GALATIANS 5, v13/215
In Paul’s Letters he adopts the pattern of setting out doctrine in the first part before going on to illustrate practical application.
He has set out in Galatians the danger of listening to false teachers who tried to impose the need for new Christians first to accept the restrictions of Jewish Law and practice. Now in this last half of the Letter he is warning that freedom, if not properly applied, can turn into licence. Christian freedom given to us in Christ, demands self control. This passage is full of the mention of the Holy Spirit,
When I first entered Christian ministry I was inspired and influenced by a Baptist pastor who taught faithfully and fearlessly, and in simple terms, through a Bible passage. I have tried to emulate that style, but it can be difficult at these times when thee is so much liberal Christianity, and I have found there is nothing so illiberal as a liberal; they do not allow a contrary view or opinion, and tend to infer some kind of phobia or allegation of intolerance on anyone trying just to interpret Scripture as (I believe) God intended.
In this passage Paul is calling on us to obey the Holy Spirit’s guidance so that we will not offend God by following less than proper actions. When we follow our own inclinations we often engage in such actions as eagerness for our own pleasure, impurity of some kind by word or deed, jealousy, envy, hatred or pride.
When we are led by the Holy Spirit our lives will reveal love, joy, pace, patience, kindness, goodness faithfulness and self-control. Paul calls on us let the Holy Spirit lead us in every part of our lives.
The story of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is well known. The doctor, who was a respected London surgeon, had discovered a drug which caused him to change his nature and so do shameful things. When he came out from under its influence, he was ashamed of himself, but the drug was too strong to resist and in mental torment he killed himself.
There are two sides to all our natures, and often life is a struggle as to which one prevails. In the Christian life two forces between flesh and the Spirit compete. In the flesh, what we are by nature and fallen condition, but when under the influence of the Holy Spirit, we become the kind of person of which Jesus would approve. In the flesh, what we are by birth; and in the Spirit when we are born anew.
This is where baptism needs to be understood sensibly and theologically. In the baptism service in some denominations it is declared ‘that this child has been born anew (or again)’. It is both nonsensical and irresponsible to say a new born child, or a child of most ages, knows what being born again means in the spiritual sense. Before a person can claim to be born again, there has to be repentance from sin, and a confession of faith.
Christians will often face an internal struggle intensely as their own nature dearly wishes to follow a course of life which their spiritual conscience tells them is wrong, and the Holy Spirit will not let them feel comfortable with it. He will convict us by reminding us why Jesus died on the Cross.
The Church is often reluctant to speak frankly on parts of the Bible as many within, both lay and clergy do not subscribe fully to what is written, and often fall down on more than one sin.
It is still a fact that most of us who attend Church strive to live in the way we are called to do so, and to a great degree succeed. When we do fall we know Christ is waiting to pick us up, having given His life on the Cross to put us right with God.
For all those people who mock and ridicule Christians and the Bible, a time of reality will one day come when they will wish they had taken our way of life.
The Bible states ‘heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad and its gate is wide enough for all the multitude who choose its easy way. But the Gateway to Life is small, and the road is narrow and only a few ever find it.
Make sure you choose the right road.
BE AT CHURCH ON SUNDAY.
Friday 24 June 2016
Saturday 18 June 2016
‘As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord’.
(Joshua 24 v.15)
Joshua was nearing the end of his life, so one day he called the leaders of the people together at Shechem to deliver a final message. This was a most important place in Jewish history. Abraham had first settled there, Jacob bought land, and Joseph was buried there
Joshua was a great military leader who had served under Moses for forty years and when Moses died he became leader for a further twenty five years. At this time Israel had come to a crucial point in its history. They had faced tyranny in Egypt but God had saved and rescued them, God had given them the land of Canaan a good land flowing with milk and honey, and continually blessed them, and led them where they had been able to settle down, but problems had arisen.
As peoples throughout time have behaved, once the hard times were over, they began to fall away from and forget God. History is full of instances where people have turned to God for His help in times of difficulty, but when He has answered, His usefulness to them has been laid aside. In this case, the Israelites began to fraternise with other peoples so betraying God, and even started to worship idols. Joshua warned them they were guilty of idolatry told them the faced the wrath of God.
We all have to make a choice in this life. Joshua was quite clear he had made one and for Him it was quite definite, he and his family would serve the Lord. The choice we make will decide our eternal future, so we should think deeply.
