Listen to Lauren Diagle – “You Say”

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Sermon Series on 2Peter: ‘A Perambulation through (2) Peter’.

Sermon No.4. Date: 2/10/16

Preacher: Rev. Adrian Hallett

Readings : Colossians 4: 10-18 and 2 Peter 1: 3–11

Title: ‘The Character of our Faith’

There is a saying that is very popular in some Christian circles – “Let go and let God”. In other words we have to get out the way and let God do it all. Surrender more and more to Him. It seems to be suggesting that once we become Christians, there is nothing for us to do. We just wait for God to do whatever is necessary in our lives; let Him take over supernaturally in our lives.

Now that sounds `very spiritual` doesn’t it? “let go and let God” – but I want to say to you that is not what the New Testament teaches. It is certainly not what Peter teaches. Nowhere does he suggest we are to passively sit back and let God get on with it. The exact opposite is true.

He says such things as “make every effort to add to your faith” ( chp 1 verse 5). “Make your calling and election sure” (chp 1 vs 10). “Make every effort to be found spotless, blameless, at peace with Him” (chp 3 vs14).

There is no suggestion here that we are to sit back passively and let God do it all! “Make every effort”. In other words there are certain things that are expected of us…that are our responsibility. Remember though, as we considered in a previous sermon, we are never expected to do anything that God has not made possible for us to do. “Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises so that through them you may participate in the Divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires”(chp.1 vs4). We are not being exhorted here to do something in our own strength.

Peter goes on to say, “For this very reason….” In other words because of what God has done for you……because as Christians we participate in the Divine nature….because we have a new nature…..because we have the power of the Holy Spirit in our lives…..”Make every effort to add to your faith…. (chp.1vs5).

Then we are given a list of seven virtues that we are to make every effort to add to our faith. (Verses 5-7). Let us make sure we understand what is being asked of us here. How are we to view this list?

Well, it is not a “to do “list. It is not something we work our way through so that, at the end, we can have a kind of done that, been there, got the T shirt kind of approach, and then move on to something else in our spiritual life.

Nor is it to be viewed as kind of spiritual M.O.T. list….a list that we use to check our spiritual condition so that we look through the list and see where there is a cross signifying a ‘failure’ and then determine to do better in that particular area of self control or perseverance or whatever.

No, this is to be regarded, not as a list of individual items, but as evidence of a full, well rounded, fruitful Christian life. It’s a package; they come as a whole. A bit like the fruit of the Spirit Paul talks about in Galatians Chapter 5. It’s not the fruits of the Spirit (plural) to be viewed separately. It’s the fruit of the Spirit, a whole; it comes as a package. Peter and Paul are emphasising the same thing: Christian character produced by faith. Our faith is the gift of God; we are to add to our faith. Perhaps it might be helpful to view our faith as a kind of spiritual “muscle”. As we exercise our `spiritual muscle`…. our faith grows and matures and strengthens, then the seven virtues Peter talks about naturally develop.

So, let us now look at these seven virtues that make up this well rounded spiritual life. Peter starts off by looking at the “Character of our Faith”…….the nature of our faith, goodness and knowledge.

Goodness: What does that mean exactly? The way we use the word, it can sound a bit weak….a bit `bland`, maybe conjuring up in our minds going around being `good` or `doing good`, whenever, wherever we can. The Greek word is actually quite a strong word. It means “moral power”, “moral energy”. It is stressing that our faith is to be a manly faith. A living faith. An energetic faith. I think very often we make the mistake of thinking of faith in `passive` terms. Believing, trusting, and waiting. Relaxing on our spiritual sun loungers. Waiting for God to do something. That is a million miles away from what Peter has in mind. Our faith is to be a living, active, dynamic faith. It is a faith that is energetic – vigorous. It is a living faith. A faith that stirs us up….keeps us active and alert.

Knowledge: This is not here the kind of knowledge that leads to faith. It has the meaning more of `insight’, of `understanding` or `enlightenment’. Peter has just exhorted us to be `active`. The danger of that is that it can lead so easily lead to misguided activity, even a false zeal. So what he is saying is that our activity, our energy, our vigour, must be controlled, must be guided or directed.

Maybe Peter is talking from personal experience. He was a rather impulsive man, given to doing things and saying things he later regretted. He was full of uncontrolled energy. He came to see the importance of that energy being furnished with knowledge….with intelligent understanding….with insight.

What is one of the greatest dangers in the Christian life? What is it the devil so easily talks us into? Business, frantic activity. We love the Lord who has called us to serve Him, but there is so much to do. There are so many needs to be met. Do this….do that. Do the other, so much to do, the pressure mounts. We can end up doing things just to meet the expectations of other people. The important things, like spending time in the Lord`s presence…..spending time with Him in prayer….spending time on His Word, these things get squeezed out. I know what I am talking about! I have been there….I have done all that…. I have been guilty of all that in my twenty five years or so in full time ministry. O, the need for knowledge, for insight, for understanding so that we do not fall in to the trap of the enemy – mistaken priorities, frantic activity, false zeal…..busy, busy, busy!

I was reading about this chap Archippus we had in our reading this morning. Paul says “Tell Archippus , see to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord (Col chp 4 vs 17).

Now Archippus is also referred to in Philemon verse 2. “To Philemon our dear friend, fellow worker, to Apphia our sister, to Archippus our fellow soldier and to the Church that meets in your home.”

So Paul speaks highly of him – as a `fellow soldier` looking at what Paul says about him in Col. 4 v. 19 it appears that he may have had a weakness – that he was good at starting something, but not so good at finishing it off.

He was not like the comperes of Mastermind – (Magnus Magnusson and John Humphries). When their question is interrupted by the buzzer, they always say “I have started so I’ll finish”. Not so Archippus – his saying might have been “I’ve started so many things, I don’t have time to finish any of them!”

He seems to be the sort of man who got so wrapped up in the marginal….so absorbed by secondary issues that he didn’t have the time or energy for the central issues, the primary concerns of his life. That can certainly be true for those of us in the ministry. Why are we called into the ministry? To minister to people…to teach…..to encourage people in the Christian faith. To build them up to maturity in Christ.

That’s what Christian ministers are called to do, but so often end up doing everything but that! We get so wrapped up in secondary issues that we forget the primary, or allow them to be squeezed out. Archippus had been given a work to do by the Lord. He knew what that work was…..he knew what he had to do, but he somehow never completed it. Contrast Paul with Archippus. Remember how he put it in Phillipians 3 vs 13 – “But one thing I do”. He had a focus – he knew his priority in Christian ministry and would not let anyone or anything crowd that out. As one commentator put it, “Paul said, ‘One thing I do, not these forty things I dabble in’, and he went on to say ‘Those who focus on what they are supposed to be doing leave a mark, those who don’t, leave a blur’”.

I don’t want to leave a blur, do you? So how do we make sure we leave a mark? Firstly, we need the knowledge, the insight, the understanding that Peter is talking of here in his lette, to make sure we can then focus on what is primary.

Secondly we need to know “the work we have received in the Lord”. Everybody “In the Lord” is in service for the Lord, if we are In Christ. So we have a work to do for Him. Now that is going to be different for each and every one of us. We are not all called into full time ministry for the Lord, but we are all called to serve Him in one way or another.

I think sometimes, we think of service in super-spiritual terms, like full time ministry…..perhaps ordination……perhaps serving Him overseas with some missionary society…….perhaps, working with the poor or homeless or some up-front evangelistic work, or whatever. For most of us it will be more a “blossom where you’re planted” kind of approach. We come to Christ, but we are married, we have children and we have dependant parents and perhaps we wonder how on earth we can serve the Lord in those circumstances.

I am reminded of the woman who wrote to a well-known evangelist saying that she felt the Lord calling her to preach the word. “The trouble is “ she said “I have twelve children”. The reply she received was: “I am so pleased that you are being called to preach and that you have been given a ready made congregation.” In other words “blossom where you’re planted”.

Yes, you have a work you have received from the Lord. Make sure you know what it is – and complete it. Focus on it, be committed to it. As a husband or as a wife, as a father or a mother, or in your day to day business life, whatever it might be. Then knowing what it is, make sure you have the knowledge, the insight, the understanding to work at that with all the moral power and energy, the `goodness` that God makes possible.

I had intended to look at these seven virtues in one sermon. Hopeless task, I now realise! I will try and cover the other five next week.

This week we have looked at `goodness` and `knowledge` – the Character of our Faith. Next week, ‘self-control’ and ‘perseverance’ – The Temperament of our Faith, plus ‘godliness’, ‘brotherly kindness’ and finally ‘love’ – The Relational Dimension of our Faith.

The challenge will be to see if I can do all five in one sermon!

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Sermon Series on 2Peter – ‘A Perambulation through (2) Peter’

Sermon No. 3  Date:25/9/16 Preacher: Rev. Adrian Hallett

Reading: 2 Peter 1: 3-11. 

Title: ‘Got it, Grow it!

Peter’s concern is to be able to equip his readers, and therefore you and me, to be able to stand against false teaching from within the church, particularly those false teachers who deny the Second Coming of Christ.

He does this by reminding them and us of the foundations of our faith. He checks the foundations so he can build us up in the Christian faith.

So, we have looked at the foundations of the Christian faith, and last week just how precious this faith is. We see that Peter`s aim is to build on the sure foundation of their faith.

This week in verses 3–10, he talks in terms of “adding” to their faith. “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith”…..

In other words, having checked the foundations, having reminded them of their foundations, he now says build on it……”add to your faith”.

Foundations are fit for only one thing, to be built on…..foundations are laid to be added to. Foundations on their own, although essential, are not very attractive. In any building the foundations have to be there…..not even visible, but if they are there, something beautiful and pleasing to the eye can be built upon, then – added to.

That’s the picture Peter is painting for us here. The essential foundations of your faith are in place. They are safe, they are secure, they are sound – they are not visible, but you know they are there. Now build on them – add to your faith. Build something beautiful and attractive on those foundations.

