The Focus of God’s Glory (Luke 3.15-22)

Introduction

I know some of you will have already seen that German Coastguard video, but just in case you haven’t, here it is now (click here)

Apart from indulging in some gratuitous humour at the expense of the Germans what was the point of showing that? Well, if the vessel going down had been Greek, and not British, the captain would have used the word baptizo instead of ‘sinking.’ To be baptized in the language of the New Testament means to be plunged, dipped, sunk or immersed and both our readings this morning speak about passing through water, you might have noticed.

If you’ve got a church Bible handy, you might like to open it again at Luke chapter 3, page 972. And while you’re finding it I want to say that apparently the river Tees is frozen over this morning. We will be baptizing in it after the service! Actually, that’s what they used to do in Soviet Russia. At dawn they’d break the ice and totally immerse their new converts before pulling them out – blue but new! It was the only time of day they were sure of being undiscovered by the secret police. In the face of imprisonment, beatings, unjust dismissal from employment, and compulsory, ice cold baptism, the Church didn’t just survive - it thrived.

1) The New Commissioning

Everybody here, and me first, is a sinner in need of a Saviour, so everybody here needs to be baptized. If you haven’t been already I would strongly suggest that you are – we won’t insist on doing the baptism in the river Tees… A few verses before our reading, in v3, Luke tells us that baptism in water is all about repentance.

In v10-14 you see exactly what that meant for the people who came down to be baptised by John. “If you have two coats, you share them with somebody who doesn’t have one, so give away half your clothes to homeless people. Civil servants shouldn’t rip people off by overcharging them and exaggerating their expenses claims. And listen to this; John calls one group “a brood of vipers” because they grumbled about their pay packet! “Be content with your pay,” he said.

John the Baptist ruffled feathers. In v19 it says how he finally went too far, openly criticising King Herod for stealing another man’s wife. I wonder what this man would say to our celebrities and politicians in 2010? I wonder what he’d say to us? I can’t imagine he would make any of us very comfortable.

The Bible says this; “(Jesus) is able to sympathise with our weaknesses; he has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet without sin.” It is perfectly clear that Jesus never sinned, so he - unlike us - had nothing to repent of, and therefore didn’t need to be baptized.

What must that have felt like for Jesus? When you and I are tempted, we come under pressure to sin, a pressure we can either give in to or we can resist. For example, Fred is tempted to steal some money. He fights the temptation for a while in his mind but eventually he gives in and commits the theft, at which point that particular battle with sin is over, the battle is lost, so the pressure eases off. But Jesus lived with the burden and pressure and full weight of temptation constantly upon him, and it never diminished by giving into it; he was always battling, and every time he resisted falling into sin in the power of the Holy Spirit - which is how we can do the same.

“Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit” says the Lord.

So why did Jesus, of all people, submit himself to John’s baptism of repentance? In a way, it’s one of those unanswerable paradoxes like: Why is the word “abbreviated” so long? Whose cruel idea was it for the word “lisp” to have an “s” in it? How can it be that there is only one Monopolies’ Commission?

Some say Jesus was baptised because he wanted to endorse what John the Baptist was doing. He was saying in effect; “John is O.K. by me.” Others think it was like a shot across the boughs; he was identifying with the sinners in the water, rather than the Pharisees, who looked on judgementally from the riverbank. He was showing everyone that his work was going to be all about sin and how to deal with it. But, you know what? None of this convinces me 100%.

I wonder if we might be making a bit too much of the word “repentance”. That is what John’s baptism is about, as we have just seen. Repentance, for us, is a theological term. It’s spiritual language. But the original word metanoia didn’t have any particular religious baggage attached to it in the first century. Metanoia (repentance) was just a word like metamorphosis, or metabolism or metaphor. It was an everyday word, used by housewives and market traders. When you went out for a stroll, you walked a distance, then you turned back; that was metanoia. It just meant “to turn around.”

