April 30, 1995
A QUESTION OF LOVE
John 21:1-19
THE SETTING of the story in the last chapter of John's Gospel is a
beautiful lake at sunrise. The wind has died off as it often does just
at dawn, and some tired fishermen are rowing their boat through the
rising mists the last quarter mile to the beach. The sail hung limp in
the stillness, and the only sound was the thump of the oars against the
sides of the boat.
It had been more than two weeks since Easter. The disciples had
been in Jerusalem for the Passover; it was then that Jesus had been
taken from them and crucified. They believed he was alive- resurrected
from the dead. They had actually seen him twice, except Thomas had seen
him once. He had said something about meeting them back in Galilee.
They actually weren't quite sure what to expect, whether they would
start up their preaching from town to town again, whether now that Jesus
had risen from the dead he might set up his kingdom- they really didn't
know. The Bible makes that plain. But they did know that life goes on--
and they had to eat. Their boats were still on the beach-- their nets
were ready.
Peter said: "I'm going fishing!" There were finally seven
disciples whogot into the little sailing vessel and went off into the
evening to fish the night through.
As the boat got close enough to shore to begin to make out shapes
through the mist the fishermen could see a figure standing on the beach.
He called through the still morning air: "Children-- do you have any
fish?"
He might have been a shopkeeper from Capernaum looking for fish to
sell. He might have been another fisherman wondering if the fish were
anywhere to be caught. But we know, and the disciples were soon to find
out, it was Jesus Himself.
"Sorry! No-- no fish!"
The answer came back clearly through the still air: "Cast your net
off to the right side of your boat." It was not the first time these
men had fished all night and come up empty. And it was not the first
time they had been told to try again in the morning light. But as they
began to draw their big net back in this time they thought somehow they
had snagged bottom. As they kept pulling they realized the net was
completely full of big fish.
John immediately said, "That's the Lord! Jesus is on the shore!"
And before anyone could say a word Peter grabbed his robe and was over
the side swimming and then wading ashore. The other six had their hands
full with more than half a ton of fish. The cash flow of several
fishermen was about to improve dramatically.
It was probably as Peter was wading up the beach he remembered that
there was a cloud in his relationship with Jesus. He was so very happy
to see him that he would jump overboard, but then he was afraid to ask
him if he was really forgiven for denying him three times the night he
was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemene. So he just helped secure the
boats and haul the nets up on the beach.
THE WARM FELLOWSHIP that followed would never be forgotten by any of the
seven men. Jesus already had a fire burned down to a bed of coals for
broiling, and had some fish already cooking. He called to the men to
bring some more from what they just landed.
I don't know what they talked about around that breakfast fire. I
know there were a lot of questions yet to be asked. Somehow I am sure
that every one of those men was happy just to be near the Lord they
loved. But in the heart of one of those men was a big, hard lump that
wouldn't go away.
A TENDER PERSONAL SCENE is what came next. Jesus got up and motioned
for Peter to follow him down the beach. It was one of those very
private times; only John tagged along. And he took notes.
Jesus asked Peter some very tough questions that morning. Three
questions-- and yet they were all asked with the same words, or very
nearly the same words. [I know some ministers make a big deal out of
"agapeo" and "phileo." That's all right. But I don't think the main
lesson is as obscure as that!]
Three times Jesus said to Peter-- as Peter had denied Jesus three
times-- "Simon-- son of John-- do you love me more than these? Simon, do
you love me? Simon--son of John-- do you love me?" Tough questions--
and because John tagged along and took notes-- and wrote the questions
down-- and they are part of our scripture-- it must be that you and I
need to answer those tough questions, too.
"Peter, do you love me more than these?"
OUR LOVE MUST BE
BEYOND COMPARING WITH OTHERS
Before Peter denied his Lord and stumbled he "knew" that his love
was stronger than anyone else's. His doctrine was purer. His
understanding was truer. But it is always the wrong approach to tell God
we love Him in any comparison to others. "Lord, if all these deny you,
I will still go to the death with you!" Or, "I could never love the
Lord like that person!" If our faith must be in comparison and in
contrast to others the chances are it is on shaky ground. Some churches
build their entire message and ministry on "NOT being like 'the
unbelievers'."
Jesus is not the spirit that takes shots at other followers. Peter
had to say "I love YOU, Lord, and not in relationship to THEM."
"Do you love me?"
