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(1) Acts 11:19-30 + 13:1-3 A CHURCH WITH A MISSION

I would like you to come with me to an ancient city. The year is about AD 45. It is the capital of Syria and its population of about half a million includes people of many faiths. This was the the great city of Antioch - “Antioch the beautiful” it was called, because of its many fine buildings, its paved boulevards, double colonnades with trees and fountains. But for all the beauty of the city, it is the Christian church at Antioch which commands our attention for it was from there that the great mission of the church to the world was launched.

Mission ran in the blood stream of the church in Antioch and I would like us to think briefly about 3 aspects of what we are told about them.

READ Acts 11:19-21. They preached and explained the message about Jesus to both Jews and Gentiles whose cultures were very different. No doubt to Jews they explained that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for. But what did they say to non-Jews? At the end of v.20 it hints that they preached Jesus as LORD, no doubt based on His resurrection. We know that later Paul did that when addressing the council in Athens. They approached their hearers in a way that would fit their way of thought. Today we are faced with the same sort of question. We live in a society which believes there is no absolute truth, and that ANY OR NO religious belief is OK and just a matter of personal choice. We must bend our minds to how to engage the hearts and minds of the people around us. The message of Christ must not be changed, but the way we present it will need to be tuned to our hearers. Our present age goes much on feelings - people feel lonely or unloved. But their over-riding concern - if they will admit it - is 'uncertainty'. Uncertainty about everything - and it is crippling. Uncertainty about jobs, about the love of another, about the future. Surely we can tune such people into the love and dependability of God; the permanence of what He has done through Jesus Christ, the long-planned provision of forgiveness, the possibility of a clean conscience.

Look at v.22. The church in Jerusalem recognised that something very important was happening in Antioch - so what did they do? v.25,26. The confidence they needed for mission had its foundation and its motivation in their understanding of their faith. So for our confidence for mission, consistent learning from sermons and Bible study are not optional extras, but essential.

Turn to chapter 13:1,2. They wanted to express their seriousness towards God’s work so they fasted as they worshipped. Do we find much seriousness in the church today? Seriousness about learning and seriousness about evangelising?  I do not think so. As time went on they began to understand that God wanted them to send Paul and Barnabas off as missionaries. So they prayed and fasted. What a loss to them that was to be! But they did it - they sent them off and the evangelisation of Asia minor and Europe began !! The Gospel was on its way to us!

It just shows what God can do with a church of people who know what they believe and are serious about making the good news about Jesus known!

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(2) A GREAT CHURCH: ACTS 11:19-30 (+ 13:1-3) 

I would like you to come with me to the ancient city of Antioch, the provincial capital of Syria . It is about the year AD 45. It was called ‘Antioch the beautiful’ because it had fine buildings and magnificent temples; a long paved boulevard ran north to south flanked by double colonnades with trees and fountains. It was also called ‘Queen of the East’ because its population of about half a million included people from Persia, India and even China, in addition to Jews and Greeks. But what commands our attention this morning is not all that magnificence, but the remarkable advance of the Christian gospel that was going on there in the midst of that multi-cultural and multi-faith city. 

In our passage Acts 11: 19-30 (p.127) we get a great sense of the bursting forth of the good news about Jesus Christ. It is of enormous significance as we shall see. So how did it begin?

1. THE TIME FOR EVERYONE TO KNOW HAS COME

In Chapter 7 we read of Stephen’s stoning: in 8:1b we read…As you see from v.19 in our passage the persecution that followed Stephen’s martyrdom resulted in the scattering of ordinary early Christians north to Phoenicia (which is now Lebanon) and Antioch and to the island of Cyprus. The Apostles remained in Jerusalem. Initially these scattered Christians witnessed only to Jews (end of v.19), but some men from Cyprus and Cyrene (on the N. African coast), when they reached Antioch began to evangelise the Greeks (v.20 middle) as well. Actually this is an enormously significant development: In chap.10 Peter preaches to the gentile Cornelius and now the mission to the Gentiles really begins to expand. So what did these people proclaim? To the Jews, they would have declared Jesus as the Messiah, but to the Gentiles he was proclaimed as ‘Lord’ (end of v.20), no doubt with the resurrection figuring large in that message. This should be the true message of the church in every generation. It seems so obvious, and yet it is a great shame on the church in Britain today, that it has neither the conviction nor the courage to fearlessly proclaim this message in our generation. No wonder the church is generally in decline. (Ave congregation in the York Diocese is 25) But the result when it was preached? v.21 - READ. ‘The hand of the Lord was with them’.

2. TO BE WELL TAUGHT WAS THE FIRST PRIORITY

It was all so exciting that the Apostles sent Barnabas (Son of Encouragement) up to Antioch READ v.22,23,24. So what did Barnabas do? He went to find Paul, converted 7 or 8 years previously! What for? -to teach -see v.25,26. The church in Antioch became a great church because it was well taught. If sometimes you are tempted to question why we so much emphasize teaching the Bible - this is the reason. Where the Bible is not faithfully taught, the result is weak Christians who do not know what they believe. Is that what we want? (Story of our previous vicar) We should be thankful we come to a church where the Bible is diligently taught.

3. THE RESULTS WERE MINISTRY AND MISSION

Do you remember the 3rd, 4th and 5th purposes that Rick Warren talked about in our 40 Days of Purpose? Discipleship, Ministry and Mission. Well, the discipling and teaching at Antioch resulted in ministry and mission. When there was a famine in Judea and the Jerusalem church was suffering, the believers in Antioch sent relief - see vs.29,30. And over in chapter 13 vs. 1-3 we discover that it was from Antioch that Paul’s great missionary journeys began.

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1 COR.2:1-16 GOD’S WISDOM NOT OURS 

One of the impressive things about the Bible is that it is incredibly honest. It doesn’t try to cover up the problems faced by some of its key characters. A prime example of this is the background to the NT letter we are studying here - 1 Corinthians. There was a deteriorating relationship between the church at Corinth and Paul the Apostle, who set it up. So what was the problem? Well, the Corinthians felt Paul’s teaching was too juvenile; they wanted something much more exciting. But Paul could see that they didn’t understand what it meant to be truly spiritual, and as a result they had allowed all sorts of ideas to creep-in that came from Greek philosophy and not from God at all.

So what is going on in today’s chapter - 2?  Paul is teaching them that if they wanted to see God’s power and wisdom in their lives, it was to be found in the Gospel and through the teaching-work of the Holy Spirit.

These verses are a bridge between the meaning of chapter 1 and the meaning of chapter 2, and v.5 is the key verse of both passages READ. Paul says that he did not come to them with great eloquence v.1 and he brought - on the face of it - a foolish message about a crucified messiah (1:18). And he came in weakness v.3,4a and yet they believed! How did they explain that? The Spirit of God had moved into their hearts and changed their perspective on life and eternity. THAT, according to Paul, is God’s power at work. There was no human wisdom or power involved, but God’s power in the Gospel message itself! In effect, Paul is saying, “If God can take a weak person like me with an apparently foolish message about a saviour on a cross and transform your life towards God, why are you looking for something more? God’s wisdom is available to you.”

Yes, says Paul, we do speak words of wisdom but it is wisdom revealed by God vs. 6-8 . How is that Godly wisdom and understanding revealed to us? By the Holy Spirit vs. 10, 12,13. But notice this is the teaching work of the Spirit v.13 “taught by the Spirit” and the channel to us for that teaching must be the Scriptures. Jesus told His disciples “the Spirit will lead you into all truth” Why? Because they were going to write the NT and launch the church!

“So” Paul is saying to the Corinthian Christians, “Stop thinking like the world: stop bringing human ideas into your spiritual thinking.”

Now how might we do that? I think we chiefly do that, when we allow our human-based reason to dictate what we accept of the Bible and what we don’t. Our reason must not sit in judgement on what God reveals in Scripture. Ours is a revealed religion: we are not at liberty to make it up as we go along. But conversely, when we do submit to the Bible’s teaching we can be truly spiritual. So moving to the last 3 verses ....

Paul spells out that the person without the Spirit, the person without faith in Christ, simply cannot understand the things of God. v.14. BUT those who do have faith in Christ can understand! Paul is not speaking here of some special grade of Christian: someone who has had a special experience. There is not the slightest hint of that anywhere here! Paul is insisting that God’s power and wisdom are available to us all in the Gospel and in the Spirit’s teaching - which for us is found in Scripture.

Our responsibility is to reject the wisdom of the world, but to seek God’s wisdom from the Scriptures and to put it into practice.

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THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESURRECTION (having read 1 Cor.15)

The most startling feature of the first Christian preaching, that we read about in the Acts, is its emphasis on the resurrection of Christ. See Acts 2:24,31,32; 3:15,26; 4:2,10,33; 5:30, 10:40,41; 13:30,34,37; 17:18,32. This was no myth, they had been witnesses of it. Without in any way diminishing the importance of Christ’s crucifixion, His resurrection was the most astonishing thing that could have happened. So what is its significance for us personally?

1. IT ENSURES THAT WE CAN RECEIVE NEW LIFE

Let’s look at four scriptures -

Romans  6:4 - because Jesus was our substitute Paul can speak in terms of identification ‘we too’.

Eph. 2:5,6 - notice the past tense, ‘made us alive’.

Col. 3:1 - 'since'; it is an accomplished fact about every Christian - and a fact that should completely change our perspective.

1 Peter 1:3 - 'through' - our new birth has only been possible because of Christ’s resurrection.

It took a mighty act of God to wrest Jesus from the power of death and so it is with us: it takes God applying His resurrection power to wrest US from that same power of death and to bring us to life.

 2. IT ENSURES OUR ACQUITTAL BEFORE GOD

We believe, because the Scriptures declare it, that firstly through the sacrificial death of Christ on the cross as our substitute, we can be forgiven for our rebellion against God; and secondly through the imputation of Christ’s perfect life to us, we, who will be sinners till the day we die, can be declared already righteous. Those are the two great planks upon which our assurance rests. But how do we know that God endorses all that? By the resurrection - see Roms.4:22-25. The resurrection is God’s resounding endorsement of all that Christ did on our behalf - both living for us and dying for us.