So here, while sinners were making a u-turn from their previous life of sin, Jesus was turning his back on his previous occupation as a carpenter. Everybody else went into the water as sinners, and came up out of it cleansed. Jesus went into the water as a wood craftsman and came up out it as a travelling preacher. He changed the course and purpose of his life. I think this is mostly a public commissioning of Jesus’ new ministry by his Father.

I just wonder if there is anyone here who, at the beginning of this New Year, feels they are on the verge of doing something radically new under God, in the power of the Spirit. I’m not talking about something you just dream up because you’re bored; I’m talking about a strong yearning that God places in you. Remember Alan Farish, just walking down Stockton High Street a year and a half ago, and God meets with him, speaks to him and unexpectedly gives him a completely new direction – that God has honoured since in wonderful ways.

I just felt as I was praying over this talk that God might be stirring someone here in a similar way… If it’s not from God it’ll come to nothing. If it is, it’ll be unstoppable. Step out in faith. Take the plunge like Jesus did (literally!) and follow the Lord’s leading. That’s maybe something that you’ll want to bring before God in the prayer ministry time later…

2) The Anointing of the Spirit

Back to the reading: John was preaching and baptising people one by one. People would have been led beyond the shallow water and very probably fully immersed in the river (it’s what the word baptizo means; the word for “sprinkle” is rantizo and Luke doesn’t use it). Then, we are told, as Jesus was praying, heaven was opened, the Holy Spirit came down not as a dove, but it was something like one, and Jesus was anointed by the Spirit.

For 30 years up to this point, Jesus had grown up, watched his father Joseph in his workshop, become a carpenter, and spent time himself making doorframes, roof beams and furniture. He was just a little-known provincial joiner up to that point. His teaching in the temple at the age of 12 is included in Luke’s gospel not because it was routine but because it was remarkable. We know in any case that Jesus did no miracles at all before his baptism because John’s gospel tells us that turning water into wine at Cana was the first miraculous sign he ever did.

Jesus was anointed by the Holy Spirit at his baptism so that his life thereafter would be invested with spiritual power. Jesus did not do miracles as the Son of God; he did them as the Son of Man, anointed by the Spirit. Which is precisely why he said that we are able to do the same works as he did - and even greater still - because we too can be (and should be) human beings, filled with the Holy Spirit.

One of my children at the age of 8 prayed for, and laid hands on a little girl, I don’t even know why. I think it’s the first time any of my kids ever did that. The girl slumped to the floor for about an hour and a half. Her parents had told me that the child had been abused by a visitor to her home about a year before that. I believe that God was healing the pain of that experience. The next day, I asked her about the experience in a matter of fact kind of way. I asked her if she remembered it and she said, “Yes, it was wonderful. I was in Jesus’ arms”, she said. I still know that family well. The girl is now grown up, well adjusted, and going on with God.

Any of us here can move in the power of the Holy Spirit, even from a young age. It’s an important element in Julia’s vision for the children’s work here; to train our children in knowing God personally, to step out in faith and to be become accustomed to using the gifts of the Spirit – while their faith is still childlike. Can I encourage you to pray to be filled with the Spirit the moment you get up every day and look for opportunities to serve the Lord?

That is what our prayer ministry team look to do every week. They are there for us. To pray for God’s power to break into the lives of all who ask for prayer. We have seen the Lord do wonderful things over the years and we are so grateful to God for those on the team who serve in this way. Ordinary people can do extraordinary things under God when they are anointed with the Holy Spirit, like Jesus was.

3) God’s Approval

Finally, v22. There was a voice; “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” Last week we were thinking about the Magi’s journey as the pursuit of God’s glory. But this morning I want to say that the focus of God’s glory is Jesus; he is the radiance of God’s unsurpassed majesty. You see the sum of God’s goodness and greatness in the face of Christ. All God’s inexhaustible affection and approbation and esteem focus on his Son. “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

This is so important for us to understand. Because many of us grow up hearing things like, “You could do better.” “You are not good enough.” “You’ll never succeed.” “You are wasting my time.” “You never try hard enough.” “Do better, try harder, hurry up, get on with it…” Have you heard those voices? If you have, you’ll have heard them more than once, because the devil loves to replay the tape over and over. And it leads to a life of drivenness where people think “What must I do to be acceptable or accepted?”

