Romans 15 We live for Christ

Romans 15

Listen to MP3

Hooray. We’re back in Romans for the next three weeks. And today we finally see why Paul wrote Romans. Any guesses?

Have a look at v24: I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey.

Romans is a letter to ask for money!
But what a letter! It’s a magnificent summary of what we believe as Christians, a glorious celebration of the gospel. Not by law, by morals, by efforts not by ME – but by Christ, by his death and resurrection, for His glory, by the power of His Spirit waking us to life so that we trust in the cross of Christ and nothing else, and live like it. Amen!

But why such a detailed letter? Why not just write “I’m the great apostle. Going on a mission trip. Support me.”

That’s because they didn’t know him. He hadn’t been to Rome. Rome wasn’t one of the churches he planted. And he wanted to be sure they were on board with him. He needed partners in the gospel. And so he writes “this is the gospel I preach” so that they know what they’re getting themselves in for. So that after a few months of work in Spain they won’t just suddenly go “oh, I didn’t know you’d talk about sin” or “eew, judgement, the kids won’t like that”.
(By the way, if ever anyone says “eew, the kids won’t like that”, they actually mean “eew, I don’t like it”. Kids never have a problem with God’s judgement, or the fact that we are sinners. They know it all too well, and haven’t got good enough at fooling themselves yet!).

So Paul writes to say “this is what we believe” – are you with me?! Let’s get out there and LIVE it, here in Rome, out in Spain, let’s live out loud, man!

We live for Christ, Everything we do say and think should be for his glory. The glory of our God.
We were made for his good pleasure, saved by his good pleasure, and live for his good pleasure.

And so we love each other- the church, our brothers and sisters in the faith - both in the local church and beyond. We love each other like Christ.

And so we reach out with the message of Christ. We love non-Christians whether Jew, Gentile, or anything in between. Proclaiming the great gospel to anyone who will hear.

And those are our two points today:

1. Live for Christ in fellowship with your church 1-13

2. Live for Christ and win the lost 14-33

1. Live for Christ in fellowship with your church 1-13

1 We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. 2 We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. 3 For even Christ didn’t live to please himself.

This is chapter 14. Treat each other the way Jesus treated you.
Be considerate, not self-focussed. Because it’s easy to be arrogant, especially when you’re right!
Chapter 14 uses the example of some brothers being very uptight about the Sabbath and holy days. Others concerned about food. You can’t eat blood. You can’t mow the lawn on Sunday. That’s working! Or the example my Dad used when he preached: buying alcohol.

Now we know that what we eat or drink does not matter. All foods are clean for we who are in Christ. Every day is the same: a day to glorify God. There are no holier days.
There is no Sabbath because we are not Jews!

But we who understand that, we who are strong, we who know the freedom we have in Christ – we are not to abuse that freedom. We are free to… love.
So if you have a brother who struggles, don’t eat a halaal burger in his face. Or fire up the chainsaw on Sunday at his house. Gently allow the Spirit to do His work through his Word. He will convince them when they are ready to hear. We are all at different stages in our understanding, and so we need to bear with each other.

2 We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord.

I want to take a short moment to talk about the “cage stage” Calvinist ie they should be in a cage because they’re snarling at everyone “totally depraved”, “irresistible grace” etc. Many have fallen into the trap of becoming insufferable when they’ve discovered the amazing doctrine of God’s sovereign power and grace. And get angry when others reduce God’s sovereignty because they – correctly – see it as stealing God’s glory.

But is that the right attitude? If you are strong – your strength is given to you to carry your brother, not to beat him over the head!. Be gentle. Be humble. Be like Jesus. Don’t be overbearing but let the Bible do the work. We don’t need to browbeat people into belief. The Spirit is good at that job.

And I want to apologise when I have been too overbearing, too “strong”. I know I have been guilty of this in the past. Forgive me for not being more like Christ!

3 For even Christ didn’t live to please himself. As the Scriptures say, “The insults of those who insult you, O God, have fallen on me.” 4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled. 5 May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.

This living together in harmony, bearing with one another. It’s costly. But Jesus is our example.

In v3 notice that Paul quotes from Scripture. It’s from Psalm 69 which is about the righteous king of Israel (David) being persecuted because of his love for God. If Christ suffered that, we can suffer to hold our tongue and not criticise, to be gentle and patient, to decide to love these our brothers and sisters, so that we can live v5 in harmony, as we v4 patiently wait for the promised return of Christ.

And if our church is loving and caring for each other as v6 says with one voice, that will result in us v6 continues giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

God is glorified when we in the church look after each other like we should. And that’s not directed at the leaders of the church. That’s us. All of us. We have an obligation to our family to love, to care for, to look after. And that love is so attractive. People notice it! When we get together as a church people SEE the love we have for each other. I have heard non-Christians remark on the love and care we show each other. It speaks volumes. And God is glorified.

Of course, the opposite is also true. A church divided into factions, where everyone is in little groups vying for power, trying to shout loudest to get their viewpoint through. When people care more about their reputation and being liked that what God says in the Bible. Oh dear. That does not bring glory to God does it? Nor is it attractive.

Now the big divide in the Roman church was that between Jew and Gentile (non-Jew). “We Jews are God’s chosen people – of course we’re better than you Gentiles. You need to listen to us”. The Holy Spirit through Paul addresses that in v8 and v9: 8 Remember that Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show that God is true to the promises he made to their ancestors. 9 He also came so that the Gentiles might give glory to God for his mercies to them.

Jesus came for the Jews and the Gentiles. For both. Equally. And then he proves it by quoting from Psalm 18:49 which has David, the King of Israel saying: “For this, I will praise you among the Gentiles; I will sing praises to your name.” and in v10 Deut 32:43 “Rejoice with his people, you Gentiles.” And Ps117, the shortest Psalm, “Praise the LORD, all you Gentiles. Praise him, all you people of the earth.” And ends off with the great promise of the coming Messiah, the Saviour, the Christ Isaiah 11:10 “The heir to David’s throne will come, and he will rule over the Gentiles. They will place their hope on him.”

There is no division, no hierarchy in the Kingdom of God. The Pope and the newest convert are equally saved by grace, if they are saved at all. The pastor or preacher is not more holy than the tea-maker! Because we are saved by grace. So let’s remember that as we look at our brothers and sisters. We are saved by grace. Be gentle. Rebuke and correct in love, not in arrogance. And point people to Jesus, to His word, not to your great intellect. We have no gurus here. We have one Teacher, and his name is Jesus.

Live for Christ in fellowship with your church.

2. Live for Christ and win the lost 14-33

24 I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey.

29 And I am sure that when I come, Christ will richly bless our time together. 30 Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit.

As Christians saved by grace we want to share what we have received with others. The word gospel means “good news” – that’s how it is translated in the NLT. Good news. Great news. Momentous news like “the war is over!”. Of course we will want to share it with others. But we need to share GOD’S Good News – not something we’ve made up or something wrong. Sin creeps in and distorts the message so easily. So quickly it can become about us. So quickly we can change the message to make it “nicer” more acceptable, better.

14 I am fully convinced, my dear brothers and sisters, that you are full of goodness. You know these things so well you can teach each other all about them. 15 Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God’s grace, 16 I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit.

Even though we know the gospel, we need to keep being reminded. The word changes us because we are made holy by the Holy Spirit. This church is evidence of that. I SEE you being made holy as the Word is taught and the Holy Spirit takes these words and makes them come alive. It is an incredible miracle. It’s like watching plants grow as they are watered. So cool.

17 So I have reason to be enthusiastic about all Christ Jesus has done through me in my service to God.
Me too!

18 Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them. 19 They were convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit.

In other words, not by clever words or twisting the message. Paul presented the message of the gospel of a crucified man who rose from the dead – absolutely ludicrous. We do have a ridiculous message. But it is true. And is backed by the Spirit’s power. And so we can be confident. We don’t need tricks or to hide the gospel or be embarrassed by it. Be confident because the Spirit is at work. Signs and wonders we have seen in this church. And I don’t just mean amazing healings and incredible answers to prayer – because that we believe in and that we have seen many times because we serve an awesome God. But the real miracles are you lot sitting here! Releasing Jerusalem’s brother from prison is easy. Healing Isabella. Simple. Saving you? That took the cross and all the Spirit’s life-giving power! Put your name there in v19 [Daniel] was convinced by the power of miraculous signs and wonders and by the power of God’s Spirit.