OUR LOVE MUST BE
BEYOND COMPETITION WITH OTHERS
Life is NOT fair-- some will have glamorous assignments. Some will
die young. Some will suffer while others seem to prosper. Jesus told
Peter that hard times loomed ahead for him. That didn't shake
Peter. But Peter did say-- "Look at HIM, Lord-- the one following along
here-- what about HIM?"
And Jesus had what seem like harsh words for Peter. But they are
words that every one of us need to take to heart if we are to really
tell Jesus we love HIM. "What is that to YOU? You follow ME!"
"Do you love me?" "Feed my lambs, my sheep!"
OUR LOVE HAS TO GO
BEYOND THE WORDS OF CONSECRATION
Each time in response to Peter's anguished answer: "Lord-- you know
I do! You know I love you..." Each time Jesus said: "Then you take care
of my lambs, my sheep!" Love is more than warm feelings in worship
services or quiet times. Peter understood that love is God, not Peter,
at the center of life and all.
And it was then, and only then that in the same place as three
years before-- with the same words as when he started out-- Jesus
renewed Peter's call: "FOLLOW ME!"
SO, HOW DOES THIS INTIMATE STORY APPLY in a sermon on a Sunday
morning in the spring of 1995 A.D.?
Somehow I want to hear Jesus-- I want to make certain that there is
nothing between Him and me-- I want to answer His hard questions: "Lord,
you KNOW I love You!"
1. I love you with a love that I will not compare to other's love.
I will seek YOU-- not the recognition from others that I am
seeking you.
2. I love You with a love that does not compete for position. If I
am in a place of responsibility, I hold it only on your command.
I do not grasp. If you put me aside, or anywhere-- in a hard
place--that is your wisdom, your will-- and I will love you!
3. I love you with a love that wants to be obedient. Not just
words, Lord, but with my body, my reasonable service.
With Peter I say "Lord, you know all things! You KNOW that I love
you! Let me hear you say, 'FOLLOW ME!' "
Prayer
Sing with me: "I Love You, Lord"
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
The JESUS we know . . .
The task of the church at large is not to make Jesus over into
something that fits and conforms to the needs of the world of today.
The task of your Bible study and prayer is NOT to discover that about
Jesus which will reinforce your lifestyle and help you achieve your
goals. The task of this church is not to underscore the servant role
of Jesus Christ.
For Jesus IS. He is the I AM THAT I AM. Our task is to lift Him
up, and introduce Him. We are the servants of the great King of Kings.
When we are seeking to use Jesus to enforce our aspirations we
may find principles that will help us succeed in some temporal
areas. But ultimately we shall be diminished and we shall fail at the
task of the Christian faith.
But when we are seeking to be used of Jesus in the work of His
kingdom; when our lives proclaim "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be
done!", then we shall find that all hell itself cannot keep us from
living in God's love.
something that fits and conforms to the needs of the world of today.
The task of your Bible study and prayer is NOT to discover that about
Jesus which will reinforce your lifestyle and help you achieve your
goals. The task of this church is not to underscore the servant role
of Jesus Christ.
For Jesus IS. He is the I AM THAT I AM. Our task is to lift Him
up, and introduce Him. We are the servants of the great King of Kings.
When we are seeking to use Jesus to enforce our aspirations we
may find principles that will help us succeed in some temporal
areas. But ultimately we shall be diminished and we shall fail at the
task of the Christian faith.
But when we are seeking to be used of Jesus in the work of His
kingdom; when our lives proclaim "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be
done!", then we shall find that all hell itself cannot keep us from
living in God's love.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Hope is the Anchor
BLACK HOLES AND ANCHOR LINES
John 20:31
One afternoon several years ago I was fishing along the edge of
Nantasket Roads-- the shipping channel that goes past the Boston Light.
It was well into the fall and past the summer heat. I had a VIP guest
in my little boat, and I really wanted to make sure he caught some
flounder. (He was Sam Hunt, the biggest line backer in the NFL and a
starter for the Patriots.) I was ready for a couple hours of good
fishing over the high tide and I swung my boat around to face the tide
and threw out my anchor. It was fifty to sixty feet deep and the tide
was beginning to run, and I let the anchor line run out through my
hands. As a matter of fact it ran out so fast that I came to the end
sooner than I thought and I watched with a sick feeling as the end went
overboard. I grabbed for it, and then I quickly started the engine and
tried to swing back and grab for it but it was out of reach and the line
was slowly sinking out of sight. We were drifting with no way to hold
steady.
How we finally got an anchor and had a good day of fishing is
another story. [Should I tell you?]
