Luke 2 v 21-40
In this passage we see Jesus undergoing three ancient Jewish ceremonies.This part of the Christmas story is essentially Jewish from beginning to the end. There is something illogical in many people today which doesn't want to recognise anything Jewish and ignores the fact Jesus was a Jew.
First, like every Jewish boy Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day after birth. This was the only ceremony that could be carried out on the Sabbath it was deemed to be so sacred. The boy also got his name on that day. Today when most of the world seems to be anti-Jewish, Christians should bear well in mind that Jesus was a Jew, born of a Jewish woman, we worship the God of Israel, and we revere a Bible written by Jewish men. If Jesus had not gone through this ceremony He could not have been accepted in the line of David.
The name of Jesus was given by special command of God meaning Saviour, so we know Him as one to deliver us from sin and evil. He had submitted to this ancient ceremony although it was no strictly necessary as the Son of God, which should encourage us to make sacrifices and perform tasks readily in the service of God
The second act related to Jesus being the first born son, which made Him sacred to God. According to Jewish custom the parents could buy back their son for the price of five shekels which had to be paid to the priests within 31 days after birth.
This ritual was to remind the Jews that one night when the Israelites were in Egypt and all the little boys were slain, the Jewish children were spared. Mary and Joseph publicly consecrated their child.
There was also the ceremony of purification of Mary. When a woman bore a son she had to wait 40 days before she could rejoin in worship, and 80 days if her child was a girl. When she returned a woman was obliged to take to the Temple a lamb and young pigeon as an offering, but if she was poor and could not afford such just two pigeons. The fact that Mary took the poorer offering indicates the home in which Jesus was brought up in was not a luxurious one.
For a period of 450 years in Jewish history God did not speak to his people. God had promised his prophet Malachi that he would come personally into the world by a Messiah who would bring about salvation and judgement, preceded by a messenger who would prepare the way for him. For all that time the people of God had been waiting for this promised Messiah who would bring judgement and salvation into the world, who would destroy God's enemies and who saw their rightful place in the world as supreme and would one day be realised by another king like David who would attain world supremacy
We meet two older people, a man named Simeon and a woman Anna. Simeon believed things had to be left in God’s hands and God had through the Holy Spirit given him assurance that before he died he would see God’s own appointed one. There was therefore excitement in Simeon's soul when he heard that promise that he would actually witness this great coming. After all those years of silence, at last the promise was going to come true.
When he saw Jesus, he knew that time had come, and he was ready to depart in peace. So we heard him recite the words which have been sung in Anglican Churches through the centuries at Evening services, in which he praised God and foresaw Jesus to be the light of the world.
But, Simeon finishes with some disturbing words. This marvellous salvation through Jesus had a dark side. There will be many who will not accept and follow Jesus; there will be a falling as well as a rising of many in Israel. Jesus will be a sign of division and will be spoken against. He will cause division and conflict; decisions will have to be made for him or against him.
Anna too had been waiting. She was a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old, she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day, fasting and praying. When she saw the holy family, at that very moment she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
Luke shows us there is a place for everyone in God’s Kingdom. Older people able to wait on the Lord; a young woman having a baby to dedicate to God; a husband going to Church with his wife (Not a very common sight now); every person having a role to play.
So in this story we have read that Jesus was born into this world as a baby, offered to God as a child, grew into manhood and faced all the emotions of human life and able to empathise with us in every aspect of life. And tells us He was the true Messiah who would one day give His life in a cruel death that we may be made righteous in Gods sight.
Friday, 26 December 2014
Friday, 19 December 2014
Luke 1 v 26/38
If this gospel message was told as a story in one of our daily newspapers, and so posted on their website, it would receive numerous scornful mocking comments, questioning as to why anyone would believe it. In fairness, if a daughter or friend came and told you she was pregnant but had not been intimate with a man, you would reasonably think she was mad or trying to cover up a moral lapse.
Such was the situation experienced by a young Jewish girl in a remote Israeli village, risking disgrace and shame and also the loss of her fiancée. It has to be accepted that the birth of Jesus was unique. God took the initiative, and Jesus was born of a virgin, such is a basic doctrine of the Church,
But such was the faith and courage of that young woman that she trusted God, and so became the most famous woman in all history, the most blessed of women. The Roman Catholic Church has tended to make rather too much of Mary whilst the Protestant Churches have made too little.
