Why I am a Christian (12)

Jesus’ Teaching is Unique and Unmatched

In 2012 I jotted down all the reasons I could think of why I am a Christian. I found 26 so I decided to serialise them in a blog every fortnight for a year.

The first four explain why I think belief in a creator is compatible with science. The next two examine the human condition and find that it is consistent with the Bible. Then there were three theological considerations that added further weight to the case for Christianity.

This is now the third of five posts that delve into Christology. The first two looked at his remarkable fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy and his compelling persona.

In this post I want to take a look at the things he said. I think Jesus’ teaching is uniquely appealing.

Throughout the Gospels there are several recorded types of response to his words. Some people were offended, even outraged (such as the religious right ‘moral majority’ party called the Pharisees). 

Some were rendered speechless (notably the theologically liberal Sadducees). These self-important intellectuals were the rationalist sceptics of Jesus' day but he exposed the incoherence of their supposedly superior ideas in ways that left them open-mouthed.

When put on the spot by the Jeremy Paxman and John Humphreys types of his day he left them reeling. So good were his answers and so perfect were they at exposing their hidden agendas that we are told on several occasions that nobody dared ask him any more questions.

Others were intrigued (like, for example, Herod and Pilate - the authorities who were in charge of his trial). 

Still others were evidently perplexed (particularly his rather slow-witted disciples).

But most people who listened to what he said seemed deeply impacted by his teaching. The most common recorded response was of wonder and admiration. In its day, Jesus' teaching was ground-breaking. It was fresh. It challenged the status quo. It exposed vested interests. It upset traditions. Jesus’ teaching was (and remains) hardcore and radical. But we have got used to it now. Our culture has been shaped by much of what Jesus said so we don’t always feel its impact the same way as those who first heard it did.

But do you know how it feels when you hear something new and eye-opening that has the ring of truth to it, that makes sense like nothing else you’ve ever heard, that causes wonderment and stirs in you the conviction that nothing will be the same again? Well, when Jesus opened his mouth to speak it was like that.

It is recorded that people responded to his words with amazement “because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law.” “What is this?” they asked. “A new teaching – and with authority!” (Mark 1.22 and 27). “Authority” means it was direct. It had clout. It addressed the things that mattered to ordinary people. It was in plain language. And it had substance (not like a politician's vague rhetoric about freedom, fairness and hardworking people who want to get on).

In Mark 12.37 it is recorded that the common people (literally the hoi polloi*) listened to him with delight. His words had the emotional effect of lifting the mood and giving inspiration with something genuinely new.

There is a slightly comical passage in John’s gospel (7.45-46) where the establishment dispatch a few temple guards to locate Jesus, get hold of him and bring him back for a ticking-off. The henchmen sit engrossed listening to him and return empty handed. The chief priests, exasperated, demand to know where he is. “But no one ever spoke the way this man does!” they report, open mouthed.

In contrast to our evasive politicians, our self-obsessed celebrities, our hyped-up athletes and our platitudinous vicars (examples of each readily spring to mind and, yes, I hold up my hand) nobody reacted to what Jesus said with yawning indifference. No one. And even twenty centuries later, the wisdom of Jesus’ teaching is still matchless, its clarity is peerless and its moral goodness is timeless.

I have sometimes wondered what kind of world we would live in if everybody in this world obeyed Jesus’ teaching – or even tried to. There would be no wars. There would be instant and lasting resolution to even the most protracted and insoluble conflicts. Able people would be slow to judge those less gifted. Everyone would learn to be content with what they had and never worry about anything. Crime rates would nosedive. Those who were victims of accidents would be quick to forgive. Everyone would be insanely generous. Leaders would be unmoved by prestige. Political office would be relatively untainted by corruption, sleaze, abuse of power and everything else we get fed up about every five or ten years.

But I digress… Jesus’ teaching is so good that Christians have rarely had to defend Jesus’ words against a global tsunami of indignation; far from it.

The Philosopher John Stuart Mill (1806 - 1873) for example, who was not a Christian, said this in his Essay on Theism: “About the life and sayings of Jesus there is a stamp of personal originality combined with profundity of insight which… must place the prophet of Nazareth, even in the estimation of those who have no belief in his inspiration, in the very first rank of men of sublime genius of whom our species can boast.”

Even Christianity’s most vociferous opponents have had to recognise the imperious excellence of Jesus’ teaching – and not just through gritted teeth either. Richard Dawkins - yes, even Richard Dawkins - so admires the Sermon on the Mount that he once had a tee shirt made with the slogan Atheists for Jesus. (He rather reverts to type though by also rather laughably claiming that Jesus would be an atheist if he were around today).

