Romans 12 (David Cook)

Here is the "highlights" of Romans 1-11 plus the reading of chapter 12: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-DSjRONViGJVUJfLWFiQXZGNG8/view?usp=sharing

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The following are the notes I (Daniel) took during the sermon when we heard it live at Word Alive in Wales (Easter 2015):

Romans 12 The renewed mind – David Cook

Muller – 10 000 children in orphanages! Muller “In my judgement it is the first daily duty, supreme and ultimate importance secret of effectual service; to see your souls happy/healthy in the Lord.”
Pray (Adam stopped talking to God, Christ brings us back)

Paul begins with the gospel...
What do I tell myself every day
No-one speaks more to me than I do. Lloyd Jones: Christians need to talk to themselves .
JI Packer pg 256:
“I am a child of God,
God is my Father,
Heaven is my home,
every day is closer to heaven,
my Saviour is my brother.
Every Christian is my brother too

Rom 5:1 the first great therefore of Romans: THEREFORE
Rom 8:1 Therefore now no condemnation
Rom 12:1 THEREFORE I urge you brothers in view of God’s mercy.

Ch 1-11 in view of Gods MERCIES (plural) – in view of salvation, propitiation, Holy Spirit leading you in battle against sin nature.
Illustration: Archbishop’s sermon on Rom 12 on Royal coronation. We were urged to be servants like the Queen. But both failed – both missed part 1 “in view of God’s mercies” in view of what God’s done for us in Christ.
Illustration: Why Johnny can’t preach – ethical exhortation must never be divorced from redemptive context. God never does that. He never tells us what to do without telling us WHY.

We are in perfect relationship with God. Therefore you are to offer YOU as a LIVING sacrifice. The death of Jesus makes the whole OT sacrificial system redundant – but it has been replaced with living sacrifice
What should I say to me about me: “God has been merciful to me. Therefore I live for him”
cf 2 Cor 5:14-15 Chris died for all so that all who live might no longer live for themselves but for him
One outworking 1 Cor 6:18 Flee because YOU do not belong to YOU, you belong to the one who redeemed you. I am not mine, I am his.
You, because of God’s mercies, no longer belong to you.
This is your spiritual worship – the word spiritual is actually the word LOGICAL. It is a reasonable response. CT Studd “If Jesus Christ be God and died for then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for him” (as he left all his estates in England to go as missionary)

Resist the world. Do not allow the world to press you into its mould. Adam: Serve self, divorce God. But rather (passive) be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Does not say by the renewing of your emotions. Reasonable rational.

Be driven by right thinking. Early Christians were the best thinkers of their age. Betrand Russell “most people would rather die than think – and most people do”

As Christian we properly use our minds

Turn over Rom 1:25 – the great exchange. We swapped out God v28 depraved mind.
How could people do such things? Because they worship the created instead of the Creator
Rom 12 we no longer have that counterfeit mind. We have a new mind. 12:2 is able to test and approve God’s will. Not given over to perversion. To a mind that now reverences God.
Transformation springs from a new mind that can make proper moral choices.

1min read Bible 4min think about what you read! Cultivate your mind.
Be lead by your brain, not by other parts of your anatomy!!!

Now Paul takes this up and applies it
v3-8 how you think about yourself
Not more highly than you ought. You don’t have all the gifts you need, but you do have some of them. Be interdependent. You are not the body, but you are part of the body. You need to serve.

How am I going to respond to my fellow believers?v9 -11
How does enthusiasm and vigour come? By service!
How do we get joy? Through prayer (not singing and dancing)
Practice hospitality with great vigour. (Here’s some money – no! feed them, give them shelter in our home)

How do I relate to the world that hates me v15
BLESS them, and do not curse them.
rejoice with my enemy who’s rejoicing

no class structure in the church

don’t take revenge but leave room for God’s wrath. So contrary to the world.

The unheeded Christ. Michael Hart – ranks Jesus no. 3 because he does not see Christians loving their enemies or teaching their children to love their enemies.

None of these come naturally to me!
You do not belong to you.

In view of God’s mercies do you see yourself as a living sacrifice.
We cannot claim the benefit of redemption without the implications
Illustration: sold house. Paid for – please give keys. No I want to keep the keys. Impossible to be paid and keep the keys. Impossible to be redeemed but keep living the same way!

I have been redeemed
I no longer live for me
I live for my saviour
I serve my brothers
I respond to an antagonistic world generously.

Romans 5:1-8:39 (David Cook)

Click the link for this morning's sermon. 
http://youtu.be/RqBnc638HIk
Please do not share this link.

The following are the notes I (Daniel) took during the sermon when we heard it live at Word Alive in Wales (Easter 2015):

Word Alive 2015 – Romans 8 The way to maturity – David Cook  

From ch1-5 question: Well, does it matter then how I live? Paul anticipates this in chapter 6. Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means!

Problem of legalism or licence!

5:18-19 many will be made righteous. Are you Adam’s person or are you Christ’s person.

Illustrated in chapter 6. Baptism. Don’t you realise you were baptised into Christ. Died to Adam (old way) raised to new life.
Slave market – don’t you realise you are dead to the old master impurity
7:1ff marriage – can remarry only after death of spouse. Death has intervened – you have died to law, now free to marry Christ and new life.

6:11 in the same way make this calculation about yourselves: dead to sin, alive to Christ. (First command in Romans).

Legalism – dead to law. But licence is not an option! Dead to sin, alive to Christ.

Rom 8. Very hard to be a Christian in Nero’s Rome.

Will my past come back to condemn me
Am I a servant (can be fired) or a son (never taken away)?
What about my suffering?  Is this consistent with being Christ’s man, and can these things wreck God’s plans?

We need to keep hearing about justification again and again. Paul reminds us again and again: for the justified there is NO CONDEMNATION, Wooo!
Justification Past (what Christ has done), present (what Holy Spirit is doing)and future (what God will do)

V1-4 The past
No condemnation for those in Christ Jesus – because the rule of the Spirit which we have received has set us free from death. The law could not save us because we cannot do them. So v3 God sends his son as a pure man to be a sin offering – to meet the demands of the law in those how now live
The death of the innocent for the undeserving.
People will do anything (pilgrimage, even eat dirt) except trust in Jesus.
We cannot bear the guilt of our sin. Our past is gone. Guilt has been dealt with.

V5 the present
Q: am I well enough resourced in this conflict between the sin nature and the spirit.
The FIGHT. War of our natures. V9 you are NOT controlled by the sin nature. If you belong to Christ you have the Spirit.
I looked for the dove, and it flew away. I looked to the cross, and the dove flew into my heart (Spurgeon)
V10 body is dead because of sin, but alive to Christ cf 2 Cor 4:16 We do not lose heart.
The resurrection of the Lord Jesus is the assurance of our resurrection.
Born. Born again / regenerated. Die. Soul will be with Christ in paradise.” You do not have a soul. You are a soul – you have a body” CS Lewis. We will come with Christ in the clouds. Resurrection body will clothe my soul.
My body is depreciating because of the wages of sin. But we will be raised to life again.
Only talks 2 times about leading of spirit. Led by the Spirit to v13 put to death misdeeds of the body. You do not have an obligation to the sinful nature. We do not need to obey the sinful nature!
When was the last time you gave in to your sinful nature and said “oh that was good, I’m so glad I did that!”
Trust the Holy Spirit to lead you in the path of moral transformation
V15 You did not receive a spirit of fear, but a sprit which cries Abba father. “I dared to call him Father”.
V22 all creation is groaning
v23 we also groan as we wait for new creation
V26 Spirit helps us in our weakness but He intercedes for us.
Sometimes life is so hard I simply don’t know what to pray. Spirit intercedes for us. The paraclete, said Jesus – He is who is alongside.

