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Galatians Sermon

Sonship – Galatians 4:4-7

Apart from being friends with God, one very important aspect of our relationship with God is to know that we are now His sons and daughters, adopted into his family.

Therefore, of all the changes we experience in our hearts when we are rescued from sin and death, knowing that our Heavenly Father loves us eternally and unconditionally should resonate with us the most.
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James Sermon

Addressing the Pride Problem: James 4:11-17

A biblical perspective on one of the most “tolerated” sins

Good morning church! I’m thankful to God for the opportunity to share God’s Word with you this morning. Over the last few months, as a church we’ve been studying through the book of James. And I believe God has been dealing not just with our outward behaviours and actions but also with our hearts. 

One after the other we’ve been convicted with challenging passages. But the purpose in all of this is not to beat us down in discouragement but rather to show us how deeply our loving heavenly Father cares about the genuineness of our faith. 

He doesn’t want us to remain enslaved by hidden and comfortable sins but wants to address them head on. Today we deal with a very common tolerated sin: the Pride Problem in v11-17. Would you read it once more with me?

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[a] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. 15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. 17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

It’s IPL season and I’ve been following the IPL like some of you. This year something interesting was noticed in these teams. At the start of the tournament the top teams in the league seemed like they were running away with the trophy. The difference between the top teams and the other teams were visibly apparent. But as the tournament reached the last leg, many blind spots were beginning to show in the game of these top teams. The problem was that they relied so heavily on a couple of star players at the start of the tournament, that they overlooked the performance of the remaining players. They just assumed that everyone was playing well and there was no issue with their game. But as it got closer to the playoffs when all teams got more competitive, these star players didn’t shine on the day and it left the remaining team exposed causing a serious blow to their chances of gaining the much-awaited title. They just couldn’t see their blind spots! And similarly I think in church, we focus heavily on and address many other sins like alcoholism and lust & end up overlooking and sometimes even tolerating sins like “Pride” which can cause serious issues in our own personal spiritual life and also in the lives of the people we do life with (our community of faith).  What God’s trying to tell us through this passage is that – it’s not something that we need to be comfortable with. It can cause serious damage and it needs to be addressed. But you may ask, what’s the big deal about “Pride”? Are we making a mountain out of a mole hill? James gives us a few reasons:

1. Pride blinds us

Many of us may have played the blindfold game growing up where we were blindfolded, turned around a few times and then left to catch others. And without our sense of sight, it becomes extremely difficult to know where we are at or even find someone else. And similarly Pride blinds our view of ourselves, of others and of God. Let’s look at each in detail:

  • Blinds our view of ourselves (v11)

11 Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.[a] The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.

I’m sure one question that many of us might be thinking of is: what does James mean by speaking evil against one another? He’s using a broad term to describe anything that could damage the reputation of someone else. Looking at the context it directly refers to being critical and judging people around you (where you’re more concerned about the sin in the other person’s life than the sin in your own life).  It can take many forms – where we are consumed by pointing out faults in the other person, where we label people as such and such…call people names and come to the conclusion that they will never ever change. [This person is like that only – hopeless, useless]. And so what James is saying that when we do that we become the judge and jury.

James was actually not introducing a brand new subject on pride and judging others. He was in fact building on Jesus’ teaching in Matt 7:1-5.

“Judge not, that you be not judged. 2 For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

What Jesus is telling us that judging others sadly also affects our hearts in a deeper way – we won’t see ourselves as sinful. We won’t recognize our need to repent because we will think that we aren’t as bad as the other person. And that is why pride is blinding!

But not only does pride blind our view of ourselves but pride    

  • Blinds our view of God (v12) 

12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

At this point when James wrote the letter, they were all under the rule of the Roman emperor Caesar. Who was the final decisive judge in all matters? It was Caesar. Which means no one could even dare to challenge his decisions. Now imagine if someone decided to setup his own little court to pass his own judgments, what would that mean? Undermining the authority & power of Caesar. Big deal! It’s in that context that James is telling us that God is the ultimate lawgiver and judge. He is the One who has the full authority and power to execute His judgments as He pleases. When we judge someone and label someone, we undermine God’s authority and His judgment regarding that person:

Once I heard a pastor share his experience of when he just got out of seminary and was appointed as a pastor in his first church. Filled with all that theological knowledge and the pride in his heart, he grew to become extremely critical of the members in his church. At one time one of the members in the church confronted him and told him “Brother, even though God is all-wise (he knows everything and He knows everything about me), yet He is not as critical as you are”. When we judge others, we we fail to see God’s purpose in creating them in His image. When we judge others, we fail to see God’s mercy in forgiving them through His Son’s sacrifice. When we judge others, we fail to see God’s power in changing them. God’s character becomes a very blurry picture to us when we attempt to take that position of judge which we truly in no way are capable of fulfilling.

Pride is truly blinding but it also

2. Pride puffs us up

The irony of pride is that it may puff out our chest but leaves us with empty hearts. Let’s see how James explains this to us in the following verses:

  • Relies on our own plans and dreams (v13)

 13 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”

Now James is not saying we shouldn’t plan or dream. But he is talking about what gives us security and pleasure each day? When you think about the future, what thoughts calm you down? Is it your trust in your robust plans for your life? Is it your trust in your physical capability or mental faculty or financial stability or social skills or street-smart attitude that gives you assurance? And if we were to probe further- what is the end goal to your plans and dreams of your life? Is it personal happiness and pleasure? Or is it something else? More often than not if we are absolutely honest, we would acknowledge self as the source for security (plans and dreams) and self as the goal of attaining these plans and dreams. And it’s deeply flawed because it

  • Ignores the uncertainties of life (v14)

14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.

I’m sure at the end of 2019, many people would’ve expected 2020 to be a year of opportunity. Many countries would’ve seen it as a year tremendous growth. Many churches would’ve expected it to be a year of blessing but instead we find ourselves at the end of 2020 not knowing the best way to describe how the year went by. “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring”. One of the biggest humbling lessons of 2020 for us as believers should be – we don’t have full control of our lives and we don’t have full knowledge of what will happen next. 