Joshua’s words have a resonance for us today. We too have to reflect on our lives and face the choice God gives to us, He gives us free will. Everyone has to decide whether to serve God, or the gods of our time. Life is constantly calling on us to make choices, and God allows us to say either yes or no, but we must face the consequences if we make the wrong decision,. Many people do not wish to consider, but will one day regret not doing so. Fundamentally it is a case of serving the Lord or His adversary the devil, and so many people are quite happy to serve the latter.
We may not have the same idols as gods as did the Jews, but we have our own modern day gods. Whilst many people today may not even have heard of the Ten Commandments, one reminds God said we should have no other gods but Him.
People believe they can do without God. They live as if there was no tomorrow. We see gluttony, alcohol and drug abuse, and unrestricted sex everywhere.
Following God is a personal decision you must make for yourself, no one else can make it for you. It has to be accepted however that it may mean personal sacrifices have to be made, we must remain faithful to Him, and give up doing things which are wrong in His sight. So we must consider our priorities.
We are facing a time of ungodliness. On every front there is an anti-Christian bias. Discord and discouragement is being sown in the lives of Christian people. We have to resist on every front so as to maintain a Christian faith and presence.
In our schools and universities, and in intellectual circles the Bible is seen as some form of hate literature, and religious studies have to include other faiths in as much, if not more so, than Christianity.
The BBC has appointed people of other faiths to be directors of Christian programmes, and the Church accepts it. You can be assured they would never appoint a Christian to direct Islamic or Hindu programmes. But that is just the BBC anti Christian bias.
The Courts favour those who challenge Christian expression in every case taken before them and reflect no credit on the judiciary who seem determined to eradicate Christian faith from public life.
We constantly read and hear reports of young people between the ages of 7 and teenage years terrifying whole neighbourhoods. They abuse, assault, vandalise and rob at will, and if anyone should remonstrate with them that person runs the risk of stabbing or serious injury.
On so many occasions, broken homes have been a cause of such behaviour, with a mother unable to control or showing an utterly irresponsible line.
‘A nation is only as strong as its homes’, said Abraham Lincoln, and today our homes are reflecting the state of the our nation, which is in the deteriorating state of moral and social decay, which should make us fear for the future of our children and grandchildren.
The home now doesn’t mean as much today as it used to do.
We have so much unhappiness and trouble in the home today because we've got away from God's laws, rules. He said if you want to have a happy home, obey these rules. If you want to have trouble, disobey them.
The Bible says listen to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching. We can learn so much from Jewish parenthood. Father’s teaching to his children of the Ten Commandments, one for each of the ten fingers, and the history of the Jewish people from the Old Testament, and the mother controlling behaviour. I have never known nor heard of a Jewish child being involved in violent disorder or crime. When I have sought an answer, I have been told it is because of the Jewish Mama in the home.
Mothers can indeed have a great effect on children. I was often required to be away from the home for long hours, and it is a great tribute to my wife that two of my sons became ordained, and have proved to be very wonderful and successful Ministers
Far too many children are left to their own devices. How can teenagers roam the streets drunk and threatening people, stabbing other teenagers, and forming life threatening other gangs, without the parents knowing of it. So why don’t they do something about it
Christian standards have gone from many homes. Everywhere, people search for happiness from the wrong things and wrong places. Many criminals have come from homes where there has been no peace, no discipline nor Christian values or teaching. The biggest cause of young criminals is due to marital breakdown and separation
If any country is to defend its values successfully, it must rediscover the Christian faith in which those values are ultimately rooted. Marriage and the home are firmly part of those roots. When the founding principles are eroded, and the morality and biblical fundamentals are taken away, there is no foundation for society, which is a dangerous thing and we are seeing some of the consequences developing.
The average person sees the Church as out of date and the Christian message as irrelevant, even though they never go near a Church to establish that, which is why they live as they do without reference to God or eternity. This is just sardonic self justification. Our message then needs to be positive with no uncertain sound.
As Christians, we have a commitment to serve God. Just as Joshua reminded the Jews of all God had done for them, so must we reflect on all that which God has done for us, and respond accordingly. God speaks to us from the past, to show us the sins His people committed in order to help us decide. God is still speaking. We can either listen or ignore.
Joshua made his choice, let us make ours, and say, ‘we will serve the Lord
Sunday 12 June 2016
The Epistle readings this month are from the Letter of Paul to the Galatians.
