ROMANS 1. V.16/17

 

This week’s sermon is based on Romans 1 v16/17

 

Two of the most of the significant verses and perhaps most encouraging in the Bible, are those in the first chapter of Paul’s Letter to the Romans.

 

‘I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: the righteous shall live by faith’.

 

Paul is writing to Christians in Rome, the mightiest city of the day, a city full of learning yet also full of immorality, where Christianity would not be appreciated, and he was ready and eager to go and preach the gospel without fear or favour, no matter what the cost, even though Christians were in danger of persecution; a sort of London of the day. We need to be encouraged by these verses.

Paul’s greatest desire was to make people Christians, a noble cause and one we could wish all preachers to-day to adopt.  He was concerned the Jews were being misled to follow the wrong way to salvation, which can only be achieved by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord.

Paul says he was not ashamed, in fact he glorified in the gospel and that is what all Christians should do. But sadly, I fear we all do not. How many Church members are embarrassed when asked if they believe? Indeed, how many are ready to acknowledge they attend Church? How would we answer is asked to give our opinion on moral questions?

If you are not ashamed you are ready to speak out about your faith. Some people are fearful of their friends finding out they attend Church in case they get mocked, or because it might restrict the way they want to behave. Some will worry will they be called narrow minded or old fashioned. Remember the words of Jesus, ‘for whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this sinful and adulterous generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when He comes in the glory of the Father’.

 

These verses were what sparked the most important event in Christian history after the birth of the Church, the Protestant Reformation. An obscure Monk in Germany posted a set of 95 theses on a Church door intending to initiate a theological debate, without any conception as to what would follow. There was a religious firestorm which swept across Europe when he made the statement, which should be proclaimed from every Church pulpit, ‘the true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God’.

 

It has to be accepted that the Church exists primarily for one purpose, to proclaim the Christian gospel  Any other issue must be considered secondary, the gospel is central and anything which threatens to challenge the gospel must be ignored.

 

The gospel is the story of Jesus Christ who gave Himself to be crucified for our sins in order to reconcile us to God. Why should anyone be ashamed to tell that story? We all no doubt are ashamed of things we have done in our lives, and the things we have said but wished we hadn’t, and that is understandable. But we allow ourselves to become ashamed of something for which there is no need to be ashamed of.

 

For it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.  This power is for everyone who believes. This means more than just believing there is a God; the devil accepts that; believing means making a commitment. Too many say they believe but do nothing, which is why regular preaching of the gospel is important so that people may come to live by the Scripture.

 

Some are religious and even show some outward inclinations toward Christianity. They come from a Christian background. They think that Jesus was a great religious figure. But they have not believed in Christ. Though the gospel is God's power for salvation, because they have not believed, they have not experienced this power nor have they known the gospel for what it truly is.

 

The reason so many people are not willing to accept the Bible they are more ready to listen to the strident outpourings of nauseating, insulting, self-indulgent secularists. For others accepting the gospel would mean a change of hedonistic lifestyle. It means accepting a standard of morality they are not prepared to accept.

 

God’s purpose for the Church is to lead people to salvation; to proclaim the gospel story to an unbelieving world. In order to help us do this according to his wishes, God created spiritual boundaries, and we should not wander beyond what the Bible sets out for us.

 

There is false teaching being given from within the Church that all will go to heaven. It is said that God would not send anyone to hell, and that is right, but people choose to go there by their own neglect.

 

To believe as some do, and preach that everyone will go to heaven is nowhere stated, nor can be found in the Bible, and is totally misleading. This perpetuates the belief, that as long as someone is kind and honest, they must be a good Christian and will go to heaven. Atheists and people of other faiths are kind and honest, but would be offended to be called Christians.

 

Jesus made it very clear that He is the door to heaven, and the only way. Jesus was sent to this earth by God to tell that God loves all people and is willing to receive them into His heavenly Kingdom.  Entrance into heaven is limited to those who trust Jesus Christ, and him alone for their salvation.

Confession that Jesus is Lord, and singing the hymn, is not an intellectual title or a casual statement, it means much more.  You have to believe fully in your heart this is so, and have no doubt that God raised Him physically from the dead; that is the heart of the Christian message.  So when you do believe and are prepared to confess with your mouth, God accepts you as righteous.

But first, they must be cleansed of all sin and this can only be done by accepting that when Christ died on the Cross to obtain forgiveness of sin, He was including you in His death for the sins you have committed, and He must be accepted as your Lord and Saviour.

For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed. We cannot make ourselves righteous before God, but we can be through Jesus’ atoning death. Jesus acts as a bridge between God and us, putting us in good standing in God’s eyes, making it thus possible for us to be acceptable to God. This is God’s powerful way of bringing all who believe to heaven. It’s what our Lord achieved when he died and rose from the dead. We are saved by grace (Great Riches At Christ’s Expense) through faith. The gospel is the power that gives us salvation. But the gospel is bad news for non-believers, for it offers no future hope.

 

This righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: the righteousness is not ours. We receive it by faith as a free gift from God. All you have to do is reach out with the empty hands of faith and cling to the Lord Jesus Christ. If you dare to let go of your good works and come with empty hands to the Saviour, Jesus will meet you with open arms. That's how you receive the righteousness of God. It is by faith from first to last

 

You must have faith and believe. We are prepared to place our faith in many people, but reluctant to trust in God.

 

The Bible states, ‘by grace you have been saved through faith, it is not your own doing, it is the gift of God and not by your own works.’  God in His infinite goodness has graciously forgiven you of all the wrongdoing in your life, past and present. .

Something in us always wants to add to God’s free grace. It’s humbling to admit that we can do nothing to earn our deliverance from sin. Imagine what heaven would be like if we had to earn our way there. People would be trying to outbid each other and probably boasting how important they had been in the world. Grace saves us through faith, there is nothing we can give or add, it is a free gift of God, but like all gifts has to be taken in order to appreciate.