Is it not amazing how peoples’ minds reason. Thousands say they will not believe what they cannot understand. If I should go out on to the car park of this Church and take out a little plastic box, and press a combination of 13 numbers, within seconds I would be speaking to my son in Hong Kong. Yet if I wished to speak face to face, it would take a journey of 13 hours to do so.
I can’t explain how this can happen, and I doubt there is anyone I know who could explain, we take mobile phones for granted. We watch events as they happen from across the world in a box in our homes and take it for granted. Who can explain how a brown cow, which eats green grass, produces white milk, and yellow butter, yet we eat and drink both. Why on earth if we can accept all the marvels of man, we cannot accept the miracles of God.
This causes me to turn with you to verse 37 of this morning’s passage, ‘for nothing is impossible with God’. Our minds are not meant to understand all the miracles and mighty deeds of the Lord; the Cross and atonement; the resurrection; the power of the Holy Spirit. We may not understand the virginal conception, but we accept all these by faith.
Mary did not doubt what the angel told her, she was just puzzled, as she might be, as to how this would happen. It was as if the angel was saying ‘Mary you are thinking as a human being and humanly you are right, but this is God at work and He shall come upon you with the power of the Holy Spirit, for nothing is impossible for God’.
Nobody chooses to be born, it just happens to us, but with Jesus He chose to come here. His mother had Him born in lowly circumstances, was visited by shepherds, had the angels sing Gloria in excelsis, and heard Simeon warn her of a sword which would pierce her heart.
The whole purpose of Jesus coming here was to act as a substitute for our sin, and to do so would face a painful crucifixion, something rejected by so many people for whom all Christmas means is an orgy of feasting and riotous behaviour.
I read about a party of tourists being taken around Westminster Abbey and they stopped by a beautiful stained glass window which the guide had led them to. As they stared in silence an American lady asked, ‘has anyone been saved in this Church lately?’ The guide drew himself up to his full height and replied, ‘Madam, this is a Cathedral’. But the lady was right, the function and mission of the Church, whether it be a Cathedral or small chapel, is to bring people to salvation.
We have 580 members in General Synod, costing the Church far too much money, debating issues for which Scripture has already given answers, rather than trying to devise means of halting the exodus of people. It is like arguing which is the best room in the house when the whole house is on fire. The primary aim is to put the fire out never mind the furniture.
We need to teach that God made us for a purpose, and we have turned our backs on Him who gave us Jesus to be born and live on this earth, and eventually to die to save us. There is the tendency to ask how an event which occurred over 2000 years ago in a country across the world can affect us now. The answer is that God acted and still acts in our lives by the Holy Spirit. We need Christ as a Saviour.
We all have a choice. We can refuse to believe, or react like Mary who although she could not understand when told of God’s purpose for her replied, ‘behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to your Word’. That is the question for you to-day. To accept, and yield yourself.
We talk glibly about peace, often implying a lack of combat. It is all very well to talk of love and applying a social gospel to the problems of life. Politicians and social workers have been putting forth their lofty aims and to consider their effect, look at the broken homes, the bribery corruption drug dealing and divorce.
God’s meaning of peace is a solid one joining ourselves to Him. God reaches out to us whose love makes Him forgive us and mercy is boundless. It is God who takes the initiative as He did when He chose Abraham, who inspired Isaac and Jacob and founded the nation of Israel.
This is why we should have concern for the nation of Israel from which all our teaching emanates. We worship the God of Israel; we worship a Jewish Saviour; born of a Jewish woman; and are taught from a book written (under the inspiration of God) by Jewish writers. One day Jesus will return to there.
The Israelites constantly sinned and strayed away from God but He still looked after them, fed and clothed them, protected and revealed Himself to them. The Old Testament is the history of the Israelites resisting God’s will and the New Testament shows God cannot be limited. It was |God who sent His Son to prepare the great salvation after His prophets were rejected; it was God who raised His Son from the dead; God who gave teaching on how we should live and respond to Him.
If our Lord was to return now would He be happy about the religious teaching. Would He wonder why we Christians treat our faith in such casual manner rather than the aggressive evangelism of other faiths?
There is often a reluctance by clergy to speak out for fear of offending people. It is true to say Christian preachers tend to modify teaching of traditional values to appeal to contemporary thinking. All this causes a problem for parish priests, and especially for itinerant preachers like me.
In effect there are three options open to preachers
One is to avoid all contentious issues.
