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1 Thessalonians Sermon

When sanctification seems impossible | 1 Thessalonians 5:22-28

When sanctification seems difficult/impossible!

Good morning, church. How are you all doing this morning? How I long for some response from you guys like a normal Sunday we used to have – seems like long time ago now.

We hope and pray that God would open doors and do a miracle in getting us all started once again – like days of old.

As a church, we have been going through the first letter written by Paul to the Thessalonians and today we end the series on “Abiding faith” as we meditate on the final words of Paul in this letter from 1 Thessalonians 5:22-28.

22 Abstain from every form of evil. 23 Now 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. 24 He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. 25 Brothers, pray for us. 26 Greet all the brothers with a holy kiss. 27 I put you under oath before the Lord to have this letter read to all the brothers. 28 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

The story is told of a young girl who accepted Christ as her Savior and applied for membership in a local church. “Were you a sinner before you received the Lord Jesus into your Life?” inquired an old deacon.

“Yes, sir,” she replied. “Well, are you still a sinner?” “To tell you the truth, I feel I’m a greater sinner than ever.” “Then what real change have you experienced?” “I don’t quite know how to explain it,” she said, “except I used to be a sinner running after sin, but now that I am saved.

I’m a sinner running from sin!” she was received into the fellowship of the church, and she proved by her consistent life that she was truly converted. Beloved, I want you to think about this statement today morning – “I am a sinner running from sin”.

This is the calling with which God has called us – that we may be holy and be like His Son Jesus Christ – even though we have the sin nature active in our hearts.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 says it clearly – “For this is the will of God – your sanctification”. But we live and walk among broken glasses. Our own sin and the sins of people around us make us feel that sanctification is too difficult and slow and too demanding and sometimes, our recurring sins and sins which so easily ensnare us keep following us like a leach – sometimes making us think that sanctification is impossible.

Even though God calls us to a life of holiness and demands a life of purity – we still continue to fall in sin – and struggle with a slow and difficult process of sanctification.

Doesn’t our thoughts, our words and actions yesterday or even today morning show us that we are so far from being like Jesus? When our so-easily ensnaring sin refuses to let go and when sanctification seems tough and impossible, what do we do as a Christian?

Brothers and sisters, I want to encourage you this morning to look unto God – our sanctifier – as we meditate on our passage for today.

I want to title my sermon – “When sanctification seems difficult…” and I pray that you would remember these 3 points when you feel like giving up on God’s process of sanctification.

1. Do not give up your fight against sin!
2. Remember someone is praying for you!
3. Remember God is faithful to complete what He has promised!


1. Do not give up your fight against sin!


Before Paul goes on to talk about God – our sanctifier and perfecter from verse 23 – Paul commands the Thessalonian believers in verse 22 – “Abstain from every form of evil”. What kind of word is that?

Paul is just about to bring about an amazing truth of Christianity – that it is God who is faithful to sanctify you and keep you blameless until Jesus comes again. But, before you and I think that “Because God sanctifies me, I have no part or responsibility in being holy”, before we think that, Paul says that “Abstain from every form of evil”.

Brothers and sisters, if our view of God’s sovereignty and faithfulness lead us into a lifestyle of sin and laziness and sloth – we haven’t understood God’s ways of sanctification yet.

So many of us lose hope too soon in our battle against sin and many of us let go of our arms and ammunitions thinking there is no point of fighting against my sin. And few of the reasons that some of us give are –

“It is God who sanctifies, let Him do it – I could very well go ahead and spend some time netflixing.” Or another reason that we give is – “Brother, I have tried and struggled and done everything possible to fight my sin but I am still not able to overcome it.

I think I cannot fight anymore. I think I am born with this infirmity. I am going to make peace with it and accept it as my weakness. Main jaisa hun, main vaisa hi hun – main badal nahi sakta.”

Beloved, this school of thought has led many to think that holiness is simply impossible to have and if I strive for holiness, then I can possibly never get an assurance of my salvation – because I will always see my failures and my sins and doubt my assurance.

And today – more and more, we see churches and Christians and even ourselves – somehow narrowing down this call to holiness and watering it and diluting it to a great extent.

Why? They simply can’t believe that complete sanctification is possible. It is true – Beloved – that we do not attain practical perfection in this life – but then sometimes – Christians think that no degree of obedience or holiness or purity or goodness or love or repentance or transformation is required for entering heaven.

They decide to make peace with their sin. They then begin to look for ways and means to justify their sinful lifestyle. For eg, I am justified in Christ – I am accepted in Him – so no matter what I do, I am forgiven and I am a child of God. Or another similar justification given is God’s Grace – “We are living in an age of Grace, brother?

If God really wanted us to be holy, then why would He give us Grace and Mercy?” Beloved, so many times, we use the same doctrines that were meant to help us for our sanctification as justifications for our sin. The hidden sin that we fight with and we struggle against are not there to make peace with.

God’s Grace is what we tap into not just for our forgiveness but also for our sanctification – for overcoming that one sin which you are battling against since months. Even the justification with which God has justified us in Christ Jesus is the solid ground and foundation for the life of sanctification and holiness that God has called us to.

And that is why, Paul says, “Abstain from every form of evil”. Do not put down your arms and ammunitions. Do not be bogged down by your constant failures and think that there is no point of us fighting this fight against sin. At the end of His life, Paul says – “I have fought a good fight.” Paul says to Philippians – “Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”

Paul writes to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 – “So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

Does that sound like resting and chilling out? Beloved – do not forget this – GOD SANCTIFIES US THROUGH OUR OWN STRIVINGS AGAINST SIN! God works in our hearts both to will and to do and we work out what God works in. If our theory of sanctification has no element of us striving to holiness – we are not in sync with the sanctification of the Bible.

Hebrews 12:14 says – “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.” So, what am I trying to say? Beloved, no matter how much you feel like a failure and no matter how difficult sanctification looks like – Do not give up your fight against sin? My son is learning to stand on his own.

It is so beautiful to watch him do that. He strives to stand up – catching hold of our legs, hands, ears, nose – he stands up – he leaves his hands and then balances himself on his feet – you should see him struggling to balance with fear but with such a joy and smile on his face on his accomplishment that he can stand without holding on to anybody.

And then after a few seconds, now he stands upto 1 minute – but after that, he falls down. What does he do? You think he will stop? Naa. He stands back again and then falls again. And again he stands and again he falls. I would not be exaggerating to say that he has done this a 1000 times already but he doesn’t lose hope.