But we can’t have Jesus on our own terms. He is not ours to claim as a figurehead of our interest group, whatever it might be, religious or otherwise.

It is intellectually dishonest to pick out, for example: “love your enemies,” “go the second mile,” “don’t parade your righteousness before others,” “blessed are the merciful for they will be shown mercy” and “why do you point out the speck in someone’s eye when you have a plank in your own eye?” as if they were dreamed up as humanist axioms.

All those phrases come from the same block of Jesus’ teaching which contains 20 references to God or “your heavenly Father,” includes an endorsement of the Old Testament, a warning about Hell, instruction on prayer, and a call to live with the perspective of eternity in Heaven.

However much humanists might approve of Jesus’ enlightened and enlightening teaching, his basic message is about the kingdom of God, not the supremacy of man.

This expression “the kingdom of God,” comes over 80 times in his teaching and is the theme of over two thirds of his parables; stories simple enough for young children to understand and enjoy but subtly layered enough for grown adults to scratch their heads in stunned bewilderment.

His words were also uncompromisingly challenging. How’s this for a rallying call to join a movement? “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?” (Luke 9.23-25).

To a wealthy young man who wanted to join the movement Jesus said, “O.K. First, sell all you have and give to the poor. Then follow me.” When he turned away because he wasn’t quite willing to go that far Jesus didn’t stop him in his tracks and call out “All right, all right! Maybe 50% then.” He just let him go and used the encounter to teach those around. “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!”

And just in case you’re still not sure… “No one who puts a hand to the plough and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.” Not for wimps then… Jesus demands - and deserves - total, not token, commitment. His is a cause worth living and dying for.

Perhaps the most surprising element of Jesus’ teaching, especially for one so celebrated for his humility, is his self-revelation. 

Anyone who speaks about him- or herself in the third person is either embarrassingly conceited or (much more rarely) the real deal. Jesus said an awful lot about who he was; he gave himself titles, he called people to follow him, to believe in him, to give up everything for him. He explained who he was in relation to God the Father, he often explained why he had come and he repeatedly predicted his death and rising again.

Imagine anyone you know calling themselves “the (not a but the) Good Shepherd,” saying “if you’ve seen me, you’ve actually seen God,” challenging others to leave everything they have to follow them and explaining that they came into the world to seek and save sinners. It would be utterly preposterous. They’d be locked up. Or sent down for fraud.

Well, maybe Jesus was a mental case. He'd have to be seriously unhinged if he mistakenly thought he was the Light of the World who is one with God the Father. Or maybe he was the calculating and charismatic leader of a false cult. That would make Christianity easily the biggest fraud ever pulled off in human history. 

For me though, all four Gospels are strikingly consistent. Jesus' matchless teaching, his inspiring persona and the passionate and loyal following he attracted all add up to one conclusion; he’s the real deal.

I have come to reflect on Jesus’ teaching over the last 30 years or so and I find that it eloquently supports the truthfulness of Christianity.

But I didn’t become a Christian in a cool and calculated cerebral response to having worked it all out in my mind. Not at all.

It started with a surprising spiritual encounter and a profound emotional experience. First of all, I felt my way to being a Christian. It was an encounter much more of the the heart than of the mind. Only afterwards did I look into it all and try to make sense of what happened to me. When I did, I found that everything I looked into confirmed and gave meaning to my experience. And nothing more so than the cross of Christ – which is what I will write about in two weeks’ time.

* Oh, all right, if you’ve got your Greek Interlinear out you can see it’s actually ho pollos, the singular of hoi polloi.

Why I am a Christian (11)

Jesus’ Persona Is Absolutely Compelling

In 2012 I jotted down all the reasons I could think of why I am a Christian. I found 26 so I decided to serialise them in a blog every fortnight for a year.

The first four explained why I think belief in a creator is reasonable and credible from what I have learned from science. The next two examined the human condition and show that the way we are wired is entirely consistent with what the Bible says about us. The three after that explored theological themes that either ring true in my experience or present the disturbing alternative to faith in Christ.

This is now the second of five posts that delve into Christology. Firstly, Jesus clearly fulfilled so many Old Testament prophecies.

And secondly, by common - almost universal - consent, his persona is utterly amazing. Without ever being flashy, loud or gimmicky there is something undeniably compelling about Jesus.

Just picking out a few incidental details from the four Gospels, it is clear to see how charismatic Jesus was when he walked the Earth.

• It seems he only had to say “Follow me” and fishermen dropped their nets and tax collectors deserted their booths at once.
• People would travel for miles and press into crowded buildings to get anywhere near him.
• Yet he would stop everything to give his undivided attention, for however long it took, to one poor soul down on his or her luck.
• Children absolutely loved him and he rebuked his minders when they tried to impede their access to him. 

