Romans 9. The wonderful doctrine of predestination

Romans 9

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Predestination. A doctrine that makes some people very angry, and others of us confused and worried. But it is a doctrine that is of great comfort and should bring us great joy!

How do I know I’m saved? Because God has chosen you and his mercy is upon you like it was on Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The same promises are ours in Christ.

I know from personal experience that this passage can be difficult. But I hope it will also be deeply encouraging as we see how great and powerful and scary and full of mercy our God is!

Three points tonight:

1. I would save my people if I were God – but I’m not

2. I did not save myself – God did.

3. The difficult and wonderful doctrine of predestination

1. I would save my people if I were God – but I’m not

9:1 With Christ as my witness, I speak with utter truthfulness. My conscience and the Holy Spirit confirm it. 2 My heart is filled with bitter sorrow and unending grief 3 for my people, my Jewish brothers and sisters. I would be willing to be forever cursed—cut off from Christ!—if that would save them.

Paul’s desire is for the Jews to be saved. But he knows that even if he offered to be cut off forever – such a dramatic gesture – that would not be enough. Only God can save. And Paul must himself bow the knee before God’s sovereign rule.

You can feel the passion. The anguish for his people. Especially when he reminds us that everything that now belongs to the Christian, as he’s shown us in the past few chapters, used to belong to Israel.

4 They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises.

That’s what we have in Christ. All that was Israel’s is ours. The covenants, his glory, and adopted as His children – all ours in Christ. And so we worship him. In Christ we are God’s people.

5 Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.

Look at all that they had. But Paul’s heart is broken because they have thrown it all away. They have stumbled over Christ the stumbling stone. They rejected him and they have fallen.

Being Jewish is not enough. It is Christ and faith in him that is required, not your bloodline.

But this throws up a question in our mind: if the Jews had all these promises before me, but the gospel now says they don’t apply to them anymore, but to me – how do I know that the same won’t happen to me?

If God’s people, the Jews, have been rejected by God… can I trust God?

6 Well then, has God failed to fulfil his promise to Israel?

And the answer is simple: 6 No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people!

Throughout the Bible there is Israel – those born a Jew - and then there is a smaller group: True Israel or the “remnant”. And the Holy Spirit now shows us through Paul’s words that the remnant or True Israel were those chosen by God. This has always been the case, and still is. If you are chosen by God his wonderful promises apply to you, and nothing you do can change that. His favour rests upon you like it did upon Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob.

But if you are not chosen, then everything you do will lead you away from God and confirm your hardness of heart.

Remember what we have already learnt: We all are sinners without hope. All in Adam. No-one does good, not even one. Condemned. There is no way for us to save ourselves. Morality judges us. The law condemns us. We’re in trouble. Hard heart. We are the source of our condemnation. We do not choose God. We choose, in a sense, hell. That’s what the Jews are doing and Paul is grieving. They reject Jesus, God’s righteousness, and try to earn their own righteousness. And so they stumble.

But, oh glory!, remember 3:21 But now a righteousness FROM God is revealed in Christ. God is the source of salvation. And His Spirit brings new life, new life from within. Not by doing good deeds, not by following the law, but by trusting in Christ’s death and resurrection on the Cross. And tonight’s passage shows that faith comes not from within, but from God’s choice to include us in the promise. And so now there is no condemnation, we are God’s children, we are heirs, and nothing can separate us from God’s love because his promise stands.

We know this, and it brings us unspeakable joy. But it does mean that we cannot MAKE those we love accept the Lord, and we cannot MAKE the Lord accept them either. Even if we were to be cut off for their sake – it would make no difference. We have to simply trust God.

I would save my people if I were God – but I’m not.

2. I did not save myself – God did.

15 For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” 16 So it is God who decides to show mercy. We can neither choose it nor work for it.

This is the one point that tonight’s passage is making: Salvation is God’s domain. Salvation is God’s domain. We can no more choose it or work for it than a dead person can choose it or work for it. Without Christ we are spiritually dead. And it is God who raises us to life.

And this has always been the case. Just like in chapter 4 we are reminded that salvation has always been through faith – Abraham believed God and God credited to him as righteousness – now we are reminded that God’s word has all along promised salvation only to those whom God sovereignly chose. And the Holy Spirit through Paul uses two examples from Israel’s history to show that belonging to God’s people depends not on birth or on anything a person does, but on God’s call.

6 Well then, has God failed to fulfil his promise to Israel? No, for not all who are born into the nation of Israel are truly members of God’s people! 7 Being descendants of Abraham doesn’t make them truly Abraham’s children. For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too.

The word translated “counted” is kaleo and means named or called, and is key to this section. It is the same word in v12 “he calls people” and in v24 we are among those whom he selected and v26 “there they will be called ‘children of the living God’”

A call is not an invitation. An invitation is “Would you like to come?”. A call is “Come here”. An invitation is your friend saying “Do you want to come to my house after school”. A call is your Dad saying “Come here we need to talk”!
In salvation God does not invite. God calls. He compels.

7b For the Scriptures say, “Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted,” though Abraham had other children, too. 8 This means that Abraham’s physical descendants are not necessarily children of God. Only the children of the promise are considered to be Abraham’s children. 9 For God had promised, “I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.” 10 This son was our ancestor Isaac.

Do you see the point Paul is making? As God called only some from among Abraham’s descendants to be his people (6b–13), so now he calls even some Gentiles (v24 Those not my people I will now call my people) and the remnant of the Jews 27 Though the people of Israel are as numerous as the sand of the seashore, only a remnant will be saved. That’s the argument. God has always sovereignly chosen some to be saved, some to be “of the promise” and others not. Abraham had Ishmael and Isaac. But Isaac was the son of the promise, not Ishmael.

10 When he (Isaac) married Rebekah, she gave birth to twins. 11 But before they were born, before they had done anything good or bad, she received a message from God. (This message shows that God chooses people according to his own purposes; 12 he calls people, but not according to their good or bad works.) She was told, “Your older son will serve your younger son.” 13 In the words of the Scriptures, “I loved Jacob, but I rejected Esau.”

Can we be sure we are saved? Yes. If God has chosen us, then we are saved, as surely as he chose Isaac and Jacob. If His favour rests upon you then your calling and election is sure. Your good or bad works matter nothing – what matters is the purposes of God.

And this is always the way God has worked. He has not been unfaithful to Israel because he had always made clear that a remnant would be saved, not every Israelite. That is, the mark of salvation was faith in God’s word, and the obedient life that followed from that, not being born a Jew.
Same as being born to Christian parents is not a mark of salvation. I needed to be born again by the Spirit of God. I was called by God out of darkness and into the light. I was on my way to abandoning the faith my parents held. I was following my heart into the darkness. My birth counted for nothing. What counts is God’s mercy.

I did not save myself, God did. You did not save yourself, God did. And if you think you saved yourself, then there is a very real danger that you are not saved. Because that’s what Romans 1-8 has shown us. There is no-one righteous. No-one seeks God, not even one. Not even you. Not until the Spirit breathes life into you.
By the way, if you’re thinking “but I’m seeking God” then praise God, because that means the Spirit is at work in you!

I did not save myself, no more than Isaac chose himself to be the son of the promise, or Jacob chose himself to be greater than his twin brother Esau. I did not save myself – God did.

And that’s what we call predestination or election. That God is sovereign over salvation.

3. The wonderful doctrine of predestination

What is predestination? Article 17 of the 39 articles of faith of the Church of England defines it like this:

Predestination to life belongs to God’s everlasting purpose. Before the foundation of the world, it is his unchangeable decree, in accordance with his secret counsel, to deliver from curse and damnation those whom he has chosen in Christ, and to bring them by him to everlasting salvation, as vessels of his mercy.

In other words God has chosen who will be saved. He did this in eternity before even creating us.

14 Are we saying, then, that God was unfair?

Isn’t that our main objection to predestination. It’s unfair. We have a VERY strong sense of “fairness” in our Norwegian society. Everyone has to get same opportunity. Everyone has to get the same. If one gets a sweet, everyone has to get a sweet. So much so that sweets were banned in my daughter’s class because not everyone could get and some people might feel bad if some had an others didn’t. So no sweets, cakes or biscuits for anyone. Got to be “fair”.

But the gospel is not fair. If the gospel was fair it wouldn’t be good news because we would get what we deserve – eternal judgement.
Is God unfair? No, because he is God he can show mercy to anyone he chooses! 15 For God said to Moses, “I will show mercy to anyone I choose, and I will show compassion to anyone I choose.” 16 So it is God who decides to show mercy.