2 To go with the flow.
3 To be true to Scripture.
We all want to please and satisfy our audience, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to cause offence. But if preachers are to be true to their calling, and preach with integrity and honour, there are times when I suppose some people may be upset. If that happen that is sad. But perhaps you may see we are not here to that be like a spiritual dispenser giving out soothing word potions, but rather to make people think out Scripture.
If this gospel message was told as a story in one of our daily newspapers, and so posted on their website, it would receive numerous scornful mocking comments, questioning as to why anyone would believe it. In fairness, if a daughter or friend came and told you she was pregnant but had not been intimate with a man, you would reasonably think she was mad or trying to cover up a moral lapse.
Such was the situation experienced by a young Jewish girl in a remote Israeli village, risking disgrace and shame and also the loss of her fiancée. It has to be accepted that the birth of Jesus was unique. God took the initiative, and Jesus was born of a virgin, such is a basic doctrine of the Church,
But such was the faith and courage of that young woman that she trusted God, and so became the most famous woman in all history, the most blessed of women. The Roman Catholic Church has tended to make rather too much of Mary whilst the Protestant Churches have made too little.
Is it not amazing how peoples’ minds reason. Thousands say they will not believe what they cannot understand. If I should go out on to the car park of this Church and take out a little plastic box, and press a combination of 13 numbers, within seconds I would be speaking to my son in Hong Kong. Yet if I wished to speak face to face, it would take a journey of 13 hours to do so.
I can’t explain how this can happen, and I doubt there is anyone I know who could explain, we take mobile phones for granted. We watch events as they happen from across the world in a box in our homes and take it for granted. Who can explain how a brown cow, which eats green grass, produces white milk, and yellow butter, yet we eat and drink both. Why on earth if we can accept all the marvels of man, we cannot accept the miracles of God.
This causes me to turn with you to verse 37 of this morning’s passage, ‘for nothing is impossible with God’. Our minds are not meant to understand all the miracles and mighty deeds of the Lord; the Cross and atonement; the resurrection; the power of the Holy Spirit. We may not understand the virginal conception, but we accept all these by faith.
Mary did not doubt what the angel told her, she was just puzzled, as she might be, as to how this would happen. It was as if the angel was saying ‘Mary you are thinking as a human being and humanly you are right, but this is God at work and He shall come upon you with the power of the Holy Spirit, for nothing is impossible for God’.
Nobody chooses to be born, it just happens to us, but with Jesus He chose to come here. His mother had Him born in lowly circumstances, was visited by shepherds, had the angels sing Gloria in excelsis, and heard Simeon warn her of a sword which would pierce her heart.
The whole purpose of Jesus coming here was to act as a substitute for our sin, and to do so would face a painful crucifixion, something rejected by so many people for whom all Christmas means is an orgy of feasting and riotous behaviour.
I read about a party of tourists being taken around Westminster Abbey and they stopped by a beautiful stained glass window which the guide had led them to. As they stared in silence an American lady asked, ‘has anyone been saved in this Church lately?’ The guide drew himself up to his full height and replied, ‘Madam, this is a Cathedral’. But the lady was right, the function and mission of the Church, whether it be a Cathedral or small chapel, is to bring people to salvation.
We have 580 members in General Synod, costing the Church far too much money, debating issues for which Scripture has already given answers, rather than trying to devise means of halting the exodus of people. It is like arguing which is the best room in the house when the whole house is on fire. The primary aim is to put the fire out never mind the furniture.
We need to teach that God made us for a purpose, and we have turned our backs on Him who gave us Jesus to be born and live on this earth, and eventually to die to save us. There is the tendency to ask how an event which occurred over 2000 years ago in a country across the world can affect us now. The answer is that God acted and still acts in our lives by the Holy Spirit. We need Christ as a Saviour.
We all have a choice. We can refuse to believe, or react like Mary who although she could not understand when told of God’s purpose for her replied, ‘behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it unto me according to your Word’. That is the question for you to-day. To accept, and yield yourself.
We talk glibly about peace, often implying a lack of combat. It is all very well to talk of love and applying a social gospel to the problems of life. Politicians and social workers have been putting forth their lofty aims and to consider their effect, look at the broken homes, the bribery corruption drug dealing and divorce.
God’s meaning of peace is a solid one joining ourselves to Him. God reaches out to us whose love makes Him forgive us and mercy is boundless. It is God who takes the initiative as He did when He chose Abraham, who inspired Isaac and Jacob and founded the nation of Israel.
