Tag Archives: Jesus

Why?

Gallery March 12, 1995 David

Why?
March 12, 1995	Sermon by DRW	Passage Matthew 28.18-20

We have all heard messages on missions. Every year at this time we hear the same type of message. A passage like ours, from Matthew 28.18-20, is chosen and we learn to go into the mission field or to support through prayers or finances a missionary. It really isn’t that complicated a thought: Jesus said “Go!” so we should go. Pastor Chen, Vincent, Yasa, and myself have all heard Jesus tell us to “Go!” and we have gone. Pastor Chen to overseas missions and as a pastor; Vincent, Yasa, and myself have gone into a ministry with EFCA. Most of us in this room have heard a similar call into the mission field. This call could either be to actually go, to help someone with finances and/or to pray for someone daily. All these are noble calls. None of them is more nobler than the other. If God calls you to pray, pray; to go, go; to give, give:

Romans 12.4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.

Whatever God has called you to do, do. This is common sense. However, I see too many of us not willing to do what God has called us to do. We feel that another more qualified will take care of it. We feel that God doesn’t want to use us. This is what we say. We feel that we don’t have to do it. We don’t see the need to go, to pray, to give. If we did the world would be a more Christian community or would reflect more of the values of Christ. The world doesn’t because we don’t go out. We don’t believe the message for us to go out is really for us or there isn’t that great a need to go out (after all someone else will do it). Have we too quickly forgotten:

Matthew 28.18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Acts 1.8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

These verses are not talking to someone else, they are talking to me and you. This is God telling us to go, to pray, to give.

Allow me to digress. I have read stories in the newspaper that make me wonder what our world is coming to. Not too many years ago a women went for a drive with her kids. She, for some reason, decided to kill them and then commit suicide herself. Her plan was to drive her car into a lake, with the doors locked and drown with her kids. As she approached the lake she had second thoughts. But, instead of stopping the car, she drove the car into the lake and left her car. She didn’t take the kids with her. Her two kids drowned as she stayed in safety. Why? She was hopeless in her world. She felt she couldn’t carry on and didn’t want her kids to go through this torture. But she was also a coward and, after killing her children, she couldn’t kill herself. Bizarre? Not really. Strange? Not really. Rarity? Not really.

I can remember a businessman in Washington, after a hard day at work, coming home and eating dinner. After dinner, in a rather matter-of-fact manner, pulled a gun out and killed his entire family and then killed himself. Why? He was at his end, an end with no hope. He had nothing to help him make it through tomorrow. It was too much for him to bear.

I can remember a wealthy lawyer in Texas who wrote a note to his wife. He told her it was nothing personal but that he was tired and wanted to sleep. He then turned his car on and asphyxiated himself. Why? He couldn’t find rest, no peace; for him life was too busy and there was nothing for his soul.

I can remember a woman who had just gotten married, just purchased a new house, just received a promotion in the Army. Her newlywed husband came home one night to find his wife with a bullet in her head: she shot herself. Why? All her trials and pains of life weighed too heavily upon her. In order to be accepted by her peers she had to do things that made her feel bad. She didn’t feel accepted.

I can remember a man in Torrance that woke up one day just after a bitter divorce and decided that life was too hard for him. He, also, put a bullet through his head. His son found him. The note said: I can’t do it any more. Life is not worth it. Why? He didn’t believe in a loving Creator God but was an evolutionist. Life without God is worthless.

There are countless other stories like this and I would like to include one more. It is the story of two young school girls who gave a note to one of their mutual friends. They told her not to open the note until after school. After giving the girl the note the two left school and went to the desert and killed themselves. That afternoon their friend opened the letter that explained what they were to do but it was too late by then for they were already dead. Why? The note explained: We have given up hope and cannot go on living anymore.

This is why we need to go. There are people in the world without hope, without reason to live; without Jesus. This is why we need to go, give and pray. Jesus said the world is full of people like this:

John 4.31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.”

There is a need for us to give people a hope to live today. You see a Christian is not simply a person who gets forgiveness, who gets to go to heaven, who gets the Holy Spirit, who gets a new nature. A Christian, in terms of his deepest identity, is a saint, a child born of God, a divine masterpiece, a child of light, a citizen of heaven. Being a Christian is not just getting something; it is being someone. Being born is becoming someone who was not there before. What you have isn’t the point. It’s who you are. And who we are gives hope to a hopeless world. It gives people who are not accepted, acceptance. It gives people who are worthless, worth. We need to give people ourselves whether through going, giving, or praying for the mission field. We are not allowed not to participate in God’s work in this world. As His children we are called to do what He has called us to do. This is why we go, pray, and give.