But I never will forget the sinking feeling when my anchor was
lost. It was a mini picture of what it is like whenever things we
really count on aren't there any more. Have you ever lost an anchor?
THOMAS LOST AN ANCHOR WHEN JESUS DIED. When Jesus died something in
Thomas died, too. Jesus simply had not performed according to Thomas's
idea of what a Messiah was supposed to do. Thomas thought he knew
Jesus. He found out he didn't know Jesus quite as well as he thought he
did. Thomas loved Jesus. Make no mistake about that. Do you remember
how when, before that last Passover when Jesus wanted to go to
Jerusalem, and the rest of the disciples tried to tell Him it was too
hot, too scary, too risky-- and Jesus insisted--do you remember it was
Thomas who said, "Well- let's go with Him and die!"
But when the actual death came it shattered Thomas. Thomas had
seen Jesus calm the wind and sea. He knew that Jesus had stopped a
funeral procession and given a mother back her son. He believed that
Jesus was powerful. but then Thomas had seen Jesus die in
weakness. Jesus was really dead!
Thomas really wanted to believe Jesus is alive. The rest of the
disciples had said they were convinced that Jesus was risen. They were
all hyper about it. Two men said they had met Jesus on the road to
their home in Emmaus; the disciples said that the Sunday evening three
days after the awful crucifixion Jesus had suddenly appeared in the
Upper Room with them, had actually eaten a little fish. They were so
sure. But not Thomas. "I'll have to see-- no, I'll have to feel it for
myself!" is what Thomas said.
Did you ever get the feeling that just about everybody else had a
closer, tighter faith than you? Did you ever wonder how they could be so
sure, when you have doubts? It may just be that there is more of Thomas
the doubter in each of us than we like to admit.
The fact is that Christians are not always honest and transparent
about the battles of doubt that we fight. We like to testify about our
victories, and it is right and good that we witness to our faith. But
also we need to be dead honest with ourselves and with God, never
seeking to hide the places where we fail, or where we fight a running
battle with temptation.
We think 'I am probably the only one who fights the battle I fight
like this. I am unworthy of being esteemed as a Christian.' Or, 'If
"they" knew the thoughts that come to my mind! they would never have any
faith in me.' What we may not realize is that every Christian has to
fight the good fight of faith. The wars and battles of faith are not
the neat, textbook, cut-and-dried black-and-white illustrations we hear
in sermons. They are real, and they are often confusing.
The only people who never fight battles with doubt are people who
never address the problems faith presents in a real world. There is a
name for these "ostrich people." It is "obscurantist." Only
obscurantists never fight battles of faith, and they give up their inner
core of integrity. They fight with everyone who dares to disagree with
them. They become the true fanatics. In some ways fanaticism is only
insecurity turned inside out. But genuine faith is forged on the anvil
of honest doubt. It says I wish I could believe, but here is reality I
cannot understand! Please, God, I want to know!
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HONEST DOUBT AND THE SIN OF UNBELIEF.
Sometimes they superficially look alike. Perhaps sometimes they are hard
to tell apart.
Unbelief is grounded in a heart that will not give up its worship
of self. It says to God "Show me and I'll think about it and maybe I
will and maybe I won't!" Doubt, on the other hand says, "Show me and I
will gladly own You as Lord!"
I have based my entire life and my life's calling on the trust that
God answers that cry! Hebrews 11:6 says that the faith that destroys
doubt is a seeking faith. What do we do when we are seeking a Jesus who
seems hard to reach? What do we do in the dark moments of life when it
almost seems our God has failed us? Black holes of agony when we send
our desperate prayers winging their way to the Father, while NOTHING is
happening!
What sort of proof does it take to dispel doubt? How many times do
we have to break through again to spiritual reality?
THOMAS LOST HIS ANCHOR, BUT JESUS AS HE REALLY IS CAME TO THOMAS AND
BECAME HIS SURE ANCHOR!
Thomas said, "I need proof positive!" Jesus came and I think that
Thomas was almost embarrassed. Maybe not. But then Jesus told him that
there would be people who could not see or touch Him that still would be
able to believe. But still, we need that personal touch!
We need Jesus to speak salvation to us! Others can help-- we can
show you what the scriptures say. Here is where our text comes in.
John said that personal touch is the very reason that he wrote his
Gospel: "These words were written that you might believe that Jesus is
the Messiah; and that believing, you might have LIFE through His name!"
Come to the Word, come seeking the Savior. Ask the Spirit to show you
that Jesus died for YOU!
