Easter Sunday Worship
4 April 2010
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Romans 3
Romans 3:23. for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
-- one of the most popular series of books over the past several years has been the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" -- this story has just been made into a movie that is currently playing at theaters in town
-- the various stories in the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series are actually comprised of the journal entries of a middle-school student named Greg Heffley -- the first book opens as Greg is getting ready to start middle school -- even though his older brother tells him that he is not likely to survive past the first day, Greg is determined not only to survive, but to position himself at the top of the popularity food chain -- so, Greg does everything he can to try to keep from moving down the popularity ladder
-- however, out of everything that he does to improve his social standing, nothing is more important than avoiding the terrible Cheese Touch -- an invisible disease that infects a person when they touch this moldy piece of cheese that has been sitting on the basketball court since spring
-- the Cheese Touch is social suicide -- Greg records in his journal that a kid named Abe Hall got the Cheese touch in April, and nobody would even come near him for the rest of the year. -- once you have the Cheese Touch, your social life is over -- it is the closest thing to death for a middle school kid
-- there's only one way to get rid of the Cheese Touch -- you have to touch another kid and pass it on to them -- so, when someone catches the Cheese Touch, they go out and try to pass it on to someone else
-- there's only one way to prevent yourself from catching the Cheese Touch and that is to keep your fingers crossed when someone touches you -- for that reason, Greg taped his fingers together his first year in school so that they stayed crossed the whole time and he could never get infected
-- now, you might be sitting there this morning and thinking, "Why in the world is he talking about a kid's book on Easter morning?" -- but, when you think about it, the story of the Cheese Touch in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid is really what Easter is all about
-- not that we catch some invisible disease that causes us to get cooties and causes our social standing to fall -- no, it's something much more worse than that
-- we catch an invisible disease that causes us to die
-- let me explain -- if you remember the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, then you probably remember that they were living in Paradise on earth -- they had the best of everything -- everything was new -- everything was perfect -- everything was good -- they were living in the lap of luxury and were even personal friends with God Himself -- God would come down from heaven and walk with them in the garden in the cool of the day
-- Adam and Eve had it made -- God had given them everything and put them in charge of His garden -- and there was only one rule -- God told them that they could eat of the fruit of any of the trees in the garden except one -- they couldn't eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil
-- but that tree was just like that piece of moldy cheese on the basketball court in the Diary of a Wimpy Kid -- they just couldn't leave it alone -- they just had to go and look at it -- they could have gone anywhere else in the whole garden -- anywhere else in the whole world, for that matter, but on that one day -- that one fateful day -- the serpent met them at the tree -- and he spoke seductive words to Eve
-- he convinced her that it wouldn't be wrong to disobey God just this one time -- that it was actually a good thing, because if she ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil -- she would be just like God -- she would know things just like he did, and how could that be wrong?
-- so she ate of the fruit -- and her eyes were opened -- and she realized that she had disobeyed God -- she was now cursed -- not with the curse of the Cheese Touch -- but with something worse -- Eve had introduced sin into the world
-- and, just like in the Diary of the Wimpy Kid, Eve evidently thought she could get of her curse by passing it on to Adam -- so, she handed Adam the fruit and he ate it, too -- but instead of getting rid of the curse, all Eve did was infect Adam -- so that now both of them were infected and they would pass this curse on to all of their children and their descendants
-- because of Adam and Eve's sin, we are all born sinners -- you know, a lot of people think that we become sinners when we sin -- when we disobey God -- but that's not right
-- we are sinners because we are born that way -- we sin because we are sinners -- in other words, we sin and disobey God because of the curse that is hidden deep in our very being -- as that verse in Romans 3:23 said, "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God"
-- "All" have sinned -- each and every one of us -- there is not a person in this room -- there is not a person in this world -- who has not broken one of God's laws -- who has not disobeyed Him and who has not sinned against Him -- in fact, each of us could honestly rephrase verse 23 and say, "I have sinned and fall short of the glory of God"
-- so, what does that mean? -- what's the consequence of sinning against God? -- what's the consequence of disobeying Him? -- flip over to Romans 6:23 and let's look at the first part of that verse
Romans 6:23a. For the wages of sin is death
-- that's what God told Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden -- He said that if they were to disobey Him and eat of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, then they would surely die
-- now, we know that all people die -- everyone who ever lived has died -- I'm going to die -- you're going to die -- 150 years from now, every person in this room will have experienced physical death -- but that's not what God is talking about -- God was talking about spiritual death -- God was talking about paying a penalty for breaking His law
-- spiritual death is separation from God -- Isaiah 59:2 says, "your iniquities -- your sins -- have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you" -- Adam and Eve's sin caused them to be cast out of the Garden of Eden -- out of God's presence -- and into a world cursed through their actions -- our sin puts a barrier between us and God and casts us out of God's presence
-- to be separated from God is to be separated from life -- to be separated from God is to be separated from love -- it's like when you cut a flower and put it in a vase -- it looks good for a while, but in reality, it's dead because it has been cut off from it's life source -- that's what spiritual death is like
-- but there more consequences to our sin than just that -- we have to pay the consequences of our sins here on earth -- there is always a price to sin -- for one moment of indulgence, we amass a fortune in debt that has to be paid
-- all we have to do is look around us or to look at the news to see the consequences of sin in our lives -- broken homes -- hurting families -- addictions to alcohol and drugs -- crime -- violence -- despair -- the signs of sin are all around us -- and it exacts a heavy price on our bodies and soul
-- Josh McDowell put it this way -- "We are guilty of bringing the contamination of sin into God's perfect universe -- of causing pain and ruin to God's creation and to our selves -- God in His perfect justice and holiness cannot be called good if He allows sin to remain in His universe -- Therefore, we, the agents of sin, are under the doom of His perfect judgment -- We are guilty and we deserve condemnation -- That is our dilemma"
-- because we sinned, we broke God's law -- because we sinned, we face God's justice -- because we sin, we are guilty and deserve His punishment -- and that punishment is death and eternal separation from God
-- look back at verse 23 again
Romans 6:23. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
-- the Apostle Paul, writing under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, put a little three-letter word in that sentence that makes all the difference -- that word is "but"
-- yes, the wages of sin are death -- BUT -- the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus
-- you see, because we are all sinners, we have to pay the price -- we have to be punished -- and that punishment is death -- but God didn't want us to die -- He wanted us to live with Him forever
-- but because God is holy and just, He couldn't just wipe away our sins -- He couldn't just pretend they didn't happen -- because His law was broken, someone had to pay the price -- someone had to take the punishment -- and God knew that we couldn't do it because we were sinners
-- it would have to be someone else -- someone holy -- someone perfect -- someone who had never sinned who could take our punishment for us -- who would take our place and give up their own life so that we might live -- Paul tells us here that someone was Jesus
-- God sent His own Son to earth to take our place -- to die for us on the cross and to pay the penalty for our sins -- so that we might live forever with Him
-- let me share with you a little story that kind of explains what God did for us -- there was this teacher who was trying to make a point in his class about salvation and Jesus' death on the cross -- so he picked out this star athlete in the class -- a kid named Steve -- and asked him if he would mind helping with a little demonstration -- but, to do so, Steve would have to do pushups in front of the whole class
-- Steve said it wasn't a problem since he usually did 200 pushups every day -- the teacher said he needed him to do 300 in sets of 10 -- and Steve said he would try
-- the next day, Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room -- When class started, the teacher pulled out a big box of donuts -- Now these weren't the normal kinds of donuts -- these were like Krispy Kreme good -- the extra fancy BIG kind, with cream centers and extra frosting
-- the teacher went to the first girl in the first row and asked, "Cynthia, do you want a donut?" -- Cynthia said, "Yes." -- the teacher then turned to Steve and asked, "Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?" -- Steve said, "Sure," and jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten -- when Steve got done, the teacher put a donut on Cynthia's desk and then went to the next student in the row
-- "Joe, do you want a donut?" -- Joe said, "Yes." -- the teacher asked, "Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?" -- Steve did ten push-ups -- Joe got a donut.
-- And so it went, all the way down the first aisle, Steve did ten pushups for every person before they got their donut -- the teacher went to the second row, same thing -- until he came to Scott -- the teacher asked Scott, "do you want a donut?" -- Scott's reply was, "Well, can I do my own pushups for them?" -- the teacher said, "No, Steve has to do them." Then Scott said, "Well then, I don't want one" -- the teacher then turned to Steve and said, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?"
-- Steve started to do ten pushups, but Scott cried out, "HEY! I said I didn't want one!" -- the teacher said, "Look, this is my classroom, my class, my desks, and my donuts -- Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it." And when Steve got done with the ten pushups, the teacher put a donut on Scott's desk.
-- Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. -- He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down -- the teacher started down the third row, but now the students were beginning to get a little angry because the teacher was forcing Steve to do these pushups so that they could have a donut
-- more and more students began to say "No" to the teacher and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks -- Steve was also having to really put forth a lot of effort to get these pushups done for each donut -- There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face -- and his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.
-- the teacher went on to the next person and the next and the next -- Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time -- He was taking a lot more time to complete each set -- as the teacher was finishing up on the last row, Steve's arms really began to shake with each pushup as he struggled to lift himself against the force of gravity -- Sweat was dropping off of his face and, by this time, there was not a dry eye in the room.
-- The very last two girls in the room were cheerleaders and very popular -- the teacher went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, "Linda, do you want a doughnut?" -- Linda said, very sadly, "No thank you." -- the teacher asked Steve, "Steve, would you do ten pushups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?" -- Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow pushups for Linda.
-- Then the teacher turned to the last girl, Susan. -- "Susan, do you want a donut?" -- Susan, with tears flowing down her face, asked the teacher, "can I help him?" -- the teacher, with tears in his own eyes, said, "No, he has to do it alone. Steve, would you do ten pushups so Susan can have a donut?"
-- As Steve very slowly finished his last pushup, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 pushups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.
-- the teacher turned to the room and said. "And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, took our place on the cross and paid the penalty for our sins that we couldn't pay -- and when He had done everything that was required of Him -- when He had shed His blood and given His body to pay the price for the forgiveness of our sins, He collapsed on the cross and died -- And like some of those in this room, many of us refuse to accept His sacrifice and leave His gift of salvation on the cross just like all of the uneaten donuts on our desks"
-- so, how do we receive this gift of God? -- how do we receive this sacrifice of Jesus? -- flip over to Romans 10
9. That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
11. As the Scripture says, "Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame."
12. For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile--the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,
13. for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved."
-- that's all it takes -- confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved
-- the Bible calls this "justification" -- it's a fancy theological word that just means that the penalty has been paid -- that the punishment has been received and that justice has been served -- another way to think of justification is to think of it as being "just as if I never sinned" because Jesus died for me
-- when Jesus died on that cross at Calvary on that first Good Friday over 2000 years ago, He paid the price for all your sins -- 1 Peter 1:18-19 says that we were redeemed with the precious blood of Christ -- He shed His blood to cover all our sins -- I don't know if you've ever thought about that before or not, but here's what Jesus did for us on that Friday so long ago
-- when they placed that cruel crown of thorns on His head and the blood flowed down over His ears, He forgave you for everything that you had heard that you shouldn't have
-- when the blood flowed down His head and into His eyes, He forgave you for everything that you saw that you shouldn't have
-- when He was beaten and His mouth filled with blood, it took away all the things that you ever said but shouldn't have
-- when His hands and feet were nailed to that cross, His blood covered all the sins from all the things that you ever did with your hands and for all the wrong places that you ever went
-- When they pierced His side with their spear and His blood flowed out, it covered all the sins for the things we ever took inside our body
-- and when the blood flowed from His beaten and scourged back, it covered all the sins for every time we ever turned our back on Him and denied Him as our Lord and Savior
-- Jesus' blood covered all our sins -- every single one -- the Bible tells us that all of our sins were nailed to the cross in Jesus that day, and that the penalty was paid for them when Jesus died in our place
-- but Jesus did more than just die for us -- He also rose from the dead on the third day -- on that first Easter morning -- by rising from the dead, Jesus gave us new life -- He made us new creations and took away our old curse from the Garden of Eden and replaced it with His righteousness and His holiness
-- that is what the cross is all about -- that is what Easter is all about -- it's about life -- it's about redeeming the curse -- it's about receiving this free gift of God that we have in Jesus
-- as the Scriptures tell us, this gift is for all of us -- all we have to do is receive it -- so, right now, as we close our service, I want to invite you to do just that
-- if you have never received Jesus as your Lord and Savior before -- if you have never asked Him to forgive you of your sins and to come into your heart and to be your Lord and Savior -- then I want to invite you to do so right now -- this morning -- before you leave -- you'll have that opportunity as I close in prayer and as the last hymn is played
-- if you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior before -- then I want to invite you to rededicate your life to Him again this morning -- Easter is about new life and about rising again -- all of us -- even those of us who have been Christians for years -- all of us sin and fall short of God's glory time and time again -- and we all have need to come again to the cross -- to ask Jesus to forgive us and to cleanse us from our sins -- so that we might rise in new life with Him and live as the people He has called us to be
-- if that is your situation, then I invite you to pray with me as we close and to make that change in your life right now
-- I'm going to pray now, and as the last hymn is played, if any of you would like to come forward to make a decision or just to pray at the altar, I would encourage you to do so
-- let us pray
Saturday, April 10, 2010
SERMON: THE SUFFERING SERVANT
Easter Sunrise Service
4 April 2010
I. Introduction
-- this morning, as we gather here at the foot of these three crosses and watch the sun rise on the horizon, we can't help but think of Charles Dickens' great quote that opened his book, "A Tale of Two Cities"
-- "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times -- it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness-- it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity -- it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness -- it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair -- we had everything before us, we had nothing before us"
-- think back over the events of the past several years and you'll see that Dickens quote so aptly fits our own generation
-- in various places in the world, we are experiencing the best of times -- democracy is being brought to regions of the world that never really understood the dignity of individual citizens or the joy of liberty -- people in oppressed regimes such as North Korea and Iran are finding their voice and sowing the seeds of revolution and freedom -- countries and people are coming together in unity as never before
-- we are experiencing an unprecedented ability to communicate ideas and beliefs to any part of the planet -- we can sit in our own homes and communicate with strangers on the other side of the world -- we can watch real time events happening in China and Iran and Afghanistan all in our own living rooms -- with our global economy and our ability now to move goods and supplies around the world, we can change the life of others and bring significant relief to regions that are suffering because of drought or famine or poor economic conditions
-- on the other hand, we have also experienced the worst of times, even in our country -- HIV/AIDS continues to take its toll around the globe -- natural disasters such as our recent streak of earthquakes in Haiti and Chile and Japan affect many -- Countries face off in tense negotiations over trade, border disputes, and ancient grievances -- and our economy has been rocked by bank failures, skyrocketing unemployment rates, and an ever expanding federal debt and deficit
-- it surely is the best of times and the worst of times -- but, to quote John Ortberg, "I can't think of an Easter in recent memory where there was a bigger need for hope, for something that would breathe life into the human spirit
-- None of us ever want to go through a season of hard times like we have over the past several years -- but when you're in the valley -- when you're suffering through the hardships of life -- those are the times when you come face to face with what you truly believe -- with what you truly stand for
-- it's times like these that force us to ask the questions, "What am I really counting on? -- Am I building my life on a foundation that's solid enough that circumstances beyond my control cannot take it away?"