I would like to challenge each one here to consider God’s work in this world. Is there a place you can minister in this world, a ministry you can pray for in this world, an organization you can give to in this world? If there is then go, give, pray. And people there are places we can go as missionaries whether short term or long term. There are ministries like World Vision we can give to. There are organizations and people in the mission field we can pray for. The question for us is: Will we? We know we should go and we know why we should go, but will we.

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Matthew, New Testament, Sermons

The Majesty of Christ Series-Who Am I?-Part One

Gallery December 18, 1994 David

The Majesty of Christ Series-Who Am I?-Part One
December 18, 1994	Sermon by DRW	Passage Matthew 16.13-16

Introduction

Location of Caesarea Philippi.

1. The Need to Withdraw (13)

a. For Himself

i. get away from the crowds

(1) when John the Baptist was killed (Matthew 14.1-12) Jesus withdrew (14.13)

(2) at this point His followers were leaving Him (John 6). He saw the weeding out of followers and true disciples.

(3) circumstances caused Him to withdraw

(a) either King or nothing

(b) Jewish power in Jerusalem was becoming more consolidated in their attempts to kill Him (ie, Pharisees and Sadduccees were aligning themselves together)

ii. keen realization of who He was and His mission

(1) Jesus was not seeking popularity (and wasn’t getting it at this point anyway).

(2) Jesus didn’t want to establish an earthly kingdom

(3) He saw the cross before Him and set His face as stone to get to it (Luke 9.51 – this statement followed soon after this retreat).

(4) The Transfiguration occured within days of this retreat.

b. For those who followed Him

i. opinion polls were down

ii. some were leaving and some remained

2. The Need to Question (13)

Background

His name was not Jesus Christ. That was a title. His name was Jesus bar Joseph.

Others called Him Christ the most, then Lord, then last of all (once) Son of Man.

Jesus called Himself (83 times) the Son of Man.

In Matthew we have Son of Man and in Mark and Luke it is merely Who I am. The difference is in the audience, Jews versus Gentiles.

i. Son of Man is historically equal to Son of God

ii. Daniel 7.9

(1) inner court

(2) divine figure (Philippians 2)

(3) descending and ascending (comp Acts 1.9-11)

iii. Deific assertions

(1) Matthew 9.1-8, only God can forgive sins

(2) John 5.1-18, Matthew 12.1-14, Mark 2-God made the Sabbath

* Draw your own conclusions

iv. He is God

b. Who do people say He is?

i. John the Baptist or Elijah

(1) why John the Baptist? He had been executed days earlier and people saw them together.

(2) he was the forerunner of the Messiah. As was Elijah. They may have transferred the work of John as the messenger who announces the Christ (Malachi 3) to Jesus.

(3) People thought Elijah was to return from Heaven for he had never died (2 Kings 2). A few days later James, John, and Peter see Jesus with Elijah and Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration.

ii. Jeremiah or a prophet

(1) announces the good news

(2) the prophet was thought by some to be the good one who overcomes politically the oppressing nations.

c. Who do you say He is?

i. John 6.66-70 the Holy One of God (=what the others thought of Him, good man)

ii. Matthew 16.16 the Anointed One, the Son of the living God

3. The Need to Respond to the Son of Man (13-16)

a. How do we respond to such an One?

i. John the Baptist Then He was merely a messenger of God bringing good news of a coming king, not much to worship.

ii. Jeremiah Then he was a good man who teaches good morals, not much to worship.

iii. God If He be God, and I believe Him to be, then He must be worshipped and obeyed. We will look into this aspect of Christ over the next few weeks.

b. In light of who Jesus is, what must we do?

i. draw closer through the disciplines

ii. thank Him

iii. tell others

c. Matthew 28.18-20 as benediction.

Old Testament, Psalms, Sermons

Psalm 51-I’m Broken, Now What?

Gallery March 13, 1994 David

Dancing with Broken Bones-A Series on Psalm 51-I’m Broke, Now What?
March 13, 1994	Sermon by DRW	Passage Psalm 51.15-17

Theme: An encounter with Jesus is the cause for His life to be lived in our lives.

