Praise be
Colossians 1 verses 1 to 23, Peter 1 verses 3 to 5
Suppose you were standing in an underground train and you were grabbed by a friend and dragged onto the platform, you complained to the friend that you were bruised and your clothes torn. But later you discover later than a terrorist had taken over the train. You would be grateful for rescue form a terrible end. This is an image of believers, we have no concept of how terrible it is to be lost or wonderful to be saved. We have been saved from God’s wrath and to a glorious inheritance. We easily get things out of perspective now – the trials and temptations.
Praise for the Blessings of salvation.
New Testament writers often did this – see Ephesians 1 verse 3. The letters begin this way, by being thrilled for what God has done for us. Bless is the same as ‘eulogy’. We should eulogise God for what he has done for us. The end of Bible teaching is the transformation of our hearts and minds. He reminds the readers of the intimate relationship we have with our saviour. In the Church of God when it is healthy, there should be an under current of praise. It should be the key note of our lives Peter says blessed be God who has done great things for us. He wants us to praise God because there is no one else to turn to and no hope beyond the Living God. Today we’ve got away from the eternal perspective. People have no concept of how terrible it is to be lost, nor any excitement about the prospect of heaven.
(i) The source of our blessings is God’s mercy.
We need God’s mercy because we have no hope without it. Without God’s mercy, the bottom line for mankind is eternal death. God was merciful to the people of Israel when they were in bondage and when they were wandering in the desert. It was the mercy of God extended to these were saved. Our only hope because we are helpless, is God’s mercy. 1 Peter 2 verse 10 – we had once not received it but have received it now.
(ii) The means of these blessings is the new birth.
He has given is new birth. Peter says we are new people because we have had new birth. A Jewish proselyte was considered a new creature. Hope is defined as looking for some future good with the expectation of obtaining it. Hope is faith as it looks forward. Sometimes we talk about ‘born-again’ Christians but the adjective is unnecessary. There is no such thing as a ‘non-born-again’ Christian. If you aren’t born-again, you aren’t a Christian at all. We can rejoice in this because he has caused us to be born again. We have a birth certificate but they can be forged, we have photos of us as a baby, these can be false. There is only one way to know we are born because we are here. I know I’m born-again because I am alive to God. I listen to God, I talk to him, I praise him, I need him and I know his family. We know we are born again because we have a living relationship with him.
(iii) The evidence of this is our living hope.
Historians tell us there was a great cloud of hopelessness over the ancient world – their philosophy was empty and unable to help people face death. It is so today. There are a lot of suicides in Northern Ireland among young people, why? The young have a great feeling of hopelessness. They live for today because of hopelessness. Among those who were sent to concentration camps, those who survived were those who had a hope to cling to. Hope is the anchor of the soul that keeps it safe and secure. We can go on a boat and feel great instability due to the swell of the sea. Hope is the stability we need for the soul. It is alive and pulsating. If we are born again we have a bright hope to look forward to. We do not place our hope in anything or anyone save God.
(iv) The guarantee is Christ’s resurrection.
Everything Jesus said and did was confirmed by his resurrection. Romans 1 verse 4 and 1 Corinthians 15 verse17. It is foundational and fundamental. It is absolutely essential for the living hope. Peter became a transformed man when he grasped this.
(v) The goal of the blessing is our inheritance.
It is especially relevant to Jews. The inheritance was a plot of land, it was very precious and was kept safe. The Christians claimed their country was Heaven, it was still to come. Jesus is our inheritance – we are enriched and we live by him. Christ is our life. When people get married they share everything. We are joint heirs with Christ. Everything he has, he shares with us forever. The happiness, the peace with God. It makes millions look like nothing. We cannot take anything when we die. The thing of value is Christ.
a) It is ‘imperishable’ – untouched by death. It is a country unravaged by invading armies. It is untouched by death or decay. It can never be destroyed.
b) It is ‘undefiled’ – unstained by evil. Sometimes an inheritance causes division or despair – as human ones do.
c) It is ‘unfading’ – unimpaired by time. It is always fresh. It means a flower that does not fade. Flowers usually fade. 1 Peter 5 verse 4 – the crown will not perish.
d) It is ‘undisclosed’ – as yet – it is being preserved for us. John 14. It is preserved for us. When we make a will we make clear what we want to happen to our estates, the courts will not usually alter it. Nothing can cut us out of God’s will. It is a legally binding contract. We cannot guarantee anything in the way God does.
How do you value an inheritance? It has to be something better than what you already have got. Some people leave only memories, they are so poor. Some people outlive their heirs. Some leave something of little value to their children. What is in our inheritance from God is so much better than anything in this world. However good life is in this World and by God’s mercy it can be good, death opens the door to something far better to go to. Revelations 21 verse 4. We have a hope of a better body and a renewed cosmos. No more struggling with sin. Only peace and satisfaction. Surely that’s an inheritance worth dying for. Is there anything netter than an inheritance in Jesus Christ? Peter is full of praise for this. Do we have a hope beyond this world? Life is so uncertain, we do not know what awaits us here. Heaven is waiting for us when we die.
Sunday 24 June 2007
The Good Wife
The Good Woman
Proverbs 1 verses 1 to 9, 31 verses 10 to 31 and Genesis 2 verses 18 to 24
This follows on from the good man. What does it mean to be feminine? Why deal with it now? It is part of the Creation narrative. Today we have a view of the ideal woman, she is young, single and sexy, she is on the pages of magazines. Others see her as the equal in every way of men – in work etc.
What does the Bible say?
The specific cultural viewpoint
a) Today the dominant cultural view is secular feminism. This is active today. It has put right injustices of the past. In many parts of the world women are treated as inferior – for example in Muslim countries and in parts of the Far East. They are often treated as mere property. Feminism arose as a result of domineering masculinity. Feminism seeks equality. It spurns the Bible as unequal, it asserts equality and independence.
b) In much of the Christian Community it is evangelical feminism. This says that the Bible is true but sometimes the Bible is culture bound. They see the Bible as egalitarian. There is no need for male superiority or leadership.
What does the Bible say about true womanhood?
The special role is to be a helper
Unquestionably femininity has to do with handling other people. Being a helper implies ability to form relationships – see Romans 1. Look at the work of women in the home. It is vital but unseen. Soldiers cannot win a battle without good food and smart uniforms. Women by nature care and want to help. This relates to married and single women. Often they care for others. To be single is not to deny masculinity or femininity. Women are presented as being the man’s counterpart. This passage does not talk of children, she has value in and of herself.
The special quality is attractiveness.
We live in the age of laddettes, where girls act aggressively as men. They loudly assert their equality. Often girls chase boys. The Bible accepts natural beauty and it is complimented in scripture. Rebekah, Rachel, Esther, Abigail, Bathsheba etc. The Bible recognises physical attractiveness and that women try to look good. The Bible never denigrates physical beauty. The Bible however, tells us that something else makes a woman even more attractive. It is inner beauty of character.
a) True femininity is inner not outward – 1 Timothy 2 verse 10. You see love in the eyes and peace in the face. It is what is inside that makes her beautiful. The woman who is unselfish and kind has an unfading beauty regardless of age. She is not self absorbed or attention seeking.
b) True femininity is modest. 1 Peter 3 verse 4, 1 Timothy 2 verse 9. It does not matter what you wear say some. But what you wear reflects who you are. People want to make a statement. Clothes speak louder than words. What God condemns here is:
(i) Extravagance, display and flaunting of wealth
(ii) Deliberate sexual allurement
Scripture condemns deliberate allurement and to turn men’s heads and also nudity. Exposing too much flesh should be avoided. If they do they are saying their body is more important than their inner self. It does not mean women should wear a veil. A quiet and a humble demeanour is found attractive by many people. Laddettes are not found attractive by many.
c) True femininity is not assertive but submissive. The holier a woman is the more she is a woman. Femininity takes what God gives, not the not-given as Eve did.
The special function is nurturing
Men can’t bear children, some say if they could they would never have another one. True femininity found its epiphany in Mary. She gave up everything for Jesus. God has designed her to give birth, feed, protect and care for life.
a) There is no harder task than mothering. There are many facets to it. It is emotionally and physically draining. Mothers leave an indelible mark on their children – it’s an influence for good.
b) There is no higher calling than motherhood. It cannot be matched by business or politics. How many owe their success to their mothers? It influences all aspects of life – it is more powerful than politics or business.
c) There is no more blessed calling than mothering. It build adults of good character. A mother’s prayers are if great influence and importance. See the life of Augustine, his mother, Monica, prayed for him for years.
d) There is no calling more suited to any woman. Children need loving tender care surrounding them all their lives. Single women contribute to those around them.
The special calling is to a homemaker.
Proverbs 31 gives qualities and responsibilities of the homemaker. Women want to be a homemaker and care for families. Women are capable at work but want to be a homemaker. Women’s brains are made to do multiple tasks. In Proverbs 31 the woman does many things. She is very admirable and very rare, she is an ideal, a pattern, an encouragement to men to value their wives – their character and their principles. The home is a happy family home. She prays to God, she is dignified, wise and practical – she cares for the poor. She is not a trophy wife. She produces goods and earns an income. She teaches and she promotes her husband in the community and her husband values her. It is set in the culture but it shows the multi-faceted nature of a woman. This is not an autonomous or independent wife, it is a poetic picture.
The special grace is submission to husbands
In Genesis Eve asserted her independence and Adam listened to her. Submission honours and affirms her husband’s leadership. It’s not an absolute surrender of her will; it’s a disposition to yield to her husband’s guidance. Christ is her absolute authority, not her husband. She submits out of reverence to Christ. She should not follow him into sin or yield to his unbelief. She needs to stand against his unbelief.
Proverbs 1 verses 1 to 9, 31 verses 10 to 31 and Genesis 2 verses 18 to 24
This follows on from the good man. What does it mean to be feminine? Why deal with it now? It is part of the Creation narrative. Today we have a view of the ideal woman, she is young, single and sexy, she is on the pages of magazines. Others see her as the equal in every way of men – in work etc.
What does the Bible say?
The specific cultural viewpoint
a) Today the dominant cultural view is secular feminism. This is active today. It has put right injustices of the past. In many parts of the world women are treated as inferior – for example in Muslim countries and in parts of the Far East. They are often treated as mere property. Feminism arose as a result of domineering masculinity. Feminism seeks equality. It spurns the Bible as unequal, it asserts equality and independence.
b) In much of the Christian Community it is evangelical feminism. This says that the Bible is true but sometimes the Bible is culture bound. They see the Bible as egalitarian. There is no need for male superiority or leadership.
What does the Bible say about true womanhood?
The special role is to be a helper
Unquestionably femininity has to do with handling other people. Being a helper implies ability to form relationships – see Romans 1. Look at the work of women in the home. It is vital but unseen. Soldiers cannot win a battle without good food and smart uniforms. Women by nature care and want to help. This relates to married and single women. Often they care for others. To be single is not to deny masculinity or femininity. Women are presented as being the man’s counterpart. This passage does not talk of children, she has value in and of herself.
The special quality is attractiveness.
We live in the age of laddettes, where girls act aggressively as men. They loudly assert their equality. Often girls chase boys. The Bible accepts natural beauty and it is complimented in scripture. Rebekah, Rachel, Esther, Abigail, Bathsheba etc. The Bible recognises physical attractiveness and that women try to look good. The Bible never denigrates physical beauty. The Bible however, tells us that something else makes a woman even more attractive. It is inner beauty of character.
a) True femininity is inner not outward – 1 Timothy 2 verse 10. You see love in the eyes and peace in the face. It is what is inside that makes her beautiful. The woman who is unselfish and kind has an unfading beauty regardless of age. She is not self absorbed or attention seeking.
b) True femininity is modest. 1 Peter 3 verse 4, 1 Timothy 2 verse 9. It does not matter what you wear say some. But what you wear reflects who you are. People want to make a statement. Clothes speak louder than words. What God condemns here is:
(i) Extravagance, display and flaunting of wealth
(ii) Deliberate sexual allurement
Scripture condemns deliberate allurement and to turn men’s heads and also nudity. Exposing too much flesh should be avoided. If they do they are saying their body is more important than their inner self. It does not mean women should wear a veil. A quiet and a humble demeanour is found attractive by many people. Laddettes are not found attractive by many.
c) True femininity is not assertive but submissive. The holier a woman is the more she is a woman. Femininity takes what God gives, not the not-given as Eve did.
The special function is nurturing
Men can’t bear children, some say if they could they would never have another one. True femininity found its epiphany in Mary. She gave up everything for Jesus. God has designed her to give birth, feed, protect and care for life.
a) There is no harder task than mothering. There are many facets to it. It is emotionally and physically draining. Mothers leave an indelible mark on their children – it’s an influence for good.
b) There is no higher calling than motherhood. It cannot be matched by business or politics. How many owe their success to their mothers? It influences all aspects of life – it is more powerful than politics or business.
c) There is no more blessed calling than mothering. It build adults of good character. A mother’s prayers are if great influence and importance. See the life of Augustine, his mother, Monica, prayed for him for years.
d) There is no calling more suited to any woman. Children need loving tender care surrounding them all their lives. Single women contribute to those around them.
The special calling is to a homemaker.
Proverbs 31 gives qualities and responsibilities of the homemaker. Women want to be a homemaker and care for families. Women are capable at work but want to be a homemaker. Women’s brains are made to do multiple tasks. In Proverbs 31 the woman does many things. She is very admirable and very rare, she is an ideal, a pattern, an encouragement to men to value their wives – their character and their principles. The home is a happy family home. She prays to God, she is dignified, wise and practical – she cares for the poor. She is not a trophy wife. She produces goods and earns an income. She teaches and she promotes her husband in the community and her husband values her. It is set in the culture but it shows the multi-faceted nature of a woman. This is not an autonomous or independent wife, it is a poetic picture.
The special grace is submission to husbands
In Genesis Eve asserted her independence and Adam listened to her. Submission honours and affirms her husband’s leadership. It’s not an absolute surrender of her will; it’s a disposition to yield to her husband’s guidance. Christ is her absolute authority, not her husband. She submits out of reverence to Christ. She should not follow him into sin or yield to his unbelief. She needs to stand against his unbelief.
Jesus and his miracles
The Kingdom of God
Matthew 7 verses 1 to 17
Matthew is about the kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven, they mean the same thing. Matthew has 5 major sections. Each finishes with ‘when Jesus had finished saying these things:
Chapters 1 to 4 tells of the coming of the King
Chapters 5 to 7 is the manifesto or character of the King
Chapters 8 to 10 is the power of the King, the miracle working power. It is all about his miracles, wonder working power.
Matthew gives us a lens for priorities, Matthew 4 verse 23 shows him teaching, preaching then healing. Verse 17 shows him preaching and teaching. Chapter 5 to 7 shows powerful preaching. Chapter 8 to 10 are works of miracles. Jesus had power over all manner of illnesses.
There were 3 groups then a cluster of miracles. This is all about the king and his power. John calls miracles signs, we use signs to show us the way. Miracles are pointers to the Christ and the King. We must not park at the signs but use them to see the way. We should not seek miracles. There was a great concentration of miracles in Egypt under Moses and then when Jesus comes. The intensity of the miracles peters out so they disappear. Paul did not heal Timothy’s illness and he left some sick in Miletus. Miracles are signs, Matthew 8 verses 16 to 17 say ‘it was to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah’. They pointed to Jesus. The 3 miracles are:
a) Verses 1 to 4. Cleansing of the leper. Leprosy was varying skin disorders. The leper was a castaway, they were unclean, not allowed to go into the temple, they lived separately. He was cut off, a defiled man. There is and was no cure for it. There was no doctor who could cure it. Victims were social outcasts. There were and are wretched colonies of them. They had no part in the covenant.
b) Verses 5 to 13. The Centurion’s servant. He was a Roman citizen who had authority as a centurion. He was a gentile man who came to put his trust in Jesus., he was humble enough to call him Lord. He had great compassion for his servant who was a paralytic and hot even a member of his family. This man relied on his master’s mercy. He was a good master, compassionate despite his power.
c) Verses 14 to 15. Peter’s mother in law. A housewife who Jesus had compassion on.