So Paul knew the power of the Spirit. But he had a special calling, a special drive from God. After his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus, God gave him the task: to be the apostles to the Gentiles. To take the gospel into the whole world. And you can feel his passion for the lost in these verses

19 In this way, I have fully presented the Good News of Christ from Jerusalem all the way to Illyricum. 20 My ambition has always been to preach the Good News where the name of Christ has never been heard, rather than where a church has already been started by someone else. 21 I have been following the plan spoken of in the Scriptures, where it says, “Those who have never been told about him will see, and those who have never heard of him will understand.” 22 In fact, my visit to you has been delayed so long because I have been preaching in these places. 23 But now I have finished my work in these regions, and after all these long years of waiting, I am eager to visit you.
Why? There’s already a church in Rome.

24 I am planning to go to Spain, and when I do, I will stop off in Rome. And after I have enjoyed your fellowship for a little while, you can provide for my journey.

“Why should we do that?” they may be thinking. Well, why should we provide for Paul, or Mischeck, or McDonald, our missionaries? I mean we struggle with providing for this church and we can see them and touch and feel what we get for our money. And we don’t have enough as it is. Why should we give to those we don’t even see?

Because we are partners together. Even Gentiles in Macedonia and Achaia were giving to Jews in Jerusalem. Wow! What an example of Christian love. That’s powerful.

27 They were glad to do this because they feel they owe a real debt to them. Since the Gentiles received the spiritual blessings of the Good News from the believers in Jerusalem, they feel the least they can do in return is to help them financially.

As Christians, we are part of God’s work in the world. And our generosity is one way we show it. So Paul asks “do you want to be part of my missionary work to Spain?” It’s awesome!

28 As soon as I have delivered this money and completed this good deed of theirs, I will come to see you on my way to Spain. 29 And I am sure that when I come, Christ will richly bless our time together. 30 Dear brothers and sisters, I urge you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to join in my struggle by praying to God for me. Do this because of your love for me, given to you by the Holy Spirit. 31 Pray that I will be rescued from those in Judea who refuse to obey God. Pray also that the believers there will be willing to accept the donation I am taking to Jerusalem. 32 Then, by the will of God, I will be able to come to you with a joyful heart, and we will be an encouragement to each other. 33 And now may God, who gives us his peace, be with you all. Amen.

We’re all still on the same mission as Paul. We want to magnify the name of Jesus. Here in Notodden amongst us we want to show the love of Christ to each other. We want to proclaim his name so that those around us can hear the gospel and be saved! O glorious day!

And we give generously so that this church can keep going, yes, but also to support our brothers in Kenya, in Zambia, and in South Africa. For we are all part of God’s worldwide family. They are our brothers and we owe them support. Why? Because of the love of Christ, given to us by the Holy Spirit.

Cool, hey? Praise God for His work in and through us. Oh Lord, magnify your glory and grace and love through us. Make us more and more like Jesus. Less selfish, less arrogant, more gentle, more kind, more full of truth, more full of the Spirit, more generous, more on God’s mission than our own.

Let’s live for Christ. That is, I will do, say, think what Jesus wants me to do, say, think, at every moment, rather than what I want to do, say, think. Not great deeds. But everyday moments.
Not duty but joy. Living naturally. Living out what God has placed in. With our church family. And out in the world. Amen.

Vision 2018: A Declaration of dependence. Three months in.

Listen to MP3

AGM - Reflection on 2017 and Vision 2018: A Declaration of dependence.

Today we were supposed to do Romans chapter 15. However, because I’ve been finishing off one job while already working increased hours at the other one, Christian being sick we couldn’t get it done. I didn’t have enough time to prepare properly, to do the text justice. It wouldn’t have been good enough. But since we had to by law have an agm (årsmøte) this morning, and since it has been a while I presented the vision for 2018, it would be good to look at what God has done among us and look forward to the rest of the year.

Our vision for 2018 can be summarized in three words: glory, joy, and dependence.

Glory because we exist to glorify God, as individuals and as a church. And he is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. The more we find our joy in him the more we honour him in loving Him with all that we have. We were created to rejoice in the Lord, and we who have the Holy Spirit are filled with joy when we remember the gospel, when we think of our Heavenly Father, Jesus our brother and Saviour, and how God loves us. Glory and Joy.

But we can only do that if we depend on him.

And maybe that's where we struggle, especially as leaders. We want to achieve so much. There are so many who need Jesus. So many are lost. We should be 100, 200 people now. I'm impatient!

But we can not do anything without Him. Everything comes from him. This is his church, not mine - nor primarily yours. It is Jesus who is the leader of the church. He is our driving force and power and leader and guide and wisdom. Therefore, we must listen to him. As on the mountain top, when Jesus was glorified before the eyes of Peter, James and John, Moses and Elijah (Law and Prophet) were with Jesus - what did God's voice say from the cloud? This is my son - listen to him! (Mark 9)
That’s why our foundation is the word of God. And as much as possible, the word of God without interpretation, without twisting. We let the scriptures as much as possible explain to themselves. We want people to say "yes, I see where it comes from" not "huh?" when we explain the text.
God's Word is our life-blood. The Spirit takes his word in power, and has created a church that is alive, that is marked by love. Where people are open and welcoming and take care of each other.
And the key is not us - it's here. It is because we are filled with the word of God.
Perhaps a good place to talk about how many were in church last year!
We had 52 Norwegian services and 50 English evening services. 102 in total! This morning service had an average of 15 adults and 10 children (25 in total). Lowest attendance was 11. Highest 69 on Good Friday last year. The highest at a normal service was 39. But there more of us than just 39 who belonging to this church! The morning service has particularly struggled in the latter half the year and the first few months of this year. It’s actually down by 2 from 2016, where average was 27. But! We had English service all year which affected the morning service. In this service we’ve had an average of 11, once as few as 4 and once 24!
Both together, minus the leaders who are at both, we had an increase of 3 from 2016, with an average of 30 on Sundays.
Now that alright, but not good.
I get worried when people aren’t at church for one, two, three or more Sundays - because I know how difficult it is to live like a Christian without meeting together as his church! Just like it's hard to live if you do not eat.
Too many Christians have almost starved to death because they do not use the opportunity they have to get good spiritual food.
I know that it is not part of our culture to view the church as important to ME. Like it’s a good cultural institution – but something I need? But it is! It is God's gift. It’s one of the primary ways God blesses you. God put us together as his family to take care of each other. That’s exactly what we learned from Romans 14 last week Treat each other with mercy and care. The same grace God has shown us we show to each other.
I know that some struggle with church because they have had a bad experience of what a church is and many have been hurt by other Christians. But don’t reject God's good gift because people have ruined it with sin!
It’s in fact a good reason to find a church where the word of God and the gospel is preached. It's like healing balm for a wounded heart. So if you know people who need spiritual healing - get them in here and see what God can do!

That’s why these three months, we spent a lot of time particularly in the morning service praying for people to come. That we would feel the need to be together and to hear from God. We have also focused on why we need church, and last Sunday evening was a real highlight when we heard from Karen. If you missed it, check it out on our Facebook – it’s well worth listening to.

Okay. Let’s get to some Bible.

Ro 11:36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

1 Co 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

Those are the verses the Westminster Catechism uses to answer the question “What is the chief and highest end of man” (what is our purpose)? The answer: The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

We exist to bring glory to God. We were created in the image of God to reflect God’s glory back to him. Like the moon reflects the light of the sun, and lights up the night sky, so we should reflect the glory of God.

But I love that that is not all. It’s not just glorify God but also to enjoy him forever. We were created to enjoy Him. We were created for his pleasure to find our fulfilment and joy in him. He completes us.

Ps 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. 26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. 27 Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you. 28 But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign LORD my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.

Jn 17:21–23 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

The chief and highest end of man – our main goal, our reason for being, the highest meaning in our lives is this: to glorify God and to fully enjoy God forever. Joy.
Joy is a scarlet thread throughout the Bible. It appears again and again.

My Dad quoted last week from: Jude 24-25 (KJV) Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

In the Bible studies we read 1 Pe 2:3–10 now you have had a taste of the Lord’s kindness. 4 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honour. 5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. (literally that bring him joy or are brought joyfully).

Why? Why joy? Why not right thinking or good doctrine? Which we do think is very important. But not most important. Because it is possible to know a lot about God without loving him. It is possible to be cold and religious. In fact, the devil has a better "theology" than you and I could ever have. He knows everything about God. But he hates God.

Dt 28:47–48 If you do not serve the LORD your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, 48 you will serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you. Joy is a requirement!

Devil has had more theologically accurate thoughts about God. Satan’s problem is not doctrine, but delight. We need to rejoice in God! Not just think right thoughts.

That's why we put a so much emphasis on the word - reading it the way God wrote it. Theology, doctrine is important, but it is not what keeps us alive. It's the difference between describing my wife or talking to her. Doctrine is a description of God - this (the Bible) is talking to him. And his words achieve His purposes in us. Change us reform us renew us and fill us with joy.

