Author: Jinson Thomas

An enthusiastic preacher but lacked faith! That was the description of John Wesley’s ministry before he got saved. He was an Anglican priest and was excited to go on a mission trip to bring the gospel to the newly found America in the 18th century. One day he reluctantly attended a Christian meeting where they read Martin Luther’s introduction to Romans.

While it was being read, he put his faith in Jesus and his whole life turned around. Now we know that the Lord used him mightily to being about a revival in England. Don’t you find it interesting that he was around Christian people all the time? He was an Anglican priest! He was well versed with the Bible – he studied theology in college! He even went on a mission trip to a country which was newly discovered! Yet he didn’t know what it meant to be a follower of Jesus. He loved the idea of Christianity but didn’t know what it meant to be a Christian. How do we know that we are followers of Christ? What makes us a follower of Christ? I believe today’s passage will help us identify what it means to be a true follower of Christ. Please turn with me to Mark 3:7-19.

As you a church we are going through a series in the Gospel of Mark. Last week we saw how the Pharisees got really hostile toward Jesus to the point that they conspired with the Herodians on how they can kill him!

[7] Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea [8] and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. [9] And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, [10] for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. [11] And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” [12] And he strictly ordered them not to make him known.

[13] And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him. [14] And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach [15] and have authority to cast out demons. [16] He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); [17] James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); [18] Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,[b] [19] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

There are three things that this passage tells us about being a follower of Jesus Christ.

1. We follow Christ by making him our satisfaction

[7] Jesus withdrew with his disciples to the sea, and a great crowd followed, from Galilee and Judea [8] and Jerusalem and Idumea and from beyond the Jordan and from around Tyre and Sidon. When the great crowd heard all that he was doing, they came to him. [9] And he told his disciples to have a boat ready for him because of the crowd, lest they crush him, [10] for he had healed many, so that all who had diseases pressed around him to touch him. [11] And whenever the unclean spirits saw him, they fell down before him and cried out, “You are the Son of God.” [12] And he strictly ordered them not to make him known. (v7-12)

These verses tell us how Jesus drew a great crowd. And the crowd was so diverse that they came from all different parts of Israel. V8 tells us that this huge crowd came to him because they heard all that he was doing. They heard about the amazing miracles and healings that he did. Now they wanted to see it themselves! Not only did this crowd come to him, but the people with diseases kept pressing themselves against Jesus so that they could touch him and get healed. It was so bad that Jesus asked his disciples to have a boat ready so that the crowd wouldn’t crush him. Not only does this indicate the humanity of Jesus but also reveals how the people had a greater concern to receive physical healing than knowing and believing in Jesus.

The demonic spirits knew who Jesus was. In fact they correctly identified Jesus as the Son of God because they were aware of his authority. But why would Jesus tell them to be quiet? Why should he stop them from telling the crowd who he truly is? Now they’ll finally recognize him correctly, right? No, let’s understand what the Jews were expecting that time. They were expecting a Messiah who would be a political ruler who would remove the Romans and become their King. And becoming a political ruler isn’t why Jesus came to the earth. Jesus came to the earth to reign over our hearts and minds so that our greatest loyalty and obedience would be toward him only. Jesus came not to satisfy some of our needs but to become our complete satisfaction forever. Jesus came not to fulfill our personal goals but to become our only goal in life!

If I went to my wife and told her “Angie, I love being married to you because you cook for me, help me with my laundry & do the dishes”, she would actually feel more insulted than loved. Why? Because I’ve reduced her to just someone who does a few things for me. Instead if I told her “Angie, I love being married to you because I see you as God’s gift for me. I appreciate everything you do for me and I’m honored to be your husband”. What does that communicate? How precious and valuable she is.

If the only reason we pray is so that we ask God to give us a job, a life partner, house, money, position then we are not making Him our satisfaction. I’m not saying we shouldn’t pray about these things but is that the only reason why we pray? If the only reason we read our Bible is so that we don’t feel guilty or condemned then we aren’t delighting in Him. If the only reason why we come to God is so that we receive healing or to deliver us from trouble then we aren’t loving him. And this is the test: if God takes everything away from you…just like Job would you love him? Would you honor him? Would you say “God, I am going through the deepest time of trial, but I will still trust in you. I will still call onto you. I will still praise You because You never change”. That can only happen if we make Christ our satisfaction. That means studying the Bible with a desire to love Jesus. Praying to grow closer to Him.  

2. We follow Christ by responding to His invitation

[13] And he went up on the mountain and called to him those whom he desired, and they came to him.

You see here how Jesus Christ Himself called people to himself. Christ chooses His disciples. He chooses those who would follow Him. Not just does He call them, but they come to Him. That’s the part I want to focus on. The great mystery and truth of the Christian life is that we first become believers and then after sometime we realize how God already chose us in Christ before the foundations of the world to be holy and blameless before Him (Eph 1:3)

We then realize that those whom God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son. Those whom He predestined, He called, those He called He justified, and those He justified, He also glorified (Rom 8:29, 30)

But we can only understand that once we have responded to His invitation. It’s like an invitation to an event that has been given to you. But you can only know what all planning and arrangements have been made once you enter the venue. Once you enter, you look around and then you realize the amount of time and effort it may have taken the organizer to set it up. So it’s not like from the outside we can judge “Oh, I’m not sure Christ has chosen me so I can’t trust Him as my Lord and Savior”. No, in fact Jesus invites everyone to the good news of the gospel.

[28] Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. [29] Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. [30] For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt 11:28)

[37] On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. (John 7:37)

The Lord chooses, He grants us faith to believe in Him and the Spirit transforms our hearts! No doubt but these are things we only understand in retrospect. Not before we come to Christ. How can this apply to a believer? You may have been a believer in Christ but you are struggling right now with guilt and shame. You may be thinking “there’s no way God can accept a person like me. I’ve messed up the zillionth time again”.

[12] As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalm 103:12)

Our sins are removed so far from us because of what Christ did for us on the cross. He paid it in full. Hold on to this promise, come to Jesus, repent and respond to His invitation. And then spend the rest of your life remembering and retelling how amazing our God is! When we stumble in sin, repent and grieve over the sin, hold on to the precious promises of Christ and come back to Jesus. Don’t be like the person who doesn’t go for the event because he thinks he doesn’t have a personal invitation. No, Christ Himself gave you the invitation through His blood He shed on the cross and through His resurrection. Jesus Christ has removed every single barrier. Nothing stops you from coming openly and gladly running towards God. Do you believe?