-- it's times like these that bring us to this place to remember that when it seems that all hope is lost -- that when we realize that man is powerless to turn the tide and to change our lives for the better -- that there is One who has already paid the price and redeemed us from this world with His very own body and blood
-- as Ortberg put it, "People have not gathered for the past 2,000 years to say, "The stock market has risen. It has risen indeed." -- They have not gathered to say, "The dollar has risen. It has risen indeed." -- Or, "the employment rate has risen." -- Or, "the gross domestic product has risen." -- Or, "General Motors has risen." -- Or, "The value of your 401(k) has risen."
-- Here at the cross is the "one hope that has [sustained] human beings across every continent and culture for two millennia [as they have struggled through the] difficult times of poverty, disease, pain, hardship, [and] death itself
-- here at the cross we gather to proclaim with all the world, "Christ is risen. He is risen indeed." -- and we are reminded that He suffered for us so that we might gain eternal life with Him
-- this morning, I wanted to take a moment to look at a passage from Isaiah -- Isaiah Chapter 53 -- that we call, "The Suffering Servant"
-- in this prophetic chapter, Isaiah gives us a moving portrait of the life and death and resurrection of Christ -- and he reminds us that, through Christ, we have already won the victory
-- so, if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Isaiah 53 and let's look at this together as we begin our celebration of Easter
-- verse 1
1. Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
-- Isaiah reminds us that this message is for us -- we are the ones who heard the good news of Christ and turned from our sins and from the darkness of our former lives to the life that Christ had to offer -- we are the ones who have received salvation from God and it is our responsibility to pass this message of hope and life to those who are still walking in darkness
-- verse 2
2. He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
-- Jesus knows what it means to suffer -- when Jesus came to dwell among us, He came as one of us -- He was not clothed in glory -- He was not clothed in majesty -- there was nothing to draw us to Him physically
-- Jesus lived as one of us -- He got hungry -- He got thirsty -- He knew what it was to feel cold and hot -- to feel tired and exhausted -- to feel alone and abandoned -- He suffered just what we suffer -- He experienced everything we experienced, but even more so, because He was despised and rejected by His own people -- by the people He came to save
-- what must it have been like for Jesus to stand in the court of Pontius Pilate and to hear the people who He came to save cry, "Crucify, crucify?" -- Jesus knew what it felt like to suffer and to be rejected
-- verse 4
4. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
-- Isaiah tells us that Jesus suffered for a reason -- He suffered for us -- He who knew no sin became sin for us -- He took up our infirmities and our frailties -- He took our sorrows and our burdens -- He took our transgressions and our sins -- He bore them in His own body and took them to the cross on our behalf
-- everything that happened to Jesus on that day -- the sword that pierced His side -- the flogging that striped His back -- the nails that went through His hands and feet -- all of that was because of us -- all of that was for us
-- He took our punishment so that we might know peace -- He took our wounds so that we might be healed -- He paid the price, so that we might not have to
-- verse 7
7. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
-- Jesus could have spoken up -- He could have stopped the beating and the flogging at any point -- He could have stopped on the Via Dolorosa and dropped His cross -- He could have called down ten thousand angels and stepped down from the cross -- He could have told the Romans and the Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin that it was our fault -- that it was our sin -- not His
-- but He didn't -- He willingly took our sin -- He willingly took our punishment -- and He never said a word, but just endured it for us
-- verse 8
8. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
-- Isaiah reminds us that Jesus died for us -- because of our transgressions -- because of our sins -- He was cut off from the land of the living -- He died in our place
-- verse 9
9. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
-- this is really amazing -- Jesus was assigned a place with the wicked -- He died the death of a criminal -- He died the death of a rebel -- because He died in our place -- His body should have been taken down and thrown into a common grave with all of the others -- even though He was sinless and had never done one thing wrong, He was condemned to suffer as the wicked
-- but, over 1000 years before the cross, Isaiah prophesied that although Jesus should be buried with the wicked, that this would not happen -- Isaiah said that Jesus would be buried in a rich man's tomb -- a borrowed tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea
-- verse 10
10. Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
-- Isaiah reminds us that this was not an accident -- that the cross wasn't a mistake -- that God didn't just make the best of a bad situation
-- the cross was planned from the beginning -- it was God's will that Jesus might die so that we might have eternal life through Him -- God made Jesus a guilt offering for us -- He made Jesus a sacrifice for us -- to take our place so that we might live forever
-- verse 11
11. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
-- when I was taking classes at Emory, I had several professors try to tell me that the ancient Israelites did not believe in an afterlife -- that they did not believe in a resurrection -- but Isaiah clearly says here that Jesus, after having died for us, would once again see the light of life -- and that through His death and resurrection, we would be justified and made righteous in the eyes of God because He bore our iniquities on the cross
-- verse 12
12. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
-- this verse speaks of the kingdom of the Messiah -- of the time when Jesus will reign over all creation and will reward us for what we have done for Him -- Jesus died for us that we might live for Him -- He died for us so that we might go forth in His name and tell others about the message of Easter -- about the hope that we have in the cross and the empty tomb
-- this morning, as we close our service, I wanted us to join together and share Holy Communion -- for what better place to remind ourselves of Jesus' death on the cross than before these three crosses this morning -- what better time to remind ourselves of the victory that we have in Jesus than on Easter morning as we celebrate the empty tomb and the risen Savior?
-- so, let us join together now, as one body and one people, to rejoice and to remember the suffering servant who bore our sin on the cross and who intercedes for us with the Father
[lead in Holy Communion]
4 April 2010
I. Introduction
-- this morning, as we gather here at the foot of these three crosses and watch the sun rise on the horizon, we can't help but think of Charles Dickens' great quote that opened his book, "A Tale of Two Cities"
-- "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times -- it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness-- it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity -- it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness -- it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair -- we had everything before us, we had nothing before us"
-- think back over the events of the past several years and you'll see that Dickens quote so aptly fits our own generation
-- in various places in the world, we are experiencing the best of times -- democracy is being brought to regions of the world that never really understood the dignity of individual citizens or the joy of liberty -- people in oppressed regimes such as North Korea and Iran are finding their voice and sowing the seeds of revolution and freedom -- countries and people are coming together in unity as never before
-- we are experiencing an unprecedented ability to communicate ideas and beliefs to any part of the planet -- we can sit in our own homes and communicate with strangers on the other side of the world -- we can watch real time events happening in China and Iran and Afghanistan all in our own living rooms -- with our global economy and our ability now to move goods and supplies around the world, we can change the life of others and bring significant relief to regions that are suffering because of drought or famine or poor economic conditions
-- on the other hand, we have also experienced the worst of times, even in our country -- HIV/AIDS continues to take its toll around the globe -- natural disasters such as our recent streak of earthquakes in Haiti and Chile and Japan affect many -- Countries face off in tense negotiations over trade, border disputes, and ancient grievances -- and our economy has been rocked by bank failures, skyrocketing unemployment rates, and an ever expanding federal debt and deficit
-- it surely is the best of times and the worst of times -- but, to quote John Ortberg, "I can't think of an Easter in recent memory where there was a bigger need for hope, for something that would breathe life into the human spirit
-- None of us ever want to go through a season of hard times like we have over the past several years -- but when you're in the valley -- when you're suffering through the hardships of life -- those are the times when you come face to face with what you truly believe -- with what you truly stand for
-- it's times like these that force us to ask the questions, "What am I really counting on? -- Am I building my life on a foundation that's solid enough that circumstances beyond my control cannot take it away?"
-- it's times like these that bring us to this place to remember that when it seems that all hope is lost -- that when we realize that man is powerless to turn the tide and to change our lives for the better -- that there is One who has already paid the price and redeemed us from this world with His very own body and blood
-- as Ortberg put it, "People have not gathered for the past 2,000 years to say, "The stock market has risen. It has risen indeed." -- They have not gathered to say, "The dollar has risen. It has risen indeed." -- Or, "the employment rate has risen." -- Or, "the gross domestic product has risen." -- Or, "General Motors has risen." -- Or, "The value of your 401(k) has risen."
-- Here at the cross is the "one hope that has [sustained] human beings across every continent and culture for two millennia [as they have struggled through the] difficult times of poverty, disease, pain, hardship, [and] death itself
-- here at the cross we gather to proclaim with all the world, "Christ is risen. He is risen indeed." -- and we are reminded that He suffered for us so that we might gain eternal life with Him
-- this morning, I wanted to take a moment to look at a passage from Isaiah -- Isaiah Chapter 53 -- that we call, "The Suffering Servant"
-- in this prophetic chapter, Isaiah gives us a moving portrait of the life and death and resurrection of Christ -- and he reminds us that, through Christ, we have already won the victory
-- so, if you have your Bibles, please turn with me to Isaiah 53 and let's look at this together as we begin our celebration of Easter
-- verse 1
1. Who has believed our message and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
-- Isaiah reminds us that this message is for us -- we are the ones who heard the good news of Christ and turned from our sins and from the darkness of our former lives to the life that Christ had to offer -- we are the ones who have received salvation from God and it is our responsibility to pass this message of hope and life to those who are still walking in darkness
-- verse 2
2. He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
-- Jesus knows what it means to suffer -- when Jesus came to dwell among us, He came as one of us -- He was not clothed in glory -- He was not clothed in majesty -- there was nothing to draw us to Him physically
-- Jesus lived as one of us -- He got hungry -- He got thirsty -- He knew what it was to feel cold and hot -- to feel tired and exhausted -- to feel alone and abandoned -- He suffered just what we suffer -- He experienced everything we experienced, but even more so, because He was despised and rejected by His own people -- by the people He came to save
-- what must it have been like for Jesus to stand in the court of Pontius Pilate and to hear the people who He came to save cry, "Crucify, crucify?" -- Jesus knew what it felt like to suffer and to be rejected
-- verse 4
4. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.
5. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
6. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
-- Isaiah tells us that Jesus suffered for a reason -- He suffered for us -- He who knew no sin became sin for us -- He took up our infirmities and our frailties -- He took our sorrows and our burdens -- He took our transgressions and our sins -- He bore them in His own body and took them to the cross on our behalf
-- everything that happened to Jesus on that day -- the sword that pierced His side -- the flogging that striped His back -- the nails that went through His hands and feet -- all of that was because of us -- all of that was for us
-- He took our punishment so that we might know peace -- He took our wounds so that we might be healed -- He paid the price, so that we might not have to
-- verse 7
7. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.
-- Jesus could have spoken up -- He could have stopped the beating and the flogging at any point -- He could have stopped on the Via Dolorosa and dropped His cross -- He could have called down ten thousand angels and stepped down from the cross -- He could have told the Romans and the Chief Priests and the Sanhedrin that it was our fault -- that it was our sin -- not His
-- but He didn't -- He willingly took our sin -- He willingly took our punishment -- and He never said a word, but just endured it for us
-- verse 8
8. By oppression and judgment he was taken away. And who can speak of his descendants? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was stricken.