  • Fails to see God’s will as most decisive (v15)

15 Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”

As I was thinking about this verse, I just was reminded that if I truly believed that God’s will is final and decisive for me, my prayer life would look very different. Very often we assume that just because we’ve prayed about a plan of ours, that it’s God’s YES for us. No, I think if we believed God’s will is final, then it requires us to surrender our plan and humbly acknowledge – “God, even if you chose and take another route for me, I will still continue to love, serve and trust You”. That’s what this verse means. It’s not just a cliché “God willing” phrase it involves surrendering our plans and dreams and willing to submit to God’s detours.

  • Steals glory from God (v16) 

16 As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

When we think about someone who boasts, most of the time we assume it’s someone else. If you’re like me you’re imagining a person who is wealthy and famous who can’t stop boasting about himself/herself. But think about it, if we relied on our plans and dreams, if we are ignorant of life’s certainties, if we don’t see God’s will as most decisive in our lives, what’s going to happen? Eventually we will begin to find ways to steal the glory that was meant for God. We are all glory thiefs. “I did it, my great plans and dreams made it possible and now I deserve to enjoy the fruit of it”. Pride is a huge problem – it blinds us and puffs us up. So what’s the answer?

3. Grace is the solution to pride

One of the verses we read last week powerfully spoke to me. 6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” Think about it, if I’m blinded by pride & puffed up by pride, how can I change? The only way is when God does something in my heart which I couldn’t do for myself. 

I’ve always been moved by the story of the calling of Peter in Luke 5. A huge crowd gathered to listen to Jesus preach near the lake & what was Jesus’ choice of a pulpit? It was Peter’s boat. After Jesus finished speaking, Jesus tells Simon “Take the boat deep into the lake and let down your nets for a catch”.

Peter with a weary and discouraged voice tells Jesus “Master, we toiled all night and caught nothing. But at your word I will let down the nets”. They go into the lake and let down the nets and to their shock and joy – they somehow were able to catch such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.

They called the other boats to come and help them & these boats began to sink with the weight of the wish. It’s an absolutely astonishing miracle. But I find it interesting that Peter’s response to this whole miracle was falling at Jesus’ feet & humbly confession of sin. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord”.

He realized he was in the presence of God & that’s what made him aware of his own sinfulness. At the moment, he’s not thinking what’s wrong in the lives of other people, no he realizes how sinful he himself is. And Jesus’ response to this knowing everything about Peter’s life is “Don’t be afraid”.

Think what those words would’ve meant to Peter at that time.  “I’m not here to judge and condemn you, I’m not here to embarrass you, I’ve come here to make you my own & I’m going to lay down my life to pay for your sins”. And Jesus also adds one more thing when he says “from now on you will be catching men”. For a person filled with the awareness of his sin, this would loudly to his ears telling him “God’s not done with me yet. He can change me. He can also use me”.

In a very personal way that day, Jesus showed Peter a picture of his grace to a fisherman. And guess what – God does that to us when we read and study God’s Word – where we go back thinking “That message was for me. I need to hear this. I need to repent because of His grace”. Maybe that’s what God is telling our hearts today.

Would you turn to Him and repent of the pride in your heart? Knowing that inspite of God knowing everything about us, He still showed us grace which we didn’t deserve and He continues to love us and work in us for His glory. V17 I believe is a reminder to repent in the light of all that we’ve read and studied.

17 So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.

Categories
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

Categories
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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James Sermon

An eternal perspective on poverty and riches: James 1:9-11

We are doing a series called “Faith in Action” and the topic we will explore today is on having a heavenly perspective of poverty and riches, the passage we are looking at is James 1:9-11.

9 Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation,

10 and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away.

11 For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits. – James 1:9-11

First of all, let me once again reminded that James primary audience are believers, men and women who have put their trust in God, and because of their faith in Christ they are now living in a foreign land away from the place of birth, among unknown people groups, and going through trials.

And among those believers, some of them were poor and some of them were rich.

In verse 9 the lowly brother is in reference to the poor, and what James is saying is that the poor brother should be proud of his position, why? Because being a poor man his dependence is on the Lord all the time, he trusts the Lord evermore for his daily needs, he has a humble demeanour & contrite spirit, and therefore James is saying it a good standing to have in the eyes of God.

In the Beatitudes, Jesus mentions about the lowly saying “blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God”, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” therefore James is saying, boast in your high position as a born-again believer, called to the true riches in Christ.

On the other hand, to the rich Christians, James is saying that they should boast in their humiliation, being humbled, humbled by the trials that reveal human frailty, their sinful and boastful heart, knowing that true riches are found in the grace of God.

You may ask how can being rich be a humiliation.

Imagine a moment when you have all the money and wealth in the world, and even after having all of that you see how wretched and sinful you are.

And because you have money it is now even more easy for you to indulge in your sinful pleasures, access to everything at your fingertips. Instead of feeling happy, you are only feeling more miserable about yourselves, and In addition to that, there is Pride and a boastful spirit towards God and people.

Can rich people feel humiliated in that position?

Yes of course!

Like Solomon who said “I have seen and done all things under the sun and have found them futile, a chasing after the wind.

I have considered all the works my hands have accomplished and toiled for and found them futile.”

And therefore, while addressing the rich he is also reminding them of the fading nature of worldly riches. Its there today and gone tomorrow, like the flower of the grass that withers away under the scorching heat of the sun.

At one time it may look good, beautiful and pleasing to the eyes and in a moment it can be taken away, right in the middle of our pursuit of riches it can be taken away forever.

And as we are looking at both these statements made about the poor and the rich, James is not suggesting that to be poor is better than being rich.

Because there are passages in the bible that also tells us that poverty could be the result of sin & laziness (Prov 10:4), it can be a result of ignoring God’s ways (Proverbs 13:8, 18), Prov 10:15 also suggests that the poor are brought to ruin by their poverty, poverty can affect relationships (19:4,7), and it can even tempt him to steal (30:7-9)

and that there is profit in hard work (Proverbs 10:4; 14:23). The Bible tells of many wealthy men who followed God: Abraham, Job, David, Solomon, Zaccheus and others.