3. We follow Christ by participating in His mission

[14] And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach [15] and have authority to cast out demons. [16] He appointed the twelve: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter); [17] James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (to whom he gave the name Boanerges, that is, Sons of Thunder); [18] Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,[b] [19] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

It says Christ appointed 12 people so that they might be with Jesus and that they might be sent out. What an encouraging verse! All of Christian life is described in just that: being with Jesus and then being sent out as His representatives. So we spend time every day with Jesus in the morning, and then are sent out as His representatives in our families, neighborhoods, colleges and workplaces. We spend time every week in Gospel community and Sunday Gathering and then are sent out to “Gather More”. Are there stressful times while we are on mission? Yes, maybe stress at work, financial difficulty, anxiety, family pressure, relational conflict. What do we do? Go and be with Jesus Christ and His people and then again be sent out. I remember when I just became a believer, someone at my youth group called time in community as “being recharged”. Such a great way of telling it. Let’s get recharged everyday as we spend one on one time with God and then let’s get recharged when we connect with other believers during the week.

What were the two things these apostles did? They preached the gospel and they were given the authority to cast out demons. Now we know that all believers aren’t given the same gifts of miracles and casting out demons but the idea here is go out and serve people with your gifts and then find opportunities to tell the gospel to them as you are serving them.

For example, if someone has the gifting of compassion, go and serve the people in your community in such a way that it creates opportunities for you to share the good news of Jesus with them. If someone has the gifting of faith, go and pray with your colleagues for their needs in such a way that you tell them about the Lord to whom you are praying to.

One last point, I’m sure it may have crossed your mind. What about Judas Iscariot? How come Christ appointed him even though he knew that he would eventually betray him?

Now I know one of the reason was to fulfill the Scriptures and prophecy that spoke about a close partner and friend who would betray the Messiah. But I also think it was to serve as an example for us reminding us that you can be so close to Christianity and yet love something else more than Jesus. You can be attracted by the Bible, Church and mission and yet be willing to give everything up if your expectations are affected. What makes us think that we are believers? How do we truly know that we aren’t just fascinated by Church and Christianity? The only way is by seeing biblically if we are following Christ.

I once read a story about a man in a foreign country who calls up the police to report that he saw a car speeding above the speed limit.

He called and said “Right now I’ve witnessed a car speeding well over 100 mph. The license plate no. is……” The cops respond by telling this man a thank you for reporting this. At the end of the conversation, the cops ask the man for his own license plate number. He’s a little surprised.

He asks them “Why do you need my license plate number? I just called to report this speeding car”. The cops reply “You are aware that it is illegal to drive and talk on your cell phone, right?” “Click”– They hear a disconnected tone on the phone.

That’s exactly what self-righteousness does. It gives you the feeling that you’re seeing something particularly wrong in someone else but ignores your own blindness. Because self-righteousness is blinding, it disturbs our overall vision! And we’ll see in today’s passage how self-righteousness affects every aspect of our lives.

Through our study of Mark, we are now beginning to see how the Pharisees are getting uncomfortable with Jesus. He forgives people’s sins, eats with sinners and tax collectors and doesn’t observe the traditions of fasting and the Sabbath as they expect. We’ll see how things get a little more tense in today’s passage.

Let’s turn to Mark chapter 3.

[1] Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. [2] And they watched Jesus,[a] to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him. [3] And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” [4] And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent. [5] And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. [6] The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

Interestingly this is a story about a wonderful healing but that moves in the background. The main story is about the blindness and hard-heartedness of the Pharisees. Because self-righteousness is blinding, it disturbs our overall vision! There are three ways in which we can see our overall vision being impaired:

1. It prevents us from seeing God

[1] Again he entered the synagogue, and a man was there with a withered hand. [2] And they watched Jesus,[a] to see whether he would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse him.

Here you have Jesus – the Son of God standing in front of them displaying the beauty, the heart and the power of God and yet all the Pharisees intended to do was find a reason to accuse him. As we learned last week [READ], the Sabbath was a commandment from God designed for our good.

By observing the Sabbath, the Israelites were to reflect God who rested on the seventh day after creating the universe and everything in it. God said that no one should work on the Sabbath but the Pharisees interpreted “work” in their own terms.

Plucking grains when the disciples were hungry – they called that as work. In this case, healing a person – “work” according to their interpretation. So just because Jesus didn’t follow their human traditions and expectations, they rejected him and wanted to find a reason to accuse him. They rejected and wanted to accuse the Son of God!

Sometimes that might be the way we approach a Sunday morning Gathering. We come here to assess the worship and the preacher’s performance rather than seeing God! What we fail to see is that God wants to meet with us. God wants to speak to us.

God wants to specifically deal with the issues you are facing. God wants to capture your heart. He wants to change you from the inside out. He wants to encourage your soul. He wants to use you as His handpicked instrument.

But our self-righteous desire to rate the preaching and the worship blinds us from seeing God. If all we notice on a Sunday morning is few people singing, one person giving a speech for 40mins…I would say that is pointless.

But if you came this morning to see our glorious Lord, that’s what will be tremendously satisfying and life-changing! Let’s be people who are zealously desiring to meet with God every day during our abiding time and corporately when we meet in GCs and Sunday Gathering. I have a meeting scheduled with Jesus – let that be our attitude!

2. It prevents us from loving people

[3] And he said to the man with the withered hand, “Come here.” [4] And he said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do harm, to save life or to kill?” But they were silent.

This man had a hand that was dried up because it didn’t get sufficient nourishment from the body. All the power in the had was gone and there was no remedy to this until he met Jesus. Should Jesus have ignored the man so that the Pharisees would be pleased? Absolutely not.

Jesus had compassion on this man and called him forward. Jesus understood the hearts of the Pharisees and asked them “what was the right thing to do on the Sabbath”? “To do good or harm? To save life or kill”. But they remained silent.

That’s such a sad thing, don’t you agree? They were so zealous for their tradition that they didn’t care at all about the man who suffered from this disease for many years. Only he and God understood the pain that he went through all these years.

Is this attitude of the Pharisees common in our lives as well? Yes. It happens whenever we are very quick to judge our brothers and sisters on the basis of their failures in their spiritual walk. Whenever we pass judgments on their struggles rather than grieve over their sin. The question is: do we take pleasure in their struggles or is it grieving our hearts?

Is it moving us toward prayer? Is it creating a longing to help and encourage the other person? Self-righteousness means only being concerned about your own faith and how you can appear to be better than the other. As long as you are morally at a better place than the struggling brother, you are happy. Self-righteousness at its core is selfish!

