We have been called what are we going to do with that calling?

The call to leadership or action by the Lord (Judges 4:1-10)

In the beginning of the chapter four we see that Israel has once again fallen into sin, and is now calling out to God for help.  God hears there pleads, and calls out to Barak to go and lead His armies to victory.  The only problem is Barak balks at the call; he seems to be afraid that God isn’t going to give him the victory.  So he tells Deborah I will go only if you go with me.  This is not the first time we see God call someone to something and they seem to have a lack of faith.  Remember Moses in Exodus 4:1-12, Moses is called to go speak to the people of Israel and Pharaoh, but keeps coming up with excuses.  Just like Barak God says now instead of doing something great for me I will give that to someone else.

When we are called by God He will be with us (Judges 4:12-16)

Barak wanted Deborah to go out with him even though there was no good reason, as Deborah told him in verse 14. “ For this is the day in which the Lord has delivered Sisera into your hand. ^uHas not the Lord gone out before you?”  How many times do we need to be remained of this that God is always with us?  We have all been called to come and give our lives to Christ, with that calling we are to go make disciples.  But how many times do we find ourselves just like Moses or Barak making excuses about telling people about Gods love.  Throughout time missionaries have been told by family and friends that they should rethink about what God has called them to do because it may be too dangerous. Such is the case with John Patton.

“John Patton set his heart on one island in particular. Twenty years earlier two missionaries had gone to that island. They were killed and cannibalized. So it was no surprise that many dissuaded Paton from even the thought of following in these missionaries’ footsteps. Paton wrote, “Amongst many who sought to deter me, was one dear old Christian gentleman, whose crowning argument always was, ‘The Cannibals! you will be eaten by Cannibals!’” John Paton replied to this man, “Mr. Dickson, you are advanced in years now, and your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms; I confess to you, that if I can but live and die serving and honoring the Lord Jesus, it will make no difference to me whether I am eaten by Cannibals or by worms; and in the Great Day my resurrection body will arise as fair as yours in the likeness of our risen Redeemer.” The old man left the room, exclaiming, “After that I have nothing more to say!” At the age of thirty-three, John Paton traveled to the New Hebrides with his wife. The journey was not easy. His wife and newborn child died within months after arriving, and he found himself alone, digging their graves with his bare hands. He faced threat after threat upon his life. But in the years to come, countless cannibals across the New Hebrides came to know the peace of Christ, and the church across Australia, Scotland, and the Western world was challenged to rise up and make the gospel known among the peoples who are toughest to reach.”

The question is are we willing to put our trust in God and go where he calls us, and to speak to those He wants us to speak to, knowing that He has gone before us? Or do we want to stay comfortable and not do anything out of fear and not watch God work in our lives or the Church? Where do we find such confidence? Paul tells us in 2^nd Corinthians 3:7-16, Paul tells we have no excuses because unlike those of the Old Testament we have the power of the Holy Spirit.

Platt, David (2010-04-17). Radical: Taking Back Your Faith from the American Dream (p. 176). Multnomah Books. Kindle Edition.

The Light of the World

The Light came into the world (John 1:6-9 15-18)

John was out proclaiming the light of the world was coming, that he himself was not the light.  If John was not the light then who was the light then?  When we read verses fifteen to eighteen we find out the Light is Jesus Christ.   According to John the Baptist Christ came after him but was before him.  Why would John say this?  Because he is confirming that Christ is also God, only God could come before and after someone.  John the Baptist is telling the people that Christ is God in the flesh.   John is letting the people know that everything they now know about God is about to change.  No one has ever seen God, touched God, God has not spoken to anyone in over 400 plus years and now God in the flesh has come to earth so that we may receive His grace.   Christ has come to enlighten everyone.