Our purpose, the reason we are here, is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. That is what we will spend all eternity doing. In glorifying him and in JOY! And we can experience that now.

What is the chief and highest end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

And if you’re not full of joy - think about what God has done for you.

Let me share with you some verses from what we’ve been learning in Bible study and church.

1 Pe 2:9–10 …you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. 10 “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”

Ro 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

Ro 3:21 But now God has shown us a way to be made right with him without keeping the requirements of the law, as was promised in the writings of Moses and the prophets long ago.

Ro 5:1 Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

Rom 5:10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son.

Ro 8:28–29 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

Ro 8:38–39 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord .

Benjamin shared this story at Bible study. He was in hospital, lying in bed, blind and lame. Everything had to be done for him. He was struggling. And then Philippians 4:4 came to mind “Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice!”
Rejoice? Now? Rubbish. Can’t be done. And like any good Christian he resisted the command of the Lord for a bit. Won’t!
But then he thought – well I can’t do much, but I can smile! And he decided to smile. And he said in the very moment he forced his face into a smile… joy flowed through him! Even in the darkest moment God was with him!

Our vision for 2018

So how can we, as a church, glorify to God, and rejoice in him? Glory. Joy. Dependence. Exactly! In dependence and obedience.
We are not strong. But he is strong.
Ps 127:1 Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.

I have no big grand plan for this year. I know what I wish would happen. But I have no power to make it happen. So many people on the outside just on the brink. So many of you ready to take the next step on your journey of faith, to grow. Oh I wish I could reach ion and grab your hearts. But I’m not God. And neither are you. So let’s pray! I pray that will happen this year. I pray we would grow in maturity. I pray that many would be saved. I hope and pray that we can grow to 100, 200 people. Wouldn’t that be amazing? But I can’t do anything. And neither can you – apart from God. But in His power. Wow!

Therefore, our vision for 2018 is to declare our dependence on God. To say, “Almighty God, our Father, we are here to honour you and bring you joy. Whatever you want us to do, we will do it. You are good, good father and we entrust ourselves to you.”

How much do you pray for the church? Yes I know. If you want to make a Christian feel guilty ask about his prayer life! But do you pray for the church? Are you praying for me? For Debby? For Christian and Johanna, Jack and Marit, Mia, all leaders of this church. Are you praying for Petter, our apprentice? And Torgeir, Bible Group Leader, and Matthew and LJ as Children’s Church Leaders, and Kirsti and Karen who are also involved. Are you praying for Colleen who leads the singing? Do you pray for wisdom and love and JOY for all of us? Do you pray that we as a church will grow in love and faith so that we shine like stars in heaven for God and people will be lining up to get in here to get hold of what we have!
No. I don’t pray like that either. So can we decide today that we will get better at this. Set aside some time every day for prayer? We have to plan. We can’t just say that we depend on God - we must show it. In prayer. In our humble attitude towards him. In that we believe in the Word of God as a salvation and not our performance - whether we are good enough or kind enough or friendly enough to wangle people into the Kingdom. Yes, those things are important, but it is the Gospel that is the power of God for salvation. Not Daniel. And not you.
And that's a relief! Thanks and praise to our great God who does the impossible and saves people, even in Notodden.

Let's call out to him now in prayer.
Lord, we are small and weak, but you are strong. Let your strength, your joy, your love flow through us. Let us be open to your leading and obedient to your word. Let us be hungry for you word, to seek it out where it may be found to suck the marrow of your life-giving words in the Bible and grow. Let us listen to you. Let us reject our own “wisdom” and obey your “foolishness” and be filled with joy as we taste and see that the Lord IS good!

Yes, fill us with joy lord. Let's be a people who are full of thanks, full of joy, full of love. Let's treat each other the way you treated us. We who were not a people have now become a people - your people. Praise you Lord!

Heavenly Father, there are so many we know who do not know you. In your mercy, we ask that this year we would see many turn from death to life. Lord Jesus, you warned us strongly about the cruelty of hell, an eternal pain, separated from you. We want no one to experience it, but many choose it for themselves and believe that being without you is freedom. It is not freedom but slavery. Forever choosing to be cut off from the source of life and the light. It is horrific! We plead with you now for those we know. In a moment of silence bring before God those whom you know and love who are on their way to hell.
Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

Honour Him in everything you do in JOY, totally dependent on Him. It is our vision for 2018. In your mercy Lord, hear our prayer. Amen.

Romans 12. Live together in love.

Romans 12.

Link to MP3

What can you offer God? What can you give him to get right with him?

If you’re thinking “well, I can give him myself as a living sacrifice” you are – WRONG!

Wrong – but it says so right there. There in the passage.

No. What does it say?

Ro 12 And so (therefore), dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God – why? because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable.

ESV I appeal to you therefore by the mercies of God, to offer yourselves as a living sacrifice.

The Bible clearly tells us that there is nothing we can do to get right with God. Nothing. We are dead in our sins. We are in Adam, we rebel against God, choose our own way. And nothing we do can make us right. Rom 3:10 there is no-one righteous. Therefore the gospel is not “this is what you can do to get right with God” – that is the way of every other religion! The gospel is GOOD NEWS. It is bad news if this chapter was what we had to do to get right with God! We’d be in big trouble. No it’s not the bad news, it is good news. In light of God’s mercy – as v1 because of all he has done for you.

The gospel is that when we were in rebellion, when we were dead, when we rejected God – God came for us. Why us? We don’t know. There was certainly nothing special about us. But it is because of God’s great mercy. Because he is full of love he decided to take rebels, sinners, and make them – you and I (if we are in Christ) – make us trophies of grace.

We do not sacrifice to get mercy. We have mercy, therefore we offer sacrifice. And it has always been this way. It was the same with Israel. They were God’s people, chosen by God. Therefore they offered sacrifices – praise offerings, thank offerings, and sin offerings. Now, because of Jesus, we no longer offer sin offerings. Our sin offering was given and accepted once and for all when Jesus gave his life for us on the cross. But we do still offer praise and thank offerings. And we do that by living! Being living sacrifices, living for the glory of God.

My Dad for years hated v1. “I don’t want to be a sacrifice”. Sacrifice has to do with altars and blood and flesh and flies and death. I don’t want that. Then one day as he was reading he suddenly noticed a word he’d never noticed before: living! A LIVING sacrifice. Our sacrifice is to LIVE fully for God. We are called to LIVE for God. To be truly alive. To be what we were born to be.
We were created to reflect God’s glory, his beauty, his love, his power, his love. And in Christ that is what we are called to. We have been remade, renewed, restored, from the inside out. We have the Holy Spirit of God within us. Now, in light of God’s mercies, because of all he has done for you, people chosen, loved, and kept by God: LIVE!

You see, it is one of the great truths of Christianity that death brings life. Christ died that he might win life for all, and proved it by rising form the dead. And for us death brings life. As we die to self we find we live. As we obey we find blessing and truth. As we do what seems unwise we find wisdom.

Ro 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.

It is very important for us to remember that as we start looking at how we are to live that we remember what has come before. Otherwise we might think that all this is how we impress God so that he will like us and let us in to heaven. No! In light of God’s mercies. We have been forgiven, we have everything!

Now some might argue “but where’s the motivation then? If God has given me everything, if I know I’m saved, if I know I’m going to heaven. Why do anything? Why sacrifice? It takes away the motivation.”

Well, let me tell you about two teachers I had at school. One was called Mr Shone, who I had in the 6^th grade. And one was Mr Liddle, my 7^th grade teacher. Mr Shone was a cruel man. He was petty and vindictive and took particular pleasure in making certain pupils miserable and breaking them down. We were all afraid of him. When he was in the class, everyone obeyed! In fear of what he would do. But when his back was turned…. We hated him. We called him names. We stuck our tongue out at him. Our motivation to obedience only lasted as long as his eyes were on us.
Mr Liddle was the opposite. He loved us and cared about us. Those who had been crushed by Mr Shone Mr Liddle built up again over the year. You know we loved to obey Mr Liddle – even when he wasn’t in the room. We loved him because he loved us. Love is more powerful than fear as a motivation.

What view do you have of God? Do you see a stern taskmaster who demands the impossible. And you’ve got to somehow impress him? If that is the way you think of God, that is the God you will meet. But in the gospel we meet a God who demands the impossible – and then says what is impossible with man, is possible with God, and GIVES us his righteousness, purchased through laying aside his majesty, becoming one of us, suffering with us, dying for us, and then rising to new life. That is the God we serve. A God of such love. If we have met him, if we know him and are known by him, that is motivation enough to live for his glory.

You know, I don’t have to force myself to be married to my wife. I don’t think “oh no, I’m bound by this horrible contract”. It is a JOY to be with her. I know her and she knows me and so I want to please her, to bring her glory and joy.