That it will happen, see John 11;25 , 1 Cor. 6:14  and 2 Cor. 4:14.

But in what way? Let’s turn to 1 Cor 15:35-38, 42-44. So what do ‘physical’ and ‘spiritual’ mean in this context? 'Natural' (v.44) almost certainly means ‘earthly’ - consistent with living in a material world. But ‘spiritual’ does not mean ‘non-physical’; it means ‘supernatural’ - consistent with the life of the Spirit. Christ’s resurrection body is a pointer - John (in 1 John 3:2) tells us that “we shall be like Him [Christ]” and Paul (in Phil.3:21) that “he will transform the body of our humiliation so that it may be conformed to the body of His glory”.

This has been but a small excursion into the significance of the Christ’s resurrection. At the end of the chapter in 1 Cor.15:58 Paul reassures us that we may stand firm, continuing to give ourselves wholesale to the service of Christ because the resurrection has truly happened - and so will ours ('because you know')!

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EPH.1:5,6: ADOPTION  

In our previous church we used to have two Sunday morning services. The second one was very informal and half way through we always had something we called ‘The Tin’. This was a large tin of chocolates, and each week we would invite anyone who had something to celebrate to come out and tell us about it [examples] - we’d pray for them - and then they’d have a chocolate. It was a very warm and endearing time. But there was a young girl called Beckie who each year in addition to her birthday, used to come out to celebrate her ‘Adoption Day’ - the day her parents Phil and Sue signed the adoption papers and she became theirs. You should have seen their faces! You see, there was a time when Phil and Sue - of their own free will - chose Beckie in order to adopt her as their child. That’s what Paul is saying in Eph.1:5 about God and you. READ IT. I have three titles for you …

1. BECOMING GOD’S CHILD

How does this happen then?  When God awakens our spirits to recognise Jesus as our Saviour, we become spiritually alive, not dead. When we put our faith in Christ and submit to Him, God forgives us and we become legally acquitted, not guilty. Then God adopts us, gives us His Spirit and we become His child, not a slave to sin and death. 
Frequently in the NT, we are told about this. We’ll look at just three of them:- John 1:12 (p.88), Gal.4:5b,-7 (p.186), 1 John 3:1,2a (p.237). Let’s see them all together (screen). But  in contrast those who do not believe, are not children of God but ‘children of wrath’ Eph 2:3.

2. ENJOYING GOD AS OUR FATHER

The consequences of being a child of God are all good!

(1) The privilege of being sons and daughters!. 

The other great passage on this subject is Rom.8:14-17 (p.153) Let’s read it and leave it open. In your NIV you will find ‘sons of God’ instead of ‘children of God’. Ladies do not be confounded by that! The NIV is using the original word ‘sons’ in order to preserve the idea of status. But the superior status of sons was only cultural and the Gospel has abolished it! Look at 2 Cor.6:18 (p.179).

(2) The privilege of being heirs and joint-heirs with Christ

 - did you notice Rom.8:17? (Screen) Christ is Son by nature: we are sons and daughters by adoption but we shall share with Christ the glorious things God has in store in heaven! What do you think of that?!

(3) The re-assurance of being led by God’s Spirit (Rom.8:14) As long as we seek to obey God he will lead us -think about that in relation to your life ...

(4) The privilege of access to a heavenly Father who loves us so much, and who understands and cares.  Listen to Ps.103 13,14 and Matt.7:11. How much do we use this access?

(5) The confirmation of God’s discipline We do not ‘like’ our earthly father’s discipline - and we will no-more ‘like’ our heavenly father’s discipline. But we know it is for our good and confirms that they care how we turn out. Listen to Heb.12:5,6.

3. BROTHERS AND SISTERS TOGETHER

If each of us is God’s child, then we are brothers and sisters in His family. We belong to each other more deeply than natural brothers and sisters. We have responsibilities for each other’s welfare: for loyalty and encouragement. The NT calls it ‘love’. And we will all try to imitate - individually and together - our Father’s character. No wonder that Paul’s assertion of our adoption is followed by praise! READ Eph.1:5,6

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PHIL. 1:1-11 NEW HEARTS

We all love to get news about people we know and love, don't we? Well, just so, the apostle Paul, in prison in Rome, was thrilled to have a visitor from Philippi in Macedonia, with news of the church there he had helped to set up. So with great affection he writes them a letter of encouragement. Here in Philippians we have that letter.

    1. REAL SAINTS IN A REAL WORLD

Surprisingly - or perhaps 'instructively' in view of our usual habit - Paul doesn't call himself a 'saint'. He calls the Philippian Christians 'saints'. That's the NT name for all Christian believers (60 times in the NT): not just for a select few with halos round their heads. But let's be clear, that for you and me to be called a saint is a very seriouos matter. Why? because means 'set apart for God'! I wonder, is that how we see ourselves - set apart for God? - in the midst of a society that largely wants nothing to with God. See how Paul highlights this in v.1. >> 'in Christ' but also 'in Philippi'. They still live in that highly Roman town with its temples and idols, but they are changed people belonging now to a different order of things. The Gospel has given them new hearts. Their understanding of life and of the world has been radically changed. And this has brought them into conflict with the aspirations of the society they live in - as it will for all Christians in every age - including our own. If we don't recognise that fact or feel that tension with the world then perhaps we haven't yet understood the radical nature of being a Christian. 

So Paul wishes them grace and peace - because they are going to need both. Grace is both God's initial work that brings us to faith AND his constant active good will towards us. Peace is that inner all-sufficient blessing of assurance  amidst the turmoil that comes from the world. 

But before we move on, let's note that in the early church, both bishops and deacons were within the local church. The bishops were not distant dignitaries rarely seen, but elders in the congregation. Deacons were the administrators and helpers. This form of leadership helped the church to concentrate onto its local focus. 

Why is Paul so thankful in vs.3-7

    2. PARTNERSHIP IN THE WORK OF THE GOSPEL

The Philippian Christians regarded themselves as Paul's partners in the work of the Gospel. They hadn't been ashamed of him in prison (some might have been - might we have tried not to notice?): they've sent him gifts (not everyone did): and they have persevered from day-one themselves (end v.5). In v.7 they have leapt to the defence of the Gospel: they have 'confirmed' the Gospel by the quality of their lives and their desire to learn. What Paul had to do, they did: he spread the Gospel, they spread the Gospel: he suffered, they suffered: they were all in it together. 

Now again, is that how we feel? We Christians in the local church are not like customers in a supermarket picking and choosing what we will have. We are under the Lordship of Christ and the authority of his word. We have the joint responsibility to pray for our neighbours, recommend Christ by life and lip, to represent him in every way possible in our locality. So what does Paul pray for them and us?

    3. vs. 8-11 GROWING FOR GOD'S GLORY

Alec Motyer in his commentary, sees this love (v.9) as a plant growing - with knowledge and insight as two stakes to hold it up while it gains strength and grows. Knowledge is knowing the Lord, his character and his will; insight is knowing how to apply that to everyday life. v.10 - 'so that you may be able to discern what is best ..'. In v.11 Paul speaks of fruitfulness. He wants to see a harvest of righteousness that will bring glory to God - and that must be our ultimate aim - mustn't it?

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Very often in a passage of Scripture there is one verse that stands out, because it is the key to understanding how and why all the other verses hang together. In this passage we have such a verse - its v.7 and also the end of v.9.  It is the focus of what all the other verses are about. Let’s see how it works.

          1. STAND FIRM, IN ONE MIND

Paul really loves the Christians at Philippi - see what he says in v.1  - that’s great isn’t it? In 1:8 he says ..... Here is the loving heart of a true pastor - he feels at one with them; just as they have been with him. So out of his heart of love what does Paul want for them? He wants them to ‘stand firm, in one mind’ - in v.1 ‘stand firm in the Lord’ - v.2 ‘to agree with each other in the Lord’. He’s said this twice before - 1:27, 2:2. Paul knows that unity in the local congregation is so important: agreement in the message of the Gospel and harmonious relationships, together, enable a church to stand firm and face the hostile world without retreating.

So Paul urges two of the women who have fallen out to come together again v.2 and appeals (3a) for a climate of mutual helpfulness. Paul knows that the strength of the local church can only be the sum of the strengths of its members.

That’s why he then moves on to express his concern for their inward spiritual state. In vs.7 and 9 he is going to make them and us a wonderful promise that will help us to stand firm with one mind, but he wants us to understand how it can come about. So he sets out 4 ways to promote such a blessing amongst us ......

These 4 ways involve 1. the depth of our relationship with Christ 2. the way we handle our circumstances 3. what rules our thoughts 4. how we run our lives.

Firstly, Paul says, vs.4. The question is: how can we rejoice in the Lord if we don’t know Him very well? Or we don’t put Him first in our lives? Or if He is not the grounds of our confidence for the future; how can we rejoice in Him? But if we personally do know Him well from reading the Scriptures and from experience; if we do put Him first, do put our confidence in Him, then we can rejoice in Him!

Secondly, what about our circumstances - vs. 5b,6? In prayer, anxiety is resolved by trust. We are to bring everything to God, and to be specific. Sometimes God changes our circumstances; but most often He changes our attitude to them. But He is near; not distant nor disinterested!

Thirdly, what rules our thoughts > the passions and fashions of the world or v.8 ....? All have problems with our thought-lives?

Fourthly, how must we run our lives? Answer in v.9 - we are to live by Apostolic teaching - the NT.

‘Now’ says Paul, ‘do these things and v.7 and v.9 ...

          3. A SUPERNATURAL GIFT

What is this gift like - vs.7 and 9?

First, it is “the peace of God which surpasses understanding” - the peace that man cannot explain away. Peace in the most unlikely circumstances. It is the finger of God upon us.

Second, it is a peace that will guard our hearts and minds: the never-sleeping troops of the King of Kings constantly patrol the walls of our hearts and minds. The man or woman of prayer and dedication to Christ, is lodged in an impregnable fortress, and the name of that fortress is Christ Jesus (v.7end).

