The Thick Darkness Where God Is (Exodus 20.21)

Introduction

A friend of mine, who is retired now, once told me about an experience he had when he was a newly consecrated bishop. He was visiting a saintly old lady in hospital and towards the end of his visit she turned to him and said, “Now look here, if you’re going to be worth having as a Bishop, never forget Exodus 20.21. You do know that verse don’t you?” (It just so happened that Bishop John Taylor is an expert in Hebrew and has written commentaries on the Old Testament but for the life of him he couldn’t remember anything about that verse. “Well?” she said, “Do you know the verse or don’t you?”

A little embarrassed, he started to confess that that particular verse had momentarily escaped his memory, but she cut him in mid sentence. “Never forget,” she said, “the thick darkness where God is.”

When he got home he looked it up. Sure enough, Exodus 20.21 says, “Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.” Psalm 97 mentions this same heavy, dense blackness as well: “Clouds and thick darkness surround him.” Isn’t this a bit of a surprise? Wouldn’t you expect the Bible to say instead that God is surrounded by radiant light?

I mean to say that already this evening we have sung the words, “God of God, light of light,” “All is calm, all is bright,” “In your dark streets shines the everlasting light,” and “Radiant beams your holy face.” Who may dare intrude into God’s awesomely holy presence without due humility and reverence?

In Psalm 139 it says, “If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.” You could travel to the bleakest place on (or under) the earth – and God would still be there.

In Darkness We See More

450 miles north of Santiago in Chile, high up in the Andes at an altitude of nearly 8,000 feet, is the La Silla Paranal Observatory. It’s one of the best places for stargazing in the world. About 7,000 stars can be seen there. In any town you can only ever make out a few hundred. From La Silla Paranal you can see the Milky Way, the Andromeda galaxy and amazing meteor showers with the naked eye.

It’s so remote that there is no light pollution from nearby cities. There are hardly any blinking lights from passing airliners because it’s so near the mountains. The night sky there is as inky black as anything you will ever see. But that is why it’s possible to see and admire the visible universe so distinctly there.

It’s why diamonds are always shown on a black velvet cloth. Their beauty and brilliance is that much more striking that way.

It’s why the eternally glorious Son of God entered the earth in a shabby stable, surrounded by beasts of burden and farm odours. His grandeur and splendour are so much more stunning that way.

No room at the inn. What did it feel like? Everyone shakes their head and closes their front door in front of you. Every hotel, every B and B, every guesthouse, every hostel in town has the “No Vacancies” sign up… everywhere is full.

Or is it? I mean, how full were these places really?
Think about it a minute. You turn up at a hotel one night and ask for a room.
The receptionist says, “Sorry sir, we are full.”
So you reply, “I don’t think you understand. There must be some mistake. I am the Queen’s Private Secretary and she will be here in an hour.”

If it was the Queen, she would say, “I’ll just speak to the manager, sir.” While she’s away speaking to him you set your mobile phone to go off in 12 minutes. 10 minutes later the manager appears with the surprising news that there must have been some understanding and there is a room free after all.

You thank the man and start to make the necessary arrangements, when suddenly your mobile phone rings. You switch off the alarm and say into the phone, “Good evening Ma’am… Yes, ma’am. I see ma’am… Certainly ma’am. Goodbye ma’am.” Turning to the hotel manager you say, “Her Majesty is not able to come tonight after all. Tell you what, as you’ve gone to so much trouble, I’ll take her room!”

But Joseph and Mary are lost in a strange town, exhausted from the long journey, stressed by the increasingly frequent contractions and feeling deflated by all the “No Vacancies” signs. They’re in no state to argue and so they settle for the one offer they get; a cheerless and dingy outhouse where the donkeys and cattle bed down for the night. It’s the darkness where God is…

Two Examples

About 2½ million people in sub-Saharan Africa die from AIDS every year. It leaves widows with no income and orphans with nowhere to live and no one to love them. It leaves desperately sick people with no healthcare in some of the world’s poorest countries. Every death is a grim tragedy for someone.

I have a friend called Chris Brooks, who is a medical doctor. Shortly before he was due to retire, he gave up everything he had and moved to Malawi, one of the poorest countries on earth, and where life expectancy is just 48 years old. He set up two clinics giving free healthcare to penniless nobodies. Last year, his clinics treated 120,000 people with dignity and care and attention.

I once asked him how he keeps going in such a wretched place with so much misery and do you know what he said? He said that the presence of the Lord is never stronger, never more real, and never more tangible than when serving the poorest of the poor because it’s so close to the heart of God. 60% of HIV/AIDS programmes in Africa are funded and run by churches. They’re in the thick darkness where God is.

If I asked you to name the three most dangerous, most violent, most volatile countries in the world, I think most of you would still put Iraq in there somewhere.

It’s still a perilous place. The vicar of Baghdad, Andrew White, gave an interview at the height of the troubles there about two years ago and he said this:

“Sometimes the news is so bad that all I can do is sit on my bed and cry. A few years ago 10 people in my church were killed in a single week. You can’t help yourself asking ‘Lord, why?’ Every member of my Alpha team was killed once when their minibus was ambushed on their way to a conference in Jordan.”

“Eleven members of my staff were shot dead in 2007. I’ve seen people come to our church at the risk of their lives. It takes them 3 hours to complete the one mile journey because of all the security. I’ve made pastoral visits having to wear a bulletproof helmet in a helicopter that came under fire from bandits.”

“We have five Alpha courses now, in three languages. People are coming to Christ dozens at a time. The previous owner of the place where I work left a fantastic baptistery for us. It’s Saddam Hussein’s old swimming pool and we have baptized hundreds in it, always at 6 in the morning, sometimes to the sound of distant explosions.”

Wherever you find suffering and affliction and gloom on earth – you’ll find God at work. Whatever your darkness is; family worries, bereavement, illness, joblessness, depression, financial problems, loneliness… The thick darkness is where God is.

Ending

It was in Bethlehem’s dark streets in a backstreet cow shed that Jesus came to earth - because it’s in the darkness that God is most at work.

There was barely daylight at noon the day Jesus died - because it’s in the darkness that God is most at work.

It was pitch dark in the cold, stone sealed tomb on Easter Sunday morning - and you know what happened there.


Sermon preached at the Carol Service at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 20th December 2010

He Will Come to Reign (Revelation 21.1-8)

Introduction

If I told you that, of the 260 chapters in the New Testament, there are 318 references to one particular and specific theme, that’s 1 in every 30 verses, and that only 4 of the 27 New Testament books never mention it, I think you’d have to agree with me that it must be an event of considerable, if not central, importance. The theme is the second coming of Jesus Christ.

It’s an event that should deeply interest every Christian – unfortunately it only seems to attract cranks, oddballs and eccentrics.

For example, after 14 years of intense and serious Bible study a Baptist preacher from Pennsylvania called William Miller published some convoluted charts which showed, he said, that Christ would return on October 22nd 1844. He was a very persuasive speaker and he gathered a large number of followers. On the allotted day, some waited in graveyards, planning to ascend hand in hand with their departed loved ones. Others went to the mountaintops, hoping for a head start to heaven. There was even a group Philadelphia society ladies who met up outside town to avoid any possibility of being seen entering God's kingdom with the riffraff! Thousands of followers, some of whom had given away all of their possessions, waited expectantly – but, obviously, Jesus did not appear as had been hoped. As a result, October 22nd 1844 became known as the Great Disappointment.

I’ll tell you what, when Jesus comes again there will be no disappointment for those who eagerly await his return. There will be no sense of let-down or unhappiness. The mood will be one of joyous relief. Because he will come at the end of a period of history called that the Bible calls the great tribulation. It will be a short time of unprecedented discrimination against and persecution of, Christians. And Jesus will come to put an end to it all by judging the living and the dead. He will redress all travesties of justice. He will avenge all cruel spilling of innocent blood. He will right every wrong.

Then what? What will Jesus do when the books are all closed and the eternal destinies of all are decided and sealed? Then, his kingdom, or his rule, will have no end. To the fanfare of trumpets and the acclaim of millions, he is coming back with a crown of glory, robes of royalty and a sceptre of government – he is coming to reign.

Kevin Keegan’s underwhelming second coming lasted 230 days. Jesus’ second coming will be overwhelming and will last forever.

Be honest with me now. Do you find all this a bit obscure? A bit inaccessible? Do you switch off a bit? Is this just Pie in the sky when you die? Is it easier to look back to Jesus’ first coming in frailty than look forward to his second coming in glory?

I think most of us do. But, actually, God puts much more emphasis on Christ’s return than he does on his arrival in Bethlehem. Consider this statistic; for every prophecy in the Bible concerning Christ’s first advent, there are 8 which announce his second. So we have to take this seriously because God does.

So let’s look at Revelation 21. The Bible is a library; and like any library you’ve got biographies, history books, philosophy, legal documents, collections of letters, tomes of poetry and so on. Revelation is in the section of picture books. It’s a series of visions where we get to glimpse behind the curtain of life as we know it.

And we find that in a world of famine, disaster, earthquake, environmental catastrophe and war – there are satanic forces at work, there are angels and demons and we find that God’s throne is above them all. And, most of all, we can flip to the end and see that the perpetrators of evil will get what they fully deserve, and those who resist in faith will triumph and be vindicated. Because we see who wins the war – it’s Jesus.

But it’s when we get to chapter 21 that everything changes. Something new is happening.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God.”

