Author: Jinson Thomas

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Mark Sermon

Understanding the Lord’s Supper – Mark 14:12-25

Good morning church! I hope you all had a blessed week in the Lord and I’m excited to share from the Word this morning. As a church we have been studying the gospel of Mark and we have arrived at the last few chapters of this gospel.

Wouldn’t you agree it’s been wonderful studying this together? We will be continuing with chapter 14 today and as you are turning to it let me set the background: the events of the last few chapters are taking place during Passion Week – which means that the crucifixion is very very close. You can imagine what might have been going through the mind of Jesus & his disciples. And our passage today revolves around the supper/meal that Jesus has with his disciples
[Read Mark 14:12-25]

I grew up in a traditional church where they used to administer the Lord’s Supper each week but I don’t think I realized the significance at the time. It seemed like a ritual similar to the rites of other religions is how I presumed it while growing up. With the wide variety of interpretations available everywhere, it’s great that today we get to study this together to get a biblical understanding of this important commandment from the Lord. I’ve got 3 points to share:

We need Jesus’ Provision and not our performance (v12-16)

Context is key to understanding any passage, wouldn’t you agree? The Lord’s Supper after all was a part of the Passover meal originally. Therefore, it’s vitally important to understand the context of this passage to understand the Lord’s Supper. v12 says this happens on the first day of Unleavened Bread and when they sacrificed the Passover Lamb.

Now what is this unleavened bread? It’s a 7-day festival observed by Israelites where they would eat bread without yeast to remember that on this day God brought out the Israelites from the land of Egypt. God rescued the Israelites from their bondage to slavery! 

And on the first day of the unleavened bread they celebrated the Passover. Now as most of you would remember, this was the event in Egypt when the Israelites killed a lamb and painted their doorposts with the blood of the lamb and no one ventured out till morning next day. At night, the Lord passed through the land to strike the Egyptians and he passed over every home that had the blood of the lamb on their door post & so the Israelites were spared but the first born among the Egyptians were killed.

On one hand it marked the event of God rescuing the Israelites from slavery and on the other hand, the Passover meant God protected them from being killed through the blood of the lamb.

Do you see the familiarity with these events and what Christ was going to ultimately do?

  • He was going to save people from their slavery to sin (Matt 1:21).
  • He Himself was the Passover Lamb who takes away the sins of the world. (John 1:29) He was going to protect people from the wrath of God.

Now think about it, the disciples ask Jesus about where would he want them to prepare the Passover. And Jesus gives them specific instructions and they found it to be exactly how it was described to them by Jesus. At the time I don’t think the disciples understood the truth about Jesus’ being the Passover lamb. I wonder if in a way Jesus was communicating this idea through this supernatural provision that “the Lord Himself will provide for the Passover”. Not through their performance & efforts but through His provision.

How does this speak to our hearts this morning?

All of us have been born with a default setting: self-performance. We love to do things by ourselves. We love the idea of a self-made man or woman. We don’t want to be helped by anyone and sometimes that also reflects in our attitude towards God.

We want to be self-sufficient in our relationship. That’s precisely the thing that keeps us from depending on Christ. Any person who understands his real need will run towards anyone who can offer help. How much more should that be for us who are broken, wretched, helpless and sinful without Christ? We need Jesus’ provision.

We know that we can’t create that need for Jesus automatically. That happens when we identify our crutches – those idols of self-performance, those idols of self-sufficiency – turn from those crutches – throw it away and then call out to Jesus in our helplessness.

I remember sometime back when God convicted me of spiritual pride because “I thought” I knew a lot of the Bible. I gained some knowledge because of the resources that I was exposed to. And all those things were really good stuff that I learnt. Over a period of time however, I realized how that was making me arrogant, argumentative, and most importantly it made me forget how much I needed Jesus.

My prayers sounded more like the Pharisee rather than the tax collector from that parable that Jesus shared. I had to throw away/repent of that crutch of biblical knowledge and then my heart was able to respond to Christ and understand His provision. What are those crutches brothers and sisters in your lives that God is calling you to throw away? Let’s humble ourselves in repentance as we look to participate in the Lord’s Supper. 

Proximity to Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean intimacy with Him (v17-21)

This is a sobering passage to say the least. Think about it…who was Judas? He was one of 12 close disciples of Jesus. He interacted very closely with Jesus every single day. He saw Jesus perform great miracles – heal the blind, sick and even raise the dead.

He saw Jesus show mercy, forgiveness and compassion to those whom the world didn’t even pay attention to. He heard the gospel clearly through the mouth of Jesus. He himself was sent out into the village to preach the gospel while he was appointed to perform miracles and cast out demons in Jesus’ name. Within the disciple’s group he also was a Treasurer – he used to handle to money bag.

And yet we see him betray Jesus because he loved money and himself more than Jesus. In reality he didn’t love Jesus at all. And that’s shocking because it means that Proximity to Jesus doesn’t necessarily mean intimacy with Him…Proximity doesn’t necessarily translate to close fellowship with Jesus. What does that mean for us?

We shouldn’t assume that we are believers because we:

  • Had a spiritual experience in the past: because we prayed a prayer or received healing
  • Religious activity: because we are very active in our weekend gatherings, GC
  • Biblical knowledge: because we know everything in the Bible. Even Satan knows more Scripture than all of us.

What does the Bible instead tell us repeatedly? 5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. (2 Cor 13:5)

Don’t assume…test yourself using Scripture to see if you are a believer or not. As a recommendation – 1 John is a wonderful book in the Bible that you can use to test your faith. Are you seeing the evidence of true faith in your life? This calls us to examine our hearts and test to see if we are truly in the faith before participating the Lord’s Supper.

The Lord’s Supper is about a Promise and not a transaction (v22-25)

Different churches in India and around the world have debated over the meaning of the Lord Supper over the years. Some churches say that during the worship service or “mass”, the bread and the wine actually turn into the literal body and blood of Jesus. Biblically we know that it doesn’t turn into Jesus’ flesh and blood because of the manner in which Jesus used it in this statement.

Did Jesus offer his literal flesh and blood to his disciples? No, he meant it symbolically and so we also need to take it as that. Some other churches say that when we participate in the Lord’s Supper, God actually gives us grace and blessings by our participation. Some other churches say we receive healing by taking it. If you think about it all these other interpretations to the Lord Supper makes it seem like a transaction and that cheapens the true meaning of this.

But what does the Bible actually say? It actually says the Lord’s Supper is more about a promise toward believers and not a transaction. The Lord Supper is a:

  • Promise of Christ’s commitment toward us (v22-24)

Christ literally died. He was physically dead for those 3 days. He paid the punishment for our sins. What we deserved – He bore in our place.  He was willing to go to any extent – even die for you and me. That is symbolized by the bread. The cup on the other hand symbolized the blood of the covenant. What does that mean? In the OT, blood that was on the altar was sprinkled on the Israelites to show God’s commitment toward them. But they rebelled and didn’t remain faithful to that covenant…so God replaced that covenant with a new one through Jesus:

33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jer 31:33,34) Nothing will break our relationship. It will be secure forever because of what Christ has done. So that’s the commitment is reminded to us over and over again as we participate in the Lord’s Supper.

  • Promise of our union with Christ (v22-23):

Not only does Christ die and pour out his blood for us but also, we are united to Him which is symbolized in Him sharing the elements with His disciples. We are members of Christ’s body. We share in His death. We share in His resurrection. And the life we now live we live by faith in the Son of God. Christ is living in and through us.

That’s why we take the Lord’s Supper together because we acknowledge that it’s the same grace that unites us to our Lord. Believers declare their union with Christ first through baptism and then the recurring reminder after that is through the Lord’s Supper. That’s why we say that if you aren’t a believer in Christ you shouldn’t partake of it because it has to do with our union with Him.  

  • Promise of a future hope with Christ (v25):

Jesus promises to have to have the fruit of the vine once again in the kingdom of God. Probably referring to the Marriage Supper of the lamb where He will have it once more with His bride – the church. Isn’t that exciting? Isn’t that something to look forward to?

Angie and I go back sometimes to watch our wedding video to remind ourselves of the vows we made to each other. There were a lot of really good things that happened that day but the most special thing that happened that day was our vow to each other because in that lies our commitment to each other which we make in the presence of God & His church.

What if Jesus Christ used the symbol of the bread and cup to remind our hearts every week of His commitment, our union with Him and a future hope with Him forever. How can we respond to that? By thanking Him, loving Him and surrendering our lives to Him.

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Mark Sermon

The Return of the King – Mark 13:28-37

Good morning church! We are currently in Mark 13.
Let’s get right into the text that we’re going to look at this morning Mark 13:28-37
[Read]

 “I’m here only…just wait up for me”. How many of us have ever said that to our parent when we were getting back home late? Even when we said this, we were probably aware that it would take us a minimum of 1 hour to get back. But things change remarkably when Christ says the same words to us : “I am near” and “Stay awake”. Automatically we can feel the weight of those words.

It’s meaning is much more pointed because as Christians – the return of our Savior and Lord is the basis of our faith. If we remove Christ’s second coming from our gospel, our gospel will not stand. There is no good news without the reality of Christ coming to take us to our true home. It’s what our lives are banking on! Therefore, I would invite you into a study of those two phrases: “Jesus is near” and “Stay awake” because not only our future is dependent on this but it radically changes the way we live in the present.

Jesus is Near (v28-31)

Yes, what we’ve read so far haven’t been the most pleasant of experiences. We read about false Christs coming to lead people astray, we read about massive calamities and wars causing severe destruction and intense persecution from powerful people, religious people and sometimes our own family. On top of that we heard about the “abomination of desolation” last week. If we all wrote down our new year’s resolution, I’m pretty sure nobody had these things written down as things to do in the year. But what today’s passage is telling us is that when all these events take place, it actually serves as an indicator or like bright neon lights telling us believers that our Lord is here only. He is near. He is at the gate.

Because as believers that is our hope…that:

  • One day everything in us and in creation that is sinful & broken will be restored and repaired (Rom 8:18-25)
  • One day all wickedness will be judged & Justice will prevail (Acts 17:30-31)
  • One day all the “righteous in Christ” will receive a new body and a new home with Christ forever. (1 Thess 4:16-18)

Therefore, these events are not meant to discourage us or leave us hopeless. These events as painful and hard as they may be will actually indicate to us that Christ is very near. And that’s going to fill our hearts with more longing and more expectation.

But someone might ask, “how do I actually know if these things will happen on not?” Let’s look at v30 & 31.