Third and last, this is not an impersonal peace that will be with us, but v.9 ‘The God of peace” Himself will be with us. For in Christ Jesus we are unshakably at peace with God, who has reconciled us to Himself by the cross of his Son.

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COL. 1:9-20: DO NOT LEAVE CHRIST BEHIND 

If you are a Christian, are you satisfied with your performance as a Christian? You’d be very unusual if you are. Do you wonder sometimes if you might have missed something that would give you greater success in living for God? Well, the young Christians at Colossae were no different from us. But, it appears from the issues Paul raises in this letter, that there had come into their church visiting missionaries with a new but dangerously-misleading teaching that seemed to answer this need. This teaching seems to have promised a deeper and fuller knowledge of God by adding to faith in Christ, certain practises and regulations and so-called superior spiritual insights and power. 
The church at Colossae had become unsettled: some embraced the new teaching; some were worried by it; some wondered if they were really true Christians after all. The church was divided. And it had not occurred to them that to embrace this new teaching was to be disloyal to what they had been taught from the beginning. 
So Paul sets out to show them that ‘It isn’t new things we need, but a better grasp of the old things’. He wants to emphasise that ‘Christ is the Supreme Lord and sufficient for all you need’.
Our passage this evening can be understood under three headings: as if Paul is saying ….

1. (Don’t you realise) What God has provided through Christ vs. 9-12a

Paul has begun in vs. 3-6 by assuring then that they are True Christians and that what they have believed is the True Gospel. Now he wants to tells them that God can provide True Knowledge and True Power. First - Read 9. Notice ‘may be filled’ and ‘all’ wisdom and understanding. If the false teachers could speak of fullness, so could Paul! In fact we are in for a ‘symphony of superlatives’ here. ‘Spiritual wisdom’ speaks of our minds not being left to their own (earthly) devices but enlightened by the Holy Spirit. And ‘spiritual understanding’ speaks of being able to apply that wisdom to our daily life and decision-making. This is not abstract knowledge, that might make us feel rather clever, but v.10 ‘so that …. fully pleasing …in every good work…‘’ 
Second read v.11: ‘made strong …with all strength … And what for??
Spectacular acts of power? No! for endurance, patience and joy through thankfulness. Ordinary? Are you going to survive as a Christian?

2. (Don’t you realise) What Christ has done for us vs. 12b,13

We have seen True Christians, gospel, knowledge and power. Now TRUE DELIVERANCE. He has qualified us, rescued us, redeemed us! On what grounds are you now proposing to move on to something or someone else?

3. (Don’t you realise): The Fullness of Who Christ is vs15-18

v.15 - Christ is the image of God : v.16 - All things were created through Him and for Him: v.17 - He existed before anything was created and He holds everything together: v.18 - He is the supreme head of the church - His new creation: v.18 - He is the author of life (Peter in Acts 3:15) : Here is True Superiority. He must have first place in everything - we must not follow people -popular teachers or preachers; we must not embrace anything that moves Christ off-centre.
Now we come to True Fullness - v.19 God with us in Christ. Moreover, not only has Christ reconciled you v.20 - He has reconciled the whole of creation to God! God for us in Christ. 
The Greek ‘fullness’ here means ‘complement’ (full complement)> the false teachers wanted to ‘supplement’ Christ. Paul says ‘You can’t, Christ is the full complement. He us supreme and sufficient.

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COL. 1:9-14  PAUL'S PRIORITIES IN PRAYER

I think it is true that most Christians have a bad conscience about prayer. We know we don’t pray enough and we are not confident that we always pray in the right way; our prayers are sometimes very un-thought-out and scrappy. So its helpful when we come across Paul telling us what he prays for and about. He does this is in Col.1:9-14 (p.197). First I think we can note

          1. THREE CHARACTERISTICS OF PAUL’S PRAYING

First, a point we mustn’t miss here is that Paul has never met any of the people he is writing to and praying for (v.7,9a). But Paul has added them to his prayer-list. So how much of our praying is confined to our families and church - our immediate and relatively small circle of friends - and how much is on a wider scale? Of course we have a responsibility to pray for our immediate circle, but is that as far as our prayers reach? It is good for us to seek news of other Christians around the world and to pray for them: today, the many persecuted Christians ought to be in our private prayers.

Second, Paul says he prays unceasingly. That doesn’t mean he does it all day every day; but it speaks of regularity and discipline. Paul seems to be implying that some things are so important that they must prayed for again and again. Intriguingly he is going to tells us some of what they are.

Third, Paul doesn’t just pray when things are going badly, but when there is cause for thanksgiving (vs.3-5a). So what does he pray? - good news stimulates him to pray for more of it. So let’s move on to find out what Paul prays for them

          2. PRAYER FOR THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD‘S WILL.

(It should be noted that false teachers in Colossae appear to have been teaching that complete spiritual fulness only came with an additional  superior ‘knowledge’ of spiritual matters and a special endowment of power.  But Paul insists that fulness is available to us all  [not to a privileged few] in Christ now. We do not need special knowledge or power. He shows his confidence in this by using the same words as the false teachers - 'asking God to fill you' [v.9], 'all knowledge' [v.9], and 'all power' [v.11] - he speaks in superlatives too! But he insists that Christ is both supreme and sufficient.)

Read v.9. So what “will” is this? Now of course, we want to know what God’s will is about all sorts of decisions in our lives (some are very big decisions), but this is not the primary thought here. Paul in praying for knowledge of God’s will   "through all spiritual wisdom and understanding”, is referring to God’s general will for our lives - derived from our knowledge of God through reading and studying the Bible ('understanding' is the activity of the mind - we are not to be mindless) and worked out in practice ('wisdom' is knowing how to live to please God - we are not to be careless) - see v.10 “in order that” ..... 

"you may live a life worthy of the Lord 

please Him in every way

bearing fruit in every good work

growing in the knowledge of God."

What fruit and what good works would Paul have had in mind? Clearly he would have included the works of service that arose from holy lives and love for others. But knowing Paul's priorities, he would also have included works of witness and evangelism.  Is there any better work than telling someone else the Gospel and praying that it will take root in their life? Notice how the knowledge of God begins and ends this sequence; emphasising it as foundation, motivation, and the vital end-point.  

          3. PRAYER FOR POWER

We might conclude that in v.11 Paul is simply extending the list of goals in v.10. But in the light of the false teaching in Colossae and the emphasis on power in recent years in the western church, we should stop to consider what Paul thinks the purpose of this strength or power is. So what is it for?  In an age of instant solutions, passing fads, and short fuses, we might consider endurance and patience less than exciting. Are you disappointed with Paul - were you expecting all this power to be for something really spectacular?  But endurance and patience are precisely what we Christians need to be able to survive. Do you know of anyone who was once a keen Christian, even a noted preacher, who is now nowhere in the Christian faith? Yes, we all do! Do you think you need fortitude and stamina as a Christian? Can you guarantee that 10 years from now you won't have joined those who have turned back? Oh! God will not give you up, but might you give Him up? We need power to stay with it. In Eph.3:18 once more Paul focuses-in on the word 'power'. Again he spells out what he wants us to have power for... to grasp how much we are loved by Christ! And to know this love for ourselves! Surely this will help us to resist the tentacles of the pagan culture all around us.

And not surprisingly, joyfulness and thankfulness in our lives please Christ. Not bubbling joy necessarily (but why not sometimes?) but certainly a deep-down happy confidence that all is well with our soul. Not to be thankful in the light of vs.12-14 would demonstrate what Carson calls ‘a catastrophic loss of perspective’. Let's spell them out

The Father has ...

qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light

rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves

redeemed us

forgiven us.

So these are the things Paul considers of prime importance as he prays for the Colossian Christians. Are these our prime concerns as we pray for one another and for Christians we do not know? 

Helpful books: 1. Lucas R C 'The message of Colossians and Philemon' IVP Leicester, UK, ISBN (UK) 0-85110-736-2, (USA) 0-87784-284-1.   2. D A Carson 'A Call to Spiritual Reformation'  IVP Leicester, UK, ISBN 0-85110-976-4 pp.95-110.

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Col. 2:6-10  THE SECRET OF LIFE

We live in an age of uncertainty. On the whole, modern people don’t trust anybody else. Marriage is too much of a trusting commitment. Authority represents power and is to be resisted. No one, it is believed, can know what the truth of life is. On-going employment isn’t guaranteed even if you work well. Colleagues become a threat when the company “downsizes”. So on what basis can life be lived? Most people live for each day. When they get home to their castle, they pull up the drawbridge and shut themselves in with the brain-washing materialism of the TV.

So what have we Christians got to offer? Do we have a secret? Yes, we do! But what is it? A set of rules? No! Coming to church? No! What is it then? .....Are we crystal clear as to what our secret is? Its a Person!

Let’s turn to Col.1:27, 28a. See, again, 2:3. If that IS who Christ is, then He is the One who is meant to be the essence, the focus, the centre, the passion, the power in our lives. So how can we live fully in Christ? Paul tells us in 2:6,7. Here is the secret of Christian living. Paul gives us three principles for godly living, spiritual growth, and better Christian understanding.

1. GODLY LIVING - “since you have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord, live in union with Him”

That sounds rather ordinary! Until we realise what it really means to accept Christ Jesus. It’s possible that we have much too low a view of what that means! Notice that Paul says “Lord” not “Saviour”? Of course, He could not be our Saviour if he were not the Lord. There is no aspect, situation or circumstance in our lives over which He does not have absolute authority, to which we must submit. So is that how we live? Does He rule over our time, our money, our relationships, our homes, our work, our leisure, our priorities ? Does He? Fulness of life arises from serving Jesus Christ! And notice, we are to 'continue to live in him' just as we 'received him' which presumably was by faith. So faith is the basis of our life.