Not everyone accepted the light (John 1:10-11)

Not everyone is going to accept Christ as the light of the world, the word receive found in verse 11 means to welcome.  What we see happening is that the Jews who were waiting for the Messiah did not welcome Him when he came.  They were instead looking for a God that would come and put them in charge over the world, they were not looking for God to come so the world would be able to receive His grace and forgiveness.   They had been told in there scripture of Christ coming they still rejected Him. Isaiah 65:1-5 tells us “The Lord says, “People who never before inquired about me are now asking about me. I am being found by people who were not looking for me. To them I have said, ‘I am here!’ ² “I opened my arms to my own people all day long, but they have rebelled. They follow their own evil paths and thoughts. ³ All day long they insult me to my face by worshiping idols in their sacred gardens. They burn incense on the rooftops of their homes. ⁴ At night they go out among the graves and secret places to worship evil spirits. They also eat pork and other forbidden foods. ⁵ Yet they say to each other, ‘Don’t come too close or you will defile me! I am holier than you!’ They are a stench in my nostrils, an acrid smell that never goes away.”

Those who Choose to accept the light are received into Gods family (John 1:10-13)

There is great hope for “all who receive Him, who believe in His name,” we who have done so have been given the right to become children of God.  Before we get to be children of God we have to understand what it means to receive His word.  If we say that we receive Gods word as truth, then what we are saying is that our allegiance is with Christ.  We not only believe that He is the Son of God, risen from the grave to save us from our sins.  We are saying our lives now belong to Him.  I know that sounds like a lot to take in but let us remember we get to be reborn into the family of God.  John tells us “¹² But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. ¹³ They are reborn! This is not a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan—this rebirth comes from God”

We must get rid of sin in our lives

Sometime hard times aren’t as bad as we think

As we begin to read the third chapter of Judges we read about how God, tested Israel.  Remember Israel was supposed to get rid of all the inhabitants of the land, but they did not do so.  So God used them to test future generations.  This future generation was to force the remaining tribes out but instead they allowed them to stay and accepted their gods as their own and intermarried with their women.  Let’s understand that God still tests us today, we too have a command from God much like that of Israel, we are to get rid of the sins of our pasts and follow Christ (Hebrews 1:1-12).   It is here that Paul tells us, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress, and run with endurance.  Nowhere in the bible does it say it is ok to let sin stick around.  God may allow temptations to come our direction to test us and to strengthen us but Satan is going to use temptation to drag us down.

We must get rid of sin altogether in our life

Notice here in chapter three of Judges we see the first three Judges that we talked about have three things in common.  When the people of God turned back to God they went to war and many people died.  The people did not just come back to the Lord and continue to live the same as they had under the control of another king.  No they went and got rid of the wicked king, we must do the same in our lives.  We must remember that we must die to this world and live for Christ (Colossians 3:1-22).  Paul tells us to “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you”(vs 5).  We cannot have victory in God if we desire to continue to leave part of our sinful self-intact.  No we must go to war and declare that we are living our lives for God, no matter the cost.

Be careful in times of Peace

Notice here in chapter three we see that after each time of peace Israel sinned again.  During the times that we are not going through testing we must keep vigilant, we need to be making sure that we are not neglecting our salvation or relationship with Christ.  Hebrews chapter two tells us; “So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it. ² The message God delivered through angels has always proved true, and the people were punished for every violation of the law and every act of disobedience. ³ What makes us think that we can escape if we are indifferent to this great salvation that was announced by the Lord Jesus himself? It was passed on^* to us by those who heard him speak, ⁴ and God verified the message by signs and wonders and various miracles and by giving gifts of the Holy Spirit whenever he chose to do so.”  We must be careful for our enemy is waiting for the correct time to come and pounce on us to destroy us and our faith.

We must Decrease He must Increase

John Baptist was the forerunner to Christ (John1:6-8)

John the Baptist was sent to let people know that Christ was coming.  We must first understand that it has been four hundred years since God has spoken to anyone.  Now on the scene appears John and his job is to proclaim the coming of Christ Jesus the light of the world, the savoir God promised is coming.  Is that not what we ourselves are to do? We like John are lamps in this dark world, our job as followers of Christ is to show the world who Christ is by how we live our lives.   John was out telling the people that Christ was coming that it was all about Christ (John 1:19-24).