Now v30 is one of those difficult to understand verses because what does Jesus mean by “this generation”? There are multiple interpretations to this verse but my understanding of “this generation” refers to all disciples or followers of Jesus till he returns back again. Just like “last days” in NT was inaugurated by Jesus’ first coming. But what Jesus was emphasizing on was v31 where he says “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.”

  • Jesus’ words are eternal – Everything else in all of creation can/will be replaced except for Christ’s words which reflects his character which is without falsehood. Jesus is God who does not lie. Jesus does is not like us where we at different points say “I take back my words” or where we change our decisions on different things. He is unchanging – He and His words remain the same yesterday, today and forevermore.
  • Jesus’ word is authoritative –All of us have an understanding of authority at least at some level. If we’re having issues with someone in our family and no matter how much we try if it’s not getting resolved, what do we usually do? We end up going to someone senior in the family who we see as an authority. Why? Because we know that this authority has the influence to make things works exactly how he/wants it. When Jesus says “heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away”, he was not making a suggestion or being hopeful about what would take place. He is the Sovereign Lord who knows everything and controls the start, the middle and the end of everything according to His marvelous purposes. When Jesus says something, it happens exactly the way He says it will happen!  

There’s a reason why in the Bible and in the New Testament, believers were constantly…again and again reminded about the coming of our Savior. Let’s look at one such passage from 1 Thess 4:16-18

It’s not to give them some kind of false hope or some type of optimism. They were reminded about this truth so that they would be encouraged during their severe trials and tests. I think that’s what some of us today need to hear. Some of us are experiencing suffering because of our faith in our families – Hang in there. I want you know that Christ is nearer than you think. Some of us are experiencing some really difficult circumstances where all you are thinking is “how long Lord…how long?” – Hang in there. Christ is nearer than you think. Some of us we are probably wondering how long will the fight with sin continue? When will we be finally freed of the presence of sin? Hang in there. Christ is nearer than you think.

But someone might say “but none of these things have fully taken place, so there is sometime before Christ comes. So let me relax until then”. Guess how Jesus addresses that question?

Stay Awake

The main point of this story is that Christ is going to come suddenly when you least expect. I feel the impact of this point has made a lot more sense through my current job. My boss operates out of the US most of the year. He makes 2-3 trips a year and whenever he does come down, he tries to be a little secretive about the dates so people at the office are constantly guessing to figure when that is.

He never mentions why he does that but it’s probably to see if people are working when he’s away as well. Now this doesn’t usually bother me because I share a good rapport with my boss but I kept thinking in the lines of today’s passage…why would a servant be sleeping when the master gets back? Why wouldn’t he be awake instead doing what the master told him to do? I’m saying these things in the context of the story that Jesus illustrated. And I wrote down three reasons that come to mind:

  • Honor: If the servant truly honors and respects his master, then he would want to faithfully steward his responsibilities. However, if the servant dishonors his master and considers him to be not important, then that would make him to be lazy and irresponsible at work.
  • Love: If the servant loved his master and had a relationship with him, then he would eagerly wait for him. Not only would he work hard and take care of the house well, but he would long to meet his master again. He longs to spend time with him once he is back. However, if the servant didn’t love his master, he wouldn’t really look forward to meeting his master. He probably would’ve hoped that his master didn’t return in that case.
  • Gratitude: If the servant was grateful for the opportunity and the responsibility given to him, he would fulfill his responsibilities with joy. However, if the servant wasn’t grateful for the opportunity then he would take it for granted and sleep in instead of staying awake and working.

If you noticed, we didn’t start from behavior changes – “Christ is coming soon, so you need to do this and that and this.” We started from the attitudes of the heart. Why? Because out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. (Luke 6:45) If we don’t honor Jesus, don’t love Jesus and aren’t grateful for what Jesus has done for us….we obviously aren’t going to look forward to Him coming back. We won’t be living a life looking forward to Him coming back.  

A few days before Angie and I got married, we decided to challenge each other with this question…if Jesus came back before we got married, would we feel like we missed out on something? At first it seemed like a funny question to ask a couple that was just going to get married, but then it challenged and convicted our hearts to see if we really honored, loved and were grateful to Jesus more than anyone else…more than each other.  

  • Similarly we should ask ourselves this question, we when look at our conversations with the world – do we see them reflecting our love, honor and gratitude toward Jesus?
  • Do our private moments reflect the love, honor and gratitude toward Jesus?
  • Some of us are married and so the question is…is our married life reflecting the love we have for Jesus, honor for him and gratefulness for all that he has done for us?
  • Many of us are single preparing to get married…are our choices of a spouse reflecting the love, honor and gratitude we have toward Jesus? And all of this can be applied in so many other aspects of life.

A person can maybe alter his behavior but how does a person change his love? How does a person suddenly honor someone? How is a person’s heart filled with gratitude for someone? It can’t be manufactured, right? Honor begins when we realize who the other person is and who we are in response to that person. When we see Jesus Christ as revealed in the Bible – Glorious, Pre-existent, Powerful in creating everything that is created – visible and invisible, Holy, Wise, Omnipresent.

On the other hand, we see ourselves as created beings who are weak and marred with sin. Oh it’s humbling. Like Isaiah says “Woe to me…I am lost. I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Hosts”. What about love? We can only understand love and respond to love because Christ loved us first. We are weak and extremely sinful but the Bible tells us while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He took our penalty, our punishment, the anger directed toward us was poured out on Jesus. He willingly sacrificed His life for us.

On the third day He rose again victoriously defeating Satan, sin and death so that we can also benefit from this victory – we can also experience the blessing of being set free from Satan, sin and death. This leads us to immense gratitude where we first surrender ourselves to Jesus – no more our way but His way forever. And also immense joy and happiness because we realize what has been done for us by Christ. If we’ve seen something else or someone else competing with Christ, let’s repent of that and trust in the finished and full work of Christ on the cross. Jesus is near and He tells us to Stay Awake. Let’s not turn away.

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Mark Sermon

Marks of a true disciple – Mark 13:1-13

Good morning church! This week we will jump back to our series from the gospel of Mark. We took a small break to do some stand alone sermons over the last month and now we are excited to continue with our Mark series. We are currently in Mark 13 and the events of today’s passage take place during Passion Week. Sometime between Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday which was on Passover night.  The Jewish leaders are becoming increasingly hostile toward Jesus at this point.

Literally every passage mentions phrases like “they’re trying to argue with him, trap him, arrest him and destroy him, arrest him” and that’s because Jesus is openly condemning their hypocrisy and exposing their sin. Most of the events surrounding these last few days before Jesus’ death takes place in and around the Jerusalem temple. In spite of knowing what was going to happen to Him, Jesus boldly and willingly presents Himself in front of the very people that are going to crucify Him so that He can offer the sacrifice that can “take away your sins and mine”. That’s the context and let’s jump into today’s text from Mark 13:1-13:

Historically, this topic of “end times” has always fascinated the church. Some churches have heavily focused on this topic of “end times” and they’ll only study and talk about the book of Daniel or Revelations. The danger sometimes is that we can end up spending too much of time and add our own meanings to these symbols. On the other hand, theologians have had wars over for many years debating over when exactly is the end of age and Christ’s return – Pre-millenial, Post-millenial etc. And from this passage, we realize that the disciples also wanted to know about the end times. So it’s not a new question. But I find Jesus’ answer astonishing.

It almost seems like Jesus’ isn’t answering the question but He is. Jesus’ answer on end times is to tell them that they need to be concerned about enduring till the end. They need to be concerned about their response to various difficult situations that are going to come before them. Because what’s mentioned here are severe hardships and I think what this passage is telling us is that a true disciple will endure by the grace of God. And I think that’s the real question that we need to deal with today is am I going to endure till the end? How do I know if my faith is sincere and real?

What’s my response to Counterfeits (v5-6)

There are going to be many counterfeits that are going to come in Jesus’ name saying that they are the Christ. Probably they’ll be able to perform wonders and miraculous signs. Probably they’ll teach with great oratory skills. And not just that but many are going to be led astray. There are going to be many followers of false-Christs. That’s what’s going to make this tricky. Today if you were to buy something from Amazon, what would you look for? Reviews and ratings, right? The more popular the reviews, the more likely you’ll buy this product. And here you’ll find yourself in a place where these counterfeits are having massive followers. So how can we know who’s the real Christ and who isn’t?

If someone happened to give you a fake Rs. 500 bank note, how would you know it’s fake? Because the fake note would probably match the original 95% but there will be that 5% difference which will need to be spotted. And only if you’ve seen the original note and studied it would you be able to identify the fake. In the same way, Christ has revealed Himself to us through the written Word – the Bible. Jesus said that all the Scriptures bear witness about Jesus (John 5:39). So if we are sincerely trying to understand God through the Bible, we will see Jesus shine forth brightly through the pages. We can’t help but notice the person of Jesus & the redeeming work of Christ mentioned in every passage from Genesis to Revelation.

I was encouraged by listening to our brother’s testimony yesterday where he shared how his family came to know Jesus around the time when he was born. They were the first to believe in their entire tribe. Although he saw the faith being lived out in his parents, he didn’t own it until he was in 16. And as he read the Bible, God opened up his heart to see Jesus and understand what Jesus did for him – and he responded in faith on Jesus and got saved! And that’s the wonderful truth about the Bible. When we read the Bible – it’s not to learn about history but to learn about His Story! It’s not a rule book for life but an invitation to grow in a Relationship with Jesus! Through the Bible we get to know His character, His power, His Sacrifice, His Example and His Purposes. And not in just a factual knowledge kind of way. Jesus reveals it to us personally through His Spirit so that we can grow in an intimate relationship with Him.  Your intimate relationship is going to help you discern if it’s your loving Savior or not! If we truly know Christ and listen to His voice everyday through the Bible, we don’t need anyone else to tell us – this is Christ or that one is Christ. We know for sure ourselves….

And that’s exactly what Jesus meant from John 10:3-5: The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.

And that gets reflected a lot of the times in which we think and refer to Jesus. Think about brothers and sisters…do you think and refer to Jesus from a third person’s perspective or first person’s perspective? Is Jesus just someone else’s God or is He “your God and your Lord” where you have known Him yourself and you are getting to know Him more and more intimately each day? Let’s evaluate our hearts and honestly answer if we have truly known Jesus? Not through your pastor or your friend…Do you know Jesus for who He is? If the answer is “I don’t know. I’m not sure”, I think the best place to start from is the Bible and I would encourage you to get in touch with one of the leaders and we would love to get you connected with another brother and sister who can walk with you as you are trying to know Jesus. 