1) What Is This “New Heavens and New Earth”?

What is this “new heavens and new earth”? Could it be that this is just symbolic about something? Or does it actually mean that the earth and space that we know are going to be scrapped and rebuilt?

The fact is that this isn't just a weird vision from an unfamiliar corner of the strangest book in the Bible. God first mentioned this over 700 years before Christ when the prophet Isaiah announced, “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. The new heavens and the new earth that I will make will endure forever before me.”

What's wrong with the old earth? Why is it going to be replaced with a new one? The Bible says that the world that God created has become fragile and brittle and unstable because of sin. Because of sin the planet we live on is under a curse which is why we have flooding, mudslides, earthquakes, tornados, volcanic eruptions, desertisation, drought and famines.

Romans 8.18-22 puts it this way: “The creation waits in eager expectation... The creation was subjected to frustration... The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay... The whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.”

In other words this whole created order; heavens, earth, everything is decaying, crumbling, falling apart at the seams. It's unravelling before our eyes.

The writer to the Hebrews says that God is going to shake the earth and the heavens so hard that only the kingdom of God will be left.

Peter adds more detail. 2 Peter 3.7-13 says this: “The present heavens and earth are reserved for fire… The day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare...”

So Revelation 21 is not a prophecy we can dismiss as obscure and symbolic because God has given us clear, unambiguous Scriptures which say the same thing.

The New Jerusalem, God's chosen city, is the focal point of the New Heavens and New Earth. It's where the action is. It is where God most abundantly pours out his blessings and reveals his glory in the renewed creation.

The New Jerusalem comes down from heaven perfectly proportioned, never to be destroyed. God is telling us here that the fullness of his awesome presence, the place where his majesty shines brightest, is coming to be with us for an eternity so blissful and pleasurable it is hardly describable.

There’s an important point that we miss here if we don’t read Revelation through. In chapters 17 and 18 you have a vivid description of another city; Babylon. Babylon stands for everything and everyone that opposes God and his people. Babylon is a tarty, gaudy, drunken harlot. Jerusalem here (in v2) is a beautiful pure bride in a radiant wedding dress, prepared for marriage.

I was saying on Thursday at Alpha that one of the things that I have the privilege of doing here is taking weddings. I love it. But there’s one part of the wedding service that I love most. It’s the moment right at the beginning. All the friends and relatives have gathered in the church. The bride has spent all morning preparing. She’s arrived at the back of the church usually a couple of minutes late! She wants to keep him waiting but not too long. Everyone in the church is dressed up for the occasion, and then the moment comes when it all goes quiet. The music starts and everyone looks round. And the bride comes in down the aisle, the husband-to-be who is waiting here at the front, turns round and he looks at his bride, beautifully dressed for her husband.

If I’m in the congregation I always get emotional at that moment! If I am marrying the couple, I try to keep my composure. That’s how we will be one day.

There are only two cities. Babylon, the harlot and Jerusalem, the bride. The point is you can only live in one or the other. There is no third city. If you’re not in the New Jerusalem you’re in the Old Babylon. Jesus said, “Anyone who is not for me is against me.”

Babylon, this anti-Christian order that harasses, picks on, attacks and persecutes God's people, is going to fall under God's judgement never to be rebuilt. Jerusalem, the community of persevering believers who delight themselves in the Lord, no matter what the cost, will endure forever.

2) What Will Eternity Be Like?

If someone asked you “What do you think eternity will be like?” how do you think you’d answer? Do you know where is this New Earth going to be? I don't. Billy Graham once said, “It doesn't matter where it is. It will be where Jesus is.” Is it a real place? What did Jesus say? He said, “I am going to prepare a place for you.” And we will have physical resurrection bodies in which to explore it and enjoy it.

In 1 Corinthians 2 it says, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” The Bible speaks of streets, rivers, trees, eating and drinking, music... There have been many people who have had near death experiences who claim to have caught just a glimpse of it. I don’t think this is proof of anything but I do think it’s interesting that they say things like, “It was stunning beyond description,” “There was beautiful music unlike any other I have heard.”

C.S. Lewis said: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.” Nothing could be more pleasurable and delightful than the future God has prepared for us. Nothing compares.

In 21.1 it says there will be no more sea. The sea symbolises mystery and turmoil and evil in the Bible. People used to be terrified of the great monsters the sea was thought to hold. People felt uneasy about the surf pounding relentlessly, day and night, never at rest - and so it came to represent inner anguish and unrest.

And the sea is about separation. It divides countries, peoples and continents. Having lived in Continental Europe for 18 years I can say without hesitation that the mentality there is quite different from the one we have here in Great Britain. It's mostly because of the channel which started to detach Britain from mainland Europe about 7,000 years ago.

As God gave John the vision of the New Jerusalem it was revealed that there would be no more sea. The things that separate us from each other and from God will be gone. The things that cause us anguish and turmoil will be gone. The things that mystify and terrorize us will be gone because Jesus walks on water, he is master over the sea, and he is coming back to reign.

In 21.4 it says there will be no more tears. You know what it feels like to feel unloved and lost and unfairly treated. Who has not shed lonely tears of a crushed spirit? You really loved someone but it didn't work out. Broken toys. Broken homes and families. Broken promises. Broken marriages. Broken dreams. Broken hearts.

C.S. Lewis once said: “Has this world been so kind to you that you should leave it with regret? There are better things ahead than any we leave behind.”

Oh, yes! In the New Jerusalem everything will always be new and nothing will get broken. No one will even remember what brokenness used to feel like because Jesus makes all things new and he is coming back to reign.

In 21.4 it says there will be no death. Our oldest and most persistent enemy will have gone. The longer you live the more death becomes a part of life. Friends die, family die, spouses and even children die, which is why someone said, “I don't think getting old is so bad when you consider the alternative.”

Someone I knew who died of cancer about ten years ago never allowed herself to mention the word “death.” She knew she was dying but she would only talk cheerfully about doing things she knew she never would. She was in denial. Finally, the day before she died she gave in. Knowing the end was very close she said, “Is there any way they can speed this up?”

Some dread death, some defy it and others deride it. Groucho Marx's tombstone reads “I told you I was sick!” And Woody Allen famously said, “I'm not afraid of death. I just don't want to be there when it happens.”

But if you’re a Christian today you don’t need to fear death or pretend it’s not there or make light of it. You can look at it in a totally different way. In the place God is preparing, there will no longer be any death at all. It will be a world with no funeral wreaths, no black armbands, no minute's silence, no undertaker's offices, no cemeteries or memorials.

Someone once read through the announcements column of the Times and said, “Isn't it strange how people always die in alphabetical order!” In the New Jerusalem there’ll be no obituary columns either, because Jesus has conquered death by rising again and he is coming back to reign.

In 21.4 it says there will be no more pain. No arthritic hands, no broken bones, no cancer-ridden bodies, no mental illness. No more pain, nothing will hurt because Jesus has nailed pain to the cross he is coming back to reign.

In 22.5 there’s more. No more night either; how do you feel when you hear a strange noise walking home in the dead of night with no moon and poor street lighting?

My dad used to tell me bedtime stories about the ghost of an old pirate with a wooden leg who would walk around the corridors of houses at night. Bump, scrape... bump, scrape... It's a wonder I ever slept at all! Actually, it was my fault. “Go on dad, tell me a scary story.”

But the night is the haunt of our fears. Fear of illness, storms, crime and darkness. But in heaven there will be no night. It will never be dark and there will be nothing frightening there because Jesus says “Do not fear” and he is coming back to reign.

3) Why Has God Told Us This?

Why has God told us this? What effect should it have on the way I live and the choices I make?

2 Peter 3.11, talking about the new creation, says this: “Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.”

It means this: our choosing to live a life of faith which glorifies God and gives life to others will not only determine where we spend eternity when Jesus comes back; it will actually hasten his return.

Most of that sleazy list in v8 applied to me before God, in his mercy, took hold of me. My guess is that most of us would have to say the same. Don’t you want to show God and show the world how grateful you are that he showed grace to you? The way to do that is to cherish and cultivate the very opposite of all that.

I want never to be ashamed of belonging to Christ. I want to hold on to his promises and believe his word. I want to live right and speak cleanly. I want to love life and be a peacemaker, defusing anger and resolving conflict. I want to be faithful to my wife, having eyes for her alone. I want to shun superstitions and demonically inspired secrecy. I want to worship God alone, exalting and magnifying him at all times. And I want to love honesty, be trustworthy and reliable to tell the truth.

Jesus said, “Store up treasure in heaven instead of storing it up on earth.” That column on the right it what he means.

Ending

Finally, this: If you're finding it hard to live for Christ, lift your head. Let this truth lighten your spirit and brighten your mood. Your everlasting elation will far outweigh your temporary trials. Be strong in the Lord and stay true to Jesus. And may this great vision stir every one of us to lay up more treasure in this breathtakingly joyous place we will call home.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 13th December 2009

If Jesus Had Never Been Born

If Jesus had never been born, this would not be 2009 AD because AD means the year of our Lord.

If Jesus had never been born, towns would never have been named St. Albans, St. Petersburg, San Francisco, Christchurch, Corpus Christi or Santa Cruz.

If Jesus had never been born everybody you know called Chris, Christine, Christian, Christie or Christopher would be called something else.

If Jesus had never been born, we would never have had a national anthem which addresses God and asks him to save; we would be a pagan nation worshipping the sun and the moon as fertility symbols.