There is more to being a Christian than becoming a Christian. Just as there is more to being human that being born a baby. As a child grows into an adult, it grows stronger; it learns how to cope with adversity on its own; to looks for answers to its problems; it learns to provide for its own needs; to set its goals and priorities; it learns from mistakes. Paul is telling us that to grow spiritually will require us to root and build our life-experiences on Christ as we use our spiritual muscles in every circumstance. There are no quick-fixes. It is through the old ways of reading the Bible and applying it to our lives; constantly involving Christ in our lives by prayer; and gathering with others to worship, that we grow and blossom as both people and Christians.

We cannot be enthusiastic about something, or make sacrifices for it, if we do not understand its importance and significance. The knowledge of our faith must grow, or we will remain Christian infants, unable to fend for ourselves We must learn and experience the power of its application to our lives. We must take steps to ensure our understanding grows. A sure sign of the Spirit in us is a thirst to learn from the Bible - to use our minds - to grasp ever more strongly what God has done in Christ to provide for our life and our eternity. Does our understanding of our job/career/profession exceed our understanding of our faith? I remember telling some young Christians studying for their A-levels, that they should understand their faith at a higher and deeper level than their A-level subjects. They were astonished. Perhaps some of them had not realised there was that much to know? Perhaps they had never bent their minds to it? Paul would have certainly assured them that there is much to know (Col.1:9 and Phil 1:9).

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COL.2:8-23 WATCH OUT FOR MENTAL PIRATES 

If you’ve been here for our series in Colossians so far, you might remember that one of the main reasons why Paul wrote this letter was to help the Christians in Colossae to guard against some very misleading teaching that had come into their church. Nowhere is this clearer than in our passage tonight, for it contains three warnings - in vs.8,16 and 18. Read them. Let’s look at these and see what Paul has to say.

1. DO NOT RETURN TO SLAVERY: VS. 8-15 

Becoming a Christian sets us free from slavery to sin and death. We enjoy a new freedom from guilt to serve God with thankful hearts for our forgiveness, and in anticipation of heaven. But it is possible for a Christian to go back into a new form of slavery arising from regulations, traditions and legalism which do not arise from the teaching of the NT, but from human ideas (see v.8end). We are tempted to supplement what Christ has done with things which appear to be good in themselves but which often finish up diverting us away for Him. In the older church-denominations, liturgies and other church practices often do that. They can become an obstacle to true faith. This is very reminiscent of Jesus’ battle with the religion of the Pharisees.

Hence Paul’s warning in v.8. By ‘philosophy’ he means the tendency in false teachers to claim they have a new knowledge, but which upon investigation can be shown to have its roots in human reasoning - what Paul calls ‘human tradition’ and says is ‘empty‘ and ‘deceitful‘; derived from the ABC (rudiments) of human-made-up religion. 
Paul goes on in vs.9,10 to reaffirm the point he made in chapter 1 - through faith in Christ we have everything that can be ours this side of heaven because of who He is and what He has done. 
In vs 11-15 he includes another ‘don’t you realise’ section. Against pressures to re-introduce circumcision and possibly embrace other regulations, Paul declares in effect ‘Don’t you realise that you were (x 4 - its all happened already) circumcised, but by an inward life-changing operation; that you and Christ are so closely-related now that it is as if you were buried with Him and raised with Him. You were (!) spiritually DEAD but now you are ALIVE. God now has nothing against you: every charge against you was nailed to Christ’s cross. Your debt to God is paid. Moreover you need not fear even the armies of evil Christ overcame them on the cross. Therefore 

2. DO NOT LET ANYONE CONDEMN YOU:  VS.16,17

It seems the teachers may have insisted on regulations about what the Christian should not eat and drink or made it compulsory to observe special days in the calendar. But Paul warns them ‘It’s a trap - all that will divert you away from what is real and solid to a mere shadow.’ In our day too it is so easy for people to get side-tracked by religious observance -and it becomes a substitute for the real thing - - church ritual, lent-keeping, over-concentration on attendance at Holy Communion. (Rico’s story)

3. DO NOT LET ANYONE DISQUALIFY YOU: VS.18,19

Here we have the portrait of a trouble maker trying to debase the ‘ordinary‘ Christian. Relying for his authority on visions, he is puffed-up by his supposed superior knowledge and insists on unhelpful self-denial and fanciful worship. This is the man (or woman) who says ‘God has told me to tell you … ’:he has got you over a barrel! The trouble, says Paul, with this philosophical-ritualistic-angel worshipping - ascetic- visionary is that he has lost contact with the reality of Christ v.19. Following him will not lead to enrichment and renewal. Be arefu who you follow! The church is to draw its nourishment, its function and its growth from its head Christ not from such idle notions. 

So says, Paul, why do you submit to this legalistic system of ritual observances? The Christian has been set free from regulation-bound religion. You died to all that v.20. That is the world’s idea of religion. 

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Heb.11:8-19 ABRAHAM: WHAT KEPT HIM GOING?  taking the long-term view

This great chapter draws on the history of Israel to demonstrate beyond all possible doubt that what pleases God is “faith”. See v.6. Abraham is one of the giants of Scripture; he was a great man of faith; Paul calls him “the spiritual father of us all”. But his life was no bed of roses; he was sorely tested. So “What kept him going?”.

          1. He was prepared to stake his life on God’s Word

See Heb.11: 8,9a. Like Noah before him, Abraham did the surprising thing because he recognised the Word of the Living God. He did it “by faith”. But this was not a passive resting back to see what God would do. He had to do something - v.8  he “obeyed when God called”. Faith and obedience are the two sides of the same coin. We may not be Abrahams, but every Christian is someone who has been “called” by God. And our response is certainly to be faith, but also with obedience, to holiness of life and dedication to God’s call to service. A missionary wife on leave was asked if she found her work overseas “fulfilling”. She replied, “I didn’t realise  fulfilment was part of the deal, I thought it was a matter of obedience!”. Abraham agrees with that.

         2. Abraham trusted God to keep his promises.

See 11:11,12. Abraham and Sarah were old and childless and yet God promised they would have a child from whom a great nation would emerge. After 11 years, understandably they thought perhaps God wanted them to do something about it - and Ishmael was born to Sarah’s maid. But that was not it, and 14 yrs later Isaac was born. Such patience! Paul, in Col.1:11 says we need to be strengthened with 'all power according to [God's] glorious might' so that we can endure with patience like that!  But, for Abraham, it was all going to happen according to God’s purposes and God’s time! How often have we not been forced to recognise that something has happened in God’s timing? But if this was not testing enough, ... see vs. 17-19. What promises has God given us who believe in Christ?  - that we will live with Him in heaven; that until that day comes He will be with us in every situation; that He will empower us to live for Him and do His work. Can we hold on to that, as Abraham held on?

          3. Abraham took the long term view.

Look at vs.9 and 10; now v.13,14 then 16. God promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, with its own land, and they would be a blessing to the nations of the world. When Abraham died, he had just one son Isaac, two grandsons and owned one field with a burial cave in it! The promises had not got very far.  And yet! vs.10, 13b. Do we have that sort of view? Do we have our minds more motivated by heaven ('the city with foundations whose builder is God' v.10) than by the  earth? these people did! Do we consider the affairs of our present church, and our work in it, only in so far as this affects us now? OR do we recognise a responsibility for the continuing work of the Gospel here in the future when we have gone?

The example of Abraham challenges us all, to faith, to trust in God’s promises, and to a heavenly prospective.

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JAMES 1:1-18: TESTING TIMES

Introduction: The Book of James does not read like a letter; but more like the notes for a preacher. The author speaks directly to his hearers: he addresses us personally, and often affectionately (eg 1:16,19). He uses ‘brothers’ or ‘brothers and sisters’ 14 times (once every 8 verses)! He emphasises anything we might miss; abruptly changes subject; works with rhetorical questions and homely illustrations; and uses startling statements to wake us up. He raises issues and then returns to them later as well. The book begins by urging us to patience and prayer and ends with the same topics of patience and prayer. Between these he deals with important issues for the church - care for the needy, control of the tongue, and personal holiness of life and spiritual growth. But it is all intensely practical: there is no doctrine here, but that assumed, James calls for a consistent Christian lifestyle. 

Now to our passage 1:1-18. After a humble greeting addressed to Christians everywhere at that time, James launches straight in with one of his startling statements. Read just v.2 then stop ....

PURPOSE FOR CHRISTIANS WHO SUFFER
James is practical and realistic enough to know that life can be tough for Christians - no less than for others. He is no victory-life, total-health preacher (explain this). He wants to help us deal with the toughest times in a distinctly Christian way. So let’s re-read vs.2-4. Here the trials are what we fall in with - serious illness, financial problems - perhaps, persecution, difficulties in many forms, often unexpectedly, usually beyond our control. But how can we possibly consider such circumstances as ‘joy’? He is not referring, of course, to a superficial gaiety that ignores the reality, but a candid awareness of deep assurance that in God’s hands even this has a creative purpose - even in the midst of something that is humanly-speaking destructive. See v.3 again - its to do with our faith becoming steadfast - strong, steady and resolute. Remember our faith is of enormous importance - without our faith in Christ we have nothing - in the next book 1 Peter 1:6,7 we READ .. ‘more precious than gold’. We have just got to hold on the fact that nothing happens to us that does not have the permission of our loving heavenly Father. What is the alternative to thinking that way? Is God fickle, superficial, changeable, caring for us at one time but abandoning us at another. Surely not:  the whole of Scripture speaks against that! 

Only for Christians do trials and calamities have any silver lining of hope at all. For those without faith, trials are meaningless, hopeless and purposeless. But the endurance or steadfastness of v.4 are not an end in themselves - they have a purpose ‘so that’… READ. We might suppose the possibility of saying to God 'OK take this trial away and I'll settle for rather less maturity thank you.'. But that would be short term gain for long-term loss. For surely it is our maturity that goes with us into eternity, isn't it?. So to endure trial is to have a short term loss for a long term gain.  

WISDOM FOR CHRISTIANS FULL OF FAITH
But to see things this way demands of us a wisdom far beyond our human understanding. So James goes on vs. 5-8 READ. God will ‘generously and ungrudgingly’ give us understanding: He will help us to see our trials in the light of heaven. The hard work of exercising steadfast faith, to remain single-minded under the onslaught of anxiety and pain, will be rewarded with an understanding unattainable any other way. But this is not the only reward for those who endure as we shall see later. But the emphasis here is not so much the size of our faith but the OBJECT of our faith -see Matt.17:20. Only a grain will do if it is invested in Christ.