Brothers & sisters, whether you consider yourself as a poor person or as a rich person, it is important to have a heavenly perspective regarding your current state, and if we do not cultivate a heavenly perspective we are in trouble, whether we are rich or poor.

Why? Because whether we are poor or rich, trails in life are inevitable, both of them go through trials of different nature.

Therefore, the rest of our time, I want to talk about the heavenly perspectives we need to cultivate, whether we are rich or poor.

1. Money, fame or wealth will not save us from the trials of life.

Growing up most of us have been taught and programmed to believe that money, fame, position and wealth is the ultimate goal in life. When we have money we can buy anything we want, go anywhere we like and that will make us happy.

And therefore, we spend our whole lives pursuing these things. Especially when some of us go through trails that are caused due to lack of money and resources, we think only if I had lots of money I wouldn’t have had struggles in life.

But in reality, that isn’t true. If you look around and watch the ones who’ve achieved these things, we will learn that these things never make us happy, rather we end in a trial of different nature, sometimes related to health, sometimes related to our children etc.

You can be found having a deadly sickness which money can’t take away, or your children completely ashtray, away from God which money cant bring back.

A famous Hollywood actor once said, “Everyone should get rich and famous so that they learn that being rich and famous is not the answer”. Yes, there is some truth in that statement.

Recently I saw this documentary of a young Jazz singer girl by the name of Amy Winehouse, at a very early age she started writing songs and quite famous in a short span of time.

From the age of 16 she struggled with depression and hoped that it will get better if she received fame & money, but unfortunately as she was rising up to fame and become popular, she got into unhealthy relationships, struggled with drugs and at age 27 died due to accessive alcohol consumption.

If money and fame was the answer to life’s struggles then Amy would have been alive today, but that is not what is true.

I am reminded of the story of a rich greedy man. One day a genie came to him asked him to wish for anything. The man, because he was greedy for more wealth asked the genie to grant him a power by which whatever he touch would turn into gold, and the genie granted him his wish.

Immediately after that he went to eat food that was on the dining table and as soon as he touched the food it turned into gold, and in the next moment his children came to give him a hug and they too turned into gold. He got the gold but he lost the capability to consume food that would keep him alive, and also lost the affections of his loved ones.

Friends, in God’s Kingdom, worldly wealth holds no value, it’s just a piece of paper in your hand and a number in your bank account. And if you think more money and wealth will save you from all your troubles than you are mistaken.

God is more interested in deep heart transformation than making people prosper for no reason. You can be a poor person and through your dependence and trust in God, by walking in humility before Him, allow Him to change your heart, transform you into the image of His son Jesus and use you for the glory of His name.

And you can be a rich person, who is humble and contrite in heart, trusting him and savouring His grace in your life, …. allowing Him …

Think of all the precious moments you are missing out in your life where God is working in your heart, just because your heart is somewhere in the future, thinking of the day when you will get a promotion, a raise in salary, an inheritance from your parents and a business deal you also wanted.

As a Christian, every day God is doing something beautiful in our heart, it may look quite small to you now but it will bear much fruit if you yield towards it.

And how does he work in our heart?

He works through the transforming power of the Gospel, which brings me to the second perspective we need to cultivate regarding poverty & riches.

2. Besides Jesus there is nothing in this world that will satisfy us, that includes money, wealth & possession.

To feel happy, what we truly need is heart transformation and not more money. And heart transformation only happens when our hearts are inclined to the Gospel.

The bible says, by nature, we are sinful people, as long as we live in the flesh we are sinful. And a sinful flesh only produces corruption and hatred. We know that was not how God created us to be, he created us to live a full life, walking in obedience to Him and worshipping Him. But believed the lie the serpent told us, when he told us that we can be like God, we liked the idea and therefore rebelled and sinned against God.

The brokeness, agony, restlessness, dissatisfaction, the pain we experience, whether we are poor or rich is the result of our sin against God. Therefore, the poor to desire riches is not the answer, because a lot of rich have sold everything to become monks and sadhus and still miserable under the burden of their sin.

What we truly need is a restored relationship with God, and we can’t earn it on our own capabilities and good works. The help is provided by God himself, only through His grace and mercy which he showed us through His son Jesus can restore it back.

Our response to his love and grace is an act of obedience, where we come to Him in repentance and ask his forgiveness, and trust in his on Jesus with all our heart, mind and soul.

Therefore, even in times of trials, the poor, instead of grumbling, complaining about the lack of money should instead boast in their position as a child of God, and for the work, He is doing in our heart through the trials they are going through.

The rich, instead of allowing the humiliation of our riches to press you down and take you to places you shouldn’t go, do things you shouldn’t do should remind themselves of the vanity of wealth and cherish the true riches they have in Christ alone.

Therefore, the questions we need to ask is not whether we need to stay poor and become rich, the question we need to ask is whether we are rich or poor are we enjoying Christ and his redeemer work in our heart.

I hope you hear the Holy Spirit of God speaking to you

I like to end my sermon with a beautiful confession from Paul in 4:10-13

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. 12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Categories
Articles

Why God? Why Me?

In one of the episodes of a series called Young Sheldon, the mother of a young boy named Sheldon struggles with her faith when she hears of a friend who lost her 16-year-old daughter.

What I found interesting is that Sheldon who is 10 years old, loves science and calls himself an atheist comforts her. Paraphrasing Sheldon, he said that if the gravitational force was more or less than what it is then the earth would not exist.

The precision of the gravitational force shows that there is a Creator.

My finite mind can’t wrap my head around God’s infinite purposes. But listening to his logic made me look at my own life.

Throughout my life, I have asked God the question I believe you all can relate to- Why God? Why me?

I asked Him why am I in this situation when my parents were getting divorced.

Why don’t I have a normal life?

While growing up my failures left me feeling very hopeless and I asked why am I like this?

But looking back if these things didn’t happen, if I was in a perfect family would I then know God?

And if I didn’t make any mistakes would I need Jesus?

