Tag: Forgiveness

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James Sermon

The Power of Tongue: James 3:1-12

James 3:1-12. 

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know  that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 

2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is  perfect, able to keep their whole body in check.  

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the  whole animal.  

4 Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong  winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.  5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider  what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 

6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the  whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.  7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have  been tamed by mankind, 

8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.  9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings,  who have been made in God’s likeness. 

10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this  should not be.  

11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?  Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  

Introduction:  

Good morning church hope all of you are doing well, today we have an interesting  topic to meditate together.  

Before I enter my sermon I wanna start with a beautiful story, i hope you all love  story, Once in a small village lion used to attacked villages and eat them, you know  there was one naughty boy, Who like to fool people all the time, one day, he shout  with a loud voice and said, lion is coming to eat all of us, All people were afraid and  they close the door and hide themselves. some big boys came running with gun to  help him but he laugh out and tell them that he was joking. they were all angry of the  little naughty boy. The following week a real blood thirsty lion was coming toward  the small village he shout aloud like last time “Lion is coming, people thought that he  was playing fool again, nobody came to rescue him so he became lion breakfast that  day.  

Moral lesson:  

1. Playing with tongue is dangerous. 

Hope you like the story, today we shall meditate together from James 3:1-12.  i would like to entitle my sermon as “ The power of tongue”  

I will like to give 8 very vital points. 

1.Teachers of word has huge tongue responsibility. (1)  

1 Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know  that we who teach will be judged more strictly. 

James does not mean that nobody should become a teacher. It is a much needed role in the  church, and God empowers specific individuals with teaching gift (1 Corinthians 12:28;  Romans 12:7; Ephesians 4:11). In the church, teachers of words are meant to help people  make the Word of God easier to understand and follow.  

James makes clear, scripture”teacher” is not a role which should be taken lightly. Teachers  will face a stricter judgment. They will be held accountable to live by the truth they teach, as  well as being responsible not to lead people away from God’s Word with their own words.  The more a person claims the authority to teach, the more accountable they will be for how  they lead or mislead other people.  

2.Be mature in using your tongue. (2) 

2 We all stumble in many ways. Anyone who is never at fault in what they say is  perfect (Mature), able to keep their whole body in check. 

This verse makes it clear that James is not requiring perfection at all. Chapter 2 remind us  that genuine Christians will participate in genuine good works in obedience to God. And  yet, James is fully aware that fallible human beings will never do so without stumbling.  James includes himself in this statement: says “we all stumble in many ways”  However, James reveals that our goal is to stop stumbling, but to be in full control of  ourselves at all times. The sign of a believer who has arrived at full-faith maturation is one  who never stumbles in what they say or how they say it. Such a mature believer will never  say anything unkind, hurtful, selfish, proud, rude, or manipulative words. They will only  and ever say words motivated by faith in God and love for each other. Once we learn to  perfectly control our words, we will be in perfect control of every part of ourselves. 

Application: Church lets be mature in our every conversation.  

Colossians 4:6  

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know  how to answer everyone.  

Ephesian 4:29.  

Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as  fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 

1 Timothy 4:12. 

Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and  purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. 

3. We should control our tongue. (3)  

3 When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the  whole animal. 

Here in verse 3, James points to horses as a natural example. Horses are large, powerful  animals. And yet, they can be controlled with a small piece of metal and a few leather  straps. This is called a bit or bridle: a bar which is placed behind the horse’s teeth, This  gives the rider the ability to create pressure on the animal, and even pain, if used roughly.  With a bit in a horse’s mouth, a rider is able to control the whole animal, to make it obey, to  steer it wherever the rider wants to go.  

In the same way we should control our tongue like how we control horse with bridle.  Control tongue will keep you from falling into sinful trap.  

Control tongue will not let you regret in life.  

Controlling tongue will keep you in peace and harmony with people around.  Controlling tongue will prove that you are wise and mature believer.  

My story: My uncontrol tongue to baby catharine.  

1 Peter 3:10  

For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their  lips from deceitful speech. 

Proverb 21:23  

Those who guard their mouths and their tongues keep themselves from calamity. Psalm 141:3.  

