Sunday Sermon
sunday morning 23rd Nov 2008
John 18:
All of the Lords teaching was given to prepare the way for his actions here and on the cross. All his talk of service and sacrifice was now being played out for real.
And it was all for us! That is the wonder of it all. That the King dies for me!
In the chapter we see the Kingdom of Heaven clashing with the kingdom of the world.
But we see that the way of combat is not what we what we might expect!
So I want to ask as we come to this chapter, how does the King operate?
Or to put it another way what do we see of God and his work here?
Remember all that we see of God and his work is Good News.
As we come to the chapter we need to bare in mind the great thoughts of Rom 11v33
“How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!”
Gods way of salvation is not what we would have dreamed of!
1) the first thing we see of the King here is His willingness to die! V1-11.
Jesus has finished praying and now he goes to the olive grove.
This was a usual meeting place for the disciples.
- note: Jesus does not try to hid!
V2-3: Judas guides a group of soldiers to the place to get Him.
V4-9: Jesus knew all that was going to happen and gave himself up.
V10: Peter tried to stop the arrest by cutting off someone’s ear!
V11 - the crux of the matter!
Jesus says to Peter, do you not want me to obey my Father!?
Jesus could have fought and destroyed those who were coming against him (v36).
But that is not the way of God - that would not be good news!
The whole point of the Good News is that Jesus wants to save his enemies!
He does not want to kill them!
Thus Peter is so wrong in his call to arms! That’s worldly kingdom not heavenly.
Jesus here is speaking specifically of the death that is about to befall him. The cup of Gods wrath against sin.
He had tried before to explain that he must die as a ransom for many (mat20.28).
He had explained to Peter specifically - mat 16v21-28.
Time and again we know that Jesus tried to tell the disciples that he was going to be killed but that it was all in the Fathers plan.
Yet time and again the disciples would have none of it!
And here at the very moment of arrest Peter is still not aware of what’s going on.
He takes out the sword and begins to fight!
Peters reaction and the Lords reaction bring into clear focus the difference between the ways of the world and Gods ways.
In the kingdom of God the way we naturally think can no longer be the same!
The sword has to be put away for the Cup! There is a whole new way of thinking;
E.g. the worlds idea of greatness is seen in positions of power, the kingdoms greatest people are its servants! Instead of hitting back, turn the other cheek, love you enemies, the last shall be first…
The kingdom way is often the opposite of the worlds ways.
How can the Christian think and act so differently to the world?
Or to put it another way, how was Jesus able to chose the Cup?
The answer is quit simply that He trusted the Father.
He could let others do to him what they wanted because he lived by faith in God!
He did not have to take care of his own skin - the Father would do that!
APP:
How do we live in the kingdom by its ways? Our number one priority is to have complete confidence in God. He is able to look after us. But we need to trust him.
2) further we see that the King cares not for himself, his concern is for us!
After he is arrested he is taken to Annas v13, then to Caiaphas v24, then to Pilate v28.
Jesus is questioned by three very important people who each could have made way so as to have Jesus set free.
And so we might expect Jesus to be making a good case for himself!
His life is on the line, but there is none of that.
He does not even once seek to be set free!
He does not even attempt to be nice to the people!
In our human ways the kind of people we like to know and meet are the powerful, intelligent, prosperous etc.
But the kingdom of heavens ways are quite different!
The lost, the outcast, the sick - these are the kinds of people the KofG looks for!
Why did Jesus act in this way?
Because this is what he was born for, this is why he came into the world.
He came to die on the cross.
Jesus knew what he was doing, this was all planned.
At every step of the way Jesus had a question to face: Peters way of the sword, or the Fathers way of the Cup!
And every time he chose the cup!
The cup was the cup of Gods wrath, Gods punishment on sin.
Every step of the way Jesus chose wrath instead of freedom!
How different the KofG ways are to the worlds ways.
In choosing wrath for himself though, he was choosing freedom for us!
This is the way of our King - he thinks of our good all the time, no matter what the cost to himself. This is the Good News, the way of the Kingdom.
3) Finally the way of the Lord with Peter.
In many ways we look up to Peter. There he is ready and willing to fight.
He draws first blood! And then he follows his King to the Cross!
But on the way denies any knowledge of Him - three times.
But Peter was a sad picture.
He wanted all the right things but got the way all wrong. Often that’s our problem too!
How does Lord deal with him and us? V11
Commanded to put our ways to bed! Sword to sheath.
In its place ask: what is the Fathers way here?
Often it is the hard way, the way of the cup / sacrifice. But in the end that is where salvation lies
Well the challenge for us as we look at our king is this:
Will we follow in His way or is the way of Peter more to our taste?