-- Isaiah reminds us that Jesus died for us -- because of our transgressions -- because of our sins -- He was cut off from the land of the living -- He died in our place
-- verse 9
9. He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
-- this is really amazing -- Jesus was assigned a place with the wicked -- He died the death of a criminal -- He died the death of a rebel -- because He died in our place -- His body should have been taken down and thrown into a common grave with all of the others -- even though He was sinless and had never done one thing wrong, He was condemned to suffer as the wicked
-- but, over 1000 years before the cross, Isaiah prophesied that although Jesus should be buried with the wicked, that this would not happen -- Isaiah said that Jesus would be buried in a rich man's tomb -- a borrowed tomb owned by Joseph of Arimathea
-- verse 10
10. Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.
-- Isaiah reminds us that this was not an accident -- that the cross wasn't a mistake -- that God didn't just make the best of a bad situation
-- the cross was planned from the beginning -- it was God's will that Jesus might die so that we might have eternal life through Him -- God made Jesus a guilt offering for us -- He made Jesus a sacrifice for us -- to take our place so that we might live forever
-- verse 11
11. After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light [of life] and be satisfied ; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities.
-- when I was taking classes at Emory, I had several professors try to tell me that the ancient Israelites did not believe in an afterlife -- that they did not believe in a resurrection -- but Isaiah clearly says here that Jesus, after having died for us, would once again see the light of life -- and that through His death and resurrection, we would be justified and made righteous in the eyes of God because He bore our iniquities on the cross
-- verse 12
12. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
-- this verse speaks of the kingdom of the Messiah -- of the time when Jesus will reign over all creation and will reward us for what we have done for Him -- Jesus died for us that we might live for Him -- He died for us so that we might go forth in His name and tell others about the message of Easter -- about the hope that we have in the cross and the empty tomb
-- this morning, as we close our service, I wanted us to join together and share Holy Communion -- for what better place to remind ourselves of Jesus' death on the cross than before these three crosses this morning -- what better time to remind ourselves of the victory that we have in Jesus than on Easter morning as we celebrate the empty tomb and the risen Savior?
-- so, let us join together now, as one body and one people, to rejoice and to remember the suffering servant who bore our sin on the cross and who intercedes for us with the Father
[lead in Holy Communion]
SERMON: ONE LIFE TO LIVE
28 March 2010
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 2 Timothy 1
6. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
8. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,
9. who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
10. but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
11. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.
12. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
13. What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
14. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
-- as you all know, I tend to watch a lot of TV and movies as a means to let go of stress after a long day -- one of our favorite shows that we never miss is "House" -- it's a medical mystery show about a genius diagnostician -- Dr. Gregory House -- who has to come up with the answers to the most difficult medical problems in order to save someone's life every week
-- we were watching the show not long ago and something different happened -- Dr. House finally figured out what was making this person sick, but unlike all the episodes before, he could not save them -- there was no cure for their disease -- there was no happy ending to this episode -- Dr. House had to go to the patient and tell them that they only had days to live -- and the show ended with the death of the patient
-- Kim and I talked about that after the show -- what would we do if we were given a diagnosis like that? -- how would we react? -- what would we change in our lives? -- what would we do in the short time that we had left?
-- evidently a lot of people have had similar thoughts in their lives -- I learned yesterday about a national movement called "One Month to Live" -- it is a 30-day challenge for individuals and churches and communities where the participants pledge to live those 30 days as if they were their last days on earth -- not that they are really going to die but just to get them to thinking about what they would do if this was the case
-- the reason this pastor started the movement was to encourage people to think about what was truly important in their lives and to get them to start living for and focusing on that rather than racing through life like so many of us do now -- on their web page they state, "We believe that if you live this month as if it's your last, at the end of the 30 days you will be more alive than you've ever been"
-- all of you would have to agree that we tend to speed through life now a days -- we spend a lot of time in our lives chasing after and focusing on things that are simply not that important -- we spend time working ourselves to death so that we and our families can have the finer things in life -- the new cars -- the new toys -- the new gadgets
-- we run from one activity to another at such break-neck speed that we rarely take time to stop and just enjoy life -- we rarely take time to stop and enjoy each other -- we may be together, but our focus is not on each other but rather on what it is that we are doing at that moment
-- we find ourselves increasingly isolated from other people and from the world itself with all of our technology from i-pods and i-phones to the internet and all the social networking sites -- many of you know that I've recently joined on with Face Book -- and while I really enjoy the site and the way I can reconnect with all my old friends, it occurred to me that what this social network does is take our relationships and make them just like CNN headline news -- rather than sitting down and spending time with my friends, now I catch up just by reading their short updates posted online
-- it's like we're going through life and just catch updates on our family and friends by reading the headlines that stream across the bottom of the TV screens on the news channels -- you know, I'm waiting for someone to invent that -- that way, we don't even have to take time to get on the computer -- we can just watch TV and see what is going on in our friend's lives by reading the crawler at the bottom
-- even our churches and our religious lives are not immune from this race through life and this focus on the temporal -- our religious lives are like a whirlwind of activities and programs and services -- something always going on -- and we stay so busy doing life and doing church that we rarely take the time to truly enjoy life or to enjoy being with our family and our friends and our God
-- this is not what God wanted for us -- this is not the way He intended for us to live -- as Jesus said in John 10:10, "I have come that you may have life, abundant life -- life to the full" -- not life lived in a rat race -- not life lived trying to keep up with the Joneses -- not life lived that rushes headlong after the latest fad and that focuses on the here-and-now and what is going on in this particular moment -- but a life lived that makes a difference
-- that's the whole purpose of that "One Month to Live" Challenge -- to get people to take 30 days to stop and think about what is truly important -- to think about what they should be spending their time and energy on -- to think about what they are here for and what they want to leave behind when they go
-- let's just take a moment and consider that -- what are you spending your time and energy on right now? -- what is taking up your days? -- and how would that change if you only had one month left to live? [take 15 second pause]
-- it's easy for us to get caught up in the affairs of this world -- to waste away our days worrying about things that don't really matter -- to speed through life seeking things that won't last -- certainly others before us have had the same problems
-- just think about the disciples and what they lived and hoped for when Jesus was around -- today is Palm Sunday -- it's the start of Holy Week -- this is the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey to the shouts of "Hosannah" and "Hallelujah"
-- and while the Bible tells us that Jesus went to Jerusalem with a steadfast goal -- that He went to fulfill a divine purpose and calling in His life that would have eternal significance for all of us -- His disciples weren't the same
-- they came into Jerusalem that week focused on themselves and what they were going to get when Jesus was swept into power -- they weren't looking at eternity -- they were looking at who was going to be first and who was going to sit by Jesus and who was going to be in charge of the others
-- their focus was wrong -- their focus was on themselves and what they were going to get in the immediate future -- they missed the big picture because they were too busy trying to fulfill their petty hopes and dreams -- they were just like us
-- but after the cross -- after the empty tomb -- after they were in the presence of the risen Lord -- they changed -- there was no more racing after life -- there was no more arguing about money and who was first and who would sit where in eternity -- their life had been rearranged -- and now they went forth with a new mission and a new purpose -- an eternal mission and an eternal purpose
-- as Christians, we are called to do the same -- we are reminded in scripture that we are strangers and aliens in this land -- we are not of this world and we are not to be conformed to the pattern of this world -- but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds -- by the renewing of our lives -- so that we might live lives that make a difference -- so that we might live lives that are focused on what is truly important and not on the things the world worries about
-- that is the message that Paul is leaving with Timothy here in this passage -- most scholars agree that this is probably the last letter that Paul wrote, right before he was executed by Nero -- and as Paul knows that he has a short left time, he looks back on his life in this letter and sees that he has fought the good fight -- he has finished the race -- he has stood strong for God to the very end -- as he says in verse 3, his conscience is clear because his life was spent on the things that were important and not the frivolous ways of the world
-- and now, Paul makes this charge to Timothy to encourage him as he picks up the standard of faith and goes forth to minister in Christ's name -- follow my example -- don't be ashamed -- don't be timid -- but press on and do that for which you were called -- focus on what is important and not the temporal affairs of this earth
-- let's pick up Paul's letter here in Chapter 1, verse 6 again and see what we can learn from his final instructions to his son in the faith
-- verse 6
6. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
8. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner.
-- Paul tells Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God that was in his life -- this is a reminder to us that as Christians, all of us have been gifted and called by God to participate in His divine mission -- we are here for a purpose -- but, as I've pointed out, far too often we get caught up in the ways of this world and fail to fulfill the true purpose and meaning for our lives
-- Paul wanted Timothy to remember who he was and who God called him to be -- Timothy had the spark of the divine within him -- he had the spark of purpose and meaning from God -- but it wasn't a raging fire -- it wasn't what was driving him -- it wasn't what he was living for
-- evidently Timothy's problem was that of fear -- he was timid and fearful of trying to live life out loud -- to live life for God in the face of a world that demanded his attention -- so Paul says, "Fan into flame this gift -- focus on God -- use His power and His strength -- use His grace -- to move forward in your life and to do what is important"
-- don't be ashamed to be different -- don't be ashamed to be who God called you to be -- don't be ashamed that you aren't chasing after the wind like the rest of the world -- but tell the world about Jesus -- tell them what He has done -- and show them in your life what it means to live for something that is eternal and that has meaning beyond the moment
-- look back at the second part of verse 8
8b. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,
9. who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
10. but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
-- Paul reminds Timothy that we have been saved and called to a different life -- we have been saved and called to a "holy" life -- that word "holy" means "set apart" or "sanctified" for a purpose
-- as Christians, we are supposed to live holy lives -- lives that are set apart from those around us -- lives that are lived for a different purpose and a different focus -- lives that have meaning apart from this world
-- have you ever stopped to wonder why people live like they do? -- why are they so consumed with chasing after the things of this world? -- why are they so consumed with beauty and health and taking care of themselves and their bodies? -- it's because they are denying the future -- they are denying their own mortality -- they fear that after all is done -- when death is knocking on their door -- they will have nothing to show for it
-- by chasing after life they think they can postpone the inevitable -- they think they can put off eternity -- but Paul reminds us here that Christians don't live that way because we have no fear of death -- we have no fear of the future
-- Jesus destroyed the power of death on the cross and brought life and immortality through the gospel -- in other words, we can live without fear of the future because we know what our future is -- we can live lives of meaning and purpose because we know what is truly important -- we know what matters in eternity
-- verse 11
11. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.
12. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
-- Paul knew who he was -- he knew why God had called him -- he knew what his purpose in life was to be -- Paul had been converted on the road to Damascus and called to be a herald and an apostle and a teacher -- he had been called to tell others about Jesus and to show them the way of the eternal rather than the way of the world
-- we may not all have been called to be pastors or teachers -- but we have all been called to the same mission -- we are called to tell others about Jesus with our words and with our lives -- we are called to show them the way by living different from the world -- we are called to show them how to focus their lives on what is truly important rather than chasing after what the world has to offer
-- Paul looks back on his life and says, "I am not ashamed of the way I have lived -- I have done what God has called me to do -- I have lived as God has called me to live -- and I will trust in Him until I take my final breath"
-- verse 13
13. What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
14. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
-- Paul closes this passage by challenging Timothy to live life as he had lived life -- to follow the pattern of Paul -- to follow the path of Christ -- and to live a life of faith and love through Jesus
-- this challenge from Paul to Timothy is a challenge for all of us -- how are we living our lives now? -- how should we be living our lives? -- are we doing what God has called us to do -- are we living for Him or are we living for the world?
-- living for God leads to fulfillment -- living for the world just leads to heart-ache and weariness
-- I want to close by leaving you with a true story that was written by David Cerqueira, a pediatrician
-- David's wife was a children's Sunday School teacher in their local church -- and one Sunday she had prepared a lesson on being useful to God -- on living lives that had meaning and purpose
-- one little girl named Sarah spoke up -- "Teacher, what can I do? -- I don't know how to do many useful things." -- David's wife quickly looked around and spotted an empty flower vase on the windowsill near the pulpit -- she told her, "Sarah, you can bring in a flower and put it in the vase. That would be a useful thing." -- Sarah frowned. "But that's not important." -- "It is," replied David's wife, "if you are helping brighten someone's day with that flower"
-- so the next Sunday, Sarah brought in a dandelion and put it in the vase -- she kept doing this week after week -- one Sunday, the pastor used that flower in the vase and Sarah's faithfulness as an example of what it meant to serve others -- of what it meant to live a life of purpose
-- later that week, Sarah's mother brought her by to see David at his office – Sarah had been losing weight and had less energy than usual and just didn't seem right -- David did some tests and came back with the tragic news -- Sarah had leukemia and there wasn't anything they could do for her -- it was just a matter of time
-- a few months after the diagnosis, Sarah had gotten so weak that she couldn't leave home -- she couldn't do anything -- one day, when she was at her weakest point, she asked to go to church so she could bring her flower
-- as the pastor finished the sermon, Sarah came in the back door, bundled up in a blanket, walked to the front and put a dandelion in the vase and left a piece of paper beside it -- she died four days later
-- after the funeral, the pastor gave David the note that Sarah had left by the vase -- in pink crayon, it read, "Dear God, This vase has been the biggest honor of my life. Love, Sarah."
-- What makes a life worth living? -- What gives our lives purpose and meaning?
-- I asked you at the start of this message to reflect for a moment on the questions asked by the "One Month to Live" Challenge -- if you had just 30 days to live, what changes would you make in your life? -- How would you live?