He will stand again and again and again and again until he stands without falling. Oh my dear brothers and sisters – sanctification is like that – do not let go off your hope because you failed – because you fell down – because you sinned – no – no – no – one day you and I will be perfect like Jesus Christ.

Do not let go off your guard – do not lose hope in this battle – sanctification is slow, painful and difficult – but a day will come when there will be no more sin to fight against – no more wars to battle.

What a day that will be! 1 John 3: 2-3 says

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

Are you a child of God? Are you struggling with your sin?

Hold on to your fight, Beloved! Because God sanctifies us through our own strivings against sin!

But let me go on to my next point –

2. Remember someone is praying for you

Some years ago – this thought gripped my heart and I was excited – someone is praying for me!

Look at verse 23 – Paul is praying that God would sanctify the Thessalonian Believers. And in verse 25 – he asks them to pray for Paul as well. “Brothers, pray for us”.

When the way of sanctification gets tough, brothers and sisters, I want you to remember – someone is praying for you! Maybe it is your spouse, your parents, your friends, your brothers and sisters in Christ, your elders or someone you do not even know of.

There is someone battling on his/her knees for your sanctification – and if you do not know of anyone who is battling for you – I want to turn your eyes to someone who is definitely interceding for you at the right hand of God the Father – and who is that – the man Jesus Christ!

The same God who became flesh and battled against temptation, sin and the like – as a man – He has compassion on you and me! He prays for you! He prays for me!

Let me give you a few examples of his prayers when He was on earth. In John 17:19, when Jesus prays to the Father – He prays – “For their sakes, I sanctify myself, that they may also be sanctified through the truth” and in verse 11 – He prays – “Keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one”.

And he asks the Father in verse 15 to keep them from the evil one. The Lord Jesus in his incarnation as a man on this earth sanctified Himself (lived in perfect holiness) in order to sanctify His people who would believe in His name.

And he kept praying that God would keep them and preserve and make them one just as God the Father and Jesus Christ were one. Perfect unity is possible only among sanctified disciples.

Jesus prays for us that we may be sanctified and united so that we would then in turn pray for one another and bear each other up. The best thing that you can pray for someone is that God would sanctify them and make them holy.

Let us look at another instance when Jesus prayed for his disciples. In Luke 22:32 – When satan asked Jesus permission to sift Peter as wheat – Jesus said to Peter – “but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail.”

He prays for us! He prays that our faith may not fail! He prays that we may be sanctified and holy. He prays that we may be one! He prays that we may love each other as He loved us.

If you and I have anything to boast about regarding our holiness – it is just that God sanctified you through the prayers of His Son and through the prayers of the saints whom you are surrounded by!

When you struggle in your walk in holiness – remember this dear child of God – Someone is praying for you! But let me go on to my last point which is my most important point to hold on to when sanctification seems tough – because if that didn’t exist, points 1 and 2 were useless! And that is –

3. Remember God is faithful to complete what He has promised!

In verse 24 – He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. Beloved, sanctification is not a process (prakriya) that you have begun but it is God! It is God who decided to take a man – who was full of sin and evil – and cleansed him and washed him and made him clean and whole and justified in Jesus Christ and made him a child of God!

It is God who decided to do it! It is God who started the good work! And then He decided to place this man back into the same broken world – with sin and evil and darkness – and decided to keep him and preserve him in Jesus Christ and make him more and more like Jesus.

Well, it was God who started it. And it is not becoming of Him to leave it half undone. He has never done that! He will never do that! He has counted the cost – and He paid the price – and that was His only Son – Jesus Christ! Paul binds our sanctification to His faithfulness! Brothers and sisters, I want you all to find the roots of your sanctification.

Where does sanctification spring from? We have a small hint in verse 24 – “He who CALLS you”.

Beloved, much before our sanctification – there was a calling with which He called you. It was not an ordinary calling.

It was not a general calling. It was a particular – effectual – and personal calling – when He commanded very strongly into our hearts – ‘Follow me’ – and we left our all and followed Him.

Much before our sanctification – came God’s call to our hearts personally. But this is much clearer if we will read Romans 8:29-30 – “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified”. Glorification is when we become completely and perfectly like Jesus and that is the holy calling that we have, Beloved – being conformed to the image of His Son! But it all began with God’s foreknowledge – He loving us even before the foundations of the earth.

He then predestinated us to become like Jesus! Those whom He predestined – them He also called and those whom He called – them He also justified and those He justified – them He also glorified. I don’t know if you are able to imagine this picture with me – those whom God loved before the foundation of the world – them He predestined – not even one left out.

Those whom He predestined – them He also called – not even one left out. Those whom He called – them He also justified – not even one left out again! And those whom He justified – them He also glorified – not even one left out till the end! There is cycle from foreknowledge till glorification and there is not even one lost out in the process!

There is not even one separated from the love of God in Christ Jesus in this process! Ah! That is what Paul is talking about in 1 Thessalonians when He binds our sanctification to His faithfulness! Let me repeat that once again – The certainty of our sanctification rests on God’s faithfulness! He hasn’t lost even one during this process of sanctification.

Jesus says in John 6: 39 –

“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.”

Even when we fail, even when it is dark, even when we feel nothing is working out – we can rest on the faithfulness of God – who promises to complete what He has begun. And this is the assurance that we get from the Word – “HE WILL SURELY DO IT”.

I thank God for the “wills” and “shalls” of the Word of God. If He says, that He WILL – you can rest assured that He WILL do it. Our assurance of salvation doesn’t come by minimizing the need for holiness or sanctification or by focusing on the measure of our holiness – our assurance comes by placing our trust on the measure of God’s faithfulness to do the sanctifying work that he promised to do.

Let me end my sermon here by showing you how committed God is to complete the work of sanctification in our lives and that commitment is much more than mine or yours. The aim of God in the death of His Son was your holiness. Jesus died that you may be holy.

I want to read to you Ephesians 5:26 and it says,

“Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her that he might sanctify her”

—make her holy. Your becoming holy is as sure as God’s invincible purpose in the death of his Son.

In electing you, His purpose was that you may be holy. In calling you, His purpose was your holiness. He who chose you is faithful. He who called you is faithful. He who justified you is faithful.

He who sent His Son to die for you is faithful. He who sanctifies you is faithful – He will surely do it! He will surely do it! He will surely do it! If He doesn’t do it, God will become a liar and that is just not possible!

So, my beloved brothers and sisters, when sanctification gets tough, when holiness seems difficult, when practical Christ-like living seems impossible, remember the faithfulness of God bound to your sanctification – bound to your holiness!