No one in all history has a personality anything like his. As John Stott put it in The Contemporary Christian, “It would be hopelessly incongruous to refer to him as ‘Jesus the Great,’ comparable to Alexander the Great, Charles the Great, or Napoleon the Great. Jesus is not ‘the Great,’ he is the Only. He has no peers, no rivals and no successors.”

Jesus defies categorisation. What Myers-Briggs personality type would he be? Surely a man who was constantly surrounded by crowds would have to be an extravert. But wouldn’t a man who went to a solitary place all night to pray be a natural introvert? On all four Myers-Briggs scales I’ve found that it is impossible to label him.

He is above political pigeonholing as well. In the parable of the talents there is strong criticism for the servant who hides his savings under the mattress instead of investing it in projects that give a return. So he was a consummate capitalist, surely. But he had no possessions of his own, scolded the rich and had a particular concern for the underprivileged. So he was a proper socialist.

All through the Gospels his guilelessness is unmistakable. There is no trace in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John of a Jesus with a hidden agenda or any motivation for personal gain. At his trial nobody could get a single charge to stick. Even his judge and executioners knew he was innocent and stated publicly that he was blameless.

His wisdom is indisputable. Every attempt to trap him flopped spectacularly. His poise and natural authority in such situations are breath-taking. The episode in John 8.1-11 (the woman caught in adultery) is a classic example. The agility with which Jesus effortlessly turned an impossible snare for him into a devastating exposure of his opponents’ shabby hypocrisy - without trivialising the seriousness of adultery – is sensational. His brilliant reply “Let the one who is without sin throw the first stone” is so stunning in its effectiveness, so satisfying in its justice, yet so simple in its logic. It is flawless. 

There is so much more that could be said. Historian H. G. Wells was once asked: “What single individual has left the most permanent impression on the world?” Wells immediately said “Jesus of Nazareth. It is interesting and significant that an historian like myself, with no theological bias whatever, cannot portray the progress of humanity honestly without giving him foremost place.”

This is undoubtedly true – and all the more remarkable given that we only really have information on about three years of his adult life. Jesus wrote no books, commanded no army, ruled no nation, left no monument, owned nothing, lived rough, died young and was given a hurried, unceremonious burial in someone else’s tomb.

They say you can tell how big a ship is by the size of the wake it leaves behind it. Similarly, Jesus' supreme importance is undeniable from the unparalleled impact he has had on the world. His profound influence on history is commensurate with his unique personality. (Of course it is the significance of his death and resurrection that account for his impact on history more than anything else and I shall come to that in Reason 13 and Reason 14).

I find it frankly depressing that so many people dismiss Christianity citing a few carefully selected misdemeanours or attitudes of some of its adherents as the reason. “What about the crusades?” “What about the Spanish Inquisition?” “What about all those wars that religion is responsible for? (Charles Phillips and Alan Axelrod in their Encyclopedia of Wars put the figure at 7%). “What about all the church’s wealth when millions are starving?” “What about paedophile priests?” “What about those hateful fundamentalists who picket funerals?”

No matter that in each case those people brazenly flout Jesus’ teaching which specifically prohibits violence (Matthew 26.52), rejects the love of money (Matthew 6.24), demands a bias to the poor (Luke 14.12-14), warns of serious consequences for those who harm children (Matthew 18.6) and calls for the love of one’s enemies (Matthew 5.44).

To those who raise such objections I always want to say “Forget Christendom. Look at Christ and tell me what you find wrong with him.”

Being a Christian is about following him. It seems to me not only foolish but manifestly unfair to judge a movement by the actions of those who violate the plain teaching of its founder. Never has a baby been so unjustly thrown out with the bath water.

Part of the reason I have put my trust in Jesus and want to be like him is that the unequalled gravitas and attractiveness of his personality adds real weight to his perfect fulfilment of messianic prophecy (Reason 10).

There’s quite a lot more I want to say about Jesus in the next three posts; his teaching is unique (Reason 12), his death changed everything (Reason 13) and the evidence for his resurrection is surprisingly sound (Reason 14).

But I want to end this post by quoting from a gravel-voiced, old-time African-American Baptist preacher and civil rights activist called S. M. Lockridge (1913 – 2000). Lockridge once came up with the following magnificent word picture of Jesus. (I have edited out the repetition in the original but  you can get the full thing here if you want).

