Recent events show that we need to better understand the church

There are many misconceptions people have about the Church. Some forget or don’t realize that Christians are sinners like everyone else. The difference is that all those who are trusting in what Jesus has done for them, through His death and resurrection, are forgiven by God. There is a bumper sticker which is sometimes seen on cars and puts it well ……..’Christians are not perfect, just forgiven’.

With this background it becomes clear that Christians, who make up the church, should be growing in their faith which, in turn, will have an effect on their lives. In this passage we can see that the church’s greatest need is to know God better in their relationship with Jesus Christ. There are 2 parts to this. In the first part of the passage it’s that God’s people need to know Him better through prayer. In the second part it’s that God’s people need to know that Jesus Christ rules for His church.

  Easter is a time when the gospel of grace comes clearly into view.

People tend to think about relationships only on a horizontal level. It is easy to become preoccupied with those around us in the various interactions we have in the home, in social activities and in the school or workplace. This passage, however, speaks about the most important relationship of our lives and one about which most are either unconcerned or are misinformed.

The apostle John records Jesus’ words for us which raise 2 questions about our relationship to God. How well do we really know him? How do we get to know him better? Jesus uses his relationship to the Father to describe his relationship with his disciples. He says “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’. And also ‘Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father’.

Jesus goes on to make a number of promises to his disciples. These include that they will work his works, that their prayers will be answered, that he will give them life, love and peace. He then goes on to tell about his authority in making these promises … that it is from the Father and from the evidence of the miraculous works he has done. The priority in our lives needs to be relationship with God. This comes through Jesus Christ and what he accomplished at the cross. He is the one who leads us away from sin and self.

Grace changes the meaning and purpose of our lives

God’s grace changes everyone and everything. The message in this passage can be looked at in two related ways. Grace changes our relationship with God and, therefore, grace also changes the meaning and purpose of our lives.

Through receiving something which was undeserved, forgiveness, people are changed. Once not physically dead but dead to God …. not wanting a relationship with God …. they come from this darkness into the light of life in Christ.

In Christ ….. united to Him by faith ….. people find that their lives have new meaning and purpose. They have been ‘purchased’ by the death of Christ as a substitute and are now willingly dependent on Him. There is no room for boasting or thinking of being better than others. Grace leads to humility.

Wealth is a poor source of security in the light of eternity

Wealth can often bring problems which are unexpected and very harmful. In the passage we find, initially, the prophet speaking judgement on Tyre, a region on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Success in commerce had resulted in a dangerous self-sufficiency. They thought their city was unassailable. This was a type of harlotry in God’s sight. The destruction of Tyre came about because its wealth was fuelling pride.

We find that people today often see their wealth as being their security. This also is a form of harlotry. Jesus’ words in the New Testament sound a warning about how hard it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Our stronghold needs to be in God rather than wealth.

There is a type of parallel to Tyre in the New Testament in the life of a woman who had been a harlot. She, however, found forgiveness for her sins in Jesus Christ and used some very expensive perfume to ‘anoint’ Jesus. She knew he would have to go to the cross. He was going to pay the penalty for people’s harlotry so that they could freely receive forgiveness through faith. Jesus was far richer than any person or city but became poor so that others could be rich in him.

  Getting the priorities right is not always what we might think

The manager of a construction company was once asked about issues he was having with the workers. He said there were many but that the main one was ‘entitlement’. They were focused not on what they could give but on what they can get. We see something similar in these passages as we look at the apostle Peter.

Peter’s question to Jesus was ‘we have left everything and followed you. What then will there be for us?’ Jesus’ response was firstly to affirm Peter’s question but warns him by saying ‘many who were first will be last and the last first’.  The implications of this are explained in Chapter 20. The workers who came last to the vineyard and only worked for part of the day were paid first and received the same amount as those who had worked hard all day.

The point of all this is that through what Jesus Christ has accomplished on the cross every disciple has received an abundance of good things in their salvation from sin. It is not about comparisons with others or what I do but about God’s rich grace. The disciples, especially Peter, needed to be warned about the danger of seeking ownership of God’s vineyard instead of resting humbly and contentedly in their privileged position of being the workers.

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+15%3A11-32&version=NIV

  An important question with a simple answer

This is a very valid question to ask for someone who has been thinking about the Gospel (‘good news’) but not understanding the Christian life. Most Christians can identify with a person who may be considering this question, ‘how do I get faith’, because there was a time in their life when they didn’t believe either. There was a time when they had some knowledge of God and the Gospel but it didn’t seem to make sense to them.

The simple answer to the question is that ‘faith comes by hearing’ …… i.e. reading the Scriptures (the gospels are a good place to start) and especially listening to the preaching of the Gospel. One of the Links from this site goes to a church website for listening to sermons on line.

 Idolatry and division go hand in hand

In the early church in Antioch there had been a problem over circumcision. The church was made up of both Jewish background believers and Gentile believers. The problem arose because some Jewish believers had insisted on the Gentile converts being circumcised … even the apostle Peter had been caught up in it. When certain Jews came to Antioch he stopped eating with the Gentile believers.

The apostle Paul sharply rebuked Peter because what he had done compromised the truth of the gospel. It was a denial that we are justified by faith in Jesus Christ alone, apart from the law. Circumcision had become an idol and caused division in the church. Paul, in writing to the churches in Galatia over this problem, said ‘neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything what counts is the new creation’.

There is also a pointer here to division among God’s people generally. The primary matter for God’s people is faith in Jesus Christ and Him crucified for our sins. Secondary matters, such as circumcision should never be confused with the primary matter otherwise they undermine the truth of the gospel and create idolatrous division within the church. Paul said ‘may it never be that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.’

Our expectations of leaders need to be understood in light of the accomplishment of a very special King

In this passage king Saul reacted badly to a stern message he had received from the prophet Samuel. People must not quit like he did when things don’t work out to please them. Saul needed to learn that, as the King of Israel, everything must be done for God’s glory. If Jesus, the King of kings, had been proud He would never have gone to the cross.

Saul’s son, Jonathan, however, did not quit but went into battle against the Philistines. Jonathan acknowledged God’s power rather than his own. He trusted in God and won a great victory. When people trust in Jesus for forgiveness they find that His blood, shed on the cross, stops them from wanting their own way.

The circumstances of our lives need to be viewed in the light of faith which inspires faith

In this chapter we find that there was more tension for the people of God. It seemed as though his promises were under threat. They send out spies to the city which they were to capture. The spies were found out and became anxious. Rahab, an adulterous woman, comes up with a plan to protect them.  This ultimately enables them to escape and return to their camp.

The important thing to note here is that whilst Rahab had told a lie to protect the spies and was guilty of adultery herself. She believed that God was going to destroy the city and her actions in relation to the spies meant that she had changed from the wrong side to the right side … the Israelite army captured the city of Jericho. Rahab and her family, however, were saved.

The spies had told Rahab to let down from the window of her house a scarlet cord. This was so that the army of Israel would recognize this and know that this family was to be spared. In doing this, Rahab had given a sign that she had taken refuge in God and his mercy. It is a gospel sign that those who take refuge in Jesus, the lamb of God whose blood was shed at the cross, are saved from their sins.