentally and physically handicapped persons, located just north of
Toronto, Ontario.
As gifted and productive as Nouwen has been, he has always been
restless, and to a certain extent rootless, but now he has found a sense
of being at home in his ministry to the people who do not know him as
"that famous holy man," but just Henri, who cares about them.
Nouwen wrote that the more "important" he became, the more empty he
felt; until when he got to Harvard it was very difficult for him to
maintain the simple contact of being at home with God (MY words of
interpretation.) One big reason Nouwen feels at home is because he
experiences God's love through people who love him for himself, and not
because he is a celebrity. He says,
"If (handicapped people) express love for you, then it comes from
God. It's not because you have accomplished anything. These broken,
wounded, and completely unpretentious people forced me to let go of
my relevant self-- the self that can do things-- and forced me to
reclaim that unadorned self in which I am completely vulnerable,
open to receive and give love regardless of my accomplishments."
So Henri spends much of his routine days caring for people who
cannot take care of themselves, and would be outcasts in the world at
large. Just a few more words of wisdom from this modern day holy man:
"The evangelical movement has become just a bit victimized by a
success- oriented culture, wanting the church-- like the
corporation-- to be successful. On that level the mystical
tradition of communion with Christ is important. 'I am the vine,
you are the branches. If you remain connected with me, then you
will bear fruit.' The fruit is not success." CT, Oct 3,'94,29
But strangely enough, to be "at home" or seeking to be at home in God,
or to make God at home in us-- does not lessen real spiritual
accomplishment. Nouwen's spiritual journey is not over, and he
continues to be a blessing through all the evangelical Christian world.
One other person who rejected "success" in favor of spending a
life-time seeking to be "at home" with God was a man who once was a
student at a sister holiness college. As a young man this young man,
Stanley Jones, sought to be sanctified entirely, set apart for whatever
God wanted in his life. I suppose there have been others who did what
he did, but I never saw one in our own denomination: Stanley was
offered- - elected-- to the highest post in the United Methodist
Church-- elected a bishop. It is like being elected a General
Superintendent. Certainly God's will! But Stanley Jones turned it down
and instead went back to India where he was serving as a missionary. He
was one of the great Christians of modern day times. Truly a holy man,
Jones was at times controversial, outspoken. Let me tell you a little
of the story of a man who was learning to be "at home" in God:
As a seventeen-year-old, he was converted under the hell-fire
ministry of Evangelist Robert J. Bateman (who went down on the Titanic.)
Stanley went on to seek and claim the experience of entire
sanctification. He began to read Hanna Smith's book The Christian's
Secret of a Happy Life, and on page 42 the Holy Spirit said: "Now!"
Stanley obeyed, and without any emotional surge he claimed the fullness.
He testifies that it saved him from the extremes of emotionalism and of
rationalism. Stanley was from that moment "all out" for God-- with no
holds barred.
He professed to be called to preach-- but forgot his outline in his
first sermon and left the pulpit, dumbfounded. But before he got to his
seat, he felt he should give his testimony; and a young man came forward
and was converted [-- and later entered the ministry.]
Stanley did not take his crisis of being sanctified wholly to be a
static, milestone in the past sort of thing. He wanted to be being
filled with the Spirit! He told of how as a student at Asbury, in a
dorm-room prayer meeting, the Holy Spirit moved in in a way that Stanley
had never known before-- and never knew quite the same way again.
He was "spirit (Spirit) intoxicated!" for three or four days. After
a day or so the emotion almost totally wore off; but there was a sense
of God's Presence that swept the entire community. Every student in
that Christian college professed to a right relationship with the Lord,
along with scores of people from the community.
And for Stanley, that filling became the touchstone for a life of
living in the fullness-- depending on the fullness-- again and again
breaking into the fullness of the Presence of the Lord. Whatever it
took for Christ to be "at home" Stanley wanted that more than anything.
He declares he did not live on "mountaintops" or speak in tongues-- did
not know extremes of emotions. He simply lived in the fullness of the
Presence.
As we said at the beginning, he was elected a Bishop of his
church-- the highest honor that could be offered-- and graciously
declined so that he could continue a missionary in the poorest country
of the world that he knew. He touched thousands of lives. He spoke
here in 1949-- and I still remember his text!
He was controversial. He was wrong many times. He said himself
that there were times when he went on his own judgment and failed.
Stanley Jones learned to live in the dynamic of being filled with
the Spirit. He knew his crisis of being sanctified. He had his
mountaintop experience(s) of full assurance. And then he simply lived
in the expectancy and the dependency and the obedience of the
Spirit-filled, Spirit-dominated, Spirit-saturated life! When you looked
at E. Stanley Jones you saw an ordinary man. When Stanley Jones spoke
and acted, somehow Jesus was exalted! There is a deep longing built
into your heart and mine for "home." HOW CAN YOU AND I FOLLOW THAT
SPIRITUAL HOME-SICKNESS AND FIND OUR HOME IN GOD, AND MAKE GOD AT HOME
IN US? I really believe that God wants to make his home in your heart;
he wants to share every part of your life. (Revelation 3:21)
1. God has CHOSEN you-- called you to himself. Have you responded
to God's choice? Are you His child? You are already loved! But when
God calls, we need to respond!
2. God has BLESSED you. If you have asked Him to save you, He has
already give you his Spirit and increasingly wants you to have the full
fruit of the Spirit. There are gifts and graces waiting for you. All
the resources of God's storehouses of grace are available to make you
all God wants you to become.
3. God needs to BREAK you! HERE IS WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE
ROAD! God does not have servants who serve Him because of fear, or
because they are trying to save themselves, or any other selfish reason!
God asks that we make our lives available to Him simply because we love
Him and trust Him!
We cannot plumb the depths of being at home in God until we are
willing to empty out the things that hinder, and set aside our own will
and "die out!" (Holiness people may have said some pretty extravagant
things here. The fact remains there needs to be a sacrifice made:)
Romans 12: 1,2. We must renounce the sovereignty of self forever in
favor of God's good will.
4. And then God will see to it that we are GIVEN where He says we
are needed! There is where the JOY is! Wherever God's will and our
loving obedience coincide there finally is the greatest joy we can know!
I want to minister well; I want to be a good preacher, or a good
"do-er." But far, far more-- I really want to be the kind of person
Henri Nouwen was talking about-- remember what he said:
If you are burning with the love of Jesus, don't worry: everyone
will know. They will say,'I want to get close to this person who
is so full of God.'"
THAT puts me under conviction! The world is waiting for people who
are really at home with God, and in whom God is at home. The world will
seek out a church where God is pleased to be "at home."
Prayer
Hymn #462 Sweet Will of God
|
| 803.9 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Red Sox..the tradition continues | Tue Oct 10 1995 17:37 | 246 |
|
Subj: Sermon: "The Marks of the Church" Part 1 of 5
This week, you're getting a series of five sermons on "The Marks
of the Church." The first installment includes an introduction
so it will be longer than the rest. Enjoy! - Mark Metcalfe
--------------------------------------------------------------------
THE MARKS OF THE CHURCH
Part 1 of 5 sermons introducing the universally held
theological truth that the church of Jesus Christ is
one, holy, catholic and apostolic, with application
for a church at the end of the twentieth century.
INTRODUCTION
Christian is a church word. A Christian is a person who wants to
follow Jesus. "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." (John
6:37) A Christian is a person who has LIFE in God (II Corinthians
5:17. "If any (one) is in Christ (they) are a new creation; old things
have passed away; behold all things have become new."
A Christian is also a member of Christ's Body, the Church. (Acts
2:47) " And the Lord added to their number daily such as were being
saved." Every Christian in the New Testament after Pentecost was a
baptized member of the Body of Christ.
The relationship between the individual Christian and the Church of
Jesus Christ is basic and vital. To best understand this relationship
it is essential to ask "Just what IS the Church?"
How? Since total objectivity is impossible, I would state where I am
coming from in this look at the church. I believe in a Christo-centric
study of scripture; that is, reading to find out how to draw closer to
Jesus; how to be more like Him; how to get to know Jesus better. My
desire to know more about the church is a quest from faith to faith: I
believe that we here (in Wollaston) are even now a true church, and part
of the one true church of Jesus Christ. This coincides with a growing
conviction that ultimately the local church is the basic unit of the
Church.
Without apology, our look at the church stems from an honest quest
for growth: I believe that we are/are to be a part of a larger
whole. This larger church is not limited to our denomination or even to
our particular tradition (or that branch of Christendom with which we
are most familiar and comfortable); our spiritual pedigree is
Wesleyan/Anglican/Reformed/Arminian. But I want to see this church be
all it can be!
Wesleyans are not fundamentalists.
Given our Wesleyan viewpoint, still I want to be as honest as I
can. And any study of the church fosters controversy over
definitions. When we look for an authoritative word, on the church or
about any other spiritual term, we probably feel pushed into an
either-or battle between the liberals and the fundamentalists, based
squarely on the nature of the scriptures. This struggle has monopolized
the attention of many theologians and most of the pastor-theologians for
more years than we would care to admit.
What neither liberals or fundamentalists would care to admit is
that there seems to be a common thread in their approach to the
scripture. Both wish to speak with an authoritative voice about what the
scripture is or is not, what it says, what its purpose is. In short,
both sides seek to have control of the holy writ.
When we talk about God and the holy things it is all too easy to
fall into saying very profound and very stupid pronouncements.
Fundamentalists have a reputation for denying obvious scientific
facts. Grudgingly and slowly the ultra-conservative religious positions
have accepted some new ideas. The human side of the God-human
connections have been down-played; i.e., the humanity of Jesus, and the
human authorship of the books of the Bible. Sometimes this has been
carried into a rejection or downplay of the human part of the God-human
relationship we call salvation. God does everything, even to the
selection of who shall-shall not be saved. Liberals have a reputation
for denying or "scientifically explaining away" the unseen or spiritual
realties described in the Bible. The divine side of the God-human
connections have been reduced to natural phenomena. Jesus was the
highest expression of humanity, but that is all. The Bible is inspired
exactly as other great literature is inspired. Prayer and religious
exercise are subjectively true and useful if the individual so deems
them.
Is there a way to break the hold of this controversy? Can we come
to the Bible to seek and find God's mind about the church without either
throwing away our living faith in God OR being so closed-minded that we
know exactly where we should end up even before we begin?
Wesley's Authority Checks
In a Christo-centric approach to scripture, where shall we look for
identification of who the church is, and what the church should
be/become? As a Wesleyan, I suggest that we let John Wesley help us
define what the church is.
Wesley had four sources of authority.
(1) Above all the other authorities was the scripture as
accepted in our Canon, the 66 books of the Bible.
(2) Wesley also looked to what he called tradition; the
accumulated wisdom of the centuries of people calling
themselves Christian, including the Creeds and the writings of
the early fathers.
(3) Wesley also appealed to reason. He understood that the
keenest reflections of the wisest persons thinking about God
and holy things reason could not penetrate mystery; but he
also understood that God's truth would not ultimately
contradict itself. God is not capable of lying.
(4) Finally Wesley believed that religious truth should be
proved in the crucible of everyday living, by experience.
CHAPTER ONE THE MARKS OF THE CHURCH
Lesson Ephesians 4:4 - 13
Ephesians 4:13 ". . .until we all reach unity in the faith and in the
knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole
measure of the fullness of Christ."
The Orthodox Statements about the Church
To get a fresh look at the church we jump back over the years of
liberal-fundamental debate, and look at what the church has said about
itself, historically. I would give scriptural and prayerful
consideration to these words which perhaps can help us have a better
living relationship with the Church of Jesus Christ.
The "Reformation definition" of the church, ascribed to various
Reformation figures (Luther, Calvin, even Wesley): The Church is where
the Word is preached and the sacraments administered. The verbs are
usually modified: faithfully preached, duly administered. Let us pray
that here in our "basic unit of the Church" those two basic fundamental
components will happen with faithful regularity.
The other definition of the church is one I would like to spend a
great deal more time with; the simple statement contained in every
orthodox church's beliefs: The Church is One, Holy, Catholic,
Apostolic. Theologians call these the "marks" or "notes" of the
church. These essential parts of the church have deep and practical
impact on the Christian and the local church.
Ephesians, Chapter Four, gives something of an overview of the
universally accepted marks of the church. Later we will look at each
mark separately. In this first, introductory sermon, just a brief word
about each of the four:
THE CHURCH IS ONE The scripture fragment "until we all reach unity
in the faith.." as well as " Make every effort to keep the unity of the
Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit- just
as you are called to one hope when you were called- one Lord, one faith,
one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all
and in (you) all." from our text chapter are not isolated proof texts,
but rather reflect the great concern of the Lord of the Church that His
church be united.
The Church of Jesus Christ is ONE CHURCH! This is both a statement
of fact and a goal to which we will be striving until Jesus returns. We
have to accept this statement by faith when we observe the fragmentation
that is so obvious. There is a need for Christians to come together.
THE CHURCH IS HOLY
Here the text challenges Christians to "attaining to the whole
measure of the stature of Christ." The church is to be like its Lord.
How can we ever say that the church is HOLY? What does it mean "to
be holy?" Is holiness an unattainable goal, or is it the normative way
of life for Christians, or is it somehow a combination of the two?
Holiness, for the Church, has all to do with Christlikeness!
Doctrines and textbook theology are important as we shall see; but
totally, completely, unreservedly belonging to Jesus Christ, and
reflecting His spirit and doing His will are ALL-important in this great
"mark of the church."
THE CHURCH IS CATHOLIC
"From (Jesus) the whole body, joined and held together by every
supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part
does its work." (16)
The word "catholic" means world-wide. The church is ONE, it is
also for the WHOLE WIDE WORLD! Which simply means that the one church is
to be cross-cultural and not only the way WE think it should be!
We exist to build up the church where we worship. The church where
we worship exists to support and build up the larger whole of which it
is a part. That larger whole may often, perhaps usually, be the
denomination or network of similar churches-- culturally tied together.
But it will inevitably reach across culture barriers, inevitably bring
health or weakness to the whole,
No doubt we are all guilty of saying, "So let them come to US!
After all WE are the right ones!" In Jerusalem just now, three
competing Christian groups hold portions of the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre, each one sure the other two are in error.
There are many tribes and nations; many different ways of praising
the Lord. We may not always be sensitive to each other, but there is a
universal LIFE that undergirds the true church wherever it meets.
THE CHURCH IS APOSTOLIC
Again we look at Ephesians (4:x) "until we reach unity in the faith
and in the knowledge of the Son of God"
I will not spend any time on this this morning, except to say that
our Word, our Truth, our Scripture is and must be the same that was once
delivered to the apostles. Times change, methods change, cultures
evolve, but the Gospel of God's love in the Life and Death and Life of
Jesus remains forever the same, to all eternity!
The church is US! We hold the plumb-lines of the scripture and the
marks of the church against the reality of this church where we worship
and prepare and seek to serve our Lord. The abstractions "one" and
"holy" and "catholic" and "apostolic" want to leap off the pages of the
theological textbooks, and challenge us to fuller, deeper service of our
Master. They want to stretch our perceptions, and broaden our horizons,
and energize our efforts.
The church is not my church! It isn't yours, either. It is HIS
church. We belong to the church because we belong to Him!
When you speak, or even think of His one, holy, catholic, apostolic
church, never think "they!" Think "US!"
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.10 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Red Sox..the tradition continues | Tue Oct 10 1995 17:38 | 241 |
|
Subj: Sermon: The Marks of the Church, Part 2 of 5
THE MARKS OF THE CHURCH
Part 2 of 5 sermons introducing the universally held
theological truth that the church of Jesus Christ is one,
holy, catholic and apostolic, with application for a church at
the end of the twentieth century.
CHAPTER TWO THE CHURCH IS ONE
Ephesians 4:1-6
We have begun to look at what theologians and church fathers across
the centuries have called the "marks" or the "notes" of the church.
Coming without apology from an evangelical and scriptural perspective,
still we are seeking to avoid the unproductive tension between
fundamental-liberal extremists, and perhaps get a fresh look at God's
words about the church.
One of the four characteristics that belong to the church universal
is the mark or note of UNITY. The Church of Jesus Christ is ONE.
Any study of the church begins with the scriptural concept of faith
as corporate, or that which is held in common among all the spiritual
fellowship of God's people.
THE IDEA OF CORPORATE FAITH
We are so attuned to think of faith as a purely subjective, individual
matter that it is almost startling to find, when we are looking for it,
just how "corporate" the concept of faith as expressed in the New
Testament really is. Actually, the "corporate nature of faith" shines in
both divisions of the Bible:
In the OLD TESTAMENT "salvation" was equivalent to being or
becoming a member of the people of God; "damnation" was the equivalent
of being cast out or excommunicated from the rest of this group.
The NEW TESTAMENT carries this group identity idea forward; with
emphasis on "belonging" to the ekklesia: Jesus called the disciples one
by one, and they joined a group (which was the church anticipated during
Jesus' ministry;)
The church-in-the-making waited in one accord for the initial
Baptism of the Spirit. They carried this UNITY forward throughout the
pages of Acts and the New Testament (Galatians 2, etc.) The word "saint"
is used in the singular only twice in the New Testament, both times in
relationship to the church; ll other apperances of the word is in the
plural, "saints!"
Speaking of the use of the word "church" to mean the common faith,
in his sermon "Of the Church" (vi:392) John Wesley made the statement,
"A more ambiguous word than this, the Church, is scarce to be found in
the English language. It is sometimes taken for a building, set apart
for public worship; sometimes for a congregation, or body of people,
united together in the service of God. Wesley goes on to say that when
he speaks of the church he means the latter, the "body of people UNITED
together in the service of God."
H. Ray Dunning says: The place to begin a study of the church
is in the corporate character of biblical faith.
This corporate nature of faith has been an essential part of the
church from the beginning. The faith has not been something to "JOIN"
like a club or an army or a work force; it has been something to be
BAPTIZED INTO, to be BORN AGAIN INTO, to become part of as we change
direction, and begin a new way of living.
This corporate nature of faith is still valid; it is still
something we need to recapture and re-emphasize. Our individual walk
with God is to follow this pattern. The church in other days and other
cultures understood this better than we do, perhaps.
It is easy for us to make church a matter of convenience in our
weddings and burials and christenings, as well as in our worship. But
especially these sacrament-like occasions are set in the context of the
strength of the corporate faith.
As Christians we are members of each other! We exist to lift one
another up and bless each other. We are our brothers' and sisters'
keepers!
Our burials should be as often as possible from the church, by the
church, in the church; our marriages should be solemnized as sacred
services of worship, and reflect the corporate faith, and the fact that
the church is the greater family. Our christenings are powerful
statements to three worlds that our children belong to Christ's Body,
and all others may keep "hands off!"
It is this CORPORATE faith that underlies all we say about the
church. The marks of the church have their reality and existence in
this shared LIFE.
THE CHURCH IS ONE
We have already recognized that all Christendom has agreed that the
Church of Jesus is One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic. The church is:
ONE (and yet it is diverse;)
HOLY (and yet it is very human and imperfect!) The true church is
holy because it belongs to a holy God; yet it is imperfect because it
has ME (and you) in it! But we are washed in the blood, and are being
made in the image of Christ!)
CATHOLIC (world-wide, and yet very local and provincial) The Gospel
fits the whole world; and yet there are cultural adaptations;
differences, applications.
APOSTOLIC (true to the ancient Word; yet up-to-date and
experiential, what we term "confessional!") The true church lives by
every word that proceeds from the Father; it abides in the True Vine,
the Son.
Just now particularly look at the statement:
THE CHURCH IS ONE
The unity of the church in the love of God was the heart of Jesus' great
prayer (in John 17.) All who own allegiance to the One Great Lord of the
church are part of a unity for which Jesus prayed.
Painful as it is, we have to live with some unanswered questions
about why it is so difficult for all God's children to get together; and
why genuine allegiance to the Lord Jesus Christ does not more quickly
break down barriers of misunderstanding within the family of God. But
at the same time, we need to be available to God as His instruments of
healing and love within the Body.
There are three outstanding scriptural figures of this unity: these
figures are filial and conjugal and organic. The
FILIAL figure is seen in such passages as John 1:12 "As many as
received Him, to them gave He the right to become the children of God."
Or Romans 8:15 "We have received the Spirit of adoption as children
whereby we cry, "Abba! Father!" and Romans 8:29 says the church is
"conformed to the image of (God's) Son, that He might be the first-born
among many brethren."
The church is God's FAMILY. But there is another striking figure
of the unity of the church with Jesus Christ, the figure of
CONJUGAL unity, or the marriage of Christ and the Church. In that
passage we usually are thinking of earthly family relationships. But if
we turn the passage over on its other base like an hourglass, we see the
UNITY of the church in relationship to Christ: (Ephesians 5:25)
Husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and
gave Himself up for her; that He might sanctify her, having
cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might
present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or
wrinkle or any such thing; but that she should be holy and
blameless.
As husband and wife become one, so the church is ONE with her
Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. But there is an even closer figure
of the unity of the church; that of:
ORGANIC unity. In Ephesians 4:15 we are charged to "Grow up in all
aspects into Christ, who is the HEAD (of the Body)." And in Ephesians
5:30 is the startling translation, at least in the KJV,
"We are members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones!"
The church is to be/to become the very BODY of Jesus Christ here on
earth. This is an INCARNATIONAL concept-- that as the life of Jesus is
breathed into each member of the Body, together we become ONE, and
become CHRIST INCARNATE TO THIS WORLD! ["So what?"]
BRINGING THE MARKS OF THE CHURCH HOME WHERE WE ARE
Any sincere study of the church is a useful thing in order to get the
inclusive picture; the ideal of what God intends we shall be world-wide;
but theology should/must find application in every day living. The great
concepts and ideas of theology finally are not simply to inform and
educate us, but to become food to eat and sustain and grow us, and make
us healthy.
So these "marks of the church" - ONE HOLY CATHOLIC APOSTOLIC -must
be reflected in each local congregation: HOW CAN "THE CHURCH IS ONE"
TOUCH YOUR LIFE AND MINE?
I would suggest four ways: (The first is NEGATIVE) DON'T BE
SUPERFICIAL; this UNITY is always in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. I
Corinthians 12: No (one) can say 'Jesus is Lord' except by the Holy
Spirit. So-called ecumenical services may or may not be helpful; all too
often they have an agenda of legitimizing non- Christian "churches."
The second: DO AFFIRM YOUR PERSONAL UNITY with Jesus; as God's
children; as being TRUE to God in a personal sense; as being part of the
Body of Christ.
Third: DO PRAY FOR AND LOVE CHRISTIANS everywhere. Look for Jesus
in people other than our own Wesleyan family. One of the greatest evils
in God's sight is being unwilling to maintain the UNITY of the true
church. In New Testament vision, there is no greater sin than schism.
Listen to John Wesley again:
"I dare not exclude from the Church catholic all those
congregations in which any unscriptural doctrines, which cannot be
affirmed by "the pure word of God," are sometimes, yea, frequently
preached; neither all those congregations, in which the sacraments
are not "duly administered." . (and here Wesley specifically
mentions the Church of Rome with which he disagreed in many ways).
. . "Whoever they are that have 'one Spirit, one hope, one Lord,
one faith, one God and Father of all,' I can easily bear with their
holding wrong opinions, yea, and superstitious modes of worship:
Nor would I, on these accounts, scruple still to include them
within the pale of the catholic Church [small "c"]; neither would I
have any objection to receive them, if they desired it, as members
of the Church of England." (op cit next page) Fourth and finally:
DO IDENTIFY WITH THE CHURCH RIGHT WHERE YOU WORSHIP EVERY SUNDAY !
In your heart, with your mouth think and say "WE" and never "THEY!"
There is no doubt that it is easier to love the "perfect church" of
theory, or to think of some greater, more "together" fellowship in some
far city. But here and now, where you and I worship together, imperfect
as we are, we are Christ's Body-- we are part of His ONE GREAT CHURCH!
Am I saying that we ought to quit being denominational Nazarenes?
Not at all! I am saying that we already belong to one great Church
which we had better love and appreciate and work and pray toward its
health and success in showing a needy world the love of its Lord. We
have the opportunity where we are of reflecting God's will that the
Church be one, holy, catholic and apostolic. Amen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.11 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Red Sox..the tradition continues | Thu Oct 12 1995 15:52 | 234 |
|
THE MARKS OF THE CHURCH
Part 3 of 5 sermons introducing the universally held
theological truth that the church of Jesus Christ is one,
holy, catholic and apostolic, with application for a church at
the end of the twentieth century.
CHAPTER THREE THE CHURCH CATHOLIC
Romans 11:33 - 12:8
Introduction
We have said that every orthodox church regardS the marks of the
church to be four: The church is One, Holy, Apostolic, Catholic. When
we speak of Catholicity, we speak of that which the One church [Where
the WORD is preached, and where the sacraments are administered] has in
common world-wised. The WORD to be preached, of course, is the Living
Word, Jesus Christ.
It will not do to begin by making sweeping statements. We begin,
rather, with a statement of awe and mystery:
THE CHURCH ISSUES IN THE UNFATHOMABLE GLORY OF GOD
11:33 - Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and
knowledge of God! How UNSEARCHABLE are His judgments and
UNFATHOMABLE His ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or
who became His counselor? Or who has first given to Him that it
might be paid back to him again? For from Him and through Him and
to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen
Before we make any pronouncements on what the church worldwise is,
or what we believe it ought to be, we need to begin with the mercies of
God! We are all created in God's image, and are the objects of His
love. We are made to love and adore and fellowship with Him. If our
worship, and if the church are connected with Him, they carry with them
truth and beauty and life beyond the narrow scope of our understanding.
Romans 12:1,2 is very practical and straightforward. It is familiar
territory to evangelical Christians. We like to jump in right here, at
the practical side, and go for the decision. "Just do it!" And any way
we can get people to meet God is great!
But remember, Romans 12:1 has a "therefore" in it. And the
"therefore" points back to the doxology of praise in Romans
11:33-36. Paul comes to the end of a doctrinal passage, a great treatise
on grace and salvation and he breaks into this hymn of praise, and THEN
he says, "Because of all this great love of a great God, give yourself
to HIM; become part of His Body, the Church!"
One of the most important, if not the most important quality of the
true catholic church is humility before the wonder God's love, the
wonder of being invited into God's inner circle, into God's very
Presence. The WONDER! The WONDER of it all! What the text calls our
"spiritual service of worship" all springs out of the mercies of God!
This is beautiful truth beyond our comprehension!
The preaching of the Word and the Sacraments represent two places
where the Living Word makes contact with us, two sides of the same great
truth. Preaching is logical and presses for decision. Sacraments are
visual or representative, and speak of the unspeakable and
mysterious. Across the centuries churches have tended to emphasize one
aspect over the other.
Sons and daughters of the church who have been exposed only to
narrowly held segments of God's truth (on either side) may tend to rebel
when they begin to see the truth of the wider whole. Then, unless they
are careful, they re-act humanly, and swing far over to other emphases.
We do not know and certainly do not own the whole orb of truth. "(Don't)
think more highly of (yourselves) than you ought" (12:3) This can be
applied to churches, too! The fact is that we CANNOT own it all, and we
do not NEED to own it all. But Catholic is that which the One church
has in common; that which is common to all churches that are true
churches. How does the Reformation formula apply to the whole church
(including our own)?
THE ENTIRE CHURCH IS CALLED TO SPIRITUAL WORSHIP (12:1-3)
I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present
your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which
is your SPIRITUAL SERVICE OF WORSHIP. And do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that
you may prove what the will of God is. that which is good and
acceptable and perfect.
We do not have a monopoly on worship; and neither does any other
segment of the church! The entire church catholic worships. The call to
"spiritual service" is not limited to evangelical young people at a
youth camp; it is not a call just to Mother Teresa in Calcutta-- it is a
call to the entire church of Jesus Christ everywhere.
But there seem to be so many different ways of worship! Some
seem so emotional! Some seem so dead and dry and formal! What is
genuine "spiritual service?" What constitutes the church? Before we
look at the forms we have to consider the content. Jesus Himself
said, in Matthew 18:20: "Where two or three are gathered in my
name, I am there in the midst!" Whatever our definitions, Jesus is
the Living Word!
[Bishop Michael Baughan spoke here several years ago. He told of 300
churches in the See of Chester, England, which are under his care, that
use the same form or liturgy. But Bishop Baughan said that as he went
from one church to the next, on church would "worship" and another would
simply go through a form. The difference was the evident Presence of the
Living Word among those worshiping.
We come back to the Reformation definitions: Where the Word is
proclaimed and the Sacraments administered, there is the church! Can we
summarize "catholic elements of worship" in the context of this
definition? What should we expect to be a part of the church universal
at worship?: (As we have said:)
THE PRESENCE OF JESUS IS A UNIVERSAL
"JESUS CHRIST is the Word of God. Where Jesus Christ is Present by
His Holy Spirit, there is the church!" If the differences of language
and culture could be overcome, any Christian OUGHT to feel "at home" in
any other Christian service of worship. Granted, sometimes these
culture barriers are formidable; and sometimes Jesus takes second place
to the forms which have sprung up; but where Jesus is present, there is
the church!
THE BIBLE IS A UNIVERSAL
THE BIBLE proclaims the Word of God. The church of Jesus Christ
will always give a central allegiance to the written Word of God. It is
impossible to think of a Church without the Bible.
The Bible is God's revelation given in human language. The Bible
itself is a mystery of incarnation. It is possible to err into
bibliolotry, to "go off" on worship of the Bible; to make one
interpretation of infallibility a by-word of true catholicity. But it
is impossible to have a church without the authority of scripture. The
authentic role of scripture is to proclaim Jesus Christ. (John 5:39)
PREACHING IS A UNIVERSAL
PREACHING makes the Word of God contemporary. The church of Jesus Christ
will always have men and women called to proclaim Jesus Christ in the
anointing of the Holy Spirit. Preaching is a central catholic function
of the Body of Christ. The scripture says,
"For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing
foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God
. . . For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom
did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the
foolishness of preaching to save those who believe." (1 Co 1:18,21)
The end of preaching is not sermons. Don't misunderstand me, I
think I understand something of the art and craft of sermon building. I
know a good one when I hear it; I know a bad one when I preach it. But
the end of preaching is to make Jesus available; to proclaim that He is
here, now, today!
Sermon-crafting is a respectable profession, I suppose. Yet it is
possible to be so involved in perfect sermons that Jesus gets lost along
the way. But preaching is God's method for making His Word come alive in
the church. It always will be. So be it!
SACRAMENTS ARE A UNIVERSAL
SACRAMENTS somehow communicate the Word of God. When I say
"sacrament" I would include the whole concept of liturgy, or how we
worship, and what we DO when we get together to worship.
Just as some Protestant communions can let the sacred scriptures
almost take the place of God Himself, and substitute a literal,
legalistic interpretation of the Bible as spiritual fact, even so some
Liturgical communions can come to elevate the Sacrament and the Exercise
of Worship to a place where it is an end in and of itself, when properly
understood it is meant to be a vehicle of communicating God's Presence.
The sacraments are not meant to convey a false sense of security
that excuses Christians from obeying the Word and walking humbly before
God. And doing everything just as it is "written down in the proper
book" is no indication of an authentic sacrament. Daniel Jenkins (in
his book The Nature of Catholicity) says, "a passionate devotion to the
Sacrament (MAY) mask a spiritual laziness which destroys the meaning of
the Sacrament(!)"
Probably most Christian services would include: (1) Prayer
recognizing God's Presence and seeking to adore and worship Him; and (2)
Reading of scripture; (3) Proclamation of the Word, or preaching in the
Spirit's anointing (4) Call for response of some kind; including an
offering, but certainly not limited to that; sometimes the 'sacrifice of
praise' in testimony;
And all orthodox churches also periodically observe (5) The actual
Sacraments themselves (Baptism and Communion) as well as Sacrament-like
services, as Ordination, Christening, Marriage, Burials, and the like.
In addition, most Christian churches have some form of confession
and absolution. Wesleyans have lived with Wesley's definition of sin as
"a wilful transgression of a known law of God" so long that often we
have trouble realizing that even Wesleyans are to pray the Lord's Prayer
all the way through, too!
Finally, the proclamation of the Word is not limited to preaching
and the sacraments for...
SOME FORM OF DISCIPLINE IS A UNIVERSAL
DISCIPLINE reveals the Word of God. The true catholic church of
Jesus Christ will have discipline. By "discipline" I mean the living OUT
of the LIFE which Christ has placed within us; unless the Church
manifests its life there is no life there!
CALLED TO BE OURSELVES; CALLED TO BELONG TO THE CHURCH
No corner of the church has perfect fullness. But it is possible to
rejoice in the extent where Christ has made us strong, and also rejoice
for the Presence of Jesus Christ in others. We can seek to make Jesus
the center and the reason for our worship! His manifest Presence is the
true "catholic" manifestation, the one true universal element of
worship.
We can pray for the entire Church catholic without being unfaithful
in any wise to our own family, the Church of the Nazarene. In fact we
will be better Nazarenes if we seek to be first of all better
Christians! The Holy Spirit would inspire within us a genuine prayer
for His coming in power throughout His whole church.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.12 | y | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Red Sox..the tradition continues | Thu Oct 12 1995 15:55 | 246 |
|
Subj: Sermon: The Marks of the Church (Part 4 of 5)
THE MARKS OF THE CHURCH
Part 4 of 5 sermons introducing the universally held
theological truth that the church of Jesus Christ is one,
holy, catholic and apostolic, with application for a church at
the end of the twentieth century.
CHAPTER FOUR THE CHURCH IS APOSTOLIC
Ephesians 2:20
[Lesson Ephesians 2:14-22]
The entire Christian church agrees that the church is, or is
supposed to be "apostolic" in nature. And yet as you might expect,
there are several different explanations of just what it means to be a
part of the apostolic church.
THE APOSTOLIC POSITION
Some people say the apostolic power lies in the church itself. They
think first of all of the Apostles themselves, and say that the church
is apostolic because there is an unbroken line of authority handed down
from St. Peter to the present time.
This view says that Jesus gave authority to these men, particularly
to Peter; these men then passed that authority along in an unbroken line
of bishops to the present. The Church that has this unbroken line of
authority (meaning the RC church) is the sole repository of grace and
thus of salvation.
This represents the old Augustinian/ Catholic view of the church as
"apostolic" [which has moderated a great deal, particularly since
Vatican II.]
This is an historical impossibility to prove. The church HAS come
down across the centuries. It IS an unbroken witness, but not because of
the unbroken line of bishops.
Other people say apostolic authority is the authority of the
scriptures. This view looks at the pure Gospel that was preached by the
Apostles, and says the church is apostolic when there is faithful
adherence to this message. This view says the "ROCK" on which Jesus was
to build His church was the confession, "Thou art the Christ!" and not
Peter himself.
We believe that the witness of these men HAS been handed down to us
in the Scriptures. Their testimony, which most of the apostles sealed
with their own blood, has been passed along unbroken, and is with us in
the Bible today.
This represents the Lutheran/Reformation view of the church, or
more broadly, the classical position of all Protestantism.
Once again, however, caution is needed. It is possible to be
militant in defending what we believe to be the "true infallibility" of
the Bible, and be out of touch with the Spirit of Jesus. British
theologian Daniel Jenkins warns:
"The crude appeal to the letter of the Scriptures, with no
attention to the experience of the Spirit-guided Church, means not
only a woeful impoverishment of the Church's life and worship; it
frequently means also a crabbed and narrow interpretation of the
Scriptures." (44)
No church can be apostolic without faithfulness to the scriptures,
there is no question about that. But it takes more than the letter of
the Word to make a church an apostolic church.
A third view sees the apostolic foundation of the church in the
righteous living of the saints. This view claims that somehow an
apostolic church has to recapture the EXPERIENCE AND THE MIRACLES OF THE
APOSTLES, which, of course, the people who take this position are sure
they have re-discovered.
In this view apostolic succession is totally discounted; and
theological preaching and the sacraments diminished in comparison to
individual experience and rigid interpretation of bible discipline. What
matters is personal experience, how the individual "feels" about his or
her relationship to God. But this is always dangerous: Emil Brunner once
wrote (Philosophy of Religion)
"When once the main interest is fastened on subjective experience,
the objective element, the Word, dwindles to a mere means of
stimulus-- for what matters is the "inward working." (41) (cited by
Jenkins)
Again at the risk of over-simplification, this is an extreme
Anabaptist position, that of an independent church; the role of the
apostle is taken by the sect or the strong personality. The Church
becomes a mere association of Christians gathering for mutual
edification.
In summary, some people think the apostolic authority is in the
institution of the church, in its bishops; some think it lies solely in
the Bible and correct theological understanding; and some believe it
belongs in the individual experience "rightly" interpreted.
If I had to choose between an unbroken line of authority; an
undiluted Gospel of the apostles; or finding the experience and
lifestyle of the apostles, my choice would be closer to the second, or
Reformation position than any other.
But before we obligate ourselves to any one position, think with me
about the function or role or calling of an apostle.
THE APOSTOLIC OFFICE
The text says that Jesus Christ Himself is the cornerstone of the
church which is being built on the apostolic foundation. Any view of
what it means to be apostolic is only valid as it rests firmly and
squarely on a relationship with Jesus Christ. Look with me at the
calling of the original apostles:
There are some things that an apostle was not!
To be an apostle definitely was NOT a matter of obvious greatness
or brilliance or intellect. No doubt all these men became truly great
men; but it was a greatness that developed out of their dedication to
their Master. It was a greatness that even then was not apparent to the
world; a greatness that I believe is available to you and me even today.
The apostles were not great innovators or keen publicity agents. To
be an apostle was NOT to develop schemes with which to turn their
culture around. As a rule these men seemed rather reluctant to leave
Jerusalem, and discovered their opportunities only when they were thrust
out into the harsh realties of an alien culture. (See Acts 8:1)
The men whom became such great leaders were weak, often prejudiced,
had painful and severe quarrels and misunderstandings-- and yet somehow
the church is supposed to be like them!
So, just WHO AND WHAT WERE the apostles? Simply stated, the
apostles were men who were CALLED by Jesus, and they had just three
things, basically, to do:
An apostle had to be someone who knew Jesus. Personally and
intimately. They had to be called by Jesus to be with Him. Not everyone
He called followed. Not everyone who wanted to tag along was
permitted. Apostles knew how Jesus lived. They knew how He died. Most of
all, apostles knew Jesus after the resurrection. They knew Jesus was
still very much alive.
Apostles were committed to serve Jesus. They were not called
to give Jesus advice, they were His servants! Apostles had surrendered
their rights to themselves. They were NOT to be "big shots" or
innovators. Some of them early on did get delusions of grandeur. But
they were severely chastised for it, too! Ultimately they came to love
God's will more than they loved their own lives!
Most of all, the apostles were commissioned to tell to the
world what they knew. More than one scholar says something like this:
(Jenkins)
"It (was) not their faith or their zeal or their religious genius
or any special charismata they possessed, like the gift of the
Spirit by the laying on of hands, and certainly not any accident of
historical association, but their testimony which constitute(d)
them Apostles." (25)
Some of them developed into profound theologians and scholars, as
Paul and John did; some of them no doubt were tremendous leaders,
heading up the organization of a regional church as Peter did. But
whatever else they were. first and foremost they were witnesses to tell
what they knew in the power of the indwelling Presence of God in their
lives! Not what they speculated, or what they heard each other say, but
they were to tell only what they KNEW! It was a convincing testimony!
The Church of Jesus Christ exists today to carry out the apostolic
task. It is this witness, and not the men themselves, or even the
verbatim words of the Gospel, or the emotional or pietistic experience
of these men that makes the church truly "apostolic."
THE APOSTOLIC COMMISSION
The entire CHURCH is called to the Great Commission. IN THE GREAT
COMMISSION THE ENTIRE CHURCH IS CALLED TO THE APOSTOLIC TASK! There is
an interesting paragraph in the next (3rd) chapter (7-13). Paul says the
apostle's task that fell to him is now to be manifested through the
church. And Paul does not limit this witness to evangelism- he says the
church will witness to all creation.
Jesus Himself (and not the church) must be the center of our
witness. A person who is promoting the Church first can have a religion
which is really "Glory be to ME!" "We're Number One!" To reject the
servant role is to lose the apostolic commission.
The ONLY reason for existence of the Church is to carry forward
this apostolic function of lifting up the risen Savior. Our
relationship with Jesus must underlie everything we do.
Our public worship should call people away from the spirit of
our godless world; it should even turn people away from preoccupation
with themselves, and from any worship of mere outward forms to see God's
LOVE in the FACE of the risen Savior.
Our personal commitment to Jesus will reflect a willing
submission to His Lordship. We will take seriously the Bible's claim
that eternal life is ONLY in knowing God.
It is a humbling thing to be called to follow the apostolic
tradition. It is a sobering thing to know that Jesus has said to YOU,
personally, "FOLLOW ME!"
That is the reason many of you are here today!
But if Jesus has called you, there is no other way except to submit
to His authority, and follow HIM! Or else, to count the cost, as did
the Rich Young Ruler, and go sadly away. There is no middle ground.
In a community where intellectual keenness is highly valued,
submission of the intellect may be seen as anti-intellectual. Nothing
could be farther from the truth! Obscurantism and rationalism and other
forms of self-delusion are forms of dishonesty, and Jesus Christ never
tolerates dishonesty for a moment! But if we determine instead, from a
place outside of submission by faith to the integrity of God as revealed
in Jesus Christ, to decide for ourselves what is right and wrong, or
what is true and what is nonsense,, we misunderstand the whole purpose
of theology. We are elevating the our own thoughts and the discoveries
of science, of philosophy or psychology or anthropology or sociology by
an act of our own sovereign will to equality with Revealed truth.
We can come to the inner assurance that all of life must relate to
the Presence of Jesus Christ. Our highest witness then will be a
consistency of life and living.
You don't have to be a great talker to be a great apostolic
witness! [The greatest testimonies to the Reality of God are testimonies
of people going through the fire!
Prayer: Lord, If you are calling us, we are following! Help us know You
better! Help us serve You! And let our ordered lives confess the beauty
of Thy Peace! Amen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.13 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Thu Oct 19 1995 13:19 | 139 |
| Subj: Sermon: Standing on the shoulders of giants: sources of strength
August 20, 1995
STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS
Sources of Strength
Hebrews 12:1,2
The Faith Chapter, Hebrews 11, is far more than just a Hall of Fame
of heroes of the faith. The writer of Hebrews fully intended that it
would be a help to YOU and ME in our own journey with God.
The words of introduction which lead into Hebrews 11 are a call to
assurance:[Hebrews 10:35]
"Cast not away therefore your confidence which has great
recompompense of reward.. you have need of patience that after you have
done the will of God you might receive the promise... and then these
great words which fired the imagination of Martin Luther, among many
others: "THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH!"
[Then comes the roll call of the heroes of faith]
The words which summarize that great Roll Call are the words of our
text this morning:[Hebrews 12:1,2] begin:
"Wherefore, seeing we are compassed about with so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us run with patience the race that is set before us ..."
The Faith Chapter is there to be a source of personal strength and
encouragement to every one of us.
I. FAITH IS
A. Last week we outlined a practical description of "faith" . We
said, among other things, that [faith is]
1. A GIFT
2. that makes COVEANT WITH GOD POSSIBLE;
3. and even more, faith that brings us into
A PERSONAL, LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
There is no more wonderful verse in the
Bible than Hebrews 11:6.
B. Today we add to that description the fact that true faith involves:
4 . OBEDIENCE-- putting obedience ahead of prolonged analysis (11:8
"By faith Abraham, when he was called ... obeyed ... and he went out
not knowing where he was going") =
Faith in God also always means
5. REFUSING TO COMPROMISE WITH SIN (11:24 - 26 "By faith Moses,
when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharoah's
daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God
than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a little while")
And if we are willing to accept the Faith Chapter's description of
faith, faith in God ultimately means
6. PUTTING DAY-BY-DAY FAITHFULNESS AHEAD OF PERSONAL SUCCESS
(Hebrews 11:36 "And others ..."
[Transition]
This description of faith would seem to tell us that faith is
dynamic, a relationship; it is not simply believing a list of
propositions or accepting the statements of fact about God, salvation,
and the Bible.
Faith ultimately is not simply what we know and what we believe,
important as that is. The faith that saves and keeps and accomplishes
the work of Christ is a matter of WHOM we know, and WHO is willing to
walk with us into the good times and the hard times of life where it is
really lived.
This kind of faith- living is not automatic. It takes courage. It
requires strength-- more strentgth than I have, or you. That is one
main reason why the writer of Hebrews gave us this faith chapter. He
began it with the admonition not to give up. He follows it immediately
with the call to be encouraged and strengthened. I would close this
sermon-lesson with several apparent sources of strength from this
passage in Hebrews:
II. SOURCES OF STRENGTH TO OUR FAITH
A. There are important secondary sources:
1. The EXAMPLE of the ones who have gone before
Stephen J. Gould once commented that "in the south transcept of
Chartes Cathedral the most stunning of all medieval windows depicts the
four evangelists as dwarfs sitting on the shoulders of four Old
Testament prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekeil, and Daniel." Gould went
on to commend the humility of Isaac Newton, one of the fathers of modern
science, I suppose, who was quoted as saying "If I have seen farther, it
is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
2. The EXPECTATIONS of those who have finished their work
3. The EYES of those running and yet to run
(When I was young no one had ever run a four minute mile. For years
the record was 4 minutes and 5 seconds. Then in May 6, 1954 Roger
Bannister, a young physician, Oxford man, ran the mile in 3:59.4. It
was astounding! Soon, however, later that summer, actually, that record
was smashed. Now top runners regularly break 3.50. The last I heard
the record was under 3:45, actually 3:44.39. It was shown as possible
...)
B. There is, of course, ONE PRIMARY Source: Jesus is the Source of all
strength: "Looking to Jesus!"
1. The AUTHOR: he started the whole thing!
2. Jesus ENDURED CONTRADICTION
The kind of things that hurt us are real-- and yet not often are
they directed pointedly at us to hurt us. When occasionally we
face real persecution it is deeply painful. But Jesus endured
the unleashed forces of darkness, directed specifically at Him
because He represented total and complete victory for all who would
look to Him.
3. Jesus ENDURED! He is the FINISHER! JESUS ENDURED! he carried
through to the end of the race. He finished!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.14 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Tue Oct 24 1995 17:25 | 268 |
| October 27, 1991
Romans 1: 14 - 16
THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH
Reformation Sunday
Four-hundred-seventy-four years ago this week a Roman Catholic
clergyman nailed a long list of religious statements to the door of the
cathedral in Wittenberg, Germany. Martin Luther was that clergyman. He
is a giant figure in Church history.
Martin Luther was the child of a rigid legalistic system. He was a
brilliant scholar and teacher. He was a seeker after the assurance of
salvation. In his searching and Bible study, Martin Luther
"re-discovered" the phrase, "The just shall live by faith," (in Romans
and Galatians,) and as it became more and more clear to him, he came to
stake his very life, here and hereafter on the truth of that one phrase.
The defiant act of nailing the list of "95 Theses" to the cathedral
door is now the 'nominal beginning' of what we call The Reformation.
Reformation Sunday is seen by many in our pluralistic society today
as underscoring a time of separation and rejection. And perhaps it is;
and there may be times when conscience causes rejection and
separation. But Reformation Sunday commemorates a protest of sincere
love and concern for the true church in the face of practices and
teachings that failed to bring life and assurance. True reformers are
NOT usually interested in destroying their church; they are men of LOVE,
and not hate.
[Transition:] But Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11 are not the only places
in the Bible where we see the phrase: The just shall live by faith. In
both places, Paul is quoting from the Old Testament. In fact there are
four separate places this statement appears, and each time it has a
slightly different setting or emphasis. Taken together these four
statements give an insight into saving faith.
The four references, and their settings are these: In Habakkuk 2:4
the setting is faith in God's WORD; in Romans 1:17 we see faith in God's
grace; in Galatians 3:11 (even though the emphasis there is also grace,)
we see faith in God's justice; and in Hebrews 10:38 the emphasis is
faith in God's faithfulness.
I. GOD'S INTEGRITY, HIS WORD IS THE FOUNDATION OF SAVING FAITH
Habakkuk 2:4
A. Habakkuk's prophecy: A complaint that there is wickedness in Judah;
a charge that the people in large part have simply forgotten their God.
B. But Habakkuk is prophet and not just a reporter. He is concerned
with the way GOD sees the situation, the view from the Throne, and not
just the band-aid proposals the human mind can conceive. Habakkuk says,
"If we can get quiet and listen, God will, speak to us!" (2:20 "The LORD
is in His holy Temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him.")
C. And this is where this great text "fits." God will not help solve
the problems of those who refuse His Word. The pride and the arrogance
of unbelief effectively block God's love and grace. (2:4 "Behold, as for
the proud one, his soul is not right within him; but the righteous will
live by HIS faith (-or God's FAITHFULNESS!))
D. GOD WILL NOT DISAPPOINT THOSE WHO LOOK TO HIM IN OBEDIENT TRUST
(and there isn't any other kind of trust when God is involved!)
The prophet declares that the only possibility of our righteousness
is based on the foundation of God's Word. And in spite of terrible
circumstances, Habakkuk closes the words of his prophecy on this truly
powerful note (3:16-19 "I heard and my inward parts trembled, at the
sound my lips quivered. Decay enters my bones, and in my place I
tremble. Because I must wait quietly for the day of distress, for the
people to arise who will invade us. Though the fig tree should not
blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines, though the yield of the
olive should fail, and the fields produce no food, though the flock
should be cut off from the fold, and there be no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my
salvation. The LORD God is my strength, and He makes my feet like hinds
feet, and makes me walk on my high places.")
E. If Habakkuk were to visit New England we might see that he is a
prophet and not just a reporter! It doesn't take too much wisdom to see
something is seriously wrong when millions of unborn babies are killed
in our country each year, and politicians make decisions based on what
gets them re-elected rather than on what is right or wrong. It isn't
hard to see the bankrupt moral fiber of our nation when illicit drugs
are such big business that "all the kings horses and all the king's men"
can't seem to shut down the supply, and public morality is too weak to
shut down the demand.
Habakkuk might tell us that men like Bruce Wahl and Michael Haynes
and John Borders are worth hundreds of policemen in Roxbury and
Dorchester- not that we don't need the policemen, too, just now. I
wonder how Habakkuk would view our efforts at Second Church there in
Codnman Square?
We get totally involved in peripheral matters. It is important to
save a species of owl, or to preserve our natural treasures. But we only
get one chance at each generation of HUMAN BEINGS! And only God
Almighty can deliver us from the chaos in which our sins have entrapped
us as a nation and a race.
[Transition:] But we have already said that Martin Luther "discovered"
this text from Paul, as he quoted Habakkuk in the Book of Romans. And
there it shows us the wonder of God's great love extended:]
II. GOD'S LOVE REVEALS AN OPEN DOOR TO SAVING FAITH
Romans 1:16-17
A. Saving faith is based on the fact of God's integrity: what He says,
He means! But faith is more than just a mental acceptance of that
fact. Paul's use of the phrase: THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH is in the
context of THE GOSPEL.
"GOSPEL" AS USED HERE IS A NARROW TERM. It doesn't just mean 'good
news' or 'truth,' as we often use it. It doesn't mean the general use
of scripture principles and precepts in order to give is 'the good
life.' But the Gospel means the Good News about what God has done for us
in the victory of His Son, Jesus Christ, by His death and resurrection
and Session! The gospel in one verse is John 3:16. The gospel is for
the "WHOSOEVER" that believes in God's only begotten Son!
It is in the context of response to God's grace- God's LOVE in
Christ, that Paul declares that we live by faith. [Romans 1:16-17 For I
am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation
to everyone who believes, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For
in it (the Gospel) the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
faith; as it is written, THE JUST SHALL LIFE BY FAITH."]
B. The important word, so far as you and I are concerned, is
"whosoever!" The great grace and power of the Gospel of which Paul
declares he is not ashamed is available to you and me just now!
[Transition: But God's word/integrity and his love/free grace do not
exhaust the meaning of salvation by faith. A third time this phrase
appears, in Galatians 3:11, and there the context is God's justice:]
III. GOD'S JUSTICE, RECONCILED, MAKES SAVING FAITH POSSIBLE
Galatians 3:11
A. The "HOW" of obtaining salvation was where Martin Luther was
particularly offended. He had followed the teachings of the church of
his day on penitence, and he had found no assurance whatsoever that his
sins were in fact and deed forgiven. He had observed excesses, such as
the sale of indulgences that permitted wealthy people to buy absolution
while poor people had to suffer purgatory or hell. And so it was that
when the truth dawned on him that all sins were already provisionally
'paid for' it was certainly good news that broke in on his soul!
B. But Galatians makes it clear that salvation is not God merely
'excusing' sin.! God cannot merely ignore sin as if it never had
happened. The Old Testament prophet Ezekiel tells us (twice) The soul
that sinneth shall die! (Ez 18) and Romans 6:23 says, he wages of sin is
DEATH!
C. A just God has had to deal with sin in justice! God cannot simply
look the other way. But the context of this text in Galatians says God's
love can be extended to us because in the cross of Calvary Jesus has
redeemed us from the curse of breaking God's law.
It is in the CROSS that God's MERCY and God's JUSTICE meet.
[Galatians 3:11 "Now that no one is justified by the law before God is
evident, for: THE RIGHTEOUS MAN (THE JUST) SHALL LIVE BY FAITH!]
D. So, while it is true that God's LOVE is extended to us; and it is
true that we are authorized to say (AT THIS TIME) "Whosoever will may
come!;" it is also true that we dare not presume on that great love! God
is not able to offer us saving faith on the basis of our own goodness,
or our sincerity, or any other merit of our own. It is in Christ that
God's justice is satisfied, and we trust in Jesus Christ, and we trust
"TODAY!" (Now is the accepted time!)
[Transition: But there is one more place where this text is found, in
Hebrews 10:38.]
IV. GOD'S FAITHFULNESS ESTABLISHES THE SAVING RELATIONSHIP
Hebrews 10:38
A. We are not only saved by faith as a one-time crisis, but we have
the privilege of walking day-by-day with Christ in faith. By its very
nature walking "by faith" means that we are NOT walking "by sight." It
means that this relationship,with God will be severely tested.
Saving faith is NOT a mental theory. It is not "an ideal" to which
we aspire along predictable, textbook lines and formulae.
B. And so this last great word (Hebrews 10:38) is in the context of
real life, of battles, of perseverance! This is not now the language of
revival, and getting saved, going to the altar; not about Bible study
and understanding the atonement as the pastor "explains it." This is the
language of Jesus in the laundry room, in the high school classroom, of
Jesus on-the-job with you and me! (Hebrews 10:23 Let us hold fast the
confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is
faithful!)
And also Hebrews 10:35-39 Therefore, do not throw away your
confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of patience, so
that when you have done the will of God you may receive what was
promised. For yet in a very little while He who is coming will come, and
will not delay. But MY RIGHTEOUS ONE SHALL LIVE BY FAITH; and if he
shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure ion him. But we are not of those
who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the
preserving of the soul.
C. This is "a whole seminar" on perseverance! We are to be:
1. (22) be drawing near to God;
2. (23) be holding fast the confession of HOPE without wavering--
what God promises, He carries through!
3. (24) be considering one another! LOVE THE CHURCH! Walking by
faith is ALWAYS in the context of FELLOWSHIP OF THE SAINTS!
4. (25) not forsaking coming together! Using all the means of
grace.
5. (35) Summarizing: DON'T THROW AWAY YOUR CONFIDENCE IN GOD'S
FAITHFULNESS!
6. (36) "Ye have need of endurance!" God is not capricious! I am
not playing games with Him! I can, I will depend on Him to bring me
through
{Conclusion:] So-- the "text of the Reformation" is THE JUST SHALL LIVE
BY FAITH! What a powerful truth this is, that triggered a great
Reformation throughout the entire Church of Jesus Christ.
1. Perhaps we need to return to the spirit of reform again. Not
along lines of power, or too-easily-understood slogans and doctrine.
Reform isn't that simple!
Reform begins in the heart of those who would be pure in heart, as
they ask themselves the question: AM I LIVING BY HIS FAITH? Or am I the
kind of Christian that is selective, and chooses the benefits of grace,
or the kind of Christian that swallows unchallenged assumptions of
fundamental doctrine, or lives by selfish withdrawal from the battle?
2. We need a love and loyalty for Christ's church that will not
serve blindly, BUT THAT WILL CONSTANTLY CALL THE CHURCH TO DEEPER, PURER
OBEDIENCE! What we say will not speak as loudly as our own personal
life-style, and the integrity and love of our relationships,and our own
obedience to scripture and the Holy Spirit!
3. God is NOT exhausted! God is not "burned out!" What God did
with Luther and Wesley ... He can do with people today who dare to take
His Word seriously! THE JUST STILL LIVE BY FAITH!
Prayer: Spirit of God, Come breathe God's life in us;
Blow through Your Church, a cleansing, mighty Power for
Righteousness.
Lift up the Lord Jesus Christ for all the world to see
Until every knee shall bow
And every tongue confess that He is LORD! To the glory of God
the Father. Amen.
Hymn
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.15 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Fri Nov 03 1995 10:17 | 163 |
|
October 22, 1995
THE FAITH JESUS COMES LOOKING FOR
Luke 18: 1 - 8
It was the last of the ninth inning. The old days at Fenway, Red
Sox versus Yankees. (Wasn't it great to see the Mariners knock off the
Yankees this year!) Red Sox batter steps into the batters box and makes
the sign of the cross on the plate with his bat. Yogi Berra reaches out
with his big catcher's mitt and wipes of the plate and says, "Let's let
God just WATCH this game, OK?"
A God who just watches is probably good baseball theology. But it
is a TERRIBLE theology for everyday life! We believe that our God is a
God who cares about our everyday living, our most mundane affairs. But
HOW?
Prayer is certainly not simple, like "writing checks" or "going to
the store," and 'if we have enough faith we get what we want.' A little
faith gets a little item, a big faith maybe gets a miracle. We all know
of miracles; we all also know of things we have desperately wanted and
were denied.
One insight into the mystery of faith and prayer is this story in
Luke 18. It is actually NOT too difficult to understand.
I. THE STORY
[We study this text in various group settings all week long, and in
the church staff prayer Monday Kay Roberts shared with us a story almost
exactly parallel to the Gospel. She was teaching English as a second
language to a woman from Viet Nam, and began to get acquainted with her.
She found that at the close of the war in Viet Nam this woman's husband
had been imprisoned by the Communists, and was in serious trouble.
Kay's pupil said that every day she would go to the prison, and knock on
the office door, and ask the officials to release her husband. She sat
on the steps of the prison. She would not go away. Day after day after
day she went back to plead the innocence of her husband. And one day
they simply went and got him out of his cell and let him go.]
In the Gospel-- we have (1) a powerful but unfeeling, unfair,
amoral judge. We have (2) a helpless but persistent widow. And we have
a (3) very satisfactory conclusion.
Of course this has to be seen as a story of contrast. God is NOT
like the judge. [It is a "how much more, then" situation, much like Luke
11:13.]
II. THE PURPOSE OF THE STORY
Luke tells us "up front" what Jesus had in mind as he told this
story. He had two ideas which merge into one:
Jesus was urging us to
A. "LIVE IN GOD'S FACE" ("MEN OUGHT ALWAYS TO PRAY')
God is NOT simply watching the Game. God wants an intimate access
to every part of our lives. When we think of God as a Sunday morning
God, and think of our faith as a special occasion faith we are missing
the very heart of God's love for us. We need to "stay in His face" in
that we bring every burden and every joy to Him. This seems to
trivialize God to those who have great theories, those whose theologies
don't connect with life. Yes, God is great beyond our comprehension.
But God is a Father who wants to know us by our own consent. This is
the way God has designed that He people should live.
Jesus was also urging us
B. NEVER, NEVER TO GIVE UP!
("Men ought always to pray and not to faint") God is a
covenant-making God. He has entered into covenant with you and me
that he will be our God, and we will be his people. God will never
break that covenant!
We may think of prayer as successful or not successful in terms of
getting what we are asking for; i.e., we are looking for a miracle
healing, and unless that happens there is something either defective
with our faith or with God's love or power. Jesus is telling us that if
we stay in God's face he will give us our daily bread, and forgive us
our sins, and lead us away from temptation and deliver us from evil.
Jesus is telling us that if a poor, weak widow woman can persuade a
powerful wicked judge, then we can be certain that persistent prayer by
the weakest of God's children will never be in vain. Be sure if it, God
hears! God cares!
But the story part of the lesson is not the end. I wish I knew how
Jesus asked this question. I wish I had seen the expression on his face,
and understood the concern he seems here to express.
III. THE QUESTION
Jesus followed the story about persistent prayer with what seems a
surprising question: "NEVERTHELESS, WHEN THE SON OF MAN COMES WILL HE
FIND [THIS KIND OF PERSISTENT] FAITH ON THE EARTH?" Why did Jesus put
this question right here? I'm sure it was NOT a mistake.
A. The days before Christ's coming will be testing days. It is as
difficult right NOW for people to "stay in God's face" as it ever has
been in history. Only a fool with his head in the sand cannot see how
desperate our times are! Crazy, mixed up values! [ ... ]
B. Staying in God's face is the ONLY way we can hope to come
through this spiritual warfare.
In our arrogance and conceit WE think we know what the church
needs. So we hold a few more seminars, or arrange a few more rallies.
And we forget to stay tender and caring and concerned to those in our
families,... We learn the rules of church growth, and know what "the
church" ought to be doing-- we sincerely pray and ask God to bless OUR
plans...
But we DON'T KNOW what we need! We DON'T have the answers! We
don't DARE to simply ask God to bless OUR efforts! IF EVERY ONE OF US
DOES HIS/HER BEST IN THIS EFFORT WE WILL MISERABLY FAIL!
Because PRAYER IS WHERE WE BEGIN! Living in the Presence of God is
our only HOPE of finding justice! We cannot do anything until and
unless we have PRAYED!
Conclusion
A God who sits in the stands and just watches, first base side,
front row, interested but impartial-- that may be all right for baseball
{especially since the Red Sox aren't in the Series.] But life is NOT a
game of baseball. Unless we have a God who does more than just WATCH
then what is our faith all about?
We TALK too much, and we PRAY too little. It was G. Campbell
Morgan who said "Any study of prayer which does not result in praying is
not only NOT helpful, it is HURTFUL!"
In this story YOU and I are the helpless widow woman! Unless God
comes to our aid we are ultimately lost and hopeless. Like Jim
Couchenour has said more than once: "Prayer does not support the work of
the church, prayer IS the work of the church!"
And our Lord is watching us-- watching ME as I preach this message-
- watching YOU as you listen-- watching to see if we will be the kind of
people who will stay in God's face for our children-- stay in God's face
to find His will for our lives-- stay in God's face to simply tell Him
we need Him and love Him! Because THAT is the kind of faith Jesus is
coming to look for!
Prayer: Lord, Help us to pray!
either 461 Open My Eyes, That I May See or 477 - Oswald Smith's Deeper
and Deeper
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.16 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Fri Nov 03 1995 10:21 | 223 |
| --------------------------------------------------------------------
November 1, 1992 - All Saints' Day
Luke 19: 1 - 10 (The Story of Jesus and Zaccheus in Jericho)
THE LORD OF ALL SAINTS
Comes Where We Are Seeking Him
Text: Hebrews 12: 1 - 3
Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses
surrounding us, let us lay aside every encumbrance, and the sin
which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the
race that is set before us, FIXING OUR EYES ON JESUS, the author
[leader] and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before him
endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the
right hand of the throne of God.
For CONSIDER HIM who has endured such hostility by sinners
against Himself, so that you may not grow weary and lose heart.
I. THE SEARCH FOR THE REAL JESUS
Luke 19:3 "And he (Zaccheus) was trying to see who Jesus was, and
he was unable because of the crowd..."
A. THE ESSENCE OF OUR FAITH IS KNOWING JESUS, and faith to know is
always a gift of God, not an exercise of our own superior intelligence.
This seems so simple, and it is simple to child-like faith. But
what we forget as we mature sometimes, as we see the horizons of truth
rush away from us in this great Universe, is that the knowledge of Jesus
continues to be, and is always a divine revelation, a gift of God.
1. Zaccheus couldn't easily, naturally see Jesus. His small
stature in the big crowd becomes a symbol of us all; "Can a man by
searching find out God?"
2. Even the incarnate Christ had to be spiritually, divinely
revealed-- HAS to be spiritually, divinely revealed. We are exactly
where Zaccheus was: "trying to see who Jesus IS!" B. LOOKING FOR JESUS
CAN BE A LONELY THING. There were people between Zaccheus and Jesus:
1. Bad people who hated him: Some possibly had reasons to hate a
tax collector. Others simply put Zaccheus into a category, which is
easier than dealing case by case. "All ________ are _____!" or,
"_____" was bad once, so he/she is " bad forever!!"
2. "Nice" people who "understood" him: how easy it can be to think
we "understand" when we don't have any idea of the pain another is
facing. We "explain things" very glibly at times; we make light of
other peoples' struggles. It is no help to say, "Your situation is
not all that bad!"
Christian actress Kari Jenson Gold wrote an article on the
ideal marriage shortly after she herself was married. It was a
great article and was published in a number of places,
scholarly and otherwise. Then three years later she was
divorced. She wrote recently, "I remember after my own
divorce, when friends asked how I was, I sometimes replied
that I had lost my honor. Almost no one knew what I meant,
and certainly no one agreed with me. Everyone was far too busy
"being supportive" . . . We do ourselves and our friends no
real service by making nice and making light of something as
serious as divorce and marriage. Not if we hope for a better
and more faithful future." She goes on to say, "If what we all
aspire to is health rather than virtue, gratification rather
than strength of character, how can we hope to find a
foundation for a lasting commitment?"
Zaccheus may have had plenty of people to tell him what they
thought he ought to do-- but he wanted to see for himself who Jesus was!
"People" are supposed to be "witnesses," and God uses the Church to
help bring people to the knowledge of Jesus. But can it be that we
Christians have tried to be so nice and helpful that we have actually
obscured Jesus from people who would see Him?
Philip Rieff was quoted as saying that "contemporary churchmen have
a penchant for abandoning all Christian dogma and practice that
does not readily lend itself to therapeutic purposes."
We all seem to think that we know instinctively what people need, and
what God is up to in their lives, and how the will of Jesus comes down
on the things that matter to us and our precious causes. If we listen to
our friends we will hear, "Ought!" "Should!" "Essential!" "Lo, He is
HERE!" "Lo, He is THERE!"
C. ONE MAN MADE A DETERMINATION TO FIND OUT WHO JESUS WAS/IS
The crowd, the many people, were confusing to Zaccheus.
-- If everyone is busy describing Jesus to us, how can we ever come
to find Him for ourselves? If we are always listening to this expert,
or reading that latest book, do we take time to simply get alone and
wait on God Himself? --
So Zaccheus climbed a tree in the hopes that he might get some kind
of glimpse for himself. Remember--"And he (Zaccheus) was trying to see
who Jesus was, and he was unable because of the crowd..."
II. THE SURPRISE: JESUS FOUND THE SEARCHER
Luke 19:5 "And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said
to him, 'Zaccheus...'"
A. [ON THIS 'ALL SAINTS DAY'] IT IS IMPORTANT TO SEE THAT GOD
REVEALS HIMSELF TO US ONE-ON-ONE!
1. God is a Rewarder of them that diligently SEEK Him; but in the
end we see that God Himself is the Seeker; Hebrews 11:6; and ( 2
Chronicles 16:9) "For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the
whole earth to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is
perfect toward Him."
2. The particularity of the Gospel
Jesus called Zaccheus by name. He came to where Zaccheus was, and
stopped. Anonymity was impossible. The gospel finds us where we are, and
digs us out, one by one. "He was speaking just to ME!"
Conviction is always focused, and always redemptive. We are made
miserable for a purpose; God LOVES us, and does not make light of
our condition. But He convicts in order to bring true repentance
and healing and forgiveness.
Accusation, on the other hand, is the enemy's business. It has as
its purpose despair and frustration.
B. ON THIS ALL SAINTS' DAY IT IS ALSO ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL TO SEE THAT
(although we are saved one at a time,) GOD DOES NOT SAVE US INTO
ISOLATION!
The fellowship of the Gospel
Zaccheus was not "enlightened" [touched by saving grace] and then
put out on his own resources to make his own way. Jesus said, "I'M
COMING TO YOUR HOUSE-- I'M COMING HOME WITH YOU!"
That morning Zaccheus set out to see who Jesus was-- and before the
day was over Jesus was looking at him over the coffee cups!
I know it isn't quite that pat or simple-- but it still is true
(Hebrews 11:6) that IF WE WON'T TAKE SECOND HAND REPORTS ABOUT WHO JESUS
IS, WE CAN FIND THAT HE WANTS TO BE OUR DAILY COMPANION.
III. THE SECRET OF ENDURING
Hebrews 12:3 "For consider Him ... so that you may not grow weary
and lose heart." Just what does the story of Zaccheus the tax collector
and All Saints' Day have in common?
Seeing who Jesus is ... knowing Him ... fixing our eyes on HIM
... taking Him HOME with us .. is what this "great cloud of witnesses"
is vitally concerned that we do! THE SURVIVAL OF THE CHURCH DEPENDS ON
THE PERSONAL KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST! {I despise the Uni-Uni
association with the "Earth Goddess" religions in the name of
"broadening" and "tolerance."}
A. IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE SEE JESUS FOR OURSELVES.
The revelation of Jesus Christ to His Church, and then the Church's
witness of that revelation to the whole world, is what the entire New
Testament is all about. Jesus is "the AUTHOR and the PERFECTER of our
faith." (Hebrews 12:2)
1. WE NEED A MIRACLE! Like Zaccheus, we will find it difficult to
know just who this Jesus is, apart from a miracle. People will
be happy to tell us who Jesus is, and that is all well and good
to a point.
2. THE MIRACLE IS FAITH ITSELF! Jesus still comes where we are, by
His Spirit! He stops under our tree, and says, "Come down!"
This is reality! It has happened to every born-again
Christian. Some more spectacularly than others, perhaps (like
Saul of Tarsus.) But I remember, don't you?!
B. THE CHURCH SURVIVES BY LIVING, TOGETHER, IN CHRIST'S PRESENCE!
If we are to ENDURE it is essential that we "CONSIDER HIM!"
(Hebrews 11:3)
1. Our CHILD-LIKE love for Christ does not need to fade as we
become "too sophisticated for His company and simple leading."
JESUS IS NOT HINDERED BY OUR GREAT INTELLIGENCE (COMPUTERS/ETC.)
2. NOTHING ... EVEN GOOD THINGS ... CAN BE PERMITTED TO "PINCH" THE
MASTER-RELATIONSHIP! Don't let even good causes or ideas come
between us and the worship and loyalty we owe to a Savior who is
also Almighty God!
Conclusion:
I heard a black Bishop speak recently about the need of "A JOSHUA
GENERATION"! He was speaking, I believe, about the need of the church
to quit wandering in circles and press into the PROMISED LAND of God's
victory! We come to church occupied with our overwhelming NEEDS, and
look to God for His help in OUR agenda. Thank God that He DOES supply
help and healing. But is that what the faith is about?
God expects US to take our place in this "Great Cloud of
Witnesses!" God expects Zaccheus to not only be a TAKER and a RECEIVER,
but by His transforming grace, Zaccheus becomes a WORSHIPER and a GIVER
OF GRACE!
Jesus reveals Himself-- not simply for our salvation and personal
satisfaction-- but so that we may take our place alongside Him in the
great BODY OF BELIEVERS!
Prayer Mighty Savior, Come where we are--
Hymn EH 47 God of Grace and God of Glory
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.17 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Mon Nov 13 1995 10:18 | 179 |
| Subj: Sermon: Contrasts in Giving (1991)
September 29, 1991 am
Acts 2:43 - 47 And everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many
wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles. And all
those who believed were together, and had all things in common; and
they began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing
them with all, as anyone might have need. And day by day
continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread from,
house to house, they were taking their meals together with gladness
and sincerity of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the
people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those
who were being saved.
Acts 3:36 - 4:2 And Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also
called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means, Son of
Encouragement), and who owned a tract of land, sold it and brought
the money and laid it at the apostles' feet.
But a certain man named Ananias, with his wife, Sapphira, sold a
piece of property, and kept back some of the price for himself,
with his wife's full knowledge, and bringing a portion of it, he
laid it at the apostles' feet.
CONTRASTS IN GIVING
Introduction:
We look to the scriptures for salvation truth, doctrines to believe
unto salvation. We also look to the scriptures for pictures of faith,
examples to follow into profitable service of our Lord. These examples,
these pictures, are to be discerned and followed in spirit, not
necessarily literally.
I. PICTURES OF GIVING IN THE BOOK OF ACTS
A. Early in the Book of Acts are key passages that bear on how some
of the early Christians gave. At least, here are some observations:
1. Acts 2: The disciples had all things common; It seems as though
there was A REAL "TEAM SPIRIT" throughout the whole church, even
in the matter of giving:
2. Acts 4: Barnabas had a field that he sold and donated the money
to the church; Then, as now, there were people who seemed to
delight in giving-- the gift of giving; there were INDIVIDUALS
THAT PUT THE CONGREGATION ABOVE SELF
3. Acts 5: Ananias lied about his giving. But also then, as now,
there were INDIVIDUALS THAT TRIED TO 'USE' THE TEAM TO MAKE
THEMSELVES 'LOOK GOOD'
II. BRINGING THESE PICTURES UP-TO-DATE IN TODAY'S CHURCH
A. THE TEAM EFFORT IN TODAY'S WORLD - Is such a thing possible?
1. HOW MUCH LOYALTY SHOULD A CHURCH EXPECT?
A very recent book [The Social Dimension of Sectarianism, by Bryan
R. Wilson, Oxford Press, 1990] expresses what many academics probably
believe:
If a man is an Anglican or a Methodist, this is but one among many
of his attributes-- he is also a lathe-turner, a pigeon-fancier, a
trade-unionist, a harmonica-player, and so on. But if a man is {a
member of a sect- my words} ... his religious commitment is
supposed by him, by his co-religionists, and even by his workmates,
kinsfolk, and acquaintances, to influence in very high degree, not
only his attitudes but the choice and quality of performance of all
his social roles ... his religious motivation .. superordinates all
other motivation .." 178-179. Wilson goes on to say that such
behavior is deviant from the wider society in both kind and degree.
In other words, if church and religion are kept "IN," and don't
have any impact on life in general, [Wilson is saying] we are "NORMAL."
Religion is a PRIVATE matter. Churches are commodities, like Super Stop
'n Shop. The church is supposed to be there to provide services and meet
needs, not to make any demands!
(I agree that) Any church that seeks to make any exclusive claim on
God or salvation is by that very claim a SECT. Any church that expects
its members to lock-step their way to heaven all on the same method is
extremely dangerous, and should be avoided.
But any Church that preaches Christ crucified, risen, and coming
again is derelict if it does not demand a first loyalty to HIM! And yet
any church that expects all-out loyalty to Christ, and expects that
loyalty to be expressed mainly through the local fellowship is suspect
in this pluralistic society. Every Christian can and must be centered
in God through a local church fellowship. If you don't feel comfortable
in one church, there are others. But if you are seeking a place where
you don't have to make any kind of personal investment in your self,
your time, and your means, you are mistaken about the nature of the
Christian faith.
If a church does not apply Christ's demands to put Him first, and
then at least try to offer ways and means of giving to God through its
ministries, it is not worthy the name.
2. THIS SOUNDS HIGHLY IDEALISTIC, I KNOW. What are some practical
applications of giving of means through the church? I've asked two
members of our church board to express some personal ideas this morning.
A couple of weeks ago our board prayerfully discussed the matter of
stewardship. I listened to the discussion- - and afterward I asked
Donna Mowen and Michael Roberts to say a few words today:
[You'll just have to imagine good testimonies to a commitment in
stewardship of time, talent, and finaces here . . . 3 - 5 (?)
minutes.]
III. CONTRASTS IN GIVING
A. THIS SCRIPTURE IN TODAY'S LIVING
1. WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO HAVE ALL THINGS IN COMMON?
Is this happening anywhere in the world today? It would be hard
to recognize one method of giving or organization among the
Christian churches around the world that are making an impact on
their communities for Christ. But they do have this one thing in
common: they live their lives for God centered in Christ, and
they live those lives for God through their church!
The center of our life is Christ.
The life of Christ is expressed in His church.
The basic unit of the church is the local congregation.
I pray that God will give us a new sense of mission and unity
and one-ness.
We are NOT forced into some narrow interpretation of life, or
some weird personal/corporate interpretation of rules. But we
must be willing to be thought SECT-LIKE, for being a Christian
and a follower of Jesus will become the most important thing in
all of being.
2. WHAT IS THE LESSON OF BARNABAS? ARE THERE MODERN-DAY BARNABASES?
Verlin Long lived in order to give! He had the gift of giving!
3. THERE IS ALSO A LESSON IN THE STORY OF ANANIAS: MODERN-DAY
ANANIASES:
Those who seek to use the church-- who give from selfish
motives-- who are interested only in themselves. Some of these
are still around in 1991.
Ananias gave because he wanted the reward of being thought good
like Barnabas. His sin was in pretending to be God-centered
when he was not.
It is a deadly business to seek to use God, to seek to use God's
church, to seek to advance selfishly. People with a critical
spirit, or an attitude of selfishness regarding the church
effectively cut off the most effective tool God has to supply
grace to their own lives, and those of their family.
C. IS IT POSSIBLE TO REACH BACK INTO THE BOOK OF ACTS AND TRANSLATE
THE LESSONS WE FIND THERE INTO LIVING, GROWING SPIRITUAL LIFE? I believe
that it is!
Prayer:
Lord, Help us to LOVE- love YOU and Your CHURCH- and pour our lives
into Your KINGDOM as You give us grace. Make us SONS AND DAUGHTERS
OF CONSOLATION, like Barnabas, I pray, in Jesus' Name.
291 All for Jesus
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.18 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Mon Nov 13 1995 10:20 | 171 |
|
September 11, 1994
THE QUESTION
Mark 8:29 But who do you say that I am?
Jesus asked his disciples two questions as they walked into the
hills north of Galilee. The pace of ministry had been fast and furious,
but now they were alone on the road. Those two questions are still
penetrating questions today.
Jesus said, "Who are people saying that I am?" And then he asked
the question that came very close: "But who do you say that I am?"
The first question drew a variety of responses. The second
question brought a response from Peter that Matthew tells us brought a
blessing from the Master. Consider with me those two questions again:
I. WHO DO PEOPLE SAY JESUS IS ?
A. The fact is that there are a lot of different answers to this:
1) there are many "wrong answers;" that is, answers which
contradict the clear teachings of the Bible. Some of these wrong
answers are evil; Jesus has been attacked and vilified across
the ages. Some of these wrong answers are simply ignorant or
incomplete such as, "Jesus was a great teacher, or a martyr, or
an Essene revolutionary."
2) there are probably many "right answers" as well. Every sermon,
every good book, and in a sense, even what Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John say about Jesus are right answers to this first
question of Jesus.
-- I've been asking fellow Christians all week who Jesus is to
them-- and while I believe every one of them really knows Jesus I have
gotten a variety of answers: Jesus is a "Listener ... a Shepherd ... a
Guide ... our Intercessor."
B. The fact is that, apart from the inspired Scriptures, the answer
that is given about who Jesus is tells more about the person answering
the question than it does about Jesus Himself. For this is a watershed
question. Jesus is finally known by revelation; Jesus is known by
faith; Jesus is the I AM, and what each one of us think about him does
not change him, and yet every individual must know Jesus in a personal,
unique relationship.
II. WHO DID PETER SAY JESUS IS ?
A. Peter, of course, gave the right answer. He was like the kid that
sat in the front seat right in front of the teacher with his hand up
when you were in the fifth grade. Peter always had something to say.
And this time he hit the nail on the head. "You are the Messiah!"
Matthew tells us that Jesus said, "You are blessed, Simon, son of John!
Flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. My Father, God in heaven,
has given you this insight!"
And then Jesus went on to say that this confession of Peter is
foundational to the kingdom of God.
