Harvest

In an agricultural society, the autumn is harvest time when the fruit of the year's work is collected and stored for the winter months.  Therefore this time of the year churches traditionally have harvest services and collect food for needy people.  Harvest services are about thanking God for the blessing of the harvest and helping others.  We also think about the harvest of people that the bible talks about, so that's the theme for today.

We are reminded of harvest at home because our apples ripen and are harvested.  Many churches have harvest services when they thank God for the harvest and have a lovely tradition of bringing food to church and give it to those in need.  In Llanelli we're introducing a Foodbank Box to the hall and we're going to be talking about helping others.

As a church we've traditionally had a deep affinity with the harvest as we used to focus on the Holy Days which were based around the seasons in Israel.  Please turn to Exodus 23 v14-16 this gives an example of how the Israelites Holy Days were embedded in the harvest seasons.

Exo 23:14  "Three times a year you are to celebrate a festival to me.
Exo 23:15  "Celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread; for seven days eat bread made without yeast, as I commanded you. Do this at the appointed time in the month of Aviv, for in that month you came out of Egypt. "No one is to appear before me empty-handed.
Exo 23:16  "Celebrate the Festival of Harvest with the first fruits of the crops you sow in your field. "Celebrate the Festival of Ingathering at the end of the year, when you gather in your crops from the field.

We've never traditionally had harvest services as such with food collections, however we were very familiar with the concept of the first fruits of the harvest, and the main harvest itself which is to follow.

Through our greater understanding and the shift in focus over the last 20 years, I believe that the topic of harvest has been strengthened rather than diminished although not specifically in name.  One clue is that over the last few years the autumn festival has gone from being called the Feast of Tabernacles to the autumn "Harvest" festival but there has never to my knowledge been an official pronouncement or explanation.

Today I want to write about Harvest - not combined harvesters or apples, I'd like to talk about the harvest of people that Jesus talked about.  

Jesus talked about the harvest in Matt 9v37-38 and Luke 10v2. In both places he said.

"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Jesus referred to the world as a harvest field which is plentiful.  There are billions of us in the world who need the gospel and relatively few of us who are believers.  You could call it the Church's market place if we were in the business of selling.  The number of people who are believers is relatively small and the number of believers who make the effort to come to church is smaller still compared to the population at large.  You would think therefore that as the gospel is a) good news and b) a matter of life and death, that it would be an easy task to go into the world and sell the gospel message.  Of course we are not a business and we're not into sales.  What Jesus makes clear in this scripture is that the harvest field is His not ours and we ask Him to send workers into His field.  It's not our job to recruit workers and it's not our field to go and harvest.  God is in charge.

Let's start at the beginning.  For there to be a harvest you first have to sow the seeds.
In Mark 4 and Luke 8 Jesus acknowledges that when seeds are sown they don't always fall on fertile ground.

Mar 4:2  He taught them many things by parables, and in his teaching said:
Mar 4:3  "Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed.
Mar 4:4  As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up.
Mar 4:5  Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow.
Mar 4:6  But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.
Mar 4:7  Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain.
Mar 4:8  Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times."
Mar 4:9  Then Jesus said, "Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear."
Mar 4:10  When he was alone, the Twelve and the others around him asked him about the parables.
Mar 4:11  He told them, "The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables
Mar 4:12  so that, "'they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!'"
Mar 4:13  Then Jesus said to them, "Don't you understand this parable? How then will you understand any parable?
Mar 4:14  The farmer sows the word.
Mar 4:15  Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them.
Mar 4:16  Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy.
Mar 4:17  But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.
Mar 4:18  Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word;
Mar 4:19  but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.
Mar 4:20  Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop--some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown."

This is in some ways discouraging as you know that many of the seeds come to nothing, but on the other hand it's encouraging to know that it's no reflection on us.  Jesus warns us that this is the case so we carry on regardless.  We are going to leaflet the area around the hall in Llanelli.  I don't expect the leaflets to miraculously save anyone from the jaws of hell, however it will raise awareness that we exist and will hopefully make non attending Christians think about supporting a church locally and join in Jesus work where He's calling people by pointing them to a reference point locally.  We'll see what happens as a result.

Let's look at 1 Cor 3v6-9.
1Co 3:6  I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.
1Co 3:7  So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
1Co 3:8  The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.
1Co 3:9  For we are co-workers in God's service; you are God's field, God's building.

It is God who makes the seed grow and when you look at this in the context of first fruits and the elect, it is God who chooses who to reveal the gospel to at any particular time.  We however are human and of course we want to see the result of our efforts bringing thousands of people to Christ now.  Books are written about how to do this that or the other in order to find that magic bullet that will bring revival.  Of course humanly we're missing the point.

So why can't we do it on the back of our own efforts?

We're in a spiritual battle zone here.  Jesus has done everything necessary for people to be saved and he holds out the gift of life but people have free will and need to realise firstly that they have a problem which Jesus offers them a solution to.

I used to think that the problem was apathy but I was corrected by a Vicar back in the summer who said no - apathy is when people know something to be true and don't do anything about it, or can't be bothered to engage with it - this may be true of Christians who don't attend, but not for the general population.  The reality is that people don't see the gospel to be relevant in their lives - they are not apathetic - they have no interest or engagement in the first place.  Church is not for me - it's for the old people in their Sunday best.

This is the harvest that we're dealing with, especially in the western world.  I'll give you an example.  We have a very productive apple tree in the garden.  An apple is happily living in its tree, it has good days and bad days, enjoying the sun some days and being buffeted by wind and rain on others.  The apple is nice and secure, connected by a stalk, it has enough nourishment so doesn't need anything, and it grows and matures until it gets to a certain size and falls to the ground.  Then it rots away or gets eaten by slugs and worms.

That's what most people lives are like in the western world.  They are comfy and relatively affluent & secure.  They eat drink and are merry until they die.

An apple on a tree has no understanding of it's potential as a tasty snack, or a crumble or pie, or even a pint of cider into which it is transformed after it's been harvested!!  The end result i.e. the glass of cider has no relevance to the apple which is clinging onto the tree.  This is the problem we face, for most people they are like the apples, they have no spiritual awareness that there is something greater being offered to them.  They will be aware that Christians believe in heaven but what has that got to do with me they think.  How could such a wonderful gift be ignored by millions?  

2 Cor 4v4 says that the god of this world blinds people.
2Co 4:4  The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
2Co 4:5  For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
2Co 4:6  For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God's glory displayed in the face of Christ.

Only God can remove that blindfold and has done for believers.  When people are in darkness they need the light of God to penetrate the darkness and show them the direction to go.  Here's the thing - we have no idea who God is working on and revealing the gospel message in their hearts right now.  If someone is being called, they need to connect with the body of Christ.
Lets look at John 1v3-5

Joh 1:3  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.
Joh 1:4  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.
Joh 1:5  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Last week when preparing a different message I noticed something about this passage which is relevant today. Notice the tense of v4 and v5 are different. v4 Past tense, v5 present tense.   In Jesus was life which was the light of mankind - this refers to his creative powers in the context of v3, but this did not stop at creation - v5 shows His light shines in the darkness NOW through creation and through His body - us - and all the acts of love that people do right now.  He's alive and well providing light in the darkness that is Cardiff!!  When you see the foodbank donations, and other charities helping the homeless, addiction rehab centres, Christians Against Poverty etc you see the light of Jesus shining and you see the personal contact with Jesus love that can act as a catalyst when there are gaps in blindfolds of the enemy.