And Jesus does come! He comes with His own assurance to those who
seriously seek Him!
We need Jesus to be our anchor in the storms of life. Even after we
know Jesus, there are times when our faith is tested. It seems that
from time to time we walk as it were in the dark by naked faith. As
Dr. William Greathouse wrote years ago in a little book called The
Fullness of the Spirit, "Again and again we need to break through to
spiritual reality." In those times if we will trust Him, and cry to
Him, He will not fail us! He hears us!
I almost wish that I could share with you some of my darker
moments-- the desperate prayers that I have prayed. Some are simply too
involved with other people's lives. I have prayed those quiet prayers of
desperation. And even though at the time I could not see His hand, God
has been there.
[This past week a voice out of the past; a time when there was a
desperate prayer, and very little reason to think there was hope. After
the confrontation - and tears there were a few years of, from my
viewpoint, little spiritual progress. Imagine my joy to hear a clear
testimony from a professional person, a leader in his field of science,
saying: "My wife (he named her) and I have found the Lord. We're
teaching the fourth grade Sunday School class here in our local church!]
Conclusion
I lost the anchor on my little boat because I failed to hold on to
the end of the anchor line. But our eternal life does not depend on how
well we can hang on, but rather it depends on our saying to the Savior
who comes to us: "My LORD and my GOD!" God does not reveal Himself to
unbelief. But God always reveals Himself to seeking, honest
doubt. . . the doubt that wants to become faith.
The God of the Bible has always been a God who sets before us the
alternatives. Choose to live with CHRIST! The Resurrection is an
invitation to us to choose life!
John 20:31
One afternoon several years ago I was fishing along the edge of
Nantasket Roads-- the shipping channel that goes past the Boston Light.
It was well into the fall and past the summer heat. I had a VIP guest
in my little boat, and I really wanted to make sure he caught some
flounder. (He was Sam Hunt, the biggest line backer in the NFL and a
starter for the Patriots.) I was ready for a couple hours of good
fishing over the high tide and I swung my boat around to face the tide
and threw out my anchor. It was fifty to sixty feet deep and the tide
was beginning to run, and I let the anchor line run out through my
hands. As a matter of fact it ran out so fast that I came to the end
sooner than I thought and I watched with a sick feeling as the end went
overboard. I grabbed for it, and then I quickly started the engine and
tried to swing back and grab for it but it was out of reach and the line
was slowly sinking out of sight. We were drifting with no way to hold
steady.
How we finally got an anchor and had a good day of fishing is
another story. [Should I tell you?]
But I never will forget the sinking feeling when my anchor was
lost. It was a mini picture of what it is like whenever things we
really count on aren't there any more. Have you ever lost an anchor?
THOMAS LOST AN ANCHOR WHEN JESUS DIED. When Jesus died something in
Thomas died, too. Jesus simply had not performed according to Thomas's
idea of what a Messiah was supposed to do. Thomas thought he knew
Jesus. He found out he didn't know Jesus quite as well as he thought he
did. Thomas loved Jesus. Make no mistake about that. Do you remember
how when, before that last Passover when Jesus wanted to go to
Jerusalem, and the rest of the disciples tried to tell Him it was too
hot, too scary, too risky-- and Jesus insisted--do you remember it was
Thomas who said, "Well- let's go with Him and die!"
But when the actual death came it shattered Thomas. Thomas had
seen Jesus calm the wind and sea. He knew that Jesus had stopped a
funeral procession and given a mother back her son. He believed that
Jesus was powerful. but then Thomas had seen Jesus die in
weakness. Jesus was really dead!
Thomas really wanted to believe Jesus is alive. The rest of the
disciples had said they were convinced that Jesus was risen. They were
all hyper about it. Two men said they had met Jesus on the road to
their home in Emmaus; the disciples said that the Sunday evening three
days after the awful crucifixion Jesus had suddenly appeared in the
Upper Room with them, had actually eaten a little fish. They were so
sure. But not Thomas. "I'll have to see-- no, I'll have to feel it for
myself!" is what Thomas said.
Did you ever get the feeling that just about everybody else had a
closer, tighter faith than you? Did you ever wonder how they could be so
sure, when you have doubts? It may just be that there is more of Thomas
the doubter in each of us than we like to admit.
The fact is that Christians are not always honest and transparent
about the battles of doubt that we fight. We like to testify about our
victories, and it is right and good that we witness to our faith. But
also we need to be dead honest with ourselves and with God, never
seeking to hide the places where we fail, or where we fight a running
battle with temptation.