Points to learn:
(i) These miracles point to the one who was prophesied about – verse 17. he was no mere prophet who arrived on the scene. Isaiah spoke 700 years before (Isaiah 53 verse 4). He said all the scriptures pointed to him including Genesis 3, he was the seed of the woman who was to come. It crops up again and again in Genesis to Micah. In the structure of the temple, its sacrifices and types. All the books predict the one who is to come over 1500 years. It is the only book to do this.
(ii) Jesus Christ came to deliver people from the sickness of death. Matthew 9 verse 12, the sick need a doctor but he talks of a spiritually sick, he came to save sinners. Social engineering cannot save or change people. The root cause of sin cannot be solved by politicians, academics or scientists. The root cause is sin and this can only be cured by Jesus. Paul and the apostles used the prophetic word as their main support for the truth of its message, we can trust it to heal our sins. The miracles point to the coming saviour. Our biggest problem is our fallen nature and the sin that wrecks our lives. We have evil hearts that are beset by total despair.
(iii) The nature of sin makes us unclean, it defiles us. Today sin is merchandised as a good thing – homosexuality, gambling, adultery etc. Believers stop being shocked by it. It compromises us and defiles us. We need to know something of our wretchedness. We are defiled people who need to go to God to be cleansed of our defilement. Isaiah was the best of men who was caught up to Heaven and he saw something of his own defilement and said ‘woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips’ – he was defiled. Isaiah said ‘all our righteousness are like a filthy rag. Sin defiles us. God needs to reveal to us the ugliness of sin. It is not the sine we hate that is the worst but the ones we love. Galatians 5 verse l7 – the flesh and the spirit war within us. We take beauty and lust after it.
(iv) Sin alienates us from God. The Centurion had no part in Israel, he was alienated from God, sin does this to us now. Paul says we worship the gift and not the giver. All creation excites us and we graft and lust after it. Jesus demonstrates his deity by touching the leper – normally a man is defiled by leprosy, but Jesus reveals his deity and shows his sonship. Jesus cleanses us. Jesus left the throne room of Heaven to seek and find his wandering sheep – he does this for all kinds of people, none are of ay real importance, they are normal average people who are touched by the Lord. Jesus is concerned for all, especially these, the least of his people. We should repent and also rejoice that we are saved. We need to have a balance between humility and rejoicing.
(v) Sin is enslavement, he frees us by taking sin up on himself – Isaiah 53 verses 4 to 6. He bore our grief and carried our transgressions. If we carried our sin the consequences would be eternal punishment and we would go to hell. Through this physician and shepherd of his people we can saved and go to Heaven. The Jews will be cast out if they do not accept Jesus. As a nation they rejected him. We must not do that. We must accept his invitation to repent in his name.
Matthew 7 verses 1 to 17
Matthew is about the kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven, they mean the same thing. Matthew has 5 major sections. Each finishes with ‘when Jesus had finished saying these things:
Chapters 1 to 4 tells of the coming of the King
Chapters 5 to 7 is the manifesto or character of the King
Chapters 8 to 10 is the power of the King, the miracle working power. It is all about his miracles, wonder working power.
Matthew gives us a lens for priorities, Matthew 4 verse 23 shows him teaching, preaching then healing. Verse 17 shows him preaching and teaching. Chapter 5 to 7 shows powerful preaching. Chapter 8 to 10 are works of miracles. Jesus had power over all manner of illnesses.
There were 3 groups then a cluster of miracles. This is all about the king and his power. John calls miracles signs, we use signs to show us the way. Miracles are pointers to the Christ and the King. We must not park at the signs but use them to see the way. We should not seek miracles. There was a great concentration of miracles in Egypt under Moses and then when Jesus comes. The intensity of the miracles peters out so they disappear. Paul did not heal Timothy’s illness and he left some sick in Miletus. Miracles are signs, Matthew 8 verses 16 to 17 say ‘it was to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah’. They pointed to Jesus. The 3 miracles are:
a) Verses 1 to 4. Cleansing of the leper. Leprosy was varying skin disorders. The leper was a castaway, they were unclean, not allowed to go into the temple, they lived separately. He was cut off, a defiled man. There is and was no cure for it. There was no doctor who could cure it. Victims were social outcasts. There were and are wretched colonies of them. They had no part in the covenant.
b) Verses 5 to 13. The Centurion’s servant. He was a Roman citizen who had authority as a centurion. He was a gentile man who came to put his trust in Jesus., he was humble enough to call him Lord. He had great compassion for his servant who was a paralytic and hot even a member of his family. This man relied on his master’s mercy. He was a good master, compassionate despite his power.
c) Verses 14 to 15. Peter’s mother in law. A housewife who Jesus had compassion on.
Points to learn:
(i) These miracles point to the one who was prophesied about – verse 17. he was no mere prophet who arrived on the scene. Isaiah spoke 700 years before (Isaiah 53 verse 4). He said all the scriptures pointed to him including Genesis 3, he was the seed of the woman who was to come. It crops up again and again in Genesis to Micah. In the structure of the temple, its sacrifices and types. All the books predict the one who is to come over 1500 years. It is the only book to do this.
(ii) Jesus Christ came to deliver people from the sickness of death. Matthew 9 verse 12, the sick need a doctor but he talks of a spiritually sick, he came to save sinners. Social engineering cannot save or change people. The root cause of sin cannot be solved by politicians, academics or scientists. The root cause is sin and this can only be cured by Jesus. Paul and the apostles used the prophetic word as their main support for the truth of its message, we can trust it to heal our sins. The miracles point to the coming saviour. Our biggest problem is our fallen nature and the sin that wrecks our lives. We have evil hearts that are beset by total despair.
(iii) The nature of sin makes us unclean, it defiles us. Today sin is merchandised as a good thing – homosexuality, gambling, adultery etc. Believers stop being shocked by it. It compromises us and defiles us. We need to know something of our wretchedness. We are defiled people who need to go to God to be cleansed of our defilement. Isaiah was the best of men who was caught up to Heaven and he saw something of his own defilement and said ‘woe is me for I am a man of unclean lips’ – he was defiled. Isaiah said ‘all our righteousness are like a filthy rag. Sin defiles us. God needs to reveal to us the ugliness of sin. It is not the sine we hate that is the worst but the ones we love. Galatians 5 verse l7 – the flesh and the spirit war within us. We take beauty and lust after it.
(iv) Sin alienates us from God. The Centurion had no part in Israel, he was alienated from God, sin does this to us now. Paul says we worship the gift and not the giver. All creation excites us and we graft and lust after it. Jesus demonstrates his deity by touching the leper – normally a man is defiled by leprosy, but Jesus reveals his deity and shows his sonship. Jesus cleanses us. Jesus left the throne room of Heaven to seek and find his wandering sheep – he does this for all kinds of people, none are of ay real importance, they are normal average people who are touched by the Lord. Jesus is concerned for all, especially these, the least of his people. We should repent and also rejoice that we are saved. We need to have a balance between humility and rejoicing.
(v) Sin is enslavement, he frees us by taking sin up on himself – Isaiah 53 verses 4 to 6. He bore our grief and carried our transgressions. If we carried our sin the consequences would be eternal punishment and we would go to hell. Through this physician and shepherd of his people we can saved and go to Heaven. The Jews will be cast out if they do not accept Jesus. As a nation they rejected him. We must not do that. We must accept his invitation to repent in his name.
Jacob
Jacob
Matthew 7 verses 15 to 29
Genesis 48 verses 1 to 7
Jacob, or Israel, was one of the greatest men, by election, of God. He was a supplanter of his brother. He began with a passion for the blessing of God, his methods were crooked. He was a manipulator (his name means ‘supplanter). He rose in stature as he grew older. Here he is at the end of his life. It is the longest passage among which his death is dealt with in great detail.
He is the Israel of God. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Here he is putting his life in order, he gives instructions on his burial, not in Egypt but in Canaan where his father and grandfather are buried.
He is physically weak (he was carried to Egypt and into the presence of Pharaoh. Joseph hears his father is very sick. Joseph was only second to Pharaoh, he was a very busy man. He did not have the same contact with Jacob but when he was told his father was very sick he comes with his two sons to see Jacob. Jacob is told his son has come with his two children. Jacob collected his strength, he rallied and sat up in bed. It is normal for aged men to do this at the end of their life. He gathers himself together. It is an astounding sentence for Jacob in his old age. He was always a driven man – he clashed with his brother in the womb and grasped his brother’s heal as he was born.
Here he has grown in spiritual stature as he aged. In chapter 46 he offers sacrifices on the way, he offers spiritual leadership. His joy at seeing his son is tempered by his spiritual due. In chapter 47 verse 31 he is highly and strong. He tells Joseph to take control of his own spiritual destiny. Joseph is a bystander and he wants Jacob to bless his older son first in verse 14. Jacob takes control and does as he knows he must. He tells of El Shaddai in verse 3, it is God ‘who sustains me’ – the first word that escapes his lips when he sees the beloved son of his most beloved wife Rachel. Jacob is God centred in spite of being weak in his body.
Jacob has mental and spiritual reserves, he is strengthened by God in his grace. Our lack of God centeredness in our lives is our greatest weakness. Peter tells us to grow in grace, we must be founded on God. This passage is a great challenge to us. Paul desired to bring every man to maturity like Jacob was. There is nothing more wonderful when the child of God has matured in faith. What is the secret of the strength of this supplanter? It is the command of God that we grow in grace, has this been our concern this week? It is our first duty ahead of the need to provide for ourselves.
a) Jacob built his life on the promises of God – verses 3 and 4. Jacob remembered what God had promised him in Genesis 28 as he fled from home and was on the way to Laban. He did not know what lay ahead of him, it was the worst moment of his life. God made promises to him. In his last moments he remembered these words. He calls God El Shaddai – God who sustains is. We must not put our hope in men who only have one breath. We depend on almighty God. Today men glory in themselves. We are like flowers or grass which fade away. We live in a fallen world, we are often coloured by the shades of the world. We are a holy people who are sustained by God. This was a revelation to Jacob in Genesis 17, it was a revelation to Abraham as well. God also sustained Isaac who tended to run from situations. What do we build on if we are not Christians? On religiosity – on being religious. Religion will not sustain us. God is our only sure foundation – see Matthew 7 verses 15 to 29. If we build on anything but God our life will be wasted when on Judgement day we are judged by God. Abraham looked for a city whose builder is God. Lot, a believer, stumbled and fell as a believer.
b) He continued in God – verse 3. Jacob went through many difficulties, often because of his deceitfulness and sinfulness. When he deceived Esau he had to flee from Esau’s murderous intent. When Danah, his daughter was attacked, he failed to provide leadership and his sons went astray and put the family in jeopardy. God delivered him from his troubles. God delivered him from Esau. Jacob was a great strategist, he put right what had gone wrong in the past as we must put things right in our lives so we can make spiritual progress. We are prone to wander and God alone keeps us. We drift downwards as Jacob did and God brings us back. Jacob had to live with the thought he had lost his favourite son and the lack of spirituality in his other sons. Every joy in this world has a fly in the ointment. Life in this world is tainted by the curse of God. Every moment of joy is followed by a moment of sadness. Only God brings real hope if we come back to God in repentance.
c) He continued to trust in God for the future – verse 4. He was a very old man here and was about to die. He had a powerful son in the greatest culture in the world. His sons were prospering in Goshen. Jacobs hopes were not in Egypt, which was against God, or in his powerful son but in the promises of God. Our hopes are not in Britain or the USA or anywhere else which will all bite the dust. Our hope is in God who will deliver us. Heaven is our home. We live in this land and we pray for it, this is not our home as Egypt was not Jacob’s home. He reminds his son of this too, his place is in the land of Canaan. We need to think of our true home – the New Heavens and the New Earth. We are too firmly cemented in the accursed age. We have eyes for the glitter and glamour of this age. It should not be so. If we continue this way we shall be weak. We will only grow in grace if we are God centred. We have to be wise.
d) Verse 7 – Jacob never got over the loss of his beloved wife. Many Christians never get over great losses unless they depend on God. Rachel could not have helped Jacob as God did. Our greatest friends cannot sustain us as God sustains us. We cannot bear losses unless God helps. We cannot find peace unless God gives us peace. Our deepest loves leaves us hurt at times. Evils hurt us in this fallen world. Only one guarantees us peace and sustains us – God. Are we building on religiosity, family, friends, jobs? They will all go, the only true rock is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God is the God of the second chance. While the outer man in perishing, the inner man is strengthening.
Matthew 7 verses 15 to 29
Genesis 48 verses 1 to 7
Jacob, or Israel, was one of the greatest men, by election, of God. He was a supplanter of his brother. He began with a passion for the blessing of God, his methods were crooked. He was a manipulator (his name means ‘supplanter). He rose in stature as he grew older. Here he is at the end of his life. It is the longest passage among which his death is dealt with in great detail.
He is the Israel of God. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Here he is putting his life in order, he gives instructions on his burial, not in Egypt but in Canaan where his father and grandfather are buried.
He is physically weak (he was carried to Egypt and into the presence of Pharaoh. Joseph hears his father is very sick. Joseph was only second to Pharaoh, he was a very busy man. He did not have the same contact with Jacob but when he was told his father was very sick he comes with his two sons to see Jacob. Jacob is told his son has come with his two children. Jacob collected his strength, he rallied and sat up in bed. It is normal for aged men to do this at the end of their life. He gathers himself together. It is an astounding sentence for Jacob in his old age. He was always a driven man – he clashed with his brother in the womb and grasped his brother’s heal as he was born.
Here he has grown in spiritual stature as he aged. In chapter 46 he offers sacrifices on the way, he offers spiritual leadership. His joy at seeing his son is tempered by his spiritual due. In chapter 47 verse 31 he is highly and strong. He tells Joseph to take control of his own spiritual destiny. Joseph is a bystander and he wants Jacob to bless his older son first in verse 14. Jacob takes control and does as he knows he must. He tells of El Shaddai in verse 3, it is God ‘who sustains me’ – the first word that escapes his lips when he sees the beloved son of his most beloved wife Rachel. Jacob is God centred in spite of being weak in his body.