So that’s what this passage is about. It’s about knowing God so that we can know what pleases him. Just like I know my wife and study her so that I can know what pleases her, we study the Lord to know what pleases him and what brings him joy. Let us delight our Father’s heart in the way that we live.
And, of course, living that way brings us great joy too, because it is the way we were made to live. And our motivation is love. We are loved by God. Rom 8:39 nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

That is what we need to keep in mind as we look at tonight’s passage, and indeed chapters 12-16.

So that was the first point: In light of God’s mercy, live. Be a living sacrifice because he loves you.

The second point is this: To be a living sacrifice you need a renewed mind – and our mind is renewed through the church.

And the third is: A living sacrifice lives a life of sacrificial God-glorifying love

1. Live 2. together 3. in love.

So, how do we live as living sacrifices for God? How do we give glory to God in everything we do? How do we reflect his beauty and love and glory and joy in our lives?

Well, it starts here – in our minds.

2 Don’t copy the behaviour and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

ESV Do not conform to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your minds.

Our minds need to be changed. We need to think God’s thoughts so that we can do what God wants.

And how do we do that? Need to know Him. Need his word. The Bible.

Now v1 and 2 I’ve known very well. Read it lots of times. But I haven’t really paid so much attention to the context. I know. So in preparing this I was amazed to see something that I’ve never seen before. The Holy Spirit through Paul after telling us that our minds need to be renewed – what does he immediately talk about? The church! The church is where we go to renew our minds.

3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. 6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well.

I found that fascinating. Because I’m such an individualistic Westerner I think “renew my mind, yes, I’ll lock myself away in my room and read the word.” If I know the Bible. Or if I’m a bit more “spiritual” I might say “I’ll go and seek God and wait for him to speak to me”. Or religious “I’ll go to a monastery”. But it’s all me on my own.
But our brothers and sisters from Africa and the East will be laughing at us now going “duh, no we do this as a COMMUNITY: the church”. We do it together! In the church most importantly we hear God’s word - but we also see it lived out. That’s why we have a body, not just a mouth! 6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. We need each other.

It’s like the Law. I’ve been reading the Pentateuch recently (the first five books of the Bible). And there’s a lot of law. Do this do that. And it’s not arranged logically. It’s all mixed up together. Stuff you had to do in everyday life with stuff the priests had to do with rules for the government. All mixed up. It’s impossible to remember. But not if you see it lived out. You’d watch your parents and go “oh that’s how it’s done”. Watch your neighbours. Oh yes, I’m supposed to do that. See the priests doing their duties “Oh that’s what it means”. The Law of God, his word, was lived out, on display, every day.

Likewise in the church. I have learnt so much by watching how my brothers and sister in Christ do things. I remember staying for a few weeks with our friends Paul and Penny Dawson and their five kids. I learned so much about Christian living just watching how they did things. How they balanced ministry and family demands, what they prioritised as important, how they spoke to their kids, how they taught them the Bible at their different ages. Wisdom on display.

Debby and I were both privileged to grow up in Christian families and we have gained much practical wisdom in how to live as a Christian. I know many of you did not – but that’s why we have the church! So watch godly people and see what they do. Ask. A number of people in this church will phone me up and say “I have an ethical dilemma, what should I do”. That’s brilliant. That’s Christian living.

And note that no-one has all the gifts. We need each other. Some teach, some prophecy (that is apply the Bible to everyday life), some exhort, some lead, some are generous, some kind, and so on. We are a team together, helping each other.

I want you to notice something. It is not just that God saves us. But he also gives us gifts and he decides the level of faith we have! 3 Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us.
God is not only sovereign over our salvation, but also our sanctification (being holy). So see yourself as you are by how much faith you’ve been given. And if you want more – ask.
Because it is God who even gives us our faith, we cannot be proud. But humble. And as for us leaders – we have been given much, so much is asked. Not pride but humility and responsibility.

Some of you are highly gifted. And we will develop those gifts. How? In submission to Gods word. The more gifted you are the more essential it is that you know the Bible! A prophet needs to know Gods word. A leader needs to know Gods word. That’s why the leaders of the church are elder because an elder is one who teaches the word. We all need each other. The church needs you! Because we are called to be a living sacrifice. And to be a living sacrifice you need a renewed mind – and our mind is renewed through the church.

So then, third point, A living sacrifice lives a live of sacrificial God-glorifying love. As a church, how do we live in a way that glorifies God. How do we live together in love?

Well, the rest of the chapter! There’s a lot here, so I’m just going to read it, make a few comments, and leave it up to each of us before God to repent! Different things will challenge us!

So, brothers and sisters, in light of Gods mercy, because we are forgiven, because we are chosen by God, because nothing can separate us from his love, because we have heaven as our inheritance and because the Spirit of God lives in us – this then is how we are to live, reflecting God’s glory:

9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. 10 Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honouring each other.

See, if we see ourselves as we really are, by the FAITH God has GIVEN us, then we will be humble, delighting in others. Let us be quick to praise each other, to honour each other, to thank each other, to admire. When you think about the church, do you think “wow” or do you think “uh, why isn’t that done, why didn’t they do this”. Complaining comes so easy, complimenting so hard. Let’s delight in honouring each other.

11 Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. 12 Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. 13 When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.
Like Christian and Johanna, and my parents. But not just church events. Invite people home from church. Invite non-Christians. Open you home. People SEE Jesus in your home life. Don’t underestimate the work of the Spirit in and through you. Many things we take for granted just the way we do things, for others is ground-breaking.

14 Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Christian spoke two weeks ago on forgiveness from Philemon. Have you forgiven?
We sin against the Lord and deeply hurt him and others – yet we are forgiven. Therefore can we not forgive others who have hurt us?
This is not easy, and some of you may need help because of deep hurts. But we’ll do it together. Let’s take the ice that is in our hearts and melt it together in the furnace of God’s love.

15 Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. Odd translation! It’s “don’t be too proud to associate with those you think are beneath you”. I want this church to be full of “losers” outcasts, the “rubbish” of society. Because God is very good at taking those who are least and making them glorious. Let’s see what God can do! Because that’s the heart of Jesus. He was always hanging around with the lowly, the “sinners”.

And don’t think you know it all! 17 Never pay back evil with more evil. (oh how easily that comes to us. Revenge! No. Let GOD handle things). Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honourable. 18 Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. 19 Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord. 20 Instead, “If your enemies are hungry, feed them. If they are thirsty, give them something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals of shame on their heads.” 21 Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

Isn’t that the very heart of God? We who are evil have been conquered by good. So let’s do the same thing! Never forget that we were enemies of God. And He has transformed us. He can do the same with that person who makes our life miserable, with that bully, with that pervert, that threat, that grumpy neighbour.
Never forget that we are sinners. But by the grace of God that is us. Perhaps if we’d grown up like them we’d be the same. Maybe all they’ve ever experienced is hatred, attacks, maybe that’s why they’re so hard and messed up. So ask the Lord for his strength, ask Him for His love, His compassion, see them through His eyes, and treat them how Christ has treated you. And see what God will do. Conquer evil with good. And if they are mean and horrible and unchanged – well, leave them in the Lord’s hands. He will pay them back much more than you can with your petty revenge. Leave it to Him.

Right. Wow. Well, aren’t we glad and overjoyed that this isn’t a list of rules to keep in order to be right with God! Praise the Lord that it is because we have been forgiven, renewed, transformed, we are called to live like Christ.
So let’s do it. Together. Let’s encourage each other. Let’s watch each other to see how to live. As they are following God, let us follow. And let’s encourage each other, pick each other up when we fall, carry each others burdens, help each other, push each other, work together until that great day when we see our saviour face to face.

1. In light of God’s mercy, live. Be a living sacrifice because he loves you.

2. To be a living sacrifice you need a renewed mind – and our mind is renewed through the church.

3. A living sacrifice lives a life of sacrificial God-glorifying love

1. Live 2. together 3. in love.

Vision 2018: A declaration of dependence.

Link to MP3.

I’ve been reading the Westminster Catechism. And the first question it starts with is this: what is the chief and highest end of man?

That is: why are we here? Why do we exist?

As we look forward to a new year, that is where we will start. Why are we here? What is our purpose?

And then we will think about the church: what is church and what is its purpose?

And finally our vision for 2018. Where are we going this year together as a church, under God. What is our purpose as a church?

1. Why are we here and what is our purpose?

What is the chief and highest end of man?

The answer the Westminster Catechism gives is this: The chief end of man is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever.

I love that. We exist to bring glory to God. We were created in the image of God to reflect God’s glory back to him. Like the moon reflects the light of the sun, and lights up the night sky, so we should reflect the glory of God.