The future
V28-29 Things are not out of control. In all things God is at work. It does not say that all things work out for the best (as a universal principle) – it says God is at WORK. Even when we are being slaughtered, in hardship.
2 qualifiers.
1.Only those loved by God. (human perspective)
Those called by God (divine perspective)
2. what is the good? To be conformed to the likeness of Christ. Christ is in family of God by right. We are there by grace. God’s agenda is to make us like our elder brother, Christ.
Cf Gal 4 (They’re being tempted to go back to law) v19 In labour pains (life of pastor!) until Christ formed in you.


V28
threefold office
prophet – word of God
priest – prays to God 
king – rules
We have a kingly ministry. We reign over every event of life. Nothing ultimately harmful for me because it will make me like Christ. How comforting for you, how annoying for your enemies!
Illustration: Donald bought a new car. Loved it (finally saved up) Son Andrew crashed it. “Are you all right, son” Changed his life.

Paul concludes with three questions v31-21
is there an enemy who can prevail? No
is there an effective accuser on judgement day? No because the judge is on your side
is there anything that can frustrate the purposes of God? No! We are more than conquerors because nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ.
Are you Christ’s? Or Adams? Remember who you belong to?

JI Packer 5things (pg 257):
I am a child of God
Heaven is my home
Every day is one day nearer heaven
My saviour is my brother
All Christians are therefore my brothers and sisters

Romans 3:21-5:2 (David Cook)

Click the link for this morning's sermon. 
https://youtu.be/Mu4WvMdcCTo?t=38s
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The following are the notes I (Daniel) took during the sermon when we heard it live a Word Alive in Wales (Easter 2015):

1.2 Romans 3:21-4:8 A unique prescription - David Cook

On safari in Kruger. Car starting unreliably. Bull elephant – “mostly” bluffing! Charged. Authentic elephant experience. Before that I had only seen elephants in zoos and circus – changed up. Counterfeit elephants.

There are counterfeit Christianities. Majority of Christians have counterfeit Christianity. Eg Some Catholic friends believe in Jesus but also based on their own good works. No assurance. There is nothing momentous about the counterfeit gospel.

Jesus PLUS my works is not momentous Because I can never be sure.

If we die without repenting do we go to heaven? So many people believe that we won’t go to heaven because of unconfessed sin.

When we start in the Christian life we know we stand only on the basis of Christ’s work. But we start substituting OUR works for Christ’s work!

Saved through faith in Jesus but live by faith in works – counterfeit gospel.

Rom 1:17 from faith from first to last – v20 law makes us conscious of sin, v21 but NOW has been made known (Paul didn’t discover it or make it up – revealed) . This righteousness from God comes through the faithful work of Christ and all who believe in that work.

v23 none of us have any righteousness.

Justified: legal court. The word is the noun form of the word righteousness. Means we are in the right with God. Legal declaration. Freely by grace, not what we deserve.(Mercy is withholding punishment due – grace is rewarding the opposite behaviour. Illustration: break in – please don’t report me to police. I won’t (mercy). Do you have 10 dollars? I was willing to show mercy (not report to police) but not grace (reward bad behaviour)

But how can God justify guilty unrighteous people and still be righteous?
v24 redemption by Christ Jesus. business world, pawn broker (cash converters) – buy back. Something in bondage, has to be bought back. Something that was yours, now buying it back. What is the price? The perfect life of Jesus given in death (“his blood”). This is what God’s justice requires: a perfect life. This is what God’s love provides: a perfect life.
This demonstrates God’s justice.

Luther: I reached heaven when I saw that God’s righteousness was not God’s requirement but God’s provision!

I don’t become perfect any more than Jesus becomes actually sinful. But it is a transaction that takes place.

3^rd word: v25 sacrifice of atonement / propitiation. From Temple. Jesus sacrificial death absorbs the just anger of God.
It is an idea common to pagan religions – sacrificing maidens to monster. But God’s is not angry for no reason, and he provides his own sacrifice!

MOMENTOUS!

Triangle 

                  God

/ justified            ^\propitiation

US   <-redemptive      Jesus

Arrows point away from Jesus – his work is central. Points to us we are the recipients.
Jesus propitiates God’s wrath ; redeems us.
On the basis of Jesus’ work God the Father then justifies us.

No conditional element in our relationship with God.  (human relationships are always  conditional)

Rom 10:1. God provides righteousness but they reject God’s righteousness. And that is Israel’s problem.  It’s all about provision not requirement.

ALL RELIGION IS A HEARTLESS BULLY. Religion must be stamped out and stopped. Religion is cruel and unremitting. Making constant demands that are impossible to meet.  The only things that can stop this bully is Jesus Christ.

Our righteousness is filth. It is done. It is not do.
 

God is not sulking with you!

V27-28 3 implications.
no boasting. Because no law, and even faith is a gift!
open to all. Everyone on same basis of Christ
nullify law? No because Jesus fulfils the law.

“Do I hear somebody say that I dreamt this up? Is this new?” NO! Look at Abraham.  This is the experience of Abraham. God spoke, Abraham believed. It was by faith, not by his works.

But isn’t this only for the circumcised? No! You cannot say that circumcision (obeying law) was what made him right with God. Only by faith.

Isn’t this the law? No because it hadn’t come yet!

14 years before circumcision, 430 years before law. No law, no rite – only faith.

God’s Spirit does not send me back to the law – He takes me to Jesus.

V23 Abraham’s story is for us. It is by faith.

Have you collapsed all your weight onto Jesus. Or have you collapsed most onto him and a bit on us? Because that’s a counterfeit gospel.

Why should I let you into heaven? Because I... NO! Because Jesus.

Have I been good enough? NO! But Jesus has.

5:1 Since we have been justified by faith:
1. God is at peace with us
2. Access (landing platform) into life of grace (unconditional because opposite to what we deserve)
3. Rejoice at glory of God

Do you not find gospel good news / momentous news because you are relying on yourself – a counterfeit gospel.  

 

Romans 1:1-3:20 (David Cook)

Click the link for this morning's sermon. 
https://youtu.be/JSqdgw6-Szo
Please do not share this link.

The following are the notes I (Daniel) took during the sermon when we heard it live a Word Alive in Wales (Easter 2015):

1.    Romans – David Cook

Romans 1:18-32 A Perfect Diagnosis

1991 audience with Pope. Rome needs Romans. So does London, Cardiff, Notodden

Romans starts 1:1 – not about people, a man. Paul (little) a slave (one without rights) set apart (fenced off) for? The GOSPEL of God. What’s it about? His SON: humanity – son of David (king); divine son – designated divine by resurrection from dead.
Gospel of God – it belongs to God. I’m not free to edit it – to add to it or to subtract it.