This is why we should have concern for the nation of Israel from which all our teaching emanates. We worship the God of Israel; we worship a Jewish Saviour; born of a Jewish woman; and are taught from a book written (under the inspiration of God) by Jewish writers. One day Jesus will return to there.
The Israelites constantly sinned and strayed away from God but He still looked after them, fed and clothed them, protected and revealed Himself to them. The Old Testament is the history of the Israelites resisting God’s will and the New Testament shows God cannot be limited. It was |God who sent His Son to prepare the great salvation after His prophets were rejected; it was God who raised His Son from the dead; God who gave teaching on how we should live and respond to Him.
If our Lord was to return now would He be happy about the religious teaching. Would He wonder why we Christians treat our faith in such casual manner rather than the aggressive evangelism of other faiths?
There is often a reluctance by clergy to speak out for fear of offending people. It is true to say Christian preachers tend to modify teaching of traditional values to appeal to contemporary thinking. All this causes a problem for parish priests, and especially for itinerant preachers like me.
In effect there are three options open to preachers
One is to avoid all contentious issues.
2 To go with the flow.
3 To be true to Scripture.
We all want to please and satisfy our audience, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to cause offence. But if preachers are to be true to their calling, and preach with integrity and honour, there are times when I suppose some people may be upset. If that happen that is sad. But perhaps you may see we are not here to that be like a spiritual dispenser giving out soothing word potions, but rather to make people think out Scripture.
Saturday, 13 December 2014
John the Baptist
Sunday next is the 3rd Sunday of Advent, and the theme is on John the Baptist. We do in fact honour John on the 24th June and on that day in Spain, which is still largely a Catholic country, they do so in style with ceremonial processions through the streets. John was a very special character in the Bible, being described by Jesus as ‘one of whom there being none greater.’
A period of 400 years elapsed between the Old and New Testaments and John acted as a bridge between the prophecies of the Old Testament and the coming of the Messiah. God chose John to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus.
John attracted huge crowds to see and hear him; they came from all directions, North and South, East and West. They came from all levels of society
He was a fearless preacher giving a message of confession and repentance, and did so in the most direct way accusing them of being a brood of vipers, and told them there was a wrath to come. Most preachers would rejoice in being able to emulate his appeal, although they would hesitate the language he used in today’s atmosphere where the least criticism raises accusations of phobia or bigotry.
Because of his successful appeal to people a delegation of priests was sent out to find out if he was acting in an orthodox manner. The Jews believed, and were proud of the fact, that they were God’s chosen people and He would one day send a Messiah who would be a great national leader who would lead them to world conquest. It was also believed that prior to the Messiah coming Elijah the great Old Testament prophet would come back to herald the Messiah’s coming.
The priests wanted to see who John actually was. When John spoke of baptism it was not the meaningless kind that is sometimes practised in churches today and I will explain in detail subsequently what I mean by that. Baptism was a symbol of admittance into the Christian faith, taken by someone who had come to need a personal Saviour in the person of Jesus Christ, who they would take into their hearts and lives and live according to His teaching.
John wasn’t concerned with numbers or adding to some Church roll, he wanted genuine commitments. The Bible is clear in all four gospels that the Christian life involved repentance and the following of a new way of life. If we analyse our lives we will find there are things we have said and done and sincerely wish we hadn’t, but there is nothing we can now do except pray that God will forgive us, and that others will accept our flaws.
The place where John ministered was way out in the wilderness a bleak and desolate place, living off the land, getting his clothing from wild camel and food from whatever grew there. There is a wilderness in many people’s hearts.
John calls us to a new life in Jesus Christ and it was with such a desire that people sought out John. Jesus can come to us in very different ways. It may be through a poster we noticed, which is why we need well thought out poster displays which will catch people’s eyes and strike them and they ought to be relevant. Thousands have been led to Christ through reading posters placed on the London tube system by the London Christian Mission. Other people have been influenced by the words of a preacher, but the most telling witness is that of other Christians drawing in others by their way of life.
It is possible to become so engaged in religious activity dressing ourselves with religion without changing our hearts. We Christians need to be more aggressive about our faith and be prepared to act and rebel as other faiths do when bloated bureaucrats try to stifle expression.
We are now approaching Christmas and the secularisation of it is almost complete, which is why all who hold the Christian faith dear must be prepared to support Christian worship. Advent is a time when we come out of the wilderness and be inspired by the ministry of John the Baptist.