Just like it is perfectly fair for me to take my kids out on a Daddy date, and not take someone else’s kids out with me. Because I’m my kids Dad. I love my kids. No-one would say “that’s not fair”.
Same with God. He has mercy on those whom he loves. And what mercy! God goes on a rescue mission that involved being born a man, suffering and dying on a cross, in order to rescue us!

Now if you’re struggling with this, let me give you some comfort. You’re struggling because of your culture, not your morality. It is your cultural bias that is being challenged, not necessarily what is good and bad. If you were born in a different place or different time you would have no problem now. So let’s not give our gut reaction too much weight. Our culture is good, but has many flaws.

But our struggle is real. So let’s try to understand this. Because we often misinterpret this as “So you’re saying that I’m a robot!”.
No, the Bible is very clear that we are not robots, that our choices are real and that they matter. In fact it is our choice to reject God that sends us to hell. But the fact that we have real choice (sometimes called “free will”) does not mean that God cannot be sovereign over all things.

But how does that work? I don’t know. How is light a stream of photons and a wave at the same time. No-one knows. But it is. Start reading up on quantum physics. Weird stuff. Impossible stuff. But it happens every day all around us. We live in a complex world where things that seem to contradict and cancel each other out… don’t. Two things that we think should be exclusive aren’t. God’s sovereignty does not change our free choice, and our free choice does not exclude predestination.

Salvation is like a door: we see “Come and choose to be saved” but as we go through the door we see behind us “predestined from before time”. These are two sides of the same coin.

Predestination is fundamental to a gospel of grace. The gospel does not work otherwise. Our very concept of God does not work.
If we throw out predestination we throw out grace. Because grace is by its very nature “unfair”.
We deserve hell (Romans chapter 1,2 and 3) – that is what we chose by the exercise of our free will. But God in his mercy overrides our choice. Predestination. We who did not choose God are chosen by God… and so we then choose God. God changes our hearts so that we love Him and choose to follow him instead of reject him. Instead of us getting what we chose, what we deserve, Jesus takes it. He goes through death and hell so that we don’t have to. He is treated like us. And we are treated like him. Children of God. Eternal inheritance. No condemnation. Nothing can separate us from God’s love.

Without predestination none of that is possible. If you want grace you want predestination. If you want grace you want God’s sovereignty. It is not possible otherwise. This is a wonderful doctrine.

And then Paul goes and ruins it with v17!

17 For the Scriptures say that God told Pharaoh, “I have appointed you for the very purpose of displaying my power in you and to spread my fame throughout the earth.” 18 So you see, God chooses to show mercy to some, and he chooses to harden the hearts of others so they refuse to listen.

Woah dude. God hardens people as well? I didn’t sign up for this! God is a loving God!

Well, maybe it’s time we get rid of the idea that our God is a loving God?

God is a loving God to those whom he loves. But to those whom he does not love, he is not. In the end He is a terrifying judge bringing destruction and eternal damnation. If you don’t know Jesus as Lord and Saviour then be afraid! Fall to your knees and plead for mercy. Maybe He will hear your prayer.

19 Well then, you might say, “Why does God blame people for not responding? Haven’t they simply done what he makes them do?”

Well, if God is sovereign over everything, then what’s the point? How can he judge us? How can I have free will, free choice? And the answer is…. God is God, trust him.

20 No, don’t say that. Who are you, a mere human being, to argue with God? Should the thing that was created say to the one who created it, “Why have you made me like this?” 21 When a potter makes jars out of clay, doesn’t he have a right to use the same lump of clay to make one jar for decoration and another to throw garbage into? 22 In the same way, even though God has the right to show his anger and his power, he is very patient with those on whom his anger falls, who are destined for destruction. 23 He does this to make the riches of his glory shine even brighter on those to whom he shows mercy, who were prepared in advance for glory. 24 And we are among those whom he selected, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.

This is both terrifying and greatly comforting. The world is divided up into two groups: those chosen in Christ to bring eternal glory to God. Those not chosen who are garbage. Ouch.
But if you’re in Christ, be free. Your salvation rests on God’s election, his eternal choice. You are secure!

Now the annoying thing is that God has not told us why or how he chooses some and not others, and how that lines up with his desire that all men should be saved. We are simply called to trust him, and trust his character revealed in our Lord Jesus, particularly in his death on the cross. When we see Him one day we will understand, and we will praise him.

See how the passage makes us focus on God and on his sovereign choice: over Isaac, over Jacob, over Israel, and over us.
Now there’s a very tempting theory out there called Arminianism which is not happy with God not revealing the reason why some are given saving faith and not others. Arminianism says that God looked into the future and saw our choices. That how he chooses who is saved and who isn’t. It fits well with our culture, it seems to solve the problem of God being a big bad who sends people to hell. Unfortunately it also removes assurance of salvation and puts us squarely in the centre of salvation. Oh, God chose me because I chose him. There’s three reasons why it doesn’t work:

1. God is not bound by time. He’s not looking ahead to see our choices. He’s already there, in the moment. And he’s at the end of time with those he has glorified (Rom 8:30)

2. He made us. He designed every part of us and the world we live in. it’s not like he doesn’t know the factors that will influence our decisions. So you still end up with the same problem: God designed some people in a way that meant they would choose him, but others were designed to reject him.

3. It rejects the Biblical teaching on sin. Rom 3:10 No-one seeks God. Eph 2:1 We are dead in our sins. Rom 5:12 death spread to all men because all sinned. Gen 6:5 every inclination of the heart of man is only evil all the time.
There is no way we can save ourselves because we are dead in sin. We cannot choose. Some people then respond “Ah, but Jesus’ death opened the way for everyone to choose”. But that’s makes all the clear teaching on sin nonsense: if Jesus’ death opens the way for everyone so that everyone can choose, then everyone can seek God – but the Bible says “no-one seeks God”.

4. And here’s a bonus reason: that not what tonight’s passage says! It’s very clear that God decides. Not us. He is the source, not us, no matter how much time is involved.

30 What does all this mean? Even though the Gentiles were not trying to follow God’s standards, they were made right with God. And it was by faith that this took place. 31 But the people of Israel, who tried so hard to get right with God by keeping the law, never succeeded. 32 Why not? Because they were trying to get right with God by keeping the law instead of by trusting in him. They stumbled over the great rock in their path. 33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, “I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that makes people stumble, a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

Don’t stumble over the stumbling stone of Jesus. Trust him, not in yourself.

See, the doctrine of predestination is wonderful! As the 17^th article says: The reverent consideration of our predestination and election in Christ is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable strength to godly persons, who feel the working in themselves of the Spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of the flesh and their earthly passions and drawing their thoughts upward to high and heavenly realities. This teaching is welcome to us both because it strongly establishes and confirms our assurance of eternal salvation to be enjoyed through Christ, and also because it kindles in us a fervent love to God.

Predestination is fundamental to the gospel and to our understanding of God. It is liberating. It is freeing. God is God and am not and his undeserved favour resets upon me so I’m free to serve him and love him and ador him and when I fail I am not worried because he loves me and has already glorified me – so secure am I!

Praise the Lord.

To end off, I want to give us a gentle push to those of us who are still struggling with this doctrine.

1. You already believe it. You believe that in the beginning God created everything from nothing. He is awesome in power, sovereign over all things. The God who speaks and things are from nothing, is supremely powerful! Of course he’s sovereign over our salvation too.

2. It goes against our culture. Be suspicous of doctrines that tell us what we want to hear.

3. It gives glory to God. We are small, God is big.

4. The greatest theologians of the church throughout history believe in predestination as the clear teaching of Scripture: The Apostle Paul certainly did. So did Augustine, Calvin and Luther, guys who took the Bible very seriously and changed the world.

5. No cults believe in predestination. None of them. Every single cult, whether Jehovah’s Witnesses or Iglasio ni Christo all reject the sovereignty of God and predestination. So does unbiblical nonsense like the prosperity gospel. Why? Because then I can’t get power over you. If salvation comes from God then you don’t need me! But if I can convince you that salvation comes from your own efforts, then I can say “and you need me to coach you, now give me your money”. Predestination protects us from dependence on sinners for salvation.

Brothers and sisters, we serve an awesomely powerful God. And for some reason he has chosen to lavish his love on us. Why, I do not know. But I am so grateful. He called me out of darkness to light, and he has called you. Praise God. Praise him with great praise!

