A Chinese Christian in Cambridge

God of war (Judges 15)

2012-02-02T16:45:00.000Z

After some days, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson went to visithis wife with a young goat. And he said, “I will go in to my wife in thechamber.” But her father would not allow him to go in. And her father said, “Ireally thought you had utterly hated her, so gave her to your companion. Is nother younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.”

And Samson said to them, “This time I shall be innocent in regard tothe Philistines, when I do them harm.”
Judges 15:1-3

Samson isn’t the kind of guy you want to upset. You want tomake sure he is always happy. You want to make sure he never ever loses his temper. Because Samson’sa lot like the Marvel cartoon character, the Hulk. “When Samson angry... Samsonsmash!”

And that’s the reaction of his father-in-law in thebeginning of the story here in Chapter 15. Samson visits his wife with a gift –a young goat (maybe she might have appreciated some chocolates instead, but ayoung goat was a thing of value) – and this picks up from the events of hiswedding day back in Chapter 14. There in verse 19, Samson in “hot anger” wentback to his father’s house, but not before killing thirty men to steal theirclothes in order to repay a bet he had lost on his wedding day.

But now Samson is back. The goat’s probably his way ofsaying, “Sorry for leaving you at the altar, honey... oh, and for killing all thosecousins of yours on the way home. No hard feelings.” What Samson doesn’t know,of course, is that his wife has been given to another man (his “best man”according to 14:20) by his father-in-law.

The reason for this? Verse 2: “I really thought you utterly hated her.” After all, Samsonwas the one who walked out on his wife – on his wedding day of all days. Themarriage was not even consummated (hence verse 1, “I will go in to my wife inthe chamber” – that’s what he had come to take care of). So, Daddy thought,Samson must not have wanted her at all and gave her away. It all soundsrational. It all sounds reasonable, even. After all, Dad managed to save his daughterfrom dying an old maid. But then look at what Dad says next, “Is not heryounger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.”

You see, these two daughters were to their father as thatgoat was to Samson. They were just things of value. “Take this daughterinstead,” Dad said to Samson in an attempt to placate him, to appease hispsychotic murdering son-in-law who could easily tear him limb from limb. Samsonbrought a goat; Dad brought out his younger daughter. Same thing.

But it didn’t work. Verse 3: And Samson said to them, “Thistime I shall be innocent in regard to the Philistines, when I do them harm.” Meaning:“Now, I’m really mad.”

But also, what Samson meant was, “Now, I’m right to get mad.”

So Samson went and caught 300 foxes and took torches. And he turnedthem tail to tail and put a torch between each pair of tails. And when he hadset fire to the torches, he let the foxes go into the standing grain of thePhilistines and set fire to the stacked grain and the standing grain, as wellas the olive orchards.
Judges 15:4-5

How he did this, I have no idea. Samson rounded up 300foxes, tied them up in pairs by their tails, somehow attaching a flaming torchbetween each pair. Presumably the foxes would then try to run off in oppositedirections but end up zig-zagging through the fields setting fire to the grainin the process. It was mad and yet it was also quite brilliant. Samsonsingle-handedly destabilised an entire nation’s economy. He destroyed all theirfood supplies (both the “stacked grain” as well as the “standing grain”). Heeven targeted their olive orchards, which, for an agrarian society, was at thevery heart of their wealth. There was method in his madness.

Samson wanted revenge and he knew where to hit where ithurt.

Then the Philistines said, “Who has done this?” And they said, “Samson,the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife and given her tohis companion.” And the Philistines came up and burned her and her father withfire.
Judges 15:6

Last week we saw how Samson’s wife was forced into theimpossible situation of either betraying her husband or risk being burned withher father’s household. “Entice your husband to tell us what the riddle is,”they said to her in 14:15, “lest we burn you and your father’s house withfire.” She did what they told her to and yet here we read that they burn heranyways. Notice that it wasn’t just Dad’s fault for making Samson mad. “ThePhilistines came up and burned herand her father with fire.”

For Samson, it was yet another reason to get mad.

And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will beavenged on you and after that I will quit.” And he struck them hip and thighwith a great blow, and he went down and stayed in the cleft of the rock ofEtam.
Judges 15:7-8

Samson was not out for justice. He wanted vengeance. Hesays, “I will be avenged.” You havedone this – not to my wife; not to her family – you have done this to me. What followed was more violenceand more death.

At the heart of all this is a guy who simply does whateverhe wants. Worryingly still, he gets away with it. When kids throw a tantrum,they might hold their breath or start chucking food on the walls, but there’s alimit to the destruction they can cause. The adults know that, and moreimportantly, the kids themselves learn that over time. But this guy doesn’t. Hedoes whatever feels right. In Chapter 14, he sees a Philistine girl he likesand that’s reason enough to take her as his wife – irrespective of his parents’wishes, irrespective of God’s wishes. That’s what his father-in-law was gettingat when he pushed his younger daughter in front of Samson, “See, see... isn’tshe more beautiful in your eyes?” The people around Samson know him wellenough. They know that he is one huge walking appetite that constantly needs fillingup. There is no right or wrong for Samson. Everything is about what Samsonwants and what Samson needs. That’s his justification – for anger, for rage,even for murder.

And yet what we are going to see next is God using Samson’sappetite and sinfulness for God’s sovereign purpose. What we are going to seeis God’s will fulfilled not in spite of Samson anger, but through his selfish anger– to reveal God’s plan and to bring about God’s salvation.

But first, in order to do that, God is going to use Samsonto spark a war!

Then the Philistines came up and encamped in Judah and made a raid onLehi. And the men of Judah said, “Why have you come up against us?” They said,“We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he did to us.” Then 3,000 menof Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, “Doyou not know that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this thatyou have done to us?” And he said to them, “As they did to me, so have I doneto them.”
Judges 15:9-11

Samson’s really done it now. What started out as a bar-roombrawl has now escalated into a full-fledged war between two nations. ThePhilistines deploy their tanks and military forces to the borders of Judah inan attempt to find and capture Rambo, and understandably, the people of Judahare freaked out to wake up the next morning only to find a battalion of tanks parked up their front driveway! “Whyhave you come up against us?” they ask. The answer? One single man isresponsible: Samson did this to us and we have come to repay the favour.

The people of Judah are shaking in their boots. So what theydid next was motivated purely by fear – they were fearful of war. They werefearful of destruction by a superior force. And yet, what we also see is thatthe men of Judah were immensely fearful of Samson. They gather 3000 men, not toface the enemy, but to betray a fellow countryman. There at Samson’s hideout,the rock of Etam, 3000 men stood surrounded one man, Samson, just to bring himin and turn him over to the enemy.

If you look back to the very beginning of Judges Chapter 1,there we see Judah leading the charge into enemy territory. Judah was thestrongest and bravest of all of the clans of Israel, defeating an army of10,000 men in Bezek (Judges 1:4). And if you look ahead to verse 16, we findout the number of Philistine soldiers encamped at the border of Judah – onethousand men. That is, here are 3,000 men of Judah fearful of an army one-thirdits size; here is Judah, 3,000 men strong but fearful of one man, Samson. Inthe book of Judges, the tribe of Judah start out bold and courageous. They endup fearful and cowardly.

They say to Samson – almost matter-of-factly – “Don’t knowthe Philistines are rulers over us?” Here is a generation that has accepteddefeat. Here is a generation which has chosen not to fight. They have given upand given in to another power – not God, but man. The Philistines are rulersover us – that’s a pretty damning statement. The Philistines are in charge now,not us. And definitely, not God. In their minds, it’s Samson who needs to getwith the program.

For the past few months at Rock Fellowship we have beenjourneying through the book of Judges and what we have encountered again andagain are cycles of our sin and God’s salvation. Each generation of God’speople go through cycles of (1) rebellion against God through idolatry and sin;they face (2) judgement from God who hands them over to their enemies; theythen (3)cry out to God for help in repentance; (4) God answers by sending ajudge to save them; (5) there is momentary peace in the land; (6) the judgedies and the people soon forget God’s help and fall back into sin.

Look how this generation of Israelites began back in JudgesChapter 13.

And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, sothe LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
Judges 13:1

It is the beginning of a new cycle. Israel did evil beforeGod. God punished Israel by giving them over to their enemies. But then? Nothing.No cry for help. No repentance before God. God does, however, raise up Samson asa judge – from birth, I might add – but this is not in response to any form ofrepentance or call for help. And two chapters later, here in Chapter 15, wefind out why.

“Don’t you know the Philistines are rulers over us?”

The Israelites had given up. God was no longer in chargeover their lives; the Philistines were. It was a pitiful situation. The fear ofman had led a whole generation of believers to compromise their faith in God.The fear of man had led these Israelites to betray one of their own brothers.Even Samson could see this. He had to ask them for an assurance that they wouldnot kill him themselves. For the first time in the story, we see a hint of fearin the mighty Samson, or should I say, shame.He is fearful of their betrayal and ashamedof their cowardice.

And they said to him, “We have come down to bind you, that we may giveyou into the hands of the Philistines.” And Samson said to them, “Swear to methat you will not attack me yourselves.” They said to him, “No; we will onlybind you and give you into their hands. We will surely not kill you.” So theybound him with two new ropes and brought him up from the rock.
Judges 15:12-13

“We will surely not kill you,” they say to Samson. All theywould do was hand him over to be killed. All they would do was tie him up,escort him outside of their border and surrender him into the hands of theenemy. That’s all they would do. They were rationalising their sin: “We aren’tgoing to hurt you.” They were justifying their sin, “There is nothing else wecan do. The Philistines are in charge.”

But the truth is: God is the one who is in charge. And Godwould do something about the situation.

When he came to Lehi, the Philistines came shouting to meet him. Thenthe Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and the ropes that were on his armsbecame as flax that has caught fire, and his bonds melted off his hands. And hefound a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put out his hand and took it, and withit he struck 1,000 men. And Samson said,

“With the jawbone of a donkey,
heaps upon heaps,
with the jawbone of a donkey
have I struck down a thousand men.”

As soon as he had finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone out ofhis hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.
Judges 15:14-17

Samson takes down the entire Philistine army –single-handedly! It’s like the opening scene of one of those Hollywood movietrailers where the deep-voiced commentator goes (ala James Earl-Jones), “Oneman... against impossible odds! One man against an army, armed with nothingelse.... but a jawbone!”

Now, in case we miss the turning point of the story, don’tforget that just moments earlier, Samson was fearful of his own people’sbetrayal. Moments earlier, Samson was bound “with two new ropes” and escortedto the border by 3,000 Israelite soldiers.

And as he approached the Philistine forces , they celebratedtheir victory over Samson! “The Philistines came shouting to meet him” (Judges15:14). “We have won!” they thought.

But then we read, “The Spirit of the LORD rushed upon(Samson)”. God empowered Samson with super-human strength. And in case wemissed how extraordinary God’s intervention was, it even tells us that hishand-cuffs turned to jelly: “The ropes that were on his arms became as flaxthat has caught fire.” God unmistakeably did this. God turned the tables on thePhilistines.

You might even say: God caused this war.

Not Samson. Yes,his selfishness and thirst for vengeance led him from one conflict to another.But God chose this guy to be the judge. God empowered him with his Spirit. Godmade the ropes on his hands fall apart. Samson was God’s means to God’s end.

Not the Philistines.Yes, they had overpowered this generation of Israelites. But right from thebeginning of Judges 13, it reads, “The LORD gave them into the hands of thePhilistines”. God empowered the Philistines, too, enabling them to rule over Israel.

And certainly not theIsraelites. They shrank away from the fight. They had given up the fight,even though God had commanded them to subdue the land. But God steps in, raisesa judge and trouble-maker who is Samson – a man who, certainly loves to fight –and starts a war between the two nations.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Samson is far from perfect. Infact, Samson is downright selfish, impetuous, proud and sinful. But that doesnot mean that God is unable to use Samson for his purposes to save.

To save? Yes, to save.In fact, that’s the word Samson uses in the very next verse. He calls it a“great salvation”.

And he was very thirsty, and he called upon the LORD and said, “Youhave granted this great salvation by the hand of your servant, and shall I nowdie of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” And God split openthe hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it. And when hedrank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore, the name of it wascalled En-hakkore; it is in Lehi to this day.
Judges 15:18-19

Salvation means rescue.Rescue from harm. Rescue from evil. Rescue from death. That’s what it means to be saved. Salvationmeans rescue.

But here the bible is giving us a bigger picture of what itmeans to be saved. It is the defeatof evil. It is the defeat of God’senemies. It is the defeat of death. Thepicture the bible paints of salvation here in this episode of Samson’s life isthat of war and conflict.

The “great salvation” by the hand of Samson was a great actof violence. He killed 1,000 men and pilled their bodies in a mound so high, hecould even sing, “Heaps upon heaps... have I struck down a thousand men.” Itwas a brutal, bloody, gory scene of death. But in that we see a picture of thegreat salvation God had given Samson – the death of this army. Samson marks hisvictory by naming the hill, Ramath-lehi, which means Jawbone Hill (We’ll lookat the significance of that in just a few moments).

But also, we see God’s great salvation in a second sceneright after – in the giving of the water to quench Samson’s thirst. “And Godsplit open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came out from it.”Samson names that place too, En-hakkore – “The spring of him who called”. Thattoo, was God’s salvation come to Samson, but this time it was a scene of God’sgreat patience and generosity with Samson.

Samson is still Samson. He is doing what is right in his owneyes – he isn’t thinking, “How can I do God’s will and help my people turn backto God?” Absolutely not! He is taking revenge on his enemies and boasting abouthis own strength. “With the jawbone of a donkey have I struck down a thousandmen.” I did this. Me.

Also, don’t miss the significance of the jawbone. Thenarrator takes great pains to describe how “he found a fresh jawbone... and putout his hand and took it, and with it he struck 1,000 men.” The fact that itwas fresh meant that it was probably still bloody and was part of a corpse. AndSamson’s parents had been instructed since his birth to make sure that he kepthis vows as a Nazirite, one of which involved never-ever touching a dead corpse(well, actually this was a blanket prohibition for all Israelites). Samson goesout of his way to defy God’s word. Yet the amazing thing is he ends up doingGod’s will.

Even when calls out to God in thirst, it looks like aridiculous situation doesn’t it? “God, you have saved me, but now are you goingto let me die?” We might be tempted to give him two tight slaps to wake him upfrom his stupidity. What does God do? God miraculously splits a rock to open afresh spring of water. What does Samson do? He boasts! He names that place “TheSpring of the One who Called”. Not “The Spring of the One who Answered”. No,it’s Samson who rang the right number, who got God to answer on the phone, andwho was responsible for this miraculous spring of water. This was Samson’sspring.

Samson is still Samson. ButGod is still God.

He is the God who saves his people even when they rejecthim. He is the God who hears his people when they cry out to him. He is the Godwho is patient, gracious and loving towards men and women who are sinful,rebellious and ungrateful. God is still God.

We forget that often and easily. When circumstances change.When we change. We forget that God is unchanging in his holiness, his power andhis love. God is always holy. God is always in charge. And God is alwaysgracious and loving even when we are not.

And what the bible does is remind us again and again thatGod is God.

1. God isour ruler
Not the Philistines. Not your overbearing boss at work. Not even if you live ina country run by dictators and corrupt politicians who oppress you because ofthe colour of your skin or the God whom you worship. God rules over allkingdoms, all parliaments, all presidents. He establishes all governments toensure justice and peace. They may fail in this regard, and leave them in powerlong enough, they will fail. But God is always in charge.

The truth of this hits home when you consider nations with rulers andgovernments who do not acknowledge God’s sovereignty. Romans 13:1 says, “Thereis no authority except from God.” That includes the United States. Thatincludes North Korea.

In such situations we remember Jesus who said to Pilate, “You would have noauthority over me at all unless it hadbeen given you from above.” (John 19:11) God had given Pilate, the Romangovernor, the authority to execute Jesus on the cross. Even through the eventsof the murder of his Son, God was sovereign. God was in charge.

And like the Israelites in Samson’s day, so the Israelites at Jesus’ trial,denied that God was in charge over their lives. What did they cry out beforePilate when he taunted them, “Shall I crucify your King?” (John 19:15)

“We have no king but Caesar.”

With that last damning statement, they crucified Jesus. They had rejected himas the Christ. They had rejected God as the King. Yet in doing so, Pilate andthe chief priests and the people of Jerusalem and the Roman guards and theexecutioners and the friends who abandoned Jesus and even Judas who betrayedJesus, were all doing the will of God. God was sovereign over the cross. Jesuswas crowned through his crucifixion.

The cross reveals the ultimate rejection of God as King. The cross displays theultimate sovereignty of Jesus as the Christ.

2. God will defeat all his enemies
The salvation of God’s people means the defeat of God’s enemies. Thatwas what happened in the Exodus – the Red Sea which gave safe passage to Israelwas the same waters that swallowed up the entire Egyptian army. That was whathappened here in Judges: one moment the Philistines are rejoicing over theircaptive, Samson; in another, Samson is standing over a mountain piled with theirbodies.

And the bible tells us the certainty of this final judgement comes to us throughthe cross of Jesus Christ.
“He had fixed a day on which he willjudge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this hehas given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”
(Acts 17:31)

The cross is God’s announcement, not simply that Judgement will come, but thatJudgement has already come. God has fixedthe day. God has appointed Jesus, the man. We know this how? Because God hasraised Jesus from the dead.

3. God will save his people
The last verse of Judges 15 reads, “And he (meaning, Samson) judgedIsrael in the days of the Philistines twenty years.” (Judges 15:20)

Samson is the anti-hero. No one voted for him. No one asked for his help. YetGod chooses Samson from birth to be saviour and judge over a people who do needhelp; who do need a saviour, whether they are willing to admit or not. In theface of man’s rejection and sinfulness, God is still gracious to save.

“The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance,” the apostle Paul beginsin 1 Timothy 1:15, as he summarises the message of the gospel, “that ChristJesus came into the world to save sinners.” And then he adds, “of whom I am theforemost.”

Who did Jesus come to save? Sinners. Who are you if you call yourself aChristian? A sinner.

Jesus did not come to save good people, moral people, righteous people –because there are none. He came to die for and to take the sin of rebelliouspeople. Bad people. And if you are a Christian, that’s you. That’s me.

God is gracious. I am sinful. And Jesus came for me. That’s how the gospelworks.

But God, being rich in mercy, because ofhis great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in ourtrespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved –and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places inChrist Jesus.
(Ephesians 2:4-6)

As tempting as it is to stop here, I think this passage fromJudges 15 requires us to think more about how God works in response to our fearof man and our inaction over sin. In particular, many may read these verses andbe troubled by a blood-thirsty character like Samson and how God actually useshim to stir up trouble at a time of relative peace. And yet as uncomfortableand perhaps, as embarrassed, as we may be as Christians, with such descriptionsof violence and war today, we forget that this is the context of the book ofJudges. Indeed, it is the very language of the bible.

Each generation of believers in Judges finds new reasons toshrink back from the mandate given by God to subdue the Promised Land. Eachgeneration shrinks back from the battle. And in each and every generation, Godraises an Othniel “who went out to war” (Judges 3:10), an Ehud who assassinatesthe Moabite king (Judges 3:12-30), a Deborah who has to kick general Barak inthe backside to get him to launch an attack on the Canaanites (Judges 4-5), thetimid pimple-faced Facebook-addicted hacker, Gideon, whom God calls a “mightywarrior” (Judges 6:12) and ends up taking down over 120,000 men in battle(Judges 8:10), and now a Samson, the superhero with a short fuse. With eachjudge in each generation, God is leading his people back into, and not awayfrom, the war.

Some dismiss such language as archaic. It’s just the OldTestament, they say, when God was angry and men were uncivilised. They say thatJesus came to preach peace, love, joy, happiness – not war, destruction, death.And yet this is the same Jesus who says to his disciples, “Do not think I havecome to bring peace on the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”(Matthew 10:34) Or at Christmas-time when we read that the angels proclaimJesus’ birth to the shepherds, singing, “Glory to God in the highest, and onearth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” we miss the verse beforedescribing them as a “multitude of heavenly host”, which could be just asaccurately translated as a multitude of “armies” – a reference to the common expressionfound in the Old Testament of God as the “Lord of hosts”, which simply meansthe God of armies. These are God’s angelic military forces announcing thecoming of the Commander-in-Chief, the birth of Jesus Christ.

Perhaps the most striking image of war and conflict is foundin the pages of the last book of the bible. Revelation 12:7 reads, “Now wararose in heaven,” followed by a great struggle between God’s angels and thedevil, pictured as a red dragon in opposition to God, and especially towardsJesus. Almost immediately, however, we find out that the dragon and his minionsare defeated (Revelation 12:8), and Satan is thrown out of heaven. “Therefore,rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them!” There is victory in heaven. Notso, on the earth. “But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come downto you in great wrath, because he knows his time is short!”

The devil is defeated. But precisely because he knows this,it tells us that he goes off to “make war... on those who keep the commandmentsof God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.” (Revelation 12:17)

It is saying this: If you are in Jesus; if you hold to themessage of cross – the devil has you in his sights. What do you do? Verse 11 saysyou overcome the devil with the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross.

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word oftheir testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.
Revelation 12:11

The Christian life is a battle. Against the devil. Againstthe world. Against sin. And the only weapon we have at our disposal is the onlyweapon we need. It is the gospel. Jesus Christ has conquered the devil. JesusChrist is the true king of heaven and earth. And Jesus Christ has taken my sin,given me new life and lives in me through his spirit. The gospel is the goodnews that Jesus Christ is the victorious saviour over the devil, death and sinthrough his work on the cross on my behalf.

And until he returns on that final day of judgement andsalvation, Jesus Christ enables me to stand by grace, through faith, on thisgospel of peace.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put onthe whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes ofthe devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against therulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this presentdarkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Thereforetake up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evilday, and having done all, to stand firm.
Ephesians 6:10-13

Our call to war to love the captive soul
But to rage against the captor
And with the sword that makes the wounded whole
We will fight with faith and valour
When faced with trials on every side
We know the outcome is secure
And Christ will have the prize for which He died
An inheritance of nations
(“O Church Arise”, by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend)

Only by grace (Ephesians 2:1-10)

2012-01-22T10:06:00.000Z

Understandinggrace

The hardest thing for a Chinese person to read in thispassage is not the bit about sin.It’s not even the part where it talks about thedevil leading us into sin. And while I do think that many of the auntiesand uncles in church today might be shocked at the mention of death in verse 1 – where it says, “Youwere dead in your transgressions” –and they will go, “Choi! Choi! How can you talk about death during Chinese NewYear?!” Still, that may not be the hardest thing for us to hear today.

No, I think the hardest thing for an Asian person to hear andunderstand is Chapter 2, verse 8.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this notfrom yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8

It’s saying this: Salvation is free. The word Paul uses is“grace”. He calls it “the gift of God.”

A Chinaman hears that something is free and he goes, “Free?Is there something wrong with this ‘free’ gift?” In a culture which puts apremium on hard work, receiving something for nothing – or for free – just sounds lazy. There must be a catch. There must be something wrong with it (Likethe expired food section in the supermarket).

Or the other extreme might be that we hear that something isgiven away for free and we tell our kids, “Take! Take! Ask for some more!” Likethe big banquet of Chinese food we are going to have right after this. We seethe roast duck and go, “Wah! Take as much as you can!”

As Asians, we have a hard time understanding the value and thepurpose of something that is free. Because nothing in life is free. That’s whatour tradition, our elders and everything in our own experience teaches us. Eitherwe work hard to earn that good life andwe work hard to earn that money. Or we takeadvantage of every opportunity – get as many red packets while you stillcan, fill up the plate with as much roast duck and char siu before it all goes– so as not to waste that opportunity. Why? Because our culture teaches us: Nothing is free. If it is free, either there’s a catch or it’s not going tolast forever.

But when the bible talks about God’s free gift of salvation,it is describing the most valuable thing we could ever receive from God. Thisis the most expensive, the most costly and the most precious gift that God offersus in Jesus Christ. And it comes to us forfree.

Or to be more exact, the bible says, it comes to us by grace.

Grace meansundeserved love. It is giving the best that you have to the worst personyou know. That’s what God did for us in Jesus Christ. He gave the best gift tothe most undeserving people. And that is how verse 1 begins.

You were dead

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which youused to live when you followed the ways of this world and ruler of the kingdomof the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.
Ephesians 2:1-2

Who is Paul talking about? You. “You were dead,” he says. Not that guy over there. Not the embarrassinguncle who turns up once a year at reunion dinner. You. You were dead in yourtransgressions and your sins.

But you might say, “I’m not dead. I came to church. I hadcornflakes for breakfast. I updated my Facebook status.” That is, we think thatdeath means lying in a coffin buried in the ground six feet under (andtherefore being unable to update your Facebook status). But verse 2 says youused to live (or, literally “walk”) indeath. That is you can be physicallyalive and yet be spiritually deadto God. One of the biggest insults in our Chinese culture is to say, “Thatperson is dead to me.” (In Cantonese we say, “Lei hoi seii ah” – Go and die!)What does that mean? It means that I’m not going to acknowledge you. I’m notgoing to greet you. When you come to reunion dinner tonight I am not even goingto look at you. You are dead to me.

That’s what the bible means by death. We are unresponsive to God. We live this lifegiven to us by God, but we live it as it there is no God. The way we eat ourfood, the way we go to school, the way we talk to our friends reflects a lifethat says: God is dead to me.

Now I do apologise for the language. It’s not nice to wish thatsomeone were dead. But isn’t the bible describing something true? Don’t we see thisevery year at Chinese New Year? Everyone shouldget along. Everyone should be loving.And yet, everyone gets stressed during Chinese New Year. When the family isgathered, when everyone is together – that’s when the most hurtful words comeout; that’s when selfish actions do the most damage. We can’t help ourselves. Thiscondition of spiritual deadness hits home not simply when we are alone at theend of the day and we feel dead tired – that’s not what it’s talking about.It’s when we are most alive and joyful when our hate-filled thoughts andunloving actions are the most obvious. We can’t run away from it. We might puton an act to hide the truth. But all the bible is doing is being honest about whowe are and what we do – to one another and to God.

Paul says there are three reasons for this. Three reasonsfor our spiritual deadness: (1) the world, (2) the devil and (3) the flesh.

“When you followed the ways of this world,” verse 2 reads. Youlook around you and you say, “That guy’s doing it, why can’t I?” Other peopleare acting this way, so it’s OK for me to act this way as well.

“When you followed… the ruler of the kingdom of the air.”The devil deceives us into rebellion. That’s why verse 2 goes on to describehim as “the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.” The devilhas one single purpose: to get men and women to say, “No!” to God. “I will notobey.” He makes us question God’s goodness. He makes us doubt God’s motives.That’s what he did with the first man and woman in the garden of Eden. “Did Godreally say that?” Hmm, God can’t be serious, right? “God knows that if you eatthis fruit you will be like him, knowing good and evil,” meaning God is justbeing selfish; he doesn’t want to share this knowledge with you. The devil saysthe exact same thing to us today – he is nowat work, it says at the end of verse 2 – in those who are disobedient.

And finally, verse 3: “All of us also lived among them atone time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following itsdesires and thoughts.” We follow the world. We follow the devil. But here itsays, we follow the “cravings of our sinful nature.” It’s saying, even if youlocked yourself away from every bad influence in the world – which is what alot of Chinese parents try to do out of sincerity and out of fear as they tryto protect their kids from Justin Bieber and rude Channel 4 TV shows like the “Inbetweeners”– It’s saying that even if you did all that, there is still an enemy inside ofyou. We follow the cravings of our sinful nature. Our natural instincts willalways, always lead us in a direction away from God. Sin and death is encodedinto our spiritual DNA. It’s who we are.

That’s why verse 3 ends: “Like the rest, we were by natureobjects of wrath.” It’s just a fancy way of saying: God is angry with us. Hehas every right to be angry. Now, I guess I could put that in a nicer way andsay something like: We have natural destructive tendencies that lead us downthe wrong track – but that would be a lie. God is angry when he sees me sin,when he sees you sin. And God has set a day when he will personally punish allwho have sinned. “All of us” lived this way. “All of us” were objects of God’swrath.

This is news for some of you. Maybe no one has ever told youthat God is angry with the way you live you life. You think that as long as youtry your best God will do the rest. You think that if no one can see God willleave you be. You think that everything is OK now so it will all be OK in theend. The bible says you are dead. Dead in your sins. Dead towards God.Following the world, following the devil, following your sinful nature –following everything and anything except God. God is angry with you and that’snews for some of you.

But the good news of the bible is this: God is also loving.

But God

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, madeus alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by graceyou have been saved.
Ephesians 2:4-5

Everything changes. Before, we were dead but now God made usalive. Before, we were objects of his wrath but now we are objects of his love.And the turning point of this change is grace.“It is by grace you have been saved.”

And if you remember, I said at the beginning that gracemeans undeserved love. Grace means givingthe very best to the very worst. When God saves, he is showing his love to theworst people on the planet. “Even when we were dead in transgressions.” God islike a dad who adopts the worst kid in the orphanage – the one who always getsinto trouble, the one who doesn’t want to be adopted, the one who looks at hisnew dad and says, “Huh, I don’t need you. I wish you were dead!” – and God saysto him you will be my son and I will be your Father and I will love you.