When I say that Jesus’ persona is absolutely compelling, this is what I have in mind:

He's the King of the Jews. He's the King of Israel. He's the King of righteousness. He's the King of the ages. He's the King of Heaven. He's the King of glory. He's the King of kings and He is the Lord of lords.

No means of measure can define His limitless love. No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of His shoreless supplies. No barrier can hinder Him from pouring out His blessings.

He's enduringly strong. He's entirely sincere. He's eternally steadfast. He's immortally graceful. He's imperially powerful. He's impartially merciful.

He's God's Son. He's the sinner's saviour. He's the centrepiece of civilization. He stands alone in Himself. He's august. He's unique. He's unparalleled. He's unprecedented. He's supreme. He's pre-eminent.

He's the loftiest idea in literature. He's the highest personality in philosophy. He's the supreme problem in higher criticism. He's the fundamental doctrine of true theology. He's the cardinal necessity of spiritual religion.

He's the miracle of the age. He's the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him. He's the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously. He supplies strength for the weak. He's available for the tempted and the tried. He sympathizes and He saves. He's guards and he guides.

He heals the sick. He cleanses the lepers. He forgives sinners. He discharges debtors. He delivers the captives. He defends the feeble. He blesses the young. He serves the unfortunate. He regards the aged. He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek.

Well, my King is the key of knowledge. He's the wellspring of wisdom. He's the doorway of deliverance. He's the pathway of peace. He's the roadway of righteousness. He's the highway of holiness. He's the gateway of glory.

He's the master of the mighty. He's the captain of the conquerors. He's the head of the heroes. He's the leader of the legislators. He's the overseer of the overcomers. He's the governor of governors. He's the prince of princes. He's the King of kings and He's the Lord of lords.

His office is manifold. His promise is sure. His life is matchless. His goodness is limitless. His mercy is everlasting. His love never changes. His word is enough. His grace is sufficient. His reign is righteous. His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

I'm trying to tell you that the heaven of heavens can't contain Him, let alone a  man explain Him… You can't outlive Him and you can't live without Him.

The Pharisees couldn't stand Him, but they found out they couldn't stop Him. Pilate couldn't find any fault in Him. The witnesses couldn't get their testimonies to agree. Herod couldn't kill Him. Death couldn't handle Him and the grave couldn't hold Him.

He always has been and He always will be. He had no predecessor and He'll have no successor. There's nobody before Him and there'll be nobody after Him. You can't impeach Him and He's not going to resign.

Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory. Forever… and ever… and ever… And when you get through with all of the forevers, then... Amen!

That’s the incomparable Jesus I know and love.

And that’s the eleventh reason I follow him and have the honour of being called a Christian.

Accepted and Loved (Luke 15.11-23)

Introduction

The parable of the prodigal son. Probably the best loved of all Jesus’ stories. I’m sure it’s familiar to most of us here.

1) Why Jesus Told the Story

But perhaps we know a little less about its context. Who did Jesus tell this story to? Where was he when he told it? And why did he choose that story for that audience?

At the beginning of chapter 15, Luke gives us this background information. Verse 1 says there were tax collectors and sinners crowding around Jesus as he was talking.

The tax collectors were hated outcasts. They weren’t just those humourless people at the Inland Revenue we all feel slightly nervous of (well, I do anyway). But in Jesus’ day and culture, tax collectors were selfish traitors and thieving crooks.

When it says “sinners” people often think of alcoholics, prostitutes and drug addicts. But tat’s not what it really means. The “sinners” were basically anyone who had given up trying to keep the Law of Moses. Times were tough and they had got to keep their family together, make ends meet. So they ate cheap non-kosher meat and took little jobs on Saturdays to keep the wolf from the door.

I once heard a Christian who works as a tour guide in Israel talk about this on a coach trip to the Dead Sea. He stood up, took the microphone and said “In the Bible, it talks about sinners. Now, our bus driver and tour operator are good examples of sinners. They are both Jewish and are working on the Sabbath which is against the Law of Moses.” As you can imagine, it was a pretty awkward situation and the two men tensed up and just stared straight ahead.

And then the tour guide continued. “Now when Jesus came he picked corn and healed the sick on the Sabbath and he was called the friend of sinners. So I just want our driver and tour operator to know that Jesus, their Messiah, is for them and has come to release them from the burden of the law.” Well, the two guys broke into a broad smile and gave the thumbs up.

But there are others present too; the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. We hear quite a lot about these people in the Gospels and, since they were always in conflict with Jesus, we tend to assume they were complete villains.

In fact, they were upright, middle class law abiding citizens who gave generously to charity, loved going to Bible studies, were always in church and were into missionary work big time. And they were appalled by the company Jesus kept.