It's our job to be here to represent Jesus.  It's not our job to sell a product or to use snazzy marketing to hook people in, until someone realises they need God, they are blinded to anything we do.  But that is no excuse to do nothing - just like a harvest, it won't grow unless someone sows the seed.  As we've read, Paul said he sowed and Apollos watered but God made it grow.  The seed needs to fall on ground that God has prepared, so it will grow.  That is what we should be praying for - that the seeds we sow through our lives make contact with the people God is calling.  It's a phrase we hear from HQ - joining in the work that Jesus is already doing in the world.  As we've read being co-workers.  It's His work and we are joining in not the other way around as we'd like it to be.

Historically we have seen revivals when thousands have accepted life in a dramatic way.  The 1904 Welsh revival is an example, and we all deep down pray that there will be another revival and that we'll be part of it.  More recently we've seen the Cwmbran outpouring which saw many people accept the gift of life.  They never claimed it was a revival but it caused great excitement over the several months in which they had daily meetings.  During times like this we see God moving powerfully and the blind folds falling off many at a time, so we know God's power to do this at a time he chooses.

When it happens the churches need to be ready and welcoming.

When we see people, we should see them as God's beloved children.  We should not condemn people for the problems they face even if it is self inflicted.  What if a drug addict walked in between hits after having a moment of clarity.  Would we welcome him or her with a cup of tea and a biscuit afterwards?  What about Muslims in town - are we afraid of them or do we see them as people who God loves? As I said last time, one German church has seen over 800 people convert from Islam.  We call ourselves "Welcome" because we should welcome anyone here who God is calling no matter what their background or circumstance.  The harvest is plentiful and we are only a small group.  Let's pray not only that God will open people's eyes, but that He will send a team to help.

So what about the people who do not accept the gift of life and repent??  The bible clearly shows that people have free will and therefore God's wrath is reserved for those who reject his grace.  Whilst we believe Jesus died for all, and his sacrifice was universal, people for whatever reason can still reject it.  Revelation 14-16 is clear that all sorts of bad things are destined for the remnant of people who do.  But - this is only for those who remain unrepentant.  Rev 16v9.
Rev 16:9  They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.

The implication here is that even at this last minute, if people did repent and glorify Him, they would be saved by God's grace.  We have no idea how many will remain unrepentant after all this and take part in the ultimate battle when Satan and the forces of evil are bound? We'd like to think based on scriptures such as Phillipians 2 that everyone will eventually bow before him.

Php 2:9  Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
Php 2:10  that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
Php 2:11  and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Rev 20 shows the that there are more than one resurrection.  Just like there was the first fruits of the harvest and a main harvest, we see the elect, the believers raised before the rest.  We have traditionally believed that people who have not believed in this life will have a chance to repent at the great white throne judgement and under our new understanding we hold to the belief that death is no barrier to God's love and that at some point everyone will be confronted by God's grace.  This is the good news - whilst we believe now and sow the seeds so others who God is calls can too - the main harvest is yet to come.

To conclude, understanding the harvest gives us a more compassionate outlook of life when we see suffering around us.  Instead of condemning people to hell for the choices they make or the circumstances imposed on them, see them as beloved children of God who He loves and who Jesus died for.  It may not be someone's time right now, at the point when we have contact with them, it may be yet to come, but at some point Jesus light will pierce the dark veil that is cloaking their eyes and they will respond in one of two ways.   Let's pray that all will accept the gift of life when it's their time to be harvested.  

How strong are you?

Sermon Cardiff 25 07 15

Good morning everyone and a big Cardiff Welcome to our guests.

The question we're looking at today is - how strong are you?  When I did this in Llanelli I got the kids doing a tug of war.

At SEP, when I was a camper, they had a giant tug of war and on one side they hooked up a speed boat to help them...  This is the same for us today - on our own we are weak, together we're stronger - but still we're fighting forces we don't know or understand which seek to undermine us - so we desperately need help.

Do you remember Joe Tkach's message a couple of months ago where he spoke about the young oxen learning from the old and being allowed to develop and strengthen alongside the older one.  It's the same with us - we have Jesus alongside us supporting us as we develop and mature.

That speaking of life was based on Mat 11: 28-30 when Christ said.

Mat 11:28-30  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Jesus yoke is light as he's there helping us bear it.  Jesus has already suffered and died on our behalf, he's even carried our cross - and we can rest in him knowing all that needs to be done for our salvation has been done already.  Our part is to believe this is so, and accept the gift of salvation.
Whatever happens in life should therefore be seen in this context.  Things happen that we're not happy about and we get discouraged, however our strength is the assurance that there is more than this life and our problems.

Judy's favourite scripture was Php 4:13 which says in the King James "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."  She did some amazing things despite her latter illness and we are very grateful for all the things she did especially for the children with children's church.

People have defied the odds and defied their physical circumstances all over the world and done amazing things in the name of Jesus.  People like Mother Teresa.  I'm sure you can think of people.
Even GCI, although we are a relatively small denomination have got churches all over the world and some are in the poorest places like refugee camps and rubbish dumps.  Spreading this good news of God's grace amongst the most challenging circumstances, and that is where the growth is taking place.

We have a summer camp called SEP (www.sepuk.org) and there, a team of people work hard over two weeks turning a sheep field into  a community - amazing efforts by the set up staff.  But where to they get the strength and motivation?  It is a big ask for people to give up weeks of their time for something some of them don't even see working.

Moses isn't renouned for his singing but after they crossed the red sea he sang.
Exo 15:2  "The LORD is my strength and my defence; he has become my salvation.  He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.

Notice he gave God the credit for saving the people from Egypt - the deliverance from Egypt and especially the crossing of the red sea is an example where they could not have physically done it on their own strength.  The plagues are an example of divine intervention.  Israel could not have physically done this for themselves.  Do you remember them all?
1. Water into blood 2. Frogs 3. Lice 4.Flies 5. Livestock got sick 6. Boils 7. Hail and Fire 8. Locusts 9. Darkness 10. Death of First born.

God strengthened them by displaying his power against the Egyptians.  Remember that it was God who hardened their hearts

Exo_10:1-2   Then the LORD said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD."

This is clear that their hearts were deliberately hardened for the Israelites benefit so that they could declare the strength and glory of God for generations to come.

There are examples in the bible where people were given strength beyond their physical capabilities in order to glorify God.

David and Samson are two famous examples.

The story of David and Goliath for example showed that a child plus God could achieve more that the finest soldiers.  Notice however he gave God the glory throughout.  Lets pick out a couple of verses.
1Sa 17:37  The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."

1Sa 17:45  David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
1Sa 17:46  This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.
1Sa 17:47  All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."
1Sa 17:48  As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.
1Sa 17:49  Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.
1Sa 17:50  So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.
1Sa 17:51  David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

Clearly it was divine intervention here and it was for God's glory by showing both the Philistines and Israel how powerful he was.

Samson likewise lived in the strength of God.  I won't go through the story as you'll know it, however at the end they've captured him and he's tied up in their temple.

Jdg_16:28  Then Samson prayed to the LORD, "Sovereign LORD, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes."

Other famous examples are Daniel in the lion's den, Shadrach Mishak and Abednigo in the Fiery Furnace etc.  Again divine intervention which was beyond human strength.

What about us?  We only really see God's strength coming through us when we are going through adversity.  People going through trials can cope with things beyond their wildest nightmares when they are living in the strength of God.  Some say that trials show lack of faith or that you are doing something wrong - therefore if you don't have any you are living right. Many people are proud of their achievements and think they are right with God because of the effort they are putting in.  There is a flaw in this thinking however as Ephesians says we are saved by grace so no one can boast.