Following the death of Jesus, the Church began to teach that people did not have to become Jews to be Christians or follow the Mosaic Law. The gospel taught was that we are justified by faith alone, not obedience to a set of rules.
The Church at Galatia was founded by Paul’s proclamation of that gospel but within a short space of time once Paul had left, the Church was infected by false teachers who taught a more acceptable message for many people, in which they were given freedom to act as they wished. This pleased, as it does now, when people who should be teaching others how to live according to Scripture are encouraging them to go their own way, and doing so themselves.
These false teachers were also insisting that it was necessary for men to be circumcised according to Jewish custom and to fully obey Jewish Law. Some Galatians were accepting such teaching, but Paul felt he had to act before the situation became hopeless. He wrote this Letter to rebuke such behaviour and encourage the people back to the authentic gospel message.
The Letter conveys the doctrine of justification by faith through grace, and in Chapter 6 will contain Paul’s emphasis of the work of Jesus on the Cross. Paul stated those well known words, ‘but far from me to boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.’
So many people believe that by performing good deeds heaven is assured for them and the Church has allowed such thinking to go largely unchallenged, preferring to do so rather than preach the truth. Christ died for us sinners on the Cross and so conveys unpalatable truths, such as we are all sinners who have offended God and we by ourselves cannot put that right. People become highly offended by being told they are sinners, who they see as immoral, or untrustworthy, or anti-social.
Christ bore our sin because that is the only way of being accepted by God. (No one comes to the Father except by me, said Jesus)
Peter stated, ‘salvation is found under no other name under heaven by which men may be saved’. So next time you see the Cross, remember Jesus gave His life there that you may be saved through His sacrifice, and be accepted by God.
Paul's great passion was to make people Christians. We all need to pray that all Church Ministers of every kind of Office from Archbishop's down to the lowly pastor may have such passion as Paul. Especially Bishops who write letters about climate change and foodbanks may turn to writing letters deploring the lack of Christian commitment generally, and as far as Britain and America are concerned, for their leaders to stop promoting anti Christian legislation.
Following the death of Jesus, the Church began to teach that people did not have to become Jews to be Christians or follow the Mosaic Law. The gospel taught was that we are justified by faith alone, not obedience to a set of rules.
The Church at Galatia was founded by Paul’s proclamation of that gospel but within a short space of time once Paul had left, the Church was infected by false teachers who taught a more acceptable message for many people, in which they were given freedom to act as they wished. This pleased, as it does now, when people who should be teaching others how to live according to Scripture are encouraging them to go their own way, and doing so themselves.
These false teachers were also insisting that it was necessary for men to be circumcised according to Jewish custom and to fully obey Jewish Law. Some Galatians were accepting such teaching, but Paul felt he had to act before the situation became hopeless. He wrote this Letter to rebuke such behaviour and encourage the people back to the authentic gospel message.
The Letter conveys the doctrine of justification by faith through grace, and in Chapter 6 will contain Paul’s emphasis of the work of Jesus on the Cross. Paul stated those well known words, ‘but far from me to boast except in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.’
So many people believe that by performing good deeds heaven is assured for them and the Church has allowed such thinking to go largely unchallenged, preferring to do so rather than preach the truth. Christ died for us sinners on the Cross and so conveys unpalatable truths, such as we are all sinners who have offended God and we by ourselves cannot put that right. People become highly offended by being told they are sinners, who they see as immoral, or untrustworthy, or anti-social.
Christ bore our sin because that is the only way of being accepted by God. (No one comes to the Father except by me, said Jesus)
Peter stated, ‘salvation is found under no other name under heaven by which men may be saved’. So next time you see the Cross, remember Jesus gave His life there that you may be saved through His sacrifice, and be accepted by God.
Paul's great passion was to make people Christians. We all need to pray that all Church Ministers of every kind of Office from Archbishop's down to the lowly pastor may have such passion as Paul. Especially Bishops who write letters about climate change and foodbanks may turn to writing letters deploring the lack of Christian commitment generally, and as far as Britain and America are concerned, for their leaders to stop promoting anti Christian legislation.
Saturday 4 June 2016
Turning with me now to the 2nd Letter of Paul to Timothy.
If anyone holds a Bible study group, the Pastoral Epistles of Paul are a most useful and interesting study.