Seven things he says they are to add to their faith.

Goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, Godliness, brotherly kindness and finally love. A daunting list! A strong exhortation – “make every effort”.

The Greek word there means “speedy diligence” – “doing the best you can”. For the believer, and this is the reason why Peter is using it here, “speedy diligence” means quickly obeying what the Lord reveals as His priority. It elevates the more important over the important. The believer does so with “earnest swiftness – with intensity”. In other words, the foundations are all important. Yes, but what is more important…….what the Lord`s priority for your life is, that you add to your faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, Godliness, brotherly kindness and love.

Peter is saying “You have got it, now grow in it”. You have got the foundations in place, now add to them. Have something to show for the foundations of your faith.

As I said, a daunting list, with strong exhortation from Peter. Almost makes you want to give up before you start! Sounds as though we are being urged to haul ourselves up by our bootstraps….by our own efforts. Except for one thing!

One vitally important thing. Nowhere in the New Testament are we ever asked to do anything without first of all it being emphasised and repeated what God has done for us in Christ. The Christian in is “to do” because of what God “has done”. Better still; the Christian can now do, because of what God has done.

Now it is absolutely essential that we understand that and grasp its full significance.

I say that because it is so easy to misunderstand that exhortation of Peter.

I remember a friend of mine who attended his local church where the vicar, sad to say, did not know the Lord or have any understanding of the Gospel.

Whenever the vicar preached on passages like this, or say, the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians, my friend said it was like being back at school. An exhortation by the headmaster to be “more Christian”. To the vicar, to be a Christian meant that you had a general belief in God and then you strived to add goodness, knowledge, self-control etc. etc.

In other words, an exhortation to live a certain type of life, to make you more “Christian”. Now that is a travesty of the Gospel. It is a complete denial of the Gospel.

The Gospel is not an exhortation to action or conduct or behaviour. Before a man is called upon to do anything, he must receive something.

Before God calls a man to put anything into practice, he has made it possible for man to put it into practice.

You cannot address an appeal to a dead person. Waste of time and effort. Before we came to Christ we were spiritually dead. When we come to Christ……when we are born again by the Holy Spirit of God, we are spiritually alive. Whereas before we were dead, we are now alive in Christ. Before there can be any activity there must be life, there must be ‘muscles’ and the Christian has been given spiritual ‘muscles’ – everything needed to live out the Christian life has been given to us.

Let me take you now back to the series we did on Colossians. “Living out the risen life”. Paul saying exactly the same as Peter “become what you are”. Paul was stressing that we are complet that we are complete in Christ. It is not Christ plus anything – we have all we need in Christ. If you add anything to him, you destroy the gospel. You may remember my analogy of the new car – a gleaming sports car, perfectly designed in every way. Somebody comes along and says ‘Nice car Adrian, but its missing something – Four wheel drive’. Ridiculous! Add that to that sports car you would ruin it. Everything is in place for that cat to perform as it was s=designed to be. All that is needed is for us to get in and turn the key. I came across another analogy the other day which I think is making the same point in slightly different way. This one must be better than mine, it comes from Dr. Lloyd-Jones no less! He suggests the analogy of a farm. There is a sense in which the Gospel is like a farm that has been given to us. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God……….’ (Eph 2 v. 8).

We are given the farm………..all the equipment, the machinery the seeds. What we are called upon to do is farm. No good telling a man to farm if he hasn’t got a farm. He is incapable of doing anything.

But, we have everything we need – having received all that is necessary. We are called to farm. But even then we are reminded from scripture that it is “only God who makes things grow” (1 Co. 3 v.7) The farmer may do all the hard work. Plough and harrow and toil the land, plant the seed, but if the climate isn’t right – if it’s too hot, too cold, too much rain, not enough rain, too much sun, not enough sun, nothing is going to grow.

But the picture Peter is painting for us is different for us. Because you ‘have received a faith as precious as ours’ (2Pet.1;3), and ‘because he has given us his very great and precious promises’ (2Pet.1:4) and because you ‘participate in the divine nature’ (2Pet.1:4), then, says Peter, everything is in place for growth to take place. It’s a natural, inevitable process. That’s why he then exhorts them to add to their faith, goodness, to goodness, knowledge and so on.

But we need to be aware of two errors we can so easily slip into – two extremes:

1. Activism – works. As though it’s all down to us We have touched on this already. Thinking that by our own efforts we can strive to add these virtues to our lives, and that somehow this will make us more acceptable to God.

2. Passivity – the opposite extreme, thinking that we just have to sit back and do nothing. The danger of thinking that as salvation is all of Christ, he has therefore done it all for us. There is nothing that I need to do, nothing I can do to earn this salvation which is the gift of God. Any attempt on our part to add to our faith, smacks of works. We are saved by grace not by works. So sit back on your spiritual sun lounger and let God do his thing!

Both these extremes are wrong. So let’s note very carefully exactly what Peter is saying here: God gives us the power, the inward capacity, which makes it all possible. Without that we can do nothing, nor are we asked to do anything.

But, having received that power, that gift of God, there is nothing more important than we should give ourselves with all our energy to the development of our Christian life. God has done his part, now, because of that, you, on your part, supply in the faith given to you goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance etc. Perhaps best summed up in the title of this sermon: ‘Got it, grow it!’

I had hoped to look at all these virtues this week, but I wasn’t sure you were ready for hour long sermons just yet! We will have a look at those over the next week or so.

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Sermon Series on 2 Peter. ‘A Perambulation Through (2) Peter’

Sermon No. 2. Date:18/9/16. Preacher: Rev. Adrian Hallett

Readings: Rom. 3:21-26; 2Pet.1:1-11. Title:’Precious Faith’

We continue our ‘Perambulation Through (2) Peter’. ‘To perambulate = ‘To walk round in order to inspect’. We’re walking through 2 Peter to ‘inspect it’ – to get to know this epistle, that we might understand this important letter and why Peter wrote it.

We noted last week that 2 Peter was written so that Christians would know how to deal with false teaching/false teachers – from within the church.

We learnt something of Peter’s methodology… how he went about this. He builds up the faith of his readers…. he wants to strengthen their faith, and he does this by checking the foundations of their faith.

He wants them to be strong in their faith…. certain of their faith. He want them to know the truth, so that they can recognise error…. recognise false teaching/teachers.

So last week we looked at how the Christian faith has always been under attack…. how the foundations have been eroded away…. how weak and ineffective the church has been in standing up against false teachers and has too often opened its pulpit to false teachers.

So we began to consider the emphasis that Peter gave us…. that there is only one faith. Only one way that any of us, regardless of who we are, can be made right with God – through repentance and faith in the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ…. Jesus Christ, who took the punishment for our sins, that you and I deserve.

But one faith in another sense – the faith of the apostles, and we reminded ourselves how the faith of the church is built upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and his apostles.

I ended last week by saying that we were going to look at this ‘one faith’ in a little more detail. What exactly is this ‘one faith’? What exactly is this gospel that Peter is talking about? What is it that he is so excited about? What exactly is this ‘precious faith’?

Let me read the first two verses of 2 Peter to you again.

Does anything stand out to you? Well, in just two verses, Jesus Christ is mentioned three times. Now here is something very basic and obvious, but something that very often is overlooked – forgive me for stating the obvious, but I trust all of us here know and believe that Jesus Christ is absolutely central to the Christian faith.

It may well be obvious to you and me, but let me assure you that we are living in the days when many to not believe that or accept that and will even deny or suppress that claim.

Yes, Peter is stating the obvious, but it is something that needs to be restated over and over again. Jesus Christ is absolutely central to the Christian faith – there is no Christian faith without the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s the point Peter is emphasising.

Let me give you an example of what I mean. I remember going to a funeral of a friend of ours a few years ago – a Christian friend who had a strong Christian faith. In the address the vicar gave, he spoke a lot about my friends ‘strong faith’… he emphasised many times how important his faith was to him. But not once was the name of Jesus Christ mentioned. The congregation weren’t even told that it was ‘the Christian faith’. Because it was a funeral held in a church, presumably people would have assumed that he had ‘faith in God’ – but what ‘god’? What kind of God?

I remember thinking, ‘I wonder what the unbelievers in the congregation make of all this? Faith, but what faith? Who or what was he trusting in?’ I’m sure there would have been some in that congregation who would have liked to talk in terms of their having ‘faith’ too. But sometimes it can be a sort of ‘faith in faith’ type of belief. They needed to hear the difference between their vague, uncertain faith and the saving faith of my Christian friend.

What an opportunity to share the gospel! But sadly, an opportunity missed. I don’t think in this case it was deliberate on the part of the vicar. I knew the vicar – I think, as it is so easy to do, he overlooked the obvious. He was so familiar with the gospel himself that he had forgotten to state that Jesus is central to the gospel message and he had just ‘assumed’ that his hearers would have known what kind of faith he was talking about.

In other cases it can be deliberate. When people look at the state of the world, you will sometimes hear such things as, ‘We need to get back to religion’. Or as people become appalled at the rise in crime and the general decline in the behaviour of the young, they will say ‘We need to get religious eduction back in our schools’. ‘People need to come back to God’, they say.

Very often this is said by people who had some sort of religious upbringing but who no longer see the need to go to church!

People are happy to talk about God aren’t they? They are quite content to exhort people to have some sort of belief in God, even surrender themselves to God, but Jesus Christ is never mentioned. He is not regarded as essential or central to this call to ‘return to God’. Most people who think like this believe that you can go direct to God.

That, of course, is the belief of the Muslim….that is the belief of the Jew. They believe in God, but see no need of Jesus Christ – they reject him – just regard him as a great teacher or prophet, but certainly not essential to their belief system.

I’m reminded of a Jewish friend of ours, with whom we had many conversations over a period of time about the Christian faith. In the end he said to us in no uncertain terms, ‘I believe in God, I just don’t need your Jesus Christ to get to him!’