3 Set a guard over my mouth, LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. 

4.Tongue can direct our life. (4)  

Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong  winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 

Here in verse 4, James points to huge ships at sea. The power behind those ships in James’s  era was the mighty wind, but nobody can control the wind. Wooden sailing ships full of  cargo could weigh thousands of kgs and yet, a pilot could alter the movement of the most  massive boat using just a relatively small piece of wood: A rudder is the paddle-like plank  used to steer a ship.  

If we learn to control our tongues meaning the words we say,  

we could control what we do with our entire bodies. The one who controls a bit controls the  entire horse. The one who controls the rudder steers control the entire ship. The man who  learns to control his tongue is one who has gained control over his entire self.  

Using our tongue in a right way will determine the direction of your life, a life that pleases  God, a life that glorifying God. 

5.Tongue can destroy our life. (5-6).  

5 Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider  what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. 

6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the  whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.  

The tongue is a very small organ in the body that boasts of great things.  Our tiny tongues have the capacity to effect massive results.  

The fact that the tongue is powerful doesn’t mean everything it does is positive. To  understand better, James uses a dramatic example. A tiny spark of fire can set a whole forest  ablaze. In this analogy, the fire is not something used to bring control. Instead, it’s a small  thing which impacts others around it. This leads to great chaos and destruction.  

Like the story I narrate earlier, because of his lie he was eaten by lion, likewise if we are not  careful how we use our tongue, our tongue can destroy our life our reputation like fire  destroy the forest.  

James says you have this little muscle that has a huge impact on our lives, this tongue.  # It can make you or break you.  

# It can open doors for you into the future. It can close doors for you.  # It can help other people. It can hurt other people.  

# It will determine the direction of your life. 

6.Remember tongue cannot be tame. (7-8).  

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have  been tamed by mankind, 

8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. 

James pointed to an amazing human achievement: We can and have tamed every kind of  creature. But we can’t tame the tongue. More specifically, James writes that no human being  can tame his or her own tongue. We can’t control the words that come out of our mouths. It’s  not an ability that human beings possess in our own power. Our tongues are more powerful  than we are. They control us just as a bit guides a horse or a rudder steers a massive ship.  

According to James, the tongue our words and how we use them is not just untamable. It is  a restless evil. The Greek word James uses for “restless” means “unstable,” and is the same  root word used for the “unstable” man in James 1:8. Our tongues, the instrument of our  powerful words, striking without focus or clear intent. And when they strike, they are full of  deadly poison.  

Set your heart right so that graceful, loving words will come out of your heart.  Application: Let us be very careful how we use our tongue. 

7.Use your tongue for the right purpose. (9-10)  

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings,  who have been made in God’s likeness. 

10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this  should not be. 

First, we can use our words to bless or praise our Lord and Father. After James’s description  of evil, untamable, unstable tongues up to this point, it’s shocking to imagine such a person  use their words to bless God. 

James continues to make the case that our tongues the words we use which reveal our fallen  hearts are evil and uncontrollable. He wrote that we human beings use our tongues both to  praise God, the Creator, and to curse other people who are created in God’s likeness. It  shouldn’t be that way. Blessing and cursing shouldn’t originate from the same mouth.  

Application:  

Are we using our tongue for the right purpose?  

Psalm 63:3, Because Your lovingkindness is better than life, My lips will praise You. We are created to praise God, we are created for His glory.  

Let use our tongue to praise God that is the right purpose of tongue, lets use our tongue our  words for His glory.  

8. Our tongue will show who we are. (11-12).  

11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?  12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs?  Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.  

James continues making his case that human beings including Christians are not naturally in  control of our tongues. If we were, how would it be possible for us to use our words both to  praise God and to curse people created in His image? James stated what seems obvious to us  now: It shouldn’t be that way.  

It’s not just that we “shouldn’t” use our words for both blessing and evil. It’s that it is  contradictory. It’s a conflict with the nature we’re supposed to be relying on as saved, born again believers. James illustrates this with the example of a spring. Nowhere in nature will  you find bubbling up from the ground a mixture of salt and fresh water. It just doesn’t  happen. Salt water and fresh water come from two completely different sources—just as  words of blessing and words of cursing come from two completely different natures.  