Jacob has mental and spiritual reserves, he is strengthened by God in his grace. Our lack of God centeredness in our lives is our greatest weakness. Peter tells us to grow in grace, we must be founded on God. This passage is a great challenge to us. Paul desired to bring every man to maturity like Jacob was. There is nothing more wonderful when the child of God has matured in faith. What is the secret of the strength of this supplanter? It is the command of God that we grow in grace, has this been our concern this week? It is our first duty ahead of the need to provide for ourselves.
a) Jacob built his life on the promises of God – verses 3 and 4. Jacob remembered what God had promised him in Genesis 28 as he fled from home and was on the way to Laban. He did not know what lay ahead of him, it was the worst moment of his life. God made promises to him. In his last moments he remembered these words. He calls God El Shaddai – God who sustains is. We must not put our hope in men who only have one breath. We depend on almighty God. Today men glory in themselves. We are like flowers or grass which fade away. We live in a fallen world, we are often coloured by the shades of the world. We are a holy people who are sustained by God. This was a revelation to Jacob in Genesis 17, it was a revelation to Abraham as well. God also sustained Isaac who tended to run from situations. What do we build on if we are not Christians? On religiosity – on being religious. Religion will not sustain us. God is our only sure foundation – see Matthew 7 verses 15 to 29. If we build on anything but God our life will be wasted when on Judgement day we are judged by God. Abraham looked for a city whose builder is God. Lot, a believer, stumbled and fell as a believer.
b) He continued in God – verse 3. Jacob went through many difficulties, often because of his deceitfulness and sinfulness. When he deceived Esau he had to flee from Esau’s murderous intent. When Danah, his daughter was attacked, he failed to provide leadership and his sons went astray and put the family in jeopardy. God delivered him from his troubles. God delivered him from Esau. Jacob was a great strategist, he put right what had gone wrong in the past as we must put things right in our lives so we can make spiritual progress. We are prone to wander and God alone keeps us. We drift downwards as Jacob did and God brings us back. Jacob had to live with the thought he had lost his favourite son and the lack of spirituality in his other sons. Every joy in this world has a fly in the ointment. Life in this world is tainted by the curse of God. Every moment of joy is followed by a moment of sadness. Only God brings real hope if we come back to God in repentance.
c) He continued to trust in God for the future – verse 4. He was a very old man here and was about to die. He had a powerful son in the greatest culture in the world. His sons were prospering in Goshen. Jacobs hopes were not in Egypt, which was against God, or in his powerful son but in the promises of God. Our hopes are not in Britain or the USA or anywhere else which will all bite the dust. Our hope is in God who will deliver us. Heaven is our home. We live in this land and we pray for it, this is not our home as Egypt was not Jacob’s home. He reminds his son of this too, his place is in the land of Canaan. We need to think of our true home – the New Heavens and the New Earth. We are too firmly cemented in the accursed age. We have eyes for the glitter and glamour of this age. It should not be so. If we continue this way we shall be weak. We will only grow in grace if we are God centred. We have to be wise.
d) Verse 7 – Jacob never got over the loss of his beloved wife. Many Christians never get over great losses unless they depend on God. Rachel could not have helped Jacob as God did. Our greatest friends cannot sustain us as God sustains us. We cannot bear losses unless God helps. We cannot find peace unless God gives us peace. Our deepest loves leaves us hurt at times. Evils hurt us in this fallen world. Only one guarantees us peace and sustains us – God. Are we building on religiosity, family, friends, jobs? They will all go, the only true rock is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. God is the God of the second chance. While the outer man in perishing, the inner man is strengthening.
Chosen, called, cleansed
Chosen, called, cleansed
Ephesians 1 verses 1 to 14 1 Peter 1 verses 1 to 3
Peter had been close and intimate with Jesus, he was well qualified to write this letter. It was written to Christians in modern day Turkey, they were scattered in little groups. They were part of a large family. They were strangers in the world, loved by God.
Peter writes about the Trinity – verse 2
This is a Trinitarian perspective. There is no apology or attempt to explain it. He just states it. The Trinity are co-equal, of the same substance and each has a role.
Peter writes to those who are chosen
a) It’s planned choice.
The word ‘chosen’ applied to choosing soldiers. The word ‘foreknowledge’ is ‘prognosis’, it means God knew what he intended to do and made sure it happens – see Acts 2 verse 23. God had chosen Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A prognosis is a prediction of future outcomes as a doctor does, e.g. a sore throat, a doctor makes a fairly accurate guess. You want to know not an uncertain or educated guess as a doctor does. God is not like this, his foreknowledge is linked to fore-ordination. We can see this in the death of Christ, in Acts 2, the death of Jesus was not simply foreknowledge or foreseen but fore-ordained. He planned it that way. God does not just foresee our salvation but planned in advance to save us. What sort of God chops and changes his plans according to man’s decision.
At the back of the loaf is the flour; and back of the flour, the mill; and back of the mill, the sun and shower; and back of it all the Father’s will.
It is God’s weather that makes rain fall, it is all in the plans of God. God had an action plan to save men after the Fall.
b) It’s hard to grasp.
People rebel against it. Like the doctrine of the Trinity, the truth of election must be received with simple, unquestioning faith. We must see that if God is God he has the right and power to decide what he wants to do and he protects his people and brings them to salvation. We believe God’s word by a simple act of faith. We are born the way we are and live our lives the way we do because of God’s grace - 1 Corinthians 4 verse 7, we have received everything we have from God’s hand, where and when we are born, the family to which we are born. Look at Saul’s life, he was the enemy of Christ’s church, he had great intellectual power, then God intervened and he was told that God had chosen him to be his instrument of the Gospel. Likewise God prepared and chose Moses to be a great leader and used him to break Pharaoh’s power. God chose the nation of Israel as his chosen people. He now chooses individual – Ephesians 1, we are chosen according to the purposes of his will. It is Romans, Mark and Matthew, God has chosen a people out of the world.
Romans 9 says a potter has the right to make from clay what he wants, so does God. Jacob and Esau were as bad as each other by nature. God took hold of Jacob, saved him, kept him and changed him but left Esau to suffer the consequences of his bad choices.
Who are we to say that we know more than he does? We must submit to his will.
c) It is not fatalism
It is not the ‘frozen chosen’, we cannot say there is no need to do anything. He has chosen us to change us. If we remain frozen we are not a Christian. It is not a mandate for despair in evangelism. Paul despaired in Corinth, he feared he would never see any saved, the city was so immoral. God said ‘don’t be afraid, keep on speaking; no one will harm you for I have many in this city. They would all come to faith in Christ Jesus – God would make sure it did not depend on Paul.
In Acts 13, all who were appointed to Jesus Christ were saved. If we find him it is because he found us first. ‘All who the father gives me will be saved’. Our relationship with him deepens not according to our weak grasp of him but his sure grasp of us.
d) It’s both exciting and intensely humbling reality.
That means we have responsibility to serve God. Everything that concerns our life is in his hands – our jobs, our housing, everything including our suffering because he has chosen us. God has not finished with us yet, he will take us home to his glory to be with forever.
Peter writes to those who are called
God’s Spirit has opened our ears to hear God’s voice, change us. He is the source of all spiritual growth. Sanctifying means set apart for a holy purpose. Paul said he was set apart from birth as was Abraham who had to leave his family in Ur. If we are a believer it is because the Spirit makes us willing.
Peter writes to those who are cleansed.
The sprinkling of blood meant they were personally entering into the covenant like Israel at Sinai – see Exodus 24. This was one time when the people were sprinkled by Moses, they committed their life to obedience and discipleship.
To be sprinkled means that the blood of Jesus is personally applied to your life. His blood was offered for you. His death is yours, your sin is on him.
Peter writes to those enjoying grace and peace.
Grace always precedes peace in our lives and is God’s work in us, peace is always the result of grace, and can be multiplied. Grace comes first, followed by peace. We are troubled people who need God’s peace, it is the blessing of God’s gospel.
SummaryAll rests on God’s grace to us. We may be strangers in the World but God keeps us. We may be strangers in the world – but we have God’s grace in abundance. We may be misunderstood, but we have God’s peace multiplied to us. We may not be wealthy but God sets no limits on the grace and peace he will give us. To multiplied trials he gives multiplied grace. We cannot do it ourselves, God does it for us, we must come to God just as we are.
Ephesians 1 verses 1 to 14 1 Peter 1 verses 1 to 3
Peter had been close and intimate with Jesus, he was well qualified to write this letter. It was written to Christians in modern day Turkey, they were scattered in little groups. They were part of a large family. They were strangers in the world, loved by God.
Peter writes about the Trinity – verse 2
This is a Trinitarian perspective. There is no apology or attempt to explain it. He just states it. The Trinity are co-equal, of the same substance and each has a role.
Peter writes to those who are chosen
a) It’s planned choice.
The word ‘chosen’ applied to choosing soldiers. The word ‘foreknowledge’ is ‘prognosis’, it means God knew what he intended to do and made sure it happens – see Acts 2 verse 23. God had chosen Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. A prognosis is a prediction of future outcomes as a doctor does, e.g. a sore throat, a doctor makes a fairly accurate guess. You want to know not an uncertain or educated guess as a doctor does. God is not like this, his foreknowledge is linked to fore-ordination. We can see this in the death of Christ, in Acts 2, the death of Jesus was not simply foreknowledge or foreseen but fore-ordained. He planned it that way. God does not just foresee our salvation but planned in advance to save us. What sort of God chops and changes his plans according to man’s decision.
At the back of the loaf is the flour; and back of the flour, the mill; and back of the mill, the sun and shower; and back of it all the Father’s will.
It is God’s weather that makes rain fall, it is all in the plans of God. God had an action plan to save men after the Fall.
b) It’s hard to grasp.
People rebel against it. Like the doctrine of the Trinity, the truth of election must be received with simple, unquestioning faith. We must see that if God is God he has the right and power to decide what he wants to do and he protects his people and brings them to salvation. We believe God’s word by a simple act of faith. We are born the way we are and live our lives the way we do because of God’s grace - 1 Corinthians 4 verse 7, we have received everything we have from God’s hand, where and when we are born, the family to which we are born. Look at Saul’s life, he was the enemy of Christ’s church, he had great intellectual power, then God intervened and he was told that God had chosen him to be his instrument of the Gospel. Likewise God prepared and chose Moses to be a great leader and used him to break Pharaoh’s power. God chose the nation of Israel as his chosen people. He now chooses individual – Ephesians 1, we are chosen according to the purposes of his will. It is Romans, Mark and Matthew, God has chosen a people out of the world.
Romans 9 says a potter has the right to make from clay what he wants, so does God. Jacob and Esau were as bad as each other by nature. God took hold of Jacob, saved him, kept him and changed him but left Esau to suffer the consequences of his bad choices.
Who are we to say that we know more than he does? We must submit to his will.
c) It is not fatalism
It is not the ‘frozen chosen’, we cannot say there is no need to do anything. He has chosen us to change us. If we remain frozen we are not a Christian. It is not a mandate for despair in evangelism. Paul despaired in Corinth, he feared he would never see any saved, the city was so immoral. God said ‘don’t be afraid, keep on speaking; no one will harm you for I have many in this city. They would all come to faith in Christ Jesus – God would make sure it did not depend on Paul.
In Acts 13, all who were appointed to Jesus Christ were saved. If we find him it is because he found us first. ‘All who the father gives me will be saved’. Our relationship with him deepens not according to our weak grasp of him but his sure grasp of us.
d) It’s both exciting and intensely humbling reality.
That means we have responsibility to serve God. Everything that concerns our life is in his hands – our jobs, our housing, everything including our suffering because he has chosen us. God has not finished with us yet, he will take us home to his glory to be with forever.
Peter writes to those who are called
God’s Spirit has opened our ears to hear God’s voice, change us. He is the source of all spiritual growth. Sanctifying means set apart for a holy purpose. Paul said he was set apart from birth as was Abraham who had to leave his family in Ur. If we are a believer it is because the Spirit makes us willing.
Peter writes to those who are cleansed.
The sprinkling of blood meant they were personally entering into the covenant like Israel at Sinai – see Exodus 24. This was one time when the people were sprinkled by Moses, they committed their life to obedience and discipleship.
To be sprinkled means that the blood of Jesus is personally applied to your life. His blood was offered for you. His death is yours, your sin is on him.
Peter writes to those enjoying grace and peace.
Grace always precedes peace in our lives and is God’s work in us, peace is always the result of grace, and can be multiplied. Grace comes first, followed by peace. We are troubled people who need God’s peace, it is the blessing of God’s gospel.
SummaryAll rests on God’s grace to us. We may be strangers in the World but God keeps us. We may be strangers in the world – but we have God’s grace in abundance. We may be misunderstood, but we have God’s peace multiplied to us. We may not be wealthy but God sets no limits on the grace and peace he will give us. To multiplied trials he gives multiplied grace. We cannot do it ourselves, God does it for us, we must come to God just as we are.
Sunday 10 June 2007
Be men
Be Men
The roles of men in the world
2 Timothy 2 and Genesis 2 verses 21 to 25
What does it mean to be a man? What makes a man? What is a description of a real man? What does the Bible mean by manliness? The Bible often speaks to everyone, today, in this sermon, men are under the spotlight but this informs women as well.
How are men and women alike and equal?
It is important to understand the Biblical model, failure to understand this is disastrous for marriage and leads to the Bible’s teaching being undermined.
The woman was not made from the man to rule over him or from his feet to trample him but out of his side to be by his side and from under his arm. This passage teaches complimentarianism.
Men and women are equally like God and made in his image, this is important for the well being of society. In China and India there is an imbalance of men and women.
Each are equally loved by God – see Acts 2 verse 17. Men and women have the Spirit poured out on them. No one has the right to say one sex is more spiritual, prayerful etc. Each enjoy the sign of acceptance by baptism, they enjoy equal honour in the church and are equally accountable to God - see Galatians chapter 3, Paul says all they are one in Christ and each must be personally saved by Christ.
How do men and women differ?
There is a masculine and feminine role in their lives. Each are different in appearance, design and function. Men and women’s brains are different – these differences are located in the brain. The brain processes information in different ways in men and women. The brain’s physiology is different. It isn’t just upbringing; it is the way we are made. God has made us to look different and to be different. God wants us to express this difference
Deuteronomy 2 verse 25 – we are to look different. Today we seem to have unisex everything – clothes, hairstyle etc. It is said ‘men are from Mars and women are from Venus’ – we are different
Men are called to a God given role
What is masculinity? Men have become more insecure about what it means to be a man. Feminism says we are all equal. Boys often grow up without a father figure with just their mother. This leads to more violence in society because women cannot channel male energy effectively. This has been found in America.
Society has male rites of passage to go from being a boy to a man. It is a bad idea for men to have something to prove to each other and to girls.
What is the right and Biblical balance? Men can often be wet whimps or harsh and overbearing – this is two extremes – men can be very weak role models.
a) What is Biblical maleness? The man Jesus is our role model He is wise, manly, strong and free, he changes, lifts and ennobles.
In Jesus there is a remarkable interaction between the authoritarian and the mild. He changes, lifts and ennobles. We need to study his life. He was perfectly obedient like Noah; he lived sacrificially like Abraham; he wouldn’t compromise like Joseph. Jesus showed the best traits of all the best men in the Bible but perfectly.
What if we compare him to Buddha? Buddha was not a man of action. Jesus was prayerful and contemplative but he did good day after day. What about Islam? It is one sided – cold and oppressive. Jesus was boldly authoritative but tender in love to Lazarus and he wrestles in prayer in Gethsemane. Jesus died to protect us from our sin and he lives to us his spirit.
Getting married, having a family etc does not make a man, being a Christ centred man does.
b) The primary role man was given was to work and provide – see 2 Timothy 2 verse 10. Brain physiology shows us that men are practically orientated and interested in doing a task. Women are interested in each other. Men get their identity from work. We must work to eat. Jesus was a carpenter before he began his ministry. The ‘bread winner’ role is Biblical in normal circumstances, poor health or old age being exceptions. It gives us worth and self esteem. 1 Timothy 5 verse 8 shows us the Paul condemned those who would not work. God made Adam to be busy.
c) The second role in leadership. Adam took the lead. God made Adam the head of the race.
(i) Male leadership is God’s order for the family – see 1 Corinthians 11 verse 3. It is the partnership of two spiritual beings, the man is the head. It is said to everyone in spite of their temperament
(ii) Male leadership means being a father, teaching, sharing and training. Paul says men must bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It is his primary duty, not the wife’s. This is not to denigrate women, often they have to do this by default.
(iii) Male leadership in the Church is God’s pattern – 1 Timothy 2 verse 12. Women are not permitted to have authority over men. This is not cultural but Biblical. Often men do their duty so women have to do it. Men should be leaders directing their families and leading their children and wives. Men should not be childish but take responsibilities in the family, church and at work.
d) The 3rd role for men is manliness and being protective – see 1 Corinthians 16 verse 13. Manliness is to be strong by being brave and dutiful. Manliness is action, responsibility and decisiveness. Men must protect their wives, children and society. Jesus expects men to lead their lives like this. Church leaders are to lead the church away from danger.