But notice how God’s words are so different. They are words of fatherly approval. “You are my Son...” That is to say, I am your heavenly father. Since before creation, there is an unbreakable bond between us, and you cannot ‘unbecome’ my Son. That is where everything starts; in your identity as my loved Son.

“You are my Son whom I love...” That is to say, my eternal affection is directed towards you, I will not change my mind about you because my love is a devoted, covenant love that endures forever, you have stolen my heart,

“You are my Son whom I love, with you I am well pleased.” That is to say, I am so overwhelmed with pride over you, I rejoice exceedingly in who you are; I am not just pleased, I am well pleased with you.

God the Father’s endorsement and statement of approval is indisputable, unambiguous and unequivocal. Christ’s unparalleled worth is settled in the mind and heart of God. And, here’s the thing: if you are in Christ his righteousness is imputed to you, that is to say all his virtues and merits are awarded to you as a gift. So the Father’s esteem for you is exactly equivalent to the favour he bestows on his only Son. That’s why nothing can separate you from the love of God. Oh, what a blessing it is to be in Christ Jesus. “You are my child whom I love, with you I am well pleased.”

Ending

There are three words I wanted to share today.

Firstly, some here may be aware that God is stirring them for a new call, a new commissioning. You are sensing that God is saying to you that this is a time he has ordained for a new direction in ministry. I think that if that is you, this morning will be like the confirmation of something God has already been saying to you. It may be only one person here, and you may be feeling that this is all a bit weird. Well, yes, Jesus getting baptised is a bit weird too. But if that’s you I want to encourage you to follow in Jesus’ footsteps: “Step out from the crowd and take the plunge.”

Secondly, the difference between the Jesus who made wooden furniture and the Jesus who spoke with authority, had compassion on the crowds, drove out demons, healed the sick and touched lepers was the anointing of the Spirit. Some of you know you want to pray like Jesus prayed and move more in the power of the Holy Spirit. You know that Jesus was be anointed with the Spirit to resist the devil, pray with power and minister with authority. If that’s you I want to encourage you to follow in Jesus’ footsteps: “Step out from the crowd and take the plunge.”

And finally, some of you have been listening to those voices; “Could do better, not good enough, will never succeed, wasting my time, doesn’t try hard enough…” They don’t come from the Lord because “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 10th January 2010

The Brightness of God’s Glory (Matthew 2.1-12)

Introduction

Happy New Year. A quick unscientific survey of the Christmas cards we received this year reveals that those featuring the Magi significantly outsell those depicting shepherds. Both are probably a long way behind Father Christmas who, for all I care, was probably drinking fizzy drinks on the North Pole when Jesus was born – but let’s not go there.

Far be it from me to tell politically incorrect jokes. I would never do such a thing. But, in the interests of clarification, for the benefit of those who don’t know what a politically incorrect joke is, allow me give you an example. They say that Jesus wasn’t born in Ireland because they couldn’t find a virgin or three wise men. Now isn’t that terrible? It’s not even biblical. In point of fact, the Bible never actually says that the Magi were men or women. The grammar is inconclusive; they could have been all men, all women, or some of each. The old King James Version translated Magi as wise men but no modern translation does – for the very good and simple reason that Magi doesn’t mean ‘wise men’ at all.

What does it mean? In Acts 8 and 13 we are introduced to two men; one called Simon and the other Elymas. Both are referred to in Greek as magoi and the word is translated there ‘sorcerer’ or ‘magician’. They were in fact both practitioners of the occult. The word magoi could refer to all manner of astrologers, interpreters of dreams, fortune-tellers, tealeaf readers, crystal enthusiasts, faith healers or even snake charmers. These Magi may have actually been new-age travellers. In the book of Daniel (1.20 and 2.27) other Magi appear as magicians, diviners and enchanters.

So surprise no1; they weren’t wise at all, certainly not in God’s eyes. Surprise no 2; they weren’t necessarily men either. Surprise no 3; nothing in the New Testament says that there were three of them. And surprise no4; it says nothing about them being kings (…or queens) either. Apart from that, ‘three wise men’ and ‘three kings’ are perfectly good titles!