Three “I am” statements of Paul: v14 I am under obligation. V15 I am eager to share the gospel. V16 I am not ashamed.

Not good news – momentous news. Not necessarily good – but momentous (earth shattering).

It is God’s momentous news addressed at the central issue: v17 a righteousness of God.
About the righteous God who makes unrighteous righteous in a righteous way – through faith.

Romans answers the question: how can I be right with God.

Do you want good news or bad news first? Rom 1-3 is the bad news.

The unrighteous cannot help themselves. If you want to understand good news, momentous news – you must understand our predicament.
“This is a mongrel world – who has any answers”. Secularist has no answers because too optimistic about our nature.

Where are we most weak in our theological understanding? Our understanding of ourselves. Calvin: all true wisdom consists of two parts knowledge of God and knowledge of ourselves, and these two are linked.
Krustchev: Communisms failure is its failure to produce the selfless man.

What do you believe about humanity?
What does God say?

V18. It begins “the wrath of God”. If God is righteous, then he must be angry! He hates unrighteousness and has a just desire to punish it.
It is the idea of a crushing weight.

It is being revealed, being revealed now. Why? Godlessness – no respect for God. Wickedness – no respect for people.
People should have v21 glorified him.
But v23 they exchanged the glory of God revealed in created order for “the lie” idols. They worshipped the created instead of creator.
This is our human condition. So how does God react? God gave them over. It is the passive judgement of God. Teenager comes and says “I never want to see you again” parents say “you will never see us again”.
Degrading our bodies, sexual confusion. Inflamed with lust for one another. Extreme lust which will never be satisfied.
But that’s not all. A depraved mind – a counterfeit mind. Arrogant boastful etc. (v28-31). They do not only do evil, but encourage others do
Is your battle same sex attraction? Good to be here. But note that God’s diagnosis is not just limited to v26! Also v24 (uncleanness) v26 (sexual confusion) v28 (unclean mind).
Problem is theological.

Wants us to see that we are under the wrath of God.

This is reality. Christianity has a realistic assessment of the human condition.

3 attitudes.
1.    But we’d never do these awful things (2:1 self-righteousness)
You’re passing judgement – but you do the same things? Do you think you’ll escape God’s judgement? Your failure is judgementalism – your heart is hard and you despise his kindness.
Here is the problem v6 God will give to each person individually and each person universally.
and v11 God does not play favourites. Self-righteous man your problem is God.

2.    But we never knew! (ignorant)
V12 God will not judge you by what you did not have.
But their conscience judges them!
On judgement day the unreached ignorant national will be sometimes defended by following his conscience – other times condemned

3.    The Jew – we did know!
V20 you promote the law – but do you obey it?? Do you actually promote the law. No! God’s name is blasphemed  v24.

If you trust in your performance you will be condemned before God

But Jew says “circumcision” – you can’t take that away from me.
But Paul destroys that – circumcision only as useful as internal circumcision.

If you’re a law-breaker you cannot trust in a rite. “praise is not from man but God”
No haven in religion, good deeds, or ignorance.

Paul then addresses the question the Jews would come with:

What advantage then in being a Jew?
Many – but names only one: revelation of God.

Does their faithlessness then nullify God’s faithfulness? Can God come with wrath to his people and still be faithful. Yes! Because he made promises and warnings.

V5 But how can God judge me if my sin is bringing God’s glory into focus? That is just an evil argument!!

Every human excuse and every claim that I am exempt from God’s wrath DEMOLISHED.

Sums up now with quotes from OT.: Psalms, Ecclesiastes, Isaiah.
V10-12. No-one x8. Am I condemned? YES! Am I exempt? No. NO ONE is.
V13 -22 Conduct. 6 parts of our body (if you want to know what’s in our hearts listen to our words)
throats unclean (open graves, like touching a corpse). Do not trust them. Mouths overflow with cursing.
feet swift to shed blood, ruin and misery mark their ways. Statistics – abortion statistics.

There is no fear of God before their eyes. Psalm 36. V2- he flatters himself that his sin will not be found out. He even imagines himself to not be a sinner. V4 plans evil. Why? Because no fear of God.
3:19-20 straight edge of the law shows us how crooked we are.

Law is just a thermometer which tells me I’ve got a problem. Taking my temperature daily does not solve the problem. I need medicine!!

I need rescue from outside myself. It is a dangerous and wicked fantasy to think that we are right with God (God is our mate). No! We are in trouble with the righteous God because we are unrighteous.

Religion is simply cruel – it is a bully - because it calls on us to do the impossible and then threatens us with the horrific if we don’t do the impossible. Read ALL the religious books – because they tell us what to do. In Romans we are not given one command until Rom 6:11! And then that’s something to do with our mind!
Christianity is marked by the triumphant indicative: what God has done, not what we must do.

Psalm 2. Kiss the Son, and you will be free.

Psalm 2

I remember a friend of mine at University utterly broken one Monday morning. I asked him what was wrong. Turns out he’d cheated on his girlfriend that weekend, and she’d left him. He was devastated. But what stuck with me was the words he said about cheating on her with this other girl. He said “I couldn’t stop myself. I didn’t want to cheat on her. But I couldn’t stop myself.”

He was free. Free to do whatever he wanted. And he found that that freedom was not freedom but slavery. He could not stop himself. Slave to his own desires.

Psalm 2. Kiss the Son, and you will be free.

(By the way, this is called Kiss the Son because the literal translation for v12 “Submit to God’s royal son” is “Kiss the Son”. I think it’s such a brilliant picture as we submit to this great King, we come forward to kiss him.)

We want to be free! Free from what? Free from God.

1. We want to be free from God

Ps 2:1–12 (NLT) Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? 2 The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the LORD and against his anointed one. 3 “Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.”

The word “nations” is goy-yem – the foreign nations or Gentiles. That is those who are not God’s people. What the New Testament often calls “the world”. Why is the world so angry? Why is the world preparing for battle, making plans, plotting against the Lord and his anointed one?

The answer is in v3: they want to be free. 3 “Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.”

That is our default position as human beings. We do not want to serve God. We want to be God. Little girls dream of being the princess, not the scullery maid. Little boys dream of being the king, or the knight, not the wine-taster or the stable hand!

Our desire for self-glory rather than God-glory goes right back to our rebellion in the garden of Eden, when Eve, looking at the fruit that God said “do not eat”… reached out her hand, and took it, and ate. I will decide for myself what is right and wrong. I will decide whether God should be obeyed or not. I will be God in my life. I’m not going to listen to anyone else. Why should I? I want to be free!

Sounds good, doesn’t it? Freedom. You know what the problem with defining freedom like that is? Freedom without constraints, freedom to do what you want, when you want. The problem is that that definition of freedom has no place for love. Because love is a constraint. You love someone and you are no longer “free”. You are bound to them. Their ups and downs are your ups and downs. Their joys your joys. Their sorrows your sorrows. There is something very wrong with our idea of freedom when it has at its core not love, but selfishness.

See, we were made for love, for relationship. We were made to love God, and love each other. But we decided to love not him, but love ourselves. But “loving yourself” is not love – that’s selfishness. Unsurprisingly, basing our new world order on selfishness instead of love for God broke our relationships with each other. So much hate in this world. So much anger and heartache and war and cruelty. Even in our own lives we lash out at the ones we love. Say hurtful things. We let them down. We break promises. We lie. And they do the same to us. We’re in a mess.