2 Thessalonians 2:13 says,
“God chose you from the beginning to be saved through sanctification”

—not apart from sanctification. Salvation comes through sanctification, and no other way.

We have a great and glorious ground of assurance not because holiness is not needed, but because God is faithful to preserve us and make us holy and blameless like His Son Jesus Christ. He will surely do it!!!

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

The Gift of Prophecy- 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21

As a church, we prefer preaching expository – going through the books of the bible, and hence since last couple of months we’ve been doing a series called ‘Abiding Faith’ and we are preaching through 1 Thessalonians.

We prefer Expository preaching because it helps us to faithfully preach through every text in the bible and address every aspect of our Christian faith that is necessary for our hearts, it also prevents us from skipping portions that we may sometimes not feel comfortable preaching, but instead gives the scriptures the authority to speak into our lives.

With that in mind, the passage that we are looking at today is 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21.

Paul is ending his letter to the Thessalonian church and in his ending remarks, he quickly seems to give some very important instructions in just one or two lines. And in our text today he is telling the church

“Do not despise prophecies, but test everything; hold fast to what is good”

We are going to talk about prophecies today. We will look at 

  • What is prophecy?
  • The purpose of prophecy.
  • And the right way to test prophecy in our current context.

A simple definition of prophecy would be “a message from God to his people” spoken by a person, typically called a Prophet.

2 Peter 1:21 gives us a little more insight on prophecy, it says

“For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit”

A prophecy therefore is a gift given by the Holy Spirt for the edification of the church, and the purpose is often to reveal the heart of God and draw us closer to Him. As a word of caution, remember, the gift of prophecy or to become a prophet is not the end goal. The end goal is Love, Love for God and love for people.

In 1 Corinthians 13:8 Paul writes

“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.”

In the Old Testament, prophecies were considered very seriously, God in fact even used this gift to give indications of the coming saviour, His son Jesus to save the wretched world from sin and death.

In our passage today, when we hear Paul’s tone of voice and the choice of words regarding prophecy we get a feeling that somehow the church wasn’t taking this gift seriously, because of which Paul had to insist

“Do not despise prophecies”.

To be honest, even at Gathering we haven’t really given too much emphasis on this gift of the Spirit, maybe because we wanted to be careful on how the gifts are used within the church context in a way it glorifies God and not man, and also to protect us from been exploited by some who use these gifts without the right awareness.

But I believe, today, maybe through this text God is speaking to us and drawing our hearts consider the benefits of this gift given by the Spirit for the edification of the Church.

Therefore, since the scripture is insisting that we do not despise the gift of prophecy and that we test them and keep what is good. In this sermon, I want to share three ways we can test prophecies.

I want to position these points addressing both parties, to those who receive prophecy and also to those who think have this gift and want to use it in a way it glories God.

1.       Test prophecies against the Word of God

The first thing that prophetic utterances should be tested by is the revealed Word of God. Is the prophecy in harmony with Scripture? A prophecy you receive from the Holy Spirit for another person or a prophecy you receive from another person will never contradict the written word of God.

At the heart of all the scripture, from Genesis to Revelation is the Gospel, the story of Jesus. The story begins in the garden of Eden where God created us in his image and likeness so that he can commune with us and share the wonderful love and friendship He had with son Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

And even when our sinful heart messed up that relationship by rebelling against God, God pursued us and still pursues us through His son Jesus’s death on the cross, he justifies us, and then he sanctifies us and one day he will glorify us and take us with him in heaven.

Even though this story sounds so simple, there is so much of depth and theology that one lifetime won’t be enough to fully understand it.

But what we have to be careful is, any remarks or comments or teachings and even prophesies that violate the essence of the Gospel message should be discarded from among us.

In Galatians 1:6-8 Paul writes

6 I am astonished that you are lso quickly deserting mhim who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to na different gospel— 7 onot that there is another one, but pthere are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or qan angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, rlet him be accursed.

In the same effect, in 1 John 4:1 John tells us to test the prophets

Beloved, do not believe every Spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).

Brothers & sisters, the gift of prophecy is a wonderful gift, but if our heart is ignorant and unaware of the truths in the scripture, the devil can easily use it to misguide us and set us on a different path.

Therefore, if any of us desire to prophecy let him or her be rooted in the knowledge of the scriptures first.
At many occasions I’ve also observed that prophecies come with confirmations from the scriptures.

When I was a young Christian, I remember there were many prophecies people made over me, but the one’s that I really cherish, the one’s that stood the test are the one’s that came with a confirmation through a scripture verse.

But imagine a scenario where we don’t know the scriptures well, where our theological framework is distorted or incorrect, where we have not understood the Gospel in its entirety and one day a person comes to us and tells us ‘thus says the Lord’, on what basis will your heart confirm whether it is from the right spirit or the wrong one.

If we wish to operate in the gift of prophecy or we wish to hear God speak to us through a prophecy I suggest that we first devote ourselves in working on the right theological framework, and once that is established well, we will be able to test prophecies the way Paul is instructing the church in Thessalonica.

Some of the ways as a church we provide help is, through the preaching of the word of God, but we also have a program called Roots class where we study theology together.

Brothers & Sisters, I encourage you to invest and use these means given by the Spirit to help build a proper Gospel framework that even protect us in the area of prophecies.

2.       Test whether the prophecy points your heart to Jesus

Since the ultimate goal of every Christian is to know Christ, Christ is the ultimate reward we are aiming for.

It is wise to test whether the prophecy we receive from the Holy Spirit for another person and the prophecy you receive from another person through the Holy Spirit is ultimately pointing our heart to Jesus and His saving grace.

In John 17:3 Jesus reminds us the ultimate goal.

And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

Paul’s ministry focus was very clear as we read in 1 Cor 2:1-2

When I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you . . . . I didn’t think it was a good idea to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified (1 Corinthians 2:1-2).

Understand the battle between our Self and the Spirit, one will try to push you to pursue the world and its pleasures and the other will push you pursue Christ.

The question we should ask when we want to bring a prophecy or when we receive one is whether what’s been said is pushing you towards Self or towards the Spirit, to glorify Jesus in us or whether glorify our self.

If tomorrow someone comes and tells you that God told them to tell you to pursue such and such relationship, or pursue such and such career, or go to such and such place.

The question we need to ask is whether the long-awaited relationship we’ve been asked to pursue draws us to Christ or away from Him, whether the promising career that is waiting for will enable us to grow in Christ and whether the place we are excited to go is putting Christ first in my life.