The idea that these people might have been kings comes from an interpretation of Isaiah 60 which reminds some people of the appearance of the star and the visit of the Magi. It’s a prophecy that looks 750 years ahead to the coming Messiah and it says this:

Arise, shine, for your light has come,
and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
See, darkness covers the earth,
thick darkness is over the peoples,
but the Lord rises upon you
and his glory appears over you.
Nations will come to your light,
and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

It is unquestionably a prophecy about Jesus. But it’s not really about the visit of the Magi at all. It mentions a light that comes but it doesn’t mean the appearance in the night sky of a newly discovered star; it’s the glory of the Lord itself that shines against the background of the thick darkness of evil.

We’d probably pick one of the wonders of the world but God chooses the cramped and dingy dishonour of an animal’s night shelter to display the stunning brightness of his eternal heavenly glory. Who would have predicted it? The brightness of God’s glory, shown in a sleeping infant, is gentle enough not to blind us – but is strong enough to compel these Magi to journey from miles away.

So much for who these mysterious Magi may have been – more importantly what does this narrative in Matthew chapter 2 tell us about who God is? What kind of God is it that would draw these ancient clairvoyants, physically miles away from the Promised Land and spiritually miles away from God, to happen upon the most significant, the most important child ever born?

It’s a God full of grace and mercy, who doesn’t count our sins against us, who invites us, who draws us to his glorious self – even, sometimes, amazingly, through the very folly of our own defiance of his laws – such is his kindness. This is the God whom, the Psalms say over and over again, rescues us “from the pit.” It uses the expression “from the pit” for a reason. It means this: I am not, of myself, an upright, respectable man who has found his way to faith. No! I am, of myself, a lover of sin, without excuse, richly deserving God’s fully justified wrath and having no chance of escape from the serious consequences of my rebellion against him.

The fact that God would draw these Magi from far away in the East to Bethlehem to shows us that he is the God whose forgiveness is comprehensive; he removes sin from us as far as east is from west. His greatness is admirable. You can never degenerate or fall away from grace so far that it’s too far. Because his arm is not too short to save and his compassion is from everlasting to everlasting.

Do you ever feel far away from God? Do you feel far away from him this morning? Well, you’re not too far away. And you may not even be as far away as you think you are.

1) God Rewards Those Who Seek Him

How is it that these Magi, coming from a point as distant from God as it is perhaps possible to be, how is it that they ended up discovering him? I am going to suggest three things. First of all, they were seekers. You can tell that from the first two verses of Matthew chapter 2.

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east...”

We know that they were seekers by asking one simple question. Here it is: Would you travel long distances over several months to check up something you don’t honestly care about? No, neither would I. But when they noticed changes in the night sky, they used serious air miles to check it out. They were curious. They were inquisitive. They wanted to know more. And when they finally got to Jerusalem they asked around, “Excuse me, we heard that there is a new king around here. Where is he? Where do we go to see him, please?” There’s a restless quest going on here. These are earnest enquirers.

God makes very firm promises to people like this. In Luke 11, verses 9 to 11, a passage well known by many of us, Jesus talks about seeking and seekers. This is what he says, translating it literally: “Keep on asking and it will be given to you; keep on seeking and you will find; keep on knocking and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps on asking receives; everyone who keeps on seeking finds; and to everyone who keeps on knocking, the door will be opened.”

He’s encouraging you to put your doubts and hesitations behind you. Keep seeking, don’t give up, and you will find it in the end. If you haven’t yet found what you are looking for, keep looking.

A few years ago, a very bright young girl named Elsa signed up for an Alpha course I was running. Her family was Buddhist and from Korea but she actually grew up in France. Elsa was special. I have rarely met anyone who sought answers to her questions with such determination and resolve. Every week she would grill the other group members with question after question. Elsa, like the Magi, was from the east and, like them, had her background in other religious ideas. But like the Magi she was a serious seeker. And like the Magi, when she got to her point of arrival, she was… disappointed. The Magi reached Jerusalem and didn’t find what they had been looking for. They had to keep going a bit longer. So they did. And so did Elsa, who finished the Alpha course not having become a Christian, but having started to come to church, still not at all convinced, but still searching.