So that’s why it’s always healthy to ask ourselves how we’ve been loving our brothers and sisters. Often that’s a good indicator of our level of self-righteousness.

3. It prevents us from knowing our own sin

[5] And he looked around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, and said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” He stretched it out, and his hand was restored. [6] The Pharisees went out and immediately held counsel with the Herodians against him, how to destroy him.

In these verses we see Jesus expressing a lot of emotions. There is anger mixed with grief when he sees the hardness of heart! They probably thought they were all in the right. They thought they had the zeal for God but no Jesus saw how cold, how stubborn and how hard their hearts had become. Jesus showing compassion toward the man and restoring his hand wasn’t wonderful and beautiful to them.

They responded by going out and meeting the Herodians –supporters of the Herodian dynasty who weren’t friends with them earlier – and plotted how to destroy Jesus. Can you believe? The most religious men of that time now are showing themselves to be killers because they didn’t know how sinful their hearts had become. Their self-righteousness blinded them to think that they were right when in reality they were totally wrong.

In my own life, I’ve had plenty of times where I’ve been convicted of self-righteousness. But I remember this one particular time a few years back when I was really blinded by my righteousness. I would go and attend church services and become really critical of the pastor. This reached its tipping point when I ended up becoming critical of the people that God gave me to minister to.

And that’s the thing about self-righteousness. It’ll make you feel like the whole world has a problem except you. A loving brother confronted me with my sin and I was really humbled that day. The correction was painful but I realized how it softened my heart and opened it up to be changed by God.

I now know that it’s all God’s grace because self-righteousness really can ruin a person’s life, make them bitter towards God and others without realizing how sour our heart has become.

I know the question that most of you are thinking right now, okay so how should we respond? What can we do to change this heart condition?

By God’s grace, these are the three things that need to be done:

1) Understand that we have sinned and admit that we are self-righteous

[8] If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. [9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:8,9)

I know this seems quite basic but the truth is that sometimes it’s not easy for us to say that we are a practicing sinner. It’s humbling to acknowledge that. It means to say no to self-pride and self-exaltation. Sometimes people say they aren’t comfortable saying that they still are sinners but the Word talks about it differently.

1 John was written to believers, not unbelievers. And the exhortation here is to admit before God that we are sinners. And if we confess…then he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

2) Renounce our dependence on ourselves and grieve over our sins

I think this is perfectly illustrated in the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax collector. The Pharisee loudly prays. “God, I thank you that I’m not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterer, or even this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all that I get”. Now you might think this is an impressive resume.

However, God wasn’t impressed because the Pharisee did all these superficial things to earn his righteousness before God. He didn’t come to God with his whole heart. He just wanted to brag about what he did. The tax collector, on the other hand, standing far off wouldn’t even lift his eyes toward heaven.

He beat his chest saying “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” And Jesus said that this man went home justified and not the Pharisee. (Luke 18:9-14) A question for you: which of the two renounced his dependence on himself? Which of the two had grieved over his sin? The tax collector.

God wants us to have the same attitude as that of the tax collector, not the Pharisee. When we come before God, it’s not the time to show off our knowledge of the Bible or talk about the great things accomplished in our life. When we come before God, it needs to be humble and honest like the tax collector.

3) Rely on Christ’s performance for us

[21] For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The wonderful truth of the gospel isn’t complete only if we understand that we are sinners and renounce our dependence on ourselves. It’s completed when we trust in the Great Exchange that took place on the cross. Jesus Christ lovingly endured the death we deserved so that by believing in Him we can have His righteousness!

God doesn’t want us to remain in guilt and shame of sin but He wants to make us right through His Son. So after we have confessed our sins and renounced the dependence on ourselves, we now look at Christ’s life and righteousness to clothe us and cover us.

What about the thoughts of blame that Satan throws at us? What about the accusations that other people around us tell us? “Therefore, now there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus”. (Romans 8:1) There is nobody that can condemn you if you are in Christ!

In what areas has God been speaking to us today? Where have we noticed self-righteousness in our own hearts? We know that because self-righteousness is blinding, it prevents us from seeing God. We know that because self-righteousness is blinding, it prevents us from loving people.

We know that because self-righteousness is blinding, it prevents us from knowing our own sin. There is a way out – by admitting that we are sinners, renouncing the dependence on ourselves and relying on Christ’s performance for us.

[audioplayer file=”http://thegatheringcommunity.in/wp-content/uploads/how-can-I-glorify-god-with-my-spiritual-gifts-audio.mp3″]

Good morning church! We had a wonderful retreat on Friday as we covered the topic of “Serving each other with spiritual gifts”. We did a small exercise at the end of the retreat where we shared what our gifts were and in fact other people confirmed what those giftings were. It was such a beautiful picture of the variety of expressions of the Spirit’s work in our church. Now as humans we are prone to take pride in anything that we think we are good at or gifted in. So I think it would be ideal and most appropriate to follow up with the question: Now that I know what spiritual gifts are and identified those gifts, in what manner am I supposed to use them? How can I glorify God using my spiritual gifts? Are there ways by which I can use my gifts and still not glorify God?

As we are turning to 1 Corinthians 13, let me provide a little bit of a context to help us understand the passage. As we read through 1 Corinthians 12, what we realize is that there was a division among the Corinthians over spiritual gifts. Some believers considered gifts like tongues to be more valuable and superior to other gifts. Members of the church who didn’t have those gifts felt left out and less honored. Moreover, people were taking pride in their individual spiritual gifts rather than seeing how it can be used to bless and benefit the others in the church. It’s a response to that when Paul writes 1 Cor 13.

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

As you may have figured: Love is the way and manner by which we can use our gifts to glorify God. This morning I want to remind us of three truths about biblical love as we look to use our gifts to serve each other:

1. The necessity of Love
2. The meaning of Love
3. The permanence of Love

1. The necessity of Love

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing. (v1-3)

It doesn’t get more direct and impactful than that! Paul says that if we have the gift of tongues without love then we are merely noisy instruments. He goes on further to say that if we have great prophetic powers minus love, we are nothing. If we understand all the mysteries and have all knowledge but no love then we are nothing. Not just that, he says that if we give everything that we have away – total sacrifice and even deliver our body to be burned up but have no love, we gain nothing! Such a huge sacrifice has zero effect and rendered useless if it is done without love.