God does this out of his great love. Not because of who weare but in spite of who we are and because of who he is. God is love, the bibletells us in 1 John 4:8. It even tells us, “This is love: not that we loved God,but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”God sacrificed his own Son so that we might be adopted as his sons anddaughters in his family. That is what it means when the bible says the Godloves us.

Another thing I said in the beginning was that this is hardto accept. Change? What change? We Chinese are very practical people. Ifthere’s a change that works, we’ll change. No problem. Whether it’s upgradingto a new phone or changing our favourite brand of soy sauce. If you can show mea better product; if you can show me that it works; I’ll change!

But the hard thing is this, and I wonder if you’ve ever feltthis way, you look at the Christians around you and say, “There is no change. Iam Chinese, they are Chinese. I rush for the food. They also rush for the food.In fact, I think in some ways I am better than these so-called Christians. Iwork harder. I am nicer to my mum and dad. Yah, sure they have a nice partyonce a year and it’s fun to join them for Chinese New Year. But change? Comeon. What change is there to see?”

Should Christians change? Yes, they should. Should they bedifferent, more loving, more compassionate, more patient? Absolutely. But yousee, that’s not grace. That’s effort. Grace means these Christians here werejust as sinful as you – if not more sinful than all of you – when God calledthem. Grace means that no one deserves to be saved.

And most of all, grace does not mean a changed life. Grace resultsin new life. It is a life that is lived with Christ. Look at verse 6:

And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenlyrealms in Christ Jesus.
Ephesus 2:6

Verse 6 is saying “Look! Look at the change!” But lookwhere? Not here on earth. Not at the Christians. Verse 6 is saying: Look to Jesus. God raised Jesus up fromthe dead. God appointed Jesus Lord over all things. The bible is saying: If yousee Jesus, that’s where you see the real change in happening the Christian – weare made alive with him, we are raisedwith him, we are seated with him in the heavenly realms.

Look to the Christian and all you should see is a big signthat says “Work in progress”. Some people need whole lot of work! But God is workingin the life of the Christian to change him to be more like Jesus. But look toJesus – that’s perfection. He is the destination. He is the end point.

And the amazing thing is, because Jesus is already died onthe cross, because Jesus already rose from death and because Jesus is alreadyseated in heaven at God’s right hand right now, the bible says that’s where theChristian is. We are already in heaven, we are already raised, we are alreadyperfect. If you are in Christ, that’s what God sees when he looks at you –perfection! Why? Because if you are in Christ, God looks at you and he seesJesus.

Oh, you might still sin. In fact the truth is you will definitelysin. But Jesus paid for that sin. You will make mistakes – big, huge,embarrassing mistakes. But Jesus paid for every single one of those mistakes –past, present and future – when he died on the cross, so that as far as yoursalvation is concerned, everything is paid for. It’s like turning up at therestaurant and before you order a single thing off the menu the waiter comes toyou and says, “It’s all been paid in full.”

And get this: this displays God’s grace even more clearlythan if you were perfect right now. If you are a non-Christian here today, youare not meant to look at the Chinese Church and go, “Wow, everyone here isperfect. Perfect people, perfect food, perfect sermon (yeah right!)” But I hopeyou will look at the Christians here and be amazed, “How on earth did that guybecome a Christian? Who let that person into the church? What is that idiotdoing preaching up in front?” And then I hope that you hear God’s word speakingclearly to you, saying, “It is by my grace that these men and women have beensaved,” and your heart goes, “Whoa!” Not at us, but “Whoa!” at God. You go,“Whoa! Jesus died on the cross to save theseguys? Why would he do that?”

To display the glory of God’s grace. You see sinful people, you see Jesus’ perfection and God’s spirit opensyour eyes so that you see clearly the grace of God.

Grace as the means,and especially, the end of salvation

In order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable richesof his grace, expressed in kindness to us in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 2:7

Verse 7 says that the purpose of salvation is to display “theincomparable riches of God’s grace” in Jesus Christ. Grace is not simply the meansof salvation, it is the endpoint ofsalvation. I’m guessing that might be something new to many of us today.

We will often hear that Christians are saved by grace. But what the bible is teachingus here is an even greater truth: Wewere saved for grace. God savedus so that he could clearly display a very awesome thing; a very amazing thingthat captures all who God is – his power, his glory, his transcendence, hisrighteousness – that one thing which God wants to display and God wants us tobehold at the end of time is… his grace!

Meaning: this is not an evangelistic sermon – at least notprimarily. This is a worship sermon.How do you praise God fully for who he is? How do you worship God such that hewill accept your praise? You focus on the grace of God displayed on the cross. “Tothe praise of his glorious grace” – Chapter 1, verse 6 reads, then adding thesewords – “which he has freely given us (or literally, ‘graced us’) in the One heloves”. We praise God for his grace in sendingJesus to the cross. Grace is not simply the means of salvation; it is theendpoint of salvation.

Paul is writing these verses to believers. He is not speakingto non-Christians asking: Do you know howto be saved? Rather he is addressing Christians: Do you know what you are savedfor? You were saved for the praise ofGod’s grace. That’s your purpose in life - that others might look at you andgive all the credit and all the glory to God. The focus is not on you – on yoursalvation –the focus is on God – his glory and his grace!

And it’s when we don’t know this that we end up focussing onourselves. We lose sight of grace, and we boast about our works.

Not by works, onlyby grace

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this notfrom yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no-one canboast.
Ephesians 2:8-9

This then, is the opposite of grace. It is the opposite ofGod’s free gift of salvation, which is works. It is the opposite of worship,which is boasting. And if we’re honest, it sounds completely opposite to ourChinese culture. Why? Because as Chinese we take pride in our hard work. AsChinese, we boast that we are not afraid to put in the hours to get the jobdone. Salvation is by God’s grace, not by works.

And yet, look to the very next verse, and there we see that workis good! What’s going on?

For we are God’s workmanship created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared for us in advance to do.
Ephesians 2:10

So, the bible isn’t saying that Christians should run awayfrom work. If anything, it gives us a new motivation to work – and to work hard– because God’s the heavenly boss man. It even says there that God has preparedworks for us “in advance” – meaning, there’s always something for us to do! But the bigger picture is that Godinvests a new meaning into work. For us as Christians, it’s worship. It’s a response to God’s grace shown to uson the cross. It is a fruit of our salvation.

What work isn’t –as verse 9 clarifies – is the means to our salvation. We could never earn oursalvation. The one and only basis of our salvation is God’s grace. God did allthe work through Jesus’ death on the cross. He conquered death and sin and thedevil.

This is important because God hates boasting. Boastingsteals the glory away from God. Boasting implies that we earned our way intoheaven, that we were worthy to be saved; and that’s completely false. That iscompletely offensive to God.

It all comes back to our understanding of God’s salvationthrough God’s grace alone. And as I said right from the beginning, this ishard. For us as Chinese, that’s hard. For us as the Chinese Church, that can beespecially hard; because it can be all too easy to start out wanting to serveGod in ministry, to start out wanting to help by cooking for today’s ChineseNew Year feast, in practising for the performances, in teaching at SundaySchool – but to end up boasting ofour own works by saying, “Come to my church. The people here are so nice. Thefood is fantastic. The children in Sunday School are so well-behaved.” Theseare not bad things, of course, and I am personally looking forward to the siuyok (roast pork) afterwards! I dowant our Sunday School kids to grow in obedience and in love. Yet in all this, wemay unintentionally be drawing the focus back to ourselves. We end up boastingabout our achievements. We end up singing our praises.

Paul brings the focus back to God. He reminds us: We wereobjects of wrath, we were sinful, we were helpless – but God was merciful, God was loving and God saved us by sending Jesusto die for us on the cross. When the focus is back to God’s grace, only thenwill we see our sin. When focus is back to God’s grace, only then will we findour assurance in Christ. When the focus is back to God’s grace, only then willGod receive all the glory, all the power, and all the praise.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this notfrom yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Ephesians 2:8

Only by grace can we enter
Only by grace can we stand
Not by our human endeavour
But by the blood of the Lamb
Into your presence you call us
You call us to come
Into your presence you draw us
And now by your grace we come.

Knowing God (Ephesians 1:15-23)

2012-01-15T01:40:00.001Z

The purpose ofPaul’s prayer

For this reason since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus andyour love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you,remembering you in all my prayers.
Ephesians 1:15

I am not a fan of golf. I had a teacher once who called golfthe Game Of Lazy Fellows – G-O-L-F. You spend allday running around chasing a little ball. But if there’s one thing that’s worsethan watching a game of golf, it’s listening to someone go on and on talking aboutgolf. Zzzzzzzzzzz!

Today, I’m going to be talking about prayer. Not the mostinteresting topic for some of you, if you’re honest. Cage fighting? That’s cool!Dr Who? Awesome! Prayer? Meh.

And that’s because prayer for you is boring; prayer for youis confusing. You’ve been to prayer meetings where there’s little praying andlots of gossiping. You’ve had someone say to you, “Let’s pray about it,” when whatthey mean is, “Let’s not do anythingabout it.” Or you’ve come to a church like this and a guy like me stands upfront, closes his eyes, raises his hands and says, “We beseech thee, O Lord!” Understandably,you think that prayer is all about speaking big words that no one understandsto someone that no one sees.

The passage we are looking at today is one long prayer but –get this – it’s not talking about the importance of prayer. The apostle Paul isnot saying to Christians, “You need to pray.” What he is saying is “You needknow God”. If you do not know God, you cannot pray. If you do not know God, it wouldbe impossible for you to pray.

Meaning: the reason why many people do not pray or why manypeople find it hard to pray, is simply because they don’t know who they’repraying to. They do not know God.

Paul prays for one thing – and just one – in verse 17: that Godwould enable us to know him.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the gloriousFather, may give you a Spirit of wisdom and revelation so that you may know himbetter.
Ephesians 1:17

A prayer forbelievers

Now most people think that this is a prayer fornon-believers – “God please reveal yourself to my non-Christian neighbour andspeak to him during the sermon today.” The truth is: this is a prayer for Christians. “Ever since I heard about your faith in Jesus,” Paul says in verse15, “and your love for all the saints.” Meaning: here are Christians – probablynew Christians – who love Jesus and love their church. That’s who Paul ispraying for. “I have not stopped thanking God for you,” he says. Every time hethinks about them, he says, “Thank you, Jesus for saving them.”

But then he says, “If there is one thing that I ask God foron your behalf,” – the most important thing for you to have as a new Christianor a young Christian – is that you really know God as your Dad. “I keep asking,”he says, “that the glorious Father may give you a Spirit of wisdom andrevelation.” That’s what the Holy Spirit does in our lives as Christians. Hereminds us, “You belong to God. God looks at you and he sees his son; he seeshis daughter. What he sees is Jesus.”

Do you know this? The real question is not “Do you pray?”but “Do you know God?”

Knowing God

And what Paul does next is expand on this one idea of knowingGod. He says:

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in orderthat you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of hisglorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us whobelieve.
Ephesians 1:18-19

He lists three things we need to know about God. All threeplace an emphasis not on us, but on God.

Firstly, God callsyou. “The hope to which he has called you,” Paul says. Earlier on inverse 12, Paul describes the first believers as those who put their hope inChrist. But here he says, really, it’s God who called you to that hope in thatfirst place. Anytime you have doubts about your faith. Anytime you start wonderif you are really a Christian. Remember this: it was God who called you as aChristian. He chose you from the foundation of the earth. He put his Spirit inyou. Paul says, I pray that you guys have this certainty; that you know thistruth.

Secondly, Godloves you. “The riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints.” It’seasy to misread this and think it’s about ourtreasure in heaven, since Paul is talking about riches and inheritance. Butit’s not our inheritance Paul is talking about, but God’s: The riches of his inheritance, verse 18 says. And whathe’s saying is you are his treasure. Youare his investment, paid with the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross. God lovesyou that much!

Thirdly and finally, Godempowers you. “His incomparably great power for us who believe,” Paulsays. It’s almost like Paul is saying, “There’s just no way to measure this –it’s incomparably great!” “But,” hesays, “if I had to describe this power, then I’d describe it like this:” Lookat verse 19:

That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exertedin Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand inthe heavenly realms.
Ephesians 1:19-20

It is power to raise Jesus from the dead. It is power forJesus to rule at God’s right hand with all of his authority; with all of hismajesty. “That’s the power I’m talking about,” Paul seems to be saying. That’sthe power “for us who believe.”

Do you know this? The fact is that many Christians probablydon’t – They do not know about God’s call, God’s love and God’s power workingin their lives. They don’t get it. Otherwise, Paul wouldn’t have had to praythis prayer. The question for us today is: Do we know this?

Paul says, “I have notstopped thanking God for you” (verse 16). “I keep asking God” for this (verse 17). It’s not the kind of prayeryou say once and then forget about. We pray for all kinds of things – our exams,our health, the weather. I wonder if the most common prayer we say is overfood, “Thank you for this char siu pao.” Now Paul does say at the end ofEphesians Chapter 6 to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds ofprayer and requests,” so it is OK to pray for your exams, it is good to prayfor next week’s Chinese New Year event. But the question is: what is the onething to pray about? What is the mostimportant thing ask God for?

It is to know God.

That God would reveal himself to us by his Spirit, throughJesus Christ, so that we might know him better. “God, help me to understand.”That’s not hard, it’s being honest. In Mark 9:24 a man comes to Jesus saying, “Ibelieve, help my unbelief.” There’s an honest guy. That’s an honest prayer. Itrust you, Jesus. Please help me to trust in you fully.

As Christians, we enter into a relationship with God. Beinga Christian doesn’t mean that we have all the answers, but it does means that Godhelps us to grow in our trust and love of him, the way a kid learns to love andtrust his dad – in a relationship with him in his home. In the same way, Godhelps us by giving us his Spirit, by guiding us in his Word, by changing us tobe more like Jesus. What’s encouraging about this is how it is God who works inus to help us grow in knowing him. It’s not something we do by our own strengthbecause we can’t. Paul prays for God to reveal himself; for God to open oureyes by his Spirit.

Open the eyesof my heart, Lord

I keep asking that God… may give you the Spirit of wisdom and understanding
Ephesians 1:17

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened
Ephesians 1:18

Two aspects of knowing God: We need to understand; we needto see. But Paul says we need the Spirit inorder to understand. And we need God toopen the eyes of our hearts in orderfor us to see. The question is: How do we see with our hearts? What are wemeant to see… with our hearts?

Last week, we read of another physical sense back in verse13: “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation.” That’ssomething I hope we’re doing now. We are hearing with our ears; we are hearingthe word of truth – that is, the gospel. But Paul is saying that something elseneeds to happen in addition to hearing this message. We need to see with our hearts. Paul explains thisfurther in 2 Corinthians 4:

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that theycannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is theimage of God.

For God, who said, Let light shine out of darkness, made his light shine inour hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in theface of Christ.
2 Corinthians 4:4,6

What Paul is describing is the gospel. We hear the gospelpreached – plainly and clearly from the bible. And we hear it with our ears.But God opens our hearts so that through the gospel we can see the glory ofChrist. Both need to happen: the preaching of the word of the gospel and thebreaking in of the light of the gospel into our hearts.

Meaning: if any of what you’ve heard so far makes sense; if evenone thing in today’s message makes you goes, “Wow, I never know that before!” –that is the evidence of God’s Spirit working in you; revealing himself to you.That’s what Paul is praying for the Christians in Ephesus. That the eyes ofyour hearts be enlightened – which is funny word – it means, that light willcome into your heart, otherwise you’re blind. Otherwise, everything’s just ablur. It means that without God’s help, you’re sitting there listening to theexact same words, looking at the exact same text in the bible and you’rethinking, “This is boring. Why would anyone believe any of this?” But if God’sspirit is working in you, you hear the gospel and you read the bible and yourheart goes, “Jesus is awesome!”

My job is to show you what’s right here – in the bible. Paulsays in 2 Corinthians 4:2, we set forth the truth “plainly”. I’m just the guywho delivers the pizza to the door. I’m not supposed to add any special ingredients.I did not come up with the recipe. I serve you best by just getting the gospelto you plainly and clearly.

Maybe that’s something we should keep in mind next week duringour Chinese New Year celebration. There are going to be lots of people arecoming. There are going to be lots of expectations. And there’s going to be alot of pressure: to put on a good show, to make a good impression, to make sureeveryone has a good time. We need to be careful of the pressure that says thegospel is not enough. That say people are not going to understand the gospel.That says we need to something more interesting, more attractive to draw peopleto Jesus than what the gospel can offer.

Paul says what we need is for God to shine the gospel intoour hearts to see “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the faceof Christ”. It is not something we could ever do. Only the Holy Spirit doesthis. Only God can do this. And if there is one thing we need to pray to happennext week – it’s not that the food gets ready on time, it’s not that the musicis compelling – all these are important, but what is the one thing that needsto happen next week? It’s for God to open their hearts and our hearts to seeJesus as amazing. Glorious. To hear this message of God taking our sin andwickedness and filth and dumping it all on Jesus and taking all hisrighteousness and glory and transferring it to our account, and for us to hearthis truth and respond by saying, “That’s unbelievable! That’s cool!” That’swhat we need God to do.

Paul never stopped praying for this. He really loved theseChristians and what he wanted most for them above all else was for this churchto know God better. If you know Jesus and love someone – a family member, yourbest friend, someone you care about, someone you are concerned about – there isno greater prayer you could pray than this: that they know the God who madethem and the God who died for them on the cross. There is no greater prayer youcould pray.

I began by saying that this passage is not Paul telling us, “Youneed to pray,” but him urging us by saying, “You really need to know God”. Butthe flipside is this: If you do know God, you will pray. You will pray forothers to come to a saving knowledge of God by his Spirit through Jesus Christ.You will pray out of love for people. You pray out of the knowledge of God’slove. You will pray this prayer, if you know how precious and awesome it is toknow God as your Father and Jesus as your Saviour. You will pray.

But finally, Paul ends his prayer by talking about God’splan. That is, knowing God’s plan will stir you to prayer for God's people.

God’s plan andChrist’s fullness

He raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in theheavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, andevery title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the ageto come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be headover everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him whofills everything in every way.
Ephesians 1:20-23

God’s plan is for all things to be under one headship:Christ Jesus as Lord. That’s the direction everything is heading towards – eventhose in opposition to Jesus as King. That is what Paul means by “rulers,authorities, powers and dominions” – these are spiritual forces that continueto rebel against God. All things will be under Christ’s feet, and Christ willbe head over everything. That’s the plan.

But then the prayer ends on an unexpected note: “for thechurch” (the end of verse 22). He goes on further to elaborate that the church is“his body” and “his fullness”. What does this mean?

Some of you know that many of our brothers and sisters fromthe English Congregation are away next week. These include many of our matureChristian brothers. These include many of our leaders, musicians and biblestudy leaders. So, I received an email last week from a concerned member askingme, “Are we going to have a meeting next week? It’s Chinese New Year, everyoneis away and only a few people will come.” In truth, I get asked this questionevery year and I do honestly struggle with the answer every single year. Iwrote back to say, “This is one of those things we do in service not to themany but for the few.”

In other words, it’s an opportunity to serve the way Jesusdid: Leaving the ninety-nine sheep in search of the one lost sheep. It is an opportunityto show our Christian brothers and sisters that they really do matter to Jesus,individually and corporately.

God places all things under Jesus’ feet – he is the King, heis the Christ, but he does so “for the church”. It is meant to be an encouragementthat God is in control. The few who turn up next week at the English Service,they are his body. They are no less the people of God. And verse 23 says, “hisfullness” is with them. When we gather in Jesus’ name, we do not lack a singlething. His fullness fills everything in every way. Often, we learn thepreciousness of that truth not in times of plenty but in want.

Paul prays. He prays for God to fill these young Christianswith the knowledge of himself. But he also prays that these Christians would befilled with the fullness of Christ. Do you know this? If not, why not comeclean. Why not say to God, “I believe, help my unbelief. I just want to knowyou better.”

Amen.

All I once held dear, built my life upon,
All this world reveres and wars to own;
All I once thought gain I have counted loss,
Spent and worthless now compared to this.

Knowing You, Jesus, knowing You
There is no greater thing.
You're my all, You're the best,
You're my joy, my righteousness,
And I love You Lord.
(“Knowing You, Jesus”, Graham Kendrick)

According to plan (Ephesians 1:11-14)

2012-01-07T23:24:00.000Z

Tiger Mums and aHeavenly Dad

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to theplan of him who works everything in conformity to purpose of his will
Ephesians 1:11

No grades lower than an A; nothing less than top of theclass for any subject (except gym and drama); no computer games; no play dates;no parts in school plays; no musical instrument except piano and violin. These area list of rules enforced by Chinese-American mother, Amy Chua in raising hertwo daughters in the West, as revealed in her best-selling book, “Battle Hymnof the Tiger Mother”, a reflection on strict Asian parenting styles.

Just this week, the BBC aired a local documentary entitled“Meet Britain’s Chinese Tiger Mums” featuring British-based Chinese mothersdoing their best to make sure their children do not pick up the slack habits oftheir Western counterparts. In it, we met Sally Chen, mother of six-year-oldMatthew Chen, who said, “He only does about three hours of homework a night –plenty of time to play.”

Many British parents may react negatively towards suchstrict parenting – labelling it as harsh, overbearing and perhaps even, cruel.But many of us here at the Chinese Church might shrug our shoulders and simply say,“Actually, my mum was worse!”

Yet what no one can deny are the results. Recent figuresshow in a study comparing achievement levels amongst 15-year-olds from 65countries, China comes in first in reading, maths and science. Second is SouthKorea. Britain is 16^th.

In a way, today’s passage from the bible is about twodifferent parenting styles. It talks about two different generations from twocompletely different cultures. Yet both are chosen by God and both aretreasured in Christ.

In verse 11, Paul says, “We were chosen.” In verse 12, “Wewere the first”. But then in verse 13, Paul says, “You were included.” And “Youwere marked.” That is, Paul is addressing two different groups of people herein his letter to the church in Ephesus. Both are Christians. Both are saved.Yet he does not deny their differences. In fact, as we shall see, Paul willhighlight their differences to show all the more clearly God’s grace inchoosing them and God’s glory in saving them through Jesus Christ.

According to plan

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to theplan of him who works everything in conformity to purpose of his will
Ephesians 1:11

Predestined, plan and purpose. The first group that Paul refersto are the first Christians. In verse 12, he says, “we were the first to hopein Christ”. By that, he is talking about himself, the apostles, the firsteyewitnesses – the first generation of Christians. But what verse 11 clarifiesis that this was all according to God’s plan – a plan that God had predestined;a plan that God had prepared for a specificpeople, namely, the nation of Israel. God’s plan throughout history was tosave a people for himself. And when we look at the Old Testament what we see isGod creating the world and choosing out of this world a people for himself. Hechose Noah. He chose Abraham. He chose Israel. Out of all the other nations,God chose this nation and this people to be his people and he, their God.

What we learn here is that salvation is God’s choice. Verse4, “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy andblameless in his sight.” Salvation came before creation. Salvation was in God’smind even before sin entered the world. God was not caught by surprise when thefirst man and the first woman rebelled against his word and ate from the fruitof the knowledge of good and evil, which he warned them not to do. God did notgo, “Yikes, now what do I do? I guess I’ll have to send Jesus to clean up theirmess by dying on the cross.” No, Revelation 13 talks about Jesus as “the Lambthat was slain from the creation of the world” (It is the exact same phrase andwording in the original text). Before creation, God had already planned yoursalvation. God had already planned the cross. Jesus was the Lamb slain from thecreation of the world.

What it is saying is: God is not surprised by your sin. Ourfirst instinct when we sin is to hide our sin and to hide from God. In the gardenof Eden, God called out to Adam, “Where are you?” Not in a sense that Goddidn’t know where Adam was, but in the sense that God wanted Adam to come outof hiding, to face God and to take responsibility for his sin. The bible says,“God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners,Christ died for us.” Not after we’ve cleaned up our act. Not after we’ve workedhard enough. But when we were caught red-handed and while we were found guilty,God loved us and Christ died for us. It is silly to think that God is surprisedby your sin. It may be natural, I know. We all try to hide. But it is silly,and what is more, it is a shame. Because God’s plan has always been to savesinners.

Paul says that we were chosen according to God’s plan inconformity to God’s purpose. When you look at the history of Israel; when youlook in the bible at the Old Testament, what you see is not faithfulness andholiness and obedience on the part of Israel. What you see is the idolatry, sinfulnessand unrepentance of a people who reject God’s love and rebel against hisauthority.

God saved Noah from the flood and the moment Noah got out ofthe boat he got naked, drunk and cursed his son. God called Abraham giving himthe promise of blessing, descendants and land. Next thing he does is he leavesthe land, goes to Egypt and lends his wife Sarah out as Pharaoh’s girlfriend.God saves Israel from slavery in Egypt and they bow down in worship before thegolden calf. God brings Israel into the Promised Land and they bow down inworship of Baal and Asherah. God chooses David to be King and he sleeps withBathsheba and murders her husband. God builds the temple through King Solomon,who takes many wives and worships the gods of the nations.

Finally, God sends his Son, Jesus who is arrested, convictedand killed on the cross.

People often think this book is a book of morals – a how-tobook on how to behave and how to be holy. Some of us think the bible is areligious book on what we need to do to get to heaven. But the bible is notabout what can do but about what God has done. He is a God who works all thingsaccording to his gracious plan to choose and save a people for himself. And verse12 tells us why:

In order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be forthe praise of his glory.
Ephesians 1:12

“In order that,” Paul writes, meaning: Here is reason why hechose us. This is why he sent Jesus through as a Jew, in the line of Abraham,as a son of David. This is why God revealed the coming of Jesus thousands ofyears ago through the prophets like Isaiah and Micah. In order that we, meaningIsrael, meaning the first Jews trusted in Jesus as the Messiah, “might be forthe praise of his glory”.

“God saved them?The very people who killed Jesus on the cross?” Yes! And when we see that Godtook someone like Paul – a religious Pharisee who used to hunt down and killChristians – and turned him into a pastor and missionary, we are meant to say,“Wow! That’s the guy God saved. Wow! Those are the rebellious people he choseto save.” We see them and praise God for his glory.

Now, we have a very different idea about what it means to bechosen. At a job interview, the guy with the most impressive CV gets chosen. InCambridge University, the smart and the elite get chosen. In a football team,the most talented player gets chosen. To be chosen is to be accepted. To be chosenis to be approved.

God chose the verypeople who rejected his son. Butverse 12 also tells us, he chose those who put their hope in Christ, not inthemselves. Not in their privilege as Jews. Not in their religion. They puttheir hope in Jesus. What does that mean – to hope in Christ? It means expectation. It means everything thatyou expect out of life is not in something you can accomplish, it’s not insomething your kids will accomplish, it’s not something your company willaccomplish, but it is in all that Jesus accomplished on the cross.

My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus blood and righteousness.
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus name.

On Christ the Solid Rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand.

That’s the first generation. Jesus says to the Samaritanwoman, “Salvation is from the Jews” (John 4:22). God has chosen Israel as anation to work out his plan of salvation through history and in the OldTestament. But then Jesus immediately says, “A time is coming and has now comewhen the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth” (John4:23). Something happens at the cross such that God’s salvation is no longerrestricted to this one nation of Israel but now flows out to all the nations inthe world. At that’s exactly what happens in verse 13:

Included in Christ

And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth,the gospel of your salvation.
Ephesians 1:12

The beginning of Chapter 3 clarifies who Paul means by thischange of address, from speaking about “we” and then turning to “you”. He says,“For this reason, I Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for the sake of you Gentiles” (Ephesians 3:1). Then in verse6, he says, “This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of onebody, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus”.

Paul turns from speaking to the Jews, to now addressing the Gentiles. The term Gentile simply meansnations. Well then, why doesn’t he just say “nations”. It’s a lot like when weChinese use the term “gweilo” to describe Westerners. It’s not a very nice wayto referring to our British friends (“gweilo” means “ghost man” in Cantonese –similar to how the first settlers in America were called the “white man”). Whenthe Jews heard “nations”, it was a reminder that they were the one nation ofGod. Nations or Gentiles was a way of referring to outsiders or non-Jews.

But now in Ephesians 1:12 Paul says that the outsiders havebecome insiders. Paul says that “you” have been included in this plan andpurpose of God to save a people of his own, “when you heard the word of truth”.When you heard “the gospel of your salvation”.

How are outsiders included into God’s salvation? Through thegospel. By hearing the word of truth and by trusting in the gospel.

I think we need to realise how scandalous it was for Paul tosay this. “All you need to do is hear a message and you’re in?” Here was generationthat had no knowledge of God. This was a culture that no regard for God. Pauldescribes the Gentiles’ way of life in Chapter 4, “You must no longer live asthe Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. They are darkened in theirunderstanding and separated in from the life of God because of the ignorancethat is in them due to the hardening of their hearts” (Ephesians 4:17-18).