Six months passed and we were planning to run another Alpha course so I started to look around for some people who might stand up in church and say, “Sign up to Alpha, it’s really good and changed my life.” And I asked Elsa if she too would like to say a few words. I said, “I want to show people that it’s not a brainwashing programme. You can come out the other side, free to do as you please, and even if you don’t become a Christian, it’s very interesting and worthwhile.” She answered me, “I’ll do the interview, but I’m afraid I won’t say what you want me to.” I said, “Why not?” She replied, “I’ve become a Christian, I hope you don’t mind!” Elsa’s journey lasted well over a year, but in the end she found what she was looking for. And her faith is stronger for having left no stone unturned in her quest for the truth.

“Let us press on to know the Lord”, said the prophet Hosea. Those who keep searching for Christ, those persist in seeking God’s face, those who never tire in their endeavour to know God more will always be on the verge of some new and exciting discovery. Because God is an inexhaustible mine of treasure, knowing him is a never-ending pursuit. And full of surprises too. What did the Magi think when they came to honour the new king and found an infant of such unspeakably humble surroundings?

Can I encourage you, if you’re not yet a believer to keep going? Jesus said you will get there in the end if you don’t give up. And can I urge those of you who are believers, especially if you’re in a rut spiritually, to abandon your comfort zone and get on your camel and seek more of God. Don’t be satisfied with what you have already. There’s much, much more – but you have to look. And go on looking...

2) God Honours Sacrifice

The second thing is this. God honours sacrifice. The Magi must have made big sacrifices. Verse 1 says they travelled from the east (and that doesn’t mean East Jerusalem down the road; it possibly means modern day Iran or even India). In any case it was a long way. It may have been up to a year of travelling. And in that part of the world the days are hot and there’s little shade. The nights are cold and there’s little shelter. You’re staying in tents. You’re surrounded by camels. There are no toilets, baths or electricity and you miss your family. There is danger from bandits and wild jackals.

They made big sacrifices to follow a star. “We saw his star in the east” they say in v2. Astronomers say there was an alignment of Jupiter and Saturn in 7BC. There are records in China dating back to 4BC of an unusual evanescent star. We know Jesus wasn’t born in the year zero, but a few years earlier, so that might explain the star from a human point of view. The star could have been a supernatural manifestation of the Lord’s glory, who knows? It’s a detail.

The point is the Magi went to great lengths to pursue it. Sometimes following the Jesus that the star led to means blood, sweat and tears too. Jesus spoke of following him and taking up your cross in the same breath. Being a follower of Jesus can mean making an unpopular and costly stand at work. A friend of mine was once asked by his company to defend a dossier that he knew involved false accounting in order to secure a contract. He said, “I’m not going to do that.” They said “Why not?” He said “This is morally wrong and, as a Christian, I am telling you I will have no part in it.” They told him to clear his desk by 5:00pm that day. Following Jesus can mean working hard, painfully hard, at a troubled marriage instead of taking the easy way out. Following Jesus can mean forgoing marriage for his sake. Following Jesus can mean forgiving a parent who has abused you. It can mean all manner of adversity. But I want to say that God honours sacrifice. He honoured the Magi for the hardship that they endured for the sake of Christ. They would be amongst the first to see the awesome glory of God in human form. What distinction! What an honour!

Sometimes, looking at the titles in Christian bookshops, I get the impression that the most important thing in the world for many Western Christians is personal fulfilment and earthly happiness. It’s as if the ultimate goal in the Christian life is successfully assuming every role, having all your ambitions fulfilled, marrying a perfect spouse, attaining a good standard of living, and having a body that is not too fat, not too thin but a normal, healthy size. Self-help is everywhere, but where are the Christian bestsellers on self-denial, on the necessity of putting off personal happiness till later for the sake of Christ, on serving Christ in all circumstances? Is there anyone who dares to say to our generation, “you will never be happy, never be fulfilled, if Jesus is simply a servant of your personal fulfilment programme?”