This is the last letter Paul wrote; he is now an old man in chains in a Roman prison and wants to pass on the ministry he has pursued and considers Timothy the man best to do so. But Timothy is likely to be overawed by the opposition.
Paul had lived for the gospel and does not want to see it banished. His primary desire was to make more people Christian, and strove bravely to do this, anything else was supplementary. His action was similar to the Apostles, described in Acts where they stated their mission was to minister the Word and leave social work to others. The Church now in a lot of places prefers it the other way around.
How wonderful it would be if all the leaders of our Churches and all the Ministers had such earnest desires to make more Christians.
Paul is writing to encourage Timothy to persevere in what he has learned and believed and to pass on the gospel of Christ and the teaching of the Apostles, and the letter calls on us to do the same.
But Timothy is facing a difficult task for the Church was facing much opposition. The Church had grown after Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, but as that generation were being followed by a younger one, which Paul refers to later in the Letter, who would be unholy and self concerned. In addition false teachers were giving teaching, which was a different gospel that allowed people to live as they wished.
Further, the Romans did not like Christianity as it claimed to worship the one true God, and they preferred there to be pluralism with many gods, which is very much the preferred option of authorities today. You may be getting to see how much we have in common with that which Timothy faced.
For anyone who is a committed Christian, and anyone who holds the Church dear, this can only be a depressing time. Attendances at Churches are falling dramatically as the older members die or become unable to attend. The younger generations have no interest in the Church unless they want an attractive background for a baptism or wedding.
A very recent survey in this country revealed that almost half the nation has no interest in religion. When you consider that the other half includes Islam which has millions of followers, some other beliefs, and nominal Christians, it does not leave many true believers. This situation filters down to the local Church and we see congregations not what they were. We are fast becoming a secular state.
Our religious freedom is indeed at risk as bullies in government enact legislation which is in conflict with the Bible, and then try to tell us what can do and say and threaten punitive action if we express an opinion against it.
Christians are not being allowed a conscience clause in the law. In fact, to express any opinion may lead to an accusation of hate crime. Christian men and women have lost their career and appointments for just expressing a sincerely held belief, or indeed for wearing a Cross. I haven’t the time to go into detail of the many cases but some are set out in the addendum to this sermon.
Other faiths however can express their faith by dress and say words that any Christian Minister dare not.
Paul knew hard and difficult times would increase which caused him to write to Timothy.The problems he faced are the same as now have; falling attendance; interference by the government; pluralism; so this Letter is for us.
The Letter begins with Paul asserting his Apostleship, which he stressed was by the will of God; in other words he was specially chosen to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, and was always keen to assert this specially given authority so that what he stated could be accepted as approved by the Lord.
He shows his affection for Timothy and remembers how Timothy was brought up in the faith by his mother and grandmother leading to his ordination by Paul and calls on him to keep that faith in mind and practice. Something children miss out nowadays, and are deprived of a good foundation.
We are reminded that God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but one of power and there is no greater strength than the power of God. This should encourage us to be as vocal in proclaiming our faith as other faiths do. Muslims vigorously reveal their faith and to their credit.
Then we come to one of three significant words of this passage in v8, ‘we must not be ashamed to speak of the gospel.’ This is a call to all Christians, for we have nothing to be ashamed of. Our faith is not something someone has made up, it is factually based on historical grounds.
I know it can be hard when you are the only person in your work place or amongst friends to be a Christian. Criticism can be harsh, even vitriolic so that there is reluctance to take a stand. Be encouraged by remembering our Lord went through so much more for us, so we must stand up for Him.
More importantly there is a tendency by some preachers to be ashamed of preaching a true gospel, so they talk vaguely and avoid being positive; others speak a false gospel.
Preachers are terrified of being criticised as being bigoted or of having some sort of phobia. A bible based ministry is likely to make you unpopular or mocked, (believe me). When therefore you are in a minority you have to decide whether to keep quiet and say nothing; go with the flow, or stand up and fight.
It is the duty of the Church to teach the gospel and not budge from doing so. Paul tells Timothy to keep sound teaching, which he learned from the teaching of the Apostles. Paul will repeat this call in Chapter 4 when he commands Timothy to ‘preach the word’, and to be urgent in doing so.
We are not to be blown away by every new spiritual wind that causes us to drift from our moorings. We are not to be superficial believers, but to hold fast to the gospel given by the Apostles who were themselves taught by our Lord Himself
Unless we know what we believe and why we will not defeat the creeping spread of secularism and the cultural trends which challenge our faith, and we must resists the tendency to allow society to impose itself upon our teaching, or we are in danger of sentencing the Church to a very small part of our national life. When we reject Apostolic teaching we fall into error.