I had a mate when I was young who was brilliant at everything; art, music, English, foreign languages, maths, science, sport… He was good looking too and always had a string of admiring girls not too far away. One summer in the end of year tests he got 8 A grades and one B. Nobody at my school had ever come close to that set of grades. (It was in Essex, so the bar wasn’t all that high to be fair). When he got home, he told his mum and dad and guess what they said: “Oh, such a shame about the B grade.”

That’s what the Pharisees were like. You could spend a week spring cleaning a house from top to bottom and they’d go round with a pen and clipboard and pick out a smudge you missed under the fridge.

But Jesus loves even proud, arrogant, self-righteous religious frauds like the Pharisees.

So that’s why he tells a story about two sons. The prodigal son stands for the tax collectors and sinners. The elder son stands for the Pharisees and teachers if the law. Actually, both sons were lost and estranged from their father - but only one of them knew it.

2) What the Story Means

Most of us know it as the story of "the prodigal son." Which is remarkable because Jesus never actually used the word "prodigal" and I wonder how many of us know what the word means. It’s not a common word in modern English is it? What does it mean?

Lost? Restored? Selfish? Wasteful?

All four words are true of the younger son, but the right answer is wasteful.

He wastes his inheritance. He wastes his father’s fortune. He wastes his life.

And it was a lot of money to waste! As the younger son, he was entitled to one third of the estate and a man with a property, livestock and servants, would have been worth a small fortune.

The footballer George Best once said “I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered!” He went on to say “In 1969, I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst twenty minutes of my life.”

Well, this young lad fritters everything on wine, women and song. Then the economy hits a recession, his money runs out, his friends say "bye bye", and before long he is desperate.

Have you ever made a big mistake in life only to wake up one day and realise how low you’ve sunk? Have you ever wanted to be able to turn the clock back and start again? This is where the younger son ends up. What am I doing here? What have I done? What was I thinking sharing supper with pigs?

In those days there were two sorts of employee; servants and hired hands.

Servants were members of the extended household. They were well treated and had rights in law. They also had a roof over their heads for life.

By contrast, casual labour was just hired and let go, as and when needed. No contract, no security, severance pay, no notice period, no tea break.

So when the son says “take me back as a hired worker” he isn’t even daring to think he might be received as a house servant – that would mean coming back to live at home. That would be too good for him he thinks.

He decides whatever happens can’t be worse than eating pig swill, so he goes home, hoping for the best. He starts to rehearse his little speech. He walks over the hill and his father’s home comes into view. His heart is in his mouth.

What will dad say when he sees me?

I’m absolutely filthy. He’ll go mad.

I’ve dragged the family’s good name through the mud. He’ll hit the roof.

I’ve spent all his money. He’ll kill me.

What would your dad say?

What do you think you’re worth to God? God thinks you’re worth much, much more.

Jesus said that the father saw him while he was still a long way off. He was watching out for him and he was filled with compassion.

And with his heart pounding hard, he ran (which was an unusual thing for an old man to do in that culture because it was considered undignified). Jesus says that he embraced him and kissed him.

We’re not talking about a polite, formal greeting. This father is overjoyed, uninhibited, demonstrative, over the top.

“David, Quick! Get my boy a cloak of honour!”

“Fred! Put a family ring on his finger. I want everyone to see who is back.”

“Bill! I want shoes on his feet. This is my son!”

“Mike! Get the barbecue going and crack open the bubbly. It’s party time!”

3) What Does It Mean for Me?

When you come back to God he restores your identity. He gives you back the real you. He has you back and it’s as if you’ve never been away. Think of the mess the boy was in; hated by his brother, rejected by his society, gossiped about by his former servants, cursed by the law, not a penny left to his name, not a friend left in the world. But accepted and loved by his father.

Maybe you feel you have been in the pigsty. You might look respectable enough on the outside perhaps but you know you’re a long, long way from God. You may be the only one who knows it. Jesus told this story to let you know that you can’t go so far – that it’s too far. You can come back to God today. Your Father is looking for you and there’s a feast waiting!

That’s great. But some of us, might relate more to the older son more than the younger one.

The older brother was a prodigal son too. He too was wasteful. Think about it. He had all the privileges, all the advantages, of his father’s riches – but he wasted his life in resentment and bad feeling.

You may have been a believer a long time and frankly you know you’re in a rut. Or perhaps you’re less and less moved by God’s amazing grace. Maybe you feel you’ve been drifting away, become quite cynical even. Like the older brother - and like the Pharisees.

The mistake the elder brother made was to compare himself with his younger sibling. Why has he got the fattened calf? What about me? Why don’t I ever get a party? It’s not fair! What a waste of time and energy.