And it is all because we decided to be “free”. What a lie that freedom has turned out to be! Being free to do whatever you want makes us slaves to ourselves – our every whim, every change of emotion. We can choose anything – but we’re terrified we’ll choose the wrong thing – so we do nothing. How many of us use our freedom to sit and do nothing, paralysed by indecision. How many just drift through life, never achieving anything. Freedom?

Remember my friend at University. He said “I couldn’t stop myself. I didn’t want to cheat on her. But I couldn’t stop myself.” His freedom turned out to be slavery: A slave to himself, his own desires.

We, the angry nations, want to be free from God. We want to be king in our lives – but

2. The Lord has already set his chosen King on the throne

Did you notice the first word in the Psalm? “Why?” Why do we fight against the Lord? Why do we lay plans? Why do we rebel? Because it is pointless. Why do they waste their time with futile plans? (Futile means useless, wasted, unsuccessful).

So, we shake our fists in rebellion against God. Like an army, we link arms and march together. Millions upon millions of us, throughout time and history – we march. We march against this God. “Who does he think he is”, shouts our Captain, our Commander, Lucifer, also known as Satan. “God wants to chain you down – will you be chained?” He shouts. “No”, comes our answering cry.

What is the response in heaven? Is there worry? Is there shuffling of plans, reorganisation of defences? Does the Lord send out a negotiator, to bargain with us? Come up with some power-sharing agreement?
No.
There is mocking laughter.

4 But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury. 6 For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.”

As the Lord looks on our terrible rebellion, he is not concerned. We are like a puff of wind, a speck of dust. It reminds me of one of my favourite verses which is from Revelation 20:8 [Satan] will go out to deceive the nations—called Gog and Magog—in every corner of the earth. He will gather them together for battle—a mighty army, as numberless as sand along the seashore. 9 And I saw them as they went up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded God’s people and the beloved city. What’s going to happen? You expect some sort of epic battle like in the Lord of the Rings, swords and heroism and desperate charges and big speeches.
But the next sentence is so brilliantly unexpected: But fire from heaven came down on the attacking armies and consumed them. That’s it. Done. The rebellion is over. Evil’s time is up.

Evil is no threat to God. It is his patience that delays the final judgement – that we have a chance to “Kiss the Son” before the hammer falls.

You can imagine the scene in heaven’s throne room. An angelic messenger running in – “Lord, they’ve surrounded us – a vast army.” And the Lord just bursts out laughing “Have they really. Oh dear.” And he walks out to see our might – and again laughs “Look at that. Is that the best you can do? Maybe I’ll give you a little puff from my nostril?” And at that the army is blown backwards.
Just do that now – blow through your nostrils. Not very powerful is it? But in Exodus 15:8 it is the “weak” breath from God’s nostrils that raises up the waters of the Red Sea and brings them crashing down again in judgement on the mighty army of Egypt. That’s what he can do with a little puff of breath from his nostrils!

Mighty does not begin to describe the power of God.

So it is unsurprising that he laughs at our rebellion. That he mocks our puny fists. We are no threat to him. We cannot bargain with him. We cannot demand to share power. We have nothing.

Actually, what I’ve just said about the army falling backwards in terror from the blast from his nostrils is not true – at least not here in Psalm 2. Because what is it that terrifies us? It is not a display of power. God does not get up there and flex his muscles. What terrifies us is what he says. It is there in v5 Then in anger he rebukes them, terrifying them with his fierce fury. 6 For the Lord declares, “I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain.”

What do we find terrifying? That the Lord has placed his chosen king on the throne. It is too late! I will never be King. I cannot be King. The Lord has already chosen the King and he is not me! That’s what terrifies us.

Isn’t that surprising? When I first read the Psalm I thought that God was displaying his power or something. Thunder and lightning – shock and awe – that kind of thing. I read v5 and 6 separately. But v6 starts with “for”: because. We are terrified because his King is already established, and we cannot win. We are forever rebels, terrorists instead of freedom fighters. Our cause is not just, we are not right. And now it is too late. The true King is upon the throne, and he is all powerful. Our rebellion is pointless.

The Lord has already set his chosen King on the throne. So let us listen to the words of God’s King.

3. The King speaks

7 The king proclaims the LORD’s decree: “The LORD said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father. 8 Only ask, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, the whole earth as your possession. 9 You will break them with an iron rod and smash them like clay pots.’ ”

Did you notice that the King speaks only what the Lord has said? He proclaims the Lord’s decree. He is King under God. That is what the king should be. The reflection of God on earth. The visible image of the invisible God. Now, as Christians we know that that King is Jesus. Indeed, we might even remember that Jesus said in John 14:24 “my words are not my own, but my Father’s who sent me.”

Jesus is God’s chosen King. But how did we get there? This Psalm wasn’t written for Jesus. The person writing it didn’t know. So why did he write it, how did he use it, and how did it come to so clearly be about Jesus? This is the work we need to do reading the Old Testament. We first need to understand it in its original context, then we need to ask the question “what difference does it make that Jesus has come”. And only then can we see how it applies to us. We’re on this side of the Cross, and so we have to take application from before the Cross through the Cross. Otherwise we’ll get into all sorts of trouble!

Well it seems based on the content of this Psalm that it was used in the coronation of Israel’s kings (when they were crowned king). And it’s all based on the promise God made to King David in 2 Sam 7. 2 Sam 7 is one of the great promises in the Old Testament, second only to the promise made to Abraham. In 2 Samuel 7 God promises David that from him will come a number of kings, leading up to the Great King of Israel who will rule the world forever and who will build the Temple of God, the meeting place between God and Man. So from David’s line would come God’s King who would bring man and God together.

So every time a new king appeared there was this hope that maybe this one would fulfil the promises of God. So they would sing Psalm 2. Maybe this one would subdue the nations and bring in a golden age of world-wide worship of God. But they also knew the track-record of the kings, and how often they sinned and ruined everything. So Psalm 2 was also a warning to them or a reminder to them of how they should rule as kings. That they have a decree from God to rule – but rule as He has said.

Jesus, we know, was descended from David. Jesus did only what his Father said. Jesus was the meeting place between God and man, the true Temple found in him, found in his own body: The God-man Jesus Christ. Jesus, too, was called the Son of God. 7 The LORD said to me, ‘You are my son. Today I have become your Father.’

Now if you remember back to our series on Exodus, you will remember the nation of Israel being called the son of God. Israel was God’s Son. So why is the King called the son? Because he came to represent the nation of Israel before God. In the King is the nation.

In the same way Jesus, the perfect King, is our perfect representative before God. And we who are in Christ are called sons of God.

We see this in Acts 4 in the prayer of the Christians: 24 O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them 25 you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, ‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? 26 The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the LORD and against his Messiah.’
note how they now see Psalm 2 as pointing to the Messiah. Not just an anointed one, not just the king, but the promised Messiah – the rescuer of Israel. Why? Because they saw it being fulfilled. V27 continues 27 “In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. 28 But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will.