The lack of courage to take on commitment and responsibility marks more and more men. Many young men can do extreme sports and go and search for adventure, but the courage to take on responsibility for a wife and children is dying. Have men got the courage to protect family and be godly leaders?
e) The 4th thing is loving, sacrificial service. See 1 Peter 3 verse 7. A man is to be understanding and protective towards the weaker sex. Women are vulnerable. See Isaiah 32 verse 2. A good man is a protector and guardian, sacrificially giving their time and love and care to the women around them - in particular meeting the needs of their wives. Encouraging reading the Bible and praying together is important. Providing for a wife also means taking the initiative in helping meet her spiritual needs. Men need to make sure their wives can get to church to hear the word. Gentlemen it’s up to us. We men must get our act together now. We will never manage it fully. We need God’s grace and power. But is there a better picture to paint for our time? Is there a better role model than the Lord Jesus Christ? Read his life again, pray for his manliness.
The roles of men in the world
2 Timothy 2 and Genesis 2 verses 21 to 25
What does it mean to be a man? What makes a man? What is a description of a real man? What does the Bible mean by manliness? The Bible often speaks to everyone, today, in this sermon, men are under the spotlight but this informs women as well.
How are men and women alike and equal?
It is important to understand the Biblical model, failure to understand this is disastrous for marriage and leads to the Bible’s teaching being undermined.
The woman was not made from the man to rule over him or from his feet to trample him but out of his side to be by his side and from under his arm. This passage teaches complimentarianism.
Men and women are equally like God and made in his image, this is important for the well being of society. In China and India there is an imbalance of men and women.
Each are equally loved by God – see Acts 2 verse 17. Men and women have the Spirit poured out on them. No one has the right to say one sex is more spiritual, prayerful etc. Each enjoy the sign of acceptance by baptism, they enjoy equal honour in the church and are equally accountable to God - see Galatians chapter 3, Paul says all they are one in Christ and each must be personally saved by Christ.
How do men and women differ?
There is a masculine and feminine role in their lives. Each are different in appearance, design and function. Men and women’s brains are different – these differences are located in the brain. The brain processes information in different ways in men and women. The brain’s physiology is different. It isn’t just upbringing; it is the way we are made. God has made us to look different and to be different. God wants us to express this difference
Deuteronomy 2 verse 25 – we are to look different. Today we seem to have unisex everything – clothes, hairstyle etc. It is said ‘men are from Mars and women are from Venus’ – we are different
Men are called to a God given role
What is masculinity? Men have become more insecure about what it means to be a man. Feminism says we are all equal. Boys often grow up without a father figure with just their mother. This leads to more violence in society because women cannot channel male energy effectively. This has been found in America.
Society has male rites of passage to go from being a boy to a man. It is a bad idea for men to have something to prove to each other and to girls.
What is the right and Biblical balance? Men can often be wet whimps or harsh and overbearing – this is two extremes – men can be very weak role models.
a) What is Biblical maleness? The man Jesus is our role model He is wise, manly, strong and free, he changes, lifts and ennobles.
In Jesus there is a remarkable interaction between the authoritarian and the mild. He changes, lifts and ennobles. We need to study his life. He was perfectly obedient like Noah; he lived sacrificially like Abraham; he wouldn’t compromise like Joseph. Jesus showed the best traits of all the best men in the Bible but perfectly.
What if we compare him to Buddha? Buddha was not a man of action. Jesus was prayerful and contemplative but he did good day after day. What about Islam? It is one sided – cold and oppressive. Jesus was boldly authoritative but tender in love to Lazarus and he wrestles in prayer in Gethsemane. Jesus died to protect us from our sin and he lives to us his spirit.
Getting married, having a family etc does not make a man, being a Christ centred man does.
b) The primary role man was given was to work and provide – see 2 Timothy 2 verse 10. Brain physiology shows us that men are practically orientated and interested in doing a task. Women are interested in each other. Men get their identity from work. We must work to eat. Jesus was a carpenter before he began his ministry. The ‘bread winner’ role is Biblical in normal circumstances, poor health or old age being exceptions. It gives us worth and self esteem. 1 Timothy 5 verse 8 shows us the Paul condemned those who would not work. God made Adam to be busy.
c) The second role in leadership. Adam took the lead. God made Adam the head of the race.
(i) Male leadership is God’s order for the family – see 1 Corinthians 11 verse 3. It is the partnership of two spiritual beings, the man is the head. It is said to everyone in spite of their temperament
(ii) Male leadership means being a father, teaching, sharing and training. Paul says men must bring up children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. It is his primary duty, not the wife’s. This is not to denigrate women, often they have to do this by default.
(iii) Male leadership in the Church is God’s pattern – 1 Timothy 2 verse 12. Women are not permitted to have authority over men. This is not cultural but Biblical. Often men do their duty so women have to do it. Men should be leaders directing their families and leading their children and wives. Men should not be childish but take responsibilities in the family, church and at work.
d) The 3rd role for men is manliness and being protective – see 1 Corinthians 16 verse 13. Manliness is to be strong by being brave and dutiful. Manliness is action, responsibility and decisiveness. Men must protect their wives, children and society. Jesus expects men to lead their lives like this. Church leaders are to lead the church away from danger.
The lack of courage to take on commitment and responsibility marks more and more men. Many young men can do extreme sports and go and search for adventure, but the courage to take on responsibility for a wife and children is dying. Have men got the courage to protect family and be godly leaders?
e) The 4th thing is loving, sacrificial service. See 1 Peter 3 verse 7. A man is to be understanding and protective towards the weaker sex. Women are vulnerable. See Isaiah 32 verse 2. A good man is a protector and guardian, sacrificially giving their time and love and care to the women around them - in particular meeting the needs of their wives. Encouraging reading the Bible and praying together is important. Providing for a wife also means taking the initiative in helping meet her spiritual needs. Men need to make sure their wives can get to church to hear the word. Gentlemen it’s up to us. We men must get our act together now. We will never manage it fully. We need God’s grace and power. But is there a better picture to paint for our time? Is there a better role model than the Lord Jesus Christ? Read his life again, pray for his manliness.
Sunday 3 June 2007
1 Peter - introduction
1 Peter
Matthew 16 verses 13 to 20 Acts 4 verses 1 to 22
Why 1 Peter? It is short, simple and it speaks to us today. Leighton, says Peter has three things he aims at in this letter: Faith, to establish them in believing; obedience, to direct them in doing; Patience, to comfort them in suffering. Peter wrote to scattered believers encouraging them to stay steadfast in difficult circumstances. Hope is the commodity in short supply, then and now in the church and without.
Who wrote this letter?
Verse 1 Peter the apostle of Jesus Christ. We know more about Peter than any other writer in the Bible
a) What do we know about Peter?
(i) He was called Simon; he was brought to Christ by his brother Andrew.
(ii) He came from Galilee – he was a fisherman. Galileans had a reputation for independence.
(iii) He was married – he was accompanied by his wife later (he was not celibate as the Roman Catholics claim).
(iv) He was renamed Cephas or Peter by Jesus, this means mass of rock cut from the living rock, implying stability, as he was in later life.
(v) He made a great statement of faith in Matthew 16.
(vi) He was with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, at the last supper etc. He also denied Christ.
(vii) Jesus reinstated him.
(viii) He preached at Pentecost.
(ix) He went before the Sanhedrin
(x) He went to Samaria
(xi) He went to see to see Cornelius in Joppa
(xii) He was at the Council in Jerusalem
(xiii) He was reprimanded by Paul in Antioch
(xiv) Some think he went to Turkey and wrote letters from there.
(xv) Some say he was crucified upside down in Rome.
(xvi) After that nothing is known for certain.
Here is a man who was an eye witness to every word spoken and action of Jesus. He was the leader of the disciples and he had a deep and wonderful understanding of the Gospel.
He was made a stable person by the grace of Christ.
b) He was an apostle. This name means ‘from’ and ‘to send’ – the old English word ‘postle’ comes from it which means sermon. We derive the word postman from it. The apostle delivers the gospel. He wrote with inspiration.
An apostle is the highest office of the church, they are chosen by Christ and confirmed by miracles. The apostles high office ended when scriptures ended. Today the gospel is taken by ordinary believers, we are the only ones he has to take it.
To who is it written?
1 Peter is written to ‘strangers in the world’. They were ‘expatriates’. They hadn’t moved physically but had spiritually. It is a general letter. The 9 general letters are from Hebrews to Revelations were sent to a general geographical areas. They were written by James, Peter and John – the pillars of the church. 1 Peter was written to Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia and Bithynia – all in modern day Turkey. It is a tough society today and it was so then. The converts had been made under Paul or Peter. They were of mixed race and religion – Jews, Gauls, Greeks etc. The believers had been dispersed as life got difficult for them – see Acts 8, they preached the word wherever they went. It may have been difficult for them to have a church fellowship, they were a united fellowship. Peter knew they were faithful. They were the light of the world. We are where God wants us to be. We must bloom where we are planted by God. We must be fragrant. We are scattered but gather to meet.
We have a different set of values from those around us. They hadn’t moved physically but they had spiritually, they had embraced the gospel and had a new king, they had a new allegiance in the town, school and work place. Our citizenship is in Heaven. We wait for a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in but not of the world. We do not compromise with the world. We are faithful to what God wants us to do. It is hard to swim against the tide but we have the grace of God to help us. The world heaps abuse on us as a result of us being different.
He writes to strangers or foreigners or aliens in the world. Peter is writing to temporary residents of the world. That’s true of us all, we are all passing through, we are mortal, some will have a long journey, others a short one. We are all governed by time and heading for eternity. Christianity is often mocked for being ‘pie in the sky when we die’ it is not true, we live for God now. Years ago death was a reminder of the shortness of life and the need to prepare for eternity. We may live longer but we still have to face death. Are we ready to meet the Lord? Do we have heaven to look forward to?
When was it written?
Peter is writing some 30 years after the death and ascension of Jesus, just prior to Nero’s persecution. They were turbulent and terrifying times. Nero was the emperor of the world, he was about to initiate the greatest ever persecution of Christians in the world. He probably caused the great fire of Rome and blamed Christians for it. Christians suffered terribly. It was all recorded by Tacitus who witnessed it all. Peter wrote to prepare people for this persecution.
Where was it sent from?
Chapter 4 verse l3 says Babylon, was it really from there? Or was it spoken of figuratively? There is no evidence Peter went to the real Babylon but he did get to Rome in AD 63. Just after Paul was first released.
What kind of letter is it?
It was an encyclical letter intended to read aloud in the various Christian assemblies. It was possibly written as a catechism.
What support has the letter?
The genuineness of this letter is evident both internally and externally.
Why was it written?
a) It was written during political, social and personal uncertainty. There was social change and personal persecution. Nero was on the throne. He was a young man – only 32 when he died. He was unfitted to be emperor. Opposition to Christ was spreading. Christians were very different, they were not immoral, neither did they burn incense or worship the emperor. People misunderstood and feared them and what you fear and don’t understand you attack. It is so today. There were many gods, local and national ones. Christians said Jesus is Lord and worshipping idols is wrong. People of the age were tolerant of all religions except those who say Jesus is Lord. Christian unions in colleges are being denied permission to meet on campus. Because of this it was the best of times, they had a great living saviour, it was the worst of times – they were being persecuted.
b) It was written when Christians were being persecuted. We do not face first century Rome and its barbaric emperor. We have democracy and freedom but we still suffer temptation and difficulties in the World. Hardship is met all over the world. We suffer in our bodies. We need hope in a hostile world. Peter maintained hope in a hostile world. First Peter is a message to people under pressure to give up.
Matthew 16 verses 13 to 20 Acts 4 verses 1 to 22
Why 1 Peter? It is short, simple and it speaks to us today. Leighton, says Peter has three things he aims at in this letter: Faith, to establish them in believing; obedience, to direct them in doing; Patience, to comfort them in suffering. Peter wrote to scattered believers encouraging them to stay steadfast in difficult circumstances. Hope is the commodity in short supply, then and now in the church and without.
Who wrote this letter?
Verse 1 Peter the apostle of Jesus Christ. We know more about Peter than any other writer in the Bible
a) What do we know about Peter?
(i) He was called Simon; he was brought to Christ by his brother Andrew.
(ii) He came from Galilee – he was a fisherman. Galileans had a reputation for independence.
(iii) He was married – he was accompanied by his wife later (he was not celibate as the Roman Catholics claim).
(iv) He was renamed Cephas or Peter by Jesus, this means mass of rock cut from the living rock, implying stability, as he was in later life.
(v) He made a great statement of faith in Matthew 16.
(vi) He was with the Lord on the Mount of Transfiguration, at the last supper etc. He also denied Christ.
(vii) Jesus reinstated him.
(viii) He preached at Pentecost.
(ix) He went before the Sanhedrin
(x) He went to Samaria
(xi) He went to see to see Cornelius in Joppa
(xii) He was at the Council in Jerusalem
(xiii) He was reprimanded by Paul in Antioch
(xiv) Some think he went to Turkey and wrote letters from there.
(xv) Some say he was crucified upside down in Rome.
(xvi) After that nothing is known for certain.
Here is a man who was an eye witness to every word spoken and action of Jesus. He was the leader of the disciples and he had a deep and wonderful understanding of the Gospel.
He was made a stable person by the grace of Christ.
b) He was an apostle. This name means ‘from’ and ‘to send’ – the old English word ‘postle’ comes from it which means sermon. We derive the word postman from it. The apostle delivers the gospel. He wrote with inspiration.
An apostle is the highest office of the church, they are chosen by Christ and confirmed by miracles. The apostles high office ended when scriptures ended. Today the gospel is taken by ordinary believers, we are the only ones he has to take it.
To who is it written?
1 Peter is written to ‘strangers in the world’. They were ‘expatriates’. They hadn’t moved physically but had spiritually. It is a general letter. The 9 general letters are from Hebrews to Revelations were sent to a general geographical areas. They were written by James, Peter and John – the pillars of the church. 1 Peter was written to Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia and Bithynia – all in modern day Turkey. It is a tough society today and it was so then. The converts had been made under Paul or Peter. They were of mixed race and religion – Jews, Gauls, Greeks etc. The believers had been dispersed as life got difficult for them – see Acts 8, they preached the word wherever they went. It may have been difficult for them to have a church fellowship, they were a united fellowship. Peter knew they were faithful. They were the light of the world. We are where God wants us to be. We must bloom where we are planted by God. We must be fragrant. We are scattered but gather to meet.
We have a different set of values from those around us. They hadn’t moved physically but they had spiritually, they had embraced the gospel and had a new king, they had a new allegiance in the town, school and work place. Our citizenship is in Heaven. We wait for a Saviour from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are in but not of the world. We do not compromise with the world. We are faithful to what God wants us to do. It is hard to swim against the tide but we have the grace of God to help us. The world heaps abuse on us as a result of us being different.
He writes to strangers or foreigners or aliens in the world. Peter is writing to temporary residents of the world. That’s true of us all, we are all passing through, we are mortal, some will have a long journey, others a short one. We are all governed by time and heading for eternity. Christianity is often mocked for being ‘pie in the sky when we die’ it is not true, we live for God now. Years ago death was a reminder of the shortness of life and the need to prepare for eternity. We may live longer but we still have to face death. Are we ready to meet the Lord? Do we have heaven to look forward to?
When was it written?
Peter is writing some 30 years after the death and ascension of Jesus, just prior to Nero’s persecution. They were turbulent and terrifying times. Nero was the emperor of the world, he was about to initiate the greatest ever persecution of Christians in the world. He probably caused the great fire of Rome and blamed Christians for it. Christians suffered terribly. It was all recorded by Tacitus who witnessed it all. Peter wrote to prepare people for this persecution.
Where was it sent from?
Chapter 4 verse l3 says Babylon, was it really from there? Or was it spoken of figuratively? There is no evidence Peter went to the real Babylon but he did get to Rome in AD 63. Just after Paul was first released.
What kind of letter is it?
It was an encyclical letter intended to read aloud in the various Christian assemblies. It was possibly written as a catechism.
What support has the letter?
The genuineness of this letter is evident both internally and externally.