-- Paul -- in chains in a Roman prison at the end of his life -- waiting for the executioner to come -- was able to look back on the life that he had lived and to say that it was a life lived well -- that it was a life lived with meaning and purpose -- that it was a life lived for Jesus and not for the world -- and to encourage Timothy to do the same
-- at the end of your life, will you be able to look back and say the same as Paul? -- at the end of your life, will you be able to say that you made a difference on earth -- that you made a difference with your family and friends -- that you made a difference for Jesus?
-- as I close, I want to encourage you to really take a moment during this Holy Week to reflect on what the death and resurrection of Jesus means to us and how we should be living our lives in light of that message
-- if you need to make changes in your life -- if you need to slow down or to give up something in order to go with God, then I want to encourage you to do so right now -- respond to God's word as you feel led and live for Him today and tomorrow and all the days of your life
-- let us pray
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 2 Timothy 1
6. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
8. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,
9. who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
10. but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
11. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.
12. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
13. What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
14. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
-- as you all know, I tend to watch a lot of TV and movies as a means to let go of stress after a long day -- one of our favorite shows that we never miss is "House" -- it's a medical mystery show about a genius diagnostician -- Dr. Gregory House -- who has to come up with the answers to the most difficult medical problems in order to save someone's life every week
-- we were watching the show not long ago and something different happened -- Dr. House finally figured out what was making this person sick, but unlike all the episodes before, he could not save them -- there was no cure for their disease -- there was no happy ending to this episode -- Dr. House had to go to the patient and tell them that they only had days to live -- and the show ended with the death of the patient
-- Kim and I talked about that after the show -- what would we do if we were given a diagnosis like that? -- how would we react? -- what would we change in our lives? -- what would we do in the short time that we had left?
-- evidently a lot of people have had similar thoughts in their lives -- I learned yesterday about a national movement called "One Month to Live" -- it is a 30-day challenge for individuals and churches and communities where the participants pledge to live those 30 days as if they were their last days on earth -- not that they are really going to die but just to get them to thinking about what they would do if this was the case
-- the reason this pastor started the movement was to encourage people to think about what was truly important in their lives and to get them to start living for and focusing on that rather than racing through life like so many of us do now -- on their web page they state, "We believe that if you live this month as if it's your last, at the end of the 30 days you will be more alive than you've ever been"
-- all of you would have to agree that we tend to speed through life now a days -- we spend a lot of time in our lives chasing after and focusing on things that are simply not that important -- we spend time working ourselves to death so that we and our families can have the finer things in life -- the new cars -- the new toys -- the new gadgets
-- we run from one activity to another at such break-neck speed that we rarely take time to stop and just enjoy life -- we rarely take time to stop and enjoy each other -- we may be together, but our focus is not on each other but rather on what it is that we are doing at that moment
-- we find ourselves increasingly isolated from other people and from the world itself with all of our technology from i-pods and i-phones to the internet and all the social networking sites -- many of you know that I've recently joined on with Face Book -- and while I really enjoy the site and the way I can reconnect with all my old friends, it occurred to me that what this social network does is take our relationships and make them just like CNN headline news -- rather than sitting down and spending time with my friends, now I catch up just by reading their short updates posted online
-- it's like we're going through life and just catch updates on our family and friends by reading the headlines that stream across the bottom of the TV screens on the news channels -- you know, I'm waiting for someone to invent that -- that way, we don't even have to take time to get on the computer -- we can just watch TV and see what is going on in our friend's lives by reading the crawler at the bottom
-- even our churches and our religious lives are not immune from this race through life and this focus on the temporal -- our religious lives are like a whirlwind of activities and programs and services -- something always going on -- and we stay so busy doing life and doing church that we rarely take the time to truly enjoy life or to enjoy being with our family and our friends and our God
-- this is not what God wanted for us -- this is not the way He intended for us to live -- as Jesus said in John 10:10, "I have come that you may have life, abundant life -- life to the full" -- not life lived in a rat race -- not life lived trying to keep up with the Joneses -- not life lived that rushes headlong after the latest fad and that focuses on the here-and-now and what is going on in this particular moment -- but a life lived that makes a difference
-- that's the whole purpose of that "One Month to Live" Challenge -- to get people to take 30 days to stop and think about what is truly important -- to think about what they should be spending their time and energy on -- to think about what they are here for and what they want to leave behind when they go
-- let's just take a moment and consider that -- what are you spending your time and energy on right now? -- what is taking up your days? -- and how would that change if you only had one month left to live? [take 15 second pause]
-- it's easy for us to get caught up in the affairs of this world -- to waste away our days worrying about things that don't really matter -- to speed through life seeking things that won't last -- certainly others before us have had the same problems
-- just think about the disciples and what they lived and hoped for when Jesus was around -- today is Palm Sunday -- it's the start of Holy Week -- this is the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey to the shouts of "Hosannah" and "Hallelujah"
-- and while the Bible tells us that Jesus went to Jerusalem with a steadfast goal -- that He went to fulfill a divine purpose and calling in His life that would have eternal significance for all of us -- His disciples weren't the same
-- they came into Jerusalem that week focused on themselves and what they were going to get when Jesus was swept into power -- they weren't looking at eternity -- they were looking at who was going to be first and who was going to sit by Jesus and who was going to be in charge of the others
-- their focus was wrong -- their focus was on themselves and what they were going to get in the immediate future -- they missed the big picture because they were too busy trying to fulfill their petty hopes and dreams -- they were just like us
-- but after the cross -- after the empty tomb -- after they were in the presence of the risen Lord -- they changed -- there was no more racing after life -- there was no more arguing about money and who was first and who would sit where in eternity -- their life had been rearranged -- and now they went forth with a new mission and a new purpose -- an eternal mission and an eternal purpose
-- as Christians, we are called to do the same -- we are reminded in scripture that we are strangers and aliens in this land -- we are not of this world and we are not to be conformed to the pattern of this world -- but we are to be transformed by the renewing of our minds -- by the renewing of our lives -- so that we might live lives that make a difference -- so that we might live lives that are focused on what is truly important and not on the things the world worries about
-- that is the message that Paul is leaving with Timothy here in this passage -- most scholars agree that this is probably the last letter that Paul wrote, right before he was executed by Nero -- and as Paul knows that he has a short left time, he looks back on his life in this letter and sees that he has fought the good fight -- he has finished the race -- he has stood strong for God to the very end -- as he says in verse 3, his conscience is clear because his life was spent on the things that were important and not the frivolous ways of the world
-- and now, Paul makes this charge to Timothy to encourage him as he picks up the standard of faith and goes forth to minister in Christ's name -- follow my example -- don't be ashamed -- don't be timid -- but press on and do that for which you were called -- focus on what is important and not the temporal affairs of this earth
-- let's pick up Paul's letter here in Chapter 1, verse 6 again and see what we can learn from his final instructions to his son in the faith
-- verse 6
6. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.
8. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner.
-- Paul tells Timothy to fan into flame the gift of God that was in his life -- this is a reminder to us that as Christians, all of us have been gifted and called by God to participate in His divine mission -- we are here for a purpose -- but, as I've pointed out, far too often we get caught up in the ways of this world and fail to fulfill the true purpose and meaning for our lives
-- Paul wanted Timothy to remember who he was and who God called him to be -- Timothy had the spark of the divine within him -- he had the spark of purpose and meaning from God -- but it wasn't a raging fire -- it wasn't what was driving him -- it wasn't what he was living for
-- evidently Timothy's problem was that of fear -- he was timid and fearful of trying to live life out loud -- to live life for God in the face of a world that demanded his attention -- so Paul says, "Fan into flame this gift -- focus on God -- use His power and His strength -- use His grace -- to move forward in your life and to do what is important"
-- don't be ashamed to be different -- don't be ashamed to be who God called you to be -- don't be ashamed that you aren't chasing after the wind like the rest of the world -- but tell the world about Jesus -- tell them what He has done -- and show them in your life what it means to live for something that is eternal and that has meaning beyond the moment
-- look back at the second part of verse 8
8b. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God,
9. who has saved us and called us to a holy life--not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
10. but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
-- Paul reminds Timothy that we have been saved and called to a different life -- we have been saved and called to a "holy" life -- that word "holy" means "set apart" or "sanctified" for a purpose
-- as Christians, we are supposed to live holy lives -- lives that are set apart from those around us -- lives that are lived for a different purpose and a different focus -- lives that have meaning apart from this world
-- have you ever stopped to wonder why people live like they do? -- why are they so consumed with chasing after the things of this world? -- why are they so consumed with beauty and health and taking care of themselves and their bodies? -- it's because they are denying the future -- they are denying their own mortality -- they fear that after all is done -- when death is knocking on their door -- they will have nothing to show for it
-- by chasing after life they think they can postpone the inevitable -- they think they can put off eternity -- but Paul reminds us here that Christians don't live that way because we have no fear of death -- we have no fear of the future
-- Jesus destroyed the power of death on the cross and brought life and immortality through the gospel -- in other words, we can live without fear of the future because we know what our future is -- we can live lives of meaning and purpose because we know what is truly important -- we know what matters in eternity
-- verse 11
11. And of this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher.
12. That is why I am suffering as I am. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.
-- Paul knew who he was -- he knew why God had called him -- he knew what his purpose in life was to be -- Paul had been converted on the road to Damascus and called to be a herald and an apostle and a teacher -- he had been called to tell others about Jesus and to show them the way of the eternal rather than the way of the world
-- we may not all have been called to be pastors or teachers -- but we have all been called to the same mission -- we are called to tell others about Jesus with our words and with our lives -- we are called to show them the way by living different from the world -- we are called to show them how to focus their lives on what is truly important rather than chasing after what the world has to offer
-- Paul looks back on his life and says, "I am not ashamed of the way I have lived -- I have done what God has called me to do -- I have lived as God has called me to live -- and I will trust in Him until I take my final breath"
-- verse 13
13. What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
14. Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you--guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
-- Paul closes this passage by challenging Timothy to live life as he had lived life -- to follow the pattern of Paul -- to follow the path of Christ -- and to live a life of faith and love through Jesus
-- this challenge from Paul to Timothy is a challenge for all of us -- how are we living our lives now? -- how should we be living our lives? -- are we doing what God has called us to do -- are we living for Him or are we living for the world?
-- living for God leads to fulfillment -- living for the world just leads to heart-ache and weariness
-- I want to close by leaving you with a true story that was written by David Cerqueira, a pediatrician
-- David's wife was a children's Sunday School teacher in their local church -- and one Sunday she had prepared a lesson on being useful to God -- on living lives that had meaning and purpose
-- one little girl named Sarah spoke up -- "Teacher, what can I do? -- I don't know how to do many useful things." -- David's wife quickly looked around and spotted an empty flower vase on the windowsill near the pulpit -- she told her, "Sarah, you can bring in a flower and put it in the vase. That would be a useful thing." -- Sarah frowned. "But that's not important." -- "It is," replied David's wife, "if you are helping brighten someone's day with that flower"
-- so the next Sunday, Sarah brought in a dandelion and put it in the vase -- she kept doing this week after week -- one Sunday, the pastor used that flower in the vase and Sarah's faithfulness as an example of what it meant to serve others -- of what it meant to live a life of purpose
-- later that week, Sarah's mother brought her by to see David at his office – Sarah had been losing weight and had less energy than usual and just didn't seem right -- David did some tests and came back with the tragic news -- Sarah had leukemia and there wasn't anything they could do for her -- it was just a matter of time
-- a few months after the diagnosis, Sarah had gotten so weak that she couldn't leave home -- she couldn't do anything -- one day, when she was at her weakest point, she asked to go to church so she could bring her flower
-- as the pastor finished the sermon, Sarah came in the back door, bundled up in a blanket, walked to the front and put a dandelion in the vase and left a piece of paper beside it -- she died four days later
-- after the funeral, the pastor gave David the note that Sarah had left by the vase -- in pink crayon, it read, "Dear God, This vase has been the biggest honor of my life. Love, Sarah."
-- What makes a life worth living? -- What gives our lives purpose and meaning?
-- I asked you at the start of this message to reflect for a moment on the questions asked by the "One Month to Live" Challenge -- if you had just 30 days to live, what changes would you make in your life? -- How would you live?
-- Paul -- in chains in a Roman prison at the end of his life -- waiting for the executioner to come -- was able to look back on the life that he had lived and to say that it was a life lived well -- that it was a life lived with meaning and purpose -- that it was a life lived for Jesus and not for the world -- and to encourage Timothy to do the same
-- at the end of your life, will you be able to look back and say the same as Paul? -- at the end of your life, will you be able to say that you made a difference on earth -- that you made a difference with your family and friends -- that you made a difference for Jesus?
-- as I close, I want to encourage you to really take a moment during this Holy Week to reflect on what the death and resurrection of Jesus means to us and how we should be living our lives in light of that message
-- if you need to make changes in your life -- if you need to slow down or to give up something in order to go with God, then I want to encourage you to do so right now -- respond to God's word as you feel led and live for Him today and tomorrow and all the days of your life
-- let us pray
SERMON: SNAKES ON A PLAIN
21 March 2010
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Numbers 21
4. They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;
5. they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
6. Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.
7. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
8. The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."
9. So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
-- what if your sins were visible? -- what if the condition of your heart was evident for all to see? -- that is the question that Frank Peretti addressed in his novel, "The Oath" -- "The Oath" takes place in the northwestern U.S. in the fictional town of Hyde River
-- the hero in the story, Steve Benson, comes to Hyde River to investigate the mysterious death of his brother, and in doing so, exposes a secret that has remained hidden for decades in this town
-- you see, Steve's brother was not the only person to mysteriously die in Hyde River -- over the years, many people had disappeared and the townspeople's explanation was that a dragon had eaten them -- of course, as a wildlife biologist, Steve immediately discounts this story as a fantasy
-- but, as Steve begins to investigate, he discovers that all of the people who disappeared had one common trait -- days before they vanish, a black, oozing rash develops on the skin above their heart -- at first, they, and everyone around them, are aware of it, but within a couple of days, they seem to forget about it -- they don't notice it anymore at all -- and when this happens, they are drawn to the old, abandoned part of town and are eaten by a literal dragon
-- as Steve discovers the truth, he finds out that the townspeople are well aware of the dragon in their midst and tolerate him as a part of life -- they are powerless against the dragon and can do nothing to stop his destruction of those people in their midst with the black, oozing rash above their heart
-- it doesn't take a great mind to understand what is going on in this allegorical story -- the black, oozing rash that develops on the skin of the marked people represents the sin that is hidden in their hearts -- and the dragon represents the death that comes through sin -- as the Bible says, "the wages of sin is death" -- and in this book, we see literal death come upon those who live in sin to the point where they are no longer aware of it
-- Peretti's purpose in this book is to make us stop and think about the hidden sins in our lives -- I've said before that you can never know the state of another person's heart -- Peretti makes the case that you can ignore the state of your own heart to your own detriment -- and so, he asks the question, "would it make a difference if your sins were visible? -- would it make a difference if you could see the consequences of your sins? -- would that be enough to bring you to the One who can remove the stain from your soul?"
-- as I was reading through this passage from Numbers 21 in preparation for today's sermon, I had to ask myself if this was not what God was doing to the Israelites -- ever since God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, they had continually murmured and complained and sinned against Him
-- in fact, from the time that God led them across the Red Sea until He finally had Joseph bring them into the Promised Land, the Bible records eight specific instances where the people had done just that -- and each time, their murmuring and complaining showed a lack of trust in God to deliver them from their trials
-- the only way to enter the Promised Land was through obedience -- the only way to enter the Promised Land was by following God and His ways -- but, each time God brought the people near, they would turn away and choose to follow their own path rather than God's path
-- but even though the people gave up on God, He never gave up on them -- even though the people turned away from God through their murmuring and complaining, God's prevenient grace still worked in their lives -- wooing them and drawing them back to the place of repentance -- back to the place of salvation -- back to the place where they would be offered the choice to follow God or to turn away yet again
-- when the people complained that there was no food, God delivered manna -- spiritual bread -- to sustain them
-- when the people complained that they were tired of eating manna and wanted meat, God provided quail
-- when the people complained that they were thirsty and were going to die in the desert, God brought water from a rock
-- each time, God forgave the people of their sins and moved in their lives in miraculous ways to show His providence and His power in their lives -- but it wasn't enough -- they still continued to murmur and sin and complain
-- so, God allowed the Israelites to suffer the consequences of their sin in order to get their attention -- in order to get them to turn to Him in complete and total trust and obedience -- when the people refused to go into the Promised Land because they were scared of the Canaanites, God made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years
-- when Korah led a rebellion against Moses, God opened the earth beneath him and destroyed him and all those who stood with him against Moses and against God
-- but still, that wasn't enough -- suffering the consequences of their sins was not enough to bring the people's hearts and minds and souls to God -- they still continued to murmur and complain against God -- they still continued to want to do things their own way and sin against Him -- so here, in this passage in Numbers 21, God does something dramatic and miraculous -- He allows the people to actually see their sins in a physical way so that they might finally turn to Him for salvation
-- let's look at this passage and see what God did here for the people of Israel and for us
II. Scripture Lesson (Numbers 21:4-9)
-- look back with me at verse 4
4. They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;
5. they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
-- as this passage in Numbers 21 opens, we are nearing the end of the 40-year exile in the wilderness -- the old generation of Israelites who came from Egypt -- all those who had murmured and complained against God and sinned against Him in so many ways -- all those whose hearts never really left Egypt -- have passed away
-- and, now we see a new generation on the threshold of the Promised Land -- they are closer to it than the previous generation of unbelief had been -- but now they are beginning to act with the same unbelief of their fathers
-- the author tells us here that as God is bringing them up the Promised Land that the people get impatient -- the King James Version says they get discouraged -- in other words, they know what they want and they want it now -- they want to take possession of the Promised Land -- they want all the blessings that God had promised their forefathers -- but they don't want to follow the path that God is leading them on -- it is too long -- it is too slow -- they want a shortcut to the Promised Land
-- we see that in our own lives, too, don't we? -- how many of us want to reap the benefits of the blessings without paying the price it takes to truly appreciate them -- without becoming the people who the blessings were meant for?
-- we can see an example of this with teenaged sex in our country -- many of our young people want to experience this blessing of marriage in their lives -- they desire a sexual relationship -- but rather than wait until marriage -- rather than wait until they have matured and developed physically and emotionally -- rather than wait until they understand God's plan for the family -- they jump right in and take a shortcut of pleasure that can have lasting effects -- whether we're talking about teenaged pregnancy, failed marriages, or even sexually transmitted diseases -- because they weren't ready for the blessing, they suffer the consequences the rest of their lives
-- the Bible's message is that God wants to bless us -- Ephesians 1:3 says that God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ -- but just because God has a blessing waiting for us doesn't mean that we are ready to receive it -- just like the Israelites, we may have to undergo a time of testing -- a time of maturation -- before we can truly receive and enjoy what He has for us
-- this new generation of Israelites wasn't ready to enter the Promised Land yet -- their hearts weren't right before God -- they weren't mature enough to receive these blessings yet -- but that didn't matter to them -- they knew what they wanted and they wanted it now -- and when God didn't let them have their way, they threw a fit -- they threw a tantrum -- and started murmuring and complaining to God with every old excuse their parents had used
-- "Why did you bring us to the desert to die? -- we don't have any bread -- we don't have any water -- and we hate this food that you gave us"
-- they sinned because they didn't trust God -- they sinned because they wanted to do things their own way instead of the way God wanted them to do it
-- verse 6
6. Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.
-- as I said, in the past, God responded in many different ways to the sins of the Israelites -- sometimes He answered their prayers and provided food and water for them so they could see His goodness and trust in His grace -- other times, He allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sins, whether that meant wandering in the desert for 40 years or death
-- but this time, God does something different -- He does something drastic to get the Israelites attention once and for all -- He lets them see their sin
-- He sends venomous snakes into their camp that bite them and that lead to death
-- Can you think of a more perfect picture of sin and the effect of sin in our lives? -- it was through the serpent that sin first entered the world -- and God uses the venomous serpents here to let the Israelites see that sin again -- to let them see clearly that their murmuring and complaining were more than just words -- that their murmuring and complaining were sins that brought death
-- God had dealt with these rebellious Israelites for many years -- He knew the state of their souls -- He knew the state of their hearts -- and He knew that if they were to become the people who could possess the blessing of the Promised Land, that they would have to confess and admit their sins and disobedience and would have to turn to Him for salvation
-- when we are living in disobedience to God -- when we are living with sin in our lives -- God will do whatever He has to do to get our attention -- whether that's through making us aware of His blessings or allowing us to suffer the consequences of our sin -- God will always bring us to the place where we become aware of our sins and are offered the choice to turn to Him for salvation or to keep on going down our own path to death
-- verse 7
7. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
-- well, it worked -- when the Israelites saw the snakes -- when they suffered the pain of their bites -- they knew what was going on -- they saw their sins and recognized the state of their hearts
-- they went to Moses, God's representative, and confessed their sins and asked God to take the snakes away from them
-- verse 8
8. The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."
9. So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
-- did you notice what God did and didn't do in these verses? -- God heard the prayers of Moses on behalf of the people, but He didn't take the snakes away -- He only made a way for the people to live after they had been bitten
-- why was that? -- why didn't God take the snakes away? -- well, I think it comes down to this -- I think it comes down to free will -- you see, the only reason why the snake were there was because the people invited them in -- the snakes were the physical representation of their sin -- of their disobedience -- of their wrong choices
-- as long as the people chose to oppose God -- as long as the people chose to follow their own evil desires rather than the desires of God -- the snakes, and the pain and death they brought, would be there in the camp
-- but, if the people turned from their evil ways -- if the people recognized the bite that sin had given them and turned to the Lord for help, He would remove the sting of death -- He would forgive their sins and lead them into life
-- God did something else in this passage that He had never done before -- just as He had used the serpent to physically represent sin, He now had Moses put a bronze snake on a pole to physically represent the salvation that came through trusting Him
-- bronze is a metal associated with judgment in the Bible because bronze is created through fire -- thus, the bronze snake on the pole represented the judgment of God on the sins of the Israelites and the cleansing that came through the fire of His word
-- now understand that it was not the bronze snake that saved the Israelites, but the power of God in their lives -- the bronze snake was just a physical symbol of the spiritual reality of judgment and cleansing and restoration following repentance
-- by looking at the snake, the Israelites were putting their trust in God and not in their own strength to save -- by looking at the snake, the Israelites were demonstrating that they had turned from their sins and were now living by God's word and in His grace -- by looking at the snake, the Israelites were finally becoming the people who were ready to enter the Promised Land
-- so, what does this mean for us? -- what lesson can we learn from this story of the bronze snake?
-- if you would, turn over to John 3 and let's finish up there by looking at Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus -- John 3:13
13. No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man.
14. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15. that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
-- here in these verses, Jesus tells Nicodemus how the bronze snake in the desert symbolized the salvation that would come through Him -- there's several things that we can learn from this
-- first, just as Moses lifted the serpent up on the pole so that the Israelites would look to it for deliverance, Jesus was to be lifted up on the cross so that sinners would look to Him for salvation
-- second, just as there was no other remedy for the snake bites for the wounded Israelites, there is no other way of salvation for us than faith in the blood of Jesus -- the Bible tells us that Jesus is the only way to be saved and that no one comes to the Father apart from Him
-- third, just as everyone who looked at the bronze serpent was cured and lived, everyone who looks to the cross and believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life
-- and, fourth, just like it was not the bronze serpent that actually saved the people but it was the power of God working through their faith, it is not the cross that brings salvation to us but the power of God through Christ Jesus that saves
-- the cross is just a symbol to remind us of the death and atoning sacrifice of Jesus for our sins, just as the empty tomb is a reminder of the promise of eternal life through Him
-- what Jesus was trying to get Nicodemus to see here is that when He is lifted up, we will see our sinful self -- we will see the condemnation of sin -- and we will see our hope
-- The principles are the same, though the circumstances are different -- we don't have venomous snakes or black, oozy rashes on our skin to remind us of the state of our heart or the sin that we have -- but we can see the effects of sin all around us
-- we don't have a bronze snake on a pole to look at for deliverance, but the cross reminds us that the cure for sin is not within us, but only through faith in Christ
III. Closing
-- this past week, we celebrated Saint Patrick's Day -- and once again, as I do every year, I was reminded of how Saint Patrick relates to this story of the bronze snake
-- as you probably remember, Patrick was the son of a British noble who was captured by Irish raiders and brought back to Ireland as a slave
-- even though he had grown up in a Christian home, Patrick was not a Christian, but his captivity and his exposure to the pagan worship in Ireland forced him to seek out the God of his fathers as he sought freedom from his slavery
-- Patrick eventually escaped from slavery and went home, but he couldn't escape the call of God -- He looked to the cross and accepted Jesus as His Lord and Savior and became a priest in the Catholic Church
-- responding to a vision, Patrick went back to Ireland to bring the message of Christianity to the people who were living in darkness there -- a symbol of life coming from death -- a symbol of freedom from slavery
-- many legends have arisen about Patrick in the years since his death -- one of those is that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland -- and while this may be a myth, in a sense, he really did so because by introducing the people of Ireland to Jesus -- by lifting up Jesus on the cross to them -- the Irish were able to cast out the snakes of paganism and sin in their lives and to come to salvation through Christ by faith alone
-- so, as I close, let me ask you this -- what will it take for you to see the sin in your life? -- what will it take for you to turn from this sin -- to cast your gaze upon the cross -- to trust and believe in Jesus for eternal life?
-- the cure for our sin has been given -- Jesus has been lifted up for our salvation -- all we have to do is trust and believe and we will be saved
-- will you do that today?
-- let us pray
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Numbers 21
4. They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;
5. they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
6. Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.
7. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
8. The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."
9. So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
-- what if your sins were visible? -- what if the condition of your heart was evident for all to see? -- that is the question that Frank Peretti addressed in his novel, "The Oath" -- "The Oath" takes place in the northwestern U.S. in the fictional town of Hyde River
-- the hero in the story, Steve Benson, comes to Hyde River to investigate the mysterious death of his brother, and in doing so, exposes a secret that has remained hidden for decades in this town
-- you see, Steve's brother was not the only person to mysteriously die in Hyde River -- over the years, many people had disappeared and the townspeople's explanation was that a dragon had eaten them -- of course, as a wildlife biologist, Steve immediately discounts this story as a fantasy
-- but, as Steve begins to investigate, he discovers that all of the people who disappeared had one common trait -- days before they vanish, a black, oozing rash develops on the skin above their heart -- at first, they, and everyone around them, are aware of it, but within a couple of days, they seem to forget about it -- they don't notice it anymore at all -- and when this happens, they are drawn to the old, abandoned part of town and are eaten by a literal dragon
-- as Steve discovers the truth, he finds out that the townspeople are well aware of the dragon in their midst and tolerate him as a part of life -- they are powerless against the dragon and can do nothing to stop his destruction of those people in their midst with the black, oozing rash above their heart
-- it doesn't take a great mind to understand what is going on in this allegorical story -- the black, oozing rash that develops on the skin of the marked people represents the sin that is hidden in their hearts -- and the dragon represents the death that comes through sin -- as the Bible says, "the wages of sin is death" -- and in this book, we see literal death come upon those who live in sin to the point where they are no longer aware of it
-- Peretti's purpose in this book is to make us stop and think about the hidden sins in our lives -- I've said before that you can never know the state of another person's heart -- Peretti makes the case that you can ignore the state of your own heart to your own detriment -- and so, he asks the question, "would it make a difference if your sins were visible? -- would it make a difference if you could see the consequences of your sins? -- would that be enough to bring you to the One who can remove the stain from your soul?"
-- as I was reading through this passage from Numbers 21 in preparation for today's sermon, I had to ask myself if this was not what God was doing to the Israelites -- ever since God brought the Israelites out of Egypt, they had continually murmured and complained and sinned against Him
-- in fact, from the time that God led them across the Red Sea until He finally had Joseph bring them into the Promised Land, the Bible records eight specific instances where the people had done just that -- and each time, their murmuring and complaining showed a lack of trust in God to deliver them from their trials
-- the only way to enter the Promised Land was through obedience -- the only way to enter the Promised Land was by following God and His ways -- but, each time God brought the people near, they would turn away and choose to follow their own path rather than God's path
-- but even though the people gave up on God, He never gave up on them -- even though the people turned away from God through their murmuring and complaining, God's prevenient grace still worked in their lives -- wooing them and drawing them back to the place of repentance -- back to the place of salvation -- back to the place where they would be offered the choice to follow God or to turn away yet again
-- when the people complained that there was no food, God delivered manna -- spiritual bread -- to sustain them
-- when the people complained that they were tired of eating manna and wanted meat, God provided quail
-- when the people complained that they were thirsty and were going to die in the desert, God brought water from a rock
-- each time, God forgave the people of their sins and moved in their lives in miraculous ways to show His providence and His power in their lives -- but it wasn't enough -- they still continued to murmur and sin and complain
-- so, God allowed the Israelites to suffer the consequences of their sin in order to get their attention -- in order to get them to turn to Him in complete and total trust and obedience -- when the people refused to go into the Promised Land because they were scared of the Canaanites, God made them wander in the wilderness for 40 years
-- when Korah led a rebellion against Moses, God opened the earth beneath him and destroyed him and all those who stood with him against Moses and against God
-- but still, that wasn't enough -- suffering the consequences of their sins was not enough to bring the people's hearts and minds and souls to God -- they still continued to murmur and complain against God -- they still continued to want to do things their own way and sin against Him -- so here, in this passage in Numbers 21, God does something dramatic and miraculous -- He allows the people to actually see their sins in a physical way so that they might finally turn to Him for salvation
-- let's look at this passage and see what God did here for the people of Israel and for us
II. Scripture Lesson (Numbers 21:4-9)
-- look back with me at verse 4
4. They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way;
5. they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
-- as this passage in Numbers 21 opens, we are nearing the end of the 40-year exile in the wilderness -- the old generation of Israelites who came from Egypt -- all those who had murmured and complained against God and sinned against Him in so many ways -- all those whose hearts never really left Egypt -- have passed away
-- and, now we see a new generation on the threshold of the Promised Land -- they are closer to it than the previous generation of unbelief had been -- but now they are beginning to act with the same unbelief of their fathers
-- the author tells us here that as God is bringing them up the Promised Land that the people get impatient -- the King James Version says they get discouraged -- in other words, they know what they want and they want it now -- they want to take possession of the Promised Land -- they want all the blessings that God had promised their forefathers -- but they don't want to follow the path that God is leading them on -- it is too long -- it is too slow -- they want a shortcut to the Promised Land
-- we see that in our own lives, too, don't we? -- how many of us want to reap the benefits of the blessings without paying the price it takes to truly appreciate them -- without becoming the people who the blessings were meant for?
-- we can see an example of this with teenaged sex in our country -- many of our young people want to experience this blessing of marriage in their lives -- they desire a sexual relationship -- but rather than wait until marriage -- rather than wait until they have matured and developed physically and emotionally -- rather than wait until they understand God's plan for the family -- they jump right in and take a shortcut of pleasure that can have lasting effects -- whether we're talking about teenaged pregnancy, failed marriages, or even sexually transmitted diseases -- because they weren't ready for the blessing, they suffer the consequences the rest of their lives
-- the Bible's message is that God wants to bless us -- Ephesians 1:3 says that God has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ -- but just because God has a blessing waiting for us doesn't mean that we are ready to receive it -- just like the Israelites, we may have to undergo a time of testing -- a time of maturation -- before we can truly receive and enjoy what He has for us
-- this new generation of Israelites wasn't ready to enter the Promised Land yet -- their hearts weren't right before God -- they weren't mature enough to receive these blessings yet -- but that didn't matter to them -- they knew what they wanted and they wanted it now -- and when God didn't let them have their way, they threw a fit -- they threw a tantrum -- and started murmuring and complaining to God with every old excuse their parents had used
-- "Why did you bring us to the desert to die? -- we don't have any bread -- we don't have any water -- and we hate this food that you gave us"
-- they sinned because they didn't trust God -- they sinned because they wanted to do things their own way instead of the way God wanted them to do it
-- verse 6
6. Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.
-- as I said, in the past, God responded in many different ways to the sins of the Israelites -- sometimes He answered their prayers and provided food and water for them so they could see His goodness and trust in His grace -- other times, He allowed them to suffer the consequences of their sins, whether that meant wandering in the desert for 40 years or death
-- but this time, God does something different -- He does something drastic to get the Israelites attention once and for all -- He lets them see their sin
-- He sends venomous snakes into their camp that bite them and that lead to death
-- Can you think of a more perfect picture of sin and the effect of sin in our lives? -- it was through the serpent that sin first entered the world -- and God uses the venomous serpents here to let the Israelites see that sin again -- to let them see clearly that their murmuring and complaining were more than just words -- that their murmuring and complaining were sins that brought death
-- God had dealt with these rebellious Israelites for many years -- He knew the state of their souls -- He knew the state of their hearts -- and He knew that if they were to become the people who could possess the blessing of the Promised Land, that they would have to confess and admit their sins and disobedience and would have to turn to Him for salvation
-- when we are living in disobedience to God -- when we are living with sin in our lives -- God will do whatever He has to do to get our attention -- whether that's through making us aware of His blessings or allowing us to suffer the consequences of our sin -- God will always bring us to the place where we become aware of our sins and are offered the choice to turn to Him for salvation or to keep on going down our own path to death
-- verse 7
7. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
-- well, it worked -- when the Israelites saw the snakes -- when they suffered the pain of their bites -- they knew what was going on -- they saw their sins and recognized the state of their hearts
-- they went to Moses, God's representative, and confessed their sins and asked God to take the snakes away from them
-- verse 8
8. The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live."
9. So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.
-- did you notice what God did and didn't do in these verses? -- God heard the prayers of Moses on behalf of the people, but He didn't take the snakes away -- He only made a way for the people to live after they had been bitten
-- why was that? -- why didn't God take the snakes away? -- well, I think it comes down to this -- I think it comes down to free will -- you see, the only reason why the snake were there was because the people invited them in -- the snakes were the physical representation of their sin -- of their disobedience -- of their wrong choices
-- as long as the people chose to oppose God -- as long as the people chose to follow their own evil desires rather than the desires of God -- the snakes, and the pain and death they brought, would be there in the camp
-- but, if the people turned from their evil ways -- if the people recognized the bite that sin had given them and turned to the Lord for help, He would remove the sting of death -- He would forgive their sins and lead them into life
-- God did something else in this passage that He had never done before -- just as He had used the serpent to physically represent sin, He now had Moses put a bronze snake on a pole to physically represent the salvation that came through trusting Him
-- bronze is a metal associated with judgment in the Bible because bronze is created through fire -- thus, the bronze snake on the pole represented the judgment of God on the sins of the Israelites and the cleansing that came through the fire of His word
-- now understand that it was not the bronze snake that saved the Israelites, but the power of God in their lives -- the bronze snake was just a physical symbol of the spiritual reality of judgment and cleansing and restoration following repentance
-- by looking at the snake, the Israelites were putting their trust in God and not in their own strength to save -- by looking at the snake, the Israelites were demonstrating that they had turned from their sins and were now living by God's word and in His grace -- by looking at the snake, the Israelites were finally becoming the people who were ready to enter the Promised Land
-- so, what does this mean for us? -- what lesson can we learn from this story of the bronze snake?
-- if you would, turn over to John 3 and let's finish up there by looking at Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus -- John 3:13
13. No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven--the Son of Man.
14. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,
15. that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.
16. "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
-- here in these verses, Jesus tells Nicodemus how the bronze snake in the desert symbolized the salvation that would come through Him -- there's several things that we can learn from this
-- first, just as Moses lifted the serpent up on the pole so that the Israelites would look to it for deliverance, Jesus was to be lifted up on the cross so that sinners would look to Him for salvation
-- second, just as there was no other remedy for the snake bites for the wounded Israelites, there is no other way of salvation for us than faith in the blood of Jesus -- the Bible tells us that Jesus is the only way to be saved and that no one comes to the Father apart from Him
-- third, just as everyone who looked at the bronze serpent was cured and lived, everyone who looks to the cross and believes in Jesus will not perish but have eternal life
-- and, fourth, just like it was not the bronze serpent that actually saved the people but it was the power of God working through their faith, it is not the cross that brings salvation to us but the power of God through Christ Jesus that saves
-- the cross is just a symbol to remind us of the death and atoning sacrifice of Jesus for our sins, just as the empty tomb is a reminder of the promise of eternal life through Him
-- what Jesus was trying to get Nicodemus to see here is that when He is lifted up, we will see our sinful self -- we will see the condemnation of sin -- and we will see our hope
-- The principles are the same, though the circumstances are different -- we don't have venomous snakes or black, oozy rashes on our skin to remind us of the state of our heart or the sin that we have -- but we can see the effects of sin all around us
-- we don't have a bronze snake on a pole to look at for deliverance, but the cross reminds us that the cure for sin is not within us, but only through faith in Christ
III. Closing
-- this past week, we celebrated Saint Patrick's Day -- and once again, as I do every year, I was reminded of how Saint Patrick relates to this story of the bronze snake
-- as you probably remember, Patrick was the son of a British noble who was captured by Irish raiders and brought back to Ireland as a slave
-- even though he had grown up in a Christian home, Patrick was not a Christian, but his captivity and his exposure to the pagan worship in Ireland forced him to seek out the God of his fathers as he sought freedom from his slavery
-- Patrick eventually escaped from slavery and went home, but he couldn't escape the call of God -- He looked to the cross and accepted Jesus as His Lord and Savior and became a priest in the Catholic Church
-- responding to a vision, Patrick went back to Ireland to bring the message of Christianity to the people who were living in darkness there -- a symbol of life coming from death -- a symbol of freedom from slavery
-- many legends have arisen about Patrick in the years since his death -- one of those is that he drove all the snakes out of Ireland -- and while this may be a myth, in a sense, he really did so because by introducing the people of Ireland to Jesus -- by lifting up Jesus on the cross to them -- the Irish were able to cast out the snakes of paganism and sin in their lives and to come to salvation through Christ by faith alone
-- so, as I close, let me ask you this -- what will it take for you to see the sin in your life? -- what will it take for you to turn from this sin -- to cast your gaze upon the cross -- to trust and believe in Jesus for eternal life?
-- the cure for our sin has been given -- Jesus has been lifted up for our salvation -- all we have to do is trust and believe and we will be saved
-- will you do that today?
-- let us pray
SERMON: CHECKING YOUR WALLS
7 March 2010
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Nehemiah 2
11. I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days
12. I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
13. By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.
14. Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through;
15. so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate.
16. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
17. Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace."
18. I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.
19. But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. "What is this you are doing?" they asked. "Are you rebelling against the king?"