What’s my response to Calamities (v7-8)

7 And when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed. This must take place, but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. These are but the beginning of the birth pains.

The second reality that signals the start of the end times are increasing wars and calamities. Nations are going to war with other nations and various earthquakes and famines will be taking place all over the world. This reality is going cause serious physical harm to your safety and your property and your provisions. And Jesus says these are the “beginning of birth pains” which means that the frequency will increase and duration of this as well. This isn’t a pleasant thing to witness but why would Jesus tell us to “not be alarmed”? Are we to ignore this calamity and pretend like it never happened? How can we not be troubled by this?

I think the reason why believers can remain assured even during disasters such as wars and earthquakes and famines is because:

  • We know of God’s providence

God is in complete control of all things in the universe. He not only knows what’s going to happen in the future but He also governs its destiny. I like the way the writer of Proverbs 16 mentions it. He says “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord. (Prov 16:33)”. It’s like the most random thing in the world is to roll the dice but God is somehow still in control of every outcome. I hope you don’t take this as a reason to take decisions by rolling the dice but understand the proverb that there is nothing random or shocking or “out of control” for God. He always is in control. Even in extreme situations like earthquakes, famines and wars, God governs it and purposefully uses it for His glory.

  • We know of a certain future

The Christian life is a life of faith – believing and trusting in promises that God (who doesn’t lie or break his promise) has made for us. Although wars and calamities are realities that might momentarily affect believers but beyond that it won’t because they long for a better place, a better country and better home that’s not on earth but in heaven. Let’s hear what the writer of Hebrews says: 14 For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city. (Heb 11:14-16)

Again, let’s pause and ask ourselves when we think about the impending end times and the calamities that it’s going to bring – does that make you insecure? I understand these are not easy realities to face but ask yourself – what’s stopping me from trusting in God’s providence and the certain future in heaven? Is it because I love my life on the earth so much that I can’t think of losing it? Or is it because I don’t really trust that God is in control of everything?

What’s my response to Persecution (v9-13)

The third thing that is reality during the end times will be severe persecution! I remember brother sharing how India’s rank on the persecuted nations list keeps rising each week.

Jesus tells us that during the end times it’s going to bring persecution from very powerful and influential people, sometimes from religious people who think they are serving God and sometimes even from our own family which probably affects us the most. We will be “hated” and disliked and hugely unpopular for living and talking about Jesus Christ. Yes, that’s true but we will also have the privilege of bearing witness and telling them of how good and how merciful is our God. And we don’t have to prepare a sermon or prepare great arguments or be anxious on what to say at that time.

Jesus says the Holy Spirit will give us the words and will speak through us during that time. During that time of persecution, the Holy Spirit will empower us in a very special and powerful way. And I think that should make us look forward to this.   In Acts 8 we see how Stephen is being executed and that same day a great persecution came against the church in Jerusalem which scattered the church throughout Samaria and Judea. We come to Acts 11 and we see how some believers reached Antioch and start sharing the gospel and eventually a church is birthed out of nowhere.

The church of Antioch then becomes the launching pad to send out Paul and Barnabas as church planters to many other places! Especially in urban churches like in our context, the tendency would be to avoid this conversation or minimize the discussions around persecution but as we look at Scripture it seems like a divinely ordained way to advance the gospel of Jesus. I understand why there could be a fear at the thought of it and I know some of us are experiencing it right now but let me encourage us to not look at it negatively but rather embrace the purposes that God has through this in order to use us, reach the lost with the gospel and ultimately bring glory to Himself.

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1 Peter Sermon

Vision 2019

Good morning church! Earlier this week I received some really sad news about one of my clients. He passed away due to lung cancer at the age of 36. Professionally he was doing great – had a Senior Management role in a Top MNC, had a great pay package and many years of work experience. He was also a very knowledgeable client – way ahead of his contemporaries in terms of knowing what’s the latest in technology.

He had a nice sweet family – wife and a little daughter. People would’ve envied his life. No one would’ve imagined that he would be diagnosed with an advanced stage of lung cancer in May last year. On December 31st when everyone around the world prepared to party into the new year, he breathed his last and passed away. I was obviously shocked by this news but what saddened me even more was to think that he died without knowing Jesus & failed to live out his life with eternity in mind. All of his accomplishments didn’t matter in the end.

All the money didn’t matter in the end. The picture – perfect life didn’t matter in the end. This made me once again think about what should our purpose in life be. If today is our last day on this earth, can we look back and say that we lived life with an eternal purpose? Or was it lived only to make money or a name for ourselves? As a church what should our purpose be – is it just meeting on Sundays or are we called as a church for something more? As I thought about this question about purpose, my mind moved toward a passage from 1 Peter 2:9-10

I believe this passage reminds us about two things: Identity and Activity!

1. Identity
What we mean by identity is trying to answer the question “Who am I?”. “At the core of my being, who am I really?” In the world people try to answer this question by doing more stuff assuming that more stuff and more accomplishments will create a better identity. However, if you are a believer in Christ you are given an identity – not earned but gifted to you – and it’s the best identity ever! So let’s see what are the different aspects of our identity in Christ:


a. Chosen race (v9)

We have been chosen by God – it literally means handpicked and selected. Wow! The thought of God personally selecting us to be his people. And this takes it to another level when we realize that God chose us in Christ even before the foundations of the world. (Eph 1:3) Now just before we pat our backs and think that we had to do something with it, let’s remember that God’s choice was not based on our talents or works.

And that’s radically different from the way the world works. I remember giving my name for the cricket tournament that was being organized in my building. If it were left up to my skill level, I would for sure not get selected. Fortunately, they had some kind of auction and I was added to one of the teams. We know how it works in the world. We only get selected for something if we have the ability or skill for it. But in God’s kingdom, it’s the opposite.

He comes not for the righteous but for the sinners. (Mk 2:17) God doesn’t choose the qualified, rather He qualifies those whom He chooses. You’ll actually find God’s chosen race look very different than what the world would expect. It will contain the worst, the least, the unlikely and the unexpected. Why? So that the world will see and know how good and great is our God!

b. Royal Priesthood (v9)

The word priest actually means a minister appointed to serve God. The priests also represented the people when they came before God. They would offer sacrifices on behalf of the people before God. Their role was a very important part of God relating with His people. This was all foreshadowing the true High Priest – Jesus Christ. As a result of believing in Christ, we have now been given a role of royal priests.

If someone came up to you and asked you to show them to a priest, what comes to your mind? You’ll automatically think about the pastors of your church or the church leaders or the priest from the Catholic church. But it’s an astonishing statement that all of us who believe in Jesus are “royal priests” called to serve the Most High God. But what’s our job description? It’s obviously not sacrificing bulls and goats but rather giving thanks to God and producing works of love and generosity. (Heb 13:15-16)

c. Holy Nation (v9)

This is something that I find it difficult to grapple with. How is it possible that unholy people are called to form a Holy Nation? I understand that because He is Holy, His nation would also need to be Holy. I know that God is an impartial Father who will judge every deed that has been done on the earth. (1 Pet 1:15-17) but I don’t understand why would He chose unholy people like us to be a part of it.

I mean even our good works and our best works are like filthy rags!!! (Isa 64:6) I know my thoughts and my words and my action – I can’t possibly be asked to be a part of a Holy Nation. If I enter a Holy Nation, I would make it unholy!!! And that’s where the amazing truth of Jesus Christ comes in. He who knew no sin became sin so that in Him we could be the righteousness of God! (2 Cor 5:21) We are unholy but because of Christ, His pure and Holy life has been placed upon us. It’s like Jesus exchanged His pure robe with us for our dirty laundry. That’s how we become a Holy Nation. – because of Him.

d. People for His own Possession (v9)

We are God’s treasured possession! We belong to Him only! We are His. I think this idea of belonging to each other has made more sense through marriage. In my marriage with Angie, by God’s grace there is this amazing joy and security in the fact that we belong to each other. We treasure each others lives. And that also causes us to be protective of each other. If someone tries to attack either spouse, we are going to stand up and protect each other because we belong to each other. Attacking my wife means attacking me personally.

And in our relationship with God, because we are God’s treasured possession He also stands up for us when we are attacked by accusations and condemning words. Romans 8 says “Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that who was raised – who is at the right hand of God who indeed is interceding for us”. Every thing that needed to be done to protect Jesus’ bride – the church from condemnation and accusation was done on the cross. And now we can rest knowing that we are His and His only.

Isn’t this amazing?? What a wonderful identity! But this identity of being a chosen race, royal priesthood, holy nation is not an end in itself. It leads us to activity!

2. Activity
We’ve been given this wonderful identity so that we can declare and celebrate the character and works of a gracious God! For people who have been saved – our hearts, our focus & our conversations change. Christ changes our desires, He changes our goals and He changes our language. Now you might say…Jinson you’ve said the big broad statement, but what does this actually mean? How can I proclaim the excellencies of God? How can I declare and celebrate the character and works of a gracious God in my daily life? Peter uses 3 ways to express this:-

a. Darkness to light

Just imagine being in a dark room. No window and so there’s no reflection of light. You are literally blinded. And that’s what being in sin looks like. We live a life ignorant of God, showing Him no respect and also not paying attention to how it affects us and others. All of this is accompanied with ungodliness and immorality results in us taking the highway to hell.

Now think about someone switching on a really bright light in that room. So bright that now you are blinded by this radiant light.  And that’s what being saved by Christ and brought into God’s presence is like – pure, extraordinary, brilliance way beyond our mind and comprehension.

What a privilege to now be in the presence of God! All of this begins to change the way we live every day. So we get plenty of opportunities to testify to our neighbors, colleagues at work, friends and family – telling them about the great change that God has brought about in our lives. As a church this year we want to focus on having Gospel Communities based out of neighbourhoods.

We encourage each of you to think about your society, your building, your home and pray for opportunities to tell them about this wonderful God who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light. It’ll be so exciting to see a few GC’s start in new areas where there was no gospel before.

b. Not a people but now God’s people

At one time we were separated from God and each other but now in Christ we have been accepted by God and joined to each other. At one time we were lost and abandoned but now we are found and added to God’s family.  The language throughout this passage is clear. When God saves you, He joins you to His family – the church. We live in culture that is highly non-committal – it’s always telling you to run away from commitment.

Culture says don’t marry – just live in together. Culture says you don’t need to marry one person your whole life – just have a string of relationships. And we know how this can be really destructive to lives and families but I want to tell you how this mentality can also hurt the church.