Why was it written?
a) It was written during political, social and personal uncertainty. There was social change and personal persecution. Nero was on the throne. He was a young man – only 32 when he died. He was unfitted to be emperor. Opposition to Christ was spreading. Christians were very different, they were not immoral, neither did they burn incense or worship the emperor. People misunderstood and feared them and what you fear and don’t understand you attack. It is so today. There were many gods, local and national ones. Christians said Jesus is Lord and worshipping idols is wrong. People of the age were tolerant of all religions except those who say Jesus is Lord. Christian unions in colleges are being denied permission to meet on campus. Because of this it was the best of times, they had a great living saviour, it was the worst of times – they were being persecuted.
b) It was written when Christians were being persecuted. We do not face first century Rome and its barbaric emperor. We have democracy and freedom but we still suffer temptation and difficulties in the World. Hardship is met all over the world. We suffer in our bodies. We need hope in a hostile world. Peter maintained hope in a hostile world. First Peter is a message to people under pressure to give up.
It is not good to be alone
It is not good to be alone
Ecclesiastes 4 verses 1 to 12, Genesis 24 and Genesis 2 verses1 to 25
This is a new section of Genesis.
God made us to have personal relationships
‘It is not good for man to be alone’, this is the first thing in creation to be called ‘not good’ – everything else was perfect. The man needed someone to be a compliment to him – a friend, a helper as there is companionship in the Godhead.
a) Adam, the representative man was made with an inbuilt need for personal friendship and a close relationship.
There is a breakdown in marriage in modern society, there is also a breakdown of close ties causing isolation and loneliness caused by modern life. It has become a ‘me world’, abandoning family ties. Community is seen as being of no consequence.
Isolation can be very harmful, even dangerous. It is caused by many things such as a lack of social skills, rejection etc. It leads to an unbalanced personality.
Some people are workaholics and have only fleeting friendships. Interpersonal relationships are normal and healthy. Some need to work at being friendly and belonging, especially in the body of Christ. We need to work at this and make an effort to talk to people.
Marriage is God’s chief answer to human loneliness, but it isn’t the only answer, everyone spends some years being single, and some are called to remain single. When we are single it can be caused by the death of a loved one. We all need companionship. The body of Christ is a family that in many ways transcends our earthly family. To be single is not to deny your natural feminine or masculine qualities. We should be thankful for our friendships and family. We, like God, should care for those who are single or lonely through no fault of their own.
Adam looked at the animals and realised they couldn’t talk and discuss things with or confide in. They could not meet his psychological, spiritual or emotional needs. There is no kinship between men and animals. If darwinianism is true, he may have found company with apes – he did not.
God was preparing Adam to have a gnawing hunger for a life partner. We can put off marriage until much later in life and miss out on marriage if we are not careful. Men can be so picky, wimpish or fussy that they do not choose a partner.
b) Adam discovered animals were not a substitute for a person – verse 19
Adam looked at the animals and realised they couldn’t talk and discuss things with or confide in. They could not meet his psychological, spiritual or emotional needs. There is no kinship between men and animals. If darwinianism is true, he may have found company with apes – he did not.
God was preparing Adam to have a gnawing hunger for a life partner. We can put off marriage until much later in life and miss out on marriage if we are not careful. Men can be so picky, wimpish or fussy that they do not choose a partner.
God made us to be man and wife.
a) Adam discovered other men or animals were not a substitute for a wife.
We are not made to love other men or animals or woman after woman. Men are made to one woman and vice versa. The answer to man’s loneliness is one woman. As he named animals God was teaching him to be a leader and preparing him to be a lover.
b) Adam discovered that he needed a wife to complement him – verse 18
Adam saw animals two by two, he saw he had no counterpart
Helper’ means to supply that which an individual cannot provide for himself, aiding someone in need, not being a junior assistant. In the psalms the Lord is described as our helper, the same word is used in Genesis. The woman comes to Adam in his need. It is an honour to be someone’s help.
Suitable means to compliment and correspond. She is to be equal to and be adequate for the man. God created a partner corresponding to him. The difference us not one of worth, ability or intelligence but of role. A complimentary role is life is like in a jigsaw, the pieces lock together to make a harmonious whole.
What is most like half a moon? Not half an orange or half an edam cheese but half a moon. What matches a man, a woman. She matches him in dignity and worth. Companionship is the basic need which woman will fulfil in the life of man. She is also a suitable mate – procreation is an important part, but she was primarily a suitable companion. The Roman Catholic view of marriage is that it is primarily for procreation. This passage denies this. Calvin and Luther deny that celibacy is the most holy state and marriage second best.
Premarital sex is to change a friendship to lover and missing the intermediate stage that changes it to a permanent union.
God made us to be male and female - verses 21 to 23
This is an accurate account of how the woman was made – it expands on chapter one. Man had to come first – he has x and y chromosomes so he could reproduce male and female (if it had been a woman, only women could have been made). God took Eve from Adam’s side, she was a beautiful woman in all her glory. God was the father of the bride, there was no courtship or dating. It was an arranged marriage. God was the first anaesthetist - he put Adam to sleep. When Adam awoke he could see he was like her, but she also differed – see verse 23, he has an immediate reaction, he was saying the first love poem. In Hebrew ‘ish’ means male and ‘isher’ means female, it also means soft and cuddly. It was love at first sight. Adam accepted God’s gift.
Adam, the representative man, had no one to love, to talk to, or embrace, none to help, or give himself to, no one to comfort and no one to produce others kije himself. But God provided. If we are in a married relationship we should be thankful for his provision.
There is a second representative man – Christ our saviour who will not be alone in his kingdom. He will have a people to love and by whom he will be loved – people like himself, to be in fellowship, to serve, to admire him, to share with. A people to reign with.
In Ephesians 5 husbands are told to love their wives as Christ loves the Church and gave himself for her.
Whatever our state in life – single or married – we belong to Christ, we have an everlasting lover who will never fail us or let us down. If we do not have a perfect marriage we do have a perfect redeemer.
Ecclesiastes 4 verses 1 to 12, Genesis 24 and Genesis 2 verses1 to 25
This is a new section of Genesis.
God made us to have personal relationships
‘It is not good for man to be alone’, this is the first thing in creation to be called ‘not good’ – everything else was perfect. The man needed someone to be a compliment to him – a friend, a helper as there is companionship in the Godhead.
a) Adam, the representative man was made with an inbuilt need for personal friendship and a close relationship.
There is a breakdown in marriage in modern society, there is also a breakdown of close ties causing isolation and loneliness caused by modern life. It has become a ‘me world’, abandoning family ties. Community is seen as being of no consequence.
Isolation can be very harmful, even dangerous. It is caused by many things such as a lack of social skills, rejection etc. It leads to an unbalanced personality.
Some people are workaholics and have only fleeting friendships. Interpersonal relationships are normal and healthy. Some need to work at being friendly and belonging, especially in the body of Christ. We need to work at this and make an effort to talk to people.
Marriage is God’s chief answer to human loneliness, but it isn’t the only answer, everyone spends some years being single, and some are called to remain single. When we are single it can be caused by the death of a loved one. We all need companionship. The body of Christ is a family that in many ways transcends our earthly family. To be single is not to deny your natural feminine or masculine qualities. We should be thankful for our friendships and family. We, like God, should care for those who are single or lonely through no fault of their own.
Adam looked at the animals and realised they couldn’t talk and discuss things with or confide in. They could not meet his psychological, spiritual or emotional needs. There is no kinship between men and animals. If darwinianism is true, he may have found company with apes – he did not.
God was preparing Adam to have a gnawing hunger for a life partner. We can put off marriage until much later in life and miss out on marriage if we are not careful. Men can be so picky, wimpish or fussy that they do not choose a partner.
b) Adam discovered animals were not a substitute for a person – verse 19
Adam looked at the animals and realised they couldn’t talk and discuss things with or confide in. They could not meet his psychological, spiritual or emotional needs. There is no kinship between men and animals. If darwinianism is true, he may have found company with apes – he did not.
God was preparing Adam to have a gnawing hunger for a life partner. We can put off marriage until much later in life and miss out on marriage if we are not careful. Men can be so picky, wimpish or fussy that they do not choose a partner.
God made us to be man and wife.
a) Adam discovered other men or animals were not a substitute for a wife.
We are not made to love other men or animals or woman after woman. Men are made to one woman and vice versa. The answer to man’s loneliness is one woman. As he named animals God was teaching him to be a leader and preparing him to be a lover.
b) Adam discovered that he needed a wife to complement him – verse 18
Adam saw animals two by two, he saw he had no counterpart
Helper’ means to supply that which an individual cannot provide for himself, aiding someone in need, not being a junior assistant. In the psalms the Lord is described as our helper, the same word is used in Genesis. The woman comes to Adam in his need. It is an honour to be someone’s help.
Suitable means to compliment and correspond. She is to be equal to and be adequate for the man. God created a partner corresponding to him. The difference us not one of worth, ability or intelligence but of role. A complimentary role is life is like in a jigsaw, the pieces lock together to make a harmonious whole.
What is most like half a moon? Not half an orange or half an edam cheese but half a moon. What matches a man, a woman. She matches him in dignity and worth. Companionship is the basic need which woman will fulfil in the life of man. She is also a suitable mate – procreation is an important part, but she was primarily a suitable companion. The Roman Catholic view of marriage is that it is primarily for procreation. This passage denies this. Calvin and Luther deny that celibacy is the most holy state and marriage second best.
Premarital sex is to change a friendship to lover and missing the intermediate stage that changes it to a permanent union.
God made us to be male and female - verses 21 to 23
This is an accurate account of how the woman was made – it expands on chapter one. Man had to come first – he has x and y chromosomes so he could reproduce male and female (if it had been a woman, only women could have been made). God took Eve from Adam’s side, she was a beautiful woman in all her glory. God was the father of the bride, there was no courtship or dating. It was an arranged marriage. God was the first anaesthetist - he put Adam to sleep. When Adam awoke he could see he was like her, but she also differed – see verse 23, he has an immediate reaction, he was saying the first love poem. In Hebrew ‘ish’ means male and ‘isher’ means female, it also means soft and cuddly. It was love at first sight. Adam accepted God’s gift.
Adam, the representative man, had no one to love, to talk to, or embrace, none to help, or give himself to, no one to comfort and no one to produce others kije himself. But God provided. If we are in a married relationship we should be thankful for his provision.
There is a second representative man – Christ our saviour who will not be alone in his kingdom. He will have a people to love and by whom he will be loved – people like himself, to be in fellowship, to serve, to admire him, to share with. A people to reign with.
In Ephesians 5 husbands are told to love their wives as Christ loves the Church and gave himself for her.
Whatever our state in life – single or married – we belong to Christ, we have an everlasting lover who will never fail us or let us down. If we do not have a perfect marriage we do have a perfect redeemer.
People Jesus met - Pilate
People Jesus met - Pontius Pilate
This is the last in the present mini series of people who met the Lord Jesus.
There is a verse in Timothy tells us the Lord bore his testimony to the truth in the face of Pilate, and the same steadfast confession is required of Timothy, and all other followers of the Lord. 1Timothy 6:13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the course of his trail Pilate came to know a great deal abut the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
The Apostle’s Creed, assigns Pilate a central role in Jesus’ death with the words,
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
1. PILATES LIFE UNTIL NOW Luke 13:13,
Pilate represented Roman civil and military power, and had governed Israel since the year 26. Pilate had come from Seville in Spain, served under Germanicus, risen through the ranks, then went to Rome and made his fortune. He obtained his post as governor of Judea through his marriage to Claudia Proculla, a granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. Claudia’s mother, Julia, was notorious for her coarse immorality even in decadent Rome, and her daughter was like her. Augustus would refer to them saying, “Would I were wifeless or had childless died.” The marriage was a smart career move but a moral disgrace.
Pilate’s oversight of Judea was insensitive. Pilate constantly upset them and seemed deliberately to provoke them.
When he arrived in Judea the first time, he sent his legions to Jerusalem by night, bearing standards blazoned with the images of Tiberius, which the Jews considered idolatrous. That he did it by night shows that he knew that previous governors had never done that. Crowds of Jews in protest walked to Caesarea where Pilate was staying, and demanded that the standards be removed. There was a stand off for five days. Pilate met them in the local stadium, locked them in threatened to kill them, if they did not disperse. To his amazement the Jews all threw themselves on the ground and bared their necks. They would die rather than see the holy city of Jerusalem contaminated. Pilate backed down.
On another occasion he took money from the sacred Corban treasury to build a fifty-mile aqueduct from the Pools of Solomon into Jerusalem, provoking outrage from the citizens. A revolt took place about this too; because this money had been set aside for the Lord’s work. When the people gathered to protest, Pilate sent soldiers into the crowd disguised as common people who, on a prearranged signal, pulled out hidden weapons and attacked the demonstrators.
Luke refers to an apparently similar massacre Luke 13:13, “There were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.” Some people had gone on pilgrimage from Galilee to Jerusalem and while they were offering sacrifices in the temple Pilate ordered his troops in - we have no idea why. Their blood flowed all over the temple courtyard mixing with the blood of the sacrifices, polluting the place.
2. PILATES TRIAL OF CHRIST
Pilate had probably been contacted the previous night probably by Caiaphas. The Sanhedrin didn’t want to carry the sole responsibility of killing Christ. The thousands of people Jesus had healed and all the people whose lives were changed by Jesus, would all be complaining about the terrible thing the chief priests had done in killing him..”
When the leaders appear, they do not seem to have their charges against Jesus well thought out. Pilate then followed the four stages of a Roman trial:
a) Pilate heard the charge.
Pilate heard the charge. John records Pilate, demanding, “What charges are you bringing against this man?” and the best they could do was retort, “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you” John 18:29–30.
When they finally came up with accusations Luke 23:2 says, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king."
The first and second were lies because Jesus said, "...Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's..." Matthew. 22:21b.
The third accusation was both true and important; each of the Gospels records it.
The Jews were trying to make Jesus look like an earthly revolutionary who was going to lead a rebellion and crown Himself king.
Pilate knew this was a religious matter and that Jesus was innocent of treason or rebellion. Rome never accused Jesus. So he tried to acquit him.
b) He investigated the evidence
"Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said to Him, Are you the King of the Jews?"
Pilate's question implies, "Is this a joke? You mean they are accusing You of being a king?" And there stands Jesus -- meek, mild, silent, all alone, calm, with His hands bound. He didn't look much like an earthly king. It’s as if Pilate says, Where's Your army? Where are Your kingly clothes? You don't look like a king."
c) He asked for the defense.
34 "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me? 35 "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"
Pilate says, "What have You done?" In the Jewish court and the Roman court, the judge had no right to ask that question. Under no circumstances was a man to be condemned at the word of his own testimony. It is similar to the US Fifth Amendment. Pilate is asking an illegal question. So Jesus does not answer it.
Then Jesus explains what kind of a King He is, since Pilate understands that He is no political king. Jesus brings Pilate into a discussion of the issues.
Are you asking this as a Roman? Are you asking Me if I'm a political reactionary? Is this your own idea, or did somebody report to you that I claim to be a king?"
Jesus knows if He says, "Yes, I'm a king," then Pilate has a problem because he will be leading the Jews in an insurrection and there is a case to answer.
If Jesus says, "No, I'm not a king," then He has denied His kingship. So Jesus can't just say yes and He can't just say no -- His answer must be qualified. Jn 36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
d) He came to the verdict.
He knew that the real reason behind the accusations was the Jewish leaders’ envy of Jesus, and spoke the verdict: “I find no basis for a charge against him.”
John says that Pilate spoke those words three times. But instead of doing what he should have done at that point, releasing Jesus or at least placing him under protective custody as a later Roman commander did with Paul when his life was threatened by this same judicial body, the governor launched a pattern of irregular proceedings that led eventually to Jesus’ execution.
3. PILATE FOUND EVIDENCE OF JESUS INNOCENCE
a) He had his wife’s message.