I realise that these trials have led me to Christ and also relate to the pain and suffering of another person. I have known God deeply in my suffering and therefore I can comfort others with the comfort I have received through Christ.

I know He has grieved when I have grieved. And I am forever grateful for this intimate fellowship with God Himself.

I understand God is Holy and He hates sin but I am glad He loves sinners. Jesus said that He leaves the 99 to find the one who was lost. I was lost and I am glad that despite my sins God Himself pursued me.

He came in flesh to relate to everything- trials, weakness and suffering, yet without sin. It was His compassion and steady love through the cross and resurrection that saves.

He is, therefore, our Perfect Priest who makes intercession on our behalf for grace and mercy. Therefore being our strength in times of affliction.

I don’t want to minimise the pain of a broken relationship, adversity, loss or injustice. What I want to do is magnify the truth that despite a dark and a broken world God is Sovereign.

And that’s a reason to rejoice because He makes ALL things (every detail of your life) work together for good and His Glory.

Moreover what I have learnt through these dark times is that my greatest gain is the presence of Christ Himself, His fellowship, His peace, His Strength and grace through the Holy Spirit.

The good news doesn’t just stop at salvation and reconciliation to God. But it goes beyond and is ongoing through His sanctifying work in us through these trials to make us more like Jesus.

Jesus said in this life you will have trials but be of good cheer for I have overcome them. And through the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony we can be confident to overcome these light and momentary afflictions cause He is with us and in us and He is greater.

Therefore through the perils of life, I pray you will see that God is Sovereign. He is in control despite sin and brokenness. He will make all things work together for the good of those who love Him And are called according to His purpose.

Most importantly we can delight in the undeserved privilege of His sweet fellowship through His Holy Spirit, so may we treasure Him above all with all our being.

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

Grace driven purity – 1 Thessalonians 5:22-28

Good morning church! I just want to thank God for the opportunity to share God’s Word with you this morning.

If you’ve been tracking with us, over the last few months we’ve been trying to understand this theme “Abiding Faith” from 1 Thessalonians. What we’ve learnt through all those weeks is that it’s ultimately God who sustains our faith. Today we arrive at the last passage of this letter that talks about “Sanctification” which means “being purified & set apart for God”.

Would you join me as we pray and ask God to help us understand and respond to today’s passage?

During my schooling days, there was this condition called “Out of syllabusitis”!

I’m sure many of us might be familiar with this term. We would spend quite a few of the last few nights cramming and preparing for an exam & when we receive the question paper, we are shocked to see questions that we’ve never seen before. Out of syllabus!!

It’s also true that these could have been questions that were in our portion which we didn’t prepare for but we would still refer to them as “out of syllabus” because these questions leave us stumped.

I think similarly when it comes to our Christian faith, there’s a lot of emphasis and encouragement on how to become a believer in Christ through repentance & faith but the common Christian experience after that is often “out of syllabus” for many.

We are left stumped and clueless. Often, we are handed over many commands to follow but as we go through our days as believers be it in our private moments when we are alone or when we are in public interacting with other people, we soon we realize that we simply don’t have the power or the ability to “purify ourselves daily and set apart ourselves for God”.

So brother or sister, if you’re at that place today where you’re confused on how to live the Christian life in purity or if you’re tired of your failing moral performance, just know you’re not alone. What help is available?

1. God’s gracious promise (v22-24)

God’s promise is the only thing that we can rely on to sanctify our lives. What I find interesting is that v22 “Abstain from every form of evil” is a command & imperative for God’s people.

But in the very next verse we are given a promise which will help us obey this command. It’s God’s gracious promise that empowers our ability to obey. But how do I know if God will honour and keep this promise? Let’s look at 3 aspects of God’s gracious promise:

  • God’s promise is based on the Work of God – Now may the God of peace (v23)That term God of peace refers to God reconciling us back to Himself through the work of Jesus. Through the sacrifice of Jesus, God has signed & sealed a peace treaty with us who have trusted in Jesus. As part of God’s peace treaty, He has promised no more wrath, no more condemnation on us who used to be enemies of God because the payment was paid in full by Jesus Christ.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1)

And I think this is a powerful truth for us because it tells us of how God views us if we’ve placed our full trust in Jesus. God’s not waiting for an opportunity for us to mess up so that we can be relegated back to being enemies.

Neither is God requiring our performance (achievements, self-will, our efforts) to maintain this peace treaty. It’s based on the permanent work of God.

But you may say it’s one thing to have a peace treaty through the work of God, but it’s another thing to sanctify a sinner like me. That requires enormous ability. That’s why the second aspect of the promise is important:

  • God’s promise is fulfilled by the Power of God – May the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (v24) I hope we are able to see the astonishing promise made here in terms of our holiness. Complete sanctification – meaning complete pure and set apart for God! When the Lord Jesus comes again, believers in Jesus would be made “blameless” in their spirit, soul and body. In other words, there won’t be an iota or a remnant of sin left in us!!

What?

And this promise is made to sinners!!! Can God do this? Scripture is filled with testimonies of God doing things that are absolutely impossible for humans. I think this culminated in the Resurrection of Jesus. I mean we think about all that humans boast about and all the medical advances that have been made over the centuries, but yet no human has been able to provide an answer to the reality of Death.

With the sad news of hundreds of thousands that have passed away due to the current pandemic despite all types of efforts to contain the virus, we realize how helpless we are and yet Jesus Christ rendered death powerless!  It’s astonishing.

I love the way Ps. David Jeremiah puts it:

“God, by His exerted power, reversed the process of death, overturned the process of decay, caused a silent heart to beat again. He was resurrected with an eternal body which according to Philippians 3 serves as a prototype for our own resurrected bodies”.  

Ps. David Jeremiah

If God’s able to overturn and destroy something as fatal and deadly as death, then God can do anything. He can certainly sanctify us completely and make us blameless when Christ comes again.

I think this is an important truth for us especially when we respond to habitual patterns of sin which often leaves us despondent and in despair. God is able to purify you!

  • God’s promise is sustained by the Character of God – Now you might say I understand the work of God & the power of God – God is able to sanctify and purify us, but 2000 years have passed, what if God changed His mind?