David Livingstone, the great pioneer of the gospel who made Jesus known deep into the heart of the African continent, once said this. “People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice, which is simply acknowledging a great debt we owe to our God, which we can never repay? Is that a sacrifice, which brings its own reward in healthful activity, the consciousness of doing good, peace of mind, and a bright hope of a glorious destiny? It is emphatically no sacrifice. Rather it is a privilege. Anxiety, sickness, suffering, danger, foregoing the common conveniences of this life - these may make us pause, and cause the spirit to waver, and the soul to sink; but let this only be for a moment. All these are nothing compared with the glory which shall later be revealed in and through us. I never made a sacrifice. Of this we ought not to talk, when we remember the great sacrifice which he made who left his Father's throne on high to give himself for us.”

That’s right. God honours the sacrifices we make, but what are they in comparison with what he did for us? So I want to encourage those of you who are paying the price for following Christ today. Lift up your heads. God crowns you with honour and the best is yet to come.

3) God Delights in Worship

The last thing I want to say is that God delights in worship. The Magi were ready to be worshipers.

The gifts they brought (gold, incense and myrrh) were, I understand, typical of the kind of presents one would offer royalty in that time and culture. They were making a statement about who Jesus is. They talk about the King of the Jews in v2 - but they almost certainly weren’t Jews themselves so why should they go to such lengths to bring him their tribute? I can only suggest that, at the end of the road, he had become their king too.

Even though they may well have come from a background of devotion to the elements of earth air, fire and water, even though, as far as we know, Magi were opposed in principle to the idea of any personal god, they appear to have put all that behind them to become worshippers. Ask yourself this morning; is my worship up to the standard of these men who were only just coming out of pagan rituals.

“We have come to worship him.” They say in v2. In v11 they adore the newborn king. That same verse speaks of bowing down. So they gave praise to God with their whole selves, not just with their minds. Their adoration was engaged, not passive. It says that they offered treasures. They expressed worship to Christ with their wealth, not just with their words. It was costly, not cheap. In v10 we read that they were overjoyed. So their devotion touched their emotions too. It was glad, not cheerless.

Focussed on who God is, full bodied, costly, joyful, transforming adoration; this is worship that God delights in. This is worship that God deserves.

Ending

So, as I close, let us come before God the Father and ask him to make into us a people who never tire of seeking his face. Let us come before God the Son and ask him that we will gladly make sacrifices, laying down our lives for his and for the gospel’s sake. And let us come before God the Holy Spirit, and ask him to draw us to be the kind of worshippers in whom God delights.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 3rd January 2010

Encounters with God: Moses (Exodus 20.18-21 and 34.29-35)

Introduction

Have you ever wondered why the Bible is like it is? As a young Christian I used to think to myself sometimes, “Why isn’t the Bible easier to read? Why doesn’t it just have straightforward index-linked, easy-to-remember lists of truths about God, about life and about the way things are?”

For example, don’t you think it would be easier if you just opened the Bible and it said, “Chapter 1: Holiness. God is holy. Holiness means being separated or set apart from all that is not good and praiseworthy. Christians should be holy too, but that does not mean pious or sanctimonious. It means living in the power of the Holy Spirit so as to be attractively distinctive from the world around. For examples of holiness see page 582-590. Chapter 2: God is loving.” And so on?

Wouldn’t things be simpler that way?

But it is significant that God’s word does not come to us in propositional statements like that. There’s a reason for it. God, in his wisdom, has given us most of the Bible in narrative, that is to say stories (true stories) about real and ordinary people, and how their real choices, real words and real actions affected their relationship with God and changed their understanding of his ways.

The Bible is not a theoretical text book. It’s a how-to book with true-to-life examples. Even in the New Testament letters, where you do have hundreds of propositional statements;

• The wages of sin is death
• God is love
• Rejoice in the Lord always
• It is God’s will that you should be holy
• Christ has been raised from the dead etc., etc.