Application question:  

What kind of words are flowing out of your mouth?  

Your choice of words, will show who you are,  

if your hear is full of evil, evil words will come out of your mouth,  

if your heart is unkind, you will speak unkind words.  

Church let kind and blessings words flows out of your mouth which bring joy and healing. 

Conclusion:  

Church we have seen 8 points under the topic “The power of tongue”  1.Teachers of word have huge responsibility. (1)  

2.Be mature in using your tongue. (2)  

3. We should control our tongue. (3)  

4.Tongue can direct our life. (4)  

5.Tongue can destroy our life. (5-6)  

6.Remember tongue cannot be tame. (7-8)  

7.Use your tongue for the right purpose. (9-10)  

8.Our tongue will show who we are. (11-12)  

In our final conclusion i wanna remind with the words of Jesus  

Matthew 15:11,18-19. 

“That which enters into the mouth doesn’t defile the man; but that which proceeds out of the  mouth, this defiles the man, The things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the  heart, and they defile the man. For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders,  adulteries, sexual sins, thefts, false testimony, and blasphemies” 

Here Jesus address the heart issue.  

How is your heart this morning?  

The most important question to ask when examining the heart is  

What is functionally ruling your heart?  

We know our hearts are always being ruled by someone or something,  and whatever controls our heart will control my responses to people and situations around.  

Would you please check what is controlling or ruling your heart?  

If our heart is not fill with the Spirit of God, If our heart is not control by the Spirit of God.  Nothing good will come out of your mouth, all kind of filthy, bad, dirty words will control  you, evil thoughts, adulteries, sexual sins, false testimony and blasphemies will come out  our mouth, these sins will destroy our life and our reputation.  

Therefore my dear brothers and sisters lets check our heart this morning and Repent and  surrender all our heart idol to God.  

As we have Sang the song  

Change my heart O God, make it ever true, change my heart O God, may I be like you,  You are the potter, I am the clay, mould me and make me this is what I pray. 

Remember who you are in Christ. we are forgiven, Redeemed, adopted, we are the child of  the most high God.  

Romans 6: 12-14.  

12 Do not let sin control the way you live; do not give in to sinful desires. 13 Do not let any  part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves  completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body  as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God. 14 Sin is no longer your master, for  you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of  God’s grace. 

1 Cor 6:19-20.  

19 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom  you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price.  Therefore honor God with your bodies. 

Romans 12:1-2.  

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a  living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not  conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then  you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 

God Bless all of us 

Amen

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Articles

When you are forgiven much

We all like looking good. No one ever posts an ugly picture of themselves. We always dress pretty to look our best in the world. And I am guilty of all of these things. I have heard people say as long as you’re not harming someone or if you do good things you’re a good person.

But I believe that this is far from the truth. We are deeper than the things we see. Our motivations, intentions and thoughts are visible to a God who is Holy and Righteous. If I was to be extremely honest I am nowhere close to being good before a Holy God.

Being a Christian, makes me see the beauty of God in Christ who selflessly sacrificed His only Son as a payment for our sins. At the same time, there is a growing awareness of the selfishness of my heart, the constant need to control and have things my way.

And the depth of wretchedness and sin rooted in my heart and the facade placed to cover these things with seemingly good acts.

I am glad that God is a loving Father who loves us so deeply that He doesn’t want us to remain in the darkness. He shines His light through scriptures and the Holy Spirit in these dark and ugly places of our heart to save us. It’s like the moment we realise that we are sick we can go to the doctor for help.

The same way the moment we realise our hearts are sick we can run to God to redeem it. I have realised even in life a child looks up to his parent for help. I am glad I can look up to a Heavenly Father to rescue me when my heart is in a mess.

There’s a beautiful story from the Bible I want to share to paint a picture before you –

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume.

Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”

“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied. Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver to one and 50 pieces to the other. But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, cancelling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?” Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he cancelled the larger debt.” “That’s right,” Jesus said.

Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet.

You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only a little love.”

Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?” And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.