When they saw the risen Jesus they suddenly saw with eyes of faith this same Jesus on the cross, crown of thorns upon his head, the charge against him above his head “the king of the Jews” – and instead of his failure they understood this was his coronation. The Cross was Christ’s crowning achievement! There was the King, the true King of Israel, taking his place once for all. Here was the true Son of God, our representative. Here was the King who only spoke what the Father said. Here was the King who was given the whole earth as his possession, the nations as his inheritance.
And here we are, the nations, gathered together by the King.

Jesus says in John 8:36 If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. He offers true freedom. Freedom to be what you were born to be. Freedom to serve the true King. And as we give ourselves to him we find our true selves. We find power to love, truly love others. We find compassion and truth and goodness in us which we didn’t have before. And the ability to say no to sin, no to that which is wrong, no even to our own desires. We are free from the tyranny of ourselves, and can relax, given over to our Heavenly Father, who does only what is good for us. True freedom is found in Christ.

Jesus is God’s King, and he is established on the throne. He was crowned on the Cross, revealed to be the King in power with his resurrection. There is none like him, and there is no-one who can take his place. He is the King forever. I am not the King. You are not the King. And no-one else is the King. Only Jesus.

And soon he will return. And anyone who stands against him will fall. So, what do we do? Well, Psalm 2 applies this for us.

4. Kiss the Son

10 Now then, you kings, act wisely! Be warned, you rulers of the earth! 11 Serve the LORD with reverent fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Submit to God’s royal son (lit. “Kiss the Son”), or he will become angry, and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities— for his anger flares up in an instant. But what joy for all who take refuge in him!

Be wise, you “kings”. Rebellion is foolish and ultimately futile. Rebellion will lead to being smashed like broken pottery by Jesus’ iron rod. There is only one King, and you’re not him. So submit to the King. Come forward and kiss the Son.

There are only two ways to live. For yourself, in rebellion, for a “freedom” that is not free – and he will become angry, and you will be destroyed in the midst of all your activities. Or live for him, take refuge in Him, and experience eternal joy and true freedom. But what joy for all who take refuge in him!

As I was preparing this I was listening to the soundtrack for the Chronicles of Narnia. In the Narnia books Aslan, the Jesus figure, is a Lion. One of the characters asks “Is he a tame lion.” The answer? “A tame lion?! Oh no, he’s not a tame lion. But he is Good.”

We do not serve a tame God. He is not domesticated – a pet to have around when we want or to dismiss when we want. Like Aslan the lion he is powerful, dangerous, able to tear you apart. Like Aslan he is good. But not a tame goodness “oh that’s lovely” – but Goodness, hard as rock, unyielding as iron, which wickedness and rebellion will be smashed against. So make right with him before you are smashed to pieces on the Rock.

There is no time to waste v12 for his anger flares up in an instant. When should you repent? NOW! Because you don’t know when he will return or call you home. When will you die and stand before the King? Don’t be like a friend of mine and say “Oh, I believe, but I want to have my fun now. Have a few years being “free””. That was twenty years ago. And he’s still living in rebellion against God. He is not free. He is bound by sin, his own desire to be king. And he cannot break it. Don’t be like him. Get right with the Son now.

We, the angry nations want to be free from God. But he has already put his King on the throne. Our rebellion is futile. It will only end in destruction. So cry out to the King – forgive me! Kiss the Son, and take refuge in Him. And this powerful King will smile like the noonday sun in all his brightness and glory and say – the price has been paid, you have been set free! Come in and join me, and rejoice!

Psalm 1: True Happiness

Psalm 1

Imagine if I told you there was a way to be truly happy. A guaranteed method to experience joy!
Do you want to be happy? I do! To be happy, full of joy, at peace. What a delight.

Well, that’s what we find in today’s passage. The path of true happiness.

Happiness is difficult to get, isn’t it? Buying things promises happiness – fast cars, big houses, good food – but they rust or need painting or give us indigestion, and it’s gone. Experiences promise happiness but they disappoint or all too soon they are over.
People, people can make us happy! But they are sinners like us and will let us down - especially if you burden them with the impossible burden of making you happy all the time.

Happiness comes when you’re not looking for it. You cannot demand happiness, buy happiness, force happiness. Because happiness is a by-product of unselfishness. Only when we stop trying to make everything and everyone make us happy does happiness sneak up on us! Why? We were designed to be happy! That’s where our need comes from. It is God-given. The source of our happiness is not found within ourselves but in Him or reflections of Him. God is our happiness.

V1 Oh the joys of those… v2who delight in the law of God. The words translated “joy” in v1 is the word eh-sher, often translated Blessed or happy. In the Hebrew it literally says Blessed, Happy is the man... who delights in the law of God”.
And the “law” of God is Jewish shorthand for the holy Scriptures: the inspired (breathed-out) word of God.

So: you want to be happy? Delight yourself in the word of God!

Now this morning we’re looking at the first “Psalm”. The word Psalm is a Latin translation of the Hebrew “Tehillim” which means “song of praise”. Psalms are songs or poems, yes, but they are more than that: They are inspired songs. Inspired means words that God has breathed out and caused to be written. These are his written words.

Let’s turn to Psalm 1 and find out how we can be happy!

1. Happy is the man who turns away from sin and throws himself into God’s word

Ps 1:1 Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. 2 But they delight in the law of the LORD, meditating on it day and night.

The first key to happiness is… repentance. Repentance: turning away from what is wrong or evil, and turning towards what is good and right.

Do not listen to the wicked, to what they say is true and right. Because out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. So if they are against God, their words, their “wisdom” is anti-God. It pulls us away from God.

Just think about some of the things we’ve been learning recently, and what the world says in contrast.

The Lord says “Love of money is the root of all kinds of evil”. The world says “Love money, money brings happiness”. God says “be generous, all you have is a gift”, the world says “grab all you can, because you only live once. It’s yours! You deserve it!”
Jesus says “Do not worry about anything, what you will eat, what you will wear – seek first the kingdom”. But we seek first our own kingdom, and live in fear, trying to protect ourselves from everything that could go wrong.
Jesus says “Go into all the world and make disciples”. The world says “Faith is private and shouldn’t be shared.”
Jesus says “I am the Way the Truth and the Life. No-one comes to the Father except through me”. The world says “there is no such things as absolute truth – and that’s absolutely true!

The “advice of the wicked” is all around us. It infects us. It’s in the songs that we listen to on the radio, in our movies, books, articles, in our conversation. How do we not fall into just doing what the wicked advise?
By counter-acting it with delighting in the law of God. The more we fill our minds with His words, the less we will be fooled by the words of the world. When we know the genuine, the true, we will not be fooled by the counterfeit, the false.

And the battle starts here – in our minds. Rom 12:2 says Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may know what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.
We start by transforming our mind – absorbing the mind of God as we study his thoughts, and we will start to think more like God, seeing his will, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Let me read v1 of Psalm 1 again, Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.

Do you see the progression there: from following advice, to standing with sinners, to joining in with the mockers. We move from listening to wickedness, to approving of (standing with) wickedness, to joining in with those who mock God with their words or lives or actions.
And it’s easy. None of us ever sets out to sin, do we? But infected by worldly wisdom, we think “that sounds like a good idea – look at them, they look happy” and then in we go. Think about Eve and the forbidden fruit: listened to the advice of the serpent, stood listening to the serpent instead of leaving, and then joined in – mocking God’s word – “you know nothing, God!”.
And we’ve never stopped falling into the same trap as Eve!