We have had a consistent history of messing up a zillion times and not being faithful to God, what if God alters His promise?

And that’s why v24 is important:  He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.

God’s character (His faithfulness) is being highlighted here. Brothers and sisters, I realize that this aspect of the character of God is especially important because we trust a person on the basis of his/her character.

Is the person faithful or not? That determines our level of trust. God’s not like us “sinful humans” to make and break promises as it seems convenient. He puts His character on the line to back up this promise and assure us that He will do what He promised to do.

This committed promise of God is what empowers pure and holy living.

Just to illustrate:

In marriage, it consists of a promise and loving responsibilities. Which among both is important? Both. The promise are the vows made by the couple to each other on the wedding day & the loving responsibilities are the outworking of the promise.

Without the promise, there’s no security for the couple when they mess up in their responsibilities. Without the loving responsibility, there won’t be an opportunity for the couple to care and serve each other.

But remember the promise precedes the loving responsibility. The promise binds and holds the loving responsibility. Similarly, it’s God’s promise to sanctify us is a security that empowers us to live in purity.

But not only do we have God’s gracious promise, but we also have

2. God’s Gracious Provision (v25-27)

God’s gracious Provision is through spiritual disciplines! That might be a strange idea for some of us because we’ve never thought about it in that way. Many times we view spiritual disciplines like a labourer instead of a son or a daughter.

What I mean by this is that a labourer works to get a salary from His master (spiritual disciplines are a means to grace). On the other hand, a son or a daughter don’t have a transactional relationship with their Father because they are loved and accepted.

All the gifts they enjoy are not a salary payment made to them but means by which they can enjoy and grow in their relationship with the Father (spiritual disciplines as means of grace) V25-27 mentions 3 spiritual disciplines as a provision for us to help us in our sanctification:

  • Prayers of believers:  Brothers, pray for us. (v25) I find it interesting that after sharing so much of biblical truth in this whole letter, Paul closes the letter by asking them to pray for him and his companions.

Despite the fact that Paul was an amazing church planter & preacher, Paul recognizes how much of divine help (grace) is required to help him grow in purity, continue to trust Jesus with his entire life & pursue the mission that God called him to.

And that’s a humbling thought to realize that despite all our so-called accomplishments, despite how many years we may have been as believers, despite how active we may have been in ministry, we are still little children dependent on the grace of God for everything including purity.

Praying is an acknowledgement that we are desperate and helpless & only God is the only one who is able to help us.

Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
(John 15:5)

It is a humbling thing when we ask our brother or sister to pray for our purity and holiness.

At the same time, it reaches out to God’s enormous power source to come to our aid whenever we are in need. 

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
(Hebrews 4:16)

  • Fellowship: Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. (v26) In biblical times, this kind of “kiss of peace” was a greeting that people would use when they would meet people. However, the NT church, the symbol was much more than just a greeting.

    It was to symbolize unity among the members in the church. It didn’t matter what a person’s background is, now that He is in Jesus Christ – He is united to me and I am united to Him as a spiritual sibling.

    And especially with this topic on “purity”, it’s significant because it means that we no longer look at our brother or sister as spiritually superior or spiritually inferior but it levels the playing field so that we can be open, honest and repentant to our spiritual siblings about our lives and struggles. 

    6 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.
    (James 5:16)

    God has graciously given us “fellowship” to help us in our spiritual growth.
  • Word: I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. (v27) You know as we read this letter in 1 Thessalonians, it is certainly a heartfelt letter to Paul’s spiritual children expressing his deep concern.

    However, it was much more than just a heartfelt letter – it is the very words of God to not just provide them with instruction on how to lead a life of purity but these words were in itself the means by which people would be made pure.

    In John 17, Jesus prays this for his disciples – 17 Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17)God’s Word is truth that purifies our hearts.

    Another favourite verse of mine is from Romans 10:17 – 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ. God’s Word has the power to produce faith in our unbelieving hearts! The Spirit uses God’s Word to perform a spiritual surgery fixing and purifying our broken hearts.

    And that’s really important for us to know because it tells us that even if we are going through seasons when we are struggling spiritually, what we need to hear the most is actually the “word of God” which the Spirit will use to produce faith and call us to repentance.

If we are absolutely honest, we would probably confess that our tendency is to view sanctification as our own performance rather than trusting on God’s promise and God’s provision.

And that’s one of the root sin issues that we need to repent of. And this isn’t a modern sin issue. It finds its origin in the Garden of Eden with our ancestors Adam and Eve. God created them for purity to reflect His purity through their lives.

But they needed to trust His promise and His provision. They trusted in their own performance & broke their relationship with God. From that moment onwards all of humanity has been held captive by that lifestyle of performance.

Even our solution to the sin in our lives is:

“I’ll do better, I’ll fix what I’ve broken, I will cancel my wrongs with the good that I do, I will pray more, I will read God’s Word more, I will spend more time in the church”.

But God in His grace sent His Son Jesus to the earth, born of a Virgin & the only one in the history of humankind to live a life of perfect performance.

And then died on the cross for our sins & failed performance to fix ourselves. He rose on the third Day to freely handover his own perfect performance to those who would come and surrender their lives to Him!

And this handover of Christ performance is what purifies/sanctifies our lives. And one day this handover of Christ’s perfect performance will be complete when He returns.

This great goal is sealed by God’s gracious promise and God’s gracious provision.

So today I invite us to not just repent for the behavioural patterns of sin that we struggle with. But I would ask us to repent of our attitude of performance toward God.

Repent of the times when repentance was just our own performance resolution. Shed aside our weak and failing performance and come to the foot of the cross where our performance ends and trust in Christ’s promise and Christ’s provision today.

28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

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Philippians Sermon

Finding Joy in Imperfection -Philippians 4:1-3

Good morning church! We’ll be continuing our series titled “Joy filled Life” from the letter to the Philippians.