There was a time I didn’t know Christ and I was my own Savior until I hit rock bottom I didn’t realise I needed God to save me. The moment I realised God loves me and has paid the penalty for my sins through Christ. It was a life-changing experience for me.

I was lifted out of the darkness and brought into the light. I was dead inside and this good news brought life and hope in my soul. It’s the greatest news ever and one I need to remember every day cause I need a Savior to rescue me from sin every day.

Just like the woman above to understand that our sins which are many are forgiven much by a Holy God through Christ. This kind of unconditional love and acceptance of Christ alone can transform our sinful hearts to love and worship Him with undivided devotion and be like Him through His Holy Spirit.

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Good Friday Luke Sermon

What makes Good Friday good for us? – Luke 23:32-49

https://www.facebook.com/thegatheringcommunity/videos/541409313182647/

Good evening everyone!

My name is Jinson Thomas and I am one of the pastors at the Gathering Community Church. I’m humbled at the opportunity to share God’s Word with you all on this Good Friday.

One of the questions that many people including Christians are quite perplexed with is the question

“Why is it called Good Friday?”

How can it possibly be good if Jesus was murdered on this day? “It’s not good but bad Friday” some would say.

On top of that, some of you would say – how can this be Good Friday with all that is happening around the globe due to COVID-19?

How can it be Good Friday when I’m locked up at home? So this evening I’d like to give us 3 reasons for why Good Friday can be good for us!!

1. God’s forgiveness is available for all sins (v34)

And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

What is astonishing is that Jesus is pleading before the Father for people who were responsible for putting Him on a cross!! And I think sometimes we are so used to seeing a cross on a church building or sporting it as a fashion accessory, that we forget what it meant in Jesus’ time to be crucified.

The cross wasn’t used to symbolize a religion or a fashion statement but instead, the cross symbolized condemnation and humiliation! It was a death row for the worst criminals who committed the most heinous crimes in the Roman world.

It was also done publicly to make an example of the criminal so that no one would even think of following the footsteps of the one who was killed. In fact it was so cruel and inhumane that even Roman speakers of the time would criticize it by calling it “the most cruel and disgusting punishment”.

The Son of God (Jesus) who committed no sin faced the horror of “the most cruel and disgusting punishment”.

Forgiveness isn’t cheap. It comes at a high cost.

Just to give you a picture of the pain that Jesus endured:

i) It involved immense Physical Pain: The pain was so unbearable, intense and agonizing that they made a word to describe it – “excruciating”. It wasn’t instant death but slow & painful death!

Victims would have to endure extreme pain for long periods of time before they eventually suffocated and died. We can never downplay or minimize the physical pain that Jesus experienced on the cross.

ii) Not only did it involve Physical pain but also Psychological Pain: That’s the last thing that you would want to face while already dealing with the immense physical pain.

The only voice that Jesus heard all around him were insults from the very people He came to save. V34 says that they cast lots to divide his garments which tells us how his garments were stripped off him making him vulnerable & adding to his humiliation.

iii) However, more than the Physical & Psychological Pain – what affected Jesus the most was the Spiritual Pain: AlthoughJesus was like us in every way, yet He was unlike us because he was without sin.

He was the only person to live a life of perfect purity and sinlessness. But on the cross for the first time, he experienced the massive weight & guilt of sin. “He who knew no sin became sin for us (2 Cor 5:21)”.

Not only did He experience the massive weight of sin but He was also being punished for our sins. No one like to be a scape goat for anyone and here we see Jesus becoming the scape goat for the entire world.

The passage from Isaiah that we just read earlier today is a reminder of the same thing:

Isa 53:5,6 – But he was pierced for our transgressions;

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

upon him was the punishment that brought us peace,

    and with his wounds we are healed.

All we like sheep have gone astray;

    we have turned—every one—to his own way;

and the Lord has laid on him

    the iniquity of us all.

I want us to understand that Jesus wasn’t treated as a criminal merely due to wicked Jewish leaders and Roman soldiers of that time. He was treated as a criminal because you and I have committed numerous crimes against the One True God.

We are the very ones responsible for putting Jesus on the cross. Brothers and sisters, my intention is not to guilt us or over-emphasize on the gory details of Jesus’ agony and suffering but I want us to realize this truth that

Forgiveness isn’t cheap. It comes at a high cost.