Ro 11:36 For everything comes from him and exists by his power and is intended for his glory. All glory to him forever! Amen.

1 Co 10:31 So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

But I love that that is not all. It’s not just glorify God but also to enjoy him forever. We were created to enjoy Him. We were created for his pleasure to find our fulfilment and joy in him. He completes us.

Ps 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. 26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. 27 Those who desert him will perish, for you destroy those who abandon you. 28 But as for me, how good it is to be near God! I have made the Sovereign LORD my shelter, and I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.

Jn 17:21–23 I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. 22 “I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. 23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.

The chief and highest end of man – our main goal, our reason for being, the highest meaning in our lives is this: to glorify God and to fully enjoy God forever. Have you ever thought about that?

Do you enjoy God? Do you want to glorify Him? Is your life his? Or is it drudgery and oh must I go to church and must I read the Bible, and must I obey. Yes, to follow Christ is to die to self. Sometimes it is very painful. It is a fight, a battle to the death. But it is also a great joy! We should love coming here. We should love being with each other. I do! I love seeing all of you. I love that God has created a church where there was no church. I love that God has brought each one of you into our lives and into each others lives. I love that here we hear the living Word of God. We get to come and hear the Bible read, and we try to stick to what the Bible says, so we’re not going away empty and shallow and confused – maybe challenged and offended, but spiritually full. Sustained. What joy!

As many of you know, I never had any desire to be a pastor. I am an introvert by nature. It drains me to be with people. I have limited capacity. When I was growing up people always asked me “are you going to be a preacher like your Dad?” and my answer was always “no, I’m going to be an accountant”. Well, I am an accountant, but I also ended up planting a church, and here we are 5 years later. Has it been hard? Oh yes! A lot of work? Oh yes! But has it been a joy? Oh YES! It’s having a front row seat into what God is doing amongst his people. It is thrilling to see the Spirit at work in you guys and to be a fellow-worker with God.

It’s like when my kids were small and baked a cake with Debby. Now Debby was clearly the brains behind everything – she baked a cake. They made a mess and dropped the flour and got butter in their hair. But when the cake was made they could say “I made the cake Dad!”. Because they did. They were part of it.

That’s what serving in the church is like. And all you who serve, from making tea to preaching to teaching in children’s church to giving to babysitting kids to fixing things to driving people around – however we have served we are part of the church of God and can say I did this with my Father. It’s thrilling.

Serving is hard, yes, but it is so rewarding. And you grow. If you don’t know where you can help come and ask me. We’d be happy to put you to work!

It is a joy to work with the Lord. But not just in the church. In every area of life. 1 Co 10:31 whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

I had to work as an auditor for a number of years. And I hated that job. It is mind-numbingly boring! Do you know what got me through? Remembering that I worked for the Lord. That he had given me that job, and whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

I worked for the glory of God. I represented Him. He was with me. So I drew strength from that, gritted my teeth, and got on with the job, and did the best I could do. I wasn’t exactly happy, but I could do it in His strength. His joy flowed through me, and enabled me to glorify him.

Ps 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. 26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.

It has been said that we all have a God-shaped hole inside of us. We need him.

Do you desire him, thirst for him? Remember the famous Psalm 42 As the deer pants for the water, so my soul longs after you?

Is that where you are? If not, ask the Lord to rekindle that flame for him.
Here’s two reasons why (thanks to John Piper)

Dt 28:47–48 If you do not serve the LORD your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received, 48 you will serve your enemies whom the LORD will send against you. Joy is a requirement!

Devil has had more theologically accurate thoughts about God. Satan’s problem is not doctrine, but delight. We need to rejoice in God! Not just think right thoughts.

Our purpose, the reason we are here, is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever. That is what we will spend all eternity doing. In glorifying him and in JOY! And we can experience that now.

2. What is church and what is its purpose?

To glorify God and to enjoy him – together! The church, this church, exists for the glory of God. It is not first a self-help club. It is not primarily about us. It is about Him. We gather together to behold our God. We gather together to glorify him. To listen to him. To pray to him. To love and adore him.

I want us to grasp how amazing church is, this gathering of people saved by the grace of God, so let’s turn to Ephesians 1 in our Bibles. I’m going to read from v3-10, and then 21-23.

Eph 1:3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. 6 So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. 7 He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. 8 He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding. 9 God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. 10 And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth…21 Now he is far above any ruler or authority or power or leader or anything else—not only in this world but also in the world to come. 22 God has put all things under the authority of Christ and has made him head over all things for the benefit of the church. 23 And the church is his body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself.

We are saved by the grace of God, chosen before the foundation of the world – there is nothing in us that is better than those not saved. We cannot say “I am superior, therefore God chose me”. No, it is by grace! And all things are placed under the authority of Christ, the head of the church. Jesus is in control. This is his church. We are his body to his praise and glory.

But what is church? Church is the gathering of God’s people around God’s word. Church without the Bible is not church. Church where they ignore God’s word is not a church. Because Jesus is the head, we are not free to ignore what he says. If we do, we are no longer a church.

The first “church” we meet in the Bible is in Exodus as the Israelites are gathered around Mount Sinai/Horeb after being rescued from Egypt, and God brings his word to them, the Law. That’s when they become the people of God.
God’s people gathered around God’s word. That’s a church. Sunday meetings and Bible study are churching. When we’re socialising we are the church but we’re not churching.

So that’s what is the church: God’s people gathered around God’s word.

But who is the church? That is every believer. Everyone chosen by God by his grace is part of the universal church. There is only one church in heaven. And on earth each local congregation is (or should be) an expression of that heavenly gathering.
Who is the church? We who belong to Christ are the church. The church is all of God’s people. We are local outpost.

What is the church for? It is a means of God’s grace to us. It is one of the ways he blesses us. It is where we are spiritually fed, it is our armoury for our spiritual battle, it is our refuge, safe place, our family, the body of Christ, and our primary tool for evangelism.

The church’s primary role is to teach. Jesus command to Peter was to “feed my sheep”. The church is where we get spiritually fed. Feed my sheep. That’s why church without bible is not church.

Jn 21:15 After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him. 16 Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said. 17 A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.

Three times. This is important. And so when we come to Acts what do we see the apostles doing? Teaching and preaching. In fact, when there’s an argument about food distribution – something which could have split the church – they say Ac 6:2–4 So the Twelve called a meeting of all the believers. They said, “We apostles should spend our time teaching the word of God, not running a food program. 3 And so, brothers, select seven men who are well respected and are full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will give them this responsibility. 4 Then we apostles can spend our time in prayer and teaching the word.”

So if you are upset that you haven’t been visited or got some one-on-one time with the leaders of this church – it’s because our FIRST responsibility before God is to make sure we teach his word. And that takes a lot of time. Because we’re sinners. And it’s a big battle to make sure that what we teach is God’s thoughts, not our own. Please pray for us!

This is where we get spiritual food. There is good supplements to be found on the internet and with guest preachers – but that’s not God’s design for our primary spiritual nourishment. He has given the church local pastors and teachers, men who you know and who know you who can bring the Word of God to bear at the right time and in the right way, in a prophetic way, in the power of the Spirit. Don’t despise the local church. This is where we are nourished in the faith.

This is also the armoury. This is where we get saddled up for the week to come. Strap on that armour and get ready for the fight! Fight sin and put it to death, resist the devil, love the Lord and enjoy him. This is where we gather to be encouraged and to get what we need for the week to come.

Church is also a refuge, a safe place. If any of you don’t feel safe here please come and talk to me. And if I’m the problem, talk to Debby or to Christian. They’ll put me right. This should be a safe place for you, where you are loved. Because this is your family: in Christ we are brothers and sisters. And if you’re not a believer this place is also safe for you.

Because church is also for non-Christians. This is where we share the gospel. As someone put it “The church is the only institution which exists for the benefits of its non-members.” There’s great truth in that. We could just be whisked off to heaven when we believe. But we remain here to give glory to God and part of that is to share the gospel. We’re still here for the sake of the lost. So if you’re not a Christian yet – welcome. You are a welcome guest in our home. Stay as long as you need, and by God’s grace maybe you’ll be adopted into his family!

Ro 10:13 For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.” 14 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? 15 And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”… 17 So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.

Church is God’s people gathered to hear God’s word. We exist to give glory to God and to enjoy him. And so we first listen to him. The church’s primary role, it’s first task, is to teach the Word, the Bible. And so spiritually fed and armoured up, out we go!

3. Our vision for 2018

Ps 127:1 Unless the LORD builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted.