Eph 2:8  For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith--and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God--
Eph 2:9  not by works, so that no one can boast.

How many here think that they are perfect?

1John 1 says if you say you are without sin you are calling God a Liar. I certainly don't want to be accused of that!!
1Jn 1:8  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10  If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

So all have sinned - all have fallen in weakness, however it says that God is faithful and just to forgive.

So we've established that we are not perfect - but God loves us anyway.
So, what is it that we need to do?  For what purpose does God give us strength?  __ Helping people __

Gal 6:9-10  Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.

Notice help ALL people - but they had a fledgling church like ours - so they were told to especially help their Christian brothers and sisters.

We see people suffering all over the world and we can't help everyone - but we can help when we feel moved to do so.  As a church we have sent money from the UK office to our church brothers and sisters in places like Nepal and the Philipines to help them re-build their lives and their communities - thankfully none of our members have died but their lives have been devastated.

They need God's strength at this time and so do those being persecuted around the world. So please remember them in your prayers.

So, if you feel weak and can't carry on in your troubles, if you think you are being punished for issues you may have, pray for God to uphold you and lets live in His strength.  God loves us where we are at and whatever we have done - we can't do much in our own strength as our strength is flawed - however he can do anything through us if we are open to the lead of his presence in our lives.  Lets live in His strength.

Reference are Today's NIV.

www.gciwales.org
www.llanelli.church

"Worship"

Today we are going to explore what worship is, and how it impacts the life of a Christian.

Definitions of the words in old and new testaments indicate the bowing or lowering yourself or lyeing down before God.  The word in the old testament referring to God is shaw-khaw which is defined "prostrate (especially reflexively in homage to royalty or God): - bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship."  There are two other words used in Jer and Daniel which refer to worshiping other gods or the king which is just the bowing part of the meaning.

People used to literally lie face down in worship to God.  Clara often lies down when we are praying.  This is where bowing your head comes from when we are praying.  Even today, when you meet the Queen you bow or curtsey as a mark of respect and lowering yourself before her.  I've even seen people doing this in public prayer and worship even in today's society which goes back to the original meaning.

The new testament word pros-koo-neh'-o also indicates the kissing of a hand.  (meaning to kiss, like a dog licking his master’s hand); to fawn or crouch to, that is, (literally or figuratively) prostrate oneself in homage (do reverence to, adore): - worship.

The English word is literally worth-ship - to give worth to something.

In olden days the subjects used to bow before the King or Queen and kiss the ring of office which was the royal seal which is a continuation of the thought that you bow before the King and kiss the hand.
Worship is therefore the Act of holding God higher than ourselves and putting God first.   Put it the other way - by lowering ourselves we're lifting God up.
In the old testament they used to make sacrifices and offerings for all kinds of reasons as part of their worship, mostly to thank God and to say sorry for the things they did wrong.  Lets look at one example from the old testament that links worship and sacrifices.
2Ki 17:36  Worship only me! I am the one who rescued you from Egypt with my mighty power. Bow down to me and offer sacrifices.
Israel made a range of offerings including Lambs, bulls, doves, also grain offerings.  This was an important part of the Sabbath and Holy Days which were also linked to the harvests.

In the new testament, we see things change which I'd like to point out.
First, God became flesh and took humanity therefore into himself uniting the physical and spiritual. This changed the relationship between God and man.
Joh 1:1  In the beginning was the one who is called the Word. The Word was with God and was truly God.
Joh 1:2  From the very beginning the Word was with God.
Joh 1:3  And with this Word, God created all things. Nothing was made without the Word. Everything that was created
Joh 1:4  received its life from him, and his life gave light to everyone.
Joh 1:14  The Word became a human being and lived here with us. We saw his true glory, the glory of the only Son of the Father. From him all the kindness and all the truth of God have come down to us.

Jesus was God and His sacrifice therefore was once for all as set out in Hebrews.  He did it vicariously - on our behalf - collectively, and therefore the sacrificial system was perfectly fulfilled in the ultimate act of worship.  This is why we don't kill animals nowadays.
In the book of Eph chapter 2 Paul says that we are sat is heavenly places.
Earlier we sang there is a higher throne.  This is taken from Rev 4 and shows that heaven is full of colour and light with praise and worship.    READ?  When we worship we are therefore bowing down and lifting God up inside of us - kind of standing aside and joining in the worship that is happening 24/7 in heaven.  READ We read in places like Jesus birth the heavenly host rejoicing in praise and worship but this is only part of it.

Matt 25 says that whatever we do for others we are also doing for Jesus.  Jesus is one element of God, Father Son and Spirit, so by helping others we are doing it for Jesus and we are therefore worshipping God.
We are included in the life and love of God as we are "In Christ" - please turn to 1 John 4v11-19 which shows that God dwells in us by His Spirit.  READ
Worship is therefore more than singing songs - it's a whole life experience which permeates everything we do.
Romans 12v1 - says that we are to be living sacrifices.
When we did this interactive last week, Tom made a good point - worship is the only thing we can give God.  We can't give physical things as He made everything and He's Spirit so physical riches are useless to him.  Worship however comes from the heart and is an act of love to hold someone else up in high esteem.  We hear of people being martyred for their faith - not sure how many of them would do so willingly - I'm sure they would rather not have been caught by an terrorist group!  However to be a living sacrifice is an ongoing act of love and when you think of people who care for loved ones or friends with long term illness, you get a glimpse of what this means.
God is love and when we worship him, we see the love flowing back in return. Isa 55v11 talks about God's word not returning empty.

Worship tends to get narrowed down to the singing part of a church service, however it's much wider than that and when we pray or show love and concern to others we are showing their worth - and this is worship also.  For example, let's build each other up at church and give each other the encouragement we need.  It's the Act of God's love flowing through us and back to him in so far as whatever we do for others the loves flows back to God.

Last thought - People don't seem to care much about God nowadays, but one day all the world will bow down and worship him.
Rev 15:4  Lord, who doesn't honour and praise your name? You alone are holy, and all nations will come and worship you, because you have shown that you judge with fairness."

A thought occurred to me - if, as we believe, God will reveal his love and grace to wider humanity and people will have the opportunity to respond on judgement day - this scripture is profound! God will reveal the gift of life when people deserve death so all the nations will bow down.  Can you imagine when He returns in Glory - people will be afraid when they realise he does exist and they will expect that they will be punished for their actions.  Jesus however is the judge and he's paid the penalty already so we'll see his grace being poured out on all who repent and believe.  Phil 2v10-11 says At the name of Jesus everyone will bow READ.
Don't forget how he dealt with Paul - he asked him why he was persecuting him but he didn't destroy him, he loved him and Paul responded.  What we see in Paul is heart change and heart worship - and he kept referring to how bad he'd been and how great God is.  Paul's life was therefore transformed into a life of worship.

As we see the atrocities in the middle east and increasingly closer to home lets keep praying "thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" and look forward to the time that everyone will kneel down and worship God.
So what have we learned today about worship? It's more than just singing songs, although when we sing, we are joining the worship in heaven.  Our lives are living sacrifices to help others and this is an act of worship as we bow down and hold others and therefore God up higher than ourselves.  This is something that cannot be fabricated or created - it's an act of love that comes from the heart.

New Year Message 2015

Sermon Cardiff  3 January 2015

Good morning everyone.