We think 'I am probably the only one who fights the battle I fight
like this. I am unworthy of being esteemed as a Christian.' Or, 'If
"they" knew the thoughts that come to my mind! they would never have any
faith in me.' What we may not realize is that every Christian has to
fight the good fight of faith. The wars and battles of faith are not
the neat, textbook, cut-and-dried black-and-white illustrations we hear
in sermons. They are real, and they are often confusing.
The only people who never fight battles with doubt are people who
never address the problems faith presents in a real world. There is a
name for these "ostrich people." It is "obscurantist." Only
obscurantists never fight battles of faith, and they give up their inner
core of integrity. They fight with everyone who dares to disagree with
them. They become the true fanatics. In some ways fanaticism is only
insecurity turned inside out. But genuine faith is forged on the anvil
of honest doubt. It says I wish I could believe, but here is reality I
cannot understand! Please, God, I want to know!
THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HONEST DOUBT AND THE SIN OF UNBELIEF.
Sometimes they superficially look alike. Perhaps sometimes they are hard
to tell apart.
Unbelief is grounded in a heart that will not give up its worship
of self. It says to God "Show me and I'll think about it and maybe I
will and maybe I won't!" Doubt, on the other hand says, "Show me and I
will gladly own You as Lord!"
I have based my entire life and my life's calling on the trust that
God answers that cry! Hebrews 11:6 says that the faith that destroys
doubt is a seeking faith. What do we do when we are seeking a Jesus who
seems hard to reach? What do we do in the dark moments of life when it
almost seems our God has failed us? Black holes of agony when we send
our desperate prayers winging their way to the Father, while NOTHING is
happening!
What sort of proof does it take to dispel doubt? How many times do
we have to break through again to spiritual reality?
THOMAS LOST HIS ANCHOR, BUT JESUS AS HE REALLY IS CAME TO THOMAS AND
BECAME HIS SURE ANCHOR!
Thomas said, "I need proof positive!" Jesus came and I think that
Thomas was almost embarrassed. Maybe not. But then Jesus told him that
there would be people who could not see or touch Him that still would be
able to believe. But still, we need that personal touch!
We need Jesus to speak salvation to us! Others can help-- we can
show you what the scriptures say. Here is where our text comes in.
John said that personal touch is the very reason that he wrote his
Gospel: "These words were written that you might believe that Jesus is
the Messiah; and that believing, you might have LIFE through His name!"
Come to the Word, come seeking the Savior. Ask the Spirit to show you
that Jesus died for YOU!
And Jesus does come! He comes with His own assurance to those who
seriously seek Him!
We need Jesus to be our anchor in the storms of life. Even after we
know Jesus, there are times when our faith is tested. It seems that
from time to time we walk as it were in the dark by naked faith. As
Dr. William Greathouse wrote years ago in a little book called The
Fullness of the Spirit, "Again and again we need to break through to
spiritual reality." In those times if we will trust Him, and cry to
Him, He will not fail us! He hears us!
I almost wish that I could share with you some of my darker
moments-- the desperate prayers that I have prayed. Some are simply too
involved with other people's lives. I have prayed those quiet prayers of
desperation. And even though at the time I could not see His hand, God
has been there.
[This past week a voice out of the past; a time when there was a
desperate prayer, and very little reason to think there was hope. After
the confrontation - and tears there were a few years of, from my
viewpoint, little spiritual progress. Imagine my joy to hear a clear
testimony from a professional person, a leader in his field of science,
saying: "My wife (he named her) and I have found the Lord. We're
teaching the fourth grade Sunday School class here in our local church!]
Conclusion
I lost the anchor on my little boat because I failed to hold on to
the end of the anchor line. But our eternal life does not depend on how
well we can hang on, but rather it depends on our saying to the Savior
who comes to us: "My LORD and my GOD!" God does not reveal Himself to
unbelief. But God always reveals Himself to seeking, honest
doubt. . . the doubt that wants to become faith.
The God of the Bible has always been a God who sets before us the
alternatives. Choose to live with CHRIST! The Resurrection is an
invitation to us to choose life!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
A PSALM OF RENEWAL AND REVIVAL
On the Sunday evening before special services dedicated to
renewal and revival, it is good to turn to one of the Prayers of David
and let him help us express and focus our need and our desire.
Psalm 40
A PSALM OF RENEWAL AND REVIVAL
This Psalm speaks both of "waiting" and of "seeking."