It is irresponsible and shows ignorance when someone tells you all religions are the same and all lead to the same God. Islam for instance teaches that God has no son and their God is Allah. We worship a God who has a Son and who is the God of Israel, and we claim no one comes to the Father (GOD that is) except through Jesus Christ.
The second significant words come when Paul writes; ‘join with me in suffering for the gospel.’ There are many ways we may suffer, but be sure you will experience one when you state what you believe. Some people will try to avoid you, you may miss out on promotion in your work as many of us have experienced, and you will surely be subject to innuendo, but what man denies us God recompenses. Christianity was never meant to be a bed of roses. It is not easy to stand for Christ; people have received death threats even for doing so. We have to decide if we stand for Jesus or Caesar.
Looking at v.9, Paul is pointing out the gospel that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation; God saves us by His grace, not because of anything we have done. We are put into a right relationship with God when we repent of past sins and accept Jesus Christ as Saviour, who died on the Cross for our transgressions that we may have life with Him in heaven when our days here are over. The Bible states Jesus is the only way to salvation. I know it is hard to say this without someone saying, ‘oh you must not say that’, but we need to ignore such comment because that is an essential element of our message
Paul describes himself as having suffered many beatings, deprivation, hardship, now prison and soon death. In spite of all this he knows WHOM he has believed; not what or in whom, but whom, Jesus Christ Himself. But he is not ashamed of being where he is.
In the last verse, Paul tells Timothy to guard the gospel, with the help of the Holy Spirit. This means we teach and believe that for a person to be in a right relationship with God, it means repenting of past sin; believing Jesus died on the Cross for the forgiveness of all sin, and each must accept that death was on their behalf and claim Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
We live at a time of theological and moral confusion. The Church itself is confused and divided as to what it stands for and for what is its purpose. One part believes the Bible is the infallible Word of God which should be respected and obeyed, whilst the other sees it as a sort of guide to be adopted to suit the occasion. Jesus warned any kingdom or house divided among itself will fall.
We see the moral boundaries have been swept away to such an extent that there are now no absolutes, all is relative and you just do your own thing and make up your own standards, so causing the collapse of Christian values, leading to an unstable society in which family life is being destroyed.
If the Churches and people of this great nation do not return to Biblical foundations, Christianity which has been the faith of this country for over 1500 years and has brought and kept this nation as one, will be fazed out of public life by ideologues in public service, who want to take Christianity right out of public life and are now aided by a corrupt anti-Christian European body.
The first Church grew rapidly because the people listened to the teaching of the Apostles and God added to their numbers. He is not going to add to any Church which accepts the morality of a decadent society. There are Church members who choose to adopt State law, which justified them acting a way God’s law does not
Now more than ever, this is a requirement for all Christians to remember the sacrifices made by martyrs who gave their very lives that we may have Bibles to freely read.
Our brothers and sister in Christ, living in Islamic countries, daily face horrific persecution, even death, with Churches and houses being burned down. We have seen horrendous scenes on television of them being beheaded, just because they declared themselves followers of Christ. In some countries even having a bible in your possession is enough to incur the wrath of the authorities.
God has made us custodians of His Word; never may the Church and its members fail Him. But if we are negligent and indifferent we will find another faith will take our place
I pray that you will only hear the gospel boldly and faithfully preached in this Church.
Addendum
Cameron has refused to consider having a conscience clause to accommodate Christians. Indeed, he sent a government lawyer to the European Court to argue that a Cross was not an essential symbol of Christianity.
A Christian woman spoke of her faith to Muslim colleagues, some of whom were open about their support for Islamist terrorism, and was dismissed from her employment despite a petition from other staff. The Supreme Court has refused her right to appeal.
A foster couple had two young brothers removed from their care by social workers who were hostile to the couple because of their commitment to Christian faith.
The Mayor of London allows a homosexual lobby group to advertise on London buses, but denies a Christian group the same opportunity.
Having received an agreement from her employers that she need not work on Sundays because of her faith, a woman was eventually sacked, yet members of other faiths are allowed to do so on their holy day.
A Christian children’s worker was sacked after a Muslim colleague initiated a discussion on faith with her, and then complained to the management, who sacked the Christian.