:
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Sunday next is the 3rd Sunday of Advent, and the theme is on John the Baptist. We do in fact honour John on the 24th June and on that day in Spain, which is still largely a Catholic country, they do so in style with ceremonial processions through the streets. John was a very special character in the Bible, being described by Jesus as ‘one of whom there being none greater.’
A period of 400 years elapsed between the Old and New Testaments and John acted as a bridge between the prophecies of the Old Testament and the coming of the Messiah. God chose John to prepare the people for the coming of Jesus.
John attracted huge crowds to see and hear him; they came from all directions, North and South, East and West. They came from all levels of society
He was a fearless preacher giving a message of confession and repentance, and did so in the most direct way accusing them of being a brood of vipers, and told them there was a wrath to come. Most preachers would rejoice in being able to emulate his appeal, although they would hesitate the language he used in today’s atmosphere where the least criticism raises accusations of phobia or bigotry.
Because of his successful appeal to people a delegation of priests was sent out to find out if he was acting in an orthodox manner. The Jews believed, and were proud of the fact, that they were God’s chosen people and He would one day send a Messiah who would be a great national leader who would lead them to world conquest. It was also believed that prior to the Messiah coming Elijah the great Old Testament prophet would come back to herald the Messiah’s coming.
The priests wanted to see who John actually was. When John spoke of baptism it was not the meaningless kind that is sometimes practised in churches today and I will explain in detail subsequently what I mean by that. Baptism was a symbol of admittance into the Christian faith, taken by someone who had come to need a personal Saviour in the person of Jesus Christ, who they would take into their hearts and lives and live according to His teaching.
John wasn’t concerned with numbers or adding to some Church roll, he wanted genuine commitments. The Bible is clear in all four gospels that the Christian life involved repentance and the following of a new way of life. If we analyse our lives we will find there are things we have said and done and sincerely wish we hadn’t, but there is nothing we can now do except pray that God will forgive us, and that others will accept our flaws.
The place where John ministered was way out in the wilderness a bleak and desolate place, living off the land, getting his clothing from wild camel and food from whatever grew there. There is a wilderness in many people’s hearts.
John calls us to a new life in Jesus Christ and it was with such a desire that people sought out John. Jesus can come to us in very different ways. It may be through a poster we noticed, which is why we need well thought out poster displays which will catch people’s eyes and strike them and they ought to be relevant. Thousands have been led to Christ through reading posters placed on the London tube system by the London Christian Mission. Other people have been influenced by the words of a preacher, but the most telling witness is that of other Christians drawing in others by their way of life.
It is possible to become so engaged in religious activity dressing ourselves with religion without changing our hearts. We Christians need to be more aggressive about our faith and be prepared to act and rebel as other faiths do when bloated bureaucrats try to stifle expression.
We are now approaching Christmas and the secularisation of it is almost complete, which is why all who hold the Christian faith dear must be prepared to support Christian worship. Advent is a time when we come out of the wilderness and be inspired by the ministry of John the Baptist.
:
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Friday, 5 December 2014
BIBLE SUNDAY.
(reading 2 Timothy 3 v16 to 4 v8)
For centuries the Second Sunday in Advent was designated as ‘Bible Sunday’, when we particularly thank God for the gift of His Holy Word, something we should do every Sunday, but on this day we particularly direct our minds to the Bible and consider how it can help us on our spiritual journey.
In their disregard for the Bible, the Church establishment some years ago decided to move Bible Sunday to the last Sunday in October, when in fact and practice it became optional as to whether the day was observed as such or the normal Lectionary readings applied.
We should be ready to turn to it and study it more, not less. For most Christians I fear Bible reading is confined to someone else reading it in the service.
The Bible states, ‘all Scripture is inspired by God’. There is no pick and mix option. Biblical integrity demands you accept what is written, and not choose just those parts that fit in with your own desires.
There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 of which are in the Old Testament and 27 in the New, written by 40 men all but one being Jewish. God used their individual personalities to communicate His words, and none of them would claim it was any thoughts of their own. God wants us to understand and know Him and the only way we can do that is by Him telling us, which He does in this book.
Many people say they cannot understand much of the Bible. We must first realise it does not solve every problem we have in life, nor answer all the questions we would like to ask. Some things remain a mystery which God has chosen not to reveal this side of heaven.