If you’re battling with some sin, the first place you need to start is with your mind. You need to replace the lie with Truth. You need to delight in God’s word. If you’re struggling with greed – meditate on 1 Timothy 6. If you’re struggling with sexual temptation, meditate on 1 Corinthians 7. If you’re struggling with revenge or bitterness or anger or hate – read Galatians 5:19-22 The fruits of the Spirit. Or read the praise Psalms and simply rejoice in our great God. If your mind is filled with Him and His glory – everything else seems to fade away.

The first step in the path to happiness is repentance: turning away from what is evil, and turning towards what is good.

I’m sure many of you have heard the parable, supposedly told by an American Indian chief, of the two dogs inside? One dog represents the sinful or worldy man versus the other dog: the Spiritual man. And they are in a battle, a fight to the death. When asked which dog would win, the chief replies “The one I feed the most”.

There is much truth in that, and gets at what these two verses in psalm 1 are saying. Feed your soul, Christian! Delight in the words of God. Fill your mind with Him.

So what do we do with this?
Impossible application from this is to avoid going to church and Bible study, or to be lacklustre about it “I’ll go if I feel like it, I’ll go if nothing better comes up”. And to have an “oh, must I” attitude towards reading the Bible. The impossible application as a Christian is to resist God’s word. To be annoyed when he says no to things that you don’t want to do.

The true application is to delight in God and his word. To be filled with joy when we read his word or hear them preached. To love obeying him. To see that obedience brings life and joy and happiness. To really believe that happiness comes from obeying the Lord.

Possible application: Go to church and bible study. Make it number 1 priority – not the last thing you do, the first thing. No, it’s not a law. But it is weird if you don’t. Set aside time every day to read the Bible and pray. It’s not a law. But it is odd if the Bible says the man of God delights in the law of the Lord and we can’t even be bothered to read it.

So delight in the Lord and in his word. We know him. We love him. He loves us! That is deep joy.

Happy is the man who turns away from sin and throws himself into God’s word.

2. The man who delights in God’s word will prosper

3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. 4 But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.

So many of us struggle in our lives. Often we feel like our lives are empty, purposeless. What are we actually here for? Our lives feel like worthless chaff - the bits of the wheat plant that can’t be used and at harvest time is just flung up in the air for the wind to blow away.

Well, if that’s how you’re feeling, maybe it’s because you don’t actually know the Lord? It is warning to you to get right with him.
Or maybe we do know him but we’ve stopped delighting in his word? Maybe we’ve stopped meeting with his people or reading his word – or I know what it says but I’m disobeying?

How often in my life have I felt uneasy, angry, snapping at Debby or the kids (or both) – feeling unsettled, without purpose. And I think “what’s wrong with me?”. And then I think – when was the last time I spent some quality time alone with the Lord? Sat down and read His word, not for a Bible study or a sermon, but just sat down with Him and prayed and listened to Him.

Because when we delight in His Word we are rooted. Life flows through us. Like a tree planted by a riverbank we give out life. We draw from His deep reserves of joy and generosity and truth and love. And we start to reflect Him.

Isn’t that the type of people we want to be?

Christian and Johanna are a great example of this delighting in God’s word leading to being like a tree planted by streams of living water. As they have put the Lord first, as they have thrown themselves into ministry, as they have made Bible reading and church and Bible study their number one priority, wow, have they grown! And their joy in the Lord radiates out from them, and is shared with us, with their neighbours, with their job colleagues.

Do you want to be like them? Then delight in the word of the Lord.

They’re not the only ones. Many of you have experienced the same thing. Many of you have said that this church has changed your life. And that’s right, that’s what church should do. Because church should be a bunch of people together delighting in God’s word. His word is our life! As Jesus says “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matt 4:4 quoting Deut 8:3).

Psalm 119, the biggest Psalm in the Bible, has, in almost every one of its 176 verses, the “word of the Lord”. The word of God is central to the life of God’s people. Our God is a God who speaks!

Much of the weakness, lack of power and error in today’s Christianity can be traced back to one thing – our attitude towards the “law of God” the words spoken by God once for all time. We substitute with music and emotion, with “prophecies” new words from God which are more acceptable to us, or we fill it with ritual and religion – anything to avoid reading and thinking about what God has really said. Or we just go full liberal and completely ignore his word and overturn what he has said.

Much of the weakness, lack of power, and error in our own lives can be traced back to one thing: how we view God’s word written here for us in the Bible. Do I avoid his word in my life?

And just in case you’re thinking but it’s just a book, that God threw a book at us and said read that and then left… no, His Spirit is here with us, and when we open the Bible those words come alive with the Spirit’s power. As we obey blessings flow out. Is that not true? Have we not all experienced that? As we obey, take that scary first step – in that moment we are suddenly aware that the Spirit has been alongside us all the time, and as we obey we see!

Delight in the law of the Lord. Embrace his word. And be not like chaff - blown by the wind – but like a tree of life deeply rooted in Christ’s life-giving waters.

Happy is the man who turns away from sin and throws himself into God’s word. Happy is he, because the man who delights in God’s word will prosper, deeply rooted, full of joy.

3. Happy is the man who knows the Lord, for he will be saved

5 [The wicked] will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly. 6 For the LORD watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

It is a serious business with eternal consequences. The godly, the one who delights in the word of God, and avoids sinning - that person, they are the one who will not be condemned at the time of judgement.

So don’t fail. Because if you fail to delight in the Lord, if you fail to meditate on his word day and night. If you fail to bear fruit every season and prosper in all that you do – you will be condemned. Worthless, like chaff, scattered in the wind. Do not fail!
Sinners will have no place among the godly. The path of the wicked leads to destruction.

Let’s pray.

Almighty God, your word is clear. If we fail to delight in you, we will have no place among the godly. Please Lord, help us not to fail, because we don’t want to go to Hell. Amen

>>> Sit down

But wait a minute! I don’t delight in the Lord day and night. And, unless I’m very much mistaken, you don’t either. My life is not lived in complete obedience to Him. And neither is yours.
And if that’s the case, then we have a problem. Because according to Psalm 1, that means that we are the wicked!

This was a problem the Psalms understood. There is this tension throughout the book between knowing what the man of God should be and do – and the knowledge that, however hard we try we fall short.

A quick search of the book of Psalms for the word transgressions or sins gives 192 verses: and scanning through them we see how the Lord hates sin, the realisation that we sin, and therefore our only hope is confess our sin the Lord Ps32:5 I said “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord” – and amazingly the Lord has mercy. 32:5 continues And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone.

Now to the Psalmists this was a mystery. How could God forgive those who continually fall short? How could God bless those who did not delight in the law of the Lord? How could he treat us, the wicked, as if we were the righteous?

I want you now to read Psalm 1 again. This time recognizing that we are the wicked; who then is the righteous one? Who is the Psalmist describing?
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Who did only what his Father willed? Who brought life wherever he went? Who prospered even amongst his enemies? Whose path did the Lord watch over, even unto death and beyond? Who did not advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers, but instead delighted in the law of the Lord?
Jesus. Jesus is the great hero of Psalm 1. And he is the answer to the Psalmists puzzle: How can God treat the wicked as the righteous?