Is Jesus at the center of that prophecy, will Jesus remain the hero of our story or are we replacing Him with either ourselves or with another person.

If we fail to ask this important question then we will be easily trapped by a twisted use a gift that is actually not from the right Spirit.

I remember a prophecy that someone made over me when I was young, he told me that God has revealed that He has a great plan for my Life. And he said that if I want to see God doing great things for me, I need to follow Him and do what He asks me to do because He said the Spirit of God is revealing things about me.

The question I had to ask myself was, is Jesus at the center of it or somebody else. I thank God for giving me to courage to say no. But I know of so many people who have fallen into such trap, where they have shipwrecked their Faith and fallen into the hands of the enemy.

Brother & sisters, test the prophecies that come your way and ensure that it is ultimately leading you to fall in love with Jesus. And we are in that position only when we are saturated in the Gospel and when we are walking in the Spirit.

3.       Test prophecies against a consistent moral conduct

The last and the final point I want to make is to….

In 1 John 4:1

Beloved, do not believe every Spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).

There is also a moral test that the prophet must pass. Is the person giving the prophecy exhibiting moral character consistent with his office? Jesus warned of these false prophets

Beware of false prophets, who come in to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits (Matthew 7:15,16).

The fruit that people exhibit is the fruit of their doctrine and the fruit of their lives. Both of these must be in harmony with Gods Word. Does the prophet live a life glorifying to God? Is he in submission to the authority to Gods Word? Is he committed to a local body of Christ? Those who do not conform to Gods standards should not be regarded as prophets.

If, however, someone meets all these criteria, are we to assume that their message is supernaturally given? Not necessarily. Apart from false prophecy, there are other types of messages that may seem worthy, but are not sent directly from God. Someone can meet all these criteria and give a message believing that it was from God, yet the source can be that professed prophets own personality.

I believe the body of Christ, the church is given to us so that we can receive help in such matters.

God provides Elders, Pastors and Deacons to help guard ours hearts against wrong doctrines and against false prophets. Therefore, i believe it is always safe to filter prophecies through godly leaders God has placed over us.

As I conclude, I wish our church grows in all the gifts God has given us but let us do it in an orderly way without grieving the Lord.

With that, I hope I have given you enough insight on where the church stands with respect to the gift of prophecy and in case you have any questions pls feel free to reach out to us and we will be happy to answer your questions.

Lets pray

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

Heavenly Helper: 1 Thessalonians 5:19

Good morning!

This morning it is my privilege to bring God’s word to you.

While watching the movie Aladdin, have you ever wished or dreamt having the lamp and the genie?

I have and I’m assuming most of us had. Well, I’m here to tell you that we have access to someone, who is even greater than a genie, one who is all-powerful and all-knowing helper from heaven, the Holy Spirit.

In real life, genie doesn’t exist but the Holy Spirit does exist, unlike the genie, the Holy Spirit doesn’t grant us any wish our sinful & selfish heart desires to have, but instead carefully grants only those that bring real joy, the ones that are in accordance to God’s will for our lives, and also He is not limited to just three wishes.

Our passage today is from 1 Thessalonians 5:19 where Paul writes to the Church saying,

19 Do not quench the Spirit.

In my sermon today my goal is to point our hearts to the third person in the trinity, the Holy Spirit, and the mistakes we make when we quench or ignore Him in our spiritual walk as a Christian.

The God we worship is a triune God. There are no three God’s, there is only one God but in three forms, God the Father, God the Son & God the Holy Spirit. I won’t go into depth to explain this concept, we can do that some other day. But remember this, throughout the Bible, we see the mention of God in all three forms and with equal emphasis.

Jesus said in John 10:30
“I and the Father are one”

In John 14:9 he said
“Whoever has seen me has seen the Father”

2 Corinthians 3:17 Paul writes
“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom”

These verses and many others give us evidence of this triune God.

The thing to remember here is that the Holy Spirit is not a feeling but He is a person.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit came upon God’s people only to accomplish some particular task, but in the new covenant, after Christ redeemed us from Sin and death, cleansed us from all our iniquities, and declared us righteous through the breaking of his body and shedding of His blood, a new experience has been given to you.

Before Jesus was taken into heaven he told his disciples in John 15:26“I will send you the Helper from the Father. The Helper is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father.

And on the day of Pentecost a great transaction took place, the Spirit of God came down to dwell among us, in us, forever. And since then, everyone who receives Jesus as their personal saviour and Lord, the Spirit immediately makes our heart his dwelling place.

In Galatians 4:6 Paul writes
And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”

The above passage suggests that the indwelling of the Spirit in us is the evidence that we are His.

There is also no separate baptism of the Holy Spirit. What happened on the day of Pentecost was a one-time transaction from how people experienced the Holy Spirit in the Old covenant and how we will experience Him in the New covenant. If there was a separate baptism of the Holy Spirit the scripture would have taught us.

The reality is, the day we gave our lives to Jesus the Spirit of God made his dwelling in us. In 1 Corinthians 3:16 Paul reminds the church saying
16 Do you not know that you[a] are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? Holy Spirit is the Heavenly Helper we receive as a gift from God on the day of our Salvation.

In our passage today, Paul is telling the church “Do not quench the Spirit”

And what we understand from this passage is that even though the Spirit lives within us there is a possibility of us quench its fire from helping us progress and grow in our Christian walk, in fact we are making a greatest blunder when we are not taking the help of our Heavenly Helper who is all-powerful and all-knowing.

In this sermon I want to point out three most important outworking of the Holy Spirit in our live that which we shouldn’t ignore or quench. Quenching the Spirit in these three areas means to STOP progressing in our Christian walk.

1. PRESENCE

One of the primary ministries of the Holy Spirit is to help us experience the Presence of God, and also take us deeper in it, enabling us to have a deep and intimate relationship with the Father. We should never quench the Holy Spirit from doing that.

In the first place, we have to remember that it was the Spirit of God that opened our eyes to the Gospel and led us to repentance from our sins and faith in Jesus.

In John 16:8-9 Jesus revealed it to us

And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;

After our salvation, to continually experience the presence of God, to grow deeper in relationship with the Father, to constantly been convicted (Ehsas) of our sin, reminded of God’s Holy judgement and sacrifice of Son Jesus on the cross for our redemption. Unlike what most of us think that it is our decision and choice, the reality is that it is Spirit of God in us that does that work.

1 Corinthians 2:10-11 Paul writes

10 these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. 11 For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.