I have no big grand plan for this year. I have no idea what this year will bring. There is so much that can happen. So many people just on the outside on the brink. So many of you ready to take the next step on your journey of faith, to grow. I pray that will happen this year., I pray we would grow in maturity. I pray that many would be saved. I hope and pray that we can grow to 100, 200 people. Wouldn’t that be amazing. But I can’t do anything. We might shrink to 20! I have no power. So our vision for this year is to declare our dependence on God. To say Almighty God we are here at you good pleasure to glorify you. Whatever you want us to do we will do. You are good, good father and we entrust ourselves to you. People lie. People abuse. People hurt. People are evil. We are evil. But you do what is good. And you start to change our lying lips to truth, our self-centred hearts to loving hearts, our desire to hurt others to compassion and help. We want to shine like stars in the heavens for you.

In the Bible study on Wednesday we read these words: Phil 2:12 Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.

So that’s the first part of the vision for 2018: that we may mature in Christ, working out our salvation for God is working in us. Work out what God has worked in.

And the second part is this:

Matt 9:36-38 When he saw the crowds, [Jesus] had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. 38 So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

Lord, let us be those workers. Let us see more this year turn from death to life. Lord Jesus you warned us strongly of the horrors of hell, the pain of an eternity separated from you. We wish that on no-one, but many are choosing that for themselves, imagining that being without you is freedom. It is not freedom but slavery. Slavery to sin, to the terrible pain of ego always thinking about yourself, to being unable to bow the knee to God. Forever cut off from the source of life and light. It is an horrific thing! We plead with you now for those we know.

Let’s pray for those we know who are heading for Hell.

Lord, in your mercy hear our prayers.

We are very small and weak. But look at our leadership structure. Who’s church is this? Not yours. Not mine. But Jesus’. He is the head of this church. And each of us has a job to do. This church will not grow if I run around doing everything. This church will grow, people will be saved if YOU work out your salvation, growing in maturity, and sharing the gospel You’ll be amazed at what God will do through little old unimportant you. We are small and weak, but our God is a great big God.

As someone said to me recently “I thought I was a big and tough, but now I realise I’m just a scared rabbit”. We may be scared rabbits – but we stand with a lion. Jesus, the Lion of Judah. Do not be afraid. Serve the lord with joy. Glorify him in all you do, in utter dependence on Him. That is our vision for 2018. May the Lord in his mercy hear our prayer. Amen.

Revelation 10-11 The indestructible church.

Revelation 10

Link to MP3

Revelation! The revelation given to John by Jesus, the Christ, the Risen One, the King of all Kings and Lord of all lords.

Revelation begins with a massive vision of Jesus as he is now. A mighty and frightening being, with 14 eyes like flames of fire. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was like the sun in all its brilliance.

And he is the one who stands amongst us, his church. He holds us – as stars – in his hands! He is with us!

And he says to us: stand firm. Don’t give up.

Because it’s easy to lose heart isn’t it. When we look around we seem so unimpressive. So small. Just in Notodden there are 12000 people who need to hear the gospel. How can we make a difference?

Especially when so many think we’re fools. It’s laughable to believe such fairytales! You may as well believe in Winnie the Pooh!

And not to mention the peer pressure. Maybe from non Christian family members. C’mon, can’t you just leave it? They sigh and roll their eyes when you speak about Jesus. And so the temptation is just to keep quiet.
Or maybe pressure at work. Because you won’t lie. Or you are against abortion. Or you think it’s right to pay tax, or not rip off your customers. And certainly don’t think about talking about Jesus, or praying at work, or having a Bible study.

And then there’s the social anxiety that comes from being a Biblical Christian. Because we’re not exactly socially acceptable, are we? Especially when people paint us as homophobes and women-haters and old-fashioned weirdos. It’s not easy when “everyone” is against us, is it?

And that’s why we need today’s message! Because we need to see things as they truly are – with spiritual eyes, not just physical.

Because the truth is that each of us here are a miracle. If you are a Christian today you are proof of God’s power at work in the world. You are part of his indestructible church.

Two points today

1. The gospel is heard throughout the world

2. The church spreads the gospel in suffering and even martyrdom – and it’s indestructible.

1. The gospel is heard throughout the world

Re 10:10–11 So I took the small scroll from the hand of the angel, and I ate it! It was sweet in my mouth, but when I swallowed it, it turned sour in my stomach. 11 Then I was told, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings.”

John is given a scroll from the mighty angel. The scroll is a message, a message of prophecy for the world, a message that is both bitter and sweet. It is the apostolic message about Jesus. That we are sinners, but in Christ we can be forgiven. And the message comes from Jesus himself. He is the mighty angel of v1-3.

Re 10:1–3 Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, surrounded by a cloud, with a rainbow over his head. His face shone like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire. 2 And in his hand was a small scroll that had been opened. He stood with his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. 3 And he gave a great shout like the roar of a lion. And when he shouted, the seven thunders answered.

The Lion of Judah roars. The rainbow which was before God’s throne in 4:3 is over his head. The cloud surrounds him as it did when God appeared on Mount Sinai, in the desert, and on the mountain at Jesus’ transfiguration.

The Son of Man, the head of the church, is now called an “angel” which means, simply, messenger. He is the mighty messenger standing on the sea and on the land, and his voice echoes through the whole world.

If you think Jesus being called an angel is weird actually it’s nothing new. We meet Jesus in the Old Testament every time God appears in human form, when he is called the “Angel of the Lord”. We know this is God and not just an angel because when he meets Abraham and Sarah, Jacob, Moses, Gideon, Manoah, and Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego – they worship him and talk to him as God – something no angel would have allowed.

So the Angel of the Lord stands astride the world and his message goes out. It goes out through the apostle John. It goes out through countless men and women sharing their faith in word and deed. And we stand together with them, witnesses to the great gospel of Jesus. Witnesses to the great mystery of God now revealed.

Re 10:6–7 He (the angel) said, “There will be no more delay. 7 When the seventh angel blows his trumpet, God’s mysterious plan will be fulfilled. It will happen just as he announced it to his servants the prophets.”

It will be fulfilled. God’s people will be brought in. And the mystery is this: that sinners like us can be God’s people. That a holy God can accept sinners.

It is a bittersweet message. Bitter because we need to acknowledge our sin. Bitter because we deserve God’s judgement. Bitter because judgement day is coming.

We’ve already seen that bitterness in chapter 6, the seven seals, and chapter 9’s seven trumpet blasts. The bitter realisation that because of our sin, our rebellion against God, we live in a world at war with God. We are under his judgement. Jesus, the Lamb who was worthy to open the scroll of history has opened those seven seals which unleash judgement. Because we are sinners we are judged to experience the consequences of our sin. But not all the consequences – in fact Jesus allows only a third of what we should experience. Only enough to let us see sin as sin. Enough so that we understand that rebellion against God is foolish, and that we will seek him and repent. And the sweet taste of the gospel message is that all who come to him are accepted. Accepted because of what Jesus has done.

For it’s true isn’t it that the better our life gets the LESS we think about God. We don’t need him anymore. We don’t thank him. We pat ourselves on the back. Just look at Norway. The easier life has got, the more we get rid of God. We alright on our own, thanks for nothing God. While the rates of child abuse, divorce, mental illness, drug abuse, and so on just climb exponentially. We’re doing a great job!
Is God, in his mercy, allowing us to experience the consequences of our sin?

I was asked last week in England if Breivik’s brutal murder of 77 people changed Norwegians at all. That a true blue Norwegian, born and bred in the world’s best country, could do something so horrific! That should have woken us up. That should have made us take notice.
But I had to answer “No. We just ignored him. We said ‘this isn’t us, we’re not like that’ and spend millions building a huge prison so we could stick him there and ignore him”. No repentance. As 9:20 warns “But the[Norwegians] refused to repent of their evil deeds and turn to God. They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk! 21 And they did not repent of their murders or their witchcraft or their sexual immorality or their thefts.

Judgement is coming. The seven thunders are set to rumble. Their words of judgement are as yet sealed up, but there will be a day, judgement day, when we will hear them thunder.

But now! Oh sweet message! We hear the roar of the Lion of Judah, Jesus the Messenger, who roars throughout the world, through his apostles, through us, to say judgement is not yet, the thunders are sealed up, there is still time to repent! And all who repent are accepted because this is God’s mystery now revealed: that Christ died for sinners.

The whole way through the Old Testament there’s been this tension, this question: how can a holy God forgive sinners? And the solution was the Messiah – but how he would solve this, we didn’t know. Until we saw Jesus on the cross, the sinless one swapping places with sinners like us. Through his blood our sins – past, present and future – are wiped away. Through his death we have been given life. Amen!

Remember brothers that we are saved by Christ’s work. So if you’re feeling down because of your sin – oh I failed again, I’m so weak. Yes, yes you are. That’s why Jesus came! Mercy. The bitterness is accepting that we are sinners. The sweet truth is that our sin has been dealt with in Christ. Your sin is already paid for, dealt with. So get up and serve him!