When believers don’t commit to each other but only meet and hang around as long as it’s convenient and comfortable, they end up hurting the other each other than caring for them. The moment things get difficult and complicated, they hop to another church and this hurts their own spiritual lives the most. Knowing this, we as a church we will be moving towards covenant membership and we’ll invite you to formally covenant with this church. We see this as God’s design to care and grow the church keeping your best interests in mind.

c. Had not received mercy to receiving mercy

Have you ever thought what it means for God to show mercy? Remember God is not stingy when He shows mercy…He pays the highest cost to show mercy! We see the depth of His mercy when He sends His precious Son to die on the cross so that we could be protected from the wrath that comes upon sinners & receive all the spiritual blessings graciously. God delights in showing us mercy!!! God does that so that we would know Him and love Him even more as we witness His mercy.

Some of us till now have  only experienced an intellectual understanding of mercy. We know what the gospel is intellectually but it’s not causing us to love Jesus more. It’s not causing us to know Him more. You still view God’s mercy as though someone was showing compassion on a stranger. No, God shows you mercy so that you would grow in an intimate relationship with Him. He is your Father and He desires for you to know Him that way. And experiencing God’s mercy causes us to bend that mercy outwards.

You cannot say that you are experiencing the grace of God and yet be greedy! If you are truly experiencing God’s grace in your life, how can you be satisfied without investing into someone else? If you are truly experiencing God’s grace in your life, how can you not help someone else know and obey Christ? We know how God has called us to be disciple-makers & we want to focus on 1 on 1 discipleship this year. I’d encourage you to find someone in church or in your life whom you can chose to walk with closely with, study Scripture with and model how to obey Christ.

As elders we really desire that you love and obey Christ as you’ve never done before in this coming year. We want you to live out the amazing identity that leads to spiritual activity! And whenever it is our last day on this earth, we want all of us to be confident that our lives were lived with eternity in mind.

Categories
John Sermon

Christmas: A Message of good news! John 1:1-17

Good morning church! We are a couple of days away from Christmas day and what a wonderful season for people all around the world. In fact sometimes I think during Christmas, unbelievers seem to be more enthusiastic about this time than believers. But it should be a special time for believers as we remember that Christmas is about Jesus.

And this morning we gather together to celebrate His birth, death and resurrection as a family! As I was pondering on what passage to preach on this week, I felt like John 1 would be perfect for all of us to study this morning. Even as you are turning to John chapter 1, I just want to setup the context.

This gospel is written by the apostle John. He was one of the three disciples in Jesus’ inner circle apart from Peter and James. His main purpose for writing this gospel was to tell people that Jesus is the Son of God, the awaited Messiah and that we can receive eternal life by believing in Him. Simple, straight forward purpose and we are excited to see what God wants to communicate to our hearts through this passage. John 1:1-17

I believe this passage has 3 things for us this morning:

  1. Christ is the true God
  2. Christ is the true Light
  3. Christ is the true Revelation

Christ is the true God

The apostle John starts this gospel with the words “In the beginning was the Word”. Do you remember any other place in Scripture that has a similar intro? Genesis 1:1 – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” And right from the start John is trying to connect both passages and tell people how Jesus is the true God.

a.His Pre-existence

“In the beginning was the Word” (v1). Before anything was made or before anything existed – Jesus existed. For everything else in all the world, there is a start date…everyone and everything has a manufacturing date but not Jesus because He is God. Before the universe existed – Jesus existed. There are debates on how old the earth is – some say between 4-10 thousand years…others say a million years…either ways Jesus existed way before that! Isn’t that amazing?

b.His personal relationship within the Trinity

“the Word was with God” (v1) implying a very close relationship between God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus didn’t exist in eternity past in isolation but in a community and fellowship with the Father and Spirit.  Jesus was with them before any thing was ever made. Every decision, every plan, every action was performed out of that intimate relationship.

c.His Divinity

“and the Word was God”. (v1) And then John explicitly refers to Jesus as God! Jesus wasn’t a created being. He Himself is God! That means Jesus is the All-Powerful, All-knowing and All-Present God. He is the Sovereign God who works out every situation and circumstance for His glory. He knows and sees the hidden intentions of our hearts. There’s no place on heaven or on earth that’s out of God’s reach. He is there everywhere!

d.His active role in Creation

All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (v3)

That’s a powerful thing to say. It’s one thing to say that he helped or assisted in some parts of creation. It’s another thing to say that everything was made through Jesus and without Jesus nothing was made! When we look at the beauty of the sun rising from the east, when we look at the breathtaking view from a hill, when we look at the sky above us, when we look at the deep depths of the sea, when we look at the complexity and manner in which God has made us and stitched together our DNA – All of us have a unique DNA – when we look at all of this we realize that Jesus Christ was actively involved in creating all of this. Without him not even a single thing was made!

All of this should move our hearts to worship and honor Jesus as God! We live in an age where Christ is conveniently removed from culture and conversations. Christmas has now become X-Mas. Talking about Jesus in public is looked down upon and considered offensive in this culture. How should believers live out our faith in the midst of this? We continue to place Christ as central to every thing in life. We make Christ the centre of our marriages.

We make Christ the centre of our workplaces. We make Christ the centre of our friendships. We make Christ the centre of our entertainment. We make Christ the centre of our vacations and holidays. We make Christ the centre of our birthdays. We make Christ the centre of our worship services. We even make Christ the centre of our private moments when nobody is watching. Christ being the true God changes our worship! He’s not an ordinary human being or a figment of our imagination – He is God!

Christ is the true Light

John uses an interesting way to explain why He refers to Jesus as the true light.

a.Our necessity for the Light (v4, v7, v9)

4 In him was life,[a] and the life was the light of men.

7 He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.

9 The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

From all these verses we understand that John is stressing on one thing – we are all in darkness and are in desperate need for Light. This need is not just for those rapists and murderers but for “everyone” who has been born on the face of the earth. Apart from this Light, we will be left in darkness forever – Separated from the presence of God forever! Terrible position to be in. We need help. We need Light.

b.Our love for darkness (v10-11)

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. 11 He came to his own,[b] and his own people[c] did not receive him.

Not only do we need Light but sometimes what prevents us from coming to the Light is our love for darkness. It’s like a guy who is stuck up in a deep pit and then over a period of time gets comfortable and starts loving his environment rather than wanting to get out of it. Crazy right but that is true of our sinful hearts.

John 3:19-20 says 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

c.Our provision through Christ (v12-13)

12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, 13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

Because we are in desperate need of the Light & because we ourselves are saturated with sin and love darkness more, we can’t help ourselves. We need God to make a way. We need God to provide an answer to this problem. And God provides for us His own precious Son to live a perfect life and then to die as a perfect substitute for our sins. So that v12-13 would be given to us as a free gift! So that by receiving Jesus and believing that He is the Son of God and has made a way for us through His death, we can now be God’s own children!

In my last church I once heard a story mentioned by an evangelist who used to minister in the villages of Maharashtra. My previous church had a legacy of being one of the oldest churches of India believed to have its roots in the ministry of the apostle Thomas. So this evangelist once was at a mission field talking to a group of new converts talking about how our church had a 2000 year history from Thomas.

As he was talking, one of the new believers stopped him and asked honestly “Brother, I understand that you have had the gospel for 2000 years, but why did you take so long to bring it to us?” A simple yet astonishing statement to the evangelist for many years.

Brothers and sisters, this truth about Christ being our true Light is an absolute necessity for everyone to hear and know. I know sometimes we do get discouraged when people don’t respond to the Light. I get discouraged easily myself. The reason why they can’t receive the Light is because they love darkness.

They don’t even see Jesus as Light because of their blindness. But let’s not allow that to stop us from telling people about the true Light. Since Jesus is the provision, let’s trust that God is the One who causes the spiritual birth in people’s hearts.

When we tell people about the Light, it’s not as though we are selling Jesus or a religion. We are pointing them to the true Light who will save them. That’s why we need to always accompany our evangelism by being on our knees. It’s Jesus who shines among the darkness and darkness cannot overcome Him.

Christ is the true Revelation

a.He is God incarnate (v14a)

14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us

All of us have similarly at some point or the other said something like this “You don’t know what I’m going through”. “It’s easier to say that from the position that you’re in”. That idea that if someone hasn’t been in your shoes, he won’t empathize with you is there in all of us. Now let’s think about what Jesus Christ did. He became flesh – he took on the form of us as a human being & endured every possible temptation and suffering that we go through yet without sin.

So we cannot say that God doesn’t understand – because Jesus lived in a fallen world among fallen people just like us. Talk about identifying and empathizing with us…Jesus takes it to the next level. The other thing that’s super encouraging is God’s pursuit to dwell with us – to stay with us. Even though he is the pre-existent, creator God – he doesn’t want to be disconnected and far from us…he desires an intimate relationship with us and He’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that He can dwell among us.

b.He fully reveals God to us (v16)

16 For from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.[e] 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God,[f] who is at the Father’s side,[g] he has made him known.

Not only does Jesus identify with us by becoming like us and dwelling with us but He fully and completely reveals God to us. The full grace of God was poured out on us through Jesus Christ. Till then people understood God as a rule book keeper through the law, but through Christ we can now know see the length and breadth of God’s grace – and understand that there is no end! And it’s not in a sense where God’s grace is a cheap thing.

It came at the highest cost – the death of Jesus to now give us grace. And the best benefit of this grace – knowing God through the face of Jesus. No longer do we need a prophet to tell us who God is, we don’t need any signs to reveal something about God…we have God’s own Son Jesus who tells us everything about Him. How does he do that? Through the written Word.

 I really think this should open our hearts to trust Jesus more and more. The truth about Jesus being God incarnate and fully revealing the heart, mind and person of God to us should allow us to trust God in situations and decisions that we struggle with. Jesus is totally for you and not against you. You don’t have to feel insecure about situations or people or decisions in your life.

Categories
Mark Sermon

What Stops us from Understanding God? – Mark 12:18-27

Goodmorning church! As a church we have been studying through the gospel of Mark& right now we find ourselves in Mark chapter 12 verses 18.

As you are turning to it, let me remind us of the context of our passage. These are the final parts of Jesus’ journey toward the cross. Jesus met with more and more hostility as we’ve been seeing in the last few chapters.

The Jewish religious leaders almost in every chapter are planning and plotting to kill Jesus from this point. The only thing that restrains them is their fear of man.

Last week we were read of how the Pharisees and Herodians were trying to trap Jesus with a question and today we find another group called the Sadducee’s who are trying to argue with Jesus. Let’s look at the text Mark 12:18-27 Read:

Have you ever shared a similar experience where you get onto a rickshaw and even before you say word, the rickshaw driver starts a full-blown conversation in his local language? I’ve had this experience a few times where the rickshaw driver assumes I know Marathi and starts speaking.