God absolutely has the authority to forgive sins but because He is also a just judge, a payment has to be made. Someone has to pay.

I came across a beautiful story that spoke about forgiveness and justice being displayed in the courtrooms in UAE a few months back. An Asian couple found themselves in the middle of a huge legal problem because they overstayed their visa for a number of years.

They were asked to pay an enormous amount as a fine (around 12 Lakh rupees). When the judge asked them to pay the fine, they weren’t able to pay it. Now even though the judge had compassion on the family, he couldn’t write off the fine because it would cause an uproar and protest against the whole justice system of the UAE.

For some reason, the judge asked them the name of their son. The parents replied that they’ve named him “Zayed”. Now Zayed also happened to be the name of the founder of the country. On learning this, the judge said Zayed shouldn’t have to pay the fine. But justice requires someone to pay. To everyone’s amazement the judge himself paid off the entire amount (12 Lakh rupees) to close their case.  Forgiveness isn’t cheap. It comes at a high cost.   

When God saw that we weren’t able to pay the enormous mountain of a debt due to our sins, He provided a way for us to be forgiven through the perfect sacrifice of His Son Jesus so that the payment is made for people who cannot pay for themselves.

Maybe some of us as we are hearing this are finding it hard to believe. You’ll say “brother, I know what you’re saying but you have no idea what I’ve said and done in the past few weeks. You have no idea how ugly my past is. I’ve done so many things that I’m ashamed to even talk about”.

The amazing truth is that because of what Jesus Christ has done on the cross, if you come to Him and surrender yourself to Him because of His perfect sacrifice, forgiveness is available for all your sins no matter how many they are & how worse they are.

That’s amazing news for us even in a time of lockdown and uncertainty – to know that irrespective of what happens tomorrow that God can forgive all my sins. He can look at me and say “You are not guilty”. That’s great news.

But not only is Good Friday good because God’s is able to forgive all my sins but also that :

2. God’s grace is extended to the lost, the last and the least (v43)

And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Within the event of Jesus suffering on the cross, there is a mention of a small incident of two criminals who are hung on either side of Jesus. One of them dishonours Jesus just like the crowd beneath, but the other one honours Jesus as King.

The first one doesn’t even acknowledge his sin while the other one confesses his sin – he acknowledges “we are receiving the due reward of our deeds”. The first one didn’t have any hope of being saved, while the other one even at the last moments of his life trusted that Jesus could save Him.

And Jesus does save him in v43 – “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Wait a minute! First of all, this is a guilty criminal out here. He’s done some really bad things and messed up his life. Upon his own admission, he knows that he deserves the punishment he is receiving.

And plus he lived his whole life in wickedness and now at the final moments of life, he is asking Jesus to save him? I mean there are the other “not so bad” people that need to be saved first, right? This guy is the least likeable guy. He is the back-bencher in morality.

No one expects him to be saved. Why fill up God’s kingdom with people who don’t appear to be cut out for it? Why should Jesus even bother?

In our judgmental hearts, this is a crazy thing to digest mainly because we don’t understand God’s passion for those that are the lost, the last and the least. In Luke 15, Jesus talks about the parable of the Lost Son.

God is pictured as the loving Father who when he sees his lost son returning from a distance, runs and embraces him who wasted all of his father’s inheritance on his selfish pleasures.

Time and time again throughout Scripture we are told of this storyline – it’s not the powerful, the rich, the super talented, the influential that God choses and saves. It’s none of those but the total opposite.

Why? Because people who understand their sickness and infection are the ones who will go to a doctor and ask for help. People who understand their weakness and brokenness in sin are the one who will turn to Jesus desperately for help.

Sometimes people who have known me for just a few years presume that I’ve been a religious, pious, nice guy all my life. But the truth is quite far from that. In my teenage years I remember thinking that God & religion wasn’t something I was cut out for mainly due my increasing sin patterns. Even when I did go to church, I went for all the wrong reasons.