And because He is sovereign, then anyone can be saved. There is always hope, because maybe your family member, your work colleague, your friend, or that stranger on the bus, is elect. Left to our own devices we all reject God. But God has mercy on whom he will have mercy. Amen.

Why we won’t sing the Blues in Heaven!

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What if I told you you could guarantee a glorious future? What if there was a way to choose good health, immense wealth, and happiness?

What if I told you that your choice is between that: an eternal future of health, wealth and happiness – or eternal suffering?

Sounds like a no brainer doesn’t it? Tough decision!

Because that’s what Jesus tells us. That’s the clear message of the Bible. We have a decision to make: health wealth and happiness – or suffering and pain. Heaven. Or Hell.

So, what’s the catch? What’s the cost? I’ll get to that in a moment. But now let’s just get clear what is on offer. We won’t sing the Blues in Heaven because we will be perfectly happy, healthy and wealthy. Although we might jam to some blues tunes! But we won’t be singing the blues. And we won’t sing the Blues in Hell because there will be no music in Hell. There is nothing good in Hell. Hell is by definition the absence of all good things.

That’s why Jesus says these words: “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one hand than to go into the unquenchable fires of hell with two hands. 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better to enter eternal life with only one foot than to be thrown into hell with two feet. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it out. It’s better to enter the Kingdom of God with only one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where the maggots never die and the fire never goes out.’” Mark 9:43-48.

Jesus, the Man of Love, the Man of Forgiveness, the Man who brought Mercy to the world. Those are his words. Do whatever you can to avoid hell. Hell is not a place you want to be.

That’s the reason that Jesus came, and that’s the reason that we are here. He came to warn us about hell. And he came to open the door to heaven. He came to say don’t miss this! Don’t miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime- a glorious eternal future. Whatever objections you might have about Christianity – put them aside for the moment, and just listen to what’s on offer. And then we’ll have time for questions and objections afterwards.

Just two points tonight:

1. Heaven is glorious

2. We get to Heaven through Jesus

1. Heaven is glorious.

Now when I say “heaven” that might not thrill you. In fact, it doesn’t really thrill me. It seems rather boring. I typed “heaven” into google. Every image was of blue sky with clouds and a bit of sunshine. Sometimes a few angels sitting about strumming harps. Is that a place you want to go? Well not me! Heaven seems absolutely boring.

But the Bible’s picture of Heaven is completely different. When the Bible talks about the future it talks not about Heaven but about the New Creation – really Heaven come down to Earth, and transformed this world.

It will be this world, but better. Sitting on clouds strumming harps. God forbid. No! Unless you really like harp music, in which case I’m sure there will be a special section for you. The Bible tells us that all the best and only the best of this world will be in the next. There will be great music in Heaven, the best music! Whatever you think in this life is amazing or wonderful or incredible – the Blues – that will be in heaven. The glory of this world will not be lost. So don’t miss out! But we won’t be singing the Blues. It’ll be happy Blues, Blues as it was meant to be sung from the creation of the world, sung in praise of Almighty God!

I’m going to read from the book of Revelation, the book that we’ve been reading through as a church as we hear described the glory and wonder of the new Creation.

Re 21:10 [I saw] the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal…. 21 The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. 22 I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. 24 The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. 25 Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. 26 And all the nations will bring their glory and honour into the city. 27 Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

Imagine that. A huge city, perfect, filled with people from all over the world, all equal in Christ, all colours, shapes, sizes, ages, nationalities, complete diversity, all praising God. The glory and honour of all the world is brought in. And we will recognise this world as it should have been.
The best things of this world are just a shadow, a pale reflection of the reality of then new creation. This beauty we are surrounded by here in Norway is incredible – but it is just a faint echo of the true beauty we will see on the Day Jesus returns and everything is transformed in an instant. Everything that is ugly and evil and dirty and broken will be gone, and only that which is perfect will remain. And we will see it with our own eyes. Don’t you want to be there?

You know, we recognise beauty now because it is an echo of that heavenly beauty, that purity. We feel it tugging at our soul saying “this is how things should be”.

We were created in perfection. In Genesis, the first book of the Bible, we read about Adam and Eve, the first two people that God created. He created them equal, he created them in his image, he created them male and female. And it was very good. They lived in perfection. And then they screwed it up. They decided to ignore what God had told them would hurt them. They decided that his word was dumb and their words were better. They would decide for themselves what is right and wrong. And everything fell apart.

They completely ignored God – and it messed up their relationship with each other. They immediately blamed each other for their problems and started arguing. It broke intimacy – before they were blissfully naked, perfectly open with each other. Now we hide from each other, and struggle to trust because we know we can be hurt.

It messed up their relationship with the world. Work became hard. The land resisted giving food. Natural disaster became normal.

And it messed up their relationship with God. No longer would he walk and talk with them in the cool of the day – now he was far and distant and sitting in judgement.

Everything was messed up.

And that’s where we are. Everything is messed up. The world is broken. People are broken. And we can’t reach God.

We long for perfect peace. We long for harmony even in our own lives. Our home. We long for someone to love us perfectly and where we don’t need to fear the ones we love hurting us and letting us down. We long to be back in the Paradise of Genesis, before we decided that God was dumb and we are oh so clever – and proceeded to mess everything up.

That’s what the Bible calls sin. Now sin isn’t naughtiness, or something like the adverts like to use it “it sinfully delicious”. Sin is more like poison. It is the poisonous self-interest at the centre of every human heart. We filter everything through “is this good for me”? We as people are utterly self-absorbed. Selfish. Egocentric. If you don’t believe me, just look at kids. The younger the better.

ILLUSTRATE: my niece - Angry with Mom for being sick in hospital! She took it personally. Irrational. But that’s how we feel. She’s a human. Kids need to be told with divorce that it’s not their fault. Always think we cause it. So egocentric. The universe revolves around us. And as adults we just hide it better, or life has let us down so much that we know that we’re not in control. But we’d still like to be. The poison is still there.

Poison needs to be rooted out.

Now the poison of sin doesn’t mean that we can’t be nice people, or be unselfish, or love! We’re not always self-absorbed narcissists going around shoving people out of our way!
But it’s like this glass of water. If I put a drop of poison in it it doesn’t mean that all the water has turned to poison. But it does mean that all the water is poisoned.
So people still do wonderful things – but even the best things we do are tainted by sin, by that poison of self-interest.

It is no surprise to Christians that the only economic system that works is capitalism, because capitalism assumes that people are selfish and will act in their own self-interest. Communism assumed that people would act for the good of the community. That it failed horribly tells us a lot about ourselves as a human race.

Everything we do, say and think is affected by sin. Not everything we do and say is poison, but all is poisoned.

And the problem is that that poison, our sin, bars us from Heaven. We’re going to miss out. Instead we will be given what we have chosen. We will experience the consequences of our choice to ignore God and do our own thing. And that is hell. Hell is not God being mean. Hell is God letting us do what we want! The problem is when you let selfish people do what they want – what they really want – that’s not very pleasant. The Blues understands that. When the powerful and the rich do what they want they oppress the workers, they oppress the poor. The Blues teaches us that sin is real! And that sin left unchecked is hell.

So, if we don’t want to experience hell – how do we get to Heaven. How do we ensure that we don’t miss out on the greatest experience ever: the New Creation!

Heaven is glorious. And

2. Jesus is the way to Heaven.

Jesus warned us, pleaded with us, to do whatever we can to get out of hell. Because the reason he came was to make it possible for us to get out of hell, and experience heaven instead.

In Mark 9:31 [Jesus] said to [his disciples], “The Son of Man (this is what Jesus called himself) is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.”

The reason Jesus came was in order to die. Because dying and being reborn is the only way to get to heaven. In heaven, the new Creation, there will be nothing evil, nothing sinful, nothing imperfect. Only the best. So we can’t get there. We’re sinners, poisoned, not perfect. There’s no way back. Except by dying and being reborn… perfect.

It’s like pottery – if the clay starts going wonky – you’ve got to squash it down and start again. I watched a glass blower and a smithy at the Sølvgruvene here – and it’s the same with them. Any imperfection and it’s back into the fire, melted down and you start again, blowing, or banging it into the perfect shape.

To now miss out on heaven we need to be remade, reborn. But how can you do that? Because if we die – we just go straight to hell. No rebirth. The only way we can die and be reborn is if someone does it for us. Someone needs to step in as our representative, die in our place, and give us new life. And that is what Jesus does.