If Jesus had never been born, we would never have heard of Santa Claus, who is based on a real generous Christian bishop from Turkey who presented impoverished girls with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes.

If Jesus had never been born, we would never have heard a single Christmas carol or Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus.

If Jesus had never been born, we would have never heard of Martin Luther King or Mother Teresa. Blacks in America would still be second class citizens and the poor of Calcutta would have no one to love them.

If Jesus had never been born, organizations such as the Samaritans, Christian Aid, the Red Cross and the Salvation Army would never have been founded. Life for the suicidal, the sick, the hungry and the world’s poor would be much, much worse.

If Jesus had never been born the first free hospital would never have been built in the 4th Century – and nor would tens of thousands after it.

If Jesus had never been born, the slave trade would probably still be here, since it was opposed almost single-handedly on Christian principles by a Christian politician - William Wilberforce.

If Jesus had never been born, Oxford, Cambridge, Paris Sorbonne, Princeton, Harvard and Yale Universities would not have been founded.

If Jesus had never been born, we would have no Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure, no Dickens’s Christmas Carol, and no The Grinch Who Stole Christmas.

If Jesus had never been born, we would have no films such as It’s a Wonderful Life, Ben Hur, Chariots of Fire, the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, and scores of others.

If Jesus had never been born, we would never have heard “Amazing Grace” or “Joy to the World.”

If Jesus had never been born, everyone here who was married in a beautiful church would have been married in a functional registry office.

If Jesus had never been born, many idioms would never have entered our every day speech such as Good Samaritan, prodigal son, lost sheep, love your neighbour, going the second mile, doing unto others as you would have them do to you, turning the other cheek and salt of the earth; all of which were coined by Jesus.

If Jesus had never been born the net flow of immigration in the world today would not be from non Christian countries to Christian ones – because they’d be no different.

If Jesus had never been born we would never swear on the Bible in court or say that anything is gospel truth.

If Jesus had never been born, the Auca Indians of Ecuador would still be spearing white men to death instead of baptizing their children.

If Jesus had never been born, the Arawakan natives of the Caribbean would still be cannibals.

If Jesus had never been born, descendents of the Maya in Mexico would still sacrifice their children instead of teaching them to praise their Creator.

If Jesus had never been born, hundreds of Old Testament prophecies would have remained unfulfilled. Death would not be conquered. God would be a liar.

If Jesus had never been born, three wise men would have just been three wise guys.

If Jesus had never been born, there would be no mediator between God and man, for the only one able to bring God and man together, Christ Jesus, would have been as fictitious as the tooth fairy. We would still be dead in our sins with no hope of eternal life.

What a difference!

Happy Christmas. And thank God for Jesus!


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 8th December 2009

He Will Come to Judge the Earth (Revelation 20.11-15)

Introduction

Yes, today is the First Sunday of Advent which means that this is the fourth Sunday before Christmas Day. Advent calendars, Advent wreaths, Advent candles start here. If you’re a regular churchgoer, you know that Advent is from the Latin adventus meaning “coming” or “arrival.” You hear this every year in church because most preachers feel they haven’t quite done their duty if they don’t say it yet again.

The colour associated with Advent is purple which is supposed to symbolise sorrow and fasting (Why is fasting purple? Don’t ask). It’s ironic isn’t it, how many people do you know who are going to be eating less in the run up to Christmas? But purple is also symbolic of royalty because Advent looks back to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace and looks forward to the return of the King of kings.

Why did Jesus come the first time? He told us: “It’s not the well who need a doctor but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners.” “The Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.” “I have come that you may have life in abundance.”

So we know why he came the first time.

What we’re going to be doing over the next three weeks in our morning services is ask why he is coming the second time. When Jesus returns what will he do then?

It’ll be nothing like the first time. Then he appeared as meek and on a donkey; this time he will appear as mighty and on a conqueror’s horse. Then he came in poverty. This time he’ll return in power. Then he was rejected as King of the Jews; this time he’ll be revered as King of kings. Then he said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more.” But this time the clock will have run down and there will be no more opportunity for repentance; he will judge the earth. He’s coming back to judge the living and the dead.

Judgement

The editors of the World Christian Encyclopaedia once did a remarkable study. Going through the whole Bible, they counted 735 different future predictions in the Bible. And they calculated that that amounts to roughly 27% of all Bible verses. Then, with an open Bible at one end of the desk and a stack of history books at the other, they found that 596 of the 735 prophecies recorded in Scripture have already been fulfilled, which is about 81%. Of the 19% of biblical prophecies that have not yet been fulfilled, that’s 139 different prophecies, most are about the return of Christ and the end of the world – including those found in our passage from Revelation this morning.

Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and everyone was judged according to what they had done. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. All whose names were not found written in the book of life were thrown into the lake of fire.

Revelation isn’t the simplest book of the Bible is it? But, even if we have to pass on one or two of the details, this passage is clear enough.

What a scene! There’s a grand white throne, maybe made of marble or ivory, and “one who was seated on it” but it doesn’t say who. We know from Acts 17 that it’s a human being because it says, “God has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed.” And we know from our reading from John’s Gospel this morning that that man is Jesus. “God the Father has given his Son authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.”

That means two things: firstly, everyone will acknowledge that what he decides is totally fair; he will judge the world with justice. Secondly, no one will be able to complain. We will be assessed by one who lived under the same pressures that we do. Jesus knows what is in the human heart. He just has to look at us and knows us through and through.

In this vision everyone, dead and alive, has been summoned before Christ in a great and awesome day of reckoning. There’s nowhere to hide. It’s the moment of truth.

The Evidence

Psychiatrists now know that we all possess a complete record of everything we have ever said and done. All of us, from the moment we are born, log absolutely everything in the complex data storage system that is the human brain. All our words, feelings, actions, and thoughts are neatly filed.

Now, as you know, the two characteristics of old age are a bad memory and… err… what was the other thing again?! So you might say, “Well I can’t remember what I was thinking on a certain day when I was a child. In fact, I can’t even remember what I had for dinner last Monday.” But that’s because most of our memories are stored in the subconscious layer - and that’s increasingly true as we get older - but the reality is that it’s all in there somewhere.

If you’ve ever lost files in a computer crash without having any of them backed up, you’ll know that, as annoying things go, it’s up there with finding your car damaged with no note left on the windscreen and having your tour operator go bust a week before your £2,000 holiday and you weren’t insured. I have, on three occasions in my life, lost practically everything on my computer, because I had minimal or zero backup. Get one of these.

God has a full backup of your mind and mine in heaven - and this is what it means in v12 where it says, “books were opened.” They’re books about my life and yours and I believe that when we come face to face with God, all our subconscious records will move up to the conscious level and we will have to acknowledge that everything he says about us is absolutely right. There’ll be no lawyer clever enough to find loopholes. There’ll be no miscarriages of justice. We’ll have to hold our hands up and say, “Well, the evidence is there for all to see, and I have no complaints.”

This Is Your Life

When I was young, I used to watch a TV programme in which a presenter surprised a celebrity, or someone who had done a lot for charity, by presenting them with a big red book with gold letters on the cover; “This is Your Life.” Do you remember that show – or has it slipped down into the subconscious already?

Any researcher working on “This is Your Life” will tell you that in doing the background work to make the programme they often uncovered embarrassing information about the celebrities that they had to suppress for the show. They only broadcast the presentable bits of course. Sometimes though, despite their best efforts, the personality made sure the audience saw their dark side as well. In 1983 a well-known boxer appeared ‘live’ on the show worse for wear after a few drinks - and he spent the whole time using of foul and abusive language to describe his best friends who later appeared right before him, flown in especially from Australia and America!

When the book of my life and yours is opened on the day of reckoning, it’ll all be there. Our lives in their best light and the dark side as well.

When the snooker player Stephen Hendry was on the show, aged 21, he said, “This is your life? I’ve hardly had a life yet!” Ah, but by the time I was 21 I’d done enough for my mother to disown me if she only knew the half of it. How many of us would be completely relaxed about having every thought and every deed we had done up to the age of 21 projected onto that screen behind me for everyone else here to see?

Everything recorded in these books will be out in the open, declassified. Talk about Freedom of Information! What I really thought about ‘Mrs. So and So’ on the PCC will be a matter of public record. Every exaggerated expenses claim, every hateful thought, every skin-saving lie, every lustful look, every spiteful remark and worse will be revealed.

The Verdict

Alfred Nobel was a Swedish inventor, chemist and engineer. He owned an iron and steel plant which he turned into a major armaments business. It was there that his research and development of nitroglycerin led him to the invention of dynamite which he patented and amassed a vast fortune from.

In 1888 a newspaper erroneously reported his death. In fact, it was his brother who had died so Nobel read his own obituary. Here’s what the headline read; “The merchant of death is dead.” And it went on to say, “Doctor Alfred Nobel, who became rich by finding ways to kill more people faster than ever before, died yesterday.” Nobel was devastated.

He decided from that day on that his legacy should be different. About three years before he died he signed his last will and testament, leaving most of his vast estate (valued today at hundreds of millions of pounds) to establish the Nobel Prizes. There are 4 awards for science and literature, but the fifth is for “the person or society that renders the greatest service to the cause of international brotherhood, the suppression or reduction of armies, or in the establishment or furtherance of peace.”

If your obituary were published prematurely in tomorrow’s paper, what would you like it to say? Would that be any different to what it actually would say? Twice in this reading (in v12 and in v13) it says that the living and the dead were judged not for what they had believed but for what they had done.