The complete opposite of what Peter (a Jew!) is hammering home. The complete opposite of what the rest of the NT teaches! As Paul put it, ‘There is one God and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus’ (2 Tim.2:5).

You can’t go direct to God – you need a mediator – you need Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ, who himself said, ‘I am the way the truth and the life. No-one comes to the Father except through me’ (Jn.14:6).

Belief in God is not sufficient. What do the scriptures say? ‘Even the devil believes – and trembles!’ Didn’t do him much good!

Belief in God alone is not enough to make us a Christian – to have a belief in God as creator and God as Father is not in itself enough to make us a Christian. We need the Christ of the apostle Peter.

Peter can’t keep away from the name of Jesus Christ – three times he mentions his name in the first two verses. What is the essence of the Christian faith? The person of Jesus Christ. He’s the foundation of your Christian faith is what Peter is reminding his readers of – that’s what we are being reminded of this morning.

But there’s more!

When Peter says, ‘To those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours’. That’s Peter’s way of phrasing the great doctrine of Justification by Faith.

Now don’t misunderstand me – it is right to come back to God and believe in God. But the question is, ‘how do I do this? He is pure and holy. He is light and in him there is no darkness at all’. How can I be ‘right’ with a God like that? How can I, sinful, self-centred, rebellious, be acceptable to this holy God? What is this ‘one faith’ – this gospel? What was it that Peter and the other apostles preached around the world? What was it that turned the world upside down in such a short space of time? Here’s their message in a nutshell:

1. Jesus Christ of Nazareth was the only begotten Son of God.

2. He came to earth for one purpose – to bear the sins of man himself.

3. In Christ, God has dealt with the sin of mankind – he has done away with it.

That in essence, was the message proclaimed. It was a simple message, an uncomplicated message. And what was the required response to that? Believe and act upon it and say:

1. I have no righteousness of my own.

2. I accept the righteousness that God gave me in Christ.

3. I am unworthy and sinful. I repent of my sins and accept the righteousness that God clothes me with in Christ.

4. I can stand forgiven and accepted before this awesome, holy God.

That’s justification by faith – that’s the message Peter preached and that is the foundation of our faith – this ‘precious faith’.

That is the unchanging gospel…. that is the message to be preached and proclaimed in every age and in every generation.

We have to say to so called ‘sophisticated modern man’, belief in God is not enough. We have to say ‘you cannot save yourself by your own efforts. It is futile to think that you can make yourself acceptable to this holy God by your ‘good works’. It is impossible to earn your salvation – ‘it is the gift of God’.

But we have to tell them the good news too. We have to tell them that that is not the end of the story – thankfully! God has done something wonderful for us in Christ. He has made a new way of righteousness – ‘the righteousness of God by faith’ .

In other words, there is a way to get rid of sin and its guilt and its power. Here is a new nature…. a new life and positive righteousness, and it’s all the gift of God!

He is offering a new way back to himself in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified. That’s the faith Peter is talking about. That’s the faith we and his readers are grounded in. That’s the faith that Peter is all excited about. Justification by faith – no wonder he calls it ‘precious faith’.

This word precious is a favourite word of Peter’s. He uses it six times in his two epistles. ‘Precious’ – something incredibly valuable…. something of infinite value… something beyond price… priceless…. something of more value than even life itself.

I remember an old school friend of mine. Left school with one O level, but became an incredibly wealthy man. Made his first million but then lost it all when he lost his manufacturing plant through the Cyprus troubles many years ago. Started again, formed another very successful company which was floated on the stock exchange. A very, very wealthy man who had everything… anything that money could buy. He’d got it made, until one day he was diagnosed with advanced lung cancer. Now he stood to lose everything. Suddenly his health was the most precious thing to him. He did everything he could to arrest the cancer. Money was no object… he sought the advice of the best oncologists… he even went to America to receive a advanced form of treatment. He came to question the value of wealth or anything else, if he lost his health. His health was the most precious thing…it was beyond price.

I wish I could say there was a happy ending to the heath problems of my old school friend. Sadly all the money he spent, all the treatment he sought was to no avail. He died. And what was even sadder was the fact that he died not knowing this ‘precious faith’ that Peter is talking of. As far as I know, he died trusting in his ‘good works’ and the god of Freemasonry which was talked about at his funeral.

For my friend, is health was (understandably) the most important thing in the world to him. The point Peter is making is that this faith is so, so precious, more precious than our health, more important, more precious even than life itself – priceless!

The question we should be asking ourselves this morning is, ‘just how precious is this doctrine about Christ our righteousness to us?’ Does it thrill us? Are we in awe of this generous, gracious God. Do we recognise that it is the most precious thing? Do we see the futility and the arrogance of trusting in ourselves? Do we recognise and acknowledge this without this precious faith we face only the judgement and wrath of God? Do we bow down and worship God for this ‘precious faith’?

As I close, let me give you a simple illustration that somebody gave me many years ago. It helped me understand this righteousness that God gives us in Christ.

Here’s a crumpled piece of paper… it represents my life. I’ve messed up… I know I’ve not been perfect…. done things wrong…. things that I am ashamed of. I know I need to sort my life out. No matter how hard I try, no matter how often I try and smooth out the ‘crumples’, I just can’t get rid of them. No matter how hard I try, no matter how hard I try and cover up my faults and failings and sin, my life is still a bit of a mess, and that is what God is going to see in me. Now when I come to Christ, when I put my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, when I’m born again by the Spirit of God, I’m hidden in Christ. (Put the crumpled paper into my hand and clench it). Now God doesn’t see my messed up life. I’m in Christ…. I am clothed in his righteousness, the righteousness of Christ.

Justified – so that God sees me as ‘just as if I’d’ never sinned. Sanctified, the promise that the Holy Spirit is working in us to make us more like Christ. And glorified, meaning that the day will come when we shall stand in the presence of God in a perfect state and ultimately to live with God and Christ for ever and ever.

This is the foundation of our faith – how strong and secure are your foundations? Everything we need is to be found by faith in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. Without him we are lost and nothing, but in him we are complete. He is my all, he is your all, ‘Christ is all and in all’. Precious, precious faith indeed!

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Sermon series on 2 Peter: ‘A Perambulation through (2) Peter’

Sermon No: 1. Date:11/9/16. Preacher: Rev. Adrian Hallett

Reading: 1 Peter 1:1-11. Title: ‘Checking the Foundations’

To Perambulate means ‘To walk round in order to inspect’.

So that’s what we are going to do over the coming weeks.  We are going to ‘walk round or through’ 2 Peter and inspect it. We are going to look at it in some detail that we might understand its message and purpose. To inspect it yes, but not in any sense to stand above it or to be detached from it ….. but to understand it and submit to it, so that we might learn and grow from it, which, of course, is why Peter wrote it.

Why 2 Peter? Two reasons:

1. It’s good from time to time to study a whole book of the Bible, rather than just `clips` from within  it and only hearing sermons on segments of a book. It’s important to get to know books of the Bible…to get more of an understanding of why they were written…to get an understanding of the message and purpose of a book. So, rather than look at say, Isaiah, which has sixty six chapters, I thought it best to look at something a bit shorter! 2 Peter – just three chapters, but what a lot there is to discover in those three chapters!

2. 2 Peter also because of the teaching Bob recently gave us – looking at `The Rapture` and then `The Millennium Reign`….all to do with the end times….what will happen when Jesus returns.  2 Peter is all about the certainty of the Second Coming, something I know, from conversations I have had with you, that interests you all. There is a lot of confusion about the return of Jesus. It’s something that is not preached on very often these days, and something I have neglected, to my shame, over many years of ministry.

Why was 2 Peter written?

It’s perhaps helpful to note, that whilst 1 Peter was written to help his readers deal with persecution from outside the Church, 2 Peter was written to help them deal with false teachers from inside the Church – particularly this teaching on the Second Coming.

You see something of the pastoral heart of Peter in this letter. He loves these Christians. Because he loves them, he warns them of the danger of these false teachers…. he wants to protect them…he wants them to grow and to be strong.

So how does he go about this?

Chapter 1 : All about stimulating their Christian growth…..all about building them up….strengthening them.

Chapter 2: All about combating false teaching…how to recognise false teachers.

Chapter 3: All about watchfulness in view of the Lord’s return….all about the certainty of His return… being ready for his return.

So 2 Peter is another book in the New Testament written to combat false teaching…written to equip Christians to be able to recognise false teaching and teachers and to stand against it.

Virtually every letter in the New Testaments has this same thread…….has this same concern – the problem of false teaching …..false teachers.   As soon as the Gospel was preached, as soon as the truth was proclaimed, Satan got in straight away, sowing his lies and deceit. And he’s still at it today, and he’s been at it for the last 2000 years!  That’s the relevance of this book for us….the relevance of this book in every age and every generation of the Church.

There are still false teachers out there! Always have been, always will be, never truer in our day and age. The church is full of false teacher and false teaching….the church, generally speaking, is very poor…very weak when it comes to recognising false teachers and so they are allowed to promote their distortion of the truth unchallenged.

Generally speaking, Christians today are not equipped to recognise false teachers and their teaching….there is little or no discernment executed. As a result many many Christians are confused and uncertain. That is the relevance of 2 Peter.

So the point of this letter is to strengthen Christians….to encourage them…. To build them up. He does this by saying such things as `make every effort to add to your faith’ (1:5); `Make your calling and election sure` (1:10); ‘….make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him` (3.14), and ` grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ` (3.18).

He is stirring them up…he is encouraging them….it could perhaps be summed up as `You’ve got it, now grow in it`- a sermon title for later in our series!

Another pointer to the relevance of this book is this: many people in the churches today have “got it”…have heard the gospel….”got saved” and think that’s it. They have “got it” but don’t grow in it. “Don’t be immature” says Peter. Rather “grow up”…become mature in your Christian faith. He wants them to grow….he wants to stimulate growth in them and in us. So, how does he do that?