Matthew records that Pilate’s wife sent him a message while he was seated on his judgment seat. “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him,” she said.
Frank Morison reminds us that the Romans were particularly superstitious where dreams were concerned. He suggests that Pilate and Proculla were probably together the night Jesus was arrested, that Proculla would have known about the Sanhedrin’s request for a trial, would have gone to bed thinking about Jesus and what she had heard about him, and when she awoke the next morning to find Pilate gone would have known he was beginning the trial. Her warning message to him had to be swift and urgent and would have been taken seriously by Pilate.
b) He saw the envy of the Jews rulers.
Pilate knew they were trouble makers and prejudiced and biased against an innocent one.
c) He was most impressed with Jesus.
He met a perfect Man - How marvelous was that calm self-possession as he did not try to defend himself against his accusers. Matthew reports Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor”. I find in Him no fault at all." The King of truth was maligned and hated, but remained self- controlled, patient and forgiving to the very end. Jesus was as pure at the end as He was at the beginning. There was nothing to hold against Him.
He met the eternal King - jn 36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." Before Pilate, Jesus claimed to be a King. But not an earthly king appointed by his subjects but a King who appoints His subjects. Pilate knew well that the Kingdom Jesus was claiming was no threat to an earthly kingdom. The Kingdom of Christ is a spiritual Kingdom.
He met the incarnate God - "...To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world..." be born is to be human, but to come into the world indicates pre-existence. 7 The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God." 8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, Pilate said. "Don’t you realise I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" 11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." 12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free.
He met the teacher of Truth - Jesus said, "I came into the world to bear witness to the truth." What truth? The truth about God, the truth about men, the truth about sin, the truth about judgment, the truth about love, the truth about holiness, the truth about life and death, the truth about everything.
"Pilate said unto Him, What is truth?..." Notice the cynicism in this: "Truth, what is truth?" as if he were saying, "I've been looking for truth all my life. That is twentieth-century man -- there is no truth. "...Everyone that is of the truth hears My voice." Many people claim to have the answers, Jesus alone comes from God.
4. PILATE SOUGHT WAYS OUT
John 12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Pilate tried four expedients to avoid pronouncing the death sentence:
a) Asking the people to choose either Jesus or Barabbas.
"I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?" 40 They shouted back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!
Barabbas was an insurgent, that is, a revolutionary who wanted to drive out the occupying Romans. That is why he was being held for execution. Every Jew knew about Barabbas, he was probably a hero. John makes the nature of the people’s choice crystal clear when he records Pilate asking them, “Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” and they shout back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas” John 18:40. The people wanted an earthly king offering earthly advantages, rather than a king from heaven who offered truth, righteousness, and eternal salvation. That did not work, what a dreadful choice.
b) Sending Jesus to Herod Luke
When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, but that way our did not work. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.
c) Offering to punish him without an execution.
Matthew: I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him." but that way our did not work either - 18 With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!"
d) Producing Jesus to stir the people’s pity
Producing Jesus in a beaten condition to stir the people’s pity. Luke "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him." That did not work either, so all attempts to avoid a decision failed.
5. PILATE CAVED IN AND MADE A WRONG DECISION
Christ’s Fate was Sealed; Pilate was trapped by his own indecision and failure to acquit and free the Lord Jesus. He says. “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” “Crucify him,” they answered.
Matthew indicates that “an uproar was starting”. It was the thing Pilate had to avoid at all costs. The leaders said “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar,” John 19:12.
That tipped the scales, for although Pilate may actually have feared Jesus a bit—perhaps Jesus was a kind of god—and although Pilate feared the hatred of the religious leaders and the fickleness of the crowds even more, Pilate feared the emperor most of all and dared not risk his disfavor.
So at last he called for water and washed his hands before the crowd. V24 “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. "It is your responsibility!".
Innocent? That is precisely what Pilate was not. All the water in the world could not wash the guilt of Jesus Christ’s blood from his hands, as countless generations since have realized.
Ryle- We see an imperial representative of the most powerful nation on earth knowing what was right, and yet afraid to act up to his knowledge--convinced in his own conscience that he ought to acquit the prisoner, and yet afraid to do it, sacrificing the claims of justice and countenancing the murder of an innocent person. Never was there a name so justly handed down to a world's scorn as the name which is embalmed in all our creeds--the name of Pontius Pilate.
Much contemporary Christian scholarship and popular media - Gibson’s Passion of the Christ is a recent example - present Pontius Pilate as a weak figure with an incidental role in Jesus’ crucifixion. Too lacking in guts to do the right thing and release an innocent man, he yields reluctantly to the death demands of Jerusalem’s bully-leaders. But such attempts to lower Pilate’s responsibility are unconvincing. We can see that Judas was certainly guilty. He sought to release Jesus for his own self-serving reasons, and not out of justice or compassion.
Pilate was guilty for condemning Jesus to death, but so was Judas, and the Jewish leaders and the mindless crowd as well.
The point is this we also would have cried out, “Away with Him! Crucify Him!”
We too are self serving like Pilate, money loving like Judas, envious like the rulers, and willingly manipulated by others like the crowd.
At the same time, as our Lord had indicated to Pilate, His death was the plan and purpose of God—His means for providing salvation for lost men:
6. WE TOO WILL FIND NEUTRALITY CANNNOT WORK.
He wanted to be neutral, to be innocent of his death, but he failed miserably, and in the end he took his stand against Jesus. No one can be neutral concerning Jesus Christ, for Jesus is either the King he claimed to be, or he is not.
If he is the King, say, “Yes, Jesus, I acknowledge who you are, and I want to become your subject today.”
Torrey, the evangelist, told the story of a man who said, "My question is what do you have against me?" The man then explained that he was a living a moral life, he took care of his family, worked hard for his employer, treated his neighbours well, and said as far as he knew he was doing his duty in every relationship in life, only he was not a Christian and again said, "What have you got against me?"
Torrey then looked him and said, "I'll tell you what I have against you. Jesus Christ is your King by divine appointment. You admit that you have not accepted Him and therefore you by not standing for Him are standing against Him."
One may try to avoid making a decision for Christ today by sending Him away – but He won’t go away, He will return.
One can try to shift the responsibility to someone else. Maybe some Christian has hurt you. The decision is still in our hands!
One could turn Jesus away, in spite of how difficult it is. Perhaps knowing the truth some still turn Him away. Other priorities of life are calling out to you too.
Are you undecided about what to do with Jesus? I want to encourage you to believe Him, trust Him, accept His offer of grace and mercy by being baptized into Christ – believing that by his power you will be raised up to live a new life.
Tradition says Pilate died a suicide. Whether that is true or not, we commit moral, spiritual and eternal suicide when we say "No" to Christ.
This question is for all of us: What will you do with Jesus today? Don’t try to ignore Him! Don’t wash your hands, respond to Him differently than Pilate did.
Yes God was ruling and overruling, but the wickedness of the verdict was 100 per cent Pilate’s. Ac 2:23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. God was in the sinful decision, but not in the sin of the decision. Whatever God determines in eternity men will choose in time. The manner of Jesus’ death was all arranged and governed by God and predicted by Jesus.
God was determined that his blessed sinless Son must die like the sinless Lamb of God and so take away the sin of the world.
This is the last in the present mini series of people who met the Lord Jesus.
There is a verse in Timothy tells us the Lord bore his testimony to the truth in the face of Pilate, and the same steadfast confession is required of Timothy, and all other followers of the Lord. 1Timothy 6:13 In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you 14 to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the course of his trail Pilate came to know a great deal abut the person and work of the Lord Jesus.
The Apostle’s Creed, assigns Pilate a central role in Jesus’ death with the words,
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
1. PILATES LIFE UNTIL NOW Luke 13:13,
Pilate represented Roman civil and military power, and had governed Israel since the year 26. Pilate had come from Seville in Spain, served under Germanicus, risen through the ranks, then went to Rome and made his fortune. He obtained his post as governor of Judea through his marriage to Claudia Proculla, a granddaughter of the emperor Augustus. Claudia’s mother, Julia, was notorious for her coarse immorality even in decadent Rome, and her daughter was like her. Augustus would refer to them saying, “Would I were wifeless or had childless died.” The marriage was a smart career move but a moral disgrace.
Pilate’s oversight of Judea was insensitive. Pilate constantly upset them and seemed deliberately to provoke them.
When he arrived in Judea the first time, he sent his legions to Jerusalem by night, bearing standards blazoned with the images of Tiberius, which the Jews considered idolatrous. That he did it by night shows that he knew that previous governors had never done that. Crowds of Jews in protest walked to Caesarea where Pilate was staying, and demanded that the standards be removed. There was a stand off for five days. Pilate met them in the local stadium, locked them in threatened to kill them, if they did not disperse. To his amazement the Jews all threw themselves on the ground and bared their necks. They would die rather than see the holy city of Jerusalem contaminated. Pilate backed down.
On another occasion he took money from the sacred Corban treasury to build a fifty-mile aqueduct from the Pools of Solomon into Jerusalem, provoking outrage from the citizens. A revolt took place about this too; because this money had been set aside for the Lord’s work. When the people gathered to protest, Pilate sent soldiers into the crowd disguised as common people who, on a prearranged signal, pulled out hidden weapons and attacked the demonstrators.
Luke refers to an apparently similar massacre Luke 13:13, “There were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.” Some people had gone on pilgrimage from Galilee to Jerusalem and while they were offering sacrifices in the temple Pilate ordered his troops in - we have no idea why. Their blood flowed all over the temple courtyard mixing with the blood of the sacrifices, polluting the place.
2. PILATES TRIAL OF CHRIST
Pilate had probably been contacted the previous night probably by Caiaphas. The Sanhedrin didn’t want to carry the sole responsibility of killing Christ. The thousands of people Jesus had healed and all the people whose lives were changed by Jesus, would all be complaining about the terrible thing the chief priests had done in killing him..”
When the leaders appear, they do not seem to have their charges against Jesus well thought out. Pilate then followed the four stages of a Roman trial:
a) Pilate heard the charge.
Pilate heard the charge. John records Pilate, demanding, “What charges are you bringing against this man?” and the best they could do was retort, “If he were not a criminal, we would not have handed him over to you” John 18:29–30.
When they finally came up with accusations Luke 23:2 says, "We have found this man subverting our nation. He opposes payment of taxes to Caesar and claims to be Christ, a king."
The first and second were lies because Jesus said, "...Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's..." Matthew. 22:21b.
The third accusation was both true and important; each of the Gospels records it.
The Jews were trying to make Jesus look like an earthly revolutionary who was going to lead a rebellion and crown Himself king.
Pilate knew this was a religious matter and that Jesus was innocent of treason or rebellion. Rome never accused Jesus. So he tried to acquit him.
b) He investigated the evidence
"Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said to Him, Are you the King of the Jews?"
Pilate's question implies, "Is this a joke? You mean they are accusing You of being a king?" And there stands Jesus -- meek, mild, silent, all alone, calm, with His hands bound. He didn't look much like an earthly king. It’s as if Pilate says, Where's Your army? Where are Your kingly clothes? You don't look like a king."
c) He asked for the defense.
34 "Is that your own idea," Jesus asked, "or did others talk to you about me? 35 "Am I a Jew?" Pilate replied. "It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?"
Pilate says, "What have You done?" In the Jewish court and the Roman court, the judge had no right to ask that question. Under no circumstances was a man to be condemned at the word of his own testimony. It is similar to the US Fifth Amendment. Pilate is asking an illegal question. So Jesus does not answer it.
Then Jesus explains what kind of a King He is, since Pilate understands that He is no political king. Jesus brings Pilate into a discussion of the issues.
Are you asking this as a Roman? Are you asking Me if I'm a political reactionary? Is this your own idea, or did somebody report to you that I claim to be a king?"
Jesus knows if He says, "Yes, I'm a king," then Pilate has a problem because he will be leading the Jews in an insurrection and there is a case to answer.
If Jesus says, "No, I'm not a king," then He has denied His kingship. So Jesus can't just say yes and He can't just say no -- His answer must be qualified. Jn 36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place."
d) He came to the verdict.
He knew that the real reason behind the accusations was the Jewish leaders’ envy of Jesus, and spoke the verdict: “I find no basis for a charge against him.”
John says that Pilate spoke those words three times. But instead of doing what he should have done at that point, releasing Jesus or at least placing him under protective custody as a later Roman commander did with Paul when his life was threatened by this same judicial body, the governor launched a pattern of irregular proceedings that led eventually to Jesus’ execution.
3. PILATE FOUND EVIDENCE OF JESUS INNOCENCE
a) He had his wife’s message.
Matthew records that Pilate’s wife sent him a message while he was seated on his judgment seat. “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him,” she said.
Frank Morison reminds us that the Romans were particularly superstitious where dreams were concerned. He suggests that Pilate and Proculla were probably together the night Jesus was arrested, that Proculla would have known about the Sanhedrin’s request for a trial, would have gone to bed thinking about Jesus and what she had heard about him, and when she awoke the next morning to find Pilate gone would have known he was beginning the trial. Her warning message to him had to be swift and urgent and would have been taken seriously by Pilate.
b) He saw the envy of the Jews rulers.
Pilate knew they were trouble makers and prejudiced and biased against an innocent one.
c) He was most impressed with Jesus.
He met a perfect Man - How marvelous was that calm self-possession as he did not try to defend himself against his accusers. Matthew reports Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor”. I find in Him no fault at all." The King of truth was maligned and hated, but remained self- controlled, patient and forgiving to the very end. Jesus was as pure at the end as He was at the beginning. There was nothing to hold against Him.
He met the eternal King - jn 36 Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place." Before Pilate, Jesus claimed to be a King. But not an earthly king appointed by his subjects but a King who appoints His subjects. Pilate knew well that the Kingdom Jesus was claiming was no threat to an earthly kingdom. The Kingdom of Christ is a spiritual Kingdom.
He met the incarnate God - "...To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world..." be born is to be human, but to come into the world indicates pre-existence. 7 The Jews insisted, "We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God." 8 When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, Pilate said. "Don’t you realise I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" 11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin." 12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free.
He met the teacher of Truth - Jesus said, "I came into the world to bear witness to the truth." What truth? The truth about God, the truth about men, the truth about sin, the truth about judgment, the truth about love, the truth about holiness, the truth about life and death, the truth about everything.
"Pilate said unto Him, What is truth?..." Notice the cynicism in this: "Truth, what is truth?" as if he were saying, "I've been looking for truth all my life. That is twentieth-century man -- there is no truth. "...Everyone that is of the truth hears My voice." Many people claim to have the answers, Jesus alone comes from God.
4. PILATE SOUGHT WAYS OUT
John 12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jews kept shouting, "If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Pilate tried four expedients to avoid pronouncing the death sentence:
a) Asking the people to choose either Jesus or Barabbas.
"I find no basis for a charge against him. 39 But it is your custom for me to release to you one prisoner at the time of the Passover. Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?" 40 They shouted back, "No, not him! Give us Barabbas!
Barabbas was an insurgent, that is, a revolutionary who wanted to drive out the occupying Romans. That is why he was being held for execution. Every Jew knew about Barabbas, he was probably a hero. John makes the nature of the people’s choice crystal clear when he records Pilate asking them, “Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?” and they shout back, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas” John 18:40. The people wanted an earthly king offering earthly advantages, rather than a king from heaven who offered truth, righteousness, and eternal salvation. That did not work, what a dreadful choice.
b) Sending Jesus to Herod Luke
When he learned that Jesus was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod, but that way our did not work. Dressing him in an elegant robe, they sent him back to Pilate.
c) Offering to punish him without an execution.
Matthew: I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. 16 Therefore, I will punish him and then release him." but that way our did not work either - 18 With one voice they cried out, "Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!"
d) Producing Jesus to stir the people’s pity
Producing Jesus in a beaten condition to stir the people’s pity. Luke "Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him." That did not work either, so all attempts to avoid a decision failed.