And that is the hope for our land. That’s why we can pray for Norway. Because there is a throne in heaven and it is not empty. God is on the throne, and Jesus is loudly making his appeal through us to all the world. There is grace to be found in him. So let’s share the gospel, his powerful gospel. Because we are God’s plan to reach the world. The unstoppable church!

The gospel is heard throughout the world.

2. The church spreads the gospel in suffering and even martyrdom – and it’s indestructible.

(Martyrdom is dying for your faith.)

11:4–5 These two prophets are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of all the earth. 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire flashes from their mouths and consumes their enemies. This is how anyone who tries to harm them must die.

This chapter pulls together a bunch of Old Testament pictures into one. There’s dates from Daniel and promises from Zechariah and loads of other stuff but all making this point: the church is indestructible. Even when it is killed!

So let’s get into the detail. First, the witnesses are described as an olive tree and a lampstand. The olive tree was the symbol of Israel: God’s chosen people. The lampstand we know from chapter 1 is the church. So the witnesses are both the olive tree and the lampstand – oh, it’s God’s chosen people, the church! Jews and Gentiles together witnessing to the world about Jesus. Amen!

The picture of a witnessing olive tree and lampstand comes from Zecharaiah 4 where the lampstand has SEVEN lights and SEVEN lips on each light – ok, the message is really going to get out there! And the prophecy in Zechariah 4 is about rebuilding the Temple. Israel is smashed, weak, puny, the stragglers returning from exile. How are they going to rebuild the Temple, that meeting place between man and God? Zech 4:6 says “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of hosts”.

And it was. The Temple was raised in 400BC. But that was only a partial fulfilment of the prophecy. It wasn’t until Pentecost when the church was born that this prophecy suddenly made sense. And just as Israel was weak but the Temple was rebuilt, we are weak but Jesus builds his church! We may be weak, but he is strong, and his word is powerful. Just look at verse 6: They have power to shut the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. And they have the power to turn the rivers and oceans into blood, and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.

Now this doesn’t feel like us does it? Flame and fire and blood and all this. What’s going on? Well, if you know your Bible you may recognise these miracles. Fire from heaven and shutting the sky is Elijah versus king Ahab, Jezebel, and the prophets of Baal. And rivers of blood and plagues – that’s Moses leading the people out of Egypt. And this is the point: the same power behind Moses and Elijah is with us when we share the gospel, when we preach, when we teach the Bible. Firepower is here!

So why am I so afraid?

He is with us.

But there’s more. Because it’s not just the power of the witness of the church, but the content of the message. Elijah is the great prophets, Moses the great lawgiver. “The law and the prophets” is shorthand for the Bible, God’s word. That’s why we preach, teach, study, love, his word. That’s why we must know this book, because it isn’t just a book but the Living Word of the Living God. You want to see miracles – real, long-term, life-changing miracles? Share the gospel. Teach the Bible. It’s awesome!

However, sometimes people don’t want to hear this message. Ever noticed that?

11:7 When they complete their testimony, the beast that comes up out of the bottomless pit will declare war against them, and he will conquer them and kill them.
10 All the people who belong to this world will gloat over them and give presents to each other to celebrate the death of the two prophets who had tormented them.

People are celebrate and rejoice when the church dies because it is a nuisance! Because we always remind people that there is one on the throne - and it’s not them!

People celebrate because people are evil. We humans are evil. You and I are evil. And I mean evil not as bad or naughty but as a Biblical term. It means "rebels against God." We are not God-centred, but at our core self-centred.

Most people we know, especially here in Norway, do not appear to be evil. They are polite and kind and well behaved. But the truth is that it's just a facade, and behind that there is a heart that wants God to be gone.

And when the church dies either by becoming a social institution just repeating what society says - like here in Norway - or by killing people and wiping out the church - like in many other countries - when the church dies, people cheer. Finally. Finally, we can pretend to be God.

But the celebrations are short-lived. Just “three and a half days”. A symbolic number, half of 7, the "perfect" number, and only days. A short and very limited time.

11:11–12 But after three and a half days, God breathed life into them, and they stood up! Terror struck all who were staring at them. 12 Then a loud voice from heaven called to the two prophets, “Come up here!” And they rose to heaven in a cloud as their enemies watched.

According to v2 and 3 the church’s witness will go out for 42 months times 30 days, which is 1260 days, or three and a half years). In other words for a long, but not unlimited time. There will come a day – judgement day – when the church stops its witness, when the ground will shake, and the judge will return. We live now in those 3.5 years. The End Times.

For those of you who are interested, these numbers match the prophet Daniel, chapter 12: 6, which states that the power of the holy people will be broken after a time, times and half a time (3.5) - and then the end will come comes.

These end times are characterized by judgment and grace, by gospel progress and resistance, the struggle between the world and the church. The church is killed and the world rejoices. But the celebration is short-lived! For the church comes back to life. Again, and again we have seen this through history, even until today.

In Iran, they eradicated the church. It was forbidden to be Christian. The church was dead in Iran. But what do we see today? Millions of Christians in Iran!

In North Korea you will be killed if you are a Christian. But the church lives there.

In China, Christianity was banned. But the church is growing so rapidly in China that they are sending missionaries to Europe!

Time after time, the world has tried to kill Jesus' church but to no avail. It will stand because God's Spirit is in us! We are weak, yes, but he is strong!

My brothers, this is what we need to take away from today: we do not lose heart, no matter the cost. We are not be fooled by the "weakness" of the gospel and the church. We see with spiritual eyes. Satan shakes in fear when we gather together like this. The spiritual powers tremble when we read the Bible and pray. We change the world when we live out what we believe - when we really love each other like family. What a witness that is. And I want to thank you because I hear and see you doing that. I experience it myself. People know this church because of the way we love each other with the love of Christ. We care about each other. Let's keep on doing it!

And when we share the gospel. Wow! It's a power punch.

So with that in mind I want to leave us with a challenge as I read the last verses in Chapter 11: Think about who you know who needs to hear the message of Jesus, this amazing message of hope. Who can you ask "do you want to come to church" - or even better - because that is often a big and difficult step: ask them if you can read the Bible with them. And if we now think "Woah, I can’t do that, I'm too weak" - yes! We are. But with Jesus in us we can do it.

Time is running out. Two woes have sounded. The third approaches. We live in the end times. How close to the end are we? Perhaps today we will hear the seventh trumpet.

Re 11:14–19 The second terror is past, but look, the third terror is coming quickly. 15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven: “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.” 16 The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell with their faces to the ground and worshiped him. 17 And they said, “We give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who always was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign. 18 The nations were filled with wrath, but now the time of your wrath has come. It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants the prophets, as well as your holy people, and all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest. It is time to destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth.” 19 Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared, and there was an earthquake and a terrible hailstorm.

Mark 4:1-34 The King’s Speech

Mark 4:1-34

MP3 file

What words of Jesus do you find most difficult to hear? To accept?

In chapter 3 we saw many different responses to Jesus. We saw growing hostility towards Jesus, particularly from the religious leaders; we saw the crowds fawning over him – but not for his teaching, but rather what he could do for them – healing, power, the spectacular, the show. Not for his words of life, forgiveness of sins - their greatest need. But for the sideshow of healing, something that he can do with the slightest of effort.
We saw that even his family, his mother Mary and his brothers and sister, thought that he was crazy.
But there were those who did the will of God. Look at 3:34 – where are they? Around Jesus, listening as he taught.

The first response we must have is to listen. Listen to Jesus.
After all, he made us with one mouth and two ears. That should tell us something (that means you should do twice as much listening as speaking)!

1. We must listen to Jesus.

4:1 Once again Jesus began teaching by the lakeshore... 2 He taught them by telling many stories in the form of parables…: 3 “Listen!...9 “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

10 Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant.

20 And the seed that fell on good soil represents those who hear and accept God’s word and produce a harvest of thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times as much as had been planted!”

There is only one response, only one that bears fruit: those who hear the word and accept it. Those are the ones gathered around Jesus, asking him “what does it mean?”. Tell us more.

23 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” 24 Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear. The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more. 25 To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”

And they are given more – even the very secret of the kingdom of God.

The others, however for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.

Around Jesus there are two groups. Those who listen and accept – and those who do not. And Jesus uses his parables, his stories, to judge these two groups.

10 Later, when Jesus was alone with the twelve disciples and with the others who were gathered around, they asked him what the parables meant. 11 He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables for everything I say to outsiders, 12 so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they see what I do, they will learn nothing. When they hear what I say, they will not understand. Otherwise, they will turn to me and be forgiven.’”