It is good and right to actively seek God, and most of the time
way we well may know how to go about seeking Him. But even when we
are seeking God, we need to admit that in reality God is the active
party in any genuine renewal. Before we sought God, He was seeking
us! Before we were thinking of Him, He was thinking of us! Our
renewal always begins when we decide to listen, to be quiet, to wait
for God, Who is already speaking.
David tells us that he waited patiently for the LORD; and God
turned and heard him. This Psalm is full of certainty and praise!
Incidentally David tells us what every believer needs to receive:
I. THE NEED FOR A FIRM PLACE TO STAND . . .
(2)"He ... gave me a firm place to stand." "He set my feet upon a
rock..."
There are some things that we know that do not need to be proved. But
in the profusion of learning, and the explosion of knowledge in our
day, many people have lost their spiritual certainty. And then they
cannot regain it by listening to the same people that introduced them
to God, because they are listening to human explanations, or
obscurantism, or anything except listening to God!
Still, however it is lost, it is a tragic thing to lose
spiritual certainty! It is a tragedy when all you have is a slippery
slope or a miry pit of destruction when you need solid rock on which
to stand! I'M TALKING ABOUT SPIRITUAL CERTAINTY! KNOW-SO SALVATION!
IS IT STILL POSSIBLE IN 1990?
I don't know quite how to say this: I alluded to it in the
sermon this morning, in that Rev. Tom Nees says he never has to prove
God's existence or the reality of sin in the ghetto. We would say in
our arrogance that the reason is because they are not as educated or
sophisticated as we are. 'If they knew all that we know, etc. '
I'm glad for the study of epistemology, that study of how we
know. It is humbling to realize that even in the common ideas of life,
we hardly ever all see things the same, and probably none of us is
ever "right" about the details of the facts.
What this means is when I talk to you about GOD, and explain Him,
I can never be sure that (1) I am right, or (2) that you hear what I
say the way I meant it; or (3) that if you do what I say it will make
any difference in your life.
But there is all the difference in the world when God talks to
you through me, or by any means that He has at His disposal-- and you
are listening-- and when God gets through to you. When God speaks,
and you hear-- you can take it to the bank!
People who have been "talked into" cheap grace, and who never
"wait patiently for God" may wonder about the "knowing" aspect of
salvation. Call it a witness. or call it assurance, we need to know
God, and know that we know God. It is possible today! But we have to
get this firm place to stand on God's terms!
II. THE NEED FOR A NEW SONG TO SING . . .
(3)"He put a new song in my mouth"
A "revival" that simply beats us around the ears with new
"oughts" and "shoulds" is something I can do without. I can recall
many times as a lad when all I got out of revival was the scare of my
life. And I even remember a few since I have been pastor where I
wondered if anyone else felt as guilty as I did.
But I would like to remember the joy of first love of God; I
would like to do more than stand against the evils of our day, I would
like to be so full of the love of God that "Many will see and fear and
put their trust in God."
I suppose (I think) that cheerless and dull gray religion is
better than none at all, especially if there is any spiritual life at
all in it. But somehow the very first casualty in the process of
slipping away from God is genuine JOY!
We do not have any lack of religious excitement, or interesting
seminars, or things to do to keep busy for the Lord. But David says
that when he waited on the Lord he began to sing again! The song had
left, evidently, but God gave David a new song of praise! The world
can be changed by a people of God that are singing His new song of
praise!
I'M TALKING ABOUT JOY, NOW! WE GET IT BY WAITING PATIENTLY
(INTENTLY, ON PURPOSE) FOR WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY!
III. THE NEED FOR A TASK THAT DELIGHTS
Yes, there are things that we must leave in order to follow
after Jesus. [Some people didn't hear me quite clearly a week or so
ago when I spoke of 'leaving all to follow Jesus.' I did NOT say that
Jesus would require us to sell our homes and follow Him. But I did
say that there must be a willingness to leave all in order to be near
Him.] I suppose there are some "sacrifices" that are necessary.
But clearly the Psalmist isn't into long-faced, sorrowful lists
of things he has given up.
(6) "Sacrifice and offering you did not require" he writes "but my
ears you have pierced." He goes on, "Burnt offerings and sin
offerings you did not require. Then I said, 'Here I am, I have
come-- To do Your will, O God is my desire (delight!); your law is
within my heart.'"
Many scholars believe that the "ear piercing" has to do with the
ceremony prescribed in Exodus and again in Deuteronomy when a slave
was being set free, and he didn't want to leave his master's
house. When a servant became a love-slave his ear was pierced, and he
became a permanent family member; his "ear was pierced."