A street preacher was arrested for quoting verses from the Bible, convicted in Court, and ordered to pay a total of £1,200 in costs and £250 in compensation to a homosexual man for ‘emotional pain’. The complainant was not in such emotional pain to prevent him running to the police.
A long serving Magistrate was reprimanded and sent on a course in equality training, just because he stated in a private discussion that a child was better brought up by a man and a woman.
And we have the well publicised case of the Belfast bakery set up by a gay activist who ordered a cake with the slogan ‘support gay marriage’, to be placed on top of the cake with models of two men. In view of their deep Christian beliefs the bakery could not agree to put those words on a cake. Although such marriage is illegal in Northern Ireland, the Equality Commission could not wait to get the bakery to Court, where they were made to pay £500 to the man for, again, ‘emotional pain’. This was an outrageous decision; there was no discrimination being made against the man, nor was a cake declined to be made, only the offending words were objected to. The bakery was entitled to promote their faith as the man was his cause.
How people live and act is entirely a decision for them, and few would challenge their right to do so; but that does not mean other people are forced to act against their faith and conscience.
Let us then go further and consider what is happening in this country. Christians are not permitted to wear a cross whilst at work under threat of dismissal; sympathetic nurses who are trying to make patients feel better by suggesting they say a prayer are dismissed; a registrar who declined to officiate at civil unions because of religious belief, although having colleagues step in for her, is sacked because of her views; a psychotherapist is dismissed for refusing to give sexual advice to same sex people; quite significantly a Christian woman was forced from her employment because she pressed for time off on Sundays to attend worship even though other colleagues volunteered to change shifts with her, yet a Muslim woman was given free time to attend her Mosque.
Preachers voicing their faith in public places have been arrested, and in one case in Perth a Minister was arrested on the grounds that he was disturbing the peace with his shouting, whilst at the same time a street busker was playing amplified music without any action being taken against him.
In another case a Police Sergeant sought public assistance in obtaining evidence against a street preacher in Taunton to support a prosecution, yet a Muslim preacher had Police protection when preaching in a London street.
If anyone holds a Bible study group, the Pastoral Epistles of Paul are a most useful and interesting study.
This is the last letter Paul wrote; he is now an old man in chains in a Roman prison and wants to pass on the ministry he has pursued and considers Timothy the man best to do so. But Timothy is likely to be overawed by the opposition.
Paul had lived for the gospel and does not want to see it banished. His primary desire was to make more people Christian, and strove bravely to do this, anything else was supplementary. His action was similar to the Apostles, described in Acts where they stated their mission was to minister the Word and leave social work to others. The Church now in a lot of places prefers it the other way around.
How wonderful it would be if all the leaders of our Churches and all the Ministers had such earnest desires to make more Christians.
Paul is writing to encourage Timothy to persevere in what he has learned and believed and to pass on the gospel of Christ and the teaching of the Apostles, and the letter calls on us to do the same.
But Timothy is facing a difficult task for the Church was facing much opposition. The Church had grown after Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, but as that generation were being followed by a younger one, which Paul refers to later in the Letter, who would be unholy and self concerned. In addition false teachers were giving teaching, which was a different gospel that allowed people to live as they wished.
Further, the Romans did not like Christianity as it claimed to worship the one true God, and they preferred there to be pluralism with many gods, which is very much the preferred option of authorities today. You may be getting to see how much we have in common with that which Timothy faced.
For anyone who is a committed Christian, and anyone who holds the Church dear, this can only be a depressing time. Attendances at Churches are falling dramatically as the older members die or become unable to attend. The younger generations have no interest in the Church unless they want an attractive background for a baptism or wedding.
A very recent survey in this country revealed that almost half the nation has no interest in religion. When you consider that the other half includes Islam which has millions of followers, some other beliefs, and nominal Christians, it does not leave many true believers. This situation filters down to the local Church and we see congregations not what they were. We are fast becoming a secular state.
Our religious freedom is indeed at risk as bullies in government enact legislation which is in conflict with the Bible, and then try to tell us what can do and say and threaten punitive action if we express an opinion against it.
Christians are not being allowed a conscience clause in the law. In fact, to express any opinion may lead to an accusation of hate crime. Christian men and women have lost their career and appointments for just expressing a sincerely held belief, or indeed for wearing a Cross. I haven’t the time to go into detail of the many cases but some are set out in the addendum to this sermon.