Probably 2 minutes into the conversation I usually interject and say “I’m sorry I don’t speak Marathi. Can we switch to Hindi?” Now I’m sure the rickshaw driver is saying some great stuff but my inability to understand his language makes it difficult to understand him.

I believe sometimes in our Christian walk we can similarly have issues understanding God due to our inability.

However, in this case God has made His Word plain to us – we have the Bible available in our own local languages but we still don’t understand him because there are some things that stop us from doing that?

What stops us from understanding God?

I think it means at least two things from this passage:

  1. Failure to receive the truth of God
  2. Failure to believe in the power of God

Failure to receive the truth of God

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God?

Let’s understand a little bit more about the Sadducee’s. The Sadducee’s were a group religious Jews during Jesus’ time.

The word “Sadducee’s” literally means “the righteous”! Unlike the Pharisees they rejected the extra oral tradition and only considered the written law to be from God. They denied these doctrines as well:

  • Theresurrection of the body which we also see in v18
  • Theimmortality of the soul
  • Evidenceof spirits and angels
  • Divinepre-destination (God would pre-determine and elect people those who wouldbelieve in Him). So basically they would have a lot of issues with Calvinists! 😉

And they come to Jesus asking Jesus trying to confuse or trap him with some questions because it’s obvious that they don’t believe in the resurrection.

Now the law that Moses gave them required the deceased husband’s brother to marry the widow in a case if she didn’t have a child. This was done in order to protect the widow & provide descendants for the deceased man. 

So they tell Jesus a scenario where there were 7 brothers – the first one died and his widow was left without the child. The second brother married her but he also died without a child. 

And finally all 7 died without a child and the widow herself died. So in the afterlife whose wife is she going to be? And Jesus’ answer to them is that they don’t know the Scriptures! Why did Jesus say that?

It’s because the OT has been quite clear on the topic of resurrection. Sometimes we think that only the NT talks about resurrection when in fact the OT has some very clear verses on the same.

Isa 26:19 : Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
  You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light, 
   and the earth will give birth to the dead.

Psalm 71:20 : You who have made me see many troubles and calamities
       will revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
        you will bring me up again.

These passages were available and present in their written law but still you find them be more interested in using Scripture to argue with Jesus rather than know God.

Scripture is merely being used as a tool for selfish gain rather than a means to know God! And that’s what I think Jesus was referring to. Okay, then what does it actually mean to receive the truth of God? How can I know if I’m actually using Scripture to know God?

a.Accept the whole counsel of God

God’s Word is God’s clear revelation to us. We need to be prepared to accept it completely. Not in parts. Not by cherry picking the favorite verses that we like. The ones that makes us feel sweet and loved.

Which means that we don’t just read and meditate on Psalms like May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us (Psalm 67:1) but we also meditate on passages like

Luke 9:23: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.”

So we accept the whole counsel of God even when it hits directly at the sin of our hearts, we accept the whole counsel of God even when it makes us feel uncomfortable,we accept the whole counsel of God even when talks about suffering for the sake of Christ.

That’s why as a church we preach expository messages. It’s not because we have an issue with topical sermons but we believe that the whole counsel of God essential to us becoming the people that God has called us to be.

We would not be serving you well if we only preached about marriage or finances or worship. “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness” (2 Tim 3:16).  I’d encourage us to read the Bible from end to end…especially those that we find unfamiliar.

One of things that we are trying to incorporate in our discipleship groups is to cover an epistle like Colossians, an OT prophet like Malachi and a gospel book like John. Not because it’s cool and different but because we really believe that every verse, every passage, every book is an essential part of understanding the whole counsel of God.

b.Check our motivation for studying Scripture

Sometimes I think that’s one aspect that we tend to ignore when we think about studying Scripture. Even though this is absolutely important to the heart of God. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart. (1 Sam 16:7).

And that’s true when we tithe, sing songs of praise, disciple people, obey God commands and also study Scripture. If we are doing it reluctantly or out of pride – it doesn’t bring glory to God. Let’s ask ourselves: what’s our motivation to study Scripture?

Is to know God or Is it to show off your biblical knowledge? Is it to understand God or find affirmations from the people in church? Is it to love God or check the good Christian box? Is it to obey God or is it to somehow hope that you’ll appease God and get something from Him?

These questions I’ve found to be extremely helpful for me to analyze the condition of my heart as I’ve read the Word. And because this deals with the deep-rooted sin in my heart, I’ve perpetually needed to repent of the wrong motivations in my heart and trust in what Christ has done for me.

Both of these things – accepting the whole counsel of God and checking our motivation for studying Scripture will determine if we are in posture to receive the truth of God.

But it’snot just a failure to receive the truth of God that stops us from understanding God but it also is

Failure to believe in the power of God

24 Jesus said to them, “Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? – v26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

Jesus goes back to the passage about the burning bush. Remember this is Moses’ first encounter with God and God introduces himself as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.

Now for all the ones who love grammar – which tense is being used here? Present tense. It means that Abraham is still living in the presence of God and enjoying the covenant blessing and will one day be raised when Christ returns.

The Sadducee’s failed to believe that God was able to raise people from the dead. The issue wasn’t just about lack of knowledge but a lack of belief that the God of the Bible can actually do what He said he’ll do!

It’s one thing to know Romans 10:9 & it’s another thing to believe that God will save you!

They weren’t ready to believe that God is much bigger & powerful than they could ever imagine! All the issues they struggled with – immortality of souls, the resurrection of bodies, the existence of angels and spirits, God predestining His people – all of that was too much to grapple with.

Because it would mean that they would need to reckon with the reality of God. If God Is who He says He is in the Bible, then there’s no playing around. They will need to change their ways. And that’s what often stops people from knowing Him.

And it’snot just with the Sadducee’s, the truth is that if we honestly looked at Scripture with fresh eyes and open hearts, the God of the Bible will humble us.We will understand how small we are in comparison to God. We too are required to change our ways. We too are required to repent.

Brothers and sisters, that’s the goal of our time with Scripture. It’s an interaction with God where He speaks to us, humbles us and changes us.

If we aren’t experiencing that in our morning devotions, there might be some sin that we’ll need to repent of today and ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate our hearts so that we can experience the humility and the change that God wants to bring about.

As we read today, it’s the failure to receive the truth of God and the failure to believe the power of God that stops us from understanding God. But I don’t want to leave us with a “Ok, I’ll try better next time” message.

Some of these things like checking the motivations of our hearts and believing in the power of God cannot be automatically manufactured. Rather I wanted these things to help us identify our areas of repentance & then look to the Lord of the living to help us, forgive us and change us.

Let’s remember that the reason why the resurrection is possible is because our Lord Jesus died on the cross for our sins and rose again on the third Day. His resurrection makes ours possible! He commands dead people to come back to life and they do! He can do the very same thing in our hearts today.  

Categories
Mark Sermon

True Authority – Mark 11:27-12:12

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Good morning church! What a joy it has been for us to be studying through the gospel of Mark. As a church we’ve enjoyed the whole process of knowing Jesus through the lens of this gospel as we study it passage by passage.

Right now we are in Mark chapter 11 verses 27. As we’ve noticed over the past few weeks, these passages are placed in the context of Jesus’ entry to Jerusalem which actually begins his journey toward the cross. Last Sunday we read how the temple needed to be cleansed.

The cleansing was required because the people & the religious leaders replaced the worship of God with self-centered gain. And Jesus by driving out the sellers and the buyers, overturning the tables of the money changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons showed how holiness & reverence for God was so important to God’s heart.

This didn’t go down well with the chief priests and the scribes. Interestingly this passage says that this resulted in them wanting to destroy him because they feared him. They weren’t ready or prepared to receive this Jesus Christ who literally turned their religious system and traditions upside down. This forms the context for today’s passage:

27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as he was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders came to him, 28 and they said to him, “By what authority are you doing these things, or who gave you this authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question; answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.

30 Was the baptism of John from heaven or from man? Answer me.” 31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet. 33 So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

12 And he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a pit for the winepress and built a tower, and leased it to tenants and went into another country. 2 When the season came, he sent a servant[a] to the tenants to get from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.

3 And they took him and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again he sent to them another servant, and they struck him on the head and treated him shamefully. 5 And he sent another, and him they killed. And so with many others: some they beat, and some they killed.

6 He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ 8 And they took him and killed him and threw him out of the vineyard. 9 What will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the tenants and give the vineyard to others.

10 Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;[b]

11 this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

12 And they were seeking to arrest him but feared the people, for they perceived that he had told the parable against them. So they left him and went away.

I believe there are 3 things we can see from this passage:

  1. Struggle for authority
  2. Sinful Authority
  3. True Authority

Struggle for authority (v27-28)

So the location is the Jerusalem temple and the Top religious leaders of the time come to meet Jesus. These are not ordinary Jews – these are the pastors, theologians, worship leaders, Sunday School teachers, authors – the most learned and scripturally qualified Jews of the day.

And they ask Jesus by what authority is he doing these things? Basically, they are asking Jesus “Who gave you the right to overturn the tables of the money changers and drive out the sellers from the temple”? Who do you think you are to do this in the temple?

And who are they asking this question to? Jesus Christ. The Son of God. He was there in the beginning with God and He is God. All things were made through Him and without Him nothing was made. (John 1:1-3) In Him all things hold together (Col 1:17) He is the image of the invisible God (Col 1:15) In Him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell (Col 1:19). And yet they ask him “Who gave you this right to do this”?

And this is not a new question. It is symptomatic of man’s constant struggle to submit to God’s authority. Right from the garden of Eden man has struggled to submit to God’s authority.

When we look at Genesis 3, what was the bait given to Adam and Eve? The serpent told them that when they eat of the tree – their eyes will be opened and they will become like God, knowing good and evil.

And that’s the heart of sin…the core of sin…to take the place of God in our lives, trying to make moral decisions apart from God. In other words, Adam and Eve had this insecure desire to become their only authority over their lives. They wanted to determine for themselves what was right or wrong for their lives. They didn’t want to be dependent anymore on God.

And we know what happened when they became the authority of their lives – all of humanity was thrown into a world of brokenness and sin and death. And that nature to not want to submit to God’s authority is there in all of us.

Campus Crusade had this illustration that has been really helpful for me over the years. They had this picture of a throne seat located at the centre of an individual’s heart. All of us have a throne seat in our lives. That’s the place from where we make all our decisions and choices. Everything that we chose to do is controlled from this throne seat.