Romans 12:1 makes provision for believers to become "love-
slaves" of God-- to say, make me Your servant forever! I delight to do
Your will, O God!
CONCLUSION:
What I am trying to express, or to let God express to me and
through me this "revival eve," is the possibility that we can raise
our level of the experience of spiritual reality if we will wait
"patiently" (intently, on purpose) for our God.
You are some of the best people I know. I do not
un-Christianize any of you. But again and again we need to break
through to refreshing and reviving in the Lord.
And while the "waiting on the Lord" sounds passive, it needs to
be done deliberately. It is obvious that we cannot "schedule revival"
and say to God:
"All right now, Sovereign of the Universe, between
Tuesday and Sunday of next week we would like You to bless
us up a little-- not too much, now-- because we have very
full schedules. But bless us enough to keep us out of hell,
if there is one, and make us real nice people, and bless our
relationships and keep us pretty comfortable. Amen"
But perhaps we can say:
"Lord God, We walk through whirling mists and hear shouting
voices. Please help us make sure our feet are on the solid rock.
"And, Heavenly Father, We are full of causes and agendas and
burdens; please help us remember the old songs of praise, and, if You
would, give us a new song of praise that will lift us toward You.
"And, Lord, Help us to love You so much that serving You will be
our delight and our joy!
"You have promised that if we seek You we shall surely find You!
With the Psalmist we pray, 'May all who seek You rejoice and be glad
in You!'
"We will do our best to clear the way to begin this week. You
come as You see fit, for we wait patiently for You. Turn to us, and
hear our cry! In Jesus' name, Amen."
#83 EH He Touched Me
or
# 60 EH Give Me a Holy Life
———————————————————————————————————
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is Pastor Emeritus of the Wollaston Church of the Nazarene. Permission to reprint or publish this material is GRANTED as long as the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit. You can access more of Dr. Metcalfe's sermons at his scripturally indexed sermon archives web site. Now with MP3 audio sermons and audio bonus material.
http://russellmetcalfesermons.nazarene.nl/sermons.html
renewal and revival, it is good to turn to one of the Prayers of David
and let him help us express and focus our need and our desire.
Psalm 40
A PSALM OF RENEWAL AND REVIVAL
This Psalm speaks both of "waiting" and of "seeking."
It is good and right to actively seek God, and most of the time
way we well may know how to go about seeking Him. But even when we
are seeking God, we need to admit that in reality God is the active
party in any genuine renewal. Before we sought God, He was seeking
us! Before we were thinking of Him, He was thinking of us! Our
renewal always begins when we decide to listen, to be quiet, to wait
for God, Who is already speaking.
David tells us that he waited patiently for the LORD; and God
turned and heard him. This Psalm is full of certainty and praise!
Incidentally David tells us what every believer needs to receive:
I. THE NEED FOR A FIRM PLACE TO STAND . . .
(2)"He ... gave me a firm place to stand." "He set my feet upon a
rock..."
There are some things that we know that do not need to be proved. But
in the profusion of learning, and the explosion of knowledge in our
day, many people have lost their spiritual certainty. And then they
cannot regain it by listening to the same people that introduced them
to God, because they are listening to human explanations, or
obscurantism, or anything except listening to God!
Still, however it is lost, it is a tragic thing to lose
spiritual certainty! It is a tragedy when all you have is a slippery
slope or a miry pit of destruction when you need solid rock on which
to stand! I'M TALKING ABOUT SPIRITUAL CERTAINTY! KNOW-SO SALVATION!
IS IT STILL POSSIBLE IN 1990?
I don't know quite how to say this: I alluded to it in the
sermon this morning, in that Rev. Tom Nees says he never has to prove
God's existence or the reality of sin in the ghetto. We would say in
our arrogance that the reason is because they are not as educated or
sophisticated as we are. 'If they knew all that we know, etc. '
I'm glad for the study of epistemology, that study of how we
know. It is humbling to realize that even in the common ideas of life,
we hardly ever all see things the same, and probably none of us is
ever "right" about the details of the facts.
What this means is when I talk to you about GOD, and explain Him,
I can never be sure that (1) I am right, or (2) that you hear what I
say the way I meant it; or (3) that if you do what I say it will make
any difference in your life.
But there is all the difference in the world when God talks to
you through me, or by any means that He has at His disposal-- and you
are listening-- and when God gets through to you. When God speaks,
and you hear-- you can take it to the bank!