 

We like to sing the most popular hymn across the world, especially in the United States, ‘amazing grace’. The word ‘amazing’ indicates something completely special, and we apply it to the grace of God, which is sadly not understood by most people, even many within the Church. I can only pray that all here this morning, and those who read on the internet, will then realise the gift that God has offered to all who turn with a true heart to Him.

 

 When I was being inducted to one parish, the Rural Dean who was a real traditional English gentleman (and there’s not many of us left), introduced me to a man who wanted  me to know how important he was. Heaven would be just like that if you had to earn your way there. But it won’t be like that, when Jesus died on the cross, he paid the full price for your salvation. God alone gets the glory in your salvation. Jesus did all the work when he died on the cross.

The Bible states , ‘if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved’.

You have to accept in your heart that Jesus has done for you, something no one else possibly could, made you righteous in God’s sight. You accept this by faith, and live that faith.

Faith. You must have faith and believe. We are prepared to place our faith in many people, but reluctant to trust in God. We travel by plane and put our faith that the pilot knows what he is doing although we know nothing about him. If you go to the doctor for some illness and he gives you a prescription, you then get dispensed and take, trusting the doctor and the chemist, but you don’t just leave it in a cupboard if you want to get better. So with the gospel; there is no point in just seeking a spiritual prescription; you have to take that by faith, which means reaching out to God and accepting the gospel.

 

We have to accept we live in a country where moral absolutes have been abandoned, and the country is being influenced to follow an agenda by atheists, secularists who want to force Christianity from the public arena, and especially from aggressive activists in the LGBT Lobby who want their ways of life generally adopted and accepted, without any dissent..

 

How individual people lead their lives is a matter entirely up to each person, but the activists are deliberately creating situations which intrude on other lives. There is objection to any alternative opinion being expressed, but the Church must be given freedom to state what the Bible teaches. However even that is becoming difficult for a Court in Bristol fined two street pastors £2000 each plus costs, for hate speech by quoting from the King James Version of the Bible.  Fortunately, this was reversed on appeal, which a charity funded.

 

Do you believe the Church is at the present time is able to face up to such pressures? Is it not a fact that the mainline denominations have bought into what is being put forward from outside? God set out guidelines in the Bible as to what He expects us to teach, and the Church has gone beyond that teaching.

 

Liberalism is tearing the Church apart by trying to supplant biblical authority for cultural expression and denying the infallibility of the Bible with trendy social issues replacing the Cross of Christ.

 

It is not too strong to say immorality is permeating into Churches. People are not being taught the thoughts of God, but following blindly after the culture of society. The Methodist Church has betrayed its founders by agreeing to perform same sex marriages, as has the Church in Wales and Scotland, and the Church of England is fully in support and operating by stealth, and it is only a matter of time before they officially support it.  They are ashamed to state God's definition of marriage as one man and one woman.

 

To preach fundamental truth will inevitably cause some upset. But let us take heart from Paul who faced all that could be put against him, and so caused Christianity to spread throughout the ancient world. The Bible states, ‘preach the Word’ and those whose responsibility is to do so will one day have to account before the Lord for betrayal. Preachers should remember they are called to preach the gospel and abandon sin, not preach sin and abandon the gospel.

 

The Bible states everyone is on one of two roads to eternity, either the narrow road, which fewer choose, is the one which leads to heaven by faith in Jesus Christ; or the broad one, which is always overcrowded, and leads to hell.

 

If you are on the broad road, you should change direction by turning around, and get on the highway to heaven, like Martin Luther and millions of others who chose the Jesus Christ highway.

 

Martin Luther was so inspired by this passage it caused him to start the Protestant Reformation and if all preachers were inspired similarly there would be fewer empty seats in Churches.

 

All Christians at this perilous time need to think of what we can offer to God. To paraphrase a famous saying, ‘think not what God can do for me, but what can I do for God’.

 

The glory of Christianity is that it has a message that is grounded in history. It is objective truth, not just something that someone has made up.  It is not some feeling that you are following that you hope will work out; it is the story of historic events. One of these events is the coming of Jesus as a baby in the manger of Bethlehem, the coming of the wise men from the east and the uproar and unrest that it caused in the kingdom of Judea, beginning with Herod the king himself. That is all part of history. Then there was the resurrection and the events that followed in the church. These are all historic events -- objective truth. That is our message.

Let us proceed by faith and never be ashamed of being a Christian. Paul said he was not ashamed, and nor am I, but what about you.

 

Mark 9  v.38/50

Turning to this week’s gospel reading, in verse 38 we find John facing a problem which he took to Jesus. At that time demons were a common problem and someone had been casting out in the name of Jesus and actually being successful in doing so. Because the person was not one of the twelve Apostles, they were trying to stop him.  The Apostles considered they were the only ones allowed to minister in the name of Jesus; there are those today who take a similar line.

 People in different Churches are inclined to think only their denomination is the authentic one.

The Roman Catholic Church declares itself as the only true Church, and the other denominations as unworthy and refuse to share Communion with other Christians. Can anyone imagine Jesus asking a person which denomination they belonged to before he helped them, or shared worship?

Some priests are more realistic however. I was once asked if a Catholic priest could pronounce the blessing at a wedding in my Church, where the bride and groom were from different Churches. The priest and I shared the whole service, and it was a most pleasant experience which pleased all present.

  The answer Jesus gives is that there must be tolerance, which means an acceptance that there are different ways of accepting something.. The fact that others do not worship as they do, does not mean they are inferior, such is sheer pride and hypocrisy. There are good and bad people in all Churches, and if we work side by side we can only make progress with our fellow brothers and sisters, no matter what Church we are members of.   We all have our own thoughts as to what is best and come to different conclusions.  Just as two people may go to the same location, they may well take different routes and arrive there; so on our journey to God, we just let Jesus be the navigation. God made many different flowers not just roses, but they all bloom in the same way.