Whoever sits on that throne is the authority of our life. And then they would ask this question: who is seated on the throne seat? Is it God or is it us? Is it God or is it me? Now I know that I’m preaching to people to publicly claim to be followers of Jesus so why am I still asking this question? It’s because I’m very aware of our tendencies to enthrone ourselves as the authority in areas of our lives. Christian life is all about yielding control.

Giving back the authority to God. In this life we’ll always find ourselves with plenty of reasons to repent of those areas and turn back to Christ. Just last night when I got the call from the hall owner regarding the change of timings and venue for our Gathering, I really saw how anxious my heart was & how I was planning my responses apart from trusting God.

For me that was a reminder of how real is my struggle for authority.

Sinful authority

Not only is there a struggle for authority but when we claim authority of our lives – it is a sinful authority! When Jesus is asked the question on whose authority…he responds back by asking another question to show them what’s really hindering them from submitting to God’s authority. “Was the baptism from John from heaven or from man”?

From their responses there are two things we can see are hindering them:

Unbelief

31 And they discussed it with one another, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ (v31)

John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. People were coming to the river Jordan confessing their sins openly and then getting baptized as a symbol of repentance expressing a 180 degree turn from sin and toward God.

In Matt 21:32 it tells us that the Pharisees and religious leaders did not believe John. In their pride they didn’t think it was necessary for them to be baptized. Tax collectors and prostitutes got baptized in front of them but still they didn’t change their mind.

In Luke 7:30, it says that the religious leaders rejected the purpose of God for themselves by not being baptized by John. Wow! That sounds like an opposite statement.

The most religious people of the day rejected the purposes of God for themselves? How is that possible? That’s because it meant that they would need to humbly accept their position as a sinner. And if they did that, they would be in the right posture to receive the provision of God – Our Savior Jesus.

We keep talking about believing in the gospel & constantly growing in belief. What does that actually mean? Is it just intellectually changing the way you think about some facts? I think what it means from this passage is constantly repenting before God about areas of your life that are against His character and will.

Unbelief at its core is a prideful position that doesn’t want to humble itself before God. And that’s why we see in Scripture…a true believer is always being aware of His sins and always repenting before God because what he desires the most is a right relationship with God.

Fear Of Man

32 But shall we say, ‘From man’?”—they were afraid of the people, for they all held that John really was a prophet.

The other motivation that hindered them from submitting to God was the fear of man. Why were these religious men afraid of the people?

  1. They feared losing their reputation. They didn’t want to be discredited for telling that John got his authority to baptize from man. It’s the question that comes to mind when we think “What will people think of me if I do that?”
  2. They feared losing control. Would they end up losing control over people if they said something controversial? Would people leave them and go somewhere else if they said something controversial? It’s the question that comes to mind when we think “Would I still be able to influence people if I did that?”

I remember back in the youth ministry days during a Youth Camp. We had something called a 4 corners talk which was a weird name because sometimes we had just 2 or 3 people. During one of my 4 corners session with a youth, I could see how he knew that he had to submit to the authority of Christ but he didn’t want to do so due to the fear of man.

He was fearful of what his friends would say. He was fearful of being called as “uncool”. And it just saddened me to see someone so close yet so far.

And the fear of man isn’t just a struggle for my young friend but it’s something that we face daily when we think of sharing the gospel with the people around us.

The fear of man is a real when we have to make decisions on whom to marry – in my lifetime I’ve seen so many professing believers who said that they wanted to marry a believer but when it actually came down to marriage – they married an unbeliever.

The fear of man is also real at our jobs when either there are conversations or decisions made which are unethical and immoral. Would you take a stand because of your faith?

True Authority

You might think that Jesus denies to answer their question on authority but Jesus infact does answer their question using a parable. He talks about a man who plants a vineyard. The man is God and the vineyard is Israel – God’s people.

Using the illustration of the wine-press, the tower and the fence – showing God’s protection and God’s provision for everything needed for them to flourish. And this vineyard was leased to tenants. Another version says he rented out the vineyard to farmers.

The farmers are the religious leaders who were supposed to steward and care for the field. And then God would send servants to get the fruit of the wine – these were the prophets. But what did the farmers do to them? They beat them, hit them, treated them shamefully and killed them.

Finally the Owner sends his beloved Son. What do the farmers do to him? They kill him thinking that the inheritance will be theirs. Again the same theme – it’s always a struggle for authority. It’s always a struggle for ownership.

Like the farmers we are stewards of the life that God has given us. What should’ve been our ideal response to God? We should submit to God and give what is His – our whole lives. What is instead our natural response? Take what is not ours and make it ours.

God reaches out to us and reminds us through various means – through our daily time with God in Scripture and prayers, through sermons or our brothers and sisters. However, it’s not enough to just do all these things – what matters is our response. So how do we respond?

In our sinful self, we are all like these murderous farmers. We are all responsible for the death of Jesus on the cross. Which is why God’s wrath and judgment is directed toward us. (v9) But the story doesn’t end in judgment. In v10 we hear the good news of Jesus:

10 Have you not read this Scripture:

“‘The stone that the builders rejected

has become the cornerstone;[b]

11 this was the Lord’s doing,

and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

God used the very same death of His Son Jesus Christ to protect you and I from being judged & destroyed forever. In doing so, he poured out all His love, all His mercy, all His compassion and His righteousness upon us! And that’s the greatest news brothers and sisters. Christ came not to condemn but to save! And that’s message that the religious leaders didn’t hear.

They perceived that the parable was about them but they failed to see the answer that Jesus Himself was going to provide. And I want us to once again think about that throne seat of ours – consider how our lives have actually been messed up by us sitting on the throne.

And now think about this Jesus – the rightful owner of our lives because He created us, the one who can enact judgment but instead gave up His life to remove judgment and set us free forever. Isn’t He the best one to sit on that throne? Let’s willingly submit to His authority.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Categories
Mark Sermon

Gaining by Losing – Mark 10:17-31

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Good morning church! How’s everyone doing? For the last few months as a church we’ve been studying the gospel of Mark. We’ve completed a little over half of this book and are now in Mark 10:17-31.

Much of this gospel seeks to answer two questions: “Who is Jesus” and “if Jesus is God, then what does it mean for both you and me”. After all we probably know what it means to follow human leaders but what does it mean to follow God? There is this strong focus on being a follower of Jesus Christ that can’t be ignored in this gospel.

Does my entire life need to change? Or do I need to change a few habits here and there? These are the kind of questions we’ll attempt to answer as we look at today’s passage in Mark 10 starting in verse 17.

17 And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’”

20 And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” 21 And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” 22 Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

23 And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is[b] to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him,[c] “Then who can be saved?”

27 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” 28 Peter began to say to him, “See, we have left everything and followed you.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel,

30 who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last, and the last first.”

“You must sacrifice short term pleasure for long term success.”  Those are the words I told myself when I returned back to the gym after a long gap. The short-term pleasure being my love for eating fried food. I think every person at least superficially understands this concept: “You’ll need to give up something for the achieving something better”.

But Jesus totally turns this concept on its head when he says “You receive eternal life by abandoning everything”. “You follow me by leaving everything” “You will gain life by losing everything”. In the kingdom of God, we gain by losing everything! And it’s radically different from the way the world thinks. The world says “You gain by accumulating everything”.

After all it’s not the first time Jesus mentioned something like this. A few chapters earlier he said that if you want to be the greatest, you need to be least and a servant of all. Last week we read the passage where Jesus says unless you receive the kingdom of God like a child, you can’t enter it.

It’s truly an upside-down kingdom! The principles of this kingdom of God is the opposite of what we are used to experiencing every single day. That’s why there’s even more reason for us to pay close attention to hear the seriousness in the call to follow Jesus. It’s a weighty call but a yet a very fulfilling one.

So how can we gain life by losing everything?

We gain by losing our self-reliance (v17-20)

One of the biggest barriers that often prevents us from following Jesus completely is our dependence on our own self – our abilities, our ideas, our accomplishments, our good works.

We love the idea of a “self-made man” even though we might not declare it publicly.  We see the same trait in the rich young man. His self-reliance prevented him from:

Confronting the reality of God (v17,18)

He approaches Jesus and calls Him “Good Teacher”. Interesting way of addressing Jesus. And Jesus asks him “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone”.In other words, Jesus was asking him “Are you approaching me just as a teacher or as God?”

“Are you here just for good advice or do you want to really know me?” He had Jesus Christ – the Son of God, Maker of the heavens and the earth, the Messiah who saves the world, the sustainer of all creation right in front of him and he was blind to it.

Even his question was “What can I do to receive eternal life?” instead of “Jesus, can you give me eternal life?”.

Also his self-reliance prevented him from Conceiving the Holy Standards of God (v19)

Jesus starts listing out the Ten Commandments. “Do not murder…Do not commit adultery” And we know that God didn’t give His people the commandments so that they could perform, He gave them the commandments so that they would understand the holiness and righteousness of God.
I heard it once mentioned like this – God told us to not murder because He is life. God told us to not commit adultery because He is pure. God told us not to lie because He is truth! The rich young man failed to conceive the great divide between him and God. In Romans 3, Paul says the same thing. He says by the law no one becomes right with God…but the law was given so that you know that you have sinned.

His self-reliance prevented him from Confessing his need for a Savior (v20)

Because he thought he was doing exceptionally well in his performance, he basically was saying “Jesus, I know all this. What next?” He didn’t see how bad was his condition and how he needed to be rescued by God.Imagine a guy.

Let’s call him Jimmy who newly joins a company. A few days later he meets another colleague called Rohit. Since Jimmy is new to the company, Rohit takes time out to help him understand what he’s supposed to do. Instead Jimmy responds by saying “Rohit, you don’t have to do this. I already know all of this. I’ve been doing this forever.

” Shortly after this incident someone else comes and refers to Rohit as “Sir”. Jimmy is quite surprised and inquires and finds out that Rohit is the CEO of the company.  Trouble!!! The CEO sits down with Jimmy and tells him how he wasn’t actually doing his job correctly as he imagined. Not only did Jimmy insult the CEO by claiming to know more than the CEO but his attitude didn’t allow him to receive the necessary help to grow.

I think that’s what happens to us in our self-reliance and pride. Sometimes we are blinded to think how our efforts to have a consistent time with God everyday, being able to share the gospel with multiple people during the week or being a regular church attender or having restrained ourselves from falling into a particular sin in the week or our knowledge of the Bible is what makes us right before God.

These are all good things but your performance on these things doesn’t determine if you are right with God or not. In fact, if you are self-reliant you won’t be confronted with the reality of God as you read the Word, you won’t conceive the Holy Standard of God and neither will you confess your need for the Savior Jesus. You can see how self-reliance is a big barrier.