When Billy Graham, the most successful preacher of all time, was starting out in ministry, he was troubled as to whether the Bible really was God’s Word or man’s idea. There were passages he could not understand. He was so concerned he went up into the mountains near his North Carolina home and read and re-read his King James Version of the Bible, then turned to God and said, ‘I have seen enough of your transforming ability in this Word to know you are behind it. I know there are many questions I do not understand, but I take it by faith that it is your Word and will preach it as your Word and trust you.’ The rest is history. He always encouraged people to take their Bibles with them to his crusades and meetings.
The Bible is in fact a collection of books with different styles, all written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There is history, poetry, prophecy, as Paul here states, ‘to instruct unto salvation’.
The Bible is essentially a book of salvation. It unfolds the divine plan of God, who having created us in His image, and we having fallen away through disobedience, so placing ourselves under His judgement, can now be forgiven by the coming of Christ to die on the Cross.
The whole Bible focuses on the coming of Christ, after prophet after prophet in the Old Testament foretold His coming.
The Bible is given to teach us and guide us in the way God wants us to live. This is a very stressful world in which we live. In this post Christian age when most people under the age of 40 have little if any knowledge of the Christian faith or Church, the aim of many public officials is to erase Christianity from public life in which no mention or expression of the faith is allowed. To compound this, senior clergy in the Churches are openly advocating certain parts of Scripture which condemn some forms of modern living should be ignored, and some Christians are swept away by the tide of opposition.
In some intellectual and academic circles, the Bible is seen as some form of hate literature, and this is being taught in schools, colleges and universities, simply because it doesn’t fit in with some modern thought.
Paul feared that Timothy, young and timid man, was in danger of yielding to the anti-Christian pressure facing him. His message to Timothy, and applies to us, is to stand firm even if it means standing alone. Don’t weaken under pressure.
Timothy was brought up in a Jewish background and so was taught the Scriptures from an early age by his mother and grandmother. It was customary for Jewish boys to be taught the Scriptures from age five. Whilst these would be the Old Testament, he had also been taught by Paul and Peter, who between them had written most of the New Testament, so he would in fact have virtually the whole Bible as we know it in his knowledge.
There is a great tragedy in the fact that children are growing up here without ever hearing the stories of Jesus or the main biblical characters, as parents do not have the time, inclination or knowledge to help them. Take that in addition to the omission of religious teaching in (state) schools, and a great part of their education is missing.
Compare the situation in other faiths’ homes. Muslim children are faithfully taught the Koran and will never allow their holy book to be abused in the way our Bible is. Similarly in Jewish homes, where children again are taught about Judaism and made to learn the Ten Commandments.
The argument that because the Bible was written so many years ago we can look at it with a different approach to the present day, doesn’t hold. God was not just the God of the first century, but for all time. So is His Word.
The Bible gives us access to the mind of God. The more we read the more we will know God’s intention for us. Just as you spend more time in a person’s company you get to know them better, so as you spend time with God through His Word, the better you will know Him. For in the Bible God speaks His mind.
Now we come to Chapter 4, with verses which are so relevant to our time. Paul having stressed the importance of the Scriptures tells Timothy to go and preach them.
Paul shows the unseen realities before which every Christian lives. Like Timothy we find ourselves in a minority situation, where the majority do not believe and live lives which are often steeped in immorality and unworthiness.
If we were to be fair and honest, we would have to admit there is so much in today’s society which leaves much to be desired. The state of the world proves all the Bible has taught. Too often we feel we cannot speak out with any impact and can do nothing to stop the onrushing tide. Our voice is a whisper amongst the tumult of voices against us.
We can trace the link between moral decline and the rejection of the authority of Scripture. The Bible says, ‘in the last days perilous times shall come for men will be lovers of their own selves, unholy, without natural affection, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ‘ people will not put up with sound doctrine, but instead will find those who will say what pleases them, and will turn away from those who teach the truth.’
Paul says they will cover their ears to that which they do not like to admit, and refuse to restrain their passions. They have itching ear disease which they want someone to scratch
If preachers were to so preach the Bible faithfully, Churches would be emptier than they are now. Society has forced a morality upon us, which people in and out of the Church have been ready to accept, and which the Church nationally was never ready to combat, but instead let it grow, a sort of attitude if you can’t beat them join them adage
Today preaching is being devalued. If we truly believe Christianity is all we claim it to be, we should boldly preach it. The Bible states, ‘we do not have a spirit of timidity.’
All this causes a problem for parish priests, and especially for visiting preachers. We face a problem; and none more so than those of us who want to be true to Scripture, when not everyone is prepared to accept what is written. I personally have been told by one Vicar that she would rather I did not take services in her Church as she didn’t think the Bible should be taken literally.