I hope we are all refreshed after the Christmas break and we can start the new year afresh. The new year is just an arbitrary line in the sand of time.  The calendar as we know it was invented by man to subdivide time in accordance with the time it takes the earth to revolve around the sun - in 1582 the current Gregorian calendar replaced the Roman Julian that stood prior to that date.  It was decided that a year would be 365.2425 rather than the previous 365.25 days, but to make it simpler that was rounded down to 365 days with an extra day every four years, but even this is inaccurate so we have three adjustment days every 400 years when there are no leap years in three of the four centenary years.  This means we keep a consistent 12 months and have a predictable extra day every four years apart from the three adjustment years to make up the difference.  Got it.  By the way, the Calendar revolves around the calculation of the date of Easter which is related to the vernal equinox.  In order for it to work, they lost 10 days in 1582 to re-adjust things.

According to Wikipedia, the Hebrew lunar year is about eleven days shorter than the solar cycle and uses the 19-year Metonic cycle to bring it into line with the solar cycle, with the addition of an intercalary month every two or three years, for a total of seven times per 19 years. Even with this intercalation, the average Hebrew calendar year is longer by about 6 minutes and 2525/57 seconds than the current mean solar year, so that every 224 years, the Hebrew calendar will fall a day behind the current mean solar year; and about every 231 years it will fall a day behind the Gregorian calendar year.

So if anyone is interested in keeping things on the right days I suggest they don't lose sleep over it!!
Even today there are dozens of different alternative calendars in different cultures and countries in addition to the standard calendar that we work to, so the subdivision of time as we know it is not an exact science.

Some people make new year resolutions thinking that the new year is a once a year opportunity for a fresh start, others don't, instead dismissing such things as nonsense as we are exactly the same people now as we were on Weds.  The truth is both sides are wrong and we'll revisit this in the conclusion.

As you probably know, I've been putting a one line summary of the day by day studies on twitter for a couple of years, (@GCIdaybyday) and at the start of December I started a Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/GCIdaybyday?ref=aymt_homepage_panel ) which has the full day by day study as appears on www.daybyday.org.uk.

If you are not familiar with them, the day by days are a daily scripture and a short study or thought about it written by a variety of GCI members around the UK & Eire.  I don't know how many of you follow the day by days on line or with the daily emails, but they provide a wide range of topics and thoughts about them.  For example yesterday's day by day is as follows.  This was written by James Henderson.

The Light for 2015

“…the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God…”  2 Corinthians 4:4 (NIVUK)

How should we find a way through another year? Jesus and his gospel light up the path before us, is what the Bible suggests.
Many of us try to make life decisions when a new year begins. It is as if we want to make a clean break from how our life has been or from problems that seem to hold us back. I remember the story of a Christian lady who took on the name of Peace Pilgrim. She would have seemed eccentric by today’s standard but she decided to devote her life to walking back and forth across America until people were mature enough to live in peace. Her first walk was on the 1st January, 1953 when she left Pasadena, California to head to the US East Coast. One of her wise quotations was this: “For light I go directly to the Source of light, not to any of the reflections”.

I like her view about light. Christ explained that he was the Light of the world. His disciples did not understand fully what he meant. He later explained that his followers would take the light of his glory wherever they went. That was the good news, the gospel of salvation through Christ; the only true spiritual light of the world.

As we begin a new year, let’s not look elsewhere for the light: turn to Jesus and his gospel, and not to imperfect reflections.

Prayer
Help us, Father, in this New Year to walk in the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ. In His name.
Amen

The name "Day by Day" comes from 2 Cor 4v16 which is going to be the key scripture today.  Lets read the whole passage from v 15 - 18 to get the context.

"All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to over flow to the glory of God.  Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen us eternal."

I think this passage is a good summary for us to think about through the year as church and as individuals so lets look at the passage in more detail.

"All this is for your benefit" refers to the passage preceding and what is to come.  2 Cor 4 has so much content and I covered a lot of this in a recent sermon, it refers to us being treasures in jars of clay and while we go through problems we are not crushed or defeated and we'll be raised with him.  It also refers to Jesus being light in the darkness and the light shining in our hearts.  He starts in verse one by telling them not to lose heart.  Paul is saying all this to encourage the Corinthians that despite the ups and downs of life, they have Jesus to cling on to, and the surety of his resurrection and the resurrection they themselves could look forward to.

"All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to over flow to the glory of God."

Paul is giving us an insight into the early church here.  The gospel, the good news of God's grace was reaching more and more people.  He's saying this so that thanks giving overflows.  Not to Paul's glory, or the early church leader's glory, but to the glory of God.  Notice he's referring to grace reaching more and more people - if we put this together with Galatians and Ephesians and his other letters it reaffirms the message that Paul was preaching was grace not law and legalism.

Eph 2v8-9 says this most clearly when he said "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is a gift of God - not by works so that no one can boast."

Notice that the thanksgiving over flows - not just being thankful but that it overflows - this is a contagious form of Christianity - you often find that those who've had a close shave in a car accident or an exploding cooker are so thankful they've been spared that they go around telling everyone their testimony - but we can tend to take our salvation for granted.  What Jesus has done for us, while we are still sinners as it says in Romans 5v8, when we really do not deserve it - is remarkable and this Paul says results in an overflowing of thankfulness.  

Depending on the translation, it either reads overflowing thankfulness or overflowing grace - the word is also translated super abounding or super abundant.  It's interesting that different translations put the emphasis differently, however you get the gist - what we are talking about here is the reaction to grace is thankfulness and we should take that into the new year.

Now for the key scripture v16. "Therefore we do not lose heart.  Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."

He's repeating the phrase he used at the start of the chapter - in v1 he said "Therefore, since God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart..." Why was he repeating this? Maybe he feared that the Corinthians were losing heart with the gospel?  Battle fatigue may have been setting in and in the face of persecution and perhaps they were suffering from discouragement?  In the context of the chapter he'd said in v8-9 "We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down but not destroyed."

Persecution is happening today so this is a relevant topic even today.

Paul goes on to say "Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day."  Our physical existence in this country is pretty good compared with other countries, even when things go pear shaped there is still a safety net, however flawed, to provide for basic needs, and even if you slip through the net, there are Foodbanks which can give you emergency help.  But that's not the case elsewhere and was not the case in biblical times.  For us, ill health is something we all suffer from universally and no matter how much money you have, it does not stop you getting ill and suffering.  Paul is highlighting the fact that everyone is wasting away - life is a cycle we can't avoid.

Our bodies may waste away, or perish as it says in the King James, but inwardly we are renewed day by day.  It is the inward renewal that gives us hope and stops us from losing heart.  It gives us a perspective on things which stops us from despairing at our lives and the state of the world around us.
Our new lives in Christ are a journey of transformation as we grow in grace and knowledge as it says in 2 Peter 3v18.  Inner renewal means that no matter what happens around us, we are fresh for the fight.  We have the hwyl to carry on from the inside rather than having to be pushed or dragged into things.  We all know of people who have the heart for service despite their physical conditions - this is a practical application of this verse.  Their renewal may not be physical, but they have the hwyl to do things that people would not expect them to be able to, and not naming names they do a good job of it as well - despite their constraints.  

Paul also talks about renewal in Colossians in the context of the presence of Christ in us transforming us into new people

READ Col 3v1-14 you have the contrasts between old and new as our old self dies and we are renewed in the image of Christ.  Challenging isn't it!  Although we are forgiven for anything we do wrong, it still leaves physical consequences and a trail of destruction and hurt.  Notice the new attributes these too will have consequences but positive ones and all things are bound together in love.  What, or rather who is love? God is.  Whatever side of the problem we find ourselves we end up being hurt, however it's talking of bearing with each other and forgiveness as Jesus forgives but the new man demonstrates the attributes of God so we're talking about transformation from the bad to good, from hurt to healing.  Isn't that God's grace in action. Forgiveness on one hand but transformation and renewal on the other.