B. The great confession of Peter did not keep him from having mistaken
ideas about the mission of Jesus. he still had a lot to learn, and a
long way to go. But he was on his way. And that is the lesson from
this chapter-- if we are simply studying it as we would a history
lesson.
But Jesus by his Spirit speaks through these pages and he asks you,
and he asks me:
III. WHO DO YOU SAY THAT I AM ?
A. A PERSONAL WITNESS CAN BE A POWERFUL WITNESS
Some time ago Pastor Martin Copenhaver, of Wellesley Congregational
Church preached on this passage. He had been to a seminar where Michael
Greene, a British scholar of the history of evangelism, had challenged a
group of pastors with: "When was the last time you told your
congregation what Jesus means to you?" Later he wrote in his study, "As
a pastor I talk a good deal about Jesus, but do I say what Jesus means
to me?" He decided he would try to do just that.
As a pastor in the UCC he said, "Our forebears in the faith worried
that they might be seen as heretics. Today we (UCC people) seem to be
more worried about being taken for fundamentalists." So in personal,
devotional terms Pastor Copenhaver tried to tell his people just what
Jesus meant to him.
Evidently the sermon was quite a personal testimony. After the
service Pastor Copenhaver noticed one dear lady whom he respected as one
of the "saints of Zion" came through the line to shake his hand, and
could not speak-- and went around and got at the end of the line again
to give herself time to compose herself. When she finally came the
second time she simply said, "Why didn't you tell us this before?"
Copenhaver writes: "I did not know how to respond. Now her
question, along with (Michael} Greene's, continues to haunt me."
B. A PERSONAL WITNESS CAN ALSO BE A CHALLENGE
I have wrestled with this question this week; what would I put into
a sermon like Pastor Copenhaver's? Don't worry, I am not going to talk
about myself and my relationship with God for a long time just now. But
I assure you that the prospect of laying aside other people's correct
answers-- and even laying aside what the Bible says Jesus is supposed to
be to me-- and telling you truthfully who Jesus is to me has been a
challenging experience!
I have been reminded again and again of Reuben Welch's sermon from
this very pulpit (he is going to be with us for "Say Yes '95 in January,
Lord willing!) when Reuben said, "I know Jesus! I want you to
understand, I really do know Him! But sometimes I think I hardly know
Jesus at all!" I understood then exactly what he was saying.
Who is Jesus to me?
Jesus is a Presence. I have never seen Him, but I cannot imagine
life without Him. I talk to Him, and I listen for Him. I wish I could
hear His voice, but He does speak from time to time, as I'm sure He does
to you, too.
Jesus is a Friend, but a Friend with a capital "F." He is not my
"peer," not someone I consult before I decide whether to do His will or
not. There are many decisions that I have to make, and Jesus lets me
make them, along with my share of mistakes. But when I know--when Jesus
makes known his will-- there is no decision further. I have already
decided many years ago that I will follow Jesus.
Jesus LOVES me! I confess that I don't understand why-- and
sometimes it is hard to believe. But I DO believe it! I learned "Jesus
loves me this I know" before I can remember. I never knew a time when I
didn't know that. But that love has been dawning on me, little by
little, more and more, for all the years of my life! I really want to
return that love ...
Conclusion:
I would seriously like to give you an assignment. (That is all you
need: another assignment!) This is an assignment that can go along with
or be a part of your quiet times for the next few days or weeks. The
assignment is to think pointedly about who you really say that Jesus
Christ is:
1) with your understanding; do you believe that Jesus is the Son of
God? Do you believe that Jesus IS God?
2) with your emotions; do you LOVE Jesus? Perhaps that is not
altogether a proper way to frame it, for LOVE is more than
feelings, that's for sure. But does your heart reach out to this
Person who loves you so very, very much? Do you respond to his
love? Paul says, "I plead with you by the great and tender love
of God to present your bodies a living sacrifice ..."
3) with your will: do you accept Jesus as your Master? Will you
report to him each morning and say, "I have given you my life back
there at an altar, back there at camp... back there in
revival.. I have given you my life-- NOW HELP ME TO LIVE ONE DAY
FOR YOU-- TODAY-- YOU SHOW ME WHAT TO DO AND I WILL DO IT!
And then, ask Jesus, your Friend, to help you share THAT reality
with your friends, and with everyone who will listen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.19 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Tue Nov 14 1995 19:10 | 227 |
|
February 2, 1992 - pm
Texts: Ephesians 5:18 and
John 20:22 Receive the Holy Spirit
WHEN THE SPIRIT COMES
Nazarenes and the Holy Spirit
Introduction
1. There are many advantages to being brought up in a holiness
church. Yet sometimes I think we get almost too familiar with God and
holy things. It is often the most precious gifts that get taken for
granted.
2. I am concerned that we holiness churches may come to think that
we know all about God, and all about His will, and all about salvation,
and particularly, to think that we have all the answers regarding being
filled with the Spirit.
3. Even so, we need to ask the question: What does it mean to
receive the Holy Spirit? Just what does it mean to be filled with the
Spirit? Shouldn't we know the "answers?" Should we, indeed?
4. The answer must be spiritually addressed. Understanding
holiness-- knowing about being filled with God-- is not primarily and
first of all an intellectual comprehension, as important as that
certainly is.
4.1 We must have sound doctrine. Our information about entire
sanctification must be both scriptural and Wesleyan. Unless we
have solid Wesleyan preaching, and sound Wesleyan teaching and
learning, we will find that we are strongly influenced by the
most attractive features of whatever doctrines are being most
skillfully or popularly presented at the time.
4.2 But even before doctrine is the need for a vital contact with
God. DOCTRINE and EXPERIENCE and PRACTICE are like three legs
of a tripod. Each one is absolutely essential.
- To the uncoverted WORLD the only side of salvation they can
see or care about in any way is PRACTICE.
- To the safe-guarding of the kingdom, and the ongoing health
of the CHURCH, the most important side of salvation is
DOCTRINE.
- But in the life of the INDIVIDUAL (the American rugged
individual!!) there is nothing more important than personal
EXPERIENCE.]
4.3 God's Spirit must bring Christ's LIFE into being into your
heart and mine. It will never contradict God's revelation; it
will finally agree with sound doctrine. But we are not saved
first of all by WHAT we think we know, but by HIM WE KNOW WE
KNOW!
5. Here is a quote from a great holiness exponent of a
generation or so ago, Samuel Chadwick:
"The fullness of God is in Christ, and Christ lives in men
through His Spirit. He is Himself the gift. He brings all the
blessings of grace, and wisdom, and power, but He is the blesser
and the blessing. There is in the soul a very true sense of a
divinely real Presence. The Spirit makes the Presence real. This is
the crowning mystery and glory of grace. The Christian religion is
not a set of doctrines about Christ, neither is it a rule of life
based on the teaching and example of Christ. It is not even an
earnest and sincere endeavor to live according to the mind and
spirit of Christ. It is LIFE, and that Life is the Life of Christ.
It is the continuation of the Life of the Risen Lord in his Body,
which is the Church, and in the Christian religion as set forth in
the New Testament. It is not a system but a Presence; the Spirit of
Christ indwelling the spirit of man."
6. Our knowledge of the indwelling Spirit-- our answer to the
question, "What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit needs to have
this quality of LIFE in it! We cannot simply say, "I subscribe to the
Nazarene position!" Our hearts must be tuned to the Presence of God!
NOW we will look at the answer scripturally:
I. WE RECEIVE THE SPIRIT OF GOD WHEN WE ARE BORN OF THE SPIRIT
John 20:22 / Romans 8:9
A. On the first Easter evening Jesus met with His disciples. Were
they glad to see Him! And then the Bible says that Jesus breathed on
them and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit!"
B. We receive the Spirit and the great work of being made in
Christ's own image is begun, in the crisis moment when we are born of
the Spirit of God. Jesus made it clear in talking to Nicodemus that
when we are made alive in Him we are born of the Spirit.(John 3:8). And
Paul says even more powerfully, (Romans 8:9) If any man have not the
Spirit of Christ he is none of His.
C. No one is ever born again-- that is, receives Jesus Christ as
personal Savior, without also receiving the Holy Spirit. In
understandable zeal for the truth of entire sanctification we may speak
of Christians as "receiving the Spirit" as though they had not known Him
at all before. This is not scriptural! Every Christian is the Temple of
the Holy Ghost, and every Christian is sanctified in this initial and
very true sense.
D. The Spirit brings with Himself into the life of every man,
woman, boy or girl who received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord all the
qualities of the Christ-life. There in the inner being are at least the
embryonic qualities of all the mighty fruit of the Spirit (see Galatians
5:22,23) of love, joy, peace and all the rest.
E. But the testimony of universal experience is that there is a
deeper and deeper relationship with God to be explored. The Spirit is
present in every child of God, making Jesus increasingly real, and
fellowship with Him possible. Have YOU come alive in Christ by His
Spirit?
Still, this is not all there is to receiving God's Spirit:
II. WE RECEIVE THE SPIRIT OF CLEANSING AND EMPOWERING WHEN WE ARE
SANCTIFIED WHOLLY (Acts 2: "They were in one place, in one accord,
etc...")
A. The Bible does not speak merely of the "coming" of the Holy
Spirit, but of the COMINGS.
B. Listen to what a current holiness advocate, Robert E. Coleman,
of Asbury, says:
Interestingly enough, when we get through all the theological
differences, a remarkable number of men and women greatly used of
God from various schools of thought witness to essentially the same
kind of a plus experience in their own lives. Naturally, they speak
of it in different ways, depending upon their particular doctrinal
point of view. Some call it "entire sanctification," "holiness,"
"perfect love," or "the victorious life." Others may prefer to
describe it as "the baptism of the Holy Spirit," "the rest of
faith," "death to self," or something else. The terminology,
however, is not the important thing. What is significant is that
there exists among Christian leaders representing many different
theological and church connections a basic unanimity of agreement
upon the fact-- the fact of a deeper and abiding life in Christ
that is entered into subsequent to regeneration whereby the
trusting heart is delivered from the bondage of self, filled with
the Holy Spirit, and set aflame by the love of God to serve the
Lord with gladness.
C. There is an experience, a crisis experience of entire and
complete consecration, of full surrender, to which as children of God we
are brought by the loving conviction of the Holy Spirit. To this
complete consecration, in response to faith, the Holy Spirit COMES in
sanctifying fullness, not merely to reside, but to PRESIDE in the heart
of the believer.
But this, marvelous as it is, is not all that is implicit in the
simple command of Jesus: Receive the Spirit!
III. WE RECEIVE THE SPIRIT OF ADEQUACY DAY BY DAY AS WE APPROPRIATE
HIS PRESENCE AND POWER (Ephesians 5:18)
A. The "coming of the Spirit" is not over and ended when we enter
the relationship of entire sanctification. For again and again we read
in the account of the early church how the people, challenged by evil
powers, or blocked by civil authorities, facing death or imprisonment,
would come together and pray, and in answer to their prayer they would
be "FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT!"
This important verse, as important as any in the New Testament, is
properly translated "Be being filled with the Spirit!" Make being
filled with God an on-going reality in your life!
B. One reason the power of God is not manifested more in
Christian's lives is that Christians are not living at that end of the
scale where the Spirit's power is urgently needed!
If we are content to take our pure and holy selves off into the
corner (like Little Jack Horner) and congratulate ourselves on our
doctrinal purity and our ethical honesty while the rest of the world
suffers and bleeds, we will never know the reality of what BEING FILLED
WITH THE SPIRIT REALLY IS ALL ABOUT!
But if we stay in step with Jesus by His indwelling Spirit-- if we
let HIM challenge our pure minds with HIS love-- He will take us into
situations where we are way over our heads-- where we KNOW WE CAN NOT
MAKE IT UNLESS HE POURS IN HIS SPIRIT!
C. But the beautiful thing is-- if we are HIS! No holds barred--
no reservations-- then THE SPIRIT DOES COME! He comes with His
adequacy! He comes in His love and power day by day as we need HIM!
Conclusion:
God is bigger than we can grasp! Being filled with His Spirit is a
promise that staggers our imagination-- but it is His promise!
We may not know all ABOUT God-- and we may not even have all the
answers about being filled with the Spirit; but we can in fact know God,
and we can in fact be filled with His Spirit!
God is not only BIGGER than you think-- God is NEARER THAN YOU
KNOW! God is HERE JUST NOW! He is bringing witness to the truth about
His salvation. He is telling YOU that you can have His Spirit deep
within!
GOD: "Do you know Me?"
"Do you really WANT to know Me?"
I ask you myself, this evening:
ARE YOU FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT?
ARE YOU SATISFIED THAT GOD HAS ALL OF YOU?
ARE YOU DAILY ASKING TO BE BEING FILLED?
Prayer
Hymn #276 - "Have Thine Own Way, Lord"
First preached September 8, 1991 - pm Here adapted for the series "What
We Nazarenes Believe" for Jan-Feb of 1992
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.20 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Mon Nov 20 1995 11:07 | 158 |
| Subj: Sermon: Entering the Kingdom
Matthew 7:13-23
13-14: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and the way is
broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter by
it. "For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life,
and few are those who find it."
21-23 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the
kingdom; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. "Many
will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in Your
name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many
miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart
from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'"
ENTERING THE KINGDOM
INTRODUCTION:
We have spoken in this brief series about the Sermon on the Mount as
"an inaugural" message for the Church, the kingdom of heaven on earth.
We have spoken of its spirit, and of its heroes. We have looked at its
values, and priorities; and have acknowledged its righteous laws.
But toward the close of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus talks about
entering the kingdom of God. He begins to speak of a narrow gate, a
disciplined way. And He says "Not everyone that calls me 'Lord Lord' is
going to get in! It is sobering!
But let me ask you:
1. How did YOU enter the kingdom? [We all came in the same way-- and we
each one came in a different way!]
And let me ask you perhaps an even tougher one:
2. How would you give instruction to someone else who wished to enter
the kingdom of heaven? [Even though we all are individuals, there are
certain 'absolutes' that apply to Christ's kingdom:]
I. THE KINGDOM IS ENTERED ON THE LORD JESUS CHRIST'S TERMS
There will always be people saying: Go there!" "Do this!"
"Believe our way!"
But the kingdom is not any one man or one group's monopoly. Should
we do this? Do we have to do that? Don't ask MAN-- be open- - ask God!
OBEY HIM!
Jesus reveals God's terms to each of us! He is perfectly capable of
making us KNOW we have been dealt with personally! The Holy Spirit
makes it seem that the truth is written just TO us, just FOR us!
Jesus confronts us (lovingly) where we are! Sooner or later we
need to deal with the sin question. Jesus never compromises with sin.
Sooner or later we need to identify with the visible kingdom and be
baptized. Sooner or later we get our values established, and start to
grow in grace. [He spoke to the woman at the well about her five
husbands. He saw the rich young ruler walk away sorrowful because he
loved his money more than eternal life. He called Zaccheus down from
his sycamore tree and went home with him, a despised tax gatherer, when
no one else would have anything to do with him. Jesus always deals with
us where we are!] BUT WE DON'T TELL JESUS HOW WE SHALL COME, OR WHAT
OUR TERMS WILL BE! THE TERMS ARE ALWAYS "YOU FOLLOW ME!" I'll do the
leading!
II. THE KINGDOM IS ENTERED BY FAITH IN THE LORD JESUS HIMSELF
It takes that strange thing we call FAITH to enter Christ's
kingdom!
Faith always has the element of volition; of willingness to obey.
We are not saved by doing; but it isn't faith unless there is more than
idle curiosity; unless and until
In Luke 17 when the Pharisees asked when the kingdom of God should
come-- Jesus said: "YOU can't see it-- you can't observe it- - but the
kingdom of God is already HERE! The kingdom is where Jesus is!
A kingdom of righteousness, of peace, of life. A kingdom of sin
defeated, through justification by faith in Christ's blood (Romans 5:1)
A kingdom of death defeated, through the gift of eternal life,
called regeneration (2 Corinthians 5:17 a new creation)
A kingdom in which isolation and loneliness and separation are
defeated by adoption into God's great family: (Romans 8:15)
But these are just empty theological terms apart from Jesus. Jesus
is our righteousness! Jesus is our regeneration! Jesus redeems us from
being alone in this universe, lost in space! The call is not "Come and
learn your way INTO the kingdom!" The call is "COME UNTO ME!"
III. WE ENTER THE KINGDOM IS TO SERVE HIS PURPOSE! AND IT IS THE ONLY
WAY OF SAFETY ... HE IS JUST !
Make no mistake! Storms are coming! As He comes to the close of the
inaugural message Jesus speaks of gathering storms! Every Sunday School
child has learned "The wise man built his house upon the rock!" But
every grown up Sunday School child has known the rains coming down, and
the floods coming up!
Jesus spoke of rains and floods. And in later conversations about
the kingdom Jesus referred explicitly to Noah, and again to Lot.
He made it plain that the Old Testament stories could be used as
powerful warnings about the need to prepare for judgment! The only way
of safety is knowing Him, and trusting Him personally!
So, we can speak profitably about "justification" and "adoption"
and "regeneration," but still the 'bottom line' of salvation is to know
Jesus Christ.
When we meet Him face to face He will not first be concerned with
what we KNOW, or even what we have ACCOMPLISHED! But His acceptance will
be whether or not we have been occupied with the Father's will. And His
rejection, seen here in His won words, is on the basis:"I never KNEW
YOU!"
Conclusion: At the beginning I asked two questions. I asked "How did
you enter the kingdom?"
Jesus said the days would be evil-- but He reminds us that Noah was
saved because he believed!; and Lot was snatched from Sodom because he
was RIGHT with God!
It is important that we know that WE are in God's righteous
kingdom! And we can know!
Have you answered that question? If you do not have a clear- cut
answer, you can enter the kingdom if you answer the call of Jesus to
come to HIM. Where Jesus is, there is the kingdom! If He calls you,
you may enter the kingdom now.
I would like to give an opportunity for YOU to enter Christ's
kingdom, receive His salvation, join HIS church!
Jesus says: "Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide, and
the way is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter
by it. "For the gate is small, and the way is narrow that leads to life,
and few are those who find it."
May we PRAY?
#227 Jesus I Come
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.21 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Mon Nov 20 1995 11:08 | 186 |
| =====================================================================
December 1, 1991
THE GIFT OF PEACE
Advent I - John 16:33
(Children's Sermon:)
The best stories are the old stories! The ones we have heard over
and over. And the very best of these old stories are Bible stories. I'm
thinking of one I learned when I was very small-- younger than most of
you...
"Please help me remember.. help me tell the story of Shadrach,
Meshack, and Abednego."
There was a powerful king. There was a golden statue. There was a
command: Do not pray to any God except the King (who thinks he is a
god!) There was a "burning, fiery furnace!"
The king did not understand Shadrach, Meshach, and Abdenego. The
king thought that God and prayer and things like that were not
important. The king thought that he was more important than God! But we
know that God and prayer and love and truth are the most important
things in the world, don't we! We know that God loves us.
That is what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abdego knew! They were sure God
was good. They were sure that if they loved God, and did the right, God
would be with them! And He was!)
So-- what happened?
And what does that tell us about praying and burning fiery furnaces
and kings and the like? Do you think any of this has anything to do with
peace?
(Introduction, Sermon, proper:)
Our text this first Sunday in Advent is John 16:33
These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have
overcome the world.
Peace was one of the main themes of the final words of Jesus, the
Last Supper discourse. In Advent the hope of genuine peace and faith and
love all mingle together in the anticipation of the coming of Messiah.
I. PEACE IN THE FUTURE
Advent is about anticipation. It is keeping alive the hope that
Messiah will indeed come. Of course, we know that He has already
come. He is coming again. But also in reality we know that there are
many areas where there is a lack of peace-- in the world, and in our
individual situations. Wherever there are human beings, there is a need
for peace.
"We do not yet see all thing put under (Messiah's) feet! But we see
Jesus!" That is where hope comes in. Hope is believing, having faith in
God's integrity, as we look into the unknown. Advent--
anticipation. People in darkness, seeing a Light.
The hope of Messiah is alive in Judaism as perhaps never before!
It should be alive in all people of faith. Jesus promised a future
peace.
II. A PRESENT PEACE
But peace is not just "in the future" for those who follow Jesus.
If genuine peace were only in the future it would be worth whatever it
costs to live so as to finally receive it. But there is real, genuine,
heart-healing peace right here and now! Jesus said, on that night before
He was crucified, "Peace I leave with you; MY peace I give to you!"
A. This present peace is a MYSTERY of our faith. Philippians 4:7
"The peace of God which passes all comprehension-- passes
all understanding-- that is mysterious but real-- shall
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
YES- I can see the many things that are wrong! God's prophets are
crying out against the evil of our day! Father Heery in Sacred
Heart pulpit; my son Russell's pastor, Steve Perry in the Duxbury
Nazarene pulpit-- you don't need to travel to hear Chuck Coleson
(although that is not a bad idea)-- you just have to be alive to
God to be shocked and saddened by the intensity of the evil in our
world today-- evils that I find difficult to even talk about in a
public meeting where tender ears are present!
YES- I do not know what the next step is! I have no lack of
advice: write this legislator; block that entrance; get busy-- DO
something! Now! Don't waste time! It's already too late!
NO! I am NOT overwhelmed! I know that I am in my Savior's care!
The FIRST thing I must do is make sure that my roots go down deep
into HIM! My PEACE is only in HIM!
B. Present peace begins with a reconciliation with God. The call of
the prophet is "Be reconciled with God!" The world in great part
does not even understand that it is alienated from God. Our society
today has no concept of sin. On the one hand violence and sex are
glorified; on the other hand random killing and rape and incest are
epidemic, and social experts cannot make the connection. Our
society is out of touch with spiritual reality! We as a
civilization are being showered with anti-God propaganda.
But when individuals wake up-- or are shocked awake by some sense
of need, and the Holy Spirit of God brings conviction for sin, and
a strong faith that Jesus can and will forgive sin, there comes a
glorious sense of peace with God, and a justification-- a
forgiveness of guilt that brings real, not false peace.
This is the peace of PARDON.
Present peace continues with a settledness regarding who I am, and
what I do. I do not claim more for "peace" than the Bible; the way
of faith is very much a battle. But God's people come not only to
know peace with God, but they come to know the peace OF God.
This is a peace of PURPOSE.
The best part of present peace-- peace during the storms and
battles of life-- is that the God of peace is with His people!
This is the peace of God's PRESENCE.
C. This present peace is an ABIDING PEACE!
1. As we abide in Him!
2. This peace comes to ABIDE in us!
D. When the disciples finally DID turn their world upside down it was
NOT through frantic endeavor. It was not through massive political
demonstration. There were cases of civil disobedience, perhaps. But
only when clearly the law told them not to speak of the power of
the Gospel. And then, frightened, they repaired to the BODY, where
they poured out their fears, and they prayed together! Their prayer
was for abiding peace:
"Lord, behold now their threatenings! Grant that with
boldness (i.e., lack of intimidation; i.e., peace) we may
proclaim You as Lord!" (Acts 4)
III. A SIGN OF THIS PEACE: COMMUNION
Jesus said:
"As often as you do this, You proclaim all that I am and
all that I have done and all that I am going to do!"
(Paraphrase from I Corinthians 11)
Invitation:
Jesus waould invite us to share in His peace today!
Jesus would remind us of our HOPE today!
Our peace is in the future-- He is coming again, just as surely as
He came in Bethlehem. We are no different from the faithful who sat in
darkness, waiting, watching-- like Simeon and Anna and all the prophets
before them. The wrongs of earth will be made right! Every knee shall
bow! Messiah will come!
Jesus would also reinforce our PEACE today!
Our peace is here, now, with us, present!
What a wonderful GIFT! What a powerful assurance!
What a sinful thing to hide such a GIFT! How we need to seek ways
to share it!
Jesus would also challenge us to be instruments of PEACE:
Our peace is not a denial of struggle; not an "answer" to dilemma,
nor a forceful action. Our peace is a still small voice saying: "This
is the way! Walk ye in it!" Our peace is the quiet nudge to speak to a
neighbor with concern about her problems; our peace is a call to be and
then to do.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.22 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Fri Dec 01 1995 09:20 | 236 |
| Subj: Sermon: Dawning of Revival
May 22, 1988 - Today is Pentecost Sunday - the 250th Anniversary of
Wesley's Aldersgate-Street "heart warming" experience:
ALDERSGATE: DAWNING OF REVIVAL
Romans 1:16,17
"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for
salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the
Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to
faith; as it is written:*'But the righteous man shall live by faith.'"
(*Habakkuk 2:4)
Introduction:
There is nothing quite so predictable and at the same time unique
as the rising of the sun. It came up at exactly 5:17 a.m. here in Boston
today, although no one in Boston saw it because it is cloudy and
raining. No one doubts it came up-- for it is daylight. And not very
many people cared about the exact time, although technically at 5:16 it
had not yet risen, and at 5:18 the sunrise was history.
The rising of the sun was preceded by light, growing almost
imperceptibly from total darkness to full gray daylight. The exact
beginning of the light just before sunrise is almost impossible to trace
with the naked eye, and varies with the atmosphere, and, in fact, with
the latitude. In equatorial latitudes dawn and dusk are brief and
darkness and light occur with surprising suddenness. In polar regions
twilight lingers.
Sunrise, for the people called Methodists, and many others,
including the holiness groups, dawned when one man of God discovered for
himself that we could be saved and we could know it! John Wesley's heart
was strangely warmed at 8:45 p.m., Wednesday, May 24, 1738. Let me tell
you about the dawning of that sunrise, as I understand it, and of the
clouds or fog that obscured some of the light in the dawning of that
sunrise.
The story of Wesley's search for assurance is fascinating, and
quite well documented:
He was born into a poor clergyman's home, and from an early age had
the conviction that God had his hand on his life.
Cutting the story short, in 1725 he was ordained a priest in the
Church of England. The Aldersgate experienced marked a high point in his
experience after 13 years of disciplined living in the priesthood:
There are some mis-perceptions about his up-bringing: He did have a
godly mother-- but with no teaching of assurance, for Susannah Wesley
herself only came to know assurance September 3, 1739, more than a year
after Aldersgate!
Certainly in his seeking after God and God's will Wesley held
nothing back. He was in earnest-- and if works would bring salvation and
assurance, Wesley would have been saved over and over again.
But there came to the Wesley brothers the slow persuasion that
salvation is by faith alone. They slowly began to know the relinquishing
of the 'wealth' of acquired righteousness. On Whitsunday, May 21, 1738,
Charles Wesley believed and was assured of his salvation. The following
Wednesday John Wesley followed his younger brother. [Look with me at
this experience of the assurance of salvation:]
I. THE EXPERIENCE OF SALVATION
GOD HONORS THE HUNGER AND THIRST FOR HIM THAT HE PLACES WITHIN US,
BUT THERE IS A PLACE, ALSO, FOR US TO ATTEND TO THAT HUNGER
1. THE INNER PERSUASION: there was an instant of sun-rise
(SON-rise!) Here are Wesley's own words:
5/24/1738 "In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society
in Aldersgate-Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to
the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he
was describing the change which God works in the heart through
faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did
trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation: And an assurance
was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and
saved me from the law of sin and death."
2. But this new assurance was NOT a simple, cloud-free sunrise; and
it was NOT unchallenged, emotionally. I have read many, many accounts
of Wesley's conversion. I do not recall any that go on with what
immediately follows in his Journal. Here is the very next paragraph, on
that same meeting in Aldersgate:
5/24/'38 "I began to pray with all my might for those who had in
a more especial manner despitefully used me and persecuted me. I
then testified openly to all there, what I now first felt in my
heart. But it was not long before the enemy suggested, 'This
cannot be faith; for where is thy joy?' Then I was taught, that
peace and victory over sin are essential to faith in the Captain
of our salvation: But that, as to the transports of joy that
usually attend the beginning of it, especially in those who have
mourned deeply, God sometimes giveth, sometimes withholdeth
them, according to the counsels of his own will."
[Then, later that same day, after he had gone to his own home, he
wrote:]
"After my return home, I was much buffeted with temptations; but
cried out, and they fled away. They returned again and again. I
as often lifted up my eyes, and He 'sent me help from his holy
place.'
Then, the next day after the 'sunrise' come these words:
Thursday 5/25/1738 ".. the enemy injected a fear, 'If thou dost
believe, why is there not a more sensible change?' I answered
(yet not I,) 'That I known not. But this I know, I have 'now
peace with God.' And I sin not today, and Jesus my Master has
forbid me to take thought for the morrow. " 'But is not any sort
of fear,' continued the tempter, 'a proof that thou dost not
believe?' I desired my Master to answer for me; and opened his
Book upon those words of St. Paul, 'Without were fightings,
within were fears.' Then, inferred I, well may fears be within
me; but I must go on and tread them under my feet.
And the next day:
Friday 5/26/1738 "My soul continued in peace, but yet in
heaviness because of manifold temptations.
Sunday 5/28/1738 "I waked in peace, but not in joy."
Monday 5/29/1738 "I was often tempted to doubt."
Why am I telling you this, to discredit Wesley? Far, far from it!
Wesley's usefulness to God and the kingdom are beyond question. But I
am bringing this to your attention so that you can see that the greatest
exponent of 'know-so salvation' came to his own assurance by way of
doubts and struggles and extreme honesty, as well as by dint of
single-minded desire to live for God and with God!
3. Wesley thus had both sympathy and advice for others; as well as
the insistence that none be satisfied short of the witness of the
Spirit;
Monday November 19, 1739 "I earnestly exhorted those who had
believed, to beware of two opposite extremes, -the one, the
thinking while they were in light and joy, that the work was
ended, when it was just begun; the other, the thinking when they
were in heaviness, that it was not begun, because they found it
was not ended."
II. THE PRACTICE OF GODLY LIVING
GOD USES THE LIFE THAT HE INHABITS, BUT HE IS MORE CONCERNED WITH
FAITHFULNESS THAN HE IS WITH THE 'BELLS AND WHISTLES' OF OUR EMOTIONS
1. God honors those who hunger and thirst after righteousness. John
Wesley was a seeker!
2. Wesley was led as he obeyed . . . not by human programming, nor
by deliberate design; although this did not keep Wesley from being as
methodical and as well-disciplined as he knew how to be: a round-robin
circuit of all Britain, year after year.
3. God begins to use JW in preaching out in the streets and fields,
and a revival begins while preaching in a prison:
Thursday 4/26/1739 "While I was preaching at Newgate (a prison in
Bristol), on these words, 'He that believeth hath everlasting
life.' I was insensibly led, without any previous design, to
declare strongly and explicitly, that God willeth 'all men to be'
thus 'saved;' and to pray that, 'if this were not the truth of
God, he would not suffer the blind to go out of the way; but if it
were, he would bear witness to his word.' Immediately one, and
another, and another sunk to the earth: They dropped on every side
as thunderstruck. (A spiritual awakening was on at Newgate that
reformed the prison!)
Sunday 5/13/1739 My ordinary employment, in public, was now as
follows: Preaching an average of 22 times per week!
[Transition: But where does this Wesley study have to do with our world
on this Pentecost Sunday in 1988 in 'post-Christian America?']
III.GOD IS NOT FRUSTRATED WITH THE EVILS OF OUR AGE, BUT CAN IT BE THAT
HE IS FRUSTRATED WITH THE LEVEL OF HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER HIM ON THE
PART OF HIS PEOPLE?
1. Wesley's England was at least as barbarous as our own country
today! There was rigid class discrimination; there was wide-spread
brutality; there were debtors' prisons and capital punishment for minor
offenses.
2. When he died Wesley had not conquered all ills-- but God in John
Wesley had made a difference!
3. AND WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Jesus: Blessed are they which do
hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled! Where,
really, is our hunger? We, too, can make a difference in our world. We
cannot all be John Wesley. But we can be saved and know it!
This way of living the Spirit-filled life-- cannot be by dint of
merit; we do not simply come to the place where we 'deserve' to be
filled.
But it does not come to the casual seeker, either.
Conclusion:
Has the Sun of righteousness risen in your life, to take the central
place in everything you are and do? If we were as concerned to let
Jesus Christ dominate us as Wesley was, do you think we could come to
the assurance that our lives are truly His? Do you believe we could make
a difference?
Malachi 4:1,2
"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the
proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day
that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it
shall leave them neither root nor branch.
But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise
with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as
calves of the stall."
Let's keep looking with FAITH for the rising of the Sun!
#190 - A Charge to Keep I Have
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.23 | y | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Fri Dec 01 1995 09:21 | 183 |
|
WRESTLING WITH GOD
Life-Changing Crises
Introduction:
There are times in our lives when we feel we have to turn a
corner or forever after settle for less than we might be. I think
now and then of Stephen Crane's poem "The Wayfarer." When the
'Wayfarer' perceives that the ideal path, the noble path, the way
of uncompromising truth is painful he says, "Doubtless there are
other ways!"
Doubtless there are other ways than the way that seeks God
first. But if we seek to go with God there will be these life-
changing times when we face up to life at its elemental levels. It
is a wonderful and yet risky time when we see that if we will, God
will show us who we are and what we might be.
[This particular passage in Genesis pictures a struggle to put
God absolutely at the center of life. It lends itself well to what
we Nazarenes call the crisis of entire sanctification. I believe
it is valid to help us see how we can enter into the Spirit-filled
relationship with God.
[But it is more than just an illustration; more than a "how-
to" for a "personal experience." It deals with change in
character.]
It is my personal conviction that we are all called to
nobility. I believe that we come to these "corners" from time to
time when we decide whether or not to accept the challenge to go
the first-class way, and do God's will without reservation, or
whether we will simply die a little, and switch on the TV and
settle back and wait for the pension (and the undertaker.)
I. JACOB'S CHALLENGE
He had left Canaan years before with the clothes on his back.
Remember the night he spent at Beth-El? Surely you have heard of
"Jacob's Ladder"? The covenant was begun then.
He had prospered, even if the prospering wasn't always all
that pleasant to him. But little by little he had gained many,
many things and had become something of a family man: Two wives,
eleven sons.
But Jacob is restless. He is in alien territory. He knows it
is God's will for him to be elsewhere. So finally he starts out.
Even as he starts his motives are probably mixed. He is getting
away from Laban. He needs to settle up with Esau. He wants to be
in the Promised Land of Canaan. But at the heart of this: God
said: return to the land of your birth (Genesis 31:13)
Does it bother you that you can't even know all the reasons
you want to "turn a corner" in your life? It is helpful to know
that you don't have to wait and purify your motives to your own
satisfaction to begin the process of minding God. Perhaps the
purifying comes as we proceed along the pathway of obedience.
A. Jacob had humility before the Lord. I don't think you or I may
necessarily have seen Jacob as humble. But he recognized that
God had been good to him, and that he would have nothing unless
God had been with him. That is better than false humility that
says "I am nothing." That is different from "I am unworthy!"
B. Jacob had honesty before the Lord. He said: "I am afraid!" It
isn't necessarily the fearless who are brave! Fearless may mean
foolish. Brave are those who are afraid as they approach the
challenges of life and yet seek to face them with honesty.
C. Jacob had a measure of faith. He reminds the Lord, "For Thou
didst say!" I am here, this far, at this place, because I have
been seeking to obey You! You got me into this as far as I am!
II. JACOB'S LIFE-CHANGING CRISIS
As the time to turn the corner came nearer Jacob faced a time
of sifting. He began to think what was really important to him.
His wealth was not insignificant. His position as a man of power
and prestige was worth something. His eleven sons, his two wives,
these represented his human hope for immortality, his progeny. In
some ways these were more important than his own life.
The immediate threat was the unknown fall-out that would take
place when he would finally meet his twin brother, Esau, face to
face. he had shamefully wronged Esau, and Esau was an elemental,
outdoors sort of man. There was danger written all over the
possibilities.
But beyond this immediate danger was the challenge to swerve
aside from the course God had called him to travel. God had said:
Go to the Canaan!
Jacob sent his wealth, his herds and flocks, on ahead to meet
the immediate challenge. It couldn't be avoided. he knew he had
to meet Esau. But before he could meet Esau, Jacob had to meet God
in a new way.
Jacob was left alone with his immediate, most important
relationships. (22) He crossed Jabbok where the road crossed, at
the ford. And then, somehow he went back across the stream-- it
isn't clear the sequence-- but finally
A. Jacob was left alone. Life change must deal with primary lines
of control. Who am I when I don't have my toys? [Henri Nouwen
in his new community (Daybreak) stripped of "Dr." and
"Professor" is just "Henri" to the severely retarded. {By the
way doesn't mean it is OUR business to strip one another of the
common courtesies of "Mr." and "Sir" and "Madam"!}]
B. Jacob made contact with God at this basic level. "I will not let
go of You! It is not things I need! I want Your blessing!"
C. Jacob had to say his name. "What is your name?" God asked.
["Name" always stands for "character."] What kind of person am
I, really? It is not a superficial question. It is not an easy
question. And I am not sure that a correct answer is as
important as an open, honest, submissive answer. "YOU know who
I am, Lord! Show me who I am!" (Psalm 139) In Jacob's instance
he had to say, "My name is Jacob! I am a deceiver! I am a
heel-grasper!"
D. Jacob heard God say a NEW name for him. "Your name is Israel!"
You have prevailed with God! [In Revelation 2 the risen Savior
promises the church in Pergamos that those who overcome will be
given a white stone, and in that stone a name written that no
one knows except the one who receives it. Mysterious language,
perhaps. But God is interested in changing us from who we are to
what He has in mind that we may become. And we can be certain
that His name will be glorious!] "Jacob" just doesn't make it
next to "Israel!" Would you rather be a heel-grasper or a
Prince with God??
Conclusion:
Are you still simple enough, or brave enough, or noble enough
to want to go for God's very best in your life? There are times in
our lives when we feel we have to turn a corner or forever after
settle for less than we might be. I mentioned a poem by Stephen
Crane at the beginning of the sermon. I can almost quote it:
The Wayfarer
A wayfarer, perceiving the pathway of truth
Was astonished.
It was thickly grown up with weeds.
"Aha," he said. "I perceive that
No one has passed this way in a long time.
Then he saw that each blade
Was a singular knife.
"Well," he muttered,
"Doubtless there are other ways!"
And there are other ways than the way that seeks God first.
There are many other ways! But if we seek to go with God there
will be these life-changing times when we face up to life at its
elemental levels. It is a wonderful and yet risky time when we see
that if we will, God will show us who we are and what we might be.
One of those life-changing times comes when God speaks to you
about being wholly, entirely consecrated to God. It is what we
Nazarenes call "entire sanctification." You may not agree
doctrinally, totally. You may not understand all your own
motivation. There are some many mixed things involved.
But the question is: will you turn the corner? Will you be
changed for the better?
Who are you? What is your name? Are you satisfied the way you
are before God and your loved ones?
Who is GOD to you? Will you meet Him, and hold Him to His
promises, and not let go until He gives you the name HE has in mind
for you?
Prayer: Lord, You must have loved Jacob very much. Help us to see,
to believe that you love each one of us like that, too. Give to us
the blessing that will change us, and make us to prevail with You.
Amen.
#71 (EH) Sweet Will of God
--
|
| 803.24 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Tue Dec 05 1995 15:56 | 240 |
| Subj: Sermon: God, Our Home
October 9, 1994
GOD, OUR HOME
Psalm 90:1 Lord, Thou hast been our dwellingplace through all
generations.
Hebrews 3:6 [Christ Jesus] whose house are we.. if we hold fast the
confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the
end ...
Ephesians 3: 14 - 21 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith...
There is a recurring theme here of "home" or "dwelling" or
"abiding." The Psalmist says, "Lord YOU have been our dwelling place."
Then in Hebrews and again in Paul's prayer in Ephesians 3 God is spoken
of as dwelling or living in us. Hebrews seems to say that together, as a
body, Christ is building us into a house where he can dwell. Paul prays
"that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith." And do you remember
Jesus saying to us (John 15) "If you abide in ME, and my words abide in
you . . . ask what you will!" We do not dare overlook this theme of
abiding, dwelling, being "at home."
There is a deep longing built into your heart and mine for "home."
What makes "home" is more than place (although that can be very
important.) People-- PERSONS - are really what "home" is all about.
God has made us for community. It is great when families love each
other and trust each other. It is great when communities are more than
just isolated individuals. Friends I made while in college are still as
close to me or closer than some blood relatives. God has made us for
lasting fellowship with Himself. Beyond human love (and what escapes us
sometimes) is the lesson that God has also made us to be more and more
at home with HIM.
He does not demand that we be hermits and give up human friendship
to draw near to Him. He has made it clear that He certainly intends that
we love one another. But God does desire that we learn that He is the
reason for that deep longing for "home." That ache in our hearts for
God is the most important desire we will ever have.
We hesitate to call this God-hunger the most important quality of
our faith. We think the most important thing is success, or
productivity, or ministry. (The elder brother in the story of the
Prodigal-- was faithful in his chores-- but the father wanted his
affection, and wanted him to love his brother.) The most important
thing in all the world is being "at home" with God. God our dwelling
place; Christ "at home" in us.
Henri J. M. Nouwen, as reported in the most recent Christianity
Today, once told a gathering of Baptist ministers these shocking words:
"Ministry is the least important thing. You cannot NOT minister
if you are in communion with God and live in a community. A lot of
people are always concerned about: 'How can I help people? Or help
the youth come to Christ? Or preach well?' But these are all
basically non-issues. If you are burning with the love of Jesus,
don't worry: everyone will know. They will say,'I want to get
close to this person who is so full of God.'" CT, Oct 3, '94, 28
This strikes home to me as I read it, because drawing close to God,
being filled with Him is demanding work. It begins when we decide that
God's will is worth anything, that God's way is best even when we don't
understand it. It begins in earnest with the "BREAKING" part of
sacramental living. It seems sometimes that we are willing to do almost
anything to avoid "being broken"!
"Who is Henri Nouwen?" "Does he do any ministering?" " Has he
ever accomplished anything?" Many of you are "old friends" with Henri
Nouwen, but others have yet to meet him. He is one of my favorite
devotional authors, a Hollander who began studying to be a simple parish
priest, but had such a brilliant mind he was almost pushed into
academia. After years of what might only be termed "brilliant"
successes, as a tenured professor at Yale, as the author of a score or
more good books, and working in Latin America and spending time in a
monastery in Genesee, New York, and teaching at Harvard University, for
the last eight years Henri Nouwen has been pastor of a community of
mentally and physically handicapped persons, located just north of
Toronto, Ontario.
As gifted and productive as Nouwen has been, he has always been
restless, and to a certain extent rootless, but now he has found a sense
of being at home in his ministry to the people who do not know him as
"that famous holy man," but just Henri, who cares about them.
Nouwen wrote that the more "important" he became, the more empty he
felt; until when he got to Harvard it was very difficult for him to
maintain the simple contact of being at home with God (MY words of
interpretation.) One big reason Nouwen feels at home is because he
experiences God's love through people who love him for himself, and not
because he is a celebrity. He says,
"If (handicapped people) express love for you, then it comes from
God. It's not because you have accomplished anything. These broken,
wounded, and completely unpretentious people forced me to let go of
my relevant self-- the self that can do things-- and forced me to
reclaim that unadorned self in which I am completely vulnerable,
open to receive and give love regardless of my accomplishments."
So Henri spends much of his routine days caring for people who
cannot take care of themselves, and would be outcasts in the world at
large. Just a few more words of wisdom from this modern day holy man:
"The evangelical movement has become just a bit victimized by a
success-oriented culture, wanting the church-- like the
corporation-- to be successful. On that level the mystical
tradition of communion with Christ is important. 'I am the vine,
you are the branches. If you remain connected with me, then you
will bear fruit.' The fruit is not success." CT, Oct 3,'94,29
But strangely enough, to be "at home" or seeking to be at home in God,
or to make God at home in us-- does not lessen real spiritual
accomplishment. Nouwen's spiritual journey is not over, and he
continues to be a blessing through all the evangelical Christian world.
One other person who rejected "success" in favor of spending a
life-time seeking to be "at home" with God was a man who once was a
student at a sister holiness college. As a young man this young man,
Stanley Jones, sought to be sanctified entirely, set apart for whatever
God wanted in his life. I suppose there have been others who did what
he did, but I never saw one in our own denomination: Stanley was
offered- - elected-- to the highest post in the United Methodist
Church-- elected a bishop. It is like being elected a General
Superintendent. Certainly God's will! But Stanley Jones turned it down
and instead went back to India where he was serving as a missionary. He
was one of the great Christians of modern day times. Truly a holy man,
Jones was at times controversial, outspoken. Let me tell you a little
of the story of a man who was learning to be "at home" in God:
As a seventeen-year-old, he was converted under the hell-fire
ministry of Evangelist Robert J. Bateman (who went down on the
Titanic.) Stanley went on to seek and claim the experience of
entire sanctification. He began to read Hanna Smith's book The
Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, and on page 42 the Holy Spirit
said: "Now!" Stanley obeyed, and without any emotional surge he
claimed the fullness. He testifies that it saved him from the
extremes of emotionalism and of rationalism. Stanley was from that
moment "all out" for God-- with no holds barred.
He professed to be called to preach-- but forgot his outline in his
first sermon and left the pulpit, dumbfounded. But before he got
to his seat, he felt he should give his testimony; and a young man
came forward and was converted [-- and later entered the ministry.]
Stanley did not take his crisis of being sanctified wholly to be a
static, milestone in the past sort of thing. He wanted to be being
filled with the Spirit! He told of how as a student at Asbury, in a
dorm-room prayer meeting, the Holy Spirit moved in in a way that
Stanley had never known before-- and never knew quite the same way
again.
He was "spirit (Spirit) intoxicated!" for three or four days. After
a day or so the emotion almost totally wore off; but there was a
sense of God's Presence that swept the entire community. Every
student in that Christian college professed to a right relationship
with the Lord, along with scores of people from the community.
And for Stanley, that filling became the touchstone for a life of
living in the fullness-- depending on the fullness-- again and
again breaking into the fullness of the Presence of the Lord.
Whatever it took for Christ to be "at home" Stanley wanted that
more than anything. He declares he did not live on "mountaintops"
or speak in tongues-- did not know extremes of emotions. He simply
lived in the fullness of the Presence.
As we said at the beginning, he was elected a Bishop of his
church-- the highest honor that could be offered-- and graciously
declined so that he could continue a missionary in the poorest country
of the world that he knew. He touched thousands of lives. He spoke
here in 1949-- and I still remember his text!
He was controversial. He was wrong many times. He said himself
that there were times when he went on his own judgment and failed.
Stanley Jones learned to live in the dynamic of being filled with
the Spirit. He knew his crisis of being sanctified. He had his
mountaintop experience(s) of full assurance. And then he simply lived
in the expectancy and the dependency and the obedience of the
Spirit-filled, Spirit-dominated, Spirit-saturated life! When you looked
at E. Stanley Jones you saw an ordinary man. When Stanley Jones spoke
and acted, somehow Jesus was exalted! There is a deep longing built
into your heart and mine for "home." HOW CAN YOU AND I FOLLOW THAT
SPIRITUAL HOME-SICKNESS AND FIND OUR HOME IN GOD, AND MAKE GOD AT HOME
IN US? I really believe that God wants to make his home in your heart;
he wants to share every part of your life. (Revelation 3:21)
1. God has CHOSEN you-- called you to himself. Have you responded
to God's choice? Are you His child? You are already loved!
But when God calls, we need to respond!
2. God has BLESSED you. If you have asked Him to save you, He has
already give you his Spirit and increasingly wants you to have
the full fruit of the Spirit. There are gifts and graces
waiting for you. All the resources of God's storehouses of
grace are available to make you all God wants you to become.
3. God needs to BREAK you! HERE IS WHERE THE RUBBER MEETS THE
ROAD! God does not have servants who serve Him because of fear,
or because they are trying to save themselves, or any other
selfish reason! God asks that we make our lives available to
Him simply because we love Him and trust Him!
We cannot plumb the depths of being at home in God until we are
willing to empty out the things that hinder, and set aside our own will
and "die out!" (Holiness people may have said some pretty extravagant
things here. The fact remains there needs to be a sacrifice made:)
Romans 12: 1,2. We must renounce the sovereignty of self forever in
favor of God's good will.
And then God will see to it that we are GIVEN where He says we are
needed! There is where the JOY is! Wherever God's will and our loving
obedience coincide there finally is the greatest joy we can know!
I want to minister well; I want to be a good preacher, or a good
"do-er." But far, far more-- I really want to be the kind of person
Henri Nouwen was talking about-- remember what he said:
If you are burning with the love of Jesus, don't worry: everyone
will know. They will say,'I want to get close to this person who
is so full of God.'"
THAT puts me under conviction! The world is waiting for people who
are really at home with God, and in whom God is at home. The world will
seek out a church where God is pleased to be "at home."
Prayer
Hymn #462 Sweet Will of God
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.25 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Fri Dec 08 1995 09:03 | 238 |
|
January 18, 1992
FREE FROM, FREE TO
A Christian Obeys God's Word
Romans 6:22 Therefore being made free
from sin, and become servants
to God . . .
INTRODUCTION:
Romans 6:22 is one of those golden texts that summarizes, or
outlines, a great deal of wisdom in a single sentence. It begins
with freedom from sin, and it shows the steps along the Pathway all
the way to eternal life. Every step is essential, but I am
particularly interested in the first two. They are two sides of the
same truth:
(1) being made FREE from sin is wonderful;
but it must be accompanied by
(2) becoming servants to God!
There is a correlation between genuine FREEDOM and personal
ALLEGIENCE TO GOD!
Last week I quoted from a poem to begin the morning's sermon.
At the great risk of being taken for a tool of the English teachers
of E.N.C. (or at least one of them) I want to read another poem to
introduce my thoughts this morning:
Invictus
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishment the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul. -William Ernest Henley
Whoever or whatever else the poet is representing in this verse,
the voice in this poem is not a Christian voice.
First, it is very vague about divinity. It says, "I thank whatever
gods may be ... " Second, the voice claims to be its own master, its
own captain. Every Christian has a Master. Every Christian confesses:
"Jesus is Lord!" But because we own a Master, Christ Jesus, does that
make us not free? Is the spirit of Invictus true freedom? What do we
Christians know about freedom? What is the relationship of freedom and
authority in the Christian life?
I. ABSOLUTE FREEDOM IS ALWAYS AN ILLUSION, PARTICULARLY IN MATTERS
ETERNAL
A. No one has absolute control in other areas of life:
1. We come into this world without regard for our will: No one is
free to refuse to be born. Not one of us asked to come into this
world.
2. We will leave this world whether we want to or not. No one is
free to ultimately postpone death. Whether or not we go kicking
and screaming or willingly, we shall all go to meet our Maker.
3. We live in this world with many restrictions:
1) Limits of nature
2) Limits of circumstance and resource
3) Limits of courtesy and civil law
B. So how do we think that simply because we think or say it is so,
that we can control those things of eternal destiny? We simply do
not understand what mighty powers are at work!
II. THE DELUSION OF SELF-SOVEREIGNTY
A. But brave Invictus says, "I know life has its limitations! But I'll
stand on my own two feet! I won't use the crutch of religion!
Given the limitations of life (as you have described them) I will
still be my own master, and chart my own course. What's wrong with
that?"
B. This is "self-sovereignty" and it is a delusion. We cannot simply
chart our own course!
To say that self-sovereignty is a delusion is not to deny that we
face responsibility for the choices we make. But those choices are
made possible (1) only by God's grace; and (2) are choices that
must be made between powers and forces far greater than we know.
C. As soon as we choose to yield to sin and selfishness, we are no
longer our own masters. Sin is a choice! As soon as we wilfully
sin, we are no longer free. Paul writes:
If you yield yourself to anyone to do his will, you are the
slaves of whomever you obey, whether that be to sin, which
leads to death, or to obedience which leads to righteousness?
Paul tells us, in fact, that there are none free, apart from God's
grace, apart from God's Spirit who brings the law of life in Christ
Jesus. He writes:
I find then a law that when I would do good evil is present
with me. "O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from
this body of death?"
D. The delusion of self-sovereignty, of saying in effect "I am god in
my little world," is the denial of the fact that actually we are
trapped in sin's control, and cannot do anything but continue in
sin.
We sin because we are sinners. We cannot help ourselves. We are
caught in the current of sin, being swept along to death and hell.
III. TRUE FREEDOM COMES FROM CHOOSING TO BE 'IN CHRIST'
A. Freedom begins with this God-given power to choose which Master we
shall serve. Freedom is of grace, the gift of God that enables us
to see our need, and make for the Light!
We cannot withstand the mighty tides of life apart from God's
guidance. To be "free" apart from God is actually to be in the grip
of other powers, seen or unseen:
It is as though we are adrift on a vast ocean, with a
double-ended skiff, and oars, and the ability to row. Some seem to
be able to row more skillfully than others. But the currents are
strong, and no one can row as fast as the tides.
Sometimes where the tides meet there are great eddies,
whirlpools, treacherous places. In other places the ocean currents
are so broad the sense of movement is hard to detect. But in every
case, the currents in this ocean of time are moving far faster than
the fastest rowboat can row. The only hope of reaching a
destination is to read the tides, to somehow choose a current, to
make one's way across the drifts somehow, to move with the mighty
flow.
B. When we cry out to God for help, and by His grace He enables us to
say from our hearts: "Jesus is Lord!" we are swept into the current
of His life, and His love, and His grace!
We find that we now have the power to become God's own children. We
find grace to become like Jesus Himself, to love as He loved.
With Paul we say
It is no longer I that live (in my own strength - with such
freedom and power!) Christ is living in me! The life I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who
loved me and gave Himself for me!
C. We begin to experience the freedom that Jesus Christ patterned
for us. His freedom becomes our own!
How "free" was Jesus? And how can we ever be like Him?
1. Jesus was free from sin! And by His indwelling power, we, too,
can be "made free from sin": His grace makes us (1) Free from
sin's GUILT: no condemnation. (2) Free from sin's POWER. (3)
Free from sin's PENALTY. Christ paid the penalty so that we
might live with Him forever.
2. Jesus was free to do the will of God! And we are made free from
sin, says our text, as we are made servants to God. Jesus was
free from sin, and Jesus came to do the Father's will. The two
go together!
3. Jesus was free to live out His life in LOVE!
The way is narrow-- if you are on the outside looking in! No one
ever faced a harder, more difficult road than our Savior! But He
prayed, "Not My will, Thine be done!" He chose to obey and go
the way of the cross.
No one ever was more "bound" than Jesus! He was nailed in one
place! But in that "binding" Jesus set free all those who would
ever trust in Him! And in that narrow way of the cross Jesus
won forever a perfect victory over the tyranny of sin and death
and hell.
4. Jesus says to every one of us, "Come, Follow Me if you dare!
Take your cross, and follow! Come the narrow way of obedience!
And I will give you rest!
CONCLUSION
A. Henley's poem sounds so dramatic, so brave-- so free:
"Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul."
But it is an empty boast.
B. The text makes it clear: true freedom has two sides-- we are never
just free from something, we must also be free TO something better!
Therefore being made FREE FROM SIN, (we) BECOME SERVANTS TO GOD; we
have our fruit unto holiness- and the end is everlasting life!
We can be free to do the right! To say from our heart, "Jesus is
LORD!" sets in motion all the power wrapped up in this mighty text!
CHRISTIANS ARE PEOPLE WHO ARE FREE TO OBEY GOD AND DO HIS WILL!
Prayer: Heavenly Father,
We ask you to help us to be Christians in all we do!
Christians who are givers!
Christians who give because they love!
And Christians who delight to do Your will. In Jesus' Name.
Amen.
Hymn: He Touched Me - Exalt Him #85
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.26 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Friend, will you be ready? | Tue Dec 12 1995 22:04 | 222 |
|
09.25P - Eph 5:18 Be (being) filled with the Spirit ...
THE DYNAMIC OF FULLNESS
[The summary of Ephesian practical admonition:] It is not just a
parting thought . . . a wonderful "luxury" option. It is absolutely
vital! Why? (And I'm NOT taking these in order of their appearing in
Ephesians, but perhaps in their order of importance to me ..?)
I. THE PROMISE OF GOD'S FULLNESS: WHAT IT IS SUPPOSED TO DO FOR US-
A. GOD'S FULLNESS WILL MAKE/KEEP CHRIST AT HOME IN YOU, AND YOU IN
CHRIST ! Ephesians 3:14-21
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, 15 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory,
to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;
17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, BEING
ROOTED AND GROUNDED IN LOVE, 18 May be able to comprehend with all
saints what [is] the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye
might be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,
21 Unto him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all
ages, world without end. Amen.
At HOME! What a wonderful word "home!" Psalm 90: 1 begins: "Lord,
THOU hast been our dwelling place in all generations." Now Psalm 90 is a
psalm of Moses! Did you ever think what sort of "home" Moses had?
I love to travel and see new things. But I love to be "at home."
I have a strong need for "home!" A strong sense of PLACE. But more and
more the Christian realizes that "home" is NOT a place-- it is a PERSON!
ABIDE IN ME! Make JESUS AT HOME IN US!
Unless and until we are 'at home' with Jesus here and now we will
not be likely to KNOW HIM when He returns, or to BE AT HOME WITH HIM
throughout eternity. But we have the privilege of . .
Making HIM at home in OUR heart.
Learning the privileges of development, intimacy, responsibility,
growing reality... the PERMANENCE of Christ RESIDENT!
We need "eternal security!" We find that security in LIVING WITH
JESUS, AT HOME IN HIM! That is what this passage is about.
But there is another great reason:
B. GOD'S FULLNESS WILL SUSTAIN YOU IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
(So that you can KNOW!)
Ephesians 1:15 Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the
Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, 16 Cease not to give
thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; 17 That the
God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may
know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the
glory of his inheritance in the saints, 19 And what [is] the
exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, "
CHRISTIANS DON'T HAVE ALL THE ANSWERS . . . there is mystery
involved at every level, in every discipline. But Christians can know
hope and riches of glory and power! And it is possible to be so "sold
out" to God that the heuristic quality of faith will drive you closer,
and not farther away from a personal relationship with Him. As we grow
in maturity, and as we grow older and (hopefully) wiser, we realize that
we know less and less of the great truths of life.
We can either take an obscurantist position, and say: "The earth is
flat!", or, we can go with the "obvious" or the current fad belief, and
say "The old is out-dated, only the new is true!", OR, WE CAN SAY: "WE
MAY NOT KNOW ALL THE ANSWERS-- BUT WE BELONG TO THE ONE WHO DOES!"
This is one great reason why we need to be filled with the
Spirit. It doesn't give us automatic "answers"; it does make us aware of
the certainty of HOPE, the RICHES OF GOD'S GLORY, and the POWER THAT
TRANSFORMS LIVES!
But there is at least one other reason:
C. GOD'S FULLNESS WILL MULTIPLY YOUR EFFECTIVENESS
IN SERVING JESUS CHRIST
Ephesians 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools,
but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of
the Lord [is]. 18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess;
but be filled with the Spirit;19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms
and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your
heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God
and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; 21 Submitting
yourselves one to another in the fear of God.
Whatever we have . . . Even if we seek to use it 100% for God
. . . Is only 100% of what we have. But when we bring it to Jesus and
let him use it . . . then He can work His will and do as He pleases! HE
can feed 5,000 . . . it is HIS business!
II. THE PATHWAY TO FULLNESS; HOW MAY WE BE FILLED THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND
THUS BE THE KIND OF POWER IN THIS WORLD THAT GOD WANTS US TO BE?
A. We ARE full now . . . there are no spiritual vacuums. So God can
only fill what is available to Him!
B. But whatever we may be full of, besides or apart from God, we
cannot be filled with GOD unless and until we are empty of self:
and there is a cross, a dying, a renunciation of the right to
self that can properly be called a "death to self." What can we
say about the "death" of entire consecration?: (Holiness people
may have said some extravagant things here. But still there is
a truth we dare not dodge!) In viewing the paradox, the mystery
of Christian faith we are guilty of seeing the side we want to
see. We say "Self is not dead!" And that is true. But still--
self must die! We must renounce the sovereignty of self forever!
C. [Which brings us to :] The CRISIS of entire sanctification: When
we know that we have surrendered for time and eternity-- and God
accepts our sacrifice and comes in with His fullness, this
completes the CRISIS of RECEIVING SALVATION . . . but it is not
all there is to the sanctified life! HOLINESS IS AN EXPERIENCE!
D. [For there is a LIFE TO BE LIVED!] And the on-going life in the
Spirit must be lived in the same kind of faith/dependency that
brought the crisis of cleansing!
The LIFE OF LIVING IN THE ADEQUACY OF THE SPIRIT! The process of
the Spirit-filled life: carrying forward, learning the discipline: this
is where the victory lies!
Conclusion (The need for heroes:) The world is waiting for people
who will be filled . . . and go on being filled . . . and let God simply
LIVE IN AND THROUGH THEM!
[One of the great Christians of modern day times was Methodist
missionary to India, Dr. E. Stanley Jones.
As a lad in his teens (17) he was converted under the rugged
ministry of Evangelist Robert J. Bateman (who went down on the
Titanic.)
Stanley went on to seek and claim the experience of entire
sanctification. He began to read Hanna Smith's book The Christ's
Secret of a Happy Life, and on page 42 the Holy Spirit said: "Now!"
Stanley obeyed, and was assured of the fullness.
He testifies that it saved him from the extremes of emotionalism
and of rationalism. Stanley was "all out" for God-- with no holds
barred.
He professed to be called to preach-- but forgot his outline in his
first sermon and left the pulpit, dumbfounded. But before he got
to his seat, he felt he should give his testimony; and a young man
came forward and was converted [-- and later entered the ministry.]
But Stanley wanted to be being filled with the Spirit! He told of
how as a student at Asbury, in a dorm-room prayer meeting, the Holy
Spirit moved in in a way that Stanley had never known before- - and
never knew quite the same way again.
He was "spirit (Spirit) intoxicated!" for three or four days.
After a day or so the emotion almost totally wore off; but there
was a sense of God's Presence that swept the entire community.
Every student in that Christian college professed to a right
relationship with the Lord, along with scores of people from the
community.
And for Stanley, that filling became the touchstone for a life of
living in the fullness-- depending on the fullness-- again and
again breaking into the fullness of the Presence of the Lord.
He declares he did not live on "mountaintops" or speak in tongues--
did not know extremes of emotions. He simply lived in the fullness
of the Presence.
He was elected a Bishop of his church-- the highest honor that
could be offered-- and graciously declined so that he could
continue a missionary in the poorest country of the world that he
knew.
He touched thousands of lives.
He spoke here in 1949-- and I still remember his text!
He was controversial. He was wrong many times. He said himself
that there were times when he went on his own judgment and failed.
Stanley Jones learned to live in the dynamic of being filled with
the Spirit. He knew his crisis of being sanctified. He had his
mountaintop experience(s) of full assurance. And then he simply lived
in the expectancy and the dependency and the obedience of the
Spirit-filled, Spirit-dominated, Spirit-saturated life! When you looked
at E. Stanley Jones you saw an ordinary man. When Stanley Jones spoke
and acted, somehow Jesus was exalted!
THE WAY GOD INTENDS THAT WE LIVE IS IN THE EXPERIENCE OF THE FULLNESS.
THE WAY WE KNOW, AND CONTINUE TO EXPERIENCE GOD'S FULLNESS IS THE LIFE
OF CRISIS, AND CRISES . . . PLUS WE NEVER GROW BEYOND THE LIFE OF DAY
BY DAY OBEDIENCE.
Do you know the fullness of the Holy Spirit just now? Have you made a
complete surrender of your will to God? Are you continuing to walk in
dependency on Him?
#270 Fill Me Now
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.27 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | This reply contains exactly | Tue Dec 19 1995 22:20 | 197 |
|
Are you looking for what Jesus can DO for you, as opposed to looking
for Jesus?
-------------------------------------
1/22/89/a.m.(#4 in Series) - John 6:1-11 (verse 11) Jesus therefore took
the loaves; and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were
seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted.
FIVE THOUSAND FED
Seeing Jesus in His Miracles
INTRODUCTION:
In this miracle, which is so important that it is recorded in all
four gospels, there are enough different lessons to keep a scholar busy
for a lifetime, I suppose. There is a basic truth about "little is
much, when God is in it" that almost applies itself. A lad's lunch: five
small loaves and two small fishes, given to Jesus, feed 5,000. But,
Look again with me at . . .
I. THE MIRACLE ITSELF. (text verse) Set the scene; and then:
A. (verse 6) Jesus knew ahead of time what He was going to do. GOD
IS ALWAYS AN ACT-ER, AND NOT A RE-ACT-ER. Circumstances do not "sneak
up" on God. In this situation it looked as though Jesus and His
disciples were the embarrassed victims of their own success. Thousands
had come to hear the wonderful words of life. But now the very mass of
people was more than could be handled.
God permits the 'rain to fall on the just and the unjust.' And God
respects the free moral choices of human beings in ways we cannot always
understand. But God is NEVER surprised by life's twists and turns; and
He is never "out of control."
B. (verse 5) Jesus asked Philip to consider the problem. GOD
INTER-ACTS WITH PEOPLE AND WITH THINGS AT HAND. And Philip took an
inventory. Other evangelists record the "treasury as low: five loaves,
two fish;" But it was good old ANDREW that saw the LAD who owned the
"treasury"-- the one person who had something of his own to eat.
C. (verse 11) Jesus therefore took the loaves; and having given
thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the
fish as much as they wanted. JESUS TOOK WHAT THE DISCIPLES HAD-- TOOK
ALL OF IT, INADEQUACY AND ALL-- AND WORKED A MIRACLE OF GRACE!
D. (verse 26 "Truly, truly I say to you, you seek me, not because
you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. Do
not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to
eternal life...") The miracle had some unforeseen re-actions. SOMETIMES
GOD'S GIFTS, AND THE BENEFITS OF GOD'S LOVE CAN BE THE FOCUS OF AMBITION
AND DESIRE, RATHER THAN THE LIFE IN CHRIST ITSELF.
II. SEEING THE PERSON AND WORK OF JESUS IN THE MIRACLE
This story is another documentary about how Jesus met with people, and
gives us a clear example of the interwoven strands of the kingdom of
God:
These three strands are LOVE, and SERVICE, and HOLINESS. Put into
inter-human terms, they are loving fellowship, caring service, and
faithful proclamation; (the Greek, or New Testament terms are koinonia,
diakonia, and kerigma.) Jesus taught, and Jesus showed by his example
that all three, LOVING, and SHARING, and PROCLAMATION, were vital,
important to Him.
We're tempted to try to bring in the kingdom of God simply by
telling people, "this is HOW to become a Christian!" And we prefer if a
minister does the telling in a revival or church service. But look at
how Jesus modeled the kingdom:
A. THIS MIRACLE SHOWS US THAT JESUS LOVED PEOPLE. John simply records
that Jesus looked up and saw the crowd coming. But Mark tells us (1)
that Jesus had gone on a retreat, to get away; no doubt He was tired,
perhaps even worn out. But Mark also says (probably with the
eye-witness of Peter prompting him) that (2) when Jesus saw the
multitude, He had compassion on them, because they were like a sheep
without a shepherd.
**IT IS JUST ABOUT IMPOSSIBLE TO EVANGELIZE APART FROM LOVE.
The Gospel is GOOD NEWS; the evangel is the message of God's
love. And somewhere along the way it has to be fleshed out.
(Illus: The story is told of a little boy on a bitter, snowy, windy
day in Chicago, coming into Dwight L. Moody's Sunday School, stamping
the snow off his feet, and looking almost frozen to death.
"Where do you live?" the boy was asked. When he told, the
questioner said, "You walked past several good churches to get here this
cold morning. Why didn't you go to one closer to your home?"
The little boy answered: "I guess its because they love a feller
here!")
B. THIS MIRACLE ALSO SHOWED US THAT JESUS SAW PEOPLE AS MORE THAN SOULS
TO BE SAVED. JESUS UNDERSTOOD PEOPLE. He knew that they were not just
lost souls, or damned sinners, but they were also hungry stomachs. He
knew that they were teenagers wondering what people might think of
them-- or what they were thinking of themselves. He knew they were older
folk wondering if the health would hold out as long as the savings. He
knew they were middle-aged people carrying burdens for grown-up children
as well as aged parents.
So, when He saw the multitude, He knew they were hungry. And He
said, "Where are we going to get food for these people?"
Mark has it a little different, again. The disciples knew it was
impossible, so they said: "Send them away before it gets too dark to see
the road to the store!" But Jesus aid: "YOU feed them!"
This can have a literal application: we need to share our food. It
also is a principle:
**IT IS JUST ABOUT IMPOSSIBLE TO EVANGELIZE "SPIRITUALLY."
At least this is true if we are defining "spiritual" to mean apart
and separate from the all the rest of the person.
We might begin our witnessing with a genuine interest in the person
we want to bring to Jesus. The need may not be bread, but there is a
need. And we may not have what the person needs, any more than the
disciples had bread for the 5,000. But we can care, and we can share
what we DO have.
C. BUT THIS MIRACLE ALSO REVEALED WHAT TO MANY SEEMED TO BE A 'NEW
SIDE' OF JESUS. JESUS LEVELED WITH PEOPLE. He didn't sail under false
colors. He knew when the people wanted simply to USE Him. And He said:
"This is what I AM! I AM the Bread of heaven!"
This was a watershed miracle, and a watershed time.
**THERE IS NO EVANGELISM THAT BY-PASSES THE CROSS OF CHRIST!
Sooner or later, and the sooner the better as a rule, we have to
come face- to-face with the eternal needs of the people we love. We have
to be faithful in saying: "JESUS IS LOVING, JESUS IS CARING, BUT JESUS
IS LORD! AND JESUS IS LIFE! AND ONLY JESUS IS LIFE!"
CONCLUSION:
1. From this miracle, ultimately, came a DIVISION (6:66). "Many
went back, and walked with Him no more!"
If it had simply been "Loaves and fishes Day" every day there never
would have been a problem. If we simply had Praise gatherings, and
hand-clapping, toe-tapping times all the time there would be no
problem.
But Jesus spoke of DEATH and of SHARING HIS DEATH AND HIS LIFE!
And that has a repulsive side to it! It is a humbling thing to NEED a
sacrifice! It is a humbling thing to be DIED FOR!
So-- the GIFT-SEEKERS BEGAN TO LEAVE! The FREE-LOADERS, and the
SCRIPTURE-EDITORS WENT AWAY FOR GOOD!
2. From this miracle came also came a reinforced DECISION (6:67-8)
"Do you want to go, too?"
There is real pathos in this scene. Jesus looks at His closest
friends, The Twelve, who have only recently been out working for
Him. Are YOU looking for what I can DO, rather than for ME?
Peter speaks for us all: "Lord, to whom shall we go? YOU have the
words of eternal life!"
3. JESUS CLAIMS HE IS THE ONLY WAY TO ETERNAL LIFE!
1. HAVE YOU MADE A DECISION ABOUT JESUS? Have YOU / ARE you a partaker
in the blood and body of the Lord? Through GRACE, by FAITH, have you
come to eternal life?
2. ARE YOU WILLING TO SHARE THIS MESSAGE? Will you be an evangel? To
CARE? To SERVE? And then, as God gives you grace, to SHARE YOUR FAITH?
If you follow the Lord Jesus for Himself, and not just for what He gives
and does, I challenge you to take someone on your heart to care about,
and to serve, and as the opportunity presents itself, to introduce them
to Jesus Christ.
#391 At Calvary
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.28 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | This reply contains exactly | Tue Dec 19 1995 22:22 | 173 |
|
June 25, 1995
THE RECOVERING OF HOPE
I Kings 19, Luke 8
If you go looking for strong personalities in the Bible, if you
make any sort of list, you'll have to include Elijah the prophet. This
man is the quintessential rugged individual. No one exceeds his
reputation as a prophet, a man of God, and a fearless teller of the
truth. But as strong as Elijah was, he was NOT super-human.
THE ROLLER-COASTER OF REAL LIFE EMOTIONS
In the story we've read, Elijah was coming off a world-class high,
the greatest success he had ever seen, beyond fantastic. Elijah had
exalted YHWH, God had answered his prayer by fire from heaven.
Thousands of Israelites shouted their return to faith, and hundreds of
false prophets, prophets of Baal, were put to death. Then Elijah prayed
again, and again God answered with rain that ended a three-year drought.
You would think that with an entire nation's attention and respect
Elijah would have had some sense of accomplishment and joy.
But that is not how real life goes. The rugged prophet is
mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausted. So when in the wake of
that great victory the queen of Israel threatened Elijah's life, there
wasn't anything more Elijah had to fight with. We might think a man who
could call fire down from heaven would simply say: "Get in line,
Jezebel-- you're next on the hit list!" But that is not what really
happened. Elijah didn't think, didn't pray-- he just ran.
Maybe Elijah had thought everyone would love him now that God had
vindicated his prayers, now that the rains had returned, now that the
false prophets had been proven false. Maybe Elijah even thought Jezebel
would come around. But when none of that happened, and Jezebel
threatened to kill him, Elijah simply went south. He walked and ran and
walked to the very end of the road. Then he kept on walking another day
into the dry and barren wasteland of the Negev desert. Finally he found
himself lying exhausted under a broom tree, more depressed than he had
ever been before in all his life. All he could think of was, "Let me
die!"
"HE RESTORETH MY SOUL" - ELIJAH'S RE-ASSURANCE
What happened next might just make a difference in your life and
mine. It is a classic example of how to deal with exhaustion and
depression. We can't duplicate the exact circumstances. We wouldn't
want to. But we can see how the God of a rugged prophet dealt with that
prophet when he ran out of gas:
1. An angel touched him. He had fallen asleep from sheer
exhaustion, but an angel gently touched him and said, "You've been
sleeping for hours. Now get up and eat." There was a cake, fresh baked
(angel food, of course) and a jug of water. Elijah ate and drank and
stretched and turned around and lay back down and went out like a light
once again.
The process was repeated. The angel said, "Hey, you've slept
around the clock! Get up and eat-- you have a journey ahead of you."
2. Strengthened, but still certain that he was not appreciated, and
certain that he was the last bastion of faith, Elijah set out to
re-connect with God. God had never left Elijah, but Elijah needed to
hear first hand that everything was all right. He set out for Sinai.
Finally he got to the mount of God, found a cave, and went in. A
cave is a great place to hide. Unfortunately, a cave is also a bad
place to try to live. And a cave is a frightening place to be trapped.
Elijah spent the night in the cave. When he awoke he heard the word of
the Lord asking him, "Elijah, what are you doing here?"
Elijah was ready-- he began to tell God what he had done- as if God
did not know. "I am alone! No one else is true!"
The word came to Elijah. "Get out of the cave, stand and wait
before the Lord."
Elijah did as he was told. A great wind began to moan and shriek;
the passage said it split mountains and broke rocks to pieces. That is
some wind. But the Lord was not in the wind. Next came an earthquake.
God was not in the earthquake, either. Then came a desert storm of
fire. God was not in the fire, either. Elijah waited. He needed to
hear from God himself.
After the fire there was silence. One translation calls it "a
sound of sheer silence." Elijah knew he was in contact with God Himself.
And the question came again: "Elijah, what are you doing here?"
3. Elijah knew he was being heard. He poured out his complaint--
he told God exactly how he felt. But Elijah was also ready to hear what
God had to say. The grip of the depression was broken. Elijah was
ready to move on. God said to him: "Go, return on your way to the
wilderness of Damascus." There was still work for Elijah to do. There
was a real connection with God.
LET ME BREAK OFF NARRATIVE HERE AND GO DIRECTLY TO APPLICATION: HOW DOES
THIS 'TRANSLATE' FOR PRACTICAL HELP IN SUMMER, 1995?
1. Listen to your body. You are not superman, superwoman. You are not
intended to be. There are times to work almost around the clock. There
are other times when it is not optional, it is necessary to take time
off, "down time," letting the soul catch up with the rest of us.
2. Listen for God. Listen to God's still, small voice. Listen, and be
still, no matter if it takes a while. Listen. [If you wait, God will
speak.]
People pay great sums, they travel long distances in order to hear
what they believe are words of wisdom. God is waiting to reveal Himself
to you, but what makes you think that God can or will speak as you think
he should, or on your time-table? You do not understand ALL the reality
involved, so seek to wait before God, in the confidence that he can and
will speak to you.
FINDING GOD IN THE SILENCE - From Thomas Merton's "Thoughts in
Solitude": If life is poured out in useless words we will never
hear anything, we will never become anything, and in the end
because we have said everything before we had anything to say we
shall be left speechless at the moment of our greatest decision.
3. Listen for God's word on the Church
You will find strength and faith and support in the body of
believers. There are yet 7,000 who have not bowed knee to Baal. You are
NOT all alone.
4. Listen for God's will for you.
In the center of God's will, there is your peace. I'll guarantee:
God is not done with you yet. (Ruth Cameron's mother at 90+ just took
on a new assignment: to serve God in her nursing home; it has given her
great peace! A miracle!)
5. Share God's goodness. Anoint others to serve.
In this story, after Elijah hears from God he is given a renewed
assignment. That assignment is making kings-- and choosing his
successor. (By the way-- Elijah finally ends on an "up.")
IN THE GOSPEL LESSON FOR TODAY Jesus delivered a man from the
blackest of dark places.
Called "Legion" because he was the slave of thousands of demons,
this man who terrorized a whole countryside was set free, brought
to peace, clothed, and in his right mind after Jesus spoke to him.
Then the man who had been called Legion asked if he could go
on the road with Jesus. Jesus rather gave him this assignment:
"Return to your home, and tell how much God has done for you."
And so this man set free went away as Jesus had bid him do,
and proclaimed through the city how much Jesus had done for
him. (I remember a time or two when a person whose life turned
around became a bright witness to an entire community! Walter
Lahner!)
Those who have "been there" have the privilege of not only having their
hope renewed, but of being God's instrument for bringing hope to those
who have not yet been set free.
Prayer - Wherever we are today, Lord, we need You. We seek You. We
listen, and we love You. Thank You that You love us. Amen
Hymn #101 He Giveth More Grace
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.29 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | This reply contains exactly | Tue Dec 19 1995 22:22 | 199 |
|
7/16/89-pm Psalm 130
(1) Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my
voice! Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
(2) If Thou, O LORD, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
(3) But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared. (4)
I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. My
soul waits for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; indeed,
more than the watchmen for the morning. (5) O Israel, hope in the Lord;
for with the Lord there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant
redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
THE WAY OF HOPE
This Psalm speaks about hope. It was sung on the way to Jerusalem.
And it speaks of seeking God, and of calling out to Him even when it is
a struggle.
The Psalm has five natural sections, as I read it, for us to
consider:
I. THE HELPLESSNESS OF MAN'S EXTREMITY
The very best I can do is not enough to bring me to God, or to
"force" God to satisfy my felt needs. It is a victory when I realize
this, and I cannot really begin the journey to hope until I acknowledge
my helplessness. There are many different kinds of things that make
people cry out to God.
Jeanine Van Beek cried out to God because of the horror and
injustice of the Nazis in her native Holland, during WWII. As a girl of
15 she went to her room and cried out to God-- and God met with her in a
faith-kindling way, even though she had no adult encouragement.
The Peruvian Indian I mentioned before, now a church leader, was
met in his primitive house by a shining being who spoke to him about a
Book of Life.
Lewis Smedes tells of a black man, the son of a prostitute and a
white travelling salesman; a man whose mother was so violent at times
that he became a hobo at eleven years of age, and finally found himself
in a black hole of solitary confinement in a Texas prison. As he began
to crack mentally and emotional he cried out loud: "Help me!" And a
voice said to him, "You are not an animal!"
And in the 9th of Acts is the story of Paul, who did all he could
do to be the best he could be in his fundamental mindset in his own
religion, who sought through sheer zeal to prove that he was right. But
Paul was struck down by the arresting Holy Spirit until in anguish he
cried out: "What would you have me to do?"
II. THE WAY OF HOPE LIES THROUGH THE DOOR OF CONFESSION AND OPENNESS
BEFORE GOD
"If Thou, O Lord, shouldst mark iniquities NO ONE could stand!" The
Psalmist is saying, "My sins can and will separate me from the hope of
knowing God, unless they are dealt with!" There is only ONE thing that
can permanently separate you from God and hope! And that one thing is
refusing to face your own sins, and refusing to let God deal with your
sins! It is not the fact that we are sinners that keeps us from God.