Even then, the letters are real correspondence between real people; it’s a living dialogue that had to do with what people do and how they respond to God.

I say this because we’re starting a series of talks tonight on encounters with God. We’re going to look at people like Moses, Jacob, Elijah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Mary, Peter and Paul at moments in their lives where they met with God.

Jesus looked at the Pharisees and Teachers of the Law once and said to them, “You search and study the Scriptures so diligently, so carefully, because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”

In other words what Jesus is saying is this: “As much as systematic theology and Bible study and learning doctrine are important and commendable disciplines, you know what?, it’s all about an encounter with the living God.”

God’s Awesome Presence

How do you meet with God? Apart from coming to services like these, do you set aside time in order to do so?

Sometimes God meets people with a majestic display of power and holiness. That was the case for Moses and Isaiah. Sometimes he speaks to them with a still, small voice. That was the case for Elijah and Jeremiah. Sometimes it’s an unexpected revelation in the middle of a normal day; that was the case for Mary and Peter. Sometimes it’s very physical; Jacob wrestled with an angel, Paul fell to the ground and was blinded.

I think God meets with us in different ways because for each of us he has a unique plan. Whenever God meets with us he always chooses the way that best accomplishes his purpose. We encounter God in many different ways but whatever way it is will always be about God’s plan and will in our lives.

Here, with Moses, the encounter with God is a fearful, imposing and disturbing manifestation of noise and light. Let’s just read it again, starting in Exodus 20.18:

“When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, ‘Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die.’ Moses said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.’ The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.”

Why did God manifest his presence so dramatically here? I think the answer lies in the context. The Hebrew people were just starting a new-found existence as a nation under God, not long freed from centuries of slavery in Egypt. It was a new dawn for them. The first (and instinctive) thing people do on being released is to express their freedom by saying, “No one’s going to tell me what to do anymore!”

This is why it was important for Israel to see God’s awesome power and authority. Unless they had witnessed this display of God’s greatness and glory they would never have listened to Moses. They would have turned round and said to Moses, “Who do you think you are? Who set you up as our leader, telling us what to do and where to go?”

And, in fact, as soon as they forgot God’s power and might that is precisely the sort of thing they did say as Numbers and Deuteronomy show.

Three Observations

Number one (and it’s obvious, really): The full manifestation of God’s presence is an overwhelmingly awe-inspiring thing (v18). Try and imagine standing at the foot of a great mountain under a broodingly violent thunderstorm; there are sudden thunderclaps that make you jump, there are distant and menacing low rumbles that make the hair on the back of your neck stand up, there are loud and abrupt trumpet bursts that startle you; there is dazzling, sheet lightning behind heavy lead-grey clouds. The mountain is covered in thick, billowing smoke.

God’s coming near was a fearsome experience. The letter to the Hebrews describes it in these words; “…a mountain… that is burning with fire, …darkness, gloom and storm… a trumpet blast… a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them… The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, ‘I am trembling with fear.’”

There have been times in my life - particularly when I have heard God speak prophetically revealing secrets of the heart or seen God heal visibly and instantly - and my principal emotion was awe; an adrenaline rush akin to alarm but without the sense of dread. But usually we only ever experience a fraction of the full, crushing, awe-inspiring grandeur of God’s holy presence.

I think I can usually spot mature, discerning Christians in a church of strangers. Believers who really know God tend to be mindful of his utter holiness and formidable greatness when they come to worship. They know that the full manifestation of God’s presence is overwhelmingly awe-inspiring. There’s something about their body language that expresses a holy reverence and a healthy fear of the Lord even when his presence is not especially manifest.

Second observation here: Most people at Sinai chose to stay at a safe distance from God’s presence (v18).

Why do people often prefer to remain at a distance from God? Some people keep their distance because they just assume that God cannot be known. Others avoid God, because they are living with sin in their lives and are not prepared to have that challenged and changed. Sadly, many remain at a distance, because they have a false view of God and they assume (wrongly) that he could never love them after all they have done. It says here in v18 that the Israelites kept their distance from God because they were scared. It was beyond their experience.

Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning.”

Here is clear evidence that the fear of the Lord is nothing to do with being scared of him. Moses explicitly says, “Do not be afraid.” But in the very next sentence he explains that the reason for all the thunder and lightning is so that they will learn to fear the Lord.

My definition of the fear of the Lord is: “an acute awareness of the presence of God’s power that produces a sense of awe, calls forth reverence and inclines the heart away from sin.”

So Proverbs 14:27 says, “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning people from the snares of death.” Then Proverbs 19:23 says “The fear of the Lord leads to life: then one rests content, untouched by trouble.”

Third observation here: Most people preferred to meet with a man than meet with God. They would rather that someone else might speak to God on their behalf (v19).

As an ordained minister I get a similar refrain sometimes; “You’re a vicar. Will you say a prayer for my daughter? You’re a priest. Will you come and exorcise my haunted house?”

They said, “Look Moses, we don’t think it’s appropriate for us to talk to God directly, so we’ll just talk with you, and then you can go and tell God what we think. We don’t really feel it’s our place to go up the mountain, we don’t feel led, you go!”

They wanted someone to stand between them and God; an intermediary. So that is what Moses did. Years later, judges, then prophets, then priests and then kings all stood before God and spoke with him on behalf of the people, representing their concerns to God and hearing the word of God for them. But now the Lord Jesus Christ stands forever a perfect mediator between us and God and he gives all who have faith in him (you, you and you…) free and unlimited access to the throne of the heavens!

The Transformational Encounter

What happened when Moses came back from his face-to-face encounter with God? Chapter 34, v29 says his face was radiant because he had spoken with the Lord. They had to put a veil over his face because the brightness of his countenance was almost otherworldly. It says in v30 that they were afraid to come near him.

This event turns up in the New Testament, in 2 Corinthians 3, where it says this:

“Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, (he’s talking about the Law of Moses that absolutely everyone failed to keep) if that came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory… will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?

…We are not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from seeing the end of what was passing away… But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And with unveiled faces we all contemplate the Lord's glory, being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord...”

In other words what it means is this: the freedom of the Holy Spirit to know God and love him is so much better than the dreary, pious and half-hearted observance of religious regulations and guidelines. God’s glory and majesty shone brilliantly in Moses’ face when he gave the law. So how much more should his glory and majesty be seen in holy joy and abundant blessing and overflowing grace in our lives as we grow in our relationship with God?

Two observations on chapter 34 and then I’ll close:

Firstly, Moses’ encounter with God had a visibly transformational effect (v29). It’s not that the people could see God’s presence in Moses. The reality is that it was so bright they couldn’t ignore it. I’ve heard people say of Christians who have met with God, or who are brand new born again, “She is radiant” or “He is just glowing.” With Moses it was just one man out of a whole nation. With the Church it’s thousands at the same time.

How often do you spend time with God? Put it this way, if you could, would you spend more time soaking in his presence? Listen – you can! The more you do, the more people will say, “You’re radiant, you glow.” Your face probably won’t light up a room. But the time you spend in the wonderful presence of God will have an effect on your life - and people will know you have been with God. Your meeting with God, my meeting with God has a visibly transforming effect.

Second observation: Moses’ encounter with God included hearing from him (v32). It wasn’t just a weird experience. It wasn’t just a buzz or a great feeling. In all the encounters with God in the Bible there’s substance, there’s content. God speaks.

The point of Moses’ encounter with God was to pass on to the people the words God had spoken with him face-to-face. That’s another classic feature of meeting with God; if it’s genuine, it will have a prophetic edge. You hear from God in some way and you know it’s God because when you pass it on to someone else later it’s fresh and alive. Someone was saying this morning we pray “Give us today our daily bread.” Yesterday’s is stale. You can’t live off yesterday’s blessings, yesterday’s experiences, yesterday’s breakthroughs. What is God’s word to me today? I’ll never know unless I set aside time to meet with him.


Sermon preached at All Saints' Preston on Tees, 3rd January 2010

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