So, with this in mind as we stand being continually renewed in Christ we can continue in 2 Cor 4v17

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.

Paul went through some horrendous trials in his life with prison and ship wrecks and beatings for his faith and he describes them here as light and momentary.  He could see that the eternal glory was greater than everything he had to put up with in his life which meant that he did not lose heart and had confidence in the future that lay before him.   He continued.

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen us eternal."

Isn't that a profound but encouraging scripture.  The doomsayers are already predicting a bad year with financial crises and terror alerts, and no one in immune to this - anything could happen any time and any where, as the Sydney hostages proved a couple of weeks ago.  But - are we afraid of this or do we have confidence that this world and all the troubles therein are only temporary.  We have some great discussions in our mid week meetings about reality and what science is discovering about the fragility of what we think is solid and real - the God Question DVDs give us a good overview of current research and the more they delve into matter, the less they find which is why they have been looking for the God particle which holds it all together.  Guess what - we've found it - and it's slowly making us more solid and real as the temporary old self is put to death and is renewed and replaced by Christ day by day.

So, to conclude, at the start of a new year, we look back at the year past and look forward to the year ahead.  As individuals and as church it is a time to both reflect and look forward, however it's not a once a year opportunity.  We are renewed day by day and week by week.  We are not therefore the same as we were in 2014 or even yesterday, because we are individually and collectively continuously growing in grace and knowledge for the glory of God.  How are we going to look next year? Who knows - but with the transforming power of God's presence it will not be the same as we are today.

I hope we all have a Happy New Year!!

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Book of James - Grace in Action Part 2

James Pt2 Grace in Action.  (Audio is available on www.gciwales.org)

The last time I posted, I started looking at the book of James.  By way of introduction we went through the first 18 verses and set the book in context.  What is evident is that we're talking about things which are not natural for humans, like being joyful in trials.  The book has a strange structure which starts off with a series of bullet points in the first chapter, talks about other things then goes back and re-visits the bullet points at the end.  We looked at one point last time when he talks about the rich being humbled then in chapter 5 he explains the problem.  What I'll do to finish the series is re-write the book putting the thoughts together, however for the next sermon or two I would like to remind you of the very practical nature of the middle section of the book when we look at grace in action.  There will however be an Easter message in the middle which will break the sequence.

Today I'm going to explore some of the very practical advice that James gives the Jewish Christians, so we can see the work of the spirit rather than our natural human behaviour being explored in the book.
The first point is that we should hear, listen and do - rather than hear speak and ignore - this is found in Chapter 1 verse 19 - ___ READ

This can be seen two ways, firstly when we hear from God, the secondly in the way we interact with each other.

HEAR FROM GOD

It is important to make sure we listen to the word of God, when we pray, it is a two way communication and we should be prepared to hear God.  The Holy Spirit is constantly prompting us and bringing things to our attention, however we filter most of this out by dismissing the thoughts or making excuses.  I can think of numerous occasions when I've seen something, thought about doing something and haven't,  then thought later that I should have done.  James says we should be quick to listen to God and slow to get in the way!! God also speaks to us through the bible and there is much knowledge and wisdom which we need to listen to rather than clouding what God says by our opinions.

How about our relationships with each other?  I'm speaking as much to myself as to anyone else here because it's something I'm not very good at.  I've told you this story before.  Years ago when I worked in South Bedfordshire District Council there was a girl called Nicola in the admin section.  One day when I was walking into the office I said "Hiya Alright" which was a standard greeting, then carried on walking - but she said "Actually no, but you don't care because you haven't even stopped to hear my answer." At this I stopped and apologised, but it was a good point that I still remember.  I had asked a question albeit in the form of the greeting, with no intention of actually hearing the answer.

The other thing that people are guilty of, is being quick to offer a solution rather than actually listening to the problem.  The solution may be that the other person just needs to get it off their chest and be listened to, however people - and it's mostly us men apparently -  jump in and don't actually listen.

The bible offers advice which is contrary to the typical human reactions.

Lets turn to a few scriptures from the old testament .

Eccles 5v2
Prov 13v3 & 15v2&4&7                                                                                

There is a resounding lesson here that we should listen to God and listen to each other rather than rush in and speak for the sake of it.

Verse 19 doesn't end there - it says to be slow to wrath.  This is another un-natural response when people upset us.  How many times however have you not let the person finish before butting in and getting upset only for the person to explain themselves and if we hadn't interrupted we would have heard the full story.

The advice continues in v20-21 READ.

Again this can be applied to God and each other.  When challenged about personal conduct, the natural reaction is to become defensive and either deny it or justify it.  What James is saying here is shut up and listen.  Don't get angry, defensive or aggressive, but listen with meekness and accept the word that saves.  I would like to suggest that many people reject God because they don't want to be challenged or be held responsible for their behaviour.  James is saying to set aside the wrong doing and choose life.   Notice it says the word is within - we need to listen to the presence of God within us.  This is grace in action in that no matter what a person has done, God offers life!  Jesus has already died for everyone and whoever believes and accepts this life will be saved.

Notice James is saying that there is action here, get rid of the moral filth and humbly accept the word that can bring life.  As I've said a couple of times, it's fallen into place in my brain recently that God's love and grace leads to change from within and this change in direction is repentance.

So the next point is that hearing must result in action.   Again this is unnatural and it takes Grace in Action to have the confidence to Step out in Faith and do something.... This is an important point and we'll spend the rest of the sermon on this.

James 1v22 READ - you can't get clearer than that can you!  Do what it says.

v23-24. I love the analogy - listening to God and not doing is like looking in a mirror and immediately
forgetting what you look like, sort of listening without hearing so it does not sink in.  He's mixing metaphors here with sight and hearing but hopefully we all get his meaning.

We are not called to be spectators - James keeps emphasising the point that the result of Grace is action.  God loved us, and we are called to love Him and love others.   James shows us that the way we live and treat others is important and we can't just say that we're saved and then do nothing with it.

v25 talks about keeping the perfect law, and James carries on that thought later in the book, so we'll read thought it now to keep the thread and look at the law in more detail next time.  READ

There have been a few videos circulating recently about being not religious - Loving Jesus but not Religion - and counter videos saying they Love Jesus through their religion.  James however says that religion is good - but he defines what he means by it.  Lets READ James 1v26-27 Is he saying that keeping every law, command and observance in the old testament is good?  No, in this context James is saying that religion is helping others and keeping yourself from being polluted by the world.  This again underlines Grace in Action, not self righteous observance of the law for the sake of it.  Jesus himself demonstrated that action meant more than observance - don't forget in Mark 3v1-6 he healed on the Sabbath - which was preposterous for the religious leaders of the day.  I love John 10 which says that Jesus did many good things and asked them which one they would stone him for...  You get the impression he liked winding them up!!
In the style of the book, James raises an issue then goes back to it later, so lets skip forward to Chapter 2 v 14 -19.

Seeing the poverty around and just saying to people "be fed" serves no useful purpose!!  James makes it crystal clear that the way we treat others is a vitally important part of our Christian lives.  Again we're saved by Grace for Action.

Is it either faith or works or is it faith resulting in good works? Works without faith is not enough, and if you are saved by faith and walking in step with the spirit, the good works will naturally follow.  You have to get the cart behind the horse but make sure it's hitched up.