That’s why the gospel means good news for everyone. It doesn’t matter what your life is like. You past does not matter. It makes no difference where you’ve come from or what you’ve done- Because all that will die. Your life dies with Christ on the Cross. He carries it with him in his death. And you are reborn with his life.

It is a swap. We get his perfect life. We are reborn. And he takes our imperfect life.

Isn’t that fantastic news.

However, I said there was catch. And here it is: you actually have to die to your old life and be reborn. Jesus put it like this: Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. Mk 8:34–35

It costs everything, and it costs nothing. Everything because we die to our old life and now live for Christ. He is our new manager, his words are what matters. And that’s great because it’s the best way to live. A taste of heaven. He knows how life works because he made us. We are no longer slaves to sin, but now FREE! No need to sing the Blues, but we can sing joyful blues, if that’s possible!

Let me just speak for a moment to those of us who have been reborn. We belong to Jesus. Everything we do and say should be done and said to his honour. In the new creation everything we do will be perfect. What are you doing or saying now that you wouldn’t be doing or saying in the new Creation? What am I doing or saying now what Jesus would not be doing or saying. Or what am I not doing and saying that I know I should be?

What is amazing is that the rebirth we get isn’t just once off. The rebirth we get is permanent. It isn’t well here you go, good luck now I’ve given you a start. No. We get not just Jesus’ birth, but his life. So we are already seated in heaven. Let’s act like it. And when we fail, which we will, we simply ask for forgiveness. Then we repent, stop doing the wrong thing, and start doing the right thing!

But is it worth it? It’s a big ask. I know my generation is paralysed by fear of choosing something, committing to something – because what if something better comes along. Well, nothing better will. This is the best of the best. Jesus proved it by healing people, casting out demons, walking on water, quieting a storm, forgiving sins, and, oh yes, rising from the dead. He shown us good credentials. We can trust what he says. And this is what he says. I’m going to end by reading his vision of heaven given to John. Revelation 22:1 Then the angel showed me a river with the water of life, clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. 2 It flowed down the centre of the main street. On each side of the river grew a tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, with a fresh crop each month. The leaves were used for medicine to heal the nations. 3 No longer will there be a curse upon anything. For the throne of God and of the Lamb will be there, and his servants will worship him. 4 And they will see his face, and his name will be written on their foreheads. 5 And there will be no night there—no need for lamps or sun—for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever. 6 Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true. The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.” 7 “Look, I am coming soon! Blessed are those who obey the words of prophecy written in this book.”

Be blessed. Choose Christ. Don’t miss out. We don’t need to sing the Blues in heaven, because heaven is glorious. Don’t miss out – ask Jesus for his new life, because Jesus is the way to Heaven.

I hope we are all together singing the not Blues in the new Creation. Let’s rock! Amen.

Isaiah 13:1-14:25 War and bloodshed and Hell

Isaiah 13:1-14:25

Last week’s passage was great. Last week we saw hope for the future. We saw the destiny, the future, of those who love God and are called according to his purposes: the great heavenly City coming down from heaven to earth: the new Jerusalem, God’s city filled with God’s people. No more suffering, no more death, no more evil, no more judgement. An eternity of happiness. The name of the city is God is there. And this was won for us by our King, King Jesus. Won on the cross, as he took our place and paid for our sins with his blood. We are free from suffering for he suffered for us, once, for all, a perfect sacrifice.

That is our future – if we belong to Christ. A secure future. A good future. A future full of mercy and hope. And even now we see pictures of that, as Jesus is King now, as his banner is raised among the nations and people all over the world come to Christ.

That was last week passage. This week’s passage gives us the flip side. If last week was a picture of Heaven, this week we see a picture of Hell. It is brutal language, disgusting, raw, an unflinching picture of our evil hearts.

Isaiah 13:1-14:25 War and bloodshed and Hell

It is describing the coming war against Babylon. Babylon who will rise up and conquer Assyria, conquer Judah (Southern Israel), strip the Temple, and carry all the Israelites off into captivity – that Babylon which will rule the world will fall. That Babylon which was brutal in warfare, which dashed children to death before their parent’s eyes, which sacked homes and raped wives – that Babylon will experience justice. Exactly what they have done to others will be done to them. The King of Babylon, king of the world, who says to himself “Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendour.” (Dan 4:30). That king will be brought low. The arrogance of men will be brought low. The pride of men will be dealt with.

But it is more than that, because the fall of Babylon is seen as a picture of the fall of all wickedness and evil. The judgement on Babylon is a picture of the final judgement day of God.

Just two headings today:

1. Babylon, the symbolic city of wickedness

2. The Day of the Lord.

Ok, let’s get into it.

1. Babylon, the symbolic city of wickedness.

Chapter 13 is way out of chronological order. Isaiah is here predicting the fall of Babylon before it’s even become a superpower! Assyria’s the problem at the moment. Assyria is the one who surrounds Jerusalem in chapters 36-37. Only near King Hezekiah’s death do we hear about Babylon, when envoys from Babylon arrive at the end of chapter 39. So why is it here?

Because it is a symbol of rebellion against God. Babylon is where the tower of Babel was built – indeed, that is where it gets its name “Babel-lon” meaning “gate of God”. Remember the tower of Babel? The tower reaching up to heaven in Gen 11, when God reached down to scatter the languages. Babylon is not just a city, but it is a symbol of man’s rebellion against God.

Isaiah could be called “A tale of two cities” – as particularly in the second half Babylon and the new Jerusalem are contrasted with each other: Babylon the city of sin and rebellion, Jerusalem symbolising the righteous people of God.

For the Jews this was very symbolic as they were all technically Babylonians! You see, Babylon is the great capital city of the Chaldeans – you see it there in 13:19 Babylon, the most glorious of kingdoms, the flower of Chaldean pride. Guess where Abraham, the father of the people of God, is from? Gen 11:26–28 After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran…. Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth.

And the question asked is which city do you live in? Are you Jerusalem or are you Babylon? There are only two ways to live: the way of Babel, Babylon: rebellion against God. Or to hear God’s call, and leave that way of life, and move to Jerusalem.
You live in one of these two cities.

The future of Jerusalem we heard last week, and it is glorious, secured not by our own efforts, but by the blood of our King Jesus. If you missed that sermon, get it. It is deeply encouraging, and you need to hear that one alongside this one!

This week we see the future of Babylon – and it is terrifying. Because Babylon has set itself up against God, and God’s patience will one day run out. There will come a day when he says “Enough! Evil has run its course, has served its purpose. Enough!”

2 “Raise a signal flag on a bare hilltop. Call up an army against Babylon. Wave your hand to encourage them as they march into the palaces of the high and mighty. 3 I, the LORD, have dedicated these soldiers for this task. Yes, I have called mighty warriors to express my anger, and they will rejoice when I am exalted.”

The picture is of a great siege – an army attacking a town. The army is huge and powerful, and it surrounds the town. The flag is raised and the attack begins. Great catapults flinging huge stones into the city walls. Huge ballista’s (arrow machines) firing wave after wave of arrows. And the soldiers, grim-faced, pounding on the gates.

This is what happened in 539BC when the Persian king Cyrus captured Babylon and the Babylonian empire fell. The Persian army surrounded the great city and then took it. King Belshazzar was killed – remember the writing on the wall in Daniel? While they were feasting and drinking and mocking Israel’s God – a hand wrote on the wall words meaning “you have been weighed, measured, and found wanting” – and the next day Cyrus entered Babylon and Belshazzar was killed.

Babylon, though continued to rebel against Persia in 522,521 and 482 – and in 478 the Persian king Xerxes destroyed the city completely, and it was never rebuilt. Babylon’s ruins stand as a warning to all those who imagine the Day of God’s judgement will never come. This once great city reduced to nothing. 13:21 Desert animals will move into the ruined city, and the houses will be haunted by howling creatures. Owls will live among the ruins, and wild goats will go there to dance. 22 Hyenas will howl in its fortresses, and jackals will make dens in its luxurious palaces. Babylon’s days are numbered; its time of destruction will soon arrive.

So that was the fate of historical Babylon, but also all who follow in Babylon’s footsteps, which are really the footsteps of Satan. Look at how the king of Babylon is described in 14:12 “How you are fallen from heaven, O shining star, son of the morning! Literally “Lucifer” the name of the devil. You have been thrown down to the earth, you who destroyed the nations of the world. 13 For you said to yourself, ‘I will ascend to heaven and set my throne above God’s stars. I will preside on the mountain of the gods far away in the north. 14 I will climb to the highest heavens and be like the Most High.’