INTRODUCTION

In the Winter of 1944, the Allied forces and German forces were face to face in the freezing weather. The Allied forces thought the Germans wouldn’t dare attack during such a cold time so they dug in. The Germans decided it would be a great time to attack, so they did. The Allied forces were being soundly defeated. This was Hitler’s plan to confound the Allied offensive. And it was bloody.

These raw and seasoned recruits were being beaten and killed. We know this as the Battle of the Bulge. Things were not going well. The men didn’t need a lecture on courage or ten-steps to gain ground on the enemy; they needed an example to follow. Out from behind a desk, an eccentric General was called to the front to spur the people on. Instead of a speech, he was an example. Because of this one man’s presence the day was saved. This one General was George S Patton. He was their example to follow.

I. Example

A. Who is your example, the one who spurs you on in difficult times

* whether in spiritual warfare

* or our everyday battle over the bulge

1. I have already told you mine (Joe Muslin—pray for him as he prepares for the transplant)

2. Alcoholics Anonymous has this type of help system

a. The John Loroquette show features this

b. John is an alcoholic and his example is Mitch

(1) Mitch got drunk

(2) crushed John

(3) but because of Mitch’s unswerving (to that point) example John was able to help him recover.

This is the goal of looking to an example: that we might be examples for another.

B. who do you spur on to love and good works (Heb 10. )?

1. Brokenness is never an end in itself, but merely the means to an even greater end

a. being like Jesus

b. be heroic (Matthew 6.33)

(1) throwing your entire life into His kingdom work is an incredible risk in fighting the terrible foe

(a) you will address your sin (as David did), your friendships, your hobbies, your career, your failures, your ambitions, your life in light of the Kingdom

(b) you will address poverty, hunger, pollution

As Elton Trueblood said in The Company of the Committed:

A Christian is a person who confesses that, amidst the manifold and confusing voices heard in the world, there is one Voice which supremely wins his full assent, uniting all his powers, intellectual and emotional, into a single pattern of self-giving. That voice is Jesus Christ. . . . He believes in Him with all his heart and strength and mind. Christ appears to the Christian as the one stable point or fulcrum in all the relativities of history. Once the Christian has made this primary commitment he still has perplexities, but he begins to know the joy of being used for a might purpose by which his little life is dignified [and, I add, made heroic] (23).

(2) The heroic is allowing God’s life to be manifest through you.

(a) An interesting aspect of all history is how people have sought and still seek after a hero.

i) Israel’s literature seeks after the ultimate hero, is written of heroes by heroes

ii) Greek mythology is crowded with the heroic.

(b) those who have studied sociology or anthropology understand the concept of the heroic is embodied in Germany’s Übermann, or as he is called here, “Superman”.

* A god-like person with the possibility of failure (for superman it was kryptonite, some say it was also Lois Lane)

i) God can never be a hero, He would never have the chance of failure.

ii) Man without God could never be heroic, he’d fail all the time.

iii) It is only the one who is wrapped in God’s calling that can be truly called heroic

a) his or her life will never grow stale, nor dull because their eyes are always on Jesus

b) the ultimate satisfaction and purpose in life is knowing that in Jesus I have been called and equipped for the heroic

We were made for more exquisite things than trying to fill our empty days with our own thunder. But we must all choose. Will I go on tinkering on my own agenda and my own kingdom, which will pass away when I do? Or will I tie my life and destiny to His life, His cause, His Kingdom? Only Christ offers the calling whereby we can harness our lives to a source of purpose that lasts forever (96).

Seeking first His Kingdom restores the fervor of the heroic in our lives, knowing we must do the work of God that only a child of His could do. God’s children who follow after Him are always a hero. And a hero always has purpose, life and vigor when he is pursuing the Voice of his Master.

“I knew joy (peace, patience, et al) when I first became a Christian. However, the business of my daily routine caught up with me. I forgot about Christ. Eventually, I became thirsty and discouraged. I remember what other Christians promised would be mine if I became a Christian joy (peace, patience, et al). I don’t think they were telling me the truth. I kept going back to the church but it soon became a burden. Didn’t Jesus say He would ease that burden? After a while left the church because the people were phonies and I had more important things to do. If I were honest, it became disappointed with God, Christianity, and the church—they all promised things like joy (peace, patience, et al) that they didn’t deliver.”