Every one of us has sinned, and do not deserve His love. But what keeps
us from hope is refusing to acknowledge our sins! The only sin God
cannot forgive is the sin we refuse to confess.
III. GOD IS A GOD OF FORGIVENESS AND GRACE
"But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared!"
A. It is not always sin that causes our life crises! We need to
know that, and understand it. But we need to "clear the decks" and know
that we are open and above-board with God!
Grace is a New Testament word, perhaps. But the Psalmist knows
that God is love! He says, "If you held my sins against me, I could not
stand! But there is forgiveness with You!"
God has promised to meet the sinner. God has promised to support
His children.
In Old Testament times God had made provision for sacrifices,
which, while not very satisfying perhaps, pointed forward to the Perfect
Sacrifice that was to come. This provision, and the Day of Atonement
and the Passover taught the people that while sin was serious, and while
it brought a great sense of separation, there was atonement for sin!
But now we know that the place where God meets the sinner is called
Calvary! The place where God's hatred for sin, and His justice, and His
great love for each one of us is at the Cross of Jesus Christ!
But we must be convinced, convicted in a personal way of this
truth. It sounds like a story that is too good to be true! we think,
"There IS forgiveness with Thee! But can you forgive ME?"
And He CAN!
B. And when we have sought God for our sin, we can be certain that
we can also seek Him succor for our sorrows and our burdens! And we
seek Him with His own gift to us: F A I T H !
IV. TO PERSONALLY EXPERIENCE GOD'S GRACE WE MUST EMPLOY GOD'S GIFT OF
PERSONAL FAITH
The Psalmist says (1) I have cried to you from my extremity! (2) I
have begun to grasp the fact that You care about sinners, and that You
forgive them. (3) So now I will begin to cast myself on Your Word. I
will begin to trust Your mercy, Your revealed grace!
Once again a key word (that we have heard a lot lately:) "Wait!" "I
wait for the Lord, my soul does wait."
I wait, not because God wants me to jump through hoops and over
hurdles to be saved. And certainly not until I get "good enough" or
earn or merit, or come to the place where I am sad enough or have wept
enough tears.
But I wait because there is a reality to this salvation that we
dare not miss! We dare not accept someone's pale version of the genuine
article. We dare not PRESUME that because we have a reasonably accurate
understanding of the plan of salvation, and have acknowledged the mere
FACT that we are sinners, that the "facts" or the "truth" will save me.
No! We must be certain that we meet with God Himself! We must be
certain that we have heard His word of pardon!
HOW MAY I FIND CERTITUDE? HOW DO I KNOW GOD HAS HEARD? Sometimes
this step of personal faith is straightforward, and rather businesslike.
Sometimes it is very emotional. Sometimes there is a need to take hold
and hang on "by naked faith"- particularly among the children of the
church, it seems.
But the important thing in this seeking is-- it must be OUR OWN
faith! And it must find God's reality. And always there is the element
of obedience, or a willingness to walk in revealed light! That's a key!
V. (Conclusion:) THERE IS ASSURANCE!
Verses 7,8 -- although to the day we meet Jesus our faith will be
tested ... and we must walk by faith, and not by sight ... and we will
need the encouragement of the people of God, and the strength of the
means of grace--
There is assurance in the matter of our soul's salvation: We can
know that our sins are forgiven! Don't settle for second-hand assurance
here!
There can be God's assurance even IN our trials, too! I believe
that we can have God's assurance at the time we need it most.
In Acts 27 Paul is a prisoner, with a group of prisoners on a
voyage in first one ship and then another on his way to Rome. When the
centurion and the captain of the vessel determined to sail on from
Crete, even though it was the dangerous hurricane season, Paul spoke up
in warning (27:10.) But his warnings were not heeded, and there was
nothing, as a prisoner, that he could do about it. And sure enough they
ran into a storm which ultimately destroyed the vessel and threatened
all their lives.
Then in the darkest hour of despair it was Paul, the prisoner, who
"took charge!" He spoke to the assembled passengers and crew (and there
were 276 of them!) with great peace and confidence. And these were his
words:
"This very night an angel of the God to whom I belong and who I
serve stood by me, saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand
before Caesar; and behold, God has granted you all those who are sailing
with you.'
"Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God, that it
will turn out exactly as I have been told. ... "
Conclusion:
Let's look at that Psalm again:
(1) Out of the depths I have cried unto Thee, O Lord. Lord, hear my
voice! Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
(2) If Thou, O LORD, shouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
(3) But there is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared. (4)
I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, and in His word do I hope. My
soul waits for the Lord more than the watchmen for the morning; indeed,
more than the watchmen for the morning. (5) O Israel, hope in the Lord;
for with the Lord there is lovingkindness, and with Him is abundant
redemption. And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.
And let's pray:
43 WS O Master, Let Me Walk
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.30 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | This reply contains exactly | Tue Dec 19 1995 22:23 | 190 |
|
The Church as Family
Philippians 1:7 "I have you in my heart"
If you never guessed it before, "family" is pretty big with me. I
hear a lot about the family under attack in our country, and I believe
it. My family is far from perfect, and we made lots of mistakes in
raising our four sons, I'm sure. There have been real hard times, and
there have been real good times across the years. But the deepest human
satisfaction I know is the love and belonging that comes with being
"family."
One thing that has made our family relationships special has been
the fact that while we are related by human blood, we have also very
much been a part of a great family where the ties that run even deeper
than blood. Not every member of our family has always been in the good
graces of the church at all times, but every one of them has known that
there is a real love that God's people know that lies deep=2E As Bill
Gaither has told us with his song, "I'm So Glad I'M a Part of the Family
of God!" It is great to belong to God's family!
Every heart craves a sense of belonging. And every local church
ought to foster that sense of belonging because in Father God's eyes,
His church is family.
I. THE CHURCH IS FAMILY
Paul's letter to the Christians at Philippi is a "love letter" to
the family of God. That idea of community in faith, of the church as
family, of belonging, is more than coincidental to the lessons and
commands of the letter. =
Community in faith is central not only to Paul's letters, but to
the entire New Testament. It is absolutely essential to any church that
wants to carry out Christ's mission.
There are some places where people go to worship where the
atmosphere is about as friendly and cordial as the "friendly
supermarket." People are civil, even "nice" to one another, but the
welfare or needs of each worshiper is no one else's business. =
This is not the way vital Christians worship. Paul reminds us at
the very beginning of the letter that God is our Father: ("Grace to you,
and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ . . . " vv 1,2
) Jesus taught it, this same emphasis, in the Pattern Prayer. When we
come to Jesus for life, we are adopted into the family, and we are
related to one another in Him. The people with whom we worship
regularly become dear to us. Even more, there is a blood-relationship
with every other born-again believer!
One way of fostering the sense of belonging, and the reality of
"family" in the church is learning to pray for one another.
II. THE FAMILY WILL PRAY FOR ITSELF
We Christians are family by birth-- but even in families love is
never automatic. The most rewarding and passionate love will die unless
it is nourished. God intends that we pray for one another! Paul writes
" ( v3-5) I thank my God in all my remembrance of you . . ." Paul wrote
to remind the Philippian Christians, "I am praying for you!" And he
asked the Ephesians (see the chapter just preceding) "Please pray for
me!" (Ephesians 6:19)
If you need a deeper sense of "belonging" begin to pray for the
Body! Pray like Paul says he prayed("I thank God for you every time I
think of you") rather than first of all being critical or fault-finding.
In verse eight Paul says: "When I think of you I get warm feelings in my
insides!" Prayer enhances love. I question whether it is possible to
pray consistently for someone and hate him/her at the same time.
III. THE FAMILY PRAYS SPECIFIC PRAYERS
HOW do we pray for each other? What really IS God's will for you?
for me? Is it enough to mention a name and say, "Bless her!"? "Bless
him!"? What do we mean by "bless"? Perhaps when we have prayer lists
our mind passes along the list, we think of those people with kindness--
but then there are times when the Spirit draws and leads us to pray for
a certain person, or a specific need.
Paul prayed specific prayers. He says (v 9-11) "And this I pray ."
1. For increasing love! We never dare to take love for granted at
any level. We need to tell our family-- our children, our wives our
husbands often. We need to tell our little children with our faces and
with hugs. And when they are not so cute or cuddly we need to tell them
then, too. Especially then!
[I had a dear Christian father. But this week I recalled an
incident when my dad was extra harsh with me when I was about sixteen--
over a small thing like how I should wear my tie. It really hurt--
because I thought-- I knew he was more interested in what people would
think of him than he was in how I felt. He never knew then-- and he
will never know now because I have forgiven him long ago. He didn't
mean anything evil-- but I still remember with some pain 48 years
later!]
This is true in your family; it is also true of the family of
God. We need to thank God for one another. Certainly we have our faults.
We know each other's weaknesses. A good team covers and plays to
strength. A group of individuals shows each other up so they will look
better. But we are family! [Paul also prayed. . . ]
2. For discernment to choose between good, better, and best. The
pressure is always on to simply "settle" for what we can get away with.
but Paul always had in his mind that he would give an account for his
life to God. So in the light of judgment Paul prayed that the church
family would have discernment to choose the very best! [Last, in this
particular prayer Paul Prayed . . . ]
3. For fruitfulness! Paul wanted the family of God to know the
pure delight of pleasing God. "Fruit" is mentioned in at least two ways
in the New Testament in reference to believers. One aspect is the fruit
of the Spirit, and has to do with the quality of the inner life, as well
as the love with which we fill out our relationships to God and to each
other. Paul certainly wanted the family to be "quality people," with
this fruit of the Spirit manifested in our daily lives.
IV. A CALL OF OUR CHURCH FAMILY TO PRAYER
{Ephesians 6:18,19 "Be on the alert for all the saints, with
perseverance and petition...")
I take liberty (homiletically) to move back into Ephesians to get
the actual challenge from Paul in this final word on the church as
family, which is a call to family prayer. Paul calls for prayer for the
entire church-- and then he humbly asks (6:19) "Pray for me, too,
please!" The great apostle needed, asked for-- even begged for prayer!
Maybe we already do pray for each other a lot. But with the
pressures of springtime coming, and with the challenges the enemy would
give us when w= e begin to see victory along some lines I wonder if you
would accept a word of concern from your pastor?
(1) I would ask you to become a committee of one to pray for the
peace of our church family between now and when the work and witness
team leaves for Holland in June. I would ask you to be a committee of
one to pray for the small groups that are meeting to seek
Christ-likeness-- that they will be folded into the purpose of Christ
for the entire church, and not just for their own spiritual
satisfaction.
IF EVERY LAST ONE OF US DOES OUR VERY BEST BEFORE GOD WE WILL
UTTERLY FAIL IN ACCOMPLISHING WHAT GOD HAS IN MIND FOR OUR CHURCH! The
key in that surprising statement is "OUR very best!" For IF WE ALL SEEK
GOD'S VERY BEST FOR THE CHURCH THEN TOGETHER WE CAN SEE VICTORY WE NEVER
DREAMED POSSIBLE!
(2) Pray in a specific way for:. Anyone who is difficult for you to
understand or love. I am not even suggesting that you go to her or him,
for you might well be misunderstood. but I challenge you to pray God's
very best will be done, that salvation and Christ-likeness may be hers
or his!
(3) Pray for Your immediate family, for loved ones and dear
friends. Maybe someone that you love but don't usually think of as
needing extra prayer.
(4) Finally, pray for Yourself-- for an opportunity to talk about
Jesus-- just the opportunity and the leading of the Spirit when it comes
to take advantage of it in the Spirit of Jesus Himself.
Conclusion
The kind of prayer we need will not necessarily come in one great
night of effort, although along the way there may be those extra pushes.
But when the entire family of God begins to get in the habit of "Thank
God every time we remember one another . . . " and when we "Pray that
one another's love may abound in every good work . . . " God will answer
those prayers in ways we never dreamed possible. It is HIS church, HIS
family. If we will forget about individual glory and praise, and be His
Body He will answer our prayers and equip us to carry forward as we have
never done before!
Prayer
Hymn No. 512 Take Time to Be Holy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.31 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | This reply contains exactly | Tue Dec 19 1995 22:24 | 272 |
| Subj: Sermon: The Power of God's Word
Today, October 31, 1995 is the 478th anniversary of Martin Luther
nailing his 95 theses to the Cathedral door at Wittenburg, Germany.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
October 31, 1993
Surely you remember, brothers, our toil and hardship; we worked day
and night in order not to be a burden to anyone while we preached the
gospel of God to you.
You are witnesses, and so is God, of how holy, righteous and
blameless we were among you who believed. For you know that we dealt
with each of you as a father deals with his own children, encouraging,
comforting and urging you to live lives worthy of God, who calls you
into his kingdom and glory.
And we also thank God continually because, when you received the
word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of
men, but as it actually is, the word of God, which is at work in you who
believe. - I Thessalonians 2:9 - 12 (NIV)
THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD
Let me tell you a story this morning about a man who became a
legend in his own time. This man, I sincerely believe, spent his life
earnestly seeking after God, but he made at least as many enemies as he
made friends. Five hundred and ten years after his birth he is still a
controversial figure in history.
The man's name, of course, is Martin, Martin Luther. He was the son
of a peasant, Hans Luder, a working copper miner who was himself shrewd
and ambitious and became an owner of mines. In a way it was a miracle
that Martin should have gotten higher education, for few in his social
level were recognized as worthy. But Martin was gifted, both
scholastically and musically. He was permitted to attend the University
of Erfurt, in Saxony, where he received his Bachelors of Arts in
September 1502, and Master of Arts in January 1505. He began studies
for law in May of that same year, 1505. Like many young people Martin
thought seriously about life and God and salvation. He was a seeker
after truth and after God. In July of 1505, the year in which he began
his law studies, Martin was caught in a thunderstorm, and a bolt of
lightning struck so close to where he was that he was frightened half to
death. He was certain that God Himself had spoken. In that moment
Martin Luther said to God, "I will become a monk!" [cf. Acts
9/St. Paul] He was "shocked" into the most extreme action he knew how to
take.
The Luders were devout Catholics, but they did not want their
child to be too religious. A monk takes vows of poverty, and there would
be no way Martin could support them in their old age. And so it came as
a shock to Hans Luder as well when Martin announced that he was entering
religious orders. But enter he did, and he was ordained in 1507 and
celebrated his first Mass just two years later.
So Martin Luther not only became a monk, but a priest, and an
outstanding scholar. Highly respected, Martin was promoted to Doctor of
Theology in October of 1512, and was appointed the cathedral lecturer
there at Wittenberg.
About this time two things happened that sparked a great change in
Martin Luther, and ultimately in the way many of us have come to
understand God's plan for our salvation.
FIRST, in these early years as a scholar and lecturer Martin Luther
was wrestling with the word of God as revealed in Holy Scripture--
wrestling with it directly.
Often as he studied Martin actually lived in torment because his
faith only brought him into conflict with a God that demanded
righteousness but never satisfied those who sought after it. So
along with his studies came a growing sense of his own inability to
measure up to what he could see of God's demands that God's people
be holy and righteous.
In 1513, the year after receiving his Doctorate and becoming
lecturer, Martin began lecturing on the Psalms. When he arrived at
Psalm 72, even as he was lecturing to the students he got a new grasp
about "the righteousness of God." He began to see it as a quality which
God was willing to give to believers, and which would make them
acceptable in his Presence.
He was struggling to HEAR WHAT GOD'S WORD REALLY WAS SAYING to
him. In 1515 he began lecturing on Romans, and soon his "LISTENING"
centered Paul's statement that the righteous live by faith. Martin had
always thought this said, "If you are RIGHTEOUS, then you will have the
true faith." He knew that God was righteous, and that he, Martin
Luther, was not.
But as Martin listened to the word of God with the ears of his soul
he heard, he understood, finally, what we now take so much for granted,
and what we need to hear again and again:
It is by God's gift of grace to us, by FAITH, that we are enabled
to take hold of Christ's righteousness-- and the righteous LIVE BY
THIS FAITH. Luther declared that we could not even understand that
we are sinners apart from the gospel. He wrote:
"We must know that we are sinners by faith alone, for it is not
manifest to us; rather we are more often not conscious of the
fact.. Thus we must stand under the judgment of God and believe His
words with which he has declared us unjust, for he himself cannot
lie."
Luther discovered that he had had it all backwards: WE DO NOT
ACHIEVE FAITH BY BEING RIGHTEOUS, BUT WE RECEIVE CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS
BY FAITH! This kernel of truth-- this powerful portion of God's Word--
was HEARD by Luther. He processed it-- what could it mean? He RECEIVED
IT AS GOD'S WORD. And Martin BELIEVED it! THE WORD OF GOD WENT TO WORK
IN MARTIN LUTHER!
The SECOND THING that sparked change was: The mother church at Rome
needed money, and was sending out special missions to collect it by the
selling of indulgences. In Saxony, where Luther was, this conflict
centered around an itinerant money collector named Johann Tetzel, who
had the franchise on indulgences for that part of Germany.
Historian Walther Khler has quote Tetzel's sermon: "Do you
not hear the voices of your dead relatives and others, crying out
to you and saying, 'Pit us, pty us, for we are in dire punishmnet
and torment from which you can release us for a pittance'?" And
then the last exhortation in the form of a couplet:
"When the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from
purgatory heavenward springs!"
Luther may not have been opposed at that time on the idea of purgatory,
or even perhaps on praying for the dead; but he knew and understood that
the motivation behind Tetzel's money-raising was not the salvation of
souls at all. So he vehemently opposed the selling of indulgences, and
he pretty well ruined Tetzel's business in his territory.
For it was on October 31, 1517, exactly 476 years ago this very
day, Martin Luther nailed 95 Theses, 95 statements for debate on why the
sale of indulgences were evil- on the Cathedral door in Wittenberg,
Germany. He wrote these propositions for debate in Latin-- the language
of the church, and they began great debate, you may be certain. But the
95 theses were also translated into the common German, and printed, and
spread far and wide. THAT is how Tetzel's business was ruined in that
part of Saxony.
A whirlwind of things happened in the months and years following
this revolt. The presenting problem had been sale of indulgence, but
the underlying problem was where final authority for the church would
rest. There were many communications and interviews, including a
citation from Pope Leo X for Luther to come to Rome, which Elector
Frederick of Saxony refused. Finally a Papal Bull in June of 1520 gave
Luther 60 days to submit, and early in 1521 Luther was invited, under
safe conduct, to the high court, or Diet of the Church at Worms, where
he finally appeared in April, 1521.
Luther had hoped to engage in debate, but when he was admitted to
the Diet on April 17, at about 4:00 p.m., before the Emperor Charles V
and all the representatives of Rome the chancellor of the archbishop of
Trier gave him no opportunity. Instead he gestured to a table in the
middle of the impressive assembly, which was piled high with books. He
told Martin Luther he had been called to the Diet of Worms to answer two
questions: Had he written those books? Was there a part of them he would
now choose to recant?
The monk and professor from little Wittenberg was given a chance to
recant-- not to debate. The judges had already made their decision. He
spoke in a voice that could scarcely be heard: "The books are all mine--
I have written more." But then, as he considered the second question:
"This touches God and his Word. This affects the salvation of souls. I
beg you, give me time." And so he was given one day. Back in his
quarters Luther wrote, "So long as Christ is merciful, I will not recant
a single jot or tittle."
Luther was not admitted to the Diet the next day until nightfall,
and he stood in the candle-lighted episcopal hall next to the great
cathedral. After realizing again that there was no room for debate,
Luther made this statement:
"Unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from the
Holy Scriptures or with open, clear, and distinct grounds and
reasoning-- and my conscience is captive to the Word of God-- then
I cannot and will not recant, because it is neither safe nor wise
to act against conscience."
And then he added the famous words: "Here I stand. I can do no
other. God help me! Amen" And with those words Luther became an outlaw.
Even though he had been guaranteed safe passage his life was
immediately in danger. [He made his way to the Castle Wartburg, where he
allowed his hair to grow out, and he became "a knight" for the next few
years. But much of Germany was responding to this concept of salvation
by faith.]
Let it be said that it is clear from all records that Martin Luther
loved his church, and never intended that he start a different movement
of the church. He appealed to the Pope himself to stop the excess. But
there were many factors that entered the picture, too many to put in one
sermon. The political scene in Northern Europe, the threat and even
invasion of the Turks up the Danube against Christendom-- soon the lines
were drawn, and the division became beyond repair.
But the entire Christian world was changed by this man who
listened-- who believed-- who let the word work in him. We who call
ouselves Wesleyan owe a great deal to Luther, for in May, 1738, while he
was at a prayer meeting, John Wesley heard one reading Luther's Preface
to the Book of Romans-- and Wesley knew in a new way that he was saved--
by faith-- that his sins were forgiven through grace!
THIS ENTIRE REFORMATION MOVEMENT WAS SPARKED BY ONE THEME, ONE
PHRASE, AS IT WERE, FROM THE WORD OF GOD.
LOOK AGAIN AT THE LESSON (in your worship folder) THAT IS OUR TEXT
FOR THE MORNING: Paul says (1) I labored to give you the gospel of God;
and (2) I am thankful when you heard it you received it and believed it,
and it is at work in YOU now!
Two thoughts present themselves to us:
(1) HOW IMPORTANT IT IS THAT WE SHARE THE WORD OF GOD; the awesome
responsibility of those who know God is speaking; God's people, the
church, you and I are not supposed to hoard God's Word, but to receive
it, act upon it or, more properly, let it act upon us, and act through
us. (SHARE THE WORD AND NOT OUR IDEAS!)
Micah complains that false prophets were saying whatever got them
the highest salary; Matthew's word for this morning is a warning against
religious people who stand in the doorway to life, they do not enter
themselves while they keep others from entering.
(2) THE MIGHTY POWER OF GOD'S WORD WHEN IT IS HEARD AND BELIEVED
AND SET FREE WITHIN THE HEARER.
Just what IS the "word of God?" It is revelation; it is given to
us in the Bible, by the Spirit, by the foolishness of preaching, by
God's great grace.
The word of God is that which we know to be God's will communicated
to us with convicting power; the word of God is the transforming message
of God's love in Christ. The Bible is all that. It is the word of God.
BUT THE WORD OF GOD IS DYNAMIC: (1) The word of God needs to be
communicated. Spoken. Proclaimed faithfully. Preaching is God's
appointed means, method. (2) The word of needs to be received, heard,
believed. The word of God is "not" the word of God for you, for me
unless and until it is received!!
The word of God is powerful. The same word that called worlds into
being is the power that calls LIFE into being within the person/church
that hears, receives, and believes. The listening ear of the soul is the
receiving organ of God's mighty holy power.
What happens when we hear the word of God? When we really listen to
what God is saying? - we can never stay the same. We either walk
forward in the power of the word that transforms us-- that is "at work
in you who believe"-- OR we fall forever behind what God wills for us to
be.
To listen, to hear, is to be a part of God's Plan of
salvation. Every true messenger of God has been energized, empowered,
compelled by the WORD OF GOD. When evil attacks us, our families, our
world-- our first reaction is to march out with all our might against
it. And if we do we are doomed to failure. But if, instead, we listen
to what God is saying about the evil, the word of God at work in us will
involve us effectively. The whole thing will be wrought of the Spirit.
461 Open My Eyes That I May See
--
|
| 803.32 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | This reply contains exactly | Tue Dec 19 1995 22:24 | 189 |
| Subj: Sermon notes: Gift of Peace (1991)
December 1, 1991
THE GIFT OF PEACE
Advent I - John 16:33
(Children's Sermon:)
The best stories are the old stories! The ones we have heard over
and over. And the very best of these old stories are Bible stories. I'm
thinking of one I learned when I was very small-- younger than most of
you...
"Please help me remember.. help me tell the story of Shadrach,
Meshack, and Abednego."
There was a powerful king. There was a golden statue. There was a
command: Do not pray to any God except the King (who thinks he is a
god!) There was a "burning, fiery furnace!"
The king did not understand Shadrach, Meshach, and Abdenego. The
king thought that God and prayer and things like that were not
important. The king thought that he was more important than God! But we
know that God and prayer and love and truth are the most important
things in the world, don't we! We know that God loves us.
That is what Shadrach, Meshach, and Abdego knew! They were sure God
was good. They were sure that if they loved God, and did the right, God
would be with them! And He was!)
So-- what happened?
And what does that tell us about praying and burning fiery furnaces
and kings and the like? Do you think any of this has anything to do with
peace?
(Introduction, Sermon, proper:)
Our text this first Sunday in Advent is John 16:33
These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me you may have
peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have
overcome the world.
Peace was one of the main themes of the final words of Jesus, the
Last Supper discourse. In Advent the hope of genuine peace and faith and
love all mingle together in the anticipation of the coming of Messiah.
I. PEACE IN THE FUTURE
Advent is about anticipation. It is keeping alive the hope that
Messiah will indeed come. Of course, we know that He has already
come. He is coming again. But also in reality we know that there are
many areas where there is a lack of peace-- in the world, and in our
individual situations. Wherever there are human beings, there is a need
for peace.
"We do not yet see all thing put under (Messiah's) feet! But we see
Jesus!" That is where hope comes in. Hope is believing, having faith in
God's integrity, as we look into the unknown. Advent--
anticipation. People in darkness, seeing a Light.
The hope of Messiah is alive in Judaism as perhaps never before!
It should be alive in all people of faith. Jesus promised a future
peace.
II. A PRESENT PEACE
But peace is not just "in the future" for those who follow Jesus.
If genuine peace were only in the future it would be worth whatever it
costs to live so as to finally receive it. But there is real, genuine,
heart-healing peace right here and now! Jesus said, on that night before
He was crucified, "Peace I leave with you; MY peace I give to you!"
A. This present peace is a MYSTERY of our faith. Philippians 4:7
"The peace of God which passes all comprehension-- passes
all understanding-- that is mysterious but real-- shall
keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."
YES- I can see the many things that are wrong! God's prophets are
crying out against the evil of our day! Father Heery in Sacred
Heart pulpit; my son Russell's pastor, Steve Perry in the Duxbury
Nazarene pulpit-- you don't need to travel to hear Chuck Coleson
(although that is not a bad idea)-- you just have to be alive to
God to be shocked and saddened by the intensity of the evil in our
world today-- evils that I find difficult to even talk about in a
public meeting where tender ears are present!
YES- I do not know what the next step is! I have no lack of
advice: write this legislator; block that entrance; get busy-- DO
something! Now! Don't waste time! It's already too late!
NO! I am NOT overwhelmed! I know that I am in my Savior's care!
The FIRST thing I must do is make sure that my roots go down deep
into HIM! My PEACE is only in HIM!
B. Present peace begins with a reconciliation with God. The call of
the prophet is "Be reconciled with God!" The world in great part
does not even understand that it is alienated from God. Our society
today has no concept of sin. On the one hand violence and sex are
glorified; on the other hand random killing and rape and incest are
epidemic, and social experts cannot make the connection. Our
society is out of touch with spiritual reality! We as a
civilization are being showered with anti-God propaganda.
But when individuals wake up-- or are shocked awake by some sense
of need, and the Holy Spirit of God brings conviction for sin, and
a strong faith that Jesus can and will forgive sin, there comes a
glorious sense of peace with God, and a justification-- a
forgiveness of guilt that brings real, not false peace.
This is the peace of PARDON.
Present peace continues with a settledness regarding who I am, and
what I do. I do not claim more for "peace" than the Bible; the way
of faith is very much a battle. But God's people come not only to
know peace with God, but they come to know the peace OF God.
This is a peace of PURPOSE.
The best part of present peace-- peace during the storms and
battles of life-- is that the God of peace is with His people!
This is the peace of God's PRESENCE.
C. This present peace is an ABIDING PEACE!
1. As we abide in Him!
2. This peace comes to ABIDE in us!
D. When the disciples finally DID turn their world upside down it was
NOT through frantic endeavor. It was not through massive political
demonstration. There were cases of civil disobedience, perhaps. But
only when clearly the law told them not to speak of the power of
the Gospel. And then, frightened, they repaired to the BODY, where
they poured out their fears, and they prayed together! Their prayer
was for abiding peace:
"Lord, behold now their threatenings! Grant that with
boldness (i.e., lack of intimidation; i.e., peace) we may
proclaim You as Lord!" (Acts 4)
III. A SIGN OF THIS PEACE: COMMUNION
Jesus said:
"As often as you do this, You proclaim all that I am and
all that I have done and all that I am going to do!"
(Paraphrase from I Corinthians 11)
Invitation:
Jesus waould invite us to share in His peace today!
Jesus would remind us of our HOPE today!
Our peace is in the future-- He is coming again, just as surely as
He came in Bethlehem. We are no different from the faithful who sat in
darkness, waiting, watching-- like Simeon and Anna and all the prophets
before them. The wrongs of earth will be made right! Every knee shall
bow! Messiah will come!
Jesus would also reinforce our PEACE today!
Our peace is here, now, with us, present!
What a wonderful GIFT! What a powerful assurance!
What a sinful thing to hide such a GIFT! How we need to seek ways
to share it!
Jesus would also challenge us to be instruments of PEACE:
Our peace is not a denial of struggle; not an "answer" to dilemma,
nor a forceful action. Our peace is a still small voice saying: "This
is the way! Walk ye in it!" Our peace is the quiet nudge to speak to a
neighbor with concern about her problems; our peace is a call to be and
then to do.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.33 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Praise His name I am free | Tue Dec 26 1995 09:31 | 219 |
| Subj: Sermon: Giving Beyond the Gift
January 9, 1992
GIVING BEYOND THE GIFT
I Corinthians 13:3
James 3: 13 - 18
INTRODUCTION
The title of this sermon in the bulletin was a little "far out"
and I apologize, sort of. (I changed the real title!)
I was thinking about a fragment of an old poem I learned in high
school, a poem by James Russell Lowell called The Vision of Sir
Launfel. Launfel was a knight who spent his life in search of the
Holy Grail (the cup that Jesus was supposed to have used during the
Last Supper.)
Of course Sir Launfel never found the Grail. But in the depths of
his disappointment he comes across a beggar. He shares his meager food
supply with the beggar, and gives him a drink from his own cup. Then
he sees that the beggar is the Lord Jesus. The last few lines of the
poem are:
"Lo, it is I, be not afraid:
In many climes, without avail,
Thou hast spent thy life for the Holy Grail;
Behold it is here-- the cup which thou
Didst fill at this streamlet for me but now;
This crust is my body broken for thee,
The water his blood that died on the tree;
The holy supper is kept, indeed,
In whatso we share with another's need;
Not what we give but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three--
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me."
-James Russell Lowell
Giving is NOT unimportant. Last week we looked at the Christian
acts of giving. We said that it is possible to give and not be
Christian, but it is not possible to be Christian and not give. For
Christians are to be givers, not just takers.
It is blessed to give, but our scriptures tell us that giving, in
and of itself, is not quite enough. God is interested in why we give!
He is concerned about the way we give! God's unselfish agape' love
must permeate all that we are, as well as all that we do.
So we see that there are just:
I. TWO WAYS TO GIVE
A. THERE IS GIVING FOR ANY AND EVERY OTHER REASON EXCEPT AGAPE'
LOVE. Even sacrificial giving!
Paul makes a simply amazing statement in the "love chapter." He
says:
"Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and
though I give my body to be burned, and have not the
quality of love, it profits me nothing!"
Giving for any and every other reason but agape' love simply does
not impress God. It certainly can impress me! I might not be
able to tell the difference. I am simply amazed at any kind of
genuine sacrifice. But the Bible makes it clear that people can
make great sacrifices for less than noble reasons!
B. GOD'S WAY FOR US TO GIVE IS THE WAY OF AGAPE'.
Agape' is the kind of love that gives the life a center of
reference around which every other detail big and small finds its
meaning.
Agape' love is usually made interchangeable in our thinking
with God's love. We say, "God's love is AGAPE'!" and so it is. It
is a love that gives our life a center of reference around which
every other detail finds its meaning. But it is important to see
that there are other agape' loves, too.
Many wise people who are not Christian have found that
"success" of any kind demands a life-centering commitment. The
warning of (John) is
"Love (agape') not the world, neither the things that
are in the world. If any one love (agape') the world, the
love (agape') of the Father is not in that person!"
Wise people will always live by a life-centering,
life-disciplining agape'. Most people just live from paycheck to
paycheck.
II. THE TRULY WISE CHOOSE TO GIVE BECAUSE THEY LOVE
A. We need to remember that there are TWO kinds of wisdom. We
come back to the passage in James:
1. James speaks of THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD. James labels it
as earthly, sensual, demonic.
Demonic wisdom is not always bizarre and evil-appearing!
Worldly wisdom mocks the agape', or life-centering aspects of
God's love. Demonic wisdom gives purpose and discipline to
endeavors that begin and end with materialism and sensualism
and selfish achievement.
C.S.Lewis makes the evil wisdom of this world seem remarkably
like the corporate giants of civilization to me in his book
"That Hideous Strength." (I do not at all imply that the
likes of IBM are evil; I merely state that Oxford don Lewis
portrays evil as having wisdom in great measure; able to
organize, able to civilize to a certain degree, able to do
many things we would call admirable.)
Wisdom focuses, centers life. But the earthly, sensual,
demonic wisdom of this world is not true wisdom because it
finally ends in death and chaos. It worships some idea or
creature in the place of Almighty God. It destroys, finally,
instead of finding eternal life.
2. James also writes about TRUE WISDOM, the wisdom he calls
"THE GENTLE WISDOM FROM ABOVE." He tells us it (1) is pure,
and (2) it is peaceable, and (3) it is easy to be entreated.
It is centered in God and has that peculiar quality called
HUMILITY!
HUMILITY, of all the graces, is the one we least talk about!
We all have "ego," and we know it. So we don't like to hear
about this grace that is so central to true wisdom. HUMILITY
gets a bad name in our "love yourself society." But we mistake
the essence of what humility is:
Humility is NOT assigning "no worth" to the human
personality, even one's own!
Humility is NOT pretending to be stupid or grovelling like
Uriah Heep.
True humility says: "I AM NOT GOD!" That's a relief!
And true humility refuses to say, perhaps more than any
other thing, that "I, IN ALL MY UNDERSTANDING, AM AN
EXCEPTION!"
Humility refuses to say 'I can get by without doing the
things of righteousness in a simple and straightforward
manner. 'I don't have to spend time with God each day. 'I
don't have to faithfully attend upon the means of grace. 'I
don't have to keep all the rules-- after all, I am saved by
grace, right?'
No, the gentle, humble wisdom from God is easy to be entreated!
B. GOD'S WISDOM SEEKS TO FIND THE BEST WAYS TO LOVE:
1. Did you know that the Bible gives "graded examples of
love?" As you follow through its pages-- we see developing,
expanding, deepening ways of living and giving:
(1) O.T. standard: Love your neighbor; hate your enemy; do
not do to someone else what you don't want them to do to
you.
(2) Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you." Usually we think this is the best we can ever
hope to do. But Jesus called His disciples to an even
higher standard:
(3) The Great Commandment: "Love one another as I have loved
you!" Can we ever even come close? Only as Jesus is the
heart of all we are and do!
CONCLUSION
If we love like this we will be GIVERS! If we have this life-
centering agape' love of God we won't be quibbling over whether we
tithe or not. Jesus will be the reference point of love that gives
life a center of reference around which every other detail big and
small will find its meaning. That is real wisdom!
But, you say, "How can I have a life-centering love that I don't
feel? How can I love God, and people, and even myself when I don't
naturally feel loving?"
The answer is: GOD'S LOVE IS NOT ACHIEVED BY STRIVING TO PRETEND
TO HAVE FEELINGS THAT DON'T EXIST. This kind of love comes from
inviting God to dwell permanently in our very being. This kind of love
is the result of spending time in God's Presence.
And this kind of love comes from being willing to OBEY the Lord
who indwells us. Jesus put it this way, at the close of the Sermon on
the Mount. Jesus said (1) "Those who hear what I say and DO what I
say-- they are wise! They will stand!" He also said (2) "Those who
hear what I say and DO NOT act on it are NOT wise. They will fall."
We cannot be Christian and not give! And, too, We cannot be Christian
and not love!
Maybe the following doesn't rank as great poetry today, but it
says it pretty well, doesn't it?
Not what we give but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three--
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me."
Let us pray
(This was a Communion Service)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.34 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Praise His name I am free | Thu Jan 04 1996 10:38 | 254 |
|
December 30, 1990
Lesson: 2 Corinthians 5:11 - 21
THE GREATEST JOB IN THE WORLD
Text 5:20 "We are, therefore, Christ's ambassadors, as though God were
making His appeal through us."
I love my work. There are times I don't earn my salary. Then
there are times when you couldn't find enough money to pay me to do
what I have to do. But as a minister, I believe that I am an
ambassador for Jesus Christ.
But wait a minute. This passage is not written to pastors alone,
or even primarily to pastors. Verse 17 says if ANY person is in
Christ he/she is a new creation, and so called to be an ambassador for
Jesus Christ. YOU are just as much in this ambassador business as I
am. Maybe even more so!
The call of God to preaching or evangelism is a wonderful thing,
and I do not trivialize it in the least. It has fallen to me to be a
full-time resource person, and a worship leader in the church at
times. But WE are ALL God's men and women. We are all called to
represent God. God Himself has called us.
You may wonder about that. You may not feel personally "called."
[Sometimes I don't feel called, either!] I know how that is, believe
me! [Speaking for God can be a heavy responsibility!]
But this passage says it clearly- God wants YOU to know that
whatever else you may do for a living, you are called to be His
representative! But I'm also pretty sure that He wanted me to tell
you, too, that you don't have to face this high assignment all by
yourself.
CHRISTMAS was when the greatest job in all the world began!
God sent His only begotten Son into the world to say "I love you!"
And now as His children through Christ and IN Christ, we are to
pick up Christ's work, carry on that mission, saying to the world
what God tells us to say. We are Ambassadors for God!
We are called to the greatest job in the world!
I. WHAT THE GREATEST JOB IN THE WORLD IS NOT
This passage says that we are ambassadors of heaven; and that it
is the love of Jesus Christ that makes us go. But I want to back up,
and begin describing what this task, of being an ambassador, is NOT.
I want to look back at several verses that connect with the thought of
our task; actually, they are negative statements that Paul uses,
usually with the phrase "We are NOT ..." as an opener:
A. WE ARE NOT PEDDLERS (2:17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle
the word of God for profit. On the contrary, we speak before
God with sincerity, like men sent from God.")
Now there is nothing wrong with being a peddler. I remember
when I was about Junior High age stopping in the basement of an
old 'Five and Dime' and watching a real pro peddler at work. He
had a set spiel, and some sort of vegetable peeler. Fascinating!
Only the fact that I was broke kept me from buying one for my
mother.
But what a peddlar sells is not a matter of life and death. He
sells gadgets, usually. He may make it seem very urgent-- like
you can't live without his gadget. But he knows that what he is
selling is basically so that he can make a living.
[I was a peddler once! I "sold" magazines door to door when I
first graduated from high school in the "recession" of 1948-49. I
usually began my "pitch" by saying, "You don't want to buy a
magazine, do you?"]
But we are ambassadors, not peddlers!
B. WE ARE NOT ACTORS (3:13, 18 We are not like Moses, who put
a veil over his face to keep the Israelites from gazing at it
while the radiance was fading away. (But) we with unveiled
faces all reflect the Lord's glory, . . . being transformed
into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from
the Lord, who is the Spirit.)
Moses put on the veil because the people complained of the
brightness of his face. Maybe it makes people uncomfortable if we
begin to get too close to the Lord. [I don't think it is possible
to get too close to the Lord!] But here Paul said that Moses put
the veil on-- or maybe KEPT it on-- so that the people couldn't
see the glory fading away!
I'm not sure of what all that means-- and I don't want to take
too much time on this emphasis-- but ambassadors have more
important business to do than trying to pretend they are
something they are not to the people to whom they are carrying
God's message.
I'm not telling you not to put your best foot forward. I am
telling you that you and I need to be real people, honest growing
Christians (as verse 18 says.) And people to whom we represent
Jesus, for whom our Lord died, deserve to know where we are and
where we are headed! Let's be real, let's be genuine as we seek
to represent Jesus! Our most powerful evidence may be when we
admit that we are struggling, but that we are keeping the faith!
C. WE ARE NOT 'PROOF TEXT-ERS' (4:2 ... we do not use deception,
nor do we distort the word of God.) (OR "Text-Twisters")
Ambassadors do not have the privilege of editing-- either
watering down or of beefing up-- the word that comes down from
The Throne. When God declares WAR, we can't sue for peace on our
own. And when God says, "I will forgive ALL who come to me" we
can't select out those we think are worth saving!
God's Word is alive! Texts are funny things! We get a good
idea! We get THREE POINTS TOGETHER. If they all start with the
same letter, that is better yet! And THEN WE GO LOOKING FOR A
GOOD TEXT!
But then something funny happens! That text-- if we give it
a chance-- begins to exert a life and message of its own. And
maybe it begins to ruin that beautiful three point masterpiece!
Ever have that happen to you? [I have!]
Ambassadors get the message! And then ambassadors carry the
message-- they translate it into the local language-- they apply
it to the local culture-- they manifest it in truth in their own
lives-- they become the message-- but they don't make the word
fit the circumstance, they make the circumstances face the word!
D. WE ARE NOT EGOTISTS (4:5 For we do not preach ourselves,
but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for
Jesus' sake.)
This is not to say that you shouldn't be a "character." You
look like a bunch of characters to me! It doesn't mean that we
shouldn't have strong "EGOs" whatever that means. And it doesn't
mean that an effective ambassador doesn't let his own personality
be expressed in every facet of his representation of the King.
But there is only ONE STAR in every aspect of service for the
Lord! There should only be one Star in every worship service! The
Bright and Morning Star! And it is impossible for us to lift up
Jesus and try to make people think about how smart we are, or how
pious we are, or how ANYTHING WE ARE!
Probably there is a little 'show-boat' in every one of us. It
is more fun to talk than it is to sit and listen-- usually. But
we know, and GOD knows, whom we are trying to exalt!
Yes. this is the greatest job in the world!
II. WHAT THE GREATEST JOB IS
A. IT IS A JOB WE DIDN'T CHOOSE FOR OURSELVES!
We were selected! Why in the world God ever chose you and me,
I'll never know. [Someone asked Billy Graham why God chose him to
be a spokesman before millions when there are hundreds of
preachers who can preach as well as Billy can. (I doubt that!)
Billy Graham's reply was, "When I get to heaven that's the
first thing I'm going to ask the Lord!" He is genuinely humble.
But he is NOT falsely modest! He is God's called man. And so are
YOU!]
It is NOT AN OPTION whether or not we shall be Ambassadors.
Every Christian is already representing Jesus Christ. The
question is, shall we do it well, or not? We have already been
"drafted!"
B. IT IS A JOB WE DON'T HAVE TO DO IN OUR OWN STRENGTH
1. Paul says (text, verse 20) "(It is) as though God were
entreating THROUGH us ..."
I know we don't always sense that undergirding, even when we
are prayed up. But count on it, it is always there! When
you would do good, GOD IS PRESENT WITH YOU! (to counter-point
Romans 7:21, which says 'When I would do GOOD evil is present
...').
2. This thought "connects" with Romans 8:28-32. I would like to
close with some thoughts about THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD that go
along with this idea of every Christian being AN AMBASSADOR:
a. [GOD IS ACTIVE IN ALL OUR LIVES] We are all familiar with
8:28 "God works in all things..."
b. [GOD HAS PROMISED ALL WE NEED TO ACCOMPLISH HIS BEST WILL]
We also love 8:32 "He that spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him
also freely give us all things?"
c. [But what's an ambassador to do? How do we practically
apply this provision and power?]
C. IT IS A JOB GOD WILL DO THROUGH EACH ONE OF US!
1. GETTING INTO THE FLOW OF GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY
(I Corinthians 3:9 hints at it:) We are laborers together
WITH God! All too often we have an "either/or" approach to
God's sovereignty. We are either "all works" or "all faith."
In our English language we have just the two moods:
Active: "I will do it!" Or,
Passive: "I will have it done to/for me!" But in the Greek
language-- and in everyday "Ambassador Language" there is a
middle voice:
Middle: "I will enter into what is being done!"
We need to get into the flow of God's Sovereign working! God
is in the world, reconciling it to Himself! He has called
us to be His people!
2. God is still Sovereign! He is still calling! If we will get
quiet and listen, He will guide us the next step! He isn't
impressed with our strength. But He isn't worried about our
weakness, either! What He really wants is men and women who
love Him, and who are willing to explore the task to which He
has called them.
Conclusion:
ARE YOU WILLING TO ASK GOD TO ACTIVATE YOUR HIGH CALLING AS AN
AMBASSADOR?
WILL YOU MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE TO HIM THIS VERY DAY?
Pray with me! Thank God for calling us! Thank God
that He doesn't leave us alone!
Thank God that He is Sovereign!
Thank God that we may enter into the
flow of His great WILL! Amen!
[Hear the challenging words-- sing them from your heart as a
prayer- of a relatively young Hymn:]
#49 (Exalt Him) Macedonia
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.35 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Praise His name I am free | Thu Jan 04 1996 10:39 | 179 |
|
April 30, 1995 pm
Acts 9: 1 - 19
THE COURAGE TO WITNESS
The conversion of the great apostle Paul came about through the
witness of two Christian lay people. Without two men named Stephen and
Ananias the story of St. Paul probably never would have happened.
Stephen's impact on Paul came first: it is found in the book of
Acts, Chapter 7, at the unspeakably violent scene of a mob killing. A
lay-person table-server, deacon, Stephen, was stoned to death. The
thugs who were doing the actual killing did not want their clothes
ruined with blood spatters, so they laid them at the feet of an
arrogant young Pharisee. The young Pharisee was in full accord with
what was going on, but was too proud to take part in the actual manual
labor of lifting stones and throwing them.
The witness of Stephen was in two distinct parts. Stephen SAID
some tremendous things about the nature of God and what it means to
worship. He said that from the beginning of time human beings have
made substitutions for God-- they have worshiped creation instead of
the creator. He also said that God Himself will speak to us if we will
only listen. He said that finally the Word God speaks is not simply a
lesson or a religion, but a Person. This Person Stephen declared to be
Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He said that the proof of this truth is the
fact that Jesus was crucified and died and was buried-- and that he
rose again from the dead.
[The power of the resurrection is the engine that drives the
church of Jesus Christ. We have learned to harness many other kinds
of power; it is hard to imagine a church without electric lights and
amplification and copiers and faxes. And other powers are fine as
long as they are not used to try to substitute for the power that
gives life. But if the resurrection power is missing no amount of
money or intelligence or entertaining media will ever save even one
soul.]
Stephen knew Jesus was alive, and said so. The power of the
resurrection is what gives our witness authority. The highly
intellectual Pharisee heard that sermon-- the one and only sermon
Stephen ever preached. Perhaps it seemed then that it made no
impression at all. But it made a powerful impact
But Stephen's witness was in two parts: what he said-- AND THE
SPIRIT IN WHICH HE SAID IT. The scripture says that the people there
saw his face-- like the face of an angel. They heard his last words,
not now a sermon, but a prayer: "Lord, lay not this sin to their
charge!"
THE SPIRIT IS EQUALLY AS IMPORTANT AS THE WORDS.
Saul of Tarsus, who became the great missionary apostle Paul,
heard this sermon and saw this dying spirit.
The word does not say how much time passed until chapter 9-- but
this haughty young Pharisee had had a taste of the thrill of
persecuting the Christians, and he became an expert in it. He became
the topic of conversation throughout the young church, and certainly
was the last person Christians would want to meet in the street.
The church spread outward from Judea and Galilee, fueled by the
threat of persecution that began with Stephen's martyrdom. It was as
though the floodgates of anger and resistance broke and Acts 8:1 tells
us that the whole church was scattered -- except the apostles.
How it was that the church reached Damascus in Syria we don't
know. Evidently there was a healthy church there because the
anti-Christian forces in Jerusalem were sufficiently concerned to
authorize an armed force to go and extradite them back to Jerusalem
for trial, conviction, and execution. Saul of Tarsus had legal papers
making him the equivalent of an ancient bounty-hunter. He set off to
Syria and Damascus with a vengeance.
We are all well acquainted with Saul's dramatic conversion--
aren't we? [Don't get me started on scriptural illiteracy! You can't
grow in grace if your theology consists totally of just what you
hear on WEZE or pop-Christian music.] Jesus the risen Lord met Saul
in the middle of the road to hell and knocked him off his feet with a
challenge to turn his life around. Saul got up, groping, blinded,
willing but bewildered. Who ARE You, Lord? But that is NOT Paul the
Apostle speaking! He is still Saul of Tarsus-- and still on the
outside of the fellowship looking in!
Enter the second witness: Ananias of Damascus!
He was THERE. The Lord spoke to him "Ananias!" And Ananias
answered: "Here I am, Lord!" It's a great way to begin every day!
Not just "Here I am" location-wise, but "Here I am, reporting for
duty! What do you want me to do today?" What if every one of us got
up and sincerely reported to God for duty every day?
He was CONNECTED (vision unimpaired)
He was PRESENT for roll-call
On this day the "duty" was not routine: "Get up and go over to
Straight Street to the house of Judas-- and look for a man from
Tarsus, whose name is Saul. He is praying right at this moment-- and
I told him a man named Ananias was on the way over to pray for him to
get his sight back."
Ananias was no robot. He was HUMAN (God didn't FORCE Ananias
without reasoning with him--) "Lord, I know about this man. He is the
talk of the fellowship. He has legal authority to arrest Christians
and take them back to Jerusalem."
God gave Ananias assurance that this was really His will. And
Ananias was OBEDIENT. But I'm also sure he was BRAVE, too. The trip
over to Straight Street must have been what athletes call a
"gut-check."
But when Ananias got there, once again the SPIRIT OF JESUS shone
through. Ananias was COMPASSIONATE "BROTHER Saul ..." As Ananias
prayed Saul was healed. Saul was baptized-- they didn't wait around in
the New Testament church. And then Ananias of Damascus sort of fades
out of the story. He was soon forgotten, out of the way-- gone-- but
WE know how vital a part Ananias played.
Actually, there was one other person that should get a share in
Paul's ministry. His name was Barnabus, and he took up where Ananias
left off. Later in the chapter when Paul, or rather Saul had come to
Jerusalem (and that is another adventure story in itself) he tried to
join the church there. But (26) they were all afraid of him. But
Barnabus (27) took Saul, brought him to the apostles. The church
enjoyed a time of peace but Saul/Paul was sent back to his home city,
and actually went to the Arabian desert to study for three years. We
don't see him again until Acts 11, when the church in Antioch had a
revival and the Jerusalem people sent Barnabus there to lead.
Barnabus went to Tarsus (11:25) to look for that keen young man that
the others hadn't really trusted-- Saul. Then in 13:2, in the Antioch
church, the Holy Spirit said: "Set apart Barnabus and Saul for my
work!"
During that first assignment Saul became Paul-- and the team
changed from Barnabus and Saul to Paul and Barnabus-- and later on
they split up over Barnabus's habit of siding with the underdog
(Mark.) But if it had not been for Barnabus-- a man willing to do
whatever was necessary to encourage Saul-- we would not have heard of
the great Apostle to the Gentiles.
This hasn't been a sermon-- it has been a sort of lesson. We
aren't all like PAUL. (Maybe Charles Coleson?) We aren't all like
STEPHEN (aren't you glad of that!) But when unfair things happen, how
do (I) we respond? We can't all be like ANANIAS. But we can get up
in the morning and say, "Here I am, Lord!" We can't all be like
BARNABUS. But I sure do wish we had a few more like him around, don't
you?
And we can have the same two dynamic elements of witness:
(1) WE CAN KNOW THAT JESUS IS ALIVE. Not as a textbook fact-
But we can KNOW Jesus. Nothing less will do, if we are to
witness. And
(2) WE CAN HAVE THE SPIRIT OF THE RISEN LORD. These men were not
simply "nice people." They were HOLY people. They were
people who had been filled with the Holy Spirit. They were
people who were living Hebrews 12:14 even before it had been
written!
When our words and our spirit unite with the mighty Spirit of
God, then we can join the ranks of the Stephens and the Ananiases and
the Barnabuses. And Jesus will build His church. And there will be
joy!
Prayer
Sing: # 552 O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.36 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Praise His name I am free | Thu Jan 11 1996 09:23 | 218 |
|
October 29, 1995
THE JESUS PRAYER
Luke 18: 9 - 14
Two men went up to the temple to pray to the one true God. One
man stood by himself in his shining goodness. The other man stood
afar off in consciousness of his sinfulness.
This is a pointed story. Jesus told it to some people who were
trusting in themselves for salvation, and were actively putting down
other seekers after God.
In this story the first character, THE PHARISEE, was the sort of
fellow you think of as the pillar of society. He was regular in
paying his bills, he belonged to the Rotary Club, he drove a Cadillac,
he tithed a pretty hefty income.
The second character, THE TAX COLLECTOR, was different. He was
far down the social scale. He had a shady reputation. He had
business dealings with unbelievers. He would not deny being a sinner.
The PHARISEE had a LOAD of righteousness-- self-righteousness.
It was a comparative righteousness. He compared himself to people he
despised: "I thank You God that I am not as others are -- thieves,
rogues, adulterers, or, God forbid, even like this tax collector
standing there!" And he measured his religion in adding up the good
things he did. "Add these things up," he said to God. "I fast twice
in the week, I give a tenth of all my income, I'm really quite a
valuable addition to your temple, God!"
The TAX COLLECTOR, on the other hand, stood far off, away from
the altar. His head was down. He smote his breast. He acknowledged
his sin.
It is not acceptable in polite society today to talk about "sin"
and "guilt." We deserve a break today! Remember rights, and
entitlement! Guilt is always bad-- always unhealthy.
I agree that guilt is something we do not have to live with. But
I do not agree that all guilt is either inappropriate or bad. There
is a kind of acknowledging of guilt which is actually healthy, because
it accepts responsibility. Facing real guilt is the first step to
real forgiveness and real peace with God. "IF WE CONFESS OUR SINS," is
the promise, "GOD IS FAITHFUL AND JUST TO FORGIVE US OUR SINS, AND TO
CLEANSE US FROM ALL UNRIGHTEOUSNESS." (I John 1:9) [We like the "all
unrighteousness" part-- we don't always hear the "If we confess"
part!]
The Bible says that whether we are up-and-outers like the
Pharisee, or down- and-outers like the tax collector, "all have
sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) We are all
sinners by birth, and every one of us have sinned by choice. Sin is
putting anything or anyone ahead of God.
Two men went up the hill to pray. The PHARISEE went up the hill
to the temple knowing that he was better than most people. The TAX
COLLECTOR went up the hill to the temple knowing that he had come
short of God's glory. He didn't try to fool either God or himself for
even a minute. He prayed this prayer: "Lord, be merciful to me a
sinner."
Two men went down the hill from the temple that day. Jesus said
the tax collector went back home justified. The Pharisee just went
back home.
The simplicity of the prayer the tax collector prayed all too
often escapes us. We know that following Jesus involves doing as well
as being. Being Christian takes discipline and prayer. So we forget
how simple and how basic it is to say from the heart, "Jesus is Lord!"
We memorize Romans 10:9,10, but we forget the impact of that short
prayer.
When we get away from the simplicity of the faith we start
building our own righteousness. We begin to THINK like the Pharisee,
even if we don't actually put his prayer into our own words.
THIS IS REFORMATION SUNDAY - On this particular Sunday of the
year we recall one man in history who re-discovered the power of the
Jesus prayer and changed the course of history
Let me just mention again a few facts from Luther's life that
underscore this story Jesus told:
Martin Luther was born in 1483, and as a young man started out to
study law. About the time he finished law studies, in 1505, a
lightning bolt scared the wits out of him, and he promised God he
would become a monk-- went on to become a priest-- was a
brilliant but not-very-happy seeker after salvation.
The church of Luther's day was often guilty of praying the prayer
of the Pharisee. Like every human institution, our own included,
there was a strong incentive to preserve the machinery and to
forget the spirit of Christ-- to legalize and legislate, and
forget the simple truth of grace. Luther was frustrated,
unsatisfied in his own heart.
In 1513, the year after receiving his Doctorate and becoming
teacher/preacher at Wittenberg, Martin began lecturing on the
Psalms. When he arrived at Psalm 72, as he was lecturing to the
students he got new insight concerning "the righteousness of
God." (Have you read Psalm 72 lately? I had to re-read it again
to see what was so revolutionary as to catch Martin Luther's
imagination:
(Psalm 72:12) For (God) will deliver the needy when he cries
for help, the humble also, and him who has no helper. (13) He
will have compassion on the poor and needy, and the souls of
the needy he will save....)
Martin Luther began to see the compassion of God. Up until this
time Luther had only feared God, as a tyrant judge. He began to
see God's righteousness as a quality which God was willing to
give to believers, and which would make them acceptable in his
Presence.
Then in his study of Romans Luther re-discovered "The Just shall
live by faith!" Luther discovered that he had had it all
backwards: WE DO NOT ACHIEVE FAITH BY BEING RIGHTEOUS, BUT WE
RECEIVE CHRIST'S RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH! Still Luther asked
questions of himself, recorded in his works, such as:
"Are you alone wise? Can it be that everyone else is in error and
has been in error for so long? What if you are wrong and lead
into error so many people who might then be eternally damned?
But Luther could not remain quiet forever. Things came to a head
when fund raisers came through Saxony selling coupons to get
people out of purgatory. It was just three years after Psalm 72
had spoken to him, and after he had re-discovered the great truth
in Romans "The just shall live by faith!" that the crisis came.
On October 31, 1517, exactly 478 years ago this very week, Martin
Luther nailed his 95 Theses, 95 statements for debate on, among
other things, why the sale of indulgences were evil- on the
Cathedral door in Wittenberg, Germany. He wrote these
propositions for debate in Latin-- but the 95 theses were also
translated into the common German, and printed, and spread far
and wide. The business of indulgences, salvation from purgatory
by works, was ruined in that part of Saxony. The Reformation was
under way.
Nearly four years later, in April of 1521, Luther was summoned to
Worms to defend his position before a Diet of the clergy and
secular rulers. On the first day of his appearance Luther saw
that he would not be permitted to make a speech, and he begged
for a day to think of his answer.
Luther was not admitted to the Diet the next day until nightfall,
and he stood in the candle-lighted episcopal hall next to the
great cathedral. After realizing again that there was no room for
debate, Luther made this statement:
"Unless I can be instructed and convinced with evidence from the
Holy Scriptures or with open, clear, and distinct grounds and
reasoning-- and my conscience is captive to the Word of God--
then I cannot and will not recant, because it is neither safe
nor wise to act against conscience."
And then he added the famous words: "Here I stand. I can do no
other. God help me! Amen" And with those words Luther became an
outlaw.
Thus endeth the "history lesson" this Reformation Sunday!
The "two ways of justification" are still with us today.
If we are honest-- there are times when we have stood in the
place where the Pharisee stood in the story. We have compared
ourselves to other mortals instead of seeing a holy God. We have
added up our good and hoped it outweighed the bad.
But there are NOT two ways to find peace with God. There ARE NO
human beings who can justify themselves in God's holy eyes. There are
NONE of us who dare to despise others, and compare our holiness with
other sinners.
In our Wesleyan tradition we need to learn to live in the healthy
tension between the call of God to holiness and the humility of
knowing that our performance often comes short of God's glory. Our
Savior can give us grace to live above wilful sin in word thought and
deed. Our Savior also taught us to pray every day, "Forgive us our
debts as we forgive our debtors!" Can we live with the paradox of not
sinning and confession our sins? Can we seek to be God's instruments
and NOT seek to use God selfishly?
There is a prayer, an ancient prayer, actually, that came out of
this passage, no doubt. It is called The Jesus Prayer. I'm sure that
a number of Nazarenes would not want to pray this prayer because we
have been forgiven and are no longer in active, wilful, outbroken sin,
no longer in rebellion against God. . . .
I can still hear the wisdom of my elders saying "If we start
calling mistakes 'sin,' it won't be long until we are calling sin
'mistakes.'" In other words we cannot excuse any wilful sin in our
lives.
Still the fact remains that Jesus has given us the Lord's
Prayer-- and also he has given us this story to keep us from trusting
in our own righteousness, and comparing it with others. That ancient
prayer, the Jesus Prayer simply goes like this:
"Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner."
It is a powerful prayer when it becomes a way of life! Shall WE pray?
#435 vv 1,2,3 -My Faith has Found a Resting Place
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.37 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Fri Jan 19 1996 10:13 | 192 |
|
Luke 8: 4 - 15
PARABLE OF SEED AND SOILS
Introduction:
This is a familiar parable. It appears in Matthew and Mark and
Luke. And Jesus even explains it Himself. So even a child can
understand it easily. It is so simple that we may not take the time
to look at it carefully.
But it is both simple and profound.
And it is a very important parable. Look with me at the
explanation Jesus gave. He spoke first of all about the seed. Before
He talked about the different kinds of soil, and what they signify,
Jesus said something vital about the seed that was to go into the
soil. He said (verse 11) that the seed is the word of God.
I. THE LIFE IS IN THE SEED
IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT THE TRUE SEED BE PLANTED.
There can be no compromise. No matter how GOOD we are-- nor how
cultivated and sincere and earnest we may be, until the seed of God's
word has been sown by the Holy Spirit within our minds and hearts and
lives we cannot grow into Christlikeness. [ILLUS: Can you imagine a
farmer saying "We're going to make extra effort for a big crop this
year. We're going all out.
"We're going to do extra cultivation. We're going to do extra
fertilizing. we're going to put in a new sprinkler system and water
whenever there is dryness.
"But good seed is so expensive that we're going to plant rye
grass instead of expensive wheat." [ IDIOCY! ]
THERE CAN BE NO COMPROMISE ON SEED!
The SEED is the LIFE. The seed is life. There is LIFE in the
word when it reaches into our heart by the Holy Spirit.
The SEED is the GOSPEL! The seed is the Gospel - the truth of
the cross and the empty tomb. But it is MORE THAN FACTS. By the Holy
Spirit the WORD gives LIFE! We understand [we come to believe] that
God wants to make His home within us!
The SEED is GOD'S LIFE SET FREE, RELEASED, GROWING WITHIN US!
The seed is "unlike" the full plant in its appearance; and we may
reject ITS WEAK APPEARANCE; it seems to wrong thing to want to
overcome and so to plant the seeds of submission and surrender and
confession and the like.
BUT THE POWER OF THIS SEED IS INDOMITABLE.
II. THE SECRET OF THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS RECEIVING AND HOLDING THIS
SEED AS IT GERMINATES AND GROWS
The familiar part of this story is the story of four kinds of
soil. We remember: some fell on the path and the birds got it; some
fell on rocks and sprang up only to wilt when the heat was on; some
fell among thorns and when the wheat grew so did the darnel and so the
wheat was choked.
Think with me about this familiar part again:
1. THE SEED THAT THE BIRDS GOT.
[People that are "so smart" that God never has a chance to let them
know genuine LIFE!]
The seed never germinated. Never really had a chance. Hardened.
Busy, busy place. No reception into incubation. NEVER REALLY GOT
THE MESSAGE THAT GOD CAN COME RIGHT INTO OUR INSIDES AND LIVE WITH
US AND LOVE US DAY BY DAY!
2. THE JOYFUL SKYROCKET!!
[People who live ONLY by how they FEEL!]
Warm reception. Lots of feeling. No real soil preparation; no
discipline whatsoever.
Here is the classic case of perpetual immaturity! We are fond of
saying: "Purity is NOT maturity!" and looking the other way when
people continue to live on the basis of how they FEEL long after
they should be living by what they KNOW!
Maturity is not usually considered as part of holiness. It is "OK"
to stay juvenile-- or is it? It is OK to keep wrestling with the
battles of identity over and over again (and I AM sympathetic!
There is childishness in ALL of us to some extent!) But when do we
stop living for hard rock and settle down to breaking up the depths
of our souls for Jesus to have us clear to the bottom? Skyrocket
goes up like a bullet, explodes like the creation of the world, and
then goes out into darkness that seems darker than it was before.
Maturity is one of the goals of true holiness!
3. THE SEED THAT GOT CHOKED.
[People who lose sight of the most important things in life!]
Here, to my mind, is a real tragedy!
A lot of work went into this ground. It was pretty well
prepared. Ground that is tender catches more than just good seed,
however.
Gardens have to be tended. No exceptions. RELATIONSHIPS SIMPLY
WILL NOT MAINTAIN THEMSELVES! There is an enemy that specializes in
sowing tares-- darnel, false wheat-and there is enough bad news to
go around.
Jesus said: "As they go on their way they are choked with worries
and riches and pleasures of this life, AND BRING NO FRUIT TO
MATURITY!"
And so, finally, all the hard work goes for nothing! If the LIFE
that was in the SEED is not manifested, the garden is a failure!
4. THE NOBLE GARDEN.
There are reasons for the other kinds of soil. But this is where
we need to live! And by God's grace we CAN!
Jesus says: "These are those who hold the LIFE in an honest and
good heart AND BEAR FRUIT WITH PERSEVERENCE!"
It isn't hard to bear fruit!
You don't even have to TRY to bear fruit!
What is hard is STAYING OPEN AND OBEDIENT AND GIVING THE
CHRIST-LIFE A CHANCE TO GROW WITHIN YOU! If the life is there, and
if you hold it with an honest and good heart and don't quit, YOU
WILL BEAR FRUIT!
III. WE MUST LEARN TO TRUST THE SEED!
[As James says (Jas/ 1:21) "Receive with meekness the engrafted
WORD which is able to save your souls!"]
1. THE SEED OFTEN DOES NOT RESEMBLE THE MATURE, FULL-GROWN, FRUIT-
BEARING PLANT.
The human way to seek "success" is to focus on HUMAN MODELS. We
want to "stick an adult plant into the ground." We look for results,
and we look to methods, and to models.
God's way is to let the LIVING WORD sink down into our hearts and
do a miracle that is both unique and powerful.
2. In our PERSONAL lives: Assurance, soul-winning, growth in grace
spring from humility, and open-ness before God, from confession and
weakness before the Lord.
3. In our corporate life, CHURCH-WIDE: We look for results, for
numbers-- to 'Pastor Cho' and his church of 200,000 members, we take
trips to seminars to see how/what others are doing. (And seminars have
their rightful place!)
But healthy, growing, powerful churches are UNIQUE! They spring
from healthy seed (the Gospel) in well-prepared ground!
Conclusion:
We can be abundantly fruitful, both personally and as a church!
Let's claim the power of John 15:8-- which comes right after John
15:7 ! Here is a prayer that cannot fail! All we have to do is pray
it honestly and openly--
"By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so
prove to be my disciples." (NASB)
IF in fact the Holy Spirit has planted the seed of christ's
gospel, the life of Jesus, within our hearts and beings!
Exalt Him #66 May the Mind of Christ, My Savior
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.38 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Fri Jan 19 1996 10:13 | 253 |
| Subj: Sermon: Say Yes.
January 7, 1996
"Say Yes '96"
A Vision for Giving
I Corinthians 13:3
In a famous poem by James Russell Lowell, a Knight of King
Arthur's Round Table, Launfel, set out as a young man to give his life
to a high and noble service of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sir Launfel
spent his life in a search the world over for the Holy Grail, the cup
that Jesus used during the Last Supper.
Though he searched the world over, Sir Launfel never found
the Grail. In bitter disappointment, as he was coming to the
conclusion that he would never find the Holy Grail, he was confronted
by a hungry man asking for alms. Launfel shared what food he had with
the beggar, and gave him a drink from his own cup. And then, to his
amazement, that beggar became the Lord Jesus Himself.
The last few lines of Lowell's poem:
"Lo, it is I, be not afraid:
In many climes without avail,
Thou hast spent thy life for the Holy Grail;
Behold it is here-- the cup which thou
Didst fill at this streamlet for me but now;
This crust is my body broken for thee,
The water his blood that died on the tree;
The holy supper is kept, indeed,
In whatso we share with another's need;
Not what we give but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three--
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me."
-James Russell Lowell
Giving is important. This month we begin an emphasis on
giving. But there is something more important than giving. More
important than giving itself is WHY we give.
Giving is good. But just giving is not quite enough. God's
kind of giving means putting LOVE into our gift. God so loved that he
gave. We, too, can give because we love. I am speaking now of God's
kind of love, agape' love.
I. A LIFE-CENTERING LOVE
A. Life-centering commitment is a requisite for world-class success
in any endeavor: When people FOCUS their lives and living THINGS
HAPPEN! People can "AGAPE'" ANY NUMBER OF OPTIONS: I John 2:15-- this
warning:
"Love (agape') not the world, neither the things that
are in the world. If any one love (agape') the world, the love (agape')
of the Father is not in that person!"
The same word for love, "agape'"-- but different life-centers.
Winners, people going for success in any field will have this
life-centering kind of drive. Most people simply life from paycheck
to paycheck.
B. World-class Christians have a life-centering commitment to
Jesus! It is as simple as that! Life-changing Christians-- are
people who build their lives around ONE center-- a love totally
abandoned to God in Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
These are the kinds of GIVERS that make a real DIFFERENCE in their
world.
Transition: I am assuming that YOU are with me-- in that we
want to be the best Christians we know how to be. We want to have
this AGAPE' love for God-- and have it working:
II. UPGRADING OUR LOVE -- BETTER REASONS TO GIVE
A. Giving for any reason but love simply does not impress God. It
certainly can and does impress me! I might not be able to tell the
difference. I am simply amazed at any kind of sacrifice. But the
Bible tells us people can make amazing sacrifices that in God's eyes
are totally wasted. Nothing!
"Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I
give my body to be burned, and have not love (agape'), it profits me
nothing." -I Cor 13:3
B. Agape' love for God keeps seeking the best ways to LOVE, and to
GIVE:
Did you know that the Bible shows there are "good" and
"better" and "best" ways to love?
1. There is the Old Testament standard of love: "Thou shalt
love thy neighbor, and hate thy enemy" Do not do to anyone else what
you would not want them to do to you. This world would be a better
place if just that level of love were put into effect.
2. There is the Golden Rule, from the New Testament: "Do unto
others as you would have them do unto you." Most people think that
this is the very best we can ever hope to do.
But did you know that Jesus has called his disciples to even
an higher standard?
3. The Great Commandment: "Love one another as I have loved
you!" Beyond doing as we would have others do-- we are to love as
Jesus loved! Can we ever begin to come close? HOW?
Dorothy Day is considered a major "force" in shaping
Christian, particularly Catholic, social work in our country. But she
was well into her adult years before she became a Christian. She had
been active in social concerns in an almost atheistic, certainly a
non-religious way. She had an AGAPE', certainly-- but God was not in
the equation. The story of her conversion is dramatic-- too long to
tell here. But in the last 40 or so years of her life she GAVE out of
sheer LOVE. She saw individual needy people as persons of great
worth-- she saw them as God sees them.
Her testimony has had an impact on ME! I want to spend the
remaining years of my life GIVING-- not just CONSERVING, HOARDING
ENERGY to make life last as long as possible!
Esther Sanger is hardly recognized on a national scale, as is
Dorothy Day. But in a very similar way Esther became a "force" in
helping shape caring concerns right here on the South Shore! {Just
this week I heard father Bill McCarthy speak of Esther as a founding
force in father Bill's place beginnings.} Esther was past 50 years
old before her AGAPE' found its center in God. She was human, with
faults as big as yours or mine. But she decided she would GIVE
herself to God, or to "others" through her love for God.
And Esther's life has had an impact on ME! I want to give
what I have, and not hold it back to see how safe I can be!
I wonder if churches can catch new vision for giving as well
as individuals? I wonder if a church like ours-- that gives already
to missions and home missions and Christian education and local
needs-- might not seek new ways to give our love along with our gifts?
We could think of giving just in terms of dollars, and praying for the
overseas missionaries-- and that is important and we have to keep it
up.
But can we give ourselves more-- along with our giving?
The answer of HOW may be answered in specific ways this month
of "Say Yes" as we hear from different kinds of people serving God in
different kinds of ways. But if we go to a new vision for giving it
will begin with the willingness to let God have all our hearts!
I say let's not hoard our strength! I believe we are a LOVING
CHURCH. Let's give ourselves along with our giving. Could I dare
say, " ASK NOT "What can God do for me?" but instead LET'S DARE TO
PRAY TO GOD "What WILL YOU GIVE THROUGH me?"! THROUGH US! I
challenge US to give ourselves, our young people as well as our money
to see God's kingdom come and His will be done in earth as it is in
heaven! Amen! This is my vision for giving!
It may not rank up there with the world's greatest poetry, but it
says it pretty well, doesn't it:
"Not what we give but what we share,
For the gift without the giver is bare;
Who gives himself with his alms feeds three--
Himself, his hungering neighbor, and Me."
-James Russell Lowell
As we share at the Lord's Table this morning-- will you ask
God to make YOU truly WISE? Will you invite HIM to be the center of
your life, and make YOU His kind of GIVER?
Let us pray:
===============================
January 7, 1996
THE HOLY COMMUNION
[THE TABLE THAT TRANSFORMS:
Lord, let no one come to this Table today and not be changed!]
The Law Read and Confession Made
WE HAVE READ OUR CONFESSION OF FAITH Brothers and sisters, let us
search our hearts. In silence let us ask God to draw us near to Himself so
that we can come to his table with confidence.
Shall we pray:
Search us, O God, and know our most private thoughts. Try us, and
show unto us the deepest motives, the real state of our hearts. Forgive us
where we have been selfish, or insensitive, or sinful in any way. We cannot
keep the Great Commandment, and truly love You, O God, with all our heart,
soul, and mind unless You in mercy grant to us the grace of Your indwelling
Spirit. We cannot love each other as we should unless Your love is shed
abroad in our hearts.
We do not presume to come to this table, O God, trusting in our own
righteousness, but in your great mercy and grace. Grant us to eat the Bread
of heaven, and drink the blood shed for the remission of sins, that we may
live in Christ, and Christ may live in us forever. Amen
The Informal Invitation ("This is not my table . . . ")
The Words of Institution:
We praise you for the mystery of our salvation! We truly believe
Christ has died!
Christ is risen!
Christ will come again!
Bless these emblems, O God, and make them to us the Body and Blood of
your Son, spiritual food, and spiritual drink of new and unending life in
Jesus Christ.
And now, together, we pray, as Jesus taught us:
Our Father which art in heaven .. . . AMEN
[Now receive the sacrament - wait and partake together - be in prayer for
yourself, and intercession for others ...]
HERE LET THE ELEMENTS BE DISTRIBUTED, PRAYERS OFFERED, (MUSIC PLAYED/SUNG)
Partaking Together:
Holy and gracious Father; in your infinite love you made us for
yourself; and, when we had fallen into sin, and were worthy of death and
hell, you, in your mercy sent Jesus Christ, your only and eternal Son to
share our human nature, to live and die as one of us, to reconcile us to You,
the God and Father of all.
He stretched out his arms upon the cross, and offered himself in
obedience to your will, a perfect sacrifice for the whole world.
On the night in which he was betrayed our Lord Jesus Christ took
bread; and when he had give thanks to You he broke it and gave it to his
disciples and said, "Take eat: THIS IS MY BODY, which is given for you. Do
this for the remembrance of me.
After supper he took the cup and when he had give thanks he gave it
to them, and said, "Drink this, all of you; THIS IS MY BLOOD OF THE NEW
COVENANT, which is shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins.
Whenever you drink this, do it in remembrance of me: Amen
Now, humbly we receive the Gifts of God for the People of God
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.39 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Tue Jan 23 1996 15:37 | 170 |
| Subj: Sermon: The Windows of Heaven (1992)
January 5, 1992
THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN
Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so
that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the
Lord of Hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and
pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."
INTRODUCTION
A. Malachi 3:10 is one of those texts that lends itself to
manipulation by people who want to raise money for churches. It
appeals to a strict cause-and-effect mentality; it may be used to
underscore the mind-set the ultra-fundamentalist, who sees salvation
as a strict contract with the Almighty.
Actually, there ARE elements of contract, of promise, even hints
of cause-and-effect here. God says, "If you will do thus and so, you
can prove Me now! I will do thus and so!"
B. But to be fair we need to see that THE TEXT IS A CLIMAX OF THE
[TOTAL] LESSON OF MALACHI; and the whole book reveals God's desire to
love and to be loved by His people. God is disappointed when His own
people are less than they could be.
[The reason God's people do not experience God's full blessing is
plain. They have forgotten that real life centers around GOD! One
message of Malachi is:]
I. A REVELATION OF SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE ON ISRAEL'S PART
A. The Book of Malachi reveals that the people who claim to know all
about God and religion are in fact exasperatingly ignorant. A
recurrent theme throughout the short book is (1) a statement of fact
by God, through His prophet; immediately followed by (2) incredulous
statements like "How can that be?" "Why do you say that?" "Where is
that a fact?"
1. (1:2) They are ignorant of God's LOVE to them. (1:6) They
are ignorant of insulting the name of God.
2. (2:14) They are ignorant of any reason why God should
despise their fancy worship, even though they have been
treacherous with one another. (2:17) They are ignorant of the
fact that God is weary of their empty mouthing of prayers.
3. (3:7) They are ignorant both of the need to return to God,
and the way in which they might return to God.
B. There is no sense of the 'personal' in their dealings with God:
[God is "an institution, not a Person with feelings!] How easy to take
God for granted! How easy to despise holy things!
1. (3:8) They have never connected GIVING with LOVING GOD!
They are ignorant of the fact that when they withhold their
tithes from God they are robbing God.
2. (3:13) They have become CASUAL about SEEKING and DOING
God's will! They are ignorant that when they speak for God
without being in touch with God they are actually speaking
against God.
C. The call of the prophet is not to condemn, but to re-establish
true faith. The clear way in which God's people may experience God's
grace is practical in nature:
III. THE RE-ESTABLISHING OF TRUST IN GOD
A. God is NOT bound strictly by "contract" to us, or we would all be
long gone! We are never dealt with as we deserve, but by God's great
grace! God is, however, faithful to His covenant with His people! He
is reluctant ever to write off one of His own!
B. TO LOVE GOD, WE MUST MAKE HIM OUR LIFE'S CENTER
1. Our love to Him must not be merely a matter of convenience.
Malachi says, sarcastically, to his hearers (1:8): "Try giving
what is left over to the IRS! Try paying your bills with
left-overs-- with the things you don't want any more! Doesn't
that work?? Well, then-- WHY GIVE YOUR 'CONVENIENCE' TO GOD?
C. TO LOVE GOD, WE ARE TO SEEK TO LEARN TO GIVE!
1. The people to whom Malachi was preaching were consumer-
minded! THEY WERE TAKERS! They asked "What can God and
religion do for me?"
Malachi (actually God, speaking through Malachi) was seeking
to turn around their thinking, to make them covenant-minded!
God always wants His people to be GIVERS! And in God's
economy, and in His own currency-- it is the givers who are
rich!
2. Keying on the areas where Malachi accused the people of
ignorance, here is an outline on how we should give:
a. Our MOTIVE must be love- not profit.
b. Our ATTITUDE must be reverence for God and His church;
and faith. (Not cynical, not self-serving. The widow woman
COULD have saved her two mites, saying "I need it more than
those rich Pharisees...")
c. Our ACT OF GIVING should be sacramental. When the plates
go by, the amount you place on the plate is one thing; but
the very fact of placing something on the plate can be an
act of stewardship, a statement of submission to God's will!
d. Our METHOD of giving is NOT unimportant! Malachi
mentions tithing!
I think that I have heard most of the arguments against
storehouse tithing: Tithing is legalistic. Storehouse
tithing is invented to support institutions. O.T. Law has
been eliminated. Give-to-get preaching has decimated
genuine giving.
But the fact is storehouse tithing is the floor on which to
build a disciplined life of stewardship. I do not limit my
personal giving to 10% of my income now; but I grew up in
the demonstration of what it means to be partners with God,
including faithful tithing during the Great Depression. I
will testify that it works!