 Everyone has a right to their own way of worship, which all should respect, and be prepared to share if it is basic biblical doctrine.  We find Jesus discussing the importance of living lives which count, and moving  amongst all manner of people. Paul stated he was all things to all people, in order to win souls for Jesus. We must recognize the need to give up anything that stands between us and salvation. No one denomination has a monopoly of salvation.  Every belief is best judged by the kind and manner of people who follow.         

 Christianity is the one organization in the world where men and women, of any ages, of any race or nationality can meet as a fellow members of one family, with one heavenly Father.  At one time I was in Kenya where Christian missionaries came from different countries, and regularly we could meet to share fellowship on greeting them; different coloured skins, genders and ages, even nationalities.

 We all desire to live purposeful lives, to accomplish significant achievements, to be known for impacting on society. So it is important how we live.  We get positive help as we study the Bible, and in this passage we hear Jesus’ words on living in a way that counts. His teaching is simple, direct and salutary.  It declares any kindness shown, or any help given to the people will be rewarded.  The people being helped and who belong to Jesus have a claim upon us, for if He had been here He would have helped them.

 Jesus speaks of two ways in which we can deal with people.  We can either deal positively by encouragement. Or destroy them by manipulation.  It is important to see that encouragement builds positive relationships.   Jesus spoke of someone giving a cup of water to a follower of His.  This may seem a small act to do, but is a very important as a basic act of encouragement. We are being shown that any act of kindness will be rewarded, and here the small drink of water is an example.

 We all need encouragement at times when our souls are weary and parched.  Our emotions thirst for someone to encourage us, which will go a long way with us.  It doesn’t cost financially, just a little time, and it has the power to help relationships as we support each other.

 I have stated before that we are to stand firm for our faith, and be ready to challenge those who confront us.  It is common to hear or find a wholehearted attack, criticizing Christianity and mocking our beliefs. On the rare instances when people in positions of influence, who are better placed to be heard than us, speak out for the Church, we should let it be known we appreciate their support. In to-day’s world we have emails and texts which make it so easy to communicate.  But just as encouragement builds up relationships, manipulation destroys them.

 Jesus warms against causing others to stumble.  To help, earns eternal reward, but to cause someone to stumble earns eternal punishment.  We all have a choice to either build up or knock down. The Apostles had to make that choice. We have the power to help people to become all that God can make them; that however does not mean we can abandon principle and put aside spiritual discipline. On the other hand we can put them off by being disinterested or unconcerned.

 Jesus spoke of placing a millstone around the necks. The millstone mentioned was a large one, so great it took an ass to turn move it. To be cast into the sea with one attached, was to have no hope of a return.  Such was a punishment in Rome and Palestine.

 To sin is bad, but to cause others to do so is infinitely more worse. God is ready to forgive a sinner, but is stern to anyone who makes it easy for another to do so. Whilst encouragement erns reward, to cause someone to stumble merits condemnation.  The stumbling blocks we place in front of other believers become millstones around our necks.  No doubt the Apostles had seen the drowned bodies of victims, and he words of Jesus would be clearly understood. Yet Jesus states that it is a better fate than that which awaits those who cause one of the little ones to stumble.  People are too important to be led astray, and there certainly are those who do lead people purposefully and fully astray.  Preachers, who use the Word of God in a deceptive way, and most definitely in deceptive ways, redefining the Scriptures to accommodate modern morality, emptying the meaning which thereby misled others.  The judgement, as the Bible warns, will be severe judgement on such people.

 In life people get an illness which causes the whole body to be infected, and extensive surgery is often needed to cure. This can happen spiritually, which is why Jesus uses such strong words to point out the infection and punishment to be taken, which should not be taken literally, but seen and understood there is a goal in life which is worth sacrifice in order to get.  The goal for a Christian is the Kingdom of God, a society in which God’s will is done. A Christian therefore has to strive by discipline and self-denial to do the will of God.

 To attain this you may need to give up some pleasures you enjoy, but are not fitting in your new life and you may find friends are less friendly. We can have an unforgiving spirit, engaging in dishonest business transactions, using crude and worthless language, engaging in judgmental gossip.  If we are to have lives that count, we have to care how we live.   The sacrifice may be painful to begin with, but you are carrying your cross as Jesus stated was necessary, and being obedient to God.

 The passage lays down in vivid Eastern language, the basic truth there is one goal worth sacrifice. It should be apparent to us that sin destroys lives, which is the point Jesus is making in this message. He is saying, that such are the devastating effects of sin, it is better to be crippled physically rather enter into hell.  It is not considered theologically proper to talk about hell these days, in case people get upset, but indeed many clergy would not accept there is such a place, One Minister asked me if I really believed there was a place called hell.  I told him Jesus said there was, so that is good enough for me, for when Jesus spoke of heaven he always mentioned the alternative as hell.

 The word Jesus used was Gehenna, which referred to Israel’s valley of Himon.  It is described by Joshua as a place outside Jerusalem.  During the reigns of Old Testament kings Ahaz and Manasseh; human sacrifices were offered to the heathen god Molech.  Later the valley was turned into a  rubbish dump, a place for burning refuse and bodies of criminals’; fires smouldered  there continuously.  It was a picture of hell, a symbol of the eternal waste of human life , results of sin, which cause us to end up on a rubbish dump for a life wasted or thrown away. 

 This is why Jesus deals so  radically with sin, because He knows what sin can do to us, so it must be dealt with ruthlessly.  It is like a cancer eating away, and in order to save our lives, part of the body must be attended to, in order to remove pressure on the whole body.  Physically it is like taking away a limb if a body is to be saved.  In the spiritual life, the same kind of situation applies, where we need to consider what we are doing, which we shouldn’t.