Whatever people think about us, we will have to give an account to God for what we have actually done with our lives. Does this mean then that God will accept us on the basis of our good deeds? Does it mean that we can be saved by works? No, we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ and saved by grace alone. There is no other way. But, even though we cannot be saved by our works, we will be judged by them.

God will open the “Book of my Life” and yours and the proceedings will begin. The Bible says that there is one who accuses us before God night and day. Satan, the counsel for the prosecution will open his case.

“Have you ever knowingly sinned in your life Mr. Lambert?” “Err, yes.”

“Have you ever criticized others for things you have done yourself?” “Well, yes.” “Have you ever gone one day without falling into sin at some point?” “Err, no.”

“Have you always done what you know to be the right thing?” “Not always, no.”

“Has your life been filled with thankfulness in proportion to God’s generosity and authority?” “Let me think… hmm, that would be no as well.”

“I see. No more questioning Your Honour.”

I will look into Jesus’ searching eyes. “Anything to add?” “No, Lord.”

There is another book though that I haven’t talked about yet, and it appears in v12 and v15. This book is actually mentioned 8 times in the Bible; it’s the Book of Life. It’s the complete, unabridged record of Jesus’ perfect life; that’s why its full title is the Lamb’s Book of Life. Turn the cover over and what do you see?

It’s all in there; a flawless portrait of his matchless character;

Chapter 1 - his limitless love
Chapter 2 - his amazing faith
Chapter 3 - his unshakeable integrity
Chapter 4 - his innocent sufferings
Chapter 5 - his endless mercy
Chapter 6 - his awesome authority
Chapter 7 - his total truthfulness
Chapter 8 - his unsurpassed leadership
Chapter 9 - his breathtaking compassion
And on it goes until (last but not least) the short epilogue - his unassuming humility.

Talk about a good read… But the Bible tells us that there are other names in this book as well; whose? I’m going to read three verses from the Bible.

“These women have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-workers, whose names are in the book of life.”

“I will never blot out the names (of those who are victorious) from the book of life, but will acknowledge their names before my Father and his angels.”

“Nothing impure will ever enter (the New Jerusalem), nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.”

So who are these people whose names are in the book of life? It’s all those who have been faithful to Jesus as their Saviour and Master. Do you see now why the Bible says we are “in Christ”? If we are faithful to him our names get written into the record of Christ’s perfect life. That’s why it says we are “included in Christ.” God includes your name into the story of Christ’s flawless life and gives you his perfect righteousness.

But I would be culpable to speak on this passage and close my eyes to v14-15.

“Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. The lake of fire is the second death. All whose names were not found written in the book of life were thrown into the lake of fire.”

The day of judgement, for some, will open the door to an era of extreme happiness that goes on forever. There will be a new heaven and a new earth. Jesus himself and all who belong to him will be there. There will be glorious new bodies which will never grow old. There will be no death there, no grieving, no crying, and no pain. All who belong to Christ on that day will be healed forever.

But for those who refuse the gospel and who reject Christ, it will be a day of devastation. It says that “Death will be thrown into the lake of fire” too and I think that means that the suffering and regret of Christ’s enemies in hell will never end.

This is a serious, unambiguous and repeated warning in Scripture, but in 30 years of being a Christian I can count on one hand the number of sermons I’ve heard on it. No one wants to be unpopular. But I’d rather people said “John Lambert takes the Bible too literally”, than hear God say, “You explained it away too easily.” I’d rather be criticised for frightening people towards heaven that stand accused by God of lulling people towards hell.

Ending

I finish by saying that I can’t talk about all this without having a heavy heart. It upsets me. It pains me. I hope it troubles you too. Most of all, it weighs on the heart of God, who “wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”

And it fires me up to work harder and harder - and pray more passionately, and with tears - that this church, under God, can be more and more a place where God’s glory shines brightly, so that all those whose name is not yet written in the Lamb’s book of life might turn to Christ, so that their name would be inscribed there too.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 29th November 2009

The Enemy Within (Romans 16.17-20)

Introduction

You’re walking in a forest and you hear “Timber!!!” The voice sounds really near. Then you hear a slow creaking sound and a loud crack. A tree is about to fall - conceivably on you.

Or you’re standing around beside a golf course and suddenly someone shouts “Fore!” with an element of panic in the tone of voice. A golf ball has been hit badly and is travelling dangerously off course - perhaps towards you.

I’ve never been hit by a falling tree or by a stray golf ball – but I spent most of my weekends as a boy racing sailboats on the Thames, crewing for my dad. I learned to duck quickly whenever I heard my dad shout “Jibe!” It meant the boom was going to swing at great speed from one side of the boat to the other – and, being in the middle of the boat, my head was in the way. And, being a bit dithering and vague, I got hit by a jibing boom on several occasions. “Jibe!” “Eh?” Smack!!! “Ouch!”

Timber, Fore, Jibe; three urgent warning calls that danger is real, close up and imminent.

Why Vigilance Is Essential

The Apostle Paul, finishing off his letter to the Romans, starts to wind it up in v17 with a similar warning; “Watch out!” Picture a runaway chariot, speeding down a cobbled hill in Rome, clattering against the stones, hurtling towards a mother with a pram. The word Paul uses here in v17 “Watch out” is the very word you would have shouted as soon as you saw that chariot. It’s a word that expresses something urgent and pressing and critical. There’s a lunatic running amok in the street with a knife. The word Paul uses here in v17 is what you would shout to a friend to warn him about the danger. “Watch out!”

What do you think a young and growing Christian community would need to watch out for? We’ve been thinking a lot about spiritual warfare in the last few months; principalities and powers, strongholds and footholds, armour and weaponry – all we need for the battle out there. But the sobering thing about tonight’s readings from God’s word is that sometimes the battle is not out there in the big bad world. It’s in here, in the church. Sometimes we have to do battle with an enemy within.

One of the key features of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan – and one of the reasons why they were, and are, so difficult to win – is enemy insurgents infiltrating local police or armed forces. Just last week, tragically, you’ll have seen the news, five British soldiers came under machine gun fire and were killed by a man who had gained access to their quarters by joining the Afghan army as a trainee. In the same week a disillusioned loner in the American military opened fire on his brothers in arms in a base in Texas. 100 bullets. 29 injured. 13 fatalities.

I don’t know what the answer is to all that. But I do know what the answer is in the spiritual realm, because God gives it to us here in Romans 16. And we’re going to look at that together in a minute.

Truth or Love?

But first of all, let me tell you about two friends of mine; Margaret and Patrick. They are both real people and neither is from here. Margaret once said to me something like this; “What we need is unity and love. People go on about what we have to believe. Truth is important, don’t get me wrong, but if I had to choose between love and truth, I’d take love every time.” Patrick takes another view. “Only one thing has any value; the truth that Jesus died for my sins on the cross – everything else is unimportant.”

Who’s right? What do you think is most important in the Christian community? Is it truth or unity? In other words, is it more important that we hold on to the truths established in Scripture and passed on to us? Or is it more important that we keep the Church together as a loving, united community? Verses 17-18 give us something to go on.

“I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.”

So – what do you think? Margaret would say, “Look, it says here, ‘watch out for those who cause divisions,’ because what we need is unity.” Patrick would say, “Look, it says here, ‘watch out for those who put obstacles against teaching you have learned’ because what we need is the truth.”

And of course we want both, don’t we? If you drift away from what the Bible says you’ll get spiritually unhealthy and eventually you’ll die because Jesus said “my words are spirit and they are life.” And if we drift away from each other, becoming unloving and disunited we’ll lose our cutting edge because Jesus said “all people will know you are my disciples by the love you have for one another.”

I wonder if we naturally tend towards an approach that says, “Look, nobody has the whole truth, everybody sees things differently, let’s celebrate difference, and keep our unity, let’s not divide over these matters, let’s be a broad church.” Is that so bad? The thing is, Paul does care about unity here. That’s why he says, “Watch out for those who cause divisions.”

Here’s the key to unlocking this problem of truth versus unity; it’s not refusing bad teaching that damages unity in the church – the real harm is done when we just accept it uncritically. It’s not rejecting strange doctrine that is unloving – it’s tolerating weird ideas and new fads and unbiblical novelties whenever they appear that shows we are too scared to fight for the spiritual wellbeing of our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In both our readings tonight Paul talks about Satan in the context of people, in churches, promoting beliefs contrary to wholesome, healthy, biblical teaching. And there still are. It’s spiritual warfare of a different kind. “For such persons are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” He still does. “Give them a wide berth” says Paul.

If you’re under 30, you were born in an era of human history where it is very hard to be a lover of truth. Lovers of truth in 2009 will spend their whole lives resisting pressure to conform to the dominant worldview of this age – which is the post-enlightenment belief that there is no truth (there’s just opinion), there’s no absolute right and wrong (there’s just differences) and that everything is relative (it just depends on your perspective).

Do people really infiltrate churches and sweet-talk people with false teaching? Yes. I’ve seen it happen in London and in Paris. I’ve seen how young, impressionable Christians, hungry for new experiences of God, desperate for some kind of spiritual sensation or some new thing that’s taken off elsewhere, easily became attracted by the promise of success, health, happiness, revival and personal fulfilment - and then it ends in tears. It’s the enemy within.