20. I answered them by saying, "The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it."
-- in the early part of this past decade, the question arose within the evangelical community in America regarding who was going to be the new de facto leader of this movement in this country -- for the past 60 years, the Reverend Billy Graham had served in this role, being one of the most recognized and respected evangelical leaders in this country and the world
-- when major issues arose, whether spiritual, cultural, or political, evangelicals would look to the wisdom and guidance of Dr. Graham to lead us through the issue -- but, now, with Dr. Graham's rapidly declining health, the evangelical community looked within itself to see who would take the reins of leadership from this point on
-- several other prominent leaders, such as James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson were dismissed because of their age, their political involvement, or their views on evangelical issues -- some suggested Dr. Graham's son, Franklin -- others T.D. Jakes -- and others various pastors and evangelical leaders from throughout the country
-- but, without fail, the one name that was consistently mentioned as the potential heir of the evangelical movement -- the face of evangelism in America -- was Ted Haggard, the charismatic leader of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO -- New Life Church had started with 22 people in the basement of Haggard's home, and had grown to over 14,000 members, demonstrating Haggard's clear call to ministry and his gifting as an evangelical leader -- Haggard was appointed as president of the NAE -- the National Evangelical Association -- In 2005, Haggard was listed by Time magazine as one of the top 25 most influential evangelicals in America and was becoming the "go-to" person for the media and for the church on questions of evangelism and Christianity in America -- Haggard appeared to be the right choice to lead the evangelical movement into the 21st century
-- but then, in 2006, allegations arose that Haggard had been involved with a homosexual prostitute on multiple occasions and had purchased and used methamphetamines during their encounters -- while Haggard never admitted having a homosexual relationship, he did resign from leadership at New Life Church in November 2006 after he confessed to sexual immorality and drug use and submitted himself to Christian counseling
-- understandably, the hopes and dreams of the evangelical movement in America were shattered -- how could Ted Haggard -- a person undeniably called and gifted by God to lead His people -- give in to such temptations as sexual immorality and drug use? -- how could Haggard, a man used by God to reach so many others, fail in his own personal walk with Christ?
-- commenting on the failure of the Israelites to live up to God's commands, the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 -- "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. -- So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"
-- the warning from Scripture and from life is quite clear -- all of us -- no matter our position, our place in life, or our personal relationship with Christ -- all of us are prone to fall just as Haggard
-- as we sing in "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing," "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love" -- this is part of our human nature -- the flesh that we battle with -- the part of us that wars with our spirit and that leads us astray -- that leads us to follow our own evil desires and to give in to temptation and sin and, ultimately, to death
-- sadly, the story of Ted Haggard is not an isolated event -- he stands for the myriad of other religious, political, and cultural leaders who have all slipped and fallen over the years -- more recently, we read about the fall of Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina and potential presidential candidate, whose extramarital affair was exposed after he disappeared for seven days in June 2009
-- and all of us are painfully aware of Tiger Woods and how he is suffering the consequences of his actions both publicly and privately
-- the message from Scripture to us is "be careful" -- for if these three religious, political, and sports figures, can fall from the pinnacle of greatness that they had achieved, we, too, can fall from wherever we find ourselves
-- so, how do we practice prudence in our lives? -- how can we be circumspect in all facets of our lives? -- how can we, as Christians saved through grace, stand firm and not fall as so many others have?
-- that is the issue that I want us to consider this morning
II. Scripture Lesson (Nehemiah 2:11-20)
-- to address that question, I want to invite you to turn with me to the Book of Nehemiah -- a rather curious selection to find ourselves in as we grapple with this subject -- but one that I hope makes sense as we press on
-- to give you the background for this passage, Nehemiah was the royal cup-bearer for the Persian emperor King Artaxerxes, whose empire included Judah and the city of Jerusalem -- Nehemiah was Jewish, part of the descendants of the Israelites who had been captured and brought to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar and subsequently put under the rule of the Media-Persian Empire when Babylon was defeated
-- Nehemiah heard of the condition of Jerusalem -- how the city and the temple had fallen into disrepair and how the wall that surrounded the city had been broken down during the various sieges and battles that had taken place -- he mourned the condition of the city and requested permission from Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem for a short time to begin the repairs of the wall and the city to restore it to its former glory
-- as we pick up Nehemiah's story here in Chapter 2:11, Nehemiah has just made it to Jerusalem but no one knows why he is there
-- so, look back with me, if you will, at verse 11 in this passage and let's see what we can learn from the Book of Nehemiah about protecting ourselves from falling from grace
-- verse 11
11. I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days
12. I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
-- Nehemiah had come to Jerusalem because God had sent him -- God had revealed to Nehemiah that the walls were broken, and Nehemiah understood what that meant
-- in his days, the life of a city depended on the security of the wall around them -- when raiders or attackers came against the people, they would retreat inside the security of their wall for protection -- it would also let them safely defend themselves from attacks that came from the outside
-- the broken walls of Jerusalem meant that the people there lived in fear, poverty, and insecurity -- they were not protected from those who sought to harm them and they would never grow in wealth or power because others would always have the ability to just come in and take what they owned
-- God sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem to repair the walls -- but when he got there, he did nothing for three days -- not even speaking to the people there of the reason that he had come bearing lumber and men from the King of Persia
-- what was he doing during these three days? -- what could have been more important than immediately setting out to accomplish the task before him? -- the scriptures don't tell us here, but I think we know based on what we know of Nehemiah -- Nehemiah was a man of prayer -- in the first part of this book we read that Nehemiah continually sought the Lord in prayer -- that before he approached Artaxerxes to request permission to leave, that he spent days in prayer before God -- so, I think these three days in Jerusalem were spent in prayer, seeking the guidance and wisdom of God
-- the lesson there for us is that before we do anything, we need to first spend time with God -- we need to ask Him for wisdom and guidance and for eyes to see the task before us
-- we read that Nehemiah set out with his men at night from Jerusalem, and he says here that he was the only one with a mount -- now what is significant about that? -- why would he include that fact? -- was he just proud that he was the only one that had a horse?
-- no, of course not -- the reason that is in there is to make it clear who is responsible for the task of repairing the walls -- God had revealed the damage to Nehemiah and made him responsible for repairing the walls -- God would provide the resources for the repairs -- He would provide workers to aid Nehemiah -- but, ultimately, it was Nehemiah's responsibility to make sure the work was done
-- as we are looking at our lives to identify areas where we need to make improvements, never forget that you are responsible for yourself -- it is not your family's job -- it's not my job -- it's not this church's job -- to repair the weak spots in your life -- it is your job -- others can help -- but we are each responsible to God for our own lives and our own actions
-- verse 13
13. By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.
14. Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through;
15. so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate.
-- Nehemiah exited the wall of Jerusalem on the west side, turned left, and made a counter-clockwise circuit around the wall, ending at his starting point -- all along the way, Nehemiah inspected the wall for damage
-- the word that he uses here that we translate as "examined" or "viewed" is a medical term -- it literally means "probing a wound to see the extent of its damage" -- this was not a casual inspection -- this was a deep look at the condition of the walls in order to find out exactly how bad things were
-- if we are to be careful as the Apostle Paul told us, then we can't just give ourselves a cursory examination -- as James says, we can't just glance at ourselves in the mirror and walk away, forgetting what we saw -- we need to probe deeply to find the wound -- to know what needs to be done -- we have to go deep -- past the surface and into the heart of things -- we have to look for hidden cracks and broken areas that need repair
-- notice the extent of the damage that Nehemiah saw -- the walls were "broken down" -- the gates were "consumed by fire" -- at one place, the way around the wall was so clogged up with debris that Nehemiah had to find a way around
-- this tells us that the enemy comes against us in many different ways -- sometimes he attacks the walls of our faith, breaking them down through trials and tribulations -- sometimes he attacks with fire -- with a little spark that ignites in our soul, burning through to the very core of our faith -- sometimes he burdens us with the worries and cares of this world -- with the busyness of this world -- so that our lives might get clogged up and our path to God is obstructed
-- the thing to consider, though, is that each of these attacks all started at a single point -- and, if caught early enough, it would take less effort and less resources to repair
-- think about a crack in the foundation of your home -- I had a friend who bought a new house near Moody several years ago -- after living there for a few years, he noticed a small crack in the foundation, but didn't think anything of it -- he thought it was just a new house settling and that the damage was minor -- but, over time, the crack widened and more cracks developed -- until the entire foundation of the house shifted and he had to have major repairs done in order to keep his home
-- it might be easier to ignore a crack than to fix it when it is noticed, but those little cracks can lead to structural failure in the long run -- if the people of Jerusalem had repaired the cracks when they appeared, God would never have had to send Nehemiah to them in the first place -- if the people of Jerusalem had noticed the damage and taken steps to correct the weakness before it went any further, then there would not have been lasting damage and they would have enjoyed years of peace and prosperity and security
-- when Paul tells us to "be careful," the message is to look for the cracks -- to look for the weak spots -- before they become big and damage our entire lives
-- verse 16
16. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
17. Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace."
18. I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.
-- when the cracks are small, you can usually repair them on your own -- when the cracks are small, God gives us the resources within ourselves to seal them up -- but when the damage is as great as that in the wall of Jerusalem -- when the damage is as great as that of Ted Haggard or Mark Sanford or Tiger Woods -- you need help -- you can't do it alone
-- there is no weakness in asking someone to help -- the Bible tells us that we all need someone to come alongside of us to hold each other up -- a cord of three strands, the Bible says, is stronger than a single strand alone
-- in the same way that Moses needed Aaron and Hur to hold up his arms during the battle with the Amalekites, we need others to hold up our arms when we are about to fall
-- that is the purpose of the church -- that is why we are here -- God's church is called to be a hospital for saints and sinners alike -- to be a place where people can go to find help -- to find encouragement -- to be strengthened and restored and renewed
-- the church is the place where God's people -- broken down and damaged by this world -- come together to repair the walls and to restore each other's spiritual lives
-- when Nehemiah saw the damage that needed to be repaired, he went to the people of Jerusalem and said, "I need your help -- God has shown me what needs to be done, and I can't do it on my own -- I need you to come alongside me to repair the walls" -- we should do the same as we seek to repair the spiritual walls of our lives
-- verse 19
19. But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. "What is this you are doing?" they asked. "Are you rebelling against the king?"
20. I answered them by saying, "The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it."
-- there will always be mockers -- there will always be those who point at you and deride you and say you can't be fixed -- there will always be those who doubt that you can be restored
-- but, the overall message of the Bible -- the overall message of the cross -- is that redemption is available for all
-- no matter what height you have fallen from -- no matter what shape your wall may be in -- no matter the size of the damage -- God can take care of it -- God will give us success -- as Jesus said, "with God, nothing is impossible"
-- is it possible for Ted Haggard to be restored back to Christian leadership again? -- yes -- it's already happening -- is it possible for Mark Sanford and Tiger Woods to repair the damage in their personal lives? -- yes, with God all things are possible
-- never let others distract you from what God has called you to do -- never let others tell you that what you are doing is impossible, because with God, all things are possible
-- with God, cracks can be filled before they damage a life
-- with God, walls can be repaired even if they are broken down
-- with God, gates that once protected your soul can be rebuilt
-- with God, priorities can be realigned and the clutter of this world cleared and replaced with the peace of a life with Him
III. CLOSING
-- so, as I close, let me leave you with these thoughts
-- first, never forget the warning from the Apostle Paul -- "if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" -- we are never more in danger of falling than when we think we have it all together -- when we think that we are doing good -- be especially careful during those times, lest cracks develop unaware
-- second, always look to God -- follow the example of Nehemiah and become a person of prayer -- a person who knows God and who spends time with God -- one of the keys to preventing the cracks from developing is to stay close to God at all times
-- third, examine your walls -- make regular circuits around the walls of your life -- identify the weak areas -- the places where you are most likely to fall -- where is your weakness of character? -- where do you fall short? -- what cracks do you have in your life -- spiritually, professionally, relationally -- that might lead to failure like in the case of Ted Haggard, Tiger Woods, and others?
-- fourth, fix and repair daily -- fix the cracks while they are still cracks -- don't wait for the damage to be so great that everyone is aware of it -- don't wait for the damage to be so great that it affects not only you and your life but the lives of those around you
-- find someone to walk with you as you inspect your walls -- use someone else's eyes to see what you might have missed -- let them come along side you to strengthen you and help you repair any signs of damage or weakness you see
-- and, fifth, be the church -- don't be satisfied with just coming to church to take care of your own personal spiritual life -- but be invested in the lives of others -- be God's eyes and ears for them -- be Christ's hands and feet as you minister God's grace and His redemptive power in their lives
-- the church exists for more than just worship -- it exists for more than just you -- it exists so that we all might be one in Christ and one in power in this world -- by coming together and being the church, we all will grow together
-- so, as we end our service together, I want to invite you to close your eyes and to take a mental trip around the walls of your life -- go out the west gate and make a circuit -- look for damage -- look for weakness -- ask God to show you areas where you are prone to wander -- prone to fall -- and ask Him to help you repair the weakness before you fail and fall
-- as always, the altar is open for any who wish to come -- and I invite you up as the last hymn is played
-- let us pray
I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Nehemiah 2
11. I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days
12. I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
13. By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.
14. Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through;
15. so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate.
16. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
17. Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace."
18. I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.
19. But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. "What is this you are doing?" they asked. "Are you rebelling against the king?"