 The Jewish Rabbis had sayings based on the way in which some parts of the body lend themselves to sin.  The two main parts are the eyes and heart.  There are certain instincts in people and parts of our physical constitution which minister to sin. The saying of Jesus is a vivid eastern way of saying, there is a goal in life which is worthy of any sacrifice which must be made to attain it.

 Jesus is not of course wanting to pluck out the eyes of people, not damage any limb.  His point is that we must deal ruthlessly in cutting out the harmful practices, in other words if there is something which drags us down, we must exercise self-discipline and self-denial. It counts how we deal with ourselves and others.  Notice how Jesus states you are the one who has to deal with it, for you are the one who can.

 Then in the last two verses, Jesus speaks about being salted with fire which is not quenched, and the worm does not die.  Here he is speaking of judgement.  In the Old Testament times, .all the sacrifices had to be accompanied by salt, which was seen as the salt of the covenant which made the sacrifices acceptable to God.  To be salted with fire means that we shall be tested and tried in order to develop the character of Christ within us. Fire will not be quenched means there will be lasting torment, and the worm refers to sin.

Fire is connected with purification. It is fire which purifies the base metal, by which the alloy is separated and the metal is left pure.  The life that is acceptable to God is the life which has been purified by the discipline of Christian obedience and the acceptance of the guiding hand of God.

 But salt can lose its saltiness. Salt has two function; it adds flavour to our food for a dish can be tasteless if salt is left out.  Secondly, salt is the earliest of all preservatives and was used to prevent something from going rotten.  The Christian was sent into a heathen society to live and add flavour and make the society better.  It was a corrupt world, purity was gone and chastity was unknown. Into that poisonous society Christianity was an antiseptic, a cleansing purifying influence.

 Jesus is here challenging the Christian.  If the purity of life is lost, what hope is there.  He is pointing out that unless the Christian brings pure life there is nowhere else it can be found.  How dreadfully has today’s Church let the salt be wasted.  If we are honest and look at today’s Church with a clear mind, surely you can see how it is letting God down so badly.  Yes there are a lot of devoted and sincere men and women attending Churches, but for what purpose if they are not being told all that God has laid down in His Word.  Ministers are called to ‘preach the Word’.

  If you are called a bigot, it is like a badge of honour, for paradoxically you must be telling the truth of the Bible, for you are called such because you don’t subscribe to modern morality.  I have been so designated just for telling that the resurrection of Jesus was as recorded by the Bible, and witnessed by historians of the day.

 

If you find your Church is not fit for the purpose you believe, there are wonderful services from the United States each Sunday on Sky television where the Bible is preached as the Lord would want.

 

Do not be discouraged. Remember the words of the hymn, stand up, stand up, for Jesus.

 

  

 

James 3  verses 13-18

This is the Epistle for the coming Sunday, and one which relates to selfish ambition.  James is referring to intellectual ability, but also to spiritual conduct.

Ambition in itself is quite an honourable aim, but so often leads to worry which causes all manner of illness, loss of hair and in some extreme cases early death. There is also a side effect of losing friends, and disappointment.

James considers ambitious and jealous hearts, which are so different from humility and gentleness which are advocated by Jesus. James sought honour and the loyalty of his people.  When someone has selfish ambition, they are often moved to be vindictive to any competitor, which in turn causes divisive atmosphere.

He views worldly behaviour as that which goes from bad to worse, and is more sensual than spiritual.  The answer and consequence is disorder, vile practices and instability. The correct practice is to turn to godly qualities, which are moved by the Holy Spirit.  Purity is the main one, followed by morality and a peaceful disposition, which is symptomatic of a true believer, which leads to a harvest of righteousness.

Considering this from a Church viewpoint, those seeking advancement within the Church, should be of gentle nature and graciousness. Sadly there still those with naked ambition, which carries with it jealousy and envy.  It has to be conceded there are men and women who are there largely for what they can get out of it.  This inevitably means that teaching of the gospel, which is the main function of ministry, becomes more of a side issue.

The question is often asked if it is right for a Christian to be ambitious. In some Christian circles ambition is frowned upon as it is considered contrary to being humble and meek, rather as being aggressive. There is however the danger of being passively aggressive by appearing to be humble whilst pursuing clearly defined goals. The Charles Dickens character Uriah Heep, for instance.

We also see such false humility by clergy within the Church. There are times when a new bishop has to be appointed, and there are some men and women who dearly want the post, but don’t want to be seen to be doing so. I have been surprised at how many have said how troubled they were when told they were going to be offered the post, that they had to go for a quiet walk and pray whether to accept, when everyone with intelligence knows they have ordered the new dress code.

Deep seated ambitions can be maintained below the surface no matter how humble a person may act, and this is true inside and outside the Church, with now women pretending and scheming as hard as men.

When a man/woman are learning a trade, they do so practising at a lower level, yet within the Church this does not always apply. I saw a letter once written to the press by a collection of bishops, about a subject which affected the parish community.  I studied their previous history and saw the majority had never served in an actual parish; they were ex College academics or in Offices.  An Archbishop some years ago stated, the greatest career a man could have was as a parish priest. I don’t know how he was qualified to say that when he had never been one.

The young want to be celebrities, footballers or footballer’s girl-friends, or winning the X factor competition. Bars around the country are filled with girls seeking a footballer. so as to become famous. Reality television has made stars of people out of relative obscurity.
Children have careers picked for them, not for suitable aptitude, but rather because it may lead to status and wealth and power. Envy and ambition can lead eventually to all kinds of wickedness. We see this in today’s society where people are pursuing their own goals irrespective of the effect they may make on others. Envy and jealousy lead to darkness and darkness and devilishness.