What I think he’s emphasizing on is that love is the key to using your spiritual gifts. That’s why in 1 Corinthians 14, he urges the church to only allow speaking in tongues if there’s an interpreter. Why? Because that’s how the church can be loving toward each other when everyone understands what is being spoken. Remember the goal is to not glorify yourself using your gifts, the goal is to build up each other.

I still remember when I was a young believer in my previous church. I was given the responsibility to play the keyboard during the services. By God’s grace I was a capable keyboard player and would practice a lot even during the week. When we used to have the Lord’s Supper, I would think that this is my moment to shine. All those keyboard solos I practiced during the week would be performed for the whole church to hear. So much so that once someone commented that he felt like he was at the disco during the Lord’s Supper.

At that point of time I thought it was really cool getting all the attention. However, if I have to compare it with 1 Cor 13, was I really being loving? No, because in the attempt to catch people’s attention I missed the whole point of accompanying the songs with music so that people’s attention could be on God, on the gospel and the significant symbol of the Lord’s Supper.

The other thing I want to mention here is that your gifts don’t determine our spirituality, your love does! Let me repeat that again: Your gifts don’t determine how spiritual you are, your love reveals how spiritual you truly are! And that’s a big learning for the church. So many enthusiastic and gifted leaders have messed up themselves and also affected their churches by relying on their gifts rather than loving people. Some of them were very gifted preachers and worship leaders.

Very renowned people who have spoken at conferences and written many books. But because they emphasized and relied on their spiritual gifts for their spirituality, it crumbled and they lost their way. They were so excited to display themselves before people, that they forgot how they were called to use their gifts to lovingly serve and build people. You might have multiple gifts or a single gifts…it doesn’t matter! Are you loving people through those gifts? That’s what matters.

2. The meaning of Love

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

This is probably the most famous wedding card verse. Frequently used passage for pre-marital counseling and during wedding sermons. However, when we look at the context: there was division in the church. So for them, it wasn’t just a sweet, cute message. It was something they had to do to do, they had to forgive, they had to love. And even in close relationships, be it husband-wife, parents-children, close friends, church family you’ll find that there will always be issues.

Why? Because as we live closely with each other we realize each other’s sin much more clearly and we see each other’s weird habits closely. Sometimes it’s not sin specifically that causes issues but weird habits. You like doing things one way, the other person doesn’t and things get difficult in that relationship. To deal with that, we need a healthy reminder of what biblical love looks like.

Negatives: What love is not:-

• Envy: Being jealous of what the other person has, either his lifestyle, or giftings or anything else.
• Boast: Spending time talking about what you have or what you’ve done or what you’re going to do.
• Arrogant: Being puffed up and prideful about what you know. You’re not pulling people down because you think they don’t have or don’t know as much as you. Not having the humility to accept that you could be wrong.
• Rude: Being offensively impolite or bad mannered in your conduct toward your brothers and sisters.
• Insist on its own way: Be demanding to have your way.
• Irritable: Easily annoyed and provoked.
• Resentful: Keeping count of everything that a person has done and become bitter about it.
• Rejoices in wrongdoing: Taking pleasure in unrighteousness either in your life or witnessing and enjoying the sins in others.

What love is:

• Patient and kind: Be patient while bearing the offences of others. Someone may have done something really hurtful toward you but you are going to be very slow in judging or punishing the person and mild in your response.
• Rejoices in the truth: You would rejoice in everything that is righteous, holy, pure, encouraging and points people toward God! Rejoicing in the Word of God.
• Bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things: A persevering relationship that is secure from threats and one that always believes the best about the person. Free from suspicion and insecurity.

What these few verses tell me is that love is not a feeling or an emotion. But it’s the willing surrendering of your rights for the good of the other person. And that’s why apart from God’s grace we cannot and are absolutely incapable of producing this kind of love. Brothers and sisters, this was the same love that God showed to us in His Son Jesus Christ. It was a pure, humble and glorious love. Even though we deserved God’s wrath, Jesus Christ humbly took on the form of man, lived the perfect live and died as a perfect sacrifice to pay for our sins. You know if we honestly looked at v4-6, we would conclude that we are sinners who haven’t displayed true love toward God. Because we are envious, we are impatient, we are rude, we are arrogant, we are boastful, we’ve been irritated and so many other sins.

Only a perfect sacrifice had the power to remove and cleanse us completely. Jesus Christ died, was buried and rose again on third day to give us what we didn’t deserve: His righteous life. It’s like we were prisoners wearing prison clothes who were going to be executed and at the last moment a good man wearing a nice suit asked us to exchange our clothes for his. We made the exchange and walked out free but the good man paid the price wearing our prison clothes. Can we ever comprehend the extent of this love? Jesus Christ showed us what love is by willingly surrendering his rights for our good and the glory of God. We need to now imitate that Love by bending it outwards in our marriages, in our families, in our church, at work.

3. The permanence of Love

8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

In this last paragraph, Paul says how prophecies, tongues, knowledge and all these other spiritual gifts will pass away but not love. All of these gifts are given to us to prepare us for the coming of the Lord. When we see Jesus face to face, we will not require spiritual gifts anymore. I love the way Paul puts it. He says “we will know fully, even as we are known fully”. In other words, God knows us totally from the inside out. Even we probably don’t understand ourselves that well but God does. Just imagine the privilege to know God fully in the same way! That is so amazing!

So spiritual gifts will cease when Christ comes again but love will still continue. Love never ends. Love never fails. Love will never stop being effective. What I always found confusing was v13. Never understood why Paul mentions faith and hope as well and then says love is the greatest.

Colossians 1:4,5: since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven.

What we see here is faith is our reliance upon Christ for salvation, love is what we share among the believers, and hope is what we have for our eternal inheritance. Out of these faith and hope can seem to be more individual things, but love for the saints involves loving, caring and building up others. And maybe that’s why Paul says it’s the greatest out of three things because it is benefiting the other person as well. We know that within the God-head, the three members – Father, Son and Holy Spirit enjoyed a loving relationship. They love and serve and enjoy each other in community. As God’s redeemed people, we can now join and participate in that loving community.

It’s something that we are going to spend the rest of our lives in eternity doing: loving each other well! It’s almost like Paul is saying: don’t get caught up in what gift you have or don’t have. These spiritual gifts aren’t going to be there in eternity. Focus on what will remain in eternity and that is going to be “Love”. As we start using more and more of our gifts within the church, let me challenge us to talk more about how can we love each other better. Let the conversations be more about how can we willingly surrender our rights for the good of the other person.

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How do we make much of God through Christ’s Commission in 2018?