1. He Checks the foundations:

If you are going to build anything, then first thing you must do is check the foundations. It’s the same in the spiritual life. How do you build people up in the Christian faith? You make sure the foundations are solid, sound and secure.

If the foundations are shaky, there is nothing to build on – any attempts to build are doomed to failure….What you try to put in place will inevitably come crashing down around you. So here is Peter, concerned for his flock, desperate to protect them, wanting to equip them to face the subtle deception of the false teachers….wanting them to know the truth and to be able to identify error – so he checks their foundations…. He checks the foundations of their faith. He goes over with them what he first taught them when they came to Christ.

So Let’s go through this together, with Peter, that we might be able to check the foundations of our Christian faith. Let us begin by acknowledging and recognising that over the last two hundred years the foundations of the Christian faith have been under attack as never before.

Let me give you an example of what I mean… I became a Christian in 1972. I gradually felt called to ordination with the Church of England and I was accepted. I went to Theological College for three years….really looked forward to it….to learn more about the Christian faith….to have time to study Theology in some depth as a new Christian. Perhaps I was rather naïve but it was a real shock to  me to have to study theologians of the previous century who vociferously denied the key doctrines of the Christian faith. We studied Bultman & Moltman and many other theologians, who denied the virgin birth, the resurrection, penal substitution and other key doctrines.  Miracles were explained away, creation was discounted, and as for the Second Coming, only people with no brains believed such a thing!

Thankfully, I was at a C of E college (Oak Hill) where the lecturers did not believe such things; they taught them because that was part of the curriculum, but they also taught us how to refute these false teachers and their teaching.

A friend of mine went to a liberal theological college at about the same time as me. He finished his training and was ordained, but he had sadly lost his faith. His foundations had been completely undermined.  I am not even sure he continued in the ministry. The Church – and not just the C. of E. has been under attack… the foundations of the faith have been undermined as never before. And the result of all this? People coming out of the ministry who no longer believe the foundations of the faith. They no longer believe or accept what the Apostles taught… therefore Christians in the church no longer have firm foundations – they are easy prey to false teachers. So, check your foundations. Let me read to you verse 1 again: ‘Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours’. What is Peter saying here? Several things. Let’s begin to look at just one of them today:

A. There is only one faith

Peter is writing to Gentiles….but he says `A faith as precious as ours` – he is saying you have the same faith as the other apostles….you have the same faith as me, Peter, you have the same faith as the Jews.. `There is only one faith. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female` (Gal.3:28) `We are all one in Christ Jesus`.

You and I are made right with God in just the same way Peter was.  He wasn’t accepted by God because he was an Apostle, but because he believed and trusted in Christ for his salvation. It does not matter whether we are able or ignorant…learned or unlearned. These things are irrelevant. Power, position, prestige, social status, wealth – all again totally irrelevant. There is only one faith….there is only one way we can be accepted by God. By faith – this one faith – we all have to face the same truth!

But it is one faith in another sense. The only faith is the faith of the Apostles. This faith is a “precious faith”, as true today as when it was written.   But modern man, in `his wisdom` cannot believe and accept that a Gospel which was preached two thousand years ago can possibly be adequate today. ‘We live in a very different world to the Apostles’, they say.  ‘Changing times demand a different gospel. You cannot accept the teaching of the Apostles today’.  That’s the thinking of so many today.

I have a book in my study entitled,  “Did Paul get Jesus Right?”. David Wenham, the author, refutes those who try to drive a wedge between the teaching of Jesus and the teaching of Paul….that Paul somehow distorted the teachings of Jesus. ‘Wrong’, says Wenham,  ‘there is no difference’. Another example of academics suggesting that the teachings of St. Paul, one of the Apostles, was somehow questionable comes from C.H. Dodd, a revered New Testament scholar, who actually said that ‘sometimes Paul got it wrong, that when he does, I haven’t been afraid to say so’. That is the attitude and arrogance of modern scholarship!!

‘You cannot accept the teachings of the Apostles today in the 21^st Century’ is what so many academics are saying. Now, what are we to say in response to this?

Let’s go back to the beginnings of the church….go back to Acts 2 – Peter preaches at Pentecost…..3000 were added to their number that day.

3000 new believers – people responding to the Gospel message in their thousands! What was done with all these new believers? Acts 2:41 `They devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer`.

Note that……‘They devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching’. And what did they teach? Matthew 28 verses 18-20. The great commission….Jesus instructs His disciples ` Teach them to obey everything I have commanded you`. They taught what they knew from the Lord Jesus….they taught what Jesus taught.

The foundation of the first believers of the church was `the Apostles teaching`….a teaching that was clothed with a unique authority conferred on the Apostles.

The Christian faith is built upon the teaching of the Apostles….as Paul puts it in Eph.2:28, talking of God’s household, the Church, ‘built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets with Jesus Himself as the Cornerstone’.

The faith for today is the same – it is one faith – the only faith. There is only one saving faith and that is the faith taught by the Apostles. It’s remarkable, isn’t it? that after two thousand years, with all the advances in learning and in medicine and in science and no matter how advanced or sophisticated modern man thinks he is, the fact of the matter is this: There is only one faith. There is no faith apart from this one faith – this Apostolic faith.

There is only one faith, and there is only one Gospel and we are going to consider that in more detail next week as Peter continues to build up our faith….checking the foundations, to enable us to identify and to refute and to stand against false teachers.

The post ‘Checking the Foundations’ appeared first on Lanzarote Christian Fellowship.

READINGS: NEHEMIAH 8: 5-12 & LUKE 4: 38-44

SERIES: ‘THE MUST SAYINGS OF JESUS’

3) “I MUST PREACH…”

This is the third in our series on the ‘must’ sayings of Jesus.

The first in the series was from Luke 2:49, “Didn’t you know I must be about my Father’s business?” We established that as Jesus gradually became aware of who he was….as he came to know his identity as the Son of God, then he ‘must’ be about his Father’s business…. must here in the sense of being ‘inevitable’ – where else would you expect me to be, but in ‘my Father’s house’? We saw the application for ourselves… that as we are born again… as we enter into that new relationship with God… as we see the wonder of now being ‘children of God’ (Jn.1:12)…. as we know our true identity, then our priorities change…. our Father’s business becomes our business, not in the sense that we are compelled or forced to do this against out will, but a deep down desire to be about our father’s business, placed in us by the Holy Spirit.

Then we looked at John 3:7 ‘you must be born again’. If Jesus was ‘about his Father’s business’ what exactly is his Father’s business? To bring people into the kingdom of God. And how does he do that? ‘You must be born again’. We asked the question, Why? Why must we born again? We established that a result of the Fall in Genesis 3 man (all of us), not only dies physically, but is born dead, spiritually – unable to respond to God, unable even to understand the things of the Spirit. We asked the question, Who? Who needs to be born again? We studied Jesus conversation with Nicodemus and the significance of ‘you must be born again’ being said to him – the most religious, respectable, responsible man on the planet. In other words, if he needed to be born again, everybody must be born again, no matter how religious, responsible and respectable we think we are. We also asked the question, How? How are we born again? We looked at the steps we need to take – to repent of the sin/the futility/the arrogance of thinking we can save ourselves and then to ask – ask the Holy Spirit to place in our hearts that life from above.

So here is number three in our series on the ‘must’ sayings of Jesus – Luke 4: 43. “I must preach…” to quote it fully, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God in the other towns also, because that is why I was sent”.

This third ‘must’ saying gives us another insight into what it meant for Jesus to be about his Father’s business – “I must be about my Father´s business” – that was what Jesus said age 12, then in chapter 4, at the very beginning of his ministry now age about 30, we begin to see just what it means ‘to be about my Father’s business”. As we said, it was/is to bring people into the kingdom of God… by people being born again by the Spirit of God. This week we see just how he seeks to do that…. what method he uses.

Earlier in the same chapter we read of Jesus overcoming the temptation of Satan by being obedient to the will of his Father, resisting the temptation to go for a ´quick fix´´ approach to bring in the kingdom of God.

He identifies himself with the prophecy from Isaiah which he read in the synagogue in Nazareth – ‘Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing’ (Luke 4:21).

He drives out an evil spirit showing that he has power and authority over the powers of darkness – the people are amazed… news about him spread (vv.36 & 37)…

Then in the reading of this morning – the heading in the NIV is “Jesus Heals Many.” What other heading could there be?! He heals Peter’s mother-in-law from a fever – immediately. No period of recovery needed, she ‘got up at once and began to wait on them’ (v.39).

Then we read of people bringing to Jesus “all who had various kinds of sickness, and laying his hands on each one, he healed them” (v.40). On top of that, ‘demons came out of many people, shouting, “You are the Son of God!” (v.41).

This is powerful stuff! This is all very dramatic!. The people had never seen anything like this before… the people had never seen anyone like Jesus before! They didn’t want it to end!

In fact they wanted more! So keen were they for him to stay, they went looking for him – at daybreak! Jesus had gone off to a ‘solitary place’ (v.42), but the people searched him out…. they wanted to persuade him to stay.

So, picture the scene…. the people are amazed at his teaching…. they are in awe of his authority over evil spirits, over sickness, over disease. There was a real ‘buzz’ about the place…people were rejoicing over their healing… people were being freed from demonic powers….people were coming from all over the area because of what they were hearing about this Jesus and his healing powers. People were flocking to Jesus.. his ministry had only just begun and people were amazed and impressed (though not all – look at verse 28 – opposition too, already). Jesus was creating a real stir…. people wanted to see him…. people wanted to hear him… people wanted to be with him. He was immensely popular. What an incredible start to his ministry!

You can perhaps imagine how easy it would have been for Jesus to have remained there… to continue with his healing ministry… to continue to perform miracles…. to build on what he had already accomplished in terms of his popularity. No doubt such suggestions would have been put to him as ‘they tried to keep him from leaving them’ (v.42). Intense pressure would have been put on him to stay… no doubt they would have said such things as, ‘Look at the impact you are having…. look at the number of people following you… look at the impression you are making on these people – now is not the time to leave!’