2. If we are broken, it is merely the beginning of our usefulness for God

a. Unless a seed dies, it cannot sprout

b. we’ll explain “brokenness” in a moment

TRANSITION: Anyone who desires to be an example, a hero, must have a personal encounter with God.

II. Encounter

A. Anyone who has ever tried to explain an abstract idea would find it very difficult without an example to illustrate and illuminate it.

B. God is one of those abstracts

1. the only way to fully explain Him is by seeing Him (John 1.14) or having a personal encounter with Him (Acts 9)

2. You have to encounter Jesus (1 John 1.1-3)

C. Any man, woman, or child who has been broken has had an encounter with God, you can see the limp like Jacob or the tear stains like David.

1. I had one last night

* God has been dealing with me for sometime and last night we dealt with it

2. the breaking can be as basic as salvation where God breaks you of your pride ( ) or as harsh as adultery (Psalm 51).

3. in either case, repentance is required

a. my will becomes His

b. defined

(1) not remorse merely for the consequences

(a) Saul wept because

i) he knew his kingdom was to be taken away from him

ii) not because

a) he was sorrowful over attempted murder

b) and idolatry

2. Judas wept and committed suicide because

1. he felt pity for himself and was ashamed that Christ was to die;

2. not because he betrayed his Master and assisted in shedding innocent blood.

2. remorse for the sin itself and the deep rooted passion that set it aflame

To the one who has seen his sin, it is not a casual thing to encounter or write-off, but is intense. This intensity leads to repentance. Remember, its His kindness that leads to repentance and sometimes kindness is found at the end of a whipping post (Hebrews 12.4-11). David’s sorrow came not from a heaven to lose or a hell to gain—for he knew his God would not forsake him—but the sorrow came because in his heart he knew he had grieved God.

* Peter wept because

1. he knew he betrayed his Master

2. his was remorse for the sin and the passion that led to sin

3. this is true repentance

4. Each person who knows Jesus as Saviour has had an encounter with Him, and has been broken

TRANSITION: To answer the question posed in the title: “I’m broke, now what?” Each of us is an example in word and deed that others will follow and imitate

3. Exercise

One question: What type of an example are you?

* PCH house

1. eyesore

2. disgrace (even after it was finished)

3. too many non-believers have seen this picture of Christianity (stench of a burnt offering) and not enough of the broken and contrite

* Dr Battenfield

1. He is a work of God

2. He is a joy to God

3. He volunteers his help, going beyond what is expected just like Jesus

4. our God demands that a man’s life and heart stand plumb with his worship, not contrasting it

5. he walks with a limp from spiritual battles

From our passage we see two things God requires of His broken ones:

1. Teachability (broken and contrite)

2. Teaching (Examples-open my mouth)

2. Teachability

1. What does He want to teach us (Luke 6.40)

1. to be like Him

2. Jesus sole desire is for us to see Him in such a way that we imitate Him.

Sydney Sheldon wrote a classical piece of literature at the turn of the century called In His Steps. He wrote it from a verse in 1 Peter 2.21. He asked us to consider asking this question each time a crisis event came: “What would Jesus do?” But does this mean imitation of Christ? Not necessarily. To truly imitate Christ is to have His character working within you. Paul calls it being conformed to His image (Romans 8.29). It means knowing the Teacher so well that the question, “What would Jesus do?” need not be asked. This is the goal: to be like Jesus in all my ways that in every situation I will know His will for me.

2. How does He want to teach us?

* Study (learn) the Word of God (2 Timothy 2.15)

1. to know Him (John 17.3)

2. do the Word (James 1.21-25)

3. pray the Word (Daniel 9)

3. Teaching/Examples

1. How do we teach?

1. by words

2. by actions

1. You will bear fruit (much fruit) John 15.8;

1. Galatians 5.22,23

2. much fruit is a lifestyle of imitating Christ which causes (intensive learners, ie teachers) others to glorify God (Matthew 5.16)

2. Next quarter we will start a series on the disciplines of the Christian life that will help us in our endeavour to be more like Christ.