I want you to look at several cases of the enemy within in the New Testament. You have an envelope on your table with a passage from the Bible. I’m going to give you a few minutes to read the passage and try and answer the questions…

For discussion in groups of 10 people

Galatians 1.6-9 and 3.1-6
Colossians 2.16-23
2 Corinthians 11.3-11
Jude 3-13
1 John 2.18-26

What does the author say here, if anything, about the behaviour of ‘the enemy within’? 
What clues does this passage give about what ‘the enemy within’ was teaching? 
What, if anything, does the passage say about the effect this had on the church?
These questions might seem irrelevant – but they are important because Satan still does the same sort of thing in the same kind of way today. Know your enemy!

I think the key words to note about his behaviour are subtlety, pride, confusion, competitiveness, deception and greed for money.

The key strands on what they were teaching are, I think,

• legalism – it’s all man-made and focused on what you do
• mysticism – spiritual techniques or experiences and an emphasis on angels
• getting Jesus all wrong – it’s another Jesus, or they’ve lost connection with the head, or they’re denying Jesus Christ.

Be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. What does that mean? I think “be wise about what is good” means keep your brain switched on, be level-headed, check stuff out, don’t just swallow what someone says because they’re on God TV or write books. The Message translates it, “I want you to be smart, making sure every ‘good’ thing is the real thing.”

What about “Be innocent about what is evil?” I think it’s about not being naïve. Don’t be easy to fool. Again, the Message translates it well; “Don't be gullible in regard to smooth-talking evil.”

And, v20, “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet.” His defeat is comprehensive and complete.

Past: Satan has been irretrievably doomed by the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Future: Satan will be finally defeated and thrown into hell, never to deceive the world again, when Christ returns victorious.

But tonight’s emphasis has been on the present. What is the situation now?

Preset: Satan is being beaten back every day by Christ through believers like you and I wearing the full armour of God and speaking the word of truth. You may say, “Alleluia.”


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 15th November 2009

Forgive Us As We Forgive Those... (Matthew 18.21-35)

Have you ever noticed what happens when you get to line 5 of the Lord’s Prayer? Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done… Up to that point the focus has been entirely on God. Father, your name, your kingdom, your will… But when you arrive at line 5, as we did last week in our series on the Lord’s Prayer, the focus changes from him to us. Give us daily bread, forgive us our sins, lead us away from temptation, deliver us from evil.

That’s no accident. There’s a reason for it and I call it the shirt button rule. When I was a small child, learning to dress myself, every morning I seemed to do my shirt buttons up wrongly. Most days, I would start in the middle and work up… “Oh, two buttons left and only one buttonhole. It’s not straight. OK, let’s undo the buttons and start again... This time, start at the bottom and work up. There we go… Oh! It’s still not straight. What’s happened there then? Ahh, that one’s the spare button, that’s why it’s all out of kilter again.” My mum used to walk in and say, “John, you’ve taken half an hour to button your shirt and it’s still all wrong. You’ve got to start at the top with the collar button and then work down.” She was a born theologian, my mum.

Here’s the shirt button rule: In all my thinking about God, his kingdom, my life, my work, the church, my family, the world – the only way to get it all in the right order, in the proper perspective is to start at the top, with God. If we get God right we get everything else right too. If we take mere human wisdom as our starting point we get God, life, the world, relationships, everything out of line.

Whenever I’m at a crossroads in life; job issues, relationship tensions, money difficulties… top button first - what does God think about this? What would he want me to do here? Or whenever a question raises itself; what about Asylum seekers in Stockton? Should I bother about global warming? What about the plight of the unborn? What should I say about the BNP? Top button first - how does God feel? Where is God on this issue?

Well, we got to the “us” half of the Lord’s Prayer last week. Give us today our daily bread. It’s about asking God for what we need, not necessarily what we’d like. What we need – which is enough to live on, and some to give away. The God we know though Jesus Christ is the God who, according to Psalm 52, owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine. He is the God who defines himself as Yahweh Jireh – the Lord is my Provider. As SM Lockeridge put it, “No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility the coastline of his shoreless supplies and no barrier can hinder him from pouring out his blessing.”

But Jesus didn’t just tell us we can pray for food, did he? He also told us that we need to pray for forgiveness - and express to God our readiness to forgive anyone who has wronged us.

Janet needs to forgive Derek for criticising her last week; he didn’t mean any harm and probably doesn’t even know how he hurt her feelings.

Fred needs to forgive a client who inconvenienced him by being late for an appointment. It was a small thing – but it meant he couldn’t get home to see his daughter before she had to go out. And he resented that.

Karen needs to forgive her husband for taking the car before asking if she needed it – which, it just so happened that she did.

I need to forgive the cat for getting me up in the middle of the night meowing.

All these are fictitious, but realistic, examples (except the one about cat, it really did wake me up at 3:00am). These things are all trivial really, but those little bits of gunk that we unthinkingly wash down the plughole end up blocking the drain. And minor resentments, that are not dealt with, over time, become major issues.

For example (and this is a true story) Richard Daley was a famous and popular Mayor of Chicago. He was an absolute giant on the political scene there and was re-elected several times. His total career as Mayor spanned from 1955 to 1976, that’s 21 years, a record that still stands to this day.

One morning his speech writer came to see him to ask for a rise. “I’ve been writing your speeches for years now and my pay is still the same as it was when you first hired me. I think I’m worth a bit more.” Well, Mayor Daley didn’t take kindly to this sort of request so he turned round and said, “Now listen up. You better forget what you just said. The fact that you work for an all-American hero such as Mayor Richard Daley ought to be reward enough.”

The following day, Mayor Daley had an important engagement. He rarely had the time to rehearse his speeches; so what happened usually was that he was briefed on the next engagement on the way there by his staff and he was handed a wad of paper just before he stood up to speak.

So here he is, one afternoon, about to address a huge public gathering to honour all the war veterans of the state of Illinois. Everybody is there; the State Governor, the national TV news crews, all the big cheeses from the armed forces – you name it. And so Daley begins his speech.

“Veterans of Illinois, I stand here today and salute you. The freedom we enjoy today we owe to men and women of valour like you. We are proud of your courage, your dedication, your heroism and your professionalism. And lest anyone forget the sacrifice you have made on our behalf, I announce today a 17 point plan of entirely new policy measures to keep the flame of your noble legacy burning for years to come.”

Everybody holds their breath. You can hear a pin drop. What is the good Mayor going to announce? Seventeen new policy measures? What is he going to say? Everyone wants to know. Mayor Daley himself wants to know! He turns the page of his speech notes and there, written in large letters, it just says, “You’re on your own now you all-American hero!”

If only Daley’s speech writer had been more… forgiving. But have you ever spent hours, or days, or longer harbouring resentment and nursing a seething dislike for someone who has done you wrong? I have. It’s one of the hardest things to stop doing; it’s like trying to get a red wine stain out in the wash - no matter what soap you use it’s always there.

When I was a kid we used to say the Lord’s Prayer at school. And I was always a bit curious about this bit. “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” I wonder how many kids couldn’t get out of their mind the image of a signpost in Jesus’ front garden saying, “Trespassers will be prosecuted” and Jesus coming out and getting really irate because we were treading on his lawn again.

So we had to say, “Oh, forgive us our trespasses.”

Of course, it’s nothing to do with being on anyone’s property and the modern version says “sins” which covers a bit more doesn’t it? “Forgive us our sins.” In fact, more literally, it’s forgive us our sins just as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.”

I think we know what this means. It is spelt it out uncomfortably for us in Matthew 6.14-15 where Jesus says, “If you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” I can’t wriggle out of that one. It means what it seems to mean. Jesus says here that the amount of forgiveness we get from God is directly proportionate to the amount of forgiveness we release to others who have hurt us. I’ll come back to that word “release” later.

Whenever I preach about forgiveness I feel nervous; I half expect someone to say to me afterwards, “It’s all right for you to talk about forgiveness, but let me tell you what happened to me…” And then they tell me about something appalling in their life; ‘A’ was rejected by his mother, ‘B’ was raped by her uncle, ‘C’ was humiliated in public by her husband, ‘D’ and ‘E’ were left out of their parents’ will after years of loving care. ‘F’ became an alcoholic because ‘G’ drove him to it. ‘H’s son committed suicide because he was constantly bullied and the school did nothing.

Saying “I forgive you” to someone who has irrevocably spoiled your life is one of the hardest things it is possible to do. How much forgiving do you have to do?

Apparently, the rabbis in Jesus’ day often discussed this very question. How many times can you forgive the people who have damaged your life before you just can’t do that anymore?

You can just imagine how pulsating those rabbinical council meetings must have been can’t you? “Right chaps, first item on the agenda tonight; matters arising, how many times do you have to say, “Behold, thou hast done much smiting unto my camel, but, lo, that’s OK” before you can legitimately declare, “Hark, thou hast gone a bit too far this time! Verily I say unto thee that thou art not forgiven at all. My camel hath been smote asunder and yea, I have got the hump!?”

And it transpires that the rabbis eventually agreed, after much deliberation, that three times was about right. “Oh, all right, I forgive you. Oh, all right, I forgive you. Oh, all right, I forgive you.” But if you trespassed a fourth time, well, that was different. Nobody had to forgive anyone for anything after three strikes.