I was that guy sitting at the last bench because I didn’t think I was worthy of sitting right in front. For a person like me who had continuous evil thoughts running through my mind, I had mouth filled with cuss words and lifestyle of being an enemy of God, I knew I couldn’t reach God so I stopped trying.

I was so lost in my sin that I thought I was beyond help. But I thank God that He didn’t give up on me but rather pulled me out a deep pit through Jesus’s sacrifice. The amazing truth is that Jesus came looking for me even when I wasn’t thinking about being found.

I was lost, the last and the least among those that people expected to be saved and yet that happened by God’s grace.

And so I share my story to let you know that if you feel like you’re far away from God, if you don’t see yourself as a typical religious churchgoer, maybe you look at yourself and think you’re the last person that God would think of…let me encourage you to know that Jesus is nearer to you than you think. The scope of God’s grace isn’t limited to people who are at a certain level of good. God’s grace extends to those that are lost, the last ones and the least ones.   

But not only is God’s forgiveness available for all, not only is God’s grace extended to the lost, the last and least but also

3. God’s presence is accessible by all who believe (v44-46)

It was now about the sixth hour,[d] and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Jesus’ commitment to complete His work on the cross has ensured that we now have full access to God as our Father. And this was highlighted by the curtain or the veil of the temple tearing in two.

The curtain in the temple separated the Most Holy Place from every other place in the temple. The Most Holy Place is where God would dwell in. No one was allowed to enter the Most Holy Place except for the High Priest and that also once a year on the Day of Atonement.

On the Day of Atonement he couldn’t enter it in any manner he wanted. He needed to wear special priestly garments, offer a sacrifice for his own sins and then burn an incense to cover the whole room – and only then would his life be spared! That’s a big deal! God’s presence is a serious thing.

By ourselves if we went into the presence of God, we would be totally consumed. We would die. And now the amazing news is that Jesus has opened the way for us to freely and directly access God’s presence! It’s not limited to one day a year. It’s not limited to only the High Priest.

It’s not limited to going to a single location. God can reveal His presence to us no matter where we are.

Even in a season like COVID-19 where we are locked up at home & quarantined– the amazing truth for believers in Jesus is that we can experience God’s presence in a very scriptural and personal way.

I was encouraged by the interview of a woman who recently recovered from COVID-19 where she testified to being all alone in a hospital room.

Even the medical professionals had kept their distance to avoid receiving the infection. In a room which no one could enter, Jesus was there with her. While she was reading Scripture on her bed, in a very personal way Jesus reminded her of His presence – “Never will I leave you.

Never will I forsake you (Heb 13:5)”. Wait a minute! But I thought Jesus died and was buried? How can Jesus still be with her 2000 years later? If Jesus’ story ended with him being buried in a tomb, it wouldn’t give us any assurance of His everlasting presence.

Instead we know that Sunday is coming. Sunday is coming when Jesus would rise victoriously from the dead & that’s why He can make the most audacious promise to never leave us nor forsake us and still keep it!

Brothers and sisters, let me encourage you to know that Jesus Christ can be present with you right now through His Spirit. Jesus Christ cannot be locked up. No lockdown can stop Jesus from meeting you in your loneliest of times.

Would you come to Him and cry out to Him today? 

That’s what makes this and every Good Friday good! Because of Jesus, God’s forgiveness is available for all sins (every bit of them), God’s grace is extended to the lost, the last and the least. God’s presence is accessible to all who believe.

Would you join me to respond to God in prayer?

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1 John Sermon

Gospel Repentance – 1 John 1:5-10

Today’s sermon is part of a series called ‘Gospel Renewal’. Last two Sundays we covered topics on Prayer & Humility. And today we’re going to talk about Repentance.

Through these sermon series, I believe we are discovering how to consistently live all of life under the influence of the gospel. And as we do that one of our greatest needs in gospel-centered living is to understand repentance accurately and biblically.

Firstly, I want to begin by defining the word Repentance, because it seems many of us have a different understanding of the word.

The word Repentance in Greek is the word ‘metanoia’, and ‘metanoia’ essentially means ‘change in mind’.

The full biblical definition of repentance is a change of mind that results in a change of action.

It’s like leaving your home to go to the market, instead on the way, you change your mind and decide to walk towards the mall.