4. What is the test of our teaching

1. forgiveness (the most un-natural thing a fallen humanity could do)—the restoration of fellowship

1. accepting it from God and others

1. seeing our own sin as blacker than others

2. accepting that God in Christ has made even them whiter than snow

2. giving it to others

2. You will know you are imitating Him and being an example as you love your brothers on earth as you seek Jesus.

1. John 13.34-35 compare with 1 John 4

1. a love as Jesus loved

1. no greater love than to lay down your life

2. unselfish

2. a love that the world can see

1. glorify God

2. does the world see your love?

2. Accept them where they are (Phil 23.15-16; Romans 15.7)

3. make every effort to get to know your brothers and sisters through

1. Bible study

2. Prayer

3. fellowships

3. dealing with your character and letting God deal with your reputation

1. Neil Anderson

2. Me at EFCSB (?)

CONCLUSION

God has broken you in one manner or another throughout this series. We have one more message to complete our look at Dancing With Broken Bones: Revival. Today He is calling out for those rare lights that shine for Him. He is calling out for those whom He has touched, who have had an encounter with this living God, to be an example for others to follow. We have been designated as God’s ambassador’s on earth, His examples. Are you living up to that high calling?

MINISTRY

Jesus had called out twelve to imitate Him (and the millions of believers after them). He asked twelve to come and follow Him. They stood up and left all to follow Him. I want to ask you if you want to start now, today and do what they did: forget the past and press on as an example of Jesus to people who are dying to see Him.

He calls you to come and follow Him. To seek Him and benefit from your learning from Him. Benefits that will allow you to teach others to come and follow as-well.

I will ask you to come and follow Him today too. If you so desire to commit your every word and action and thought to Christ or to come to Him for the first time I ask you to come forward now for prayer and direction.

BENEDICTION

Jude 24, 25

Old Testament, Psalms, Sermons

Psalm 51-I’m Not a Baboon, I’m a Child of God!

Gallery February 20, 1994 David

Dancing with Broken Bones-A Series on Psalm 51-I’m Not a Baboon, I’m a Child of God!
February 20, 1994	Sermon by DRW	Passage Psalm 51.10-12

Introduction

Some of us feel like we have been trapped on a slot car set, like the one Pete got for his roommate—on the surface it appears as though we are going somewhere in life but underneath we know that scenery looks strangely familiar. Our lives can become like that—falling over the same sin, the same thing, we begin to see the rut our lives are beginning to cut, we watch as that rut becomes our lifestyle—its then we feel the paralysis, the erosion of life and joy,

At this point in our life is where we must make a choice: to continue in the rut, never to change or to allow God to change us and build upon that devastated past a new foundation in Jesus.

1. We need to realize that we are desperate without God working within our lives.

1. He has pardoned us from our sin, made us clean; but David know that wasn’t enough.

1. We need a new heart.

2. David know nothing less would do

2. Today we have the technology to transplant hearts that will keep us alive for a few more years

1. its usually the heart from a baboon

2. but, I’m not a baboon, neither was David.

3. David knew that what he needed was a new pure heart that could allow him

1. not to re-enter his old passionate ways of sin

2. but into the new passion of his God

2. David got down to business.

1. He became like Christ.

1. In Luke we read that Jesus was on His final journey to Jerusalem and His death not with a hollow spirit but one with passion and determination:

2. He set His eyes to Jerusalem.

2. He was like Paul.

1. There is a biography of Paul called “The Man of Steel”, for he was determined to pursue God’s righteousness alone (Philippians 3)

2. and refused to be satisfied with the status quo.

We need these: Are you desperate for purity, do you thirst after it? Are you ready to get busy pursuing it?

Today, we will look at the seven consequences of sin and God’s way for us to overcome the sin in our life (we must realize that the consequences are still ours except by God’s grace He removes them).

2. The Seven Consequences of Sin (7-12)

1. Defilement (7)

1. contamination

1. levitical law requires those contaminated be withdrawn from the city

2. as the leper, they couldn’t associate with clean people

3. Jesus offers this in Matthew 8.1ff

2. possible exclusion from worship (11)

2. Deafness (8)

1. one writer puts it this way:

He had become deaf to the voice of God, deaf to all sounds of joy. Once he had been able to take his harp and make the halls of his palace ring with joy and gladness. No more! (Phillips, 91)

2. illustration of me and my guitar (I play when I am in fellowship with God)

3. He had no way to regain that song except in restoration of fellowship with God that is found in

1. repentance

2. and forgiveness

3. Disgrace (9)

1. There is always shame and disgrace associated with sin

* the criminal brought to the courthouse will cover his face

2. David’s sense of disgrace went far deeper than that. He was not just ashamed of what man might thing; he was ashamed that he had been seen by God (Phillips, 92).