Other faiths however can express their faith by dress and say words that any Christian Minister dare not.
Paul knew hard and difficult times would increase which caused him to write to Timothy.The problems he faced are the same as now have; falling attendance; interference by the government; pluralism; so this Letter is for us.
The Letter begins with Paul asserting his Apostleship, which he stressed was by the will of God; in other words he was specially chosen to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, and was always keen to assert this specially given authority so that what he stated could be accepted as approved by the Lord.
He shows his affection for Timothy and remembers how Timothy was brought up in the faith by his mother and grandmother leading to his ordination by Paul and calls on him to keep that faith in mind and practice. Something children miss out nowadays, and are deprived of a good foundation.
We are reminded that God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but one of power and there is no greater strength than the power of God. This should encourage us to be as vocal in proclaiming our faith as other faiths do. Muslims vigorously reveal their faith and to their credit.
Then we come to one of three significant words of this passage in v8, ‘we must not be ashamed to speak of the gospel.’ This is a call to all Christians, for we have nothing to be ashamed of. Our faith is not something someone has made up, it is factually based on historical grounds.
I know it can be hard when you are the only person in your work place or amongst friends to be a Christian. Criticism can be harsh, even vitriolic so that there is reluctance to take a stand. Be encouraged by remembering our Lord went through so much more for us, so we must stand up for Him.
More importantly there is a tendency by some preachers to be ashamed of preaching a true gospel, so they talk vaguely and avoid being positive; others speak a false gospel.
Preachers are terrified of being criticised as being bigoted or of having some sort of phobia. A bible based ministry is likely to make you unpopular or mocked, (believe me). When therefore you are in a minority you have to decide whether to keep quiet and say nothing; go with the flow, or stand up and fight.
It is the duty of the Church to teach the gospel and not budge from doing so. Paul tells Timothy to keep sound teaching, which he learned from the teaching of the Apostles. Paul will repeat this call in Chapter 4 when he commands Timothy to ‘preach the word’, and to be urgent in doing so.
We are not to be blown away by every new spiritual wind that causes us to drift from our moorings. We are not to be superficial believers, but to hold fast to the gospel given by the Apostles who were themselves taught by our Lord Himself
Unless we know what we believe and why we will not defeat the creeping spread of secularism and the cultural trends which challenge our faith, and we must resists the tendency to allow society to impose itself upon our teaching, or we are in danger of sentencing the Church to a very small part of our national life. When we reject Apostolic teaching we fall into error.
It is irresponsible and shows ignorance when someone tells you all religions are the same and all lead to the same God. Islam for instance teaches that God has no son and their God is Allah. We worship a God who has a Son and who is the God of Israel, and we claim no one comes to the Father (GOD that is) except through Jesus Christ.
The second significant words come when Paul writes; ‘join with me in suffering for the gospel.’ There are many ways we may suffer, but be sure you will experience one when you state what you believe. Some people will try to avoid you, you may miss out on promotion in your work as many of us have experienced, and you will surely be subject to innuendo, but what man denies us God recompenses. Christianity was never meant to be a bed of roses. It is not easy to stand for Christ; people have received death threats even for doing so. We have to decide if we stand for Jesus or Caesar.
Looking at v.9, Paul is pointing out the gospel that there is nothing we can do to earn our salvation; God saves us by His grace, not because of anything we have done. We are put into a right relationship with God when we repent of past sins and accept Jesus Christ as Saviour, who died on the Cross for our transgressions that we may have life with Him in heaven when our days here are over. The Bible states Jesus is the only way to salvation. I know it is hard to say this without someone saying, ‘oh you must not say that’, but we need to ignore such comment because that is an essential element of our message
Paul describes himself as having suffered many beatings, deprivation, hardship, now prison and soon death. In spite of all this he knows WHOM he has believed; not what or in whom, but whom, Jesus Christ Himself. But he is not ashamed of being where he is.
In the last verse, Paul tells Timothy to guard the gospel, with the help of the Holy Spirit. This means we teach and believe that for a person to be in a right relationship with God, it means repenting of past sin; believing Jesus died on the Cross for the forgiveness of all sin, and each must accept that death was on their behalf and claim Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
We live at a time of theological and moral confusion. The Church itself is confused and divided as to what it stands for and for what is its purpose. One part believes the Bible is the infallible Word of God which should be respected and obeyed, whilst the other sees it as a sort of guide to be adopted to suit the occasion. Jesus warned any kingdom or house divided among itself will fall.