It is impossible to truly change your mind without that causing a change in action.

That is why John the Baptist called people to “produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Matthew 3:8).

A person who has truly repented of his sin and exercised faith in Christ will give evidence of a changed life .

The passage I want us all to look at today is 1 John 1:5-10

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

First of all, remember, John is writing this letter to the believers in Ephesus. What John is saying is that when you talk about having fellowship with God & practicing the truth, you need a ‘change of mind’. You need to Repent.

Here’s what he is saying…

If we say we have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

As we hear these words of John, and think about the application in our lives, let me give you a mental image of where our Christian is with regards to this particular situation that John is talking about.

When we were born in this world, we were born sinful and wicked. And no matter how cute and pretty the new born babies look, the truth is, their heart is disconnected from God.

The reason we are born sinful is because as humans, when we were first created by God in His image to worship Him – We were given the freedom to choose the right thing, we misused our freedom and willfully chose what was against God.

Our disobedience not only disconnected us from having a healthy relationship with God, but it also invited his wrath and anger. And since we were all born out of the first humans Adam and Eve, we all inherit their sinful nature, and a broken relationship with our creator God & are worthy of his wrath and anger.

Romans 3:23 – For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

Romans 6:23 – For the wages of sin is death – which is what we deserved

John 3:16 – But God so loved the us that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 3:24 – all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Romans 6:24 – but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus came to earth and lived the perfect life in our place, took the penalty of our sins and paid the price on the cross, and in return gave his righteousness to us.

He took our dirty unrighteous garments and gave us his righteous garments.

Now when God looks at us, he is looking through the filter of His son, claims us back from the world, embraces us and calls us his own.

Brother & sisters, when we are confronted with this truth, there is a transformation that happens in our heart. For the first time we truly repent of our sins, believe in the gospel & eventually make a public declaration of our faith through Baptism.

Do not be mistaken – When this happens, God forgives all our past, present & future sins. We stand justified before him forever.

He says nothing can separate us from his love – neither physical death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, [39] Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:38-39

But, a lot of people think that we only repent of our sins & believe in the gospel once for all and there is no need to repent & believe again and again.

People who think that way forget that even thought our soul is set free from eternal condemnation, we still continue to live in our flesh and in this corrupt world. Our bodies are trapped here until we die or until Jesus returns.

We also forget that as we continue to grow in our faith, there are two things happens in our heart & mind. We grow in the awareness of God’s holiness and we grow in the awareness of our sinfulness.

And if we don’t walk in daily repentance, we can go into two different directions. Let me explain.

When we focus only on the Holiness of God, we easily get into a performance mode. And when we only grow in realization of our sinfulness, we get into a pretending mode. And both these places are harmful for us.

They stop us from experiencing a spirit filled Christian life.

In our passage today, John is talking to believers who are bent towards the pretending mode. People who are pretending to have fellowship with God and walking in the light but are in darkness and unwilling to admit that they are drowning in sin.

Listen carefully as I read the passage again.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 

And here’s the solutions John offers

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

To bridge the gap between God’s holiness and Our sinfulness, the only way we can do it is when we live a lifestyle of repentance by confessing our sins to God & believing in the Gospel.

Here’s what happens when we do that daily. We grow in appreciation of what Christ has done for us on the cross. Our heart grows bigger and bigger each day.

God performs chemotherapy on us, killing the bad cells of our sinful nature and producing new ones. Changing our stony heart into a heart of flesh.

Biblical repentance frees us from our own devices and makes a way for the power of the gospel to bear fruit in our lives.

We never stop needing to repent and believe.

And as we do that, there are two reasons they happen. The first is, we express the genuineness of their faith. The second reason is, we maintain a close relationship with the Father in heaven.

Amen

Finally, as I close, let me highlight three things about repentance one gain.

  1. As Christians, we don’t repent daily because we fall off and become unbeliever again as we sin. The first time when we truly repented of our sins, he fully accepted and has given the entry pass to his Kingdom.
  2. As Christians, we repent so that we daily grow in appreciation of what Christ has done for us on the cross.
  3. We repent and confess our sins because we have the confidence that God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.