It is that arrogance, that wanting to be God, that is Satanic to the core. And when we try to take God’s place, we follow Satan as our master. We choose Babylon.

Babylon is the symbolic city of wickedness. It is set up against God, to reach to Heaven to pull him down. And one day that rebellion, that wickedness will be dealt with. That day is

2. The Day of the Lord

13:6 Scream in terror, for the day of the LORD has arrived— the time for the Almighty to destroy. 7 Every arm is paralyzed with fear. Every heart melts, 8 and people are terrified. Pangs of anguish grip them, like those of a woman in labour. They look helplessly at one another, their faces aflame with fear. 9 For see, the day of the LORD is coming— the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger. The land will be made desolate, and all the sinners destroyed with it. 10 The heavens will be black above them; the stars will give no light. The sun will be dark when it rises, and the moon will provide no light. 11 “I, the LORD, will punish the world for its evil and the wicked for their sin. I will crush the arrogance of the proud and humble the pride of the mighty.

Well, it’s quite different from chapter 11 and 12 isn’t it? Then it was all 11:6 In that day the wolf and the lamb will live together and 10 In that day the heir to David’s throne will be a banner of salvation to all the world. And 11 In that day the Lord will reach out his hand a second time to bring back the remnant of his people

In that day, in the Day of the Lord, there will be peace, there will be hope and salvation. And in that same day, the Day of the Lord, chapters 13 and 14 show us there will be terror and horror and Hell unleashed.

For there to be peace, evil must be dealt with. Evil has had its day. SO like the flood in Noah’s God’s judgment covers the earth – and anyone not in the ark will die. Or like the angel of death in the Exodus who sweeps through the land of Egypt and every firstborn son not covered by the blood of the lamb dies.

Evil is dealt with. Justice is done. So far, so good. But I have a problem with this passage, and it’s there in v16. It is brutal, it is horrific, it is awful. It is real warfare. But in this passage God says that He is the one who has sent the army who has done it. In the very next verse, v17 he says “Look, I will stir up the Medes against Babylon”. In v3 I will call the mighty warriors – in fact the whole way through it is God who is calling down judgement.

And I realise that there is something right in my reaction – to have a problem, and there is something wrong in my reaction.

The right thing in my reaction is to be appalled, to be sickened by the wickedness on display.
Simply because God allows this to happen, simply because God uses evil to achieve his good purpose of righteous judgement doesn’t make it not evil. When God used Judas’ betrayal to send his Son to the Cross, it did not make Judas’s betrayal right. Jesus had to die in our place, cursed upon a tree – but that did not excuse the evil of Pilate and the chief priests condemning an innocent man to a horrible death. Just because God uses evil for good does not make evil good. It is still evil. In Deuteronomy 22:22-27 the penalty for rape is your life. That’s how serious it is. The penalty for murder, even murder of children, is your life. It is evil.

So that is the right part of my reaction – to be appalled. But the wrong part of my reaction is that I forget that God is God – even when evil things are happening. I think that because evil things are happening then God’s lost control. He’s fallen off his throne. Oh I might not say that but I certainly feel that way! We struggle to believe what the Bible says: that God reigns and that everything that happens in this world is bent towards his purpose to fulfil his eternal plan.

Last week’s passage was easy, wasn’t it? Happy things are happening and God is in control. Yay! I like God being in control. This week’s passage says horrible things are happening – and God is in control. Oh. Yay? How hard was it to say “Thanks be to God” after the Bible reading? I didn’t want to say it!

What must we learn from Isaiah 13? How must we be stretched, to have our little view of God exploded into the reality of God? This chapter challenges us with: Why? Why is this world so horrible? Why does God allow this – even take responsibility for it. I will. I have. I will send. They are my agents of judgement.

And the answer that the previous chapters have made very clear is: because we are sinners. Sin – rebellion against God – is literally Hell. Hell is where God is not, it is the absence of God. That’s why it is pictured as fire and torture and generally not a place you want to be. Our sin – rebellion against God – leads to sins – all the wrong things we do. Lying, cheating, gossiping, harsh words, cruelty, teasing people, bullying – all the stuff that goes on in every playground in every country in every culture – and however much we try to stop it we can’t. Kids can be really nasty to each other. And no one taught them to be nasty. It comes from within. And then murder and rape and abuse and theft and war and the list goes on and on and on. What aren’t we capable of? In our hearts is bound up hell.

It was the American theologian Jonathan Edwards who said in 1741 that “within our hearts are the seeds of hellfire”. Basically, if hell did not exist but one man did exist hell would soon take form from the evil in his heart.

God’s holy goodness makes him opposed to sin and any form of evil. Just look at v9 For see, the day of the LORD is coming— the terrible day of his fury and fierce anger. The land will be made desolate, and all the sinners destroyed with it.

That Day is coming. But that Day has already come – against Babylon, against Assyria, even against Jerusalem in 587BC. Time and again God has judged evil and brought it to an end. Each day of judgement a picture and reminder of the Final Day. In a sense, we live now in that Final Day of judgement. Just as there are pictures of Heaven around us, reminders of God’s saving work in Christ, there are pictures of Hell around us, reminders of God’s righteous judgement. Romans 1:18 tells us what’s going on now: But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who suppress the truth by their wickedness.

That’s happening now. We live in the Day of the Lord – the day when God will judge. Signs of it are all around us. Every time we hear of brutality, cruelty. When we turn on the news and hear of all the evil things that are being done… it is like seeing the downfall of Babylon. A reminder that the Day of judgement is coming. Are we ready?

Which city do we live in?

It’s worth remembering the verses before Romans 1:18 is our key verse 1:16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes…this is by faith.

There is hope. I mean we see it there in 14:1 But the LORD will have mercy on the descendants of Jacob. He will choose Israel as his special people once again. He will bring them back to settle once again in their own land. And people from many different nations will come and join them there and unite with the people of Israel.

Because evil is dealt with, the people can be rescued.

The Day of the Lord is either a Day of great rejoicing and freedom – or it is a day of horror and pain. The horrors of the Babylonian war were just a small picture of the horrors of facing God’s judgment. Don’t face it! Run to Christ and shelter in him.

Two comments before we end.

Firstly: The Babylonians were horrible rulers. And everyone rejoiced when they were defeated. 14:5 For the LORD has crushed your wicked power and broken your evil rule. 6 You struck the people with endless blows of rage and held the nations in your angry grip with unrelenting tyranny. 7 But finally the earth is at rest and quiet. Now it can sing again!
Some of you have lived under such rulers. Some of you have had to flee, run for your lives, because of such cruelty. But one day it will be over, and every evil deed will be repaid. Every debt settled. Justice will be done. That is a good and comforting thought. We do not have to take revenge. God will deal with everyone rightly and justly.

Secondly, you might be thinking, oh, this is just that Old Testament God nonsense. Jesus isn’t like that. Come with me to Revelation, to the picture of our Lord Jesus’ return – gentle Jesus, meek and mild – no. He will returns as the Warrior King, to destroy evil forever, and any who is not against him will be destroyed. Re 19:11–16 Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. 12 His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. 13 He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. 14 The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. 15 From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. 16 On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords.

The Day of the Lord is either a day of terror or a day of joy. And it is coming as surely as the day Babylon fell came. That is a day of terror.

When the White Rider, Christ Jesus himself, appears, will you look to him with hope and joy: rescue! Salvation! Or will you look with fear and anger? Are you Babylon? Or Jerusalem? Two cities. Two futures. Where do you stand?

Easter Sunday 2015

We all have a sense of the divine. Of their being something more than just what we see or hear or touch. We can feel a greater purpose, a greater meaning behind life. This life is not all there is. There is more to our lives than just what we see.

Throughout history many have come claiming a revelation from God or a revelation about the spiritual or our greater purpose. Nitsche, Russel, the unknown founders of Hinduism and Shinto, Muhammad, Bhudda Guatama, Zoroast, and so on, to the modern TV evangelist who sees in your future that you will give money to him for his new jet....