Good morning church! As you’re aware we began the year by reminding each other of the church vision statement: Because we are loved, we love and serve Christ in Community through Commission for His glory. Brother Saju spoke on how can we make much of Christ in 2018. That happens by abiding in Christ and being fully devoted to Him and his purposes individually and also as a family. Last week brother Jeff shared of how we can make much of each other in 2018. We need to contend for the unity of the church and view others with the lens of the spirit and not the flesh. Today we’ll be looking at the topic of “Commission”.

Every time I think about the word “Commission”, somehow this question comes to mind “What all would I need to do or sacrifice in order to participate in God’s mission?” Am I the only one who has thought that? The mission of God is something that has been focused right throughout Scripture, so I invite you all to join me in learning what that means for us today.

The word commission from the dictionary means an instruction or command given to a group. So we all know that in Matt 28 just before Jesus ascended into heaven, he gave his disciples some instructions: 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt 28:19-20)

It is definitely an important command that Jesus has given all of us but what I hope we’ll arrive at the end of today’s sermon is that it’s something more than a command. It’s something that defines every believer in Christ. It’s something that every believer has been wired and also empowered to do.

First let’s understand what’s the purpose of the “Commission”? For that we turn to our main passage for today:

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy. (1 Pet 2:9,10)

This amazing passage has so many things we can ponder upon. It says “we are chosen by God”. Think with me for a moment what that means. If we were chosen by the President to receive the Bharat Ratna, could you imagine how amazing that would be? Yet, the Bible says that the God who created the heavens and the earth, who existed before anything else existed hand picked you to be His people! Plus the word says we are a royal priesthood. In other words, in God’s royal courts he has appointed us to be his ministers to the people on earth. That’s what an OT priest would do.

He would represent God to the people and vice-versa also represent the people to God. Further it adds that we are “holy”. People set apart for God, made morally blameless…in effect “saints”. Isn’t that mind blowing? We are saints in God’s eyes! And it says that “we are a people for his own possession”. He owns us. We are his possession. We belong to Him. Precious in His eyes. He decides what He uses us for. But did we deserve any of this? Did we do anything to earn God’s choice? Did we do anything for which God could say You are my royal priest? Did we do anything to deserve to be called saints? Did we do anything to be God’s prized possession. No, absolutely not. We lived worthless lives only deserving of judgment and hell. But God being full of grace and mercy, sent His Son Jesus Christ to save us.

Jesus Christ protected you and me from being eternally separated from God. It came at a very very high cost. It costed God the death of His Son. Jesus being perfect and dying a righteous death, rose again on the third day to give us this new identity as described in v9.

So let’s first remind ourselves, that we didn’t earn this identity. We were given this identity by grace at the highest cost. And now because Christ saved us, he owns us. So no longer our ways, our desires, our goals define us but instead Christ’s ways, Christ’s desires and Christ’s goals.

So what’s Christ’s purpose for saving us? that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Because we have been saved by immeasurable and unending grace, and because he’s given us a new, fresh, glorious identity…we will spend the rest of our lives “proclaiming” at the top of our voices, and with our lives and with our attitudes how big and how great and how awesome is He who pulled me out of sin, Satan and death and brought me into his marvelous light which is brighter than the sun.

On one hand there is the indebtedness…Oh…I’m humbled and I don’t know how to thank God enough for what He’s done and on the other hand, there is this wonderful privilege to now proclaim about this amazing God!

If that’s not enough, Peter adds another line in v10. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God’s people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

We were God’s enemies at one time because of our terrible lives but now by placing our faith in Jesus…we have received mercy from God and we have also become His precious people now who are being used by God. He’s telling us to remember where we came from. Remember who you were. Remember what God did to you by sending our Savior Jesus. Remember how your life and identity has now changed.

So that’s the cause and purpose for the “Commission”. Now how does that play out in our lives? How can I “proclaim the excellencies of Him who called me out of darkness into his marvelous light?”

1. Speaking

a) Verbal proclamation of the Gospel

14 How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15 And how can anyone preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!”

16 But not all the Israelites accepted the good news. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our message?” 17 Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word about Christ.

There is a going, preaching, hearing, believing and calling on the Lord. It’s very clear from this passage that people can only be saved through the gospel. And that’s why it needs to be shared. If there was any other way to save a person, God would’ve told us. The truth is there is no other way by which a man can be saved apart from preaching Christ.

People are only going to believe if the gospel is preached to them! If you’ve been praying for your colleagues or neighbors…I’d encourage us to take the next step of now sharing the gospel with them.

b) Grace-filled Conversations with unbelievers

Now this in itself is not what saves an unbeliever but shows our intentionality in opening up opportunities to present the gospel.

5 Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. 6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Col 4;5,6)

This is an amazing verse because it reminds us to be aware when we are around unbelievers…which is a lot of the time…at the same time trying to use every opportunity to build a connect with them. How do you do it? You are seasoning your conversations with “salt”. We know salt is meant to add taste to the food. What does that mean? I don’t think it means to make your talk very attractive using big words and many facial expressions. But I think it means being wise with your words and also speaking things that encourage people rather than discourage them. The goal of speech should be to build up and benefit the other person.

Last week at work my colleague told a story of how his friend always complained of the disappointment in marriage. He kept on saying that for many days. Finally after sometime when they all went out, someone asked him privately…is your marriage really that bad? He whispered “No, not really. It’s actually great. I have to say that because everyone else is saying it. If I say my marriage is good, people might actually think something is wrong with it.”

Now it was a humorous story, but I disagree with the whole idea of talking negative things about marriage even for a joke. Marriage is a beautiful gift from God and these conversations make people more cynical about marriage. So therefore, we need to make sure that our conversations are building people up. This will open up more opportunities to share the gospel later.

The second way by which you can proclaim the excellencies of God is by having a:

2. Sanctified Life

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation. (1 Pet 2:11-12)

This is something that we won’t talk about in a sermon about missions. We like to keep the two things separate: holiness and missions. However, in God’s kingdom there is no separation. God doesn’t require people who merely know how to share the gospel verbally. Anyone even an unbeliever if he is trained can share the gospel verbally. Right from the OT, God gave the Israelites the law. Why? So that they could obey and live according to God’s character and will. His purpose was that the nations around them would look at the lives and know that they worship the One true God.

That purpose of God for the holiness in his people still remains. God wants you to be holy to indicate to the unbelievers around you that you worship the One true Holy Righteous and Great God. If you go and give an unbeliever a perfect and clear illustration of the gospel but don’t live a holy life, it will not make any sense to them. They’ll probably say “If this is the kind of faith, you are calling me into then I won’t have any part in it because this is hypocrisy”. If you want to be used by God, yearn for holiness.