It’s at this point that Jesus comes out with this surprising statement – ‘I must preach… I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.’

‘I must preach… that is why I was sent’. In other words, whilst he was on earth, up until his crucifixion, that was his priority – to preach and to teach.

Yes, he continued to heal, yes he continued to perform miracles and yes, he continued to exercise authority over evil spirits, but his priority…. the most important aspect of his ministry was to preach.

Now, why was that? Why not major on the spectacular? Why not continue to impress the crowds? Why not capitalise on his popularity? The answer is that miracles in and of themselves achieve very little. People just want more! People just want another healing…. another miracle. ‘Do something we haven’t seen before’ – impress us again!

Later in Luke’s gospel, Jesus said to the crowd as it increased (11:29), ‘This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign… He rejected their request for yet another miracle – their motives weren’t right…. they hadn’t understood the purpose of the miracles…. miracles were ‘signs’… they had a purpose and that purpose had to be interpreted and understood.

The people in Luke’s gospel were experiencing a spiritual high… but they didn’t understand the significance of what was happening before their very eyes. They had to be taught… Jesus had to preach.

There is the same pattern in our O.T. Reading. The people of God were experiencing a spiritual high…. they were exiles….they had returned to Jerusalem…. the walls of the city had been rebuilt. They were rejoicing and worshipping the Lord…. the scriptures were brought out… they listened attentively, but the Levities “read from the book of the law of God making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read.”

In other words, they preached…. they taught, so that the people could understand. That was their priority too, to preach so the people could understand.

Now if that was priority in the O.T. and if preaching was the priority for Jesus, what was to be the priority of the Apostles? Mark 3:14 – “He appointed twelve – designating them apostles – that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach”.

And what was to be the priority of the early church? Look at Acts 6 – the appointing of the seven to be responsible for the pastoral care of the church, so that the apostles could “give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word”. The same priority, to preach, so that the people could understand.

And what was to be the priority for those who were to be appointed leaders as the church expanded? In 1Tim. 3 there is a list of requirements, largely that the person should be “beyond reproach”, but significantly “able to teach”. Then, in Paul’s letter to Titus, “He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.” He must be able to teach and preach – that is to be the priority, so that the people may understand.

Are you getting the message?! The priority of preaching… even today… the importance of biblical preaching and teaching, that people may understand and know the truth.

Now you will say to me, ‘Well, you would say that Adrian; you like to preach!’ And that is true, but I would say to you that after nearly 35 years in the ministry, I have come to know by experience the importance of preaching in the life of the church.

You will no doubt be saying, ‘But Adrian, we have heard some awful sermons’, and I would say to you, ‘yes, and so have I!’ How on earth some people are allowed into some of the churches pulpits, I shall never know!

I remember hearing the story….boring preacher, droning on and on… no sign of the sermon ending… in frustration, somebody lobbed a hymn book towards the preacher… it missed, but hit an old lady near the front pew. She was heard to say, ‘Oh, hit me again; I can still hear him!’

Now it´s not easy to preach…. it´s time consuming…. it demands a lot of time, prayer, reading and study. Then there is the struggle to get the right structure and to include appropriate illustrations. It’s hard work and there is always the temptation to cut corners. Like the clergyman who was being visited in his parish by his bishop. They talked about the service the next day and the bishop asked the vicar what he was going to preach on. The vicar rather smugly said that he hadn’t prepared anything as he had made a vow to the Holy Spirit that he would rely on him to give him what to say when he stood up in the pulpit. After the service the bishop joined the vicar in the vestry and said to him, ‘I release you from your vow!’

Even though there are, sadly, many poor preachers in many churches, and even though it’s time consuming and is hard work to prepare, I still hold to a high view of biblical preaching. It is the vehicle God uses – still – even today, even though many despise it and regard it as an outdated means of communication. Although many may despise it, God still uses it.

Listen to what I read in one of my commentaries on Luke’s gospel: ‘Let us beware of despising preaching. In every age of the Church, it has been God’s principal instrument for the awakening of sinners and the edifying of saints. The days when there has been little or no preaching have been the days when there has been little or no good done in the Church. Let us hear sermons in a prayerful and reverent frame of mind, and remember that they are the principal engines which Christ Himself employed, when He was upon earth. Not least, let us pray daily for a continual supply of faithful preachers of God’s word. According to the state of the pulpit will always be the state of a congregation and of a Church.’ (J.C. Ryle ‘Expository Thoughts on the Gospels. Luke: Volume 1, page 128/9).

I trust that anyone visiting our website will be clear about the priorities we have as a church. Our ‘strap line’ is ‘The word of God for the people of God’… as people read through our web page they will see just how important I believe preaching is for the spiritual health of any church, but especially for our little fellowship here. Look at our website and you can only conclude that we have a high view of preaching!

Never has there been such a need for Spirit anointed preaching – Why? Because we live in an age where people are looking for the spectacular – even and especially in the church. Many people in the church demand the spectacular… they want dramatic experiences… they want ‘spiritual highs’. I remember a vivid example of this. In the mid 90’s there was the ‘Toronto Blessing’. A lot of pressure on clergy to embrace this movement… I had to check it out because some in my congregation were pushing for the involvement of our church. I went to a meeting that was arranged to promote this movement. Somebody from the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church spoke telling us about what had been happening etc. etc. – a verse from the OT was taken (out of context!) to justify what was about to be experienced. Chairs were cleared… catchers put in place, as it was expected that we would all be ‘slain in the Spirit.’ Some were…. they were undoubtedly having an experience…there were all sorts of weird and wonderful noises and movements going on. Yes, people were having an ‘experience’, a ‘spiritual high’, but they had no understanding of what was happening… no awareness of the dangers of what was happening. There was no attempt at real biblical preaching… no attempt to teach… no attempt to ground or justify the experience in the word of God… no attempt to be obedient to the word of God which exhorts us to ‘test the spirits’. All very dangerous, all because there was no preaching… no teaching. That was I realised afresh the importance of preaching. I came away thinking ‘I must preach….’.

Pray for Bob and me as we seek to preach and teach in this church.  In doing so, you are praying for yourselves and the spiritual health of this church – “According to the state of the pulpit will always be the state of a congregation and of a church”, to quote Ryle again.

For those who are visitors to us, if you belong to a church where there is good, solid biblical preaching, be very thankful and pray for those who have responsibility for that ministry. If you belong to a church which is not blessed with biblical preachers, pray that God would raise up faithful preachers of his word. But remember, we live in a technological age – make use of it! There are many good preachers out there that you can listen to or read on the internet. One of my favourites is John MacArthur, but there are many others…. John Piper, Tim Keller (all Americans), but then there are the websites of some UK churches … All Souls, Langham Place… etc. etc. We are, in these days, without excuse – we can always hear good, sound biblical preaching.

It is always possible to hear good, sound biblical preaching… its always possible to hear the word preached so that, as we read in Nehemiah, God can make the scriptures clear to us, ‘giving the meaning so that the people could understand.’ That was why Jesus was sent – to preach, to fulfil the scriptures and to make those scriptures clear to us. And that is what we try and do here, week by week, to preach the word, giving the meaning so that we, the people, can understand.

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PREACHER: REV. ADRIAN HALLETT

READINGS: PSALM 88 & 1 PETER 5:1-7

TITLE: “WHEN IT ALL GETS TOO MUCH”

Where do you go when it hurts? What do you do when you get low, when you find it hard to cope? What do you do when you feel as though you are on the treadmill, just about able to survive?

We all have these struggles from time to time. We can’t avoid them. It’s part of life in which we been told by Jesus that we will have trials and tribulation. That was certainly true of the psalmist who wrote Psalm 88. If you didn’t feel depressed before you read it, you certainly will by the time you finish it!

This man was very, very low. He felt alone, he felt defeated and he felt dejected. You can’t help but pick up on his mood of depression as you read that Psalm.

Reading our newspapers and the coverage that is now being given on depression, we could be led to believe that depression is a modern day illness. But depression has always been with us and it has affected all sorts of people, including Christians down through the ages. Martin Luther, responsible for initiating the Reformation in the 16^th century, suffered from depression…. Charles Spurgeon, the great 19^th century Baptist preacher, often referred to as ‘the Prince of Preachers’, suffered from depression. More recently, David Watson the vicar of St Michael le Belfry, York, influential in introducing Renewal into the church and the author of several Christian books, and who died of cancer in 1984, also suffered from depression.

At a more personal level, the vicar I served under during my curacy, an excellent preacher, also suffered for depression. Hazel’s brother, instrumental in bringing so many in the family to Christ, suffered from depression and other mental illnesses. I could go on. The reason I have mentioned these people is because I think it helps us to know that other Christians have suffered in this way. We may not suffer from clinical depression, but we do all get ‘low’ on some occasions and just knowing that we are not alone, can make a huge difference. It can make it easier to forgive ourselves in case we think in some way we have ‘failed’. It can ease the sense of disappointment in ourselves because, as Christians, we think this shouldn’t be happening…. it can ease our sense of frustration and guilt.

At least these days, we are being made aware that it is a common problem and there is now a willingness and an openness to talk about such things. As many of you know, I love my sport, and it has been interesting to see how some sportsmen are now are now talking openly about their struggles with depression – Marcus Trescothic, Somerset and ex-England cricketer and Jonathan Trott, Warwickshire and ex-England cricketer, to name just two.

The attitude to depression and mental health is changing and more is now known about the causes of depression. It can be caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain and if that is the diagnosis, then it is right to make use of the many different medications available so that the condition can be corrected.

Sometimes we get depressed or just feel depressed for more ‘mundane’ reasons – there can be many other causes. It could be as a result of some perceived ‘failure’…. it could be as a result of some personal loss or crushing disappointment… it could be as a result of an inability or unwillingness to forgive ourselves…. it could be down to ‘overload’…. too much work, no spare time, resulting in an inability to cope with all the modern day pressures.