1. 1 John 3.1-3

2. Like Jonah, he wanted to run and hide; but like Jonah, he knew he couldn’t

4. Damage (10)

1. barah

1. Genesis 1.1

2. to create absolutely, supernaturally, to make something out of nothing. David wanted a new heart. He did not just want to have the old one changed. If he was to be kept from sinning in the future, a radical work needed to be done in his soul. As Jesus would later put it to Nicodemus, he needed to be born again, to be recreated. The word bara implies all that. The word describes the creative activity of God which brings something out of nothing. It was not just restoration David wanted, he wanted regeneration. He wanted a new, clean heart (Phillips, 92).

2. David knew that a pardon was good but not complete. He needed the radical change that God would bring through Jesus Christ or else his future would be a mere repetition of the past.

5. Doom (11)

1. David had seen Saul become the tormented victim of an evil spirit. David was afraid that this might happen to him.

2. The Holy Spirit

1. The OT shows us that the Holy Spirit set upon people and left after the work was completed or sin had interfered.

2. The NT shows us that the Holy Spirit has been given to indwell permanently God’s people (John 14.16-17)

3. Being cast away from His presence

1. a true consequence of sin is not being allowed into God’s throne room because of the unrepentant, unconfessed sin

2. today this is visually seen in Matthew 18 and the loss of fellowship with God’s Body

6. Depression (12a)

1. Much of the depression in the lives of Christians today is caused by sin. It may be flagrant sin, hidden away somewhere in the past, gnawing away at the conscience. It may be something spitefully said, some fit of temper indulged, or some lie told. Sin causes depression (Phillips, 93).

2. Much freedom is gained through confession to God of these sins.

1. John Gibson’s song that says: “He’s the only free psychiatrist, that is known throughout the land.”

2. Cast your cares upon Him, for He cares for you (1 Peter 5)

3. Today, we can’t lose our salvation but we certainly can lose the joy of our salvation and this is a cause for depression and rejection among Christians

* willful, unconfessed sin

7. Defeat (12b)

1. the sin-repent-sin cycle had to be broken

1. remember the slot car life we tend to feed

2. the only way out is Jesus

2. This requires perseverance and willingness to allow God to work in and through us.

Do you see the desperate strait the consequences of sin bring our way? This would be our lot if God didn’t do something about it. He did, He gave those who believe in Him a new heart.

3. A New Heart (10-12)

These three verses are verses of intense emotion. Verses that tell us a little bit about the new heart we received when we accepted the love of God in Christ Jesus. It is not the heart of a baboon but of a loving God.

This new heart David asks for is promised to God’s people in Ezekiel 11.19 and 36.26.

I like what Spurgeon had to say about verse 10:

What! has sin so destroyed us that the Creator must be called in again? What ruin then doth evil work among mankind! Create in me. I, in my outward fabric, still exist; but I am empty, desert, void. Come, then, and let Thy power be seen in a new creation within my old fallen self. Thou didst make a man in the world at first; Lord, make a new man in me.

In the seventh verse he asked to be clean; now he seeks a heart suitable to that cleanliness; but he does not say, “Make my old heart clean”; he is too experienced in the hopelessness of the old nature. He would have the old man buried as a dead thing, and a new creation brought in to fill its place (240).

Jesus death, burial, and resurrection, what we commonly summarize in the word “blood”, granted us the promise of Ezekiel and the desire of David’s heart. He doesn’t give us a transformation but a totally new creation (2 Corinthians 5.17).

Why? Ezekiel 11.20 and 36.27 tell us to enable us to follow Him, to get us out of the rut and into God. Romans 1.16 tells us the Gospel, our salvation, is His power for our lives. Philippians 2.12-13 tells us it is God who works in us to do His work through us. It was done to give us a single mind to follow Jesus (Matthew 6.33).