But not only do we need to lose our self-reliance, but we also need to

Lose our treasure (v21-25)

When Jesus told the rich young man to forsake his possessions, Jesus wanted to uncover what this man valued deeply – what he considered to be his treasure.

Jesus is essentially saying is that our heart matters more than our external acts of obedience! More than often our external acts of obedience is a mask to hide what’s really going on in our heart. Two things about heart treasures:

We treasure what we love (v21-22)

Till this point it seemed like the rich young man was willing to do whatever was needed to inherit eternal life but when Jesus told him to give up his treasure and possessions, he became extremely sad and went away because he loved money.

Right before him were two choices – Jesus Christ – Son of God – the one who could give him eternal life & money and he chose money. He gave up the eternal for what was temporary. You see the principle there – What he loved determined his choice.

You want to know what’s your heart treasure? Ask yourself this…what is the one thing or person in my life whose presence or absence changes my behavior? Think about a scenario when this thing or person is taken away from you forever, how is that going to make you feel? Would you lose all meaning to life? Would life seem worthless after that?

If the same meeting was done over and over again with the rich young man, do you think his response would’ve been different? No, because we treasure what we love.

We treasure what we trust

In v23-25, Jesus multiple times talks about how difficult and impossible it is for wealthy people to enter the kingdom of God.

Just to clarify Jesus is not saying that people above a certain income level are not going to enter the kingdom of God. Abraham, Isaac, David, Solomon are examples of godly men who were wealthy but I think Jesus meant those who trust in riches will not enter the kingdom of heaven.

But why such a strong judgment against those who trust in riches? I think it’s because wealth like any other heart treasure gives us an illusion of providing us with safety, security and joy.

It replaces itself in the place of God. That’s what makes us completely dependent on it. We say things like “We cannot live without it”. It in reality becomes our god.

I’m reminded of my friend whom I spoke to a few weeks back who went through a difficult break up. As we were speaking we were able to identify that this relationship was indeed his treasure. He didn’t know how to deal with the relationship breaking off.

To the extent where he was contemplating leaving the city and also hurting himself. I felt like it was a visual picture for me on how disastrous can it be to have heart treasures apart from God.

It’s not just with wealth and money. Some of us have made our jobs and careers our treasure. Others have made our relationships and family to be our treasure. Some of us have made self-pleasure our treasure. Maybe habits can be changed, but how do you change your love? How do you change what your trust?

That’s exactly the question that Peter asked…“Well then who can be saved?” And Jesus says “What is impossible for man is possible for God”. In other words, God needs to make a provision for you and I to lose our self-reliance & also lose our treasure.

God sent His one and only Son to the earth. Jesus Christ Himself lived the life you and I was required to live but couldn’t live. Ultimately, He died the death we all deserved to die.

He rose again on the third Day crushing not just the penalty of sin but also freeing us from the power of Sin. Do you want to change your love? Realize you’ll need God to perform a heart surgery to do that. He can certainly do it!

So what do we do in response to this great and amazing love? V28-30 says that…we lose everything that keeps us from following God and turn to Christ. We repent and trust Christ.

We repent and trust Christ. And this will invite persecution and rejection from family members as we see happening in reality with one of our brothers right now.

But we gladly follow Christ in spite of that because we love Him, we treasure Him, we trust Him and are deeply thankful for doing everything that was done for us.

Sometimes we forget how the story of God is the story of our God and Savior losing everything – he literally died so that He could rescue us in order to gain an everlasting relationship with us. Why should we be self-reliant? Why shouldn’t He be our only treasure? Lose everything to gain Him through His perfect work.

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Categories
Mark Sermon

How must we respond to Sin and Temptation

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Good morning church! If you’ve been tracking with us over the last few months, as a church we’ve been preaching through the gospel of Mark. Right now we are in Chapter 9.

We are back in our study of the gospel of Mark this week.

As you all know we took a short break from our study to do a series on Living out our Identity in Christ. And that was a wonderful reminder for our heart to know the identity that Christ has given us. Even though that series is over, we’ll often be coming back to those themes as we deal with various scriptures. We are right now in Mark 9 v42-50.

As you are turning to the passage, I’ll share the background of today’s text. Jesus announced for the second time that he’s going to suffer and die on the cross and be raised on the third Day. The disciples don’t understand what Jesus is saying and they seem to be more concerned about finding out who’s the greatest among them.

Jesus uses this opportunity to teach them on servant-hood. He says “if you want to be first, you should be last and a servant of all. You should care for the least and insignificant. You should welcome and accept those who follow me even though they might not be in our tribe”. God is concerned about all his disciples…especially the ones that are weak and different.

42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[g] it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell,[h] to the unquenchable fire.[i] 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’ 49 For everyone will be salted with fire.[j] 50 Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

As you’ve noticed in the gospels, Jesus used different figures of speech while he taught his disciples. Sometimes he used parables, other times he used metaphors and now in today’s text he uses “hyperbole”. Hyperbole means exaggerating a thought in order to drive home a point.

Most of us growing up would have heard either our teacher or parent say something on these lines “If your friend jumps into the well, would you do that also?”

Now they don’t literally mean that we jumped into the well or needed to that in the future…it was a way for them to drive home a point to not be easily influenced by our friends. At the same time this passage has got a very direct, convicting tone. Three things that this passage tell us of:

  1. Caution – Cautioning us from being a stumbling block
  2. Cut-off – Cutting off the patterns of sin from within
  3. Confirm – Confirming that our faith is Real

Caution – Cautioning us from being a stumbling block

42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin,[g] it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.

It’s important for us to first understand who are these “little ones”? Those are believers who the world may see as weak and insignificant. I think this could also refer to new young believers who join the church at a very tender stage in their spiritual life.

But these believers are not insignificant to God…in fact they are very precious! God loves them and deeply cares for His people especially those who are lowly and powerless.

But why such a severe judgment upon them? Jesus is saying in comparison to the judgment that will come upon those who cause these young believers to sin, it’ll be better for them to tie a heavy millstone on their neck and be hurled into the sea!

It’s because believing in Jesus is more than intellectually agreeing to facts. Believing in Jesus means that you are united to Him. It means that you belong to Him.

Just a few verses earlier, Jesus tells them 37 “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me, receives not me but him who sent me.” It’s a very close intimate relationship that God has with His children.

Jesus takes it upon Himself to guard & protect you. Anything that causes a young believer to distrust and disobey Christ does not only mean harm to the person but Christ as well.

That’s why Paul when he’s answering the question if it’s right or wrong to eat food offered to idols, he tells the Corinthians to always think about the weaker brother and not be a stumbling block for him. He says when “sinning against your brothers[e] and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.” (1 Cor 8:12)

I may have shared this story with you all…As a brand-new believer in Mumbai, I started following all these prosperity televangelists. What I didn’t realize at the time was how they were abusing the weak and the naive.

Even I remember “sowing a seed” in one of these ministries because the pastor promised that it’ll come back to me double-fold or ten times more.

And with their lavish lifestyle, their luxurious home, cars and expensive suits – what they were doing by twisting Bible verses and through their lavish lifestyle was feed into my idolatry.

The truth is ultimately I wanted those things more than Jesus and more and more stumbling blocks were put in my way that was causing me to distrust and disobey my Savior. I praise God that He freed me from that but we know how they continue to prey on young, weak believers in the same way even today.

And it’s not just the prosperity preachers. Prosperity preachers are more like in your face & actively placing stumbling blocks but there are other ways how we do that passively. It happens when we are persistently unrepentant of our sins. When young believers see us have a very casual approach to sin and sometimes even worse when they see us enjoy and brag about our sin, it can really cause a lot of damage.

It’s different when you come to your brothers or sisters and grieve over a sin pattern and look for hope and healing in the gospel. But what I’m talking about is persistent unrepentance. A feeling where you think “I’m okay with my sin…It’s not as bad as some others”. Sin is serious and it is a serious offence to God! That brings me to point number 2

Cut-off – Cutting off the patterns of sin from within

43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell,[h] to the unquenchable fire.[i] 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

It’s not referring to literally cutting yourself. It’s a hyperbole! But it does tell us 3 things:

  1. Identify the sin – “If your hand causes you to sin” You’re not being generic but very specific of those sins that you know are affecting your relationship with God.
  2. Take Radical Steps to cut off the sin – You’re not just sitting and saying “what to do? I guess I’ll be living in this sin forever or God is so gracious so He’ll forgive”. That’s not how it is for a believer. A believer does whatever it takes to fight the sin.
  3. Immediate response – It’s not telling you to deal with the sin tomorrow and sometime in the future. Right now cut off the sin! Today cut off the sin!

And this passage makes it very clear – what’s at stake is eternity! Now we know that it’s not our efforts or works that can save us from hell. Today if you have eternal life, if you’ve been given a passport to the kingdom of God, if you’ve been protected from being eternally separated from God – it’s only and only because Christ died for your sin.

But let’s realize Our attitude to cutting off sin shows that Christ’s blood has washed us. Our attitude to cutting off sin shows that we are truly His.

Imagine a guy who has a problem with diabetes. He’s got very high blood sugar. The doctor tells him that he cannot have any sugar or sweets or it’ll be fatal. The guy agrees to the doctor when he’s at the clinic and goes back and tells his family the diagnosis. However, when he’s browsing on the internet he keeps looking at the newest editions of Dairy Milk.

He goes to work and tells his colleagues how much he loves chocolate and how amazing the taste is. He looks through the magazine and gazes at the image of the newly imported Swiss chocolate that’s now available in India.

What do you think is going to happen the next time he’s at the grocery store? He is going to buy chocolates! Because even though he identified his diabetes problem, he didn’t take any radical steps and immediate steps to tackle it.

Similarly, what sin is God calling you to cut-off today? It maybe the circle of friends that you’re in close relationship with. You know that they constantly influence you to sin but you keep hanging around.

What would it mean for you to cut it off? It might be a dating relationship that you are currently involved in and you know it doesn’t honor God. Or it’s images on your computer screen or mobile phone that’s enslaved you. Or it may be social media and entertainment that’s filling your mind. Or it might be unforgiveness that has held your heart captive for so long.

God’s Word tells us to Cut it Off!  Take very strong steps to cut it off. Even if means inconvenience or discomfort but cut it off! People around you might think you are crazy to take these steps. But you do whatever it takes to honor God and preserve your best affections for Christ!