BLESSING FOR THE CHRISTIAN WHO ENDURES TEMPTATION
James then deals with a common problem in the church; rich people and poor people. Jesus told us the rich find it hard to believe because their riches captivate them and give them a false security. But the poor may be envious of the rich and envy proves a barrier to Christian growth. The poor are not more spiritual than the rich but they are more likely to recognise their need and turn to Christ. 

James’ thinking moves on to the other type of trial that afflicts Christians - temptation. If you haven’t yet met a trial of the first kind you will certainly have met this one! READ v.12a. To ‘endure’ temptation means, of course, to remain firmly godly against enticements to rebel against God and how he teaches us to live. It means to swim hard and not to sink under it. It’s no good saying its God’s fault v.13. We are tempted because of our own corrupted desires v.14. Lets be clear what business we’re in v.15,16 - it’s a serious matter. But for the one who endures - and here the promise is just as much to those who suffer trials as well as temptations - v.12b !

Finally, to anyone whose resolve is wavering, James emphasises who it is asking this of us vs.17,18.  He is the ‘Father of lights’ (goodness), who doesn't change (v.17b), who gives ‘generously’ (v.5,17) and who has given us (new) ‘birth’ (v.18) through knowing the ‘truth’ so that we are very special indeed to him - ‘first fruits’ - (explain OT ref) the very best of the crop, set apart for God.

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JAMES 4:11 - 5:6 KEEPING THE RIGHT PERSPECTIVE

To understand what is going on in tonight’s passage of James we need to go back to the last paragraph of chapter three. There James placards the difference between worldly wisdom and heavenly wisdom - look at vs.14,15 and 17. Then in the first part of chapter 4 we find v.4. This is the background of our passage this evening. Here James tackles three ‘high-risk’ areas (Motyer) where, if we are not careful, we will behave more like people of the world than people of the Kingdom of Heaven. That’s what this is about. Let’s look at these high-risk areas; they are straight forward and easy to understand.

(1) 4:11,12; OUR SELF-RIGHTEOUS ATTITUDE TO OTHERS

James speaks here of attacking others' reputation and judging them v.11. To behave like this is not to be the humble person described in v.10, is it? It is earthly behaviour not heavenly (back to the two wisdoms). What does James mean in 11b? Well first he has reminded us about the ‘royal law’ in 2:8: it’s not complicated is it? It isn’t loving to denigrate your neighbour/ your Christian brother or sister. Second he means that by ignoring the commandment to love, we are saying the law is wrong! Who do we think we are v.12? So we must examine ourselves and stop it!

(2) 4:13-16; OUR SELF-ASSURED PRESUMPTION THAT WE KNOW BEST
‘Come on’! Here we have people who think (a) that choices in life are all theirs to make (13b); (b) they assume on success; and (c) life will always go on the way it is. In other words they are masters of their own life. But see v.14 then 15. James is urging us to commit our way to God; to consult God about our future; to assume that God must be the master of our life. All else in sin!! v.17.

(3) 5:1-6; THE SELF-ABSORBED TEMPTATIONS OF THE WELL-OFF

As soon as we see the word ‘rich’ we probably exclude ourselves! But we are well-off really aren’t we, comparatively speaking - or may well be one day? So what is wealth doing to us - or what might it do if we are not careful? Sounding like an OT prophet James rails against the wanton misuse of wealth. What are they doing that so upsets James? First, they are hoarding their riches v.3 end. This isn’t about a husband providing for his wife and children in the event of his death. This is hoarding wealth that could be used for the work of the Kingdom. Second, there is blameworthy misuse of others: v.4 even defrauding the workers of their wages. Third there is sickening indulgence (what do some people do with the huge salaries they get these days?) v.5: and fourth, they have used their wealth to bully the innocent. Money can afford to sue, the 'little' man can't.
Wealth can lead to this unthinking disregard for the welfare of others - ‘the spirit which wealth tends to engender in the heart’ (Barnes). It is unfortunately true that ‘some believing Christians have allowed financial power to turn their heads, ….whose worldly wealth has hardened their hearts…’(Motyer paraphrasing Barnes). So beware, that not even in some small way, will having money turn our hearts and distort our view of what God desires of us.

And, we are to remember God is not absent, He is a witness to it all: see 12a, 15, 4c. We desperately need to live by the wisdom of heaven, not of the world.

Ref. A Motyer, The Message of James, Bible Speaks Today Series, IVP, Leicester, ISBN 0-85110-744-3

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2 PETER 3:10-18: LIVING IN THE LIGHT OF THE END


We have come to the final section in our series in Peter’s second letter: 3:10 - end. Interestingly, we find that the very last verses recap what Peter is trying to achieve in the whole letter. So please look first to what Peter says at the end of our passage. READ 17,18a .. Now, we all need to hear that! It is so easy to lose our security and fall away. It is a spiritual disaster when false teaching or just plain inattention to what the Bible teaches, begins to carry away the church or an individual Christian. We need to listen to Peter!

But what is the background here? It is nothing less than the end of the world! How much does that fact feature in your thinking and mine? In view of such a momentous event surely we need to know the truth, to be secure in that truth, and to live by it! So Peter deals with the two big questions that arise …

1. WHAT WILL GOD DO AT THE END OF THE WORLD?

In v.10, in apocalyptic language, Peter tells us three things (1) That the end will come completely unexpectedly (‘like a thief‘- he got that from Jesus himself) - so don’t expect any other warning than what the Bible tells us (2) that it will be cosmic - v.10b (‘with a roar’ NIV) - Isaiah said ‘All the stars of the heavens will be dissolved, and the sky rolled up like a scroll’ .. and (3) that the earth and the affairs of mankind will be ‘disclosed’ - ‘open to God’s view’. God is going to judge the evil of the world, in the hearts of men and women, for that‘s where it is. In Is.13:11,13 God says…. 
But this is not wanton destruction v.13b,c: this has the purpose of transformation - ‘new heavens and a new earth’. In the beginning God created a universe and made us in his own image. At the end God will re-create a universe and re-make his people in his own image. So …

2. WHAT OUGHT WE TO DO TO LIVE IN THE LIGHT OF WHAT GOD WILL DO?

Note how Peter describes what should be our general attitude in vs.12,13,14 - ‘waiting’ = ‘watching’. This new heaven and earth, where righteousness is at home, is to be every believers’ new home. So our human response now matters - v.11 (‘holiness and godliness‘ are plural words = all kinds of). In v.14 he presses harder, ‘strive …’ . Back in 1:5 and 6 he says ‘make every effort’ … we are to fear being ineffective and unfruitful as Christians. In 3:14 Peter says we are to be at peace & without spot or blemish. Those who believe that Christ has saved them, can be at peace (Rom 5:1): that day will be our vindication. This assurance will energise us: without it we are weak. Meanwhile we are to strive to put God first in every department of our lives and to make evangelism our urgent concern v.15a. 

[Peter even refers to Paul’s writings for support vs.15b,16 (and incidentally confers the authority of Scripture on it).] 

Two final questions 
(1) Are we ready for the end of the world? Or for the end of your life, whichever is the sooner? The brute fact of our accountability should drive us to Christ for salvation and assurance.
(2) Are we living like God wants? Perhaps we need a new spiritual experience to achieve this? No, this is ordinary standard Christian living - see 1:3. We just have to make the effort!
Read 3:17,18.

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REV. 2:12-17 PERGAMUM - living where Satan has his throne. 

In our passage this morning we are going to discover two important things, first how Jesus Christ wants us to respond to the post-Christian society we live in; and second what He thinks about compromise in the church.

In studying part of the Book of Revelation, we have come to the third of Christ’s letters to seven of the churches in Asia Minor. We are not meant to try to fit our church into any one of the particular descriptions, but to learn from them all. For instance, we might heed Christ’s rebuke to Ephesus not to lose our love for Christ. Or to heed the reprimand to Laodicea, later, about their lukewarm-ness, which, Christ said, made Him feel sick! 

As we turn to Pergamum in 2:12-17 (p.243) we find a church in the thick of it. Pergamum was the Roman administrative capital of Asia. But the challenge to the Christians was, that it was the centre for the state-sponsored worship of the Roman Emperor. That’s why Christ says in v.13 it is ‘where Satan’s throne is’. The Christians must have stuck out like a sore thumb. But first in v.12 comes the reassurance that the one who is addressing them has the sharp two-edged sword of supreme authority - greater than all the power and authority of Rome. Rome would die but Christ’s words would never pass away.

So what had Christ to say to these pressured Christians? Well, first He tells them He knows their situation.

1. Christ commends holding fast, when things get tough

Read v.13. One of their members had been martyred. What did the rest of them do? Back off? No! (v.13) even then, they held fast to Christ’s name and did not deny their faith in him. How will you and I respond when the first Christian in this country is threatened with a fine or prison for saying something distinctly Christian? It may not be that far off! What will we do? Doswon them? Shall we say, ‘Well he/she did go a bit far didn’t they?’ Or shall we cover-up that we are Christians too? Christ will not commend that. He commends steadfast adherence to His name.

But despite their grit, there is a problem in the church at Pergamum. which is likely to weaken them and undermine their witness.

2. Christ warns about the seduction of compromise

Read vs.14,15. So what’s all that about? In the OT, Balaam led Israel into compromise with idolatry and sexual immorality. Now, here, some are doing this and the Nicolaitans also seem to be teaching a loose attitude to those same things, from inside the church! The outside pressures from our hedonistic society are seductive enough, aren’t they? But worse, even in the church - the world is allowed to set the agenda. ‘Oh’ they say ‘the church has got to move with the times’. 
So what does Christ think about compromise in the church? No fudging - He hates it. Look at v.16 - Christ will make war! The sword of His mouth means judgement: for punishing evil and cutting away false teaching. Rome is doomed - but so are the teachers-of-compromise in the church, unless they repent. Persecution often strengthens a church: compromise never strengthens it, always weakens it.