POINTS TO DRIVE HOME: It is possible to give and not be a
Christian, but it is impossible to be a Christian and NOT give.
Tithing makes us partners with God in the practical world of finances.
CONCLUSION
The end of this short book is like a fork in the road.
Malachi. There is the threat of cursing for those who are arrogant,
and choose to remain in ignorance of God's Law and God's LOVE. But
there is promise of great blessing as well:
(3:16) "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and
the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance
was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and esteem His
name.
"'And they will be Mine,' says the Lord of hosts, 'on the day
that I prepare my own possession, and I will spare them as a man
spares his own son who serves him.'
"So you will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked,
between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him."
(4:2)"But for you who revere my Name, the sun of righteousness
will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and
skip about like calves from the stall."
The windows of heaven are open, and God's blessing is promised to
those who truly seek to love Him, and let Him love through them. I
pray for you and me and for us the joy of being GIVERS to the glory of
God! Amen.
173 As with Gladness Men of Old
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.40 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Thu Feb 01 1996 12:04 | 192 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Formation of Faith
11.06A - Titus 3:3-11
THE FORMATION OF FAITH
Introduction:
The most wonderful and rewarding assignment I can imagine is
preaching to the Church. The main calling of the pastor-teacher is to
"feed My sheep," as Jesus said to Peter. This is a task that I
love. I want to be a growing Christian myself, and I want us to grow
together in every aspect of God's grace.
But there may be a danger in a teaching ministry of assuming;
assuming that everyone understands the basic, elementary, even
introductory truth. It is good from time to time to say some of the
things we all assume.
We need to understand that it is possible to grow IN grace, but
it is NOT possible to grow INTO grace. (Illuminate?) In other words,
we need to say from time to time:
(I.) "PEOPLE STILL NEED TO BE SAVED!"
(Text, verse 5) "(God) saved us through the washing of
rebirth..." And also verses like John 3:3: "(Jesus:'Unless one is BORN
AGAIN he cannot SEE the kingdom of God' and 'Unless one is born of
WATER and of the SPIRIT he cannot ENTER into the kingdom of God.' and
'You must be BORN AGAIN!'"
A. This is CONTRARY TO the "wisdom" of our sophisticated society!
You need to understand that you will be considered a fool by many
so-called cultured people to talk about being born again, or being
saved. It goes against the 'I'M OK/YOU'RE OK' truism of humanism.
For by the simple sense of the word "saved," if some are saved,
then others are not saved.
At the very time when third-world countries are discovering God's
saving grace through Jesus Christ, modern "Christian" denominations
are questioning the need for sending the gospel to other
cultures. [Why interfere with their native customs and religions?
Their idols or superstitions are equally true with Christian faith
...] "We" question the need for being saved because we have lost the
clear understanding of what it means NOT to be saved... to be LOST!
[Zimbabwe report of Richard Menees, in Banket, Zimbabwe; a
surging hunger after vital Christian faith.]
B. (BUT) ...it IS the clear language of the Bible.
In the text Paul reminds Titus of what "we were" before we were
saved: it is a realistic look at the fact that people NEED TO BE
SAVED! He could have made a much longer list, but Paul says three
things about the unsaved:
1) To be unsaved is FOOLISHNESS. This kind of foolishness has
little to do with intelligence, or grasp of facts and figures. Rather
it has to do with understanding values.
This foolishness acts as if there is no God; it is disobedient to
the One who loves us, and seeks our best. This foolishness is
deceived, and spends energy and time and life and love in pursuit of
satisfaction that never quite comes.
2) To be unsaved is LONELINESS. Paul speaks of spending life in
malice and in envy. Apart from God's family and God's love, there is
comparing our lot with others, and somehow we are always getting the
short end of the bargain; we end up filled with hate: "hating one
another."
3) To be unsaved is HELPLESSNESS. Paul briefly mentions here
"being ENSLAVED TO VARIOUS LUSTS AND PLEASURES." The illusion of
freedom apart from God's grace is just that: ILLUSION. The sinner may
think he or she can quit and walk away from sin, and its guilt and its
enslaving power.
But he or she cannot simply "quit sinning" and be a child of God.
PEOPLE NEED TO BE SAVED BECAUSE THEY ARE CAPTIVES OF SIN
[It may be elementary, but we need to say it: "People still need to be
saved!" But we also need to say: ]
(II.) "PEOPLE CANNOT SAVE THEMSELVES!"
A. This is a bitter pill for us to swallow. PRIDE is such a
peculiar thing! It seems as though the one who has the least to be
proud about is the one who needs pride the most! And when it comes to
admit that we are captives to sin and need a SAVIOR, we ALL seem to
have trouble.
We want to say with the Rich Young Ruler: "Good Master Jesus,
what can we DO in order to have eternal life?"
B. We are helpless until God's grace draws near!
1. (Titus 2:11) "The GRACE OF GOD brings salvation!" How basic
that is! God's Riches At Christ's Expense!
2. Clearly nothing we have done/can do (verse 5) can bring us
deliverance.
3. This grace draws near (BECOMES VISIBLE) in the kindness and
love of God (verse 4.)
[What basic and elementary things can we say about what being saved
IS? Look again at the text:]
(III.) BEING SAVED MEANS WASHING AND RENEWING AND JUSTIFICATION AND
ADOPTION In short, it means being "set free."
A. The EXODUS STORY is THE paradigm for salvation.
Here was a great body of people held captive in a land that
despised them and made slaves of them.
They were in a captivity that wasn't really their own fault; they
had been born into it. [Later on God's people were sent into captivity
and bondage as judgment for deliberate sins. But here God's people
were not yet formed into a nation; they lay in miserable captivity,
waiting to be set free and established as a chosen people, loved by
their God.]
In their captivity they had heard about a great God who had made
promises to their forefathers. But for all purposes they were dead in
captivity until a miracle happened, and they were WASHED in the waters
of the Red Sea of deliverance. And then they were RENEWED (or called
into being as a people) at the Mountain of the Giving of God's LAWS.
A SACRIFICE OF ATONEMENT was inaugurated that looked forward to a
coming PERFECT SACRIFICE. They were justified by sacrifice. And best
of all, THEY BECAME GOD'S CHOSEN PEOPLE!
Here is washing and renewing and justification and adoption!
B. The CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST is the New Testament "Israel"
(I Peter 2:9-10) Speaking to the church: "But YOU are a chosen
race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own
possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called
you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for once you were not a
people, but now you are the people of God; you had not received mercy,
but now YOU HAVE RECEIVED MERCY!"
The church is made up of those who have been WASHED and
RENEWED and JUSTIFIED and MADE HEIRS.
[Perhaps the last simple statement I ought to make from time to time
is:]
(IV.) "PEOPLE STILL CAN BE SAVED!"
A. It is true that we are saved into the community of faith. We
become a part of the Body of Christ. But we are saved one by one as
we respond to the "kindness of God our Savior" and when "His love for
(us) appears!"
Illus:(!) B. We are born under prevenient grace, but "with our backs
to God." Until we respond to God's love by an act of choosing, by a
deliberate act of repentance and faith, we are NOT saved!
But when we DO respond we are WASHED, and we are
JUSTIFIED,[{Romans 5:1}] and we are RENEWED (REGENERATED)[{II
Corinthians 5:17}] and we are ADOPTED (MADE HEIRS ACCORDING TO THE
HOPE OF ETERNAL LIFE.)[{Romans 8:15}] We are SAVED!!! We are brought
into face-to-face fellowship with God.
(Conclusion:) I am going to continue to emphasize growing in
grace. As God leads, I believe that will continue to be the center of
my ministry. But please, let's never get too far away from the
foundations of our faith! Don't try to GROW INTO grace! You can be
saved, and you can KNOW it! Let us pray:
Lord God, You know if there is anyone here who has never made a
clear-cut decision to belong to You, and let You wash them, and let
you forgive all their sins, and bring them into your family!
If someone like that is here- help their faith just NOW! AMEN!
EH #85 He Touched Me
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.41 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Thu Feb 01 1996 12:04 | 226 |
|
02.26A - Psalm 105:3-4;43
A FELLOWSHIP OF GLAD HEARTS
"Let the heart of those who seek the Lord be glad. Seek the Lord
and His strength; Seek His face continually." (verses 3,4)
Introduction:
When the word "seek" is coupled with God, and with His
promises it is a magnificent word. Jesus said, "Seek and ye shall
find!" Never be ashamed to be known as a "seeker."
It is a humbling thing, sometimes, to admit to being a seeker.
By definition a seeker does not have what he is seeking; he wants
more. Possibly everybody is seeking for something.
But the Bible says that those who are seriously seeking after
more and more of God are more and more aware of a growing JOY! The
old hymn says:
I love to tell the story;
'Tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time I tell it
More wonderfully sweet...
I love to tell the story,
For those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting
To hear it like the rest.
Here is a text about seeking. About seeking after God. In
this passage the word "seek" is used with three shades of emphasis.
It says that we are to (1) seek the Lord; and we are to (2) seek
the Lord's strength; and we are to (3) seek the Lord's face
continually. It is a beautiful focus for our thought.
I. WE MUST SEEK THE LORD.
A. It certainly is God's will that we seek Him!
The prophet Isaiah says: (55:6) "Seek ye the Lord while He may
be found; call ye upon Him while He is near." And Hosea says
(10:12) "It is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain
righteousness upon you." And Jesus said: (Matthew 6:33)" Seek the
kingdom of God first, and His righteousness, and all these things
shall be added unto you."
B. How does a person go about seeking God?
(1) Actually, God seeks us first! God calls us by His Spirit,
with what we call CONVICTION. The Holy Spirit says: "You
need to know God! You need to change the direction of your
life! You need LIFE!"
(2) And we respond in OBEDIENCE, with REPENTANCE. Obedience is
a foundation in all seeking after God. [Illustration: Saul
(Paul) on the Road to Damascus; said (1) Who ARE You, Lord!;
and then (2) What do You want me to do?] We CAN and we WILL
find God if we will come with a willingness to OBEY!
C. What "seeking God" and "knowing God"-- what "finding God"
means: It means NEW LIFE IN CHRIST:
justification ...
regeneration...
adoption...
[But as wonderful as it is to find GOD in salvation, that is not
all the seeking we must do. The text says:]
II. SEEK THE LORD AND HIS STRENGTH!
A. Living the Christian WAY is NOT "automatic."
It takes all we are and all we have PLUS the love and grace of
God. We cannot live the Christian life without God's strength.
B. And, too, we find out that God has not just saved us in
order that we can "enjoy" LIFE. We are called to live with a
purpose. And we are challenged to find and do God's will for
our lives. God wants us to BEAR FRUIT!
C. How do Christians go about seeking the Lord and His
strength? How do Christians go about finding God's will for
them?
(1) Once again, the initiative is God's! The Holy Spirit
calls us to "Present our bodies, our whole beings, as living
sacrifices to God, in order that we can find out what is
God's good and acceptable and perfect will for our
lives. (Romans 12:1,2)"
(2) And we respond with OBEDIENCE, yes; but now we are coming
to another word: CONSECRATION. The very HEART of spiritual
worship is this act of presenting our bodies as living
sacrifices to God.
There are studies of "gifts." There are what amount to spiritual
aptitude tests. And these are fine. But the very heart of finding
God's will and God's strength is CONSECRATION.
[But consecration is not quite ALL!]
C. OUR CONSECRATION MUST CULMINATE IN A COVENANT!
Our God is a covenant Maker.
God does NOT "make deals." [A deal means "I'll do this in
exchange for that."]
Covenant is NOT "unilateral." It is not asking God to bless "my
plans, and be with me" but rather it is letting God be God, and asking
Him to let me do His will, whatever the cost! It is dedicating life to
God's will: finding the purity of a single purpose.
God's COVENANT with His people is: You be MY people, and I
will be Your God! And we find God's strength when we SEEK IN THE
CONTEXT OF COVENANT.
D. There is great beauty and strength in the knowledge of
God's Spirit flowing through us to make us His Body, the
Church.
[But the Scripture says: "Seek God's FACE!" What do you suppose
that means? Can there be something beyond "experience?" Can there
be something beyond sanctification?]
III. SEEK HIS FACE CONTINUALLY
A. The whole purpose of salvation and the reason we are called
to holiness is in order that we can come to KNOW God! There is
nothing "beyond being saved." There is no other experience that
goes beyond being filled with the Holy Spirit and finding God's
strength. But being saved is not complete until we are
comfortable in God's PRESENCE!
B. How can we go about seeking God's FACE? [ We do seek God
for forgiveness of sins. We must seek Him for His strength and
sanctifying grace. We will seek God's face when the crises come.
But when will we learn that we are made for God, and that we
desperately need God all the time?]
(1) Once again, the initiative is God's! If we listen, if we
pay attention to His Word, we see how very much God is reaching
out to us! "Fear thou not for I AM with thee ..." "Go-- make
disciples -- AND LO, I AM WITH YOU!"
(2) And we respond WITH LOVE!
Oh, OBEDIENCE is still there: the foundation; and CONSECRATION
/COVENANT is still valid. But we are still SEEKERS! SEEKERS
AFTER GOD'S FACE!
We are not now seeking 'salvation.' Not now seeking 'a clean
heart.' Not now simply seeking to be effective, or to bear more
fruit. These are vital, and important; and we will, must should
seek them. But what our hearts crave is LOVE. And God alone fills
that craving.
C.(Conclusion:) GOD WANTS OUR LOVE!
Somehow we get the idea that God's greatest interest is
destroying sin, and making us feel guilty so we will quit the sin
business. And there is no question in my mind that God is sick of
injustice and sin in this sin-sick world. But that is not the end God
has in mind.
Or, as Christians we think God is primarily interested in what
we can GIVE to Him, and what we can DO FOR HIM. And God has
commanded us to go into this needy world and spend and be spent for
Him. But God is not impressed with your great gifts or mine; your
talents or mine. There is something even more important that God is
concerned about.
GOD WANTS OUR LOVE! He wants us to leave sin because we LOVE
Him! He wants us to spend and be spent because WE LOVE HIM! And
we learn to love Him because HE FIRST LOVED US!
God wants to fill the deepest need any of us can have:
THE NEED TO KNOW THAT WE ARE DEEPLY LOVED!
The world is crying out for LOVE. We all want to BE loved; we
want others to love US, but we want to love US, supremely, too.
Most of the sins of the world are twisted LOVE.
It may not seem possible to look to God to fill this need for
love; it may seem as though it would invalidate or take the place
of other loves. Becoming a friend of God is a life-time project.
It means a never-ending SEEKING!
But those who seek the FACE of the Lord find that along with
the seeking comes a wellspring of JOY! And the seeking gets
better, and goes deeper as we grow in the knowledge of God.
First we seek and find the reality of being saved from our
sin. Then we begin to discover the purpose of God, and being saved
from self-worship, and we begin to know the satisfaction of
accomplishment in Him.
But then little by little we begin to discover the face of
God. Remember, when the word "seek" is coupled with God, and with
God's promises it is a magnificent word. Never be ashamed to be
known as a "seeker."
It is one of the open secrets of faith: Those who SEEK TO live
in God's Presence know JOY. And those who know God best are those
most actively seeking after more of Him. "Glory ye in his holy
name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the
Lord and his strength; seek his face for evermore." Amen
#38 O for a Closer Walk with Thee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.42 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Thu Feb 01 1996 12:05 | 271 |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------
January 26, 1992
THE FREEDOM FROM SIN
What Nazarenes Truly Believe about Sin
Text: Romans 3:23
What is there to say about sin? We're against it! Which sin
are we talking about? "I hope it isn't the one sin I excuse in my
life!"
I am not talking just now about this sin or that sin; I
am speaking about sin. Sin is not popular. It is a God-related word;
God is the Great Irrelevancy.
I. SIN, SALVATION, AND THE SAVIOR
A. NEXT TO OUR CONCEPT OF GOD HIMSELF, PERHAPS OUR UNDERSTANDING
OF SIN IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF OUR PERSONAL THEOLOGY.
What we understand of the nature of sin has a tremendous effect
on the way we seek to come to God. It helps determine how we come
to confidence that we are saved, ready for heaven:
1. Two definitions that help some and yet don't say it all:
(1) Wesley "Sin is a wilful transgression of a known law of
God,
(2) "Sins" (plural) are acts; and "sin" is an inner "bent"
or "nature."
2. We might better try to think of how sin is a PERSON-al, or
RELATIONAL matter.
Whatever else sin is, it is being WRONG with God.
Whatever salvation is, it is being RIGHT with Him.
B. Think with me through two or three "inner dramas" of people
coming to seek salvation. See how the idea of what sin is goes to
the heart of how we come to trust:
1. A commonly held "Nazarene" understanding of sin. Sin is
being "bad," and sinning separates me from God. Salvation is
being GOOD (once I've been to the altar to take care of being
BAD).
And later I should come back to the altar to take care of the
SIN (singular= "bent to sin") so I won't get angry any more.
The "drama" goes like this:
I come to the altar. I confess my sins as I am told. I am given
a clean slate, which assures me I will go to heaven if I die. I
have a list of things I must and must not do. I must read and
pray. I must not smoke or drink. I should go to church when I
can, but then (Significant Other Person) is rather casual about
it, so maybe that isn't all that important.
I start out with confidence. Then a couple of bad things can
happen:
(1) I keep all the neat rules, like NOT smoking and NOT drinking
and so forth, and so I "know" I am saved even though from year to
year I never really come to know the Lord Jesus in any personal
way, and I never help any fellow mortal move one inch closer to
the kingdom of God; or,
(2) I soon find out that my clean slate is all messed up. I
start over several times. Finally I quit in disgust saying that I
cannot honestly live a Christian life. I drop away and say there is
nothing real in this fake religion.
(3) Or-- in spite of not having a perfect understanding of all
these things I find a personal, growing knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and somehow the miracle continues to grow!
2. Let me have the audacity to change the scene. Now I am a
hard-shell Baptist, or a child of strict Reformed-Calvinist
roots.
My definition of sin is sort of all the above PLUS-- sin is
ANY COMING SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD! And by that I mean any
place I should do better and don't, or shouldn't do bad and
do. It is ALL sin! All my life I hear the Bible preached as
propositional truth. "God said it! I believe it! That settles
it!" Here's how MY "salvation drama" goes:
I "come forward." With good solid counseling I "receive the Lord
Jesus as Savior."
I understand that He is my Substitute, and that His righteousness
is IMPUTED as my own. God now looks at me, and instead of my
sins He sees the righteousness of His Son.
I am honor-bound to read and pray and prove the reality of my new
birth by (1) Baptism; (2) Tithing; (3) Witnessing.
If I do these things
(1) I often come to live far above the raw simplistic application
of the very real Truth of this system, and the discipline carries
me into a genuine relationship. OR,
(2) I drift into old ways, and from time to time I "re-dedicate
my life" during times of emotional challenge. All the while I am
more-or-less consoled by the fact that I have received "eternal
Life" which by definition can never be forfeit, otherwise how is
it "eternal?"
(3) Or-- in spite of not having a perfect understanding of all
these things I find a personal, growing knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and somehow the miracle continues to grow!
3. Let me be even MORE audacious! Let me describe a person with
some form of Catholic up-bringing. Sin to me is pretty much
defined by the Church. There are mortal sins; there are venal
sins. Jesus Christ is GOD and Savior, but the idea of
salvation is mediated through both the Word and the Traditions
of the Church. I need to (1) be baptized; (2) confirmed; (3)
keep current by taking Mass regularly, which should involve
regular confession as well.
My "salvation drama" comes when somehow these truths I have been
taught become personal to me. I am saved by being in fellowship
with the Church, and obeying from the heart its teachings, and IT
mediates and brings me to Jesus Christ.
Or-- in spite of not having a perfect understanding of all these
things I find a personal, growing knowledge of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and somehow the miracle continues to grow!
C. IN ALL THESE DIFFERENT STORIES REAL SALVATION NEEDS A PRESENT
SAVIOR
No human agency can fully present the truth so powerfully and
true that "correct theology" will save. Somehow, by the Word
being released and through the preaching I hear, in whatever
church, I must grasp -the Idea that God knows ME-! He cares that
I have sinned. He is angry with my sins, but I know He loves ME.
I am enabled to enter into a personal relationship with Him. I
ask Him for mercy and forgiveness. He grants it. I sense that I
belong to Him.
[I do not know all the profound things that have taken place in
me, perhaps, but I have been genuinely BORN AGAIN: Adopted,
Regenerated, Justified!]
A relationship has been established. It is not easily broken!
God doesn't give up on His children.
II. SIN AND SALVATION ARE PERSON-AL IN NATURE
A. Unless there is a sinner there is no sin!
"Sin does not exist independently of the sinner." Sin is what a
sinner does. The sin is the expression of the sinner. We sin
because we are sinners. To quote premier Nazarene theologian,
H. Ray Dunning: "We must not so much speak about sin as about
man as sinner."
B. But what about "coming short of the glory of God?"
1. We've had Introduction to New Testament and we know that "sin"
is usually translated from the Greek word `f` g ` (hamartia),
which means "To miss the mark," and say "Sin is any time we come
short of the glory of God."
But we have only a vague Idea of what coming short of God's glory
might be. We think it is failing to live up to all the Ten
Commandments, perhaps, or any deviation from God's perfect will.
2. The "glory of God" in human beings is the "image of God." The
"glory of God" in you and me is the capacity we have for a good
relationship with God Himself. It is the capacity to give and
receive love from the Creator of the Universe.
Marred by the entrance of wilful sin (original sin) the capacity
remains to respond to grace.
C. Thus: SIN is that which RUINS OR PERVERTS RELATIONSHIPS
1. A "deadness" toward God. Living life as though a loving
heavenly Father does not even exist.
2. A hostility and dishonesty toward fellow humans. The inability
to be authentic, to love and receive love. Shutting down of
compassion; living for self in advantage to others. Excluding all
or part of the best social dimensions of life. The ultimate
individualism.
3. A mistaken relationship toward Creation. Either tending to
worship the creation as god; OR, to try to dominate it as though
WE were God. A total misunderstanding of God-intended role as
Vice-Regents
4. A miserable relationship with our own inner self.
Helplessness! The dictator within! The usurper! Domination and
Tyranny of self (Romans 7)
D. SO: SALVATION IS THAT WHICH DEALS WITH THE SEPARATION(S) OF SIN:
Salvation must, then, do these four things: (and it does! it will!)
1. Freedom TO God. Daring to be open to Him! It gives us access
to God on High; from far off places it brings us nigh to precious
blessings that never die!
2. Freedom for the Other. The ability to relate to others in
agape' love
3. Freedom from the Earth. Creation, nor the material benefits of
living in this world, do not dominate.
To quote Dunning again:
"The clues to the boundaries of the mandate (Gen 1:28) is "the
glory of God," to which unfallen man would be committed. It
thus carries responsibility as well as privilege and implies
ecological caretaking."
4. Freedom from Self-dominion
Dunning goes on (I am being VERY Nazarene in my conclusions!)
"The Lord becomes the dominant Partner in all relationships,
not in an impersonal, arbitrary, or forced way, but in freedom
God is made the Center. The uncoerced partner (you and I) can
decide to dissolve the situation by attempting to assume an
equal partnership, or by usurping the prerogatives of the
Creator. In the Fall in Eden this prerogative was
actualized. It has been repeated in kind in each of our lives,
until we are set free to put the Lord God back at the center of
our lives and assume the correct relationship with Him.
-H. Ray Dunning
CONCLUSION:
What can we do about sin? What IS sin?
SIN IS WHATEVER KEEPS US FROM LOVING GOD!
SIN IS WHATEVER WE PUT AHEAD OF HIM!
The only way to really KNOW God is to LOVE Him! Love is how God
reaches out to us! God so LOVED!
To love is to know-- it seems so backwards!
But ultimately we don't come to God by knowing more, or by being
better, or by saying more prayers than the next person.
And we don't maintain our relationship with God by having a
superior theology than the Calvinists or Catholics.
To LOVE God-- to place Him at the center of all we are or ever
will be-- to ask HIM to love us and forgive us and live in us--
THIS is how we overcome SIN! And it is a relationship that never
ends!
#241 HIS WAY WITH THEE
Would You Live for Jesus and Be Always Pure and Good
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.43 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Wed Feb 14 1996 12:22 | 194 |
|
THE HEART OF HOSPITALITY
Luke 10: 38 - 41
On a dangerous seacoast where shipwrecks often occur there was once a
crude little lifesaving station. The building was just a hut, and there
was only one boat, but the few devoted members kept a constant watch
over the sea, and with no thought for themselves went out day and night
tirelessly searching for the lost. Many lives were saved by this
wonderful little station, so that it became famous. Some of those who
were saved, and various others in the surrounding area, wanted to become
associated with the station and give of their time and money and effort
for the support of its work. New boats were bought and new crews
trained. The little lifesaving station grew.
Some of the members of the lifesaving station were unhappy that the
building was so crude and poorly equipped. They felt that a more
comfortable place should be provided as the first refuge of those saved
from the sea. So they replaced the emergency cots with beds and put
better furniture in the enlarged building. Now the lifesaving station
became a popular gathering place for its members, and they decorated it
beautifully and furnished it exquisitely, because they used it as a sort
of club. Fewer members were now interested in going to sea on lifesaving
missions, so they hired lifeboat crews to do this work. The lifesaving
motif still prevailed in this club's decoration, and there was a
liturgical lifeboat in the room where club initiations were held. About
this time a large ship was wrecked off the coast, and the hired crews
brought in boatloads of cold, wet, and half-drowned people. They were
dirty and sick, and some of them had black skin and some had yellow
skin. The beautiful new club was in chaos. So the property committee
immediately had a shower house built outside the club where victims of
shipwreck could be cleaned up before coming inside.
At the next meeting, there was a split in the club membership. Most
of the members wanted to stop the club's lifesaving activities as being
unpleasant and a hindrance to the normal social life of the club. Some
members insisted upon lifesaving as their primary purpose and pointed
out that they were still called a lifesaving station. But they were
finally voted down and told that if they wanted to save the lives of all
the various kinds of people who were shipwrecked in those waters, they
could begin their own lifesaving station down the coast. They did.
As the years went by, the new station experienced the same changes
that had occurred in the old. It evolved into a club, and yet another
lifesaving station was founded. History continued to repeat itself, and
if you visit that sea coast today, you will find a number of exclusive
clubs along that shore. Shipwrecks are frequent in those waters, but
most of the people drown.
This is a classic parable about how focus on vital goals can first
grow fuzzy, and then be lost altogether. In recent years institutions
of all kinds, not just the church, have discovered they need constant
focus on mission. They need to put in words why they exist, and then
they need to make every effort to keep first things first.
It can be comical at times when secondary things are cared for and
primary things forgotten. Victor Borge told about . . . . . .a couple
going on vacation, standing in line waiting to check their bags at the
airline counter.
The husband said to the wife, "I wish we had brought the piano."
The wife said, "Why? We've got sixteen bags already!"
The husband said, "Yes, I know-- but the tickets are on the piano!"
I asked members of a study group if they knew stories of people who
took care of everything but the one most important thing. I got this
story from Rev. John S. Korcsmar, C.S.C., a Roman Catholic priest in
Austin, Texas.
This is really a true story. At Sacred Heart Parish (Can
Street, New Orleans) in the late 1960's they were beginning to do
baptisms at Mass. The parents were instructed. The paperwork was done.
Since they were doing baptisms at Mass for the first time
and were afraid that the people would be late, the parents were reminded
several times to be on time.
Well, the parents were on time, and they hurried and
forgot: yes, you guessed it: the baby to be baptized was left at home!
(One of the wits of the group asked if they then had to throw out
the baptismal water without the baby.)
Every action, every relationship, every institution has a basic
focus, or should have if it hopes to succeed in its reason for
existence. It doesn't help to have the sunscreen if you don't have the
tickets to the beach. It doesn't help to have the water ready if there
is no one to baptize.
Both institutions and individuals need to remember constantly the
first reason they exist. A family must have a parent or parents who
love and discipline and children who love and grow. A school must have
a teacher who can teach and a pupil who wants to learn. A church exists
for God, exists to love Him with heart, soul, mind and strength. If all
there is to a church are the trappings-- the lessons and the potluck
dinners and the walks for hunger-- then we have blurred the focus. Like
Martha in the story we are careful, and troubled about secondary things.
Jesus said, "Martha, Martha-- you are worried and troubled about
many things. But one thing is needful!" Don't forget the center! It
isn't that the other things are not good, or important, or even vital.
But they must serve and not dominate the central purpose.
This chapter (Luke 10) tells us that the focus of our lives is to
be LOVE; first the love of God, and because of that love, love for our
neighbor. The very heart of the meaning of love, revealed here, is
hospitality.
Hospitality is a wonderful, powerful word! ["Get him a plate
... pull up a chair ... come to the table!" Inclusive!] It gives a
definition to "love, " a word which can be vague. It is the mother-word
of other important words such as hospital, and hospice. Hospitality
means moving over and giving someone else a share of your life. Not
just out of the surplus, but right out of what you are using yourself.
This sort of hospitality ( toward others ) is illustrated in the
story of the Good Samaritan. A man is beaten and left helpless
alongside the road; a priest came by and had no space in his life to
share with anyone; the same with a religious Levite. Then came a social
pariah with every excuse for looking the other way-- but this man made
space in his day, and in his pocketbook, and in his plans. It was with
his story Jesus gives definition to the word 'hospitality.'
Today's lesson, which immediately follows the story of the good
Samaritan, is also about hospitality. Only this time it is about making
space for Jesus. Jesus reminded his kind hostess, Martha, that
hospitality has love as its focus. "One thing is all that is
necessary," said Jesus. Is it possible to sharpen OUR focus on making
Jesus "at home" in our lives?
How can we bring hospitality to Jesus?
1. Think of His needs, even before our own. The Lord's Prayer is
our pattern; before we pray "Give us .. forgive us .. lead us.." We are
taught to pray "Thy name ...Thy kingdom ... Thy will!" Yes, we cannot
exist apart from what Jesus does in/for us. But as our Guest, we seek
to put Him first. His NEED is that we love Him more than the gifts He
brings.
When I was studying pastoral care many years ago I read about the
"McLandress Coefficient;" Herschel McLandress was a professor of
psychiatric measurement at Harvard Medical School, and he developed a
way to measure a person's degree of self-absorption. In spoken and
written material he measured the use of "I," "me," and "my" and the
"Coefficient" was the longest span of time a person can remain diverted
from himself. Eleanor Roosevelt was supposed to have a McLandress
coefficient of two hours; John F. Kennedy's was twenty-nine minutes, and
Elizabeth Taylor's was three minutes. The reason I don't make Jesus
more at home at times is because I need to talk about me, when maybe he
wants to talk about something else. How is your McLandress Coefficient?
2. Make Him truly "at home" in all our work and play. By making
Jesus "at home" I mean simply that we take him with us wherever we are,
whatever we are doing. Whether it is called "practicing the Presence"
or what Thomas Kelly calls "continuously renewed immediacy," our faith
intends for us to be at home in God, and for God to be at home with
us. (John 15) This is both reality and every challenging goal.
3. Continually come back to basics with Jesus: in all the many
things that we do, make sure we do that "one thing (that) is needful!"
If we get elected to the General Board and forget that Jesus is waiting
to talk with us out in the living room we may be straining our
"hospitality." Conclusion:
Thank God for Martha-- for those who give us pots and pans and who
put flowers on the table. Thank God for Mary who reminds us that Jesus
is what our faith is all about.
Jesus wasn't telling Martha He didn't appreciate her hospitality.
But he was telling her "Martha, we don't always have to have a banquet!
A hot dog is fine-- just come on in and let me see your face! Come in
and let me know I'm welcome here!"
If LOVE is defined as HOSPITALITY, then the ultimate hospitality is
the fact that God has opened his heart, has made room in his life for
you and me.. ["Get her a plate ... pull him up a chair .. come up to the
table!"] and welcomes us into his home- not as transient guests, but as
members of his family.
#193 - Thou didst leave...
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.44 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Wed Feb 14 1996 12:23 | 23 |
| CC:
Subj: Footnote on "The Heart of Hospitality"
The illustration in the first three paragraphs of "The Heart of
Hospitality" came from Howard Clinebell's book on Pastoral Theology.
This was properly footnoted in the sermon but did not come through
in the ASCII version of my dad's sermon that I sent. My dad wanted
to ensure that proper credit was given to the author. My apologies
[to the author] for any misunderstanding that I may have caused.
Mark Metcalfe
Sermons distribution list
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.45 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Fri Feb 23 1996 10:02 | 204 |
| Subj: Sermon: The Mind of Christ Work Out
Tomorrow, Ash Wednesday, begins the Lenten Season. May God bless
you as you work out. - MM, Sermons Distribution List Keeper
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Philippians 2:12-13 So then, my beloved, just as you have always
obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence,
work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who is
at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
THE MIND OF CHRIST WORK OUT
Introduction:
In this rather obtuse title (Mind of Christ 'Work-Out') I am
referring to the interesting use of the word "work" by St. Paul. He
says YOU work OUT your salvation-- and at the same time GOD is AT WORK
IN you!
This is more than a play on words.
It is a matter worthy of our full attention: OUR working and
GOD'S working in the matter of our sanctification; how they relate,
how they interact.
I don't have a final word on it-- but "as I work on it" I believe
"God will work in our minds and hearts" to help us grasp how "we are
co-laborers with God!" (I Corinthians 3:9)
Return with me to this passage:
I. THE LOFTY MESSAGE OF THE PREVIOUS PASSAGE
1. The description of the mind of Christ is the focus, the "meat"
of this passage: IT IS A LESSON IN AND OF ITSELF.
We have come to look to this passage simply in order to see the
love of God manifested in the outpouring of Christ's very life
for us. And it is right that we do. It tells us how Jesus left
heaven's throne and came to die because He loves us.
2. But this passage starts "Let THIS mind be IN YOU!" And here in
our text the words (v 12) "So then" REFER BACK TO THIS
IMPERATIVE: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus."
And so the bottom line-- THE 'MESSAGE' OF THIS PASSAGE IS: LET
THIS MIND BE IN YOU!
II. THIS MESSAGE GETS LOST IN EXCUSE AND HUMAN REASONING
1. WE NEED TO TAKE THIS IMPERATIVE SERIOUSLY:
"Of course we can't have the mind that was in Christ!"
"No one can be like Jesus!"
And we give up the battle without a shot being fired. What does
this imperative mean, "Let this mind be in you!"??
2. JUST WHAT IS IT THAT WE ARE TO TAKE SERIOUSLY? The essence of
the mind of Christ that we can understand was that Jesus did not
insist on HIS rights; that he did not GRASP at His own benefit--
but that he gave Himself.
Is it possible for Christians to love like that today?
3. YES! THE LIFE OF FAITH BY DEFINITION MEANS DOING WHAT
OTHERWISE WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE!
This is not something new. Way back in Moses' time the people
thought it was impossible to stay "in tune" with God.
In Deuteronomy 30 are some words that speak to this challenge.
Moses is speaking to the Israelites before he goes up on Pisgah
to die. (vv 5,6) "(the Lord will prosper you, and multiply you
more than your fathers.) Moreover the Lord will circumcise your
heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord with
all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may
live."
(vv 11-14) "For this commandment which I command you today is not
too difficult for you, nor is it out of reach. It is not in
heaven, that you should say, 'Who will go up to heaven for us to
get it for us and make us heart it, that we may observe it?' Nor
is it beyond the sea, that you should say, 'Who will cross the
sea for us and make us hear it, that we may observe it?' But the
word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you
may observe it."
(vv 19-20) "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today,
that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the
curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your
descendants, by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice,
and by holding fast to Him; for this is your life and the length
of your days, that you may live in the land which the Lord swore
to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them."
Way back in the Old Testament, God wanted it understood that His
commandments are also His promises!
III. THIS WHOLE MATTER OF SANCTIFICATION FROM BEGINNING TO END, AND
CERTAINLY INCLUDING WHAT WE CALL "ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION" IS
SIMPLY THIS: DELIBERATELY LETTING CHRIST'S MIND BE IN US!
1. IN LIGHT OF THE MORNING'S MESSAGE IT IS HOLDING THE SEED OF
THE 'GOOD NEWS' FAITHFULLY, LETTING GOD WORK HIS LIFE OUT
"WORKING OUT" WHAT GOD HAS "WORKED IN" (That is too glib!)
The human way to seek "success" is to focus on HUMAN MODELS. We
want to "stick an adult plant into the ground." We look for
results, and we look to methods, and to models.
God's way is to let the LIVING WORD sink down into our hearts and
do a miracle that is both unique and powerful.
In our PERSONAL lives: Assurance, soul-winning, growth in grace
spring from humility, and open-ness before God, from confession
and weakness before the Lord.
In our corporate life, CHURCH-WIDE: We look to see how/what
others are doing. (And seminars have their rightful place!)
But healthy, growing, powerful churches are UNIQUE! They spring
from healthy seed (the Gospel) in well-prepared ground!]
2. But what about these two "works" in our text? What does this
mean 'YOU work!" and "GOD works!"??
IT DOES NOT SIMPLY OUR PART AND THEN HIS PART -- ALTHOUGH THERE
IS THAT WAY OF LOOKING AT IT:
OUR confession of NEED -- HIS Promise to MEET that need
OUR obedience -- HIS ENABLING
OUR consecration -- HIS SANCTIFYING (cleansing/empowering)
3. WHAT THIS TEXT SAYS IS WE DO AS GOD DOES ! We pray that
somehow we may be "labourers together WITH God!
(I Corinthians 3:9)
(1. The desire to have the mind of Christ comes from God. As we
pray we get the hunger after more of God. His will for our
holiness comes clear. As we make it our own desire, God
answers our prayer.
(2. Then, God not only works in us to WILL of His good
pleasure, but TO DO IT AS WELL! The realization of the
mind of Christ comes from God: God works in us to will and
to do of HIS good pleasure.
This is what Wesley called: the circumcision of the
heart. The dedication for life of the entire person to
God.
(3. The LIFE OF FAITH involves OBEDIENCE! It means that we
must seek to work out, to express, what God has worked IN!
[WHO does the work? Unless it is God it isn't genuine
... and yet, unless it is US it never will be done! God
helps us to get in "over our heads" and then he does
through us what we alone can never do!]
(Illus: Abraham is called the father of faith. He is one of the
giants of faith in all of history. How did Abraham get that way?
Who did it? God? or Abraham?
God CALLED (12:1) ... and Abraham started out.
God TAUGHT (15:6) ... and Abraham "believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness."
God COVENANTED (17:1) IN A CHALLENGE TO PERFECT TRUST ...and
Abraham COVENANTED WITH GOD!
God CALLED FOR ABRAHAM'S DEAREST GIFT BACK (22:1) ...
Abraham's covenant was tested ... and Abraham withheld NOTHING
from God!
THAT is how he became the "father of faith!"
HE WORKED OUT ... WHAT GOD WORKED IN! WHATEVER GOD ASKED/WILLED,
ABRAHAM AGREED AND SET TO WORK TO OBEY!)
God calls us ALL to inherit great promises of faith! He wants to
be our God, our Friend! Let's take the "long view!"
(Text: Philippians 2:12-13 So then, my beloved, just as you have
al;ways obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is
God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good
pleasure.
#243 I'll Live for Him
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.46 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Fri Feb 23 1996 10:03 | 345 |
| Subj: Sermon: The Promise
05.07A - Text: Luke 24:49 And behold, I am sending the promise of
My Father upon you; but you are to stay in the city until you are
clothed with power from on high.
THE PROMISE
"I will send you the Helper"
Introduction:
Next Sunday is one of the great days of the church: Pentecost.
It commemorates the climax of the greatest promise God ever made to
human beings: that He would come, in Person, and live with every
man or woman who would receive Him.
We don't quite know what to make of Pentecost. We would like
to control it. We would like to say "This, or that, is what
happened, and what happens now."
Look with me at what Jesus said to His disciples just before
He ascended to the Father.
----------
(Lesson:) John 15:26 - 16:4a When the Helper comes, whom I will send
you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from
the Father, He will bear witness of Me, and you will bear witness
also, because you have been with me from the beginning
These things I have spoken to you, that you may be kept from
stumbling. They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour
is coming for everyone who kills you to think he is offering service
to God. And these things they will do, because they have not known the
Father, or Me. But these things I have spoken to you, that when their
hour comes, you may remember that I told you of them.
-----------
Jesus made it clear that we would face conflict, and that we
would need His Spirit in those times.
Jesus also said, in the closing words of Luke's gospel (text:)
"And behold, I am sending the promise of My Father upon you; but
you are to stay in the city until you are clothed with power from
on high."
If only we might come to these words as though we had never
heard them before! If we could come with fresh understanding, what
might stand out to us?
I. THE PROMISE: YOU WILL HAVE THE HELPER
Nothing less than God's Presence in our everyday living will
suffice to enable us to be truly Christian. "Christian" is not
just another way among man; "Christian" is LIFE itself! It is
intended to be vibrant, pulsing LIFE because we are vitally
connected with the Source, the Author of LIFE. And that connection
is the promised Spirit.
Those who heard the Promise for the first time could not grasp
this new thing. It is hard to comprehend, even after all these
centuries: that God Himself will make His home in the hearts of His
people, and make them One in Himself. But this is the Promise.
And this was the central thing about Pentecost. There was
incredible JOY as the disciples realized that Jesus WAS with them!
He had said, "I am with you always!" And now He was!
II. THE PAUSE: A REASON TO WAIT
The Promise of the indwelling Presence was given with a strict
command: Don't go out on the Great Commission until you are clothed
with the Promise!
Why tarry? Jesus had finished His TEACHING. The facts were
in, complete. The ATONEMENT had been made: Jesus had said: "It is
finished!" A world was lost. Why not start out right now!! ??
Why not start out, indeed?:
A. Because Jesus did not want the disciples to share THEIR
lives, at least not the way they were just then. These were good
and decent men, with sincere love for Jesus. But Jesus knew that
they would make disciples just like themselves, and that would be
disaster to any hopes of building a holy church.
B. By the same argument, Jesus does not want us to make the
church in OUR image. He does not want us to simply give other
people our lives. He wants us to give them HIS life. And the only
way we can give Jesus away is to have His Spirit filling us.
C. Why wait? Because the Holy Spirit's empowering is
absolutely necessary for doing the Holy Spirit's work. Kingdom
work is never accomplished by human wisdom, human scheming.
D. Why wait? Because "the mind of Christ" which is essential
to "working out our salvation" (see Philippians 2:5-12) is only
available to those who have received Christ's Promise, the Gift of
the Holy Spirit.
III. THE PLENTY: THEY WERE (ALL) FILLED
What does 'being filled' mean?
A. ARE WE SO CERTAIN THAT WE KNOW? We are so conditioned at
this point that it will probably take an effort for you not to
anticipate what you think I am going to say. You will be tempted
simply to turn me off. We know the answers so very well-- but do
we have the questions clear?
So- to this question ("What does it mean to be filled?) there
is a "holiness answer" and a "Pentecostal answer" and a "Reformed
answer" and we are all so smug and so sure we are right and they
are mistaken.
B. But set answers aside, now: what does being filled with the
Spirit mean?
1. An experience. [I don't deny it.] But lets come back
to this. "Experience" as necessary and valid and crucial
as it is, is not the end and all of what it means to be
filled!
2. A mind-set. To be "filled" reflects a certain attitude
of mind. [As: "He is certainly FULL of his subject!" Like
a person who sells Nutri-Lite.] To be FILLED means to
interpret all of life from a particular perspective.
A heart surgeon watches how people carry
themselves, and says: "There goes an ailing
circulatory system!" A shoe salesman once
looked at my feet and told me where I bought
my shoes and who (probably) had sold them to
me! And a Christian does and says all that
she or he does and says in the consciousness
of Christ's life.
Is there any reason that someone might look at your
life and say:"Everything that person does somehow he
relates to Jesus Christ!"??
3. A passion. Being "filled" can mean even
more than a mind-set. It can be a passion.
[Like springtime lovers full of each other
(sort of sickening when it is too public,
isn't it?)
True passion is not always flamboyant and public.
In fact some of the deepest and most moving
manifestations of love I have ever known have little or
no resemblance to the flowers of spring. So we had
better not judge the depths of commitment by the public
displays.
But if the commitment is there-- and a
person is "filled"-- if the love is real and
true, it will exclude purely selfish
commitments, and it will exalt the one who is
loved.
Is there any basis for any person to say
of you or me: "He/she is full of the love of
Jesus!"??
4. To be filled with the Spirit is to reveal a
way of life that 'overcomes.' The Holy Spirit
must begin to manifest His Presence by His
increasing fruit: Love, Joy, Peace,
Longsuffering, gentleness, Goodness, Faith,
Meekness, Temperance.
A life that is constantly defeated, or
that manifests chronic lack of joy, or
constant criticism, or a jaded attitude toward
the means of God's grace, or that makes every
hard place a call for a vote: (Shall I go
ahead and do God's will, or shall I quit??)--
such a life is hardly a great advertisement
for Jesus Christ.
To be filled with the Spirit means a life
that is, at least on average, "overcoming."
Is there any basis for an objective and impartial
observer to say about your life and mine: "She/he is an
overcomer!"??
5. To be filled with the Spirit will mean
special grace for special assignments. I know
this is probably a basic definition of our
Keswickian brothers and sisters. But it is a
valid definition. We do not always have great
manifest power and great enduement from on
high, because (Thank God!) we don't always
live in a time of crisis.
But being filled means that the Holy
Spirit will be there when we need Him. When
the pathway of obedience leads us out over our
own depth, the Holy Spirit must come through,
according to the Promise.
6. But being filled IS an experience! It IS
something which is more than just subjective,
existential, or whimsical and capricious. It
is a Promise which we can know even if we
cannot completely control or categorize it.
The climate of fullness is always
surrender. There must be a desire for and a
submission to God's whole will. We teach, and
rightly so, that we come to a crisis of
deliberate surrender to God for time and for
eternity.
Certainly there is a submission to God's
direct commands. "Don't leave town!" God's
will, not ours! This submission is epitomized
in Romans 12:1,2 and Philippians 2:5-11.
There is also a submission one to
another. (Ephesians 5:21) And Acts 2 tells us
that when the Holy Spirit came to fill them
"They were all in one place, in one accord."
Don't overlook that fact.
It was in this spirit of submission,
surrender to God, that they WAITED!
C. This experience of being filled should manifest itself by
these five or six criteria, perhaps. Not "pass" in order to
satisfy some self-appointed human panel, but in order to enter into
the joyful realm of Christ's expectations and His Promise.
And the absolute essential manifestation of being filled with
the Spirit is OBEDIENCE! God's will is now MORE than a law written
somewhere in stone. God's will has become DELIGHT!
IV. THE PEOPLE: WHO MAY BE FILLED?
A. On that great Birthday of the Church Peter said: "This
Promise is to YOU and to your children" (to you people here,
listening to me speak today.) "And," Peter also said, "to those who
are afar off (even back home in Asia Minor where some of you
live..) "And to as many as the Lord our God shall call to
Himself."(Acts 2:39)
So here, according to scripture, if God speaks to you in
convicting, convincing, promising persuasion, then you are a
candidate for this fullness.
B. Only God's people may be filled. This must be more than a
shibboleth of our tradition. I would far rather be dead wrong,
theologically, and belong to God totally, than to be dead right and
too rigid to acknowledge my own deep need!
To be a part of the 'holiness tradition' is to have both a
great blessing AND a danger! We sometimes almost come to think
that WE own the Spirit! We think that WE understand the Wind!
C. CONSECRATED PEOPLE WILL BE FILLED. There will be a
deliberate consecration! Remember Jacob at Jabbok? There will
probably be a crisis time of surrender. It may be big and
traumatic, or it may be quiet and sweet and almost uneventful.
D. PEOPLE WHO SEEK TO BE TOTALLY OPEN BEFORE GOD WILL BE
FILLED. "What is your name?" There must be confession, and
understanding of our own UN-righteousness apart from God. Apart
from GRACE we have no right to claim the Promise.
E. There probably will be a challenge to our faith.
Salvation-- all of salvation-- is by GRACE through faith! Not by
"feelings." No some predictable, measurable response. Not the
assurance of someone dear and trusted. On your own, for yourself,
ALONE, you come to realize: This Promise is for ME! And then, I
ACCEPT THIS GIFT!
F. Then: This fullness will "work its way OUT" in a life-time
of open-ness and obedience and surrender-- and VICTORY AND JOY AND
FULLNESS AND RICHNESS which we can then proceed to give away!
Don't you see: that is why Jesus didn't want the disciples to
leave town UNTIL....
V. THE PLAN: WHAT DO WE DO WITH THIS FULLNESS?
A. I say it reverently: That is Jesus' problem! If we will
tarry until we are filled with His Spirit, then we are simply to
witness wherever we are led.
The disciples did not have a great Master Plan to win over the
world. They didn't even have a world-wide vision, even though
Jesus had said: "Go to the uttermost part!" The very idea of
sharing their faith with Gentiles was almost too much for them.
But the disciples were genuinely filled! They were God-soaked
people! And God could NOT be contained!
B. The people who accomplish for God are people who are filled
with God.
Mother Teresa prays four hours a day. We rightly stand in awe
of WHAT SHE DOES for Jesus. But she does much because she prays
much; and she prays much because she needs the strength because she
in herself cannot do what she does.
Too often we are TOO STRONG or TOO SMART for Jesus to use. Or
we are TOO SURE that we know what Jesus wants.
C. But if we will be filled, then Jesus will not be CONTAINED.
Jesus will out! "They took knowledge" of Peter and John "that they
had been with Jesus!" They simply lived out Jesus, and went where
Jesus said, and did their best to do what Jesus ordered. And
without computers or jet planes or copy machines or tremendous
organizational ability they turned their world over for Jesus in
one generation!
The Promise was also their Plan!
Conclusion:
I'm glad that I was brought up in a Nazarene church to hear
about the fullness of the Spirit, and the Promise of Pentecost.
I'm also glad that I learned about consecration, and I believe I
have given my whole being to Jesus forever and ever.
But I want to probe to the depths all that this Promise of
Jesus, that I may be filled with His Spirit-- probe all that it
means! Will you claim with me the promise of our Ascended Savior?
Exalt Him #37 Hail the Day that Sees Him Rise
OR #38 Come, Holy Spirit
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.47 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Tue Feb 27 1996 08:28 | 199 |
|
February 18, 1996 am
Matthew 17: 1 - 9
WITH JESUS ON THE MOUNTAIN
The Transfiguration - "This is my Son ...listen to him!"
Mountains as Points of Reference
One Sunday afternoon, a long time ago, instead of taking the
usual Nazarene nap, I took my four sons on a hike up Mount Beacon
above the majestic Hudson River in Beacon, New York. We lived in
Poughkeepsie where I was pastor at Vassar Road Church.=
It was sultry and hot, and the thought of climbing in shady, cooler
woods sounded like fun.=
It was a twenty minute drive to a place where we could leave the
wagon as far up the mountain as it could go. Then it was just over
an hour's walk to the top where you could look up and down the river
for miles.
On the way up the trail we heard the sound of a brook off to one
side, and followed the sound and found a beautiful place where the
water was falling through a U-shaped place in a big rock into a
shallow pool like a basin underneath it. It was hot, and the water
was very cool.
The four boys stripped down to their shorts and into the water
they went.
One of them would sit in the cleft in the rock and dam up the
water-- it was that narrow-- until it spilled over his shoulders--
then he'd jump into the basin below with the wave gushing after him.
We stayed at that pool half an hour or less that hot Sunday
afternoon-- and that was thirty years ago. I drove back to Vassar
Road and preached and led the evening service. I haven't a clue as
to what I preached-- it has been long forgotten. But every one of
those four boys, now grown men with families of their own, remembers
that day we climbed Mount Beacon. And somehow it has a good place
in our family history. It was one of those defining moments that
help give life direction.
We've all had those times, those defining moments, that we
remember as we look back across the landscape of our lives to those
mountains, literal or figurative, that show us where we've been, and
to some extent, who we are and where we're going. Perhaps the day the
story in our Gospel lesson began started out like just any other day
for the disciples. But it was going to turn out to be a day they
would never, ever forget.
Jesus called to Peter, James, and John. He often went apart to
pray, and a prayer time was all they really were expecting. Up and up
the mountain trail they went, until they reached the top. And there
they stopped. Luke's Gospel says that Jesus began to pray, and he
also tells us that the three disciples became very sleepy.
Peter, James and John were not expecting what came next. While
they watched in awe something wonderful beyond description began to
happen. The kindly face of the Galilean carpenter began to change in
ways the evangelist has found difficult to describe. Later the three
men tried to find words to express what they had seen: "Light streamed
from his face, as bright as the sun. His clothes became whiter than
white-- they shone with light."
These men knew Jesus well. They had been with him three years
and had heard him speak, and heal, and raise the dead. They had even
confessed their faith that He is the Son of God, the Messiah. But
they were NOT prepared for this display of dazzling glory. They knew
Jesus. But they also realized they hardly knew him at all!
(Our doctrines are good/necessary; they try to explain the
mysteries of faith: Jesus is very God and very man, the Son of God and
the Son of Mary. The Father in heaven helps us to confess our faith
with Peter, and say with conviction: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of
the living God!" But NOTHING is as convincing and satisfying and
thoroughly frightening as a mountaintop glimpse of Christ's glory!)
Then, as they watched, the three disciples became aware that two
other people were present, talking with Jesus in the cloud of light.
In some mysterious and wonderful way, they knew that these two
glorious figures were Moses and Elijah, the Lawgiver, and the greatest
of Old Testament prophets.
Moses-- on a mountain long before this great giant of faith, the
meekest man who ever lived, had talked with God face to face, and had
received the Ten Commandments, the holy Law of God by which all
mankind is supposed to live, but especially the people of God.
Elijah-- on another mountain years later, but still a long time
before, this rugged prophet had prayed fire down from heaven, and had
defeated the false prophets and brought God's people back to Him.
Here were the Law and the Prophets in conversation with the
Living Gospel, the Good News of Salvation. Here was a vision of the
Law fulfilled, and of Truth triumphant, the whole Plan of Salvation,
the whole Word of God represented in one glorious conversation.
Luke tells us something of what Moses and Elijah were discussing
with their glorious Lord that mountaintop day. They were talking
about another mountain yet to be climbed. They were talking about the
hill we call Calvary.
Peter, James and John may not have understood the full
implication in the dazzling light of the moment, but they were
dramatically seeing portrayed before their eyes
1) Jesus as fulfilling the Law (Moses), completing the truth
of Torah; and
2) Jesus as Champion over evil (Elijah), making sinners right
with God, completing the Plan of Salvation.
The disciples were uncomfortable. Don't ever think that when God
is manifested in power it is a comfortable, easy time. This was
gut-wrenching, frightening to the limit! Peter began to 'prattle' a
bit. "Lord, let's build succoth booths right here on top of the
mountain! We'll build three-- one for Moses, one for Elijah, and one
for You!"
Then came a majestic, thundering, authoritative voice from
heaven. The Father put things into perspective. He said, "This is my
beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Listen to HIM!"
The heart of faith is not Jesus AND Law, or Jesus AND
Proclamation, or Jesus AND anything else.
The heart of faith is Jesus. That is the message this mountain
top experience carried home to Peter James and John. Then it was
over. Just like that.
As soon as they came down the mountain-- actually before they got
to the bottom they were back at nitty-gritty work. As far as we know
they never had another Transfiguration-type opportunity. (Oh, yes,
John saw the glorified Savior during his exile on Patmos-- you can
read about it in the first chapter of the Revelation.) But these men
never forgot what they saw on that mountain that day.
They needed it in just a few weeks when their Master was taken
from them and mocked and beaten and killed on a Cross. It looked like
defeat. It looked like weakness. (But) They had been to the
mountain. They had seen the glory. They could believe when the
Resurrection came.
They needed it after Jesus ascended to heaven, and their own
crosses became heavy, and they were tempted to wonder if it was worth
it. But they had seen a glimpse of the glory. They knew that their
Master was Lord of Moses and Elijah who are very much alive. They had
been on the mountain. They could trust that God would not waste their
sacrifice.
James was killed by the sword early in the first wave of
persecution. Had the vision been wasted on him? I don't think so.
Peter led the church in Jerusalem, and then Antioch and Ephesus and
Rome. The vision sustained him, and he passed it on the Luke. John
the Beloved outlived all the other apostles. As long as he lived the
memory of that day of Transfiguration on a mountain in the north of
Israel was a blessing and a hope.
We cannot live on mountain tops, or even live FOR that kind of
experience. Don't forget, eight perfectly good apostles got word of
this day second hand, just like you and I have.
What we can do is live in confession of faith in our Master. If
truly the faith has been granted us to believe that Jesus is the
Christ we can say with Peter, six days BEFORE this glory-time, "You
are the Christ, the Son of the Living God!"
What we can do if we have that faith is affirm from our hearts,
"Jesus is LORD!" We can ask Him if we can follow Him around day after
day. We can listen to Him pray. We can ask Him if we can come along
when he cares for people who hurt. That is what we can do.
And sometime when we least expect it there will be those loving
times-- those tender times when Jesus lets us know He's pleased with
us. Not Transfigurations, maybe. But mountain experiences. Defining
moments. Moments we never forget.
And who's to say-- Oh well--
Let's pray
Hymn No.66 Thou Art Worthy
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.48 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Fri Mar 01 1996 17:01 | 220 |
|
February 25, 1996
WITH JESUS IN THE WILDERNESS
Preface-
Today is the first Sunday in Lent. Six weeks from today is Easter
Sunday. I would like to give you a verse to use during these weeks
and days before Easter as we join together in seeking to draw nearer
to God. (Let me read the first few words in Hebrews 12:)
"Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud
of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and
the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with
endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto
Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that
was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the
throne of God. For consider him who endured
such hostility from sinners against himself, lest you become
weary and discouraged in your souls." (Hebrews 12: 1 -3)
I especially underscore those three words: "looking unto Jesus..."
All through Lent let's make that the key to our Bible reading and
prayer. I ask you to look to Jesus "in all his offices," as John
Wesley would urge us. By that I mean remember that Jesus is always
our Prophet, our Priest, and our King.
Jesus is our Prophet, who calls us to turn from any selfish ways
and be right with God. Jesus is our Priest, who by the sacrifice of
his life on Calvary forgives our sins, and brings us with Himself to
God by his blood. Jesus is our King, who leads us in the way we should
go-- our Shepherd who loves us and cares for us-- our Physician who
heals us, makes us whole.
Will you try to do this? to remember all through the time between
now and Easter to be "looking unto Jesus-- our Prophet, our Priest,
our King!"?? (With that introduction to Lent (as a six week journey)
we look at today's lessons:)
I. AT THE BEGINNING OF LENT WE LOOK AT TWO BEGINNINGS
We look back to the Garden where it all started-- and to the
Desert where Christ's battle with evil began in earnest. The two
"beginnings" are very much connected.
You remember the story of what happened in the Garden.
One writer called it "the Big Mistake made by the father and
mother of us all before they had really gotten the hang of being
human." In a Reader's Digest version:
God said, "Don't eat the fruit!
They ate the fruit anyway.
And the rest is history.
And so we have our first parents to thank, or to blame, for what
we call "original sin" however it is that we have been tainted with
it. We are all sons and daughters of an Adam and Eve who were
tempted, and who gave in to their temptation. Every son and daughter
ever since has had some version or other of a repeat of that loss of
innocence. We know that story pretty well
God said it.
We heard it.
We thought about it.
And we went ahead and did it anyway. Every son and daughter has
sinned-- except One.
But we also remember another story. This story took place in the
desert.
The first Adam, and Eve, came into a Garden. When they failed in
their test of obedience they were expelled, and the earth was
cursed. The Second Adam, Jesus Christ, was tempted in a Wilderness.
Fresh from the baptism, from the glory of God the Father's
wonderful words: "This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased!,"
Jesus is brought into confrontation with raw evil. The ordeal in
the desert lasted forty days.
That is one big reason why Christians have taken the forty days
before Easter to unite in spirit with our Lord.
The temptations of both Adam and Eve, and Jesus were across the
whole spectrum of human needs and desires. There was the level of
physical hunger, which could be understood as the drives or
appetites of our bodies. There was the level of emotional need and
the desire for acceptance, the cravings of our souls. There was the
highest level, of choosing, of deciding who will say what is right
and wrong, the statement of what it ultimately means to be human.
Jesus was asked to prove he is God's Son by making stones into
bread. He was asked to prove he trusted God's Word by throwing
himself off the temple so angels will catch him. He was asked to
compromise "just once" and avoid all the agony of the cross.
In every case, of course, Jesus refused to argue or reason with
Satan. He had taken the role of Servant of his Father-- and he usesd
the written Word as his guide.
By his triumph over sin, both there in the desert, and then on
the cross, Jesus gave us the right and privilege of getting in on a
new race of human beings. (John 1:12 As many as received Him, to
them gave he power to become the children of God, even to those who
believe on His name.")
We all carry Adam's genes. We know what it is to fail. Every
one of us has lost innocence before God. But if we will, we can be
sons and daughters of this new Adam. We can be born of the Spirit.
We can all carry Jesus' genes-- and we can know what it is to
overcome temptation.
II. BOTH STORIES SAY TWO BASIC THINGS ABOUT TEMPTATION
All temptations begin with a question of God's Word, of one kind or
other.
"Has God really said THAT?" That's the first approach of the
wily serpent. In the desert Satan's opener was "IF you are (really)
the Son of God all weak and hungry and wretched like this..."
The first line of attack will be to blur the lines-- to confuse
the difference between right and wrong-- to question the Word of God
Himself. (God HAS spoken!)
Treasure the Word of God! Listen when God wants to speak-- even
by humble means. Be careful how you handle the Bible! It is a very
human book, and has been translated by very human people. But
somehow the same Spirit who inspired it-- and inspired it in ways no
liberal OR fundamentalist can prove or disprove by merely humanistic
means-- somehow the Spirit is able to preserve that message of
salvation so we don't need to err if we will listen.
The serpent is still saying "Has God SAID?" Ask your heart! You
KNOW God has said!
All temptation, ultimately, is temptation to try to take God's
place.
The second aspect of temptation is to say-- even if God HAS
spoken, HE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED! I WILL MAKE MY OWN DECISION ABOUT
RIGHT AND WRONG!
Adam and Eve fell for Satan's promise "You will be like gods to
know right from wrong." Jesus, in His mission as God's Servant,
remained totally obedient to the Father's will.
In Adam, Paul tells us, we all died. In Jesus-- in his victory--
we all (potentially) were made alive.
In Adam something was LOST-- the secret of what we were supposed
to be/become. In Jesus for the first time we get a picture of perfect
humanity.
Humanity was recovered!
When Adam sinned all the earth was cursed. When Jesus, the
Perfect Man, submitted wholly to the Father's will, and resisted
temptation He was ministered to by angels, and all the earth was
blessed.
But the message is more than just history-- more than true stories:
the message is as we look to Jesus we find help in our temptation:
III. TEMPTATION AND OUR PROPHET, PRIEST, AND KING
Jesus did not just TELL us how to defeat Satan. He showed us.
He did not argue or reason with temptation. In every instance he
fell back on the written word of God.
Jesus refused to do the right things for the wrong reasons.
Later Jesus would feed 5,000 people in the wilderness. After all,
he had provided manna for the thousands in the wilderness during the
Exodus. Making bread, or showing his power, becoming sovereign over
all the earth was never in question, nor were those items the issue.
Jesus refused to do the tempter's bidding, refused to step outside
the plan God had for His ministry.
He was tempted in all points as we are, yet without sin.
Look to Jesus in his offices:
As Prophet Jesus calls us to choose God's Word, His will, His way
over our own. All of us have failed in the past. All of us have faced
temptations great and small hundreds of times. Our Prophet calls us
to recognize the Tempter in matters of the will-- and to choose
God's Word! God has spoken!
As Priest Jesus overcomes the sin that does so easily beset us. By
His sacrifice on the Cross he has given us power to receive Him and
become sons and daughters (John 1:12) of God. He is praying for you
and me right NOW! We can overcome as we plead the merits of the
blood of Calvary! God has stooped to lift us!
As King Jesus comes alongside us by His Spirit to "lead us not into
temptation, but (to) deliver us from evil." Our King is a Shepherd
King--a Physician King-- a Presence! God is WITH us right now!
Prayer: You have taught us to pray-- "Lead us NOT into temptation,
but DELIVER US from evil! Thank You for answering that prayer-- for
showing how we can flee to You in our need. Amen
Hymn: 636 Jesus Lover of My Soul
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.49 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Mon Mar 11 1996 09:35 | 270 |
|
September 27, 1992
A STORY OF SEPARATION
Luke 16: 19 - 31
Introduction:
1. The two men in this story were opposites in many ways. [THINGS
ARE NOT ALWAYS AS THEY SEEM TO BE ON THE SURFACE]
We do not know both their names, but Jesus gave the one man the
name "Lazarus." Lazarus is the Greek form of the Old Testament name
"El-eazar" which means "God my help!" Clearly Jesus was giving him a
character sketch in his name, like "Christian" in John Bunyan's
Pilgrim's Progress. Tradition has named the rich man in the story
"Dives."
Dives was rich, Lazarus was very poor. One man wore Brooks
Brothers suits, the other got his clothes for free at Good Will. One
had more than he could eat of caviar and steak, the other scrounged
behind restaurants.
The two men both died, but even their death served to magnify and
make permanent the contrast, only now the tables were turned
around. The poor man died and was carried by angels into Abraham's
bosom, the place of the righteous. The rich man died, and was buried,
and opened his eyes in a place of torment.
In this last scene, the final tableau of the story these men are
on opposite sides of an impassable chasm. On the one side is heaven.
On the other side is hell.
2. [WHAT WAS IT, REALLY, THAT WAS THE DIFFERENCE, THE POINT OF
SEPARATION BETWEEN THESE TWO MEN THAT BROUGHT THEM TO BE ON
OPPOSITE SIDES OF THIS CHASM?]
At the very least this story of Jesus makes us think about destiny--
the hereafter. What can we say about heaven and hell?
3. SPIRITUAL REALITY TRANSCENDS HUMAN OPINION
WHAT DO WE KNOW ABOUT DESTINY? I choose to know about heaven and
hell only what is revealed in God's WORD. I reject other voices-- the
"near death experiences" are not any guide on which to build my faith
and hope. I choose to trust what Jesus taught about life after death.
ARE HEAVEN AND HELL REAL PLACES? A simple answer to this is,
YES! Jesus spoke of them as real. He told the thief on the cross that
he would be with Jesus that very day in a real place. And He told his
disciples, "I go to prepare a PLACE for you that where I am there ye
may be also."
4. But heaven and hell are spiritual realities that extend their
influence throughout human existence. The spirit of heaven is the
Spirit of Christ. Where Jesus is present, there is an aura of heaven.
The spirit of hell is the spirit of isolation and hopelessness and
selfishness. Hell is where there is no love, joy, peace, no patience,
kindness, goodness, no loyalty, gentleness or self-control.
I want to go to heaven THEN! But I also want to live in the
spirit of heaven NOW! Is that possible? I want to avoid going to hell
THEN! But I do not want to live in the pain and isolation of hell
NOW!
This division that marked a contrast between these two men in
life and in death, that became an impassable chasm, THIS DIVISION IN
SOME FORM EXTENDS THROUGHOUT HUMAN EXISTENCE!
I. THE SEPARATION BEGINS IN THE DIVISION OF THE HUMAN HEART
A. People all over the world are KIND! And people all over the
world are CRUEL! And sometimes they are the very same people! How can
this be?
1. Paul addresses the human dilemma (Romans 7)
"When I would do good, evil is present with me! O wretched man
that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death?"
God's people have always known the tug and pull of two worlds.
2. David cries out in one of his prayers (Psalm 86:11)
"Teach me Thy way, O Lord! I will walk in Thy truth:
unite my heart to fear Thy name."
3. The Mosaic laws, the basic call to worship, which the Jews use
to this very day, is (Deuteronomy 6):
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is One; and thou
shalt love the Lord with ALL your heart . .
4. Jeremiah cries out: (Jeremiah 17):
"The heart is deceitful abover all things, who can know it?"
B. GRACE MAKES IT POSSIBLE TO RESPOND TO GOD'S LOVE, AND
TO LOVE GOD WITH ALL OUR HEART!
The Gospel of grace gives us the good news that in Jesus we can
have a heart that is forgiven of the guilt of sins, and made free from
the power of sin and that enjoys walking in the Presence of the Spirit
of Christ. We love to emphasize with our Reformed and Calvinist
brothers and sisters, "We are saved by grace through faith, not of
works, lest any man should boast." But we are fools if we think that
there is no relationship between the way we live and the spiritual
condition of our hearts!
II. THE SEPARATION CONTINUES IN THE FIGHT OF FAITH; WE ARE CALLED TO
STAND WITH GOD AND RIGHT FIRMLY ON ONE SIDE OF THE ABYSS!
The way we live is an indication of the way we shall spend our
destiny!
A. It seems contradictory to say we are saved by God's grace, and
through no efforts of our own, and then seem to turn around and say we
have to fight to stay saved!
1. What we do not accept so freely is the fact that the way we
live is an indication of the connection we have with God; we are not
saved by being "good," but this confrontation of heaven and hell
extends into every facet of human life, and God's people are to
manifest God's spirit.
2. Christians are those who know where the chasm is, and who stay
on heaven's side. Christians are those who continue to walk in the
light of God's Presence. Do you know I John 1:7 ? What does it say?
"If we walk in the light, as he [God] is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another; and the blood of Jesus
Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin."
Life in Christ is by grace. But life in Christ is to be lived
out in the light of God's known and revealed will. Those who walk in
darkness are manifestly on the wrong side of the division that becomes
the abyss.
3. It is not enough for us to say the correct words at some altar
of prayer. It is not enough to acknowledge the truth that Jesus died
for all the world and that he died for me. We must say, by the Spirit,
"JESUS IS LORD!"
When Jesus is Lord we are called upon to separate ourselves from
the spirit that inhabits the other side of the abyss.
C. The call to separation is greatly misunderstood.
1. THE CALL TO SEPARATION IS NOT A CALL TO COMFORT, to gather our
skirts of self-righteousness about us and let the world be damned. The
Son of God left eternal glory to walk among us, and He expects His
sons and daughters to go where there is sin and suffering, too.
2. THE CALL TO SEPARATION IS NOT A CALL TO LEAVE THE NORMAL
RELATIONS OF THIS WORLD. Christians are capitalists and socialists;
they are rich and they are poor; they are married and they are single.
3. BUT THE CALL TO SEPARATION IS ONE OF DIRECTION AND OF
SPIRIT. We cannot be Christian and continue in the spirit of this
world. WHAT IS THE 'SPIRIT OF THIS WORLD?'
[Was it wrong for the rich man to have many fine things? I
believe the answer to that is "No." But THE RICH MAN COULD SEE HUMAN
MISERY WITHOUT BEING MOVED IN HIS HEART!
His SPIRIT betrayed his heart! It was wrong for him to have these
things while he could have done something very specific about helping
another person at his doorstep!]
1. The spirit of the world is INSENSITIVITY and it is
SELFISH. If we do not separate ourselves from this evil
spirit we will end up separated from God and from
everything good!
Let me talk to you about the way that we use our
television viewing:
Twenty-five years ago a man named Marshall McLuhan
said that instant communication would make "A Global
Village" of our world. We can instantly watch war being
waged halfway around the world.
But at least one philosopher has said that instead of
becoming a Global Village we have become a generation of
"Global Voyeurs." One thing which TV can do to us is make
us get used to things that ought to make us violently ill.
We do not dare to constantly be interested in other
people's suffering and their sin without investing our lives
or else becoming hardened.
I am desperately concerned about the casual and
perverted presentation of sex in our prime time so-called
entertainment.
I am even more concerned when often sex is combined
with violence.
I am deeply concerned about channels on cable that are
specifically beamed to our junior-high age kids-- who have a
lot of discretionary money. If you have cable tv I challenge
you to sit and watch MTV for twenty minutes or so. The
sheer anger, the sheer perversion, the sheer occult overtones,
the powerful sexual images are straight out of the pit of hell.
Are your children watching it? Your neighbors' children are.
Christians are called to separate themselves from this
kind of thing. It is NOT something you can ignore and it
will go away. It is on the wrong side of the abyss.
We must find ways of bringing our children in contact
with the Spirit of Christ! We ourselves must be certain that we
have made the separation!
2. The spirit of the world is PASSIVITY in spiritual
matters.
Perhaps we are not doing what we ought; we have the
prodding of a still, small voice-- but we keep it drowned
with noise or with business.
What can we do?
1. We can stop watching filth and violence.
2. We can commend good and we can cry out against evil.
3. We can stop apologizing for being at war with the spirit of
the world.
III. THE HOLINESS OF GOD DEMANDS A SEPARATION
A. Why, do you suppose, did Jesus ever tell this story?
1. He wants us to think about destiny.
2. He wants us to see that what we ARE is what we are fast
BECOMING!
3. He loves us and wants us to love Him!
B. I want to go to heaven! I want to take my loved ones with me! I
want to see my neighbors and friends on heaven's side of the struggle
before it is too late. Do YOU?
Paul, the apostle of grace, gives us this ringing call (in 2
Corinthians 6:)
"Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye
separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing;
and I will be a Father unto you; and you will be my sons and
daughters, says the Lord!"
Can it be that this week we have a little opportunity to get a
fresh view of eternal things? Can our revival be one means God can use
to help us in this struggle that reaches into our lives? It is NOT too
late to call on God!
Prayer: Revive and renew us, O God!
Hymn No. 47 EH God of Grace and God of Glory
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.50 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Thu Mar 21 1996 13:22 | 171 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Man of God in the Church
Acts 21:10 A MAN OF GOD IN THE CHURCH
Philip, the Evangelist
Intro:
When Paul was on his last journey before his arrest and
transportation to Rome, he stopped several days at a home in
Caesarea. It must have been a spacious home, and I'm certain it was a
pleasant home. The entire party travelling with Paul were made
comfortable there.
The name of the home's owner was Philip. Not Philip the Apostle,
but Philip the evangelist-- the same man who was chosen to be part of
the first "church board" and serve tables, as recorded in Acts 6.
Even though Philip was called an "evangelist," I'm not sure he was
an evangelist like we think of evangelists. He was a layman, not part
of the recognized clergy. But he was chosen to a place of leadership
because he was full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.
We get the first glimpse of Philip in Acts 6, where he is chosen as
one who help in practical ways within the church. Philip is the second
deacon mentioned.
A second passage highlights two episodes of evangelism in which
Philip had key roles. In Acts 8, Philip is used to spark a revival in
Samaria, and then leads an Ethiopian official to faith in Jesus Christ.
The last passage in Acts 21 we have read. It mentions that Philip
has four daughters, all of whom are prophetesses. You might say in
summarizing this man of God's life that he was (1) a servant in the
church; and (2) a witness to Jesus in the world; and (3) a Christian in
his own home. It was because of men and women like this that the church
of Jesus Christ changed the course of history.
I. PHILIP WAS A SERVANT IN HIS CHURCH
If the church is really a unit bound in the life and love of
Christ, there is no room for rivalry, jealousy, or pettyness. There are
no "mean" positions. There are no "privileged classes." And all exist
to serve the good of the whole body. Jesus Himself served. Mature
Christians will serve the church because in so doing they are serving
Jesus.
II. PHILIP WAS A WITNESS IN HIS WORLD
The 8th of Acts tells of persecution, and the church, including
Philip, had to leave Jerusalem. They proclaimed Jesus wherever they
went. Proclaiming Jesus is the total task of the total church!
Proclaiming Jesus is all that the church needs to do. But proclaiming
Jesus must be done by each one of us. Proclaiming Jesus is done from
the pulpit. But proclaiming Jesus is done wherever Christians go, and
whatever they do. It is much more than preaching. In fact, the pulpit
is NOT the primary means of evangelism in God's agenda!
In Samaria Philip proclaimed Christ. I wish I had more details
(Acts 8) but it seems a community was stirred because of Philip's
witness. As we said above, the "clergy" saw fit to supplant Philip, but
that was "all right" with him! In the desert (where the Holy Spirit led
him) Philip proclaimed Christ to a solitary man. but in so doing Philip
may well have influenced an entire NATION for Jesus Christ!
If we are willing, and if we ask God to fill us with His Spirit and
keep us full day by day, we will have opportunity to proclaim Jesus! It
is exciting! It is rewarding! It is what we are all called/privileged
to do!
III. PHILIP WAS A CHRISTIAN IN HIS HOME
As we read at the beginning, the last reference to Philip has to do
with his home in Caesarea, and his four daughters who were all engaged
in Christian endeavor. (Acts 21)
It is great to serve in the church. It is perhaps even better to
witness to Jesus in the world outside the church walls. But to my mind,
the real acid test of a Christian, and the kind of Christian that makes
the church a healing place is the woman or the man who is at home the
same kind of Christian he or she professes to be in the public arenas of
life. A powerful Christian is one who is a Christian in the home!
How might we describe such a home? What sort of man was Philip at
home?
There has to be "reading between the lines" here. But when a godly
man has godly children, there is something wonderful and holy going on!
I would make these suggestions:
In a Christian home there is:
A. DISCIPLINE THAT IS UNSELFISH
Discipline is good and necessary. But it must flow from LOVE, and
not from fear or selfish ambition.
[Illus: I saw "ambition" that grabbed a little boy's arm in anger--]
B. FAITH THAT IS HEURISTIC
We "do things" in certain ways. But we learn to serve God for
better and better reasons. We are not spiritual because we copy our
godly mothers and fathers. We are spiritual because we dare to break
new ground and follow Jesus.
A mother or father that is growing in his/her faith will NOT
confuse the children in the home. They are smarter than that!
C. COURTESY BEYOND ETIQUETTE
Some peoplethink that courtesy is a matter of rules. there is a
right way and a wrong way to hold a knife and fork, and a proper order
in which to pass the dishes. And that is all well and good.
But happy is the home that has discovered that the heart of
courtesy is respect for the individual, and kindness. [Who was it that
said that "a gentleman is one who never inflicts pain"??]
And happy is the home that considers every member of the household
worthy of courtesy!
There is weight in words!
Too often parents become prophets with their prophecies of gloom
and doom, with their pronouncements in anger.
"You are no good!"
"You are stupid!"
Say that to your BOSS! Or to a perfect stranger! But don't say it
to your little daughter or son!
Conclusion:
Perhaps I've taken a little poetic (or prophetic) license in
filling our Philip's life. But I believe the outline of Acts will bear
me out: He was (1) a servant in church. He was (2) a witness in the
world. And (3) He was a Christian in his home!
I think we can each do all three of these things!
We can have a servant-spirit in our church, and relating to our
church. We can "find the open man!" We can talk up our brothers' and
sisters' strengths!
We can proclaim Jesus in our world! Make this a matter of prayer--
to ask Jesus to give us a chance to talk about Him outside the walls of
the church each week!
We can pray every day we live for grace so that we can live like
Jesus in our homes!
We cannot afford to omit ANY of these three things. But if we
MUST-- lets not omit #3!!!
[14 in EH has NOTHING to do with this sermon. I just want to close our
hour together on a note of praise and worship.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.51 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Tue Mar 26 1996 10:10 | 171 |
|
September 1. 1991
OPEN BOOK - OPEN ROAD
I Corinthians 15:3 - 11 "I delivered ... what I also received. "
Introduction
At Falmouth this summer Ben, my 5-year-old grandson, began
going to check the mailbox all by himself. It is 150 yards down
the street, just out of sight around some bushes, and I confess I
peek around them to make sure he is all right down near the main
street.
Ben was fascinated by the fact that there is a metal flag on
the box that tells the mailman to pick up outgoing mail. So one day
he decided to put the flag up and send some mail on his own. And
so he did. But the mailman didn't take Ben's picture post card.
When he brought it back, disappointed, we discovered why. Ben
hadn't addressed his message to anyone in particular, or in fact to
anyone at all. And he hadn't put a stamp on the card. And as a
matter of fact, there wasn't any message on the card at all; just
a post card with a pretty picture of Falmouth.
It certainly isn't wrong for a 5-year-old to want to send
mail, and he'll soon learn how. But somehow it made me think about
some of my own efforts to communicate the good news about Jesus.