But the Father says to the older brother, “My child. You are always with me. All I have is yours.”

When we were in Cwmbran on Wednesday night, one of the speakers talked about this parable.

Let me give you a bit of feedback from our time there. There was undoubtedly a sense of God’s presence there. People were queuing for about 45 minutes to get in and when the doors opened, people were cheering to press into church.

Inside, it was loud, it was raw and it was intense; they’re not respectable Anglicans, it’s a Pentecostal church that meets in a building that, on the outside, looks like Matalan and, on the inside, with walls painted black, feels like a night club. There are hard looking guys on the doors with shaved heads and tattoos - and a passion for Jesus. There were lots of people cramming into a limited space.

They’ve seen hundreds of people come to new faith in Christ there since April 10^th when a disabled man was prayed for, got out of his wheelchair and stood unaided for the first time in 10 years. He carried the wheelchair above his head and walked around the church. Other healings have followed. Many people went forward for prayer for healing the night we were there. Some fell to the floor right by where I was standing. I don’t know if anyone was healed.

What I do know is that among the new converts in the last 5 weeks or so, there are former drug addicts, lap dancers and bank robbers. The church has two pastors; both became Christians in jail. After a short and simple Gospel message, about twenty more people gave their hearts to Christ the night we were there.

There was a strong sense of conviction of sin. When there was another call to repentance and a new consecration, there was a mighty surge forwards. Nobody thought “what will so and so think about me going forwards.” There was no sense of just coming to church and watching, then going home. Nobody seemed self-conscious. Nobody seemed to care about keeping up appearances. There was brokenness, a meekness, a hunger for God.

As I said, one of their pastors was saying that there are prodigals in the church too. You may have been coming to church for years and years and yet be miles away from God. You need to understand that you are just as accepted and loved as someone who has been a top of the range sinner with an amazing testimony. God says to everyone here this morning exactly what the father said to the elder son. “My son, [my daughter] you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.”

Ending

I believe God is speaking today to people who think they’re no good, like the younger brother. He is saying that he loves you, accepts you, and welcomes you.

And I think he is also speaking to those who think they’re absolutely fine and don’t need to change – like the older brother. And he is saying that everything he has (his grace, his healing touch, his power, his gifts, his anointing, his blessing… everything he has is yours, if only you will ask and receive.

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 19th May 2013

Assured (Romans 10.5-13 and John 6.35-40)

Introduction

I once heard about an elderly priest who went to visit a dying woman. It was clear that she wasn’t going to last all that long, so the priest thought he should do his best to prepare her for death and face the last judgement.

He said to her, “Denounce the devil! Let him know what you think of all his evil and wickedness.” She just lay there on her death bed and said nothing.

So the priest said it again, this time a bit louder. “Denounce the devil. Say what you think of all his evil and wickedness.” Still she said nothing.

So the priest asked her why she refused to do it. “Oh,” she said, “Until I know exactly where I’m going, I think it’s probably best not to aggravate anybody too much!”

Seeing Salvation

We’ve been looking at what salvation means in these last few weeks. And one of the greatest things about salvation in Christ is that you never have to hedge your bets or cross your fingers about what might await you beyond the grave.

The Bible says that Jesus “is able to save completely [not partially, not slightly, not to a certain extent; he is able to save completely] those who come to God through him.” We won’t have to worry if we were good enough. All that matters is that Jesus is - and always will be - good enough to get you to heaven.

Scripture has many different ways of representing exactly what Jesus has done for us. But the starting point is that you and I have to face a hard and humbling fact; the truth is that we deserve to be separated from God forever because of sin.

We don’t like to hear that. It’s hard to find any nice way to put it. But the Bible presents ‘being hopelessly lost in sins’ as the default position of every human being who has ever lived.

But grace has come. Salvation is here! Jesus has done it! God’s word says that we can be thoroughly forgiven.

It says that we can be born again to a completely new life.

It says, by faith, that we are justified; meaning God gives his verdict on our lives as “not guilty” and we are credited with the perfect righteousness of Christ.

It says we are redeemed, meaning bought out of slavery to sin and given freedom forever.

It says we are reconciled to the God from whom we were estranged because of unbelief and our rebellion against his ways.

It says we are accepted, that God lavishes his love over us, that we are chosen and adopted into God’s family as his children and that we are made heirs forever of every divine promise.

All that is a gift. And it is completely free. I hope you’re glad about that.

About ten years ago I broke my glasses. I took them in to the optician who tried to solder the frame back together but it had snapped in an awkward place and that pair will forever be two separate bits.