Paul is talking about letting in a godless, ignorant,idolatrous, sinful bunch of individuals into the church. And all the Gentilesneeded to do to get in was to hear the gospel and to trust the gospel? Somepeople would have read this and they would have gotten very annoyed with this.“Don’t you know where they come from, Paul? Don’t you know what kind of thingsthey used to do?” They would have said, “These outsiders need to change. Theyneed to become more like us and adopt our culture and practices.” Either thator, “They need to be kept in a separate group from us, otherwise our culturewill be tainted. Our kids will be led astray!”

There is none of that. You are included in Christ throughthe gospel, by faith alone, by grace alone. As long as you trust in Jesus,you’re in. That’s what he’s saying. In fact, God himself guarantees their fullmembership by giving them his Holy Spirit.

Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised HolySpirit
Ephesians 1:12

The seal is a mark of ownership, authenticity andpreservation. God gives his Holy Spirit as a seal to mark each and everybeliever in Christ to say that this person belongs to God. He is the real deal.She is a true Christian. What is the one single criteria God uses to bestow theHoly Spirit? Verse 12: “Having believed, you were marked,” Paul says. It istrusting in Jesus through the gospel of salvation. It is believing the word oftruth.

Sometimes you have Christians saying that we need to prayfor more of the Holy Spirit. That isnonsense! Either you have the Spirit or you don’t. Either you are a Christianor you are not. God gives his Holy Spirit to those believe the word of truth ashis guarantee.

What Paul is doing is giving us confidence and assurance inour salvation, do you see that? You wereincluded. You were marked. It is anassurance that God has already done everything that is needed for salvation inChrist’s sacrifice on the cross. It is a confidence that God will bring hiswork to completion through Christ victory on the cross.

If you remember a few months ago, we looked at RevelationChapter 7 where God places a seal on the 144,000. The 144,000 was number thatwas sealed and it was symbolic of the full number of God’s people who weresaved. They were preserved by God in the face of final judgement. The messagewas this: All whom God has chosen he guarantees their full and final salvation.

It means that when you are unsure of your faith as aChristian, where do you look for assurance? It is tempting to look to somethingwe have done in the past: Our baptism, our daily quiet time, that mission trip wetook to Thailand, our grades in school. Some of us may even look back to somepowerful spiritual experience or event in our lives. Yet in all these things,even the things given us by God, we are looking to our own accomplishment andeffort.

Paul tells us to look – or rather, to listen – to the gospel. You were included in Christ when you heardthe gospel and when you trusted in Jesus. The gospel says God planned yoursalvation before the creation of the world. The gospel says Jesus took your sinon himself on the cross. The gospel says that God preserves us by his HolySpirit.

That’s what we are doing right now: We are being reminded ofGod’s salvation through the gospel. We continue to listen. And we continue totrust in Jesus alone. As we do this God is speaking to our hearts by his Spiritreminding us, “You are my son. You are my daughter.”

That is Paul’s reminder to us in our final verse: We areGod’s possession.

Our inheritance,God’s possession

The promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritanceuntil the redemption of those who are God’s possession – to the praise of hisglory.
Ephesians 1:14

We began with two different generations and two separatecultures: the Jews and the Gentiles. But here we end with one inheritance fromGod and one redemption in Christ. Back in verse 13, the Holy Spirit is given tooutsiders – the Gentiles – who trust in Jesus. Here in verse 14, the same HolySpirit becomes “our” deposit guaranteeing “our” inheritance. Back in verse 12, theJews who were the first to hope in Christ were chosen “for the praise of hisglory”. Now in verse 14, both Jew and Gentile gather as one body – as God’s onepossession – “to the praise of his glory”.

Meaning this: when we look at what God is doing in bringingthese two separate and distinctive peoples together as the church, what we see isGod’s glory. When we see how God chooses the Jews as the nation of God, andthen includes the Gentiles as full members in the body of Christ – we get apicture of Jesus glory on the cross. The question for us is: Do we see thathere in the Chinese Church?

Those who are first to hope in Christ – verse 12 – are notthe last, are they? Paul does not deny that God worked in their lives, in theirstruggles, through their rich history in bringing them as a people to know God. Paul does not deny their heritage or culture. But Paul also does not imposetheir culture on the new generation of believers. The Gentiles are full membersof the church because they are full members of the body of Christ. They do notneed to first become Jews, to learn Hebrew, or stop eating pork. What they mustdo is hear and trust the gospel of their salvation. That’s all there is to it.

That is: we must be very careful here in the Chinese Churchof going out of our way to make people more like us in order for them to be inChrist. We must be very careful of only reaching people who are exactly like usin order for them to join our church. God’s glory is seen and praised when bothJew and Gentile are united in Christ. When even Chinese and Gweilo are unitedin Jesus.

Most of us know what it is like to be different. We go toschool and we are conscious of how we look and sound different to all the otherkids. During recess, the other kids take out their sandwiches and juice boxes.Our mums pack us rice dumplings and Chrysanthemum tea (yummy!)

How many of you have walked down the street only to be madefun of by strangers, mocking your accent, making fun of the way you look andtelling you to “Go back to China!” You know from personal experience thatdiscrimination is hurtful. You know from personal experience that racial discriminationis wrong. And yet, when we make the church about our culture above others,about our language above others, about our heritage above others – we are justas guilty of discriminating against others based on race, gender, class andbackground.

It is important to see that Paul does not deny his own identityas a Jew. You don’t stop being Chinese when you become a Christian. But Pauldoes say in 1 Corinthians 9, “To the Jews I became like a Jew to win the Jews.To those under the law I became like one under the law… To those not having thelaw I became like one not having the law. I have become all things to all menso that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Corinthians 9:20, 21, 23). Iffor Paul, his Jewish background meant that he could reach the Jews, then for us,being Chinese means we have the privilege and responsibility of reaching theChinese: To the Chinese I became Chinese. To those who only speak Mandarin, Ipreached the gospel in Mandarin. If anyone ever asks you, “Why do you go to theChinese Church? Why don’t you go to a local English church instead?” Point themto this verse.

But then again, Paul might also say, “To the non-Chinese, Ibecame non-Chinese.” If someone in the Chinese Church says to you, “Why do yougo to a local English church? You are Chinese so you should come to the ChineseChurch instead!” Point them to the exact same verse. Say, “To the BBC, I becamea BBC.”

Only Chinese; onlyChrist

Friends, are you onlyChinese? If you are Chinese then be Chinese! But if you are only Chinese… you don’t understand thegospel. You are stuck. You are restricted by your Chinese-ness. The gospel ismeant to free us in Jesus Christ – not restrict us. Paul says, “I am all thingsto all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” I dare say that whenwe are only some things to some men, we end up saving no-one. Are you only Chinese?

The BBC documentary, “Meet Britain’s Chinese Tiger Mums” didn’tsimply give us an insight into how Asians parents raise their kids, but it alsogave us a glimpse into how their parents raised them. All three Tiger Mums saidtheir own upbringing was even harsher than that of their kids. All three compared theirparents’ expectations of them with the expectations they now placed on their kids.In effect they said, “This is how my mum raised me, so this is how I am goingto raise my kids.”

Do you know the amazing thing the gospel does in such situations?It frees you. If you want to be Tiger Mum or a Dragon Dad and raise your kids in a strict andloving household, you can. If not, you really don’t have to either (even if you are Chinese). Why? Becausethe gospel says you are not saved through parenting styles but through JesusChrist alone. To the Jews, God raises them through the Law and through Mosesand through the temple, but saves them through Jesus Christ alone. To theGentiles, God raises them without the law, without the temple, without any kindof religious background, and still saves them through the gospel alone.

Because God’s purpose and plan is for the world to look atyou – his church – and not go, “Wow, what a lovely bunch of people who raisesuch lovely obedient children!” but instead say, “Wow, what a gracious andloving God who chooses sinful men and women to be his children by sending hisSon Jesus to die for them on the cross.” We exist as God’s people to the praiseof his glory.

And if you are in Christ, God gives you his Holy Spirit tolive in you and to remind you that you are his; and that in Christ he is yours.

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear,but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” TheSpirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.
Romans 8:15-16

Abba Father, let me be
Yours and Yours alone.
May my will for ever be
Evermore Your own.

Never let my heart grow cold,
Never let me go.
Abba Father, let me be
Yours and Yours alone.

God's plan, our praise (Ephesians 1:1-10)

2011-12-31T20:52:00.000Z

1. Every spiritualblessing

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hasblessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
Ephesians 1:3

Praise and worship: that is what we begin with every Sundayhere at the Chinese Church. With praise and worship of God. That is why wesing. That is why we pray. That is why we gather. In praise and worship of “theGod and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

But notice why:“who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing”.Every spiritual blessing in heaven! As we look back on the past year, what havebeen the highlights? What has God blessed you with? That new job? That newrelationship? That new start in life? We worship a God who has blessed usabundantly and generously.

Yet someone might say to me: Calvin, 2011 has been a toughyear. It was difficult and depressing year. How can I still praise God?

I would say, “You can!” Because the bible isn’t simplysaying to us, “Look at the all the blessings you have received and use thoseblessings as a measure of your praise to God.” It isn’t. It is telling us tolook at Christ. “Every spiritual blessing… inChrist,” verse 3 says. It squeezes all of heaven; it squeezes all of God’sblessing into one single focus, one channel and one person – in Christ.

Don’t just look to the blessing. Look to Jesus. It is as ifGod funnels all his blessing – everysingle blessing he could give us; every single blessing in heaven – and he funnels it to us through Jesus – in Christ. So much so that the phrase,“in Christ”, occurs again and again in these words of worship and praise.

Verse 1: To… the faithful in Jesus Christ
Verse 4: For he chose us in him
Verse 5: He… adopted us as sons throughJesus Christ
Verse 6: in the One he loves
Verse 7: In him we haveredemption
Verse 9: (God) purposed in Christ
Verse 10: All things… under onehead, even Christ

We praise God truly in Christ because God had blessedus fully in Christ. If you are inChrist, God has blessed you with all the riches of heaven. That is what Paul issaying in this letter addressed to Christians in the city of Ephesus. If youare in Christ, Paul is saying, “I want you to realise that you guys are themost fortunate people on the planet!” Because, as Paul writes in verse 4, “Godchose you.”

2. Chosen fromcreation

For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy andblameless in his sight.
Ephesians 1:4

Before God made the world, he chose you. When a mother ispregnant with a baby and even before the baby is born, she says, “I will loveyou.” When a man and a woman stand at the altar on their wedding day and thepastor asks them, “Will you take this woman as your wife? Will you take thisman as your husband?” And they answer, “I will.” They are making a promise forthe future. They are choosing to love one another for better and for worse, insickness and in health.

And when God loves us, he chose to do so even before he madethe world. Even when he knew that we would rebel against him and reject hislove – “while we were still sinners,” Romans 5 tells us – God demonstrated hislove for us by sending Jesus to die for us.

That is what Paul means when he says that God chose us “tobe holy and blameless in his sight”. It is not saying that you need to behaveyourself in church, pay attention during the sermon and stop passing aroundthose Haribo sweets (make sure you leave some for me). God makes us holy byputting us in Christ. When he looks at us, he sees Jesus. We are holy andblameless “in his sight”. So much so, that in verse 1, he says to theChristians in Ephesus, “You are already holy!”

To the saints (or “the holy”) in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1:1

Saint Along! Saint Howai! That’s what you are if you are aChristian. If you are in Christ. (Try putting that on your business cards – Saint!) It just means that you are holy. Both are exactly the same wordswith the exact same meaning. It means that when God looks at Along and when Godlooks at Howai, he sees perfection(!) Why? Because he sees Jesus.

Before God made the world, he chose you to be in Jesus. That sentence is meant to giveyou great confidence. If you areever in doubt about your faith and trust in Jesus, remember, God chose youbefore the foundation of the universe. Before he decided where to put thestars, and what the constant for the speed of light was, God said, “Right,she’s going to be in Jesus. And that guy of there, he is going to be aChristian.” In fact, that’s what verse 5 says.

3. Re-born thisway

He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, inaccordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace,which he has freely given us in the One he loves.
Ephesians 1:5-6

Lady Gaga says, “I’m beautiful in my way; ‘Cause God makesno mistakes, I’m on the right track, baby, I was born this way.” It is a verypowerful song. Millions of teenagers listen to that song because they want tohear someone tell them, “It’s OK. You are not a mistake. You were born thatway. Just be who God made you to be.”

None of us is born a Christian. The bible is very clear andhonest about that. Doesn’t matter whether Mum or Dad is a Christian. None of usis born in God’s family. But you see, God adopts us into his family and givesus full rights as sons (Girls, please don’t be offended if you see those words,“adopted as sons” – because what the bible is saying is that all of us receivethe full rights and inheritance “as sons”. In fact, what it is doing iscomparing us to the Son, Jesus Christ.)

I don’t know how many of you are adopted. Or maybe you havefriends who are adopted. To be adopted as a son or a daughter is to be broughtinto a family that you were not naturally born into. You were not born this way.As such, it requires even more love to be adopted into a new family. It means Godreassures you constantly, “You are my son. You are my daughter.” It is what Goddoes with us, even at the expense of his one and only Son, “the One he loves,”verse 6 says. God loves you so much, that he is willing to send his own Son todie on the cross, so that you couldbe his son. You, who were not born this way, could be reborn, through the Way,the Truth and the Life.

The best advice Lady Gaga can give is you should love yourselfeven when others hate you. The bible says Godloved you even when you hated him. Lady Gaga says you were born this way.The bible says God gives you new birthin Jesus Christ.

Before you knew God – he predestined you to be adopted as hisson through Jesus Christ. Before you were even born, God already decided thatJesus would die for you on the cross. Verse 7 tells us that we have redemption through his blood:

4. The riches ofGod’s grace

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins,in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with allwisdom and understanding.
Ephesians 1:7-8

God adopts us as sons at great cost to his own Son. That’swhat these verses are saying. On one hand, it talks about “the riches of God’sgrace”. God is this multi-billionaire tycoon who decides to take you, ahomeless orphan into his family. He adopts you as his son with all the rightsto his fortune as his heir. He lavishes his riches upon you.

But this adoption comes at a great cost. It costs him thelife of his one and only son. “In him,” that is, in Jesus, (the One he loves,verse 6), “we have redemption through his blood.” Redemption is talking about apayment. A cost. Your life for his life. Why and what for? Read on: “In him wehave… the forgiveness of sins.”

Our sins are a form of debt. We owe God our lives. We oweGod our praise. But the bible says we all reject God and we all turn away fromGod. We are happy to take the gifts but we reject the giver. The consequence ofrejecting God is death and separation from God. The sad thing is: we are blind.Blind to God’s goodness. Blind to the consequences of our sin. Blind to ourdebt to God.

I remember a friend who once said to me, “God is so good. Heis like a father who gives me a credit card that I can spend without limit.” Isaid to her, “Yes. And we spend and we spend, never realising that there is a cost.Never thinking of our debt.” As you look to the coming year, how will you spendyour life? If God should give you that opportunity you have been praying soearnestly for, how will you spend it? If God should bless you with that goodthing, how will you use it?

Will you spend it on yourself? “I worked hard for this. Ipaid for this. This is mine.” But it’s not yours, is it? You have not paid for anyof this. God gave it to you at great cost to himself.

God pays for our salvation in blood. That is the cost theJesus bore for you and I to be adopted as sons. That is the measure of God’srich mercy which he lavishes upon us.

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he wasrich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty mightbecome rich.
2 Corinthians 8:9

It’s a funny thing isn’t it, to think that God could becomepoor? We think of billionaires like Bill Gates and Simon Cowell and supposethat life ought to be so easy with all that money. With all that wealth. Wecould buy anything, do everything, live anywhere. Doesn’t God own everything? Isn’tall the money in the world his? How then can God become poor?

By sacrificing the one most precious thing he has: hisglory. Jesus wasn’t being an “Undercover Millionaire” like we see on TV, wherethe CEO trades in his designer Gucci suit for some overalls to hang out with hisunsuspecting workers in the docks; where for a day, he acts like he is poorwhen in reality he still has all of his wealth. That’s not Jesus. Jesus took onour humanity. God became a man, born as a baby, born of a woman. He took on oursuffering. He took on our rejection – Jesus was betrayed by his closest friends.And finally, he took on our death. On the cross, he was paying our debt of sin.The bible even says, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us”, meaning,when you look at Jesus crucified and cursed on the cross – that’s what sinlooks like. That’s what God does to our sin.

For our sakes hebecame poor. We have redemption throughhis blood. Our salvation and security comes through his condemnation andhis humility.

Where are you looking for God’s blessing? Are you looking tothe cross? Because friends, you will find it nowhere else. The bible calls this“a mystery”. By that it doesn’t mean that it is mysterious or strange, butrather that it was hidden in the past and has now been revealed. God isrevealing his purpose and his plan for us through the cross.

5. All thingsunder Christ

And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his goodpleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the timeswill have reached their fulfilment—to bring all things in heaven and on earthtogether under one head, even Christ.
Ephesians 1:9-10

All of creation is headed in one direction. Heaven and earthare being pulled together towards one final purpose. That Jesus Christ will be theruler of all creation.

This is God’s plan for the universe. It was hidden in thepast, but Paul says, God has “made known to us the mystery of his will”. Why isthat? In part, it is because of our new statusas sons. In part, it is a sign of grace: “that he lavished on us withwisdom and understanding” (verse 8), that is, God graciously opens our eyes tounderstand the gospel and what Jesus has done for us through the cross.

I think the clue to the fuller answer lies in the word“mystery” which recurs five times in Chapter 3. There, Paul says that thismystery was made known to him by revelation and by insight, yet it was not madeknown in past generations; this mysteryis that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel. Yousee, Gentiles were the outsiders while the Israelites were the chosen ones. Butnow through Jesus, the outsiders have been brought into the family of God. Theoutsiders have been adopted as sons and been blessed with full and equal statusas the people of God.

The reason why God reveals this mystery to Christians sothat when the world looks at the church they will see a preview of what Godwill do at the end of time. They will see Jesus as the head and all things heldtogether as his body, the church. They will see men and women, Chinese andAng-moh’s, graduates and non-graduates, Dr Who fans (yeah!) and Downton Abbey fanatics(bleagh!) – people who don’t have anything remotely in common; people who wouldnormally be divided by their backgrounds, their language, by their cultures andpreferences – They will see these different people gathered together insubmission to Jesus and in worship of God.

That is God’s plan.Our gatherings as the Chinese Church; our meetings at Rock Fellowship; even theNew Year’s Eve get-together at WM’s place is meant to be a preview of what Godwill do at the end of creation. God will bring all things under Christ so thatall honour, praise and glory will go to Jesus alone. That is God’s plan for thechurch. That is God’s ultimate purpose for all creation.

6. God’s plan for you

Which means it is also God’s plan for you. God intends thatall of your life be brought under one headship. Not yours, but Christ.

How will God do that in your life this coming year? Arethere areas you still hold on to and won’t let go; areas in which you will notsubmit to Jesus? Is it your job, your education, your ministry, youraccomplishments? Is there something that you would say to Jesus, “That is off-limits.That is mine.”

Abraham Kuyper, the former Prime Minister of the Netherlands,a theologian and a Christian, once wrote, “In the total expanse of human lifethere is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign,does not declare, 'That is mine!'”

It isn’t simply things of value or of wealth. Some of ushold on to our pride. Some of us find it hard to let go of our hurts andresentment. For others, it’s a destructive behaviour, like anger and addiction.Even in these things, there is not one inch of you that Jesus does not say,“That is mine!”

All of your life belongs to Jesus. That is God’s ultimateplan. Why not make it yours this year?

Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.
Jesus, all for Jesus,
All I am and have and ever hope to be.

All of my ambitions, hopes and plans
I surrender these into Your hands.
All of my ambitions, hopes and plans
I surrender these into Your hands.
(“Jesus, All for Jesus” by Robin Mark)

Isn't God nice?

2011-12-30T12:32:00.000Z

Praise be to the God of everyfaith who blesses every man everywhere at every time. He chose us, well,because we’re so special just the way we are. In love, he didn’tpredestine any of our lives but left us alone to choose our own paths in life.To the praise of his glorious tolerance which he has freely given us in any andevery religion. In Jesus - though you could easily have said, ‘in Krishna’ or‘in Buddha’ - we have good health, good weather and good exam results inaccordance to all our wishes and all our hard work.

And God made known to us the mystery of his will - which wasn’t all thatdifficult to work out for ourselves, really - that we should come to churchevery now and then, especially over the holidays, and try to be as nice aspossible to old people and little kids. That way, everyone will get along,they’ll eventually join our church and help to serve tea after service onSundays. Oh, and God will reward them in the end by letting them into heaven.

Isn’t God nice?

Compare what Paul actually wrote in Ephesians 1.

Praise be to the God andFather of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms withevery spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creationof the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined usto be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasureand will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us inthe One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgivenessof sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on uswith all wisdom and understanding.

And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure,which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will havereached their fulfillment—to bring all things in heaven and on earth togetherunder one head, even Christ.

Ephesians 1:3-10

Which God would you worship? Which God do you worship?

God's plan

2011-12-29T15:00:00.000Z

We are kicking off the new year looking at the book of Ephesians in a new series entitled "God's plan".
http://www.rockfellowship.org.uk/plan/

1 Jan | What is God's plan for the world? (Ephesians 1:1-10
8 Jan | What is God's plan for me? (Ephesians 1:11-14)
15 Jan | What is God's plan for Jesus? (Ephesians 1:15-20)
22 Jan | CNY Celebration: New year, new you! (Ephesians 2:1-10)

All I want for Christmas is... Love (Matthew 21:33-46)

2011-12-24T15:51:00.001Z

Last ofall, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said.

Matthew 21:37

All I want for Christmas - that’s the title of our Christmasseries. And for the past few weeks we have been dealing with expectations. Whatdo we expect from one another? What do we expect from God?

Today we end our series by looking at a passage in the biblewhich speaks not about our expectation of God, but of God’s expectation of us.Last of all, verse 37 says, he sent his son to them. ‘They will respect myson,’ he said. But as soon as they saw him, verse 39 tells us: They took himand they threw him out and they killed him.

What was God’s expectation in sending Jesus? That he wouldbe received. That Jesus would be rejected. Both are true. Jesus should havebeen received as God’s son. But God also knew that Jesus would be rejected,cast out and killed.

The turning point in the whole story comes in the nextverse; in verse 40. Jesus turns to his hearers and asks, “So, what do youthink will happen next?” You see, Jesus is telling a story with a conclusionthat is so obvious that everyone can see how it is going to end. Look at howhis hearers respond - not Jesus, but the people listening to Jesus tell thisparable - Look at how they end the story.

He will bring those wretchesto a wretched end.

Matthew 21:41

“Ooh, those horrible people deserve to be taught a goodlesson!” they said. This was not simply a matter justice. This was vengeance.Payback. Those wretches will be brought to a wretched end. Those soiyan should be squashed like soggy satsumas. Everyone was going, “Yeah! Getthem, Jesus! Get those bad guys.”

But then again, Jesus wasn’t just talking about “those” badguys. He says, “I am talking about you...” Verse 41: “Therefore I tell you thatthe kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who willproduce its fruit.”

Happy Christmas! Joy to the world- The kingdom of God will be taken away from you! Not exactly the warm fuzzystory we expected on Christmas day - of love, peace and joy? But let me justsay, if we understand this story rightly, it is a story of love - a rejectedlove. It is a story of peace - a restored peace. And it is a story of joy - aneverlasting joy.

It is a story that begins with a generous landowner whoprovides the very best for his tenants.

The landowner

“Listen to another parable:There was a landowner who planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug awinepress in it and built a watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to somefarmers and went away on a journey.
Matthew 21:33

Imagine you were starting up youra new business. Yao, Ben and Lang form a band - the Solid Rockers. Or Winnieand Alana decide to open up an architecture firm together. Or Along starts uplaw firm in Cambridge. What you would need is lots of money and investment,office space, furniture, advertising, staff.

That’s what Jesus is talkingabout. I mean, we hear “winepress”, “tower”, “vineyard” - and naturally, wethink about farming. But what this landowner does is he builds a business. Hedevelops his land so that it isn’t just empty space, but rather, it becomesfruitful. This is a vineyard - meaning, it’s for growing grapes, andtechnically, if all he wanted to do was grow grapes, he had everything heneeded - land and soil. But what else does he do? He builds a wall - heprotects his investment. He digs a winepress - meaning, he builds in thefacilities to produce wine from the grapes. And finally, he builds a tower -this is like putting in a high-end security system, on top of the wall that’salready there.

It’s like going to an investorwith your business idea and he says, “Right, I’ll give you the money, I’ll buyyou all the equipment you need - the fastest computers, the best equipment, asnazzy website. On top of that, I’ll insure and protect your business - I’llfile the patents and get Along to countersign all the legal documents. All youneed to do is to move in and start working. Anything and everything you needwill be provided for you.

This is a picture of a God who isgenerous. A God who blesses abundantly - more than we expect; more than wedeserve. This is a God who takes joy in his creation. Notice how it is thelandowner who plants the vineyard, he builds the wall, he digs the winepress.He gets his hands dirty, because he is invested in his creation and he takesjoy in his creation. Finally, he entrusts his joy and the labour of his love toothers so that they will benefit from his creation.

The story starts with God. Andthat’s something we need to realise. Everything comes from God who createdeverything and entrusts his creation to man. In the story, the landowner rentsthe business out to some farmers who lease the vineyard, together with the allthe added extras. And as we shall see, they love the land. But as we shall alsosee, this same love for the land, causes them to start hating the owner of theland.

The tenants

When the harvest timeapproached, he sent his servants to the tenants to collect his fruit. “Thetenants seized his servants; they beat one, killed another, and stoned a third.Then he sent other servants to them, more than the first time, and the tenantstreated them the same way.

Matthew21:34-36

At the end of the month, the billarrives in the post - “Please pay this month’s rent.” Except instead of justignoring the letter or throwing it in the bin, they tie up the postman andstart beating him up! Meaning: this isn’t just ignorance we are looking at, noris it merely ingratitude. It is contempt for the landowner and anything whorepresents the landowner. Notice what the farmers do to the servants in verse35: they beat one, they killed another, and they stone the third. They went allOld Testament on these guys, especially the bit about stoning. Stoning was acommunal act of judgement. It wasn’t just a few farmers who didn’t like theirboss. Everyone turned up, picked up a stone and threw it at the postman.Everyone took part in the rebellion.

But notice the landownersresponse. He sent other servants, more than the first time. He doesn’t give up.He sends more and more people - servants, not soldiers - to deliver a message.But each and every servant was treated the same way.

That’s what the landowner did,and that’s what God does in the bible. He sends his prophets. He sends Moses.He sends Isaiah. He sends Daniel and Jeremiah. But each time, the servant isreject, the message is rejected because God is being rejected. Yet, God doesnot give up. He keeps sending his word and he keeps sending people to speak hisword to a world which rejects his word.

But lastly, he sends his Son.

Last of all, he sent his sonto them. ‘They will respect my son,’ he said. “But when the tenants saw theson, they said to each other, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and takehis inheritance.’ So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killedhim.

Matthew21:38-39

What is so interesting about thisis that now we start to see why the tenants have been rejected landowner. Lookat what they say when they see his son approaching the vineyard, “This is theheir. Let’s kill him and take his inheritance.”

There are two clear reasons.Firstly, they want the vineyard. It’s a fantastic business venture. Everythingis good. It is not the case that the landowner is forcing them to work. It isnot the case that there was something wrong with the land. Everything was good.That was the problem.

Often times in church, especiallyduring a time like Christmas, we focus on reminding everyone just how goodthings are. We talk about Christmas as time for family. A time forthanksgiving. A time for rejoicing. And we say, isn’t it amazing how God hasblessed us this year? And so much of our efforts at Christmas-time is focussedon making sure everyone has a good time.

Now the last thing I want tosuggest is that we make Christmas horrible and miserable! But isn’t it the casewith the tenants that they were so focussed on how good they had it with theland and with the vineyard, that they rejected the one who gave them thatblessing in the first place? I see this every year at Christmas: people who areso desperate to celebrate all the good things God has given them that they areironically blinded to God himself. They are so desperate to make Christmasabout everything good except God - It’s all about the food, family, presents, turkey, holiday,TV, sleeping in on Sunday - but mention about Jesus at the dinner table; orbring up the cross in a Christmas sermon - and people will get upset.

The first thing we see from thetenants is: It is very possible to receive God’s blessing and still reject God.

The second thing we see is this:The tenants recognise the landowner’s son. “This is the heir. This is hisinheritance.” They wanted to separate the son from his inheritance. “Let’s killhim and take his inheritance.” Butnotice how in verse 39, the tenants didn’t simply kill the him, they way theydid with the other servants. No, first they took him, then they threw him outof the vineyard. Only after that did they killed him.

What were they doing? They wantedto be sons. Do you see that? They didn’t say, “We will take the land.” Theysaid, “We will take the inheritance.” For them, sonship was about a status.They would own the land, not merely live in it. They wanted to be thelandowners.