I'm not a communications expert, but there must be some
elementary facts about ANY kind of communication. Surely you must
have (1) Something to say; and (2) an effective way to say it; as
well as (3) someone to say it to.
Paul says: "I am sending on to you a message that I know,
because I have first received it myself!
I. CHRISTIANS HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY
"I delivered . . . WHAT I FIRST RECEIVED"
A. When Paul became a Christian, he definitely received something!
There was no question but that he had had an encounter with the
divine, with God Almighty!
1. Not many conversions are that dramatic. But every true
conversion must have that touch of God, that element of the
divine.
2. Do you recall when you met with God in a confrontational way?
Conviction? Conversion? [Testimony: My own personal dealing
with a sense of being "wrong" or "away from God" on January
17, 1948.]
B. YOU may have this personal encounter with God! It is the most
important knowledge that you will ever know! You dare not stop
short of the personal certitude.
But once we KNOW, we will want, somehow, to TELL:
II. CHRISTIANS NEED TO SAY WHAT THEY KNOW
"I DELIVERED ... what I received!"
A. THE JOY OF KNOWING DEMANDS THE JOY OF SHARING
In another passage Paul tells King Agrippa "I was not disobedient
to the heavenly vision." From the first day Paul wanted to tell
others about his newfound life in Christ.
1. On the Road to Emmaus the sad, discouraged disciples met
Jesus. He changed their gloom and doubt to faith and joy: and
they immediately walked the seven-plus miles back to
Jerusalem. WHY? To deliver what they had also received!
B. EVERY CHRISTIAN IS CALLED TO REPRESENT HER/HIS LORD
We are AMBASSADORS. Ambassadors do not invent their own
messages; they do not set policy. They say what they have been
told to say; they represent the home office. There is plenty of
room for creativity and individualism in this world. But when it
comes to the true faith, we do not invent or develop or even
discover our own salvation: it must be handed to us directly from
God Himself!
C. WE MUST STICK TO WHAT WE KNOW FOR OURSELVES
What WE have received we may be fairly sure is what our brothers
and sisters could use. They don't need ADVICE; they need LIFE
WITH A CAPITAL "L."
When we begin to preach second-hand sermons-- when we tell others
what we are not sure of ourselves-- our witness is hollow! It is
really impossible to share a Christ who we do not personally know
for ourselves. Can you see the importance of that 'inner
assurance' that we do, in fact, know Jesus, and that our
lives are hid in Him?
D. In the scripture that we most often use before communion, from I
Corinthians 11, Paul uses this same phrase: "I give to you what
first of all I received myself."
III. GOD'S LOVE GIVES US PEOPLE WE WANT TO TELL! LOVE MAKES US CARE
ENOUGH TO SHARE
A. The desire to share is GOOD! It speaks of the genuine-ness of
faith. And the way to say it is simply to keep at it: talk of
God's goodness to God's people; there will be opportunity to talk
of God's goodness to others who need to know it. We MAY deliver
to others what we have ourselves received!
B. God's Word is OPEN before us: it is a never-ending source of
life, and of promises that meet us at the point of need. We
freely receive; we take, and partake, and rightly so.
C. But so is God's WILL open before us! In the same measure we
RECEIVE of God's promises, we are willing to SHARE. With Paul we
say, "That which I received . . . I also delivered!" And it is
the highest joy and privilege there is, to realize that we are
ambassadors for Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
I think it was commendable that Ben wanted to tell someone else
about Falmouth; that he went to the mailbox. But as Christians, we can
do better than a general, commendable desire to tell "someone;" we can
obey Jesus Christ, and be sent; we can remember the elementary facts
of communication: Something to say; an effective way to say it;
someone to say it to - -
And we can receive and deliver the Good News of the Gospel: We
can say to the world: "Jesus loves ME, this I know! And because I know
it myself, I can say to YOU: Jesus loves YOU, too !"
Preparation for Communion:
I Corinthians 11:23 - 30
The table of the Lord is for all who will come;
It is an observance of God's grace.
Wherever you are, if you want to draw near to God, you are invited:
Celebrate prevenient grace
- God is seeking your salvation
Celebrate saving grace
- God has received you unto Himself in forgiveness
Celebrate sanctifying grace
- God is making you in the image of His Son, by His Spirit
It is an celebration of God's Presence
Not only DID Jesus die for you
Not only WILL Jesus come again and receive you to Himself-
But Jesus IS PRESENT with those who meet in His name;
He is Present in Communion is a special way, and it truly is
a means of grace to those who xome expectantly.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION OF ELEMENTS
PRAYER OF HEART-SEARCHING, OF DEDICATION OF SELF
INVITATION TO PARTAKE
#53 (EH) Sent Forth by God's Blessing
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.52 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | We shall behold Him! | Thu Mar 28 1996 14:54 | 176 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Open Book, Open Road (1991)
September 1, 1991
Communion Meditation
September 1. 1991
OPEN BOOK - OPEN ROAD
I Corinthians 15:3 - 11 "I delivered ... what I also received. "
Introduction
At Falmouth this summer Ben, my 5-year-old grandson, began
going to check the mailbox all by himself. It is 150 yards down
the street, just out of sight around some bushes, and I confess I
peek around them to make sure he is all right down near the main
street.
Ben was fascinated by the fact that there is a metal flag on
the box that tells the mailman to pick up outgoing mail. So one day
he decided to put the flag up and send some mail on his own. And
so he did. But the mailman didn't take Ben's picture post card.
When he brought it back, disappointed, we discovered why. Ben
hadn't addressed his message to anyone in particular, or in fact to
anyone at all. And he hadn't put a stamp on the card. And as a
matter of fact, there wasn't any message on the card at all; just
a post card with a pretty picture of Falmouth.
It certainly isn't wrong for a 5-year-old to want to send
mail, and he'll soon learn how. But somehow it made me think about
some of my own efforts to communicate the good news about Jesus.
I'm not a communications expert, but there must be some
elementary facts about ANY kind of communication. Surely you must
have (1) Something to say; and (2) an effective way to say it; as
well as (3) someone to say it to.
Paul says: "I am sending on to you a message that I know,
because I have first received it myself!
I. CHRISTIANS HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY
"I delivered . . . WHAT I FIRST RECEIVED"
A. When Paul became a Christian, he definitely received something!
There was no question but that he had had an encounter with the
divine, with God Almighty!
1. Not many conversions are that dramatic. But every true
conversion must have that touch of God, that element of the
divine.
2. Do you recall when you met with God in a confrontational way?
Conviction? Conversion? [Testimony: My own personal dealing
with a sense of being "wrong" or "away from God" on January
17, 1948.]
B. YOU may have this personal encounter with God! It is the most
important knowledge that you will ever know! You dare not stop
short of the personal certitude.
But once we KNOW, we will want, somehow, to TELL:
II. CHRISTIANS NEED TO SAY WHAT THEY KNOW
"I DELIVERED ... what I received!"
A. THE JOY OF KNOWING DEMANDS THE JOY OF SHARING
In another passage Paul tells King Agrippa "I was not disobedient
to the heavenly vision." From the first day Paul wanted to tell
others about his newfound life in Christ.
1. On the Road to Emmaus the sad, discouraged disciples met
Jesus. He changed their gloom and doubt to faith and joy: and
they immediately walked the seven-plus miles back to
Jerusalem. WHY? To deliver what they had also received!
B. EVERY CHRISTIAN IS CALLED TO REPRESENT HER/HIS LORD
We are AMBASSADORS. Ambassadors do not invent their own
messages; they do not set policy. They say what they have been
told to say; they represent the home office. There is plenty of
room for creativity and individualism in this world. But when it
comes to the true faith, we do not invent or develop or even
discover our own salvation: it must be handed to us directly from
God Himself!
C. WE MUST STICK TO WHAT WE KNOW FOR OURSELVES
What WE have received we may be fairly sure is what our brothers
and sisters could use. They don't need ADVICE; they need LIFE
WITH A CAPITAL "L."
When we begin to preach second-hand sermons-- when we tell others
what we are not sure of ourselves-- our witness is hollow! It is
really impossible to share a Christ who we do not personally know
for ourselves. Can you see the importance of that 'inner
assurance' that we do, in fact, know Jesus, and that our
lives are hid in Him?
D. In the scripture that we most often use before communion, from I
Corinthians 11, Paul uses this same phrase: "I give to you what
first of all I received myself."
III. GOD'S LOVE GIVES US PEOPLE WE WANT TO TELL! LOVE MAKES US CARE
ENOUGH TO SHARE
A. The desire to share is GOOD! It speaks of the genuine-ness of
faith. And the way to say it is simply to keep at it: talk of
God's goodness to God's people; there will be opportunity to talk
of God's goodness to others who need to know it. We MAY deliver
to others what we have ourselves received!
B. God's Word is OPEN before us: it is a never-ending source of
life, and of promises that meet us at the point of need. We
freely receive; we take, and partake, and rightly so.
C. But so is God's WILL open before us! In the same measure we
RECEIVE of God's promises, we are willing to SHARE. With Paul we
say, "That which I received . . . I also delivered!" And it is
the highest joy and privilege there is, to realize that we are
ambassadors for Jesus Christ.
Conclusion
I think it was commendable that Ben wanted to tell someone else
about Falmouth; that he went to the mailbox. But as Christians, we can
do better than a general, commendable desire to tell "someone;" we can
obey Jesus Christ, and be sent; we can remember the elementary facts
of communication: Something to say; an effective way to say it;
someone to say it to - -
And we can receive and deliver the Good News of the Gospel: We
can say to the world: "Jesus loves ME, this I know! And because I know
it myself, I can say to YOU: Jesus loves YOU, too !"
Preparation for Communion:
I Corinthians 11:23 - 30
The table of the Lord is for all who will come;
It is an observance of God's grace.
Wherever you are, if you want to draw near to God, you are invited:
Celebrate prevenient grace
- God is seeking your salvation
Celebrate saving grace
- God has received you unto Himself in forgiveness
Celebrate sanctifying grace
- God is making you in the image of His Son, by His Spirit
It is an celebration of God's Presence
Not only DID Jesus die for you
Not only WILL Jesus come again and receive you to Himself-
But Jesus IS PRESENT with those who meet in His name;
He is Present in Communion is a special way, and it truly is
a means of grace to those who xome expectantly.
PRAYER OF DEDICATION OF ELEMENTS
PRAYER OF HEART-SEARCHING, OF DEDICATION OF SELF
INVITATION TO PARTAKE
#53 (EH) Sent Forth by God's Blessing
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.53 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Play ball! | Wed Apr 03 1996 17:39 | 197 |
|
August 13, 1995
Luke 12: 32 - 40
THE ASSURANCE OF FAITH
Hebrews 11: 1 - 3
One of the high privileges of being a pastor is being around
God's people in the crises of life. It isn't always fun, and in fact
it can be quite anguishing at times. But seeing faith at work, and
seeing faith work is a reinforcement to my deepest convictions.
In talking with Esther Sanger these past weeks and days I was
made to remember several things I thought I already knew. I
remembered that
(1) Death is an enemy. No matter what we say, we want to live in
this life as long as we can. We fight for life and that is good
and understandable. Death is not a friend. But death is not the
end, either.
(2) The sting of death is sin, which can be removed-- indeed, it
is removed for Christ's one. God's people die just as everyone
else dies. But they don't die like everyone else, either. They
die in peace with God, and with a sure hope.
(3) The God-covenant is all-important, and goes deeper than we
can explain or understand. This is not in any way to deny or
invalidate being "saved." It does not set aside the truth of
doctrine, of the works of grace. But being "saved" really
involves a living connection with God, a relationship, or, even
better, a working covenant.
Our scripture lessons today talk about confidence in this God-
relationship. How important is it to you just now to know that you
are right with Almighty God? I am not being in the least morbid when
I tell you that one day it will be the absolutely most important
question you will have to answer!
The scriptures (Hebrews 11: 1) tell us: "Faith is the substance
of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen..." What do you
know for sure about faith?
I. FAITH IS MYSTERIOUS
One thing you can be sure of: if you think you have God and
salvation and the great questions of life all figured out, you don't
even know all the questions!
ONE SIDE OF FAITH IS VERY, VERY SIMPLE.
I can tell you with confidence that you can trust the Bible when it
says (Romans 10:9,10) "If you confess with your mouth, and believe
with your heart you will be saved." or (John 3:16) "WHOSOEVER BELIEVES
shall never perish" and (John 6:37 ) "He that comes to me I will in
no way cast out!"
ANOTHER SIDE IS VERY PERSONAL.
It is making those great Bible promises my own. It is the dynamic
assurance that I not only believe-- but that this is true in my
life.
FAITH IS GOD'S GIFT OF SOUL VISION. IT IS GOD'S RADAR. IT IS THE
ABILITY TO "SEE" GRACE BEING OFFERED
Some things faith is definitely NOT: it is not "being in control" by
exercising superior power. It is NOT getting MY way no matter what
God wills. Faith does not change who God is.
II. FAITH IS RESPONSE TO A CALL - FAITH IS NOT TAKING THE INITIATIVE -
AND THAT TAKES THE PRESSURE OFF . . . =
Salvation ALWAYS begins in God's heart-- in God's LOVE for YOU- -
and then it ALWAYS begins when God calls us away from selfishness to
follow Him. Hebrews 11:6 God IS; God will be found of those who seek
HIM!
The way we hear it sometimes-- faith is a power that we can
exercise to do whatever we think we ought to do-- a power we can use
to get God to do OUR will. There IS a certain amount of power in
sheer "believing" I am sure. But that is a thousand miles from saving
faith.
III. FAITH IS A CHALLENGE TO LIFE AND JOY
It seems that to be God-centered means an end to happiness. If I
have to do what GOD says I can never really be happy! To get ready
for eternity means I have to live a life of frustration here and now!
Right? Wrong!
SO MANY "DON'T BE AFRAID!s" AND "FEAR NOT!s God's Way is the most
fulfilling way there is! It is THE ONLY truly fulfilling way!
IV. FAITH IS FOLLOWING A GOD WHO LEADS
There is always a dynamic aspect to faith. That is what Hebrews
11 is telling us. The greatest example of faith is Abraham.
Hebrews 11:8 -
Abraham OBEYED when he was CALLED
"Passive?" We cannot simply set out to follow unless and until
we are called. Abraham did not know his destination; he only knew his
Leader He followed - He believed - He obeyed - He became fruitful: So
now we call Abraham 'father' It is making trips to an altar-- but it
is more... It is responding with feeling to a challenge-- but
more... [One thing you can be sure of: if you think you have God and
salvation and the great questions of life all figured out, you don't
even know all the questions!]
WHEN FAITH CALLS-- WHEN GOD CALLS--
It is always AWAY from the world's definitions of life,
of love, of values:
WHEN FAITH CALLS.
It is always A SENSITIZING TO THE FACT OF SIN!
(sIn is spelled 's-(capital)I-n' The middle letter is the clue!)
WHEN FAITH CALLS
It is TO OPEN OUR HANDS AND HEARTS
Jesus has been dealing in these chapters with the biggest single
evidence of selfishness and self-centeredness which is GREED! It is
getting more for ME! ("Ill build bigger barns for ME! etc.")
Jesus always leads AWAY FROM ACQUISITIVENESS AND GREED. Dare to
be like me, Jesus says. He leads into radical trust.
DON'T BE POSSESSED BY POSSESSIONS
where YOUR TREASURE IS, THERE IS YOUR HEART!
"Children more important than jobs"
"Jobs get more respect than children!"
"Friendship more important than profit"
"Profit gets higher priority than friendship"
[what we DO speaks louder than what we give lip service to]
Conclusion
So--how can we be assured at all? If it is true that "One thing
you can be sure of: those who think they have God and salvation and
the great questions of life all figured out, don't even know all the
questions!" then HOW CAN WE KNOW ANYTHING AT ALL?
I used to belong to Squantum Yacht Club. There is a narrow
channel dredged in to the mooring area that is always deep enough to
bring a power boat through. At some tides it doesn't matter because
there is 9' of water. At other tides the channel is visible because
the mud flats come right up out of the water. But at half tides there
can be trouble if you get out of the channel coming home.
So-- how do you stay in the channel coming home? From a distance
the Wollaston shore looks all the same. It is easy to get headed in
the wrong direction.
First-- I look for the church steeple. Then I watch for the
first red buoy. I know that marks the outer end of the channel. Then
as I head for that outer buoy, I watch for the next red buoy in the
distance and finally line two or three up, keep them on the right, and
I'm on my way in.
Faith is something like that. Faith is SIMPLE. But faith is also
PERSONAL. First we see the great promises and know we're headed
toward home. But then we watch for the channel marker, and God's WORD
lines up with God's SPIRIT for our own personal relationship.
(Romans 8:16) "God's Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are
children of God."
WE HAVE THE BIBLE
WE HAVE THE SPIRIT HIMSELF
WE HAVE THE CLEAR CHANNEL HOME
This is NOT salvation by works. It IS a personal following Jesus
that begins here and now-- and never, ever ends. Faith is not simply
"I was saved 10 years ago..." That is great! But faith is Abraham
years later giving up Isaac-- only to receive him back and become the
father of nations.
Faith is Esther Sanger nailing posters to telephone poles around
Wollaston "If you need help call xxx-xxxx" And I want you to know that
Esther is still trying to keep in step with Jesus!
#489 Where He Leads Me
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.54 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Play ball! | Wed Apr 03 1996 17:39 | 144 |
|
June 19, 1988 p.m.
THE BASIC ELEMENTS OF OUR FAITH
Or, What is a Christian?
2 Corinthians 5:16-17
Intro: There are hundreds of religions in our world today; many of
them followed after by people who are undoubtedly as sincere as we
Christians.
What distinguishes Christian faith from other ways? Simply to
say, "It is so because it is so" may satisfy some people. But it
doesn't satisfy me. What is the living difference? How do we know
that we serve the same God that answered the prayer of Elijah by fire?
Here in 2 Corinthians 5 are some aspects of the Christian faith
which I believe are unique to Christianity. Each of these aspects of
our faith is introduced by the word "therefore" in the New American
Standard Version (in the King James Version the last "therefore" is a
"now then."):
I. SAVING FAITH BEGINS WITH A CONFIDENCE THAT IS BASED ON THE
RESURRECTION
(verse 6) "Therefore WE ARE ALWAYS CONFIDENT, knowing that while
we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord."
Verses 4:14 ("knowing that He who raised the Lord Jesus will
raise us also with Jesus...") and 5:1 ("For we know that if the
earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from
God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.") are the
antecedents of this first 'therefore.'
Christ's resurrection was absolutely the thing that drove the
early church. There was a literal confidence that
(1) Jesus rose bodily from the dead; and that
(2) Jesus' followers would have eternal life with Him.
Every time another man or woman of faith dies there is a
testimony to this confidence. We sorrow; but not as those who do not
have this confidence.
II. THIS CONFIDENCE GROWS INTO CONVICTION THAT BEGETS CONVICTION
(11) "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men
... Verse 5:10 ( "We must all appear before the judgment seat of
Christ.") is the antecedent to this 'therefore.'
Our faith is not an arrogant know-it-all attitude on every
subject; such a bellicose attitude will turn genuine seekers off.
But we come to the certainty that (2) we shall stand before
Christ. His laws are understandable, and they have never been
repealed. We shall give an account to Him, of how we have responded
to His laws.
And if we really believe that, we shall have a conviction that
makes our sharing of the gospel persuasive.
True evangelicals are growing in every way because they really
believe that they are accountable to God.
III. CONVICTION LEADS TO CONVERSION THAT REJECTS THE COUNTERFEIT
(17) "Therefore if any man be in Christ he is a new creation!"
5:14 ("For the love of Christ constrains us, having concluded this,
that one died for all, therefore all died;") is the antecedent. The
love of God controls us. Christ died for US!
The standard for conversion, the norm, is (v 17) a new creation.
God indwelling human personality by a supernatural work, a miracle of
grace (justification/ regeneration/ adoption).
The temptation is to judge strictly by what we see; we want
"success" by the accepted standards of the day and culture. Paul
tells us: we don't know anyone spiritually this way; even if we knew
Jesus Christ (only) in the flesh it "wouldn't count."
We have the privilege of knowing Jesus Christ in just as personal
and as intimate a way as the disciples did on the road to Emmaus!
IV. OUR FAITH BRINGS US A COMMISSION THAT BRINGS DIGNITY AND WORTH
(20)"Now then WE ARE AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST" Verse 18 ("Now all
these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through
Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation ...") is the
antecedent: God has given us all these things; He has called us to be
ambassadors!"
Our worth is established by His love for us; before we do
anything we are precious in His sight. He loves us. We are
ambassadors! Important! But, remember, we are called to be servants;
to be like our Master in spirit.
Conclusion:
A. These, then, are the vital elements, or parts of our faith:
God grants us confidence, and conviction; as we respond there
comes conversion and commission.
B. Faith is COMPLEX! Faith has a way of growing and developing
and changing for the better as we walk along. It never gets
easier, and never gets monotonous, if we keep up the daily
walk with Jesus.
[But look at faith with me in another way as we come to the
close of another Lord's Day:]
C. FAITH IS VERY SIMPLE!
It is either saying "YES" or saying "NO" to Jesus!
Where are you just now with Jesus?
Where are you in your actions? [Anything that you are doing a
source of irritation? ... of condemnation? ... of excessive
rationalization?
Where are you in your attitudes? Are you forgiven? Are you
forgiving?
D. Salvation is not a matter of a coherent, cohesive "plan;" (it
may well be that) ... but salvation first of all is a
One-on-one relationship of love and trust with Jesus Christ!
It is hearing HIM say: "Leave your way, and come, follow Me!"
#332- Follow, I Will Follow Thee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.55 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Wed Apr 10 1996 14:31 | 293 |
|
Subj: Light in a Dark World
February 16, 1992
Exodus 27: 20-21
Matthew 25: 7 Our lamps are going out ...
LIGHT IN A DARK WORLD
Introduction
I am using The One Year Bible for personal devotions this
year. February 7 there was an interesting juxtaposition of Exodus
27 and Matthew 25. There is the common theme of oil lamps and the
need to keep them burning bright. And the Old Testament passage
spoke to me.
Granted, there are passages in the Old Testament that
require patience, lists of names and the like. But the Old
Testament is still the Bible. It is part of God's inspired
revelation.
Jesus knew and loved the Old Testament scriptures, and
quoted from them. He urged even His critics to search the
scriptures. "They testify of Me!" He said.
This passage in Exodus can illuminate one very vital Gospel
truth. It is the simple command of God to keep the light burning
in the inner room of the Tent of Meeting.
I. A LIGHT IN THE TENT OF MEETING
A. AN OLD TESTAMENT 'PICTURE-LESSON'
1. God had delivered His people from bondage in Egypt. They
were "free," but they were in the desert. God was leading them
to a place they knew as the Promised Land. God led His people by
one miracle after another. God STILL leads His people, and is
always a miracle when God enters into the affairs of men and
women.
2. God met with His people in a special way in a place
called the "tabernacle," or Tent of Meeting. It was a holy place
because it was there God's Presence was manifested.
3. The assignment for the priests who looked after the Holy
Place is the message of our text: they were to keep the lamps
burning with a supply of pure olive oil so that there would be a
light in the Tent of Meeting. They were never to let the light go
out. This task was a relatively simple chore. Not too exciting.
Not too difficult. But necessary. A light in the inner sanctuary,
the holy place.
B. JESUS PICKS UP AND EXPANDS ON THIS OLD TESTAMENT THEME:
1. The idea of a well-tended, ever-burning flame in the Holy
Place gives insight into (or at least resonates with) the parable
of the wise and foolish virgins. You probably know the story
line.
2. The setting of an ancient Mid-East wedding is too remote,
culturally, for us to make too much of the specific customs. A
lot of sermons have been preached about what this or that
signifies.
3. But there is one vivid lesson Jesus drives home: A lamp
or lamps that were supposed to be burning bright are flickering
and going out. And somehow the results of that darkness when the
Bridegroom comes are disastrous! Just when the oil is most
needed the cry is, "Give us some of your oil! Our lamps are going
out!"
4. Probably not one of us here this morning has given
thought that today might be the day when we meet the Bridegroom,
or when He might return and call for our lamps to shine. But what
could Jesus have been teaching in this parable?
II. EACH PERSON HAS A HOLY PLACE, A 'TENT OF MEETING'
A. A GOD-ROOM IN YOUR HEART! Wherever or however God speaks
to you, that God-connection is the most important thing in all
the world! GOD IS SPEAKING TO YOU!
When the world is convinced that God has spoken in a special
way to this or that person, the religious of the world tend to
build a shrine, and people come by the thousands.
But God wants to speak personally, unmistakably, to each one
of us!
1. A PERSONAL GOD-CONNECTION IS 'CRAZY TALK' TO A MODERN
WORLD - Make no mistake: the very idea that God Himself meets
with you or me is revolutionary. It takes a miracle. We may not
think too much about it. Or, we may submit to the spirit of the
age and think that God-business is a "personal matter," or listen
to the propaganda that God is the Great Irrelevancy. Whatever we
think, God still intends to make a keep a connection with each
one of us in this present world (as un-holy as it is!) GOD WANTS
TO SPEAK WITH YOU!
2. God has put within each one of us a "Tent of Meeting."
There is a place built into the human personality a place where
we can pray, and where we can approach God. Everyone prays
sometime or another. It is this holy place that God wants to
help us furnish. This is the ONE PLACE where a pure light needs
to be kept burning.
3. This simple "chore" of keeping a flame burning in our
Meeting Place with God is easy to overlook. So many OTHER things
seem important in this "business-of-being-Christian!" Do this!
JOIN here! LEARN these rules! BUT NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN
TO SEE THAT THE LIGHT OF OUR FIRST LOVE NEVER GOES OUT!
4. PERHAPS OUR GREATEST SINGLE NEED IN A HIGH-TECH WORLD IS
THE SIMPLE DISCIPLINE OF DAILY PRAYER.
Yes, it is important that we learn to sacrifice. It is
vital that we invest our lives in the inner cities and the rural
mission fields. Yes, we must care about the needy.
But all these things are in vain if, when at the end of the
day, when we meet Jesus, we have a flickering Lamp at the center
of our heart where we are supposed to meet the Presence!
5. John Wesley wrote in his Journal:
"Wisely said the ancients,'The soul and body make
a man; the Spirit and discipline make a Christian.'"1
Keeping the lamp of love for God burning is not an
impossible thing to do. If it is sometimes a chore, so be it.
Think of the Old Testament priests keeping the lamps lit in the
Tent of Meeting, and later in the Temple. Not exciting in and of
itself: a light in the holy place.
[But you say: "Get practical! It is difficult! Can you give
some help?]
B. KEEPING THE LIGHT ON IN THIS GOD-ROOM OF OUR SPIRIT
1. Come to God person-to-PERSON Make personal contact
every day. Start and end prayer time by affirming your love to
God; by telling Him that you are His, available for sacrifice or
service. Try to "make contact" every day. Or better, try to walk
and talk with God every hour. It is NOT silly. It SHOULD be
normal, if we are His people!
2. Develop good PATTERNs of devotion. We will read the
Bible. We will pray prayers of worship, surrender, intercession.
But these "ways" or patterns will vary. There are different ways
to read the Bible; different patterns of prayer. It never becomes
"automatic." As soon as you find a new, fresh and meaningful way
to "do devotions" it may well go stale. Give even the staleness
to Christ! Maybe we honor Him more by praying when we don't feel
like it that when we do!
3. Be prepared for the duration! PATIENCE It takes time to
keep the inner chambers of the soul "filled." This is not just
an electronic transfer of funds from one bank to another; this is
a working of one Spirit on another spirit. It takes some time.
Ephesians 5:18 says: "Be being filled with the Spirit!"
4. The INNER LIGHT is the SOURCE for everything else that is
done in the Christian Life!
C. IF THE 'INNER LIGHT' IS BURNING, THE WORLD WILL SEE THE
LIGHT
1. The inner light unfolds the PROMISE Jesus said that
when the Spirit comes (to His own Church) the Spirit will reprove
the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment to come.2
2. The inner light makes real Christ's PRESENCE Before we
need money (and we need money!) and before we need plans and
programs (and we need them, too!)..before we need anything else
we need to be sure that the light is burning bright in that Holy
Place in our hearts where we meet with God! Jesus died on the
cross so that we might have this holy conversation with God!
Jesus saves us so that we might be RIGHT with God! Jesus
sanctifies us so that we might have fellowship with God!
3. The inner light defines life's PURPOSE Then-- if the
light is burning in our Inner Sanctum our everyday conversation
will be transformed! When the lamp is bright it cannot be hidden
within ourselves.
Conclusion
A. THE LIGHT WE MUST KEEP BURNING IS THE LOVE WE SHARE WITH GOD,
THROUGH JESUS CHRIST
1. LOVE IS NEVER 'ABSTRACT' Probably you have heard many
sermons about how the "oil" is the symbol of the Holy Spirit; how
we need to have this or that experience. I want to tell you that
those sermons are true.
But the Holy Spirit is NOT an just an experience or a
symbol. The Holy Spirit is NOT "oil" or a "thing." The Holy
Spirit is a Person, and at its very essence SALVATION IS A
RELATIONSHIP
To have this "oil," to keep the "light burning" is to make
the Spirit of Jesus welcome, and to keep Him in absolute first
place in our thoughts and words and actions.
2. JESUS SAID "FOLLOW ME!" We seem to think that this is
such a dreadfully hard thing! It IS, if we only think of the
"task" of reading our Bible every day, and spending "so much"
time in prayer.
But it is not an impossible task if we keep the real purpose
in mind! We are making Jesus know that He is loved! We are
trying to get to know Him, and know Him better and better! We
are keeping HIM in first place!
[Back to Exodus: The priests had a "chore." It wasn't
difficult. It was important. Whatever it took to keep the lamps
lit is what they did!
B. OUR FIRST TASK IS TO LOVE JESUS!
1. NURTURE YOUR RELATIONSHIPS Salvation is first of all a
love, and a trust, a relationship between God's heart and your
heart.
Every relationship needs to be nurtured. Re-kindling,
encouraging, enhancing is necessary for every human relationship.
In our marriages, in our friendships, in our families, and
certainly within our church family. It is necessary in our homes
between patents and children, and between children and parents
and brothers and sisters.
And it is also necessary in our most important relationship:
our relationship with Father God through Jesus Christ His Son, by
the Gift of the Holy Spirit.
2. A CHILLING WARNING!: JESUS SPOKE THESE WORDS ABOUT OUR
LOVE FOR HIM In this same discourse (in Matthew 24:12,13) Jesus
made this flat statement. To me it is chilling:
Because of the increase of wickedness the love of
most will grow cold; but the one who stands firm to the
end will be saved.3
Who can deny that wickedness has increased during your
lifetime and mine?
[I often wonder, knowing that God is just, and knowing how
He judged Sodom and Gomorrah, what great impending JUDGMENT lies
in store for the civilization in which you and I live!
Wickedness has 'increased!]
But even amid all this wickedness it is pretty much
"business as usual" for Christians. We think "We're here! The
church is pretty full! WE are righteous even if the world is
pretty bad!
But Jesus did not say, "The righteousness of many will grow
cold!" And He did not say, "The honesty of most of My people
will be called in question." Or, "The faithfulness to committee
meetings will grow slack." That is not what is breaking His
heart!
Rather than these, Jesus says, "Because of the increase of
wickedness, the LOVE of MOST will grow cold! -- You really won't
love Me any more!"
The message I get in Jesus' parable about brides and lamps
and all is that I need to keep a light burning in that God-room
of my heart, where I meet with Him every day! IT ISN'T AUTOMATIC!
How about YOU?
Prayer: Lord-- help us to do whatever is necessary to keep that
central connection up todate! Keep us close to You. Amen.
Hymn EH #13 Let Us Sing to the God of Salvation
_______________________________
1 John Wesley, Works, II, 204
2 John 16:8
3 Matthew 24: 12,13
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.56 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Wed Apr 17 1996 17:34 | 151 |
|
April 7, 1996
WITH JESUS INTO RESURRECTION LIFE
What Easter REALLY Means
Revelation 1:17 Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I
am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and of Hades. [Compared with the oral
presentation, this is just a sketchy outline, understood?]
MY EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS of Easter are in the Great Depression,
when, although I don't recall being "poor," I do recall how often
we were literally "penniless." And yet somehow Easter was special--
Easter we boiled eggs and colored them-- Easter my mother somehow
always took us to church looking fresh and scrubbed and greased and
creased-- and usually wearing something brand new-- even in the
Depression.
I got the idea that Easter was important-- and of course that the
Resurrection was the central thing about Easter.
EASTER REALLY MEANS RESURRECTION
ALL MY YEARS as a Christian pastor I have seen Easter as
important, and have seen the Resurrection as the center of what Easter
stands for. But I think there has been a subtle change as I have been
growing older. I no longer see the Resurrection as the most important
part of Easter. I see the Resurrection of Jesus Christ as the heart
and soul of all our faith, and Easter is an important part of the
Resurrection, and not the other way around. As Paul wrote some twenty
years or so after the Crucifixion, in 1 Corinthians 15:14 "If Christ
has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."
It is as simple as that.
HOW MANY TIMES have we heard this Resurrection Day story? How
can we hear it again as for the first time? J. B. Phillips was a
translator of the scriptures. I remember when his translation seemed
very modern indeed, and his words still carry a freshness. I came
again recently across his words about translating the resurrection
passages in Corinthians. He wrote:
For me, the translator, this fifteenth chapter seemed alive
and vibrant, not with pious hope, but with inspired
certainty. Quite suddenly I realized that NO MAN HAD EVER WRITTEN
SUCH WORDS BEFORE. As I pressed on with the task of translation I
came to feel utterly convinced of the truth of the Resurrection.
Something of literally life-and-death importance had happened in
mortal history, and I was reading the actual words of the people
who had seen Christ after his resurrection and had seen men and
women deeply changed by his living power. Previously, although I
had known something of the "comfort of the scriptures" and had
never thought them to be false, I must have been insulated from
their reality simply because they were known as "Scripture." Now
I was compelled to come to the closest possible terms with this
writing, and I was enormously impressed, and still am. On the one
hand these letters (of Paul) were written over quite a period of
years, but there is not the slightest discernible diminution of
faith. And on the other hand, it was borne in upon me with
irresistible force that these letters could never have been
written at all if there had been no Jesus Christ, no Crucifixion,
and no Resurrection.
Easter IS Resurrection-- and specifically, the Resurrection of
our Lord Jesus Christ from the grave. So actually Easter means
specifically JESUS IS ALIVE-- EASTER REALLY MEANS A LIVING SAVIOR
JESUS LIVES AS OUR PROPHET OF THE ETERNAL WORD
When Jesus appeared to the eleven that same evening of the day he
rose from the dead he said these words (Luke 24:44) "This is what I
told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that
is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms."
In other words the Risen Savior was making the flat statement that the
Old Testament Scriptures existed to help us know who Jesus is, in
order that we might come to understand what God wants us to know of
Himself.
When Jesus appeared to the two on the Road to Emmaus (in that
same chapter in the Gospel) he warms their hearts, and enlightens
their understanding by beginning with Moses and the Prophets and
speaking to them from the scriptures the things concerning Himself.
JESUS LIVES AS OUR HIGH PRIEST IN GOD'S PRESENCE
When Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene (in the passage in John
read this morning) he made it clear where he was heading. "Do not
hold on to me," he said (John 20:17), "for I have not yet returned
to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am
returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
The Prophet awakens us to the truth of God, and to our need to be
holy so we can walk with God in fellowship, as God intended in
Creation. But thePriest makes a way for us to come to God. He
bears the sacrifice of his own life into the Holy of Holies for our
sins and infirmities, so that he can assure us we may call His
Father OUR Father, and His God OUR God!
JESUS LIVES AS OUR OMNIPOTENT KING FOREVER
Jesus rose from the Tomb as the Sovereign of an entirely NEW WAY
OF LIFE. He never "LOST" His life-- Our KING LAID IT DOWN as a
sacrifice to take it again forever as the Conqueror of death and evil.
Because the Risen Savior could say, (Matthew 28:18) "All
authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go
and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to
obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age."-- because He could say THAT-- we
are citizens of a NEW KIND OF KINGDOM-- A NEW WAY OF LIVING.
Other kings have kingdoms that pass away. Jesus says His kingdom
will not pass away. Eternal life is not just this life patched up and
going on forever and ever. It is beyond the bounds we know as time
and space-- more real than we can now understand. In a beautiful
passage in The Everlasting Man, in a chapter called "The Strangest
Story Ever Told" G. K. Chesterton wrote these powerful words:
On the third day the friends of Christ coming at daybreak to the
place found the grave empty and the stone rolled away. In varying
ways they realized the new wonder; but even they hardly realized
the world had died in the night. What they were looking at was
the first day of a new creation, with a new heaven and a new
earth; and in the semblance of the gardener God walked again in
the garden, in the cool not of the evening but the dawn.
Easter is Resurrection, and Easter is a Living Savior. But
Easter is of absolutely no lasting worth to you and me until Easter
becomes very personal. And I am happy to tell you on the authority of
God's Word this Easter Sunday that EASTER REALLY MEANS THE GIFT OF
LIFE BY GOD'S GRACE
ROMANS 10:9,10 tells how simple, really, it is to become a part
of Christ's kingdom. "Confess with the mouth-- believe with the heart
that God has raised Him from the dead..." IF YOU TRULY BELIEVE JESUS
IS ALIVE, YOU ARE BLESSED. Do you believe?
2 CORINTHIANS 5:16,17 indicates that even we, who have not seen
the glorified, risen Lord can know Him. If you truly want to believe
ask Jesus to walk with you in your seeking. He is nearer just now
than you may imagine.
INVITATION TO CONFESS JESUS AS LORD!
Prayer "He is Lord, He is Lord...He is Risen from the Dead and He is
Lord.."
--
|
| 803.57 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Wed Apr 17 1996 17:34 | 268 |
|
January 5, 1992
Baptismal service
THE SACRAMENT OF BAPTISM
Intro:
One of the difficult things for Protestants is fixing in their
minds the relative importance of the sacraments of the church. Of
all the means of grace, they are possibly understood the least.
I. THE IMPORTANCE OF THE SACRAMENTS AS MEANS OF GRACE
I would like to ask you a very simple question:
A. WHAT IS GRACE?
Grace is unmerited favor of God; grace is that which bestows
God's great LOVE on us; grace is God's attitude of forgiveness
toward the sinner; grace is a quickening and strengthening of life
within the soul.
B. AND MEANS OF GRACE ARE just that: the ways and means, the
vehicles or channels by which God bestows His LOVE on our hearts.
And what are the 'means of grace?'
My list may not be complete, but I submit seven:
1. WORD OF GOD; and with this I include the faithful the
preaching of the Word, as well as reading in order to obey God's
will.
2. PRAYER IS PROBABLY THE PRIMARY MEANS OF GRACE; and
prayer combines with power with the use of the Word.
3. THE FELLOWSHIP OF GOD'S PEOPLE is a significant and
powerful means of grace. God never intends for us to make our way
to heaven independent of other individuals, or of other families,
or even other groups of believers. God intends that we bear one
another's burdens.
4. CORPORATE WORSHIP, in the large groups or
celebrations, in the smaller groups united around a lesson or a
ministry (congregations,) as well as in the accountability groups
of prayer and sharing (cells,) is a means of grace.
5. PERSONAL WORSHIP may be the same as #2, prayer; but it
involves the carrying forward of life in the spirit of 'the living
sacrifice.'
6. The good old Nazarene theologian, H. Orton Wiley,
lists THE SABBATH AS A MEANS OF GRACE! It was introduced at the
time of man's creation, and belongs to mankind generally and
perpetually.
I am convinced that there is great spiritual power waiting to
be released in the lives of the people who can tap the resources of
the Lord's Day by observing it joyfully, not in bondage, but in
rest and worship and refreshing.
7. But the last 'means of grace' I would mention are THE
SACRAMENTS OF THE CHURCH THAT WERE INSTITUTED BY JESUS.
C. WHAT ARE 'SACRAMENTS?'
We use the term 'sacrament' to signify an outward and visible
sign of an inward and spiritual grace given to us, ordained by
Christ Himself as a means of receiving that grace, and as a pledge
or assurance of Christ's promise. From the earliest times, the
sacraments have been understood by the church to be religious rites
that carry the most solemn obligation of loyalty to Jesus Christ
and His Church.
1. The RC church teaches seven (7) sacraments: baptism,
the Lord's supper (or "mass",) confirmation, ordination, extreme
unction (or 'last rites,) penance (or 'confession,') and marriage.
2. All Protestant churches recognize but two: baptism and
the Lord's Supper.
SACRAMENTS ARE PLEDGES OF LOYALTY TO JESUS CHRIST; THEY ARE
TESTIMONIES THAT MARK CHRISTIANS AS SEPARATE, DIFFERENT FROM THOSE
WHO DO NOT BELIEVE.
D. It is vitally important that we reach out for God's grace
in every way we can. [ Perhaps we do not take seriously the
parables of Jesus when He warned us that it is mortally dangerous
to have talents and not use them! ] We are responsible not only
for what we are, but for what we might be by God's free gifts of
grace!
Along this line John Wesley once said: (in 1736)
"I think the rock on which I had the nearest made shipwreck of
the faith was the writings of the Mystics; under which term I
comprehend all, and only those, who slight any of the means of
grace." GFH, p541
In other words, Wesley said that even people who seem to be so
very, very spiritual nearly led him astray when they picked out
which means of grace they would adopt, and which they would avoid.
Wesley was saying 'I want to be faithful to God through
Christ's church!'
E. And if you wonder what John Wesley thought the 'true
church' consisted of, here is a quote from H. Ray Dunning:
"There were two major means that Mr. Wesley seemed
to identify as constitutive of the church: the pure Word
of God preached, and the sacraments duly administered.
This puts him squarely in the Reformation tradition." GFH
p542]
II. THE IMPORTANCE OF BAPTISM AS A MEANS OF GRACE
A. Baptism is clearly one of the sacraments of the church. It
was instituted by the Lord Jesus, first by His example, and then by
His unmistakable command (in the words of the text:)
Baptism means three things for the believer:
1. BAPTISM MEANS IDENTIFYING WITH JESUS in His baptism.
John the Baptist baptized many people in the Jordan. This was
not clearly outlined in Old Testament law, but it could have some
meaning of preparation for the coming of a new order, in that just
before the giving of the Law on Sinai, God told Moses to sanctify
the people, and He specifically said: "Have them wash their
garments!"
But the baptism of Jesus was unique. Jesus was identifying
with sinners, even though He knew no sin. In coming with the
sinners, JESUS TOOK THE ROLE OF THE SUFFERING SERVANT; and in the
descent of the Holy Spirit HE CLEARLY EXEMPLIFIED THE ROLE OF THE
ANOINTED ONE, THE MESSIAH.
No one else was sinless that day, or any other day. But Jesus
identified with everyone who has failed; he came to bear our sins
and sorrows to the Tree.
No one else could ever hear the Father say: "This is my
Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased!" and have the Holy Spirit
descend without measure.
But if Jesus identified with us, with sinful humanity that day
of His baptism; then we, as His spiritual sons and daughters
identify with Him.
We are not called on to die as the sinless sacrifice; but
BAPTISM IS THE WAY OF THE SUFFERING SERVANT; and we identify with
Jesus in death to sin (He died for sin.)
We cannot know the fullness of the Holy Spirit as Jesus knew
Him, but WE ARE CALLED TO ACCEPT THE ANOINTING OF GOD, indwelling
us, and live in the new life and power of that life the Holy Spirit
brings.
2. BAPTISM MEANS INCORPORATION INTO THE CHURCH. The
washing of baptism by John indicated a preparation for a new age of
the Spirit of God. But Jesus transformed John's baptism, and made
it the sacramental portion of His Great Commission: "Go ye
therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
3. BAPTISM MEANS THE INITIAL RECEPTION OF THE HOLY
SPIRIT. The Holy Spirit is the gift of the Son, and of the Father.
He comes to make Jesus real to us. He is the Spirit of Jesus. He
does not testify of Himself, but is the fulfillment of the promise:
"Lo, I AM with you always, even to the end of the age."
The connection of baptism with the reception of the Holy
Spirit seems clear in the New Testament. Sometimes the people
received the Spirit as, or after they were baptized; sometimes it
was a witness or a seal after they had already been saved.
Acts 2:38 (Peter says:) "Repent and be baptized every one of
you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, AND YE
SHALL RECEIVE THE GIFT OF THE HOLY GHOST." Here, clearly, the
people to be baptized did not yet have the Holy Spirit.
But later, at Caesarea, Cornelius and his household received
the Holy Spirit as Peter was preaching to them. And the question
there was: "Can any man forbid water, that these should not be
baptized, WHICH HAVE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST AS WELL AS WE?"
In obedience to the command of Christ, we can expect that the
sacrament of baptism will be a confirmation of the promise of God
the Father and God the Son to bestow the Holy Spirit, personally,
and powerfully, into each believer's heart!
January 5, 1992 - To this class of girls being baptized:
We have talked together about Romans 10:9,10, and what it
takes to be a Christian.
It is so very simple-- and yet cannot be done without the life
of God being breathed into us:
1) to truly believe that God has raise Jesus from the dead is
in large part the work of the Spirit within;
2) to confess with the mouth that Jesus is Lord is something
which we can do by God's help. This act of baptism is one way that
you confess, loud and clear, that Jesus is LORD!
In just a few moments as part of the ritual of Baptism I am
going to ask you three questions. Your answer will be, in part,
that second part of Romans 10:9,10-- for you will be saying
publicly that Jesus is YOUR Lord, that you love Him, and that by
God's help you will serve Him and do His will!
The Sacrament
Dearly Beloved: Baptism is the sign and seal of the new covenant
of grace, the significance of which is attested by the apostle Paul
in his letter to the Romans as follows:
(Romans 6:3-5) "Know ye not, that so many of us as
were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His
death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into
death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by
the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life. For if we have been planted together in
the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the
likeness of His resurrection."
The earliest statement of Christian faith, into which you come now
to be baptized, is the Apostles' Creed. Shall we all affirm our
faith as we read it together:
Congregation Read (with the baptizands) the Apostles' Creed:
#513 in WS
Question #1 - Will you be baptized into this faith?
(If so answer, "I WILL.")
Response: I WILL.
Question #2 - Do you acknowledge Jesus Christ as your personal
Savior, and do you realize that he saves you now?
Response: I DO.
Question #3 - Will you obey God's holy will and keep His
commandments, walking in them all the days of your life?
Response: I WILL.
IN THAT BAPTISMAL WATER
1) [OPTIONAL brief statement of testimony.]
2) [ Y o u r n a m e ], I baptize YOU in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.58 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Thu Apr 18 1996 17:25 | 59 |
| Subj: Sermon: The One With the Most Toys
September 27, 1992 am
Lesson: Luke 16: 19 - 31
THE ONE WITH THE MOST TOYS ...
Text: Luke 9:25 For what is a man profited if he gains
the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
I. THIS IS NOT A STATEMENT ABOUT THE COMPARATIVE MERITS OF SOCIAL
CLASSES OR A TREATISE ON THE RE-DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH
It is (too) easy to assume from reading the words of Jesus
that rich people are (always) bad and that (poor) people have the
advantage of being good and nearer to God. People have tried to
"use" the words of Jesus to serve a selfish perspective, and either
justify selfish use of wealth or seek to soothe and hush the cries
of poverty with the promise of "things-- later!"
II. THIS IS AN ORIENTAL STORY REPRESENTING ABSOLUTELY TRUE VALUES
Jesus has a way of turning our value-systems upside down. He
sketches a poor-but-angel-attended blessed man and he contrasts him
with a rich-but-wretched damned man.
In the beginning of the story we are almost envious of the
rich man and certainly feel sorry for Lazarus. At the end of the
story we are curious about Lazarus' surroundings-- he is in an
Oriental heaven, eating grapes, lounging on rugs, in the very lap
of luxury-- while we are even more curious about the rich man's
surroundings for they are one of a very, very few glimpses into
what we call "hell." Dive's, as we have come to call the rich man,
is parched, in torment, begging for one drop of water.
III. THE CONCERN OF JESUS IS THAT WE DISCOVER WHO WE ARE BEFORE IT
IS TOO LATE TO ACT ON THE KNOWLEDGE
It is NOT so easy to submit to the authority of Jesus, and
seek to let His words sink down into our souls to show us, rich or
poor, what we really ARE, and what or whom we really LOVE and
SERVE. And it is not so easy to reject the idols of comfort and of
security and to believe that, rich or poor, there is not that much
difference in our deepest needs. It is not so easy, whether we are
rich or poor, to deliberately submit to the call of Jesus to follow
Him to the cross on the way to the Throne.
EXHORTATION
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.59 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Thu Apr 25 1996 14:44 | 166 |
|
April 14, 1996
John 20: 19 - 31
Psalm 16
THE PATH OF LIFE
Faith in the Presence of Fear
Psalm 16 begins, "Protect me, O Lord God, for I am trusting in you!"
The Psalmist, David, is using what seems to me the language of fear.
He probably had good reason to fear, for his life was often in danger.
Do you ever feel fear? Is it a sin to feel negative emotions? Is
it evil to have questions or even doubts when it seems everyone else
is so certain about so many things?
In the very last chapter of the last book in the Bible
(Revelation 21) is a list that sometimes bothers me. It is a list of
people who are not going to enter the New Jerusalem. In fact John,
the writer of Revelation, says they will have part in "the second
death."
Now part of that list I can understand would not fit in heaven:
"the abominable, murderers, whoremongers, sorcerers, and all liars" is
how the list ends. But the part that bothers me is how the list
begins. The list of those who miss heaven begins: "But the fearful
and the unbelieving . . . will have their place in the lake of fire."
What does this mean? Sometimes I feel like the Cowardly Lion, and I
admit there are a lot of questions I cannot honestly answer.
Can the feeling of FEAR keep me out of heaven? [Before I go any
farther, let me say I believe the answer is NO FEELING will keep you
or me out of heaven. Feelings are emotions-- feelings are results,
not causes-- and God is not seeking reasons to exclude, but to
INCLUDE. He is not willing that ANY should perish. In the Gospel
Thomas is afraid to believe and Jesus comes to him-- in the Psalm
David is afraid, and he cries out "O God help me!"] No the feeling
will not exclude you.
Still, there IS a fear that can keep us from taking hold of the
gift of LIFE. And there is an unbelief that is not of the mind but of
the heart that says, "I will not submit to God even when He speaks
clearly to me." This passage from John helps us understand how we can
dare trust the Risen Savior.
I. THE DISCIPLES WERE AFRAID TO BELIEVE HOW MUCH GOD LOVED THEM
They thought: "It is too good to be true!" Jesus came and
dispelled their fears somewhat-- it took a while. But Thomas wasn't
there. He said, "I have to SEE for myself." He was afraid to let
himself get built up just to be let down again.
Looking again to Psalm 16, David prays for God's mercy, but even
as he prays he recognizes how audacious it is to talk to God. He
says, "MY GOODNESS EXTENDETH NOT TO THEE." In another place (Psalm 8)
David says, "WHEN I CONSIDER THE HEAVENS, WHAT IS MAN THAT YOU ARE
MINDFUL OF HIM?"
Many of the theologians of our day (whether post-modern, or
process, or deconstructionist, or whatever-- I'm probably ten years
behind in labels) seem to be saying, "You common people have no idea
of how big God really is-- and so you can never speak about Him with
any kind of certainty!" And some of them carry it so far they are
saying 'GOD'S LOVE, IF IT IS THERE, IS TOO BIG, TOO MYSTERIOUS FOR US
TO KNOW AND BE SURE ABOUT.' It is almost a blocking FEAR before the
mystery of God's love.
BUT THE GOD OF THE BIBLE-- WHO TRULY IS BIGGER THAN WE CAN
IMAGINE-- HAS SPOKEN TO US IN THE LIFE AND DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF
HIS SON JESUS CHRIST!
That message is understandable even though we can never
understand WHY God should love us! That message IS: GOD LOVES YOU!
Jesus said: "Thomas, I'll help you believe! Blessed are those
who have NOT seen, and still believe! FAITH WITHIN US SAYS: Jesus
really DOES know and care about ME! But even after the disciples
began to grasp the fact that Jesus was alive, and that He was with
them again, there was a hesitation to dare to believe what Jesus was
asking them to do (commanding them, actually).
II. THE DISCIPLES COULD NOT BELIEVE WHAT GOD EXPECTED OF THEM
Jesus began outlining his assignment for the church that very
night. First, he BREATHED ON THEM, and said: RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT!
I'm sure they did not grasp it fully then-- nor even fifty days
later at Pentecost- - but the disciples-- and you and I-- are to be
the place where God lives on this earth. We are God's housing!
Do YOU think of yourself as a tabernacle of God? Is God welcome
in YOUR body? In your relationships? Is that a new thought to you?
Is it a bit frightening?
As if that was not enough,
Jesus also began assigning them a role in telling the world that
their sins had been forgiven on Calvary. This is mysterious, and not
easy to understand:
"Those whose sins you forgive they will be forgiven..those whose
sins you don't forgive they will remain..?" We can stop and get hung
up on the translation of words here-- OR we can understand that WE
have a part in sharing the Good News of Salvation.
FEAR said, that night, "Lord Jesus we have all been afraid! We
have all forsaken you and run away! How can WE ever accept such an
assignment?" But FAITH SAID: "YOU CAN SHOW ME HOW TO BE FILLED WITH
THE SPIRIT! YOU CAN HELP ME SHARE THE MESSAGE OF SINS FORGIVEN!" And
that is exactly what happened. That is all well and good for the
disciples..then..and for the worship times in church. But what about
the everyday fears that come-- AND WHAT ABOUT THE REALLY DARK PLACES
IN LIFE THAT COME TO US ALL? Can fear defeat us when we face the
worst life can offer?
III. WE ALL FACE FEAR'S CHALLENGE IN OUR DARK HOURS OF THE SOUL
Faith's victory over fear is NOT just doctrine or theory. We
cannot help at times FEELING overwhelmed-- even pushed toward
despair.
In the Garden of Gethsemene Jesus Himself prayed like one who
hated, even dreaded what lay out ahead. He prayed, "O MY FATHER, IF
IT BE POSSIBLE, LET THIS CUP PASS FROM ME!"
In the Psalm (16) David wrote the script for the Messiah's hope
even though it was 800 years or so before the time-- he wrote for
Jesus-- and for all who follow Jesus- - "THOU WILT NOT LEAVE MY SOUL
IN HELL, NOR SUFFER YOUR OWN TO SEE CORRUPTION"
Our souls somehow become the battlefield of fear versus faith.
For insight into that aspect of the emotions of fear and temptation to
unbelief there is no better book than The Book of Job. Job loved
God-- and refused to believe God was anything but GOOD! He certainly
did not understand what was going on. But Job said, "GOD KNOWS! I
WILL TRUST HIM!" Faith went beyond what it could see, and even what it
could NOT see-- and reached for the hand of God.
In some of Britain's darkest hours in WW II, the people listened
by their radios on New Year's Eve as their king, King George VI, gave
his annual greeting to his people over BBC. It was truly a fearsome
time. The very existence of their nation was at risk. And the king
that night quoted words that have since become famous. he said:
"I said to the man who stands at the Gate of the Year, 'Give me
light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Step
into the darkness, put your hand into the hand of God, and that will
be to you better than a light and safer than a known way.'"
David said, "In your Presence is joy! If I can just BE WITH YOU I will
be all right!" We do not have to wait until we die and go to heaven
to know God's Presence. He is near! He is with us today. If we will
let Him, he will live within us, and walk with us. We may not know all
about Him, but we may know Him. He loves us, and his perfect love
cast out fear.
Prayer - Hymn (Chorus) #626 Gentle Shepherd Come and Lead Us
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.60 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Mon May 06 1996 16:39 | 184 |
|
April 23, 1995
John 20: 19 - 31
Acts 5: 27 - 32
THE OTHER WITNESS
Text: Mark 5:32 "We are witnesses .. and so is the Holy Spirit"
In these scriptures read in our hearing this morning is a clear
message about the church that Jesus founded, loves, and continues to
build by his Spirit. On this Annual Meeting Sunday we bring this, our
local church fellowship alongside the words of Jesus, and ask Him to
show us how we can better know and do His will. Jesus is Lord of the
Church!
In these passages we see first:
I. THE MISSION OF THE CHURCH
John 20:21 As the Father has sent me, so I send you. When he had
said this, he breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy
Spirit.
A. Our mission is, first, TO CARRY OUT THE WORK OF JESUS IN WORSHIP,
EDUCATION, FELLOWSHIP, SERVICE, AND EVANGELISM
B. But, clearly, our mission also includes, (IN ORDER TO BE ABLE TO
DO THIS WORK) the fact that WE, THE CHURCH, MUST RECEIVE THE
HOLY SPIRIT IN FULLNESS AND POWER
Jesus through the Scripture, by the Spirit is:
II. THE AUTHORITY OVER THE CHURCH
Acts 5:29 Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God
rather than any human authority.
A. THERE IS NO QUESTION THAT HUMAN LEADERSHIP AND ORGANIZATION IS
NECESSARY; DEACONS, [EPHESIANS 4], PAUL'S CONSULTATION WITH THE
LEADERS AT JERUSALEM
B. BUT THERE ALSO IS NO QUESTION THAT ABOVE ALL HUMAN AUTHORITY IS
THE WILL OF GOD AS REVEALED BY HIS SPIRIT, THROUGH THE WORD OF
GOD, THROUGH THE MEN AND WOMEN OF GOD, THROUGH THE EXPERIENCE OF
GOD, AND THROUGH GOD-GIVEN INTELLIGENCE AND REASON
But being commanded to do something is one thing. To find the
strength and power is another. We see here also the secret of:
III. THE POWER OF THE CHURCH
Acts 5:32 We are witnesses ... and so is the Holy Spirit whom God
has given to those who obey him,
A. We have the POWER of knowing we have met the Risen Lord. WE ARE
WITNESSES. A witness can tell what he/she knows. Anything less
than first-hand is not witnessing, it is hearsay.
What do YOU know for yourself
(1) about what the Bible says;
(2) about what God has done in saving grace in your own heart;
(3) about how to lead another spiritually hungry person into
the Presence of God in Christ?
B. We ALSO have ANOTHER WITNESS! "SO IS THE HOLY SPIRIT"!
There has to be another witness! (1) In one sense the Holy
Spirit may well be at work long before you say anything. (2) But
we need the right spirit in order to give our testimony life and
authority. Both Spirit and spirit count!
Unless we have "the other witness" we will not be effective!
[What we have done this year in some ways seems remarkable; in other
ways we wonder why didn't we do more. I need to be a specialist in
appreciation-- the work of the kingdom is always a team effort when it
is what God intends for it to be. I am grateful for every dollar
given, for every ounce of effort expended, for every prayer prayed,
for every kindness and word of love expressed within this body. But
rather than speak of specific areas of victory or need I want to close
this gospel message with a challenge for the new church year:]
IV. THE CHALLENGE TO OUR CHURCH
Hebrews 11:14 Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and
to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.
A. We have the same mission that Jesus gave the first generation of
believers. We have the same authority over us: Jesus is still
the head of the church and commands us to obey him instead of any
human authority. We have met Jesus, and we need to tell others
what we know about Him. The Holy Spirit can and will come
alongside us as we witness.
B. These two important facts are self-evident: (1)WE MUST HAVE
FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS TO WITNESS. Hear-say evidence is
not admissible, even though it is used over and over again. If
Jesus has changed your life, if Jesus is real to you, then you
have something to witness about. But also (2) WE MUST HAVE THE
RIGHT SPIRIT IN OUR WITNESSING. You can use a capital "S" and a
lower case "s" here! The Holy Spirit needs to work on our spirit
until we tell the truth in LOVE. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit
of Jesus!
C. A CHALLENGE FOR THE COMING YEAR (Four-fold:)
1. COMMIT TO JESUS THROUGH THE BODY
We come to Jesus one-by-one. Jesus calls us by name. He speaks
to us, personally. But sooner or later we discover that we may
not be God's favorite child-- but that God has a whole lot of
other "favorite children" as well. In fact God loves YOU as much
as He loves ME. That is the normal pattern of growing up and
maturing.
2. FOCUS ON JESUS IN ALL THAT YOU DO
"Holiness" is not a "higher standard" of rules and regulations;
there is no double standard in the kingdom-- we cannot be
partially alive. Holiness is God-given grace to be in God's
Presence in fullness of fellowship through the deliberate
surrender of our rights. It is Christ-likeness, Christ-centered
living, Christ wholly owning, possessing us, filling us with the
Spirit of Christ. PRACTICE THE PRESENCE!
3. TITHE!
How can I say this after an impassioned plea to be holy? Talk
about money? I challenge you to put God absolutely first in
financial matters. Some of you are on tight budgets. If you
tithe you will go under-- or so it seems. Listen-- I've been
there-- it doesn't work that way. I have no axe to grind, no
possible way to profit from your tithing or not tithing. I
simply say that when we are Christ's then all we are is his as
well-- and when we give him our assets he also takes on our
liabilities.
4. (A HANDLE FOR ALL THIS: ) LIVE IN HEBREWS 11:14
"Follow peace with all persons everywhere, and (follow) the
holiness without which no one can see the Lord."
I challenge you to live in this verse. Super-impose it on
whatever passage you are studying. Read it along with the Ten
Commandments and the Beatitudes.
1. Get rid of whatever might cause the least cloud between you
and any other human being on the face of this earth. If it is
their fault, you cannot afford to have a bad spirit about it.
I'm talking serious stuff here; I'm talking the difference
between kidding ourselves and real, genuine spiritual
break-through.
If that makes you uncomfortable-- if you would rather simply
draw back into your hurts and your self-righteousness-- I ask
you to read this verse on your knees-- because holiness is
linked with a willingness to be clean. And until we have
forgiven as we have been forgiven we are not yet clean.
2. Make certain that you have the sanctifying fullness of the
Holy Spirit. This is not a "doctrinal" thing, now. Holiness
is belonging to God without reservation. And when that is
fact-- we will never have to do the work of the church in our
own puny human strength. We will have THE OTHER WITNESS!
THE OTHER WITNESS IS READY TO WORK WITH US THIS YEAR TO CARRY
FORWARD THE GREAT MISSION OF CHRIST THAT HE HAS GIVEN US. PRAY WITH
ME THAT WE WILL MEET THE CHALLENGE!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.61 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Mon May 06 1996 16:39 | 296 |
|
A Survey of One Nazarene's Roots
CONSIDER YOUR CALLING
Nazarenes and the Church of Jesus Christ
I Corinthians 1:26 - 31
Introduction:
-A Personal Word-
I think it is important to share some thoughts on what it means
to be a Nazarene. If you know me at all, you know that I love the
Church of the Nazarene. I do not consider being a Christian and being
a member of the Church of the Nazarene synonymous. Being truly
Christian is the most important thing in the world to me. I trust that
I am a Christian far and away before I am a Nazarene.
Still, being a Nazarene is vitally important to me, for it
defines what I believe and how I act in a great many critical areas of
life.
Christians are not to be isolated, laws unto themselves.
Christians are to be part of Christ's church; they are born into it.
Christians need to be part of some Christian fellowship, some visible
part or expression of Christ's church.
If I were not a Nazarene I would hope that I would act in some
responsible manner, and not claim to be a Christian while being a
total law unto myself, not accountable to anyone or anybody.
There may be Christians still living today who say, "We do not
believe in theology or interpretations of the Bible. We just believe
the Bible!" But these kinds of people, if they still do exist, are
very quick to interpret the Bible for other people who are not quite
as intelligent as they are!
Now, to begin: What about the "denomination" called the
International Church of the Nazarene? Where did it come from and
why? What about denominations, period?
I. THERE IS BUT ONE CHURCH [ONE, HOLY, APOSTOLIC. CATHOLIC]
ALL Christians, whatever they call themselves, ARE CALLED TO BE
"SAINTS" (1:2) Our basic calling is to be "saints" (1:2) and not
first to be Nazarenes or any other hyphenated name. We are not even
called first to build the church but to proclaim Christ, and then He
has promised to build His own church!
SO WHY ARE THERE DIFFERENT 'CHURCHES IN THE CHURCH'? Why have
denominations at all?
We who have been reared in a denomination have a hard time
understanding any other form the church of Jesus might take. Those
from other traditions cannot grasp the purpose or even the legitimacy
of denominations. Why are there "denominations" anyway?
There are ETHNIC reasons. There are DOCTRINAL reasons. There are
CULTURAL reasons. There are even PERSONAL reasons for denominations.
There are WORSHIP preferences: Different denominations worship
differently when they gather in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Some traditions emphasize RATIONAL DOCTRINE; some traditions
emphasize EMOTIONAL EXPERIENCE; and still others need MYSTICAL BEAUTY
AND RITUAL at the heart of their Christian worship.
Some denominations think they are the only true church. Others
"KNOW" they are! There are still other "denominations" that deny that
they are denominations!
But even large church groups that do not call themselves by the
name 'denomination' find that de facto they must form some kind of
alliance to promote joint ventures in mission: to standardize the
ordination of their clergy, whatever they may call them; and to find
some means of disciplining or keeping pure those sacred doctrines they
hold as dear.
THERE ARE GOOD REASONS FOR FORMING ALLIANCE BETWEEN CHURCHES
Denominations can multiply effort; they can serve to make the
church more effective. An outstanding example is the mission endeavor
in our denomination. Ours is not the only way to go about
evangelization of the world. But it is the best way we have found. It
has huge pluses, and perhaps some minuses.
One huge plus is that just about 85% of mission money makes it
right through to the field! The other 15% is not at all wasted,
however-- it is in necessary networks of supervision, communication,
and the like. Many so-called philanthropic groups do not come near
getting that high a percentage of money to the front lines.
The minuses?: Perhaps some individuality is missed; perhaps in
the rubric of bureaucracy some injustices are done. But the comparison
makes our mission efforts seem wise. More loosely structured mission
boards demand more extensive deputation work and much more energy is
spent simply raising the support.
Denominations can clarify and develop certain approaches and
understandings of scripture that keep the peculiar emphasis or
emphases of that denomination strong. [In all honesty just about all
denominations have their sacred cows; or arguments that begin with the
conclusion and work backward to the scriptural proof texts.]
OUR REASON FOR EXISTENCE HAS BEEN A QUEST FOR WHAT IN THE REST OF
THE CHURCH WORLD IS CALLED 'THE DEEPER LIFE' AND IN OUR OWN
TERMINOLOGY IS CALLED "CHRISTIAN HOLINESS."
Nazarene faith is "orthodox," in that it does not depart from
ancient, creedal statements about the faith. But Nazarene faith
focuses on "holiness." By "holiness" we mean a personal quest for
genuine piety, a corporate accountability for carrying out the
commandments of Jesus, particularly the Great Commission.
But just now I am talking about how we came about as a
denomination:
II. THE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE AS A DENOMINATION
JUST WHO ARE THESE NAZARENES? They have a unique and God-
ordained place in the Christian community. Nazarenes are NOT (or
certainly should not be) merely a pale copy of other groups in their
doctrines or practices.
In the Providence of God we came into being for a reason. We
believe we were called of God to meet a need. We exist to help people
into a holy walk with God!
Sometimes in order to be better understood we say: "We are just
like Old Fashioned Methodists" Or "We worship a lot like the Baptists"
or we use other good groups for comparisons or contrasts. This may or
may not be helpful.
Still, it certainly helps if we know just what we DO believe and
don't need to apologize at all for it!
[A very brief history lesson:]
Quite a number of groups or denominations have come about as the
result of "reform" or reaction within an established church or
denomination. Sometimes denominations have been shaped ethnic or
cultural responses to orthodox truth. [United Brethren, for example,
were mainly German speaking followers of Wesley in the Pennsylvania
farmlands.]
Some denominations have reflected a personality of a charismatic
leader. Calvin, Luther, Wesley-- But this has been disastrous in some
cases, especially when the leader has encouraged it. [ Mary Baker
Eddy, Russellism (Jehovah's Witnesses; hundreds of sects from James
Jones back...]
Our denomination does not primarily reflect any of these origins,
although some elements of all may have been present in parts of our
formation as a church.
Toward the end of the 1800's there was a large, informal, but
pronounced spiritual awakening throughout Protestant America.
I would refer you to Dr. Timothy Smith's book "REVIVALISM AND
SOCIAL REFORM" for a scholarly overview. [This was coincidental with
the Camp Meeting phenomenon in rural America, the Keswick awakening in
Britain as well as the "deeper life quests" in many areas. ]
We Nazarenes look to a man called PHINEAS F. BRESEE as our
"founder." But actually Dr. Bresee was more of a convener. He found
thousands of people who were riding the crest of the revival that was
moving through the established denominations and in many places about
the turn of the last century.
[My own parents both were products of the tail end of that
revival movement; they were saved in the Methodist church and when
they pursued seriously the "deeper life" of holiness they found mixed
receptions. They were warmly received at Taylor University, which was
at that time a "holiness Methodist" school . But they were much more
comfortable with the people called Nazarenes, and soon after
graduation they joined a great church in Warren, Pennsylvania, led by
John Andre'. This was in the 1920's.]
There were Holiness congregationalists in the east (Providence,
Rhode Island) Groups in the south (Nashville)-- and they merged
several times, each time growing larger, and each time adding to the
levels of compromise and understanding of what was and what was not
"spiritually acceptable."
Some of the comprehension of the movement I knew as a boy [and it
was a movement!] seems in retrospect almost sect-like. There was a
tyranny of convictions at times. We were strong on personal
discipline, and that extended to appearance and manners. It seems,
looking back, that culture and refinement were next to godliness,
especially in our colleges and schools.
It was good discipline and training for me, I believe-- even
though it was hard at times.
But underneath it all, BASIC TO EXISTENCE was a commitment to
total consecration and Spirit-filled, Spirit-led living. WE TOOK AS
OUR MISSION TELLING THE WORLD THAT THEY COULD BE FREE FROM THE TYRANNY
OF SIN!
There was always a sense of obligation to the present
generation. Dr. Bresee was often quoted: "We are debtors to give the
gospel in the same measure as we have received it." (Or was that Dr.
J.G. Morrison?)
There was also a genuine spirit of gentleness among those who
were truly "sanctified," and a spirit of holy compromise on
non-essentials, a compromise that has not always been evident in every
area of the denomination.
Finally, Nazarene worship always seemed to me to be characterized
by joy.
NAZARENES HAVE DOCTRINALLY FOLLOWED WESLEY, or at least they have
intended so to do. Nearly to the last person, the ministers believe
that they are in accord with the spirit of Wesley. Further more, in my
view, the leadership of our denomination has (tacitly) agreed: Bresee
was a Methodist, and so we have never disagreed with the M.E. doctrine
of, say, a century ago. Our early Manuals were patterned after
Methodist Disciplines. We have felt comfortable in following what has
been a Methodistic tradition.
My personal position has been to try to "leap over" superficial
and casual interpretations of Wesley, to read Wesley's Journal and his
sermons and explanatory notes, and to try to catch the spirit and the
heart of the teaching of this 18th century reformer.
NAZARENES SEEM TO BE ECLECTIC IN THEIR WORSHIP FORMS
WE REFLECT A (GOOD) (EVEN HOLY?) TENSION BETWEEN THE EXTREMES OF
EVANGELICAL PROTESTANTISM TODAY: This reflects Wesley's statement to
the effect: "In essentials, faithfulness; in non-essentials tolerance;
in all things charity!"
CONCLUSION
These have been very sketchy, personal observations. I know that
I have rambled, and I thank you for your patience. I think I have
some important things to consider as we think together about what it
means to be a Nazarene over the next few divisions of this theme. You
may have to listen hard, and even hear some things I mean instead of
what I simply say.
But in closing just now let me say JUST TWO things about being a
Nazarene:
1. If I am going to be a Nazarene I must know for myself what it
means to be sanctified wholly.
Our terminology may seem confusing to ears who have been taught
other viewpoints; our doctrines may even be in question to other
sincere Christians.
BUT THERE IS A HARD, TRUE, CLEAR KERNEL OF TRUTH IN THAT
EXPERIENCE WE CALL OUR "CARDINAL DOCTRINE." THERE IS REALITY IN
COMING TO THE PLACE WHERE, AS A BELIEVER, I MAKE A COMPLETE
SACRIFICE, AND COME TO THE END OF MY SELF-RULE, AND SELF-WILL,
AND BECOME A CANDIDATE FOR THE FULLNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
I may not understand the psychology of what it means to be
sanctified, but I know that it makes the difference between
sticking and falling away! I know it makes the difference
between going back when the going gets tough or hanging in there
and trusting that God is GOD and that God is GOOD!
IF I AM GOING TO BE A NAZARENE I WANT TO KNOW THAT I AM
SANCTIFIED WHOLLY!
Not glorified like the saints in heaven. Not perfect so that I
cannot or do not sometimes come short of God's glory. But
sanctified until every part of my being, body, mind and spirit
belong to Jesus Christ, with no provision ever to take them back.
Sanctified so that the Holy Spirit has access to all there is of
me!
2. And, too, if I am going to be a Nazarene then I will be loyal
to my denomination, and loyal to my local church!
I may not agree with everything or understand everything. But the
"corporate conscience" of my church will carry great weight in my
personal decisions. And any quarrels I may have with my church
will be lovers' quarrels. I will be stubborn toward what I see as
compromise in scriptural application, and speak my mind when I
think my church is wrong, but I will be exceedingly pliable
toward God, and ask Him to bless and love my church through me!
Join me in prayer for our church.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.62 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Fri May 10 1996 14:43 | 141 |
|
April 21, 1996
MOMENTS OF RECOGNITION
Luke 24: 13 - 35
The Walk to Emmaus is one of my very favorite stories
in all the world. It brings the story of the earthly life of Jesus
to a close in a way that is really a launching pad for a sequel
that is still unfolding. Whatever it was that happened on
that road the first Easter evening is still taking place.
There are a number of other stories of encounters with
God in the Bible. Moses turned aside from his flock of sheep to
see why a bush would burn and not be consumed. Jacob laid his
head on a stone while he was running away from his troubles,
and saw a stairway to heaven, and then, years later, he wrestled
all night with a manifestation of God in the flesh. Isaiah saw
the Lord high and lifted up in the Temple. But still I love the
story of the Road to Emmaus perhaps best of all.
The Emmaus Road story contrasts with another famous
encounter with the risen Savior. Saul of Tarsus first met
Jesus on another road, going in another direction. On the
Road to Damascus Jesus got Saul's attention by knocking him
to the ground. In this story Jesus walked along with the
disciples, warming their hearts with scripture, and would
have walked on if they had not asked him to come in.
Perhaps those two encounters are examples of the ways
some of us here today came to meet the risen Lord. Saul was
not at all acquainted with Jesus before he met him on the
Damascus Road. Paul was very much NOT a part of the
followers of Jesus. But Jesus found Saul, and stunned him
with conviction. His conversion story has all the subtlety of
a whack on the head with a stick! Saul was blinded for three
days, and his life turned around 180 degrees.
No one here has had a conversion exactly like Saul/Paul.
But all the same, that confrontation, that shock, is the way
some people need to find God if they ever find him at all. My
own father never heard of being born again until he was 21
years old. His conversion was night and day, black and white,
dramatic change, a break with everything old in his life. Maybe
you were not brought up in the fellowship of Jesus, or with
the followers of Christ. But God spoke to you, the Holy Spirit
showed you where you were wrong-- and you repented and
surrendered and Jesus became your Lord and Savior. There
was a dramatic meeting with Christ you couldn't miss.
But the two disciples on the Road to Emmaus had an
altogether different problem. If Jesus was the last person
Saul would have wanted to meet-- these two disciples were
mourning because they loved Jesus so much, but believed
they could never know him again. These were people who
had spent time with Jesus, and with the friends of Jesus.
Maybe they had heard the Sermon on the Mount-- maybe
they even knew the Lord's Prayer by heart, and had been
taught to pray by Jesus Himself.
When they met Jesus on their road, there was no light
from heaven-- at least not the kind that knocked them to the
ground. There was no persuasion from being against Christ
to calling Him 'Lord.'
THE STORY ITSELF is deceptively simple:
The disciples were
SAD
DISCOURAGED- Their faith was in the past tense (If only it could be
like it used to be) Jesus described them as sinful, or at least "slow
of heart to believe"
UNBELIEVING: even sinful in their inability to believe
The Savior was
A COMPANION even as they walked the road
(Illustration: The walk to the hamburger stand???
[where God comes up along side]
A FEW times since--
YOU have had them, too ??)
AN INTERPRETER OF SCRIPTURE
Jesus demonstrated how we should read the Bible--
*Jesus is the reason for the Scriptures!*
REVEALED IN THE BREAKING OF BREAD
Their faith brought
THAWING HEART (like John Wesley's testimony!) as they walked
(Can it be that when WE talk about Jesus to others their hearts
are "thawed"??)
CERTAINTY! Their faith immediately came back into the PRESENT TENSE!!
And the fact that Jesus immediately disappeared was
not the least discomfiting; the fact that he was very much
alive, very real, totally satisfied their hearts. They would have
to walk by faith for years-- they may never have such vivid
assurance again-- but they knew what they had experienced.
Irresistible urge to share the good news!
AN IRRESISTIBLE URGE TO SHARE THE GOOD NEWS!
They got up from the table and started back the seven
miles to Jerusalem to tell the other friends of Jesus!!
The Emmaus Road is the way some of us found the Lord. But
the reason I love the story is that the Emmaus Road happens
again and again.
This is not just a story about conversion-- it is a story of
the re-kindling of faith, of assurance. Even Saul had one
Damascus Road experience, but then he went on to have
many more encounters much more like the Emmaus Road.
The day his ship was wrecked, and strong men were failing
with fear it was Paul who said, "Don't be afraid! God stood
by me last night and said we are all going to be all right!"
Where ever you may be on your spiritual journey, Jesus
is not very far away! He wants to make sense of the Bible for
you. He wants to get to know you in the breaking of bread.
he wants to bring your faith into the present tense.
Where do you suppose Jesus is right now?
Prayer
Hymn #606 (one or two vs) In the Garden
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.63 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue May 14 1996 12:26 | 275 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Nazarenes are Bible Christians
January 17, 1992
NAZARENES ARE BIBLE CHRISTIANS
#2 - 'Finding Our Roots' Series
Two texts:
John 5:39 Search the scriptures, for in them you think you have
eternal life; and they are they which testify of Me.
Hebrews 4:12 - 13 For the word of God [is] quick, and powerful, and
sharper than any two edged sword, piercing even to the dividing -
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there
any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things [are]
naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
INTRODUCTION
It probably goes without serious objection that Nazarenes believe
they are Bible Christians. I want to challenge that belief in a
friendly way by asking three questions:
1. Is the Bible as we have it "the Word of God?"
2. How do we hear God's Word?
3. How do we (Nazarenes) live under the authority of the Word
of God?
I. NAZARENES BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS GOD'S WORD
A. Nazarenes believe in the Bible. But even such a simple
statement as saying that the Bible is God's Word can be understood
and explained in many different ways. Where does the International
Church of the Nazarene officially stand regarding "the Bible?"
1. An excellent place to begin would be with the Manual
statement, which good Nazarenes should know and respect. The Manual
states:
We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Holy
Scriptures, by which we understand the 66 books of the Old
and New Testaments, given by divine inspiration,
inerrantly revealing the will of God concerning us in all
things necessary to our salvation, so that what is not
contained therein is not to be enjoined as an article of
faith.
2. The Manual statement is really quite remarkable in what it
does not say! It stops short of saying exactly how, or by what method
the Bible was written, how it is inspired. It gives room for the
mystery which, really, no one can fully explain except by faith.
A key word is the word "plenary," used to describe the
inspiration of the Bible. By plenary the article of faith declares
that the Bible, in all its parts, is totally inspired, that it is a
miracle of revelation. This inspiration is so clear and powerful that
"if it is not in the Bible it is not to be made binding on us as an
article of faith."
The statement does not make Nazarenes go beyond the clear
meaning of those words.