If you want to see a greater commitment and involvement in God’s mission, ask God to change you heart, sanctify your life, produce holiness that would align with the message that you are sharing. Does it mean that we shouldn’t share the gospel because we aren’t perfect like Christ? We will only be perfect when Christ returns but until then we pursue repentance and ask God to still use us even in our weakness.

So let it not be an excuse to not be on mission, but rather let our prayer be this way: “Lord, help me to live in obedience and purity so that the unbelievers I meet today catch a glimpse of who you are. I know I’m imperfect but Lord, you are powerful and you can change me and use me”.

The third way we can proclaim the excellencies of God is by:

3. Service

22 Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, 24 knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Col 3:22-24)

It doesn’t matter if we are working at home or in the office or studying in school…the principle remains the same. Everything that we do should be consecrated to the Lord. And so it’s not the pay-check or the environment or the people or the personal satisfaction or the position that determines how you work. It doesn’t matter if you are the CEO or an employee.

Since you are serving the Lord, work with excellence, work with sincerity and reverence! And the end-reward is going to be much more valuable than your gratuity or anything else you can buy on earth – it’s an eternal inheritance in heaven. As I read this verse especially…I’m convicted in my heart. I feel that at times I allow these other factors affect the way I work.

Other times I struggle with having the right motivation: either to be a people-pleaser or attain some selfish goal. None of that honors Christ. None of that makes Him look bigger and wonderful. And so I realize this is a place where I need to repent and ask God to give me the true fear and right motivations to work. As we do that, people will notice something different about us. They’ll think “this person doesn’t work hard for any earthly benefit, I wonder what is motivating that person”. And that provides you with another opportunity to talk about Jesus who brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

I also want to add one aspect about serving the local community as an expression of the gospel. When we care for the needs of the orphans, underprivileged and oppressed people around us we echo the heartbeat of our Savior who wants to bring relief, rescue and justice to our lives. Christ’s redeemed church needs to be open, aware and active in bringing God’s love to places where few people go.

Nothing speaks louder than sacrificial good deeds that meets the needs of those who don’t have enough to return back in kind.

It’s not just the verbal sharing of the gospel that proclaims the excellencies of God. Your sanctified life, your service, your grace filled conversations will pave the way for the gospel. This is the harmony of the missions.

I’m sure when we thought through these points we were all convicted on how we aren’t living or doing what we should. But let that not take us away from Christ, let us come back to him in repentance and in humble dependence so that we can be used mightily by Him.

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Good morning church! And a happy new year in advance. What a year 2017 has been! We praise God for his mercy and faithfulness toward us on the last day of this year. As Saju and I were discussing what to preach on this week, I was wondering if I had to take another passage on account of the new year. However, as I read this passage I realized how apt this message was for us as we move into the new year. So before we jump into the passage, I wanted to ask all of you some questions. How many of us would like to really experience the joy of following Jesus? How many of us would like to understand God’s economy in terms of who is accepted and who is rejected? How many of us really want to see God use us this year for His glory? I believe this passage answers all of those questions.

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

There are three things we understand about the heart and character of Jesus from this passage. The first thing is:

1. Christ pursues the lost

14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him. (v14)

Especially in our church circles we’ve heard the word “lost” so many times that now we’ve lost the meaning of lost. The word “lost” doesn’t have too much of an impact on us anymore. When the Bible uses the word “lost”, it’s always in a sense where God is searching for his “lost sheep, lost Son, lost coin”. So how do we understand “lost” when we think about Levi/Matthew. This verse tells us that Levi was a tax collector. Now tax collectors in the Roman empire were hated by the Jews in Jesus’ day.

They were seen as people who were greedy and partnered with the Roman government which the people never liked anyway. These tax collectors would amass a lot of wealth by cheating people and charging high interests much more than what the Roman government would ask for. They were also known to be very harsh with the people.

Therefore, tax collectors had a very bad reputation among the Jews in those days. Nobody liked them. They were unloved and plus I’m sure they carried around the guilt of cheating several people. It’s interesting and humbling to see that Levi was even noticed by Jesus! The movie “Son of God” had a wonderful scene picturing this story.

They showed it as when Jesus passes by, he notices Levi at the tax booth. Jesus looks intently into his eyes, and calls him to follow him. You can see tears flow down Levi’s face because he can’t believe that Jesus – being so Holy and Powerful instead of judging him actually invites him to be his disciple!

If you’re probably thinking today, “I don’t think God can love me after all that I’ve done. Nobody could possibly forgive me for all the wrongs I’ve committed”. Or probably you’re thinking “I’ve not really seen true commitment and devotion to God in my life so far.” Or you’re thinking “I’m the last person for God to approach me because I am an unlikely and unfit candidate”. Let me tell you on the basis of the Word, that in God’s economy the worst, most unlikely, most unloved in world can actually be accepted and transformed!

Why would God show mercy and not judgement? It’s because Christ himself took the punishment for sins and open the doors of God’s mercy and love to flow toward us. It’s not on the basis of what any human has done or will ever do. Our acceptance before God is totally on the basis of Christ’s perfect life and perfect sacrifice and perfect triumph over death on our behalf.

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. (Eph 2:8,9)

Another application could also be in terms of evangelism. When was the last time we shared the gospel with someone who was hated, an unloved and unlikely person to respond to the gospel? Let’s not write off certain people because they don’t fit our expectations. This understanding of Christ pursuing the lost, the unlikely, the unloved should remove any barriers or thoughts to reach out to certain groups of people that we may be uncomfortable with.

2. Christ desires followers and not crowds

13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. (v13-15)

One thing we notice as we are reading through the book of Mark is that crowds – people in large numbers come to Jesus. Right from the moment Jesus cast out that demon from the man in the synagogue you find multitudes of people coming to Jesus to witness these miracles. But you never find them being described as followers except for Simon, Andrew, James and John. The majority of the people are always referred to as “the crowd” or as many people gathered together or as people coming to him. Here with Levi and the tax collectors and sinners in v15: we see them “following Jesus”. My immediate question is what’s the difference between followers of Jesus and just being in the crowd?

Two things we can see in this passage:

1) Willing and total surrender of everything that his life was built upon

Or as Saju put it a few weeks back…it’s an exchange of dreams and pursuits. Think about this…Levi till that point probably made a lot of money by cheating people. His life was probably built on wealth and his identity as a tax collector. As soon as Jesus invited him to follow him, he didn’t think twice, he didn’t take days to discuss with his family and decide if he wanted to follow Jesus.