But finally, the letter ends with encouragement to those who ‘conquer’, who stay faithful and un-comtaminated. V.17 The reward is mysterious. Perhaps the hidden manna is the banquet of heaven. In Rome white stones were used for entrance tickets. So perhaps the white stone with your name on it is a personal invitation to that banquet. But the intention is clear: stand fast, withstand persecution, reject compromise and we will join in Christ’s victory.

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REV.3:7-13 PHILADELPHIA - AN OPEN DOOR 

(This sermon was preached at St.Thomas’ Church, Oakwood, Enfield, North London on 16/11/03, just two weeks before its Gift Day to raise funds for the appointment of a Children’s and Families’ Minister. Aspects of the sermon were therefore applied specifically to that issue and the notes are included as an appendix. In replacement for that section in part 2, broadly applicable notes have been included.) 

The small city of Philadelphia was situated at the top of a broad valley stretching up from the coast of western Asia Minor. It was called the ‘Gateway to the East’ because it lay at the threshold of a very fertile tract of plateau country and, significantly as we shall see later, it was originally set up in about 140 BC as a missionary centre for spreading the Greek way of life into the East. The population was small because it suffered frequent earthquakes. 

From our passage this morning (Rev.3:7-13 p.244), we learn there was a church there, but it was only small or carried little weight in city life (v.8 middle). But in His letter to them Christ finds no fault, but instead commends them and encourages them because he finds them to be …. 

1. A WEAK CHURCH BUT WITH GREAT FAITH

It wasn’t that this little church had no opposition, it did. The local Jews appear to have fiercely opposed the Christians - probably for claiming to have any right to be included in the People of God. Perhaps it had paralysed the Christians into silence. But see v.8 end. That’s why Christ comes in so strongly in v.7. The phrase ‘the key of David’ comes from Is.22:22 where we find messianic promises. Here in v.7 Christ is the ‘holy one’ ie God Himself, the ‘true one’: the One who alone has the authority to ‘open’ and ‘shut’ - to say who will be included in His People and who will not. Christ defends these believers v.9b. 

2. AN OPEN DOOR OF OPPORTUNITY

But Christ has a task for this brave little church - He calls it an ‘open door’ v.8. In keeping with the missionary foundation of the city and its name as a ‘gateway’, Christ seems to be drawing their attention to the open door of opportunity they have to spread the Gospel in their area. 

Should all of us in our churches be looking for ‘open doors’? Is Christ pointing to an opportunity that we haven‘t recognised? Perhaps we feel too weak as a church to take advantage of any new or further opportunity to spread the Good news about Christ - say, in our neighbourhood - to launch some new ministry that will reach people with Christ-centred compassion and interest -and with the Gospel of forgiveness and eternal life? But the church in Philadelphia wasn’t one of these large burgeoning churches who seem to have energetic Christians in abundance. It had ‘little power’ (v.8). 

But it was faithful: v. 8 ‘you have kept my word and have not denied my name’. It seems that faithfulness will be met by Christ with more opportunities to be faithful.

Think for a moment of the geographical position of Philadelphia. We noted earlier that it was at the threshold of a particularly fertile region. As we look to Christ to point us to new open doors of opportunity, perhaps we should think of it in terms of fertility - new life, a new harvest. 

3. FAITHFUL SERVICE REWARDED

Christ promises much to the church at Philadelphia if they will pick up the challenge > v.10 .. protection from the trials to come; v.11 .. a crown; v.12 ..they will be a ‘pillar’ - no spiritual earthquake will shake them. Philadelphia and had several names of Emperors given to it, but they will bear God’s name, the name of the New Jerusalem and Christ’s own new name when He comes in glory. 

V.13!

Appendix: But perhaps Christ has a task for us too! We should ask ourselves ‘Is our parish an ‘open door’?’ Surely it is! In the light of this, how should we see our new venture to appoint a Children’s and Families’ Worker? Surely it must be God who has led us to see this particular way in which He wants us to reach into our area? Think of it! - to have someone on our staff with experience who can spend all his time seeking out and fostering contacts with families - parents and children; getting alongside them; supporting them and encouraging them; introducing them to Christ; following-up the Holiday Club children; developing activities to suit them; perhaps taking classes in our local schools; bringing families in? … Is it a coincidence that we have reached this passage about an open door just two weeks before our Gift day? Or that next week we shall read of a church that Christ criticizes severely because they are so half-hearted? Christopher planned this preaching series long before we firmed up this project and a Gift Day for it! Could God be speaking more clearly to us at St.Thomas’ ? Isn’t this exciting?! - that we should be part of His plan

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Rev.22:1-7: CREATION RENEWED - THE TREE OF LIFE 

Chapter 21 portrays the New Jerusalem coming down from God (v.10), at the end of time, in all it glory and purity. READ vs.22, 23, 26,27. Perhaps for the sake of recapping, we should recall that here we have BOTH the most remarkable ‘parallels and reversals‘, - parallels with the Book of Ezekiel, and the final reversals of the curses resulting from man’s disobedience in the Garden of Eden. Both Ezekiel and Revelation were written at times when God’s people had lost sight of God’s control over world affairs. In the OT they were in exile having lost their kings, their land and their beloved temple. Here in Revelation believers were living in an increasingly hostile world. (Now?)
Now in chapter 22 we encounter more of this wonderful city.

1. ABUNDANT LIFE (Vs.1,2)

Do you remember what Christ said in John 10:10 - look it up. Now we have this but only in part; here in Rev.22 we have the final fulfil-ment of that. The river and the tree READ vs.1,2. The water of life is bright as crystal - the Tree of Life [last seen in Gen.2] is here an orchard. Turn with me to Ez. 47:1a, 4,5, 7,12 [p.831] (background - a desolate promised land; a deserted and ruined Jerusalem). See the parallels? The tree’s fruit is super-abundant (no sun, so no month’s literally). For healing - ‘putting right what is wrong’ - surely the forgiveness of sins and the vindication of God’s suffering people (they were right and their persecutors wrong). This is the final step in the completion of God’s promise to Abraham - from him would come a blessing to the nations! [Ps.67:1-3 - p.540].

2.  INTIMACY WITH GOD (Vs.3-5)

These verses speak of a new intimacy between God and his redeemed people. Vs.3 - the curse of Gen.3 is finally abolished. Instead the reigning God (Father and Saviour) is actually there with them (3b). They will do His will (not ‘worship’ in the sense of an everlasting church service!) AND THEY WILL SEE HIS FACE. (God said to Moses ‘no-one may see me and live’) [Ps.42:1-3 ‘As a deer longs for flowing streams, so my soul longs for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and behold the face of God?’]
As to 4b - see 1 John 3:2. What a prospect! AND these ‘servants’ will reign with Him! V.5 end. 
But all this is in the future. Despite these wonderful visions and glimpses of heaven, we have to come down to earth with a bump. How are we going to survive?

3. HERE AND NOW LIVE BY GOD’S WORD (Vs.6,7)

The Book closes with renewed calls to faith, endurance, patience and hope. 
First - v.6 - NOTE that ‘HE’ (The Lord himself) is speaking. He says this revelation can be trusted, so we are to be encouraged by what has been revealed to us. Encouraged that the world is not out of God’s control and encouraged that it is worth sticking with it; worth enduring; worth the struggle with sin ; worth the difficulties, the taunts and the opposition.
Second - v.7- HE (‘I’ - Jesus) is coming back. So we are to live by what we have read - in particular by submitting to the LORD of which the book speaks. For Jesus Christ is not only Saviour (Good Friday), He is Lord (Easter Sunday). 

EVANGELISM - The Motives : 1 THESS. 2:1-12

According to the NT, evangelism is telling other people what Jesus Christ has done for them, in order that they may believe in Him as their saviour and serve him with their lives. Evangelism can take place in large meetings or in one-to-one conversation and it is here that we shall concentrate this morning. All of us need to be much more motivated to do this and I think this morning’s Epistle reading 1 Thess.2:1-12  will help. Could you please turn to it? We are going to discover what motivated Paul and his friends to do evangelism. 

Read vs.1,2. Notice that it took great courage for Paul and Silas to do it. I’d like to put it this way ..

1. THEY DARED ENOUGH TO DO IT!

But why? because they thought they were rather good at it? No! see v.2 ‘we had courage in our God’ - not in themselves. We don’t have much courage do we? We are so afraid of what people will think of us -of feeling ashamed or embarrassed. We miss opportunities and regret it afterwards. Can we not trust God too? And often our fear is unfounded. I was chastened once by a fellow research student who said ’Why haven’t you tried to convert us?’ Somehow even gratitude for our own salvation doesn’t urge us on. Some enthusiasm like in Is 12:2 wouldn’t go amiss would it? 

So how did Paul have this courage? Two reasons - FIRST because the gospel is not a human invention - see end of v.2. God revealed it. That knowledge ought to help to remove the hesitancy we have. Also that’s why in v.3 he can say that …and v.5 (sincerity). We are not trying to trap people. (telephone winners). SECOND Christ has told us He expects it to be done - Matt.28:19a. So - see the end of v.4 they did it ‘to please God’ - and that’s how we must feel too. 

So part of the secret to doing personal evangelism is to dare enough. 

But there is another reason why we should evangelise and this lesson we definitely need to learn.

2. THEY CARED ENOUGH TO DO IT!

See v.8. Is that how we see the people we know, who don’t yet believe? Paul knew that those without faith in Christ are in a perilous state. In various places the NT says they are ‘lost’, ‘perishing’, ‘condemned’ even. Paul cared deeply about that. But I wonder if we do? I suspect we are far more concerned about not upsetting people or endangering a friendship, than we are to see them rescued by the Gospel, as we are! (story of David Shepherd) Of course we won’t always be able to say very much, but we need to say something! And we must be sensitive - Paul was …

How did he do his evangelising? Answer: first with utter gentleness v.7b …. and devoted encouragement v.11. 1 Pet.3:15 says ’ do it with gentleness and respect’. Elsewhere Paul says Col.4:5,6. Second with utter determination v.9 They were so keen to do it right, that they were prepared to do their evangelising by day and work at night to support themselves. And third with utter integrity v.10. They knew that their lives had to adorn their words. And so do ours. 