5. PILATE CAVED IN AND MADE A WRONG DECISION
Christ’s Fate was Sealed; Pilate was trapped by his own indecision and failure to acquit and free the Lord Jesus. He says. “What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” “Crucify him,” they answered.
Matthew indicates that “an uproar was starting”. It was the thing Pilate had to avoid at all costs. The leaders said “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar. Anyone who claims to be a king opposes Caesar,” John 19:12.
That tipped the scales, for although Pilate may actually have feared Jesus a bit—perhaps Jesus was a kind of god—and although Pilate feared the hatred of the religious leaders and the fickleness of the crowds even more, Pilate feared the emperor most of all and dared not risk his disfavor.
So at last he called for water and washed his hands before the crowd. V24 “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. "It is your responsibility!".
Innocent? That is precisely what Pilate was not. All the water in the world could not wash the guilt of Jesus Christ’s blood from his hands, as countless generations since have realized.
Ryle- We see an imperial representative of the most powerful nation on earth knowing what was right, and yet afraid to act up to his knowledge--convinced in his own conscience that he ought to acquit the prisoner, and yet afraid to do it, sacrificing the claims of justice and countenancing the murder of an innocent person. Never was there a name so justly handed down to a world's scorn as the name which is embalmed in all our creeds--the name of Pontius Pilate.
Much contemporary Christian scholarship and popular media - Gibson’s Passion of the Christ is a recent example - present Pontius Pilate as a weak figure with an incidental role in Jesus’ crucifixion. Too lacking in guts to do the right thing and release an innocent man, he yields reluctantly to the death demands of Jerusalem’s bully-leaders. But such attempts to lower Pilate’s responsibility are unconvincing. We can see that Judas was certainly guilty. He sought to release Jesus for his own self-serving reasons, and not out of justice or compassion.
Pilate was guilty for condemning Jesus to death, but so was Judas, and the Jewish leaders and the mindless crowd as well.
The point is this we also would have cried out, “Away with Him! Crucify Him!”
We too are self serving like Pilate, money loving like Judas, envious like the rulers, and willingly manipulated by others like the crowd.
At the same time, as our Lord had indicated to Pilate, His death was the plan and purpose of God—His means for providing salvation for lost men:
6. WE TOO WILL FIND NEUTRALITY CANNNOT WORK.
He wanted to be neutral, to be innocent of his death, but he failed miserably, and in the end he took his stand against Jesus. No one can be neutral concerning Jesus Christ, for Jesus is either the King he claimed to be, or he is not.
If he is the King, say, “Yes, Jesus, I acknowledge who you are, and I want to become your subject today.”
Torrey, the evangelist, told the story of a man who said, "My question is what do you have against me?" The man then explained that he was a living a moral life, he took care of his family, worked hard for his employer, treated his neighbours well, and said as far as he knew he was doing his duty in every relationship in life, only he was not a Christian and again said, "What have you got against me?"
Torrey then looked him and said, "I'll tell you what I have against you. Jesus Christ is your King by divine appointment. You admit that you have not accepted Him and therefore you by not standing for Him are standing against Him."
One may try to avoid making a decision for Christ today by sending Him away – but He won’t go away, He will return.
One can try to shift the responsibility to someone else. Maybe some Christian has hurt you. The decision is still in our hands!
One could turn Jesus away, in spite of how difficult it is. Perhaps knowing the truth some still turn Him away. Other priorities of life are calling out to you too.
Are you undecided about what to do with Jesus? I want to encourage you to believe Him, trust Him, accept His offer of grace and mercy by being baptized into Christ – believing that by his power you will be raised up to live a new life.
Tradition says Pilate died a suicide. Whether that is true or not, we commit moral, spiritual and eternal suicide when we say "No" to Christ.
This question is for all of us: What will you do with Jesus today? Don’t try to ignore Him! Don’t wash your hands, respond to Him differently than Pilate did.
Yes God was ruling and overruling, but the wickedness of the verdict was 100 per cent Pilate’s. Ac 2:23 This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. God was in the sinful decision, but not in the sin of the decision. Whatever God determines in eternity men will choose in time. The manner of Jesus’ death was all arranged and governed by God and predicted by Jesus.
God was determined that his blessed sinless Son must die like the sinless Lamb of God and so take away the sin of the world.
Our Day of rest - Part 3
Our Day of Rest Part 3
12. GOD’S DAY HAS CHANGED TO THE FIRST DAY. Ac 20:7
Christians practice the Sabbath rest on Sunday, the Lord’s Day.
God could not rest on the first day of creation; he was creating and so the initial order was after labour, rest. The seventh day Sabbath was part of the structure of the old covenant period’s feasts and years. Now it is all over; the seventh day of the week as a ceremonial day has disappeared with Israel itself, but one day in seven still remains. Jesus established a new order.
On the first day of the week he arose and appeared to his disciples. That fact alone is enough reason to gather in celebration on Sunday. At least six of our Lord’s eight resurrection appearances recorded in the gospels took place on Sunday.
It was on Sunday that the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost.
The early church gathered on Sunday to break bread, listen to the teaching of the Scriptures, and give offerings. Ac 20:7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 1Co 16:2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.
It was on “the Lord’s Day” that John received that great revelation of Christ in His present glory Rev. 1:10 On the Lord‘s Day I was in the Spirit
Throughout Church history, it is Sunday that has been observed as the Christian Sabbath - evidence of this goes back as far as AD74. From early in the second century on there are many testimonies that Christians met on Sunday for worship.
Justin Martyr, who wrote in the 2nd century, says, But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, when he changed the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ, our Saviour, on the same day, rose from the dead.
13. GOD’S DAY MEANS WE MUST AVOID LEGALISM?
a) Mistakes have been made by the Jews
Well meaning religious parties can be to set up rules that are not from God and take pride in keeping them, even though our hearts are far from God. In the days of our Lord the ultra strict Pharisees made a mockery of the Sabbath by their rules and regulations. When our Lord came, the day had become a day of legalistic do's and don’ts.
The Jews had added to the commandments countless petty regulations about how you behaved. You could walk, 2000 cubits but more was wrong, but if you had food at a spot 2000 cubits from home and stopped and eat it there, you could call that spot home and get up and get going again. A woman was not to carry jewellery for that was bearing a burden, you could brush dirt off but not rub it, you must saddle your donkey overnight if he was to be ridden on the Sabbath.
What had happened had made a travesty of the day. Jesus corrected much of this.
b) Mistakes have been made by Christian dominated societies.
It is one thing to ensure society has a day of rest and an opportunity for families to be together and for people to worship. It is quite another when a society by law forces people to go to church.
Sunday first received special governmental recognition in 321, when Constantine decreed that the day of the Sun was to be used as the day of weekly Christian worship, and only needful work in agriculture was to be pursued. In this he was giving state support to a practice that reflected the practice of believers. Since then government-sponsored Sabbath keeping has prevailed in much of Europe and English speaking lands. In England Athelstan and Canute in the 10th & 11th centuries forbad Sunday Trading, and Henry 6th in 1448 likewise.
Then for generations in our country non-attendance at church resulted in penalties, fines and imprisonment. You were required by law to go to worship conducted according to the rites of the established church whether that was Roman Catholic or later on Church of England. Our believing forefathers dissented and would not conform to the Church attendance laws; they met separately for worship and suffered fines, imprisonment and banishment.
The reformers reacted to the many Holy days and Saints days and taught that Christians were simply to set aside a convenient day for bodily rest and devout participation in the exercise of religion.
The puritans stressed the place of the Sabbath in the 10 Commandments and this view prevailed. But when the puritans settled in America they got themselves a bad name for their extreme laws and attempts to enforce laws that ought to have been left to conscience. In colonial America you would have spent time in jail, or arms and feet locked into the stocks in public humiliation because you had quite innocent things on Sunday. Captain Kemble of Boston in 1656 was set for two hours in the public stocks for his ‘lewd and unseemly kissing his wife publicly on the doorstep of his house on the Sabbath day’. …..He had just returned from sea after an absence of three years! We may be rightly horrified at such excess but they also had other laws that now we embrace...stringent anti- smoking laws such as ‘a man was forbidden to smoke in another’s house’.
Even in Merry Restoration England 'The Sunday Observance Act was passed in 1677. Then in Victorian England when believers became a force in the land, parliament enforced Sabbath observance further with many restrictive acts. The Victorian Sunday, was a byword for boredom to unbelievers and gave rise to the sayings like 'a wet Sunday afternoon' or 'a month of Sundays'.
So societies where bible belief has been strong have with good intentions imposed stringent rules on the populace over Sabbath keeping.
We have as much right as anyone else in a democracy to put our point of view, particularly where we believe we have the evidence that such a change would not be for the common good. It is not only our right but our Christian duty to seek to persuade others. However when believers are in the minority as we usually are, we can only teach and live out as best we can ourselves the commands of God.
c) Mistakes have been made by some Christians. We must always remember legalism doesn’t produce godliness.
The extreme rigidity of some Christians has given the day a bad name.
English people in the past have had a rather superstitious attitude to Sunday. I come from a strongly Sabbatarian background, and have never forgotten my maternal grandfather telling me off when I was a little boy for running down stairs on a Sunday. I have known many non-Christians who would never do certain things on Sundays, but they didn’t know the Lord or love worship.
Believers may love to spend the whole day in acts of worship and service, but that can be very hard if it is imposed on adult unbelieving family members. If the mildest recreations are all forbidden the net result will be resentment and frustration. The way many enforced the full rigor of sabbatarian shibboleths on their children did more harm than good, this is not how it should be.
"Holy" does not mean being dressed up in your Sunday best and sitting in quiet solemnity all day. The idea of the Lord’s Day is not to produce a list of do’s and you don’ts, but to strive for the ideal by principle and respect for others conscience. We must always remember legalism doesn’t produce godliness.
14. GOD’S REST DAY SUGGESTS WE HAVE PRINCIPLES
a) God’s aim is for us to have a DAY, that should be a priority.
Holyoake, 1857, “the English Sunday has made and keeps England great. If you would kill Christianity, you must first kill Sunday.”
As believers we partake of the Lord’s Supper, it is both a privilege to partake and a command to obey. John the aged apostle wrote about the Lord’s Day….the day belonging to the Lord, just as the supper belonged to the Lord.
Dr Reymond tells the story of a man who was approached by a beggar. He looked in his wallet and found seven notes, feeling very sorry for the beggar he handed him six notes but the beggar grabbed the one he had kept back for himself.
Walter Chantry sees a direct relationship between the state of our churches and families and us not keeping the Lord’s Day holy. Justification for this argument comes from the fact that, were we to spend each Sunday purposefully focusing on the Lord and teaching His Word to or children, there would be a huge impact on our lives and our culture. 52 days of the year devoted solely to things of the Lord, would make a huge difference to our spiritual development and progress.
GT -The chief domestic chaplain to the French Emperor once sailed up the Thames on a Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of boats were being loaded and unloaded. Here was the most powerful city in the whole world. Next morning he was awakened by the sound of church bells, and what hit him was the total silence. There wasn’t a single docker to be seen. The only sounds to be heard were the gulls and the bells calling people to worship. Britannia ruled the waves because God was so real to many in the nation. There was a fear of God in the land.
Holyoake, the English atheist, wrote in 1857, “Whether Englishmen know it or not, it is the English Sunday that has made and keeps England great. If you would kill Christianity, you must first kill Sunday.”
Eric Liddell is rightly honoured, he was an Olympic gold medal winner in 1924. But how many other winners do we know of from that era. Liddel is famous and respected because he refused to run on Sunday because of his Christian faith. Liddell the favourite to win, was willing to miss an Olympic gold medal rather than betray his convictions. He maintained his stand despite pressure from coaches, fans, team mates, and even the prince.
Something like that happened with a United States president, too in 1849. Zachary Taylor, a believer refused to take the presidential oath of office on a Sunday.
A 19c brethren writer CHM said ‘We can safely assert that we never yet came in contact with a godly, intelligent, right-minded Christian person who did not love and reverence the Lord’s day’.
b) God’s design is that we cease from work and worship
Jesus demonstrated that three types of "work" that need to be done on the Sabbath
(i) There are works of mercy such as helping and healing people and dealing with emergencies. Doctors and nurses need to be available of course.
(ii) There are things that need to be done such as running services, maintaining law and order, providing power, running services, feeding animals and milking the cows.
(iii) There are the works of piety such as preparing the church for worship, or actually ministering in pulpit or Sunday School.
Christians sometimes find Sunday rather busy as they join in worship at both services, teach, give hospitality, drive people to and from church. Let’s remembers a good holiday is not snoozing in a deck chair but activity, so the Lord’s Day includes spiritual sacrifices for the Lord. It is not normal work but should be the most satisfying activity in the world – the work of the Lord.
c) God’s design is we are not to just please ourselves.The Christians who make the biggest impact use the Day.
If all stayed away to play football in the morning of the Lord’s Day or if all absented themselves in the evening to watch telly where would the church services be, what would that do to the corporate witness of the church.
The NT lays down no rules about the number of our worship services or the length of them. God has not commanded one service any more than he has two.
However if God delights in the assembly of His saints and we love the Lord, why should we stay away when we could come?
The Christians who have made the biggest impact in the world have had the highest view of the Lord’s Day - not an hour but the day. Those people have all been most full of God. Read Christian biographies and learn of their use of the day, these were the people who became missionaries, social reformers and workers who sacrificed their time for the Lord.
In traveling the churches I have noticed that those who are the backbone and mainstay of the churches are those who rarely miss a meeting.
Some due to health, age, children, distance, employment and unconverted spouses find two services difficult. Yet there are some who do not make full use of the opportunities to be blessed.
15. GOD’S REST IS A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE + Scripture
Where there are no biblical regulations, we use general principles.
a) Does keeping the day mean 24 or 12 hours or daylight hours?
Well what is the other part of the command, 6 days you shall do all your work? God has given us six working days but the time spent at worship will vary according to our job. The percentage of rest needed and the amount of public worship rendered will vary from person to person.
Surely the general principal will be to use as much time as we reasonably can, and make the best possible use of the day as we can.
How much time do we need for our own things, how much time do we delight to devote to the Lord. Let conscience sensitised by scripture decide!
b) Does keeping the day mean we avoid some other things?
What about Sunday working? How much travelling do we really need to do? How much if any recreation do we allow? Let consciences directed by scripture decide.
What of us today, how should we live? We don’t want to get like the Pharisees or New England Puritans but safeguards are good.
What about Sunday working. As a matter of choice pleasing God takes precedence over making more money. Believers like to avoid jobs that involve Sunday working, but it is a tough call when the choice is between unemployment or a job that includes some Sunday work. It is unavoidable in caring professions and essential services and eeping a Sabbath rhythm is not easy these days.
Every individual must weight their priorities. Our own spiritual well being, our wives and children, and the Lord’s work, make job choices a matter needing prayerful consideration.
Many men have long irregular hours, trying to make ends meet. A pastor told Brian Edwards of many men in his church had to travel on business, to be at meetings early on Monday. This not only took them away but meant their wives missed out as well because of caring for children.
If we don’t get Sunday off we may get time off later. We will get a rest for mind and body but we will have missed the regular worship service for our soul.
Nothing can compensate for the missed fellowship but we can still feed our souls on the message by picking up a recording on the internet or cassette.
How much travelling do we really need to do? Will our journeys prevent attendance at worship or make us so tired we get no rest.
How much if any recreation do we allow ourselves or our children, do we have any TV, or sport or games? We need much wisdom to be balanced. These are matters each must decide in their own mind? We should so live that the day is a blessing and we are able to feel refreshed on Monday morning for another week.
Are we making others work? Let consciences directed by scripture decide.
Where we fail or make wrong decisions, there is grace and forgiveness through Christ, but we should not use our liberty as an excuse for sin.
c) Does keeping the day mean we get the best out of it? We can plan ahead, prepare for worship afterwards spend time with loved ones, alone, sleeping, reading, prayer, reflection, walking.