The cup or the sword, heavens way of the worlds way!
sunday evening 23rd Nov 2008
Gen 21
Last time we saw Abraham and Sarah get themselves into trouble and then we saw how God saved them from that trouble.
What happens next is the question.
Does God treat them at arms length for a while until they have fully repented of their sin and are back in full swing? Lets look and see:
The theme of the chapter is the gracious hand of God at work in relationships.
A) Immediate family: v1-7
He remembered Abraham and Sarah and the promise he had made with them.
And Isaac is born to them! He brought great joy and laughter to the household!
What a story, what a wonder - this is the God of grace.
Lesson 1: Simply this: trust God.
2 Corinthians 1:20 20 For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God.
God can be trusted. All the promises he has made will come to pass.
He is the same God - the God of Abraham, is our God too!
All the time scripture stories are calling us to further put our trust in Him no matter how bad the situation may look.
Abraham was 100 years old, Sarah was 90!
This was simply impossible. In the natural way this was impossible.
Yet how often do we see God work through impossible situation and especially in the bible in impossible births!
The fact of the matter is this: nothing is impossible with Him!
When Mary asked how her birth would come about she was simply told “nothing is impossible with God” Lk1v37.
In the life of faith there is no such thing as impossible!
The question is though, how do we enter into this kind of faith?
The answer is really very simple: we live trusting God!
And the first place we live trusting God is in the family.
The family is the primary place where we must learn to live trusting in God.
Our living in trust will show up in our obedience:
We will be ever more obedient - v4. Abraham could have simply forgotten the details of obedience in the joy of this new son, but he actually lived by faith and wanted to show that so he circumcised Isaac.
The demands of family life and the demands of faith are often at odds. But here we need to work out what it will mean to trust God. If we cannot trust God in our families and with our families then there will be little hope for trust in other areas.
B) the extended family. V8-21
Next we see the gracious hand of God in the extended family.
The birth of Isaac has caused trouble for Hagar and Ishmael.
The situation was undoubtedly tricky! But that’s life.
We all know how complicated life is. Very rarely are things black and white!
And when it comes to people and relationships! Life is a messy business.
Sarah wanted rid of Hagar and Ishmael again v10!
Note how poor Sarah attitude towards them was, never even mentions them by name!
Yet this time Abraham is told to let them go!
What a hard point this must have been. Isaac was just weaned, thus probably about 2-3 years old and thus past the dangers of early death, so he would now be assured as the new heir. But yet Abraham loved his other son too!
Lesson 2: the life of trust does not exempt us from hard decisions!
A lot of the time following God can be hard! Especially when our decision affect others. In fact following God can sometimes make things seem harder!
What are we to do then when tough decisions are called for?
Ultimately we are called to trust God and get on with it.
God told Abraham what to do, v12. But Abraham had to get on with it.
Yet his trust had to be in God to take care of the situation - v13.
It is in the hard decisions of life that we really show what we trust.
Do we trust God or something else? Abraham trusted Yahweh and let his son go!
What kind of faith may enable us to make the hard life decisions?
Well we need to trust that Gods cares for others just as much as he does for us!
And that the ultimate responsibility is His. But we can trust him for we know He is gracious!
C) amongst friends and acquaintances v22-34.
Note throughout all this section Yahweh is at work.
It is Yahweh who is going before Abraham, sorting out his path.
His friends and enemies alike can do him no harm.
Abraham at this stage is still practically in a foreign land!
And he has already been made to see that God is still in charge even there - chp20.
And so he is getting on with the business of living in a faithless society - the land of the Philistines v34.
It was to become the southern extent of Judea but then very much a foreign land.
As he lives people notice a divine quality about his life - v22.
So the king and his commander want to keep Abraham on side v23-24.
But then there is a problem! Again life does not run smoothly for long! V25.
The important thing to note is how the man of faith deals with the situation.
The man of faith complains and argues his rights and makes some kind of payment for the well that he dug, and in the end gets what he wants, v25-32.
This seems to be a very significant time for Abraham - v33.
Why? Because he has a peace of land in the promised land.
Lesson 3 for our life of faith.
Following Jesus does not mean that we let others take advantage of us!
There are times when we let others do that, for the sake of Christ’s kingdom.
But not all the time! Many people believe that being a Christian is about being a soft touch. But not at all - we have to say ‘no’ sometimes and learn to stand up for our rights in the power of Jesus.
But how do we do that and when is it right?
From Abraham we see 2 important guidelines v33.
1) He plants a tree as a memorial -
thus showing that his actions were for God, not for himself!
And that is what we need to question - who am I doing this for?
2) and then calls on Yahweh, the eternal God! -
Simply showing that his actions were done in prayer.
If we are living for Gods glory and keeping a close relationship with him in prayer, then we can almost be assured that we will make the right decisions in the time of trial.