But 2000 years ago a man came on the scene who did not claim a revelation about God or a revelation from God – he claimed to BE the revelation of God. To know him was to know God. Repent and believe he said, for the Kingdom of God is here. That’s how he started his ministry! What a ridiculous claim! God’s Kingdom is here. Ha. You? The King of the Kingdom? Ha.
But there was power – this man, Jesus, son of Joseph, from Nazareth – he had power. Power to heal, power over evil spirits. Power over even creation. Be still he says to a storm – and it was still. Have you tried that? He walked on water, he produced food out of thin air. This was no magic trick, some illusion that fooled the simple backwater peoples – no. The best brains from Jerusalem came down to find him out. Those who could sniff out a faulty argument or a false teaching – those who could spot a law breakers and a blasphemer from a mile away – keen minds, sharpened by years of religious inquisition… and they were stumped, nonplussed, amazed, confused. How can this be? They could not deny his power, but they could not agree with his claims- he saves sinners! He claims to forgive sins! He hangs out with the scum: law-.breakers and sinners, not good people like us. So they decided to kill him.

But that was expected. Jesus said so. Told his disciples that is why he came:- it was planned by the decree of God, as revealed to his prophets hundreds of years before: by his stripes we are healed.

And so he willingly went to his death – this man of power who merely spoke his name and the soldiers fell over, who had power to tall the ground to open up and swallow them – Jesus went willingly to his death. And he died

And it was all over.

The disciples, his followers, were all depressed. They thought he was the Messiah, the rescuer, but he clearly wasn’t. He was dead. Oh, he had said he’d rise again, but who believed that?

And then he rose from the dead. And that changed everything.

He had power... over death! He suddenly was not just a man, but clearly the Living God – the one from outside who had control over what happens here on earth. He had power over creation because he was the Creator. And the amazing message he came with was not that he had come to destroy us, but that he had come to forgive us. He had come to bridge the gap between us and him. He had come to make himself known so that we could KNOW God. And not only know him, but live with him as our God. The resurrection changes everything.

In 1 John 1:1 the Apostle John (apostle means a close friend and follower of Jesus), writes We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He [Jesus] is the Word of life.

But surely it was just a myth? It can’t actually be true. Can it?

Well, let’s examine some of the common objections to the resurrection.

Myth no. 1 “It was made up by Emperor Constantine in 325 at the Council of Nicaea, the first Church Council”. This is very popular – Dan Brown used it in his novels, and if you type it into Google you’ll get a massive amount of websites claiming this to be the SECRET TRUTH NOW REVEALED. The fact that they’re all wrong doesn’t stop them. It makes a great story – but doesn’t fit the facts. This theory was popularised in the early 1900’s and gained some ground because we didn’t have any documents from before the Council of Nicaea. So it could be possible, however unlikely, that Constantine managed to change the beliefs of 318 bishops plus all the Christians of the time who up until that moment had been willing to die for their beliefs (and over 800 000 had already died for their faith – the first 300 years of Christianity was martyrdom and persecution) but these people who had stood strong suddenly caved into the Emperor, claim those who like this theory. So, not very likely. Do you think Obama could call all the Christians in the US together and say “we’re changing Christianity”. How well do you think that would work?
And, anyway, in the last 100 years or so we’ve discovered nearly 100 manuscripts from before 325. And these manuscripts had exactly the same text as the manuscripts after 325, and indeed the same as our Bibles today. Oh dear.

So the theory that Constantine just made Jesus up to unite Rome is just wrong. The evidence points the other way. It is not possible for him to have made it up.

Myth no. 2 “The disciples made it up.”
Okay. Why?

There’s nothing in it for them. They gain nothing by it. All of them were persecuted, tortured, rejected for it. They gained no power, no wealth. In the gospel narratives – which they are supposed to have made up – they look like complete idiots! Would you do that? I’m going to make up a story to give me power, but in the story I will look like an absolute fool, get everything wrong and even abandon my God.
This myth “they just made it up” has no plausibility. There is no motive for the disciples, no upside, no gain.

The other problem is that in their supposedly made up story everything happens publically. Their main character Jesus: his death happens in a major city - Jerusalem – not some deserted cave. And so does his resurrection! What’s more, they claim multiple people seeing Jesus after his resurrection – around 500 at one time! All it takes is going to speak to one of these people and asking “is it true” “no it was made up” -. And the whole thing comes crashing down

“Oh the disciples made it up” sounds good, but as soon as you start to examine it just falls apart. It fails the test of plausibility – where’s their motivation? It fails the literature test – because people didn’t write historical fiction like we do today. That style of writing has developed over hundreds of years – the gospel writers doing it would be astounding – in literary terms like discovering the atom 2000 years ago.
And if they were so clever they would have made it more convincing for their audience: they had huge cultural problems, like women being the eye-witnesses of Jesus’ death and resurrection – women weren’t even considered reliable witnesses in a court of law at the time – so why would you have them as your first eye-witnesses in a story you’re making up – unless, embarrassingly so, it was the truth. I could go on – there are many such details in the gospel narratives that make it highly unlikely that the disciples made it up. They really did see Jesus die, and they really did see Jesus risen from the grave. As I read from John’s letter “We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands”.

Ummm, but maybe they hallucinated, or really, really wanted it to be true that they forced themselves to believe it. Or maybe Jesus just swooned on the cross, not actually died, and then reappeared to them….

Do any of those sound convincing? Sounds like someone desperately looking for a reason to reject Jesus other than the real reason: I want to be God in my life, and so I don’t like it when the real God makes himself known. So I block my ears and make up stories...

Mass hallucinations? Maybe once, for 11 guys in a room, maybe smoking some weed. Yeah, man, I see Jesus…. But Peter’s out fishing and Jesus calls to him. Peter’s given up, you see, as a failure – he betrayed Jesus before his death. So he thinks even if Jesus is risen from the dead, he won’t have me. He wasn’t wanting to see Jesus! So he goes fishing. And then a figure calls to him from the beach. “Peter!” And Peter rows the boat closer. It’s Jesus. And they talk, and have breakfast together. Later 500 people see Jesus. And later still they are all gathered together and Jesus rises up into the sky after telling them to make disciples. For forty days Jesus appeared to different people at different times – once on the road to Emmaus, a village a few hours walk from Jerusalem, and then immediately after that, to the disciples in a home in Jerusalem. How’d he get there so fast?

And his appearances weren’t like a man in the shadows speaking in a muffled voice saying “hey, I’m Jesus”. No, he was amongst them saying touch me, feel the scars in my hands and feet, he was with them in daylight on the beach eating breakfast, and he was with them on the mountaintop in Galilee when he rose up to heaven before their very eyes. He was not a ghost because they could touch him, touch his hands and feet. He was not a twin or some other weird trick – he really had died on the cross because here was the wound in his side where the spear had pierced him. Here were the scars from the nails driven through his hands. It was Jesus. The same Jesus who had died.

But, but maybe Jesus swooned (fainted) on the cross. Yes, and the Roman soldiers didn’t know the difference between a man who has fainted and a man who is dead? Oh, and they stabbed him in the side with a spear to make sure. And then they wrapped him in a burial shroud. So this theory means that you believe that a man beaten to a pulp, crucified, then stabbed and bleeding, regained consciousness two days later in a cold dark tomb, fought his way out of the burial cloths, rolled away the huge stone, overpowered the guards, then broken, bleeding, half dead, appeared to his disciples... and they responded “my Lord and my God”.
Then you must have great faith indeed. And if you then say oh, the disciples made it grander then the question is why? Again, they have no good motivation to tell this story unless it is the truth. The only plausible rational reasonable explanation is that this man Jesus truly was who he said he was: God Himself. Come from the outside to us to reveal God to us and to open the way so that we could know him.

In the gospel of Luke, Luke writes to his sponsor, Theophilus “Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. 2 They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. 3 Having carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write a careful account for you, most honourable Theophilus, 4 so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.”

Any other questions?

What’s your objection? Because you do have one. You must have one to explain it way because otherwise you are forced to consider the truth. That Jesus really is the revelation of the living God. That he made you. That you belong to him. And that the only rational, logical thing to do it to serve him.

You know when a building is demolished, there’s the moment when the demolitions guy presses the button and you hear whooom and see a bit of smoke – and then nothing happens. There’s a pause. The building’s foundation has been blown away but it’s still standing, just for a moment. And then WHOOOOOMFFF it collapses in a huge pile of rubble and dust.

Well, the cross was that explosion on the foundation of this world. Jesus’ death and resurrection blew out any ideas we might have that there is no God. And we live now in the pause, the pause before the fall – before Jesus returns, this time not as Saviour, but as Judge. We live in the pause before the fall. And in this pause, we have an opportunity to be rescued. To know God, and to serve him living a life of great meaning and purpose.