Jesus is helping us understandwhat sin actually is. A lot of people might read this parable and think sin iskilling the servants. Or that, sin means killing the son. I mean, those actionsare sinful. So we might teach this parable in Sunday School and say to thekids, “So kids, we should not be like the bad tenants and beat up the people wedon’t like. Understand?” And the kids go, “Yes, teacher!” But that’s not thebible’s definition sin (doing bad things) and that’s not the lesson of theparable (don’t be like sinful people).

Rather, the parable teaches usthat sin is wanting to be God. Sin means we’re not happy merely receivingblessing from God. We want to own that blessing. We want to be the source ofthat blessing. We want to be God of our own lives. And it is out of this deep desireto replace God that flows sinful actions like anger, jealousy and hate andmurder. But at the root of sin is this deep desire to be God - to be our ownmaster and to reject God as our master.

When we make Christmas out to beabout me - that’s sin. We take the good things that God has given us and wecelebrate ourselves. And when we make an effort to intentionally separateChrist from Christmas - to distance him from the blessing’s he has given us,which rightly belong to him - it’s really no different from the tenants kickingthe son out of the vineyard. That’s a very dangerous and foolish thing to do.

The Son

“Therefore, when the owner ofthe vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” “He will bring thosewretches to a wretched end,” they replied, “and he will rent the vineyard toother tenants, who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.”

Matthew21:40-41

At this point it is veryimportant to recognise who Jesus is talking to. In a sense, yes, he is talkingto us and we’ve seen that there are lots of points of application in our ownlives. But while it is very tempting to apply this parable directly to ustoday, it is important to recognise that Jesus is addressing a specific groupof individuals in this passage.

Verse 23 introduces the contextof the conversation.

Jesusentered the temple courts, and, while he was teaching, the chief priests andthe elders of the people came to him.

Matthew21:23

But the more obvious verse tolook at is near the end of the chapter.

When thechief priests and the Pharisees heard Jesus’ parables, they knew he was talkingabout them.

Matthew21:45

In fact, for the next fewchapters, Jesus is speaking to the same specific group of individuals - thechief priests and the Pharisees. The chief priests were the pastors. They werethe guys who led the biggest church in town. If you had a question about thebible or about God, you asked the chief priests. On the other hand, thePharisees were the bible teachers and experts. Not only did they know Leviticusinside-out in Hebrew and Greek, they tried to apply as much of the OldTestament laws as possible to their own lives and to others. In other words,these were the evangelicals of their day.

The chief priest and Phariseeswere church leaders and top theologians of the Jewish faith; and verse 23 tellsus that Jesus was engaging them in their home turf - the temple. There he wasin King’s College Chapel, Cambridge - talking to the Chinese tourists armedwith their Canon SLR’s - about what God was really like; how God’s kingdom wascoming; what is meant to understand God’s will in the bible - and thetheologians and church leaders in Cambridge weren’t happy. They came to Jesusand asked him - this ex-construction worker without a degree who had from a housingestate up north in Arbury - what business he had to be here.

Jesus answers them. To these experts and religious teachers,he says, “Haven’t you read the Scriptures?”

Jesus said to them, “Have younever read in the Scriptures:

“‘The stonethe builders rejected

has becomethe capstone;

the Lordhas done this,

and it ismarvellous in our eyes’?

Matthew21:42

This is a direct quote from Psalm118 and at first glance it might be hard to see the connection to the parable.Jesus switches from a farm to a construction site. He switches from talkingabout a rejected son to now talking about a rejected stone.

The builders were the experts inchoosing the right building materials - the right stones that they needed tobuild the walls. From experience and skill, they were the experts who couldtell which kind of brick was best. Often this meant choosing the mostuniform-looking and standard-sized stone. Yet here, they come across one stonethat is unsuitable for use and is tossed out. Psalm 18 says, this rejectedstone becomes the captone - literally, the headstone - meaning, the one thatcaps the entire building and has the most prominence.

Like the builders, the chiefpriests had rejected Jesus. Like the tenants, the Pharisees rejected the son.Out of all the people in Jerusalem, the religious leaders ought to haverecognised who Jesus was, because of their privilege of serving in God’stemple, because of their position as God’s priests. Instead the expertsrejected Jesus as unsuitable and unworthy.

It is to the religious teachersthat Jesus pronounces the judgement in verse 43:

“ThereforeI tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to apeople who will produce its fruit. He who falls on this stone will be broken topieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

Matthew21:43

These leaders were unfruitful andunfaithful. All this while we may have been assuming that the tenants weremerely unwilling to share the fruit they had worked so hard for. But Jesus sumsup the story by saying that God’s kingdom will be given to another people whowill “produce its fruit”. This is very telling. It’s saying that they currenttenants aren’t producing fruit at all. They were entrusted with an enterprise -a vineyard that was meant to grow in fruitfulness and blessing. But thesetenants don’t want to do the work. They want the status as owners. They want tolive on the land and to live off the land as landowners.

If you remember a couple of weeksago, this ties in very clearly to the judgement Jesus pronounced on thefruitless fig tree. It was a tree that was full of leaves, meaning, it had theappearance of bearing fruit. But in reality, it was all empty packaging.

And when Jesus says “the kingdomof God will be... given to another people”, the word that he actually uses is“nation”. It will be taken from you and given to another nation - Jesussays. As in, the Court of Nations, where Jesus drove out themoney-changes and dove-sellers. As in, the house of prayer for the nationsthat he quoted from Isaiah 56:7. Jesus is talking about mission. God’s blessingis meant to go out to the nations.

What is the fruitfulness that Godlooks for amongst his people - specifically amongst his church - today? Itisn’t that your church grows. The chief priests and Pharisees were concernedfor their own church - so much so, that they were willing to turn the Court ofthe Nations into the temple bookshop and to run Alpha courses for their ownchurch members (which really kinda defeats the point of having Alpha courses,if you ask me). And neither is fruitfulness about growing your church finances,having a bigger building, or hosting large conferences in the name of Jesus.Again and again, right through this chapter in Matthew 21 and right through thebible - fruitfulness has to do with the mission of God’s son proclaimed amongthe nations.

The leaders in the temple wereunfruitful. In an effort to preserve their own status and guard their owninvestments, they had forsaken God’s mission to bring all nations to aknowledge of himself.

But there is another - moreserious - indictment that Jesus makes here of the builder. They wereunfaithful. They had rejected God and they had rejected his Son. Like thetenants, they saw in Jesus a threat to their status. The last verse revealsvery tellingly, their true yet hidden intentions towards Jesus.

They lookedfor a way to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowd because the peopleheld that he was a prophet.

Matthew21:46

The only difference wasopportunity. The tenants saw the son and they killed him. The religious leaderswould have done exactly the same, if it weren’t that they were more concernedabout how it would look bad for them in front of the crowd. It is exactly thesame with us. We have the motivation. Our hearts are just as opposed to Jesus.We are just too scared to let other people see what we would really do if wehad the chance.

That’s the thing aboutunfaithfulness. We cover it up. Do it often enough and we might even succeed inhiding it from ourselves. But Jesus comes to exposes the unfaithful hearts ofthe religious leaders, “I tell you.. the kingdom of God will be taken away...from you”. It is amazing how they couldn’t see the obvious truth coming a whileaway. For them, the parable was a story about those “wretched people” whodeserve a “wretched end”. Jesus says, It’s not them, it’s you.

That’s the bad news. But embeddedin this is the tremendous good news. God takes our rejection and turns it intothe very basis of our salvation. Jesus knew he would be rejected. He was daysaway from being executed on the cross. He could see that coming a mile away.But he also predicted that he would be raised and resurrected, and in doing so,fulfil the prophecy of Psalm 118.

‘The stone the builders rejectedhas become the capstone;

the Lord has done this, and itis marvellous in our eyes.

God has done this. Yes, the builders rejected the stone. Andyes, the same religious leaders would be responsible for killing Jesus on thecross. But Psalm 118 says that ultimately, the Lord has done this. God sent hisson knowing that Jesus would be rejected but that on the cross, he would betaking all of our rejection of God, and all of God’s rejection of us, uponhimself. On the cross, Jesus would take our sin and our punishment for sin, sothat all who trust in him would be fully accepted before God. For us who look to him onthe cross - on Jesus - he is marvellous in our eyes.

What do you see when you look atJesus? The parable gives us two possible responses.

Some of us see a threat. Thetenants see the heir coming to take away the land, forgetting that it was allgraciously given them in the first place in trust and in love. The religiousleaders see a challenge to their authority and status in the church.Ironically, their love for God’s blessing has led them to forsake God, thesource of their blessing.

But I sincerely hope you see Jesus as he truly is.Marvellous. God has sent his son into the world to be received as who he reallyis - the heir of all things. In his generosity and his wisdom, it is to thosewho do receive his Son who receive together with him - all things.

He who did not spare his ownSon, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him,graciously give us all things?

Romans 8:32

Empty packaging

2011-12-17T05:09:00.000Z

Seeing afig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves.

Matthew21:18-19

The fruitless fig tree was Jesus' illustration of empty packaging. All form but no fruit. It was like walking into a Blockbusterstore with thousands of movie titles on display but not a single actual DVD instock - just rows and rows of empty plastic cases on shelves. Here in Matthew’sgospel, Jesus walks up to the fig tree and finds lots of leaves, it tells us,but not a single fruit. Jesus found “nothing”, the text says.

Jesus went on to use the fig tree as aparable for the emptiness of religion. The disciples would have remembered that justthe day before, Jesus had driven out the money-changers and dove-sellers fromthe temple. They had never seen their teacher lose his temper in public likethat before, overturning tables and chairs. As far as we can tell, theyprobably just stood there like idiots looking at one another with confusion andembarrassment. Nobody wanted to bring that incident up again. Nobodythat is, except Jesus. You see, he was still thinking of the temple. And Jesuswanted his friends to understand why it was such a big deal.

It wasn’t the money.A lot of people think Jesus was ticked off by the unscrupulous practices ofimmoral businessmen, though I can understand why. It’s partly because of whatJesus said, “My house will be a called a house of prayer but you have made it aden of robbers.” It’s not unlikely that the temple officials had found a way ofprofiting from the worshippers. There was only one authorised temple in theJewish religion and every Jew had to bring their offering to this temple alone.Each Jew was charged a temple tax - not an exorbitant amount, but it stilladded up to quite a bit. Furthermore, sacrifices had to be ‘temple-approved’. Apriest had to inspect each and every animal. It was just a lot more convenientto get one from the official animal-sellers who had set up shop in the templeitself. Again, it wasn’t unlikely that the temple got a cut from these transactions.So many people think the Jesus is referring to the shady operations between thegreedy religious officials and the opportunistic businessmen as “a den ofrobbers.”

But when you notice that Jesuswas actually quoting the bible when he said what he said about the house ofprayer and the den of robbers (“It is written”, verse 13 begins), and then youlook up these verses in the Old Testament, you begin to realise that Jesus isconcerned about something entirely different from just money. He is actually concernedabout - and angered by - the emptiness of the religion. For Jesus, all he sawin the temple was empty packaging.

The first bit comes from Isaiah, where God says, “Myhouse will be called a house of prayer for all nations.” (Isaiah 56:7) Thisis significant because the one and only place in the whole temple where thesemerchants could have set up their stalls was an area known as the Court of theNations. It was the part of the temple - indeed, the only area in all thetemple - where outsiders could enter and worship God. However, the templeauthorities had decided it was more important to use this space for business,yes, but moreover to serve the needs of the Jewish worshippers. After all, themerchants were providing an important service to the people of God - enablingthem to offer up sacrifices prescribed by God. But in doing so, they hadneglected the other nations in favour of their own. Isaiah says God wanted thetemple to be a house of prayer for all nations. The temple authorities had convenientlyforgotten that - not by closing down the Court of the Nations, of course - butsimply by “re-allocating” its use.

Here is God saying in Isaiah that missions is right atthe centre of the true worship of the people of God. And yet isn’t ittempting to think of missions as an optional extra? When deciding on yourchurch budget do you put missionary commitments as the last item up fordiscussion - after the stationery and photocopying needs? When reaching yourcity or your college isn’t it just prudent to focus on those who are most likeyou - who speak your language, who are within your own age-group, who are partof your own denomination - and leave all that troublesome ‘international work’to other organisations while you focus on God’s calling for ‘your church’?

Missions is the at the very centre of the true worship ofthe people God. Revelation 5 praises Jesus, the Lamb of God, with these words: “Withyour blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and peopleand nation.” Missions is measured in terms of Jesus' blood. His death paid formen and women from every single nation, tribe and language there is.

The second bit of Jesus’ quotation from Jeremiah where Godagain is speaking and he says, “Has this house, which bears my Name, becomea den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord”(Jeremiah 7:11). Now we know that God isn’t just referring to thieves andterrorists when he talks about the “den of robbers” because just a few versesearlier he lumps the whole lot together with those who commit adultery, perjuryand idolatry. But the key thing to notice is that God says he is watchingthem when all this while the perpetrators think that they are safelyhidden from God’s sight. Why? Because they have the temple. Also, not only dothey think they can get away with sinning in God’s presence, but they evendelude themselves into thinking that they can sin in God’s name! “We are safe,”they said. “This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the templeof the LORD!” reassuring themselves that they were OK as long as they were inthe right church, they had the right pastor, the right bible translation.

They were caught up with the packaging - the temple, theirreligious practices - and as long as the packaging still looked good, that wasall that mattered. But Jesus is saying that God deals with empty religion thesame way we deal with empty packaging. He throws it in the bin.

Jesus replied, “I tell you thetruth, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done tothe fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself intothe sea,’ and it will be done.

Matthew 21:21

The mountain Jesus was referring to was a specific mountain- this mountain, Jesus says. He was pointing to Jerusalem, the mountainwhere the city was built; the mountain where the temple was situated. Like thefig tree, the temple was all form but no fruit. And like the withered tree,the temple would be cursed and destroyed.

Indeed, we know that the temple was destroyed in the year70AD. You can go to Jerusalem today and there is no temple standing. But yousee, there is no need for the temple anymore. There is Jesus. He has come to beGod with us.

The blind and the lame came tohim at the temple, and he healed them.

Matthew 21:14

Right after Jesus clears out the temple area, what does hedo? He fills it again! With the blind, with the lame and with children - thevery kinds of people who would not be permitted to go anywhere beyond the Court ofthe Nations. These guys couldn’t go up and offer sacrifices. None of these guyscould serve as priests. Definitely none of them would ever be able to enter theHoly of Holies and see the throne-room of God. But what could they do? What didthey do? “They came to Jesus at the temple”. Here in the Court of the Nations,Jesus came to them and they went to him. They had full access to Jesus.

Jesus gets rid of all the empty useless packaging that isreligion and reveals himself as God to us. Now some people hate that becauseall they want is the packaging. They want the image of being respectable, thereputation of being a Christian, the honour of serving on a committee. But ifthat’s the case with you, Jesus warns us that all that empty religion is going straight into the bin.

Jesus is God with us. That’s wonderful news. You don’t haveto get on a plane and travel to some holy place to be with God - he comes toyou. You don’t have to do anything to earn his love, well, because you can’t - you arejust like the blind and the lame and the kids in the temple who go to Jesus -he heals you; he welcomes you. More than that, he went to the cross to pay the full price of your sin and die for you.

You have full access to God through Jesus Christ. Why hide any longer behind empty religion? Why not come instead to Jesusand live?

Weak and wounded sinner

Lost and left to die

O, raise your head, for loveis passing by

Come to Jesus

Come to Jesus and live!

Solid Rock Sunday

2011-12-12T16:33:00.002Z

Sunday 18 December 2011

2pm Chinese Church, Downing Street
Head on over to www.rockfellowship.org.uk/solidrocksunday

All I want for Christmas is... Faith (Matthew 21:12-22)

2011-12-10T21:38:00.001Z

This is what the LORDAlmighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and Iwill let you live in this place. Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “Thisis the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!”

Jeremiah 7:3-4

A Chinese friend from Hong Kong once told me that going tothe temple in Asia is a lot like doing a business transaction. You go and makeyour offering - money, joss sticks, prayer. And the temple gods repay your actof worship with a blessing - good exam results or a big fat bonus.

In today’s passage, Jesus encounters people who were “buyingand selling” in the temple and immediately he gets angry. So angry, in fact,that Jesus starts overturning the tables of the money changers as well as thechairs of the people selling the doves for the sacrifice (verse 12). You canjust imagine the scene of Jesus tearing up the market square - coins scatteredacross the pavements; the merchants chasing after their animals; doves flyingeverywhere - and at the centre of it all: Hulk Jesus, fuming with angergoing, “Arrrrrgh! Jesus smash!”

But notice that amidst all the havoc, Jesus tells us why he was so angry.

“It is written,” he said tothem, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it a‘den of robbers.’”

Matthew 21:13

He begins by saying, “It is written.” Meaning, Jesus isquoting the bible and if you look below the page at the footnotes in yourbibles you will see the two Old Testament passages that Jesus is quoting from.What these passages teach us is that God is angry. God is angry with thebusiness that was going on in the temple.

The first quotation is from Isaiah Chapter 56. Here God saysthat the temple was a place of worship and of prayer for all nations. Not justIsrael, the chosen people of God. But for everyone.

Their burnt offerings andsacrifices will be accepted on my altar;

for my house will be called ahouse of prayer for all nations.

Isaiah 56:7

The second quotation comes from Jeremiah.

“‘Will yousteal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and followother gods you have not known, and then come and stand before me in this house,which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestablethings? Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you?But I have been watching! declares the LORD.

Jeremiah7:9-11

(It’s really easy to remember these two Old Testamentpassages: Just remember 5-6-7 and 7-Eleven - that is, Isaiah 56:7and Jeremiah 7:11)

The temple of the Lord

Why is God angry with this business of buying and selling inthe temple? Well, if we didn’t look up the two passages, someone might say itwas because people were being ripped off. And in a sense, that would be true.The temple officials found a way to provide a service to worshippers but makesome money out of it at the same time. You see, every worshipper had to do twothings: (1) Pay a temple tax (kind of like an offering); and (2) bring ananimal sacrifice. That’s why we see two different kinds of businessmen in thetemple area: the money-changers and the people selling doves.

Does this means that churches shouldn’t have bookshops? Ifyou go to King’s College chapel the first thing you will see as you enter thebuilding is a shop selling postcards, CDs and tea-towels. Is the bible sayingthat the next time you visit King’s College chapel you should overturn the CDsand display cases?

This is where reading the Old Testament really helps.Remember that Jesus says, “It is written,” meaning he is thinking about thesepassages from Isaiah and Jeremiah right at this moment. Both are talking aboutthe temple. Both refer to the temple as God’s house. But notice that in Isaiah,it is a “house of prayer” for all the nations. Not just Israel, the one nationand people of God. All nations.

You see, the temple was divided up into different courts orareas. There was firstly the Most Holy Place symbolising God’s presence andGod’s throne. Only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place. Then therewas the Holy Place - only the priests could enter. Then there was the areawhere only men. After that the area where women could enter. Finally, there wasthe court of the nations. In the design of God’s temple, God wanted othernations to come and know him. However, what had happened was, this court of thenations was turned into the Grand Arcade. That it, the space was used not towelcome outsiders, but to make money. It’s true, they were providing a servicefor the worshippers - only the temple currency was accepted so you needed tochange your pounds, HK dollar and yuan into the right denomination. Also, youcouldn’t simply bring your cat, your dog or your pet hamster and say, “I’msacrificing this to God!” No, only certain animals that were spotless andapproved by the priests could be offered up at the temple. So again, they wereproviding a service to worshippers who wanted to worship God in the right way.And yes, probably they were making lots of money in the process!

But the real issue was not the money - we need to see that.The issue was, for the sake of money, they were excluding the nations fromknowing God. “My house will be a house of prayer for the nations.” Weneed to be very careful, friends, of using money as an excuse for side-liningmissions. We just approved the church budget a couple of weeks ago, didn’t we?It is very tempting when drawing up our plans for the year, what we are goingto spend our money on - to put our own needs and concerns first and then thinkof missions as an optional extra. This passage is God telling us that missionsshould be the very heartbeat of the church. “Go and make disciples of everynation,” Jesus says. “With your blood you purchased men from every tribeand language and people and nation,” Revelation says. Missions is not to bemeasured in terms of what we can afford but in terms of what Jesus’ blood isworth. It is worth the praise of every single nation on this planet.

We ignore this truth to our peril. Jesus says, “you aremaking it a den of robbers.” Again, when we go back and read Jeremiah 7:11 weunderstand better what Jesus was referring to. The people in Jeremiah’s day (wholived 600 years before Jesus was born) were saying to themselves, “We’re safe”- safe to continue sinning; safe to do all these detestable things - murder,adultery, false worship. Why? Because we have the temple - the temple of theLord.

Or put it another way: Because we go to a impressive church.Because everyone knows that our church is a gospel-centred church which teachesthe bible; we have a long history of missions and evangelism; lots of peoplecome to our church and our pastor has published many books. We’re safe fromcondemnation and criticism because we go to church every week.

God says, “You are hiding. You think you are safe. You thinkthat you can even hide from me.”

Do you understand now why Jesus got so angry? He saw peopleusing religion to hide their sin and to keep others from knowing God.

Some of the most painful and discouraging conversations Ihave ever had are with people who use their church membership and at times,their positions of church leadership, to cover up their sin, and maybe even,justify their sinfulness. It is very hard to get through to them that they arefooling themselves when they think that they can use God’s name to make aprofit for themselves, to advance their own personal agendas, to act unlovinglytowards outsiders; that they are fooling themselves when they think that theyare somehow protected from church discipline - and God’s discipline of hischurch.

How do you deal with such foolishness? How to do confrontsuch stubbornness? Anger? (“Arrrrhrhhhhagh!!!!”) We’ve seen that Jesus dealswith it in anger, yes. But actually, we shouldn’t miss the fact that Jesusconfronts and exposes sin with God’s word. He does it again the next few verseswhere he says to the religious leaders, “Haven’t you read your bibles?”

Have you never read?

The blind and the lame came tohim at the temple, and he healed them. But when the chief priests and theteachers of the law saw the wonderful things he did and the children shoutingin the temple courts, “Hosanna to the Son of David,” they were indignant.

“Do you hear what thesechildren are saying?” they asked him.

“Yes,” replied Jesus, “haveyou never read,

“‘From the lips of childrenand infants

you, Lord, have called forthyour praise’?”

And he left them and went outof the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.

Matthew 21:14-17

This is all still happening in the temple. Jesus has clearedout the money-changers, the businessmen - they are all kicked out of the courtof the nations. But now tell me, who comes to Jesus in the temple? Answer: theblind and lame (verse 14). The children (verse 15). These are sick people,probably helpless and poor people. These are insignificant people - children,who are often ignored; and considered unimportant; inconsequential. But isn’tit interesting that after clearing out all the businessmen from the temple,these are the people who gather around Jesus? None of them would be let nearthe sacrifices. None of them would be asked to lead a church committee or tospeak at a big national conference for church leaders. None of them contributeto the church budget or help out with making tea after service.

But they come anyway. Why? Because Jesus is there. He healsthem - intentionally, I might add, right here in the temple. As if to make astatement: These are exactly the kind of people God is looking for.

Still, not everyone would agree.

“When the chief priests and the teachers of the law saw thewonderful things he did (Jesus was healing the sick - it was amazing!) and thechildren shouting, ‘Hosanna to the son of David,” their first instinct is tocomplain. They were indignant.

“How inappropriate!” they thought, “Children singing inchurch? Well, we must put a stop to that at once!”

Kids, I want you to see what Jesus says next. “From the lipsof children and infants, you Lord have ordainedpraise.” God wants – he has ordained- the youngest person here today to know him and to praise him! So young, infact, that it says there that even babiesshould be praising God. Now you might say, “Babies? How can babies praise God?All they do is cry and poop!” But you see, the religious leaders were trying tolimit the kinds of people they wanted in church and what Jesus is doing is removingall restrictions. He is saying, “You’re mad to see kids singing in church? Iwant even the babies singing about me!” (“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... Jesus!”)

Ah! But some of you might have been observant enough tonotice that it wasn’t a question of “who” it was that was singing that got thereligious leaders all riled up, but “what”they were singing. Verse 16: “Do you hear what these children aresaying?” And you look back at verse 15 to see the answer: “Hosanna to the Sonof David!” That is, they were calling Jesus God’s King. That’s what the title“Son of David” means. It was a way of referring to the Christ, God’s chosenKing.

And when Jesus answers by saying, “Haven’t your read yourbibles?” he is actually telling the religious leaders, “Yes. I am God’s King.”Which is why he quotes a psalm that talks specifically about God’s King, Psalm8 which says, “You made him ruler over the works of your hands; you puteverything under his feet” (Psalm 8:6).

Jesus was saying, “Yes, I do hear what these kids aresaying. They have got it spot on. I am God’s king. He has put everything undermy feet. The real question is: Do you hear? Do you hear what Psalm 8 issaying?” You see, what is so interesting is to go back and read the whole versethat Jesus quotes from, because there’s actually more to it than just kidssinging praise:

From the lips of children andinfants

you have ordained praise

because of your enemies,

to silence the foe and theavenger.

Psalm 8:2

Did you catch that? Psalm 8 is saying that the kids willsing, but also that the enemies of God will be silenced. The religious leadershave nothing good to say. Even after witnessing all the “wonderful things” thatJesus did; even after seeing children praising Jesus in the temple, the religiousleaders and teachers of the law open their mouths to criticise Jesus and tosilence the children.

Psalm 8 says God ordains the children to sing and he willsilence his enemies. The fact that these children are able to recognise whoJesus as, and you can’t, is a sign of God’s judgement on you – Jesus seems tobe saying.

Here in the temple of God we see two different groups ofpeople – two communities gathered before Jesus. One recognises who Jesus is andone rejects him. One comes to him for help and healing, the other comes toJesus just to tell him off. One praises him as God’s King – and indeed, if youunderstand Psalm 8, as God himself. The other does everything they can tosilence their praise and exclude outsiders from worshipping God.

Here in the temple Jesus seems to be forming a new communityof God’s people. At the same time he begins to hint at the rejection of God’senemies.

'Cause you gotta have faith-a-faith-a-faith

Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he washungry. Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on itexcept leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!”Immediately the tree withered.

When the disciples saw this, they were amazed. “How did the fig treewither so quickly?” they asked.

Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt,not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to thismountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done. If youbelieve, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Matthew 21:18-22

These words have been used to justify all manner of unrealexpectations and selfish ambition in the name Jesus Christ. “Name it! Claimit!” Isn’t that what Jesus seems to be saying? “If you believe, you willreceive!”

Yet at the same time, Jesus is giving us a great promisehere and I don’t want to dilute that promise in any way. “Whatever you ask forin prayer,” Jesus says. No restrictions. But there is one requirement. “If youbelieve,” or a better word might be, “trust”. It is the exact same word thatoccurs in verse 21, “If you have faith”To have faith means to trust, to rely or to depend. Which means every prayer isan act of faith; of trusting, relying and depending on God. Meaning: you cannotpray if you do not trust God. The atheist cannot pray because there is no God forhim to trust. The agnostic cannot pray because even if there is a God, he cannotnot know him and therefore he cannot trust him.

But the Christian prays because he knows that God istrustworthy, he depends on a God who is dependable, he relies on a God who isreliable. The bible speaks of a God who keeps his promises. And that is whatJesus is giving us right here – a promise. “Whatever you ask for in prayer, youwill receive by trusting God who is trustworthy; by faith in a God who isfaithful to his promises.”

Yet at the same time, Jesus is also giving an answer. Thedisciples see Jesus cursing a fig tree and ask, “How did the fig tree wither soquickly?” Jesus replies, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt,not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to thismountain, ‘Go throw yourself into the sea,’ and it will be done.”

What does the fig tree have to do with faith? What does themountain have to do with prayer? The answer is pretty clear from the context,but I must warn you, you might not like the answer: It is judgement. The figtree is cursed by Jesus. The mountain is thrown into the sea.

You see, the disciples are amazed to see the immediateeffects of Jesus’ curse on the fig tree. Jesus wakes up the next morning andmakes his way back to Jerusalem. He gets hungry along the way, sees a fig tree,so he stops and searches for some figs for breakfast. Only thing is this treedidn’t have any fruit. So…. Angry Jesus! Oooo, he curses the fig tree.

Now I’m no agricultural expert (and I would much ratherhave durians than figs any day of the week) but the scholars say that figtrees typically produce their fruit the same time as they produce their leaves.Which is why Matthew tells us that Jesus “found nothing on it except leaves”. Meaningthat this tree had all the appearance of having fruit – the leaves wereabundant – but in reality, it was empty and fruitless. Not a single fig. Hencethe curse, “May you never bear fruit again!”

But Jesus doesn’t stop at the fig tree. He uses thefruitless tree to illustrate God’s judgement on a fruitless religion. This iswhere the mountain comes in, because notice that in verse 21, Jesus doesn’tsimply promise them they can move just any old mountain with their prayers. Hesays “this mountain”. This was a specificmountain. The mountain he was referring to – this mountain – was Jerusalem. The temple in Jerusalem was built onthis mountain.