We see the moral boundaries have been swept away to such an extent that there are now no absolutes, all is relative and you just do your own thing and make up your own standards, so causing the collapse of Christian values, leading to an unstable society in which family life is being destroyed.
If the Churches and people of this great nation do not return to Biblical foundations, Christianity which has been the faith of this country for over 1500 years and has brought and kept this nation as one, will be fazed out of public life by ideologues in public service, who want to take Christianity right out of public life and are now aided by a corrupt anti-Christian European body.
The first Church grew rapidly because the people listened to the teaching of the Apostles and God added to their numbers. He is not going to add to any Church which accepts the morality of a decadent society. There are Church members who choose to adopt State law, which justified them acting a way God’s law does not
Now more than ever, this is a requirement for all Christians to remember the sacrifices made by martyrs who gave their very lives that we may have Bibles to freely read.
Our brothers and sister in Christ, living in Islamic countries, daily face horrific persecution, even death, with Churches and houses being burned down. We have seen horrendous scenes on television of them being beheaded, just because they declared themselves followers of Christ. In some countries even having a bible in your possession is enough to incur the wrath of the authorities.
God has made us custodians of His Word; never may the Church and its members fail Him. But if we are negligent and indifferent we will find another faith will take our place
I pray that you will only hear the gospel boldly and faithfully preached in this Church.
Addendum
Cameron has refused to consider having a conscience clause to accommodate Christians. Indeed, he sent a government lawyer to the European Court to argue that a Cross was not an essential symbol of Christianity.
A Christian woman spoke of her faith to Muslim colleagues, some of whom were open about their support for Islamist terrorism, and was dismissed from her employment despite a petition from other staff. The Supreme Court has refused her right to appeal.
A foster couple had two young brothers removed from their care by social workers who were hostile to the couple because of their commitment to Christian faith.
The Mayor of London allows a homosexual lobby group to advertise on London buses, but denies a Christian group the same opportunity.
Having received an agreement from her employers that she need not work on Sundays because of her faith, a woman was eventually sacked, yet members of other faiths are allowed to do so on their holy day.
A Christian children’s worker was sacked after a Muslim colleague initiated a discussion on faith with her, and then complained to the management, who sacked the Christian.
A street preacher was arrested for quoting verses from the Bible, convicted in Court, and ordered to pay a total of £1,200 in costs and £250 in compensation to a homosexual man for ‘emotional pain’. The complainant was not in such emotional pain to prevent him running to the police.
A long serving Magistrate was reprimanded and sent on a course in equality training, just because he stated in a private discussion that a child was better brought up by a man and a woman.
And we have the well publicised case of the Belfast bakery set up by a gay activist who ordered a cake with the slogan ‘support gay marriage’, to be placed on top of the cake with models of two men. In view of their deep Christian beliefs the bakery could not agree to put those words on a cake. Although such marriage is illegal in Northern Ireland, the Equality Commission could not wait to get the bakery to Court, where they were made to pay £500 to the man for, again, ‘emotional pain’. This was an outrageous decision; there was no discrimination being made against the man, nor was a cake declined to be made, only the offending words were objected to. The bakery was entitled to promote their faith as the man was his cause.
How people live and act is entirely a decision for them, and few would challenge their right to do so; but that does not mean other people are forced to act against their faith and conscience.
Let us then go further and consider what is happening in this country. Christians are not permitted to wear a cross whilst at work under threat of dismissal; sympathetic nurses who are trying to make patients feel better by suggesting they say a prayer are dismissed; a registrar who declined to officiate at civil unions because of religious belief, although having colleagues step in for her, is sacked because of her views; a psychotherapist is dismissed for refusing to give sexual advice to same sex people; quite significantly a Christian woman was forced from her employment because she pressed for time off on Sundays to attend worship even though other colleagues volunteered to change shifts with her, yet a Muslim woman was given free time to attend her Mosque.
Preachers voicing their faith in public places have been arrested, and in one case in Perth a Minister was arrested on the grounds that he was disturbing the peace with his shouting, whilst at the same time a street busker was playing amplified music without any action being taken against him.
In another case a Police Sergeant sought public assistance in obtaining evidence against a street preacher in Taunton to support a prosecution, yet a Muslim preacher had Police protection when preaching in a London street.
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