This new heart He has given us is characterized by three manifestations:

1. A Steadfast Spirit (10)

1. this is to persevere through life

1. Romans 5.3-4

2. James 1.2-4

3. perseverance is one reason Paul was Paul, Martin Luther was Martin Luther, and Billy Graham is Billy Graham

2. not a burning out but a shining forth

1. Dunker Days of Glory, Seasons of Night

2. Philippians 3.14-16

3. One writer comments on this:

Blessed is the person who wants growth so badly that he refuses to shrink from the process that produces it. David wanted grace that could not only weather fierce storms but also bring stability into a life tossed with guilt, regrets, and fear of discovery. Sin fractures our ability to last, to resist the beetles that chew on our lives through unending petty aggravations and mundane routine. Then, when the pressures intensify, the beams of our soul no longer stand the strain. We collapse. That’s why David coveted a steadfast spirit more than gold (Swartz, 1990).

4. The result of this is the eagle who is able to soar above the gales that blow because he used them to bring him above them.

2. The Indwelling Holy Spirit (11)

1. A scary truth is we know more about the Holy Spirit today than David ever did, but we seldom hear this intense cry from our mouths.

Perhaps we know more truth about the Spirit’s working, but David might have known more about the reality of His power. In quiet moments, he felt the loss and grieved over the alienation and blindness covering him like a shroud. Sadly, we often do not. Many times we are so confident of the indwelling presence of the Spirit, which cannot be taken from true Christians, that we forget that the Holy Spirit can be held back by our failure to yield to His guidance (Swartz, 1990).

2. We are to yield to the Spirit of God by being obedient in what the Word of God has commanded us and therein giving glory to God if we don’t we grieve the Holy Spirit.

The evidence is that He is regretfully compelled to withdraw His gracious influence and working, and His grief is reflected in the gloom and heaviness of the estranged heart (Sanders, 1970).

3. The life of the new heart manifests the gifts and the workings of the Holy Spirit to the glory of Christ Jesus.

3. A Willing Spirit (12)

1. Too often today we would rather surrender to God on our own terms rather than His

1. the WW II movie where the tattered army tells its victors that they will surrender on their terms

1. “We have come to negotiate the terms of surrender.”

2. “You will surrender unconditionally, and here are the terms . . .”

2. One writer states:

That’s so much like us isn’t it? Modern man demands the right to dicker, barter, or negotiate with God, who demands unconditional surrender. David sought a willing, renewed spirit. Knowing that a guilty man has nothing to negotiate with, David longed for the kind of perpetual inner kneeling that would receive mercy gratefully and render obedience ungrudgingly (Swartz, 85).

2. The evidence of a willing spirit? obedience to God seen through obedience at:

1. home (Ephesians 6)

2. school (2 Timothy 2.15)

3. everywhere we need to show unconditional obedience to the One who seeks the best for our souls.

If this is our life, steadfast, yielded and obedient we will become a beautiful tapestry for God where He will receive glory for our new heart; if not we will act like we have a baboon’s heart within us and not give glory to God but look foolish in His sight.

We have been given a new heart. This new heart is changing us daily from one glory to God to the next (2 Corinthians 3.18; 4.16-18).

Is this you, even in the consequences of your sin, do you hold steadfast, allowing God’s Spirit to work in you, and willingly giving your all to follow Him? He will take these people to new heights in victory, as the eagle soars, and to new heights in blessings for these are them that seek after Him.

During these next few moments, take the time to reflect on the condition of your heart. Do you lack these things, ask God to restore them to you. If there is sin that blocks you, confess it and repent of it. After you have spent a moment in prayer for yourself turn to your neighbours and pray for them.

Father,

We thank You for the new creation that we are in Your Son Jesus Christ. We ask now that we will have His character renewed in us. We pray that we will give you the glory for the work You do in our lives. We pray Father that we may see Your Spirit at work within us changing us daily. Be glorified now in Your Bride, Your Body. Amen.

Please Stand:

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Saviour, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Galatians, New Testament, Sermons

Faithfulness

Gallery September 20, 1992 David

Faithfulness
Fruit of the Spirit
September 20, 1992	Sermon by DRW	Passage Galatians 5.22-23

Introduction:

The prisoner sat in a poorly lit cell.
they tried starvation, torture and mental anguish to get the prisoner to bow before the ruler.
they came to take the prisoner to a room with a high ceiling.
they lifted the prisoner high on a rope, “BOW!”
“Forsake your God. BOW!”
Sounds like a story out of Paul’s life, or a first century Christian.
She would not bow.
She stood for God, no matter the cost.
They figured if they could get here to bend forward and take a picture, and publicize it they’d ruin her testimony.
They raised her three stories in the air.
They let the rope go and she plummeted toward the floor.