Jesus is saying that a time is coming when this mountain isno longer going to be the centre of worship. It’s going to be thrown out intothe trash like a used toothbrush. But at the same time, it will be replaced,not with a new structure or building, but with a new community. Do you rememberwhat Jesus said as he was throwing out the merchants and money-changers? “Myhouse will be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a den ofrobbers?” He throws out the robbers. Jesus gets rid of useless religion. And inits place he builds a house of prayer.

“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

Jesus is gathering a new community to replace the old. It isa community gathered around him. It is a community built on trust in him. It isa community in relationship with him – in prayer. And he says to his disciples,“You are that community.” You will receive.Whatever you ask will be given to you.

If you get this: Jesus is promising something much greaterthan a blank cheque for all your desires to come true. He is giving us directaccess to God. He is giving a new status as the people of God.

The great exchange

The more I think of it, my friend from Hong Kong was right.Many people do consider prayer and worship much like doing a businesstransaction. The question is: How is Jesus different? How different is it whenChristians pray and Christians worship before God through Jesus Christ?

If all we hear in Jesus’ words is the promise of a blank cheque– that we will get everything and anything we want as long as we use the rightwords or pray to the right God or offer up the right offering, then quitefrankly, there is no difference at all. God is just a genie in a bottle whosesole function is to meet our wants and desires. Such a god is no god at all.

But I hope you can see that Jesus is talking about somethingentirely different. Jesus offers us arelationship with God as sons and daughters of the living God. That’s thereason why God longs to hear and answer our prayers. Because through Jesus Christ, God is our heavenly Father.

And unlike the worshippers in temples today, Christians havenothing to offer to God except the sacrifice that was given once and for allthrough the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Through his death, Jesus offersup to God his own body as the perfect sacrifice, he pays our full debt of sinbut taking upon himself our punishment for sin, and he is the perfectworshipper through his complete submission and obedience to the will of hisFather.

Martin Luther calls this the great exchange. “God made him who had no sin to be sin forus, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2Corinthians 5:21) We exchange our sin for his righteousness; he takes our deathand we receive his life.

This is the faith Jesus is talking about. It’s not faith ina place or in a ritual or in anything you could ever do for God. It is faith inhis death for you on the cross. If Jesus is at the centre of your faith, if hisdeath is the one and only basis of your faith, then he says to you today, Youare the new community of God. Doesn’t matter how young you are; howinsignificant you might be; how unsuitable other people think you are. Heremoves all the restrictions and barriers to God and calls you to come andreceive forgiveness and eternal life.

My Lord, what love is this that pays so dearly

That I the guilty one, may go free!

Amazing love oh what sacrifice

The Son of God given for me

My debt He pays and my death He dies

That I might live, that I might live.
(“Amazing Love”, Graham Kendrick)

All I want for Christmas is... Joy (Matthew 21:1-11)

2011-12-03T08:39:00.001Z

Our passage today focuses on Jesus as the King, but what isreally interesting about this account – which is so significant that it isfound in all four of the gospels in the bible – is how it presents Jesus as thelong-expected King who arrives in an unexpected way. Surprisingstill, is how the most unexpected element in this story has to do with adonkey. It really is quite remarkable how everything turns on this donkeythat Jesus rides into the city of Jerusalem.

We will explore the unexpected nature of Jesus as the Kingin today’s passage under three headings:

1. Preparation (verses 1 to 3),

2. Explanation (verses 4 to 5); and finally,

3. Expectation (verses 6 to 11)

1. Preparation

As they approached Jerusalemand came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, sayingto them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkeytied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyonesays anything to you, tell him that the Lord needs them, and he will send themright away.”
Matthew 21:1-3

Here is the surprising thing about Jesus. He is about tomake this big entrance into the city of Jerusalem. He knows there is thismassive crowd waiting to receive him. And he goes, “Hang on, what I really needto get at this point is a donkey.”

So he tells two of his friends, essentially how there isgoing to be this donkey just waiting for them round the corner to pick up. “Atonce,” Jesus says, “you will find a donkey tied there.” Now of all thestrangest things for God to do; compared to all the miraculous things Jesus hasalready done – calming the storm, healing the two blind men, raising the dead!– You have to admit that this one’s rather strange!

And you can tell that the disciples were also thinking,“Hmm, this is a bit odd,” because Jesus has to say to them in verse 3, “Oh, andin case anyone says to you, ‘Hey! What are you jokers doing stealing mydonkey!’ All you have to say is, ‘The Lord needs them’.” That’s all you need todo. Just say to the nice man whose bicycle you are breaking into, “The Lordneeds this,” and he’ll go, “Oh! Why didn’t you say so? Please have my keys anddon’t forget the bike lights too.”

What’s going on? Well, that’s the reason for point 2: theexplanation in verses 4 to 5.

2. Explanation

This took place to fulfillwhat was spoken through the prophet:
“Say to the Daughter of Zion,
‘See, your king comes to you,
gentle and riding on a donkey,
on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
Matthew 21:4-5

This is a quotation from the prophet Zechariah Chapter 9verse 9 explaining the significance of the donkey. “See your king comes toyou,” Zechariah says, “gentle and riding on a donkey.” The very next versesays, “I will take away the chariots of Ephraim and the war-horses fromJerusalem.” Do you see the contrast? The King gets rids of the warhorses and rides in on a donkey. The donkey is a symbol of peace.This is a peaceful King.

Imagine if two nations are at war and one loses, theconquering nation might ride in with its armies, tanks and helicopters tosubdue the enemy nation. It is saying, “I’ve won. You have lost!” It is a showof power. The tanks rolling into the city. The solders marching line by linewith their guns. It is saying, “We have defeated you. Now lay down your armsand surrender.”

But Jesus is the King who comes in peace. He is victorious,yes, but he doesn’t ride in on a war-horse. In fact, he intentionally chooses anon-threatening domestic animal – the donkey. How does Zechariah describe thisking again? Gentle and riding on a donkey.

That’s the explanation. The donkey symbolised that Jesus wasthe King who had come in peace.

However, was that the expectation? Did the crowds inJerusalem understand that Jesus was a gentle king? Look at verses 6 to 9.

3. Expectation

The disciples went and did asJesus had instructed them. They brought the donkey and the colt, placed theircloaks on them, and Jesus sat on them. A very large crowd spread their cloakson the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on theroad.

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,
“Hosanna to the Son of David!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Hosanna in the highest!”
Matthew 21:6-9

“Hosanna!” according to the footnote at the bottom of mybible means “Save!” or “Save now!” Meaning: the huge crowd had gathered towelcome Jesus into Jerusalem because they wanted him to do something for them.They wanted Jesus to save them.

This week in Cambridge and all over the UK, large crowdsgathered in an effort to save their pensions. The new shift in governmentpolicy meant that they would have to give more, work longer and yet receiveless money at the end.

This crowd in Jerusalem wanted Jesus to do more than reversea government policy. They expected him to bring down the entire government.They wanted him to be the King who would conquer the Romans and kick theforeign occupiers out of Jerusalem.

Notice that this “very large crowd” (verse 8) did twothings. Firstly, they “spread their cloaks – or their jackets - on the road.”This was a sign of submission and loyalty. It was saying to Jesus, “Thesejackets on the ground; that’s us on the floor in total submission. We submitourselves under your authority.”

Secondly, they praise Jesus. “Hosanna to the Son of David.”Son of David is a royal title not unlike Prince of Wales or the Duke ofEdinburgh. In the bible, the Son of David was God’s way of referring to hischosen king. So for the large crowd to shout out in public that Jesus was theSon of David, they were recognizing that Jesus was this King who had been sentfrom God. Hence the next line in the chorus, “Blessed is he who comes in thename of the Lord!” Jesus had come in God’s name empowered with God’s authority.

So again, the crowds did two things: the submitted themselvesto Jesus, and they sang praises to Jesus. Two very good things. Two verypositive things, in fact, for any Christian to do.

And yet let me remind you of the question I asked just a fewmoments earlier: Did the crowds understand what kind of king he was? Dowe understand what kind of king Jesus is?

You see, we, unlike the crowds, we have the benefit ofreading the whole story. We have the preparation and the explanation.Matthew has prepared us and explained to us about the donkey and the reasonsfor the donkey. And yet when we as Christians sing songs like “Hosanna in thehighest” are we singing in a way that is no different from the crowd? Isincerely hope not.

Hosanna means “Save us!” And yet, tell me what did thiscrowd want Jesus to save them from? A bad government. Oppression. Injustice.Suffering. Poverty. The Roman government. And how did they think Jesus wasgoing to save them? As a conquering king. With God’s awesome power.

The “large crowd” did not understand that Jesus was thegentle king of Zechariah 9. I wonder if they even noticed that Jesus was ridingin on a donkey. Some of them might have gone, “Hmm, that’s a big strange.” Abit like seeing David Cameron being driven up to Number 10 Downing Street inPaul’s car, a Renault Clio. No, all they saw was Jesus – Conquering King,coming in God’s power, Defeater of the Roman Empire.

The prophet Zechariah would have said to them, “See.” Youneed to open your eyes and see. Daughter of Zion, meaning Jerusalem, see yourgentle king. See your humble king. See your king who has come to you inpeace.

Notice that Zechariah was referring not just to the crowd,but to all the people of Jerusalem. Their response can be found at the end, inverses 10 to 11.

4. The king has come. The king is coming.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem,the whole city was stirred and asked, “Who is this?” The crowds answered, “Thisis Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
Matthew 21:10-11

Who does this guy think he is – causing this massive trafficjam on the high street?

When it says that, “the whole city was stirred”, it wasn’tsaying that everyone was talking about Jesus in Jerusalem, “Oooo, check thisguy out!” Rather it is describing how everyone in the city was shaken byJesus’ arrival. “Is this outsider gonna cause any trouble?”

The crowds reply, “This Jesus is that prophet we’ve all beenhearing about. He comes from the northern town of Nazareth in Galilee.” Youneed to realize what this sounded like to someone living in Jerusalem. It waslike telling a Nobel-prize winning Cambridge professor, “Check out that reallysmart kid from the primary school in the small village up in Arbury whocoloured inside the lines.”

I mean, this was Jerusalem, the city of the kings.Jerusalem: home to the temple of God and the ark of God’s presence. Why are youtalking to me about some lowly-educated carpenter’s son from Galilee?

All this is to answer the question: What were theirexpectations of Jesus? The people living in Jerusalem saw Jesus as nothing morethan a trouble-maker. The crowds and fans saw Jesus as a king arriving in powerto save them from Rome.

Both expectations were mistaken because both did not seeJesus as he truly was. “See your king comes to you, gentle and riding on adonkey.” The crowds did not want a gentle king. Jerusalem could neveraccept a humble king. What about us here today at the Chinese Church? Dowe see Jesus as he truly is? Like the crowd, it is easy to fool ourselvesbecause on the outside it looks like we’re saying the right thing and actingthe right way. Like the crowd we can sing at the top of our lungs, “Hosanna!Hosanna!” and we can bow down in submission. But like the crowds, we need toask ourselves what are we asking Jesus to do for us? How do we expect Jesus tosave us?

I remember a big mega-church back in Singapore which callsits meetings “Celebration services”. I was a young Christian when I first heardthat - Celebration service – and thought, “Hmm, that’s a pretty good name for achurch meeting”. Not bible study. Not prayer meeting. It was Celebrationservice. Lively music, amazing band, charismatic song leader and singing! Wow,it really seemed like a celebration! Again, I thought, “Cool!”

But during these celebration services there would a strongemphasis on, well, celebrating. Celebrating life. Celebrating themiracles that God did in our lives. Celebrating the health and the wealth thatwe receive from God. Which are all good things to ask for and pray for fromGod, I need to say.

But the question is: How do we expect Jesus to save us? Isit by giving us a better job? A nicer house? Healing our sickness?

Jesus was arriving in Jerusalem to go to the cross. He wouldbe tortured, stripped naked, hung on a cross, bleeding and suffocating to hislast breath. And there at the cross, crowds would gather to spit on him. Theywould curse Jesus to his face, “Save yourself”. Because they could neverimagine that a man hanging on a cross could save them – could save them fromtheir sins.

But that’s what Jesus came to do. He came as the king on thecross. He took our rejection of God and he took God’s rejection of us. Sin isus saying to God, “I don’t want you as God”. Sin is us saying to Jesus, “Idon’t want you as my King.” That’s sin: it’s rejection. And on the cross, Jesustook our sin and he took God’s punishment for our sin, which is death.

Friends, I think, “celebration service” is a wonderful wayof describing our church meetings. But we need to celebrate the cross.“Hosanna” is a good song to sing – but we need to sing it praising Jesus forthe cross. And Jesus is the Christ – he is the King – but he ascends to theright hand of God by going to the cross.

Do you see this? Do you see your king, gentle and coming ona donkey. Meaning: do you see Jesus now coming in peace and offering salvationthrough the cross? Not everyone does, but I hope you do. Because friends, thebible says that one day, every eye will see him. On that last day, Jesus willreturn riding on a white horse, no longer in peace, but riding in victory andjudgement.

Revelation 19:11 says, “I saw heaven standing open andthere before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.With justice he judges and wages war.” One day Jesus will return in justiceand in judgement. One day Jesus will return as the conquering King.

But that is not today. Today we are able to sing, “Joy tothe world, the Lord has come. Let earth receive her King.” Today wecan sing, “Hark the herald angels sing ‘Glory to the newborn King! Peace onearth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled.’”

We can sing that because Jesus came two thousand years agoto bring us peace. By coming as the king, yes, but as the king who went to thecross. The bible prepares us for this King. The bible explains tous who is this King. And the bible tells us, Expect this King – ChristJesus – who comes to brings us peace, salvation and joy.

Hark the herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!
Peace on earth and mercy mild
God and sinners reconciled"
Joyful, all ye nations rise
Join the triumph of the skies
With the angelic host proclaim:
"Christ is born in Bethlehem"
Hark! The herald angels sing
"Glory to the newborn King!"

The worst of sinners? (1 Timothy 1:15)

2011-11-28T19:17:00.001Z

Here is atrustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into theworld to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.

1 Timothy1:15

How could the apostle Paul describe himself as the worst ofsinners? Was he using exaggeration? Or was Paul being subjective - he just feltas if he was the worst person on the planet?

● Paulhimself recounts his past as “a blasphemer, persecutor and a violent man” (1Timothy 1:13). In other words, calling himself “chief of sinners” was nothyperbole nor was it exaggeration. Paul had previously persecuted thechurch. He even had a hand in the death of Stephen, the first recorded martyrin the book of Acts (Acts 8:1).

● YetPaul says, he was “shown mercy because (he) acted in ignorance andunbelief.” Mercy is not receivingwhat we do deserve. Paul was guilty but God was merciful in withholdingjudgement and not punishing Paul as he rightly deserved. Yet Paul receivedsomething even greater than mercy: he received grace.

● Graceis receiving what we do not deserve. Paul received abundantgrace - overflowing grace - in the form of forgiveness, love and faith in JesusChrist (1 Timothy 1:14)

● Thiswas true of Paul and this is true of us as well. “Christ Jesus came into theworld to save sinners”. And he seems to begin verse 15 by saying, “You cantrust this. You can bet your life on this!”

● Still,what are we to make of his declaration as the “worst” of sinners.Notice how the same word occurs in the very next verse: “But for that veryreason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, ChristJesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who wouldbelieve on him and receive eternal life.” (1 Timothy 1:16)

● TheGreek “protos” literally means “first”, or as some translations have it,“foremost”. The English Standard Version reads, “That in me, as the foremost,(the word 'sinner' doesn’t occur in the original) Jesus Christmight display his perfect patience”.

● Paulis therefore describing himself as a sinner on display. He is the foremostsinner. He is a sinner in the limelight. Notice that he doesn’t justsay, in verse 15, “of whom I was the first” - referring to his past sins; butthat Paul says quite emphatically, “of whom I am the first”. It is inthe present tense. Meaning: Every single day he lives is given Paul todisplay the overflowing generosity of God through Jesus Christ, thatothers might recall his actions in the past, that many might behold hischanged life in the present, and that all might marvel at his hope for the future, and know that all this has been poured out on Paul, a sinner purely bythe grace of God.

● Finally,this grace is given Paul for our benefit. He stands merely as “an example” (1Timothy 1:16) that we might similarly trust in Jesus Christ and receive eternallife.

All I want for Christmas is... Compassion (Matthew 20:29-34)

2011-11-27T10:23:00.001Z

The theme of our Christmas seriescan be summed up in one word: Expectation. What are we looking forward to? Whatare we hoping for?

For many, Christmas is a time ofgreat expectation: the holidays, the presents, the shopping. For others it canequally be a time of great disappointment: the loneliness, the cold weather,the credit card bills.

The bible tells us that Jesuscame to fulfil all of God’s promises -every single expectation of God’s goodness, his salvation, even his judgement -laid out in the Old Testament. But he does so in such a way that surprises ourgreatest expectations and soothes our deepest disappointments. In the comingweeks we will be looking at our expectations of joy and happiness, of faith inGod, of truth and of love.

But for today we are dealing withthe expectation of God’s mercy. Twice we encounter these words, “Have mercy onus” in verses 30 and 31. It is a cry for help and it is met with a response ofcompassion. Verse 34: “Jesus had compassion on them.”

Out of all the expectations I mentioned earlier - happiness,faith, truth and love - this one is perhaps the hardest: the expectation ofmercy. Especially in a Chinese culture like ours. Not that our culture saysthat we shouldn’t be merciful or charitable, that’s not what I mean. Rather,some of us feel embarrassed to admit that we need help. We are pai seh.Even when times are desperate we act as if everything is OK. When things gowrong we cover it up and maybe even, get angry.

That describes the crowd we see in verse 29.

The crowd

As Jesus and his discipleswere leaving Jericho, a large crowd followed him.

Matthew 20:29

Jesus is at the most popular stage of his career. As apreacher and teacher of God’s word. As a miracle worker healing the sick andraising the dead. At this point in his ministry, Jesus was well-known andwell-liked. And here we see that a large crowd follows Jesus as he and hisfriends leave the city of Jericho. Their destination was Jerusalem, the capitalof Israel, and it is no coincidence that this was near the time of thePassover, the biggest festival of the entire Jewish calendar. Everyone wasexpecting Jesus to do something big. If ever there was a time and a place forJesus to make his stamp in the history, it was here and it was now.

“Hey, it’s Jesus!” they would have said to one another asthey say him walking by. “Let’s follow him to Jerusalem and see what he doesnext.” As the crowd grew around Jesus so did their expectations of Jesus.

What they did not expect were the two blind men of verse 30.

The cry

Two blind men were sitting bythe roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was going by, they shouted, “Lord,Son of David, have mercy on us!” The crowd rebuked them and told them to bequiet, but they shouted all the louder, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”

Matthew 20:30-31

This week alone there will be two carol services at Great StMary’s, two huge Christian parties organised by CICCU and the ChristianGraduate Society, not to mention a special Christmas event for language studentsnext Sunday evening with an International choir. God willing, these events willattract hundreds, if not, thousands of students around the city to hear thetrue message of Christmas - that Christ Jesus came into this world to savesinners.

But imagine that as you were walking up to Great St Mary’stomorrow night - full of anticipation of an evening of carols, a powerfulpresentation of the gospel, the warm mince pies and mulled wine served at theend - and as you’re walking there joined by the hundreds of otherundergraduates headed toward the same destination, you pass by the localSainsburys where a homeless man stops you and says, “Big issue, sir?” How wouldyou react? I doubt any of you would have reacted the way this crowd did inverse 30.

“Shaaadddup!”

“The crowd rebuked them and told them to be quiet”, verse30 tells us. It is important to understand why. Maybe it was because thebeggars were causing a scene. Maybe they were embarrassed. Yet there issomething troubling still in their behaviour. You see, the crowd sincerelythought that they were doing Jesus a favour. In their minds, Jesus was someonetoo important to deal with the riffraff. “Can’t you see we’re on a reallyimportant mission of evangelism with Jesus? Stop being a nuisance and be quiet!”If they carried around one of those WWJD (“What would Jesus do?”) bracelets yousometimes see Christians wearing today, well, they thought Jesus would havetold these two to sit in the corner and be quiet.

And yet the two blind men didn’t shut up. “They shoutedall the louder,” verse 31 tells us. More importantly, do you notice whatthese two blind men were shouting? They addressed Jesus as “Lord”, and as the“Son of David”. That is they weren’t asking Jesus for money, “Spare any change,mate?” Rather they were addressing Jesus as who he really was - as Lord and asthe Son of David.

“Son of David” was a name we find in the bible given toGod’s chosen King. For hundreds of years, God promised that one day he wouldsend a king - a King of Kings; and ultimate King - to establish the kingdom ofIsrael; to establish the kingdom of God. And what these two beggars were sayingwas that Jesus is that king. Or to use another bible word, Jesus is the Christ.

Furthermore, by pleading for mercy, the blind men were notso much asking for pity, but were in effect addressing Jesus as a judge. “Lord,have mercy”. It is what you say before a judge in a courtroom as a convictedcriminal. And one more thing, they called Jesus, “Lord”, a name that isrepeatedly used in the Old Testament to refer to God. Now some of you mightsay, “That’s a bit much! They didn’t know that Jesus was God.” And I agree withyou. The two blind men were speaking better than they knew. But Matthew recordstheir words for us here in the bible, twice, to make us think of who Jesusreally was. Who did the crowd expect Jesus to be? How did his closest friendssee Jesus?

Remarkably, these two blind mansaw clearly what a whole crowd of followers (including Jesus’ own disciples inverse 29) could not see. He was the Christ. He was the Judge. While everyoneelse was admiring Jesus for his teaching and his amazing miracles, thesebeggars were humbling themselves before the Son of God. “Lord, Son of David,have mercy on us!”

And while everyone else was eagerto just walk on by and ignore the ramblings of these two nobodies, Jesus stops,he calls them over and Jesus actually asks them how he could be of service tothem.

The compassion

Jesus stopped and called them.“What do you want me to do for you?” he asked. “Lord,” they answered, “we wantour sight.”

Matthew 20:32-33

I wonder if you have any friends who are blind. I do. I saythat to be mindful of what I say next about these verses. The blind men ask tobe healed and Jesus miraculously restores their sight. Not partially. Not overthe next few months. Instantly and completely - hence the last sentence inverse 34 which reads, “Immediately, they received their sight and followedhim.”

I believe this really happened. As I mentioned earlier, I ammindful of how this sounds to friends who have lost their sight, friends whohave never been able to see in their entire lives, even of friends who have hadserious health problems in the recent past. I remember and occasion many yearsago of a sister who walked out of the room when a pastor referred to amiraculous healing from God. She was very angry with the speaker. “How could hesay that? This just creates a false expectation in God,” she said. The truth ismany Christians suffer from illnesses that are not healed instantly. Many livewith their illness to their dying day.

The dilemma we face today is not simply “Can God heal me?”but “Will God heal me?” Meaning: the real question we need to ask this passageis not “Could Jesus heal these two men?” But “Why?” Why did Jesus heal thesetwo blind men? Why does Matthew record this incident for us to read in thebible?

In verse 33, the English NIV has the two blind men saying,“Lord, we want our sight.” But the ESV is perhaps more helpful when reads,“Lord, let our eyes be opened.” Throughout his three-year ministry, Jesushealed many, many sick people according to the gospel writers (see for instanceMatthew 4:23-25 where large crowds come to him from Syria, Galilee, Decapolis,Jerusalem and Judea), and yet what is surprising is how selective the gospelwriters are about which event of healing gets recorded in the gospels. In fact,so specific is their selection of this healing of hte blind men that it in allthree of the synoptic gospels - here in Matthew 20, in Mark 10 and in Luke 18.The question is why? What is so special about this healing?

The reason is: the bible pointing to something bigger thanphysical healing. It is pointing us to faith and it teaches us that faithinvolves two things: it involves (1) seeing ourselves clearly and (2) seeingJesus clearly. That is the significance of the request in verse 33, “Lord, openour eyes.” They are saying two things. Firstly, they are admitting theirhelpless condition. They are blind. “Our eyes are closed. We cannot see.” Butsecondly, they are recognising that only Jesus is able to open their eyes.Three times, they address Jesus as “Lord”. “Lord, let our eyes be opened.”

These two men saw themselves clearly and they saw Jesusclearly. Unlike the crowd. Unlike the rich man (Matthew 19:16-22) who wasconfident of being accepted because he had a good education from Cambridge andcame to church every Sunday to play the keyboard for youth group. Unlike thedisciples who were shooing away little kids because they weren’t importantenough to hang around Jesus (Matthew 19:13). In effect, the crowd saw Jesus theway we see Santa Claus: someone who brings us nice toys for Christmas if we aregood enough and behave when Grandma visits over the holidays.

That was not how the blind men saw themselves or Jesus.These blind men knew they didn’t deserve anything and they couldn’t do anythingto help themselves. But they saw Jesus as someone powerful enough and mercifulenough to help them out of their helpless estate. When Jesus said to them,“What do you want me to do for you?” They didn’t say, “I need a new car. I needa new job. I need a holiday.” They said, “I’m blind. Help me.”

And the reason why this story is in the bible three times isto drive home the point - that’s what we are. Helpless. Pitiful. Blind. Iwonder, how do you see yourself today? “Well, I’m doing all right. A fewproblems in the office, but nothing really serious, you know?” Or do you say,“I’m a wreck. I’m here because God’s the only one who can help me and I reallyneed his grace and mercy”? How do you see yourself today?

Or what would it take for us to see ourselves this way? Youknow, I have yet to meet a rich, healthy, Cambridge graduate at the peak of hiscareer, just back from a business trip to Asia flying first-class on BA,turning up in the church one day in his brand new Aston Martin just to me andsay, “I’m hopeless! I am a sinner!” But go through a serious illness. Sufferthrough a tragedy. Lose a loved one. Sometimes, all it takes is just a tinytoothache and we cry out to God shaking our fists at him saying, “Why is thishappening to me?”

What would it take for you to seeyour need for God today? CS Lewis writes:

Godwhispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts inour pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.

I wonder if God is speaking tosome of you here today who are going through a really difficult time in yourlife, saying, “These two blind men - this is your condition. The blindness. Thehelplessness. You need to see that you can’t work your way out of this mess.”

And I wonder if God is saying toyou, “This is my Son, Jesus. Call out to him. See him as he truly is. Lord.Christ. The merciful Judge. The compassionate Saviour.”

A compassionate saviour

Jesus hadcompassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received theirsight and followed him.

Matthew20:34

Christmas is the time we rememberthe birth of Jesus Christ. God became a human being. And the bible tells usthat Jesus was fully God and fully man. And by that it doesn’t just mean thathe had arms, legs, hair and armpits like us. The reason why Jesus had to becomea man was this: and here’s what the book of Hebrews says -

For thisreason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he mightbecome a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he mightmake atonement for the sins of the people. Because he himself suffered when hewas tempted, he is able to help those are being tempted.

Hebrews2:17-18

“Because he himself suffered,”that’s why he can help us. He became like us (“in every way” that bible tellsus) in order to identify with our suffering and temptation, in order that hemight be merciful and faithful to us as our high priest. Jesus is a God who hassuffered. Isn’t that amazing? That’s what Christmas is saying. Jesus took onour humanity. He took on our suffering.

And that’s why it is such a silly thing to want to hide oursuffering and pain from Jesus. Or to think that he will not understand. Becausehe does.

But notice as well that Hebrews as that Jesus made“atonement for the sins of the people”. What does that mean? It is helping toexplain about what really happened on the cross. Jesus was paying the price ofour sin by taking the punishment for our sins. That price was rejection fromGod.

You see, these two blind men - how did Jesus help them thatday? “Well, he healed them, that’s obvious enough.” What was their conditionbefore? “They were blind, duh!” Yes, yes. But weren’t they also rejected? Thecrowds saw them as trash. They talked to them like trash.

What happened when Jesus touched their eyes? Verse 34: “Immediatelythey received their sight and followed him”. They followed Jesus. ToJerusalem. To the passover. To the cross. They were able to see the wholething. Previously, they were rejected by the crowd. Now, they are accepted byJesus.

That’s what Jesus does for us at the cross. It changes us.By making us whole - giving us sight, faith, life. But it also changes us sothat we now follow him. The cross enables us to see ourselves clearly and tosee Jesus clearly. Jesus opened the eyes of these two blind men, so that theycould follow him all the way to the cross.

What about you? Do you see? If you don’t, why not be honestabout it. Ask God to open your eyes so that you can see clearly who you are andwho Jesus is.

If you do see clearly, then follow him. Follow Jesus to thecross.

Open the eyes of my heart,Lord

Open the eyes of my heart

I want to see You

To see You high and lifted up

Shining in the light of Yourglory

Pour out Your power and love

As we sing holy, holy, holy

(“Open the eyes of my heart”,Michael W. Smith)

Brokenness (Philippians 2:5-11)

2011-11-22T13:06:00.001Z

An old video sermon from last year's Solid Rock music event at the Chinese Church entitled "The humility of Christ and the glory of God".