B. Nazarene roots are "synergistic" roots. We believe that the Bible
is a Divine-human book. We believe that by and in and through God's
grace the human can and must cooperate with the divine in claiming our
redemption. These Nazarene roots reflect a number of very interesting
sources.
1. There is the catholicism of the Church of England as
reflected in John Wesley. Wesley thought of himself as a Reformed
theologian; and while he would certainly deny that in any wise he
was earning his salvation there was enough of the Holy Club and
discipline in him that he would not abide for a moment any Christian
who did not put his/her life where the testimony was! "Bring forth
fruit meet for repentance!" was implicit in his very life and
living.
2. Nazarenes also embrace of some aspects of Arminianism, about
which the rank and file pastor knows precious little. But Arminianism
represents a resistance to extreme Calvinism, particularly in TWO
major points. What this says to the general practitioner pastor like
myself is that while all grace is of God, yet that grace enables the
human personality to participate in its own salvation to the extent
that it can choose to resist God's grace or to accept it. THERE IS
ALWAYS MYSTERY ALONG THE LINE WHERE GOD REACHES OUT TO CONVERSE WITH
HUMANKIND.
3. The dilemma is most apparent in the way we understand that
people are saved. But it is also expressed in the way that we
perceive the Bible.
1) Some would emphasize God's Sovereignty to the extent that
man has had nothing to do with the holy scriptures except hold the
pen while God gave the exact words.
2) An opposite, humanistic, view says that the Bible is
inspired exactly like all other great works of literature, no more
and no less. It ranks at the top of human literature, perhaps, at
least in many passages. But it is the product, totally, of human
effort, and expresses human thought, perhaps divinely inspired, but
still limited to human expression, no more.
3) But there is at least one other way to view inspiration:
others, and we include ourselves here, believe that God has
expressed Himself in a way that excludes error in all matters
necessary to our salvation, but that this Word, divine Word, has
come poured through vessels that are in and of themselves human and
imperfect.
C. How did we get the Bible in this form? Can we say with
confidence "This is God's Word!"? I can and I do! But this is a
faith statement! The mysteries of God are NOT the magic of God.
1. The "canon" of the Bible (by which we mean the 66 books of
our Protestant Bible) did not come into existence apart from human
agency. The Bible did not fall down from heaven complete as we have
it now, even though one way or another all true Christians have come
to believe that it is God's divine revelation.
2. (A wee bit of "over-simplified history:) It took a long
period of time for these various "theories" to develop. The
original apostles were much more speakers, preachers, proclaimers
than they were writers. But as it became apparent that they would
not always be around their messages were recorded in written form.
As early as 150 A.D. Justin Martyr wrote that the gospels of
the (present) canon were being read in churches assembled on Sunday.
3. There were also many other writings with claims to be
scriptural or apostolic. Gospels were written by Clement of Rome,
and under the name of Barnabus, as well as the Shepherd of Hermas.
The letters of Peter and Paul and John and the author of
Hebrews and the canonical and non-canonical gospels were "sifted"
and tried across the years.
In 325 A.D. Eusebius wrote that "seven writings in the New
Testament were not universally received. They were called the
"Antilegomena," and consisted of James, Jude, 2 John, 3 John, 2
Peter, Hebrews, and the Apocalypse. (Not the Apocrypha, now.)
It was not until nearly 400 A.D. in the Council of Carthage, in
397, the church officially stated that the 66 books we now hold as
sacred were truly scripture.
4. This "human involvement" need not shake your faith that God
has given us this Bible one little bit! WE MUST REFUSE TO BE
OBSCURANTISTS. When facts are presented they must be assessed and
dealt with. But NO FACTS HAVE EVER SUCCESSFULLY CONTRADICTED THE
LIVING TRUTH OF THE BIBLE!
D. For myself, I simply believe that the Holy Spirit has been
involved in every aspect of the written Word. He has been active in
its original utterance, but He also makes it available at the place
where it is needed and welcomed. Which brings us to the second
question:
II. HOW DO NAZARENES (OR ANY CHRISTIANS) HEAR THE WORD OF GOD?
A. WE HEAR WHEN WE LISTEN! God is speaking in His Word, but too
often we are not really listening!
1. Eugene Peterson makes distinction between READING the Bible
and HEARING the Word. He is not just speaking about the difference
between visual and auditory. The reader has control of what, where,
how he shall give attention. Or she is free to just let her mind
wander. The listener is engaged in some kind of immediate
relationship. A "message" is coming through. personally; like the
difference of a pocket radio or a portable telephone.
2. The living WORD OF GOD IS NEVER 'CONTROLLED'! It is not
simply abstract truth or "information." It demands life-involvement.
That is why Bible preaching is important! To some extent preaching
cannot be controlled, and can release the WORD; also systematic and
regular reading gives access to the WORD.
[Peterson speaks of the link between "speaker" and "hearer"
this way: SPEAKER - WRITER - READER - HEARER. The intermediate
links of writing and reading are all too often made all-important.
What the original compassion/passion/burden of the prophet or
Psalmist or preacher may have spoken or written under inspiration
must be received by the help of the Holy Spirit by LISTENING, by
GIVING ATTENTION, by HEARING WITH THE EARS OF THE SOUL.]
B. IT SHOULD NEVER BE TAKEN FOR GRANTED, BUT NAZARENES OFTEN HEAR
THE WORD OF GOD!!
III. WHAT DOES IT MEAN: 'NAZARENES ARE BIBLE CHRISTIANS?' DO WE IN
FACT LIVE 'UNDER THE AUTHORITY OF THE WORD?'
A. HEARING IS NOT (QUITE) THE SAME AS BELIEVING IN THE AUTHORITY
OF THE WORD!
1. One step beyond HEARING (or knowing that God has spoken) is
the attitude of obedience. We must bring to our encounters with God
and with his Word the surrendered will.
2. Thus: TO TRULY BELIEVE IN THE AUTHORITY OF THE SCRIPTURES
DEMANDS A WILL SURRENDERED TO GOD ALMIGHTY!
B. Every spiritual awakening, personal and church-wide, has begun
with renewed prayer. And every spiritual awakening, church-wide or
personal, has also been accompanied with obedience to the Word of
God!
1. Our church came into existence because we believe the
BIBLE has spoken to us and to the world about the reality of
SCRIPTURAL HOLINESS!
2. If I am going to be a Nazarene I must READ the Bible, but
more, I must listen for God to speak, and I must gladly put myself
under the authority of the Word of God!
Conclusion:
In closing let me repeat a warning!
BEWARE THE BIBLE!It is a dangerous book to have around the house!
1. Beware having it around the house! Just to HAVE IT AROUND
THE HOUSE can bring COMPLACENCY! Stacks of Bibles won't make your
house any holier ... but you might THINK it is!
2. Beware reading the Bible! Just to READ THE BIBLE can
nourish SPIRITUAL PRIDE! We can be like the scriptural expert who
went to the house of prayer and thanked God that he was not like the
poor publican praying off in the corner, "Lord, have mercy on me, a
sinner!"
3. Beware reading and listening and OBEYING the Bible! But TO
HEAR AND TO OBEY THE BIBLE IS MOST DANGEROUS OF ALL!
It can "ruin your life!" All your (selfish) ambitions and
plans may just come tumbling down all around your head! You just
might hear Jesus say: "Come, leave YOUR way and follow ME!"
And if you do you'll never be the same again!
[Calvinism, as I understand it, was founded on five principles
[TULIP]:
Total depravity (nothing good in humanity)
Unconditional grace (Humankind can do NOTHING save themselves)
Limited atonement (The "elect" chosen by God)
Irresistible Grace
Perseverance of the saints (Eternal security)
Of course, what I call Arminianism disputes some of these,
particularly the "U" and the "I" and the "P." And our understanding
of the "T" is somewhat different, as well.
[It is interesting that even then they could not agree just as
to HOW they viewed Divine inspiration. Back then many did believe
that the scriptures had been verbally inspired, and this sacrosanct
faith was even extended to the Septuagint or Greek translation of
the Old Testament as well.]
[The various groups differed on the degree of inspiration of
the books comprising the Apocrypha, with all Protestants generally
respecting them but giving them a less-than-scriptural place. One
main reason is that Jesus never quoted from or alluded to any of the
Apocryphal books.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.64 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue May 14 1996 12:27 | 151 |
|
Subj: Sermon: The Norm: Pentecost
June 4, 1995
THE NORM: PENTECOST
In the last days, God declares,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh .. Acts 2:17
Today we celebrate one of the three great days of the entire
church year. Everyone celebrates Christmas, and most people even know
that it has to do with the birth of Jesus, whether or not they call
Him God and Lord. Most people celebrate Easter, and some of them know
that Easter, too, has to do with Jesus, and His victory over death and
sin.
But then, at least in our country, comes Thanksgiving, (when we
do have ecumenical services; and that is good, although most Americans
are more tuned in to football and a big family reunion and meal), and
then Super Bowl, and of course the Fourth of July.
But what is Pentecost? Why should anyone call it one of the "big
three" Christian holy days? Do you know? To begin with:
PENTECOST IS (ANOTHER) TRANSFORMED JEWISH HOLY DAY
We say Pentecost is ANOTHER transformed Jewish holy day because
Christians have seen Christ as the fulfillment behind just about all
the Old Testament. Jesus is our Passover Lamb, and Jesus is our Seder
Host, transforming the Passover Meal into the Communion we will share
this morning. And so Passover, too, takes on fulfilling significance
to Christians.
Pentecost was and is a Jewish feast day celebrating two things.
Called "Pesech" or "Pentecost" because it follows fifty days after
Passover and the High Holy Days, Pentecost was first a celebration of
the first harvesting of summer fruits. It anticipates the later,
greater harvest of the autumn season.
Pentecost also in later times came to be a commemoration of the
giving of the law to Moses on Sinai. Devout Jews praised God for
giving guidance to all mankind on how to live lives of order and
righteousness. The giving of the Law can be contrasted with the
giving of confusion at Babel, when God confused those who were trying
to reach heaven on their own wisdom; the giving of the Law is God's
way of bringing order out of chaos.
WHAT HAPPENED THAT FIRST PENTECOST?
First of all, what happened on Pentecost was that the gathered
disciples received the indwelling Holy Spirit, and the Church as
Christ's body came into existence. It was the birthday of the church.
Christians believe that on the Jewish feast of Pentecost that
came 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead, and ten days after He
ascended to the Father, Jesus, HAVING RECEIVED THE FULLNESS OF GLORY,
for which he prayed in John 17: 1, Jesus then poured that Spirit He
had received out upon his beloved disciples.
This was THE FIRST FRUITS of a great harvest which was to come.
As a matter of fact that FIRST FRUIT CELEBRATION that day netted 3,000
new believers in Jesus Christ! It is a celebration of FIRST FRUITS.
The Christian Pentecost might seem to have little to do with the
second aspect of the Jewish celebration: the giving of the law to
Moses on the mount. But actually, here was a fulfillment of the
promise that God would pour out His Spirit on all flesh, and as Paul
declares in 2 Corinthians 3:3 God wrote his law now not on tables of
stone, but on fleshy tables of the human heart. And instead of
confusion of languages, now everyone could hear God's plan of
salvation in a language they could understand. In the words of a
Sandi Patti song: "Fluent LOVE is spoken here!"
There were other, dramatic things that happened that day of
Pentecost. There was mighty, shaking, fearsome sound of hurricane
force wind. There were licking, flaming, forked tongues of fire. And
there were languages spoken in order that every person who came to see
what was happening could understand who Jesus is, and how he can
deliver from sin.
Once again here was a direct contrast with Babel: where Babel had
been confusion and misunderstanding, Pentecost was God's law in the
hearts, God's law of LOVE, and the opposite of confusion:
interpretation: everyone heard in his own language the message of
salvation.
We have been trained to think of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit
only in the rushing wind, and the tongues of fire, and the exotic
gifts of language or experience. But first of all the coming of the
Spirit is God loving us, and coming to make his home in us so that we
can be at home in him on our way home.
THE NEED FOR PENTECOST TODAY
This is the NORM for our Christian existence. The Holy Spirit IS
the life of the Church. No Spirit- no life! The Spirit fills every
believer to the extent of his/her capacity. There is a deeper life
for those who will seek the fullness of the Spirit's blessing. There
are wonderful benefits to be received from living the life of full
surrender to God's will. But it begins with the Holy Spirit coming to
live in you and me and together making us the Church. Welcome the
Holy Spirit into your inner being this very day!
Pentecost, or the descent of the Holy Spirit into the human
heart, is NOT a doctrine or belief system to defend, but a reality to
know and live out. As humanly understood belief systems, even the
precious doctrines of our church, even holiness doctrines, are
fallible-- they are subject to the shortcomings of human understanding
that mark all human belief systems. But as a living encounter with
God holiness, being filled with God Himself, transforms lives and
changes the course of human history. Almighty God actually DOES come
to live in His people, and together God's people ARE the Church.
Faith in God must permeate the whole of my being and yours, not
simply logically exist in my thinking, or excitedly flood my emotions,
or even determinedly rest in my human will. God must be made welcome
at the center of all I am and all I do! As a Person God can make
Himself known to me, and can dominate my living and your living. And
together you and I are the living Church of Pentecost. That is what
Pentecost is all about: that is why is a BIG DAY!
PETER'S SERMON
That day Peter stood up and declared the glory and love and power
of Jesus Christ. He told the devout Jews assembled that they needed
to change their direction: "Repent, and be baptized, every one of you,
for the forgiveness of your sins!"
Then he told them: "This God-shared LOVE, this Holy Spirit is to
every one of you who will believe!
Into Communion:
First "Preparing
Next: Choir (we ALL sing verse 4)
Then Creed #8
Then Prayers
Then #304 (Sweet, Sweet Spirit) leads into Offering=
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.65 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue May 21 1996 08:51 | 208 |
|
Seeing Jesus in His Miracles
John 2: 1 - 11
Introduction:
From now until just before Easter, with a number of interesting
special services and guest speakers and a revival series interspersed
along the way, I propose to preach a series of sermons about Jesus;
specifically, "Seeing Jesus in His Miracles." I propose to take the
miracles of Jesus as recorded in the Gospel of St. John, and look at
them one by one as we ask ourselves the question: "What does this
miracle reveal to me of the person and character and purpose of Jesus
Christ my Lord?"
When Philip "discovered" Jesus, he wanted to tell his friend,
Nathaniel. When Nathaniel found out Jesus had been living in
Nazareth, he asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" And
Philip's answer remains valid: "Come and see!" See for yourself! And
that is what we want to do again: to see Jesus!
And to begin this morning: THE MIRACLE AT CANA.
I. JESUS DEFIES COMPARISON OR 'NEAT' CATEGORIZING
We have to meet and know Jesus for ourselves!
Probably every devout Jew had an idea what Messiah should be, and
do. A Messiah should be a strong man to bring political deliverance;
or else an ascetic like John the Baptist. He should be "this," or He
should be "that!" But who would ever think that the Messiah would
perform His first miracle at a common wedding in a little
out-of-the-way hill village far away from the center of things?
We had better be careful in 'assuming' we know 'all about Jesus!'
We love to categorize people and institutions. It helps us to
pigeonhole them in their "proper" place in our scheme of things; and
to some extent it gives us power over them, at least in our own minds.
This is an inner arrogance, this being so sure that we understand
other very complex people.
And if it is sad that we do this quickly with each other, it is
even more sad when we think we know all about the Lord Jesus even
before we give Him a chance to be Himself, and say for Himself what He
has to say.
JESUS IS NOT TO BE NEATLY BOXED, AND 'EXPLAINED' AND TAMED!
When we meet the living Jesus, we are meeting Almighty God
Himself! We are dealing here with MYSTERY! - Jesus cannot be "owned"
and "packaged;" He must own me!
Jesus is NOT capricious. He can be depended on to keep His word.
But at the same time Jesus is never limited to our predictions. (Why
would He do the thing with wine?)
SO, THIS IS HOW JESUS INAUGURATED HIS MIRACLES, HIS MASTERY OVER
THIS UNIVERSE!
It is a "dawning." It gives a hint at what shall follow. It is
not out of character with Christ, even though it is surprising to
many that Jesus would begin here, in this way.
It was an unveiling. It brought a glimpse of His glory to His
disciples; and they believed on Him.
II. JESUS SET THE EXAMPLE OF JOY - OURS IS AN AUDACIOUSLY JOYFUL WAY !
A. The very nature of salvation is that it must deal with sin,
and guilt, and the darker side of existence that robs us of real
life. But our God does NOT delight in GUILT! Jesus came to destroy the
works of sin! There is a time and a place to face up to sin. But a
religion that is habitually long-faced, and always engrossed in
ascetics is NOT the faith Jesus manifested here.
B. The ascetic way seems harder. Somehow it seems more pious to
keep on wearing the hair shirt. It denies pleasures; it boasts of
what it gives up; it revels in sacrifice. Actually it is self-
centered! It refuses to let go control! It has set, rigid rules; it
determines who can or cannot "enter into the kingdom."
C. Jesus' way is not asceticism, but holiness. Christ's way does
not deny pleasures, it denies self! And that is different from denying
pleasures! Yes, there is a cross. But there is also JOY at the goal;
and there is wonderful FELLOWSHIP ALONG THE WAY-- and there is
laughter and there is love!
III. THE MIRACLE AT CANA REVEALED A PATTERN OF ABUNDANCE
[... But why did He have to make His first miracle about 'wine'? !!!]
Abundance? Why it was even OVER-ABUNDANCE!: 6 times 20 or 30 gallons
...120 or 180 gallons times 4 (quarts per gallon) = 480 or 720 quarts
of wine. At $10.00 a quart there was $5,000- 8,000 worth of wine
... WHY?? Was it ...a gift to the couple? ..a message about the Holy
Spirit ? ... was it a pre-curser of the message that "faith is
wealth?"
A. We "spiritualize" these truths-- and say they have NO
application in material things . . . life is to be "hard here" but we
persevere. To those who would be "Essenes" and retire from life and
living and fast all the time Jesus spoke by His example: I do not deny
the finer things of life. I can enjoy social times; I endorse
marriage; there are times when the thing to do is simply have a good
time!
B. Or, we go to the other extreme, and "materialize" all the
promises: we say, "God intends us to live in luxury!" "Health and
wealth indicate great and pure faith!" To those who would go to the
other extreme and use faith to serve self and procure material things,
Jesus spoke clearly: Seek ye first the kingdom of God ... The Son of
Man was a homeless person much of His life!!
C. But Jesus "actualizes" His abundant life! "All things are
YOURS!" And no one savors life [more], even here and now, like people
who are in love with Jesus Christ!
John Wesley said: "Christ does not take away human society, but
sanctifies it. Water might have quenched thirst; yet our Lord allows
wine; especially at a festival solemnity."
His people LIVE even here, in the NOW! And His people have the
assurance about the THEN, too!
IV. THE MIRACLE AT CANA BEGAN TO REVEAL THE AUTHOR OF LIFE
"Whatever He says to you, do it!" Advice from Mary that we may
well heed: and as the disciples OBEYED they saw Christ's GLORY, and
they BELIEVED!
A. To obey Christ, and to reveal Him, is the ESSENCE of Christian
faith: and we will not get to know what Jesus is like until we begin
to trust and obey Him.
[ 1. Go, carry water, fill the pots there! 2. Now, carry some to
the governor of the feast! ... as the miracle unfolded, the
disciples believed!]
B. To obey Christ, and to reveal Him, is the EVIDENCE of the
Christian faith: and OTHERS will never know who Jesus is until we
begin to obey Him in the little and big things of life!
[ 1. Christ will bless others through our obedience! 2. But
there is risk involved! We cannot "carry miracles" if we
compromise in the obedience! ... the GLORY of Christ and His POWER
and AUTHORITY was evident as the disciples obeyed!]
C. To obey Christ, and to reveal HIM, is the EVANGEL of the
Christian faith: when we come to KNOW WHO JESUS IS, others will want
to know Him, too!
[ Jesus lived in a real world. The life of JOY and ABUNDANCE
begins the moment HE, JESUS, comes into our lives. God's world--
we don't deny the good things-- we DENY SELF! That is a lot more
radical than denying self OF THINGS! But Jesus says: DENY
SELF...AND ALL THINGS ARE YOURS, AND YE ARE CHRIST'S AND CHRIST IS
GOD'S.]
Conclusion: WHAT DO WE SEE OF JESUS IN THIS MIRACLE AT CANA?
And how can what we see make an impact on our lives?
1. I SEE A TENDER, LOVING, JOYFUL SAVIOR.
Don't mistake: we need the discipline of fasting; we need the
times of extra prayer, and waiting before the Lord. BUT, do we tend
to have the self-centered ethic of asceticism?; if only we pray
harder, or if we dig in, we can do anything we want! Do we begrudge a
day in the mountains-- or try to make an evangelistic message out of
every sunset, rather than simply enjoy being with God and with His
people? GOD WANTS WHOLE PEOPLE! The JOY of the Lord is our strength!
2. I SEE A SELF-GIVING SAVIOR, LIVING EVEN IN HIS "OFF MOMENTS,"
HIS TIMES OF JOY FOR OTHERS! [Rather than being fanatical about
fasting and abstaining from the pleasures of life, we are more likely
to have the self-centered ethic of easy- believism. Many Christians
would never say it, but they ACT AS IF God exists to make all our
water into wine, so why should we work hard? Why bother about the
cross? THIS isn't the Jesus you are seeing at Cana!]
Can we come to the place where we will simply OBEY Him? I want to
obey Him every time I know that it is Jesus Who is speaking. I want
to be attuned. "Go fill the pots with water!" Why? How can that
help? What do You want me to do that for? Seemingly futile actions
in obedience to direct command; as well as risking personal
embarrassment if something miraculous doesn't happen.
3. I THINK MAYBE JESUS CHOSE TO BEGIN HIS MIRACLE-WORKING
AUTHORITY AT A WEDDING BECAUSE HE WANTS US TO REMEMBER THAT IF WE
FOLLOW HIM WE WILL ONE DAY END UP AT ANOTHER WEDDING FEAST!
Do we dare to follow this Jesus away from the "expected" into
the fullness of abundant life?
"Whatever HE says to you-- DO IT!" The LAST will be better than
the first! He will be our 'security!'
#46 He Hideth My Soul (At least verses 1 & 2)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.66 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue May 21 1996 08:52 | 258 |
|
WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
Genesis 32:26_28 Then he said, "Let me go, for the dawn is breaking."
But he said, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."
So he said to him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Jacob."
And he said, "Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel;
for you have striven with God and with men, and have prevailed."
"WHAT IS SALVATION?"
This is the third time we have used the same question, "What
is Salvation?" We have looked at
(1) God's Sovereignty and Our Free Will: [God Loves Us and
Provides Salvation for Us by Grace;] and
(2) at the Atonement, ["Christ Died for Us."] Today we look at
(3) Sanctification. =F6=F2[Christ changes us, and makes us like
Himself].
There are not "two salvations." Both the crisis of
justification and the crisis of entire sanctification are elements of
one great salvation. But Wesleyans have historically emphasized the
need for a crisis of entire consecration on the part of believers
after they have been saved, a crisis which on God's part results in
cleansing and empowering and infilling with the Holy Spirit. This
cleansing and empowering we call "entire sanctification."
What IS "entire sanctification?"
I. A THEOLOGICAL LOOK AT ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION
"Sanctification" refers the whole of what God does to us and in us to
make us like Jesus. GOD WANTS TO CHANGE US INTO HIS LIKENESS; FROM
WHAT WE ARE, IN OURSELVES, WITHOUT HIM-- TO WHAT WE CAN BE BY HIS
INDWELLING PRESENCE, FROM INADEQUACY AND SELFISHNESS TO
CHRIST-LIKENESS AND SERVICE.
This life-changing, character-changing grace of God begins the
moment we surrender our lives to God, and continues throughout all our
lives as we walk with Him by faith; indeed, I believe it continues
throughout all eternity! It is a process!
But at a very important point in this walk with God, every
believer is challenged to a full and complete consecration, in love,
to God, forever. In return God promises 'a renewing of the mind, an
infilling, cleansing fullness of His Holy Spirit.' This crisis we call
"entire sanctification." It is an all-important crisis within the
process of sanctification.
Our Wesleyan definitions of "sanctification" are almost always
definitions of "entire sanctification:" (such as)
Dr. E. F. Walker: "Sanctification, in the proper sense, is a
work of grace, instantaneously wrought in the person of a
believer, subsequent to regeneration, administered by Jesus
Christ, through the baptism with the Holy Ghost purifying him
from all sin, and perfecting him in divine love."
John Wesley (quoted in Wiley & Culbertson): "Sanctification in
the proper sense is an instantaneous deliverance from all sin,
and includes an instantaneous power then given always to
cleave -- to God."
Dr. John W. Goodwin: "Sanctification is a divine work of
grace, purifying the believer's heart from indwelling sin. It
is subsequent to regeneration, is secured in the atoning blood
of Christ, is effected by the baptism with the Holy Ghost, is
conditioned on full consecration to God, is received by faith,
and includes instantaneous power for service."
Here is a statement of our accepted theology (Wiley) that may
make it a little easier to see how different needs are met by
justification and sanctification, and help us to distinguish "entire
sanctification" from "justification":
1. Justification in a broad sense has reference to the whole work of
Christ wrought for us;
Sanctification, the whole work wrought in us by the Holy Spirit.
2. Justification is a judicial act in the mind of God;
Sanctification, a spiritual change wrought in the hearts of men.
3. Justification is a relative change, that is, a change in relation
from condemnation to favor;
Sanctification, an inward change from sin to holiness.
4. Justification secures for us remission of actual sins;
Sanctification in its complete sense, cleanses the heart from
original sin or inherited depravity.
5. Justification removes the guilt of sin,
Sanctification destroys its power.
6. Justification makes possible adoption into the family of God;
Sanctification restores the image of God.
7. Justification gives a title to heaven;
Sanctification a fitness for heaven.
8. Justification logically precedes sanctification, which in its
initial stage, is concomitant with it.
9. Justification is an instantaneous and completed act, and therefore
does not take place in stages, or by degrees;
Sanctification is marked by progressiveness in that partial or
initial sanctification occurs at the time of Justification, and
entire sanctification occurs subsequent to Justification . Both
initial and entire sanctification, however, are instantaneous acts
wrought in the hearts of men by the Holy Spirit.
II. THE NEED FOR A SECOND CRISIS
We probably need to emphasize and re-emphasize over and over
that "sanctification" is both process and crisis; that the process
begins when we are justified. We need to say over and over that it
continues throughout life. "God isn't done with us yet...." He is
never done with us!
But also we need to underscore that there comes a crisis of
full surrender when the 'sovereignty question' is settled in a
decisive way!
WHY do we need to underscore this second crisis? Because it
is our Nazarene tradition? If THAT is the only reason-- then
let's have courage and dump it!
WHY underscore this second crisis? Because if we don't we
will have no reason for separate identity from other
evangelicals? If THAT is our reason we had better wake up!
Other evangelicals are emphasizing "holiness of heart and
life!"
THE REASON (then, that) WE NEED TO EMPHASIZE THE SECOND CRISIS
IS THAT THIS IS THE SCRIPTURAL WAY PEOPLE ENTER INTO THE
EXPERIENCE OF GOD'S FULLNESS! WE CANNOT AFFORD TO MISS THE
SCRIPTURAL TRUTH AND LIFE-CHANGING POWER, THE REALITY OF THIS
EXPERIENCE WE CALL "ENTIRE SANCTIFICATION!"
We almost always COME to God for justification for selfish
reasons: to escape judgment and penalty for our sins; to receive
eternal life; to GET something from God. We are saved as we are
"running away from our sins."
But this matter of "entire sanctification" is a matter of
STAYING WITH GOD FOR BETTER REASONS! It is a matter of GIVING
something to God as best we can! It is a matter of offering Him our
love for time and for eternity! It is letting God have us to make us
over like Jesus! We are "sanctified wholly" as we are "running toward
God with our hunger for more of HIM!"
[Transition: But it is easier to see "second blessing holiness"
demonstrated than it is to hear it described and "analyzed" by experts
who often confuse rather than clarify:]
III. THE LIFE-CHANGING POWER
There are several powerful scriptural testimonies to the
character-changing grace of God's sanctifying power in the lives of
believers. One of the very best 'pictures' of the crisis of entire
sanctification is found in the story of the patriarch Jacob. [Found in
Genesis 32] I happen to believe that the story 'fits' our Wesleyan
theology very well, but whatever your theology, the end result was
exactly what Jacob needed, and what you and I desperately need.
The end result was a change in the very nature of Jacob. To
understand the story of Jacob becoming Israel, we need to understand
the deep significance of NAMES here in the Old Testament.
"Jacob" means "heel grasper." He came out of his mother's womb
grasping his twin brother's heel. And he kept right on "grasping" from
that time on. And in his "grasping" Jacob was a lot like some people
I know-- a lot like YOU and a lot like ME! And the name was
fitting. Jacob was all for Jacob. He was a cheat. He tricked his
brother out of his birthright and out of his blessing. You know the
story, and if you don't you should read it soon.
On the way from home to Padan-Aram, escaping from his brother
and his 'sins,' he had the experience in a dream of a ladder from
heaven to earth-- at a place he called "Beth-El," the house of God. He
was changed-- he was different. But he was still Jacob. Note: God met
Jacob when he was RUNNING AWAY from his sins.
But perhaps 14 years later, returning home, Jacob met with God
in this way:
1) Jacob was now a very wealthy man. But he was anticipating
meeting his twin brother, Esau; and fearing the meeting very
much.
2) The crisis came when Jacob was finally all alone, even though
he had become for all purposes a rich man. I am not sure of
all the significance of separation as Jacob sent over his
herds and flocks and family until he was alone by the Brook
Jabbok. But I do know that now this crisis separated him for
a time from all his ACQUISITION.
3) But in the confrontation with God that took place there that
night, the life-changing point is reached when God asks
Jacob: WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
"Who ARE you, really?" And Jacob has to own up to the fact
that he is a GRASPER! He is a person who lives to ACQUIRE!
Now it isn't hard to be a GRASPER! Believe me! Things have
a way of grasping us! But the one BIG thing Paul tells us
about Jesus is this: JESUS WAS NOT A GRASPER! (Philippians
2:5-6) And if we are to be like Jesus, somehow WE have to
"let go of things" so they will lose their hold on us. HOW?
Well-- perhaps it starts with answering the question: "What is
your name?"
4) Jacob answers God truthfully: "My name is JACOB!" And God
says: "Not any more it isn't! From NOW on your name is:
ISRAEL! You are God's man!"
5) Jacob also asks God: "What is YOUR name!"
It is sort of audacious, and there is no answer immediately.
God is not answerable to any creature, and is beyond what we
can grasp.
But the "name of God" does come to Jacob-Israel. In Genesis
35 it comes: "I AM God Almighty-- El Shaddai!-- the
Nourisher!"
IV. (Conclusion:) WHAT IS SANCTIFICATION? Perhaps one answer is:
SANCTIFICATION IS GETTING YOUR NAME CHANGED! What is YOUR name this
morning?
And what direction are you running?
Are you running AWAY from the results of your sins? If you
are-- God is waiting to meet you, and forgive you, and save you, and
bless you.
But perhaps you are running TOWARD God, with the consciousness
that your sins are forgiven-- and that you are rich in blessings-- but
also with the deep awareness that your name is "Jacob!" God can and
will 'change your name' from "Jacob" to "Israel" by this second crisis
of entire sanctification!
[#203 - Ho! Everyone That is Thirsty!]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________=
|
| 803.67 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue Jun 04 1996 09:10 | 154 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Keeping the Power Switched On
KEEPING THE POWER SWITCHED ON
Read 4:32-5:18 Emphasize 5:8 (You are LIGHT who once were
darkness)..and 5:18 (KEY VERSE: *Be filled with the Spirit!*) Finding
God's fullness as an on-going reality; carrying forward God's purpose
for us, of being filled with GOD!)
I. LIVING AS GOD'S BELOVED CHILDREN MEANS:
A. Being FAMILY to God. The very idea of "family" as a good thing
has been under attack:
1) The *sacred concept of 'family'*
The idea of belonging to one another for better or for worse;
the idea that with God as Father, the community of faith IS
family; *generally seeking the good of other family
members*. (Sibling rivalry/friction may be a fact even within
the church; but the idea of family is scriptural.)
2) The *sacred institution of the individual family*
This is dealt with later in the epistle; it is basic to the
formation of character. In the reality of our society today
many have to 'make do' without the ideal of parents (or parent!)
who have no higher priority than children; it may be passe', but
that does not make the ideal invalid., but the concept of
commitment and loyalty and *togetherness* is vital.
ILLUS: Senator Paul Tsongas made a statement with his resignation a
few years ago.. he had to choose between making policy for a
nation.. or making an impact on his own family and children.
Evidently Senator Tsongas chose to go with what would *last!* For our
children will outlive and outlast this great Republic!
A *family* is NOT to be just an aggregation of individuals
held together by mutual selfishness, meeting in the kitchen as they
scramble off to work. They MAY have to do a lot of that *but a family
is made up of people who CHERISH each other!*
3) The *fact of FAMILY in the CHURCH*
God is Sovereign; He is also "Abba." We must learn to make
this more and more our own truth; to *appropriate it!*
[We are "family" with God, and God's family must be *sexually pure*.]
B. Being SEXUALLY PURE
1) God's Word speaks forthrightly about many of the issues
that are argued back and forth in our society. We need to know
what it says, and how we as Christians stand on such issues as
*abortion*; as on *homosexuality*; and as on how we shall face
the impending epidemic of *AIDS*. (In five years every one of
us will be personally acquainted with a family that has a
victim.)
2) God's WORD is not a clinical manual on medicine or human
fertility; but it ought to be the foundation of the kind of
sex education that leads us *from animal sex to human
sexuality. ***
3) Sexual purity is the standard for the church for all
professing Christians. NO believer can afford to rationalize,
to lower the standards. The Bible has a clear standard:
*all sexual intercourse outside of the marriage covenant is
sin.* Homosexual intercourse [if there are children of the
young age present, call intercourse "intimacy"] is sin, but
so, also, is all heterosexual sexual intercourse that is not
sanctioned and blessed by God in covenant blessing.
4) God expects purity
(1) not only in the actual acts and physical relationships;
but (2) in the intent and thought life. Sin begins with
intent; with the cultivation of thoughts of evil. (There
IS a distinction between "thoughts of evil" and "evil
thoughts." There CAN be a resisting of temptation; of the
enemy's attempt to twist HUMAN desire into EVIL desire.)
Summary of "Being sexually pure": Sexual impurity is wrong *because it
breaks God's holy laws*; *but it is also wrong in that **it violates
the sanctity of the family; and it treats PEOPLE as objects of
selfishness*. I would love to change the more`s of our culture but
that is not going to happen overnight.
B.1. Sexual impurity will NOT be unpunished. Indeed, it
carries the seeds of destruction, disappointment, and even
despair in itself. *But tonight we are speaking to God's
family!*
The emphasis for THIS sermon is: LET THE CHURCH BE PURE! THEN
THE CHURCH CAN HAVE POWER!
We all love it when we cry out against the sinfulness "out
there!" "The world" is going to hell.. and we need to cry out
against it.. *but the fact is, WE NEED TO MAKE CERTAIN OUR
HEARTS ARE PURE, OUR MINDS ARE GOD'S TEMPLES! AND *THEN* GOD
MAY BE ABLE TO USE US TO CHANGE THE NEEDY, SINFUL WORLD!*
[Living as children of light, in God's family, also means:]
C. NOT being GREEDY (Greed is the power.behind.the.throne in most
sin; even (especially) in the sexual sins we have discussed;
"power brokers" of the obscenity market).
We like to hear about the dastardly, flagrant sins of the
world but we *don't* like to hear that we are in grave danger
because the same fires of selfishness burn within US! If we LIVE TO
GRASP! THEN THE SEEDS OF HELL ARE WITHIN US!
But we may be FREE from *impurity* and *covetousness, which is
idolatry*! HOW? II. *ALL THIS THROUGH 5:18.FULLNESS. THE
REALITY OF BEING FILLED!*
1) (V 14: *Be awake to what is really going on!*)
2) *BE an OPPORTUNIST!* (v 15: *Walk with your eyes open!*)
When He knows He can trust you, God will put you in
places.. thrust you into opportunities where
(a) you will know His prompting;
(b) you will NEED His Presence and power;
(c) you will find "*BREAK.THROUGH FULFILLMENT!*"
3) *But ALL THIS BECAUSE OF "5:18!"* We CAN be filled with the
Spirit! We can STAY filled with the Spirit!
Exhortation:
GET sanctified! If you are a believer, (Romans 12:1,2:)
*Present YOUR body to God! Give HIM your LIFE!* Be filled with the
cleansing, empowering baptism of the Holy Spirit!
Get SAVED if you need to, in ORDER to get sanctified!
STAY FILLED! STAY BEING FILLED!
(EH) Give Me a Holy Life
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.68 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue Jun 04 1996 09:10 | 187 |
|
11.13A - Exodus 20:8-11 - Isaiah 58: 13-14
THE GIFT OF A SABBATH
Introduction:
Just a few days ago, along with Helen, and Jim and Ruth Cameron,
I experienced something very beautiful; something which as a
Gentile I never expected to have the privilege to do. We were
guests in a devout Jewish home on a Friday evening, and were
invited into their family circle as they welcomed the Sabbath . . .
To preach on Sabbath observance is to potentially antagonize
everyone; for many will think Sabbath observance went out with the Old
Testament laws, while others will be certain that anything that is
said is not enough.
But it is my abiding conviction that a proper observance of the
Sabbath may well be a key to genuine spiritual awakening and revival,
as well as being a deciding factor in salvaging family relationships,
in establishing the experience of personal salvation. How you keep or
desecrate the Lord's Day will have a profound effect on every other
area of your life.
I. THE SABBATH IS A UNIVERSAL AND PERPETUAL PRINCIPLE
[It was incorporated into the very Creation of the world ...]
A. It is first mentioned in Genesis 2:2.3 (where:) "God
blessed the seventh day and set it apart ..."
B. It was included in the Ten Commandments; it is a part of
the Moral Code. As such it has two sides: [A "FROM" and a
"TO"]
1. It is to be a cessation from labor
2. It is a time for honoring, recognizing God as the
Source of Life (LIFE!)
II. THE PRINCIPLE OF SABBATH REST HAS DEGENERATED [ALL TOO OFTEN]
INTO CONTROVERSY
[It seems that humankind has always had trouble with this
Commandment; the arguments descend from "principle" to "rules" to
"squabbling over petty details."]
A. Which DAY, really, ought we to observe? ['God's SEVENTH was
man's FIRST (first full day)', etc., but is this the real
issue?]
B. HOW SHALL WE OBSERVE THE LORD'S DAY?
1. In times past the Jews multiplied rules; they became very
legalistic ('sabbath-days journey,' etc.) [Yet they have
preserved something of the rest, beauty, family stability]
2. Many Christians have become harsh, legalistic, arbitrary in
this matter: we, too have multiplied rules and have served
OUR OWN INTERESTS in the process
3. But a reaction to LEGALISM has caused many people to
dismiss all idea of the keeping of a Sabbath. And with
losing the Sabbath, we HAVE LOST A KEY TO SPIRITUAL HEALTH!
III. NEEDED: A REBIRTH OF OBEDIENCE TO (ALL) TEN COMMANDMENTS, AND,
ESPECIALLY, A LOOK AT THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT AS A KEY TO REVIVAL
A. Principles of Sabbath observance which apply in 1988:
1. A cessation FROM normal labor: permitting time for
spiritual things. If we habitually disregard this 6/1
ratio we sin against God, against our bodies, and against
our relationships.
2. Taking time FOR "spiritual things:" The Sabbath should make
time for:
a. quality corporate worship
b. study of God's Word, and meditation thereon
c. God-blessed fellowship with loved ones (family,
Family)
B. Application of these principles in the light of scripture:
1. This is NOT simply "Old Testament truth." The Sabbath
principle is universal and perpetual. Matthew 12:8: "Jesus
is Lord of the Sabbath."
2. We must seek to do God's pleasure on God's day (as the
earnest of doing God's pleasure on all other six, too.)
3. "Call the Sabbath a delight!" A time when we can get better
acquainted with God!
Conclusion:
A. The Sabbath Day or Lord's Day must be a day that is blessed
and set apart. There is no question, this is God's will for
humankind.
B. As we deliberately set out to honor God and keep His spiritual
(and physical) laws, we shall find great soul health. We shall
be "delighted in the Lord." [I am sure this is as much in
God's delight in our intent as it is in the intrinsic benefits
of rest and meditation.]
C. I have a particular vision for this coming week that we call
"revival;" [We don't value that word 'revival' as some of our
brothers and sisters do. To them it is an awesome moving of
God in a community in a way which most of us have never
seen. Be that as it may;] my vision comes from Psalm 51:
May God grant us:
(1) The creation of a clean heart
(2) The renewal of a steadfast spirit
(3) The Presence of God in our everyday living
(4) The tangible JOY that must characterize genuine
Christian living
(5) May God sustain the purpose of our spirits to serve
Him, for then:
(6) We will teach transgressors; and sinners will be
converted!
As a church we talk about gearing up to reach our world, our
community, global and local. We are trying to get programs and
materials and wise actions in place that will serve to reach those who
don't yet know Jesus as Savior.
BUT REVIVAL BEGINS WITH GOD'S PEOPLE, WITH GOD'S WORK OF CREATION
AND RENEWAL DEEP IN THEIR HEARTS. WHEN OUR LIVES HONOR GOD, HE WILL
TRUST US WITH PRECIOUS HARVEST!
D. May I suggest a personal pledge of each of us to God:
I PLEDGE TO KEEP THE LORD'S DAY AS HOLY UNTO HIM. I WILL SEEK
GOD'S WILL ON HOW I SHALL HONOR HIM ON HIS DAY. AS THE HOLY SPIRIT
GUIDES ME, I WILL KEEP A CHRISTIAN SABBATH BY AVOIDING UNNECESSARY
LABOR, AND BY DEVOTING TIME TO REST AND TO FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD, AND
WITH HIS PEOPLE.
XXX
Addendum: Having nothing directly to do with the morning message:
There may be some people here that are directly concerned with
how to be sure that they are saved. I talked with two people this week
who loved the Lord but only recently have come to the assurance that
they have been forgiven all their sins, and born again of the Spirit,
and brought into a personal relationship with God.
If that is where you are this morning I want to see you come into
that assurance of salvation. You can be saved right now! And you can
find assurance that God has saved you.
Will you pray with me 'The Sinner's Prayer'? [Will everyone help
in this by praying along-- in remembrance of the time when you came to
the Lord, and as a re-affirmation of your trust in God's grace?]:
'O God, Have mercy on me a sinner,
And save me for Jesus' sake.
O Jesus, I invite you to come into my life,
And I will make you LORD as well as Savior.
Thank You for dying on the cross for me;
Thank You for loving me;
Thank You for saving me. Amen.'
If you believe God has saved you for Jesus' sake this morning, I
want to pray with you and talk with you and give you some
encouragement.
EH #78 When He Shall Come
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.69 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue Jun 04 1996 09:11 | 215 |
|
Subj: Sermon: That in All Things God May Be Glorified (wow!)
05.07p - I Peter 4:7-11
The end of all things is at hand; therefore, be of sound judgment
and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because
love covers a multitude of sins.
Be hospitable to one another without complaint.
As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one
another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
Whoever speaks, let him speak, as it were, the utterances of God;
whoever serves, let him do so as by the strength which God supplies;
so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to
whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
THAT IN ALL THINGS GOD MAY BE GLORIFIED
Sober living for Final Days
It may not seem too important what or how we think about Christ's
return. After all, Christian faith is for the here and now (isn't
it?), and not just an escape hatch before the world dissolves and the
elements melt in fervent heat (which, as Peter tells us, is going to
happen. (2 Peter 3:10-12.)
It may not seem too important-- and yet the last words of Jesus,
and the words the angels spoke on Olivet to those who watched Jesus
disappear into the heavens, convinced the early church that the time
until Jesus returned was fairly short. At least this is the way it
appears to many scholars. It is safe to say that the early church
lived in the anticipation of Christ's Return. His NEAR return.
How, then, should we view these words:
"This same Jesus-- will so come in like manner as ye have
seen Him go!"??
Is it possible to OVER-emphasize eschatology? Can we be too
fascinated by contemplating "end times?"
Is there a healthy way of living in anticipation?
I. THE DANGERS OF END-TIME LIVING
1. IMMINENCE: One danger can be that will not fully engage in the
concerns of this present age. We must fully accept the
responsibility of maturity in community, but on God's terms,
not our own or society's.
Earlier generations (during depression, or during wartime
insecurity,) did a good job of persuading the rank and file
that Jesus would come, and that His coming would be a good
thing. But for one person at least, this emphasis was strong
enough to discourage thorough preparation even for the
ministry!
2. ISOLATION : The impact of the "ME-generation" is being felt in
the secular society. "Cocoon-ing" is a buzz-word.
This can even creep into the church until we forget the true
importance of community. And if we add to this total
involvement with "ME" the peculiarity that adheres to a belief
that God interrupts history-- has done it once, and is going
to do it again-- we have a built-in rationality for
withdrawing from a society that needs to hear what we believe.
3. IMBALANCE :
(1) to say that is SOME is good, then MORE is better
(2) to say that if a person is right in one area, then his
word is scripture in every area (and so be diverted from
simplicity of the gospel)
(3) to major on secondary issues (no matter how vital and
true)
4. IGNORANCE : to despise history; to think that the profusion
and proliferation of technology has added dimensions to the
quality of life beyond virtues of integrity before God.
5. INTEMPERANCE: much like "imbalance" except this has to do with
playing games with reality (Peter says: "Be sober!") The
"alcoholic personality" is not limited to drinking.
We try to escape the realities of life with a pill or "drug"
for every occasion. Sometimes the drug is "humor." We joke
when the heat is on. We joke when our inner self comes near
to being exposed.
Often the "pill" is cynicism. We never expose our innermost
feelings. Only the "in" speakers have access to our respect--
even if sometimes God might wish to speak to us through a
child or a student or a disadvantaged person.
But these are all negative effects of trying to use a truth of
scripture rather than simply let the scripture shape our lives and
thinking. We simply do NOT know when Jesus is returning. We know
that it is considered naive to believe that He is coming soon- but His
word to His church was "Watch ye therefore, for ye not neither the day
nor the hour when the Son of man shall appear." (Matthew 25:13)
And there is a God-given GLORY available to those who live in the
anticipation of Christ;s Return, the return we pray for every time we
say the Lord's Prayer:
II. THE GLORY OF END-TIME LIVING
1. IMMINENCE : [The very same idea that puts off responsibility
when viewed one way is that which keeps us digging when we
realize we shall be called to account.]
Keeping short accounts. Paid up. Prayed up. And yet at the
same time, fully engaged.
[Mary Hale is 93. She is going to die one of these days. She
has been in the hospital several times in recent weeks, at the
point of death, unable to get her breath, and Lorraine Crayton
(her niece) has fully expected her to go.
But she bounces back. And "between times" she is ALIVE! She
loves. She receives love. She does something meaningful. She
is ready. When she dies WE will experience loss-- but SHE
will simply step on up!]
2. COMMUNITY : God's answer to ISOLATION.
The text says: (9) "Be hospitable to one another without
complaint." Hospitality is a hallmark of a healthy church.
I know we think of hospitality as inviting one another over to
our houses [like my son, Mark.] And that is a commendable
part of hospitality.
Henri Nouwen uses the term "hospitality" in a little different
way which I believe is very applicable: making space within
our hearts for other people. It is the willingness to
actually bring people into our hearts, and care about them and
their concerns.
Most of us have places in our homes where company would be
"out of bounds." Brian and I laughed about those places,
saying: "Don't go in the tool shed, there's a BEAR in there!"
Places that are cluttered, or filled with things we cannot
share.
But our inner lives can be ALL "BEAR-dens" where no one is
allowed. And we must seek to live in COMMUNITY as we
anticipate the Return of our Lord.
Being a part of the Church is NOT an option; it is the NORM.
We denigrate the church to our own peril.
Being increasingly involved in community is the right and
privilege of every believer. We need each other. We must
live to enhance each other.
Not knowing when Jesus will come makes it all the more imperative
that we have His Spirit, His mind. For THE MIND OF CHRIST, His Spirit
within is the answer to ignorance, imbalance, intemperance.
We may be certain that the Second Coming will be at least as
great a surprise as the First Advent was. There is only ONE way in
which we can be prepared-- one way we will be certain not to be
deceived. We must know Jesus so well here and now that we will know
Him when He returns!
Conclusion:
Is Jesus coming soon?
Sometimes I get to thinking that His return, AND SOON, is the
only hope we have for any hope of fair and equitable society.
But He has waited now almost 2,000 years.
Some people were persuaded that last year was the year.
Some people are pretty certain that certain historical things
need to unfold yet.
I don't know what "soon" is. When I was 20 I thought Jesus would
come before I was ordained. Then I got busy preaching and working and
raising sons. It wasn't very long ago that I began- and more than 30
years have gone by!
I have less time now to live than I have lived! I have less time
to serve than I have served! I shall see Jesus soon, one way or
another!
But Jesus IS going to return! We have that promise.
You have gifts. Use them to serve. Let God supply the
strength. Seek to glorify God in all you do. And if Jesus doesn't
come in your lifetime, it will be still a very, very short time until
you are in His Presence.
#78(EH) When He Shall Come
[IF Jesus WERE to come soon-- very soon-- would you be comfortable in
His Presence? You can do something about that NOW. Do you want to
pray about it?]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.70 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Thu Jun 06 1996 13:43 | 73 |
| Subj: Outline: The Cost of the Cross
NOTE: Most of the time, you receive a very full sermon outline.
Today, the outline is small on content, big on impact. Allow
the Holy Spirit to fill in the "preaching." - Mark Metcalfe
-------------------------------------------------------------------
August 17, 1992
For: September 6, 1992 am
(pm is Communion)
Text: Luke 14: 25 - 35
Lay Reader
Title The Cost of the Cross
Theme: A challenge to forever abandon "cheap grace" and
deliberately follow the crucified Savior.
Sermon: Introduction: A winnowing, watershed time had come for the
followers of Jesus (see John 6:66.)
Multitudes were (already) "going along" with the Jesus-
caravan. It was as though Jesus were totally unimpressed. He may
or may not have been pleased by the so-called "big numbers," but
His words this day cut to the very heart of the matter. Jesus was
laying his mission on the line. He demanded:
1. A LOVE THAT HAS NO COMPARISON. (26)
-not for security (parent)
-nor fulfillment (wife, children)
-nor even fellowship (brothers and sisters)
Certainly these are all good, even necessary to life. God
knows that. But at some time or other the very good things in life
can become rivals to the best and our order of priorities has to be
settled once and for all. Jesus demands our first and highest
allegiance!
2. A LOVE THAT DISCOUNTS EVEN LIFE ITSELF FROM THE VERY START! (27)
-I give my life to You!
-I will give it in a dramatic, public martyrdom
-I will give it in small, daily doses in a rural place where
no one knows but You
3. A LOVE THAT FOLLOWS JESUS (27)
-the only dynamic, or power, that can carry out such a commitment
is a personal relationship, the knowledge that Jesus is near and
that He approves!
Exhortation
"Going along" is not the same as following. Count the cost!
Carry your cross to your own crucifixion. Die NOW! Live forever!
Come after Jesus!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.71 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Wed Jun 19 1996 10:27 | 239 |
|
February 2, 1992 - pm
Texts: Ephesians 5:18 and John 20:22 Receive the Holy Spirit
WHEN THE SPIRIT COMES
Nazarenes and the Holy Spirit
Introduction
1. There are many advantages to being brought up in a holiness
church. Yet sometimes I think we get almost too familiar with God and
holy things. It is often the most precious gifts that get taken for
granted.
2. I am concerned that we holiness churches may come to think
that we know all about God, and all about His will, and all about
salvation, and particularly, to think that we have all the answers
regarding being filled with the Spirit.
3. Even so, we need to ask the question: What does it mean to
receive the Holy Spirit? Just what does it mean to be filled with the
Spirit? Shouldn't we know the "answers?" Should we, indeed?
4. The answer must be spiritually addressed. Understanding
holiness-- knowing about being filled with God-- is not primarily and
first of all an intellectual comprehension, as important as that
certainly is.
4.1 We must have sound doctrine. Our information about entire
sanctification must be both scriptural and Wesleyan.
Unless we have solid Wesleyan preaching, and sound
Wesleyan teaching and learning, we will find that we are
strongly influenced by the most attractive features of
whatever doctrines are being most skillfully or popularly
presented at the time.
4.2 But even before doctrine is the need for a vital contact with
God.
4.2a DOCTRINE and EXPERIENCE and PRACTICE are like three legs
of a tripod. Each one is absolutely essential.
To the uncoverted WORLD the only side of salvation they can see
or care about in any way is PRACTICE.
To the safe-guarding of the kingdom, and the ongoing health of
the CHURCH, the most important side of salvation is DOCTRINE. But
in the life of the INDIVIDUAL (the American rugged individual!!)
there is nothing more important than personal EXPERIENCE.]
4.3 God's Spirit must bring Christ's LIFE into being into your
heart and mine. It will never contradict God's revelation; it
will finally agree with sound doctrine. But we are not saved
first of all by WHAT we think we know, but by HIM WE KNOW WE
KNOW!
5. Here is a quote from a great holiness exponent of a
generation or so ago, Samuel Chadwick:
"The fullness of God is in Christ and Christ lives in
men through His Spirit. He is Himself the gift. He
brings all the blessings of grace, and wisdom, and power,
but He is the blesser and the blessing. There is in the
soul a very true sense of a divinely real Presence. The
Spirit makes the Presence real. This is the crowning
mystery and glory of grace. The Christian religion is not
a set of doctrines about Christ, neither is it a rule of
life based on the teaching and example of Christ. It is
not even an earnest and sincere endeavor to live according
to the mind and spirit of Christ.
It is LIFE, and that Life is the Life of Christ. It is the
continuation of the Life of the Risen Lord in his Body,
which is the Church, and in the Christian religion as set
forth in the New Testament. It is not a system but a
Presence; the Spirit of Christ indwelling the spirit of man."
6. Our knowledge of the indwelling Spirit-- our answer to the
question, "What does it mean to be filled with the Spirit
needs to have this quality of LIFE in it! We cannot simply
say, "I subscribe to the Nazarene position!" Our hearts must
be tuned to the Presence of God! NOW we will look at the
answer scripturally:
I. WE RECEIVE THE SPIRIT OF GOD WHEN WE ARE BORN OF THE SPIRIT
John 20:22 / Romans 8:9
A. On the first Easter evening Jesus met with His disciples.
Were they glad to see Him! And then the Bible says that Jesus
breathed on them and said: "Receive the Holy Spirit!"
B. We receive the Spirit and the great work of being made in
Christ's own image is begun, in the crisis moment when we are born of
the Spirit of God. Jesus made it clear in talking to Nicodemus that
when we are made alive in Him we are born of the Spirit.(John 3:8).
And Paul says even more powerfully, (Romans 8:9) If any man have not
the Spirit of Christ he is none of His.
C. No one is ever born again-- receives Jesus Christ as personal
Savior, without also receiving the Holy Spirit. In understandable
zeal for the truth of entire sanctification we may speak of Christians
as "receiving the Spirit" as though they had not known Him at all
before. This is not scriptural! Every Christian is the Temple of the
Holy Ghost, and every Christian is sanctified in this initial and very
true sense.
D. The Spirit brings with Himself into the life of every man,
woman, boy or girl who received Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord all
the qualities of the Christ-life. There in the inner being are at
least the embryonic qualities of all the mighty fruit of the Spirit
(see Galatians 5:22,23) of love, joy, peace and all the rest.
E. But the testimony of universal experience is that there is a
deeper and deeper relationship with God to be explored. The Spirit is
present in every child of God, making Jesus increasingly real, and
fellowship with Him possible. Have YOU come alive in Christ by His
Spirit?
Still, this is not all there is to receiving God's Spirit:
II. WE RECEIVE THE SPIRIT OF CLEANSING AND EMPOWERING WHEN WE ARE
SANCTIFIED WHOLLY (Acts 2: "They were in one place, in one accord,
etc...")
A. The Bible does not speak merely of the "coming" of the Holy
Spirit, but of the COMINGS.
B. Listen to what a current holiness advocate, Robert E.
Coleman, of Asbury, says:
Interestingly enough, when we get through all the theological
differences, a remarkable number of men and women greatly used of
God from various schools of thought witness to essentially the
same kind of a plus experience in their own lives. Naturally,
they speak of it in different ways, depending upon their
particular doctrinal point of view. Some call it "entire
sanctification," "holiness," "perfect love," or "the victorious
life." Others may prefer to describe it as "the baptism of the
Holy Spirit," "the rest of faith," "death to self," or something
else. The terminology, however, is not the important thing. What
is significant is that there exists among Christian leaders
representing many different theological and church connections a
basic unanimity of agreement upon the fact-- the fact of a deeper
and abiding life in Christ that is entered into subsequent to
regeneration whereby the trusting heart is delivered from the
bondage of self, filled with the Holy Spirit, and set aflame by
the love of God to serve the Lord with gladness.
C. There is an experience, a crisis experience of entire and
complete consecration, of full surrender, to which as children of God
we are brought by the loving conviction of the Holy Spirit. To this
complete consecration, in response to faith, the Holy Spirit COMES in
sanctifying fullness, not merely to reside, but to PRESIDE in the
heart of the believer.
But this, marvelous as it is, is not all that is implicit in the
simple command of Jesus: Receive the Spirit!
III. WE RECEIVE THE SPIRIT OF ADEQUACY DAY BY DAY AS WE APPROPRIATE
HIS PRESENCE AND POWER (Ephesians 5:18)
A. The "coming of the Spirit" is not over and ended when we enter
the relationship of entire sanctification. For again and again we read
in the account of the early church how the people, challenged by evil
powers, or blocked by civil authorities, facing death or imprisonment,
would come together and pray, and in answer to their prayer they would
be "FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT!"
This important verse, as important as any in the New Testament,
is properly translated "Be being filled with the Spirit!" Make being
filled with God an on-going reality in your life!.
B. One reason the power of God is not manifested more in
Christian's lives is that Christians are not living at that end of the
scale where the Spirit's power is urgently needed!
If we are content to take our pure and holy selves off into the
corner (like Little Jack Horner)and congratulate ourselves on our
doctrinal purity and our ethical honesty while the rest of the world
suffers and bleeds, we will never know the reality of what BEING
FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT REALLY IS ALL ABOUT!
But if we stay in step with Jesus by His indwelling Spirit-- if
we let HIM challenge our pure minds with HIS love-- He will take us
into situations where we are way over our heads-- where we KNOW WE CAN
NOT MAKE IT UNLESS HE POURS IN HIS SPIRIT!
C. But the beautiful thing is-- if we are HIS! No holds barred--
no reservations-- then THE SPIRIT DOES COME! He comes with His
adequacy! He comes in His love and power day by day as we need HIM!
Conclusion:
God is bigger than we can grasp! Being filled with His Spirit is
a promise that staggers our imagination-- but it is His promise!
We may not know all ABOUT God-- and we may not even have all the
answers about being filled with the Spirit; but we can in fact know
God, and we can in fact be filled with His Spirit!
God is not only BIGGER than you think-- God is NEARER THAN YOU
KNOW! God is HERE JUST NOW! He is bringing witness to the truth about
His salvation. He is telling YOU that you can have His Spirit deep
within!
GOD: "Do you know Me?"
"Do you really WANT to know Me?"
I ask you myself, this evening: ARE YOU FILLED WITH THE
SPIRIT?
ARE YOU SATISFIED THAT GOD HAS ALL OF YOU?
ARE YOU DAILY ASKING TO BE BEING FILLED?
Prayer
Hymn #276 - "Have Thine Own Way, Lord"
First preached September 8, 1991 - pm
Here adapted for the series "What We Nazarenes Believe" for Jan-Feb
of 1992
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.72 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Wed Jun 19 1996 10:28 | 184 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Liberty, Freedom, and Independence
July 2, 1995
LIBERTY, FREEDOM, INDEPENDENCE
Galatians 5:1 For freedom Christ has set us free.
Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
As a schoolboy I lived for the sound of the afternoon bell when I
would be free. My child's understanding of freedom was some period of
time when no one was telling me what to do. I just took it for
granted that all "grown-ups" were absolutely free. They didn't have
to go to school (and hear Miss Stroud pronounce spelling words.) They
had car keys. They could stay up as late as they wanted.
Of course I didn't know one thing about mortgage payments or
utility bills or jobs where the boss might be just as stupid as Miss
Stroud.
And as free as I might feel at 3 p.m., you can count on it-- by
5:30 I was by the radio in our living room listening to Jack
Armstrong, the All-American Boy and waiting for my mother to call us
to supper at 6. My freedom did not pretend to be independence. I had
never thought much about it, but freedom and independence were two
completely different things, and as a matter of fact, so they are.
On this weekend good Americans think about words like
independence, and liberty, and freedom. For next Tuesday is the
Glorious Fourth of July.
Of course, if you happen to be among the 95% of the world that is
made up of people other than Americans these concepts are dear to you
as well, even if your red letter days are different from ours. [George
Lyons tells about enrolling his children in school in Australia on the
4th of July. The headmaster said, "Isn't this Thanksgiving or
something in your country?" ... But you DO have a 4th of July in
your country, too! Otherwise you wouldn't have anything between the
3rd and the 5th!]
Independence. Liberty. Freedom. Words that people have used to
start revolutions. Words that have been counted worth dying for.
"Give me liberty, or give me death!" "Live free or die!" But also
words that need to be taken seriously and understood. Perhaps no
words are more misunderstood than independence, liberty, and freedom.
In the physical reality of our day-to-day world in which we live
there is no such thing as independence, and no such things as absolute
liberty, or freedom.
We depend on others to harvest food and bring it to the
marketplace. We have all had mothers or mother-figures to change our
diapers for us. We cannot live in this world apart from everyone and
everything else. We are inter-dependant. Every one of us is
circumscribed by limits of time, and of space, and of physical energy
and endurance. We soon learn to live within the bounds of our
physical reality.
We cannot be in two places at once. We cannot go backward in
time. We cannot undo what we have done. We cannot jump over a house
or run 50 miles an hour. We may not have any human laws prohibiting
these things-- simply the reality of physical and natural laws limit
our freedom.
Probably no one here has any great problem with the fact that in
everyday, practical living, freedom and liberty flow out of
inter-dependence and trust, and that we need laws and we need each
other.
But somehow, when we think of independence, liberty and freedom
in the things of ultimate reality, what I would call the world of the
spirit, the issues are much more difficult for us to perceive and
understand.
We are like that schoolboy, waiting for the bell to ring, and
thinking that all there is to life is getting out of as much
responsibility as possible.
Sometimes we think we have the ultimate answers of life when we
really haven't heard all the questions yet. We think we will be free
if we can only declare our independence from the restrictions of God
and religion, or we pick and choose between the many interpretations
within the bounds of nominal Christianity. And believe me, you can
pick and choose until you find people teaching what you want to hear.
But when we bump up against the realities of life and death--
when the crunch times come as they will and as they do, we need to
hear the voice of love saying, "It's supper time! Come to the table!"
In looking for liberty, real freedom, we can pick and choose what
WE think is right, OR, we can trust a Person we have come to know. I
am speaking, of course, of Jesus Christ!
This Person lived 2,000 years ago and taught many wise sayings.
but so did Confucius and Buddha. This Person died for what He
believed was the will of Father God. So have thousands of others.
But this Person we are challenged to trust with defining liberty and
freedom in the realm of the spirit is different from every other
Person who ever lived.
This Person not only spoke truth, He said that He IS Truth. By a
miracle of grace God gave us His word through prophets, and by sweet
singers and Psalmists, and that Word told of One who would come and
fulfill all truth. Jesus came, and lived and died, and sent His
Spirit to breathe life into a Church. The Spirit inspired the
evangelists and apostles to write, and through that New Testament as
well as the Old the Spirit of God has introduced you and me to a
living Person.
We have sat in Bible School and sung "Into my heart, into my
heart, Come into my heart, Lord Jesus!" And you know what? The Lord
Jesus Christ has humbled himself again and come into your heart and
mine. We have come to a public altar at an invitation, and we have
heard someone say to us: "Listen to this scripture, Revelation
3:20:'Behold I stand at the door and knock! If any man/woman/boy/girl
will hear my voice, and will open the door I will come in.' Do you
believe this? Will you ask Jesus in?" And we have said, "Dear Jesus,
please come in!"
And the Lord Jesus Christ, king of the Universe, has humbled
Himself and has come into your life and mine to live in us by His
Spirit.
Frankly, this world is moving so very fast that none of us can
keep up with the explosion of information and keep his/her balance.
Our freedom is limited by boundaries we do not begin to understand.
But we can trust a Person we have come to know in a personal and
intimate and very real way.
But if we follow Jesus we must be prepared to obey Him. If we
choose to follow Jesus we are free but we will not be independent.
Following Jesus brings with it a freedom, but within a love that sets
lesser loves aside. To follow Jesus is to find liberty to do the
right, freedom to follow the best. But that is a far cry from doing
as we please!
A correspondent of mine, a Methodist minister, Rev. David
Miller, recently wrote:
Every time we had Bible study, Ray and I disagreed with each
other. Almost every passage at which we looked would launch him
into an explanation of why infant baptism was anti-biblical or some
other criticism of official United Methodist theology or practice.
My sermons never seemed to click with him, either. I tend to use
a lot of references from popular culture, and he didn't even own
a TV. "Fanatic!" I thought to myself (and said to colleagues and
friends.)
After being his pastor for a few months, I learned something about
him that amazed me. When he became a Christian, he gave up his
tobacco base. He didn't just quit growing tobacco; he didn't lease or
sell his base. He gave it up completely. When he gained a new life, he
gave up his livelihood.
In many important ways Ray was a follower of the way.
We might want to wriggle a bit on this challenge that Jesus
confronts us with-- "Will you come all the way with Me, will you be
willing to go where I go, do what I ask of you, no matter what?"
We would like a more moderate sort of faith- a faith in good
citizenship or strong family values (and they are worthy!). But Jesus
calls us to the freedom that only comes from abandonment to the total
will of God. That is something to think about over this Glorious
Fourth of July Weekend.
Prayer
(Chorus:
Sacrament of Communion
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.73 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Wed Jun 19 1996 10:29 | 253 |
|
WHAT IS THE CHURCH?
(Titus 2:11-14) For the grace of God that brings salvation has
appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and
worldly passions, and to live self=A9controlled, upright and godly lives
in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope- the glorious
appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself
for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a
people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
(1 Peter 2:9) But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood,
an holy nation, a peculiar* people; that ye should shew forth the
praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous
light:
*(as in Titus, "a people that are his very own")
Introduction:
[We have been looking at basic questions of our faith. We
have tried to start with the big ones-- the simple ones-- the ones we
think it is almost heresy to ask, such as "Is there a God?" "What is
God like?" "What is sin?" "What is salvation?"]
Any list of basic questions Christians must answer is not
complete without this question, "What is the CHURCH?", and we address
this question today and also, perhaps, next Sunday morning.
In the history of the Exodus we have a valid paradigm of how
our God calls a people to Himself. And it is not "spiritualizing
history" to look to that story for an outline of what Christ intends
for His church.
The children of Israel cried out to the God of their fathers
in misery from their bondage in Egypt. In 400 years the descendants of
the seventy-two souls of Jacob's family that had been invited as
guests of Pharaoh to Egypt had become an ethnic group of hundreds of
thousands. They were no longer guests, but despised slaves and tools
of a pagan culture.
And God heard their cry from their bondage. He came to them
in power in the ministry of His servant Moses. God parted the Red Sea,
and delivered them from slavery. Those who tried to keep them in
chains were drowned in those same waters of deliverance which set
God's people free.
As soon as they were free, and even before, a new thing was
beginning. They were becoming *a people*; they were together for
better or for worse. In the pressure and sifting they experienced in
the wilderness, God gave them holy laws to live by, standards that
reflected His own nature, His holiness and His love. These Ten
Commandments set the emerging community apart, and gave them identity.
God watched over this band of travellers in the wilderness. He
shaded them by day, and illuminated them by night. He rained food
from heaven on them, and kept them from dying of thirst in the bleak
desert. God defeated their enemies-- sometimes as they watched, and
sometimes when they didn't know anything about it. God brought them
into a land flowing with milk and honey, and helped them become a real
nation. He gave them a king when they cried for one. God took care of
His own.
But all along, God's highest and best for the people He called
His own was that they would be His sons and daughters; that they would
love Him with all their hearts, and love each other as brothers and
sisters as well. God wanted His people to be "family." For this great
God loved the whole world, and it was through His people God wanted
all nations of the earth to be blessed!
God's purpose then for people of faith is still the same
today. And God's purpose for you and me helps answer the question,
"What is the CHURCH?"
I. In One Vital Aspect, The Church Is Always *A Movement*
It has a vital interest in our LIBERATION!
True "liberation theology" is not interested in guns and
bullets and violence, but in God's power stooping to set people free
who cry out to him in despair.
(Just this week I interviewed a student (Kevin Coleman) who,
as a pagan in New Jersey, cried in despair to a God he wasn't even
sure existed-- and God heard him! He will be joining the Church of the
Nazarene next Sunday!)
The symbol of deliverance is not the sword or spear, and God's
deliverance does not come by insistence on rights and by human
hatred.
What God would have us remember is... the Red Sea! God wants
the church to be a fellowship where men and women can be set free from
sin and from enslaving bondage to things. The church is a place where
people can get saved! When God speaks, sinners can get up and walk
away from a life of bondage to sin!
II. The Church Is Also To Be *A Coming Together*
Because of a common faith, and a common way of life, the
church becomes a place of IDENTITY!
Mount Sinai is more than just a place where the Law was given;
it is also the symbol of a birth of a holy nation. God was teaching
His people Who He IS and what He is like, and inviting them to
identify with Him: Be Ye HOLY, for I AM HOLY!
And that is one of the things that happened on the day of
Pentecost. God wrote the Law again-- but this time on human hearts,
instead of cold tablets of stone. And the church was born as men and
women began to learn what Who God IS, and what God is like. And as a
church, together we come to acknowledge why God put us here on this
earth, and how we can become what God intends that we shall be.
In seeking to learn these lessons the church affirms its
identity...
III. God'S Church Is Also Intended To Be *A Fortress*
Some of the proud and the strong among us may not like to
admit they need this; and some of the weaker among us think it is all
the church is for. But God intends that His church shall be a place
of SAFETY! We call this room in which we are worshipping "the
sanctuary." We talk glibly about "a fortress mentality" and the
negative implications of withdrawing into a shell to hold off the
insidious and pervading evils of a dominant culture. And yes, God
does expect us to do most of the work of the church outside these four
walls.
But remember, too, that Jesus said (Matthew 6:33) "Seek ye
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness...and God will care for
your needs of security!" That deep conviction that if we follow our
Shepherd, our Shepherd will take care of us, is basic truth in our
faith.
The symbol of God's care in the story of Exodus might well be
the 'Pillar of Fire.' Or, it might be the manna, or water from the
rock, or any other of the many times God kept and provided and
defended His people. I hope you read and know and love those stories.
The church is to be a sanctuary from the storm of evil; a
place of refreshing and renewal. It is the only source of true
security in a world of change.
There is danger, of course, that security and sanctuary can
become an end in and of itself. The legitimate need for God's
protection can degenerate into a cry for comfort at any price. We
don't merely want God to help us through problems, we don't want to
experience any pain. But life isn't like that!
There came a time that the holy nation cried out for a king,
so they could become a secular nation as well. They wanted for a king
to defend and deliver them, and soon any love and caring and family
spirit was gone. David may have been a man after God's own heart, but
he soon became absorbed with keeping the machinery of government
working. And by the time Solomon's reign had ended the nation that was
to be God's own people had traded their liberty for the safety of
keeping the status quo.
Here is a point of caution: we must exist for reasons beyond
maintaining organization and status quo.
IV. But remember, The Highest Form The Church Takes Is *A Family*
Our God is a God who loves FELLOWSHIP! He created us to love
Him-- there is no no higher reason for life than that! All the laws of
community, and all the commandments; all the teachings of Jesus,
including the Great Commandment, have to do with LOVE! And do you know
where "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself!" is found? In the
story of the Exodus, Leviticus 19:18! (and eight other times, quoted
in the New Testament.) The church as family is not an idea that is
new.
The acid test of the reality of the Christian faith, as John
wrote, was to be, "Behold how they love one another!" One great
purpose of the church, from our human perspective, is to restore the
fellowship of the Garden of Eden. The high point in life for Adam and
Eve, was walking with God in the cool of the day. They walked with God
and loved each other with pure love, not because they had to, but
because it was what made them happiest! The church is to be a family!
It is to know a love beyond legislation!
And that is just what we are striving for here-- what every
true fellowship within the church wants. WE ARE FAMILY! And more and
more we need to see that reality grow!
V. But remember, too, God has another great purpose for the church.
God Intends That The Church Shall Be *A Witness*
When the word got out [about 1492 B.C.] that a renegade son of
Pharaoh named Moses had led a motley throng of Hebrew slaves into the
wilderness, loaded with gold and silver jewelry, and with no visible
means of defense, what do you think the kings of the established
nations in the Sinai peninsula and the rest of the western Oriental
world thought?
One of these pagan rulers, Sihon, king of the Amorites,
decided he was not going to let this mass of people go through his
territory, even though they asked him politely. He probably thought
Pharaoh's loss was his gain-- he would make a huge profit of these
defenseless shepherds. But God told Moses not to be afraid, and Sihon
was killed and his armies routed. And after that incident Sihon's name
is mentioned more than twenty times in the rest of the Bible, usually
in a Song of Praise to God, as the "church" looked back on how God
blessed them when they were defenseless.
What do you think this did as a witness to God's power and
love for His people? Everybody-- EVERYBODY!!-- knew that the Hebrews'
strange God-- a God no one could see- stood by them! The watching
kingdoms saw the manna-- they saw God's care. They witnessed the
defeat of evil enemies. God stood by the Jews, not because He loved
them better than the rest of mankind, but because He chose them to
witness to His great love! I believe this truth would be acknowledged
by the great Jewish scholars, even though it is easy for both Jews and
non-Jews to think that God simply had His favorites and didn't care
about the rest of the world.
The Golden Verse of the Bible does not say, "God so loved the
Jews that He gave His only begotten Son!" But listen carefully, John
3:16 does not say, "God so loved THE CHURCH! that He gave His Son",
either! God does love the church, and intends that we shall love Him
and love each other, God also loves the world, ALL the world, and
intends that His people shall be witnesses to that love.
God loves all people everywhere. The primary witness to God's
love for the world is the church. A very important part of that
witness will be a deliberate evangelism, or taking the gospel to the
ends of the earth in obedience to Christ's Great Commission. But all
of the life of the church can be a witness! From the Red Sea to the
Promised Land God spoke to the world by His people.
In every facet of its existence, in worship, and education,
and in service, as well as in fellowship, as well as evangelism, a
living Church is a living witness! If we are simply reacting against
our culture, or worse, if we are simply a non-critical part of our
culture, then no wonder we are a poor witness or no witness at all.
But if we are on our way to God's Promised Land, and are
walking by His vision for us, across cultural pressures where need be,
then we shall be the witness God wants us to be!
WHAT IS THE CHURCH? (text) We are God's people! God help us
to live like God's people! Amen.
#8(EH) Christ is Made the Sure Foundation
-- =
|
| 803.74 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Fri Jun 21 1996 14:12 | 179 |
|
April 14, 1992
MAUNDY THURSDAY
Renewal of Covenant
CALL TO WORSHIP
Minister: Come, let us join ourselves to the Lord in an everlasting
covenant which will never be forgotten. Jeremiah 50:5
HYMN
INVOCATION
Minister: Almighty God, to whom all hearts are open, all desires
known, from whom no secrets are hidden, cleanse our thoughts and
enable us to love You, to magnify Your holy name, and pray and worship
You by the mighty help of Your Holy Spirit, in the authority of Christ
Jesus our Lord. Amen All: The Lord's Prayer (Matthew 6:9 - 13)
"trespasses"
HYMN
PREPARATION
Minister: Brothers and sisters, agree with me in these matters:
The great love of God as shown in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
our Lord deserves and demands a response of love on our part. Is that
not so?
People: Amen. It is so.
CONFESSION
Minister: We were all once sinners by birth and by choice, and
strangers and aliens to grace. Even now, wherever we are in our
spiritual pilgrimage, we must depend upon God's grace and not our own
righteousness, or we will be forever lost. Is that not so?
People: Amen. It is so.
Minister: Will you join with me in a prayer of confession, openness,
and dependency upon the saving grace of God in Christ?
TRUST
All: We acknowledge a deep sense of dependency upon Your grace and
mercy, O God. We are of our own merit but sinners, lost and alone; it
is only by Your mercy we have come to be Your children.
We have confessed our sins, and do confess that even now, to this
hour, in us apart from You dwells no good thing. As we have prayed
"Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors." so now we do rejoice
in Your forgiveness and saving grace, casting all our hope upon Your
blood, shed for our sins. On You we put our trust, on You we lay all
hope for pardon, for eternal life, for salvation. We call You Lord!
We trust You as Savior! Amen.
COMMITMENT
Minister: Let us deliberately yield ourselves now to the Lord. As His
servants, as well as His children, let us give up the dominion and
government of our lives and of our church forever to God as a living
sacrifice.
All: I am Yours, O God. I reverence You. I dedicate myself to Your
service.
We are Yours, O God. We reverence You. We dedicate the Wollaston
Church of the Nazarene* to your service without qualification or
reservation.
[*If you are a member of a church other than Wollaston, here silently
pray for your own fellowship that it might be blessed and owned of
God.]
Minister: In giving ourselves individually and corporately to God we
affirm that we are willing to let God Himself appoint us to our work.
Christ has many services that must be done; some of His appointments
are more easy and honorable, others are more difficult and
menial. Some are suited to our inclinations and interest, others may
be contrary to both.
In some ways we please Christ and please ourselves, as when He
requires us to feed and clothe ourselves; to rejoice in the Lord, to
bless and praise His name. These are the sweet works of being a
Christian.
But there will be other ways in which we cannot please Christ our
Lord but by denying ourselves, when it will cost us shame and
reproach, even perhaps parting with our liberties and accommodations
for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If you are willing, join with me in prayer:
All: Lord Jesus Christ, we affirm that this is Your church, and that
we are Your people, I am Your servant. Make us what You will, O God,
only let us be truly Yours.
Minister: Lord, have Your way in me.
People: I am Yours to command; I love You.
Minister: Use me or lay be aside, exalt me or let me be trodden under
foot for You.
People: Let me be full; let me be empty, only as You will.
Minister: Let me have all things; let me have nothing.
All: We freely, and I personally, freely and heartily resign all to
Your pleasure and disposal.
HYMN
RESPONSE
Minister: Brothers and sisters, such a commitment to God Almighty as
we have now made is the essence of true Christian faith. When we have
cast all our hopes upon Jesus Christ, and when we intentionally and
with our understanding have given ourselves to Him than we are
Christians indeed, and never till then.
Christ will be the Savior of none but His willing servants.
Christ will have no servants except by their free will and consent.
Let us now confirm our commitment by singing a covenant hymn, by
affirming a solemn covenant, and by taking together the elements of
Holy Communion.
HYMN : A CHARGE TO KEEP I HAVE
THE COVENANT
All (Standing:) And now glory be to You, O God the Father, whom I
shall be bold from this day forward to look upon as my God and Father.
Glory be to You, O God the Son, You who loved me and washed me from my
sins in Your own blood, You who are now my Savior and My
Redeemer. Glory be to You, O God the Holy Spirit, who by Your almighty
power have turned my heart from sin to God.
O eternal Jehovah, The Lord God Omnipotent, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, You are now become my Covenant-Friend, and I, through Your
infinite grace, have become Your Covenant-Servant and Child. We are
Your people, this is Your church. The Covenant which we have made on
earth, may it be ratified in heaven. Amen.