Good ambition is not built on envy and selfishness, it avoids pretence and hypocrisy with a lust for money and power. The biblical ambition encourages the use of talents as Jesus told in the parable of the talents, where the Master praised those who had increased the money entrusted to them and rebuked the one who had not.

Those who are sincere in ambition can be recognised by their trying to doing their best, making the most of their talent without seeking power or money. The Olympic ideal was once the honour and privilege of taking part, and the only goal was their own goal. Now the eye is often on a sponsorship deal, which is the accepted thing. It was noticeable when mainly American athletes, were seen and heard offering praise and thanks to God before and/or after, even appearing on national television doing the same; the media in this country gave at least little or scant report.

One of our leading football managers at a most famous club, was asked by a press reporter if there was any man he had been inspired by, and the manager  answered yes. When asked who the man was, the reply was ‘Jesus’, after which the conversation was ended.

Those seeking advancement should be of gentle nature and graciousness.  There are men and women within the Church who see themselves in a profession with a need for an impressive curriculum vitae, rather than following a calling. This is where the liberalism emanates from, and the gospel becomes a side issue.

At a young age I met real gentlemen who were Ministers, I admired them for their gentle nature and immaculate manners and dress.  They were in fact a very respected people publicly.  Times changed before I was eligible to enter ministry, where I saw a less admirable quality, to be also adopted by women.

It is difficult to be a teacher and remain humble. Members of the Church often pass complimentary remarks, and one has to accept graciously and just be thankful to have helped someone.

Jesus went to all manner of people, and travelled across the land, anxious to do the work God set down for Him.  In contrast, I was amazed to learn how quite a few in ministry are concerned if sent to serve in the Northern part of England ,which anomalously is where people are generally accepted to be more friendly and welcoming.

This passage of Scripture sets out the rights and wrongs of ambition and the way it can be fanatically aggressive, rather than of conviction and reward of merit. In itself, ambition if followed with dignity and hard endeavour, is a worthy cause to take, enabling oneself to benefit by commitment to labour, and excelling at the task set.

James sees arrogant wisdom different from true wisdom, as the former is earthy and the aim worldly and devilish. The purpose of wisdom in the Church is to proclaim the gospel, devoid of personal opinion and bias, and as passed down by the teaching of the Apostles, who were commanded by the Lord Jesus. Such is clearly not happening in the Church at large, with the consequence that the Church will fall apart quicker than it has so far.

People seek the Church when troubled, concerned about health and the future, marriage problems and bereavement.  They want to hear the teachings of Jesus, words of comfort, hope and support. They certainly do not want to hear sermons on climate change, political issues, and other worldly problems.  Nor do they want or need to hear being told not to take the Bible seriously.

We are in a perilous and dangerous situation at the present time, when modern technology and radio with television, spreading news widely.  This is exacerbated when an excess of preachers from the highest Offices of Churches and downwards, reveal they just don’t accept the supreme authority of the Bible and are (anxiously) ready to act against God’s Word.  Jesus warned a house divided among itself will collapse, and my goodness, how shamefully do we see Churches blatantly acting contrary to what the Bible states, in order to please and accommodate the agenda of anti-Christian activists.

Let me close with two comments. Firstly from Acts 2, v42 after a crowd of 3,000 listened to Peter’s sermon at Pentecost and were converted.

They devoted themselves to the teaching of the Apostles and awe came upon every soul and wonders were being done through the Apostles,and the Lord added to their number,

I cannot see the Lord adding to our number at the path the Church is taking.

Secondly to the words of the great preacher and Church leader John Wesley.

I want to know one thing, the way to heaven; how to land safe on that happy shore. God Himself has condescended to teach the way; for this end He came from heaven. He hath written it down in a book. Give me that book!

From the greatest preacher in Christian history, Billy Graham

There are many things from God I do not understand or apprehend, but I accept the revelation of Himself by faith.  

Pray that your Church will faithfully accept the Bible as the supreme authority for all worship, and learning. Stand firm, and when the Bible is not followed in preference to modern culture, challenge the preacher.

May God bless you.

 

 

1 Corinthians 1 v18/25.
This morning I want to speak about the Cross, and have chosen a passage from Paul’s 1st Letter to the Church at Corinth.

Each religious faith has its own symbol. Muslims have the crescent moon; the Jews have the Star of David,  Buddhists have the lotus flower, but for Christians we have the Cross.   The early Christians had the sign of a fish which they inscribed on walls as indication of faith when the Romans were persecuting Christians.  They would make the cry, ‘Jesus is Lord’, but would not refer so much to the cross as it was a hateful thing.

Some Churches have a Cross outside and most also display the Cross inside. It is embossed upon our Bibles and prayer books and ladies particularly wear a gold cross.
Paul said he gloried in the Cross, and focused on the crucifixion of Jesus as the means of salvation. But it was the most horrific death ever devised by mankind. For many years it was never mentioned in polite company , and was only used to show when people were acting contrary to the power of the Cross.

When writing to the Galatian Church, Paul stated ‘God forbid that I should boast about anything except the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ’, to indicate how much he prioritised the Cross.

Paul was a clever man, he could have boasted about his own intellect, his mastery of languages; he could have boasted about the unique birth of Christ or the miracles performed, even the resurrection, but he didn’t, only the Cross.

Let me now turn to Paul’s Letter to the Corinthians Christians.

The Church at Corinth was having problems which caused Paul to write to them.  Corinth was a cosmopolitan city which has been described as the Soho of its day, full of corruption and immorality. It was a trading centre and there was much wealth and a style of living which did not match up to Christian standards. The Church, which had started with much power, was allowing some of the culture to invade the Church, and some members were influenced by the rhetoric of some preachers who were deviating from gospel, and this caused division and dissension within the Church.

Paul wrote to give advice and admonishment to the people there because of the way they were acting. He is showing us in this passage how the Cross is so important for us as Christians, and how it is involved in human affairs and thinking.