Reflecting on Christmas

2011-11-21T17:24:00.000Z

Here is a collection of Christmas-themed sermons and posts from previous years:

And of course, do join us at the Chinese Church for this year's advent and Christmas series entitled "All I want for Christmas" based on Matthew's gospel chapters 20 to 21.

All I want for Christmas

Questions on Revelation 22

2011-11-18T13:49:00.001Z

Here are some interesting questions I recently got from some friends going through Revelation Chapter 22 followed by my thoughts below.

1. River of life

Then theangel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing fromthe throne of God and of the Lamb.

Revelation22:1

Question: Why is the seasymbolising opposition gone but there is now a river? And why are both comparedto crystal?

1. There is no more sea in the new heavens and the newearth (Revelation 21:1)

2. In Revelation 4:6, the sea is “glassy” like crystal;
In Revelation 22:1 the river is “bright” like crystal

3. The first symbolises movement. Glass was imperfect inthe ancient world - shimmering

4. The second talks about light (literally, the river is a“lamp” like crystal) - there is light coming from this river of life flowingfrom the throne

5. Thereason for the similarity is to highlight the stark contrast - Opposition anddeath has been replaced with sustaining life flowing from God.

6. (Itis also worth looking at Genesis 2:10-14 where the four rivers flow out from Eden bringing life and blessing.)

2. The time is near

Let theevildoer still do evil, and the filthy still be filthy, and the righteous stilldo right, and the holy still be holy.

Revelation22:11

Questions: Why is the time near?Why do the vile continue to do vile things?

1. This is a direct reference and fulfilment to Daniel’sprophecy in Chapter 12

2. At the end of Daniel’s visions, he is told toseal up the book until the time of the end (see Daniel 12:4 and 9)

3. “Many shall purify themselves and make themselveswhite and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wickedshall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.” Daniel 12:10

4. Notice, the reason for their evil actions is ignoranceof God’s will - "none of the wicked shall understand".

5. In Revelation however, John is told not to seal upthe words of the prophecy (verse 10) for the time is near. Daniel 12:10 isbeing fulfilled

6. And when Jesus came proclaiming the secrets of thekingdom (Matthew 13:11) he said, “He who has ears, let him hear!”

7. The fulfilment of this is the gospel. Thefull plan of God is now revealed through the cross.

8. Either we will hear and respond to the gospel inrepentance and trust

9. Or we will be hardened by the gospel and continue to doevil

3. The bride

The Spiritand the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let theone who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life withoutprice.

Revelation22:17

Question: Who is the bride?

1. The new Jerusalem in Revelation 21:2
And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
(see also Revelation 21:9)

2. The bride represents the church.

3. All marriage is a parable of Jesus and his church,according to Ephesians 5:

4. Husbands,love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her... Thismystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.
Ephesians 5:25,32

5. Here in Revelation it is not Jesus speaking but us,calling out to Jesus to return. “Come”.

6. Meaning: one of the signs of a genuine believer inJesus is the expectation of his return and a deep longing for God’s full presence inhis/her life.

The reluctant hero (Judges 6)

2011-11-17T17:20:00.001Z

A familiar situation

Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of theLORD, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites.Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared sheltersfor themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever theIsraelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other easternpeoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops allthe way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep norcattle nor donkeys. They came up with their livestock and their tents likeswarms of locusts. It was impossible to count the men and their camels; theyinvaded the land to ravage it. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that theycried out to the LORD for help.

Judges 6:1-6

Again. That is how the chapter begins, with a scenario we haveencountered before in the book of Judges. The Israelites fall into sin - again- and God “gave them into the hands” of their enemies. Again. This time, it’sthe Midianites, a foreign nation so powerful and oppressive that “it wasimpossible to count the men and their camels” (verse 5).

The Midianite strategy was to attack the Israelite nation’s food source,coordinating their strikes with the harvest season to destroy every trace ofvegetation or plant life in the land. Even the livestock was not spared,“they... did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nordonkeys”.

Driven to starvation (“Midian so impoverished the Israelites” - verse6), the people of God turn back to the LORD calling for his divine help. Godanswers but in a very unexpected way.

When the Israelites cried to the LORD because ofMidian, he sent them a prophet, who said, “This is what the LORD, the God ofIsrael, says: I brought you up out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. Isnatched you from the power of Egypt and from the hand of all your oppressors.I drove them from before you and gave you their land. I said to you, ‘I am theLORD your God; do not worship the gods of the Amorites, in whose land youlive.’ But you have not listened to me.”

Judges 6:7-10

Imagine your mum reminding you to take an umbrella with you beforeleaving the house. “Forecast says there’s going to be heavy rain today. Don’tforget.” “Yes, ma,” you say, “I know. I’m a big boy now.” But you do forget totake your umbrella so after school you call your Ma on the phone, “Please pickme up, it’s raining!” “OK,” she says. She turns up in the car and gives you alift home.

Next day. “Remember your umbrella!” goes Ma. “I know, I know!” you say.But you forget. So you call Ma and she drives over and picks you up again. Thisgoes on every day for a whole week. You call. She answers. She drives you home.

Except one day you make the usual call home and Ma doesn’t say, “Sure,I’ll be right over.” Instead, she begins to nag. “I told you to pack yourumbrella but you never listen do you? You always ignore what I’m saying toyou!” Then she puts down the phone. No word on picking you up. No solution on howyou’re going to get home in the pouring rain. She just cuts you offmid-conversation.

That’s essentially what God does by sending the prophet to Israel.

I saved you from slavery in Egypt. I gave you this land. I told you notto chase after other false gods. But you have not listened to me. That’s whatGod says.

That is all that God says. No word of help. Just the rebukeof an angry and annoyed parent. But of course, God does send help. He raises upa judge named Gideon.

You are the one

The angel of the LORD came and sat down underthe oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideonwas threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. When theangel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mightywarrior.”

“But sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is withus, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our fatherstold us about when they said, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up out of Egypt?’ Butnow the LORD has abandoned us and put us into the hand of Midian.”

The LORD turned to him and said, “Go in thestrength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

Judges 6:11-14

Gideon’s name in Hebrew means “hacker”. Today, a hacker is a term for acomputing super-geek who breaks into a complex computer system bypassing allits layers of security and protection. Every Hollywood spy movie must have thehacker - the skinny, socially-inept teenager who hacks into a high-securitygovernment facility server, accessing blueprints, unlocking doors andcontrolling CCTV cameras, all from a laptop in his bedroom while guzzlingcopious amounts of Diet Coke.

Gideon had a strong, impressive name, something close to “Terminator”.The angel of God even calls him a “mighty warrior”. Verse 12: “The LORD is withyou, mighty warrior.” God tells Gideon, “Go… and save Israel out of Midian’shand”!

It’s like Morpheus confronting Neo saying, “You’re the One!” but Neo’sthinking “I am no one”. He works in a cubicle. He’s just trying to getthrough the day without his boss firing him from his mediocre middle-managementjob. But one day the mysterious Morpheus appears in an overcoat, blacksunglasses and leather pants too tight for a man his age, saying, “You aregoing to save the world”?

When we first meet Gideon in verse 11, he was “threshing wheat in awinepress”. It is saying that Gideon was afraid. He was hiding. A winepress isa space dug into rock for crushing grapes. Gideon was hiding out in thiswinepress – out of view of the Midianites – in order to thresh wheat: a processof separating the kernels from the stalk by beating the heads of wheat andletting the winds blow away the chaff. A winepress was not an ideal place to dothis but Gideon didn’t want to attract any attention from the Midianite armies.Threshing wheat in a winepress is akin to barbequing steaks in your bathroom tohide the smoke.

Gideon wasn’t brave. Gideon wasn’t strong. But the first thing Gideonquestioned was not his own strength or confidence, but God’s presence withIsrael. “If the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are allhis wonders our fathers told us about?”

Gideon had been brought up in the knowledge of God. He knew about therescue from Egypt. He even knew enough to recognise that Israel’s currentproblem with the Midianites was actually God’s judgement on them. But Gideonhad never seen God’s “wonders” first-hand. Furthermore, it’s ironic that Gideontalks about the previous generation who taught him about these wonders – “ourfathers”. As we will soon find out, Gideon’s own dad had abandoned God. Infact, the whole village was worshipping a foreign god set up in his own backyard. Gideon was alone in his faith, the very faith his fathers had taught him,the very faith his fathers had left behind.

But God speaks to Gideon directly. God gives Gideon a personal assuranceof his presence. “The LORD is with you” (verse 12). “Am I not sending you?”(verse 14).

This is God’s personal, unmistakeable, powerful promise of his presence withGideon. As the following verses will demonstrate, God continues to assureGideon of his presence, in spite of this young man’s doubts and brazenness.

I will be here

“But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I saveIsrael? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”The LORD answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all theMidianites together.” Gideon replied, “If now I have found favour in your eyes,give me a sign that it is really you talking to me. Please do not go away untilI come back and bring my offering and set it before you.”

And the LORD said, “I will wait until youreturn.”

Judges 6:15-18

“Give me a sign,” says Gideon, “that it is really you.” It is a boldrequest to ask of God, not least because God had already given him his word ofpromise. “I will be with you,” God says yet again in verse 16.

Still, we must not ignore the massive task God has put ahead of ourhero. “How can I save Israel?” he says. God wants Gideon to face an army sovast, the Midianite forces, that verse 5 describes them as “impossible tocount”. I mean, what if God turned up one day while you were doing your laundryand said to you, “Go and attack France! Gather up the students of your college,call your supervisors, porters and cleaning ladies. Assemble them and marchdown to Dover.” You would say, “My college is the least impressive and poorestof all the colleges in Cambridge – Queens’ - and I only managed to scrapethrough last year with a third class in my Tripos!”

God answers Gideon, “I will be with you.” One plus God is the majority.

Even so, Gideon is unsure. So he asks God for a sign – a sign of God’sfavour; a sign of God’s presence. “Please do not go away until I come back andbring my offering and set it before you,” he says.

Gideon went in, prepared a young goat, and froman ephah of flour he made bread without yeast. Putting the meat in a basket andits broth in a pot, he brought them out and offered them to him under the oak.

Judges 6:19

Gideon rushes to the kitchen and pulls out whatever he can find. Turnsout he’s not a bad cook. He even bakes his own bread (without yeast, of course,from what he could recall from those stories he learned as a kid in SundaySchool about the Exodus). The star dish is the goat stew he whips up. Yummy!Jamie Oliver would be proud.

He is trying his best to impress God. Yet, it in his mind, this reallyis just a fancy meal. When he addresses the angel as, “Lord,” in verse 15, theNIV footnotes makes clear, that this is akin to saying, “Sir”. He is beingcourteous. Polite. As far as Gideon is concerned, this is just another man –distinguished and important he may be – but just another man. This “offering”Gideon painstakingly serves up is, in his mind, nothing more than dinner.

So what this visitor tells Gideon to do next must have surprised him.“Pour out the broth,” he says. Empty out the contents of the pot full of yummydelicious stew!

The angel of God said to him, “Take the meat andthe unleavened bread, place them on this rock, and pour out the broth.” AndGideon did so. With the tip of the staff that was in his hand, the angel of theLORD touched the meat and the unleavened bread. Fire flared from the rock,consuming the meat and the bread. And the angel of the LORD disappeared. WhenGideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, “Ah, SovereignLORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!”

But the LORD said to him, “Peace! Do not beafraid. You are not going to die.” So Gideon built an altar to the LORD thereand called it The LORD is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of theAbiezrites.

Judges 6:20-24

Gideon realises that he was dealing with an angel sent from God and hefreaks out. Gideon essentially thinks he is going to die but God reassures himone more time, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.”

Notice that God reassures Gideon time and time again about his presence.When he first meets him threshing wheat in the winepress, “The LORD is withyou” (verse 12). When Gideon questions his own ability, “I will be with you”(verse 16). Even when Gideon runs off to the kitchen to re-enact his favouriteepisode from Masterchef, “I will wait until you return.”

And here, even after the angel has left, when Gideon thinks he is aboutto die, God voice comes down from heaven to calm his nerves. “Peace! Do not beafraid.” In answer to our prayers for blessing, comfort, confidence or love,God’s greatest promise to us is that of himself. “I will be with you,” he saysto young Gideon.

Gideon responds with thankfulness and worship. He “built an altar … andcalled it The LORD is Peace,” as a reminder that God had met him there,accepted his offering and given Gideon the promise of his presence and peace.

However, things weren’t going to stay peaceful for long.

Spring cleaning

That same night the LORD said to him, “Take thesecond bull from your father’s herd, the one seven years old. Tear down yourfather’s altar to Baal and cut down the Asherah pole beside it. Then build aproper kind of altar to the LORD your God on the top of this height. Using thewood of the Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burntoffering.”

So Gideon took ten of his servants and did asthe LORD told him. But because he was afraid of his family and the men of thetown, he did it at night rather than in the daytime.
Judges 6:25-27

Baal was the local pagan god of the Canaanites. Asherah was the femalecounterpart to Baal, symbolising fertility and blessing. The heart of theproblem was not the Midianite forces which oppressed Israel and destroyed theirfood supplies. The issue was idolatry. Israel had turned away from God toworship idols. This is what verse 1 was referring to when we read, “Again theIsraelites did evil in the eyes of the LORD”.

Notice as well that God tells Gideon to tear down “your father’s altar”.These idols had been set up prominently in Gideon’s dad’s own backyard! Thissame dad who taught Gideon all about what God did in the Exodus, rescuingIsrael and bringing them to the Promise Land.

Gideon’s dad is like a Christian who still calls himself a believer – hestill goes to church every Sunday - but keeps a giant statue of Buddha in hisback garden next to the lavish koi pond where he parks his Mercedes every day.God tells Gideon, “Take your dad’s prized Mercedes and pull down that idol,destroying it completely. Then take apart your dad’s Mercedes and built a crossin that same place – out of Mercedes parts!”

“Build a proper kind of altar to the LORD your God … using the wood ofthe Asherah pole that you cut down, offer the second bull as a burnt offering,”God says to Gideon, giving him instructions to “recycle” the idol into partsfor a “proper altar” to God. Gideon obeyed God, but did this at night, “becausehe was afraid of his and the men of his town.”

It looks like he had reason to be afraid.

In the morning when the men of the town got up,there was Baal’s altar, demolished, with the Asherah pole beside it cut downand the second bull sacrificed on the newly built altar! They asked each other,“Who did this?” When they carefully investigated, they were told, “Gideon sonof Joash did it.”

The men of the town demanded of Joash, “Bringout your son. He must die, because he has broken down Baal’s altar and cut downthe Asherah pole beside it.”

But Joash replied to the hostile crowd aroundhim, “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him? Whoeverfights for him shall be put to death by morning! If Baal really is a god, hecan defend himself when someone breaks down his altar.” So that day they calledGideon “Jerub-Baal,” saying, “Let Baal contend with him,” because he broke downBaal’s altar.

Judges 6:28-32

The townspeople turn up at Joash’s front door, armed with pitchforks andtorches ready to lynch Gideon for his sacrilegious act of vandalism. “He mustdie, because he has broken down Ball’s altar and cut down the Asherah polebeside it.”

But Joash defends his son. That’s simply amazing! He speaks to this“hostile crowd” and begins to mock the very pagan gods he had been worshippingup till now. “Are you going to plead Baal’s cause? Are you trying to save him?Whoever fights for him shall be put to death by morning!” If Baal really were agod, he would defend himself and not allow his own altar to be torn down by apuny kid.

All this from a former Baal worshipper - possibly even, a Baal priest -since the altar was in Joash’s own backyard. Furthermore, Gideon had trashedthe Merc – I mean, the bull – in order to build another altar – a properaltar to God. Joash should have been hopping mad at his son. You would haveexpected Joash to be leading the mob, not confronting them. But it’s obvious,isn’t it, that Joash now recognises how foolish it is to try to defend an idol,how much more foolish then, to worship one? “Let Baal contend with him,” that’swhat they said of Gideon from that day onwards, giving him the new name,“Jerub-Baal”. Meaning: Let Baal deal with this kid. As if, he could.

Earlier on, Gideon was protesting before God that he was the “least” inhis family. Yet what we see here is God using the youngest and mostinsignificant member of this family to turn the head of that household back inrepentance towards God. Because of Gideon’s faithfulness, his own dad findsrenewed faith and trust in the LORD.

And what we see next is God using Gideon to bring the whole people ofGod back to himself.

Now all the Midianites, Amalekites and othereastern peoples joined forces and crossed over the Jordan and camped in theValley of Jezreel. Then the Spirit of the LORD came upon Gideon, and he blew atrumpet, summoning the Abiezrites to follow him. He sent messengers throughoutManasseh, calling them to arms, and also into Asher, Zebulun and Naphtali, sothat they too went up to meet them.

Judges 6:33-35

It’s the scene of a great battle! The enemy nations have banded togetherto attack Israel. But God empowers Gideon by his Spirit. He blows a trumpetsummoning all his clan to follow him. Remember, these are the very same peoplewho were out to kill him just a few verses before. But not they follow Gideoninto battle. Not just them, but also the clans of Manasseh, Asher, Zebulun andNaphtali.

So, not just the tiny college that is Queens’ College – but Trinity,John’s and King’s team up behind you, gathering at the ferries ready to crossover to Calais. You have numbers. You have the Spirit of God. Everyone’s readyfor battle.

But instead of marching on, Gideon stops. He stops to check with God,one more time, just to be sure. “Aiya! Tim Kai Leh?” his soldiers musthave been thinking of their brave general.

Just checking

Gideon said to God, “If you will save Israel bymy hand as you have promised— look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshingfloor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then Iwill know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.” And that is whathappened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung outthe dew—a bowlful of water.

Then Gideon said to God, “Do not be angry withme. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece.This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew.” That night Goddid so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew.

Judges 6:36-39

The story of Gideon and his fleece has become proverbial of our pursuitto know God’s will for our lives. Countless pastors and missionaries haveshared their personal “fleece” stories about God confirming a difficultdecision ahead of them by miraculous means. There have also been countlesspreachers who say Gideon is behaving irresponsibly by testing God yet againinstead of trusting in his word.

The amazing thing to note is not simply Gideon’s boldness in testing Godagain and again, but rather God’s patience and graciousness in responding tothis young boy’s doubts, again and again.

In the first test, Gideon asks God to make the fleece wet and the grounddry, laying the fleece on the threshing floor. He wakes up the next morning tofind the fleece wet with dew - so wet that he is able to squeeze out a bowl ofwater.

Someone in my bible study group suggested that maybe Gideon wasn’t toobright - that it wouldn’t have been too difficult for God to just pour a glassof water on the fleece to make it wet. That’s why Gideon asked for the reverseto happen instead; for the ground to be wet but the fleece to stay dry (I’llleave you to decide for yourself if that idea has any merit, haha!). The secondtest was much trickier. The wool fleece would naturally absorb any moisturefrom its surroundings. Yet that night, God did as Gideon asked, “Only thefleece was dry; all the ground was covered in dew” (verse 39).

Notice how Gideon addresses God so very cautiously with his secondrequest. “Do not be angry with me.” Gideon knows he is asking for a lot. Infact, the word he uses is “test” - “Allow me one more test with the fleece,”Gideon says in verse 39 - something which God explicitly forbade in the Law ofMoses (see Deuteronomy 6:16, “Do not test the LORD your God”, as well as Hebrews3:7). When Israel tested God, God punished them with death.

But God, in turn, was also asking much of Gideon. Gideon was chosen tolead the nation into battle. Gideon was chosen to save Israel out of the handsof the powerful Midianite forces. Gideon was chosen to turn his people back toGod.

And what we have seen throughout this chapter is God being gracious andpatient with Gideon, time and time again. No rebuke. Not even a word ofwarning. Just constant reassurances and reminders of God’s peace. And God’spresence.

“I will be with you.”

Knowing God’s will

Should we test God the way Gideon did? From this passage alone, I thinkwe can neither commend Gideon’s behaviour in testing God, nor can we evencondemn his actions in seeking God’s will.

In the Chinese Church, the two biggest issues people struggle with most,again and again, are marriage and work. “God, is this person the one?”“God, is this job the one?” And you get all kinds of prayer requests inthis regard - For God to open one door and close all others; For God to do amiracle and point them in the right direction.

Yet sometimes I wonder if God is giving us the same answer he gaveGideon when he was in doubt of God’s will. I wonder if God’s answer to you inyour deepest moments of uncertainty, in that crisis of faith, or in thatdifficult situation that seems so precarious is simply this:

“I will be with you.”

In response to our prayers for blessing, comfort and knowledge, God’sgreatest answer is to give us himself. He does that supremely throughhis Son, Jesus Christ. That is the what Christmas, which we will be celebratingin just a few weeks, is all about, isn’t it? That in Jesus, God came to be withus. That in Jesus, God became like one of us.

The bible tells us that Jesus shared in our humanity; he was like us inevery way. He was human. He got tired. He was tempted. He felt pain and deepanguish. Yet he never sinned. All throughout his earthly life, Jesus walkedwith his heavenly Father in perfect obedience and love.

And just before going to his death on the cross, the bible tells us ofhow Jesus was in a garden praying to God. There in the garden calledGethsemane, he sought the will of his Father.

“Father, if you are willing, take this cup fromme; yet not my will, but yours be done.” An angel from heaven appeared to himand strengthened him. And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and hissweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Luke 22:42-44

Jesus did not want to go to the cross. The cross meant death - notjust physical death; spiritual death. Death that meant separation from God.Jesus who had existed in eternal love and fellowship with his heavenly Fatherwas about to bear the full weight of punishment for the sins of the world. Atthe cross, he would cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

So great was his anguish that drops of blood trickled down his brow.“Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me.” Jesus did not want to goto the cross. He prayed that he might not have to go to the cross. And as anangel descended from heaven to strengthen him, he prayed all the moreearnestly pleading with his heavenly Father.

Yet Jesus also prayed that his Father’s will be done. And on the cross,Jesus the Son of God obeyed his heavenly Father. Willingly. At the cross, God’swill was seen and done. Next time you want to know God’s will for your life?Look to the cross. Look to Jesus. That’s God’s will for your life and mine.It’s Jesus.

Peter puts it like this:

For Christ died for sins once for all, therighteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.

1 Peter 3:18

In Jesus, God was with us. In Jesus, God was like us. And in Jesus, Godis for us. Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins to bring us to God.

Hewalked where I walked

He stoodwhere I stand

He feltwhat I feel

Heunderstands.

He knowsmy frailty

Sharedmy humanity

Temptedin every way

Yetwithout sin

God withus!

So closeto us

God withus

Emmanuel

(“Godwith us”, Don Moen)

The last stand (Revelation 7)

2011-11-16T09:55:00.001Z

Audio recording of the sermon preached on 6 November 2011 at the Chinese Church on Revelation Chapter 7. An outline of the talk was posted here.

Download MP3

All I want for Christmas

2011-11-15T15:56:00.000Z

Our upcoming Christmas sermon series at the Chinese Church
based on the gospel of Matthew.

www.rockfellowship.org.uk/alliwantforchristmas/

[Title idea unashamedly plagiarised from the Crossing Church :) Check them out!]

Silence in Heaven (Revelation 8)

2011-11-13T09:43:00.001Z

Armistice

Millions of people across theUnited Kingdom observed a two-minute silence on Friday to mark the 93rdArmistice Day. Wikipedia defines “armistice” as a situation in a war wherewarring parties agree to stop fighting. The key aspect in an armistice is thefact that “all fighting ends with no one surrendering”.

Armistice Day commemorates the first armistice signed duringWorld War I on 11 November which took effect at eleven o'clock in themorning—the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month"of 1918. Since then, it has become an annual day of remembrance for allsoldiers killed in the line of duty.

For many who lived through the war; for those who lost lovedones in the war; for those who continue to live with the ravages and scars ofwar - the two minutes of silence is a moment to grieve, to remember and to bethankful.

We open our study today from Revelation Chapter 8 with justsuch a moment.

Silence in heaven

When he opened the seventhseal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.

Revelation 8:1

This silence is symbolic of the calm before the storm. Whattriggers the silence is the opening of the seventh seal. This picks up fromRevelation 6 which we studied a couple of weeks ago, where Jesus opened six ofthe seven seals on the scroll which unleashes God’s final judgement on theearth. And here he opens the seventh, and “there was silence in heaven forabout half and hour.”

Like the silence observed each year at Armistice Day, itdoesn’t mean that the war has ended. It just means that fighting has stoppedfor the moment. The opening of the seventh seal is like Jesus hitting the pausebutton. It is a moment to reflect on what is going on: God is finally bringingall his purposes of judgement and salvation to pass. It is a moment to considerwho it is we are dealing with: the Sovereign Lord who is Holy and True, whocannot tolerate sin and who will judge all who oppose his rule. It is a momentfor us to evaluate our lives: what is our attitude towards this God. How do werespond to Jesus and his saving work on the cross?

In moments like these, it may be appropriate to cover ourmouths; to be silent. To be careful with our words and actions before such aholy God. To listen to what he is speaking to us even now in his word. And tosee what he is doing in our world and in our lives even today.

The prayers of the saints

And I saw the seven angels whostand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets. Another angel, who hada golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense tooffer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before thethrone.

Revelation 8:2-3

Notice that in verse 2, John sees “the” seven angels. He isreferring to the same seven angels we met in Chapters 2 and 3: the seven angelsof the seven churches to whom this book of Revelation is addressed. They standbefore God, representing each church - and indeed, representing the wholechurch of God, such is the symbolic nature of the number seven - and they aregiven seven trumpets.

But then John’s focus turns to another angel in verse 3 whoapproaches God and stands at the altar. What he does next triggers an end tothe silence. This angel stands at the altar to offers up the prayers of thesaints.

The smokeof the incense, together with the prayers of the saints, went up before Godfrom the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire fromthe altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder,rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Revelation8:4-5

A censer is a pot which is usedto hold burning incense. Back in Asia, many homes have altars with small potswhere joss-sticks are placed. Some of you will remember how smoky the wholehouse would be, as the smell and smoke of joss-sticks and incense would getinto every room, into your clothes and maybe even make your eyes start towater. (Smoke got in your eyes. Whoawhoaawhoaaa.)

We read in verse 3 that thisangel at the altar holds a hand-held censer and is given a lot of incense -meaning, he is creating a lot of smoke - and in the next verse, we see thatthis smoke rises up before God “together with the prayers of the saints.” Thisis Revelation’s symbolic picture of how our prayers reach God. They are carriedby the angel, they rise up to heaven and they are presented right before God’sthrone in heaven. The prayers you said this morning. The prayers we saytogether as a church. The prayers we say to God privately in our hearts. Godhears every word. God hears every prayer.

Every one of them, that is,offered up in Jesus Christ. That’s the connection with the altar. You see,there are two types of altars in view here. The first is the altar ofincense, producing the smoke and the pleasing smell of the incensebefore God (Also worth noting are “the golden bowls full of incense” held bythe seven elders/angels before God’s throne in Chapter 5, verse 8, “which arethe prayers of the saints”). But then we read in verse 5 that the angel fillshis censer with “fire from the altar”. This is now talking about the secondtype of altar - the altar of sacrifice. That is, God’s acceptsour prayers because they presented to him through the sacrifice of JesusChrist. His offering on the cross makes our offering acceptable. His deathguarantees that our prayers are heard.

And what happens next is God’sanswer to our prayers. The angels hurls the censer filled with fire taken fromthe altar unto the earth resulting in judgement: symbolised by the thunder,lightning and earthquake.

Now you’re probably saying, “ButI never prayed for that! I asked God for a sunny day, or for my favouritesinger to win on X-Factor.” The prayer that is in view here is the one we hearda couple of weeks ago in Chapter 6 at the opening of the fifth seal. There thesouls under the altar - those who died in their witness to the gospel - cry outto God, “How long!”

How long,Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth andavenge our blood?

Revelation6:10

Remember God’s response to thisprayer: Patience.

Then eachof them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer,until the number of their fellow servants and brothers who were to be killed asthey had been was completed.

Revelation6:11

God is infinitely more patientthan we are. In the face of evil and unjust suffering, God holds back hisrighteous judgement. More specifically, here in the face of the death ofChristians for the sake of the gospel, God is also patient.

Now, the kingdom of God advances not through militaryconquest, neither through human ingenuity and never through coercion ormanipulation - but only through the testimony of the good news; theproclamation of Jesus’ death on the cross. But God knows that speaking thisnews gets us into trouble. People will reject the gospel and they will rejectthose who hold to the gospel to the extent, that some will lose their livessimply for speaking and holding to the gospel. God knows this. He has evenordained it.

I wonder if we are honest enoughabout this in our evangelism. I wonder if we are clear enough about this to ourmissionaries. God tells the souls under the altar to wait until the number oftheir fellows brothers who were to be killed as they were had been completed.The gospel is carried into the world through our speaking, but also through oursuffering.

God response with mercy andpatience in the face of evil and unjust suffering - even the suffering anddeath of faithful Christians in service to the gospel. He holds back his righteousjudgement back in Chapter 6.

But here in Chapter 8, judgementfinally comes.