It’s not all about us (John 3 :22-30)

The book of John makes it clear that John the Baptist was not the light, this may seem silly to us that it had to be done, but if you read Acts 19:1-3 we find a group of people who worshiped John.  In our life we can easily make everything about us.  The world around us tells to make it about us, we have to do what feels right to us.  This is a wrong philosophy this why we have churches saying that it’s ok to sin as long as you’re feeling good about it.  Don’t worry do what feels good to you.  But John the Baptist tells us it is all about Christ.  “He(Christ) must increase, but I must decrease.”  Our own sinful desires must decrease while allowing God to increase.  People say things like it so hard to give up my old ways.  That may be true but if we want to get real and have a true relationship with God we must start by allowing God to increase.  We have to allow God to work in our lives and when He says it is time to change so He can increase we have to say ok.

How this applies to us in today’s world (John 1:9-12)

We understand that John was proclaiming the coming of Christ he was allowing God to work in his life.  John knew that he was not the light but He could reflect the light that was Christ Jesus.  As we read the next few verses in John we see that Christ was the true light.  We can find a new life in Christ Jesus, by believing and by receiving Him we are able to come into a relationship God the Father.   It is not enough to  just believe in Him that saves us if that was the case many would be saved.  A lot of people believe in Christ, but they do not receive Him into their lives.  Matthew Henery says that the true believer “The true Christian’s description and property; and that is, that he receives Christ, and believes on his name; the latter explains the former. Note, First, To be a Christian indeed is to believe on Christ’s name; it is to assent to the gospel discovery, and consent to the gospel proposal, concerning him. His name is the Word of God; the King of kings, the Lord our righteousness; Jesus a Saviour. Now to believe on his name is to acknowledge that he is what these great names bespeak him to be, and to acquiesce in it, that he may be so to us. Secondly, Believing in Christ’s name is receiving him as a gift from God. We must receive his doctrine as true and good; receive his law as just and holy; receive his offers as kind and advantageous; and we must receive the image of his grace, and impressions of his love, as the governing principle of our affections and actions^[1]

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^[1]Henry, M. 1996, c1991. Matthew Henry's commentary on the whole Bible : Complete and unabridged in one volume (Jn 1:6). Hendrickson: Peabody

Judges 1-2 The story of a lack of Faith and Obedience

What God told Israel to do:

To understand what is going in the first two chapters of Judges we must go and look at Deuteronomy 7:1-26.  In this section of the Bible we read that God commanded that when His people get to the Promised Land that they are to get rid of all the inhabitants of the land.  We read in Judges Chapter one the death of a great leader, we then see the people praying for Gods guidance.  They go and do what is commanded in the first part to the land. But then by the end they begin to compromise and allow the inhabitants, who were stubborn and didn’t want to leave, they instead allowed to stay and become there salves.  This  would come back to haunt them, Israel would later learn the inhabitant’s ways and begin to worship their gods.  God had also told them in the next section of Deuteronomy (7:12-26) if they put their faith in Him and obeyed His Word they would be blessed

The consequences of not keeping Gods commandments:

As we read chapter two of Judges we see the decline of Israel, the people begin to worship other gods.  By doing so they are no longer under Gods protection, they are not teaching their children about God.  Through all this God allows their enemies to come and defeat them.  Then He raises up the Judges some local, some military to help guide the people back to Him.  Twelve judges before Eli and Samuel fourteen in all before the rise of the kings.  We also have a promise from God, we also can live a life with the great promise of Gods salvation.