So we are challenged to dare enough and care enough.

There follows here the text of  the A5 sermon notes given to each member of the congregation:

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HOW CAN I GET ON WITH MY FAMILY? (Eph.5:15-6:4)

1. What is God's Attitude to Family life? 

There is no doubt God regards stable and harmonious family life as of great importance in the sort of society He wants to see. We should note that in the Ten Commandments, the code of conduct He provided for the people He adopted; Commandment No.5, the first after those commandments related to their relationship with HIM, was ‘Honour your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.’ Meaning, not that honouring your parents is necessarily the secret of a long life, but surely, that Israel’s national life in the Promised Land would suffer if they didn’t adopt this family principle. This interpretation is confirmed in the version of the Ten Commandments in Deut.5 (v.16) which was copied down much closer to the occupation of the Promised land, it adds the interpretation ‘…you may live long and that it may go well with you in the land’ And how about Prov.17:6? - ‘Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children are their parents.’ Or 20:20 ‘If a man curses his father or mother, his lamp will go out.’ And 30:17 ‘ The eye that mocks a father and scorns to obey a mother will be pecked out by the ravens of the valley and eaten by the vultures‘! Further 23:22-25 ‘Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old….Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.’

Thinking along the same vein, in the New Testament there is a letter from Paul which commentators widely regard as teaching what God’s new community of believers should be like. It is ‘Ephesians’ - hence our reading. Chapter 5:15,16 are a good start; our holiness has to be lived out in the real world of which our home lives are of enormous importance (no man at the end of his life ever says ‘I wish I‘d spent more time at the office‘!). v.17 Do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is.’ Then we have (21) which speaks to everyone and it means EVERYONE; then wives and husbands particularly (22-33), then children and parents (1-3); then fathers and children (4,5); (then workers and bosses 5-9). Note that Paul quotes in v.3 the Commandment in Deut.5:16 - showing that its significance has not ceased and with the comment ‘this is then first commandment with a promise‘. Indeed: so how do we apply all this?

By ‘family’ in our title, we are thinking of our immediate family group of mother and father, brothers and sisters, rather than our extended family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins although they do play a part in what we are going to talk about. 

2. So what does honouring our parents mean and how can we apply biblical principles at home?

2.1 Being wise in evil days (vs.15,16) means rejecting what the society around us says, particularly the so-called ‘generation gap’.

This worldly doctrine of the ‘generation gap’ is peddled by the libertarian community that preaches throwing off all restraints, and therefore by the media which is largely populated by such people. This doctrine is un-Christian and very unhelpful. Among our young people today it is so strongly believed in, and so strongly thought to be a gap that is unbridgeable, that it actually formulates the mindset of modern relationships between teenagers and parents and is therefore very damaging to family life. That is not to say that children and especially teenagers have always felt that their parents are old fashioned and out of touch. That is the way of growing up into the next generation. Modern problems in this area are made worse by the earlier onset of puberty with its wall-to-wall hormones, and the pressures of our promiscuous and pleasure-seeking society. At secondary school, I believe it is widely assumed that you no longer accept the authority or advice of your parents. It isn’t ‘cool’.

2.2 The Bible teaches us that relationships in the family should be dominated by love, co-operation and respect 

- which is what ‘honouring’ means. Notice that in Eph. 6:1-4, Paul recognises the need to address both children about their need to honour their parents, and parents, particularly fathers, about exasperating their children. We all know what that can be like! There can be no doubt that the Bible is resoundingly clear that we are called as children to obey our parents - until such day that we are grown up and move away from the family home. And even then do we displease our parents only after very serious consideration and with loving understanding of how they might feel.

2.3 Relationships may still sometimes be difficult even in a thoroughly Christian family. 

If we belong to a Christian family in which we have been taught the true Christian faith, there will still be problems relating to one another because of (a) the natural strains of growing up and (b) the infiltration of standards from the world. Christian parents, understandably, can get very up-tight about wanting to guard their children from the temptations of the world, causing their youngsters to feel controlled and hemmed-in; smothered even. In these circumstances parents may need to learn to trust in their children and themselves pray like mad! In other problems the principles of mutual love, respect, honouring, forbearance, forgiveness and praying (especially together) must be lived out in practice. It can be hard work and we all make mistakes. But the presence of God in the family should make all the difference. Perhaps we can read Eph.4:1-3 in this light?

2.4 But what about the situation in which as Christian children, teenagers or adults we are trying to relate in a godly way to parents who are not Christians and don’t understand - or worse, are even hostile to our believing? 

Living as a Christian at home is always demanding because our parents and siblings know us so very well. They know we always leave the top off the toothpaste which annoys them, and never tidy our rooms which drives our mother to distraction. So how can they cope with all this religious stuff? Our parents may be out-and-out non-Christian, or just not interested, or may even be churchgoers but who as yet have not themselves experienced a personal faith in Christ as Lord and Saviour. In these situations the Christian child or teenager can be very confused about where their allegiance should be placed. Notwithstanding the complications of broken marriages, single parenting, and so on, I think none of us realises when we are young just how much our parents love us and want the best for us. So it is natural for them to wonder what’s going on when we begin to display ‘religious inclinations’ or a zeal for the things of God that they do not as yet share. I remember when I became a Christian at 13 I found it very difficult to my parents especially as they weren‘t even church goers. But I did gradually tell them (my mother, I think) over a 6 months period. I joined a Methodist youth group and shortly after that they came to church as well and stayed for the rest of their lives. I think my mother became a Christian; I’m not sure my father did.

The answer for the Christian youngster in a non- Christain home is still ‘obedience’. For the child/teenager the costly but biblical answer is that we must always obey our parents unless they ask us to sin. They will be quick to notice inconsistencies between our claim to faith and our conduct. They may not always wants us to pursue our Christian interests, but our conduct at home and our attitude to them will be absolutely critical so that they may learn to respect our stand. We will almost certainly have to give-in to them when we want to do something Christian and they want to do something else. In particular, as far as it is in our power, we must never allow our interests to disunite the family. The Bible’s perspective, as with husbands or wives with a non-Christian spouse (1 Cor.7:12-14), is that it must be the quality of the Christian’s life that counts. I once had an email from a man who thanked me for my website because it had helped him to return to faith after years ‘in the wilderness’. He said that his wife thought he had become a religious fanatic. I replied and told him that now was the time for him to be the best husband he could possibly be. That was the only way to win her confidence.

But in the midst of our unbelieving family we need to remember that we belong to another family too; the family of the Church. It is there that we will be able to draw on advice and prayer support, so that we can maintain a faithful witness, despite the difficulties or opposition at home.

For the adult who has left home and makes their own decisions, the aim should still be to love, respect and care for (particularly this one!) our parents even when they do not understand or share our keenness to serve God. Parents may have different values and goals for their children and their grandchildren even when they have grown up, but a Christian stand must be combined with continued love and mutual respect, which may have to be worked at and prayed for very hard.

2.5 Finally a word about witnessing to parents. How do we seek to convince unbelieving parents about the Christian faith?

The short answer is ‘with difficulty’. After all it is a reversal of roles. It doesn’t feel right. When we talk about something that is so important to us with people who know us best, it is easy to become impolite, dismissive and argumentative. There must be much praying. Our motive are good - we want them to find Christ, but our zeal must be tempered with godly restraint so that we maintain honour and respect. Gentleness is the supreme requirement. We must avoid being condescending or rude or patronising, but show graciousness and love as we do it. Often it is our reporting of the beneficial activities the Christian fellowship we belong to that will first stir their interest. Our hearts may ache for them, our prayers may become desperate, but our task is to remain faithful; the responsibility for their conversion is God’s.

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GOD’S RECKONING: ROMANS 4

 In Chaps 1 and 2 of Romans and up to 3:20 Paul has been spelling out that all mankind stands guilty before God because we have refused to allow God to be the ruler of our lives. And this has resulted in every kind of bad living which offends the character of God. But in 3:21 Paul announces the Good News READ vs.21-25a. The three big points here are (1) We could not save ourselves, so God has acted to provide a way of salvation in accordance with His own justice (2) God did it though the sacrificial death of His Son Jesus Christ, and (3) We are put right with God (‘justified’) as a gift from God through faith (by believing in it; not by trying to gain it with good deeds)!

This salvation gained by FAITH ALONE appears to be such a radical solution to our problem that Paul wants to shows us in Chap. 4 that even the old Hebrew Patriarch Abraham was accepted by God on exactly the same grounds - faith, not anything else. 

However, before we begin to examine the chapter, I think I need to explain a key phrase that occurs 5 times in the chapter; ‘reckoned as righteousness’ (see vs. 3, 5b, 6, 9b, 22). What does this mean? If you
ask the question ‘According to the teaching of the Bible, what is it that God demands of us all?’ The answer is RIGHTEOUSNESS. What is ‘righteousness‘? Righteousness is perfection, perfect action, perfect
living. Which of course we cannot do! That’s why we need saving! Only Jesus, and Adam and Eve before they sinned, have ever been accepted by God in their own right. And that was because they were
perfect - righteous. In the Old Testament it often refers to ‘the righteous’. That doesn’t mean those that live good lives; it means those that are living by faith in God. God demands righteousness but is willing to accept faith as righteousness.

So what Paul is teaching us, and is going to illustrate by Abraham, is that when we believe in the sacrificial death of Jesus on our behalf and submit to him as our Lord, then God counts that faith as if we were RIGHTEOUS. He reckons us to have lived a perfect life. So v.3 READ. Actually what God does is to reckon to us CHRIST’S PERFECT LIFE, as if we had lived it. Abraham did not know about Christ, but God accepted him on the basis of faith, just as He would later accept us on the basis of faith. God would have reckoned Christ’s righteousness to Abraham, as to us, as He would to all the Old Testament believers.