For the rest of the chapter, thisjudgement is symbolised by four trumpets - and that is very significant. Thetrumpets announce God’s judgement - similar to a call to war (aswe saw this week at Rock Fellowship as Gideon blew his trumpet to assemble thetroops). Also, the seven trumpet ought to remind us of Jericho, when sevenpriests blew seven trumpets as they marched around the city seven times forseven days. God destroyed the walls of Jericho, not Israel. All they did was doa bit of walking - round and round - every day (Joshua 6). Or trumpets alsosignalled the God’s presence as God spoke the Ten Commandmentsfrom Mount Sinai in Exodus 19 - “The sound of the trumpet grew louder andlouder. Then Moses spoke and the voice of God answered him” (Exodus (19:19).

But here in Revelation, the trumpets are symbolic of God’swarning. Revelation 8 is God’s warning to us of certain judgement tocome. And the remarkable thing Revelation does with these four trumpets is towarn us of a future certainty by pointing back to a past reality -specifically, the reality of the plagues in the Exodus.

Fire from heaven

Then theseven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.

Revelation8:6-7

Like the seven seals, when thefirst four seals were subdivided from the rest - where we got the fourhorsemen; so here with the seven trumpets, the first four trumpets cansimilarly be grouped together.

These four trumpets in Chapter 8bear a striking resemblance to four of the plagues in Egypt at the time of theExodus. The first is the plague of hail and fire in Exodus 9. Thesecond and third trumpets correspond to Exodus 7, when the Nile river waschanged to blood. The fourth trumpet is the plague of darknessrecorded in Exodus 10.

But let’s look closer at each of the first four trumpets,beginning with the first:

The firstangel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, andit was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a thirdof the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

Revelation8:7

The hail and fire is thrown downto the earth, very much like the first angel at the altar who threw the goldencenser filled with fire unto the earth. So, there’s a connection there. Yet atthe time, there is also a connection with the previous chapters 6 and 7.

Last week in Chapter 7, we readof God’s instruction to the angels to hold back the four winds of judgement -to keep them from harming the earth “or … any tree”. But here, any suchrestriction has been lifted. “A third of the earth was burned up, a third ofthe trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.”

Why a third? Some suggest aconnection to the famine in Chapter 6. The destruction of a third, and not allof the vegetation means there is a lack of food resulting in a rise in theprice of food. Interesting, the account of the hail and fire in Exodus 9 (somemanuscripts even add the word “trumpets” making Exodus 9:23 read, “The LORDsent fire, hail and trumpets”) also includes a description of partialdestruction of the food source: “The flax and barley were destroyed... thewheat and spolt however, were not destroyed”, Exodus 9:31).

More likely however, theone-third destruction formula found here represents partial judgement, as thisformula is repeated in all four of the trumpets in Chapter 8 - one third of theearth, one-third of the trees, one-third of the sea, one-third of the waters,one-third of the sun, moon and stars. The one-third formula is Revelation’s wayof saying: This is just a fraction of the judgement to come. It will get muchworse than even this.

The judgement of the firsttrumpet is poured out specifically on the earth (as opposed to the sea andwaters in trumpets 2 and 3). Looking at Exodus 9 and the plague of hail, fireand trumpets, we get additional insight into the purpose of this plague andjudgement.

For by nowI could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plaguethat would have wiped you off the earth. But I have raised you up for this verypurpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed inall the earth.

Exodus9:15-16

The plague announces God’sjudgement over the earth, yes, but more so, God’s sovereign authority over theearth - “that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed inall the earth,” is what God says to Pharaoh, King of Egypt. However, when Mosesfinally spread his hands towards the LORD “and the thunder and hail stopped,and the rain no longer poured down on the land (literally, earth),” Pharaohsinned again. He hardened his heart against God.

The first trumpet is Godestablishing is his authority over his creation in judgement over those whocontinually reject his authority.

Sea turned to blood

The secondangel sounded his trumpet, and something like a huge mountain, all ablaze, wasthrown into the sea. A third of the sea turned into blood, a third of theliving creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

Revelation8:8-9

A popular interpretation of this bit involves a meteoritecrashing into earth from space - the huge mountain in verse 8 - polluting thesea water and killing all the dinosaurs - hence the death of the “livingcreatures in the sea” in verse 9. Or another theory suggests that this istalking about a volcano erupting red hot lava - turning the sea “into blood”.

Again, it is worth considering that these symbols build onthe rich imagery already found in the Old Testament. In Exodus Chapter 7, Mosesis commanded by God to strike the River Nile with his staff and “it will bechanged into blood” (Exodus 7:17). Also the prophet Jeremiah pronounces God’sjudgement on Babylon, described in Chapter 51 as a “destroying mountain”, whichGod would reduce to a “burnt mountain” (Jeremiah 51:25). (Revelation itselfmakes this connection to Babylon in Chapter 18 where an angel picks up a largeboulder, throws it into the sea and then says, “With such violence the greatcity of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again.” - Revelation18:21).

In both cases, God is pouring out judgement on proud andpowerful nations which oppose God’s rule and oppress God’s people - Egypt inExodus, and Babylon in Jeremiah.

Furthermore, this judgement is poured out upon “the sea”.The sea is consistently pictured in Revelation as a symbol of rebellion. We sawthat back in Revelation Chapter 4 where God sits in judgement on his throne andbefore him is the sea. At the end of Revelation when John sees the new heavenand the new earth, he writes, “there was no longer any sea” - God hasvanquished all opposition and rivals to his authority.

The second trumpet is God’s judgement on kingdoms which usetheir power to reject and rival God’s kingdom. The picture of the huge mountainbeing thrown into the sea is symbolic of God destroying all such opposition -powerful as they may seem. Again, as we saw earlier in God’s encounter withPharaoh, he raised Egypt up precisely for the purpose of demonstrating hispower.

Wormwood

The thirdangel sounded his trumpet, and a great star, blazing like a torch, fell fromthe sky on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water— the name of thestar is Wormwood. A third of the waters turned bitter, and many people diedfrom the waters that had become bitter.

Revelation8:10-11

At first glance, the thirdtrumpet is very similar to the second. This judgement also involves a largeobject falling from the sky into “the waters”. But while Trumpet No. 2 focuseson powerful opposition against God, Trumpet 3 is about the those who practiceidolatry, turning away from God. That is the symbolism of behind the“bitterness”, the poisoning of the waters and the name “Wormwood”.

Wormwood is not codename for some super secret meteor aboutcrash into planet earth. It is the name of a plant native to Asia, Europe andnorthern Africa, which is bitter-tasting and produces a poisonous extract. Itis this bitterness that becomes symbolic of God’s judgement.

The LORD said, “It is becausethey have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me orfollowed my law. Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts;they have followed the Baals, as their fathers taught them.” Therefore, this iswhat the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this peopleeat bitter food (wormwood) and drink poisoned water.

Jeremiah 29:13-15

The same word occurs in Deuteronomy, this time describingthe actions of the people of God turning away from God to worship idols.

Make sure there is no man orwoman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD ourGod to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no rootamong you that produces such bitter poison (wormwood).

Deuteronomy 29:18

Interestingly, when we look at Exodus 7 again at thepoisoning of the waters of River Nile, we see there God’s judgement, but alsoPharoah’s response to this judgement.

Pharaoh’s heart became hard;he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the LORD had said. Instead, heturned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. And allthe Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water, because they could notdrink the water of the river.

Exodus 7:22-24

The third trumpet is a judgement on stubborn and unrepentanthearts that continue to rebel against God to pursue false gods. The bitternessof this judgement, indicated by the name Wormwood, and the poisoning of thedrinking waters is symbolic of internal nature of this punishment.

Darkness

The fourth angel sounded histrumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, a third of the moon, and a third ofthe stars, so that a third of them turned dark. A third of the day was withoutlight, and also a third of the night.

Revelation 8:12

The fourth trumpet is one of the reasons why the symbols inRevelation are unlikely to be sequential. For one thing, the sun, moon andstars were destroyed back in Chapter 6 at the opening at the sixth seal, and yethere we find only one third of the sun, moon and stars affected by judgement.Having said that, both symbols in Chapters 6 and 8 have a common theme: Godis de-creating the world. He is reversing the order of the universeleaving it to descend into chaos.

Instead of a sequential order of events, Revelation presentsus with repeated patterns building on a common theme - each time, reinforcingthe point that God is sovereign over his creation; each time, bringing home themessage that Jesus will bring all of God’s purposes for judgement and salvationto completion through his work on the cross.

The judgement brought by the fourth trumpet is darkness.“A third of the day was without light, and also a third of the night”. Againthe account in Exodus sheds light on the purpose of this judgement.

Then the LORD said to Moses,“Stretch out your hand toward the sky so that darkness will spread overEgypt—darkness that can be felt.” So Moses stretched out his hand toward thesky, and total darkness covered all Egypt for three days. No one could seeanyone else or leave his place for three days. Yet all the Israelites had lightin the places where they lived.

Exodus 10:21-22

Notice that the Israelites had light while the Egyptianswere covered with darkness - “darkness that can be felt”. It was so dark thatthey couldn’t even see one another (Exodus 10:23) such that everyone had tostay home for three days. The darkness here is equated with blindness - theinability to perceive your environment and surroundings. The plague of darknessin Exodus 10 ends with God causing a deeper form of darkness, blindness andignorance to fall on the heart of Pharaoh, such that he could no longerperceive God’s presence or grace.

But the LORD hardenedPharaoh’s heart, and he was not willing to let them go. Pharaoh said to Moses,“Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day yousee my face you will die.” “Just as you say,” Moses replied, “I will neverappear before you again.”

Exodus 10:27-29

I find this to be very scary passage - even though there’sno blood or sickness or even death. For me, to read in verse 27 of Godhardening Pharaoh’s heart, making him stubborn in his rebellion. And then tohear Pharaoh’s words telling Moses to leave his sight, with Moses simplysaying, “I will never appear before you again”. And then for Moses to complywith his request - that is scary. Pharaoh gets specifically what he asks for -judgement from God.

This week, one of our friends at Rock said that hercolleague wanted to teach her how to swear. He was feeling frustrated with awork situation and for him, swearing and cursing was a way of releasing stress.He was puzzled why this Christian girl refused to say any of the words he wastrying to teach her.

I can only guess what it was he tried to teach her, but Ithink that much of it have been offensive to God. When we use God’s name invain, when we talk about hell flippantly, when we foolishly refer to judgementas something trivial - much of this talk is foolish and ignorant. We thinknothing of offending others. We think nothing of offending a holy God.

Compared to course joking and cursing, Pharaoh’s request isactually quite mild. “Get out of my sight.” That’s all he said. He didn’t wantto see Moses anymore. Yet he had seen the plagues. He had seen first-hand thepower of God and the judgement of God. This was not an innocent request.Pharaoh was fed up. He didn’t want to deal with God or with Moses anymore.

“Get out of my sight!” Pharoah said. “So as you say,” Mosesagreed. He didn’t want to deal with Moses anymore. He didn’t want to hear God’sword anymore. In effect, Pharaoh wanted to separate himself from any trace ofGod. And finally, God complied. The darkness is symbolic of God pulling hispresence away from Pharaoh.

What if God took you at your word? The things you said tohim. The things you said about him. What if God dealt with you according toyour words. The bible says one day he will. We will not be able to stand - ourwords will condemn us. We will have no defence - our guilt will be plain beforeus. Unless we take God at his word.

In the beginning was the Word,and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in thebeginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made thathas been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The lightshines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

John 1:1-3

Jesus is God’s word in the darkness, speaking to us andcalling us into his marvellous light. He is the light of men - leading us toGod. He is the light of life - showing himself as God. God sends Jesus as alight shining “in the darkness”. He wants us to respond. He wants us to seeJesus and come into his presence.

Yet as John writes in verse 3, “the darkness has notunderstood it.” Sometimes we see this light and turn away. Like Pharaoh, wesay, “Get out of my sight”.

The fourth trumpet is a judgement of darkness. God pullsback the light of his salvation and grace. It is only partial: One third of thesun; one third of the moon and stars. Meaning: God is still merciful. There arestill moments to respond to God’s grace.

The trumpets are warnings. The question is: have we takenheed of these warnings?

The fulfilment of the ages

As I watched, I heard an eaglethat was flying in midair call out in a loud voice: “Woe! Woe! Woe to theinhabitants of the earth, because of the trumpet blasts about to be sounded bythe other three angels!”

Revelation 8:13

We will look at the final three trumpets next week inChapter 9. For now, chapter 8 simply ends with a clear warning: it will getworse - much, much worse, in fact. “Woe! Woe! Woe!” says the eagle flyingmidair in a loud voice, almost as if to say, “You think this is bad? Wait tillyou get a load of Chapter 9!” While the first four trumpets are judgementspoured out on creation (earth, sea, water, sun, moon and stars), the last threeare poured out on people; the last three trumpets are personal.

But again, the trumpets symbolise warnings. They warn us totake God’s judgement seriously and the question is: Have we heard thesewarnings?

Now by warnings, I don’t mean speculation. Revelation isoften a book used to speculate on world events: some try to predict whichkingdom is symbolised by the burning mountain; some try to predict dates when ameteor will crash into earth’s atmosphere and then point to the falling star inTrumpet Number 3 and say that’s Wormwood.

But notice that while Revelation does point forward tofuture events it also points backwards. It keeps saying, “This has happenedbefore.” The first four trumpets correspond to four of the plagues in Egypt.Even the name Wormwood is used again and again in the Old Testament tosymbolised God’s judgement on idolatry and false worship. Meaning: the way totake God’s future judgement seriously is to take the bible seriously. We mustbe careful not to treat the Old Testament like fairy tales - only to be taughtto kids in Sunday School but having no relevance to Christians today. Referringto the Exodus, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians:

These things happened to themas examples and were written as warnings for us on whom the fulfilment of theages has come. So if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’tfall!

1 Corinthians 10:11-12

Do you hear what Paul says? These are warnings... for us.Today. On whom the fulfilment of the ages has come - meaning: it was alwaysmeant for us, who now understand Jesus and his death on the cross as thefulfilment of all God’s promises in the bible.

How does Chapter 8 begin again? With Jesus opening theseventh and final seal. The cross is the key. It is the only waywe can understand salvation. It is the only way we take seriously God’sjudgement.

And what happens when Jesus unlocks the final seal? Silence.It is an armistice. The war is still ongoing, but when we come tothe cross, we find peace and we receive protection. On the cross, Jesus took mypunishment on himself. On the cross, Jesus took God’s judgement on himself.

The cross is God’s declaration of peace to rebels like us -rebels who have rejected him, who have denied his authority, who have turnedout backs on him. Did you know that Jesus was killed as a rebel? The cross wasa political statement - a capital punishment invented to warn off all potentialrebels - This is what we do to terrorists. Jesus’ body was hung on a pole tomake that statement. The cross was invented a warning of sure and certainpunishment.

Except Jesus was not a rebel. He was innocent. Yet whenfalse accusations were made against him, he did not say a word. The bible saysall this was in accordance to God’s will.

Yet it was the LORD’s will tocrush him and cause him to suffer.

Isaiah 53:10

Why would God do this? Why would God punish his own Son formy sin? One, to show me my sin. I look to the cross and I see just how seriousmy sin is against God. Two, to show me his love. I look to the cross and seehis wounds, his scars - I receive peace and forgiveness.

But he was pierced for ourtransgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

Isaiah 53:5

By his wounds we are healed. The violent death of the Son ofGod results in peace between rebels and God. This is God’s love for us.

But God demonstrates his ownlove for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

We have looked at some pretty horrible pictures of judgementtoday and I do apologise if I have freaked you out. It is a scary passage. Yet friends,as scary as the pictures we have seen in Revelation 8 have been - and I mustcontend, that as a Christian, I do believe in the certainty of these events -they are real and they will happen; still, as terrifying as these four trumpetstruly are, I want you to see God’s full and final judgement on our sin not inthese trumpets but on the cross of Jesus Christ.

The cross is God’s warning to us: Judgement has alreadycome. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is God’s message to the world:Either your punishment and death was dealt with on the cross. Or you arefilling up for yourselves judgement that will be poured out on that last andfinal day when Jesus returns as King and Judge.

The key is the cross. The cross is turning point of history;the turning point of judgement and salvation. There we see God’s punishment forour sin. There we see God’s forgiveness for our sin. There we God’s love for usthrough his Son.

At the cross, God demonstrateHis love for us

While we were sinners Jesuscame to die

So by His blood We could bejustified.

So be not ashamed of thecross,

It bring salvation to all whobelieve,

God is revealed, Guilt isremoved

forgiveness can now bereceived.

So be not ashamed of thecross.

Tell of its power to all whowill hear.

Great is our joy, glory isours

From death we can now be setfree.

(“At the cross” by Bryson Smithand Philip Percival)

WDJD (Mark 15)

2011-11-08T11:49:00.000Z

The question I want us to thinkabout is: Why did Jesus die?

Not “How?” - which is a good question. He died verypainfully on a wooden cross. That is how he died.

We are not asking “When did Jesus die?” “When” isalso a good question. Jesus died two thousand years ago. And yet, it stillaffects us today.

We are asking: Why did Jesus die? To help us answerthat question, we will hear what the bible says in Mark Chapter 15. Here, thebible gives us three reasons why Jesus died.

1. Hisdeath was planned

2. Hisdeath was a punishment

3. Hisdeath was in our place

It was planned

Early inthe morning the chief priests met hurriedly with the elders, the teachers ofthe Law, and the whole Council, and made their plans. They put Jesus in chains,led him away, and handed him over to Pilate.

Mark 15:1(Good News Translation)

There are a lot of names in just the first sentence. Chiefpriests, elders, teachers, the Council. All of them were powerful - elders,teachers of the Law. All of them were religious - chief priests and theCouncil. A lot of people were involved in the plan to kill Jesus.

Whoa! Kill Jesus? Well, they didn’t all take sticks and hithim. That is not what I mean. They planned together so that someone else wouldkill Jesus. Early in the morning, they all hurried and met together with theirfriends and said, “How can we get Jesus into trouble? We can’t kill himourselves? We don’t want to get into trouble.” But they had a plan. “We willsend him to the governor - the judge, named Pilate. We will tell the governorthat Jesus is a terrorist and that he must be punished according to the law.”

And it looked like the plan was working!

Pilate questioned him, “Areyou the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “So you say.” The chief priests wereaccusing Jesus of many things, so Pilate questioned him again, “Aren't yougoing to answer? Listen to all their accusations!” Again Jesus refused to say aword, and Pilate was amazed.

Mark 15:2-5

They were “accusing Jesus of many things”. They chiefpriests were saying, “Jesus is a criminal. He is dangerous. We must get rid ofhim.” But the bible says, “Jesus refused to say a word.” He didn’t defendhimself. He didn’t say, “You are telling lies about me,” even though they were.He didn’t say, “I am innocent.” Even though he was.

But Jesus did answer one question. I wonder if you noticedthat: the very first question Pilate, the judge asked Jesus in verse number 2.“Are you the king of the Jews?” Jesus answered, “So you say.”

You’re right. I am the King. I do have authority and power.

Yet the plan was to convince Pilate, the judge thatJesus was pretending to be king. The plan was to say that he was justanother man: Jesus was just a common criminal who deserved to be punished.

It was a punishment

At every Passover FestivalPilate was in the habit of setting free any one prisoner the people asked for.At that time a man named Barabbas was in prison with the rebels who hadcommitted murder in the riot. When the crowd gathered and began to ask Pilatefor the usual favour, he asked them, “Do you want me to set free for you theking of the Jews?” He knew very well that the chief priests had handed Jesusover to him because they were jealous.

Mark 15:6-10

Pilate, the judge, was not convinced. I think if you were inhis position as the judge, you wouldn’t have been convinced either. Pilateheard all the accusations against Jesus but he did not believe any of them. Yetat the same time, he was amazed. Why didn’t Jesus defend himself?

So Pilate, the judge tried to set Jesus free. But instead ofasking the leaders, the chief priests and the religious people who all wantedJesus to be punished, Pilate thought, “I will ask the people instead.” Maybethe people would support his decision.

Look with me to verse 9. “He asked them, ‘Do you want me toset free for you the king of the Jews?’ He knew very well that the chiefpriests had handed Jesus over to him because they were jealous.”

It was a favour. It was a tradition. Every year during thisspecial holiday called the Passover Festival, Pilate would do a favour for thepeople by freeing one of the prisoners. It is a bit like X-Factor, except forprison: Ex-convict Factor. Who got the most votes? Who was the most popular?Pilate was being Simon Cowell, sitting behind the desk, looking very good andmaking all the important decisions. But the final decision was belonged to thepeople. “Do you want me to let Jesus go?” he asked them.

The final decision surprised Pilate, the judge.

But the chief priests stirredup the crowd to ask, instead, that Pilate set Barabbas free for them. Pilatespoke again to the crowd, “What, then, do you want me to do with the one youcall the king of the Jews?” They shouted back, “Crucify him!” But what crimehas he committed?” Pilate asked. They shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”

Mark 15:11-14

Jesus didn’t get the vote. He wasn’t popular enough. Infact, everyone voted for the other prisoner, a man named Barabbas. If you canremember, back in verse 7, Barabbas was a criminal. He was in prison formurder. He was dangerous. He was guilty.

“What then do you want me to do with the one you call theking of the Jews?” Pilate asked the people. “Crucify him!”

“But... but what crime has he committed?” They didn’t care.Most of them probably didn’t know. They were just angry. The chief priests had“stirred up the crowd”, meaning, they go everyone excited. “Don’t let Jesus go.He must be punished.”

Pilate asked them, “What do you want me to do with Jesus?”For the crowd, it wasn’t enough to lock Jesus up in prison. It wasn’t enough tojust teach him a lesson. They wanted Pilate to kill Jesus in the most painfuland horrible way possible. To be crucified means to have your hands and legsnailed to big wooden structure called a cross, and to be left there hanging untileventually you cannot breathe anymore and you slowly die. It was very, verypainful. And yet this crowd of people were shouting at the top of their voices,“Crucify him! Crucify him!” The question is: Why?

The people and the religious leaders were angry. Do younotice how the Pilate, the judge keeps calling Jesus “the king of the Jews”? Henever calls Jesus by his name. He asks the crowd, “Do you want me to set freefor you the king of the Jews?” “What do you want me to do with the oneyou call the king of the Jews?” What was the very first question Pilateasked Jesus? Are you the king of the Jews?

Yes. “So you say.”

The people didn’t want a king. They didn’t want God to betheir king. They didn’t Jesus whom God sent to be their king. And they were soangry that Jesus claimed to be this king that they were willing to kill him.

There is a special name for this king. You might have heardit before. It is the name “Christ”. When the bible talks about Jesus Christ itis saying the Jesus is the King. But the bible also says that Jesus came to dieas the King on the cross.

On the cross, he died to take our place.

In our place

Pilate wanted to please thecrowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handedhim over to be crucified.

Mark 15:15

Barabbas, the criminal was set free. Jesus, who wasinnocent, was whipped and handed over to be crucified. This is a substitute.Jesus died in place of another. Jesus was a substitute.

If you play football and you get tired running on the field,the coach will call in substitute, to take your place. Now imagine that oneday, you are in the middle of a game and the referee blows a whistle. The coachwaves at you and says, “I am replacing you with a subsitute.” And who shouldwalk into the field but David Beckham!

Now I do apologise if you are not a football fan. I’m notone either. But still, I do recognise the name “David Beckham” as one of themost famous and talented football players in the world. He is rich. He isgood-looking and athletic. He is married to a pop star. He earns millions ofpounds every year. He even has his own perfume (so that you can smell likeDavid Beckham!). Many kids look up to David Beckham as a role model. They wantto be as successful, as famous, as good a football player as David Beckham. Heis their example.

But there is a big difference: between having David Beckhamas your example or role model; and having David Beckham as your substitute.When the referee blows the whistle and David Beckham comes on the field as yoursubstitute, he is playing for you. You sit down and watch the game. DavidBeckham is running on the pitch, he is scoring the goals, he is taking thepenalties.

And when Jesus Christ goes to the cross as our substitute,he is taking our place. Instead of me dying on the cross, he dies for me.Instead of me being punished for my sins, Jesus who is innocent, takes mypunishment as my substitute.

The bible says in 1 Peter 3:18, “For Christ died for sinsonce for all, the righteous for the unrighteous - the good for the bad - tobring you to God.” Jesus died for us - the bad, the unrighteous - so that wewould not have to die. So that we could be brought to God.

Why did Jesus die? WDJD?

So the question was: Why did Jesus die? And I said thispassage from the bible gives us three answers:

1. Hisdeath was planned

2. Hisdeath was a punishment

3. Hisdeath was in our place (or another word is “substitute”)

Firstly, his death was planned - by thereligious leaders. But actually, the bible says it was God’s plan for Jesus todie. Again and again, Jesus told his friends that he had to die. “The Son ofMan must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must bekilled and after three days rise again.” Jesus said this in Mark Chapter 8verse 31. God planned all along for Jesus to suffer, to die and rise again.

Secondly, his death was a punishment. Thepeople wanted to punish Jesus according to the law. He was criminal. He claimedto be something he wasn’t - the King of the Jews, the Christ. And so, Pilatethe judge, punished him to die on the cross.

But again the bible says, Jesus died to take God’spunishment for our sin. We weren’t punishing him. God was punishing Jesus forwhat we had done to God. We don’t want God in our lives. We don’t want Jesus asour King.

The bible calls that sin. Sin is saying I am God; I am moreimportant that God; I am King. The punishment for sin is death and separationfrom God. On the cross, Jesus said, “My God, my God why did you abandon me?” Hewas taking our punishment - our separation from God - on himself.

Finally, Jesus’ death was in our place. Notjust Barabbas, the criminal, who deserved to be in in prison but was set free.He died so that I can be set free.

For Christ died for sins oncefor all, the righteous for the unrighteous to bring you to God.

1 Peter 3:18

Jesus died according to God’s plan. Jesus died to take ourpunishment for sin. And Jesus died in our place, to bring us to God.

But if I could just one more reason, it would be this. Jesusdied to show us how much God loves us. John Chapter 3, verse 16 says this:

For God loved the world somuch that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may notdie but have eternal life.

John 3:16

When you look at Jesus and his death on the cross, I hopeyou will see God’s plan; you will see your punishment for sin; you will seeJesus taking that punishment for sin on himself and giving you forgiveness andnew life.

And I hope you will see how much God loves you.

Who will be in heaven? (Revelation 7)

2011-11-05T20:38:00.000Z

Who can stand?

The last verse of Revelation Chapter 6 ends with a question:“For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation6:17)

Chapter 7 is the answer to thatquestion.

If you were here last week - and even if you were not, justglance briefly through the events of Chapter 6, where you will see world-widechaos and conflict, death and destruction - the impression many of us mighthave been left with is: No one. No one can stand. The kings of the earth, theprinces, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man- in Chapter 6 verse 15 - they run from God. They call on the rocks andmountains to hide them from his presence, and they say, “Who can stand beforesuch a holy God on the final day of judgement?”

They ask the question but they are not looking for ananswer. They think they already know the answer: No one. That’s why they arerunning from God. Or they think, as many do today, there is no point answeringsuch a question because there is no answer.

“Who can stand?” There is no point. No hope.

But Chapter 7 says there is. This whole passage is here toshow us that there is hope. God even interrupts the sequence of events he setin motion in Chapter 6. You see, Chapter 7 should have been about the seventhseal. Last week we saw Jesus break open the first seal, the second, the third,fourth, fifth and the sixth seal. So, when we come to Chapter 7 we ought toread about Jesus breaking seal number 7. Instead, that’s been shelved to nextweek to Chapter 8. God interrupts the sequence of events to bring us the answerto this one important question, “Who can stand before him?”

We find that answer in Chapter 7, verse 9:

After this I looked and therebefore me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation,tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front ofthe Lamb.

Revelation 7:9

In a way, the answer is “no one”. John says, “no one”could count this great multitude standing in heaven before God’s throne. Thenumber is so great it is uncountable. There will be people from every nation,tribe, people and language. Take note of that word “every”. God will savepeople out of every single culture and every single nation - Chinese, Malay,Indian, English, European - but also every single language - Hokkien,Cantonese, Teochew, Pu Tong Hwa.

This is an uncountable number of people gathering before Godon that final day of salvation in heaven before his throne in worship of Godthe Father and Jesus, the Lamb of God.

Having said that, Chapter 7 opens by talking about aspecific number: 144,000, to be exact. Someone asked me this week: Does thismean that out of seven billion people on the planet, only 144,000 will besaved? That comes to 0.002 per cent. Statistically speaking, it means that inthe whole of Cambridge only 2 people will get to heaven!

Who are the 144,000? We will look at Chapter 7 togetherunder three headings:

1. Sealed(verses 1 to 8)

2. Saved(verses 9 to 12)

3. Served(verses 13 to 17)

Sealed

After this I saw four angelsstanding at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of theearth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on anytree.

Revelation 7:1

Last we saw how God’s judgement was represented in fourdifferent ways by four different horses. The white horse symbolised conquest bydeception. The red horse was conflict and war. The black horse was economicstrife and famine. The pale horse was Death and Hades.