So when Peter comes up to Jesus in v21 and says, “Lord, how many times should I forgive someone who sins against me? As many as seven times?” he’s thinking, “This is going to sound extra holy. This will get me the Nobel Peace Prize. Nobody would ever be so gratuitously noble as to suggest seven times.” So when Jesus replies, “No, not seven times…” Peter’s thinking, “Ah, the Lord is going to say to me, ‘No, not seven times Peter. What a saintly man you are choosing the Hebrew number of complete perfection. No Peter, in the real world, I reckon three or four should be about right.” That’s what Peter thinks Jesus is going to say.

So what a shock when Jesus says, “I’m telling you Peter, not seven times, but seventy seven times (or seventy times seven).” In other words, “No counting, Peter; just go on forgiving anyone who wrongs you, and who is truly sorry and repentant, however many times it happens.”

And I love to picture Peter’s stunned face; his mouth open, his lips moving slightly trying to find words that don’t come, his blinking eyes searching for some kind of sign on Jesus’ face this is all a joke… But no Jesus just stands there and looks him in the eye. Peter clearly doesn’t have all the lights on upstairs. “So Jesus says, “Look, it’s like a king who had to settle his accounts with his subjects...”

Well, you know the story. A man owes a lot of money. How much? Ten thousand talents. As the footnote in your Bible says, just one talent was worth about 20 years’ wages for a casual labourer… Twenty years’ pay! That’s one talent. This man owes 10,000. If the average wage in Britain is about £20,000 a year, which is what I’m told it is, then the equivalent sum to the one Jesus gave in this story, for us, would be about £200 million. In Jesus’ day, according to Michael Green, this sum was equivalent to ten thousand times the annual revenue of Galilee, Judea, Samaria and Idumea put together. Just paying the interest would ruin anyone but the super rich.

We think it’s bad being in debt today – and it is. But in that society, debt was devastating. Any lender who was not getting his money back could seize the borrower and sell him into slavery or force him and his family to work night nad day until the debt was paid off. Or he could lock him up in jail and sell off his land or even force relatives to pay off the sums owed. That explains v25; “Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.”

So the man goes to the king, with his heart in his mouth. You know what it’s like when you know it’s going to be “no,” but nothing ventured, nothing gained eh?

(I once made an offer for a Renault Espace that was being advertised for 15,000€. I only had 6,000€. So I made the offer hoping the seller would be totally stupid or desperate. “Look,” I said. “I really like the car. I’m really interested. Have you had much interest yet? No? Good. I’d like to make you an offer. I can’t quite match the asking price of 15 grand, but I’m happy to offer, well, 6 thousand.” Now, I thought the seller would refuse point blank… And actually he did).

But this guy, like me with that car, what has he got to lose? The money lender can only say “no” can’t he? “Look,” he says, “just give me a bit more time and I’ll… I don’t know, I’ll get some cash together, I could borrow a few grand from my parents, maybe sell some old stuff on eBay. I promise you, I will do everything I can to pay it all back.”

And, incredibly, the king lets him off. Moments later the shoe is on the other foot. He bumps into a colleague who owes him three months’ wages; £5,000. I’ve done the maths. The debt is one six-hundred-thousandth of the first debt.

“Give me a bit of time!”
“No, I want it now.”
“Please, just be patient, if you can just wait a couple of weeks…”
“I can’t wait. You’re going down until I get my money back.”

“Forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven also those who have sinned against us.”

The king finds out and when he does he changes his mind about the first servant. He throws him into prison and says, “You’re not getting out until you’ve paid yours.”

Then this devastating conclusion in v35; “This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive a brother or sister from your heart.” That’s tough isn’t it? That’s uncompromising, teaching.

The word “forgive” in Greek, the language the New Testament was written in, literally means to let go, to release, to send away. Imagine you’re holding on to a rope attached to a boat. To describe the action of pushing the boat away and letting go of the rope you’d use the same word as the word “forgive.” You’ve got to just let go, you’ve got to release all that pent up frustration and resentment. Let it go!

I was praying with a woman once for physical healing, I can’t remember what sickness she was suffering from. As I was praying I felt the Holy Spirit urge me to ask her if she had had a difficult relationship with her sister. Straight away she stiffened up and folded her arms. All her childhood, her parents had said, “Why can’t you be more like your sister?” All those comparisons, all that humiliation, the pain of not being accepted for who she was…

She talked a bit and then I asked her if she was prepared to forgive. I told her that real freedom can only come when we leave behind our hurts and resentments that are so toxic to the soul. She said to me, “No, I can’t. It’s too much to ask. Can you pray anyway?” I said, “I’m sorry, I can’t. This is the only way through for you.”

You’ve got to let it go. Jesus let go of your sin against him. “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” You’ve got to leave the past in the past and refuse to hold it in the present. Jesus nailed your past to the cross – and it’s still there and your sins he remembers no more.

Colossians 3.13 says, “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Someone once came to me and complained about someone else in the church. “I felt really insulted by her. She really upset me. She was bang out of order. You’re the minister, sort her out.”

I said, “Debbie, did she spit in your face?” “I should hope not!”
“Did she pull a crown of thorns down on your head?”
“Did she pull your shirt off your back and give you 40 lashes?”
“Did she make you carry a cross up a hill before a baying crowd?”
“Did she crucify you between two criminals?”
“Did she put a sarcastic sign over your head and leave you to die?”

They did it to Jesus. “Forgive as the Lord forgave you.”


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 25th October 2009

Taming The Lion (1 Peter 5.6-11)

Introduction

Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up: it knows it must run quicker than the fastest lion or it will be breakfast. Every morning, a lion wakes up: It knows it must outrun the slowest gazelle or it will starve. Satan is a roaring lion looking for someone to devour: when the sun comes up, we’d better be ready to run.

We’re been thinking about spiritual warfare since early September and we’re going to keep doing that until the end of November – so we’re about half way through. What ground have we covered so far? Let’s rerun the tape a bit and remind ourselves what we’ve learned. We’ve seen, as if we didn’t know it already through personal experience, that the spiritual battle is absolutely real. Spiritual warfare is as real as physical warfare.

We don’t really know the origin of the devil because we aren’t given lots of detail in the Bible where he came from. There’s a hint that he is an angel who, with many other angels, rebelled against God and are to this day, living in open revolt against him. There are a few mentions in the Old Testament of the work of the devil, but in the New Testament, as the radiance and the glory of Jesus Christ shine brightly, Satan’s activity and personality are brought into the light and are exposed, so it becomes much clearer that there is this personal force of evil that we have to contend with in the power of the Holy Spirit and under the authority of Jesus Christ.

And people say, “Oh well, of course, this is just medieval superstition. It’s like belief in fairies and goblins.” Jesus believed in the devil; he faced him, he drove out demons and he talked about Satan being thrown out of heaven like lightning.” Some people say, “Well Jesus only believed in the devil because that was just the 1st Century worldview. Everybody at that time believed in the devil.” No they didn’t. The Sadducees, who were amongst Jesus’ opponents, didn’t believe in the devil, the resurrection or anything supernatural at all, and Jesus opposed them publically.

Satan is real and he is a liar, an accuser, a deceiver, a destroyer and a tempter. The Hebrew word for Satan means “Accuser” or “Slanderer” because he slanders God’s name and reputation. That’s why people outside of the church often have such a negative view of God. They say, “Why is he so down on people enjoying themselves?” It’s a false view of God because Satan is a liar, he slanders God before people. He also accuses Christians before God. Day and night he is shouting to God about all your sins and mine. But, thank God, Jesus is our Advocate in heaven and, as Counsel for the Defence, he pleads our case and because he has paid in full the penalty for our sin, he always gets all the charges dropped.

We’re told in 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 8 that when the Lord Jesus returns he “will overthrow Satan with the breath of his mouth, by the splendour of this coming.” When Christ returns he will throw the devil into a lake of fire; a hellish inferno that will never be extinguished.

The Bible talks about war in heaven. The kingdom of God clashes and collides violently with the kingdom of darkness. One of the consequences of that for us is that, sometimes, we get caught up in it - and most of us indicated a few weeks ago that we have gone through seasons of spiritual affliction. That’s what the theatre of spiritual battle looks like.

But Satan looks also to gain subtle footholds in our attitudes and establish strongholds in our thinking through devious means. That’s what we saw last week. It’s a holy discipline for us to take authority and take our thoughts captive and make them obedient to Christ. But that is what separates spiritual giants from spiritual dwarfs. The moment that thoughts that are contrary to God’s revealed truth begin to appear spiritual giants say, “Get out of my head” and they bring their thinking back into line with God’s revelation.

Our Default Stance

What we’re going to do tonight is two things. Firstly we’re going to consider what our basic stance should look like most of the time. I’m not talking about times of particular spiritual assault - and God knows we have had some of that here in the last 18 months or so - I’m not talking about seasons of affliction or temptation or attack. I mean every day. Spiritually speaking, what should my default mode be? And secondly, we’re going to see what a lion attack looks like and learn how we ought to respond when the devil springs an ambush.

In our reading from 1 Peter 5 it says that “the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” But in the verses surrounding this statement Peter draws up a list of four qualities that God wants us to cultivate at all times. This is what our basic default stance in the Christian life should look like. He says,

1) humble yourselves, 2) cast your anxieties on God, 3) be self-controlled and 4) be alert.

What I am saying is that these are not actions to take when you come under attack, I don’t think that’s what it means. Peter goes on later to talk about how we should respond the moment the devil strikes. And we’ll come to that later.

But these four; humble yourselves, cast your anxieties on God, be self-controlled and be alert are actions to take all the time so you are ready and prepared - just in case.