There are many causes and equally there are many things that can help – music can help lift out hearts and our spirits. Art and literature or long, regular walks in God’s beautiful world can all certainly help. Just to be taken out of ourselves and to get a new perspective can put us on the road to recovery.

The support and fellowship of friends is also extremely important. It may have been the loss of friends and close companions which were the root cause of the psalmist’s depression – (Ps. 88:8 & 18). When we are going through it, there is no doubt that the support, understanding and encouragement of those closest to us is invaluable.

But having said all that, in the end, when it all gets too much, when there appears to be no end in sight and nothing seems to ‘work’, there is another very important thing we can do. Turn to the Lord. Now I know that can sound a bit simplistic, but I believe that is the place the psalmist had come to, because there was nowhere else for him to go.

What do we do when circumstances get too much for us…. when we get so low that we don’t know where to turn? What do we do, or where do we go when people hurt us and let us down and we feel isolated, hurt and rejected?

If you are anything like me, it’s very easy to develop a severe case of the POM’s – the ‘poor old me’s’. Start to feel very sorry for ourselves…. see ourselves as ‘the victim’…. focus on the injustice or the unfairness of it all…. bemoan our lot, get locked into a victim mentality and never progress.

We may well develop unrealistic expectations of others who we think can and should help us. They may well do what they can to help us, but we may think they haven’t done enough…. could and should have done more…. we feel let down and our sense of isolation increases…. we grumble and complain, because that’s all that’s left for us to do.

This is where the psalmist’s situation helps us. He is struggling…. he can’t make sense of it all… he can’t understand what God is doing…. he cannot comprehend why God has allowed this to happen to him. Read the Psalm again and you will see just how dark is his mood…. you can tell he is at the end of himself…. that a severe case of the POM’s is about to break out. He can’t make sense of it all…. he can’t resolve the dark enigma, but there is one thing he can do – plead his case… appeal to his saviour God. He does that several times in this Psalm – ‘O Lord, the God who saves me, day and night I cry out before you’ (v.1). ‘I call to you Lord, every day; I spread out my hands to you’ (v.9). ‘But I cry to you for help, O Lord; (v.13).

Sometimes that is the only remedy for you and me too. We don’t understand , we can’t make sense of it all, we don’t know why God is allowing this to happen to us, we doubt perhaps that he’s even in control – but there is always one thing we can do. We can cry out to our Saviour God… we can plead our case… we can lay all our troubles, cares and anxieties before him, knowing that he hears…. knowing that he cares…. knowing that, in his time, he acts.

In this life we will face many things we will find very hard…. we find it hard especially when there are no answers and we just have to live with the questions. It’s then that the temptation is to become all negative, focussing on the things we don’t know… the things that frustrate us, the things that cause that depressive mood to sweep over us…. it’s so easy to give into the ‘POM’s’, but we resist that temptation and we cry out to him.

Rather than focus on the things we don’t know…. the things we can’t know, learn to focus on the things we do know about our Saviour God. The God who has promised ‘never will I leave you; never will I forsake you’ (Heb.13:5) – the God who tells us that ‘nothing will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord’ (Rom.8:39) – the God who is ‘the same yesterday, today and forever’ (Heb.13:8) – the God who urges us through the Apostle Peter ‘to cast all your anxiety on him’, why? ‘because he cares for you’ (1 Pet.5:7)

We don’t have all the answers, and so we do have to live with the questions, but what a difference it makes when we can plead our case before our gracious, generous, caring Saviour God!

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PREACHER: REV. ADRIAN HALLETT

READINGS: 1 PETER 2:13-25.

SERMON TITLE: “AN EXAMPLE TO INFURIATE – OR TO INSPIRE?”

How do you feel when you are given an example to follow? If you are anything like me, initially you feel encouraged and excited, but, after a while, after numerous attempts and failures, it’s very easy to feel discouraged and then just give up! An example can either lead to frustration or encourage us to follow… an example can either infuriate or inspire.

I remember as a young boy… I was very keen on tennis…parents took me for several years to watch the British Hard Court Championships that were held in Bournemouth (sadly that tournament is no more)….I’m showing my age here, but I used to love watching Lew Hoad….he was bronzed, brawny and brilliant! To a ten year old boy he was awesome. I used to love watching how he played his shots…admired his precision and power (his forearm was a thick as my thigh!)…I’d go home inspired… he was the example I wanted to follow! I’d go on court, all fired up…. improve for a while, but very soon realise that no matter how hard I tried, I was never going to become the next Lew Hoad! It was all very well having him as an example, but I could never live up to the standards he set.

As I got older and no longer able to compete competitively at squash, tennis and hockey, I took up golf at age 50! Fatal mistake! Always inspired by the greats of the game…and today, like many other golfers, I look up to Rory McIlroy… I would love to play like him… the problem is my 73 year old frame can’t do the things his 27 year old frame can do! And I just don’t have his natural ability. He’s a wonderful example to every golfer, but if you try and live up to his example, your more likely to end up throwing your clubs in the lake next to the final hole as you come off the course! (tell the story of somebody who did that, only to discover he had left his car keys in his golf bag, and then in front of many people in the clubhouse overlooking the lake, he had to wade in, find his bag and then sheepishly hold up his car keys!)

Then today there is that reading from Peter’s first epistle, telling us that we should follow the example of Jesus! ‘To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps.’ (1.Pet.2:21). At first sight there is a problem here. Live up to his example?!! How on earth can I do that? How can I live up to the example set by the perfect, sinless Son of God? Makes me want to give up before I even start! I don’t know about you, but I haven’t performed many miracles lately. I always fancied being able to turn water into wine, but without much success! Nor have I raised many people from the dead this week, so I fail miserably in living up to his example in terms of miracles. What about the example of his character? His compassion – he always had time for people and put himself out for the benefit of others. Failed again! What about his courage? Speaking the truth boldly without fear or favour? Failed! Or his total commitment to his Father living in absolute obedience to his will? Failed! What about his patience, his long suffering… his willingness to endure rejection…the way he coped with the despising of men? Failed again! How on earth can I or anyone else live up to his example? It’s so difficult… it’s impossible so it becomes totally discouraging… it freaks us out!

Is that what Peter had in mind? To set something before us that totally unrealistic? I don’t think so.

Let’s look at what it is that Peter has in mind when he talks about ‘example’. There are 15 biblical references to ‘example’ in the NT. Most of them are two Greek words which mean either type, or a thing shown… or a pattern or occasionally to imitate. But in 1 Pet.2:21 Peter uses a Greek word for example which only appears once in the whole of the NT. Peter uses another Greek word for example in his second letter (2.Pet.2:6) – ‘If he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly….’. The Greek word for example there means ‘a type’… ‘a thing shown’ – in other words, something that happened before and will happen again… it’s pointing to something definite…. there’s no room for negotiation…there are no ifs or buts…. no second chance. It’s an example in the sense of a warning…. ‘if you don’t measure up, watch out!’

Now imagine if Peter were to have used that word when talking of the example of Jesus we are to follow. How would we have felt? ‘I know how I would have felt…. I know what I would be saying to myself…. ‘I know I’m not going to measure up, so I’m written off… it’s hopeless… I’m condemned, I might as well give up now!’ Peter obviously knew that – know all about self-condemnation when he denied Jesus those three times – that was the low point in his Christian life…. he felt terrible and didn’t want other Christians to experience that – and Peter also knew the way Jesus was so gracious to him and gently restored him, so we begin to see something of the pastoral heart of Peter here, in the way that he uses another Greek word – are you ready for another quick Greek lesson? You learned two Greek words last week – ‘chiazein’ and ‘ exaleiphein’ – here’s another one – ‘hupogrammos’. And he uses it so as not to condemn his readers, but rather to encourage them and build them up.

So what is so special about this rather strange word ‘hupogrammos’? Remember that the Christians he’s writing to are having a really tough time… they are experiencing trials… they’re suffering…. they are experiencing persecution…. life is really tough and it’s all so unjust… so unfair….

1 Pet.1:6 ‘In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

1 Pet. 2:20b….’But if you suffer for doing good, and you endure it, this is commendable before God.

1 Pet. 2 21 ‘To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example (hupogrammos), that you should follow in his steps

Now they are struggling with all this… particularly the injustice of it all… didn’t like the idea of being ‘called’ to suffer… seems that some were wanting to fight back…. to cry out…. to complain…. to retaliate, so Peter goes on to say:

1 Pet. 2:22 & 23 ‘”He committed no sin and no deceit was found in his mouth” (quoting from Isaiah 53:9). When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly’.

That’s the ‘hupogrammos’, the example, he sets before them. So what is so special about this word, this special word for ‘example’?

To understand the meaning we have to enter the world of Greek primary education…. the way in which Greek boys were taught how to write. Papyrus were too expensive to use for boys to practice their writing…so the school exercise book was the wax tablet – a shallow box, filled with soft wax.. The writing was done with a stylus…pointed at one end to write with, and flat at the other end to smooth over the wax so it could be used again.

The teacher drew parallel lines on the wax to keep the boys writing straight and at the top of the tablet, he set a line of writing that the boys had to copy. That line was the ‘hupogrammos’…. the pattern the boys had to follow. Now, would the boys have done that perfectly to start with? Would their attempts be as good as the copper-plate writing of the teacher? No of course not, not to start with any way. They would have found it difficult initially… they would have made many mistakes… their efforts would have looked very different from the example they were given….the flat end of the stylus would have been used as much as the sharp end! “So Peter is saying: ‘Just as the schoolboy learns to write by copying the perfect copper-plate example, so we are scholars in the school of life, and we can only learn to live by copying the perfect pattern of life which Jesus gave to us.’” (Wm. Barclay, ‘New Testament Words’ p.139).