People who have been "talked into" cheap grace, and who never
"wait patiently for God" may wonder about the "knowing" aspect of
salvation. Call it a witness. or call it assurance, we need to know
God, and know that we know God. It is possible today! But we have to
get this firm place to stand on God's terms!
II. THE NEED FOR A NEW SONG TO SING . . .
(3)"He put a new song in my mouth"
A "revival" that simply beats us around the ears with new
"oughts" and "shoulds" is something I can do without. I can recall
many times as a lad when all I got out of revival was the scare of my
life. And I even remember a few since I have been pastor where I
wondered if anyone else felt as guilty as I did.
But I would like to remember the joy of first love of God; I
would like to do more than stand against the evils of our day, I would
like to be so full of the love of God that "Many will see and fear and
put their trust in God."
I suppose (I think) that cheerless and dull gray religion is
better than none at all, especially if there is any spiritual life at
all in it. But somehow the very first casualty in the process of
slipping away from God is genuine JOY!
We do not have any lack of religious excitement, or interesting
seminars, or things to do to keep busy for the Lord. But David says
that when he waited on the Lord he began to sing again! The song had
left, evidently, but God gave David a new song of praise! The world
can be changed by a people of God that are singing His new song of
praise!
I'M TALKING ABOUT JOY, NOW! WE GET IT BY WAITING PATIENTLY
(INTENTLY, ON PURPOSE) FOR WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY!
III. THE NEED FOR A TASK THAT DELIGHTS
Yes, there are things that we must leave in order to follow
after Jesus. [Some people didn't hear me quite clearly a week or so
ago when I spoke of 'leaving all to follow Jesus.' I did NOT say that
Jesus would require us to sell our homes and follow Him. But I did
say that there must be a willingness to leave all in order to be near
Him.] I suppose there are some "sacrifices" that are necessary.
But clearly the Psalmist isn't into long-faced, sorrowful lists
of things he has given up.
(6) "Sacrifice and offering you did not require" he writes "but my
ears you have pierced." He goes on, "Burnt offerings and sin
offerings you did not require. Then I said, 'Here I am, I have
come-- To do Your will, O God is my desire (delight!); your law is
within my heart.'"
Many scholars believe that the "ear piercing" has to do with the
ceremony prescribed in Exodus and again in Deuteronomy when a slave
was being set free, and he didn't want to leave his master's
house. When a servant became a love-slave his ear was pierced, and he
became a permanent family member; his "ear was pierced."
Romans 12:1 makes provision for believers to become "love-
slaves" of God-- to say, make me Your servant forever! I delight to do
Your will, O God!
CONCLUSION:
What I am trying to express, or to let God express to me and
through me this "revival eve," is the possibility that we can raise
our level of the experience of spiritual reality if we will wait
"patiently" (intently, on purpose) for our God.
You are some of the best people I know. I do not
un-Christianize any of you. But again and again we need to break
through to refreshing and reviving in the Lord.
And while the "waiting on the Lord" sounds passive, it needs to
be done deliberately. It is obvious that we cannot "schedule revival"
and say to God:
"All right now, Sovereign of the Universe, between
Tuesday and Sunday of next week we would like You to bless
us up a little-- not too much, now-- because we have very
full schedules. But bless us enough to keep us out of hell,
if there is one, and make us real nice people, and bless our
relationships and keep us pretty comfortable. Amen"
But perhaps we can say:
"Lord God, We walk through whirling mists and hear shouting
voices. Please help us make sure our feet are on the solid rock.
"And, Heavenly Father, We are full of causes and agendas and
burdens; please help us remember the old songs of praise, and, if You
would, give us a new song of praise that will lift us toward You.
"And, Lord, Help us to love You so much that serving You will be
our delight and our joy!
"You have promised that if we seek You we shall surely find You!
With the Psalmist we pray, 'May all who seek You rejoice and be glad
in You!'
"We will do our best to clear the way to begin this week. You
come as You see fit, for we wait patiently for You. Turn to us, and
hear our cry! In Jesus' name, Amen."
#83 EH He Touched Me
or
# 60 EH Give Me a Holy Life
———————————————————————————————————
Dr. Russell Metcalfe is Pastor Emeritus of the Wollaston Church of the Nazarene. Permission to reprint or publish this material is GRANTED as long as the reprinting or republishing is not-for-profit. You can access more of Dr. Metcalfe's sermons at his scripturally indexed sermon archives web site. Now with MP3 audio sermons and audio bonus material.
http://russellmetcalfesermons.nazarene.nl/sermons.html
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