Brothers & sisters, to live and experience the presence of God is the greatest blessing a believer can have in our spiritual walk. To experience Him as our comforter when we are in trouble, to know Him as our provider when we are in need, to know Him as our healer when we are sick, is the most fulfilling experiences to have in our Christian journey.

And all this is only made possible because of the Spirit’s work in our heart. When we isolate ourselves and close the door on God and from others, when we stop hearing from God through scripture and through His preached word, when we ignore a faithful friend who brings rebuke and correction in our lives, we are shutting the door to all the means through which the Spirit of God is bringing conviction into our hearts and drawing near to God. We shut the door to living in the PRESENCE of God, which in fact is the essence of our Christian life.

Psalms 16:11

You make known to me the path of life;
    in your presence there is fullness of joy;
    at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Brothers & sisters, let us not quench the Holy Spirit from living and experiencing the presence of God.

2. PURPOSE

Another primary ministry of the Holy Spirit is to help us fulfil the God given purposes in our lives.

The ultimate goal of every child of God is to Glorify God by participating in His Kingdom work of redeeming His chosen people on earth who are living in darkness and to bring them into the light.

Ephesians 1:11

11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

1 Peter 2:9

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

And though our purpose is one, which is to glorify God but the journey we all take are unique ones. Some are called to glorify God by becoming missionaries and pastors and evangelists, some are called to glorify God by becoming doctors, engineers, architects, film makes etc. 

And to take these unique journeys we need unique giftings, skills and talents, so that ultimately we glorify God and participate in the extension of Kingdom by proclaiming the Gospel and lifting up Jesus.

The Holy Spirit grants with a variety of gifts, from natural abilities to Spiritual ones. Most people misunderstand the Spiritual gifts, they make them their goals instead of looking at them as means to fulfil the greater goal. God gives particular gifts to particular people and we don’t control that. Just because another person has a particular gift doesn’t mean you should also have it. Yes, we do ask God for gifts but ultimately we trust in His provision for each individual, we celebrate the unique gifts he has given to us.

Brothers & sisters, it is the Spirit of God who reveals and equips us to fulfil the purposes of God in our lives.

And when we fail to give heed to the nudgings of the Spirit when He asks us to choose a certain career, move to a certain a place, not move to a certain place, give yourself up for a certain task that may sound and look foolish and unreasonable at times, we are quenching the Spirit of God from helping us fulfil God’s purposes for our lives.

Brothers & sisters, let us know quench the Spirit when He is leading us into a certain direction in our lives to fulfil God’s purposes. And how do we know whether it is the right direction to go, we will know because the road will ultimately lead to us into glorifying God and participate in His Kingdom work.

3. POWER

Yes, of course the task set ahead of us is a tough one, in our human capacities, we will never be able to complete this gigantic task. We need courage, we need self-control, we need wisdom, we need Power. The good news is that God provides us the Power we need to accomplish great things for Him.

Firstly, the Gospel comes with Power. 1 Thessalonians 1:5

because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

The definition of Power is to have the capability to influence behaviour and events. And I believe the greatest need for Power in our life is to influence our self-destructive nature, our Self is the greatest enemy that stands between God and us. The Power we need is primarily to overcome our Self.

God wants us to seek for the Holy Spirit as a Spirit of power in our heart and life, to conquer Self and cast out sin, and to work the blessed and beautiful image of Jesus into us.

Brothers & sisters, when we fail to fully surrender every aspect of our lives into the hands of our Saviour Jesus we are quenching the Spirit of God from empowering us with His strength and His abilities. As long as we are holding on to things and controlling it the way we desire we are blocking the Spirit to take full control of the situation and allow to experience the joy of the Lord.

Let us not quench the Spirit from experiencing God’s in our Lives.

Finally, as I end, I want to bring to your attention the biggest mistake we make that eventually leads us to quenching the Spirit’s work on our lives. The mistake is our failure to Wait on Him.

We read a wonderful passage that brings immediate joy but fail to reflect on it deeply and allow the Holy Spirit to convict us because we have other things to do. We hear a great sermon but we fail to allow the spoken word to take deep roots by spending time in introspection by communing with Holy Spirit.

Friends, we have not learned enough to wait upon Him, and so we should make a solemn declaration before God; Oh God, we want to wait more for You to show us Your will.

You may ask, is it really possible to experience life with the Holy Spirit and clearly hear Him speak and guide me in my day-to-day life. The answer is “Yes, it is possible to those who are in right fellowship with Heaven, and who understands the art of waiting upon God in prayer”

Psalms 27:14 David encourages to wait on the Lord saying

Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord!

Lamentations 3:25

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.

Isaiah 40:31

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
    they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
    they shall walk and not faint.

Brothers & sisters, what would it means for you to wait on the HolySpirit every day of your life.

What would it mean to wait on the Lord once every week, maybe in fasting in prayer so you can align your years to the great comforter and helper.

What would it mean to take a break, in a month from work and ministry, maybe for a couple of days to separate yourself to fully focus your heart on God and allow the Spirit of God to experience the presence of God, guide you in the purposes of God and equip you the Power of God, so you can fully live for the Glory of God.

I’m leaving this to you to answer, and hope you will take out time and think deeply about these things.

Let’s pray.

Categories
1 Thessalonians Sermon

Do Not Quench the Spirit – 1 Thessalonian 5:19

Good morning Beloved church, it is truly a joy and privilege to see all of you. Thank you so much for taking out your time, I pray that God will truly bless all us as we spent time together worshipping God and listening to His words.


Today we shall continue our book study from Thessalonians, our text for today is 1 Thessalonian 5:19.


“Do not quench the Spirit” this is our text for this morning.


The root word for “quench” which means “to extinguish,” “to put out” or “to go out.” It also refer to putting out fires, sparks, or the putting out a lamp.


Church the day we repent our sins and received Christ as our Lord and saviour; The bible says Holy Spirit sealed us and He permanently dwells in us and He is working in our heart like a burning fire.


Knowing the works of Holy Spirit Apostle Paul Urge Thessalonian church that they should not Quench the Holy Spirit. This text is reminding all of us too that we should not quench the Holy Spirit.

To understand the text, “Do not quench the Spirit”, we shall ask four important questions.

  1. Who is the Holy Spirit?
  2. What are the works of the Holy Spirit?
  3. How believers may quench the Holy Spirit?
  4. What are the consequences of Quenching the Holy Spirit?
  5. Who is the Holy Spirit?