We can avoid late Saturday nights so we are not tired, we can rise in time so we do not rush. When John Paton went as a missionary to Aniwa in the Pacific Ocean, the Christian converts called Saturday ‘cooking day’. Why, they developed the habit of preparing their food Saturday so they had plenty of time for worship and rest on the Lord’s Day.
We can create a right frame of mind in coming to God’s house by sacred music. The Psalms of Ascent were sung as the people walked to worship. 122:1 captures their feelings they said: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go unto the house of Jehovah." They were delighted at the prospect.
After worship, we can spend time with loved ones—perhaps time alone, extra sleep, reading, reflection, walking and prayer. In addition, we might consider the long tradition of visiting the housebound or inviting lonely ones to our table.
16. GOD’S REST OUGHT TO BE A MATTER OF JOY
A ‘week-end’ cannot rival a Sabbath well spent.
A Sabbath well spent, Brings a week of content, and health for the toils of the morrow.
What is good? It is a day of freedom not only from work but also a foretaste of heaven. By spending it with Jesus we shall know Him better and be more prepared to spend glory with Him.
If you do not enjoy the worship of God and being with God’s people, why come!
I am sure the more we love the Lord the more we delight in His day. B Edwards cites the testimony of Captain Hedley Vicars who served in the Crimea. He wrote ‘I once considered Sunday both dull and tedious but now no day is so cheering and delightful, and there is no day that passes so quickly’.
A ‘week-end’ cannot replace a Sabbath well spent. Max Gunther wrote The Week-enders and asks the question, didn’t they have fun? Didn’t they spend enormous sums of money, travel endless miles to and from crowded beaches, give and attend big, noisy parties, endure hours of strenuous sports, and raise countless blisters, painting, fixing, building, and gardening? If none of this frenzied activity yielded that sweet feeling of peace, why not?” That question is a very good one.
Man needs a day with the living God when we meet with other Christians to experience our common love for one another.
A Sabbath well spent, Brings a week of content, And health for the toils of the morrow;
But a Sabbath profaned, what ever may be gained, Is a certain forerunner of sorrow.
12. GOD’S DAY HAS CHANGED TO THE FIRST DAY. Ac 20:7
Christians practice the Sabbath rest on Sunday, the Lord’s Day.
God could not rest on the first day of creation; he was creating and so the initial order was after labour, rest. The seventh day Sabbath was part of the structure of the old covenant period’s feasts and years. Now it is all over; the seventh day of the week as a ceremonial day has disappeared with Israel itself, but one day in seven still remains. Jesus established a new order.
On the first day of the week he arose and appeared to his disciples. That fact alone is enough reason to gather in celebration on Sunday. At least six of our Lord’s eight resurrection appearances recorded in the gospels took place on Sunday.
It was on Sunday that the Holy Spirit was given at Pentecost.
The early church gathered on Sunday to break bread, listen to the teaching of the Scriptures, and give offerings. Ac 20:7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 1Co 16:2 On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income.
It was on “the Lord’s Day” that John received that great revelation of Christ in His present glory Rev. 1:10 On the Lord‘s Day I was in the Spirit
Throughout Church history, it is Sunday that has been observed as the Christian Sabbath - evidence of this goes back as far as AD74. From early in the second century on there are many testimonies that Christians met on Sunday for worship.
Justin Martyr, who wrote in the 2nd century, says, But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, when he changed the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ, our Saviour, on the same day, rose from the dead.
13. GOD’S DAY MEANS WE MUST AVOID LEGALISM?
a) Mistakes have been made by the Jews
Well meaning religious parties can be to set up rules that are not from God and take pride in keeping them, even though our hearts are far from God. In the days of our Lord the ultra strict Pharisees made a mockery of the Sabbath by their rules and regulations. When our Lord came, the day had become a day of legalistic do's and don’ts.
The Jews had added to the commandments countless petty regulations about how you behaved. You could walk, 2000 cubits but more was wrong, but if you had food at a spot 2000 cubits from home and stopped and eat it there, you could call that spot home and get up and get going again. A woman was not to carry jewellery for that was bearing a burden, you could brush dirt off but not rub it, you must saddle your donkey overnight if he was to be ridden on the Sabbath.
What had happened had made a travesty of the day. Jesus corrected much of this.
b) Mistakes have been made by Christian dominated societies.
It is one thing to ensure society has a day of rest and an opportunity for families to be together and for people to worship. It is quite another when a society by law forces people to go to church.
Sunday first received special governmental recognition in 321, when Constantine decreed that the day of the Sun was to be used as the day of weekly Christian worship, and only needful work in agriculture was to be pursued. In this he was giving state support to a practice that reflected the practice of believers. Since then government-sponsored Sabbath keeping has prevailed in much of Europe and English speaking lands. In England Athelstan and Canute in the 10th & 11th centuries forbad Sunday Trading, and Henry 6th in 1448 likewise.
Then for generations in our country non-attendance at church resulted in penalties, fines and imprisonment. You were required by law to go to worship conducted according to the rites of the established church whether that was Roman Catholic or later on Church of England. Our believing forefathers dissented and would not conform to the Church attendance laws; they met separately for worship and suffered fines, imprisonment and banishment.
The reformers reacted to the many Holy days and Saints days and taught that Christians were simply to set aside a convenient day for bodily rest and devout participation in the exercise of religion.
The puritans stressed the place of the Sabbath in the 10 Commandments and this view prevailed. But when the puritans settled in America they got themselves a bad name for their extreme laws and attempts to enforce laws that ought to have been left to conscience. In colonial America you would have spent time in jail, or arms and feet locked into the stocks in public humiliation because you had quite innocent things on Sunday. Captain Kemble of Boston in 1656 was set for two hours in the public stocks for his ‘lewd and unseemly kissing his wife publicly on the doorstep of his house on the Sabbath day’. …..He had just returned from sea after an absence of three years! We may be rightly horrified at such excess but they also had other laws that now we embrace...stringent anti- smoking laws such as ‘a man was forbidden to smoke in another’s house’.
Even in Merry Restoration England 'The Sunday Observance Act was passed in 1677. Then in Victorian England when believers became a force in the land, parliament enforced Sabbath observance further with many restrictive acts. The Victorian Sunday, was a byword for boredom to unbelievers and gave rise to the sayings like 'a wet Sunday afternoon' or 'a month of Sundays'.
So societies where bible belief has been strong have with good intentions imposed stringent rules on the populace over Sabbath keeping.
We have as much right as anyone else in a democracy to put our point of view, particularly where we believe we have the evidence that such a change would not be for the common good. It is not only our right but our Christian duty to seek to persuade others. However when believers are in the minority as we usually are, we can only teach and live out as best we can ourselves the commands of God.
c) Mistakes have been made by some Christians. We must always remember legalism doesn’t produce godliness.
The extreme rigidity of some Christians has given the day a bad name.
English people in the past have had a rather superstitious attitude to Sunday. I come from a strongly Sabbatarian background, and have never forgotten my maternal grandfather telling me off when I was a little boy for running down stairs on a Sunday. I have known many non-Christians who would never do certain things on Sundays, but they didn’t know the Lord or love worship.
Believers may love to spend the whole day in acts of worship and service, but that can be very hard if it is imposed on adult unbelieving family members. If the mildest recreations are all forbidden the net result will be resentment and frustration. The way many enforced the full rigor of sabbatarian shibboleths on their children did more harm than good, this is not how it should be.
"Holy" does not mean being dressed up in your Sunday best and sitting in quiet solemnity all day. The idea of the Lord’s Day is not to produce a list of do’s and you don’ts, but to strive for the ideal by principle and respect for others conscience. We must always remember legalism doesn’t produce godliness.
14. GOD’S REST DAY SUGGESTS WE HAVE PRINCIPLES
a) God’s aim is for us to have a DAY, that should be a priority.
Holyoake, 1857, “the English Sunday has made and keeps England great. If you would kill Christianity, you must first kill Sunday.”
As believers we partake of the Lord’s Supper, it is both a privilege to partake and a command to obey. John the aged apostle wrote about the Lord’s Day….the day belonging to the Lord, just as the supper belonged to the Lord.
Dr Reymond tells the story of a man who was approached by a beggar. He looked in his wallet and found seven notes, feeling very sorry for the beggar he handed him six notes but the beggar grabbed the one he had kept back for himself.
Walter Chantry sees a direct relationship between the state of our churches and families and us not keeping the Lord’s Day holy. Justification for this argument comes from the fact that, were we to spend each Sunday purposefully focusing on the Lord and teaching His Word to or children, there would be a huge impact on our lives and our culture. 52 days of the year devoted solely to things of the Lord, would make a huge difference to our spiritual development and progress.
GT -The chief domestic chaplain to the French Emperor once sailed up the Thames on a Saturday afternoon. Hundreds of boats were being loaded and unloaded. Here was the most powerful city in the whole world. Next morning he was awakened by the sound of church bells, and what hit him was the total silence. There wasn’t a single docker to be seen. The only sounds to be heard were the gulls and the bells calling people to worship. Britannia ruled the waves because God was so real to many in the nation. There was a fear of God in the land.
Holyoake, the English atheist, wrote in 1857, “Whether Englishmen know it or not, it is the English Sunday that has made and keeps England great. If you would kill Christianity, you must first kill Sunday.”
Eric Liddell is rightly honoured, he was an Olympic gold medal winner in 1924. But how many other winners do we know of from that era. Liddel is famous and respected because he refused to run on Sunday because of his Christian faith. Liddell the favourite to win, was willing to miss an Olympic gold medal rather than betray his convictions. He maintained his stand despite pressure from coaches, fans, team mates, and even the prince.
Something like that happened with a United States president, too in 1849. Zachary Taylor, a believer refused to take the presidential oath of office on a Sunday.
A 19c brethren writer CHM said ‘We can safely assert that we never yet came in contact with a godly, intelligent, right-minded Christian person who did not love and reverence the Lord’s day’.
b) God’s design is that we cease from work and worship
Jesus demonstrated that three types of "work" that need to be done on the Sabbath
(i) There are works of mercy such as helping and healing people and dealing with emergencies. Doctors and nurses need to be available of course.
(ii) There are things that need to be done such as running services, maintaining law and order, providing power, running services, feeding animals and milking the cows.
(iii) There are the works of piety such as preparing the church for worship, or actually ministering in pulpit or Sunday School.
Christians sometimes find Sunday rather busy as they join in worship at both services, teach, give hospitality, drive people to and from church. Let’s remembers a good holiday is not snoozing in a deck chair but activity, so the Lord’s Day includes spiritual sacrifices for the Lord. It is not normal work but should be the most satisfying activity in the world – the work of the Lord.
c) God’s design is we are not to just please ourselves.The Christians who make the biggest impact use the Day.
If all stayed away to play football in the morning of the Lord’s Day or if all absented themselves in the evening to watch telly where would the church services be, what would that do to the corporate witness of the church.
The NT lays down no rules about the number of our worship services or the length of them. God has not commanded one service any more than he has two.
However if God delights in the assembly of His saints and we love the Lord, why should we stay away when we could come?
The Christians who have made the biggest impact in the world have had the highest view of the Lord’s Day - not an hour but the day. Those people have all been most full of God. Read Christian biographies and learn of their use of the day, these were the people who became missionaries, social reformers and workers who sacrificed their time for the Lord.
In traveling the churches I have noticed that those who are the backbone and mainstay of the churches are those who rarely miss a meeting.
Some due to health, age, children, distance, employment and unconverted spouses find two services difficult. Yet there are some who do not make full use of the opportunities to be blessed.
15. GOD’S REST IS A MATTER OF CONSCIENCE + Scripture
Where there are no biblical regulations, we use general principles.
a) Does keeping the day mean 24 or 12 hours or daylight hours?
Well what is the other part of the command, 6 days you shall do all your work? God has given us six working days but the time spent at worship will vary according to our job. The percentage of rest needed and the amount of public worship rendered will vary from person to person.
Surely the general principal will be to use as much time as we reasonably can, and make the best possible use of the day as we can.
How much time do we need for our own things, how much time do we delight to devote to the Lord. Let conscience sensitised by scripture decide!
b) Does keeping the day mean we avoid some other things?
What about Sunday working? How much travelling do we really need to do? How much if any recreation do we allow? Let consciences directed by scripture decide.
What of us today, how should we live? We don’t want to get like the Pharisees or New England Puritans but safeguards are good.
What about Sunday working. As a matter of choice pleasing God takes precedence over making more money. Believers like to avoid jobs that involve Sunday working, but it is a tough call when the choice is between unemployment or a job that includes some Sunday work. It is unavoidable in caring professions and essential services and eeping a Sabbath rhythm is not easy these days.
Every individual must weight their priorities. Our own spiritual well being, our wives and children, and the Lord’s work, make job choices a matter needing prayerful consideration.
Many men have long irregular hours, trying to make ends meet. A pastor told Brian Edwards of many men in his church had to travel on business, to be at meetings early on Monday. This not only took them away but meant their wives missed out as well because of caring for children.
If we don’t get Sunday off we may get time off later. We will get a rest for mind and body but we will have missed the regular worship service for our soul.
Nothing can compensate for the missed fellowship but we can still feed our souls on the message by picking up a recording on the internet or cassette.
How much travelling do we really need to do? Will our journeys prevent attendance at worship or make us so tired we get no rest.
How much if any recreation do we allow ourselves or our children, do we have any TV, or sport or games? We need much wisdom to be balanced. These are matters each must decide in their own mind? We should so live that the day is a blessing and we are able to feel refreshed on Monday morning for another week.
Are we making others work? Let consciences directed by scripture decide.
Where we fail or make wrong decisions, there is grace and forgiveness through Christ, but we should not use our liberty as an excuse for sin.
c) Does keeping the day mean we get the best out of it? We can plan ahead, prepare for worship afterwards spend time with loved ones, alone, sleeping, reading, prayer, reflection, walking.
We can avoid late Saturday nights so we are not tired, we can rise in time so we do not rush. When John Paton went as a missionary to Aniwa in the Pacific Ocean, the Christian converts called Saturday ‘cooking day’. Why, they developed the habit of preparing their food Saturday so they had plenty of time for worship and rest on the Lord’s Day.
We can create a right frame of mind in coming to God’s house by sacred music. The Psalms of Ascent were sung as the people walked to worship. 122:1 captures their feelings they said: "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go unto the house of Jehovah." They were delighted at the prospect.
After worship, we can spend time with loved ones—perhaps time alone, extra sleep, reading, reflection, walking and prayer. In addition, we might consider the long tradition of visiting the housebound or inviting lonely ones to our table.
16. GOD’S REST OUGHT TO BE A MATTER OF JOY
A ‘week-end’ cannot rival a Sabbath well spent.
A Sabbath well spent, Brings a week of content, and health for the toils of the morrow.
What is good? It is a day of freedom not only from work but also a foretaste of heaven. By spending it with Jesus we shall know Him better and be more prepared to spend glory with Him.
If you do not enjoy the worship of God and being with God’s people, why come!
I am sure the more we love the Lord the more we delight in His day. B Edwards cites the testimony of Captain Hedley Vicars who served in the Crimea. He wrote ‘I once considered Sunday both dull and tedious but now no day is so cheering and delightful, and there is no day that passes so quickly’.
A ‘week-end’ cannot replace a Sabbath well spent. Max Gunther wrote The Week-enders and asks the question, didn’t they have fun? Didn’t they spend enormous sums of money, travel endless miles to and from crowded beaches, give and attend big, noisy parties, endure hours of strenuous sports, and raise countless blisters, painting, fixing, building, and gardening? If none of this frenzied activity yielded that sweet feeling of peace, why not?” That question is a very good one.
Man needs a day with the living God when we meet with other Christians to experience our common love for one another.
A Sabbath well spent, Brings a week of content, And health for the toils of the morrow;
But a Sabbath profaned, what ever may be gained, Is a certain forerunner of sorrow.
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