The Bible says that he rose and followed him. It meant that Levi had to give up his identity, his wealth, his purpose in life, his pleasures in life and most importantly the control of his life. He gave it up to follow Jesus and become like Him. And that’s a radical decision not just for him personally but it would’ve impacted even his family.

2) Close fellowship with the Savior

15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.

Being welcomed into a person’s house and reclining at the table meant close friendship in those days. It was a big deal for Jesus to go to his home and eat with him. That’s what made the Pharisees unhappy…they couldn’t figure why Jesus would want to become friends with men of bad reputation. When Jesus invited Levi to follow him, he didn’t just invite him to be his companion while he went and preached in different cities – that would’ve been just a work relationship. This was far more deeper. Jesus intended to have a close relationship with Levi and change him through that.

These two things: willing surrender and close fellowship with Jesus is what makes you a follower of Jesus. And that was something that the crowd didn’t have. They would’ve been satisfied just seeing Jesus as a chamatkari baba but Jesus wanted to reveal Himself as the everlasting God, Mighty King, Creator of heaven and earth, sustainer of everything and Savior of the world. And you can only know that through willing surrender of your life and close fellowship with Him.

If you’re not wanting to do that, you can’t be a follower and you’re merely a person in the crowd. It’s like going to a Hillsong concert totally singing all the songs and having a great time but you’re just the crowd and not a follower of Jesus. And the same thing can happen on a Sunday morning where we can be part of the crowd and still not followers. What are we to do? Willing surrender and come to Jesus for fellowship with Him and not the benefits that Jesus offers.

Let your cry each morning be: Lord, I want to know you more! Lord, I want to love you more. Lord, I want close fellowship with you as I read the Bible today. I want to willingly surrender everything that my life is built on for the sake of your glory.

3. Christ responds to those who truly need Him

16 And the scribes of[a] the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat[b] with tax collectors and sinners?” 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Jesus’ response to the Pharisees/teachers question was that he has come for the spiritually sick and sinners and not the righteous. What?

When Jesus said he has not come to call the righteous he was referring to those who were self-righteous. They thought they would be made right with God on the basis of their external religion and their own efforts. They thought “if I try to follow all these commands and the law by my own strength, then I can be accepted by God”. And what is God response? “Your righteous acts are like filthy rags”. (Isa 64:6)

On the basis of Rom 3:23, we know that both the Pharisees and the tax collectors needed Jesus to save them. But what was the problem? The Pharisees didn’t recognize that they had a disease – a destructive spiritual disease that separated them from God and they couldn’t do anything to remove that from them. They didn’t understand their need for Jesus – the Savior because they thought they were already right and accepted before God. They couldn’t have been more wrong about their position and condition before God.

We end up reflecting this self-righteous nature whenever we end up being critical of someone else’s walk with Jesus and ignore our own need for Jesus or the issues that take place in our own heart which needs to be confessed. In other words, you spend more time talking about the other person’s sins than confessing your own. You will do all the Christian stuff and attend all Christian events but there’s no desperate cry for repentance and change in your individual life. Why? We’ve concealed all those sins with our self-righteous deeds (filthy rags).

If we’re in that position today, we need to repent of our self-reliance and desperately seek and ask for Christ’s help and perfect sacrifice to make us acceptable before God. I find it a good exercise to ask myself when was the last time I repented openly and humbly before God. The more frequent and authentic your repentance is, the more precious Jesus seems to you.

The tax collectors and sinners on the other hand already knew how condemned and sinful they were. They were more open to receiving salvation because they understood their helplessness. Only a miracle could save them. And Jesus Christ performed that miracle when he died on the cross for our sins! If you relate more to the “tax collector” than the Pharisee, let me still remind you that that even though you know you are a condemned sinner – it still requires humility to repent before God.

You could still be arrogant and not change your ways – continue sinning as you always have. The humility part is in acknowledging that you have been living a life against the will and character of God. Furthermore, the humility is in helplessly running toward Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross to rescue you from your life of rebellion. What would you do if you were caught in a building that has caught fire? You will shout and scream for “help”. If a fireman comes to save you, will you run away from him? Absolutely not! You would run to him, hold onto him until he brings you to safety.

Would you dare to come up with their own plans or defy the instructions of the fireman? No, it would cost you your life. It requires your humility in those moments to trust in the fireman and not yourself to bring you to safety. How much more humility should we show to our Creator who made us and then who saved us with His own precious blood?

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Good morning church! We have been going through a series titled “The Gospel of Mark: the story of Jesus”. I’ve personally being encouraged by this study of the gospel. A couple of weeks back we read on the passage that spoke about the “Calling of the First disciples” (READ). We learnt how following Jesus meant more than just having new religious ideas. A heart transformation needs to take place. And the three signs of transformation are:

1. Exchange of Affections: Greater affections for Christ rather than family, friends or things
2. Exchange of Dreams: Greater dreams for Christ’s mission rather than our personal professional ambitions
3. Exchange of Pursuits: Greater pursuits for Christ and His glory rather than pursuing our own goals.

And these are key to understanding what it means to be a believer. So even though we’ve already read through it last time, I’d encourage you to be reminded every single day, every week, every year of what it means to follow Jesus. When you believed and trusted in Christ’s work for you on the cross, you declared that you were exchanging your affections, dreams and pursuits for greater, glorious and life-giving purposes of Christ.

Today’s passage is the start of Jesus’ ministry along with his first 4 disciples. You can imagine what it must’ve been for them to start with their new life and their new mission! Think along with me what they would’ve thought and expected from Jesus. The context of the Gospel of Mark is that Israelites for hundreds of years have been waiting for the coming of the Messiah. All of them had expectations. Who is he going to be? What is he going to be like? What will he be wearing? Where is he going to stay? How many people will be around him? Let’s read Mark 1:21 on-wards to find out.

Mark 1:21-34: [21] And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. [22] And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes. [23] And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, [24] “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” [25] But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” [26] And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. [27] And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” [28] And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee. [29] And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. [30] Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. [31] And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. [32] That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. [33] And the whole city was gathered together at the door. [34] And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Wow! This is a powerful passage. The whole passage talks about Jesus revealing his identity. He does it in three ways:

1. Jesus’ authority in teaching

Mark 1: [21] And they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching. [22] And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.

The very first thing that Jesus does is that he goes to a synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath and begins teaching. The synagogue was a Jewish assembly where Jews gathered to offer prayers and listen to the reading and expositions of OT Scriptures.