Here’s a question; we know the devil opposes us at all times and all places. What do you need to do to get God to oppose you? The answer is “be proud.” Just walk around arrogantly, looking down on people - especially older people - as if you have nothing to learn, criticising what everyone else does but offering no alternative and God will resist you. He has said he will and he will. So if anyone wants to go through life opposed by God, resisted by heaven, hardly growing at all, bearing no fruit, making no impact on the world around, spiritually impotent - then the key is to cultivate a proud, haughty, arrogant attitude.

1 Peter 5.5-6 says, “You who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but shows favour to the humble and oppressed.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” God says the same thing in Proverbs 3.34 and James 4.6 where it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Pride says “Be superior, promote yourself.” Humility says “Be unselfish, humble yourself.”

So firstly, humble yourselves. Secondly, cast your anxieties on God. Because he cares for you. This is about everyday worries; where am I going to find love, how am I going to pay off my debts and cover the bills, where am I going to get a job, how am I going to deal with an impossible colleague… or whatever. It’s hard to throw your worries and cares on God isn’t it? But consider the alternative; sleepless nights, loss of appetite, bad moods, prescription tranquilizers, comfort eating, counselling and even hair loss.

Thirdly, be of sober mind. This is all about appetites. Having a sober mind means that, by the grace of God, I’m going to think straight. I’m not going to spend money I don’t have, I’m not going to eat food I can’t burn, I’m not going to drink alcohol I can’t manage, I’m not going to visit web sites that I know will take me out of God’s will for my life and I’m not going to pass on gossip I’ve just heard. By the grace of God. As a friend of mine once said to me, “If you haven’t run into the devil lately, maybe you’re travelling in the same direction.”

And fourthly, be alert. Imagine you are on safari, your land rover has broken down in the middle of the savannah, and you’re walking through the bush, knowing there is a pride of lions on the loose somewhere in the area what would you feel like? We’ll, that’s what “be alert” means. Have your wits about you.

Satan as a Lion

The devil is a formidable and impressive adversary. The Bible presents him as an intelligent being. He is associated with tactical slyness and subtle deception. Jesus called him the father of lies (John 8.44). Satan employs several strategies. If one of them fails, he goes on to the next. He looks for weaknesses to exploit. In Matthew’s gospel Jesus says he dresses in sheep’s clothing but underneath the fancy dress he’s a hungry wolf looking to visit carnage on unsuspecting prey.

Here, in 1 Peter he is compared to a ferocious, roaring lion, on the prowl, with the stated ambition of picking off a victim to ambush, kill and sink its fangs into. So how do we fight the lions in our lives – like “lion around in bed?”

I once read a book about the lion’s hunting behaviour. They stalk their prey for hours and hours, observing the pack of buffalo or antelopes or zebras, waiting to see if one will get distracted and become slightly separated from the rest. Once a lion selects its victim it approaches silently, patiently, inch by inch, until suddenly it springs, runs, jumps, pulls its victim down and goes for jugular artery, to suffocate it as quickly as it can and stop it thrashing around in self defence. It tears off flesh and feasts on the still-warm meat. Let’s not get romantic about spiritual warfare. That ferocious, bloodthirsty, man-eating hunter is what God says our enemy is like.

Gus Mills from the African Lion Working Group studies the behaviour of these animals for a living. He notes that, like all cats, lions are strong on acceleration, but weak on stamina. They can burst into a sprint with fantastic power but they are not built to keep it up for long.

That’s why the devil will never pursue you on one particular strategy for a prolonged period. He tends to strike occasionally and with the element of surprise, but he will not persist if he sees you’re a match for him in the chase. In the reading from Luke 4, he lasted with Jesus a few minutes and then, when he saw he was no match for Jesus, the Bible says “he left him until an opportune time.”

Because lions have little staying power they have to get as close to their prey as possible before they charge and pounce. Therefore, they have to conceal themselves when they stalk their prey, and approach for a kill. They hide in long grass; they crouch and crawl low against the ground. They hunt mostly under cover of darkness at night – and especially when there is no moon or plenty of cloud cover. They have excellent eyes that see much better in the dark than we do (in fact, their vision is about eight times better than ours). They always stay upwind of the animals they stalk. They are awesome stealth machines.

That’s how Satan works. As he is a spiritual being, a fallen angel, he operates in the spiritual realm and, as such, sees a lot more than we can. There are spiritual realities all around us that we do not perceive except by a gift of discernment – but he does. He likes darkness and obscurity where things are ambiguous and vague; and he likes to conceal himself. 2 Corinthians 11.14 says he even disguises himself as an angel of light.

To catch their prey, lions have to be quick and clever. If their intended victim is some distance away at first the lions move towards them fairly rapidly. But as they get closer they slow down, hold their heads and bodies as low as they can and focus intently. If the prey looks up in their direction, the lions freeze, then inch forward as soon as the prey bends down to continue feeding or looks away. Eventually, if it is patient enough, a lion will manage to get within striking distance, which is 20-30 metres from the prey.

According to Gus Mills, when a lion runs out and begins the chase, statistically the prey actually has a better than even chance of escaping. It’s only if a particular individual fails to detect the lions in time, or if it stumbles or runs into an obstacle that the odds begin to favour the lion. So, given the odds, lions look to select a victim that is either sick or young or who has become isolated from the herd.

That is what the devil does. He is stalking even now. He is looking for sick ones. They are Christians who are undernourished from not getting enough of the milk and meat of God’s word, who are not getting stronger year on year – they’re suffering from truth decay. That’s easy pickings for a hungry lion.

He picks out the young ones. These are new Christians who aren’t yet experienced in fighting sin. I’ve known so many people who have asked Christ into their heart in a moment of excitement but who have slipped away soon afterwards. They come under pressure from their friends and families. They don’t count the cost and they don’t go the distance – their young faith devoured by Satan, the roaring lion. It’s tragic.

And then Satan goes for the ones who become isolated from the herd. These are solitary Christians, loners, who think they’re alright on their own and don’t get to church very often. They opt out or they just drift towards the edge. Satan notices and draws close to pounce.

Ending - Resist and Stand Firm

All right. Lions stalk zebras and antelopes and buffalo - and God says here that that is how Satan behaves towards us. Because he is always on the prowl we have a default stance and we know what that should look like – that is to say we know from these scriptures how we should be, as Christians, all the time.

But when the devil actually attacks God says to do two things; resist him and stand firm in the faith. What do we actually mean by attacks from the devil? Peter talks about fellow believers throughout the world going through the same kind of sufferings. This letter was written from Rome shortly after the outbreak of persecution under the Emperor Nero. Christians were already being singled out for physical maltreatment, they were being picked on in society, they were being falsely accused of cannibalism (because of the Lord’s Supper) they were having their jobs taken away, their children were being harassed at school, they were losing privileges, they were having the windows of their homes broken.

This kind of persecution is very common today right across the Communist world and certainly in the Muslim world. Some forms of discrimination have crept into legislation in the West now too – people are being disciplined for wearing crosses and being ostracised for having objections in conscience to new working practices that are contrary to God’s Law. We should be under no illusion here; the devil is behind this and he is looking for someone to devour.

Satan attacks in other ways too; false teaching in the Church, fallacious gossip and slurs, acts of vandalism, threats of legal proceedings, assaults on health and seasons of acute temptation are just some examples. And we’ve had to deal with most of the items on that list in the last 18 months. Make no mistake, we have been in a tough battle and we’re not finished yet.

This is a time to stand firm and resist the devil. This is what Jesus did when he did battle with Satan in the wilderness where he was tested. He’d just been filled with the Holy Spirit and he’d been fasting so he was spiritually prepared, but he just stood his ground and spoke out the truth of God’s word - and the devil moved on.

Resist him, standing firm in the faith. If we do, we will emerge stronger from every spiritual conflict and we will be victorious for the battle is the Lord’s. As Moses said in Exodus 14, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today… The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 18th October 2009

Your Kingdom Come (Luke 10.8-16 and 11.1-4)

Introduction

One day, a vicar was mowing the lawn in his garden when he saw a kitten climbing an apple tree and getting stuck. The poor little thing was very frightened stuck up high on a branch and it was desperate to get down, so it started to meow.

Rather that bother the Fire Brigade with a call out for such a frivolity, he decided to drive his car up to the tree and attach a rope between the branch and his bumper. By backing the car up very gently away from the tree the aim was to lower the branch sufficiently to be able to reach up and rescue the little kitten. So he fixed the rope, started his engine and began to back away from the tree, lowering the branch, when suddenly the rope snapped. It all happened so quickly. When he looked up the kitten was nowhere to be seen.

A week later he goes to visit a parishioner a few doors down the road. Just imagine his surprise when he sees the same kitten curled up on the sofa. So the vicar says, “I’m just curious, but where did you get the kitten from?” “Oh,” says the parishioner, “you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Last week my little girl was begging me for a kitten. I didn’t really want one but I hated to disappoint her. So I said, let’s pray about it and if God wants you to have one he will answer your prayer. No sooner had we said ‘Amen’ than this little fella flies in through the window! Two miracles vicar! Firstly the answered prayer and secondly a kitten that flies!”

God does answer prayer. Sometimes in remarkable ways…

I’ve got a book of Christian cartoons at home and there’s one with a pastor praying in his office. His secretary comes in, finds him on his knees and says, “Oh good, I thought you were busy working!” In reality, most of us find prayer quite hard. If you do, don’t worry about it, it’s not you. It really is quite difficult. A former bishop of mine, Geoffrey Rowell, once said, “In the contest between prayer and work, work always wins because it’s easier.” That sounds about right to me. Prayer is much harder than work.