Jesus speaks in parables in order to divide the crowd. He speaks plainly to those who come and ask, like his disciples – and so to the little understanding they have, more understanding is given. But to those who do not come to Jesus, even what they heard is quickly forgotten. It is taken away.

Jesus says this is a fulfilment of Scripture, and quotes from Isaiah 6 (Isaiah’s call to prophesy).
In chapters 1-5 of Isaiah we’re introduced to rebellious Israel, refusing to listen to and obey the words of God Almighty. Israel’s leaders are particularly singled out for their hard-heartedness and rebellion. Sound familiar? Same situation as here in Mark. They will not repent because their hearts are so hard. Isaiah’s job then was to confirm them in their unbelief, and show them the horrific truth: they now have become enemies of God Most High, and he will fight against them. A short while later, Jerusalem lay in ruins, and the people of the land were carried off into exile.

The warning is clear! Be careful, then how you listen to the parables! For you too may be left with old Israel, the old religious order, ending up as the enemies of God. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

Don’t close your heart to the truth. For Satan (v15) comes at once and takes it away.

Then there’s the fickle crowd, the ones who v16, hear the message and immediately receive it with joy. 17 But since they don’t have deep roots, they don’t last long. They fall away as soon as they have problems or are persecuted for believing God’s word.
As soon as Jesus challenges their selfish lives, their set religious order, calls them to a new path, when it becomes costly to follow him – they fall away, abandon him, disown him, reject him, shout “crucify him”. How many do you know who have been in this group? There are people in this church who have fallen away because Jesus challenged them too much. Obedience was just too hard. A family has just left our church because of this. They were rocky soil. No root. Following Jesus was just too hard. Maybe that was you? I know it was me before Jesus had mercy on me. Maybe it’s you now? If it is repent, pray to God and ask for his mercy to change your heart.

And there are others, those who are among thorns. Those who hear God’s word, 19 but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life, the lure of wealth, and the desire for other things, so no fruit is produced. Is that you, maybe? All too often, I’m afraid that could be me. Choked by idolatry, love for things other than God. Holding on to money and things, my reputation, my standing in the community.

Which soil are you? Hard path? Rootless? Choked by worries and idolatry? Or fruitful?

Now I could say that: you must be the fruitful soil. You must work hard at obeying Jesus. Pray more. Read the Bible more. Evangelise people. Do more for Jesus.
And although there is some truth in that – it is wrong. It is not the gospel. We are not the fruitful soil and we can never make ourselves the fruitful soil. To carry the parable a little further: only the farmer can plough the land, remove the rocks, fertilise and water and do whatever other magic things farmers do to soil to make it fruitful.

Because, if we’re honest, we often feel like the path, or the rocky ground, falling away when things become hard, or choked by worry, loving other things more than Jesus.

Thankfully, Jesus did not come for the spiritually superior, the “good people” the ones who’ve got it all together spiritually and can do it in their own strength thank you very much. He came for the sick – the sinners.

To strive, to achieve, to do it in your own strength – that leads to blaspheming the Holy Spirit: setting up another path to salvation other than Jesus. Only Jesus, the King of Gods Kingdom can save you. Nothing and no-one else can, not even you.

I want you to leave here tonight not filled with a to-do list, filled with guilt – but filled with praise and glory and wonder for the Lord Jesus. Listen to him, for his words are truth. Trust him – for he is at work, in you (if you belong to him) transforming you and changing you. For the kingdom of God is at work, unseen, in you, and in the world.
His word is the seed

2. His word is the seed, revealing Jesus, the powerful secret of the Kingdom.

14The sower sows the word.

A seed has massive power. In it, it has the potential to become a huge tree. It can transform the environment around it and channel it to become something new, something living. God’s word is the same.

But what is the word about? What is the content of the word. We see it there in v11. Those who listen will understand what?
11 You are permitted to understand the secret of the Kingdom of God.

What is that? Some secret spiritual thing. Some magical incantation like the prayer of Jabez. Some magic thing that makes us able to fly through the Christian life and laugh at all the other ordinary Christians. No, the secret is Jesus! He is the revelation of God’s secret plan, now revealed. That God himself would come to fulfil his promises. God in person. Here, with us. Amazing. It’s so familiar, we lose sight of how breathtaking it is. Praise God!

We’ve seen that right from the first verse of Mark’s gospel. The Good News about JESUS. It’s all about Him.

And the word that is sown, the word that we also sow as we share the Good News, is the word about Jesus – the good news of the arrival of the King of God’s Kingdom. He is the Lord who will come suddenly to his Temple (amongst his people). He is the Lord whose way was prepared by John the Baptist. He is the One who can be baptised in our place to fulfil the righteous requirements of the law – he who knew no sin identifying with sinners in order to save us. He is the one who can heal at a word, who has power over evil spirits (we who are in Him need never fear curses or spells or ancestors or black magic or voodoo – He has power over all that). He is the stronger man who can bind up the “strong man” (Satan). He has power over the Law – his touch cleanses the leper and makes him lawfully clean – Jesus is not made unclean. He is the Lord of the Sabbath, the Lord over the Law. He is the doctor of souls who came for sinners, and will never turn aside those who ask him for help. He is the one who can stand and proclaim “your sins are forgiven”.

He is the one who stands upon the mountainside, and calls forth 12 men, the new 12 tribes of Israel reforged. The new people of God, who would fulfil the promise to Abraham of all nations and peoples being blessed. The Church.

Who is he? He is not a prophet or an angel, or he would take great pains to ensure that the focus of attention was NOT on him, but God. For what prophet or angel would even allow the charge of blasphemy?

And Mark says: he is the King himself standing before us: the ultimate revelation of the mystery of God. God is shown to us in Jesus. What was hidden is now revealed in Jesus. 21 Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed? Of course not! A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine. 22 For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light. 23 Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”

The secret of the kingdom, the Word of God, is Jesus.

And he is at work.

3. The kingdom of God is at work, with unseen power

26 Jesus also said, “The Kingdom of God is like a farmer who scatters seed on the ground. 27 Night and day, while he’s asleep or awake, the seed sprouts and grows, but he does not understand how it happens. 28 The earth produces the crops on its own. First a leaf blade pushes through, then the heads of wheat are formed, and finally the grain ripens. 29 And as soon as the grain is ready, the farmer comes and harvests it with a sickle, for the harvest time has come.”

If you listen to Jesus (that is, accept the seed) – well, that seed takes root in you, and grows and grows. We don’t know how, but “on its own” (that is, not by human effort), just like the earth produces crops, so the kingdom will grow in you until harvest-time. The Spirit is at work.

Christian, the Lord is at work in you. The seed is growing. As Philippians 1:6 says I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (that is, Christ’s return). Do not fear, but trust. Listen to him, and obey him in joy for he is at work in you, and you will see a harvest of righteousness, you will see fruitfulness if you trust in him. Only he can change a heart, so trust in him to change yours.

But this parable is more than just the individual believer. And to help us understand it, let’s look at the next parable as well.

30 Jesus said, “How can I describe the Kingdom of God? What story should I use to illustrate it? 31 It is like a mustard seed planted in the ground. It is the smallest of all seeds, 32 but it becomes the largest of all garden plants; it grows long branches, and birds can make nests in its shade.

Indeed, the church is growing, surging forth in the world. We do not know how, but 2000 years on, the church spans the whole world. From a tiny seed in a backwater Roman jurisdiction where an unknown Jewish trouble-maker was crucified, spread this enormous empire spanning centuries and engulfing the whole world – every people-group, nation, and tongue. The church is the greatest empire the world has ever seen. It is the fulfilment of the prophecy of Ezekiel 17, which Jesus is referring to, where the prophet Ezekiel sees God take a branch from the top of a tall cedar (Jesus, descendant of King David, the top of Israel the tall cedar) and plants it on the top of Israel’s mountain (Jesus crucified in Jerusalem on Mount Zion) 23 It will become a majestic cedar, sending forth its branches and producing seed. Birds of every sort (that is all the nations) will nest in it, finding shelter in the shade of its branches… I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will do what I said!”

The church, with invisible power going out among all the nations. The kingdom of God will flourish because our Sovereign Lord wills it. He has spoken and he will do it.

And that is helpful for us here in little Rock International Church. For our job is to be faithful to the words of Jesus. To listen to him. To help others listen to him. And then to trust in the unseen power to bring growth. We will not grow either in numbers, or in maturity, in any other way. We must listen to Jesus. No strategies or methods or techniques or music or styles of preaching or hours of prayer or technologies or whatever else. No, we humble ourselves before the word of Jesus, and trust in his unstoppable power.

For he is the King of God’s Kingdom. He is the secret revealed. He is the word spoken.

And we respond by listening, and in joy receiving the word, trusting the Lord of the harvest to do his work, and produce a harvest within us.