We have a similar situation here where there are men/women, occupying the most prominent position in the Church, openly accepting and even encouraging Christians to adopt the morality of society, despite the fact that the Bible expressly condemns doing so.
Paul begins this passage by saying Christ sent him to preach the gospel, not with profound words and high-sounding ideas, for there is mighty power in the simple message of the Cross of Christ. I think sometimes that a more social message is preferred.

It is not often that a sermon on the Cross is heard in Churches today, if at all; I cannot remember when I last heard one.  Indeed, a lot of sermons have only a tenuous reference to the gospel.

If you see a restaurant advertising good class food and you enter, only to find you are served ‘junk’ food, you are not likely to visit again. People are now visiting churches expecting to hear spiritual messages, hearing what the bible states about the moral and spiritual issues of the day, and in too many places hear poor messages which are in direct contradiction of the bible, leaving them confused and dejected. We must tell the true meaning of Scripture so they can understand that which God wants them to know

In verse 18,for the message of the Cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, which means not saved and no hope of getting to heaven for they have rejected Jesus, but to those of us who are saved and have accepted Jesus as Saviour, the gospel is the power of God.

Paul ‘s preaching focused on the crucifixion of Jesus as the means of salvation. A man crucified had nails driven through arms and legs and left hanging until he died, which could have lasted for days even.

Paul asks where is the wise man, where is the scholar, where is the philosopher of this age, has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world.  Challenging them who think they can solve life’s problems.

Paul is speaking to those in the Church who claimed to be wise and proud of their wisdom, which they were using to divide the Church and to promote themselves by changing the message of the Cross to make it more acceptable. Paul is telling them it is worthless in the sight of God and will only destroy the Church.

The cultured Greek and the pious Jew could not understand Christianity, but Paul pointed out human wisdom is bound to be of no purpose, and was  to be exposed by God telling of human helplessness.

The Jews demanded miraculous signs and Greeks looked to wisdom. This was a stumbling block which could not be overcome by Jews or Gentiles, but to those who do believe it is a message of power.

The Jews demanded that what Paul was teaching should be proved by some miraculous sign. Jews could not ever accept that the Messiah would be crucified; it was totally contradictory to their belief. The Greeks placed so much influence on human wisdom and intellectual ability to be the means of salvation.

God chose a way which ordinary people could understand. Abraham Lincoln once stated God must have loved ordinary people because He made so many of them. Paul gave them an ordinary and simple message, believe in Jesus Christ who gave His life to be crucified on the Cross and you will have eternal life. If we had to be very wise and academic, millions of people would never have come to know the Lord. Heaven would be only for the clever people.

The gospel message is the opposite of worldly wisdom and is hard for some to believe, but we do believe. But there are still people who want to see some proof for what we preach. The Bible states, by grace you shall be saved through faith’. If you have to see signs or other proof to believe, you don’t need faith. True faith means believing in what you cannot see.

God said, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate’.
The message of the world sees us as self-sufficient beings; there is no need of God. We have the ability to think and reason which will prove sufficient to eventually solve all of our problems.  Obviously, God doesn’t think so much of it.
Just where has all the wisdom of the so-called wise brought us? How well have we done in solving the world’s problems? Have we eradicated poverty? Has all our research and expertise in the fields of science and medicine rid our world of disease? Have we found a cure for cancer? There is more suffering now than history records.
With all the highly educated professional educators, how can we still have ignorant people wandering our streets, graduating from our schools and colleges not knowing basic maths or English?

Look at the enormous amount of hatred in the world with many of the Arab countries wanting to wipe Israel off the face of the map; the barbarity of Islamic militants. Paradoxically hatred has been introduced into our society by legislation. The (inequitable) Equality and Diversity Bill has caused considerable distress. Consider the hate mail and persecution experienced Christians who do not wish to surrender their beliefs to society’s morality. The unfortunate reality is that for all our so-called sophistication, we have not been able to solve the basic problems of society–– problems that have been around since the beginning. Certainly, we have been able to see great advances technologically. We have great new gadgets. But on the really important issues of life, we don’t even have temporary solutions.

But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.
The Cross upon which Jesus died was not only a place where he bore the sins of humanity and paid the penalty for those sins, it is also a way for our lives by his power. It is saying that God became weak in order to save us. It says that when we surrender our lives, we truly find them. It is the very power of God, concealed from the so-called wise and sophisticated and revealed to those who come as a child, in simple faith and trust.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength
Today the cross of Christ is still a cause of offence. The message of the cross of Christ is still foolishness to those who are perishing. To them the cross is the weakest link. In the Cross, we see the power of God displayed. God was powerful enough to become weak.

Having looked at the message of this passage, let us consider the implications for us to-day.

Paul always taught there are two distinct points of view, two black or white absolutes that can never be reconciled, because they produce two different responses to the gospel. We all have to decide now which we believe.

We have a choice to make for our future when this life is over. Many people don’t want to think of that and dismiss it from their minds.  Many more believe there is no need to worry, as long as one leads a ‘good’ life we are all going to heaven. Apart from the fact ‘good’ has not been defined, how would we know when he had done enough?

I have taken hundreds of funeral services in the past forty odd years, and irrespective that the deceased never read a bible, attended church, and being totally unaware of belief, it was always thought the relatives of the deceased, the person was heaven bound.

Unless you accept the Cross and its meaning, you are not able to make an assessment of the future. The Cross is the pivotal point of Christianity.  If you tell people that all their efforts and achievements will not put them right with God, and the only way is to believe the death of Christ on the Cross, and we can do nothing to earn our salvation, they will think it ridiculous.

The Cross strikes at the heart of human pride. Just as the Jews could never accept that a man hanging on a Cross could save the world, so today people mock the idea. Those who are blind to the truth of the gospel are said to be ‘perishing’, which means unsaved and are eternally lost. To them however, it is absurd, and they refuse to believe the Biblical teaching that states to achieve eternal salvation you have to believe that a man died on a Cross 2000 years ago, in a little country on the far side of the world, and did so that our sins may be forgiven.