So it’s not ‘if you don’t measure up, watch out!’, it’s not ‘three strikes and you’re out!’… it’s a, ‘this is how we should be living… this is how we should respond to our difficult demanding situation…we won’t find it easy, we won’t do it perfectly… but we set our hearts on wanting to emulate that perfect example of Jesus’. Now, I don’t know abut you, but I can respond to that…. I’m encouraged by that…. I don’t feel condemned… I don’t feel as though I’m a hopeless case….I rejoice in the fact that I’m not expected to be perfect…. that there is room for failure and mistakes which encourage me to want to keep practising… that I might gradually become more Christlike in my attitudes, responses and behaviour.

But there’s more! Another reason why Peter chose this word ‘hupogrammos’ – this is beautiful… even more encouraging! Sometimes the schoolmaster traced the letters in the wax of the tablet…then he would take hold of the boy’s hand and guide his hand over the grooves….thus ensuring that he would make no mistakes. So, at first, the teacher helped the boy by placing his hand over the pupil’s…. but then he he would let go of the hand and let the pupil try it by himself and the edges of the grooves would keep him from straying beyond the boundary.

You can begin to see why Peter deliberately chose this word ‘hupogrammos’. To have to copy the ‘hupogrammos’ all by oneself can seem too difficult and demanding, leading to discouragement. But just imagine the difference that it made for the pupil to have the master’s hand over his hand, and to have the grooves to follow, so that his pen could not stray, made things so much easier…. so much more encouraging.

That’s the picture Peter is painting for us….Yes, Jesus did leave us an example ‘that you should follow in his steps’…that is what is expected of us…. that is part of what it means to be a disciple… to follow his example… yes, Jesus is our example, but he doesn’t just leave with us that example and expect us to get on with it the best we can… as the master’s hand guided the pupil’s first fumbling efforts, so he guides us… our master gently puts his hand over ours to guide and direct us… to encourage us to become more like him…as the groove kept the pupil’s pen within the boundary, so his grace guides and directs us. What a beautiful picture that is! How encouraging is that!

Yes, he left us the dauntingly perfect ‘hupogrammos’, but that’s not the end of it… there is room for errors and mistakes… there is the possibility of improvement…. but more than that, he also constantly gives us the grace to follow it. Not an example to ‘freak us out’, but an example to follow.. not an example to infuriate, but to inspire!

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PREACHER: REV. ADRIAN HALLETT

READINGS: GEN.1:1-5 & JOHN 3:1-15

SERIES: ‘THE MUST SAYINGS OF JESUS’.

2) ‘YOU MUST BE BORN AGAIN’.

Everything that Jesus says is vitally important….when he says we ‘must’ do something then we have to take special note. So we continue our series today on the ‘must’ sayings of Jesus. Note also the thrust of the meaning in the Greek – ‘something absolutely necessary/essential’….something that has to be… something that is non-negotiable….in some cases can mean to convey something inevitable. There is an imperative about it.  Two weeks ago we looked at ‘I must be about my Father’s business’.  And what is  his Father’s business?  To bring people into the kingdom of God.  And how do we enter the kingdom? ‘You must be born again’.

And so we come to the second one in our series from John 3 – ‘You must be born again’. I want to approach it by asking three questions: 1) Why? Why must we be born again? 2) Who? Who must be born again? & 3) How? How are we born again?

1)WHY?

Why do we need to be born again? People struggle with the concept of having to be born again. Many are offended by it. React to it, thinking that it originated in America…blame Billy Graham! But, no, we need to realise that it originated with Jesus – he’s the one who said ‘we must be born again’.

I’m remeinded of the minister who kept teaching and preaching to his congregation that they must be born again. He never missed any opportunity to ram the same meassage home over and over again. The congregation got rather tired of all this, until one member of the congregation said to him, why do you keep telling us we must be born again? Because, he said, you must be born again! At least he was taking seriously the teaching of Jesus! He knew how important it is.

But back to the question ‘why?’ To answer that question we must go right back to the beginning – to Genesis 3 and The Fall. It points out the result of The Fall – death. Physical death, yes, but also spiritual death. As a result, man is incapable/unable to respond to the Spirit of God… he is spiritually dead. Man to be sure likes to think he is still spiritual and in one sense he is… he will go after and get involved in all sort of alternative spiritualities, but in terms of being able to respond to the God of the Bible – absolutely not!

Look at 1Cor.2:14 – Man is spiritually dead – unresponsive….unable even to understand the things of God. John 3:6 is making a similar point – ‘Flesh gives birth to flesh’… that’s all it is capable of… it can produce nothing of the Holy Spirit. Job 14:4 – ‘Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No one!’

Man in his natural state is a hopeless case, spiritually speaking, – even our good deed s are tainted and stained – Is.64:6 – ‘All our righteous acts are like filthy rags’.

Ours is a desperate situation… separated from God, incapable of responding to the Spirit of God… unable even to understand the things of God.

If you are still not convinced of the hopelessness of our condition, let me read Rom.8:5-8 to you – that says it all – that says it as it really is. Therefore we must be born again. That is our only hope.

2. WHO?

   Who must be born again?People are often still reluctant to accept the ‘why’ of Why must be born again. Is is an affront to the pride of the human heart. We like to think we can do it ‘by my own’! In other words, I can make it as I am. Others may need to be born again, but not me. It doesn’t apply to me.

That’s why Jesus says, ‘you must be born again’ to Nicodemus. This is very significant and important. Let me try and show you what I mean.

There are three things we are told about Nicodemus. He was a Pharisee, he was a member of the Jewish Ruling Council and he was a teacher. Now there are three things we can deduce form that information. 1) He was very religious 2) He was very respectable and 3) He was very responsible.

A) RELIGIOUS

Just how religious was he? As a Pharisee he would have strived to keep the law of Moses…he would have strived to keep the numerous other laws that his religion had developed over the centuries…he strived to uphold the traditions of the elders….He read the Scriptures… he was regular in his prayer pattern….he strived for perfectionism in purity….he tried desperately to lead a holy life…. he therefore separated himself from the the things of the world…. he believed himself to be one of the true and pious people of Israel… he regraded himself as chosen by God. His whole life revolved around his religion. In fact, his religion was his life.

I’m reminded of the words of Paul in another context – to the pagans in Athens in Act 17 – ‘I see that in every way you are very religious’. That was true of Nicodemus. People looking at him would have said exactly that – ‘I see that in every way you are very religious’. That was Nicodemus.

B) RESPECTABLE

We noted that he was a teacher. Now to be a teacher in that culture and religion, you had to be both a moral person and an upright citizen. Not everybody could become a teacher. There were apparently three levels of teacher – and Nicodemus was at the very top. He wasn’t just ‘any old teacher’, he was in fact the teacher of Israel. In the Greek there is a definite article before the word teacher. He was the teacher of Israel – the top man, the teacher above all teachers. You had to be a moral person, an upright citizen to reach that position…. you had, above all else, had to be a respectable person to be the teacher of Israel.

So he was a very respectable person in a very privileged position and so was respected by the people. The Jews held their teachers in high regard… they were in awe of them…. they looked up to him. Nicodemus was very respectable.

C) RESPONSIBLE

How do we know he was responsible? Well, you don’t become a member of the Jewish Ruling Council – The Sanhedrin, if you were irresponsible or unreliable. They were a very august and imposing group of people. The Sanhedrin was made up of the High Priest and those who had been High Priest before…. they came from the privileged families of the land from which the High Priests were chosen.

The responsibilities of The Sanhedrin were considerable… and they had great power to enable the to carry out there duties. They had administrative authority… they could order the arrest of people by its own officers. They had civil and criminal jurisdiction too. They dealt with blasphemy laws – they could charge people with false doctrine, as they did with Peter & John in Acts 4 and could try people for transgressing Mosaic Law as they did with Paul in Acts 22-24.

They had great political and religious authority. Therefore they were a very responsible body…. and to be a member of that Ruling Council, you had to be an extremely responsible person – that was Nicodemus – he was extremely responsible.

Who, perhaps, would be a modern day equivalent? Somebody from a privileged background and family, perhaps the aristocracy. Somebody who would have had the finest education – Eton and Oxbridge. Someone with the finest of intellects – perhaps a professor of Theology at Oxford….Someone in a respectable position, perhaps ordained – a bishop or even better, an archbishop… a member of the House of Lords.

In other words, the very best in our society….someone everybody would look up to and respect. Someone who had made it – who had arrived and yet was still a pillar of society…who hadn’t succumbed to the trappings of power and prestige….the sort of person people would say is acceptable to God. If there is such a place as heaven, an unbeliever might say, this man gets in! How could God not accept somebody like that!

But, you see, it is exactly to that kind of person Jesus says you must be born again. He says this of all people, to Nicodemus! Do you begin to see the significance of all this? It’s very striking.

Now if Jesus had said to the woman at the well in John 4 – the woman who had had 5 husbands and was now living with someone who wasn’t her husband. What would people have said? ‘She needed to be born again – she was an extremely immoral woman’.

Or, if Jesus had said it to the woman caught in adultery in John 8. What would people have said? ‘People like her, an adulteress, people like her need to be born again’.

Or, if he had said it to the woman in Luke 7:37 ‘who had led a sinful life’ – a prostitute… the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume and the proceeded to wash his feet with her tears and then wiped his feet with her hair. What would people have said if Jesus had said ‘you must be born again’ to her? Self -righteousness would have come straight to the fore…’It’s people like her who need to hear about this born again stuff. People who lead sinful lives like her… and anyway, she was obviously emotionally unstable. Of course she needed to be born again!

One last example. What if he had said it to Mary Magdalene, out of whom 7 demons were cast out in Mark 19:9? You can just imagine what would have been said – ‘If you get involved with the occult then of course you need to be born again!’

That’s why Jesus said ‘you must be born again’ to Nicodemus – who needs to be born again? We all do! You say to me, ‘I’m religious – I go to church/pray/read my bible etc.’ Are you as religious as Nicodemus? You must be born again.

You say to me ‘I’m very responsible/respectable. I would say to you, ‘Are you as responsible/respectable as Nicodemus?’ You must be born again.