Let us not fall into the same trap that the Israelites did:

If we put our faith in God we have been given the promise of eternal life with God in Heaven.  We must put our faith in God and allow His Holy spirit to guide and direct us.  We must stop living as the world and start living for the kingdom God.  We read in 2^nd Corinthians 2:7-18, Paul tells us the new Covenant gives us confidence in Christ we are now able to have a personal relationship with God.  We are able to go and pray with confidence and know that God hears our prayers.  There is no need for us live a life of defeat. God has called us to be Holy.  When we give our lives to Christ we must leave our old lives, and no longer sin.  James 1:19-26 Tells us “My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. Your anger can never make things right in God’s sight.  So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls.  And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don’t obey, you are only fooling yourself.  For if you just listen and don’t obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. ²⁴ You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.  But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law—the law that sets you free—and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.  If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.  Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.”

Christ is God in the Flesh: Text from John 1:1-6

One God not three:

As we look at the opening statements of John we read, “In the beginning the Word already existed. He was with God, and he was God. ² He was in the beginning with God.”  In these verses John is telling us that God and Christ are the same.  The wording on this is so impartment, what John is saying is that Christ was always God, He never stopped being God.  Some try to say that Christ didn’t exist until He was born of Mary, while others say He became a god after the resurrection.  But John is saying that before time existed so did Christ.  This means that Christ is a part of the God Head.  “The Bible teaches that there is one God and that there are three Persons in the Godhead—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. All three of these Persons are God. In this verse, two of the Persons of the Godhead are mentioned—God the Father and God the Son. It is the first of many clear statements in this Gospel that Jesus Christ is God. It is not enough to say that He is “a god,” that He is godlike, or that He is divine. The Bible teaches that He is God”. ^[1]

All Life Comes from Christ:

As we read on John continues telling us that Christ is God but also through Christ we have life. John is not talking about just spiritual life here, but all life.  Without Christ there would be no creation, no life at all.   Without God then we do not exist, let us not forget it was Gods spoken word that all things were created.  God spoke and said “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness”(Gen 1:26).  But Christ is also how we receive new a Life in God, through His death on the cross we are able to receive Holy Spirit and have a relationship with God.  The Good news John is bringing to us is that Christ is God, that through Christ we can receive the light.

Why?

Why did God come from heaven to earth, why did He come to bring light to earth.  Could this not have simply been done in Heaven?  Could not God just have said I want a relationship with my creation and just said so be it.  The answer we serve a God that is holy, He is love He wants us to choose Him, He doesn’t want to force it on us.  In order to restore a relationship with us He needed to come to earth and be that perfect sacrificial lamb.  It is through Christ coming to earth and dying on the cross, then being resurrected that we able to come to God and be forgiven.  Only through His death and resurrection are we able to have a new spiritual life through Christ.  

Other Scripture used in the Morning talk: Colossians 1:6, and Colossians chapter three

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^[1]MacDonald, W. 1997, c1995. Believer's Bible Commentary : Old and New Testaments (Jn 1:1). Thomas Nelson: Nashville

Three Challenges for the New Year

Three Challenges for the New Year

Challenge One: Read through the entire Bible

It is by reading the Word of God that we learn of who God is.  The Word is not just a book we pick up and read, it is life changing.  We are able to see and read about God and who He is.  More importantly we learn how to live a life of Holiness.  We find victory over sin through the Word of God.  If we work our way through the bible in a year I promise you will see big changes in your relationships with God.  Paul calls the Bible “the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”

Challenge Two: Pray more decisively/direct  

We are called to pray as followers, God works through prayer, if we do not pray then God does not work James 5:15 tells us.  “^13 Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. ^14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ^15 And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. ^rAnd if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ^16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.  In Luke 11:19 Christ tells us,  “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” In  1^st John 5:14 says “¹⁴ Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

Challenge Three: Go out and live your life showing the love of Christ to those around you.

We have been given a gift from God, the gift of salvation, which is not a gift for just for us.  Christ came to earth to die for all mankind.  We need to let those around us know who Christ is, it’s not just a maybe I should but it is a command from Christ Himself.  In Matthew 28:18-20 tells us this ^“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  If this is not enough then think about this all who do not know Christ Jesus do not get to go to heaven. Is that in and of itself not enough to motivate us to do are part in spreading the Good News of the Gospel?