Why would she go through all this? She knew her Saviour. She may not have known why she was put through this but she knew her Saviour: He is faithful and she realized she needed to be faithful, after all she was a disciple of her Lord.

I. This poses an interesting question, “Is God faithful?”, if so, how does He show it?

A. God keeps His promises

1. Deuteronomy 7.9

2. 1 Corinthians 10.13

3. People often ask me how I know the Bible is true and not just partial truth. Every time I answer, “Look at me!” . . .

B. God does no wrong, He is just.

1. Deuteronomy 32.4

2. Isaiah 42.3

C. Faithfulness is part of His glory, who He is

1. Psalm 89.8

2. 2 Timothy 2.13

3. There are times when we feel we have no faith, no purpose to carry on for, no God to lean on. But He remains faithful. The One who said, “Lo, I am with you always” will still be there, even when we are without faith for it is His character.

I can only imagine this is what my friend’s aunt knew as they raised her high and threatened her to bow before Mao. Flashing through her mind was Proverbs 2.8–God is faithful in His promises, in His justice, and true to His character. She bellowed, “I will not bow! For I am faithful.” She exemplified Revelation 2.10.

II. God has called us to be imitators of Him. How can we do this? By being faithful.

* Kim and Eric story that Kathy told me.

A. Faithful in Word, God keeps His promises

1. Psalm 89.1

2. Isaiah 29.1

3. Prayer has got to be the greatest acts of faithfulness in word that a believer has. In prayer we praise God, worship Him, make requests of Him, communicate with God. Prayer always precedes doing.

B. Faithful in Deed, God does no wrong

1. Joshua 24.14

2. Romans 12.12

3. When the world says forsake God and bow, do you? When the world causes others to deny Christ, do you? *Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego* When there is a choice between self and God, who do you choose? When the devil tempts do you fall for the temptation and ultimately into sin. Are you faithful in deed?

C. Faithful as our way of life, faithful is God’s character

1. 1 Timothy 1.12

2. 1 Peter 4.10

3. Revelation 13.10

Daily, we are asked to stand for Jesus in some way: rejecting false teaching from godless professors (whether in school, on T.V., billboards, etc); refusing to take heed to our friends who deny Christ or blaspheme the holy God we worship; telling someone about Christ; praying. Daily we are called to stand. When we don’t we bow to the world, the flesh, or the devil.

I know there are times when we wonder if its all worth it, those times we are raised to the ceiling, the moment we plummet toward the earth, not certain. In those moments of we need to remember His faithfulness (1 Corinthians 10.13; 1 Samuel 12.24) and cling faithfully to Him

What happened to my friends aunt? We left her hanging a while back. As I said, they let the rope go with the intention of taking a snapshot of here when she hit the ground. When she hit, they thought, as they placed a large photo of Mao before the spot she would land on, in full range of the camera shutter, she would fall forward in a “reverential” bow to Mao for all the Christians of China to see.

But, and this is a big but, they did not know that she was a faithful follower of a faithful God and He was about to show this to her and to the officials of the communist Chinese government in the 1960’s. As she was falling to the ground she praised her God, re-counting His faithfulness to her. When she hit the ground, she landed standing! What a picture of God’s faithfulness Premier Mao now had. Too bad the camera did not have a spiritual eye. If it did, can you picture what would be in the picture? I can only imagine it would have contained what Elisha saw in 2 Kings 6. It would have shown an elderly woman standing defiantly before a picture of Mao DeZhong, being upheld by the mighty angels of God! The only explanation, God gave His angels charge over her lest she dash her foot. AMEN!

The world, the flesh, the devil (all that Mao embodied) can get you by the throat and damage your testimony. Stand firm! Be faithful! God will be well pleased with you and be glorified because of you. Then the Proverb will be answered, “I am that faithful person.”

Remember,

1. God is faithful to His Word–you be faithful to your words.

2. God is faithful in not doing evil–you be faithful in your deeds.

3. God is characterized by faithfulness–you live a life that is characterized by faithfulness.

In so doing, we imitate God and are the greatest billboard for Him, and we bear His Spirit.

Scriptural Truths for Today's World