There are many misconceptions about the identity of the Holy Spirit. Some view the Holy Spirit as a mystical force or power.

Others understand the Holy Spirit as the impersonal power that God makes available to followers of Christ. These are wrong.

The truth is The Holy Spirit is co-equal with God the Father and God the Son and is of the same essence. Yet He is also distinct from them.

1. Who is the Holy Spirit?

  1. Holy Spirit is a person (He is the third person of Trinity).

Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit is a divine person, a being with a mind, emotions, and a will.

Holy Spirit thinks and knows (1 Cor.2:10).
Holy Spirit can be grieved (Ephesian 4:30)
Holy Spirit intercedes for us (Romans 8:26-27).
He makes decisions according to His will (1Cor 12:7-11).

2. Holy Spirit is God.

The Bible declares that the Holy Spirit is God. we know that the Holy Spirit is God because He possesses the characteristics of God.

For example, His omnipresence is seen in Psalm 139:7-8

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.”

Isaiah 11:2, the prophet describes the Holy Spirit this way. He says,

“He is the Spirit of the Lord, He is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and strength, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”

2. What are the works of Holy Spirit?

a. Holy Spirit draws the unsaved sinner to Jesus.

Holy Spirit plays a primary role in transforming a person’s heart and bringing salvation to the individual.

It is the Spirit who brings conviction to the unbeliever and causes him to see the truth of the gospel in a clear light.

Those who respond to this conviction and place their faith in Jesus Christ receive eternal life and a new nature.

Holy Spirit unites the believer with Christ and places him in the body of Christ, the church.

He also unites the believer with Christ in His death, enabling him to live victoriously over sin.

Application:

As a church, our Primary role is to keep praying for the lost soul for their salvation and keep spreading the good news of Christ to all people around us.

b. Holy Spirit regenerates our human Spirits.

Regeneration which means The radical spiritual change in which God brings an individual from a condition of spiritual defeat and death to a renewed condition of holiness and life.


Titus 3: 5 says.
5 He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit moves an unbeliever and regenerate their heart to repentance and leads them into eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.

c. Holy Spirit Convict both unbelievers and believers.

John14:8.
8 And when He has come, He will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment


An unbeliever cannot get saved unless they are first convicted by the Holy Spirit. It is through the work of Holy Spirit our sins were convict and we repent and turn our heart to the Lord.

For born-again believers, we all need the conviction of the Holy Spirit. so we can be shown the errors of our ways.

d.Holy Spirit sanctifies us in the Lord.

2 Thess.2:13.
13 But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth.

Once you get saved and born again in the Lord, God starts to sanctify you and me, what He will do is consecrate and set us apart unto Himself. From there, He will want to transform us by the renewing of our mind, He will want to transform us into the image of His Son Jesus.

e. Holy Spirit helps us with our prayer life.

Romans 8:26.
In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

Another major powerful ministry that the Holy Spirit has with each born-again believer is to help us with our prayer life with the Lord.

f. Holy Spirit guides us into all truth.

John 16:13.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth.


He is our guide


g. Holy Spirit teaches us all things.


John14:26
But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

He is our Teacher.

The Holy Spirit is doing an incredible by Illuminating the scriptures to all of us; bringing you and me into intimacy with God; showing all of us the glory of Jesus Christ, guiding you and me into God’s will; strengthening you and me for spiritual ministry, and service.

Holy Spirit purifies us, sanctifies us, cleanses us from all the pollution of sins toward the image of Jesus Christ.

3. How believers may quench the Holy Spirit?

By Neglecting the gift of Holy Spirit.

If we neglect the gift of Spirit, we will quench the Holy Spirit.


1 Timothy 4:14

Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through prophecy when the body of elders laid their hands on you.

Illustration:
In Old testament there a prophet call Jonah, God told Jonah to go and warn and preach to the people of Nineveh for their wicked life.

But Jonah was afraid of Nineveh people and he ran away from his duty, God caught him in the middle of the sea, he was trying to escape to Tarsus, his sin was found, he was thrown in the ocean and the whale swallow him.

He was in a whale belly for 3 days God allowed him to live again. Remember church if we try to neglect our duty and responsibility and try to run away like Jonah, we will quench Holy Spirit. We should not stop the work of Holy Spirit in our life.


Application:
Let us not be like Jonah. (let us not run away from the task and the purpose God has given us in our life).


1 Cor.15:59 says,
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

By Disobedience to the word of God and living an unrepented life. How do we Disobey to the word of God?


by not reading the word of God,
by not applying the word of God, by living prayerless life,
by living an unfruitful life. By being worry and anxiety,
by not growing spiritually. by depending on our self and not God.
By being proud and not humble.

After living a sinful life, and when we do not repent our sins to God, our unrepented heart will quench the Holy Spirit.


Application:
Are you quenching the Holy Spirit by living a disobedient and unrepented life. If we are displeasing God lets repent our sinful behavior to God.


1 John 1:9 says,
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

  1. By being worldliness and living a life devoted to self and selfish hopes.
    Bible directly confront us in 1 John 2:15-16.
    1 John 2:15-16
    Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16For everything in the world-the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life-comes not from the Father but from the world.

    If your,
    1.vision in life,
    2. your wildest dream in life,
    3. your career and
    4. the things you are running after in life,

    if all these things are alien to God’s will. You are going toward the wrong direction in life, your selfish ambition and your hope and your self-desire will Quench the Holy Spirit.

Application:
How are you maintaining life?

Loving God, serving God, worshipping God is controlling your life or
Worldliness, living a life devoted to self-desires and self-hope is controlling your life.

You know exactly where your heart is.

Scriptures is warning you and me in Romans 12:1-2 saying,

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. 2Do 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.

4. What are the consequences of quenching the Holy Spirit?

First Consequence…
1.God will not use us anymore.
We have great lesson from the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-5. They Backslide from living God and God is warning them. Verse 2.

2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name and have not grown weary.
4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.
5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.


God will never use us if we are habitually living in sin, a warning to Ephesian church is a great warning for all of us, they are working hard for God, they have perseverance, they didn’t tolerate wicked people, they know the false teachers, they endure hardship and working so hard for God.

But they have forsaken the first love. Means Jesus is not no.1 in their life, some other things have replaced their priority in life.


God is warning them to come back, if not He will remove lampstand which the spiritual gift in their life.


If God take away His spiritual gift, we will not be useful for God’s Kingdom. Our life will be useless and inactive.

Your life will be like a nice smartphone. Looks cool outside but did not work. What you will do with that kind of phone.