James uses Abraham - the father of the faithful as an example and says the two are hand in hand. 2v20-24 Don't forget he was writing to a Jewish Christian audience so reference to Abraham and Isaac would have had utmost significance.  Notice v22 His faith was made complete through his actions.

The faith and action went hand in hand as demonstrated in v25-26 talking about Rehab.  READ  To James you couldn't have one without the other.

We see in later writings by Paul the position is clarified as Paul is clear that we are saved FOR good works rather than BY good works.  Again we see that salvation and works are hand in hand, but that salvation leads you by the hand to good works that God has prepared.  Perhaps this is evidence that the church, led by the Spirit was refining it's theology as time went on.  Don't forget that James is written to a Jewish audience before the Jerusalem Council, so some of these things were clarified later.

Let's break out of James and see what I mean in Eph 2v10.  READ Note the context of salvation by Grace through faith, but that it led to action.   READ v 8-10 READ See how the thinking has evolved - the faith is a gift and the action is pre-ordained by God.  That doesn't however get us off the hook as we have to be living sacrifices as it says in Romans 12, willing to do God's will.  For this we need Faith and that is a gift, so we go around in circles which are all resulting from God's Grace.

Paul didn't only say this to the Ephesians.  He passed this call to action on to Timothy and Titus.  Lets have a look at a few more scriptures.

Lets look at 2 Tim 3v 16-17 Notice the purpose of all scripture was to perfect the saints to good works, again they are hand in hand, but the good works were the purpose rather than the means.

Titus 2v11-14  This again puts the cart behind the horse but makes sure it's there - Grace in action, changing & perfecting for a purpose.

Titus 3v3-8

The writer of Hebrews also had a few things to say on the matter.

Heb 10v22-25

The bible shows that the purpose of our behaviour is not for us to boast and show how good we are, no, 1Peter 2v12 shows that the purpose is to glorify God.

So we've seen today that our salvation has a purpose.  God wants us to hear the word within us and accept life.  But not only hear but do.  We need to hear God and also hear others and when we see need, we need to help, we need to show Grace in Action, which we see demonstrated in James.  I'll carry on next time.

Book of James - Grace in Action Part 1

I have not posted for a while so I thought I would post my mini series on the book of James entitled "Grace in Action" because it is very practical and what James says demonstrates Grace as it is not the natural human reaction!! Here's the first part.  I have not copied out the scriptures so you'll have to look them up - I use Today's New International Version.  The audio is available to download on www.gciwales.org

Book of James "Grace in Action" Part 1

Today I'd like to start a mini series on the book of James.  I've entitled it "Grace in Action" because many of the things James talks about are not our human reactions to situation, but they demonstrate the love and grace of God.

The book of James was written by James, an apostle and disciple but not James the brother of John.  He was the son of Mary and Joseph, i.e. he was the half brother of Jesus.  This is disputed by Catholics and groups that believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary, but most believe that Mary and Joseph had other children after Jesus that included James. Matt 13v55 names Jesus brothers as James, Joses, Simon and Judas. The parallel to this is Mark 6v3 and they also refer to sisters, however none are named.

James was one of the inner circle of followers before and after Jesus death.  Being family you'd expect that, however the only other brother mentioned in Matt 13 who is recorded elsewhere is Judas, or Jude, who wrote the book of Jude.  I assume he's referred to as Jude to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus.  Luke 16v6 refers to them both in the same verse so we know that they are separate people.

So, lets have a look at what he had to say.  READ v1  The first thing we notice in the greeting is that he does not do any name dropping that a man of his position would be entitled to do.  Instead he's humble and describes himself as a servant of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice that his brother Judas gives a very similar greeting in Jude v1 where he says "Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James..."

James was the leader of the church in Jerusalem and he was one of the Christians who remained there when the other apostles had fled persecution and had spread out into the world as they knew it.  In Acts, end of 7v54 - End & into 8v1-3  it shows that after the stoning of Stephen, the church was scattered and a certain Saul was instrumental in trying to destroy it - we'll turn there later.  It's therefore ironic that Paul says in Galatians that when he went to Jerusalem to meet the apostles, only Peter and James were there.  You could see why people were suspicious of him.  

The other thing to notice before we start is that it was written about 10 to 12 years after Jesus death and resurrection, so it was one of the earliest books to be written.  Some say that he contradicts Paul and the later books, and to a certain degree, the church was still learning and adapting to circumstances so the thinking and teaching would have changed to a degree.  For example it was written before the Jerusalem Council which officially decreed that circumcision was not required.  The church was still pretty Jewish in character at this point, so again this sets the context.    

Notice that the book was a letter to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations.  Twelve tribes is reference to the tribes of Israel and as we read in the book of Hosea, ten of them were scattered abroad for disobedience.  I'm not talking about that today, but you can read about what's described as the dispersion in (Hos1:6; Hos8:8; Hos9:3, Hos9:15-17).  The cities around the region would therefore have had Israelite communities.  The tribes intermingled over time and nowadays the tribes of Israel are referred to generically as Jews, and the book was written to these communities containing the descendants of the twelve tribes.  Unlike Paul's letters it was not written to a specific church or region so it would have been an open letter written for and circulated around the Synagogues and new Christians coming from an Old Covenant Israelite background rather than a gentile audience that Paul ministered to.

Some churches read a lot into the phrase twelve tribes to support the British Israelism theories, and they map out exactly where the tribes were settled and where they migrated afterwards, pure speculation in my opinion as I've looked for evidence to back this up and can't find any myself. However, that is immaterial as the letter is clearly speaking to a Jewish Christian audience and as we read in Galatians, Christianity dissolves national distinctives as we are all one in Christ.  This is only really a matter of interest, so we can understand the original context, audience and interpret the letter accordingly.  The message that we see, however, is universally applicable to people no matter what our background is.

READ v2  I don't know about you, but when I'm going through trials and difficulties, joy is not the primary emotion going through my head!  The word joy also means 'calm delight'.  Over the last couple of months - particularly in the run up to Christmas we seemed to have one thing after another going wrong, and sometimes it feels like we are being dragged down to the edge of despair.  This verse says trials of many kinds so it's not clear what it's referring to specifically, but don't forget the Christians in Jerusalem were undergoing persecution so they were going through all kinds of trials that put them in physical danger.  We can take it as saying that anything we're going through should result in joy or delight.  I know people with money problems, health problems, job problems, relationship problems, all sorts of trials.  Joy however is not a human reaction to trials - so hold this thought and we'll revisit it later.

READ v2-3 - it is easy to blame God or blame ourselves when things go wrong.  We are bombarded with a false health and wealth gospel that says that if you pray hard enough and have faith, that God will provide everything you want.  So when things go wrong it's easy to think that it's somehow God's fault that he's not keeping his end of the deal, how could he possible let x y or z happen, or people think that they have done something wrong and are being punished for it.  Either way, people have their faith tested and people can and do lose faith.