The other reaction is that the Cross is the power of God to those of us who have accepted Christ’s death on the Cross as our means of salvation.
Why take a risk on your eternal future? If you were due to fly to America, and as you were boarding the plane you were told there was a 1% chance the plane would not make it across the Atlantic, would you still fly?

Paul said he understood how foolish it sounds to those who are lost when they heard that Jesus died to save them, but God had said He would destroy all human plans of salvation no matter how wise they seem to be to men, even the most brilliant of them. He said ‘you come to me my way, or you do not come at all’.
If you wear a Cross you should ask yourself, why you are wearing it, what does it mean to you? Most people just see it as an item of jewellery, such an idea would have been horrifying, bearing in mind the tortuous death it carried; it would be like wearing a model of the gallows around the neck. It was so crude a death it was never mentioned in polite company.
There is one underlying message running right through this passage. ‘There is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ’. God gave His only Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. We do not earn our right to heaven by all the good things we do, being saved is a gift from God, if we could earn it would not be free. God accepts us when we believe in Christ.
We need to humble ourselves in complete surrender to God. The good news is that God has given us his power.

The world doesn’t like the Cross, even though it can be the answer to all divisions pointing out the difference between truth and error. The crucifixion of     Jesus is a fact of history. He is the only means of salvation, and  we need a Saviour, meaning we follow God’s way or none.

When Jesus died on that Cross there were two men alongside him. One cried out to Jesus to save him and the other mocked. One of those men was saved, and the other died. We have to make a decision and do so whilst we are able, leaving it to a death bed may be too late.

The Bible states there are two alternatives in life, two roads, goats and sheep, tares and wheat, heaven and hell.  Jesus spoke about heaven many times, but he also warned of the alternative, which many people try to forget.

May the Cross always remind you of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He made for the salvation that can be yours. It is now the duty and responsibility of the Church to boldly proclaim this.

 

                   Mark 8 v31/38

 

Jesus is with his Apostles making his way to Jerusalem and the Cross. He shocks them by saying he must suffer, be killed and rise again.  He meant this was necessary to fulfil the purpose for which God sent him into the world; it was necessary for him to make atonement for man’s sin, for without his blood being shed there could not be any remission.  Without the Cross God’s holy law could not be satisfied.  Jesus must die that we might live. This is at the heart of Christian faith and we must always be aware of the truth. This was the message Jesus taught his Apostles and they took it to the world as the foundation of our faith.

Peter had shortly before made the famous confession of Jesus as Lord, for which Jesus blessed him, but now he faces the wrath of Jesus.  Peter did not mean to offend Jesus, he was just shocked that Jesus had to suffer so much and die, but Jesus suggested Peter had been influenced by the devil. in one of the greatest recorded rebukes.

Jesus then spelled out what being one of his followers would mean. He always made clear that there would be a cost involved, and never offered cheap grace.  Salvation is all of grace, offered to sinners who repent freely; by grace we are saved through faith, but all who want salvation must demonstrate the sincerity of their faith by carrying a cross.

There will inevitably be suffering when you decide to follow Jesus.  You will lose friends, be mocked, frozen from groups, treated as going through some strange illness. You could indulge the world’s pleasures and be thought a grand person, get involved in any form of morality, but if you are seen as religious or read the bible, you become a person no one wants to be with.  Yet bizarrely such perverse attitude does not apply to followers of the ethnic faiths.

 All Christians need to realise the challenge we face.  We must see we are engaged on a battlefield, not a playground as we meet an evil world which wants to force us into a private sect, and wants to silence our message.

Jesus called the crowd to him and told them whoever loved his life would lose it, but whoever loses his life for Jesus’ and the gospel’s sake would save it.  He meant that the one who lives a self centred life focused on this world will not find eternal life with God, but if you give up worldly pleasures and a life of self rebellion against God for the sake of Jesus and the gospel, will find everlasting communion with God.

Our bodies have a soul or spirit within, and the soul is the image of God, which in turn means eternal life, for when we  die it is the body becomes detached from the soul, which lives on in either heaven or hell.  So many people go to great length to protect their body, take all sorts of measures to make sure it is cared for, but ignore the soul.  They never look at the bible for guidance, and ignore God, who has no place in their hearts or minds.

We all have souls for which we will have to give account to God; it is an awful thought when we consider how little attention is given to anything except this world.

We can all lose it in many ways, by loving sin and cleaving to the world; it is poison to choose a religion of lies; believing man made superstitions; neglecting all means of grace and refusing to believe the gospel.  Whichever way is chosen, the responsibility falls to each person. Of all foolish and unprofitable bargains one can make, it is to give up the soul for the present world.

People are claiming to be Christians, attending Church, even preaching within them, but living unworthy lives in complete defiance of what God has laid down in His Word.

Jesus taught there were two roads in life and each of us must travel on one; one is broad and most people are inclined to follow that road with all worldly goods and thrills, whilst the other road is narrow and fewer take that one, for it means living a godly way of life with restrictions on how you journey.

There is now much reluctance to accepting belief in a hell, although most everyone accepts there is a heaven, to which all believe they are heading irrespective of how they lived their lives. There is going to be such disappointment one day.  Jesus in his parables made clear two roads, two destinies, sheep and goats, tares and wheat.  All Christians should make sure those nearest and dearest to them are aware of this.  Whenever Jesus spoke of heaven, he also referred to the alternative as hell.

I have stated so many times I think it shameful as well as cruel, for the Churches to let people live under such a delusion and create liturgy which virtually assures people that a person can separate themselves from God, have no association with him, and yet still receive salvation. To say such is to flagrantly teach false doctrine, for the bible is quite unequivocal and patently clear, it means accepting Jesus death on the Cross was the price he paid for their sins.  The Bible states, salvation is found under no other name under heaven than Jesus.