20. I answered them by saying, "The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it."
-- in the early part of this past decade, the question arose within the evangelical community in America regarding who was going to be the new de facto leader of this movement in this country -- for the past 60 years, the Reverend Billy Graham had served in this role, being one of the most recognized and respected evangelical leaders in this country and the world
-- when major issues arose, whether spiritual, cultural, or political, evangelicals would look to the wisdom and guidance of Dr. Graham to lead us through the issue -- but, now, with Dr. Graham's rapidly declining health, the evangelical community looked within itself to see who would take the reins of leadership from this point on
-- several other prominent leaders, such as James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, and Pat Robertson were dismissed because of their age, their political involvement, or their views on evangelical issues -- some suggested Dr. Graham's son, Franklin -- others T.D. Jakes -- and others various pastors and evangelical leaders from throughout the country
-- but, without fail, the one name that was consistently mentioned as the potential heir of the evangelical movement -- the face of evangelism in America -- was Ted Haggard, the charismatic leader of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, CO -- New Life Church had started with 22 people in the basement of Haggard's home, and had grown to over 14,000 members, demonstrating Haggard's clear call to ministry and his gifting as an evangelical leader -- Haggard was appointed as president of the NAE -- the National Evangelical Association -- In 2005, Haggard was listed by Time magazine as one of the top 25 most influential evangelicals in America and was becoming the "go-to" person for the media and for the church on questions of evangelism and Christianity in America -- Haggard appeared to be the right choice to lead the evangelical movement into the 21st century
-- but then, in 2006, allegations arose that Haggard had been involved with a homosexual prostitute on multiple occasions and had purchased and used methamphetamines during their encounters -- while Haggard never admitted having a homosexual relationship, he did resign from leadership at New Life Church in November 2006 after he confessed to sexual immorality and drug use and submitted himself to Christian counseling
-- understandably, the hopes and dreams of the evangelical movement in America were shattered -- how could Ted Haggard -- a person undeniably called and gifted by God to lead His people -- give in to such temptations as sexual immorality and drug use? -- how could Haggard, a man used by God to reach so many others, fail in his own personal walk with Christ?
-- commenting on the failure of the Israelites to live up to God's commands, the Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11-12 -- "These things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come. -- So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!"
-- the warning from Scripture and from life is quite clear -- all of us -- no matter our position, our place in life, or our personal relationship with Christ -- all of us are prone to fall just as Haggard
-- as we sing in "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing," "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love" -- this is part of our human nature -- the flesh that we battle with -- the part of us that wars with our spirit and that leads us astray -- that leads us to follow our own evil desires and to give in to temptation and sin and, ultimately, to death
-- sadly, the story of Ted Haggard is not an isolated event -- he stands for the myriad of other religious, political, and cultural leaders who have all slipped and fallen over the years -- more recently, we read about the fall of Mark Sanford, the governor of South Carolina and potential presidential candidate, whose extramarital affair was exposed after he disappeared for seven days in June 2009
-- and all of us are painfully aware of Tiger Woods and how he is suffering the consequences of his actions both publicly and privately
-- the message from Scripture to us is "be careful" -- for if these three religious, political, and sports figures, can fall from the pinnacle of greatness that they had achieved, we, too, can fall from wherever we find ourselves
-- so, how do we practice prudence in our lives? -- how can we be circumspect in all facets of our lives? -- how can we, as Christians saved through grace, stand firm and not fall as so many others have?
-- that is the issue that I want us to consider this morning
II. Scripture Lesson (Nehemiah 2:11-20)
-- to address that question, I want to invite you to turn with me to the Book of Nehemiah -- a rather curious selection to find ourselves in as we grapple with this subject -- but one that I hope makes sense as we press on
-- to give you the background for this passage, Nehemiah was the royal cup-bearer for the Persian emperor King Artaxerxes, whose empire included Judah and the city of Jerusalem -- Nehemiah was Jewish, part of the descendants of the Israelites who had been captured and brought to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar and subsequently put under the rule of the Media-Persian Empire when Babylon was defeated
-- Nehemiah heard of the condition of Jerusalem -- how the city and the temple had fallen into disrepair and how the wall that surrounded the city had been broken down during the various sieges and battles that had taken place -- he mourned the condition of the city and requested permission from Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem for a short time to begin the repairs of the wall and the city to restore it to its former glory
-- as we pick up Nehemiah's story here in Chapter 2:11, Nehemiah has just made it to Jerusalem but no one knows why he is there
-- so, look back with me, if you will, at verse 11 in this passage and let's see what we can learn from the Book of Nehemiah about protecting ourselves from falling from grace
-- verse 11
11. I went to Jerusalem, and after staying there three days
12. I set out during the night with a few men. I had not told anyone what my God had put in my heart to do for Jerusalem. There were no mounts with me except the one I was riding on.
-- Nehemiah had come to Jerusalem because God had sent him -- God had revealed to Nehemiah that the walls were broken, and Nehemiah understood what that meant
-- in his days, the life of a city depended on the security of the wall around them -- when raiders or attackers came against the people, they would retreat inside the security of their wall for protection -- it would also let them safely defend themselves from attacks that came from the outside
-- the broken walls of Jerusalem meant that the people there lived in fear, poverty, and insecurity -- they were not protected from those who sought to harm them and they would never grow in wealth or power because others would always have the ability to just come in and take what they owned
-- God sent Nehemiah to Jerusalem to repair the walls -- but when he got there, he did nothing for three days -- not even speaking to the people there of the reason that he had come bearing lumber and men from the King of Persia
-- what was he doing during these three days? -- what could have been more important than immediately setting out to accomplish the task before him? -- the scriptures don't tell us here, but I think we know based on what we know of Nehemiah -- Nehemiah was a man of prayer -- in the first part of this book we read that Nehemiah continually sought the Lord in prayer -- that before he approached Artaxerxes to request permission to leave, that he spent days in prayer before God -- so, I think these three days in Jerusalem were spent in prayer, seeking the guidance and wisdom of God
-- the lesson there for us is that before we do anything, we need to first spend time with God -- we need to ask Him for wisdom and guidance and for eyes to see the task before us
-- we read that Nehemiah set out with his men at night from Jerusalem, and he says here that he was the only one with a mount -- now what is significant about that? -- why would he include that fact? -- was he just proud that he was the only one that had a horse?
-- no, of course not -- the reason that is in there is to make it clear who is responsible for the task of repairing the walls -- God had revealed the damage to Nehemiah and made him responsible for repairing the walls -- God would provide the resources for the repairs -- He would provide workers to aid Nehemiah -- but, ultimately, it was Nehemiah's responsibility to make sure the work was done
-- as we are looking at our lives to identify areas where we need to make improvements, never forget that you are responsible for yourself -- it is not your family's job -- it's not my job -- it's not this church's job -- to repair the weak spots in your life -- it is your job -- others can help -- but we are each responsible to God for our own lives and our own actions
-- verse 13
13. By night I went out through the Valley Gate toward the Jackal Well and the Dung Gate, examining the walls of Jerusalem, which had been broken down, and its gates, which had been destroyed by fire.
14. Then I moved on toward the Fountain Gate and the King's Pool, but there was not enough room for my mount to get through;
15. so I went up the valley by night, examining the wall. Finally, I turned back and reentered through the Valley Gate.
-- Nehemiah exited the wall of Jerusalem on the west side, turned left, and made a counter-clockwise circuit around the wall, ending at his starting point -- all along the way, Nehemiah inspected the wall for damage
-- the word that he uses here that we translate as "examined" or "viewed" is a medical term -- it literally means "probing a wound to see the extent of its damage" -- this was not a casual inspection -- this was a deep look at the condition of the walls in order to find out exactly how bad things were
-- if we are to be careful as the Apostle Paul told us, then we can't just give ourselves a cursory examination -- as James says, we can't just glance at ourselves in the mirror and walk away, forgetting what we saw -- we need to probe deeply to find the wound -- to know what needs to be done -- we have to go deep -- past the surface and into the heart of things -- we have to look for hidden cracks and broken areas that need repair
-- notice the extent of the damage that Nehemiah saw -- the walls were "broken down" -- the gates were "consumed by fire" -- at one place, the way around the wall was so clogged up with debris that Nehemiah had to find a way around
-- this tells us that the enemy comes against us in many different ways -- sometimes he attacks the walls of our faith, breaking them down through trials and tribulations -- sometimes he attacks with fire -- with a little spark that ignites in our soul, burning through to the very core of our faith -- sometimes he burdens us with the worries and cares of this world -- with the busyness of this world -- so that our lives might get clogged up and our path to God is obstructed
-- the thing to consider, though, is that each of these attacks all started at a single point -- and, if caught early enough, it would take less effort and less resources to repair
-- think about a crack in the foundation of your home -- I had a friend who bought a new house near Moody several years ago -- after living there for a few years, he noticed a small crack in the foundation, but didn't think anything of it -- he thought it was just a new house settling and that the damage was minor -- but, over time, the crack widened and more cracks developed -- until the entire foundation of the house shifted and he had to have major repairs done in order to keep his home
-- it might be easier to ignore a crack than to fix it when it is noticed, but those little cracks can lead to structural failure in the long run -- if the people of Jerusalem had repaired the cracks when they appeared, God would never have had to send Nehemiah to them in the first place -- if the people of Jerusalem had noticed the damage and taken steps to correct the weakness before it went any further, then there would not have been lasting damage and they would have enjoyed years of peace and prosperity and security
-- when Paul tells us to "be careful," the message is to look for the cracks -- to look for the weak spots -- before they become big and damage our entire lives
-- verse 16
16. The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.
17. Then I said to them, "You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace."
18. I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me. They replied, "Let us start rebuilding." So they began this good work.
-- when the cracks are small, you can usually repair them on your own -- when the cracks are small, God gives us the resources within ourselves to seal them up -- but when the damage is as great as that in the wall of Jerusalem -- when the damage is as great as that of Ted Haggard or Mark Sanford or Tiger Woods -- you need help -- you can't do it alone
-- there is no weakness in asking someone to help -- the Bible tells us that we all need someone to come alongside of us to hold each other up -- a cord of three strands, the Bible says, is stronger than a single strand alone
-- in the same way that Moses needed Aaron and Hur to hold up his arms during the battle with the Amalekites, we need others to hold up our arms when we are about to fall
-- that is the purpose of the church -- that is why we are here -- God's church is called to be a hospital for saints and sinners alike -- to be a place where people can go to find help -- to find encouragement -- to be strengthened and restored and renewed
-- the church is the place where God's people -- broken down and damaged by this world -- come together to repair the walls and to restore each other's spiritual lives
-- when Nehemiah saw the damage that needed to be repaired, he went to the people of Jerusalem and said, "I need your help -- God has shown me what needs to be done, and I can't do it on my own -- I need you to come alongside me to repair the walls" -- we should do the same as we seek to repair the spiritual walls of our lives
-- verse 19
19. But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official and Geshem the Arab heard about it, they mocked and ridiculed us. "What is this you are doing?" they asked. "Are you rebelling against the king?"
20. I answered them by saying, "The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding, but as for you, you have no share in Jerusalem or any claim or historic right to it."
-- there will always be mockers -- there will always be those who point at you and deride you and say you can't be fixed -- there will always be those who doubt that you can be restored
-- but, the overall message of the Bible -- the overall message of the cross -- is that redemption is available for all
-- no matter what height you have fallen from -- no matter what shape your wall may be in -- no matter the size of the damage -- God can take care of it -- God will give us success -- as Jesus said, "with God, nothing is impossible"
-- is it possible for Ted Haggard to be restored back to Christian leadership again? -- yes -- it's already happening -- is it possible for Mark Sanford and Tiger Woods to repair the damage in their personal lives? -- yes, with God all things are possible
-- never let others distract you from what God has called you to do -- never let others tell you that what you are doing is impossible, because with God, all things are possible
-- with God, cracks can be filled before they damage a life
-- with God, walls can be repaired even if they are broken down
-- with God, gates that once protected your soul can be rebuilt
-- with God, priorities can be realigned and the clutter of this world cleared and replaced with the peace of a life with Him
III. CLOSING
-- so, as I close, let me leave you with these thoughts
-- first, never forget the warning from the Apostle Paul -- "if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall!" -- we are never more in danger of falling than when we think we have it all together -- when we think that we are doing good -- be especially careful during those times, lest cracks develop unaware
-- second, always look to God -- follow the example of Nehemiah and become a person of prayer -- a person who knows God and who spends time with God -- one of the keys to preventing the cracks from developing is to stay close to God at all times
-- third, examine your walls -- make regular circuits around the walls of your life -- identify the weak areas -- the places where you are most likely to fall -- where is your weakness of character? -- where do you fall short? -- what cracks do you have in your life -- spiritually, professionally, relationally -- that might lead to failure like in the case of Ted Haggard, Tiger Woods, and others?
-- fourth, fix and repair daily -- fix the cracks while they are still cracks -- don't wait for the damage to be so great that everyone is aware of it -- don't wait for the damage to be so great that it affects not only you and your life but the lives of those around you
-- find someone to walk with you as you inspect your walls -- use someone else's eyes to see what you might have missed -- let them come along side you to strengthen you and help you repair any signs of damage or weakness you see
-- and, fifth, be the church -- don't be satisfied with just coming to church to take care of your own personal spiritual life -- but be invested in the lives of others -- be God's eyes and ears for them -- be Christ's hands and feet as you minister God's grace and His redemptive power in their lives
-- the church exists for more than just worship -- it exists for more than just you -- it exists so that we all might be one in Christ and one in power in this world -- by coming together and being the church, we all will grow together
-- so, as we end our service together, I want to invite you to close your eyes and to take a mental trip around the walls of your life -- go out the west gate and make a circuit -- look for damage -- look for weakness -- ask God to show you areas where you are prone to wander -- prone to fall -- and ask Him to help you repair the weakness before you fail and fall
-- as always, the altar is open for any who wish to come -- and I invite you up as the last hymn is played
-- let us pray
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