Jesus enters and he begins teaching the Scriptures! As Jesus shares about the fulfillment of the OT prophecies, as He preaches about the coming of the kingdom of God, as He talks about the good news and how they need to repent and believe in the good news – they are astonished and blown away. The reason for that is because they were able to recognize authority in His teaching. In contrast to this was the teaching of the scribes.

Now these scribes were the Scripture experts of that day. They were approached for difficult issues or decisions with respect to the Mosaic law. No doubt these were very smart people but there was no authority in their teaching. Do note that the writer didn’t focus on the style of teaching or on Jesus’ eloquence.

He focused on His authority. Jesus taught with authority not only because He knew what He was talking about but because He was the author of Life and truth! I always wonder what that might have looked like to have the Creator of the universe, the pre-existent God, the One who sustains the universe to teach people and explain the Scriptures to them! Wasn’t that an amazing privilege? At the same time I realize that all of written Scripture that we have with us is talking about Jesus and is communicating his words to us (John 5:39).

[39] You study[c] the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me.

Whenever we read the Bible or hear it being preached in its context and according to the original intent and apply it to our lives, we should realize that the Word is coming to us with the same weight and authority that it had when Jesus spoke these words. We have an amazing privilege!

2. Jesus’ power over demons

Mark 1: [23] And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit. And he cried out, [24] “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God.” [25] But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” [26] And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him. [27] And they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” [28] And at once his fame spread everywhere throughout all the surrounding region of Galilee.

While Jesus was teaching, a man with a demonic spirit cries out. Obviously, this is disturbing and distracting people from what Jesus was teaching. Jesus rebukes the spirit and casts it out of the man! Just imagine if this were happening at the Gathering right now. Wouldn’t you be frightened to witness this happen in front of you? The people knew they couldn’t control the man with a demon spirit.

In fact this demonic spirit affected the man so violently that in v26 it says it “convulsed him” or it tore him apart. And Jesus commanded the spirit to come out of the man…and it did! They realize that Jesus isn’t an ordinary person. He not only teaches with authority but He commands the demonic spirits and they obey him. We aren’t just seeing authority in His teaching but also authority over the spiritual realm!

How great and powerful must He be?

3. Jesus’ cure for sicknesses

Mark 1: [29] And immediately he left the synagogue and entered the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John. [30] Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. [31] And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her, and she began to serve them. [32] That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. [33] And the whole city was gathered together at the door. [34] And he healed many who were sick with various diseases, and cast out many demons. And he would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.

Just after the amazing story at the synagogue, the focus shifts to Peter and Andrews home where Peter’s mother in law is ill and is lying on the bed. Jesus comes to her, picks her hand and immediately the fever leaves her! She becomes physically fit instantly, so much so that she begins to serve them.

Probably prepare a meal for them. In the evening, all people who were sick with various diseases and oppressed by demons are brought to Jesus and He instantly and miraculously restores them. The whole city gathered outside at the door.

Imagine being one of the onlookers trying to look inside and see how lepers, blind, lame, deaf are being healed. Who is this man who has the power to renew our physical bodies? These miracles are definitely witnessing to the Messianic age but also reveal the identity of our Savior who has the power to heal us because He himself fashioned us in our mother’s womb!

But in this whole passage there is one thing that messes with my mind. It’s v34 where it says “Jesus would not permit the demons to speak, because they knew him.” What? Why would Jesus do that? When we see the man with the demonic spirit in v24 – the demonic spirit actually utters the correct identity of Jesus – He is Jesus of Nazareth and He is the Holy One of God! And Jesus tells him to “be silent”. It doesn’t make sense! Why would Jesus miss on this opportunity to reveal who He was? In today’s marketing and PR strategy, this would’ve been a major mistake.

There is a phrase in media that says – any publicity is good publicity. Why can’t Jesus allow the demons to speak? Wouldn’t this help Jesus’ name to grow quicker and wider? The reason why Jesus didn’t want to reveal his identity yet is due to people’s wrong expectations from the Messiah.

They were experiencing oppression under the Roman rule and wanted a military king to come and remove the Roman emperor from his throne and have this descendant of David sit upon the throne! That’s why Jesus didn’t permit the demons to reveal His identity because that expectation was totally opposite to who He was and why He came into the world.

However, Jesus still revealed who was through His actions – his authority in teaching, his power over demons and his cure for sicknesses.

If we were totally honest, what would we say are our expectations from Jesus? Our expectations and perceptions about Jesus form an important part of our faith. It’s the lens through which we see Jesus, approach Him and even talk about Him.

Are we really prepared to receive Jesus for who He is? Most of the time Jesus’ identity doesn’t match our natural expectations. Why? Because our expectations from Him are self-centered and temporary. But Jesus’ desire is to reveal the glory of God for our complete joy in Christ.

• Sometimes we think – If God gave me this job, then I would be more devoted to him
• If God gives me this person to marry, then I will love Him more
• If God frees me from this sin struggle, then I will be more obedient to him
• If God gives me this role or position in the church, then I will be a stronger believer
• If God makes my life more comfortable and convenient, then I will spend more time with him
• If God reduces the troubles in my life, then I will be able to trust Him more
• Also, sometimes we end up being selective in our reading of Scripture also. We love reading the feel-good verses again and again: I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. But let me not read and obey the verses that say – If anyone wants to follow me, let him die to himself daily, pick up his cross and follow me.

Do you see the issues with this type of expectations from Christ?

1. It’s not true of who Christ is. This resembles a god that looks more like us and not like our Savior Jesus. It’s deeply self-centered
2. We see Christ as only the Gift-giver rather than the Gift Himself
3. Jesus Christ wants to give us so much more, but we want to settle with the least. By more I’m not talking about prosperity but I’m talking about knowing, loving and becoming like our Savior and Master – Jesus.

So how does this passage, provide us with hope?

Even though we’ve got all our expectations misplaced due to our sin, the encouragement is that Christ came to us and revealed the true picture of himself. He possesses all authority and is full of power! He is way beyond what our minds can comprehend and yet He chooses to show Himself to us.

Most importantly, He opened our eyes to see who He is through His sacrifice on the cross in our place. And He invites us to know him more intimately as we fellowship with him through the Word, prayer and his church.

So let’s throw off every idea or belief or lifestyle that is based on wrong expectations of Christ. And let’s receive and embrace and treasure this Jesus as He reveals in Scripture. We embrace Jesus by loving, obeying and praising Him.