In effect there are three options open to preachers
One is to avoid all contentious issues.
2 To go with the flow.
3 To be true to Scripture.
We all want to please and satisfy our audience, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to cause offence. But if preachers are to be true to their calling, and preach with integrity and honour, there are times when I suppose some people may be upset. If, sadly, that happens, there must be doubt in your mind about the way you are living.
The lowering of standards and rise of lawlessness and promiscuity, combined with lack of authority from the pulpits, has caused the average person to think the Church is out of date and the Christian message irrelevant, which is why they live without any reference to God or any thought of eternity. Few believe in the reality of heaven and hell.
So these verses are descriptive of our day, of a society which will forsake a Christian consensus and live, not by Christian principles, which lead to health and wholeness of body, mind and spirit, and permits people to live at peace and enjoy their lives, but by substituting principles of their own.
We are submerged in a world that is committed to falsehood, which is why we are called to proclaim the truth.
If ever the Word of God was needed it is never more so than now. It calls for people to turn back to God who is ready and able to meet the needs of everyone who turns to Him. The message we have for the world is centred upon the person of Jesus Christ.
Within each one of us there is a need for things which money can’t buy, and desires which we cannot express. Whilst the majority may not be willing to accept it, we all need a spiritual life. We need God and the forgiveness which He offers in Jesus Christ. Without this our souls are restless. We all need stability anchored in the Word of God.
(reading 2 Timothy 3 v16 to 4 v8)
For centuries the Second Sunday in Advent was designated as ‘Bible Sunday’, when we particularly thank God for the gift of His Holy Word, something we should do every Sunday, but on this day we particularly direct our minds to the Bible and consider how it can help us on our spiritual journey.
In their disregard for the Bible, the Church establishment some years ago decided to move Bible Sunday to the last Sunday in October, when in fact and practice it became optional as to whether the day was observed as such or the normal Lectionary readings applied.
We should be ready to turn to it and study it more, not less. For most Christians I fear Bible reading is confined to someone else reading it in the service.
The Bible states, ‘all Scripture is inspired by God’. There is no pick and mix option. Biblical integrity demands you accept what is written, and not choose just those parts that fit in with your own desires.
There are 66 books in the Bible, 39 of which are in the Old Testament and 27 in the New, written by 40 men all but one being Jewish. God used their individual personalities to communicate His words, and none of them would claim it was any thoughts of their own. God wants us to understand and know Him and the only way we can do that is by Him telling us, which He does in this book.
Many people say they cannot understand much of the Bible. We must first realise it does not solve every problem we have in life, nor answer all the questions we would like to ask. Some things remain a mystery which God has chosen not to reveal this side of heaven.
When Billy Graham, the most successful preacher of all time, was starting out in ministry, he was troubled as to whether the Bible really was God’s Word or man’s idea. There were passages he could not understand. He was so concerned he went up into the mountains near his North Carolina home and read and re-read his King James Version of the Bible, then turned to God and said, ‘I have seen enough of your transforming ability in this Word to know you are behind it. I know there are many questions I do not understand, but I take it by faith that it is your Word and will preach it as your Word and trust you.’ The rest is history. He always encouraged people to take their Bibles with them to his crusades and meetings.
The Bible is in fact a collection of books with different styles, all written under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There is history, poetry, prophecy, as Paul here states, ‘to instruct unto salvation’.
The Bible is essentially a book of salvation. It unfolds the divine plan of God, who having created us in His image, and we having fallen away through disobedience, so placing ourselves under His judgement, can now be forgiven by the coming of Christ to die on the Cross.
The whole Bible focuses on the coming of Christ, after prophet after prophet in the Old Testament foretold His coming.
The Bible is given to teach us and guide us in the way God wants us to live. This is a very stressful world in which we live. In this post Christian age when most people under the age of 40 have little if any knowledge of the Christian faith or Church, the aim of many public officials is to erase Christianity from public life in which no mention or expression of the faith is allowed. To compound this, senior clergy in the Churches are openly advocating certain parts of Scripture which condemn some forms of modern living should be ignored, and some Christians are swept away by the tide of opposition.
In some intellectual and academic circles, the Bible is seen as some form of hate literature, and this is being taught in schools, colleges and universities, simply because it doesn’t fit in with some modern thought.