Rom 13:14: make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Confirm – Confirming that our faith is Real

49 For everyone will be salted with fire. [j] 50  Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

This suddenly is a puzzling statement. We were talking about Caution and Cut-off but what is this whole conversation about “Salt”. Again…it’s a figure of speech. In those times, the people’s main source for salt would come from the Dead Sea. It had to be processed properly to be in a usable condition. If it wasn’t processed properly, it would taste really bad and couldn’t be used in the food.

What does this have to do in this context?

I believe what these verses say is that fire or hardships and trials will truly reveal those who are real disciples of Christ! And just as unprocessed salt is useless for the food, a life that isn’t actively cutting off sin is useless and dead.

James 2:17 says “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” Real faith will express itself in good works. It’s like two sides of the same coin.

Let me ask you, how do you know that you are a believer in Christ? You might say “I prayed the sinner’s prayer”. I’m not saying God doesn’t use it but there’s no mention of a sinner’s prayer in the Bible. It’s not a mantra prayer that guarantees salvation.

But you may say “Every Sunday when I worship I’m really moved in my heart”. But that in itself is just an emotional experience. Well I know a lot of Scripture from the Bible and I know the churchy language. Be we know from Scripture that even the demons know a lot of Scripture. James says “Even the demons believe that God is One and shudder”.

What’s the solution then?

Don’t look at yourself and your actions but look to the cross. Look and see the Son of God who died on your behalf and rose again on the third Day to completely destroy and free you from the power of sin!

Look at his perfect provision for you. (Rom 5:8) and if you call upon him today and believe not in your works but His perfect work on the cross for you…you will be saved (Rom 10:9). Would you want to experience real faith today by trusting Jesus?

For others, you know you have real faith. You truly grieve over your sin and have tried every single way to cut-off that sin-pattern and have seen a lot of failure. I just want to remind you of the power and the tools that are at your disposal to wage war against sin. You have the Holy Spirit within you. And the Holy Spirit will strengthen you to kill and cut-off sin as you humble yourself, turn away from your sin and yield to what the Spirit asks you to do today.  

Romans 8:13 – For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

In 1 John it says that He who is in you is greater than He who is in the world.

Would you call out to God and ask Him to help you hate your sin and develop great and intense affections for the Savior today? And would you commit yourself to close group of believers who will hold you accountable and help you cut off the sin that is within![/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

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Sermon

Living out our lives as Citizens of God’s Kingdom

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Good morning church! As a church we’ve been doing a series called “Living out our identity in Christ”.

Why is this important? Because everything we do, every decision we make flows out from our identity. What makes us who we are. Who we are at the core of our being.

Over the last two weeks we learnt how we build our identities on many things – it can be our jobs, our role in the family, how much money we make or even in the relationship that we have. And all these identities leave us empty and unsatisfied. God has given us a new wonderful identity in Christ which is eternally significant.

So we learnt how we are Chosen and Adopted in Christ. And last week we learnt how we are Accepted, Loved and Forgiven in Christ. Today we’ll be look at 1 Peter 1 to understand our identity as “citizens of God’s kingdom”. I love 1 Peter because I believe this entire letter talks about this identity. Let’s look at 1 Peter 1:13-21.

13 Therefore, preparing your minds for action,[b] and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance,

15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,

16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

17 And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,

18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

I’ve always found the life of a foreign diplomat interesting. Imagine an Indian ambassador that’s posted in another country. Even though the Indian diplomat is in a new culture and tries to engage with the culture as much as he can, he still preserves his national identity.

Maybe he might use a fork and spoon instead of hands when he’s in a foreign country but his allegiance to India will not change.

Even though he’s in a foreign country, he will responsibly manage his speech and his actions because he is a representative of India.He represents India to the world.

Similarly, you and I who have trusted in Jesus as Lord are citizens of God’s kingdom. We might have a passport saying that we belong to a certain country but much more than that we are citizens of God’s kingdom. Representatives of God to the world.

As citizens what do we do and difference does that make to you and me?

We live with an eternal focus
(v13) We need to set our hope fully on the grace that will be revealed to us in Christ Jesus. What is this grace that will be revealed when Christ comes back? The passage right before this one talks about that.

We will receive an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled and unfading. The reward for those who trust in Christ’s work for them is an eternal inheritance. We will also receive a new physical body that will be like Christ’s – one without corruption and sin and that will last for eternity! So if that’s the grace that will be revealed to us when Christ comes, then how can we live with an eternal focus:

Prepare our minds for action
preparing your minds for action,[b] and being sober-minded (v13)

The Greek word for “prepare your minds” in the Greek is actually a visual term used to depict how people in ancient times with their long robes would tie a leather belt around their waist to get ready to go on a journey or to do some physical work. Basically they didn’t want their long robes to impede their journey.

And that’s the term that’s used in the command – prepare your minds for action! In the light of receiving a wonderful gift of an eternal inheritance, you have to prepare your minds for action.

Have you heard of the term “spiritual vacation”? Well spiritual vacation is when people decide to take a break from their spiritual lives. Relax from all the spiritual disciplines or from living in holiness or serving people.

In my life there is a strong temptation to take a spiritual vacation on weeks when I’m not preaching. It constantly needs to be fought! And I believe we fall into this temptation because at some level we don’t believe that Christ’s coming is imminent. Or we don’t believe in the eternal value and worth of that future reward.

This kind of spiritual vacation needs to be fought. We need to remind each other that because God has assured and confirmed our eternal destiny through the work of Christ, we need to prepare our minds for action.

So even when we are on vacation with family or friends, there’s no concept of spiritual vacation for a believer. We are always pursuing the things of God. Okay, you might ask – how do I prepare my mind for action?

b.Pursue our calling for holiness

14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 15 but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”

The verse starts of by reminding us of our identity – obedient children. Relationally we are God’s children – chosen and adopted before the foundation of the world.

In our attitude to our Father, we are obedient. The verse goes on to say “do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct”. There is an active participation in this pursuit of holiness. Christian life isn’t about relaxing and allowing sin to take its course but it’s a constant war with sin.

The reason for Holiness – is because our Father is Holy! As believers sometimes, we forget or minimize this attribute of God. Because we are on this side of the cross – having experienced God’s grace and mercy, knowing that we’re relationally his children and His Friend we end up emphasizing less on the Holiness of God. God is still the same, yesterday today and forever.

When Moses meets God for the first time through the burning bush – God tells him to take off his sandals because he was standing on holy ground because God is Holy.

In Exodus 19, right before God gives them the 10 commandments on Mount Sinai, God commands Moses to consecrate the people for 2 days, on the third Day He said put limits around the mountain because whoever touches the mountain will be put death because God is Holy.

Isaiah 6 when he sees a vision of heaven and the 2 seraphim covering their faces and feet with the wings, they call out to each other: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty” because God is Holy.

Isaiah seeing this says “Woe to me! I am ruined for I am a man of unclean lips among a people of unclean lips and my eyes have seen the King the Lord Almighty” because God is Holy.

Hab 1:13 “it says You who are of purer eyes than to see evil and cannot look at wrong” because God is Holy.

Revelations we see the 4 living creatures who Day and Night never stop saying “Holy is the Lord almighty, who was and is to come” because God is Holy!

And if this is our Father – who we worship and who Has adopted us, how should we live? We live in a culture today where what’s unholy is glorified and praised and what’s holy is looked down upon.

Taking a stand for holiness would mean being severely pressurized by the sin within us and the people around us. One of my believer friends recently wrote a Facebook post in response to the Supreme Court verdict section 377. With so much gentleness he wrote his thoughts and provided a biblical view for marriage and how homosexuality is a perversion of that design.

It’s a sin that needs to be repented of. The flak he got for writing that post was quite bad. He received such terrible abuses that I can’t even mention that in public. Another mutual friend of ours saw the post and said “if this is what your God says, then I would rather be in hell rather than support this view”.

That’s how extremely difficult it can be today for believers to live out their faith in holiness. That’s why I think it’s so very important to be in Gospel Communities where we get to encourage each other to pursue our calling for holiness and also speak into situations when we struggle to pursue that.

Both preparing our minds for action and pursuing our calling for holiness helps us to live with an eternal focus. Not only that but

2.We operate out of a gospel focus

Tying to the previous point. Holiness needs to be pursued with the right motivations. What is the right motivation for living in reverence and godly fear?

(v17-21) And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile,

18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold,

19 but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

20 He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you

21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

Christ is the irreplaceable sacrifice ->  Peter gives an amazing picture to what actually happened on the cross.

We inherited sin, Satan and death from our forefathers. We were bound to sin and its passions. Sin saturated our minds and hearts and bodies.

We were literally on the highway to hell trying to get there as quickly as we could. But God wanted to rescue us out of His abundant love and mercy.

He needed to pay a ransom amount and that was the precious blood of His Son – Jesus Christ that He shed on the cross. It wasn’t gold. It wasn’t silver.

It was something way more precious than that – the perfect lamb who was chosen before the foundations for you, who willingly gave up His life for you & was raised on the third Day so that you could believe and hope in God! Do you see why it’s irreplaceable? Do you see the worth and value of Jesus Christ?

I want us to take a moment and think honestly: what motivates you to pursue a holy life? What drives you to observe spiritual disciplines? What drives you to fight sexual sin? What motivates you to speak the truth? What compels you to not cheat? Is it because you want to be seen as morally good before others? Is it because you don’t want to be judged by the others in the church? Or Is it because you don’t want to feel guilty for not being holy?

Or is it because you fear that you’ll lose out on God’s favor? If your answer is yes to these questions, then in some way or the other you are still operating out of a performance-based focus or identity.

The truth is none of this pleases God. There is a better way.  Allowing the gospel to motivate you to live in holiness. Let it coming out of a heart that wants to please our Savior and Lord because of Jesus’ irreplaceable sacrifice.

For all of us who have believed in Jesus Christ we know that it was seeing and understanding the love of Christ on the cross that melted our hearts and brought us to His feet for surrender.

Even as we grow in our relationship with Christ obedience continues to be a response to His love. Whatever helps you remember the gospel each day – do that so that it can fuel the right motivation for holiness. Maybe its passages like these. Or a song that is gospel centred or even thinking about your testimony of what God has done for you and is continuing to do in you are ways by which you can remember the gospel daily.

We are citizens and representatives of God’s kingdom! What a privilege for people who never deserved to be part of that kingdom. What do citizens of God’s kingdom do? We live with an eternal focus unlike the rest of the world that lives only for this earthly life & We operate out of a gospel focus wanting to please the Holy Judge in every way because of the irreplaceable sacrifice of His Son that has ransomed us. This is also contrary to the world that operates out of a performance-based focus.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]