For about a week, I had to see through a heavy and old fashioned pair I used to wear in the 1980’s while my new glasses were being made. As you’d expect, my eyesight had deteriorated a bit in 20 years so when I finally received my new glasses the difference was amazing; it seemed like I was seeing a crisp, sharp, focused and beautiful world for the very first time. Everything looked true, and crystal-clear and well-defined.

When we talk about salvation, we need new lenses, because we’ve got to see our lives from God’s perspective.

Let me try and tell you what God’s perspective about you looks like:

Your story with God goes right back… not just to when you were small, but actually to before you were born, before time even began, before the universe, before creation, to a point when only God was.

It was then that God chose you. He had it in his mind even then, because he loved you, that he would be glad to adopt you into his family, knowing you would have good days and bad days, knowing - like everyone else - that you would turn out a sinner, knowing you would never really deserve it. All this was in his plan from the start.

These are the lenses through which God sees everything. And he wants us to enjoy these truths as confident and loved children, fully persuaded that he will deliver on his promises.

Assurance: Our Part

It was the FA Cup final yesterday. If you’ve ever been to a cup final, you can tell the difference between fans who have tickets and those who are hoping to pick one up from a street vendor.

The ones with tickets drink in bars before the match, read the match programme and enjoy a bit of banter with friends. The ones without tickets pace up and down, hold up placards saying they want tickets and smoke. Fifteen minutes before kick-off, the fans with tickets look excited and the ones without start to look desperate.

If you knew that in fifteen minutes you would have to stand before the holy God and learn your eternal destiny, how would you look? Would you smoke and pace up and down? Would you say to yourself, “I don't know what God's going to say - will it be “Welcome home, child,” or will it be “Depart from me; I never knew you?” Or will you be calm, knowing what the outcome is going to be?

If you find yourself asking, “Am I really saved?” how can you know that the answer is “Yes” and be absolutely secure about it?

Our passage from Romans 10 contains a simple promise. It says in v9; “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

That sounds straightforward doesn’t it? If you can genuinely say “Jesus is Lord” [that means, he’s in charge, he’s the boss, not me, and I am placing my life under his authority] and, v9 says, if deep down you believe that Jesus really is alive today… well, then you will be saved.

Then in v10, there’s an explanation. “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, [so what you have to do to be justified is to accept it by faith] and [the verse continues] it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.”

In other words what it’s saying is this; there has to be faith in your heart. But although faith is deeply personal, you can’t lock it away like a skeleton in a cupboard. Belonging to Jesus Christ cannot be a dirty secret to be ashamed of.

Some people don’t like this very much. When people suggest that faith should only be a private matter what they usually say is, “Aren’t the best sort of Christians the ones who live out the Christian life but never have to speak about it?”  And they usually point to some nice member of their family who they say is a Christian but who never mentions it. 

Nicky Gumbel calls this the Uncle Norman factor. “Everyone has a kind of Uncle Norman” he says, “who is this perfect Christian who never talks about his faith.”  But the question Nicky says he always wants to ask is, “how did Uncle Norman ever hear about Jesus Christ unless someone else told him?”

And unless someone had been willing to speak about their faith you wouldn’t be here today either.

Believe it in your heart. And confess it with your mouth. And you will be [not could be, not might be, not perhaps, not “if you send a stamped addressed envelope and 10 cereal packet vouchers…”] you will be saved.

That is why you and I can have assurance of our salvation. We don’t need to go through life wondering if we will be saved, hoping against hope. We haven’t got to agonise about it. This is not something to lose sleep over.

And if you do stay awake at night, worrying and doubting about it, as someone said, “don’t count sheep; talk to the Shepherd instead.”

Assurance: God’s Part

When we look at what Jesus said on this subject, he confirms the truth about assurance but doesn’t emphasise our faith. He highlights God’s sovereignty.

Some people get confused about this. Are we saved because God chose us? Or are we saved because we believe and confess? Is it predestination or free will? The answer is… both. It’s like two rails of a railway track. The train doesn’t run on only one rail. So here’s the other rail:

John 6.37: “All those the Father gives me will come to me…”

However much it seems like we just decided to become Christians of our own choice and our own initiative, the truth is that before you and I even had our first thought about him, he was already moving in our lives.

And here’s the glorious consequence of that; Jesus goes on to say “…and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.” He repeats that thought in v39; “This is the will of him who sent me that I shall lose none [How many did he say? None. Not one] of all those he has given me…”

Here’s the truth to hang on to. You can be absolutely sure of your salvation not just because you have believed and confessed.

You may know you gripped God’s hand – I’m glad you did. But he grabbed hold of you too and his grip is tighter, firmer, stronger and more enduring than yours ever can be.