We all go through bad times, and our faith is tested.  But v3 says that the testing of our faith produces perseverance.

v4 notice perseverance produces maturity... not lacking anything.  The bad stuff we go through produces the character of Christ because we have to rely on his strength to get us through.  So what he's saying is that in the face of trials, we should consider it pure joy because the perseverance it produces leads to maturity and us not lacking anything.

v5- So if you need wisdom you need to ask for it and God will give you wisdom.  That's not easy as it's difficult in the middle of a stressful situation to even realise that you need wisdom, not alone have the presence of mind to ask for it! Notice that God does not find fault if you ask for wisdom.  That's his grace - that no matter what we're going through, if you turn to God He will help.  In this context he will be seeing us grow and develop into maturity.

v6 Do not doubt God.  He's saying we should have confidence in God and not be tossed to and fro as a wave on the ocean.  Christ is described as the solid rock.  In Matt 7v24-27 Christ said if we listen to his words and do them it's like building our house on the rock.  However if we hear and don't do them it's like building your house on the sand.  Here in James it's saying that if we ask God for wisdom and then don't listen and doubt him, we're like a wave.  Waves go in one direction then the other - sometimes they bounce off the cliffs so you get cross waves and from the beach you see water flowing is all directions like we saw at Llangrannog last summer.  It sometimes feels that with competing and conflicting pressures of life that we're being sent it all directions.  It's easy to be so busy that we lose our grip on the solid rock.  It's easy to doubt God and doubt ourselves when things get out of control.  But.  We should not doubt God.  The reality is that God is there always and we can cling on to him for strength and wisdom.

I saw a video recently posted by Francis Chan and he was talking about the Afghan Philipino hostages from a couple of years back and they felt the presence of God strongly in their trial so they did experience the joy of Christ.  It sounds weird but one of the hostages said that they were grateful to be free, but they wished they were still there to have that closeness with God.  We see this in the bible too, earlier I referred to Stephen, and if you look at Acts 7v 54-End we see that just before he got stoned to death, Stephen looked up and saw Jesus.  READ  He was not afraid to die for his beliefs because he saw what was ahead.  I believe that the joy or calm delight to which it refers is the presence of God in the situation.  It's not a human emotional reaction.  Going back to v6 We can stand firm in confidence not in ourselves but in God.

READ 7-8 If we are not solidly with God and try to work things out ourselves, or take wisdom from other sources, it describes us as double minded or some translations call it being double souled.  In context again this is being conflicted between the wisdom of God and other material considerations to coin a planning phrase.  In planning law you make decisions in accordance with the policies unless other material considerations dictate otherwise.  With God you don't get that flexibility - we are saved by God's Grace.  Full Stop.  Jesus has done it for us and we have to believe that.  We need to stick to God and not let the doubt of other material considerations sway us.

If we doubt God and lean on our own understanding and wisdom, James says we can't expect God to give us anything.  In other words, if we ask for help then decide we can do it on our own, we get no-where.
Lets move onto the next passage.  READ v9-11  This section talks about putting things into perspective.  The first part seems logical, that the poor would rejoice if they were lifted up in God's eyes, but the second talks about the rich rejoicing in their humiliation or when they became poor.  But why would they rejoice in humiliation or becoming poor?  It talks about the world's riches being worthless to God - like a flower withering in the sun.  James speaks out against the rich, and Chapter 5 shows why - Lets turn forward a few pages.  READ 5v1-6 I don't think it's money as such but the way the rich had got it and had used it.  This may have been a reflection of the language Jesus had used.  He overturned the tables in the temple, he said it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than a rich man to enter the kingdom, he told the rich man to sell everything and give to the poor, he spoke out against the rich splashing the cash at the collection bowl.  To Jesus, the widow's mite was important as it reflected her heart.

Maybe this passage also reflected the persecution when people lost everything and fled their homes and riches at the hands of the rich Jews.  Maybe he was contrasting their elevation from poverty in God's eyes with the physical riches of the oppressors?

Certainly rejoicing is not a natural emotion in these circumstances, when riches are lost, or you are brought down to earth, but James was talking about the bigger picture which is revealed in v12.  READ v12 This is a beautiful scripture for those going through the mill.  Notice - it's the crown of life that God promised to those who obey him!... Right - No, it's promised to those who LOVE him.  That's the bigger picture here. No matter what we go through in this life, if we endure and believe and love God, we are promised the crown of life.  As I went through Christmas time, the gift of life is given to us by God's Grace.  The love and faith we need are gifts, but we need to believe this to be true in order to unlock this reality.

To me v12 is the key scripture here, if you love God and have the crown of life - the new life in Christ, it changes the way we see everything and as we saw in scripture last week, God changes us.  He moulds and shapes us until we become who he wants us to be or he sees his face reflected in us depending on the analogy.  v12 also shapes the context of the rest of the letter which is mostly very practical in the advice he's giving.

So, having set the scene, James now goes on to illustrate the contrast between our human nature and God's nature, which illustrates God's Grace in working with us at all.
READ 13-15 Notice that we are more than capable of doing daft things all by ourselves, and we can't blame God or anyone else for it.  I'm afraid that saying that God put the temptation in our way to test us just doesn't cut it for James.  This passage shows the raw human nature without God, notice the sequence of events - desire leads to sin leads to death.

However, James contrasts this with the reality of God.
READ 16 - 17 Every good gift comes from God.  We can be certain of God, he's not like shifting shadows, he's solid and His love for us is dependable.  He's described as light not shifting shadow.  A shadow is formed when something gets in the way of light or interferes with it.  But God is Love and this brings pure light.

READ v18 Wow!! Birth through the word of truth - new life - to be a kind of first fruit.  The audience coming from a Jewish background would have been familiar with the concept of first fruits and Jesus himself is described as THE first fruit in 1 Cor 15v20.  James is using very much old and familiar terminology along with the imagery that Jesus used to describe himself to show the Jewish Christians that they were what the Old had pointed to.  Jesus was the word, the way the truth and the life, and they, and we, through His Grace, are first fruits of that life.

Remember I said earlier that the joy and the calm in the face of trials that James refers to are not human reactions - I would like to suggest that they are the fruit of our new lives as first fruits of a coming age.  It's through being in Christ and having Christ in us by his spirit that we can see  the bigger picture and cope with it.

So what does that mean in reality?  What are the practical implications for the way we live?  We'll continue next time with James demonstration of Grace in Action.

Final Galatians Message: The Two Covenants

Sermon Cardiff 16 11 13

Good morning everyone. Today i would like to finish off the study of Galatians by going back to the bit that we skipped over in Chapter 4.  We read through it but there is a lot there so I decided not to dwell on it but to give it a sermon of it's own.  By way of introduction, the bible has a lot of depth wrapped up in what seems like simple storys, Jesus in particular used this form of teaching to great effect.  The prodigal son for example is a simple story of a family with two sons, but when you think of what He was teaching us, it is profound.  I'm not talking about the prodigal son today, but it illustrates the point that the story is one which people can relate to.  The imagery of two sons, one of whom goes off the rails and one who stayed at home, the father running to meet him when he returned.  These are all images we can relate to.  The new testament also uses images from the old testament to refer to Jesus, such as him being the unblemished lamb, and the atoning sacrifice.  This would remind people of the past and show how Jesus was relevant to them.
The passage I want to look at today is Gal 4v21-31.  We read through it to give the context of Chapter 5, but I didn't really draw out any points.

Verses 21 - 23 set the scene by summarising the story of Abraham's two sons. One from his wife Sarah and one from the slave woman Hagar.

v21 "Tell me, you who want to be under the law, are you not aware of what the law says?"
I think that there are many people who profess to keep the law, but don't really understand the consequences of what they say they are doing, and certainly wouldn't keep the letter of many of the laws that were set out for the Nation of Israel.  Some people think of the law as the 10 commandments and conveniently ignore the rest.  However, Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount that even if you think about breaking them, you are guilty, so what Paul is saying here is that people were claiming that they wanted to be under the law, but they didn't really know what they were saying.
Lets carry on in Gal4v22-23

"For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born as a result of human effort, but the son by the free woman was born as a result of a divine promise."