It’s been great learning what “true joy” is as we’ve studied the passages together. And in today’s passage we find that the Philippian church is in the center of a conflict situation – it’s in fact one of the main reasons why Paul wrote this letter. There is so much to learn from the first three verses of chapter 4.   Without wasting much time let’s get into the passage:

Therefore, my brothers,[a] whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

2 I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. 3 Yes, I ask you also, true companion,[b] help these women, who have labored[c] side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Living in Christian community seemed to be a piece of cake! That’s when I used to watch “church on TV” every Sunday morning. Without much instruction on the importance of church during my first few months as a new believer, I found myself “enjoying” church services from the comforts of my sofa.


In fact, I even thought I had options to chose the kind of church service that suited me – I just had to tune in at the select timing. But a few months later as I joined my first church as a believer – reality hit me – I realized not only was church a people that I was created to be part of but also filled with broken individuals including me.


And that brought a whole new set of questions in my mind. How should I respond when conflict is caused by my own sin?  What is my response supposed to be when I’m caught in the middle of other people’s conflict? Let’s look at today’s passage to get the answers.

 1. We need to persevere in the gospel

Therefore, my brothers,[a] whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved.

I find it interesting that Paul doesn’t directly jump to what these individuals should or not do with respect to the conflict. But even before that he takes time to explain the gospel and then ask them to “stand firm” or “persevere in the gospel”.


Every time I think of the word “persevere” I think about a marathon – like a 42k marathon. The Christian life is not a 100m dash but is more like a marathon. It’s long-distance and requires great endurance. So what does it mean to persevere in the gospel?

From the previous chapter, we understand that perseverance is connected with “Knowing Jesus”. And I know that we generally use that term “knowing Jesus” quite frequently but what does knowing Him entail? Is it a feeling or a thought about Jesus? Is it merely the knowledge of Scripture? How do I know Jesus? Paul lists out the different ways by which we know Jesus:

  • We know Christ by placing our faith on Him– The most amazing truth of the Bible for us is that Christ died in our place as our substitute. On the cross, Jesus exchanged His pure white robe for our filthy rags. And then after rising from the dead, He declared that whoever would trust in His sacrifice & run to Him for safety would receive His white robe in exchange! That’s what faith in Christ means.    

  • We know Christ by obeying His Word- Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. (Phil 3:12). Because Christ is God and yet paid the highest ransom amount to save me, I’m not going to take my spiritual life lightly. I’m not doing it to gain favor from God but instead I’m obeying Christ to show my love for my Savior (John 14:15)

  • We know Christ by suffering with Him- Another way by which we get to know Christ intimately is by suffering for Him. If you are a true believer in Christ, then at some point you will be persecuted or mocked or insulted because of your holy life, your message and choices. When that happens to us, we get a glimpse of what it might have been for Christ to endure suffering & also have the opportunity reflect His love and forgiveness to those who oppose us.

  • We know Christ by being transformed into Him- 19 If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. (1 Cor 15:19) Think about it – if all that was planned for us is to live on this earth for 60-70 years with no eternal consequence, then all what we’re doing is absolutely useless. Instead the Bible tells us that because God is God & faithful to His promise, we will be supernaturally transformed into Christ’s glorious, perfect body!

In the church today “knowing Christ” has unfortunately been reduced to just gaining biblical knowledge about Jesus or merely a feeling that you experience during a worship set.


As we look at this passage, we see that when the Bible speaks about knowing Jesus – it is meant to be deeply personal, active and transformative!!!


Knowing Jesus means becoming like Him! That’s the goal. If our knowledge isn’t making us look like Jesus, then something isn’t right about it.  That’s why it requires “perseverance”.

There was once a generous king who wanted to adopt a young boy from his country. All the bright and talented boys lined up for adoption but to everyone’s surprise, this king instead wanted to adopt a boy from the local prison!


When the king comes to the prison, he notices a boy who is battered, bruised and fully covered in dirt. The one whom no one wanted to sit beside was chosen to be the son of the King! The King brought the child home, bathed him, cleaned his wounds and gave him new clothes to wear.


The King later has a conversation with the boy & tells him that he is so glad to be his father and no one’s ever going to change that. But he also tells him that the boy will need to go to another place for a few years to undergo some training so that he understands what it means to be the son of a King.


His past life was so different from this new life and he needed to be trained. Right before the boy goes out for training, the king gives him a handwritten letter where he’s listed out all the things that he’s said to him so far with his own sign and seal.

Whenever the boy doubts or is tempted to leave the training, he can read the letter to be reminded that he is the son of the King and no longer a prisoner. He should wait for the King who will certainly come one day to bring him home!

Sometimes people ask “how much time should I read the Bible and pray”? I don’t think that’s the best question to ask. You my child. You’re not a prisoner anymore. Spending time with me through the Word and prayer is how you get to know my heart and my will for you.

Some other times people ask “Is it okay if I’m selective in my obedience?” The response would be – You’re my child. You’re not a prisoner anymore. You’ve been pulled out of prison to live a freely for me.

Someone else might ask “God is very important to me but above Him are my parents, my job and my relationship” You’re my child now. Remember how I rescued you from those things (sometime good things) that enslaved and imprisoned you. Don’t go back to that now. You’re mine.

Not only do we need to persevere in the gospel but also

2. We need to express the gospel (especially in the midst of conflict in church)

I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion,[b] help these women, who have labored[c] side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life.

Euodia and Syntyche were women leaders in the Philippian church who also were actively involved in Paul’s ministry. We don’t know what caused the disagreement between the two of them but it seems like it was left unresolved and began to affect the church internally.


It could be that some people were thinking “How is it that these leaders are not able to resolve their differences?” Some others probably thought “this is what happens when we get ourselves in church ministry, things get quite messy. It’s better to stay out of it”.


And I think it brings us to this important truth – that there isn’t a perfect church – even a church as faithful as the church in Philippi had major disagreements among the more solid & active believers!