Let’s think about his some more. If you like, we have a bank account in heaven. It is badly in the red because we have lived a life of rebellion against the rule of God. But when we believe in Christ, God wipes it clean and credits our account with Christ’s perfect life. So this is how it works: The Holy Spirit awakens our hearts; we hear the Gospel about Jesus and begin to understand it; we recognise Jesus as the only saviour and put our faith in Him; God reckons our faith as righteousness, wipes out our record of sin and credits our account with Christ’s perfection; God can then accept us because we have righteousness and He gives us eternal life by His Holy Spirit, who then helps us to live for Christ. Please remember this couplet:

Christ died to take the penalty for our sin, so that we do not have to take it.

Christ lived on our behalf a perfect life to present to God because we cannot live such a life. 

Now let’s see how Abraham illustrates all this. Remember, the question behind this chapter is ‘How was Abraham put right with God?

 
In vs.1-8 Paul tells us that Abraham was not saved by his good deeds. READ….. Got it?

Now in vs.9-12 Paul explains that Abraham was not saved by the religious observance of circumcision - which of course was introduced by God to mark out His ancient people. God made His promises to Abraham and reckoned him righteous before circumcision was even introduced! READ Got it? So coming to church, your baptism or your confirmation or any other religious observance does not save you! It is only by faith in Christ which God ‘reckons as righteousness’.

Then in vs. 13-14 Paul tells us that trying to obey God’s law will not save us. READ Obedience will properly result from our salvation but it will never be the cause of it.

Let’s jump to v.18: God had promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation, more numerous that the stars in the sky or the grains of sand on the sea shore, but he had no children! He had to wait 20 years even after God’s promise of a son, for his son Isaac to be born. Now let’s read 18-the end. Do you get it? This is full salvation, complete liberation from our failed lives.

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HEBREWS 13:7-16 CHRISTIAN SACRIFICE

(This sermon was preached soon after the World Cup Football competition had begun in June 2006)

It’s fun isn’t it, to see all the England flags around - perhaps you’ve got one on your car or your house? Its great to have a national cause that people want to support. [Not that the team makes it easy for us - last Thursday’s match left me like a nervous wreck!] Well, its easy to be committed when thing’s are going well, but enthusiasm can waver pretty quickly when things aren’t so good. 

Here in the book of Hebrews the writer has been persuading Jewish Christians whose faith is wavering, to stay committed to Christ and not to go back to their old religion, Judaism. Here in the closing chapter we find the answer to the big question ‘How, then, do we continue to live to please God and to ensure that we stay committed Christians.’ Sadly we all know people who have been Christians but no longer follow Christ. How do we avoid do that?

Last week Christopher took us through vs.1-6 which spell out how we should be living, what we might call our ‘social life-style’ [mutual love, hospitality, compassion for the persecuted, sexual purity in marriage, contentment, money]. This morning in vs.7-16 we find what we might call our ‘religious life-style’. How we are to approach God according to what he has revealed to us.…first…

1. vs.7,8 Remember your Teachers: imitate them now

Lets re-read 7,8. Can you think back to the people who first led you to believe in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour? I think of my Crusader Leaders; two men sacrificially devoted to teaching the Bible to teenage boys. I became a Christian at 13 because of them. They are an inspiration to me. I owe them an enormous debt of gratitude! How different things might have been without their faithful witness. Who are you thinking of? Hebrews says - Remember them, their faith and the outcome of their life-style. Christ hasn’t changed (v.8), the message hasn’t changed, so you stay as faithful as they were. In view of this …

2. vs.9,10 Practise true doctrine: strengthened by God’s Grace

Read vs.9,10 Not surprisingly, since those who taught you brought you to Christ, now be careful about the teaching you follow. Don’t go astray. It must be no less but no more than what Jesus and the Apostles taught. These Christians (these addressed in Hebrews) and we must not allow ourselves to fall under burdens of religious regulation or observance, when Christ has released us from all that! Somehow, people will always try to add regulations or religious observances to the simple worship of God. (‘You must do this; you mustn’t do that’ - here it is about food) The writer says you have Christ in your heart, so 9b- . He puts it another way - v.10. We Christians do have an altar, but it is the Cross of Christ not a stone table around which to perform rituals. Those still bound to their altar-based ceremonials cannot benefit from the Cross, he says. But there is more.. 

3. vs.11-14 Abandon all other hope: follow Christ closely

Read vs. On the OT Day of Atonement the sacrificed animals were cast out of the ‘camp’ - outside the community of Israel - a sign of uncleanness and disgrace. So, he says (don’t you understand) that Jesus our sacrifice was crucified outside the city of Jerusalem - outside the focus of Judaism - likewise disgraced and condemned. So, abandon what Judaism offered you; that is all now empty and dead. It pointed to Christ but is now obsolete. Abandon its altars and its city and follow Christ. 
But how does this apply to Gentiles? For us too, the focus of our religious practice must be on Jesus, not on a place or a ceremony. For example, even in the Holy Communion, with its imagery of the Last Supper, God feeds us not because of the ceremony - the familiar words and actions - but through the Spirit of Christ in our hearts. Remember the repeated words ‘feed on him in your hearts by faith, with thanksgiving.‘ If we do not personally have the Spirit, the Communion is of no benefit to us - it’s the heart that matters - hearts committed to Christ and looking, not for the earthly Jerusalem, but for the eternal city v.14. But to live and believe consistently with all this will require another kind of sacrifice.

4. v.15,16 Sacrifice the way God likes: testifying, caring and giving - continually

Read vs.15,16. Do you see the difference here from the altar based sacrifices? This is continual sacrifice - not an occasional ritual you go to, or done on your behalf. This is harder - we do it - continually by our life-style - particularly by living an openly Christian life; freely admitting that we are a Christian: by doing good, by sharing what we have, continually 16b! Let’s pray asking God to help us do that.

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3 JOHN:  ‘WALKING IN THE TRUTH’

What would you say is the best thing that’s happened to you this year so far? I suppose there are lots of things in our lives that could be contenders for this accolade: had a good holiday, promotion, passed an exam, moved house, bought a new car, had a baby - a new grandchild perhaps …. all good things. But in our Bible passage this morning, when the Apostle John wrote to his beloved church leader and friend Gaius, whatever good had occurred in his life, the thing that gave John the greatest joy was that Gaius had ‘walked in the truth’ - see v.3 ‘I was overjoyed when…’. Why was that so important, and what does it mean anyway?

1. JESUS CHRIST BROUGHT US THE TRUTH 

‘Walking’ in the New Testament, apart from its normal physical sense, refers figuratively to ‘the whole round of the activities of our individual lives.’ So Jesus said ‘Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ Paul tells us to ‘walk by faith, not by sight’ - 2 Cor.5:7. But here John rejoices that Gaius has walked or lived ‘in the truth’. He mentions ‘the truth’ several times in this short section. He begins in v.1 ‘beloved Gaius whom I love in ‘truth’ = ‘in the truth’ NIV et al. In v.4 we find READ. Then in v.8 READ. But what is ‘the truth’? Truth is not a very popular idea these days. Post-modern people don’t believe that absolute (THE) truth exists - only relative truth. What’s true for you may not be true for me! I have here a panel cut from a cereal box, I noticed this week. It is headed ’Universal Truths’ and concludes with the following words ‘It’s your life - live it your way. We say three cheers for spontaneity, self-indulgence and self-expression. It just feels so good!’ We could hardly find a clearer expression of post-modern thinking. If it feels good its right! But John believes not only in the existence of real absolute truth but declares in his gospel that Jesus Christ has revealed the universal spiritual truth about God and how we can relate to Him. He says in chap.1:17 ‘grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.’ In fact, in John’s gospel the word ‘truth’ occurs twice on every page - so it is a major theme in John’s thinking about Christ. We have only to go back to the previous letter 2 John and vs.1,2 to find ‘the truth’ three times. So what does walking or living in the truth mean? 

2. THE CONSISTENT CHRISTIAN

Surely by ‘walking in the truth’ John means living out in all its practical applications and implications, that new reconciled relationship with God, that we have through faith in Christ. John sees that in Gaius - a consistent, integrated, open, transparent Christian - he walks in the truth. He practices what he preaches. Every department of his life is affected by ‘the truth’. No charge of hypocrisy could be brought against Gaius. As soon as you know him, you sense that this man is different. He doesn’t hide what drives his life. You can see it in his every action. That’s what we ought to be working for, isn’t it? - a consistent, integrated and transparent Christian life. By contrast, John mentions another church leader whose personal ambition (plus) has ruined his witness to the truth - Diotrephes see v.9b,10b - note that he has cut off himself and his church from the Apostles teaching - perhaps that is why he has gone so wrong. But there is a particular application or context here that is staring us in the face - yet we might miss it! 

3. CONSISTENT CHRISTIANS SUPPORT EVANGELISM

John’s letter gives us a little insight to church life at the time. It seems there were travelling evangelists. READ vs. 5-8. Gaius is commended for his hospitality to these Christian strangers as they passed through. Diotrephes refuses to help them v.10b. Our attention is being drawn to the support of evangelism as part of ‘walking in the truth‘. A consistent Christian is someone who actively supports those who work for the spread of the Gospel. And vice versa! Someone who does not support it, is not a consistent Christian! (Like Diotrephes) So whether its something we try to do here at St. Thomas’s to reach outsiders, or missionary work abroad - we must all support it - or face the charge of inconsistency. It isn’t work for other people - we must all play a part - v.8 so that ‘we may work together for the truth’.
Looking abroad to the problems of the world, there is an ever-present need for famine and disaster relief which rightly demands the support of every Christian. But since the Asian tsunami in 2004 charitable giving has been seriously diverted away from the evangelising missionary societies which are now limited by lack of funds. This must not continue! Many are appealing for the short-fall to be made up. We must adjust our giving or give more to ensure that Gospel-declaring work is fully supported. 
I want to be like Gaius - don’t you - a consistent, witnessing, Gospel -driven believer? So we must bend our lives - our ‘walking’ - to the truth! 


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