This paints a picture of the contrast between the two.  One is a slave to human effort, the other is free in the promise.  You could say that Abraham and Sarah took matters into his own hands to produce a child rather than waiting on the promise.  The story is found in Gen 16v1-4.  By human effort as it says in Galatians 4, they grew impatient and made it happen, even though if you read the following section of scripture, it shows that they wished they hadn't.  The result was more important than having faith in God and waiting for the promise.

As an aside. I've read a few articles lately that warned that churches efforts and missions must not get in the way of their relationship with Christ.  Mission is not Mission unless it's Christ's mission that we are joining in with, if not it would a project or a programme which may have some superficial benefits and make the church feel good for a while, however Christ's work transforms people and places and therefore goes much deeper if Christ is in it leading and guiding by His Spirit. They covered this a little at the conference and I've given a sermon on it earlier this year if you look back at the archive.  If you think of each church as a dot on a join the dots puzzle, the picture that emerges is Jesus.  We therefore pray that God uses us to do Christ's work here in South Wales, and that he will move powerfully through us.  In and of ourselves we are small and insignificant, however God can multiply the magnitude of what we do if we have faith in Him and let him work through us.  It's sometimes tempting to jump the gun and chase after every idea we have like Abraham did, however when God wants something to happen, you know it, and there is nothing stopping it by one means or another, like Sarah's conception and Isaac's birth.

Notice that Paul says in v22, "It is written" he's drawing reference to the Old Testament so the Jews could relate to it, and the gentiles would know where he's getting the story from. Think back a few sermons' the issue here was that the Jewish Christians were trying to claim that the gentiles were to be circumcised and come under the law, and the book is a warning not to walk into slavery but stay in the freedom of Christ that he'd taught them.  He grounds the section in scripture to show that it was more than just a story, it was taking a historical account in the bible and then showing the significance of it in light of his new understanding.
Gal4v24 says "I am taking these things figuratively, for the women represent two covenants..."
So he takes the historical facts which he had already compared and contrasted, and relates them to the old and new covenants.  So he's painted the familiar picture they knew and understood, and then makes it into a 3D image.    

v24 continues "... One covenant is from Mount Sinai and bears children who are slaves: This is Hagar. v25 Now Hagar stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present city of Jerusalem, because she is in slavery with her children."

This is a strong and damning verdict for the Jews.  No doubt they would have considered Hagar and Ishmael as the second class citizens with them being the descendants of Isaac, however Paul here is switching it around and saying that Israel is the one enslaved.  Hagar was likened to  Mount Sinai which was the embodiment of the Old Covenant law, and Jerusalem, the home of the temple and the code of legalism that enslaved them.  I'm sure this would have been a shock for the Jewish readers and listeners as they would have thought surely Hagar would have represented the gentiles.  Imagine the shock if the capital of England was declared as being in Glasgow!!  That would get people's attention.

But he goes on in Verse 26 "But the Jerusalem that is from above is free, and she is our mother. v27 For it is written:

"Be glad, barren woman, you who never bore a child; shout for joy and cry aloud, you who were never in labour; because more are the children of the desolate woman that of her who has a husband."" He's quoting here from Isa 54v1

So Israel under the Old Covenant was likened to the normal conventional physical regime, typified by Hagar, the second wife where Abraham and Sarah had taken matters into their own hands to produce an heir.  What Paul is doing here is switching the roles and identities of God's people by saying that Sarah, who was desolate and barren would be the mother of more than the conventional way.  Sarah on the other hand produced a child out of promise, this was the covenant God had with Abraham and this is what passed down to his Seed Jesus, and it is through him that billions have received the promise.  That means you and me.

Lets read on Gal4v28.

"Now you, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise."

We like Isaac are children of promise. Through grace we're in Christ, the seed of Abraham, therefore we have new life made possible by the new covenant.  

Abraham was promised that his Seed would be as the stars in the sky and that the world will be blessed through the Seed.  Lets have a look at Gen 22v17-18 which takes place just after Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac and he does what he's told.  It says,

"I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky, and as the sand on the seashore.  Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring, [or seed] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."

There is also a promise that the Seed would inherit the land.  Again Paul flips the imagery and gives new meaning to conventional wisdom.  In Verses 25-26 he linked Hagar, Mount Sinai which is synonymous with the Old Covenant, slavery and Jerusalem which the physical descendants of Sarah would have held dear, but he says that the Jerusalem above is free she is our mother.  What Paul is doing here is saying that the people of promise through the Seed, Jesus, are children of the new Jerusalem, not the old.  That is what we look forward to - the promise will be fulfilled finally when we, in Christ, in the Seed inhabit the new Jerusalem.  Jesus gave us a model prayer, his prayer which says Thy Kingdom Come.  This is for us.

v29 of Galatians 4 shows that the descendants of the old covenant had persecuted the Christians - "At that time, the son born of human effort persecuted the son born by the power of the Spirit.  It is the same now." - when you think about it, Paul himself was the worse culprit, so this is very personal to him and it's kind of a confession.  The early church suffered terrible persecution at the hands of the Jews.

v30 is again very strong language "But what does scripture say? [again quoting Gen 21v10] "Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman's son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman's son." - If you try to achieve salvation by works, under the old covenant, you will not share in the inheritance, the old was all about the old physical Jerusalem but the new brings Salvation and the New Jerusalem so by quoting Sarah, Paul is saying to get rid of the slave woman and her descendants. Does that justify anti Semitism and the atrocities we have seen in history? No, of course not, Matt 10 says that the Gospel was first preached to Israel, they had the preview but they didn't listen.  The commission in Acts 1 says go to Jerusalem, Judea then Samaria and to the ends of the world.  God loved Israel, still does, but to paraphrase Romans 11, it says that they have been cut off for unbelief.  They are blind, but one day they will see the light and be grafted back into the body of Christ which is where they belong.  But it's clear that if people don't believe in Christ and don't accept the gift of Grace, they will not inherit the promise.  One of the themes through Galatians is a warning not to go back into slavery, and those who preach a false Gospel would be accursed.  This is serious stuff.

Gal 4v31 " Therefore, brothers and sisters, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman." 5v1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

This is a clear warning that we are under a new covenant, a new freedom and that we are not under the slavery of the old.

Hebrews has a lot to say about the old and new covenants, and the way that Jesus superseded the old system of animal sacrifices with one sacrifice for all.  The bible has the concept of the one for the many which I think fits in with the incarnation so it may pop up next time I speak (in December).

Conclusion.

We see that the promise made to Abraham was to be fulfilled through his seed - Jesus Christ.  What Paul has been showing us in this passage is that the old covenant was physical, and based on working on a legal contract, you behave and you'll be blessed in the land.  Israel's history shows that it was in and out of favour with God, and He was therefore faithful to his covenant.  However, as it shows in Chapter 3, through the seed of Abraham, God introduced a new covenant, one which He, by grace has freed humanity from the slavery of sin and the slavery of the law. This covenant replaced the old, so whoever believes shall be saved.

Gal3v26-29 says "You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. v27 for all of you who were baptised into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. v28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."                                        
     
Galatians is a book of warning on one hand, that we should not go back to slavery of the old, and also a book of hope and joy.  We have freedom in Christ, we are under a new and more excellent covenant, so that as promised, we can be a blessing to the nations of the world.

So that wraps up all I have to say about Galatians.  


Scriptures from Todays New International Version.