Even as I’ve been part of a few churches myself and visited others, I’ve witnessed how many people have been hurt by church and have considered leaving it. The reasons I feel are:

1. Church becomes an idol- We demand perfection from the church or the pastors and when they aren’t able to meet up to our expectations or our needs, we end up getting angry and frustrated. In one of my previous churches I remember telling a brother once how I felt let down by the church because they weren’t appreciating my efforts to present the gospel in creative ways. I only found opposition each time. And he told me something that stuck to my mind, he said “Whenever we make the church or people to be the ultimate thing, we will always be let down. Jinson, you need to look up to Christ who is the only perfect One and who is able to completely satisfy the longings of your heart”. So true – I was looking at the church to be my Savior and Satisfier.

There is a famous quote that says “Church isn’t a museum for saints but a hospital for broken sinners”.

2. Understanding that the church is still in need of grace:  Someone like me who is usually non-confrontational tries their best to avoid any kind of conflict. But what I end up forgetting is as those conflicts are being addressed through the gospel, it becomes the perfect place to display God’s grace.


I miss out on the grace lesson that God wants to teach me during those moments.  I don’t know if you’ve noticed but your biggest idols are revealed not when everything’s going great but when you’re in the midst of conflict. Selfishness, pride, insecurity – all of that gets revealed and so it’s a wonderful opportunity for the church to understand grace and repentance when it’s dealt with the gospel.

Which is why Paul in v3 asks the church (his true companion) to intervene and help reconcile these two sisters.Their role in this is not to GOSSIP about the situation but rather aid with the reconciliation process. Here are a few application points that come to mind:

i) We need to pray for the unity of the church (especially if we are aware of disagreements from within)– We shouldn’t assume that because the church has believers that conflict will hardly be there. It’s quite the contrary.

ii) We need to actively engage disagreeing parties- To reiterate the role of the church is not to be a silent spectator nor gossip, but find ways to make reconciliation possible.


And when the disagreeing parties are in front of you, what should you tell them? It’s not to take sides or talk about platitudes. What they need to hear is the gospel. That’s the only thing that can change their hearts and bring about genuine restoration.

iii) We need to trust the church to help us resolve our disagreements (be it in marriage, family, friends and church members)-  It might be the case for some of us that our first point of contact to help resolve conflicts are unbelievers but we all know that they’ll not be able to point your hearts to Jesus.


They’ll probably only be able to provide some sort of worldly compatibility advice. Instead what if you’re able to talk to few mature believers who can actually help you navigate through your issues by telling you about Jesus and His sacrifice? But for that, it calls us to be willing to open ourselves to our church speaking into our lives.


Sometime back a brother shared an experience of a bitter fight he got into with his brother during a GC. Things got so ugly that the elders had to put them in separate rooms temporarily and later brought them together and the members of the GC “gospeled” them through that process.


Now it was embarrassing for them at first but that day they had the privilege to practice grace and repentance before Christ and the church. Today that brother is one of the leaders at the church & he retells the story as a way to explain the beauty of the church in helping him reconcile with his brother.

I want to leave you with this final thought – Yes, it’s true that we are experiencing present conflict due to our sin and brokenness, but Christ will have the final word! In a very beautiful way Christ is stitching up His body that will one day be a bright, spotless bride! Don’t look at people, don’t look at a perfect church to satisfy you – look at Christ and His perfection! Know Him & Become Like Him!

Categories
Mark Sermon

Gracious Giving

Good morning church! We will be finishing our preaching series on the gospel of Mark today. It’s taken us a year and a half to complete the entire gospel and I know that the Spirit has enabled us to grow in our love and obedience to Christ as we’ve studied these passages.

We will end our series with a passage that we couldn’t cover earlier from Mark 12:41-44. It is a familiar passage on the story of the poor widow who gave two copper coins. We are going to learn about “Gracious Giving” as we look through this passage.

Should we talk about Finances at our church? That was the question that both Saju and I have contemplated for a while. Both Saju and I have seen a lot of abuse in our church experiences over money and finances. We’ve seen how churches have asked for money and donations so that they could spend it on beautifying their own church buildings and also seen church leaders use offerings to spend it on their own luxurious lifestyles.

We really didn’t want this to describe our church and our ministry and that’s why at this present time we both are bi-vocational and don’t take a salary from the church. That’s also probably one of the reasons why we’ve not preached a sermon on “finances or giving” in the last 4 years. However, as we thought about this and read it God’s Word & had conversations with other brothers, we were reminded again how God is deeply concerned about our hearts in relation to money.

What’s astonishing is that Jesus has spoken more number of times about money in the gospels than the subject of hell! If it is important to God, then we ought to preach and talk about this. We’ll today try to understand what “Gracious Giving” looks like and why does it need to be emphasized in the lives of believers through the story of the poor widow.

I believe this passage tells us 3 things about Gracious Giving:

  • Gracious giving is Hidden

It needs to go unnoticed. Right before this passage in v38-40, Jesus condemns the actions of the scribes. They are the super-religious guys who love to show off, receive greetings from people in the marketplace, at the synagogues they have the best seats of honor and make long prayers to show that they are super-spiritual and religious. Not only was this bad enough, they also exploited widows who were one of the most weak and helpless people in the social structure of that time.

What we need to realize is that in biblical times, widows were in a very difficult position. Financially many of them would end up being in poverty in indebtedness because their husband who was the main source of economic support passed away. They had very little or no inheritance rights and after the death of their husband, the relationship between the husband’s family and the widow would be very shaky. They were so isolated and underprivileged in society that the early church actually had laid a special emphasis on helping and ministering to widows.

James 1:27 says Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

And we know from the Bible how God is a defender of the weak and the powerless. Right across the whole bible we’ll always see how widows have a special place in God’s heart.

Now where I’m I getting to. Think about this whole scenario of Jesus sitting in front of the treasury seeing people put their offerings in the collection box. The God of the whole universe is watching people “give” their offerings to Him. Rich people are putting large sums of money…others are giving their offerings but Jesus notices the poor widow who nobody noticed. She was poor, helpless and weak but she found her audience in the King of Kings and Lord of Lords! What a wonderful thing.

Now compare that with the religious folk who gave more than this lady. They were the ones who argued with Jesus, tried to trap Jesus, wanted to arrest him and even kill him. Right there we understand the truth that God is more interested in what goes on in your heart as you give. It’s not merely the “amount” or the “giving” but the motivation of your heart that matters to God.