Two implications, two results of Jesus’ death and resurrection being true:

1. We can know God!

I started off by saying that we all have a sense of the divine – of there being something or someone out there. Something more to life. Well, Jesus confirms that. “Here I am” he says. “You cannot reach me – so I have reached down to you.” And through his death and his resurrection we can know God – personally. Each of us.

Because the reason we can’t know God is because we have sinned against him. Like a barrier between us and God, my rebellion, my sin, my pretending to be God and ignoring the real God, means I cannot know him. I am cut off from him. I cannot reach him. Even if I try to be really really good, the Bible says it is no use. He is perfect. I am not. He is holy, I am unholy. Religion is a waste of time. Being good is useless. We cannot know God

Praise God that he then did what we could not. He bridged the gap, broke open the barrier, so that we could know him.

Every other religion or worldview says do! You must do this or do that to achieve a higher consciousness or be a better person or please God or the gods. Christianity does not say “do” it says “done”. Christ said on the cross “It is finished” it is done – and then proved it by rising from the dead.

Because of what Christ has done, we can know God! He has wiped away our sins, covered over our filth (like the donkey on Friday, remember?), paid the penalty for our rebellion of God and our ignoring Him. It is done. We don’t have to do anything to try to win God’s favour – it is done. He did it. It is His gift to us.

We can know God. You can know God.

2. Our life has great meaning and purpose

The fact that there is a God means that our lives are not just lived out here, on this stage, and we die to be eaten by worms and eventually forgotten. Jesus reveals that our lives are lived before Almighty God: before Him. He is raised up, seated on the throne in Heaven. Everything we do reflects back on our relationship – or lack of relationship – with him. We are eternal creatures, created with a spark of the divine – we are created, made to be with God. And so what we do here matters. In the movie Gladiator the main character Maximus utters a great line just before they ride into battle “What we do in life echoes in eternity”
“What we do in life echoes in eternity”
It’s true. What is your life echoing into eternity? Are you bringing glory to God? Is every moment of your life consumed with Him, honouring him, bringing him glory, doing what you were created to do?

Or are you in rebellion against him? Ignoring him? Bringing glory to you and your petty and small ambitions?

Because everything is done. The way to know God is open. But just like getting married or having kids - or even getting a dog - changes your life, knowing God changes things completely. You now live life in a different reality. The reality of heaven and hell. Ter reality of eternity.

Be warned, dear friends. Heaven and hell are real. The resurrection shows that. Jesus went through the pain of death – to rescue us from HELL. He believed in Hell. He knows it. Where is your life leading you? What is your echo in eternity? Heaven? Or Hell? Are you trusting and obeying Christ? Or yourself?

And are we telling others this? This is real, this is urgent! People around us are dying and going to hell! Jesus came to DIE in order to rescue people from Hell and we claim to be his followers yet can’t be bothered to even tell people. Risk inviting our neighbours to church because ooo they might think I’m weird. On that Final Day when we see them condemned to Hell will we still be worried about what they think of us? I say this to myself, to increase the pressure on myself to not be so apathetic, so lazy, to get myself to do what I know I should. This is reality. God forgive us for our laziness and disobedience! Praise Jesus that he came to die for sinners like us, that even our failures are taken care of – but that should drive us to proclaim all the louder!

I heard a story recently of a woman who’d just become a Christian. Overjoyed she said “does this mean I’m forgiven. Completely forgiven?” “yes, Jesus has taken your guilt and shame”. Overjoyed she just was bursting to tell people, and so opened her phone book and starting ringing systematically, every single person in her phone book to tell the joyous news: Jesus is alive, and he has forgiven me, and he can accept you too!

This Easter, let us be gripped by the joy of the good news: Christ really DID rise from the dead, and so we can know God, and live a life filled with meaning and purpose – a life lived in the reality of eternity, a life lived with heaven and hell in mind. Friends, as we go out this door, may God grant that we see this world, see our friends, neighbours work colleagues and family through his eyes – eyes that saw people heading to hell to eternal death – and so he came Himself to die, to rise again, to rescue us. Amen.

Exodus 1-20 overview: The God who rescues

Exodus 1-20

An Australian preacher called David Cook tells the story of the time he invited a friend of his who was very legalistic, very religious - thought you could earn salvation by obeying God and by being good – he invited him to a talk on the ten commandments. The next day David asked his friend what he thought and his friend said “you know what really struck me: you said 2 comes before 3” “What?” thought David “that’s what he got out of it? 2 comes before 3? What a useless....” But he’s right and it’s a deep insight. Look at chapter 20. 2 comes before 3

2 “I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.

3 “You must not have any other god but me.

Rescue before law. Salvation before obedience.

God does not save the Israelites because they were good obedient religious people. He saved them while they were disobedient slaves – and then called them to obedience. Obedience is the result of salvation, not the cause.

And if we get that the wrong way round we do not believe the gospel, but man-made or Satanic religion. You cannot please God through obedience but only through his sovereign grace. 2 comes before 3.

That is why Jesus came to seek and to save the lost – as we’ve been reading in Luke’s gospel. He came for sinners, not religious performing monkeys. Praise the Lord.

We’ve learned a lot from Exodus these past few months, but this morning I want to zero in on the central themes of Exodus and particularly what they reveal about the God whom we serve.
God’s sovereign power to save.
God’s sovereign power to judge.
God’s sovereign demand over our lives.

And we see illustrated in the great works and miraculous signs of Exodus the greater work, the greater miracle, the greater rescue in Jesus.

1. God’s sovereign power to save

Exodus opens with the Israelites very quickly in trouble. A new king comes to power, sees the Israelites as a threat, and decides to enslave them and to kill all the baby boys.

The Israelites are in trouble. And so in 2:23–25 [T]he Israelites continued to groan under their burden of slavery. They cried out for help, and their cry rose up to God. 24 God heard their groaning, and he remembered his covenant promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 25 He looked down on the people of Israel and knew it was time to act.

And we go yay! It’s kind of like the moment in Die Hard when Bruce Willis’ character, John McClane, now has a machine gun. Ho.Ho.Ho. The turning point. The advantage has swung to the hero. Or in the recent men’s 50km at the World Cup in Sweden when Petter Northug was in fourth place – and then suddenly starts his sprint.

Something’s going to happen. Something magnificent. God knew it was time to act.

Actually, we lose a little bit in the translation. Because the original Hebrew just says “God saw the people of Israel... and God knew”

God saw. And God knew. And it’s just another indication of the character of God. He does not watch from a distance. Like in Genesis 16 when the Lord “sees” Hagar, whom Abraham and Sarah had just terribly abused. In her suffering – the Lord sees her, and knows her situation and meets her. He is the God who sees. The God who knows.

It is one of the great mysteries of our faith that we find revealed in the Bible a God who knows us. A God who shares our pain and suffering. A God who became human in order to save us.

John 1:14 So the Word became human and made his home among us.

Luke 1:35 The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

Our Lord Jesus laid aside his majesty, was born as a baby, in order to live as one of us, to be the Son of Man as well as God’s Son, so that he could rescue us. He heard our cries as we groaned under our slavery to sin, with our king, Satan, the devil, seeking to kill us and destroy us. And he saw. And he knew.

You see, Exodus, for all its displays of power: plagues, pillars of fire, the sea rising up and parting – all of that is just a shadow, a mere shadow, of the reality of Jesus Christ and his saving work. That is where we really see God’s power to save. The Exodus is just a picture of that.
Want to know if Jesus can save? Look at what he does in Exodus, as he leads his people out – the angel of the Lord in the pillar of fire.
Want to know if Jesus can sustain us, provide for us? Look at how he provides for his people in the wilderness. Manna from heaven – every day for forty years, without fail. Water from the Rock, miraculously given at the right time.
Want to know if Jesus can protect us? Look at the waves crashing down on the Egyptian army as His people go through the same waters safely. Look at the ring of fire protecting the people from their enemy. See them arrive safely at Mount Sinai, just as He promised Moses.

God has sovereign power to save!

But wait there’s more. Because his salvation plan starts before we are even aware that we need saving. That’s how in control he is! The people cry out to God at the end of chapter 2 “Please save us”. But look at the beginning of chapter 2, and what do we see? Ex 2:1 About this time, a man and woman from the tribe of Levi got married. 2 The woman became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a special baby and kept him hidden for three months.
Before the people even cry out to God their saviour has already been born. Moses was the chosen saviour, kept miraculously safe through, ironically, Pharaoh’s own daughter. The plan to save was already in motion even before the people cried out to God. 2 Ti 1:9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus.
Rom 5:8 (NIV) But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

God saw our helpless situation. God knew us. And he set his plan in motion planned from before time even began: to save sinners like you and me. He himself would be the miraculous saviour. He himself would take the judgement we deserve upon his shoulders. He would face darkness and death and go through it.