THE COMMUNION
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
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| 803.75 | It is Finished! | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue Jun 25 1996 10:05 | 143 |
|
April 17, 1992
IT IS FINISHED
Good Friday Meditation
John 19:30 When Jesus had received
the vinegar, He said, "It is finished!"
and He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
A STATEMENT ABOUT CHRIST'S LIFE WORK
The cry from the cross, "It is finished" is the final word in the
Gospel of John. "Into Thy hands I commend My spirit" is a personal
word of faith; this is a statement about what Jesus has done with His
life, and where He had finally ended His earthly ministry.
THE VIEW OF UNBELIEF: IT'S ALL OVER
I suppose there are different ways to hear these words. One
interpretation, I hasten to say 'Not my own!', might say that with
these words Jesus has simply said: "It's all over!"
The agony has ended, but with it also the noble experiment has
failed! 'My disciples are scattered, the high and holy-sounding words
I uttered have proved empty. Love is NOT stronger than hatred; the
people with the biggest army always win.'
But if this had been the true meaning of these words we never
would have heard of Jesus Christ except as a tiny footnote somewhere
in an historian's notebook about some eccentric Jewish revolutionary.
This is the interpretation we must give these words however,
if all that we see is the cross of Christ.
I know it is Good Friday. I know we aren't supposed to celebrate
the Resurrection until Sunday. I praise God that the Cross is God's
victory for us over the power and guilt of sin. But it takes the power
of the Resurrection to unlock the full meaning of these words: "It is
finished!"
John 20:9 expresses how helpless we would be to see the full
meaning of "It is finished" without knowing, as we most certainly
know, that Jesus not only died but rose again from the dead. John 20:9
says:
"For as yet they did not understand the Scripture
that [Jesus] must rise again from the dead."
From our perspective this side of Calvary, this side of the
resurrection, this side of Pentecost and the living Christ inhabiting
His church, we know that Jesus was NOT admitting defeat with his
statement from the cross, IT IS FINISHED!
THE PERSPECTIVE OF FAITH: IT IS COMPLETE
The only way we Christians can understand these words of
completion is in the light of the mighty power of LIFE ETERNAL, the
Resurrection Power that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus.
In His own words in the High Priestly prayer Jesus said: (17:4)
"I glorified Thee on earth, having accomplished the work which Thou
hast given Me to do."
And what DID Jesus come to do?
1. JESUS CAME TO SHOW US THE FATHER.
John 1:1 declared that Jesus is the WORD. In John 14 Jesus
tells the disciples, "He that hath seen Me hath seen the
Father." God is Transcendent, beyond our full
comprehension. Yet forever we know what God is, for God is
like our Lord, like our Friend, Jesus of Galilee.
2. JESUS CAME TO DESTROY THE WORKS OF EVIL.
I John 3:8 says: "The Son of God appeared for this purpose,
that He might destroy the works of the devil." Satan has set
up shop on this planet, and has taken many prisoners. He has
propagated lies about what real power and real wealth and real
satisfaction might be. Jesus has come to set the prisoners of
evil free, and show them His own love, and share with them His
own life!
3. [Here we come to the truth that from our perspective is
central, having to do directly with our salvation:]
JESUS CAME TO BRING LIFE TO YOU AND ME.
John 10:10 I am come that they might have LIFE, and that they
may have it more abundantly. And also John 1:12 He came unto
His own and His own received Him not; but as many as received
Him, to them gave He power to become the children of God, even
as many as believed on His name.
When Jesus said, "It is finished" He was saying that everything
necessary was set in place that we might be God's children, heirs of
God's grace in Christ, joint-heirs with Christ to all the love of
God's family!
"It is finished!" means that we may be:
justified - counted as righteous in Christ
regenerated - new creatures in Christ
adopted - brought into God's family with His Spirit crying
"Abba, Father" within us and
sanctified - or the actual work of making us LIKE Christ begun
within our personality
BEHOLD: THE FINISHED WORK
Perhaps the best news is that this cry of Jesus from the cross
means that THERE IS NO MORE THAT NEEDS TO BE DONE BEFORE YOU AND I CAN
COME TO GOD, to receive this gift of life (this Gift=Jesus Himself!),
and to be received into God's family:
This finished work is ours to receive as the Holy Spirit makes it
available to us by God's grace:
John 1:12 " ...as many as received Him, to them gave He power to
become the children of God, even as many as believed on His
name."
I'M SURE THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED THE LORD JESUS INTO YOUR HEART
AND LIFE OR YOU PROBABLY WOULDN'T BE HERE TODAY. BUT IF, BY CHANCE,
YOU HAVE COME WITH BURDENS OR DOUBTS OR FEARS, FEARS OF LIFE OR FEARS
OF DEATH, LET ME ASSURE YOU THAT WHEN JESUS SAID, FROM THE CROSS: IT
IS FINISHED! HE HAD YOUR ETERNAL SALVATION, AND YOUR PERSONAL
ASSURANCE AT HEART. HE DIED BECAUSE HE LOVES US, AND HE COMPLETED THE
WORK THAT MAKES HIS ETERNAL LIFE OUR OWN!
Prayer:
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.76 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue Jul 02 1996 10:44 | 216 |
|
June 9, 1996
Genesis 12: 1 - 9
Matthew 9: 9 - 13
THE RISK TAKERS
THE CALL
A. Once upon a time there was a good man. He had a good family. He
had good connections. He was living in a reasonably comfortable
manner. He was abreast of the latest modern technology. His life was
not in crisis. But deep in his heart there was the nagging
uncertainty, the question he could not put into words:
"IS THIS ALL THERE IS TO LIFE?"
B. Then one day this good man became aware that Almighty God was
talking to him. Just how this awareness came about I cannot tell
you. But God was saying, "Well, no, as a matter of fact THIS isn't all
there is to life! And if you are willing and obedient, I will show
you exactly what your heart is seeking!"
C. That day Abraham had a decision to make. He had to decide what
one thing was absolutely the most important thing in his life. The
way the story puts it: God said, "I want you to LEAVE...your
country...your people...your father's relatives...and above all LEAVE
your right to say what is right and wrong!" I want YOU to come and
walk with ME! And if you DO, I'll bless you far beyond anything you
can possibly imagine!"
SOME QUESTIONS
1) Does God still call people like He did Abraham?
2) How would God get your attention if He wanted to speak to you?
3) How can we respond to a call from God in 1996?
To answer #1:
[Does God still call individual people?]
1. My 'message' is "yes:" I am convinced that Abraham's call
represents a basic theme of the whole Bible! The story of Noah-- the
Exodus-- right through the whole Bible-- to Jesus calling the
disciples-- the message is DARE TO LEAVE WHAT UNSPIRITUAL, UNGODLY,
UNBELIEVING SELFISH WAYS TELL YOU-- "Leave the prison of your
self-made gods-- come away from a Scripture that YOU edit and cut and
pick and choose and stand in judgment over-- leave the bondage of
"what so-called sophisticates might think," -- AND STEP OUT ON A
JOURNEY OF FAITH WITH ME!
2. My personal testimony is "yes:" I know you would expect an
evangelical Christian minister to answer in the affirmative. I am
certain, convinced, sure, that God spoke to me when I was living
selfishly and out of fellowship with Him. He spoke to me by both love
and fear; by what I might call "Behold the goodness and the severity
of God" (Romans 11:22)
To answer #2
[How would God get your attention if He wanted to speak to you?]
1. To hear God speak, we might just have to be listening! God
can't teach us anything if we already know it all! Wes Tracy wrote
these words a few years ago:
Aren't you tired of trying to be a classy sophisticate who knows
all about things timely-- progressive education, career
enhancement, political correctness, next season's fashions, and
the done thing? . . . Some who take the name of Christ seem
owned by their ambitions, chained to a success formula, enslaved
by the hunger for prestige-- diseases they have caught from our
sinful culture. They fill up the ranks of the Christian jet set.
Visit any important Christian conference and you will see them--
"dressed alike, talking alike, smiling alike, looking over the
shoulders of the people to whom they are speaking in order to see
who else has come into the room."
2. To hear God speak there must be faith-- an element of TRUST.
in WHO is speaking is ALL-IMPORTANT!
In every purely human decision we consider very carefully all the
factors and then decide which way to go. And that is only common
sense. But when it comes to the deep satisfaction of the heart, and
we hear God begin speaking, we have to choose-- make a decision-- on
just HOW important God is to us.
Abraham started out not knowing at first where he was going--
only Who he was going with (see Hebrews 11:8.) The "common sense"
thing is to say, "God-- let me see what You have in mind, then I'll
say yes or no" -- That works for everything and everyone except God.
Romans 12: 1,2 says "Present yourselves to God for His service
and then He will let you know what is his good and acceptable and
perfect will!"
So to really hear God speak is a matter of trust!
3. To hear God speak we may well have to go against the current
of what is accepted as Christian by many evangelicals. We have to
choose to take SELF off the throne, and seek God's face for Himself
alone!
Spirituality is MORE than self-fulfillment. God's way is what we
are made for-- but it is a way of spiritual discipline that does not
have happiness or deliverance or becoming fully human as its final
goal-- though these may well be by-products. Spiritual fulfillment
begins when we realize GOD ALMIGHTY WANTS US TO COME AND WALK WITH HIM
ON A JOURNEY WHERE ONLY HE KNOWS THE WAY!
Responding to #3
[How can we respond to a call from God in 1996?]
WE HAVE TO CHOOSE WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT IN OUR LIVES. I BELIEVE GOD
STILL SPEAKS, AND THAT HE HONORS THOSE WHO WILL STEP OUT IN FAITH AS
ABRAHAM DID.
Yesterday morning I opened my Bible to read and get ready to
pray. The passage was I Kings 3, and I got as far as verse five (5)
where God is speaking to the newly crowned Solomon. He, God, tells
Solomon "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."
I stopped. I thought. Honestly, now, what one thing would I ask
of God if I knew for certain that He would grant me that one thing,
and I did not know if He would grant me anything else. What one
thing is most important to me?
First I thought "You, Lord, You tell me! You decide for me!"
That sounds very pious, but somehow it did not let me off the hook. I
felt prodded. No -- what really is the most important thing?
I was pleased that I didn't think about big bucks, or a palatial
retirement home or material things-- at least not "up front," but only
after a long reflection-- reflection that these were "way down the
list." I confess I did think of things like not ever wanting to come
down to old age and be a burden to myself and others. I thought of
what a pleasure it would be to be able to write and speak and teach
for years to come.
Do you know what I finally decided was most important?
When I was about six years old-- this scripture from I Kings
brought back a memory I hadn't thought of for a long, long time-- when
I was about six-- a little boy evangelistic singer travelling almost
year round-- a store owner - I can still dimply see the store-- a sort
of hardware or Western Auto-type store with wide aisles-- anyway, the
owner took us-- Mother, Dad, and me-- to this store after church one
night-- opened the store, turned on the lights-- and said to me,--
maybe six years old-- "You can have any one thing you want in this
store!"
I walked up and down the aisles looking at bicycles and lawn
mowers and garden furniture and clocks and house supplies and car
radios, items big and small-- expensive and relatively cheap. I never
would have such an opportunity again-- although at that time I was
totally unaware of the values, unaware of what my dad might need, or
my mother.
This is a true story. I picked up a little wind-up toy car, a
little painted car, made in Japan, worth less than a dollar in 1937.
I'm not even sure why I remember so well except I think my father
was so disappointed I didn't at least pick out a scooter or a bike--
but as I recall I was thinking it wouldn't fit in the car anyway. I
could have had any one thing up to many times the value of the thing
I chose. But that was that-- and what would you expect from a
six-year-old?
Do you know what I finally decided was most important? IF WE
ANSWER GOD'S QUESTION: WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO FOR YOU IN ANY LESSER
WAY THAN SAYING FROM OUR HEARTS "I WANT TO BE WHERE YOU ARE! I WANT TO
WALK WITH YOU!" WE ARE LIKE THAT SIX-YEAR-OLD BOY IN THE TOY STORE. WE
WALK OUT WITH STUFF WHEN GOD WANTS US TO HAVE IT ALL!
The Gospel (Matthew 9:9-13) for today is the same story--
different century-- different character-- same God-- same call.
Matthew, sitting at his tax booth has asked himself the question many
times over "IS THIS ALL THERE IS TO LIFE?" We might begin again: Once
upon a time there was a good man. He had a good family. He had good
connections. He was living in a reasonably comfortable manner. He was
abreast of the latest modern technology. But along came Jesus and
said, simply, 'FOLLOW ME!"
And Matthew simply got up and followed Jesus!
The journey won't be easy. It never is. Shallow spirituality,
and greed and lusts and cheap grace will try to take us off the track.
But they lead only to emptiness. Until we have God we are empty if we
are millionaires! And if we are in God's company we have everything
if we are shipwrecked or in prison or going through family trauma or
whatever!
As Thomas Kelley wrote in his great little book, A Testament of
Devotion: About God's way, he says,
Its joys are ravishing,
its peace profound,
its humility the deepest,
its power world-shaking,
its love enveloping,
its simplicity that of a trusting child ...
It is the life and power of Jesus of Nazareth.
Prayer
Hymn #552 O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.77 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue Jul 02 1996 10:45 | 188 |
|
June 23, 1996
WHAT PRICE PEACE?
Background lesson: Genesis 21(also Galatians 4:6 -9;22-24;28-31)
Text: Matthew 10:34-39 (38 -39 Paraphrased:) If you do not take up
your cross and follow after me you are not worthy of me. If you grasp
selfishly after life you will lose it; if you lose your life for my
sake you will find it.
The words of Jesus here in Matthew 10 seem somehow different that
we expect to hear from him. They do not seem to be the mission of his
life; isn't he the Prince of Peace? Here he is saying, "I did not come
to bring peace, but a sword! The members of one's own household will
be divided!" What can this mean?
Certainly it does NOT mean that Jesus does not bring peace to
those who seek him as Lord and Savior. But what Jesus is saying is
that following him will not be easy. When we start out to follow
Jesus and do God's will you can count on it, you will be opposed.
What are some of the hard times you have faced because you are
trying to follow Jesus? What do you suppose are some of the
challenges that oppose God's people? Can you think of any? There are
many external challenges.
Surely many people will say right off: the devil will oppose
those who seek to follow Jesus. I believe there is evil in this world
that hates God and seeks to fight God through discouraging his people.
There are people in this world that hate religion, and who
ridicule and oppose and would persecute where they can. More people
have been martyred in this century for their faith than any other
century in history!
There are (even) Christians who let us down, who may betray our
confidence-- who may turn back. All these external challenges are
serious, and real, and can cause pain. But they are to be expected--
and by God's grace they can be overcome.
Much harder to face are the challenges closer to home
A divided home is always a challenge to faith. When people we
love and are bound to by ties of blood and ties of covenant do not
share our faith, we have challenges that are harder to face than
external challenges.
People who love us and whom we love have the power to hurt us the
most! Jesus never asks us to "hate" loved ones. That is not what
this language means. But a divided home may cause us to have to
change course-- but we can still seek to follow Jesus, and we can show
those closest to us His Spirit of love. Sometimes that may have to be
very tough love. Only the Spirit can give us wisdom to know how to
carry forward.
But the hardest challenge of all is not a divided HOME-- but
A DIVIDED HEART IS THE HARDEST CHALLENGE OF ALL!
There is something inside every human being -until it is dealt
with scripturally- something that is not willing to trust God and
simply obey Him. Is it possible to have victory over a divided heart?
Here is where the ancient story of Abraham 'connects' with us
here this morning at the end of the 20th century! I love Abraham
because his story is your story and my story-- the story of everyone
who has ever tried to leave old ways and start following God's will.
The New Testament writers used Abraham over and over as a living
allegory of the Pilgrim's Progress. It FITS!
Abraham on his pilgrimage of faith faced this opposition Jesus
was talking about. He faced external opposition. He struggled in
Egypt with enemies of faith-- and finally overcame. He struggled with
his nephew Lot and was generous and prayerful and he overcame.
But the very hardest thing Abraham ever had to do was settling
the division in his own heart and mind. The heart of his struggle was
his love; love for his God, for his sons, for his own ambition.
Maybe you know the story of Abraham and Isaac. That is the
famous story. But Abraham had TWO sons. Ishmael was the son of
Abraham's own self-assertion. Ishmael represented Abraham's own
answer to God's promises. But when God finally gave Abraham and Sarah
the son of His own promise, Isaac, the other son, the older son--
Ishmael began to bully and struggle and compete with Isaac. The
conflict really began-- Ishmael was strong and older-- he bullied
Isaac.
This becomes a painful story. Abraham and Sarah sent Hagar and
Ishmael away-- a cruel thing to do in our 20th century perspective. A
very hard thing to do back then. But this hard thing represents to us
that whatever it costs us, we need to make sure that we do not
tolerate a divided heart! We need to ask God to help us put away our
self-assertive attempts to be righteous on our own-- and to simply
obey and trust Him.
Paul says, in Galatians 4, that our life in Christ is like the
gift of a son of promise to Abraham. Listen to these verses:
(Galatians 4:6-9) Because you are God's children, God sent the
Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out
"Abba, father." So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and
since you are a son, God has also made you an heir. Formerly
when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature
are not gods. But now that you know God-- or rather are known by
God-- how is it that you are turning back to those weak and
miserable things of the world? Do you want to be enslaved by
them again?
(21-24) Tell me, you that want to be under the law, are you not
aware of what the law says? For it is written that Abraham had
two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman.
His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his
son by the free woman was the result of a promise. These things
are an allegory, for the women represent two covenants. (28-31)
Now brothers, you, like Isaac, are children of promise; at that
time the son born in the ordinary way persecuted the son born by
the power of the Spirit. It is the same now. But what does the
scripture say? "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the
slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the
free woman's son. Therefore brothers (and sisters) we are not
children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.
Jesus said the opposition will come. But Jesus also tells us how
to find victory and peace. In Abraham's story we know what he had to
do. He sent Hagar and Ishmael off into the desert so Isaac could grow
up as the child of promise. "Cast out the bond\woman and her son!"
But in our day and age, what in the world does this mean? How can we
end the conflict of a divided heart?
Jesus calls this ending of INNER conflict "taking up our cross."
It is a decision to follow Jesus, and make him master over even our
own will and desires. Then it is a carrying through with His help, day
by day. It is the sincere decision of our heart in covenant to Him:
NOT MY WILL, BUT YOURS BE DONE
Jesus is NOT telling us to be hateful to our parents, or to those
in our households that oppose. He IS saying, "Follow ME, whatever it
costs!"
Whatever it takes to make an end of our own division-- to end
that thing within that says, "I will not let anyone, even GOD, tell me
what do!"-- whatever it takes, we can and must do it! Our own will
can be submitted forever to God's will, and we can know peace and
freedom on the inside. The external challenges will be with us until
we die.
Perhaps this surrender-- this "casting out our own
self-assertion" does not have to be dramatic and emotional. But by a
deliberate surrender by telling God that AT ANY COST He can have us
for time and eternity-- our hearts will be opened to the Spirit in a
new and fresh way that can and will set us free from the law of sin
and death.
The way of LIFE is the way of the cross. The way of the cross is
the way of LIFE! It means an end to Ishmael's tyranny over the Isaac
that is God's will. There is an eternal "YES!" that can be said to
God's will that changes forever how we approach the future. We have
many little "yeses" that will follow. But the great decision can and
must be made!
Does it mean an end to temptation? No-- of course not. Does it
mean we can never fall into sin? No-- I wish it did mean that... but
we are still free moral agents. But if with all your heart you ask
God for the grace to cast out the self-seeking, self-righteous way--
God will meet you in a new fresh way with His Spirit.
This is what we call "Sanctification! Entire sanctification"--
entire-- because it holds nothing back! But it is not finished, ever!
It is a total surrender of self-- PLUS asking for all God's fullness!
Have YOU surrendered your SELF for time and eternity??
Prayer
##335 Would You Live for Jesus (His Way with Thee)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.78 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue Jul 16 1996 11:02 | 242 |
|
October 14, 1990
Psalm 30:1
I will extol Thee, O Lord,
for Thou hast lifted me up,
and hast not let my enemies rejoice over me."
I WILL EXTOL THEE, O LORD
Introduction
This is a Psalm of thanksgiving to God because He has brought the
Psalmist David through a time of deep trouble. Just what the trouble
was this time, the Psalmist does not say. But David was certainly no
stranger to trouble.
One reason that the Psalms have such great appeal to us all, why
we find it easy to identify with David, is that in the Psalms we often
find expression of our deepest, inmost feelings: David feels good for
whatever reason- and he says so; he feels anguish for whatever cause-
and he says that, too.
From time to time I can identify with both his highs and his
lows. Can't you?
[Some of the "lows" David knew he brought on himself, by being
careless, or disobedient, as when he numbered the people against
the best advice of his counsellors, or when he backslid into the
grievous sins of adultery and murder.
[Some of the "lows" David experienced came when he was being
perfectly obedient to God, doing what he was supposed to be
doing and yet he looked trouble in the face, as when Saul sought
to kill him.
[And I like to think that some of the "lows" came because David
was Jesse's son, and Jesse may have been a dour Geordie or a
somber Presbyterian Scot by nature. I think I know a bit about
that, too.]
Whatever the reasons for David's "lows," he refused to simply
accept them as inevitable or normal. David fought them! In I Samuel
30:6 it is written that David was "greatly distressed," but also that
"David encouraged himself in the Lord!" Then, after God had lifted
him, and had come through to bring him victory and joy, David recited
over and over to himself, and to everyone and anyone who would listen,
about how great God IS to hear and to come to the aid of those who cry
to Him in their distress.
I. LIVING IN OPENNESS BEFORE GOD IN THE STORMS OF LIFE
A. The storms of life, the "hard places," come to every one of
us. And yet when those challenging times come they usually seem to
surprise us. We do not think that any low places ought to be in our
life.
David reflects this tendency for us to deny, (in verse 6,) when
he says: "I said in my prosperity 'I will never be moved!'" I'm wiser
now! I've had troubles before, but I'll never have trouble like that
again.
Or, "I'm a Christian-- so I should never even be tempted to be
depressed." And yet in spite of our personal theology, of what and
how we think, the "low times" come to us all!
B. It is true that depression can follow sin or moral failure and
breakdown. God has forgiveness and restoration as well as healing when
this happens. But there are other causes for depression as well:
Some of the storms that shake us are related to the "passages" of
life. Growing up, or growing older-- facing new experiences--
any and every form of cultural change brings a threat to the
comfort of the status quo. Every move that a family makes brings
about inevitable cultural clash. Every promotion at work, or
demotion, for that matter, every adjustment we have to make
brings an emotional price that we have to pay.
Physical illness often brings emotional depression, and with it a
feeling of spiritual emptiness. Many kinds of disappointment
leave us vulnerable to what David was feeling. Friends let us
down. A job we wanted doesn't materialize. Family
misunderstandings cause concern and even anguish and grief.
C. But even though we may have said, like David, "I said in my
prosperity 'I shall never be shaken!'"--this can't happen to me-- when
we wake up to find that it HAS happened, we need, like David, to say
so! To admit to ourselves, and especially to God, "I need Your help!
Show me where I'm wrong, if I am-- but help me!" God hears such
praying!
II. THERE IS A GOD WHO HEARS US IN THE MIDST OF THE STORM
A. God hears your prayer! David testifies here (verse 2) "I cried
unto Thee, and Thou didst heal me!"
What I am telling you this morning, on the authority of God's
Word, is that God loves us, and knows us, and that God hears every
prayer that we pray, even in the middle of a storm of life!
B. Every situation is unique! But I also need to say that there
are very few 'textbook experiences.' We want to be insulated from the
harsher sides of reality, and avoid pain at all costs, and live
without strain or ruffled feathers. But then when the storms come we
begin to realize that what we talk about may well be true, but also we
find we know very little in actual experience.
[I recall a mini-storm that took place many years ago in another
state. I was up in the wee hours with a couple undergoing severe
problems. As a young pastor I was challenged to my depths and
beyond-- and I would be severely challenged by the same problem
today!
[But the irony I felt most keenly that night was that I had
recently written, and had had published, words of comfort that
came to me in accusation during those hours of extreme
stress:"You wrote about God's sufficiency! NOW you are feeling
stress! You are a hypocrite!"
[Well, I wasn't a hypocrite! But I was sure paying my dues! It is
a comfort to know that someone else has weathered such a storm--
usually!]
C. God works in His own mysterious way! What I am trying to say
here is: We need to be careful HOW we speak for God! He is a very real
Friend in our need! But I do not own Him. You do not have a corner on
Him. He knows better than we know what our friends can bear, and what
they need. And He does come through! Every time! God does not abandon
those who trust in Him!
III. DELIVERANCE BEGINS WHEN WE HAVE THE ASSURANCE GOD KNOWS
A. Be assured God knows! The enemy's tactic is to convince us we
are isolated, alone-- and not even God hears or cares to hear!
B. Do not despise providential means! Often our deliverance comes
along avenues of Providential guidance. God expects us to use what
resources we have. It is useless to pray for help on an exam when we
have never cracked a book in study.
{Illus: A religious man in flood time looked to God for
deliverance. The waters came to his front door, and a boat came
by with the invitation to ride to higher ground and shelter.
"I'm trusting the Lord!" said the brother with a smile.
Soon the waters were even with the second story, and another
rescue boat came by his bedroom window. He waved it off- "I'm
trusting in the Lord!"
But the waters cam higher yet, and he climbed to the roof and
then sat on the chimney. A helicopter pilot saw his plight, and
a sling was lowered. The man gritted his teeth and waved the
helicopter away: "I'm trusting the Lord!"
After the waters swept him and his house away in total loss, the
man opened his eyes in the glory of heaven. He asked the Lord
immediately, 'Didn't You hear me praying?"
"I sent you two boats and a helicopter!" was the Reply. More
truth than humor in this story!}
C. In all honesty, some times there is literally nothing more
that we know to do, and still we are swept by the storm.
Psalms Now puts it this way: "There are times when I feel God's
anger, but even then I know His concern and love for me remain
eternal. And my nights of despair resolve into the dawn of new joy."
It pays, in times like these, when we don't know what to do, to
hang on in the confidence that God does love us, God does hear us, and
God will never abandon us. God will come through!
IV. (Conclusion) THE BENEDICTION OF THE CONFESSIONAL LIFE
A. The benediction I have been using this fall-- "Humble
yourselves...Casting all your care upon HIM, for He careth for YOU!"--
comes from I Peter 5. I would like to read the entire short paragraph
from which the benediction has been taken.
I Peter 5:6-11
Humble yourselves. therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that
He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety
upon Him, because He cares for you.
Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil,
prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same
experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your
brotherhood who are in the world. And after you have suffered
for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His
eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm,
strengthen and establish you.
To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.
B. This benediction tells us that there is a part we play in the
fight against bitterness and despair. We can cooperate with God's
grace! "Humble yourselves!" You need the mighty hand of God! And
here's how:
- Be vigilant; don't expect an uncontested pathway to glory
- Be resistant. This is a fight of faith. Don't give in to fear
or despair or bitterness.
- Be patient. There will be suffering. But it will pass.
- Be Present to God! for GOD HIMSELF IS AT WORK IN YOU!
C. Finally, our thanksgiving takes the form of a confessional
statement. Back to the text: I WILL EXTOL THEE, O LORD!
This "confession" can begin even while we are in the struggle!
It is effective there!
Confession is more than part of repentance and conversion,
although it is that. Confession is even more than living in openness
before God, although it certainly is that, too. Confession is more
than a formal prayer to say every time we come together in worship. A
confessional statement says:
This is MY God! I belong to HIM! HE does not exist for MY
convenience, but rather, I EXIST FOR HIM!
But my God does not abandon His children, ever, ever, ever!
PRAYER:
#81(EH) My Faith Has Found a Resting Place
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.79 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue Jul 16 1996 11:03 | 167 |
|
March 10, 1996 - Lent 3
WITH JESUS AT THE WELL OF SYCHAR
John 4: 5 - 42
If ever anyone lived on a dead end street this was the person.
And by dead end I don't mean a nice cul de sac where the kids can play
and the traffic can turn around. I mean dead end like going nowhere,
like abandon all hope. I don't know how, but she had run through five
marriages. Five separate stories of tragedy.
It could have been tremendously bad luck, and her husbands had
all died. It could have been simply the result of a kind of society
where wives were throw-away items, where certainly all women were
second class citizens. But anyone who has been married that many
times has become very well acquainted with loss and failure.
Maybe the biggest loss of all was this person's loss of any sense
of self esteem.
This passage has been studied so thoroughly that we all know, or
think we know, how women in the middle east always went for their
water early in the day, together, in a community time of
fellowship. While the little children played and the latest village
gossip was passed, the women carried home their water from the well in
the cool of the morning. The scene here is in the blazing light of
high noon, when there was usually no one at the well and she could
come and go in her loneliness without the added pain of feeling she
was part of the gossip being passed along.
I don't know that she was a greater sinner than any of the other
men and women of her village. But in her isolation she certainly had
to be right up there among the greatest in terms of her pain and
needs.
When she arrived at the well she was annoyed just a bit. For
there on the curbing of the well sat a stranger. By his dress and his
bearing she knew him to be a Jew. She had no idea that her life was
about to change and that this man would be the most important person
she would ever meet.
She had deliberately chosen this time to come to the well so she
could stay away from people. This was a low time in her life. It was
a time that she least expected to meet anyone, let alone someone very,
very important. She certainly did not have in mind a challenge to her
faith that would change her forever. She paused, not quite sure what
to expect of this stranger.
The stranger surprised her by asking her for a drink. He looked
a little tired, and he evidently was thirsty. The woman was not
afraid to voice her surprise. "How come you even speak to me?" she
asked.
Social rules were stronger then than we can understand in our
society. Some things simply were not done. Jewish men would sooner
suffer great thirst than ask a strange woman for a drink.
She let her water jar down and down into the deep well and
watched it turn on its side and fill and sink. Then she hauled it
hand over hand back to the well curb, and poured the cool water into
the stranger's cupped hands. She was amazed that this Jew not only
would speak to her, but drink from her water jar-- she was
ceremonially untouchable, and she made the jar ceremonially unclean.
The stranger drank and drank, and then wiped his mouth.
Before he said another word this stranger had said a tremendous
amount. He had said 'You are not worthless. You are someone who can
help me. You are worth talking to.' He had said "I am not afraid to
cross over barriers of gender and race that put people down.' He had
even said 'It is all right to ask favors, and reach out to help and be
helped by others.' And he said a lot more beside before he ever
opened his mouth again.
But then Jesus DID open his mouth and say a whole lot. As a
matter of fact, a part of this story is the longest conversation that
is recorded that Jesus ever had with any one individual. And even
though I hate to interrupt the flow of the drama, we do have to look
at what Jesus told this one shunned and rejected woman. Actually he
told her two things that stand out to me, and a third thing than was
stunning!
(1) He told her something about how people worship. Whenever
sincere people seek after God they come under one of the ways
Jesus described to this one woman. I'd love to say more about
this-- but there is more there than I can say now.
Jesus simply said "You Samaritans don't know ... we Jews have
heard God's revelation and do know-- but there is coming--
and now is a higher, deeper way to worship!"
(2) And then Jesus spoke some of the most profound words that
have ever been spoken on the subject of true worship, of
worship as God intends it shall be-- the kind of worship,
Jesus said, that the heavenly Father goes looking for. Maybe
I can address that best by reading a short paragraph of
Eugene H. Peterson's translation, The Message:
"It's who you are and the way you live that count before
God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of
truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for;
those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their
worship. God is sheer being itself--Spirit. Those who worship
him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their
true selves, in adoration."
The longest conversation on record-- with a woman who lived
on a dead end street, going nowhere! The most profound words
about worship-- to a person who had probably never heard of
philosophy or knew much about Torah.
(3) Then- most stunning of all-- the first declaration of his
Messiahship recorded in the Gospel--She says, "Well-- these
are wonderful words-- and when Messiah comes I'm sure HE will
make them plain!" And the amazing, head-spinning reply she
got, and that she believed, were the words: " I that speak
unto you-- am HE!"
Well, that may not have been the end of our woman's hard times in
life, but it certainly shattered her isolation. She left her precious
water pot right where it was and headed into the village looking for
the people she had been afraid of, the people who had scorned her.
And they listened to her! There was something absolutely fascinating
to the village people about the genuine faith that had been kindled in
this woman many of them knew had been a loser in so many ways. The
village emptied at noonday, and streamed out to the edge of town to
the well of Sychar, the well of Jacob their forefather. They heard
for themselves. They believed. A genuine turning to God of a whole
town began.
The transformation of a hopeless woman into a kind of evangel,
the transformation of a Samaritan town into a worshiping community
began when Jesus asked someone, someone on a dead end street, for a
drink.
It makes me think there are no really dead end streets if Jesus
is really there. We've probably all been to the well at one time or
other. It makes me believe that in the least expected places, and in
the strangest times Jesus shows up in the most unexpected ways. He
treats us like people of worth-- for he values us. He asks us for our
help if he needs it.
And then he offers us in return the kind of grace the rich and
famous can never buy with all their wealth, and the keenest scholars
can never figure out with all their fabulous IQ, and the most powerful
politicians cannot legislate with all their hot air. He offers us up
the knowledge of who we are, and the hope of who we can be. He helps
us look Him in the face and see his purity-- and then look ourselves
in the mirror and see our possibilities. And before we know it we are
even looking our neighbors in the face, whether they are rich or poor,
and telling them about a Man who makes us more alive than we ever
thought we ever could be.
Prayer - Hymn Closer - 458 Fill My Cup, Lord
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.80 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Tue Jul 16 1996 11:03 | 203 |
|
June 30, 1996
Genesis 22: 1 - 14
ABRAHAM AND ISAAC
"For Love of God"
LOVE is what makes life worth living. We love and we are loved.
We say to our babies "I love you SO much!" BUT DO WE LOVE GOD?
(Satan's question in Job 1 "Does Job serve (love) God for nothing?")
Father Edward Collins Vacek, S.J. (America 3/9 courtesy of
Martin Marty's "Context" for June 1, 1996):
"In my own conversations with Christians, I find that almost all
of them talk approvingly about love for others, some talk
confidently about God's love for us, but few are willing to talk
about their love for God. When I press them to say what it means
to love God, some of them in fact deny that we can love God
directly, many admit that they don't give much thought to love
for God, and most deny there is any ethical obligation to do so.
They judge that it is wrong not to love people, but they have no
such thoughts about neglecting God. In short, many contemporary
Christians subscribe to Jesus' second great commandment, but not
to the first."
Vacek continues: "In short, it is not enough just to love our
fellow human beings. Sincere conscience and anonymous theism are
not enough." Vacek suggests that every age has its central
religious concept and a question that will challenge all of us
today is this: "`Do you love God?' That question evokes the
endlessness of our heart's quest as well as the
incomprehensibility of God, and it gives us an absorbing center
for our lives."
(Courtesy e-mail & Fred Kane) What does it mean for you and me to
be in a love relationship with Almighty God?
This 4,000 year-old story of Abraham sheds a lot of light on
that question.
I. LOVE FOR GOD WILL BE A DEMANDING LOVE
Love for God ALWAYS demands "first place" in our loyalties:
Matthew 10: 37 - 39 "Whoever loves father or mother more than me
is not worthy of me; and whoever loves son or daughter more than
me is not worthy of me; and whoever does not take up the cross
and follow me is not worthy of me. Those who find their life will
lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it."
The story of Abraham and Isaac underscores the cost of loving God
By the time we come to the sacrifice scene on Mount Moriah, we
are nearing the end of Abraham's life. He is an old man. He has
walked in obedience to God for many years. He had done what God had
told him across the years. He had even put away Hagar and Ishmael,
the son of his own self-assertion, and that had been hard to do. What
Abraham had left was Isaac, the son of God's promise.
In Isaac were all Abraham's hopes and dreams of the great things
God had promised him way back in the land of Haran. Then a stunning
thing happens. God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to him on an altar
of burnt offering.
Make no mistake about it, this is a difficult lesson for us to
under stand.
One of my correspondents, Fred Kane wrote:
It is a most difficult text. As has been pointed out:
God prohibits child sacrifice, yet sacrifices God's own Son.
Reading the story as one of commitment, sacrifice and obedience
challenges my hypocrisy as I call others to give what I am
unwilling to give.
I relish the Gift, but do not trust the Giver
(who asks for the Gift to be returned)
to give again and again....
I want God to be God on my terms.
(Transition: But a demanding love like this doesn't come like a
request to foolishness. God is like a patient lover. He calls us,
reassures us-- because...)
II. LOVE FOR GOD IS A GROWING LOVE
The Abraham Saga is a Pilgrim's Progress that illustrates HOW God
calls, and encourages, and works with a person who wants to walk with
Him.
Abraham LISTENS for God
Abraham ARGUES/REASONS with God when he is unsure of himself
Abraham ENTERS COVENANT with God
Abraham "IS PRESENT! TO GOD!"
The ABRAHAM COVENANT does not spring full-blown into this crisis
on Mount Moriah. It BEGINS (12:1) when Abraham sets out to follow
God. It is RATIFIED FORMALLY (15) when Abraham BELIEVES GOD, and sets
out the sacrifice/covenant God asks. It is RENEWED (17) when a mature
Abram gets a name change-- indicating a growing God-likeness. It is
further REFINED (21) in the giving up of Ishmael, representing
Abraham's self-striving. And finally it is CONFIRMED (22) in today's
story of supreme sacrifice-- giving up even God's own gifts so nothing
stands between Abraham and the heart of God.
This is a mysterious, difficult story which we will never fully
understand this side of heaven. Abraham had made a complete
consecration and covenant with God. But every consecration is tested.
The covenants we make never work out perfectly smoothly, exactly as we
thought. That is when the character of the covenant makers is made
clear. Keeping our word when the going gets tough proves what sort of
stuff we are made of.
(Transition: Love for God will be a growing love-- and will be a
challenge to our faith... but)
III. LOVE FOR GOD WILL BE A DEEPLY SATISFYING LOVE
There are several important lessons we can learn from Abraham's
faithfulness:
A. THERE IS NEVER A STOPPING PLACE IN SAYING 'YES' TO GOD
When do we stop "living by faith?" When do we stop "giving all
to God" and sit back and take it easy in the walk of faith? I
certainly don't know when that time is.
I remember one day talking with Lillian Irwin, Mrs. Don Irwin,
whom I respected very highly as a woman of prayer and a godly woman.
She was facing some very difficult times, times that often made her
weep. I remember her saying: "I don't give God my LIFE now. I give
him my days-- each day as it comes!"
But this story also assures us:
B. THERE IS REALLY NO CRUELTY IN GOD!
GOD CAN BE TRUSTED WITH THE THINGS THAT REALLY MATTER
There is mystery involved in why God would ever ask this of the
great Father of Faith. Much is made of the cruelty of the request.
Some preachers on my study list have asked, "How do you imagine Isaac
felt? He would be scarred for life!" And probably there is (humanly
speaking) that question to be asked.
This mystery reflects an even greater mystery-- the mystery of
the Atonement itself. When Abraham took Isaac up the hill of
sacrifice God prepared a ram to substitute for the son of promise.
But when God's own Son walked up the hill of Calvary there could be no
substitute. What happened on Calvary, and why it was necessary is a
mystery that we cannot understand. That greater sacrifice speaks of
the awful seriousness of our sins:
All we like sheep have gone astray
We have turned every one to his own way
And the Lord has laid on HIM
The iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53)
Isaac was safe even though Abraham had to give him up to God.
God cares about the things that matter-- even more than you do. He is
in charge!
C. LOVING GOD MAKES A PERSON MORE AND MORE LIKE HIM
Abraham became a friend of God.
(I can imagine God saying to Abraham "No one knows how I feel in
giving my only begotten Son!")
Abraham actually became A PICTURE of God
Abraham became a blessing!! And so will we--
Love is what makes life worth the living. And loving God makes
life wholesome and clean and good.
BUT-- do WE LOVE God for what WE get out of it? Do WE go to
church because WE want to go to heaven? Do WE help others so that God
will reward US? That is the question from this text today: Do you
love God? Is God more important than your car, your possessions, your
family, your children? Do you love these blessings from God more than
you love God?
When the test of our faith comes, we can remember Abraham, who
believed in God's love no matter what. When our faith is on trial,
dare to love God and to trust Him! He who has spared not His OWN Son
will provide!
Prayer #142 Wonderful Savior
followed by
#133 I Love You, Lord
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.81 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Thu Aug 01 1996 10:35 | 112 |
|
May 20, 1995
AT HOME WITH GOD
John 14:23
As you probably have heard me say before, when I was a
little boy my parents were song evangelists. We literally lived
out of suitcases, on the road at least 36 weeks a year. Our
"home" was simply the address of an aunt and uncle in Lansing,
Michigan.
I guess I didn't think of travelling all the time as strange
because it was the only life I knew. I think I felt sorry for
other kids who didn't get to see new things all the time. But at
the same time I looked with great longing at houses, homes,
permanent places to live. How I looked forward to coming back to
Lansing to be with aunts and uncles and cousins by the dozens!
How I valued that aunt and uncle's home!
Still I think I learned something very early in my life that
applies to this scripture lesson today. It is good-- best
perhaps-- to have a sense of place and permanence. But being "at
home" finally is a people matter. When we did not have any
permanent house whatsoever when I was with father and mother I
was "at home." Their security was my security. Their peace was
my peace. Occasionally, their discontent was mine, too-- for
while they were people of integrity they weren't perfect.
That first lesson, then, was where the people you love and
trust are-- _there_ is home, at least in the sense of security
for the child.
Later, when circumstances made it necessary for my parents
to leave the itinerant ministry, our first-ever house of our own
was a bungalow at 610 South Magnolia in Lansing-- you know-- two
blocks over from Hayford Street. I had a room that was mine, and
I slept in the same bed every night, and could have my own closet
and my own pictures on the wall. It was far from heaven. But
there I had my family, and I had a sense of permanence as well.
I know it is a stretch of imagination to apply this homely
and personal understanding of what it means to be "at home" with
God, but the facts somehow seem similar:
The reality is that we are not yet at home. [The choir has
sung "I Feel Like Travelling On" because "This world is not my
home, I'm just a-passing through..."] The promise of Jesus early
on in this great passage is that in the place where he lives are
many dwelling places, and that he has gone to prepare a place for
us so we can be where he is permanently. The passage from
Revelation is not so much descriptive, to my literary
understanding, as suggestive of a glorious reality that
transcends everything we know now.
But the reality also is that God Almighty, YHWH-- the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit want to be "at home" with us while we
travel towards home. This kind of being at home with God isn't
the final word on glory or fulfillment or permanence. We are not
yet what we are going to be. But if in fact God is wi-i-i-i-ith
us!! as the choir sang last Sunday night and Tom Waltermire has
been TRYING to sing all week-- if God is with us on the road,
and we are at home in him-- then we need to make sure this has
happened in a personal way in each of our lives.
"IF YOU LOVE ME,"said Jesus, "YOU WILL OBEY ME, AND THE
FATHER WILL LOVE YOU, AND WE WILL COME TO YOU AND TAKE UP
PERMANENT RESIDENCE IN YOU."
God not only WITH us-- God not only WATCHING OUT for us--
God not only SAVING US FROM SIN-- BUT GOD AT HOME IN US WHILE WE
ARE ON THE WAY! A WORKING DESCRIPTION OF WHAT WE CALL
"HOLINESS!"
How do we go about making god at home in us??
Love is the key
Love is not a feeling, but a centering, an act of will and covenant
In the case of humans there is a submission to covenant
In the case of divine-human relationship god is always right
He accommodates our weakness but cannot compromise dishonesty or
selfishness so he must be obeyed, but obeyed because of trust/love
The everlasting "YEA" is the doorway to everything of
significance in the kingdom of God. You know whether or not you
have come to the place in your walk with God where you have
deliberately said "yes!!!!YES!!! Y E S!!!!!" to god for time and
for eternity!
That is the place where god moves in to make Himself at
home.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.82 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Thu Aug 01 1996 10:35 | 173 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Windows of Heaven
January 5, 1992
THE WINDOWS OF HEAVEN
Malachi 3:10 "Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so
that there may be food in My house, and test Me now in this," says the
Lord of Hosts, "if I will not open for you the windows of heaven, and
pour out for you a blessing until it overflows."
INTRODUCTION
A. Malachi 3:10 is one of those texts that lends itself to
manipulation by people who want to raise money for churches. It
appeals to a strict cause-and-effect mentality; it may be used to
underscore the mind-set the ultra-fundamentalist, who sees salvation
as a strict contract with the Almighty.
Actually, there ARE elements of contract, of promise, even hints
of cause-and-effect here. God says, "If you will do thus and so, you
can prove Me now! I will do thus and so!"
B. But to be fair we need to see that THE TEXT IS A CLIMAX OF THE
[TOTAL] LESSON OF MALACHI; and the whole book reveals God's desire to
love and to be loved by His people. God is disappointed when His own
people are less than they could be.
[The reason God's people do not experience God's full blessing is
plain. They have forgotten that real life centers around GOD! One
message of Malachi is:]
I. A REVELATION OF SPIRITUAL IGNORANCE ON ISRAEL'S PART
A. The Book of Malachi reveals that the people who claim to know all
about God and religion are in fact exasperatingly ignorant. A
recurrent theme throughout the short book is (1) a statement of fact
by God, through His prophet; immediately followed by (2) incredulous
statements like "How can that be?" "Why do you say that?" "Where is
that a fact?"
1. (1:2) They are ignorant of God's LOVE to them. (1:6) They
are ignorant of insulting the name of God.
2. (2:14) They are ignorant of any reason why God should
despise their fancy worship, even though they have been
treacherous with one another. (2:17) They are ignorant of the
fact that God is weary of their empty mouthing of prayers.
3. (3:7) They are ignorant both of the need to return to God,
and the way in which they might return to God.
B. There is no sense of the 'personal' in their dealings with God:
[God is "an institution, not a Person with feelings!] How easy to take
God for granted! How easy to despise holy things!
1. (3:8) They have never connected GIVING with LOVING GOD!
They are ignorant of the fact that when they withhold their
tithes from God they are robbing God.
2. (3:13) They have become CASUAL about SEEKING and DOING
God's will! They are ignorant that when they speak for God
without being in touch with God they are actually speaking
against God.
C. The call of the prophet is not to condemn, but to re-establish
true faith. The clear way in which God's people may experience God's
grace is practical in nature:
III. THE RE-ESTABLISHING OF TRUST IN GOD
A. God is NOT bound strictly by "contract" to us, or we would all be
long gone! We are never dealt with as we deserve, but by God's great
grace! God is, however, faithful to His covenant with His people! He
is reluctant ever to write off one of His own!
B. TO LOVE GOD, WE MUST MAKE HIM OUR LIFE'S CENTER
1. Our love to Him must not be merely a matter of convenience.
Malachi says, sarcastically, to his hearers (1:8): "Try giving
what is left over to the IRS! Try paying your bills with
left-overs-- with the things you don't want any more! Doesn't
that work?? Well, then-- WHY GIVE YOUR 'CONVENIENCE' TO GOD?
C. TO LOVE GOD, WE ARE TO SEEK TO LEARN TO GIVE!
1. The people to whom Malachi was preaching were consumer-
minded! THEY WERE TAKERS! They asked "What can God and
religion do for me?"
Malachi (actually God, speaking through Malachi) was seeking
to turn around their thinking, to make them covenant-minded!
God always wants His people to be GIVERS! And in God's
economy, and in His own currency-- it is the givers who are
rich!
2. Keying on the areas where Malachi accused the people of
ignorance, here is an outline on how we should give:
a. Our MOTIVE must be love- not profit.
b. Our ATTITUDE must be reverence for God and His church;
and faith. (Not cynical, not self-serving. The widow woman
COULD have saved her two mites, saying "I need it more than
those rich Pharisees...")
c. Our ACT OF GIVING should be sacramental. When the plates
go by, the amount you place on the plate is one thing; but
the very fact of placing something on the plate can be an
act of stewardship, a statement of submission to God's will!
d. Our METHOD of giving is NOT unimportant! Malachi
mentions tithing!
I think that I have heard most of the arguments against
storehouse tithing: Tithing is legalistic. Storehouse
tithing is invented to support institutions. O.T. Law has
been eliminated. Give-to-get preaching has decimated
genuine giving.
But the fact is storehouse tithing is the floor on which to
build a disciplined life of stewardship. I do not limit my
personal giving to 10% of my income now; but I grew up in
the demonstration of what it means to be partners with God,
including faithful tithing during the Great Depression. I
will testify that it works!
POINTS TO DRIVE HOME: It is possible to give and not be a
Christian, but it is impossible to be a Christian and NOT give.
Tithing makes us partners with God in the practical world of finances.
CONCLUSION
The end of this short book is like a fork in the road.
Malachi. There is the threat of cursing for those who are arrogant,
and choose to remain in ignorance of God's Law and God's LOVE. But
there is promise of great blessing as well:
(3:16) "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and
the Lord gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance
was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and esteem His
name.
"'And they will be Mine,' says the Lord of hosts, 'on the day
that I prepare my own possession, and I will spare them as a man
spares his own son who serves him.'
"So you will distinguish between the righteous and the wicked,
between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him."
(4:2)"But for you who revere my Name, the sun of righteousness
will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and
skip about like calves from the stall."
The windows of heaven are open, and God's blessing is promised to
those who truly seek to love Him, and let Him love through them. I
pray for you and me and for us the joy of being GIVERS to the glory of
God! Amen.
173 As with Gladness Men of Old
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.83 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Thu Aug 01 1996 10:35 | 173 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Movings of the Spirit
May 26, 1996
Numbers 11 - John 20
MOVINGS OF THE SPIRIT
-Pentecost Sunday-
Fairly early on in the 40-year Exodus saga Moses faces a
crisis. . .he needed help. God told Moses to bring his leaders to the
Tent of Covenant. Seventy-two men were on the list of leaders. God
miraculously poured out his Spirit on the seventy who actually came.
They were "chrismed" -- they began to prophecy.
But Eldad and Medad-- I'm sure that means a lot to you-- good old
Eldad and Medad couldn't make it to the meeting. But God poured out
his Spiriton them back in the camp, where they were. They were
"chrismed", too--and good old Eldad and Medad began to prophecy just
like the 70 out in front of the Tabernacle.
A young man came running to tell Moses. the established
leadership was concerned. They loved and respected Moses.
But Moses-- that great and meek man with great wisdom said, "ARE
YOU WORRIED ABOUT ME? DON'T BOTHER! I WOULD THAT NOT JUST ELDAD AND
MEDAD WERE PROPHETS-- BUT THAT ALL GOD'S PEOPLE WOULD BE PROPHETS, AND
THAT GOD WOULD PUT HIS SPIRIT ON ALL HIS PEOPLE!"
Now that is some concept-- that all God's people might be
prophets. It sounds like the prophecy of Joel, centuries later
(2:28)"It shall come to pass in the latter days, says God, that i will
pour out my Spirit on all flesh!" It sounds like what Peter had in
mind when he wrote, "You, all God's people, are a chosen race, a royal
priesthood, an holy nation, God's own people!" This is in fact what
happened when God's Spirit fell on the church at Pentecost. And today
is Pentecost Sunday!!
I. WHAT PENTECOST IS ABOUT: ALL GOD'S PEOPLE BEING FILLED!
HOW SHALL WE OBSERVE PENTECOST SUNDAY??
Pentecost means that Moses' dream is our possible reality!
Pentecost means that God lives in all His people! in ALL
His people! So-- how do we observe Pentecost properly??
PENTECOST IS HISTORY -- and we can sing "Happy Birthday" to the
Church. About 1965 years ago today or thereabouts the Spirit of
God fell on 120 believers in an Upper Room in Jerusalem, and
together they became the living Body of Christ. And that Body,
the church lives right down to this present moment. There have
been failures and excesses and human errors by the million. But
the fact is that Pentecost is history, and the Spirit has come
and that's a fact. But Pentecost is more than a historical fact.
PENTECOST IS PRESENT FACT. God lives in His church today. We
here are a small part of a great and wonderful thing. Whether we
like it or not-- whether we can define it or understand it or
not, we are part of ONE, HOLY, CATHOLIC, APOSTOLIC CHURCH that
Jesus Himself founded, and Jesus Himself is building. We may at
times be miserable representatives of the unity of the Body, BUT
WE ARE IN FACT CHRIST'S OWN BODY! Because you and I have the
Spirit that came at Pentecost if in fact we say "Jesus is Lord!"
and if in fact we in any wise belong to Him.
But Pentecost is even more than present Reality, as good as that
may be.
PENTECOST IS DYNAMIC CHALLENGE!
Jesus is still breathing on His church saying: 'YOU RECEIVE THE
SPIRIT!' I don't know how else to put it-- but Pentecost-- the
promise of the Holy Spirit-- is that God wants to take us where
we have never been before, and do with us what we cannot even
dream of doing by ourselves! Young men see visions! Old men
dream dreams! Handmaidens prophecy! =
All God's people prophets! All God's people manifesting Christ's
Spirit!
But this is really like our individual walk with God-- the way
each one of us has had contact with God the Holy Spirit.
II. THAT'S HOW YOUR SALVATION WORKS, TOO-- YOUR SALVATION IS HISTORY
You WERE SANCTIFIED when we first came to God for pardon. We were
sanctified in that the Spirit came with
LIFE and with PARDON and with ADOPTION into God's family. YOUR
SALVATION IS PRESENT REALITY You ARE SANCTIFIED-- (aren't you?)
You gave your all to God, didn't you? We surrendered our
redeemed lives to God and the Spirit came in cleansing response
to our sacrifice (Romans 12: 1,2).
But that is not all..
YOUR SALVATION IS ONGOING CHALLENGE You/WE are BEING SANCTIFIED
as we carry out the challenge of living in obedience to God's
unfolding will. We can handle salvation as history. We can even
take salvation as present reality, if we can somehow keep a
handle on it-- keep it somewhat static. But when it starts to
"get outside the lines" it gets a bit scary. What does a person
who was sanctified and is sanctified and is being sanctified look
like? How does he act?
III. CHALLENGE TO BE BEING FILLED!
So, what does Pentecost in action "look like"? What does it
"DO"??
His name wasn't Eldad or Medad-- it was KEN. He was here with us
just a year ago. He HAD BEEN sanctified. In fact he WAS
sanctified. But Ken Sullivan was also BEING FILLED with God's
Spirit, and never shrank back from the challenge. What an impact
he has had on this community!
- after 60 he wrote his first book
- to his final illness he reached out in love
- in his last hours he could say, "It's ALL right! It's ALL
right! It's ALL right!"
That is what this Pentecost reality looks like. It looks like
LOVE!
HER name wasn't Eldad or Medad, either But she got outside the
normal lines at times. Her name was Esther-- and she was with us
a year ago, also. - Although her body was often weak, and her
health was ebbing away, Esther Sanger was one of those people who
kept on being filled with the Spirit. She was past fifty years
old when she really began to break through beyond a hold-the-line
sort of experience, and began adventuring into uncharted waters
with the Holy Spirit.
Esther began small, where she was-- sharing compassion, often
tough love. She tacked up little signs on telephone posts: "Do
you need help? Call xxx-xxxx" The phone started ringing-- and
never stopped. The Quincy Crisis Center came into existence--
then the Mary Martha Learning Center. Esther explored the depths
of prayer, and yet remained very human, exemplifying Nouwen's The
Wounded Healer. She died in a room full of angels last August--
but not before she showed us what true Pentecost really looks
like. It looks like LOVE!
Now God doesn't expect you or me to be a Ken or an Esther. There
were only one each of them (thank God!) But do you know--Jesus
is here this morning-- saying "PEACE BE TO YOU!" AND SAYING
"receive the Spirit!" Not necessarily in any spectacular way do
YOU dare to go on being filled-- where the Spirit leads you!???
I HAVE A VISION OF A COMMUNITY WHERE GOD'S LOVE IS AT WORK-- AND THAT
IS WHAT PENTECOST IS SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE!
Prayer: O great God, our Father! We dare to ask You this morning: Let
Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, BREATHE on us again today! Help us
hear Him say "RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT!" Amen
#732 - I Then Shall Live
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.84 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Thu Aug 01 1996 10:36 | 249 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Sacrifices of Praise
03.05A - Psalm 107: 4,10,17,23; 33 (Text: Say it with me:
"Oh that men would praise the Lord for His GOODNESS, and for His
wonderful works to the children of men.")
SACRIFICES OF PRAISE TO
THE LORD GOD OF LOVINGKINDNESS
Introduction:
One song we sing, "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing," was no
doubt written by a Calvinist, for we Wesleyans have, perhaps
correctly, changed some words in its final verse:
The other version reads:
"Prone to wander, Lord I feel it!
Prone to leave the Lord I love.
Here's my heart, O take and seal it;
Seal it for Thy courts above."
... and our version is the noble prayer:
"Let me know Thee in Thy fullness;
Guide me by Thy mighty hand
Till, transformed, in Thine own image
In Thy Presence I shall stand."
It is good and necessary to have a walk with God that is settled
and steadfast. And we may be delivered from the "proneness to
wander." But in this all-too-real world there are forces that seek to
rob us of the reality of spiritual victory and assurance, and of the
certitude of our standing in Jesus Christ unless we continually SEEK
God's face.
Unless we make it the heart of every day's activity to WALK with
God, and to learn to PRAISE Him as a way of life, that "proneness to
wander" will re-enter the reality of our living, regardless of our
sound doctrine and correct theology!
This Psalm (107) is a lesson in the recurrence of wandering and
being brought back; or, perhaps better, in despairing of faith and
being found by God. And it has a valuable lesson for us (for me!) in
getting away from that "prone to wander"-kind of outlook. It has four
"strophes" of
(1) being/going away from God, and of
(2) crying out to Him, and
(3) finding His salvation and His assurance, and THEN
(4) praising Him for His goodness:
[Say it with me: "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His
GOODNESS, and for His wonderful works to the children of men."]
I. (verse 4) "They wandered in the wilderness in a solitary way; they
found no city to dwell in." WANDERING, LOSTNESS
A. THEY WANDERED
There is a lostness that comes of never having made personal
living contact with God through Jesus Christ. Perhaps this describes
every person who has not yet found that God is our HOME; the man or
woman that doesn't know God in any personal way.
B. THEY CRIED TO GOD
When this lostness becomes a cry, God has already heard. And God
draws near to make them a part of the fellowship. Lost no more,
C. GOD HEARD, AND CAME: AND THEY PRAISED HIM!
They have a heart full of praise!
[Say it with me: "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His
GOODNESS, and for His wonderful works to the children of men."]
[If YOU have never found that God loves YOU, and wants YOU to be
"at HOME" in Him, you can be sure that He is already listening
for your cry! He is waiting to make you a part of His family,
His fellowship! And then YOU will have a reason to praise!]
II. (verse 10) "Such as sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
being bound in affliction and iron; because they rebelled against the
words of God .." DARKNESS, THREAT, PRISONERS OF MISERY AS A DIRECT
RESULT OF REBELLION
A. THEY FELL DOWN AND THERE WAS NONE TO HELP
There is a sense of lostness that comes because we are careless
about spiritual things!
The pathway to glory is seldom smooth. There may well come
periods of darkness, and some of these are the result of our own
failure to trust in a heavy trial or temptation, or because we
deliberately disobey God's will. Prisoners of misery!
B. THEY CRIED TO GOD
But when this helplessness becomes a cry, God has already heard.
And God comes to bring light like the sun coming from behind a
cloud. The darkness of their bondage is broken, and
C. GOD CAME TO THE RESCUE, AND THEY PRAISED HIM!
And their hearts again are lifted in praise!
[Say it with me: "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His
GOODNESS, and for His wonderful works to the children of men."]
[Have you been there? Are you there NOW?]
III. (verse 17) "Fools, because of their transgression, and because of
their iniquities, are afflicted. Their soul abhorreth all manner of
meat; and they draw near to the gates of death." FOOLISHNESS,
AFFLICTION, NEAR-DEATH EXPERIENCE
A. THEY CAME TO HORROR OF INIQUITY
This almost sounds like a back-slider to me! One who is sick all
over because of falling into sin!
B. THEY CRIED TO THE LORD
But God, full of LOVE, and everlasting in MERCY is ready to hear
the penitent cry!
"Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, and he saveth them
out of their distresses..."
C. GOD CAME, AND THEY PRAISED HIM:
"He sent his word and healed them, and delivered them from their
destructions."
And their hearts again are lifted in praise!
[Say it with me: "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His
GOODNESS, and for His wonderful works to the children of men."]
IV. (verses 23 - 30)"They that go down to the sea in ships..."
MISERY OF TEMPESTUOUS STORM, MELTED COURAGE EVEN FOR THE USUALLY BRAVE
A. THEY GOT INTO A FRIGHTENING STORM!
This strophe is not so simply defined! Here is a person on a
journey; a business venture, perhaps-- at least a necessary
venture of life. And there is a storm! It certainly can be
applied literally, as when the disciples at Christ's command were
caught in a threatening storm on Galilee, and Jesus came to them
walking on the water.
But this also stands for many a storm of life for which there is
no simple explanation.
These wayfarers are not called rebels, or foolish, or
wanderers. They simply are doing business in great waters. In
the course of the bruises and risks and adventures of life, The
storms do come. They come to us all.
B. IN THE STORM THEY CRIED TO GOD!
In the storm, God hears our cry. When it seems as though the
howl of the gale snatches away our prayers before we can even
hear them ourselves, God hears!
C. GOD HEARS, GOD COMES AND DELIVERS, AND THEY PRAISE GOD:
And when peace reigns again,
Again they are brought to the place of lifting their hearts in
praise!
[Say it with me: "Oh that men would praise the Lord for His
GOODNESS, and for His wonderful works to the children of men."]
V. (33 - 43) The Psalm closes with a statement of the SOVEREIGNTY OF
GOD; and with the observation: (43) "Whoso is wise, and will observe
these things, even they shall understand the LOVINGKINDNESS of the
Lord."
A. WHAT CAN THIS PATTERN TELL US? HOW MAY WE BE "WISE?"
1. Do we need to wander away?; to fall?; can we stay near to the
Lord? [CERTAINLY WE WILL BE TESTED. BUT WE NEED NEVER LEAVE
HIM, AND HE WILL NEVER LEAVE US.]
2. Do we need to wait until we are in trouble to cry out our
dependancy on God? WE MUST BE SEEKERS AFTER GOD, AND WE MUST
SEEK TO BE PRAISERS OF GOD FROM OUR HEARTS.
B. COME BACK TO THE BEGINNING OF THE PSALM:
"O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is GOOD; for His mercy
endureth forever. Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom He
hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy ... "
1. LET THEM SAY WHAT? Say "so?" That they are redeemed? Yes, but
more specifically, Let them say the Lord is GOOD, and His
MERCY, His LOVINGKINDNESS endureth forever! Let's be
specialists in PRAISE!
2. Instead of being brought to praise after trials, which is
proper, let God's people be specialists in praise at all
times:
[34:1] I will bless the Lord at all times, His praise will
continually be in my mouth!
3. Such praise helps us get the center of our lives back to God,
and not simply to what God is doing for US! Praise the Lord
for His GOODNESS! So much even of our worship revolves around
how WE feel, and what WE are doing for God!
4. But it IS proper and right to thank the Lord for "His
wonderful works to the children of men!" And we would be
ungrateful if we did NOT praise God for what He is doing in
and through US!
Conclusion:
The old song says "Prone to wander, Lord I feel it!" ... and
perhaps rightly we have changed the words to "Let me know Thee in Thy
fullness ..."
But remember, there are forces that will drive us away from
freshness unless we continually SEEK, and unless we make it a part of
our very daily rituals to PRAISE the Lord.
If we can just learn to praise at the outset, we can short-cut
the length of the darkness. It doesn't mean we will never face the
storms. But the sacrifice of praise keeps the center where it
belongs.
Say it with me one last time: "Oh that men would praise the Lord for
His GOODNESS, and for His wonderful works to the children of men."
#72 I Will Praise Him
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.85 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Wed Aug 21 1996 12:21 | 237 |
|
Subj: Sermon: The Gift of Faith (1991)
December 8, 1991
THE GIFT OF FAITH
Ephesians 2:8
Introduction
Last week the children and I reviewed the Old Testament story of
the Three Hebrew Children. It may never be reviewed in quite the same
way ever again!
To our modern ears, that story seems far removed from Advent and
Christmas. Still, I would like to return to it this morning. How, do
you suppose, is there any correlation between Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego and the coming of our Lord as a Babe in Bethlehem?
Advent is anticipation, Advent is hope. Advent is facing darkness
with faith. Advent is living in a world that tries to pressure you to
conform, in the confidence that God knows, and that God cares, and
that God somehow is coming into that world, into that darkness.
[ Writing to the Christians in Ephesus, Paul reminds them of the
darkness in the world, and also of the fact that before God broke into
their lives they were very much engulfed in that darkness.]
I. A DARKNESS INTO WHICH GOD'S GRACE SHINES
A. THE NATURE OF SPIRITUAL DARKNESS has not changed, from the time
of Nebuchadnezzer, to St. Paul, until the present:
In Ephesians 2:1-3 Paul calls it "THE FORMER STATE" - the way you
used to be.
Here is how Paul describes it. It is spiritual death - it is an
existence without the light of revelation. No word from God,
heavens of brass, which is the essence of darkness.
It is a life of pressure to conform; lock-step conformity to
opinion of 'them' - devilish - poverty - inheriting God's wrath
B. DARKNESS IS AGGRESSIVE; it threatens to engulf; it squeezes into
conformity: That is why in another place Paul warned Romans 12:2)
"Don't let the world squeeze you into its mold; but rather, be
transformed by the renewing of your mind."
C. [STORY] The challenge of SPIRITUAL DARKNESS to the faith of the
Three Hebrew Children seemed pretty bold and clear-cut. Our
challenges somehow seldom appear that way.
They were asked to violate the First, or at least the Second
Commandment. If that were to happen today how many people would
even know the First or Second Commandment?
They were asked to put something ahead of their Jehovah God, at
least for a little while; they were asked to publicly give
respect to a pagan idol. Just a little thing? Shadrach, Meshach
and Abdenego were willing to die for what they believed!
They were DEFIANT IN THE FACE OF KNOWN TEMPTATION TO EVIL!
What was it that enabled Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to stand
firm in the face of certain punishment and death?
What was it that gave them courage to stand against the great
majority? Do we ever face pressure to compromise?
I think immediately of
(High school/ peer pressure/ slick media hype/
but they are not the only ones that feel the pressure:
at every age there is the threat: "Get out of line and you
will be shunned! Don't be the odd-ball!
Mothers are criticized for NOT working--
or, they may be criticized FOR having a career;
people feel squeezed into social classes, as though it is
a "second class" thing to be a carpenter or a laborer;
academics have the pressure of the fear of being thought
behind the times, academically)
WHAT GAVE THE THREE HEBREW CHILDREN MORAL COURAGE TO SAY, "WE
DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK: HERE WE STAND! BY GOD'S GRACE WE CAN
DO NO OTHER!"???
The answer is: they could SEE what, seemingly, others could
not. They had a vision that went beyond the moment.
D. It is vital, in times of spiritual darkness, to have some means
of vision, of finding one's way. This VISION, or SIGHT is what
Paul calls "a gift of God." It is a key, an enabling, that God
gives to those who are saved, that enables them to grasp the
truth.
II. FAITH, THE VISION THAT SEES THE INVISIBLE, OF THE GOD-LIFE SHARED
(Hebrews 11, 'Moses persevered because he saw the invisible')
A. We know how the story turned out: Someone like unto the Son of
God came into the heat and the pressure with the men who would
not compromise their faith. It was a miracle that convinced even
the pagan king himself!
B. And it is no less a miracle when God Himself comes into the
darkness and pressure where we live, in 1991, where people do not
usually physically martyr Christians, but a time in which it
probably is as difficult to live a godly life as at any time in
human history!
Paul says to the Ephesians Christians: GOD WALKS IN THE FIRE WITH
YOU! He calls it, in verses 4 - 7 "THE PRESENT STATE." He
describes it like this:
(You were dead to spiritual things;)
NOW you are alive unto God!
Not only that, but
(You were condemned, worthy of death;)
NOW you are made one with Jesus, and by that identification
you are exalted with Christ Jesus to heavenly realms.
I know this sounds too good to be true. But there it is!
We are members of God's family!
We have the incomparable riches of grace.
We have the eternal prospect of all that Adam and Eve lost in
the fall from grace, and more!
C. All this salvation, all this grace, all these promises are
because Jesus, Messiah, came to us in our darkness-- and bled and
died on a cross for the sins of the world. All this miracle is
available because God still comes near to those who see the
light, and follow that light. We call that ability to see, to
believe, to follow FAITH!
III. THE VISION MADE POSSIBLE, SPIRITUAL SIGHT (Ephesians 2:8 - 10)
A. God's GRACE is available to all. But Paul makes it clear that
GRACE IS SOMEHOW CONNECTED WITH FAITH. Grace can never, ever be
taken for granted. Grace is connected with FAITH, or the ability
to "believe." (Text: For by grace are you saved, THROUGH FAITH,
which is the gift of God, not of works lest anyone should boast.)
FAITH IS A GIFT OF GOD WHICH MUST BE USED TO RECEIVE GOD'S GRACE!
B. WHAT IS THIS 'FAITH' THAT IS GOD'S GIFT?
1. FAITH IS A MYSTERY. Like sight itself, most of us know
precious little about how it works; but we know how precious
it is! The gift of spiritual sight is even more precious.
2. FAITH IS LIKE A SEED. Jesus spoke of faith as being like a
grain of mustard seed.
3. FAITH IS, IN AND OF ITSELF DYNAMIC AND POWERFUL. It is a power
which may be subverted at times to selfish ends. But it is NOT
FAITH THAT SAVES! Faith ultimately cannot rise above its
object. (Power of positive thinking)
4. FAITH CONNECTS US TO THE LOVE OF CHRIST! Ultimately, faith is
God-given ability to SEE spiritual truth (passing mere
explanation). Faith is the ability to BELIEVE, to RELY, to
see God's INTEGRITY and act upon it to everlasting gain.
IV. COME TO BETHLEHEM AND SEE
A. Why didn't everybody find Jesus when He was born in the manger?
Why were just "certain shepherds" able to find the Christ Child?
How come more Wise Men didn't follow the Star?
How about Simeon and Anna in the Temple?
Could it be that the people then were just like now? That they
lived in a darkness that kept them blinded to spiritual reality
all around them?
B. WHY DON'T MORE PEOPLE TODAY LOVE JESUS CHRIST? Can it be that
they are spiritually blind? Or have they neglected the gift of
spiritual sight?
C. You have this gift! You can begin to use your gift-- with it you
may see the Christ! You may find God's life.
But it will take almost as much courage as Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego had when they would not conform to their evil world.
YOU WILL HAVE TO FOLLOW THE LIGHT UNTIL YOU COME TO KNOW THE
CHRIST!
Conclusion:
In our world good is called evil, and evil is called good. The
commandments of God have been replaced by our own "human values." We
are taught "QUESTION AUTHORITY!" And the credo of our age is "WHAT IS
GOOD FOR ME IS RIGHT!"
So we even ask "What good will come to me if I have no gods
before Jehovah God? " What will it profit me if I worship products
made with human hands, whether they be idols that look like idols, or
idols that amuse us, or that pander to our pride?"
Instead of standing under the judgment and authority of God's
Word, our society, and all too often even we who claim to be in the
church itself, (we) stand in judgment on God's Word; (we) pick and
choose which of God's commandmnets we shall keep and which we shall
ignore!
GOD WILL HONOR FAITH!
OUR GOD WILL COME, EVEN IF IT HAS TO BE IN THE FIERY FURNACE!
When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego honored their God, and took
their stand, they not only were vindicated themselves, THEY MADE A
PROFOUND DIFFERENCE IN THEIR WORLD, IN THEIR GENERATION!
Our sick world needs Messiah! And Messiah will come! He will
come, NOW, to His children who look to Him with FAITH! And one day He
will come so all the world will see Him!
Prayer: For the ability to SEE Your face!
#182 It Came Upon the Midnight Clear
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.86 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Wed Aug 21 1996 12:22 | 188 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Watching for the Son
02.26P - Matthew 25:1-13
WATCHING FOR THE SON
During this Lenten Season we are looking forward to revival, and
we are looking forward to Good Friday and Easter; Lent is a "forward
looking" sort of time.
But wouldn't it be a sad irony if in all our anticipation, we
were surprised by the really Big Event as it comes in all its
inconceivable power and glory and trauma? [How much, really, do we
think about "Thy kingdom come!"?]
Jesus spoke of being ready for His Second Coming. True, He used
some cultural settings that we may not fully understand. [ I have
heard a great deal about mid-eastern weddings, ancient and modern, and
I am not convinced about all the ramifications and details of what
goes on, and how that applies to us today.] But I am convinced that
the heart of what Jesus said strikes to the heart of your spiritual
need and mine. It is impossible to miss.
We must not only be in the company that is watching for the
Bridegroom, we must not only be dressed and equipped like the company
waiting for the bridegroom, we must have "oil in our lamps," whatever
that means! And, too, we cannot GET READY once He comes, we have to
BE READY!
The sufficient supply of OIL in the lamps of the wise virgins is
generally accepted to be the Reality of the Presence of God the Holy
Spirit. It is God's Presence, by the abiding Holy Spirit in the
believer that gives light and life to the witness. [Oil = The Holy
Spirit in present Reality!]
And so the question is:"How may we be sure to have oil when
Jesus, the heavenly Bridegroom, breaks in on the scene?"
[There are plenty of people willing to "help" you and me at this
point. I get confused and I get discouraged and I get "guilty
feelings" when I listen to people telling me what I need to do in
order to have all God wants me to have. One says: "Experience is
everything!" Another says: "The way we worship or pray is
everything!" Another says: "Correct agreement with correct
interpretation is everything!"]
What does the Bible say? What does the Holy Spirit Himself say
to me? To You? Are we listening?
All I know is I want to have OIL in my lamp! I want to be filled
with the Holy Spirit!!!
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT THE HOLY SPIRIT?
1. We RECEIVE THE HOLY SPIRIT in the miracle of the New Birth. In
John chapter three, as Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, he says again
and again that we must be born of the Spirit: "That which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is
spirit: ye must be born again."
And in Romans 8:9 Paul says, "If any man have not the Spirit of
Christ he is none of His."
So we receive the OIL of the Spirit, initially, in the miracle
of new birth.
2. We ARE TO BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT in cleansing, empowering
fullness, in a crisis of deliberate surrender, and in an on-going,
day-by-day, even moment-by-moment carrying through of that
surrender.
In Acts 2 we read of the initial Pentecost outpouring (Acts 2:4)
and the disciples were all filled with the Holy Spirit. But other
times we read that these same disciples were filled (Acts 4:31)
"When they had prayed the place was shaken, and they were all
filled with the Holy Spirit."
AND WE ARE TO BE BEING FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT IN AN ON-GOING
BASIS It is the command of God (Ephesians 5:18): "Be not drunk with
wine wherein is excess, but be (being) filled with the Holy
Spirit!"
And this is a dynamic thing, this 'having sufficient oil.' It is
not enough to say: "I was soundly saved! I know I was sanctified!
I am (smugly) all set for the coming of the Lord!" For the Holy
Spirit is a Person, a living Presence.
3. We are to SET THE SPIRIT FREE WITHIN US, AND NOT TO QUENCH HIM.
It is possible to "quench" the Spirit! Look at the context of
that phrase, in I Thessalonians:
[I Thessalonians 5:15-23 See that none render evil for evil unto
any man; but ever follow that which is good, both among
yourselves, and to all men. Rejoice evermore. Pray without
ceasing. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God
in Christ Jesus concerning you. QUENCH NOT THE SPIRIT. Despise
not prophesyings. Prove all things; hold fast that which is
good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of
peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and
soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ.]
Look at the imperatives Paul gives us to seek to be God's
channels, instead of seeking to use God for our enrichment.
4. We are to PLEASE THE HOLY SPIRIT, AND NOT TO GRIEVE HIM. The
Scripture also says it is possible to GRIEVE God's Spirit. Look at
the context of that phrase in Ephesians 4:30 [READ IT:]
In this Golden Chapter, being loving and kind and gracious is
contrasted with grieving the Spirit!
5. The HOLY SPIRIT IS MADE EVIDENT BY HIS FRUIT Galatians 5:22-23, and
not by some "nominal" experience in the sometime past. The
question is not: Am I orthodox? I should hope so! Not even 'Am I
a tithing Nazarene? Wonderful if you are! But: AM I JUST NOW
POSSESSED/FILLED/OWNED/USED OF/BY THE HOLY SPIRIT??
Conclusion:
The Holy Spirit is not a spirit of compulsion, of whim, of
secretive directives. But He is found of those who SEEK Him; He is
given to those who ASK for Him; He is God's Spirit of LOVE; He is
Christ's Spirit of GRACE.
Are YOU "born of the Spirit?" Have you opened your life to the
Spirit of Jesus, and have you confessed Him as Lord, and have you been
baptized?
Have YOU set Him free in YOUR life?
Have YOU received Him in all His fullness?
Thomas Kelly, not a "holiness preacher," but a Quaker, put it
this way:
"Meister Eckhart wrote:"There are plenty to follow our Lord
half-way, but not the other half. They will give up possessions,
friends and honors, but it touches them too closely to disown
themselves." It is just this astonishing life which is willing
to follow Him the other half, sincerely to disown itself, this
life which intends complete obedience, without any reservations,
that I would propose to you in all humility, in all boldness, in
all seriousness. I mean this literally, utterly, completely,
and I mean it for you and for me- commit your lives in
unreserved obedience to Him.
If you don't understand the revolutionary explosiveness of this
proposal you don't understand what I mean. Only now and then comes a
man or a woman who, like John Woolman or Francis of Assisi, is willing
to be utterly obedient, to go the other half, to follow God's faintest
whisper. But when such a commitment comes in a human life, God breaks
through, miracles are wrought, world-renewing divine forces are
released, history changes. There is nothing more important now than to
have the human race endowed with just such committed lives. . .
"We have plenty of quakers to follow God the first half of the
way. Many of us have become as mildly and as conventionally
religious as were the church folk . . . against
whose... mediocrity and passionlessness George Fox and his
followers flung themselves with all the passion ... of a new
discovery.. Religion as a dull habit is not that for which
Christ lived and died."
-A Testament of Devotion (52,53)
JESUS IS COMING AGAIN. That is His promise. More and more this
world is groaning, waiting for its true Master to come and set things
right. I want to be filled with His Spirit when He comes!
I don't know Christ's agenda. I do know that He said, Himself:
"Watch! (verse 13 & Mark 13:33) You do not know when I am coming!" We
can BE ready when Jesus returns!
#193 One Day
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.87 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Wed Aug 21 1996 12:22 | 253 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Covenant for Life
2 Chronicles 7:14
THANKSGIVING SUNDAY
Covenant for Life
On a Friday morning, April 21, 1747, to be exact, John Wesley rode
his horse into the village of Thirsk, about 25 miles north of York, in
beautiful north Yorkshire, England. John Wesley came intending to
preach and conduct religious services. But if the countryside there is
beautiful, the spirit of the town, as, indeed, the spirit of much of
the entire nation, was ugly.
Wesley wrote in his Journal that night: "I called at Thirsk; but
finding the town full of holiday folks, drinking, cursing, swear=ACing,
and cockfighting, I did not stop at all, but rode on to Boroughbridge,
and in the afternoon to Leeds."
In Thirsk, as well as in all of Britain, Wesley and his Christian
contemporaries faced a sea of evil. The people were scripturally
ignorant and illit=ACerate. The living was hard. The character of the
average man in the street was coarse. What could one man, or a few
people, or even a few hundred people do to stem such a de=ACgenerate
tide?
WHAT COULD GOD'S PEOPLE DO?
THEY COULD RESOLVE TO BE HOLY.
They could live to please God!
And THEY COULD MAKE THEMSELVES AVAILABLE TO GOD.