The answer is through the great swap on the Cross, where Jesus took your wickedness and my wickedness upon himself, and walked the path of destruction, the path to hell that we deserved. And he gave us his perfection, his righteousness, his delight in the Lord. Given to us.

So we can say we are blessed. Blessed beyond belief! We have a new heart, new desires. We suddenly WANT to listen to God’s word. We WANT to be with his people. We WANT to be with Him. Just like Jesus because His Spirit lives within us.

That’s why someone who claims to be a Christian but doesn’t delight in God’s word – disobeys it, ignores it, is never in church or studying the Bible, someone who says “I know, but…” whenever confronted with the word of God – are they really a Christian? If you’re in Christ you become like him.

So if you’ve found yourself drifting away from the Word, being ho-hum about church, trying to ignore God. Whatever the reason: repent, turn around, away from wickedness, and embrace the forgiveness that is your in Christ Jesus.

And then, in joy, remember that His Spirit is within you and start living like it: taking delight in the law of the Lord. Rejoicing that this God whom we serve, this holy, powerful, pure, perfect God – has made a way for people like us to know him and enjoy him forever.

Because the wicked may be destined for destruction, but the forgiven are destined for Eternal Joy. A celebration of our God, a festival of delights, never-ending. That’s what we were built for, and, in Christ, that is our future. Put your roots down into that glorious truth, and spread the joy of knowing God.

Happy is the man who repents, knowing that he is forgiven in Christ, and so delights in the word of the Lord. For he is in Christ, and His Holy Spirit is a river of life in him.

Let’s pray (properly this time!)

Lord, we repent of disregarding your word. Help us to delight in you. Help us to put church and Bible study first, help us to set aside time to be with you each day, help us to obey you in everything, however hard or costly that might be. Thank you for your forgiveness.
Thank you Jesus for not stumbling, for delighting in your Word, and for giving us your Spirit that we may too delight in your Word. Thank you for taking our wickedness, so that we who were chaff can now say “The Lord watches over my path”. Oh how we bless your Name!

1 Timothy 6:10-21 Flee from greed, pursue Christ

1 Timothy 6:10-21

This morning’s message will probably be painful for most of you to hear. It will be uncomfortable. Some of you will be angry with me after this message. How do I know this? Because that is how I have felt in preparing this message. I have felt angry as the Holy Spirit has poked me right in the idol of love of money.

Because it is a trap. And we have all fallen into it. We long to be rich! Our society shouts at us “Get all you can get all you can, spend all you can, spend all you can”. All too often we willingly put our foot into the trap. Smile as we hear the click, and keep on smiling as the trap slams shut. Love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. And we willingly give ourselves over to it.

Just one note of warning. You may be thinking “oh, here we go! Christians again going on about money”. You may have seen white suited frauds, false teachers, on so-called Christian TV talking about seed giving, and releasing blessing, and how we’re royalty and royal live in the best houses and so on. Really, where was Jesus born? Where did he live?

That kind of “Christianity” is called the prosperity gospel or the name it and claim it. It’s based on New Age ideas and is completely unChristian. It is a lie. A lie based on the love of money. Because those “preachers” promising material wealth – you’ll be rich. You’ll be successful – are focussing us on the idol of money instead of God. Our eyes are on the gifts instead of the Giver. What we need to do this morning is put our eyes on the Giver, not on the gifts.

We need to stand before God and say search my heart O God. Make me clean. Take away this idol.
God is shaping us to be a church to reach Notodden, to reach Norway. That will not come without a cost, without throwing off every selfish thing that weighs us down, greed and pride and selfishness – but oh what joy to see what he will do with us – a shining light of hope and gospel glory, a church that loves each other genuinely cares for each other and for the lost, generous with money and time. That’s what we are to become.

1. Love of money destroys us and takes our eyes off Christ.

9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. 11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.

The longing to be rich is such a trap. Why? What’s wrong with wanting to be rich? Being rich is cool!

However, why do we actually want to be rich? What lies beneath that desire? Is it not selfishness? Is it not the desire to have the world bend to your whim – to have the car you want, the house you want, to have people do things for you, say “Good evening Mr Garratt” and meet your needs? Is it not the desire to be God in your life? Not satisfied to be dependant, to be in need, to have to pray, to ask God. Oh, you may throw out a bit to the church, give a bit to gospel work – but probably a lot less than you imagined you would.
Surveys continually show that the richer people get, the less they give!

Do we really, truly, want to be rich so that we can share our wealth with others and glorify God? You know, the “I’d love to win the lotto so I could share it with everyone” fantasy.
The reality is that if that was really our desire we would already be doing it. We would already be sharing it! Why do we imagine that we would suddenly be more generous if we had more money? Does money have the power to change your heart?

Jesus says “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.” Luke 16:10

When faced with this trap of love of money, what should we do? God’s word, spoken through Paul to Timothy, and indeed to all of us who want to be a man of God, is clear: 11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things.

Run! Run from love of money. Oh, the “evil things” are more than just money – 1 Timothy has warned us about many more traps that we can fall into – but I think there’s a reason that Paul has placed love of money right next to the command to run from these things. It is the one we overlook so easily and therefore the most dangerous.

There’s an old Christian word which is mortification. Mortification – putting to death the sinful desires of the body. We need to put to death the love of money in our hearts.

John Wesley, a preacher and teacher in the 1700’s, and passionate about obeying Christ said this: "Money never stays with me, it would burn me if it did. I throw it out of my hands as soon as possible, lest it finds a way into my heart."

Jesus illustrates this in Luke 12:16–21 “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 He said to himself, ‘What should I do? I don’t have room for all my crops.’ 18 Then he said, ‘I know! I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones. Then I’ll have room enough to store all my wheat and other goods. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “My friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Eat, drink, and be merry!” ’ 20 “But God said to him, ‘You fool! You will die this very night. Then who will get everything you worked for?’ 21 “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God.”

Impossible application: flee to money. Keep all you’ve got. Gather it for yourselves, for your children, for your legacy. Save more and more against a rainy day. Build bigger barns!

But most of us live like that!

Application: Kill the love of money in our hearts. How? By having our eyes fixed on the Lored Jesus. By storing up treasures in heaven. We invest in eternity every time we give generously, every time we share our things, every time we borrow instead of buy so we have more to give away. Be generous and trust God.

Love of money destroys us and takes our eyes of Christ. Kill it before it kills you.

2. Love of money is idolatry

17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others. 19 By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.

What is the temptation for rich people like us? Oh you didn’t think you were rich? Sorry, but we are. We have access to clean water, sufficient food, decent clothes, live in a house or apartment, and have reliable transport which puts us all among the top 15% of the world’s wealthy. Plus we have free medical care, free unemployment insurance, free schooling, natural beauty to enjoy, and much more. We have no worry about starvation or being homeless. We are rich beyond many people’s wildest dreams. When was the last time we sat down and thanked God for that?! Thank you for the water in my tap. We don’t see it. It is a gift from the Lord. Thank you Father for your gracious provision.