Jesus pictured a field with the good seed representing his gospel, and the tares were the seeds of the devil, and a lot of people are prepared to sell their souls to follow a hedonistic lifestyle.  But God is long suffering and wants all people to be saved, which is why He calls on all to repent and turn to Jesus.  Everyone has to make a decisive decision, remembering hell is total separation from God.  The alternative is to spend eternity with Jesus, who makes the final judgement on death when we will be called to account for our life before him.

Let these words of our Lord sink deep into our hearts, yet words are inadequate to express their importance;  remember them when temptation present itself and the matter of the soul seems of no importance.

 The final call of Paul in our passage is for people never to be ashamed of the gospel.

We have however, come to a difficult period when we need to be specific.  We can be ashamed of the path the Churches are taking, accepting ways and practices which are unequivocally wrong against Scripture.  But the Christian faith is exactly the same to-day as it was when the Apostles passed it on to the Church.  God did not give His Word for just the first century, it was given once for all  time. (Matthew 28 v18/20; Judev3/4.)                                                                                    

 How many Church members are embarrassed when asked if they believe?  Indeed how many are ready to acknowledge they attend Church?  How reluctant to answer if asked to give our opinion on moral questions?   If you are not ashamed, you are ready to speak out about your faith. 

Remember the words of Jesus, ‘for whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this sinful and adulterous generation, of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed when He comes in the glory of the Father’.

We may offer what is hard for sceptics to believe, but that should not stop us telling it.  When we tell how God took a young Jewish girl and caused her to conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit; that when this child became man He performed miraculous deeds and eventually gave His life by a cruel death on a Cross, in order that God would forgive people of their sins: that three days late would rise from the dead as a sign that one day all who believe in Him and accept Him as Saviour, would live eventually with Him in heaven.

The gospel is the story of Jesus Christ, who gave Himself to be crucified for our sins in order to reconcile us to God.  Why should anyone be ashamed to tell that story?  We all no doubt are ashamed of things we have done in our lives, and the things we have said but wished we hadn’t, and that is understandable.  But we allow ourselves to become ashamed of something for which there is no need to be ashamed of.  The reason not to be ashamed is,-- because the gospel is the power of God leading to salvation for all who believe.

Always bear in mind that only Christianity has a Cross at the centre of its faith. Only Jesus suffered an horrific death on the Cross as a Saviour.

We see here the difference of opinions about who Jesus was.  In short every opinion except the proper one.  We see the same today, with far too many people seeing the name Jesus as nothing more than a swear word. Christ and the gospel are unknown quantities for the majority of the population. A lot of people see the Church as a place of worship, but not all  realize Christ is very God, their own shepherd, friend and the source of their salvation.

We read of the confession of Peter who clearly knew who Jesus was, the Christ, and was welcomed by Jesus who at that that time had not been glorified, without honour or worthy of majesty.  He faced the wrath of the Jewish nation and church, who refused to acknowledge him as the Messiah.  Peter was not affected by the opposition and knew Jesus was the Promised Saviour.  What an example he set for followers of Jesus through the ages, yet there are still plenty of people who are not prepared to even admit to be attenders at Church.  Jesus will one day be aware of such people, and will confess them as His servants,  and who will reject those who reject Him now.

Jesus told His Apostles of His forthcoming troubles, death and resurrection three days later, all of which dismayed His Apostles who could not imagine life without His presence.  He knew that had to happen for to make by His death atonement for all the sins of men and women.  He had to suffer to make it possible for His people to be made righteous, and so be acceptable for God, as God could not have unsaved sinners in heaven.

It is frustrating to hear bishops and others in Christian ministry minimizing and even denying the physical resurrection of our Lord, for that is the very central truth of Scripture.  This is the message, the foundational truth, that we should as a Church be proclaiming.

The passage reflects other words Jesus had previously used, that if we as Christ’s followers must deny self in order to receive the salvation which is freely offered to all.  This is a gift of God who prove they truly are Christians by carrying the Cross of Christ.  Conflict and loss of some friends may happen as our faith is mocked and seen to be unreal, but as Christ gave up His life for all, we must make some sacrifice in return to show our allegiance to Him.  Christ has promised His support for us.

Our Lord once said, what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul? We all have souls that can live forever more; our bodies may be  buried under the earth detached from our soul, for which we will have to answer to God one day.  Only Christ can save our soul, only we ourselves can lose it.  We do so by adopting society’s ways, neglecting means of grace, refusing to into one’s heart the gospel.

We are called in the last verses the great danger of being ashamed of the gospel.  Jesus stated whosoever is ashamed of me and my words in this sinful and adulterous generation, of him shall I be ashamed when he appears before God.  As stated earlier, we who aim to be true followers of the Lord are now embarrassed, as Churches are being led by those holding high Office within the Churches, are now flagrantly and openly acting in direct contrast to the teaching of God in the Bible.  The cry that they are showing the love which God extends to all is baseless.

God laid down His demands, and the Bible in its closing words states, ‘I warn anyone who hears the words of Prophecy of this book, if anyone adds to them God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book’

Marriage, which is sacred to many Christians, has been demoted to be as any other relationship, and other moral omissions are being pursued, and accepted by the Church. How can a true Christian not be ashamed of such betrayal of Scripture, clearly defined by Jesus and His apostles. I hear fellow clergy meekly following the line of such betrayal, despite having vowed at their ordination not to do so, and think it should be done to ‘please society’ and make the Church popular. How popular do they think the Lord will make of it?   Jesus gave us clue when he said he who is ashamed of me and my words…….

Let us all pray for faith and courage to confess Christ before the world and never be ashamed of Him who died for us on the Cross.