And a relatively small number of people set out to do exactly
that. They had no delusions of grandeur, but they knew that they
served a great God. And they determined to live to please Him. AND
GOD, THROUGH THOSE RELATIVELY FEW PEOPLE, BROUGHT ABOUT A SPIRITUAL
AWAKENING!
Perhaps it is not possible to make parallels between our modern
culture and early 18th century England, and draw spiritual and moral
conclusions. But I feel challenged by what I perceive to be almost
identical spiritual confrontations. I have no way of knowing whether
our pornography and abortion and political corruption are worse or
better than the brutality and prejudices and class discrimination
which Wesley faced. BUT I DO KNOW THAT WE ARE IN DANGER OF SIMPLY
ACCOMMODATING THE WAY WE LIVE TO THE TENOR OF THE TIMES.
We go home from our worship service, where we all agree that sin is
bad and God is good-- and we tell ourselves that we are on God's side
with all we have. And maybe we are. But I also do perceive that
UNLESS MORE HAPPENS TO STEM THE FLOODTIDES OF EVIL IN OUR DAY THAN IS
HAPPENING NOW, THEN WE SHALL SINK QUICKLY and quietly into a
post-Christian, hedonist, Godless society that will swallow up our
children and our own faith as well!
I believe I sense some of the same frustration that Wesley may have
felt as he rode his horse into Thirsk that spring morning. I believe
that he was at least tempted to say, "What can one person do against
such emboldened evil!" I know that I am tempted! But WE KNOW AS
CHRISTIANS WE MUST TO DO SOMETHING!
[Transition:]
I'm sure that it is natural to think first of all about doing; and
particularly about acting politically. It seems natural to see the
sinful conditions of society and begin by attacking those evils,
wherever and however we are able. It might do us well, instead, TO
LOOK TO Wesley for a working model, and beyond Wesley, to THE
SCRIPTURAL PRINCIPLES WESLEY USED in the spiritual awakening which
came during his lifetime.
These principles come into sharp focus in the words of our text:
(2 Chron. 7:14)
THIS IS A COVENANT STATEMENT.
It is not "contractual;" it does not give service rendered for value
received, and in no way can a spiritual awakening ever be earned,
merited, deserved, or "prayed down." But it is a covenant statement.
GOD SAYS "I'LL BE RESPONSIBLE AND DO CERTAIN THINGS, IF YOU WILL
BE RESPONSIBLE AND FOR YOUR PART, YOU WILL DO CERTAIN
THINGS!"
I. THE PART WHICH FALLS TO GOD'S PEOPLE IS CLEARLY OUTLINED:
(1) IF MY PEOPLE, which are called by MY name
I have made this phrase a separate "condition" even though it isn't
something to "do;" but it DOES tell WHO is called to be the agent of
God's healing. The call of God is not first of all to militancy
against the evils of society, but to the people called by His name,
that they will come to Him. The call is not to reform the terrible
conditions we see on the outside (although we must do what we can when
and where we can.)
GOD'S CALL IS TO SEEK HIS FACE, and His promise is that if HIS people
will hear and believe Him, then HE will heal the land. This task of
land healing is too big for any of us, and it is too big for all of us
put together! But it is NOT too big for God!
[Somehow I see Abraham standing on the edge of the mesa
over=AClooking the valley of the Dead Sea below. I hear him
interceding to God for Sodom and Gomorrah, and hear God saying,
"If there are 40 righteous, I will spare the city! If there are
30 righteous, I will not destroy the people!"]
[And somehow I wonder who is holding back the fire and brimstone
of God's wrath on a society that has absolutely no time for any
god but pleasure and convenience and comfort?]
(2) SHALL HUMBLE THEMSELVES
This means putting ourselves into the "servant role." We see
ourselves as the agents of God's work; 'any great awakening depends on
US!' BUT GOD SAYS HUMBLE YOURSELVES!
Recognize the helplessness of all flesh apart from God! Cry out in
desperation to God! WE'RE so "cool!" WE know so "much!" Just a few
more seminars-- a few more hard prayers-- a little more sweat and
busy-ness-- and we'll bring in the New Jerusalem all by ourselves! WE
THINK!
God says: Either I do it-- or it won't get done!
(3) "Humble yourselves . . . AND PRAY AND SEEK MY FACE"
This means giving God TIME and giving Him ATTENTION for AS LONG AS IT
TAKES, until we get ourselves lined up with His good, and acceptable,
and perfect will.
It isn't a matter of praying to change God's mind. God is not
reluctant to help us against the forces of evil. He is ready and able
right now to move in and change our world under our feet. But our
problem is praying, without mixture, "I delight to do YOUR will, O
God!" Your kingdom come! In YOUR way!
God says: "Pray and seek my face until your whole being is on the
stretch for more of ME!"
(4) AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS
And how will we know when we are coming near to praying and seeking
God's face enough? The answer is: WHEN WE ARE WILLING PUT THE WAY WE
LIVE ON THE LINE, WHATEVER IT COSTS US TO OBEY GOD'S WILL! We think
of "wickedness" as violence and impurity and flagrant greed and denial
of God. But GOD SAYS WHEN HIS PEOPLE STOP PUTTING OTHER THINGS FIRST
AHEAD OF HIM-- WHEN THEY ARE WILLING TO PUT COMFORT AND SECURITY AND
LEGITIMATE PLEASURES WAY DOWN THE LIST OF THEIR LIFE PRIORITIES, and
absolutely put God FIRST-- THEN GOD'S PEOPLE WILL BE LEAVING THEIR
WICKED WAYS!
[This is 'our' side of the covenant. But God Himself has made a
promise of what He will do for His part of the covenant!] And
WHEN IT IS GOD THAT MOVES IN, then the dynamic, and the wisdom,
and all the glory are HIS!]
II. AND THE COVENANT PROMISE OF THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY IS CLEAR: THEN
WILL I:
(1) HEAR FROM HEAVEN
YOUR PRAYERS WILL "CONNECT!" Did you ever have a prayer "connect?"
I'm not sure how to describe "praying through." And I know that we
are called upon to pray in faith no matter how we "feel," and I am
also sure that some of our most effective prayers are "embattled
prayers." We are to "be instant in season and out of season."
(2 Timothy) BUT IT IS GREAT WHEN PRAYERS "CONNECT!" It makes all the
difference when, beyond mere emotional feeling, there is the
assurance, the certitude that God is not just "aware" of what you
have prayed, but that God has heard!
(2) WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN
WHOSE SIN? The sins of the abortionists and drug pushers? Not yet--
THE SINS OF HIS OWN PEOPLE! The sins of NEGLECT-- of BROKEN ALTARS
and NEGLECTED BIBLES and UNKIND ATTITUDES and PRAYERLESS DAYS and
WEEKS. THIS FORGIVENESS IS KEY!
WHAT SIN? Once again-- THE SIN OF BEING "DISCONNECTED" from the
Source of Goodness and Life and Light. The connection once again will
be established. God will have a voice in the land. God's Word will
be heard in its glory!
(3) HEAL THEIR LAND
If the job is too great for us-- and the sickness too profound, it is
not for the great God we serve. This is a covenant statement! AND ONE
WAY OR ANOTHER, GOD WILL HEAL THE LAND OF THE PEOPLE WHO KEEP COVENANT
WITH HIM! And make no mistake, we will have a part, and an important
part to DO. For THERE DOES COME A TIME FOR "DOING!" GOD WILL ASK US TO
PUT OUR LIVES ON THE LINE! But it begins with HUMBLING, and continues
in PRAYER, and SEEKING GOD'S FACE, and TURNING FROM SELFISH WAYS!
Because God does the healing does NOT mean that we will not have any
part in the healing process. John Wesley was certainly an instrument
in the awakening of His day. GOD WILL USE HUMAN INSTRUMENTS IN THE
AWAKENING WE SEE. But remember: THIS COVENANT PROMISE CLEARLY DOES
MEAN THAT THE HEALING WILL COME FROM GOD.
Conclusion:
Wesley was dismayed and temporarily dismissed in Thirsk and a number
of other places because of the prevailing spirit of lawlessness and
sin in his times. But Wesley went back to Thirsk another day..and
another and another! There are 14 entries in his Journal that record
visits to Thirsk. After 1747 there are entries like June, 1755:
Thirsk: a little society; June 1763: intended to preach by a
house, but asked by gentlemen to preach in the marketplace; to a
large, deeply attentive congregation;
June 1764 "exceeding large congregation"
May 29, 1766 I preached in the new House (chapel) at Thirsk.
And Wesley kept on recording visits to Thirsk until 1788, a year
before his death! And if you go to Thirsk today there stands what to
Americans is a very old, substantial chapel built of brick, built by
the people called Methodists. Indeed, in just about every hamlet and
village in Britain there is a Methodist chapel that testifies to the
truth of our text,that: "if God's people . . ."!!
It is past time for another awakening in our world! And we are
frustrated-- we are helpless. We cannot begin by starting out to tilt
against the windmills of evil in our own righteousness and our own
strength and power. WHAT CAN WE DO AGAINST THE CURRENT OF DEGENERATE
TIMES?
WE CAN RESOLVE TO BE HOLY. We can live to please God. And WE CAN
MAKE OUR=ACSELVES AVAILABLE TO GOD.
Prayer: Lord God, The task is too large! And we are so very small!
But we are NOT alone! Together with Your people today all over this
world we pray! Heal our land! Your kingdom come! In US as it is in
heaven! Amen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________=
-- =
|
| 803.88 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Wed Aug 21 1996 12:23 | 226 |
| Subj: Sermon: It Pays to Serve Jesus (6/89)
6/18/89-am/RR
Psalm 84:11,12 For the Lord God is a sun and shield: the Lord
will give grace and glory: no good thing will He withhold from
them that walk uprightly. O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man
that trusteth in thee.
[There are times when we walk through the deep waters of pain,
and cannot find a ray of light, spiritually. And then there are times
when it seems as though our hearts will burst with joy because of the
blessings of God. And strange as it may seem, we may be pleasing God
just as much one time as another. Feelings and faith do not always
correspond in any way we can understand.] - moved to top by MM
IT PAYS TO SERVE JESUS!
Introduction:
[This is the "doorkeeper Psalm" to which we often refer when
someone opens the door for us. But it has a deeper significance than
that:]
The Psalmist is 'away.' Very evidently he misses the place of
worship. And he interprets his longing, correctly, as a longing after
God.
Often when we have a craving, or a deep longing-- when we "cry
out" for something, we don't quite know what-- that "somthing" is
really Someone! OUR HEARTS ARE MADE FOR GOD!
Can that desire for God ever really be met? What does this
great promise mean? "Sun, shield ... grace glory ..."
Just how literally may we take these words? And WHEN do these
words apply? Are they for "happy" days or for "homesick" days?
The question is, does it really PAY to serve God? Are
Christians "blessed" above others?
I. THERE IS MYSTERY INVOLVED IN GOD'S 'BLESSINGS'
A. God will never be manipulated.
We can never push God into a simple "cause-and-effect
relationship" in order to make Him do what we think ought to be
done. We can never simply use the promises of God to accomplish our
own desires and selfish schemes. If you can do that, then your God is
too small!
Yes-- there ARE promises-- promises that if we pray, then God
will hear and answer. There ARE spiritual LAWS.
But God IS! God is GOD! He is unlike all others.
B. God can never be fully understood.
We believe that he is GOOD and that He is HOLY. But we can never
be certain we understand why things happen. Remember, the Book of Job
is full of very wise sayings that simply ARE NOT TRUE [You must be
careful as you read Job to see who is speaking!]
C. And yet here is the Word: GOD HAS PROMISED HIS BLESSINGS ON
THOSE WHO LOVE HIM! What does this mean?
II. THERE IS THE FACT OF STRUGGLE INVOLVED IN ALL HUMAN EXISTENCE
A. If you DON'T know the Lord, you will know pain.
The Bible declares that "The way of the transgressor is hard"
(Proverbs 13:15): It does not always seem so, but ultimately
1. Life gives back what is sown (Galatians 6:7), and too, in
the end regardless of what we see of outward circumstance,
2. the transgressor is separated from God. And that is the
ultimate tragedy, for we are made for God; made to live in
His Presence and to know His blessing.
B. If you DO know the Lord, you will (also) know pain.
Even the life of faith means struggle!
1. There is struggle to enter INTO life! Matthew 7:13-14
says: Strait is the gate! It costs to CONFESS! (Confess
need of Savior! Confess SIN! Confess helplessness to save
self!) It costs to REPENT! (To TURN FROM our own wicked
way!) It is never easy! Jesus said: "STRIVE!
(Agonidzomai!)
2. God's way demands FAITH! Fight the good fight of faith!
This way demands that we trust God's LOVE and trust His
WORD! It demands that we renounce our claims to our
self-centered ways!
C. If you DON'T ... and if you DO! There is PAIN both ways!
So-- what is the difference?
There IS a fundamental difference in the 'hardness' or
'difficulty' of life and living with and without the Presence of the
Lord God as Savior and Friend!
GOD, HIMSELF, IS THAT DIFFERENCE! And that difference is what I
want to look at now:
III. THE FACT IS: GOD IS INTERESTED IN MAKING HUMAN LIVES THE VERY
BEST THEY CAN BE! "No good thing will He withhold from them that
walk uprightly!" Where men and women will permit Him, God works
His best will:
A. GOD'S WAY BRINGS
1. Free forgiveness for all our sins!
2. Life changing purpose: we become partners with God in
His work of Creation and Salvation.
3. Genuine meaning and satisfaction: our lives can make an
eternal difference!
B. (Our text tells us:) GOD IS A SUN AND SHIELD
(Romans 8:28 "In all things God works-- for them that love
God.) God will and DOES give grace and glory! God is in the
'construction business.' "I will MAKE you!" God takes great
delight in making people like His Son Jesus.
I John 3:1,2: "Beloved NOW are we the sons/daughters of God
... and it doth not yet appear what we shall be..."
C. (Some 'personal insights:') WHAT MAKES LIFE RICHEST OF ALL?
[When we realize (or re-realize:)]
1. THE PRESENCE OF JESUS!
Jesus is present with all believers. And He is now present
with you/me. But from time to time we get this insight,
this assurance: WE HAVE CONTACT WITH A VERY PRESENT FRIEND!
THAT is worth everything!
2. THE LOVE/TRUST OF JESUS!
He loves US; we love HIM. We are brought into Christ's
company ... fellowship ... salvation .. or whatever we call
it ... by loving Him the best we can!
And as poor as our love may be, Jesus appreciates it and He
refines it! Jesus loves US! Jesus loves ME! Jesus loves
YOU!
D. This is NOT mysticism! IT IS THE SCRIPTURAL 'NORM' OF WHAT
IT MEANS TO BE SAVED! We must have a know-so contact with
God!
1. We dare not throw away the old formula: Saved by faith.
Confess. Believe.
2. But all the same we cannot coldly pursue a 'matter-of-fact'
salvation, trusting in "the facts of truth" apart from an
utterly sincere, open, friendship with the Lord Jesus
Christ.
Conclusion:
Does it PAY to serve Jesus?
Can this "craving after God" ever be filled?
The answer is: YES!
God does not promise to remove the tensions of life. He does
NOT guarantee that we shall be free from pain. To be human is to
suffer,
But to LOVE and to serve the Lord is to come to know Him, to know
His Presence, to share His love.
BUT "HOW?"
(Verse 5!) The Psalmist says: I want MY HEART to be the HIGHWAY
TO ZION!
1. Our hearts' deepest cravings are for God!
2. As we invite Him, He comes with His LOVE! He comes with His
TRUST and LIFE PURPOSE! He comes with His ASSURANCE OF
SALVATION!
All this PLUS:
The one dimension that is the most important of all is the
eternal view! This seems so worthless to modern minds that it has
even influenced to some extent the thinking IN the church-- the
importance of the long-term view!
It does pay to serve Jesus right NOW! Right HERE! But it will
be paying one hundred years from today ... and one thousand years from
right now, as well!
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father,
We have all experienced the deep longing of our hearts after love
and peace and joy! We know those cravings are for YOU!
Please make our hearts "highways to Zion!" Come with your
Presence and make us all that You have in mind for us to be!
You have said: "No good thing You will withhold!" So, help us to
serve You because we LOVE You! And You work in us as you will!
In Jesus' name, AMEN.
#70 It Is Well with My Soul
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.89 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Wed Aug 21 1996 12:24 | 182 |
| Subj: Sermon: To Reach the Distant Star
May 8, 1992
"TO REACH THE DISTANT STAR"
Without faith it is impossible to please Him; for he that cometh
to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that
diligently seek Him. -Hebrews 11:6
INTRODUCTION
I am a seeker after God. This is a favorite verse of mine; a
"life verse" that I live by every day. The example here is Enoch, one
of two men the Bible describes as having been translated, i.e., simply
"beamed up" to God's Presence.
But there is another "life verse" that says that the seeker is
God:
You have not chosen Me, but I have
chosen YOU, and ordained you that you should
go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit
should remain. - John 15:16
Just who is seeking whom?
Being human, we want to reduce this mystery of who is seeking
whom; so we go to one extreme or another-- "My life's work, even my
spiritual existence depends entirely on ME!" Or, "If it is God's will
then certainly HE will work it all out?" Which is true? Shall I be
super-active? or shall I take a passive role in faith?
Actually, the Greeks had another way to use verbs of action. We
have two: "I act!" or "I am acted upon." The Greeks had a middle
voice, "I enter into the action!"
Finding God's best will for our lives is not just a matter of
our effort, or a matter of praying that something will turn up. It is
a matter of 1) believing that God IS God! and it is a matter of
diligently seeking to keep our life centered in Him. Yet all the time
we are seeking, Jesus is at work-- we are seeking the One who has
already located us, and is at work to bring about His life in us:
You have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you,
that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain.
-John 15:16
I. I HAVE CHOSEN YOU
A. CHOSEN: THE SOVEREIGN HAND OF GOD IN OUR LIVES . . . IN YOUR LIFE
I believe in the Sovereignty of Almighty God.
E.N.C. did not 'happen'
You have not chosen Me, I have chosen you!
The full attention of a Personal God. Not possible to be fully
Christian and kiss off our days with a tip of the Bible toward a
distant Sovereign; we are meant to live and walk with this God in a
holiness that brings sanctity and balance to all of life and living
II. I HAVE ORDAINED YOU AND CALLED YOU
A. APPOINTED: THE APPOINTMENTS OF GOD - the over-ruling alchemy that
will not waste a consecrated life
God's choice is also God's appointment: Frustration,
disappointment, failure are inevitably part of the human condition;
God has promised not to overlook us; He knows the way that we take and
when we are tried we will come forth as gold; this may be "pie in the
sky" to the outsider, but it is what God's people utterly must trust:
God will not waste a consecrated life.
B. CHARGED: EVERY ONE OF US HAS THE SAME BASIC PURPOSE
EVEN THOUGH WE EXPRESS OUR VOCATIONS IN UNIQUE WAYS.
THE UNIVERSAL CALL IS TO BEAR FRUIT.
THE LIFE OF CHRIST DEMANDS INCREASE.
The Christ-LIFE within the Vine and reaching to the tip of every
branch;
III. I HAVE PROMISED YOU SIGNIFICANCE
A. PERMANENCE: YOUR FRUIT TO REMAIN
Dealing in millions of dollars is impressive; dealing in eternity
and infinity is the Christian's call. We are to be about the Father's
business:
ENC is among the giants of education in Boston/Cambridge; like
Bethlehem among the least in Judah . . . but what can be said of the
Stockwells and the Merkis and the Patches and the Spangenbergs and the
Harold Parrys and the Pauls and the Camerons and the Halls and on and
on?
Not a passing display, but eternally significant life work. We
write in lives ("You are our epistles, known and read of all men,"
said St. Paul to the Corinthians (2 Corinthians 3:3)) What we work in,
concrete and steel, will have lasting significance for decades; what
we achieve, in words or sculpture, may last even for centuries, but
what we write with the pen of God in human experience will endure to
eternity.
This vital connection of Vine and Branches is the same today as
when Jesus spoke the words. He is the Life; abide in Him! Seek after
the seeking God as though the finding depends on you! But remember,
in our following after Him He has already chosen us, and ordained that
we should go and bear MUCH fruit, and that that fruit might remain!
Her name was Evelyn. She was a daughter of an Appalachian
farmer, and she finally got to college by the merest of chances, or so
it would seem.
She took an undergraduate degree at Trevecca Nazarene College,
and then with her vision expanding and her obedient spirit following
the Light, she passed through these halls, sat where you sit, on her
way to medical school and wherever God might want her to go.
What a winding, interesting, seemingly circuitous path her life
followed! How rich she became!
She was a medical doctor, first in Africa, then in Papua New
Guinea, and made a life-saving contribution to scores if not hundreds
of lives.
She was a preacher, and reached many hungry hearts with the
simple Gospel.
She was a linguist, and will be remembered for at least a
hundred years in the Southwest Pacific for her translation of
scripture and commentary into pidgin.
While still an undergraduate, in April of 1945 Evelyn Ramsey
wrote these words. She called her poem, "Aspiration:"
ASPIRATION
I do not know what men will say
When I have gone,
Or is it vain to think they'll
know
I've journeyed on?
I do not know what hearts will
sigh
When ends my day,
Or who will take my tasks and bear
Them on their way.
But this I know: that I have aimed
So high, so far,
And I have stretched my soul to
reach
The distant star.
I've given all my life and pow'r
To do my task
And this has been my burning
prayer.
I do not ask
To seem to men a great success
If only I
May still be reaching for that
star
When I must die.
-Evelyn Ramsey 4/22/45
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.90 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Thu Aug 29 1996 17:02 | 237 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Lord Jesus Christ
03.19A - Philippians 2:5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in
Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery
to be equal with God; but made himself of no reputation, and took
upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of
men: and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and
became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore
God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a Name which is
above every name; that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow,
of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the
earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
THE LORD JESUS CHRIST
HIS DESCENT AND HIS EXALTATION
Introduction:
It was a tremendous reversal from the Triumphal Entry on a
sunny Sunday to the gloom of the Via Dolorosa and the supernatural
darkness that hung over the crucifixion that following Friday.
Christians often make commentary on the great change, the
fickleness of the people, the indignity and shame heaped on our
Lord, that week.
But Jesus began His journey of condescension to the cross long
before the crowds waved palms and cried "Hosanna!" And the descent
that our Lord Jesus made into the abyss of night and evil to redeem
us was far more than that stark week's contrast of the cheers of
the crowds to the loneliness of the dark-stained cross. That
pouring out of His love and life and glory began before time, in
the love of God. It did not stop at the demands of shame and death
for our redemption. And even today, it reaches to wherever there is
sin and death and pain.
And even today, before Easter, and before Good Friday, we need
to remember that just as there is a descending and a humiliation
and an outpouring, there is also an exaltation. There is a name
which is above every Name, and before the Name of Jesus every knee
will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
I. THIS DESCENT BEGAN IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE GODHEAD
Christ was not the highest of created beings, and the
flowering of all that is finest and best in mankind. He is Eternal
God. He was not created to bring us salvation: He created US to
bring us into His life!
The Creation of Adam and Eve, and of all humankind, of you and
me, and then God's identification with us, sinful though we be, is
an expression of ineffable love. Bethlehem was the expression of
a love which we will never understand.
It has been preached at times as though Christ came to earth
because of a desire by God to fill a need. If this were true, then
Creation-- Bethlehem-- the Incarnation-- would indicate a God who
acts from a sense of need. But God eternally needs nothing!
And yet in His love God did want to share His life with you
and with me. Out of the Fullness that is God there came this act
of Creation and Love and Giving. God's goodness and His love are
the best reasons we can grasp at the "why" of salvation. And God
stooped to breath His image and likeness into clay.
[From that fullness, the completeness of the Godhead,]
II. JESUS DESCENDED TO WHERE WE ARE AND HAS IDENTIFIED WITH US
He came fully experiencing our finite humanity. He was somehow
limited in understanding, for the Bible tells us that Jesus grew in
stature as well as in wisdom. He knew weakness, for we read how
Jesus was wearied, and hungry, and faint. He knew temptation, in
all points even as we are tempted.
At this level of complete humanness Jesus fully identified
with us:
(1) By being fully Jewish. We don't think of Jesus as a Jew first,
we think of Him as the new Adam, leading us into a humanity that is
perfected. But while Jesus was on earth, He was subject to the
laws and customs of His human ancestry. He was circumcised the
eighth day. He was subject to His parents, even when they did not
understand him in the Temple when He was twelve years old. He was
faithful in His growing years to the synagogue and public worship.
(2) By being baptized by John, who was baptizing people for the
remission of sins. II Corinthians 5:21 says "God made (Jesus) to
be sin for us, even though He knew no sin, so that we might become
the righteousness of God in Him." And this identification with
sinners, this bearing of the weight of sin, was manifested in His
public baptism.
(3) By His manifest compassion for us after His anointing with the
Spirit. Jesus cared for us! For little children. For the rich
young ruler. For the multitudes. For Jerusalem. For you! Just
about the only people Jesus did not have patience with were the
people who were so holy in themselves that they didn't need a
Savior.
(4) As He taught with precept and story, but always with great
Authority! He was the Liberator from the mind-games and the
institutional rigor mortis of the self-righteous dead. He taught
people how to give of themselves and be audaciously happy! "Blessed
are the poor in spirit!" he said.
(5) And Jesus fully identified with us: (finally) By becoming our
Paschal Lamb!
He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary
And suffered and died alone!
[But where is Jesus just NOW?]
III. THE ASCENSION OF JESUS ENDED IN THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE GODHEAD
Jesus came all the way to where we are; then He returned to
the glory that was His before the worlds began:
[John 17:4,5 "Jesus: "I glorified Thee (God the Father) on the
earth, having accomplished the work which Thou hast given Me to do.
"And now, glorify Thou Me with the glory which I had with Thee
before the world was."]
But now there is one difference: HE CAME DOWN IN ORDER TO
BRING US UP!
[Ephesians 2:6 (God) hath raised us up together, and made us sit
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus ."
Jesus who has been seated with the Father [Ephesians 1:20 "(God)
wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead, and set him at
his own right hand in the heavenly places."], brings US into that
fellowship with Himself!
JESUS INVITES US, NOW, TO IDENTIFY WITH HIM: But how?
(1) WE MUST BE CALLED! And then it takes a leap of faith to
follow! Faith calls to faith.
How might we have recognized Jesus as Messiah then? How do we
recognize Him now? [Is Jesus calling YOU? "Follow Me!"]
(2) WE MUST RESPOND TO GRACE BY FAITH! It is a humbling thing
to be died for! "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness,
even so must the Son of man be lifted up." (John 3:14)
(2.a) WE SIMPLY LOOK TO JESUS IN FAITH! [Numbers 21: the story
of the fiery serpents in the wilderness; and the serpent of
brass]
(2.1) This "look of faith" is a look of helplessness! (As in AA!)
(2.2) But it is also a look of HOPE!
(2.3) And it IS the look of LIFE! When we respond, and identify
with Jesus in His humiliation, and begin to understand that He
has died for us, we begin to find that we are already bound to
Him for all eternity in His glorious exaltation.
ALREADY, HERE AND NOW, BEFORE WE DIE AND GO TO HEAVEN, THE
POWER AND THE GUILT OF SIN ARE BROKEN WHEN WE IDENTIFY WITH JESUS.
Paul put it this way (Galatians 2:20) "I am crucified with
Christ, nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me!
And the life I now live in this body, I live by the faith of the
Son of God who loved me, and gave Himself for me!"
CONCLUSION:
(1) THIS WILL BE a glorious Creation when Jesus Christ renews this
Universe and we see new heavens and a new earth that is totally in
harmony with the holiness and the glory of God. We will be a part of
that new Kingdom of Love and Light.
(2) BUT RIGHT HERE AND NOW the Kingdom of God breaks in on us
because of Christ's descent to where we are in order to bring us up
to where He is.
(3) HOW ARE WE TO RESPOND to the descent and the exaltation of
our Lord, when we begin to see that Jesus came down from heaven's
glory because he loved us, and that He has taken His seat at the
right hand of the Throne of Glory that He might bring us there with
Him? There is only one way:
"Streams of mercy, never ceasing
Call for songs of loudest praise!"
(3.1) We can praise Jesus with the love of our hearts. We can
praise Jesus with the words of our lips, both to each other, and
(3.2!!) We can (sometimes) praise Jesus by letting Him descend in
us and through us to where there is sin and need, and,
introducing Him there, watching Him bring His exaltation and
victory where there has been defeat.
(Final summary:) THIS GLORY IS A FUTURE REALITY! "It doth not yet
appear what we shall be! " and "I will come again, and receive you
unto Myself!"
BUT IT IS ALSO FINISHED FACT, AND PRESENT SPIRITUAL REALITY:
(Colossians 3:1-4)"If you then have been raised up with Christ,
keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right
hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things
that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with
Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you
also will be revealed with Him in glory."
Lifted up was He to die
"It is finished!" was His cry.
Now in heav'n exalted high:
Hallelujah! What a Savior!
#71 (Words only; different tune) I Will Sing of My Redeemer
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.91 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Thu Aug 29 1996 17:03 | 243 |
|
Subj: Sermon: Freedom in Becoming
Lesson Romans 8: 18-25
Text: 8:21 "... the creation itself also will be set free from its
slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of
God."
FREEDOM IN BECOMING
INTRODUCTION
Holiness is belonging to God. [This is what we have been
talking about the past three Sunday mornings.] Holiness is also
the freedom to enter into the glory of being God's children
(text.) Holiness is being like Jesus, or at least, becoming like
Him, the One who was and IS pure and holy. As the hymn writer
penned it, and we pray as we sing:
"Give me, Lord, the mind of Jesus,
Make me holy as He is;
May I prove I've been with Jesus
Who is all my righteousness."
Is it realistic to speak of becoming like Jesus Christ? One
thing I am sure of, if any Christ-likeness is possible, and if it
ever takes place in your life and mine, it will be the result of
God's grace!
I. ROMANS: A HANDBOOK ON GRACE
A. We think of "grace" as salvation FROM sin-- and so it is.
There certainly is a glorious negative side of God's GRACE:
1. FREEDOM FROM A "WORKS SALVATION"
Romans 4 - Freedom from having to EARN salvation: [Romans 4:4
"Now to the one who works, his wage is not reckoned as a favor,
but as what is due. 5 But to the one who does not work, but
believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned
as righteousness." 6: "...David also speaks of the blessing
upon the man to whom God reckons righteousness apart from works
..."]
2. FREEDOM FROM SIN'S GUILT
Romans 5 - Freedom from the GUILT of confessed sin: peace WITH
God / justification [Romans 5:1 "Therefore being justified by
faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ..."]
3. FREEDOM FROM SIN'S DOMINION
Romans 6 - Freedom from the DOMINION of sin ... [Romans 6:1
"Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? God forbid!"
6:22 "But now being made free from sin, and become servants to
God, you have your fruit unto holiness (i.e., sanctification)
and the outcome, eternal life!"]
4. FREEDOM FROM "LEGALISTIC SALVATION?"
Romans 7 - Freedom from LEGALISM: [Romans 7:6 "But now we have
been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were
bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in
oldness of the letter."]
B. GRACE ALSO HAS A POSITIVE ASPECT! We are not merely set
free FROM EVIL, [although we have just looked at quite a litany
of God's great grace!] NOW HERE COMES Romans 8-- which speaks of
the victorious LIFE IN THE POWER OF THE INDWELLING SPIRIT!
Where may we look for an example? Who, do you suppose, best
embodies what this life in the Spirit can be? You are right!
Jesus does!
II. ROMANS 8: FREEDOM IN THE SPIRIT: A PROFILE OF JESUS
[It may seem strange musing on Romans 8 as a profile of
Jesus. But when you think about it, EVERY high point in the NT is
a lesson on how we can and should live, and is a candid shot of
Jesus. These great chapters of the Bible are not simply
theological wonders. They serve to help us become holy. And to
be holy is to be like Jesus!]
A. JESUS LIVED IN THE FREEDOM OF THE SPIRIT. Can anyone
doubt or deny that? If ever anyone was filled with the Spirit,
it was Jesus! If ever anyone lived to please God the Father, it
was Jesus!
Not in an ideal, sterile situation, but in the living out of
real life at its best and its worst, Jesus showed us how to live
in the freedom of the Spirit:
Romans 8:1
1. [Jesus was accused! But] JESUS WAS FREE FROM CONDEMNATION
Freedom from condemnation, but not from controversy. Accusation
will come to us all! Remember how it came to Jesus?:
Brothers: You are crazy!
Pharisees: He has a devil!
Pilate: This man is irrelevant!
Priests: He saved others! He cannot save Himself!
God the Father: This is My Son!
2. [Jesus was tempted! But] JESUS PLEASED THE FATHER!
Romans 8:8 (Those who are in the flesh cannot please God" ...but
we know that Jesus pleased God!)
Jesus lived above sin, He was FREE from its power, but not from
temptation. Recall how He was tempted?:
Temptation of the flesh: (Make bread from stones.)
Temptation of the spirit: (Cast yourself down!)
Temptation to get things done quickly: (Compromise! Short-cut!)
3. [Jesus HAD to pray!] JESUS HAD A VICTORIOUS PRAYER LIFE!
But even Jesus had times when prayer was not easy! He had freedom
and victory, but even He was not free from groaning. (8:34 Says
that this praying Christ intercedes for US!)
4. [Jesus knew loneliness!]JESUS WAS ONE WITH THE FATHER
But even Jesus was not excluded from the realities of of the
struggles of the spiritual realm.
And on the Cross He suffered alone-ness like we will never need
to know! Because He loves us! (8:37-39 We overwhelmingly conquor
through HIM that loved us...nothing .. shall separate us from the
love of God which is in Jesus our Lord.")
B. Jesus is our Great Example of the Life of GRACE! We can
actually read Romans 8 by overlaying it with Jesus' life; and we
can know Jesus better by seeing in HIM all this fullness of the
Spirit. If we want to, we can know Jesus ... and become LIKE
Him, by the power of His Spirit! (text) "Free from slavery ...
into the freedom of the glory of the children of God!"
III. ROMANS 8: LIFE IN THE SPIRIT: IS FREEDOM TO BECOME LIKE JESUS!
A. (Verse 2) THE LAW OF THE SPIRIT OF LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS
HAS SET (US) FREE ... [look at that phrase!] We are enabled to
become all that has been described here: free from condemnation,
victorious in temptation, coming to God in prayer, never to be
separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus.
B. THIS IS NOT A SELFISH, SELF-CENTERED 'FREEDOM'
1. By looking to Jesus, we see that "FREEDOM" GOES BEYOND
MERE "INDIVIDUALISM."
It is wonderful to be set free so that we can be ourselves.
It is wonderful even to LIKE ourselves! (Most of us are at least
a little ambivalent.)
We tend to relate freedom to individualism. But
individualism can be a prison, a strait-jacket, if we descend
into the strictures of our own desires. Hell, said one very wise
man, could be getting exactly what we want for all eternity!
Individualism can be a prison-- about the size of a small
telephone booth-- bounded on all sides by our own limitations.
Freedom in Christ is more a freedom TO BECOME a part of the
larger community. A church is a community of incomplete and
imperfect people who can find completeness as they come together
in Christ and His family.
The kind of "freedom" that glorifies "Individualism" can be a
conformity to non-conformity. Some of the saddest uniforms I ever
see are garish fashions, or punk dictations, which say: "We will
NOT conform!" From kindergarten on, we are somehow taught to be
afraid to be different. [I know one missionary who returned from
a different culture and at some expense bought his children
everything that the other children had, so far as he could tell.
But the "things" were not the right "brands." And the children
were humiliated! And by other "Christian" families' kids!]
Jesus was Unique! And he has made every one of us an
"original!" But Jesus also bound Himself to you and me-- to His
church-- which He loved! Our FREEDOM is to be like Him!
2. JESUS DID NOT LIVE OR DIE TO HIS OWN INDIVIDUAL GLORY
He came to be the Father of a new kind of race. In 1 Corinthians
15:45 Paul writes: "The last Adam (Jesus Christ) became a life-
giving spirit."
(1.) Jesus was to be THE FIRST-BORN AMONG MANY BRETHREN (8:29
"His Son, that He might be the first-born among many
brethren.")
(2.) Jesus lives to MAKE INTERCESSION FOR US (8:34)
(3.) Jesus LOVES US (8:38-39 "Nothing can separate US from HIS
love!"
C. IT IS REALISTIC TO SPEAK OF BECOMING LIKE JESUS CHRIST!
The FREEDOM is there! The Holy Spirit makes it possible to begin!
But if we are ike Jesus
1) WE will live for others, like Jesus did!
2) WE will PRAY for others (become INTERCESSORS) like Jesus did!
3) His LOVE will UNITE us with God and with each other, just as
Christ's love reaches you and me!
CONCLUSION:
Paul writes (in Philippians 2) "Let this mind be in you
which was also in Christ Jesus!" Here in Romans is something of
the power to make it really happen!
That dynamic is God CALLING us to conform to the image of
His Son!
That dynamic is the GRACE to be free FROM guilt, and from
slavery to sin, and from ugly legalism!
That dynamic is the Spirit of Christ Himself dwelling in YOU
and in ME to make us HIS CHURCH!
If God calls you, you can be FREE! But remember, you aren't
REALLY free unless and until you are not just free FROM ... but
free TO BE, to BE BECOMING.. like Jesus Himself!
#60 Sitting at the Feet of Jesus
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
--
|
| 803.92 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Every knee shall bow | Thu Aug 29 1996 17:03 | 151 |
|
Subj: Sermon: The Prayer Jesus Prayed for You
3-25-90-pm
THE PRAYER JESUS PRAYED FOR YOU
John 17:1-3 (3) - And this is life eternal: that they may know Thee
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.
INTRODUCTION: When Jesus came to the very last moments He would share
alone with His disciples, it was not a time for small talk or idle
words. Not one of them would ever forget how He gave them a new
commandment, or how He said He was leaving them His joy.
But then Jesus stopped talking to the disciples, and began
talking to His heavenly Father. It was a prayer that electrified them
as they heard Him pray it.
He prayed for Himself that night. He spoke of unimaginable
glory, and of perfect union with the Father in that glory. As He
prayed He revealed as never before the single purpose of why He had
ever left the glory of heaven. The hearts of the disciples were
stirred as they realized the Presence of Deity.
And then Jesus prayed for them! They listened as He asked the
Father to make them a part of the fellowship and life which Jesus
Himself shared with the Father.
But then, wonder of wonders, Jesus prayed for you and for me!
In this, the holy place of all the Holy Bible are words that reach to
where we are this very hour:
I. JESUS PRAYED THAT WE MIGHT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE
A. This is the only reason Jesus came. Everything else
augments, enhances, points to- LIFE!
B. If you have eternal life you are a Christian! If you are a
Christian you are alive in Christ! It is as simple as that! If you do
NOT have life, then you are NOT a Christian!
There may be "stages of faith" and certainly there are different
levels of understanding-- but in the final word there is only one test
of being a Christian:
Either you are alive unto God-- or you aren't!
C. Other good and vital things-- the spiritual growth, the
service, the following after-- are essential. Don't throw them away.
But remember: ETERNAL LIFE IS OF GOD. ONLY GOD HAS ETERNAL LIFE, AND
ONLY GOD CAN MAKE US ETERNALLY ALIVE. AND THAT IS WHY JESUS CAME!
II. ETERNAL LIFE IS ALWAYS CONNECTED WITH KNOWING GOD
A. GOD-knowledge is the central issue of our faith; it can
never be peripheral. We come to know God at times by "roundabout"
ways; fear of punishment, weight of guilt, seeking to be fulfilled;
selfish ways, usually.
But Jesus said: "THIS is life eternal: that they may know THEE.
the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou has sent!" That is HIS
definition, not one I made up!
1. This knowledge is always revealed; never self-obtained.
2. It is always more than knowing about God; it is knowledge OF
God.
3. This "knowledge" is always a relationship, and it is
reciprocal; we come to know God as we make ourselves known to
Him! it is not something "free-standing" and simply "facts."
It is important that God know us! The saddest words that will
ever be heard will be: "Depart from Me, I never knew you!"
B. This necessity of knowing God makes the sin of PRESUMPTION
(false faith) one of the basic sins of unbelief. Presumption is
assuming that one knows what God is like. Presumption is saying: "I
know what God expects." David prayed (Psalm 19) "Keep back thy
servant from presumptuous sins."
Have you ever noticed how many people are EXPERTS on God?? BUT
THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE FOR REALLY KNOWING GOD!
III. THIS ETERNAL LIFE WILL MANIFEST ITSELF IN:
A. SECURITY (verses 11,15) "Keep them!" Implying that faith will
be tested; that we are not exempted from the common troubles of
mankind ... but also assuring us that God can and will KEEP His own!
B. JOY (verse 13) "that they might have My JOY fulfilled in
themselves!' To have the privilege of walking with God; having the
witness that we please Him; this brings an underlying JOY to life and
living! Jesus knew the JOY of being totally at one with the Father.
He gives us His Spirit so that we may know something of that
joy. (Fullness!)
C. UNITY WITH GOD/GOD'S FAMILY (21) "That they all may be ONE
... that they also may be one in Us ... that the world may believe"
1. "Unity" is a modern shibboleth
2. Jesus prayed for unity on the basis of being one with the
Father, Son and Spirit. We cannot be "one" with those who deny
the holiness and uniqueness of God. There is no basis for
unity apart from this divine connection.
3. "Causes" in and of themselves can never be the basis for
unity. We are not one because we are against anything-- even
sin. We must be one because we are IN God!
4. "Unity" is LIFE at the SOURCE-- unity in spirit! Doctrines
are important; and we must maintain our distinctives in a
spirit of humility. But unity is NOT a matter of agreement
on thoughts or ideas. In Christ this unity will manifest
itself!
CONCLUSION: Can you imagine how those disciples could scarcely breathe
for the holy wonder of it all as Jesus prayed that night? As they
heard Him speak with the Father about glory-- and then realized that
He was praying for them?
Can you imagine how they thrilled as they heard Jesus ask the
Father to sanctify them, and make them one with Him and with each
other?
Can you believe that Jesus was praying this prayer for me and
for you? Believe it!
Jesus prayed this mighty prayer for you! And nothing can defeat
that prayer, if indeed you invite the Holy Spirit to reveal God to
you!
Will YOU be alive to God to all eternity?
Will you make it the consuming passion of your life to know God,
and Jesus Christ, whom God has sent?
#28 - EH - Oh, How He Loves You and Me
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.93 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Tue Oct 01 1996 17:25 | 188 |
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| 803.122 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Fri Jan 24 1997 13:50 | 210 |
|
June 2, 1996
Majesty, Mystery, Mercy
Trinity Sunday - Holy Communion
Isaiah 6: 1 - 8
Isaiah was in the temple when it happened. That was not unusual;
Isaiah was a prophet in good standing. He had stood before King Uzziah
many times and proclaimed his vision for God's people. He was in the
mainstream of the best in Israel's faithful people.
Isaiah had come for the usual reasons: He needed renewal and
refreshing. He always felt better after he had worshiped. But somehow
on this day the focus swung around from Isaiah's hopes and Isaiah's
expectations-- and all of a sudden Isaiah got a glimpse of the majesty
and the mystery that is Almighty God!
I. GOD'S REVELATION OF HIMSELF TO ISAIAH:
THERE WAS MAJESTY - When God Almighty reveals Himself in any
measure, there is also a corresponding sense of awe or reverence. The
temple in which Isaiah was worshiping was beautiful; but God's
Presence was a majesty of a different quality altogether. Cathedral or
store-front, Gregorian chant or swaying gospel choir, all these can be
instruments of the human spirit reaching after God. But when God
reveals Himself, no human efforts add to His majesty! No, God's
Presence is a majesty of a different, incomparable quality. It was
unmistakably God!
THERE WAS MYSTERY - When God draws near it is more than a "good
time." There was an awesome, almost eerie sense of God the "Other" in
Isaiah's vision. God does have a problem with us, you know! If He
wishes to draw near He has "to be careful" on two important counts:
(1) we are finite, and cannot really comprehend the dimensions of
eternity; and
(2) we are sinful, and cannot really understand the utter
potency, the sheer white-hot energy of pure holiness!
II. GOD'S PRESENCE REVEALED ISAIAH TO HIMSELF AS WELL
The central issue in your life and mine is the nature of our God
and our relationship to Him.
The nearness of God,-- when we recognize that the Living God is
near-- and the MYSTERY involved, is always validated by the paradox
that, when we begin to see God in His glory we begin to get the true
picture of ourselves!
This is a MYSTERY that illuminates! Like shafts of sunlight
filtering into a darkened parlor, making it hard to breathe because of
all the little tiny swirling particles of dust revealed.
ISAIAH CRIED OUT WITH THE REVELATION: 'WOE IS ME!" The painful
thing to Isaiah was the fact that he was a GOOD man, and yet as he
began to draw near to God, instead of being affirmed, and having his
PERCEIVED NEEDS met, Isaiah began to see himself as sinful and needy!
Every time God draws near, and it is a genuine THEOPHANY, the
central focus is NOT on how great "i" am, but how great THOU ART!
Peter: "Depart from me, for I am a sinful man!"
John: "And I fell at His feet as if I were a dead man!"
[[But that was NOT the end of the vision of God!]]
III. GOD'S VISION INCLUDED EXACTLY WHAT ISAIAH REALIZED HE NEEDED
THERE WAS MERCY - With the revelation of his need, and with his
cry of "Woe is me!" Isaiah found a new dimension to God: God expressed
his grace and mercy to Isaiah! He did it in (what seemed to me as a
boy contemplating this vision) a "strange" way: with a live coal from
off the altar!
This was NOT to torment Isaiah, to sear his lips so he could not
speak; it was a cleansing, purifying, illuminating FIRE! Isaiah began
to experience the greatest luxury, perhaps, that mortals may know: HE
WAS CLEAN, IN GOD'S PRESENCE (7)!! ...AND THE END RESULT OF ISAIAH'S
VISION WAS THAT HE WAS ENABLED TO ENTER INTO GOD'S OWN ACTIVITY/ACTION
FELLOWSHIP IN A WAY HE HAD NOT KNOW BEFORE!
Conclusion: THE UNIQUE AND UNIVERSAL DIMENSIONS OF ISAIAH'S VISION
Who was Isaiah? He was NOT a casual worshiper. Why "the year
that Uzziah died"? A removal of a royal "prop"? Isaiah was probably
related to the royal family . . .
To whom does God reveal Himself? - Hebrews 11:6 The central issue
in your life and mine is the nature of our God and our relationship to
Him. Chances are we won't have a vision exactly like Isaiah's. But
the promise is there-- that if we are seekers after God, at whatever
level of our journey into faith-- IF WE ARE SEEKERS, GOD WILL REWARD
US WITH HIMSELF!
But there is a great difference in TALKING about seeking God--
and actually putting God at the center of our lives and SEEKING HIM!
So many of us are experts on doctrine-- we know what this man or that
woman has said -- but not many of us are very well acquainted with
this great God who is so great he makes Temples shake-- and so holy He
needs to cleanse us so we can live in his presence-- and yet so loving
he has come all the way down to where we are and has asked us to help
spread the word that He is GOOD!
Talking about seeing God-- ABOUT THE MAJESTY THAT IS GOD THE
FATHER, SON AND HOLY SPIRIT... about the MYSTERY THAT IS GOD THE
SPIRIT, FATHER AND SON... about the MERCY THAT IS GOD THE SON, AND GOD
THE SPIRIT, PROCEEDING FROM GOD THE FATHER -- talking about the vision
is pretty "tame" compared to a trip to Disney World or even a gospel
concert of one kind or another-- UNTIL!! one day as we earnestly seek,
God comes!
I was eighteen years old before I saw the ocean. I had read
about it, I understood intellectually that it was vast. But since I
first saw it-- here at the end of this street, then out at Nantasket
Beach-- then flying over it-- then in hurricane force waves-- I
realize that I could never "know" the ocean just by reading about it.
And I also realize that there is a sense in which I don't know the
ocean very much at all.
I could say the same for all the great wonders of God's
creation-- the mountains-- the seas, the skies. And they are just
handiwork that points to the great God beyond.
As David said, "When I consider the heavens, the work of thy
fingers, the moon and the stars which thou hast ordained, who am I,
that thou art mindful of me, or the children of mankind that you visit
us?"
Today we think of the Trinity, of the God who is OVER us, and who
is WITH us, and who is IN us. The doctrine of the Trinity is not a
fascinating puzzle for our amusement, but in some wonderful way it is
God's own revelation to us of His love. God so great as to be totally
unspeakable in His glory, yet so condescending as to take our nature
and speak our own language and show us how we may live, and God so
very near that He is HERE with us as we worship!
Prayer - INTO COMMUNION - Continuation from meditation:
Scripture (I Corinthians 11:23 - 30)
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you, that
the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread,
and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body
that is broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way
he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new
covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in
remembrance of me." For as often as you eat this bread and drink the
cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.
Whoever, therefore, east the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord
in an unworthy manner will be answerable for the body and blood of the
Lord. Examine yourselves, and only then eat of the bread and drink of
the cup. For all who eat and drink without discerning the body, eat
and drink judgment against themselves. For this reason many of you are
weak and ill, and some have died.
[NRSV] Apostles' Creed (#8)
Invitation to the Table of the Lord:
Jesus Himself is the Host. Wherever you are in your spiritual
journey God loves you. If you have a desire for God-- if you are
willing to turn toward Him, He invites you to come.
Examine your heart. If He bids you come, you are welcome.
Prayer of Confession/Forgiveness
O Great God, the very best among us needs every moment the grace
of God; we are not holy in and of ourselves. We come short of the
perfect will of God in performance, and all too often, we lag in
spirit, are insensitive in our relationships, and act more to our own
self interest than for the kingdom of God and the salvation of others.
For this we ask your forgiveness-- purchase of your blood on
Calvary. We claim your promise: (I John 1:7,9) If we confess our sin,
God is faithful and just to forgive us our sin, and to cleanse us from
all unrighteousness.
Prayer of Dedication
We ask You to help us know You better. We ask that we may have a
fresh vision of Your great holiness and love, as well as your
ASSURANCE that we have been CHOSEN of you to be your sons and
daughters. We ask that you will give us our ASSIGNMENT, not just our
"big" assignment for life's career, but our day-by-day assignment of
introducing You to those we know. We ask that You will help us ACCEPT
Your revealed will, and put you at the center of our lives, in all we
do. We ask You to bless this sacrament of Holy Communion, that these
emblems of bread and the cup may be for us true means of grace, by
faith may we partake of your body and blood to our soul's life and
health.
Lord's Prayer - (Instructions. Come, receive, and hold the bread and
the cup and we will partake together.)
At the moment of partaking: The BODY of the Lord Jesus Christ:
(may it) Preserve you blameless to life everlasting.
Again, with the cup: The BLOOD of the Lord Jesus Christ: Preserve
you blameless to life everlasting.
#210 (First and Last verses) One Day
Benediction
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EH #58 - Soldiers of Christ, Arise!]
March 24, 1991
BAPTISMAL SERVICE
If we have not done so before, the congregation stands to repeat
The Apostles' Creed (513 WS): [Be seated]
Mini-Homily:
Our last baptismal service was January 12, before the air
war began in Iraq, before the counter-war began. We are sensitive
to the horror of war, and perhaps for that reason were (and are)
somewhat reluctant to use the terminology of warfare to describe
the Christian way at that time for obvious reasons.
The fact remains, warfare is what the Christian way really
is! The entire Universe is engaged in a contest of good and
evil, and somehow the human personality is in the middle of the
conflict.
Sometimes we try to clean up the stories of the Old
Testament, and we worry about a primitive concept of God, or a
God of war and vengeance. We get side-tracked in questions of
history or sociology when we haven't faced up to our own personal
struggles of theology. We need to read the Old Testament first of
all in the light of what we know and who we are today-- and
certainly God is not directing any of us to be primarily warriors
or literally taking up physical weapons. But there is
nevertheless a life-and-death struggle for your soul, for the
souls of your loved ones, for the soul of our generation.
The powers of good and evil are strong, and our human
resources of themselves are weak. But God never intended that we
should fight the battle against evil in our own strength, or
using merely human wisdom and power. The history of grace and
salvation is a story of God's intervening, stepping into the
battle on behalf of human beings who look to Him for help.
The sacrament of baptism is a statement to three worlds
watching that you are siding with Almighty God in this warfare.
You are turning your back on the sinful, selfish way of life. You
are leaving the land of slavery and bondage. You are crossing
the Red Sea of obedience and following the Pillar of Fire of the
Holy Spirit and the Bible and the Body of Christ, the Church.
You are casting your lot in with God, and with Jesus you are
dying to that which opposes God and good and Life; you are dying
and being buried to sin, and to all claims of the devil, and you
are raised to newness of life with Jesus Christ in His
resurrection victory over sin and death and hell.
Why we use water in this ceremony-- even as we use real
bread and drink in the sacrament of communion-- is because the
sacrament is a token to us of how the real world of God and Life
and the Infinite somehow makes contact and intermingles and
transfigures the real world of broken life and imperfect love
and anguish where we live now. You will be covered with real
water, and get wet-- and that immersion will say to us all:
I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet
not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life that I now
live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God
who loved me, and gave Himself for me.
Galatians 2:20
The words of ritual in the Church of Jesus Christ across the
years have referred to the significance of water in the ceremony
of baptism:
NOAH AND THE ARK were saved by water
ISRAEL THROUGH RED SEA in a covenant relationship, led by
the hand of Moses, then later
THROUGH THE JORDAN RIVER at flood-tide, into the Promised Land,
where the Israelites did not need to fight for themselves so
much as they needed to follow God and obey Him (a la Jericho)
We are baptized with real water as we remember
JESUS BAPTISM WITH SINNERS, when He identified with us,
against the protest of John the Baptist.
We are baptized with water
SIGNIFYING THE WASHING AWAY OF SINS THROUGH SPIRITUAL BIRTH
as well as the significance of
BEING "BURIED WITH CHRIST AND arising with Him in newness of
life.
We mention also such scriptures as
Mark 16:16 "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; he
that believeth not shall be damned."
Acts 2 where Peter says
[Peter]: "Repent and be baptized every one of you for the
remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost.
You are obeying your Master, Jesus Christ in presenting
yourselves for baptism here this day.
(Shall we pray)
Prayer: O Father, Give the assurance of Your Holy Spirit's
Presence to these persons who confess Your name and declare their
faith in the sacrament of Baptism today! In Jesus' Name. Amen.
[Will the congregation please stand; will the Baptismal
Candidates stand here at the altar; and those wishing to re-
affirm their vows publicly stand with them. May we ALL hear the
questions, and answer them before God as an affirmation of our
belonging to the Body of Christ:]
Beloved:
Desiring to receive holy Baptism, the Lord Jesus Himself has
promised in His Word the things we have prayed for; the Church of
Jesus Christ stands ready to receive you, and you may count on
His faithfulness, as well as the steadfastness of the true Church
until He comes.
Your part is to promise by God's grace to renounce the devil
and all his works, to constantly believe God's holy Word, and to
obediently keep Christ's commandments.
Please give public testimony by answering the following
questions appropriately:
Do you renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp
and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same,
and the carnal desires of the flesh, so that thou wilt not
follow, nor be led by them?
Answer: I renounce them all.
Do you believe in the truth as stated in the Apostle's
Creed?
Answer: All this I steadfastly believe.
Will you be baptized in this faith?
Answer: It is my desire.
Will you then obediently seek to do God's holy will and in
love keep His commandments, and walk with Jesus as your Savior
and Lord all the days of your life?
Answer: God being my helper, I will endeavor so to do.
Prayer:
Grant, O Lord, that these persons may truly be buried with
Christ as dead indeed unto sin and evil affections, and that they
may be raised to newness of life in Christ.
Grant that this baptism may be a true means of grace that
they may know that they have power and strength to triumph over
the world, the flesh and the devil, sharing in Your victory all
the days of their lives.
Grant that they may live forever in unity with You, Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, in the fellowship of Your Body, the Church.
Through Jesus Christ, Amen.
[To the candidates;]
In just a few moments, as we baptize each one of you, we
affirm that you are full members, not necessarily of this
organization we call the Church of the Nazarene, but full members
of the Church of Jesus Christ, and living participants in the
Body of Christ.
[Those of you have re-affirmed your Christian Baptism of other
years, we pray that God indeed does witness to your hearts that
you, too, are called to be a vital part in the Church of Jesus
Christ, living members in the Body of Christ, the Church.]
The Baptismal Candidates may leave to prepare for the Sacrament.
Those who have re-affirmed their vows may return to your seats;
you all may be seated.
(Congregational Song - Sacrament - Benediction and/or as appropri
ate, led by Pastor Nielson)
Pastor Nielson close the service and give benediction.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
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March 24, 1991
Revelation 22:7 Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth the
sayings of the prophecy of this book.
John 12:12-15; Matthew 21: 4 - 9; Luke 19: 35 - 38; Mark 11: 7 - 10;
Philippians 2: 1 - 11
FAITH TO GREET THE COMING KING
Palm Sunday 1991
This text from the last chapter of the Bible has two distinct
parts. (1) It declares that the risen Lord, the Alpha and Omega, is
coming, and coming suddenly. (2) It also pronounces a beatitude, a
blessing, on those who are prepared for this coming (parousia) by
keeping the words of the prophecy. What can this mean? First, a look
at Christ's unexpected coming.
Just about every time Jesus came on the scene of action He did
it in an unexpected way. His coming was never out of character, nor
was it ever contrived, or designed merely to impress or surprise. But
it seems that an essential part of His character is that He is beyond
our predictions!
I. OUR CHRISTIAN FAITH IS ALL ABOUT GOD COMING WHERE WE ARE
A. In Jesus Christ, God enters into our world and into our lives-
and always in a way we cannot quite anticipate:
1. In His Initial Appearance on earth, His Nativity, Jesus
surprised the Universe! Jesus was born, the Son of God, the King of
kings, the long-awaited Messiah, in a cattle shed.
2. When he was a lad of twelve He was lost by his parents
because of their presumption, and found again in the company of
doctors and learned men, where he said, "Don't you understand that I
must be about my Father's business?"
3. He began His ministry as a despised citizen of the town of
Nazareth, ( a Nazarene! ) when the saying among the Jews of the time
was, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
4. One time He missed the last boat to Capernaum, and startled
the disciples by appearing out of the gloom of night walking on the
water to catch up.
5. He was too late to attend the funeral of Lazarus, but you
know what He did when He went with the mourners to the grave.
B. Jesus is still in the business of coming into people's lives!
By His Spirit, Jesus still enters lives, and makes His Presence known
and felt, and convinces men and women of sin, and righteousness and
judgment, and of His love and forgiveness.
Every Christian is a unique story. Every one of us who has met
Jesus has met Him along the way of everyday living, and yet in a
miracle of grace He had made Himself known! Jesus comes to YOU!
C. But this is not all the text means. There is another
appearance of Christ, what we call The Second Coming, that is spoken
of all through the New Testament.
1. In these final chapters of Revelation the smoke of battle has
cleared away, leaving a wondrous vision of a new heaven and new earth,
and of a splendid and majestic holy city descending from heaven.
In the midst of this glorious description, at the heart of the
message of Revelation, is the message from the risen Lord: I am
coming, and I am coming quickly.
2. You may be sure that Jesus will surprise us all in the way
that He appears when He comes again. The text says: "Behold, I come
quickly!" It is the closing theme of the entire Bible.
D. How much should this "Second Coming" dominate our everyday
living? How much should we be thinking about that coming?
1. What part does eschatology, the doctrine of "last things,"
play in our everyday Christian faith? [ Eschatology is that part of
our scriptural understanding that tells us that with God we are going
somewhere, and not aimlessly lost in time and space. It is an
important part of every true Christian's faith or creed.]
2. To make the Second Coming a part of our faith does NOT mean
that we live in an unnatural, panic-stricken, white-robed-
waiting-on-the-mountaintop attitude. Rather we must build the concept
of looking for the coming of the Christ into our attitude for everyday
living.
3 (Transition:) The Palm Sunday story is another one of Christ's
"unexpected comings." Perhaps it can shed light on the text:
II. JESUS MADE AN UNEXPECTED APPEARANCE THAT FIRST PALM SUNDAY
A. Jesus came on His own terms (as outlined in that passage from
Philippians 2): He did NOT come to meet anyone's expectations:
1. The people had different ideas of who He was and why He was
coming-- they came for many different reasons to see Him-- but that
did not change what was taking place:
(1. Why the people came (a.) John 12:17: multitudes came
because Jesus had raised Lazarus; (b.) Luke 19:37 a multitude of
disciples were praising God for the miracles they had seen; (c.) Mark
doesn't really describe the crowd except to say that some were going
ahead and some were following behind. (2. What the people thought:
(a.) The religious leaders thought they had a rebellion on their hands
that they could no longer control: (John 12:19) "The whole world is
gone after Him." (b.) Most only partly understood or understood not at
all: Matthew says (21:10-11) that when they got into the city itself
all the city was stirred and asking, WHO IS THIS? And the answer the
disciples gave was partial: This is the prophet Jesus, from Nazareth
in Galilee."
2. Jesus was, as always, "in character." He incarnated that
passage from Philippians 2, (that passage which James Heyward read for
us, THE "KENOSIS" PASSAGE), in which Jesus' full character is
revealed:
Not grasping for His rights
Servant (doulos)
Obedient unto death
Shame
and yet somehow regal, kingly, on His way to the Cross not as a
martyr, but as a Warrior to conquer hell and sin and death, so that
somehow we understand the rest of the passage that says the He shall
be
Highly exalted.
Who could have predicted that the lowly Nazarene, gentle Jesus
would come into Jerusalem like this, stopping to weep over the city,
then permitting the parade to go on? Who could have thought that
having come through that Eastern Gate which is now walled shut, He
would dare to enter into the Temple and turn over the money changers'
tables? Who could have looked ahead to Friday, and beyond that to
Sunday?
B. No doubt He will not come in humiliation like that again. Then
He was on His way to become "sin" for us to open a way for us to enter
into His righteousness, that we might become "holy" and be with Him
forever-- beginning NOW!
But He will come! And He will surprise us! He said so! He will
be coming again!
[Transition:} The second part of the text is a promise to those
"who keep the words of the prophecy of this book":
III. ' WE CAN'T GET READY, WE HAVE TO BE READY! '
A. And what does all this have to do with Palm Sunday, and the
"kenosis passage"??
Blessed are those who keep the words of the prophecy of this
book!" How in the world do we: "Keep the words of this prophecy?"
1. We understandably love Easter, and want to identify with
Jesus in victory over death and sin and the grave. We want to know
Jesus in power- which is culminating in His Return: "I come quickly!"
Here we stand on Palm Sunday amid the miracles and the palm
branches and want to jump right over from here to there. Yes, we know
the story of Christ and the Cross. But what does that have to do with
you and me?
2. But remember, the Book of Revelation is about struggle. It
is about warfare, and the battle of Good and Evil. Christian faith is
taking a stand for God and good. Jesus could not simply jump from
Palm Sunday to Easter-- he had to march through Gethsemene and a Mock
Trial and Calvary and the Tomb as a Warrior- - as our Champion--
before He could stand on the mountain top of Easter. "He was made in
fashion as a man . . . and humbled Himself . . . and took the form
of a servant and became obedient unto death, even the death of the
Cross; wherefore God hath highly exalted Him and given Him a name that
is above every name ..."
3. Do you begin to see what "keeping the words of this
prophecy" means in relation to being ready to meet Jesus in His
victorious coming? It isn't understanding all the trumpets and vials
and visions of the Apocalypse. Most of Revelation is undecipherable to
most people. But the "simple part" of Revelation (Chapters 2 & 3) is
about (1) keeping a fresh love to Christ, and (2) avoiding immorality
and outright heresy, and (3) being faithful even when we feel small
and (4) staying dependant on Christ for Life itself.
4. Or, keeping the prophecy is simply seeking to stay in tune
with the Jesus of Palm Sunday, our Christ who is coming soon. Paul
puts it this way: "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ
Jesus!"
Anticipating Christ's coming is not a matter of keeping rules,
or doing this or not doing that. Watching for Jesus means loving Him,
and living to please Him, and seeking to be like Him.
B. Hear again the words of the text, this Beatitude of Revelation:
(Revelation 22:7) Behold, I come quickly: blessed is he that keepeth
the sayings of the prophecy of this book. That promise, along with
every other blessing of the church, is OURS if we will receive it!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, We know now how the battle will turn out. We know
that You have already won! But help us to be faithful each day, that
we might keep the words of love You gave us, and be worthy to meet You
when You come. In Your name we pray. Amen.
47 EH God of Grace and God of Glory
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.125 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Fri Jan 24 1997 13:52 | 233 |
|
March 29, 1992 pm
A Fresh Look at the Church of Jesus Christ
Mark 8:27 - 38 [The Relationship of Faith to Faithfulness] [27] Jesus
and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On
the way he asked them, "Who do people say I am?"
They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and
still others, one of the prophets."
"BUT WHAT ABOUT YOU?" he asked. "WHO DO YOU SAY I AM?"
Peter answered, "You are the Christ."
Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.
[31] He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many
things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of
the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise
again. He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began
to rebuke him.
But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked
Peter. "Out of my sight, Satan!" he said. "You do not have in mind
the things of God, but the things of men."
[34] Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and
said: "IF ANYONE WOULD COME AFTER ME, HE MUST DENY HIMSELF AND TAKE UP
HIS CROSS AND FOLLOW ME. For whoever wants to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his
soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? If anyone is
ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation,
the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when he comes into his Father's
glory with the holy angels."
1. What sort of church are we? What sort of church can we be and
become?
Our options seem to have been: Shall we be liberal or
conservative? Shall we be MORE activist? or shall we be MORE
conversionist? Is there any other way?
Increasingly it occurs to me that apart from the Spirit of God,
there is not much difference between the fundamentalist and the
liberal: both of them demand control of the Scriptures; both of them
want to tell you all about what God is and is NOT!
Shall we be activist or shall we be conversionist? Is there any
other way?
ACTIVISM DEMANDS THAT WE SEEK AFTER "PEACE" AND "JUSTICE." BUT
HOW DO WE DEFINE THOSE TERMS?
Our activity in the world must never get ahead of or fall behind
our loyalty to the Christ. Some quotes from Hauerwas and Willimon:
Most of our social activism is formed on the presumption that
God is superfluous to the formation of a world of peace with
justice.
American Christians, in the name of justice, (often) try to
create a society in which faith in a living God is rendered
irrelevant or private.
We argue that the political task of Christians is to be the
church rather than to transform the world.
"Peace" and "justice" ... are words awaiting content. The
church really does not know what these words mean apart from
the life and death of Jesus of Nazareth.
[Abstract love is no love at all. "Tell me the story of
Jesus!"] STORY is the fundamental means of talking about and
listening to God, the only human means available to us that is
complex and engaging enough to make comprehensible what it
means to be with God.
SO, SHALL WE BE ACTIVIST, OR CONVERSIONIST?
Perhaps what is necessary is that we be (what Hauerwas and
Willimon call a "confessional" church. That we relate everything to
our statement that "Jesus is LORD!" That we ask Jesus to help us see
the world and the scriptures and our own lives and (indeed) REALITY--
as God declares that it is! [In the terms of our morning sermon: LET
GOD BE GOD! GOD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH! THE GREAT "I AM THAT I AM"!]
Hauerwas and Willimon make a great deal of the Sermon on the
Mount. They make the point that (1) The Beatitudes are a statement of
the fact. And they also lift up (2) The recurring theme, "Ye have
heard it said, but I say unto you..."
1. The Beatitudes are in the indicative, and not the imperative;
more a way of stating what the facts are than implying :"This
is how you have to be! Get with it if you want to be happy!
'The "Be-Happy Attitudes"'"
If this is true, then we have the indication of a different
world than the one described by our culture.
2. GOD IS IN CHARGE! The growing sense of joy that God IS at
work! God IS! He is working out His will.
3. This IS God's world; we should not give it over to evil by
default. There is great power in the story of Jesus!
4. Jesus DID define the ending and the beginning of time. The
world was created by Him, and the world has not known Him. He
came unto the world and was not received; but as many as have
received Him have received power to become children of God
(John 1:12)
5. Some quotes:
"Our biblical story demands an offensive rather than defensive
posture of the church. The world and all its resources, anguish,
gifts and groaning is God's world, and God demands what God has
created. Jesus Christ is the supreme act of divine intrusion
into the world's settled arrangements. In the Christ, God refuses
to "stay in his place."
II. LIKE PETER WE [AS A CHURCH] MUST BE ABLE TO SAY: JESUS IS LORD!
AND ALSO AS JESUS DEMANDED WE MUST NOT JUST SAY AND BELIEVE AND BE
SURE OF THE FACT,
WE NEED TO BE ON THE MOVE IN FOLLOWING JESUS:
Is there a fresh, new way that we can grasp the old, old story?
We usually are limited to what our imagination can grasp. It is hard
to re-invent the wheel.
We (probably) do not need to "throw away" institutional vessels
which contain aspects of the true church. But we also need to be open
to more options than just "conservative" or "liberal;" than "activist"
or "Conversionist." We use this limited choice in child psychology:
"Would you rather go right to bed now, or shall we take your teddy
bear with us?"
We can at least begin by telling Jesus Christ that we mean
business in following Him! We intend to do whatever we know is HIS
will!
One interesting item from this week's reading. A man named
Dr. Waldron Scott, in a scholarly paper presented to The Evangelical
Round Table in 1986 says that our theology as evangelicals needs to be
"a theology of wayfarers" and not a theology of those who "have
arrived conceptually." Our times, the people to whom God is sending
us, must have this message, "JESUS IS LORD: JESUS IS THE WAY, THE
TRUTH, THE LIFE, EXPRESSED TO THEM IN TERMS THAT ARE VITAL TO THE WAY
WE THINK AND UNDERSTAND.
Dr. Scott then said, "We need to become more self-aware of the
mental categories in which we operate." He then cites modern
mathematicians and logicians [named Zadeh, Cohen, and Hersh] who have
demonstrated that human being create categories in several ways, ways
we call "sets."
The three most basic "sets" (or "mind-sets") are labeled
"Bounded sets" and "centered sets" and "fuzzy sets."
The "bounded set" is defined by clear, sharp, stationary
boundaries. The category is created mentally by listing the essential
characteristics a person or object must have to be included within the
set. Most of the effort spent in defining the category is spent on
defining and maintaining the boundary. THE CENTRAL QUESTION,
THEREFORE, IS WHETHER AN OBJECT (OR PERSON) IS INSIDE OR OUTSIDE THE
CATEGORY.
"Centered" sets, on the other hand, are created by defining a
center and the relationship of things to that center. ... There IS a
clear distinction between things moving toward the center and those
moving away. MOVEMENT IS ESSENTIAL TO THEIR STRUCTURE.
"Fuzzy" sets have no clear boundaries; things may be defined in
terms of what things are or how things relate to some external point
of reference. THIS IS A PREDOMINANT WAY OF THINKING IN MANY THIRD
WORLD COUNTRIES.
Bounded set thinking-- is Greek thinking-- is the way most of us
have been brought up; there is some of it in the New Testament
(especially in Paul.)
"It may be that the cultivation of centered set thinking is what
we most need today. ...a centered approach seems to correspond most
closely with the Hebraic view of reality found in the
Bible.[REMEMBER-- THERE MUST BE MOVEMENT; JESUS DID NOT SAY "COME SIT
BY ME! HE SAID, "COME FOLLOW ME!" AND JESUS IS GOING PLACES!]
This dynamic, relational way of looking at what it means to be
Christian may offer us point of contact... with the fuzzy set thinking
... likely to characterize .. from Third World contexts .."
(Conclusion:)
TRANSLATE THIS!
1. To be saved IS "describable" and (in a practical way)
understandable:
IT IS ALL RIGHT TO SAY, THIS IS HOW TO BECOME A CHRISTIAN!
conviction + repentance + faith = salvation
THIS IS HOW TO BE SANCTIFIED
complete consecration + faith = (altar sanctifies gift)
...but this can never be cold, hard, truth apart from a loving,
personal relationship to Jesus!
2. To be saved is to be ACCEPTED by Jesus, and to be ACTIVELY
FOLLOWING HIM!
Rather than say "What do you want God to do for you?" we might
ask: "WHO IS GOD TO YOU!"
Yes, Jesus SAVES me! But perhaps better said, JESUS is my
Savior! There is a story there! An ongoing story of Jesus!
EH 47 God of Grace and God of Glory On Thy People Pour Thy Pow'r
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
_________________________________________________________________________
|
| 803.126 | | CSLALL::HENDERSON | Give the world a smile each day | Fri Jan 24 1997 13:53 | 193 |
| Subj: Sermon: The Cornerstone of Faith (1990)
November 4, 1990 am
Luke 14:25-27
John 6:66
THE CORNERSTONE OF FAITH
"Jesus is Lord of All"
Introduction
The course of the public ministry of Jesus is just the opposite
of what we might normally expect a life's work to be. The American
Dream is that we start out small with big dreams, and through hard
work and applied skill and intelligence we grow and grow until we make
it to the top. The ministry of Jesus is upside down and backward to
this ideal blueprint of success. Early on Jesus experienced evident
acceptance and success as thousands followed after Him. After three
short years He was all alone, on a cross.
I. WHY WAS IT, DO YOU SUPPOSE, THAT THOUSANDS CAME AFTER JESUS?
A. Jesus spoke the common man's language. People understood
Him. He talked about baking bread and taking care of sheep. He talked
about fields of flowers and lost coins. "Never man spake like this
Man..."
B. Jesus had the common touch. He loved people. He loved
children. He loved Samaritans. He loved, in a pure and holy way,
women, who were downtrodden (and still are very much in the Middle
East.) He loved rich people. He loved the poor. People understand the
common touch.
C. Jesus IS God. The Presence is a mysterious power that at once
attracts and repels. God is LIGHT! Light is attractive, but it also
reveals and can ultimately blind. God is LIFE!
D. There were genuine THRILLS in following Jesus. Miracles
happened. Loaves/fishes. Healings. The assumed promise of a new
kingdom NOW. "Perhaps Jesus might fulfil MY dreams and wishes."
But this popularity did not last. Jesus did not raise false hopes
or feed selfish ambition, and fairly early on in His ministry people
resigned from His campaign in crowds. Finally He was threatened, and
arrested, and endured a mock trial. Then He was crucified.
II. WHY WAS IT, DO YOU SUPPOSE, THAT MANY 'WENT BACK AND FOLLOWED HIM
NO MORE'?
A. Jesus had a distinct and demanding set of values. They
contradicted those values commonly accepted. From the beginning Jesus
said (although He was not heard at first): "My kingdom is NOT of THIS
WORLD!" Jesus taught (that):
1. It is more blessed to give than to receive.
2. The truly GREAT must be TRULY SERVANTS!
3. He taught that HUMILITY is a virtue. His "ME-generation"
didn't want to hear this, any more than our own ME-generation!
Jesus was out of step with the values of a world that rejects the
authority of a heavenly Father God.
B. Jesus demanded a LOYALTY that was ABSOLUTE. It could never be
Jesus AND... It could never be Jesus, BUT... The choice must be
clean and simple. Look at the stark words of our text.
"If anyone comes after Me, and does not hate his own father and
mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, YES, AND
EVEN HIS OWN LIFE, he cannot be My disciple."
Jesus is not preaching hatred, but He is saying that He will
brook no rivals for the Lordship of our hearts and lives!
Still, if Jesus had stopped with just saying "Hate your father
and mother" He might have kept a lot of those who left Him. But Jesus
went on to say "Hate your own life also!" The hard part is that we
must give up the lordship of our SELVES! We give up the right to
order our lives to Jesus, and Jesus alone.
[It is still the test for heresy: Any system of trust that
ultimately says "Jesus and.." or "Jesus, but . . " to that very extent
is NOT Christian!]
C. Jesus demands a personal involvement(from John 6:) "Eat my
flesh..."
A sincere, sober, intellectual agreement that Jesus speaks the
truth is good, even necessary. But far beyond intellectual belief is
the demand of Jesus: Follow Me! Get close to Me! See what makes Me
tick! Learn to LOVE Me! And do what I tell you!
Can I leave what I am doing, NOW!, to be with Jesus, and do what
He says, go where HE goes, BE what HE would have me be?
Can I make Jesus Christ all my hope and righteousness? Can I
trust His sacrifice- His BLOOD- my only plan of salvation?
Can you see how this was the WATERSHED DECISION TIME of
Jesus' ministry?? From THAT time many left Him!
III. WHY WAS IT, DO YOU SUPPOSE, THAT SOME STAYED WHILE OTHER LEFT?
A. Surely everyone felt both the attraction and the repelling.
Those who left had felt the attraction; and those who stayed must have
felt the sting of challenge to their own self-sovereignty.
B. This dilemma, why some are saved and others are damned, is not
a modern question. But it is an eternal question. The modern mind does
not accept guilt or sin as a fact. But it is as much a fact of
existence as a round earth and a blue sky.
B.1 We can deny the realities of heaven and hell. The dilemma is
solved by modern minds by refusing to believe that there is
any need to be saved; by refusing to accept the authority of
Jesus; by denying the reality of sin and hell.
But we have to re-write the Bible to accept this. To say "God
is too good to send anyone to hell" or "Hell is right here
and now" sounds philosophical and sophisticated. But it
contradicts what Jesus plainly said.
B.2 We can seek to side-step choice. The dilemma was 'solved' a
few centuries ago by some Christians by saying that it was
pre-determined who would leave and who would stay.
Granted, we have a paradox, a mystery, when we speak of God's
Sovereignty and man's free will. But the Bible says "Whoso
ever will may come!" The Bible gives us reason to hope that
no one is simply shut out of heaven because he or she is not
among a select, elect group, and nothing to be done about it.
[I would reverently approach this mystery by saying that:]
C. The Word of God invites each of us to make a choice. We have
an awesome God-given power, the power of choosing our eternal
destiny. Paraphrasing Augustine, "Our wills are ours, we do not know
how, but they are ours so that we have the ability to agree with God,
to make our wills belong to HIM!"
Conclusion:
A Very Human Insight: Jesus was God. But Jesus was also very
Human. He loved His disciples very much. And He believed they loved
Him, too. But what he had laid out as the demands of His LORDSHIP, and
of PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT had become a WATERSHED, a division for time
and eternity. John 6:66 says that from that time of CHOICE, "many
turned aside and walked with Him no more."
This was a moment hard to describe in the lives of Jesus and His
disciples. Jesus turned to them, as the crowds melted away. When He
spoke it was quietly, and with great feeling: "Will you also leave
Me?"
It was then that Peter spoke up: "Lord, to whom shall we go?" It
was Peter as recorded in another place who said, "Lord, You are the
Christ!" Peter speaks for me!
We have all felt the drawing, attractive power of Jesus! Have
you been challenged by the high and noble.
We have all also felt the challenge of the relentless singleness
of Jesus' purpose! He keeps boring in on our motives and our
attitudes! "WHY are you following Me?"
And the question is. at the most basic, radical level: WHO is
Lord? Whatever the cost, have you thrown in your lot with Him? to:
1. Make His sacrifice on Calvary the only atonement for your sins?
Your ONLY sacrifice, your ONLY hope of heaven?
2. Make Jesus LORD without reservation? Accept the value system of
Jesus for the rest of your life? Take your orders from HIM, even
though it means cutting away all rivals for His authority? "Hate
your father and mother" seems so cruel. But be assured that Jesus
did not come to destroy families, or any other worthwhile
relationship in life. But relationships will destroy YOU if you
let them or any other good or even holy thing take the place which
only GOD can hold in your heart and life.
I challenge you to say with Peter: "Lord, We will follow YOU! You
have the words of eternal life!"
Hymn # EH- Jesus Calls Me, I Must Follow
Follow, I Will Follow Thee, My Lord
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Dr. Russell Metcalfe is the senior pastor of the Wollaston Church of the
Nazarene on the campus of Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy,
Massachusetts, USA. Permission to reprint or publish this material is
granted provided the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit and
that the name is spelled correctly. Dr. Russell Metcalfe can be reached
at [email protected] or at his home address at 12 East Elm Avenue,
Quincy, MA, USA 02170.
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