Paul feared that Timothy, young and timid man, was in danger of yielding to the anti-Christian pressure facing him. His message to Timothy, and applies to us, is to stand firm even if it means standing alone. Don’t weaken under pressure.
Timothy was brought up in a Jewish background and so was taught the Scriptures from an early age by his mother and grandmother. It was customary for Jewish boys to be taught the Scriptures from age five. Whilst these would be the Old Testament, he had also been taught by Paul and Peter, who between them had written most of the New Testament, so he would in fact have virtually the whole Bible as we know it in his knowledge.
There is a great tragedy in the fact that children are growing up here without ever hearing the stories of Jesus or the main biblical characters, as parents do not have the time, inclination or knowledge to help them. Take that in addition to the omission of religious teaching in (state) schools, and a great part of their education is missing.
Compare the situation in other faiths’ homes. Muslim children are faithfully taught the Koran and will never allow their holy book to be abused in the way our Bible is. Similarly in Jewish homes, where children again are taught about Judaism and made to learn the Ten Commandments.
The argument that because the Bible was written so many years ago we can look at it with a different approach to the present day, doesn’t hold. God was not just the God of the first century, but for all time. So is His Word.
The Bible gives us access to the mind of God. The more we read the more we will know God’s intention for us. Just as you spend more time in a person’s company you get to know them better, so as you spend time with God through His Word, the better you will know Him. For in the Bible God speaks His mind.
Now we come to Chapter 4, with verses which are so relevant to our time. Paul having stressed the importance of the Scriptures tells Timothy to go and preach them.
Paul shows the unseen realities before which every Christian lives. Like Timothy we find ourselves in a minority situation, where the majority do not believe and live lives which are often steeped in immorality and unworthiness.
If we were to be fair and honest, we would have to admit there is so much in today’s society which leaves much to be desired. The state of the world proves all the Bible has taught. Too often we feel we cannot speak out with any impact and can do nothing to stop the onrushing tide. Our voice is a whisper amongst the tumult of voices against us.
We can trace the link between moral decline and the rejection of the authority of Scripture. The Bible says, ‘in the last days perilous times shall come for men will be lovers of their own selves, unholy, without natural affection, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God ‘ people will not put up with sound doctrine, but instead will find those who will say what pleases them, and will turn away from those who teach the truth.’
Paul says they will cover their ears to that which they do not like to admit, and refuse to restrain their passions. They have itching ear disease which they want someone to scratch
If preachers were to so preach the Bible faithfully, Churches would be emptier than they are now. Society has forced a morality upon us, which people in and out of the Church have been ready to accept, and which the Church nationally was never ready to combat, but instead let it grow, a sort of attitude if you can’t beat them join them adage
Today preaching is being devalued. If we truly believe Christianity is all we claim it to be, we should boldly preach it. The Bible states, ‘we do not have a spirit of timidity.’
All this causes a problem for parish priests, and especially for visiting preachers. We face a problem; and none more so than those of us who want to be true to Scripture, when not everyone is prepared to accept what is written. I personally have been told by one Vicar that she would rather I did not take services in her Church as she didn’t think the Bible should be taken literally.
In effect there are three options open to preachers
One is to avoid all contentious issues.
2 To go with the flow.
3 To be true to Scripture.
We all want to please and satisfy our audience, I can’t imagine anyone wanting to cause offence. But if preachers are to be true to their calling, and preach with integrity and honour, there are times when I suppose some people may be upset. If, sadly, that happens, there must be doubt in your mind about the way you are living.
The lowering of standards and rise of lawlessness and promiscuity, combined with lack of authority from the pulpits, has caused the average person to think the Church is out of date and the Christian message irrelevant, which is why they live without any reference to God or any thought of eternity. Few believe in the reality of heaven and hell.
So these verses are descriptive of our day, of a society which will forsake a Christian consensus and live, not by Christian principles, which lead to health and wholeness of body, mind and spirit, and permits people to live at peace and enjoy their lives, but by substituting principles of their own.
We are submerged in a world that is committed to falsehood, which is why we are called to proclaim the truth.
If ever the Word of God was needed it is never more so than now. It calls for people to turn back to God who is ready and able to meet the needs of everyone who turns to Him. The message we have for the world is centred upon the person of Jesus Christ.
Within each one of us there is a need for things which money can’t buy, and desires which we cannot express. Whilst the majority may not be willing to accept it, we all need a spiritual life. We need God and the forgiveness which He offers in Jesus Christ. Without this our souls are restless. We all need stability anchored in the Word of God.
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