The first thing we see in Exodus is God’s sovereign power to save. He decided out of his own great love, to rescue us. He is our saviour.

But the second thing we see in Exodus is God’s sovereign power to judge.

2. God’s sovereign power to judge

Ex 7:4-5 [The Lord says:] ...Pharaoh will refuse to listen to [me]. So I will bring down my fist on Egypt. Then I will rescue my forces—my people, the Israelites—from the land of Egypt with great acts of judgment. 5 When I raise my powerful hand and bring out the Israelites, the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD.”

Ex 7:17 So this is what the LORD says: “I will show you that I am the LORD.” Look! I will strike the water of the Nile with this staff in my hand, and the river will turn to blood.

Ex 8:22 But this time I will spare the region of Goshen, where my people live. No flies will be found there. Then you will know that I am the LORD and that I am present even in the heart of your land.

God is the judge of the world. He made us. He owns us. And his judgement on our sin is therefore right. His judgement, however, is not without a purpose: then you will know that I am the Lord. I am Yahweh.

We are made to glorify God. That is our purpose. All of creation calls out “glory to God, glory to God”. Look up at the stars on a clear night and you can almost hear the Milky Way, millions of stars crying out “glory to God”. You drive through Telemark and see the beauty around you crying out “glory to God”.

But we? We rebel against God. We ignore God. We don’t want to give God glory but to glorify ourselves. I am the great I am. I am number one in my life. I am all that matters.

Ex 10:1–2 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Return to Pharaoh and make your demands again. I have made him and his officials stubborn so I can display my miraculous signs among them. 2 I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them—and so you will know that I am the LORD.”

Ex 12:12 On that night I will pass through the land of Egypt and strike down every firstborn son and firstborn male animal in the land of Egypt. I will execute judgment against all the gods of Egypt, for I am the LORD!

Ex 14:18 When my glory is displayed through them, all Egypt will see my glory and know that I am the LORD!”

Ex 20:2 “I am the LORD your God...You must not have any other god but me. You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.

To set ourselves up in opposition to God is foolishness indeed. Pharaoh did – and the Lord took his rebellion seriously. Time had run out for him: the Lord, horrifyingly, said you will now not repent, you will be stubborn and you will face my judgement. There is no way out. And what a judgement he faced!

Opposing God = FAIL! But that’s what I do every time I disobey his commands. Every time I look at his word and think, naah, I disagree. Every time I ignore him and dishonour him. Our attitude is like that of Boromir of Gondor in the Lord of the Rings. When Boromir finds out that the King is in front of him, the heir to the throne of Gondor, he says “Gondor has no King. Gondor needs no King”.
Is that not the attitude of so many around us? Is that not the default attitude of our own hearts? Oh what fools we are when we, like Pharaoh, fancy ourselves as equals to the Almighty God.

For one day all of us will know that HE is the Lord, and not me. A pastor in the US called Mark Driscoll said that we need to understand 2 things: 1. There is a God. 2. You are not Him.

Funny, but very very true. 20:3 I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods.

You see, the Lord God will be glorified whether we like it or not. He will either be glorified in salvation and joyful obedience – or he will be glorified as he destroys those who rebel against him. Israel – saved, brought out by His mighty arm – glory to God. Egypt – in rebellion, refusing to acknowledge God – who is this God – instead turning to other gods, worthless idols which cannot speak and have no power. Judged. Destruction, darkness, and finally death covered the whole land of Egypt.

It is a stark picture and a sober warning to us here in Norway, thousands of years later. Learn from the Egyptians. Their voices cry out to us across the ages – do not rebel like we did. For one day, suddenly, God’s judgement will fall and there will be no chance of repentance. Suddenly you will stand before the Holy God whether through your death or the return of Jesus, and he will open up the book of your life and what will it say? Perfect obedience to God? Honoured him with every breath? No. It will say “sinner”. Rebel. Imperfect. Unholy. And you will be cast out into the outer darkness where, Jesus says, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Yes, it is meant to be scary! It is meant to make us afraid. It is meant to make us act! To seek God. To cry out for mercy. Yes God is sovereign to judge, but he is also sovereign to save, and if he can save people like the Israelites, if he can save a failure like Moses – a murderer, a coward, running away and hiding in the desert – well, there is hope that he can save you and me is there not? So if you haven’t asked him, fall to your knees and plead with him to have mercy on you. And so on that Final Day when the judgement falls “sinner, OUT!” – suddenly Jesus will step forward and say wait, not thi one, his sins are covered by my blood, the price has bdeen paid, I have taken his life and he gets my life. And the gates will open to Eternal Life. Will Jesus step forward for you? Do you know him? If not, ask him now. If you need help to pray Christian will be at the back of the room. Go to him and he will help you pray and ask Jesus to save you.

I’m now going to spend some time talking to the Christians. Those of us who have been saved – 2 comes before 3, salvation before obedience. But, 3 does follow 2 – obedience follows salvation, and so I want to end off by challenging us with

3. God’s sovereign demand over our lives

20:1 Then God gave the people all these instructions (commands).

In chapter 3 God calls Moses to be the rescuer of his people. Moses says no. God says oh yes you will. Moses belongs to God. Ex 3:14 God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”

6:6 “Therefore, say to the people of Israel: ‘I am the LORD. I will free you from your oppression and will rescue you from your slavery in Egypt. I will redeem you with a powerful arm and great acts of judgment. 7 I will claim you as my own people, and I will be your God.

Now there is a great comfort in belonging to God, in being saved by him – but there is also a great demand there. To belong to God means that you belong. To God. All of me, all that I am, my thoughts, my actions, my reputation, my future, my money, my family, my time – belong to you O Lord. Of course, everyone belongs to him anyway – we’ve just stopped pretending that we don’t. We know that we belong to him.

So, if you belong to him, then live like it. Make decisions in the light of the fact that you belong to him. The Israelites have been a crushing disappointment haven’t they? Moaning and groaning, longing to go back to slavery in Egypt – what is wrong with them? And so they pierced themselves with many unnecessary sorrows. Why?

Brothers how often do we do the same thing – deliberately do what is wrong when we know it is wrong and suffer the consequences. Or take so long to do what is right. Even simple things like find a church, find a place to live near the church, then find a job near where you live – so simple. Priorities right: spiritual food, a place to serve God’s people, people who will encourage you to keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. That’s what we NEED. But no we panic and we seek a job first, yes I’ve got that, then we find a nice house because we need that and then we thing Oh, oh dear, I need to find a church. Oh that one will do. And we suffer the consequences because we’re not thinking Christianly about these things. Who do you think provides “your” job, provides “your” salary? Is it not the Lord? Of course it is. He is sovereign over us. He is our Father. So trust him. Risk obeying him. It is glorious when you do and dull when you don’t.

What does Jesus say “seek first the Kingdom, and all these other things will be added”.

Oh Lord, expand my vision of you to fill my mind. I am so stupid when I make decisions, so blind, so hard-hearted. Lord, be my wisdom, be my faith, because I just can’t seem to trust you. I need to pray that kind of prayer more, and, I’m sure, so do you.

The Israelites were in the desert for goodness sake. There is nothing there but rocks and dust. You are in serious trouble if you’re there with no food or water (or a car to get you out of there. The desert can KILL you. And they were about two million people, plus herds etc. Panic, panic. But the Lord knew. The Lord saw. The Lord is sovereign. And so for forty years the Lord provided food and water sustained the people. Shouldn’t this be a lesson to us. Oh, that was then we say, as if that excuses our lack of faith now. Same God. Same ability to provide. And Jesus said “don’t worry about what you will eat or wear but seek first the Kingdom” and “your Heavenly Father knows you need these things”

Time to wrestle yousrself to the ground and say “Time to repent, time to change. Confess your sins, plead with the Lord to help, and then trust that his Spirit is at work in you – and He is – and then make deliberate decisions to change the way you live.”

And remember as you do this that you do this as a beloved child of God because 2 salvation, comes before 3 obedience. Praise God that he is sovereign to save, sovereign to judge, and sovereign over us.