You can be absolutely sure of your salvation because you have a faithful Father in heaven who has taken hold of you and will never, ever let go.”

Isn’t that glorious? “This is love” says the Apostle John; “not that we loved God, but that he loved us first.” “You didn’t choose me,” said Jesus. It’s the other way round. “I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will last.”

Jesus’ confidence in the great plan of salvation does not rest solely on the positive response of good-hearted people. Far from it: Jesus is absolutely sure of one thing - his Father’s unmoveable commitment to love you and hold on to you whatever it takes. And he has promised in Revelation 3.5 to never blot out from his book of life the names of those who are written there.

It is said that Michael Faraday, the distinguished scientist, was asked as he neared death, “What are your speculations now?” (Meaning ‘how do you feel about the prospect of death?’)

Faraday immediately replied: “Speculations I have none. I’m resting on certainties.” Then he repeated slowly and deliberately, 2 Timothy 1. 12 – “For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.”

Falling Away? *

 The thing is, what about people who fall away from faith? We all know them don’t we? What about the people who used to self-identify as Christian but who now aren’t so keen to do that? What about the people who used to be in church – and loved it – but who now always have something better to do?

What about those who made a firm commitment to Christ, who got baptized or confirmed, who even led other people to faith and were full on – and who drifted into agnosticism or cynicism?

Are they saved? Has God let go of them? It’s important to say that there’s only one who can answer that question and that’s God himself. It is not for us to judge whether someone is saved or not.

But if you’re wobbling in your faith right now, how can you have genuine assurance that you are saved?

There are three questions you should ask yourself.

First of all, “Do I have a present trust in Christ for salvation?”

Hebrews 3.14 says “We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end.”

Do I have a present trust in Christ for salvation?” Never mind if you gave your heart to Christ as a child in Sunday school, or if you went forward at a tent mission in your teens, or prayed a prayer during an Alpha course five years ago. Forget that. Do you trust Christ today to forgive your sins and give you eternal life?

If I were to die tonight and stand before God’s judgement seat, and if he were to ask me why he should let me into heaven, would I begin to think about all my good deeds and hope they were good enough? Or would I say without hesitation that I am depending on Christ’s goodness alone and I am confident that he is a sufficient Saviour?

You see Paul tells the Colossians that they will be saved “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel.”

So do I have a present trust in Christ for salvation?

Secondly, ask yourself “Is there evidence of the Holy Spirit at work in my heart?”

Like what? I’m not talking about all the jobs you might volunteer to do around the church. I mean, for example, is my life producing the kind of character traits that Paul calls the fruit of the Spirit? Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self-control.

I don’t mean “Do I perfectly exemplify all those things, but do I sense those attitudes in my heart? Do other people, especially those close to me, see those traits in my life?

Or is my influence on others to discourage them, to drag them down, to discourage their faith, to provoke jealousy and controversy and divisiveness?

Jesus said “You will know them [in other words, you will be able to discern if they are spiritually alive or dead] by their fruits.”

This is not what you have to do to be saved. This is the sort of evidence that shows that you are saved and that your faith is genuine.

And the third question you might ask yourself is this: “Am I continuing to believe and accept the sound teaching of the church?” People who begin to deny and contest the major creedal beliefs of Christianity give serious negative indications concerning their salvation.

I’m not talking here about having questions or occasional doubts about, say, Jesus’ miracles or the virgin birth or the Trinity. I’m talking about a general hardness of heart, an increasing cynicism and even an open denial about these things. That is not evidence of someone abiding in Christ and allowing Christ to abide in them.

Around 1870 a Native American called Crow Foot became a great chief of the Blackfoot Indians. In 1884 the Canadian Pacific Railway gave him a lifetime rail pass. He was very proud of that honour. He had a very elegant leather case made especially for his rail pass. He carried it around his neck wherever he went. But there is no record of Crow Foot ever using the pass to travel anywhere on Canadian Pacific trains.

He had been offered a gift – but he never really received it. It was just decorative. In the same way, some people like to call themselves Christians but they’ve never really received salvation. They’ve never really understood what grace is.

Ending

Well, I hope you can answer yes to all three questions. They’re not hoops to jump through. They’re general indications that your faith is real and not just decorative.

What I want you to take away today is that you don’t have to go through life anxious and troubled about your eternal destiny. If you haven’t ever believed with your heart that Jesus is risen or confessed with your mouth that he is Lord – do it today.

And remember, God is faithful, he loves you and he is well able to hold onto you and never let go.

Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 12th May 2013

* Thanks to Wayne Grudem's Systematic Theology for much of the last section.