2.We shall sin both against God and our own souls.

When we quench the Holy Spirit, we sin against God and we sin to our own soul.

3.We will not bear the fruit of Holy Spirit.


God want us to bear the fruit of Spirit in our life.

Galatian 5:22-23.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

4.We will make the Holy Spirit grieve.


Ephesians 4:30:

“And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Conclusion:


Church we have mediatated together four questions under the topic
“Do not quench the Holy Spirit”

  1. Who is the Holy Spirit? (remember Holy Spirit is a person and Holy Spirit is God).
  2. What are the Works of the Holy Spirit?
  3. How believers may Quench the Holy Spirit?
  4. What are the consequences of quenching the Holy Spirit?

Beloved church we should never quench the holy Spirit, this is a command from the scripture. Rather


1.We should lovingly allow the Holy Spirit to totally control our heart.
2.We should willingly allow the Holy Spirit to fill our heart.
3.We should bear fruits of Holy Spirit in our everyday life.
4.We should always walk in the Spirit.


May the Sweet Holy Spirit Guide you and teach you in every area of your life.


May the power of Holy Spirit be with you to fight and defeat all the power of Darkness.


May He empower you, equip you and use you to be a channel of blessing for all people.

May the fruit of Spirit, love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control flow out of your life and bring glory to our heavenly Father.

Categories
Mark Sermon

Faith & Fruit – Mark 11:12-25

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Good morning Gathering! It’s a joy to be with you this morning and a privilege to open the Scriptures together. It seems the more I preach, the more I feel a sense of humility when I get to stand up here and open the Word with the body of Christ.

It always reminds me how dependent we all are on the Spirit of God to lead us into understanding and to lead us in the application of God’s Word. And that’s certainly what we’re praying for this morning.

If you have a Bible with you, I’d invite you to grab that and turn to the Gospel of Mark and chapter 11. We are continuing our study of the Gospel of Mark this morning.

If you were here last weekend you’ll remember that Pastor Sam (from Red Tree) began chapter 11 for us, and we’ll be continuing in chapter 11 this morning by looking at verses 12-26.

Let me pray for our time together in God’s Word and then we’ll read our text. Pray with me.

This is an interesting passage. It contains two interactions that Jesus has; one is very well known & pretty straightforward. It’s of Jesus cleansing the Temple in Jerusalem (we’re all probably familiar with that one). The other account is a little more obscure, and it’s also a little confusing to be honest. It’s Jesus cursing a fig tree.

And at first glance these two things don’t really seem to fit together, but what I think you’ll see as I read this is that Mark intends for these two accounts to go together so that we might have a fuller understanding of a really important principle. It’s a principle that Jesus was teaching His disciples here, it’s just as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago.

One way to think about this text is as a visual parable. Jesus was always teaching through parables. What I believe He’s doing here is giving His disciples a visual parable.

He’s teaching them through His actions about something that is vitally important for them (and us) to understand. We’ll get into that in just a few minutes, but first, let’s read our text together.

“On the following day, when they came from Bethany, he was hungry. And seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to see if he could find anything on it. When he came to it, he found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season for figs. And he said to it, “May no one ever eat fruit from you again.” And his disciples heard it.

And they came to Jerusalem. And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold and those who bought in the temple, and he overturned the tables of the money-changers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. And he would not allow anyone to carry anything through the temple.

And he was teaching them and saying to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a den of robbers.” And the chief priests and the scribes heard it and were seeking a way to destroy him, for they feared him, because all the crowd was astonished at his teaching. And when evening came they went out of the city.

As they passed by in the morning, they saw the fig tree withered away to its roots. And Peter remembered and said to him, “Rabbi, look! The fig tree that you cursed has withered.” And Jesus answered them, “Have faith in God. Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him.

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.” (Mark 11:12-25)

Let’s take just a moment and reset the scene. I want to make sure we’re clear on what’s happening in this picture. Sam highlighted last weekend that Jesus has just entered the city of Jerusalem.

This is what’s known as the Triumphal Entry. It is the closest that the Jewish people have come to actually worshiping Jesus for who He really is. You remember this incredible scene of Jesus riding in on a donkey as the people lined the street and threw their cloaks and palm branches down in front of Jesus. They all shouted, “Hosanna, blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

It really is a beautiful picture and if we were there, knowing what we know  and witnessing this in real time, we might think for a moment that the people actually get it. We might think for a moment that they actually see Jesus for who He is and they’re submitted to Him as their king.

But we know that they didn’t really get it. They didn’t understand what was coming later in the week. Jesus did. He understood. He knew exactly what was going to happen. He knew that the praises would turn to jeering and the “Hosannas” will become “Crucify Him!” by week’s end.

It really is a bizarre picture as Jesus enters the city. And then Mark tells us that the first thing that Jesus did when He got into Jerusalem is He went to the Temple to have a look around. And then He left. Mark says that it was late in the evening so Jesus took His disciples and went back to Bethany for the night.

And that’s where we pick up our text this morning. It’s the next day and Jesus goes back to Jerusalem with His disciples and heads straight for the Temple. But on the way something interesting happens. Jesus stops to get some fruit off a fig tree, but but there are no figs.

Mark says that it’s not the season for figs and so Jesus curses the fig tree and forbids it from ever producing figs again. Which sounds strange to us. Why would Jesus would curse a tree for not producing something that it’s not supposed to produce. I’ll explain more about that in a moment.

Mark says that they continue to the Temple and, as Jesus enters, He wrecks shop (which American slang for He turns the Temple upside down). We see Jesus begin turning over tables and kicking over chairs. He drives the money changers and merchants out of the Temple. It’s a display of righteous anger, passion, zeal for worship and for the house of God.

And then, when evening comes, they leave the Temple and go out of the city again. The next day they come back the same way and see the fig tree that (within 24 hours) had died and withered to its roots. And this is where Jesus explains something to his disciples about faith & about fruit (which is where we’ll end our discussion this morning as well).

And that’s what’s happening in the text. If we’re going to be honest, it begs a few questions. Like, “Why is Jesus so angry at the Temple?” And, “What is up with Him cursing a fig tree doesn’t have figs on it?” And, “Why is Mark telling us these things together?” And, “What does all of this mean when you put it all together?”

Well, let’s back up and see if we can figure out what’s happening. There is 1 overarching theme that Jesus is teaching His disciples in this text. I want to talk about that first. And then, with that understanding, we’ll be able to look at two different responses that this text highlights for us. Sound good?