So these verses about the rich – in fact, wherever you read in the Bible about words to the “rich” think that’s me, I need to listen.

So, what is the temptation for rich people like us?

V17 To be proud and to trust our money. You know, my friend McDonald has very little, yet without hesitation opened his ONE-BEDROOMED home to another family. That’s 5 of them PLUS now a lady and her two children. Me? I would have calculated that it isn’t possible to do that. I don’t have the money. And I would have prayed a prayer like that: Sorry Lord, I wish I had the money, or Please Lord bless me with lots of money and a big house so that I can take people in.
You know what? That prayer is just greed dressed up in Christian language. If I really wanted to bless, I would.

See, what does McDonald understand? No.1 that money is unreliable (v17). You cannot trust in money. The stock market could crash. The oil price could suddenly drop… Tinfos and Hydro could close down and you lose your job. Many here in Notodden know about the unreliability of money.
Instead, McDonald v17 trusts in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.

And so he is free to share all that he has with others. 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.
And his reward? He is 19 storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.

Why is he able to do this? Is he more godly than us? Well, maybe! But he is poor. And being poor is to be vulnerable, to be dependant. And so all of MCDonald’s life is lived in dependence on God. So when the call comes to be a little bit more dependent he says sure.
But for us who are rich it is easy for us to live as if we are indepedent from God. And that is to believe a lie. And if God is gracious to us, he will take away whatever we are trusting in, in order to show us that we have placed our trust in it – that it has become an idol.

How do you know if love of money, greed, has found a place in your heart? How do you know if it has become an idol? How do you know if you place your trust in money instead of God? Try giving it away.
And see how you react. If immediately you get angry – but what about this thing I was going to buy – or worried – but what if things go wrong and I need that money – then that shows you where your trust lies. You’re trusting in money, and not in God. And that is a very dangerous place to be. V10 And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

Do we really believe that? We don’t, do we. We think that money = happiness. And that God is a killjoy.
You know what – that’s the lie of the devil. Right back in Gen 3. Did God really say. This fruit is good… God just wants to keep from you what is good. He doesn’t want you to be happy.
And we all know how that turned out.

When Christian and I were in London now we saw a beautiful Aston Martin. Ooh, it was gorgeous. And the engine. What a sound- And the man inside was beaming with the sheer joy of owning such a fantastic car…. Actually, he wasn’t. He looked utterly miserable. And the lines on his face were all down. Amazingly wealthy, fantastically unhappy.

The Beatles were right when they said “I don't care too much for money, and money can't buy me love”

If money really could make us happy the richest people in the world would be the happiest. Movie stars would be full of joy – not falling into drink and drugs and often dying broken and alone.

And yet we still believe the lie.

Only Christ can fulfil us. Only in him do we find true contentment, deep joy. Aim at happiness, pursue fulfilment, and you will fall short; give yourself to Christ, pursue Him – and you will find happiness and true contentment thrown in.
is that not true? Those of you who have been Christians for a while, is that not your experience?

Love of money is idolatry. Love God. Use money for his glory

3. We love not money, but Christ, the eternal, immortal, almighty King

This is a duty and a privilege only for Christians. Oh, giving your money away will have some benefit – the Lord has designed the universe like that and so following his moral laws has moral benefits. You may feel better about yourself. You are doing good. And maybe your good deeds will come up before the Father and he will send someone to you to tell you the gospel. Because your good deeds will not save you. Instead, they will condemn you to hell because your actions are done to glorify and satisfy...YOU, and not God. You need the perfect obedience of Christ. You need him to swap places with you, take on your sin, your idolatry, your greed – and he will give you his righteousness, his perfect love for the Father, his generosity.

To give your money and receive the many blessings of provision, contentment, and joy, you must know the Lord. Because it is an action of throwing ourselves deep into the mercy of God, saying “Father I trust you”

This is joy and privilege for us. It is a blessing for us. God doesn’t need our money. It’s not like he’s waiting thinking oh I need more money, oh I wish they’d be generous come on please.

Like prayer, like evangelism, like obedience, giving money is not to bless God to bless ourselves. Because as we give, we declare “I trust God”. It is a deep act of faith. We tear down the idols of greed, self-trust or trust in the state – and say I trust you and you alone, Father.

11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight for the true faith.

Oh and it’s a fight. And if you’ve tried to be faithful in giving, you know it is a fight that has to be fought again and again. But fight the good fight. Battle yourself. And you can win. Why? Because you already have the new life, the eternal life
v12 continues: Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses.

We have been saved brothers and sisters. We are declared righteous in Christ, perfect, faultless. 13 And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, 14 that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.

Follow Christ. And here is our motivation. Because we do not live for now, or tomorrow – but the future. Chapter 1 of the Great Story that goes on forever. This is just the introduction.
15 For, At just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. 16 He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honour and power to him forever! Amen.

“The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us.” ― C.S. Lewis

So let’s put some flesh now on these bones. How do we do it? How do we stop this love of money grasping at our hearts?

“Do you not know that God entrusted you with that money (all above what buys necessities for your families) to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to help the stranger, the widow, the fatherless; and, indeed, as far as it will go, to relieve the wants of all mankind? How can you, how dare you, defraud the Lord, by applying it to any other purpose?” ― John Wesley

Four implications from today’s passage

1. Give thanks. Look around at all your blessings and give thanks. It is much easier to give when you realise how blessed you are. Both physical blessings and spiritual blessings.

2. Remind yourself of where you are going. Our home is not this world. We are made for the new creation. Let us store up treasures there. And the only way we can invest in the new creation is to give away our money here to gospel work. He is coming. Amen. Come Lord Jesus come.

3. Ok. I want to give. But how much should I give? Well, as much as possible. A good place to start is with the minimum under Jewish Law: Decide to give at least 10% of your income. 10%???? Yes, 10% of what God has given us, we give back to Him as a symbol that all we have comes from him.
I’ve recently been challenged by this, as I’ve always seen it as guideline, rather than minimum. But reading Malachi 3:8–10 “8 Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. 9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need.
For the Jewish believer, to refuse to pay the full tithe was robbing God. As believers in Christ, with so much more blessing and understanding, should we give less? Is it not robbing God to give less than 10%?

If 10% seems like a lot, then think to yourself: would I die if I had to live on 90% of my income?
It may be hard to start with 10%. Why not commit to giving 1% more every month? Build up to it.
How do we do this? Take 10% of whatever income you get in, and give it away immediately. Don’t wait until the end of the month – do it first. Set it aside, and bring it in.

And trust God. He will not abandon you.

4. Check your motivation for doing this. Thankfulness. Future focus. Obedience. But if you’re doing this in the hope that God will give you more… it will be wasted. The Lord loves you

Impossible application: Be stingy. Give nothing, or very little. Give less than 10%.

Application: Give. And as you give, rejoice. What a privilege to have money to give. How we have been blessed! Think carefully how much of God’s money we are going to keep for ourselves, and how much to give away.

All we NEED is found in v7 and 8.

7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. 8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.

Let us end by focussing not on money, but on the Greatest Treasure, the Desire of the Ages, the Beautiful One of Heaven by reading v15-16 together.
15 For, At just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. 16 He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honour and power to him forever! Amen.

May God’s grace be with us all.