3. HOW ?

How are we born again? Nicodemus believed salvation was by law/works – by an act of man. Now he was being taught that salvation is a gift of God. Ask anybody how they are made right with God/acceptable to God and they will answer just like Nicodemus – salvation by works – salvation by an act of man. We too have to be taught that salvation is a gift of God.

When we read, ‘You must be born again’, it doesn’t mean ‘now see to it that you are born again’ – it doesn’t mean ‘pull your self up by your bootstraps and make sure you are born again’. It’s pointing to the fact that something has to happen to you….that something has to be done for you. It has nothing to do with an act of man.

Look at John 3:5 – ‘Water’ there refers to baptism I believe, although there are other possible interpretations – the baptism of repentance seems to me the most likely – so repentance in this context means a realisation of the futility of thinking we can save ourselves…. a recognition that flesh can only give birth to flesh…. an acknowledgement that we cannot bring what is pure from the impure… leading to an openness, a desire for the Holy Spirit to plant in our hearts that life from above.

In a minute we are going to sing our closing hymn – ‘Rock of Ages’. I have chosen it because it ties in so well with the ‘How’ of being born again.

Let me read verse 2 to you – What is that pointing to? A realisation that birth gives birth to flesh… the futility of thinking we can save ourselves.

Then there is verse 3 – Again, what is that pointing to? A recognition that we can contribute nothing to this new birth….not something we can do… that something has to happen to us….something that has to be done for us. A desire for the Holy Spirit to plant in our hearts that life from above. As you sing this hymn, ask yourself, ‘Is his something that has happened to me?’

One last point – let’s remember that one of the attributes of the Holy Spirit is that he is gentle. One of the fruits of the Spirit is ‘gentleness’ (Gal.5:3) that he imparts to us as we are born again. I’ve heard the Holy Spirit described as a gentleman in that he never forces himself on anyone. So, if we want to the H.S. to plant in our hearts that life from above, we have to ask him to do just that.

I remember, many years ago when I was Rural Dean of Ivelchester (sounds like a cheese, doesn’t it?!) I tried to introduce something more spiritual than the usual discussion about money and maintenance of the churches. Much to my surprise a lady form that Synod phoned me a few days later and asked if she could come and see me. When she arrived she told me of her struggles with the Christian faith.

Basically she knew all about the Christian faith, but didn’t know the founder of the Christian faith. She knew all about Jesus but had never met him personally, never had that personal relationship with him. I gently suggested that she needed to pray a simple prayer of commitment – she willingly agreed. The transformation in her was amazing and she told me many times how her faith had become alive. She became what a friend of mine described people like her as ‘a kicking Christian’ – alive and used by God. She was born again – because she asked the Holy Spirit to place in her that life from above. Have you done that?

So there we have it. You must be born again.´ Why? Because we are spiritually dead. Who needs to be born again? If Nicodemus needed to be born again, then you and I certainly need to be born again! How are we born again? Repent of the arrogance of thinking we can save ourselves ask – ask the H.S. to plant in you that life from above.

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PREACHER: REV. ADRIAN HALLETT

READINGS: COL. 1: 3-13

SERMON TITLE: “PROMISED POWER”

You will notice from our Colossian’s reading that Paul talks of ‘power’. That is music to the ears for many, many Christians. The promise of power! Many Christians talk of the importance of power… emphasise the need for power in the life of the church. You could actually say that many in the church are

1. PREOCUUPIED WITH POWER (my first heading this morning).

This has been especially true over the last three or four decades. I remember when I was at theological college training for the ministry (78-81), that there was a lot of talk about power – particularly at that time ‘power evangelism’. Some of my fellow students bought into this movement and got very involved. The call, or the emphasis was for the church to rediscover the power it once had, to become like the early church in Acts. The emphasis was on the power to heal…. to perform the miraculous – then, it was believed, people would sit up and take notice. Modern man would then be so impressed by the power of the church that hey would flock to Christ in their thousands. Just like it was in the Book of Acts!

All very appealing! All very attractive! Who wouldn’t want the church to be more powerful and effective in our needy world? As I said, many people bought into this, but I can remember feeling uneasy about it all – some people wrote me off as not being very ‘spiritual’! But if power… if the miraculous… if dramatic healings were the answer, why did Jesus say, as the crowds gathered around him? ‘This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah’ (speaking of his resurrection). Time and again, the people asked for another sign…. another miracle, but their motives were all wrong. They were fascinated and impressed by his ability to perform miracles, but they just wanted more…. yet another miracle – ‘Let’s see what this miracle worker will do next. What trick will he perform for us now?’ They just got hooked on the miraculous and never understood the purpose of them. They weren’t interested in the spiritual significance of the miracles….they just wanted more…. more miracles…. more evidence of his power.

They too were a people preoccupied with power, but in the end, they turned on him…. despised him…. rejected him…. and shouted ‘crucify him!’ Miracles alone, more evidence of power alone are not the answer.

But the preoccupation with power goes on….we’ve had calls for ‘power evangelism’…. we’ve had calls for more power to witness, more power to work miracles…. more power to have an effective healing ministry, more power to overcome demonic forces…. more power to take control of cities under the control of Satan…. more and more power…. this craving for power – so that the world will sit up and take notice!

And still I am uneasy about this constant preoccupation with power. Matthew 7 v. 21-23 are the two scariest verses in the Bible: “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord Lord’, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers’.

These people thought they were Christians…. these people claimed to be Christians….these people undoubtedly had power…. these people were preoccupied with power, to the extent that they had tapped into the wrong power source. They had to have power, and in the end didn’t take the trouble to ‘test the spirits’… to check on the source of this ‘power’. If Jesus doesn’t know them, then what they were doing was not being done in the power of the Holy Spirit. The only alternative power source is the demonic. What a warning that is for all those who become occupied with power! Scary, scary stuff!

So, we have to be very careful in our search for power. Having said that, is there

2. A PLACE FOR POWER

The answer to that is a resounding ‘yes!’ There is a right power…. the power of God…. the power of the Holy Spirit…. there must always be a place for the power of God…. for the church to be renewed and empowered. There must always be a place for God to work in revival power. And there have been some marvellous moments in church history when God has worked in that way – something that the we should pray for and long for, so that people might be genuinely convicted of sin and cry out for salvation. There is a place for God’s power, but it has to be his power….. this power is not something that we can in some way ‘manufacture’…. we can’t be the ones, as it were, to ‘order’ God to work in power…. ‘name it and claim it’, as it is in the Word Faith Movement (or ‘blab it and grab it’ as some critics of that movement describe it!). We can’t use our faith as some kind of impersonal force (as some apparently believe) to force God’s hand…. a kind of ‘lever’ that prompts him into action.

There is a place for power – God’s power to save, heal and deliver…. that is a legitimate prayer concern…to see God moving in power on masses of people in true revival.

There is a place for power, revival power, but is that the kind of power that Paul is talking of here? Revivals are not that common. We pray for them, we long for them, but they are certainly not an everyday occurrence. In the meantime, we have to live out our Christian lives in the real, ordinary, everyday world. We need power for that and that is what we now turn to, the promised power to Christians to enable them to live out their Christian life:

3) THE PROMISED POWER

The world in which you and I live is not an easy world in which to live – even, for Christians. We all have various and different problems and difficulties to face. We can’t avoid them. Many Christians, when talking of power, particularly the power of faith, expect that God will in some way lift them out of the problems and difficulties that people (lesser Christians) have to face because they don’t have enough faith. But when the problems and difficulties continue, even though they have exercised the ‘power of faith’, they are left feeling confused and discouraged – the power they were trusting in doesn’t deliver. Jesus said didn’t he, ‘that in this world you will have tribulation’ – he didn’t promise us an easy ride, but he did promise to be with us through the trials and tribulations. This is what Paul is pointing to in his letter to the Colossians. He’s pointing to the promised power of God for all Christians– to be ‘strengthened with all power…. so that you may have great endurance and patience’ (Col.1:11).

Now people in the world are not impressed with something like that…. strength to endure….. they don’t like the sound of that…. it’s not very appealing to them…. they don’t want hear such talk. When the trials and tribulations come, they will generally think it’s ‘unfair’…. that it’s too much to bear…. why should I be unhappy etc. etc….. when it gets too much, they just want out. The tragedy is that many Christians think like that as well…. the problems and the difficulties come…. and because they keep coming and coming…. they begin to think it is pointless to believe…. they doubt God’s ability to do anything for them – they give up, or walk away.

Now I don’t want to minimise the pain and the struggles and the tensions that many Christians have to face. When we go through painful times and when the trials and tribulations just keep coming and coming, it can be incredibly difficult. I don’t know what you might be facing at the moment… it might be relationship problems… it might be a loss of friendship…. it might be marital problems…. you may be having to face a major disappointment…. maybe it’s financial difficulties…. maybe it’s rejection of friends and family because of your Christian faith…. you’ve gone ‘all religious’… maybe it’s a health scare. It may be any of those things or more. One thing we can be sure of – we all to face setbacks, disappointments, frustrations, opposition, rejection – we can’t avoid them. We need a full supply of God’s promised power if we are to continue steadfastly and to be able to persevere.

There is no ‘magic wand’…. there is no promise of a miraculous delivery from the trials and tribulations we have to face, but there is the promise of God’s power. Therefore what I can say to you is that you will come through. Why? Because God’s power is at work in your life. You may be shaken, but you will not be shattered, knocked down, but not knocked out. And what is more, you will come through this experience with thanksgiving – that’s part of the promise as well, ‘being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience and joyfully giving thanks to the Father…’ (Col.1:11-12). ‘Joyfully giving thanks’ … even through all that endurance and patience. How can that be? Because through your difficulties you will be brought closer to God himself. What a promise! The promised power for the Christian. A promise I know to be true. I trust that you have or will experience the truth of that for yourselves in whatever you maybe facing.

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