First, let’s deal with the main idea that Jesus is driving us toward. And to understand it, we have to recognize that there is a connection between the cleansing of the temple and the cursing of the fig tree.

Mark is using them together to help us interpret Jesus’ meaning. And the principle is very straightforward:  Jesus is coming against fruitless, empty, wrongly-motivated religious activity. It’s pretty telling that Jesus’ first action after being hailed by the people as King is to pass judgment on the religious leaders as being opposed to true worship of God.

Here’s what we have to understand. In the Old Testament the fig tree was often used to symbolize Israel and her standing before God. I’ll give you a couple of examples:

Jeremiah 8:13 — “When I would gather them, declares the Lord, there are no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree; even the leaves are withered, and what I gave them has passed away from them.”

Hosea 9:10 — “Like grapes in the wilderness, I found Israel. Like the first fruit on the fig tree in its first season, I saw your fathers…”

Multiple times in the Old Testament the fig tree was used to symbolize Israel. Jesus, in much the same way, is making a pronouncement on the condition of the Jewish people. That they are fruitless. That they appear to have life on the outside (the green leaves), but they are without fruit.

Now, I need to to mention the season of the fig tree (as Mark mentions it). The way Mark phrases this makes it sound like there shouldn’t be fruit on this fig tree, but that’s not really the case. In fact, the variety of fig trees that grow in Palestine have two harvests.

You get an early harvest that grows off of last year’s shoot, and guess when that comes? It comes in the spring, with the leaf. So seeing a fig tree in full leaf in Palestine, you would expect to find figs.They’re not the full, big figs that you get in summer with the main harvest. These are small and not as tender, but they’re edible. And so, when you think about it, Jesus is communicating something really beautiful here.

You see, this whole time through the book, Mark has been telling us that God is doing something new. He’s been telling us that the kingdom of God is at hand. That something wonderful, something infinitely better is coming. That the fruit of this new thing is going to be unimaginable.

But that doesn’t mean that what God was doing before, to make a way for this new thing. should be fruitless. No, Israel was meant to produce fruit. Maybe not as big. Maybe not as wonderful as this new fruit that was ushered in through Christ. But Israel should be producing something, and they’re not.

And this is the visual parable that Jesus is telling of Israel. That, even though there are leaves and the tree gives the appearance of health, it’s not producing fruit. And that is not God’s design. God’s design is that healthy things will grow and produce fruit.

I think the temptation is for us to think that the old system was broken and wasn’t meant to produce fruit. That’s nonsense! The sacrificial system, the law, the prophets, the judges, the kings; all of it was meant to be temporary, yes! It was all meant to point to something permanent, yes! But it wasn’t broken. There should have been fruit. That’s what Jesus is saying.

Now, that shapes how we see Jesus’ interaction in the Temple. Like that fig tree, the religious culture of the day had the appearance of bearing fruit but was not actually bearing fruit. There appeared to be life because of the presence of the leaves, but no fruit was actually coming from the tree. Jesus finds a lot of religious activity in the Temple, but no faith.

In the space that was intended for Gentiles to come and pray, Jesus instead finds money changers and people selling animals for sacrifices. Something given by God for worship of Him and for His glory was being used by people for their own gain. And here comes Jesus, as Lord of the Temple, to purify it. You see, Jesus has come to restore the Temple to it’s original function; that it would serve as a house of prayer for all the nations. And so, He drives them out.

I think we need to pause here and ask a question of ourselves (and I’m including myself in this). Jesus still does this today, doesn’t He? He comes in with loving  and righteous intent to cleanse His Temple. But the Temple is no longer the Temple.

We are the Temple. Just like in this picture, where the Temple is being used for something other than it’s intended purpose, we often take the things given by God for worship and we turn those things into ourselves. Jesus’ purpose is to restore us to our original function; that we would display His glory to all Nations.

That’s true of all of us, as He calls out idolatry in our hearts. I think this text calls us to ask some important questions:  “What is the quality of my faith?” “Is it a faith that’s fruitful or is it a faith that’s just leafy, but lacks fruit?” “Do I just look good on the outside, busy going about my religious activity, doing the right things, saying the right things, but is that producing fruit?” These are the questions that address the motivations of the heart. This is the level where true worship takes place.

And the reality is for us all that there will often be things in our heart that do not align with biblical faith. The question is:  “How will we respond when the Lord of the Temple comes to cleanse us?”

Church, Jesus is always calling things out in us. He is always seeking to cleanse and purify His temple. And the natural inclination of our flesh is to rebel against that purification. Our flesh does not want to give up power, and authority and control. And so we have a choice to make.

Are we going to press into the Lord of the Temple and allow Him to purify us, or are we going to respond in fear and flee His presence in order to continue exercising power and authority in our own lives? That’s the response that we see from the chief priests and the scribes.

They sought to destroy Him because they were afraid of losing power and control. And the call on us to lay down our idolatry is no different. It’s the call to joyful submission that comes from faith.

After all of this, as Jesus and His disciples are walking past that same fig tree the next day, Jesus shows us what the response to His work should be. He teaches His disciples about faith. He tells the disciples that they should trust God to remove whatever is hindering them from bearing fruit for Him. That they should exercise faith as God lovingly cleanses them from the things that are keeping them from intimacy with God.

Jesus uses this image of being able to move a mountain. He’s telling us what this kind of faith looks like in the life of the believer. Things that should be impossible are possible with God where the believer is walking in this kind of faith.

Now, before we close, I want to give you a work of caution about verse 24 and then I want to challenge all of us to wrestle with the application of this text. First, a word of caution. Jesus says this in verse 24, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  I probably don’t even have to say the word of caution because you already see the danger here and understand the historical abuse of a verse like this.

Yes, we should pray boldly and believe that God will grant us what we pray for. When we pray according to His will and in submission to that will. This is not an invitation to treat God like a vending machine or a butler. Jesus has just taught us about submission to the Will and Purposes of God through faith. And so our prayers must be rightly motivated and in line with God’s Will. Jesus, in fact, models this very thing in the Garden of Gethsemane later in Mark:

“And he said, “Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Remove this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.” (Mark 14:36)

So what do we do with the application of this? Well, I can tell you how God is leading me to apply it in my life and maybe that will serve as an encouragement to you. The Spirit is asking me, “Where are the areas of your life that are not properly motivated toward the glory of God and being used for His purposes?”

If you are really willing to ask God to search your heart in that way, He will reveal areas where you’re turning your heart into a “den of robbers”. And then you have a choice: repent or run.

Let’s close in prayer.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]