You know the Mission that Mother Teresa founded in Calcutta? Well apparently there was a time when the sisters and volunteers were becoming totally overrun by the demands placed on them. There were simply far more helpless mothers, half-dead old men, abandoned orphans, and sick babies than they could keep pace with. They had to turn people back. Open wounds had to be left untended until the next day, leaving them exposed to infection. Desperate children had no option but to go away and sleep in the streets.

So one day one of the novices approached Mother Teresa and said, “What are we going to do? We can no longer cope. We are sending people away. We simply do not have the resources we need. Some of the sisters are discouraged and exhausted.” Do you know how Mother Teresa replied? She said, “Then we shall have to get up in the morning one hour earlier. And we shall spend that extra hour in prayer.”

I’m glad they had Mother Teresa running that place and not me. I would have said, “Then we shall have to get up in the morning one hour earlier to fit more people in.” Because, you see, Geoffrey Rowell is right, in the contest between prayer and work, work always wins, because it’s easier.

So it’s good that when Jesus talks about praying in Matthew 6 he doesn’t say, “Oh just get on with it, it’s not rocket science.” No, he explains how to go about it. “Don’t show off using fancy words,” he says in v5, “it’s not a performance. Be yourself.” “Don’t overcomplicate it,” he says in v6. “You really need to find a private space where you can be alone with God.” “And don’t waffle on and on with long, repetitive lists,” he says in v7, “God knows what you want to say.”

We’re looking at the Lord’s Prayer over this autumn term. The Bible tells us that Jesus gave this prayer in response to the specific question by the disciples. “Lord, teach us to pray.” It’s quite a good question to ask, that. If somebody came up to you and said, “You’re a Christian aren’t you? Oh good. I was wondering, tell me, I have wanted to learn to pray for years; where do think I should start?” What would you say in reply? Would you offer a technique? Would you recommend a book? Would you be lost for words? Do you think you’d mention this prayer?

Jesus gave it to us as a model and it’s perfect. We call it the Lord’s Prayer, but actually it’s ours. “This then is how you should pray”, he said (in Matthew 6.9). And it’s really simple.

“If you want to pray, well here is the sort of thing you can pray about. You can start by praising your heavenly Father; “hallowed be your name.” You can pray that God’s rule of law will be established over the world. “Your will be done on the earth just like it is in heaven.” ‘Your will be done’ doesn’t mean, ‘You know, whatever, Lord.’ Quite the reverse. Margaret Sentamu, wife of the Archbishop of York once said, “As Christians in Uganda, during the Idi Amin regime, we continued to pray the Lord’s Prayer. But… when we prayed ‘thy will be done’ we were praying that God would intervene in this dreadful situation we found ourselves in, which lasted nearly ten years.” “Your will be done” means “let heaven invade earth.”

Then you can ask him about the things you need. There’s no need to grovel or cringe. Just ask - he’s your heavenly Father who loves you. “Give us today our daily bread.” You can pray about relationships, especially for short accounts and for a forgiving heart. “Forgive us our sins, as we also have forgiven those who have sinned against us.” Oh, and pray to resist falling into sin. “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.” Or, as one child remembered it, “lead us not into Thames station but deliver us some e-mail!”

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name… But what about the third line of the prayer, the line which says, “Your kingdom come?”

The Kingdom

What does Jesus mean when he talks about the kingdom of God? When we talk about kingdoms, we normally think of a geographical entity, a political state with territory, a flag and national anthem, like the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia or the United Kingdom. (Actually, the United Kingdom is not really united at all. Ask a Scot, for example, how happy he will be cheering for England during next year’s World Cup! So the U.K. is not united and it's not a kingdom either; other than that, it's quite a good name. Our nation is, in fact, a devolved and increasingly fragmented constitutional monarchy. But the United Kingdom sounds a bit more snappy doesn’t it?

If the U.K. were a kingdom, in the strict sense of the word, it would be governed by an all-powerful monarch, and not by four elected parliaments or assemblies. Queen Elizabeth’s power is symbolic; she reigns but she doesn't rule. But in a kingdom, the sovereign has position – and power as well. The king decides. Full stop. And his people submit, never questioning. There are no elections. There is no parliament. There is no democratic debate. There is little in the way of free speech.

How would you like to live in a country like that? Not so sure? But would you change your mind if the king was always wise and fair, who made sure that no one had to beg, that the sick were given good care and that the old were given a decent life, a king who ensured, that in his kingdom, children could play safely in the streets, a king who loved his subjects so much that was willing, if necessary, to lay down his own life for them? Would you like to live in a kingdom like that?

Everything about the kingdom you live in, is dependent on the character of the king who governs it. With a good king, you have a happy kingdom and loyal subjects. When Jesus came, he said that a kingdom like that was within touching distance. You could get into it. It's not far away now. That’s why the Bible says he preached the good news of the kingdom of God. You can see why it's good news, can't you?
This kingdom, rather than being a geopolitical nation state, I define purely and simply as “wherever God’s reign and rule is exercised and embraced.”

The Kingdom that Comes

The kingdom of God happens to be what Jesus chose to speak about more than any other thing. It as his favourite subject. According to the last verse of the Acts of the Apostles, it was the main emphasis of Paul’s teaching too. “Boldly and without hindrance Paul preached the kingdom of God,” it says.

And Jesus said, that when we pray, we should say, “Your kingdom come.” What exactly do you think that means? I looked up all the references in the New Testament when the words “kingdom” and “come” occur in the same sentence (which, with a computer is fairly easy to do) and I discovered that there are three distinct meanings to that phrase.

1) Within

The first meaning is internal and personal and it comes, for example, in Luke 17.20-21. “Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, ‘the coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, “Here it is”, or “There it is”, because the kingdom of God is within you.’”

He said it to the Pharisees, these churchy, religious, pious men who loved dogma and ritual. “God’s rule has got to be within you,” he said. It means, “I want God’s rule of law to be the decisive factor that guides my heart.” Happy are you if Christ’s authority rules your relationships, your finances, your values, your time. It is a wonderful thing to live under God's government. It is the key to a life of blessing.

Jesus never preached the church; he preached the kingdom. You can go to church all your life and still live independently of God’s rule. Is the kingdom of God just a nebulous concept or does God reign in your heart? This is what was going on when we sang earlier, “Reign in me, sovereign Lord, reign in me. Captivate my heart, establish there your throne.” Did you mean it when you sang it?

2) Around

The second meaning of “your kingdom come” is “Let it break in all around.” This is where the powers of heaven suddenly break in confronting the darkness, with blessing and healing and deliverance from evil spirits and release from oppression and rebirth into new life. Jesus said in Matthew 12.28, “If it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.”

If I’m honest, when I pray “Your kingdom come” that is the guiding, overarching image in my mind. And this is what our second reading in Luke 10 was about, wasn’t it? “When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’”
This is why we say, “Your kingdom come” when we pray for healing on the streets. Since July the team has prayed for nearly 350 people and we have seen numerous people healed, several lives transformed and a small number of people becoming followers of Jesus. The kingdom is coming in Stockton. May it come more!

Say, “Your kingdom come” when you pray for your friends and family who haven’t yet tasted and seen how good the Lord is. They say that the American preacher D.L. Moody made a list of 100 people, and prayed for them each day, that they would be converted. By the day he died, ninety-six had become Christians. The other four were converted at his funeral. “Your kingdom come.”

3) Everywhere

So the kingdom comes within and around. Every time we say, “Lord, your kingdom come” we mean, “have more of my heart, let your ways be my ways, bring me to a deeper repentance, have your way in my life.” We also mean, “God, do great and mighty works of power in our town and nation; heal the sick, deliver the oppressed, bring a revival of signs and wonders that the world may believe.”

The final sense of “Your kingdom come” is what Jesus meant when he said this at the last supper; “I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” In this sense it’s the future event when God’s supreme reign and rule will finally be established everywhere. One day a voice will proclaim, “the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.” Until then, we pray for the hastening of that day.

In his book The Pleasures of God, John Piper makes a list of all the blessings of that day. “In the kingdom” he says, “we will inherit the earth and the world, but this is secondary. In the kingdom we will judge angels, but this too is secondary.

“In the kingdom we will reign on earth with Christ and possess power over the nations; we will eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God; the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, the lion will eat straw like an ox; the little child shall play over the hole of the cobra and put his hand in the adder's den; we will beat our swords into ploughshares and our spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore; justice shall roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream; our bodies will be made new, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither will there be crying or pain or guilt or fear anymore; and we will sit on the very throne of the King of kings - but all these are secondary privileges of the kingdom.

“The main reward of the kingdom, the reward above all others and in all others, is that in the kingdom we will behold the glory of God and enjoy that glory with the very pleasure of God. …The great hope of all the holiest people is not only that they might see the glory of God, but that they might somehow be given a new strength to savour it with infinite satisfaction - not the partial delights of this world, but if possible, with the very infinite delight of God himself.

“Surely this is the river of delights. This is the water of life that wells up to eternal life and satisfies forever.”

O God, let your kingdom come…

Ending

I’d better close - or we shall be here till kingdom come. I think I want to end by leading you all in a prayer that covers each of the three senses of this cry from the heart, “your kingdom come.”


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 4th October 2009