But Revelation 7 opens with God’s angels holding back thefour judgements on the earth. But you say, “Chapter 6 was about four horses.These angels are holding back four winds.” In the Old Testament, these samefour horses are described in Zechariah Chapter 6, sent by God into the wholeearth, into the north, west and south. And the angel tells Zechariah in verse5, that these are four spirits or winds (As indicated in the NIV biblefootnotes. The Hebrew word ruah can mean either).

So what we have in verse 1 is God actually preventingjudgement - or rather, delaying judgement - that he is sending on the earth forone single purpose: to seal the people of God.

Then I saw another angelcoming up from the east, having the seal of the living God. He called out in aloud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and thesea: “Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees until we put a seal on theforeheads of the servants of our God.”

Revelation 7:2-3

Just in case of anyone misunderstands me, I thought I hadbetter clarify what this “seal” is. First of all, it’s not the semi-aquaticmarine mammal that can balance a ball on its nose and goes “Auuu! Auuu! Auuu!!”It’s not that kind of seal. (I can only imagine how verse 2 would look like ifyou pictured the “angel coming up from the east, having the seal (Auu! Auu!Auu!) of the living God!”)

But secondly, this seal is different from the six seals wesaw last week which were more like padlocks being opened one by one by Jesus.This seal is a sign of ownership much like a badge or a name tag. The angelflies in from the east (literally it reads, “from the rising sun”) and tellsthe other four angels to hold back on judgement until they have “put a seal onthe foreheads of the servants of our God.” This seal determines who reallybelongs to God. And as the next verse explains, this seal determines who istruly a son of Israel.

Then I heard the number ofthose who were sealed: 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel. From the tribe ofJudah 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben 12,000, from the tribe ofGad 12,000, from the tribe of Asher 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000, from the tribe of Simeon 12,000, from thetribe of Levi 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar 12,000, from the tribe ofZebulun 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin12,000.

Revelation 7:4-8

The Jehovah’s witnesses believe that 144,000 is the exactnumber of people who will go to heaven, made up of early believers in Jesus’day and the current membership of Jehovah’s witnesses. This became a problem inthe 1930’s as they recruited more members who started to question if there wasenough room in heaven for them. So the Jehovah’s witnesses came up with aneconomy class membership; a lower form of salvation where believers wouldremain on earth instead of ascending to heaven. Such a view is, to say theleast, problematic.

Like all the other numbers in the book of Revelation (thefour winds, the seven seals, the seven spirits of God), the 144,000 is symbolicand verse 4 already tells us plainly what it is symbolic of: the tribes ofIsrael (literally, the “sons of Israel”).

Jacob, who was later named, Israel, had twelve sons, wholater became the fathers of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel. Thenumber 12 is representative of all of Israel. It was the main reason why Jesuschose for himself twelve students, or apostles, to follow him. He was choosinga representative of the people of God, to whom God had promised blessing,though Abraham, Isaac, then Jacob. But at the same time, Jesus was establishinga new Israel, a new kingdom of priests under a new covenant fulfilling all thepromises of God made under the old.

In this vision, John sees the twelve tribes of Israel, and12,000 out of these twelve tribes are “sealed”. They are chosen by God andprotected by God from the judgement to come. Again the number 12,000 issymbolic. It is made up of 12 times 10 times 10 times 10. The number tendenotes fullness, and it is saying the full number of God’s people will beprotected and saved. When you add up the 12 tribes, each with 12,000 sealedIsraelites, you get the final total of 144,000.

Now to all the lawyers, arts and social science students outthere, I know this is the point at which you begin to drift away - what withall the numbers and times tables. But please stay with me! You might even say,“Well, that’s very nice for Israel, but how does this concern me?”

Friends, it does concern you because Revelation 7 is talkingabout protection from God’s judgement. That was the purpose of the seal. Itmeant you belong to God and you are protected by God. It is not talking aboutIsrael as a historical nation. This Israel is a spiritual collection of God’speople who receive all the promises of the new and old covenants through JesusChrist.

What this means is: if you call yourself a Christian, youare an Israelite. “But I’m Chinese!” you might say, “And my favourite dish inthe whole world is sweet and sour pork. How can I be an Israelite?” Thedefinition of an Israelite is someone who traces his or her ancestry back toone of the twelve tribes, back to the father of the twelve tribes, Jacob, backto Isaac, and back to Abraham. In Genesis 12, God promised Abraham that hewould bless all the nations through him and his sons. So Israel, as a peoplebelonging to God, as children of that promise made to Abraham. They are sons ofAbraham.

But again, that was Abraham. That was Israel. How does thatconcern me, here in a Chinese Church in the middle of Cambridge far away fromIsrael with no connection by race or blood to Abraham? Well, God promisedAbraham in Genesis 22, “I will surely bless you and make your descendants asnumerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore.” Meaning: youwill have so many sons and daughters, you won’t be able to count them. All thenations - every nation - will be blessed through your kids, Abraham.

And you see, the fulfilment of that promise, was neverthrough Israel alone. No, we see the fulfilment of God’s promise to Abraham inverse 9; a fulfilment that comes to us through Jesus Christ, the Lamb on thethrone.

Saved

After this I looked and therebefore me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation,tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of theLamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in theirhands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, whosits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”

Revelation 7:9-10

I said at the beginning, Revelation 7 is the answer given tothe question posed at the end of Chapter 6: Who can stand before a holy God?The people who ask this question were running away from God. They hidthemselves in the rocks and couldn’t even bring themselves to see God’s face.

But the multitude in Revelation 7:9 stand before the throneand before the Lamb. Not because they are stronger. Not because they aresinless. But because they have been sealed. And because, and verse 10 tells us,they have been saved.

“Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, andto the Lamb.”

The sealing of Israel and the salvation of the multitude aretwo sides of the same coin. The first looks back to the promises of God tobless Abraham and his descendants. The second is the fulfilment of that promise- in Jesus, and through his salvation of a multitude of people and nations andtribes and languages when he died on the cross.

I understand how some Christians see the first part asliterally pointing forward to Israel. I know and respect many pastors who readverses 1 to 8 and see there the final salvation of the Jewish people of God.Much of that desire comes from sharing God’s heartbeat for the people he haschosen and shown faithfulness to for thousands of years. Theirs is the covenantof Moses, the tabernacle, the promise of the kingdom, the Sabbath, the veryidentity of the people of God.

But the true revelation of God’s mercy, love andfaithfulness is seen in Jesus Christ. Salvation belongs to our God... and tothe Lamb. It doesn’t belong to us nor even to Israel, as privileged as theytruly are in God’s dealings with them throughout biblical history. God alone isthe source and determiner of salvation. In his wisdom and for his glory, Godhas ordained that salvation be effected through the work of his Son’s death onthe cross. This is true for Jew and non-Jew. Jesus is the Lamb who was slain.His blood shed on the cross makes him worthy to receive worship from everytribe, people, language and nation.

What the vision of the multitude represents is thefulfilment of that first promise made to Abraham thousands of years ago, seennot in the formation of Israel as a political state-nation, but the new Israelcomprising every nation on earth redeemed by the cross under Christ. In otherwords, it is the church.

Furthermore, the phrase in verse 10, “Salvation belongs toour God” is an echo of Jonah’s song in Jonah Chapter 2 where he sings,“Salvation comes from the LORD”. A biblical scholar once said that this singleverse summarises the entire Old Testament. What it essentially is, is an answerto an objection. If you remember the story of Jonah, he rebels against God’splan to save an enemy nation in Nineveh. Jonah couldn’t understand how Godcould save a foreign country which had oppressed Israel for so long. He wantedGod to destroy that nation instead, so he ran from God. If you remember whathappened next: God sent the storm, Jonah was thrown overboard into the sea butGod sent the whale. And as Jonah reflected on his stubbornness and God’s mercyhe sang, “Salvation comes from the LORD.” It was an admission of his guilt andan act of repentance: God saves whom he wills. Israel did not deserve salvationmore than the Ninevites. God is free to extend his gift of mercy and grace towhomsoever he chooses.

It is the same situation here. Revelation 7 anticipates theobjection, “How can God save from all these nations?” Answer: Salvation belongsto our God. He saves whom he wills. And the picture of the 144,000 is symbolicof God saving all whom he has chosen to save.

I wonder if you’ve ever considered why God should saveanyone here in Cambridge - or the Chinese Church, for the matter? Why shouldGod save you? You might say, “Of course, if there’s a God, he must love me.That’s his job.” Or you might think, “I’m so smart and lovable and cute, whowouldn’t want to spend eternity with me in heaven?”

Salvation belongs to God. That means it isn’t based on ourmerit or qualification or acceptability. It comes to us purely by his grace. Itis offered to sinners like us who do not deserve this gift; it is given freelyat the great cost of the blood of the Jesus Christ on the cross.

All the angels were standingaround the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. Theyfell down on their faces before the throne and worshipped God, saying: “Amen!Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honour and power and strength be toour God for ever and ever. Amen!”

Revelation 7:11-12

What do you thank God most for? In your prayers? In oursongs of praise?

Is it: For more people to join our fellowship? Godlyleaders? Healing for the sick? Guidance in times of crisis? All of these areimportant needs. We should bring them in prayer before our God and not holdthem back. But think about this: what will we praise God for in heaven?No one there will be sick. No one there will be hungry. Everyone who is savedwill be in heaven. What could we say to God now that we will praise God for allthe way into eternity?

The angels and the elders and the four living creaturesremind us that we owe God our praise. He made us. He sustains our veryexistence. That was the lesson from Revelation Chapter 4. God made thiscreation and we owe him our thanks and our praise.

But one of the elders is going to give us an even betterreason to praise God. God has saved us in Jesus. In fact, through Jesus Christ,God has even served us.

Served

Then one of the elders askedme, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” Ianswered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out ofthe great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in theblood of the Lamb.

Revelation7:13-14

I wonder if you’ve ever thought what it would be like to getinto heaven?

Maybe it will be like a big victory celebration - like ifEngland ever won the Four Nations Rugby League. The whole stadium erupting inpraise and disbelief... I mean, joy.

Or maybe it will be like Guy Fawkes Night - fireworks,laughter, friends enjoying one another’s company. Everyone having a great timeout on a weekend that never ends.

The angel says to John, “These are they who have come out ofthe great tribulation.” Tribulation: that means trial, stress, intensedifficulty and oppression. But they stayed on course. They washed they robesand made them white in the blood of the Lamb. That is, the kept holding on toJesus.

You see, the picture we get here is that of POW’s returningfrom war. They are tired. Many are wounded. I mean, yes, they’ve won. Yes, theyare celebrating a victory, of course. Yet at the same time, the immediateemphasis in not on celebration but on comfort and relief. They look at oneanother and say, “We made it. We’re finally home. The war is over.” Some ofthem even have tears in their eyes as they walk into God’s presence.

But that’s OK. Because you see, God himself will wipe awaytheir tears.

Therefore, “they are beforethe throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits onthe throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; neveragain will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorchingheat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he willlead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear fromtheir eyes.”

Revelation 7:15-17

Verse 15 may say that they serve God day and night, but lookagain at these verses. Don’t you see, it is God who has serves them. He coversthem (literally, “tabernacles” over them - meaning: he is always with them). Heleads them to springs of living water. God wipes away every single tear fromtheir eyes.

Our God is a God of comfort. He is a God of love. But mostof all, our God is a God who is with us in our suffering and pain.

Earlier on, the elder says to John that “they have washedtheir robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Along and Sarah areback this weekend for reading week, and as they come home, they say, “HelloMum! Hello Dad! Here’s my washing,” and dump a big bag filled with one month’sworth of smelly laundry for poor old mum to take care off. I doubt Mum willsay, “Sure, I’ll just pop down to the butcher’s and get a pint of blood to washoff all those stains!”

These Christians make it to the end - through the greattribulation - because their robes have been washed and made white in theblood of the Lamb.

Now white can symbolise purity: The only basis of ourpurity is Jesus’s death. He took our sin. We receive his righteousness. Ourrobes have been washed clean and we can stand before God, spotless, pure andfully acceptable in his sight.

But I think that the colour white is more symbolic of victory.These Christians made it. God has kept them standing firm to the end. That’sthe real message of Revelation 7, isn’t it? God sets a seal on his own, toshield believers from the coming judgement. And the picture of these Christianswashing their robes in Jesus’ blood is indicative of their standing firm in thegospel. They have faced tribulation but they have continued trusting in Christ.Because only his blood can sustain us in our walk with him. If you are aChristian today, the only reason you have abandoned the faith and walked out onGod is because the same blood which purchased you for God and freed you from sin,keeps you walking on the straight and narrow path with Jesus.

Peter writes:

In his great mercy he hasgiven us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christfrom the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—keptin heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until thecoming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

1 Peter 1:3-5

God’s power in Christ keeps you and it shields you untilthat final day of salvation. Or as Paul prays in Ephesians 6 for God to help usstand, withstand and to stand firm! Or as Jude writes in Jude 1:24, “To him whois able to keep you from falling and to present you before his gloriouspresence without fault and with great joy”. Or Paul again in Romans 5,“Therefore since we have been justified,” that is, you’ve been saved, forgivenof your sins, “we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, throughwhom we have gained access into this grace into which we now stand” - we standby God’s grace! It’s talking about today, now, every day you still callyourself a Christian and know that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Saviour - thatis God’s grace is sustaining you and making you stand. By Grace!

Who can stand before a holy God? That was the question webegan with.

It’s not talking just about that final day when Jesusreturns to judge and to save. It is talking about every day you live in thisworld broken by sin, and are tempted to say, “I give up.” You cannot stand onyour own strength, your own merit, or your own goodness.

But God can make you stand. By his grace. Through the bloodof his Son shed on the cross for you. If you stand in Christ alone, by faithalone, through grace alone - if you are able to do that right now; friends, Revelation7 is saying to you: You will stand on that final day.

In Jesus, God has sealed us - we are protected by his power.In Jesus, God has saved us - we are forgiven through the cross. In Jesus, Godhas served us - we are recipients of his grace, his comfort and his love.

I stand amazed in the presence

Of Jesus the Nazarene,

And wonder how He could loveme,

A sinner, condemned, unclean.

How marvelous! How wonderful!

And my song shall ever be:

How marvelous! How wonderful!

Is my Saviour’s love for me!

Wonder women (Judges 4)

2011-11-04T14:07:00.000Z

The best stories are the ones that catch us by surprise. Welove a good twist in the tale. When Neo takes the red pill and wakes up fromthe Matrix. When Melody Song reveals her shocking secret identity on DoctorWho. When Anakin Skywalker embraces the dark side and becomes Darth... (ohwait, maybe that last one wasn’t such a big surprise after all!)

Judges Chapter 4 is about God saving Israel in a surprisingand unexpected way. In this passage, he uses two women - one, a prophetess andthe other, a housewife - to bring salvation to the nation of Israel. Yet, it isimportant to see that God does this for his own glory. He uses extraordinarycircumstances, even foolish situations, so that we will not boast in our ownability and strength, but in the God’s power to save.

The problem

After Ehuddied, the Israelites once again did evil in the eyes of the LORD. So the LORDsold them into the hands of Jabin, a king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor. Thecommander of his army was Sisera, who lived in Harosheth Haggoyim. Because hehad nine hundred iron chariots and had cruelly oppressed the Israelites fortwenty years, they cried to the LORD for help.

Judges1:1-3

Every good story needs a bad guy.Lex Luthor. Voldemort. Megatron. Someone formidable. Someone menacing. TheIsraelites were oppressed for twenty years, verse 3 tells us, under the rule ofJabin, King of Canaan. But the real villian of Judges 4 is a five-star militarygeneral by the name of Sisera. Verse 3 tells us that Sisera commanded a vastarmy of nine hundred chariots - the ancient equivalent of German Panzer tanks.The Israelites were helpless in the face of the Canaanites’ advanced weaponryand military prowess.

Having said that, Israel had a much bigger problem:themselves.

Verse 1 begins by describing how the people of Israel “didevil in the eyes of the LORD”. As a result, God “sold them into the hands ofJabin”. The root of the problem had nothing to do with the Canaanites’ ninehundred chariots but with the Israelites’ own constant, repeated, foolishrebellion against God. Last week, we read of Ehud, the left-handed judge raisedup by God to save the nation from yet another foreign superpower. When Ehuddied however, the people sank back into their old ways - rebelling against Godand practicing evil in his sight.

Again, they call out to God for help. Again, God respondswith mercy and faithfulness.

Deborah

Deborah, a prophetess, thewife of Lappidoth, was leading Israel at that time. She held court under thePalm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, andthe Israelites came to her to have their disputes decided. She sent for Barakson of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “The LORD, the God ofIsrael, commands you: ‘Go, take with you ten thousand men of Naphtali andZebulun and lead the way to Mount Tabor. I will lure Sisera, the commander ofJabin’s army, with his chariots and his troops to the Kishon River and give himinto your hands.’”

Judges 4:4-7

There are twelve judges featured in the book of Judges.Deborah is the only female judge. Unlike most of the other male judges - orindeed, the other men, in general found in this book - it is striking thatnothing negative is said whatsoever about Deborah’s character or her leadershipcapabilities. Her authority is recognised by the Israelites who “came to her tohave their disputes decided”. When she summons Barak, the chief militarycommander in Israel, he complies. Verse 1 reads: she was “leading Israel”, aphrase the footnotes in my NIV bible states can be also translated as “judgingIsrael”. Meaning: she was a judge, chosen by God and used by God to lead thenation back to God.

Yet we must not forget that Deborah was first introduced tous as a prophetess and a wife.

As a prophetess, her job was to speak God’s word. When shecalls Barak to meet her, it wasn’t to pull rank. She was delivering a messagefrom God himself. “The LORD, the God of Israel, commands you,” she says. Not “Icommand you”. Furthermore, we should not misunderstand verse 7. When it saysthere, “I will lure Sisera... to the Kishon River,” these are not Deborah’swords but God’s. Deborah was nowhere near the Kishon River (as evident in verse10, where Deborah is found alongside Barak).

Also, Deborah was married. We’re not sure if she had kids,but if so (and this was very possible) she may even have been a mom! What we doknow for sure was that she had a husband, a man called Lappidoth (whom I canonly assume she lovingly addressed as “Lappy” at home). She had a home, ahusband, a family - and here, the bible thinks it important enough for us toknow all of that about this woman.

So Debbie the judge, the mum and the prophetess, summonsBarak and tells him that God will give Sisera into his hands. Barak, whose namemeans “lightning” in Hebrew, is to call on the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulunfor help, gathering ten thousand men for the fight. So the picture we have hereis that of a seasoned army general, gathering a massive number of troops,assured by God that he will win the victory against a powerful foreign nationarmed with the latest in technological weaponry.

Yet in front of this woman, Barak wimps out.

No glory

Barak said to her, “If you gowith me, I will go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” “Very well,”Deborah said, “I will go with you. But because of the way you are going aboutthis, the honour will not be yours, for the LORD will hand Sisera over to awoman.” So Deborah went with Barak to Kedesh, where he summoned Zebulun andNaphtali. Ten thousand men followed him, and Deborah also went with him.

Judges 4:8-10

Barak insists that Deborah tags along. “If you go with me, Iwill go; but if you don’t go with me, I won’t go.” In part, this may be arecognition of God’s presence with Deborah, a presence that Barak thinks heneeds to have with him in order to win the battle. After all, Moses saidsomething very similar to God in Exodus 33 - a sign of Moses’ humility andutter dependence on God. Deborah agrees to the request but she adds, “Becauseof the way you are going about this, the honour (The ESV uses the word “glory”)will not be yours.” God had given Barak the promise of his word, but Barakwanted instead the presence of a woman. Because of this, Barak would win thevictory, but the glory of the battle would go to another. “The LORD will handSisera over to a woman,” Deborah foretells.

So in verse 10 we have a picture of a massive number oftroops - ten thousand men assembled, ready for battle, led by the great GeneralBarak. But also, one woman by his side. “Deborah also went with him”. She didprophesy that “a woman” would get the glory. Barak perhaps thought Deborah wasreferring to herself, and wanted to keep this woman close by.

All of a sudden, we are introduced to a seemingly random newcharacter in the story - a man called Heber.

Now Heber the Kenite had leftthe other Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ brother-in-law, and pitchedhis tent by the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.

Judges 4:11

We last met the Kenites in Judges Chapter 1 where they hadsettled down south in Judah. They were Moses’ in-laws. For some reason, Heberthe Kenite decided not to stay with his tribe, but moved up north instead,pitching his tent near Kedesh, which was Barak’s hometown. But just as quicklyas we are introduced to Heber the Kenite, the camera swiftly zooms back to theaction.

Has not the LORD gone ahead of you?

When they told Sisera thatBarak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, Sisera gathered together hisnine hundred iron chariots and all the men with him, from Harosheth Haggoyim tothe Kishon River.

Then Deborah said to Barak,“Go! This is the day the LORD has given Sisera into your hands. Has not theLORD gone ahead of you?” So Barak went down Mount Tabor, followed by tenthousand men. At Barak’s advance, the LORD routed Sisera and all his chariotsand army by the sword, and Sisera abandoned his chariot and fled on foot. ButBarak pursued the chariots and army as far as Harosheth Haggoyim. All thetroops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left.

Judges 4:12-16

Sisera hears of Barak’s troop movements and assembles theentire Panzer division, all nine hundred of his iron armored chariots, leadingthem into battle up Mount Tabor. Except in order to ascend this mountain, hepasses through the Kishon River.

Something happens at the Kishon River. Something peculiarlywhich causes Deborah turn to Barak and say, “Go! This is the day the LORD hasgiven Sisera into your hands.” adding these curious words, “Has not the LORDgone ahead of you?” What did she mean? What did she see?

We find the answer in Judges 5, a song which Deborah sang tocommemorate the battle and the eventual victory Israel saw later that day.

From the heavens the starsfought,

from their courses they foughtagainst Sisera.

The river Kishon swept themaway,

the age-old river, the riverKishon.

March on, my soul; be strong!

Judges 5:20-21

The chariots were “swept away” by the river Kishon. It maysimply have been that their wheels got stuck crossing the river bed, makingthem sitting ducks (Notice in Judges 4:15, Sisera “abandoning” his chariot). Orthat a waters overcame the horses and a sudden rise in the levels drowned theCanaanite army as they crossed the river, not unlike what happened at the RedSea with the Egyptians forces in Exodus 14. What Deborah does tell us clearlyis that this was God’s doing. “From the heavens the stars fought... they foughtagainst Sisera.” Or as she says to Barak here in Judges 4:14, “Has not the LORDgone ahead of you?”

Barak advanced against Sisera, followed by the his tenthousand troops, down Mount Tabor. Yet Judges adds, “At Barak’s advance, theLORD routed Sisera and all his chariots.” The battle was decisively won. “Allthe troops of Sisera fell by the sword; not a man was left.”

But the story hasn’t ended. Sisera gets away. And Barak ishot in pursuit of his prize.

Desperate housewife

Sisera, however, fled on footto the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, because there were friendlyrelations between Jabin king of Hazor and the clan of Heber the Kenite. Jaelwent out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Come, my lord, come right in. Don’tbe afraid.” So he entered her tent, and she put a covering over him. “I’mthirsty,” he said. “Please give me some water.” She opened a skin of milk, gavehim a drink, and covered him up. “Stand in the doorway of the tent,” he toldher. “If someone comes by and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say ‘No.’” But Jael,Heber’s wife, picked up a tent peg and a hammer and went quietly to him whilehe lay fast asleep, exhausted. She drove the peg through his temple into theground, and he died.

Judges 4:17-21

Sisera flees the battle and seeks refuge in Heber’s home. Itturns out that Heber is an ally, “there were friendly relations” between theCanaanite King Jabin and his family. Still, instead of hiding out in Heber’sgarage, Sisera goes to the tent of Jael, Heber’s wife. We are not told why.Maybe he thought no one would look in a woman’s tent. Clearly he didn’t thinkJael was a threat. She was so warm and welcoming, “Come, my lord, come rightin,” she said. “Don’t be afraid,” probably implying that this five-star generalwas rather freaked out by the sudden defeat of his entire army.

“I’m thirsty,” Sisera says. He might as well as have added,“Mommy.” Like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory asking his neighbour Penny to singSoft Kitty every time he falls sick.

“Soft Kitty, warm kitty,little ball of fur.
Happy kitty, sleepy kitty, purr purr purr.”

Jael offers him milk instead. How sweet. And notice how shekeeps covering him up. Big strong menacing general Sisera comes into her tent,and Auntie Jael goes, “Come here sweety. Have a lie down. Did that big bullyBarak smash all your shiny new tanks? Awww, you poor thing!” It’s ironic howSisera tells Jael not to let anyone know he is hiding in her tent. Verse 20literally reads, “If a man comes and asks, ‘Is there a man here?’ You say,‘There is none.’” There is no man in this tent - a woman, yes, and a scaredkid, maybe. But no man.

Sisera drinks his milk like a good little boy. Nice auntieJill pulls the Star Wars sheets over him and kisses him good night. ThenKeBAAAMMM!!!! He’s dead!

It’s like switching the channel in the middle of a CBBCkid’s programme to a late-night horror movie. In a split second, the sweetinnocent house-wife turns into a serial killer! Jael takes a tent peg andhammer and “drove the peg through his temple into the ground”. As if to statethe obvious, the author adds, “and he died.” Duh!

Meanwhile, Barak rides in with the cavalry, a little toolate.

Barak came by in pursuit ofSisera, and Jael went out to meet him. “Come,” she said, “I will show you theman you’re looking for.” So he went in with her, and there lay Sisera with thetent peg through his temple—dead.

Judges 4:22

Deborah’s words were fulfilled. The victory may have beenBarak’s, the battle won by the celebrated army general. But the glory went to ahousewife.

But in actual fact, the glory went to God.

To God be the glory

On that day God subdued Jabin,the Canaanite king, before the Israelites. And the hand of the Israelites grewstronger and stronger against Jabin, the Canaanite king, until they destroyedhim.

Judges 4:23-24

As if to say “Oh, and by the way, God took care of KingJabin.” It is mentioned almost in passing. The whole chapter was focussed onthis one battle - on Deborah, Barak, Sisera, Jael and the nine hundredchariots, not to mention the ten thousand men. But God took care of the problemin an instant, “On that day”. Almost to drive home the point: God doesn’t needto use a general like Barak. God doesn’t see Sisera and his tanks as a threat.But he uses people like Barak and he confronts his people Israel with seeminglyinsurmountable forces like Sisera (remembering it was God who gave Israel intothe hands of the Canaan) to show them - and to remind us of - his glory. He isGod.

Come to think of it, the whole of Judges Chapter 4 is filledwith twists and turns. Deborah the female judge. Barak the hesitant militarycommander. The nine-hundred tanks defeated by a bit of water. The five-stargeneral assassinated by a housewife. The subjugation of an enemy king mentionednot on the front page, but in small print near the classifieds.

And the question is: Why does God do this? Why does God savelike this?

For the message of the crossis foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it isthe power of God.

1 Corinthians 1:18

The death of Jesus on the cross is foolish. It doesn’t makesense. It is weak, illogical, nonsensical even. How can a peasant dying on thecross two thousand years be relevant to my life today, much less, promise meeternal life, forgiveness of sin, release from the judgement of hell and bringme into a relationship with God?

It is foolishness - says the bible - to those who areperishing. But to us who are being saved it is power - the power of God! Whydoes God save through this strange and peculiar message of the cross - thismessage called the gospel? So that we will trust in him and not in our ownabilities and strength.

Brothers, think of what youwere when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; notmany were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolishthings of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the worldto shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despisedthings—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that noone may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, whohas become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness andredemption.

1 Corinthians 1:26-30

You see, Judges 4 is not about impressive women. Nor is itabout irresponsible men. That’s not the main message of the book or the bible.You don’t become a Christian by cleaning up your act, by becoming a successfulcareer-mom or even by defeating the forces of evil, but only by trusting in themessage of the cross - that Jesus Christ died for your sins on the cross asyour substitute. When you come to Jesus, you cannot boast of your intellect,your A-level’s results or your XBOX achievement score. None of that impressesGod.

The Christian’s only boast is Jesus. He is our wisdom: Ourrighteousness, holiness and redemption. Earlier on Deborah says to Barak, “Thisroad you are on will lead not your glory - but to the glory of another.” TheChristian hears this and says, “Hallelujah!” We thank God because this roadleads us to Jesus.

Yet at the same time, all the glory that Jesus deserves asGod’s Son, especially seen in his obedience on the cross, all that comes to uswhen we trust in him. He is our wisdom. Our righteousness. Ourholiness. Our salvation.

Jesus is our glory.

In Christ alone will I glory

Though I could pride myself inbattles won

For I’ve been blessed beyondmeasure

And by His strength alone I’llovercome

Oh, I could stop and countsuccesses like diamonds in my hands

But those trophies could notequal to the grace by which I stand

In Christ alone

I place my trust

And find my glory in the powerof the cross

In every victory

Let it be said of me

My source of strength

My source of hope

Is Christ alone

(“In Christ Alone”, BrianLittrell)