I believe that’s the crux of the issue when Jesus says in Matt 6: 2 “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

And if you think about it – it’s countercultural in the world and also sometimes in churches. Some places they honor and give out mementos to people who are like the top “donors” when in fact Christ actually tells us to give in private. It’s in the secrecy and the hiddenness of giving that pleases God. It’s not for the people around you to notice or to commend you for the amount that you’ve put in. Gracious giving is in fact hidden from other people. Gracious giving goes unnoticed in public. Gracious giving won’t receive any applause or praises from people but it pleases the heart of God.

But not only is gracious giving Hidden, but

  • Gracious giving is also Sacrificial

You can imagine the jaws of the disciples drop when Jesus tells them that this poor widow put in more than all the other people. They were probably quite confused because if we compare the amounts, this widow had actually put in much lesser than all the others. The value of the two copper coins actually amounted to 1/64 of a denarii.

A denarii was the daily wage for a labor worker. What she put in was 1/64th the amount of that. Then Jesus explains to them that all the others contributed out of their abundance but she had contributed out of her poverty.

For the others it was merely a contribution, for her it was a sacrifice. It was going to cost her not just something but everything. It was going to seriously affect her livelihood. Now I don’t think we should oversimplify the application to be – the poor widow put in all her money in the offering box so all of us need to put in all our money in the offering box.

But I think what it is telling us is this: God sees and views our giving not on the basis of what we don’t have but on the basis of what we have! Which means that God is not comparing the amounts of our giving against each other but God desires us to sacrificially give on the basis of what He has given to us individually at this present time.

Sometimes we hear people say things like “If God were to give me more money, then I’ll be able to give more to the church and to the poor”. Not necessarily. We know that with more money there’s in fact greater temptation to spend more on ourselves. That’s why God isn’t asking you to give on the basis of what you will have a few years later. He desires our obedience on the basis of what He has given right now. 

The important key here is the word sacrifice! The word by definition implies a cost & surrender– it’s going to cost us something & we’ll need to surrender something. Now when was the last time we gave an offering where it actually costed us something? When was the last time we had to surrender something in order to give an offering?

Now I know that not all generous people in the world are believers. But shouldn’t all true followers of Christ be generous? Because we have understood God’s mercy and sacrifice firsthand! We were “impoverished” in our sin. We were helpless and wretched and broken in our sinful state. But God being “rich in mercy” sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to “empty” Himself by taking the form of man and then dying for you and for me.

He rose again on the third Day defeating sin, Satan and death so that we can receive the richness and wealth and privilege of a close intimate relationship with God. (2 Cor 8:9) God wasn’t stingy when it came to showing you grace. Shouldn’t people who have experienced this amazing eternal grace of God be overflowing with generosity?

Brothers and sisters, my aim is not to guilt people but rather to challenge us to think differently about giving. Sometimes we view giving as comfortable contributions but gracious giving involves sacrifice and generosity. Please don’t get me wrong…I’m not saying that we should never spend a penny on ourselves.

But what I’m saying that as believers we should be defined not by our spending but our giving. What’s the world’s notion on money and salary? Spend it within the first week of receiving it and then live as a miser till the end of the month. As believers the gospel changes the way we utilize our money. We give radically so that the gospel advances in places where there’s no gospel presence. We give radically to empower the weakest and poorest in the community around us and when they ask us why we do it – we point them back to Jesus who is the source of grace!

  • Gracious giving is Willing

The poor widow delighted the heart of Jesus because she willingly put everything that she had to live on! Not reluctantly but willingly she gave everything. The passage doesn’t give too much of a description about this widow but her actions certainly tell a lot about her faith.

  1. She believed that God owns everything in her life so he deserves everything as well. By her one action she displayed whole-hearted surrender.
  2. She also trusted God to sustain her even though she gave everything that she had to live on.

I really believe these two things impact the willingness to give to the Lord.

  1. Ownership: Do we believe that God is truly the Giver, Owner and Master of our whole lives including our money? Or do we think we are the owners of our own lives?
  2. Security: Do we trust God enough to know that He will continue to provide for all our needs even if we give sacrificially? Or do we think that our giving will ultimately result in us being needy all the time?

I hope we don’t miss the point how our “giving” goes much deeper than just an external act of obedience. Our giving actually points to who sits on the throne seat of our hearts! Our giving actually tells a lot about who we believe is our Provider. In whom we believe keeps us secure! Is it Jesus Christ or is it us?

2 Corinthian 8 tells us of a wonderful story about gracious giving. Paul and his companions were raising funds to help the poor & suffering believers in the Jerusalem church.  Paul informed all the churches in his network about this need. Now the churches in Macedonia actually had their own set of problems – it says they were going through severe test of affliction and extreme poverty. But the moment they heard this need, they begged earnestly telling that they really wanted to join in to help the saints. And they went over and above their means to help out. (v1-5)

This is how 2 Cor 8:5 puts it: 5 And they exceeded our expectations: They gave themselves first of all to the Lord, and then by the will of God also to us.

Their commitment to God overflowed in an expression of giving willingly! One tough question I had to ask myself is that when needs come up suddenly, do I get impatient & frustrated? Or do I eagerly and willingly desire to help in whichever way I can? Is it reluctance or eagerness?

7 Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. (2 Cor 9:7) I might be giving “sacrificially” but if it is done in reluctance then it doesn’t honor God. We might as well not give it than to dishonor God by giving our offerings unwillingly. It doesn’t show God to be most valuable. He is not seen as worthy of glory!

Brothers and sisters, if we are truly honest, I think we would admit that we would need to grow in these areas of gracious giving – be it hidden, sacrificial and willingness. What I hope we’ve realized that our giving is not just tied to our pockets but our hearts in a way that’s much deeper than what we think. We need renewal and we need God’s grace.

It’s a question of Ownership and Security. If God has convicted our hearts, we must turn away from all those areas where we see clear patterns of sin and greed and convenience. Let’s turn back to Jesus Christ who is our Owner and our Provider and ask him to change our hearts and our lives so that we can be “Gracious Givers” just like Him.