Tag: Passion

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1 Thessalonians Sermon

Ignited by a Passion for the Gospel: 1 Thessalonians 2:1-3

Paul, the apostle of Jesus Christ, reflects on his missionary trip to Thessalonica

Good morning, church! How are you all doing today?

What a privilege and an honour to preach the Word of God this morning and indeed I am so humbled to be filling the gap in the absence of our elders.

To begin, I wish to remind you of an incident in the Bible. Two people were on a journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus – walking frustrated and de-motivated after the crucifixion of Jesus. On the way, a stranger joined them and began to expound the Scriptures to them and their hearts burned within them.

He was none other than our Blessed Lord. As we dive into the passage for today morning, may the Lord open our hearts to see wonderful things from the Word and be ignited, encouraged, comforted, corrected and lifted up.

Let us turn to our text for this morning – 1 Thessalonians 2:1-3

For you yourselves know, brothers,[a] that our coming to you was not in vain. 2 But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. 3 For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive

Let us turn to the Lord in prayer.

PRAYER …

On January 8, 1956, a 28-year old American missionary Jim Elliot was speared to death as a martyr on a sandbar called Palm beach in the Curaray river of Ecuador along with four missionary partners and friends.

They were trying to reach the Auca tribe for the first time in history with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Elisabeth Elliot – his wife – wrote down his story in her book – “Shadow of the Almighty”. This is where Jim Elliot was slain – in the shadow of the Almighty.

She had not forgotten the heartbreaking account of her husband’s death when she began writing 2 years later. When he was killed, they had been married for 3 years and had a 10-month old daughter.

The mission seemed to have ended even before it just began. Jim and his partners were preparing for this since months – trying to learn the language of the Aucas and circling their village with a plane and trying to make contact with them in some way or the other.

Finally, when the day came to meet them personally – due to a misunderstanding – the villagers speared them to death. Seemed like an open and shut case until Jim’s wife – Elisabeth, decided to go to the same tribe which murdered her husband – to give them the love of Christ. Seriously? The same uneducated, unloving murderers? They who had destroyed her family and home – left her alone with a 10-month old kid? Why did she do that? How could she do that?

In this passage, Paul seems to describe on her behalf and on the behalf of many who threw their lives for the sake of the Gospel. They were bitten by the Gospel virus – as Jeff described last week. They were ignited with a passion for the Gospel. No one infected by the Gospel virus could stay the same.

The man who penned down this passage – Paul – who was responsible for the killing of many of the followers of Jesus Christ – when the Lord encountered him on the road to Damascus – you remember what happened to him? “He who once persecuted the people of God was now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.”

The man who speared down Jim Elliot once bitten by the Gospel bug went to the US and preached the story of God’s love which came after him even though he tried to destroy it. Beloved, the Gospel of Jesus Christ makes us radical Christians – empowered by the Holy Spirit.

As I attempt to describe the passion that was ignited in Paul’s heart for the Gospel’s sake – in his message and his life – let us examine our own hearts – cause honestly, all of us – having been bitten by the Gospel bug years ago need a reminder again and again – week after week – daily – of what Jesus did for us in laying down His life for us and redeeming us and making us his own.

So, here in this passage – we see Paul – being ignited by a passion through and for the Gospel – how he ministered to the Thessalonians – through the message of the Gospel and through a life saturated by the Gospel. I would like to title my sermon – “Ignited by a passion for the Gospel” and drive home these following truths from the passage:

Passion for the Gospel is:

  1. Characterized by boldness in conflict and
  2. Enriched by the purity of the Gospel

Characterized by boldness in conflict and

A guy bitten by the Gospel bug is characterized by boldness in conflict as mentioned in verse 2 and I quote – “But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict.”

Paul had just come out of a great conflict – beaten at Phillipi, thrown into prison, wrongly charged, shamefully treated – for the Gospel’s sake. He could have packed his bags and gone off for a vacation or a recovery break. He had enough of reasons not to go on for his next challenge.

If it was me, I can imagine myself trying to find out which is the next flight home – I have a wife and a kid to take care of. But not so with Paul. Sufferings made him rely on God for more boldness to stand as a messenger of the Gospel.

Paul in himself was a weak man and when we think about any of the saints of old, let us not have a notion that they had a strength which was different from ours. Inspite of all his weaknesses, he says, “We had boldness in our God”.

Beloved, the Bible and our rich Christian heritage is filled with people who were weak, helpless, weary in themselves yet who were extremely bold in their God. Think about a Moses who killed a man and ran away from Egypt and was feeding his father-in-law Jethro’s sheep for 40 years.

When God asked him to go to Pharaoh, he had so many questions – “Who am I to go? I smell of sheep”, “What if they will not believe me or listen to me?”, “I cannot speak. I am a man of stammering lips” and finally – “Please send someone else”.

Don’t we resonate with the same objections and questions in our lives? What about Gideon – He was hiding in a winepress when the angel of the Lord said to him, “O mighty man of valor?” – “What? Who? Me?” Jeremiah said, “I am just a child”; Isaiah – “I am a man of unclean lips”. The apostles when they were beaten and were commanded not to speak in the name of Jesus, they went back and prayed for what? – Boldness!

Dear brothers and sisters, do we find our passion for the Gospel running out due to fear and struggles and sufferings? I exhort you this morning to seek for boldness in our God inspite of conflicts, sufferings, struggles and weaknesses.

When Jim Elliot was killed, Elizabeth found boldness in her God to go out to her husband’s killers and preach the Love of God through the Gospel. Conflicts do not kill passion, rather they only serve to increase it even more. Conflicts do not end Gospel stories – they only begin another new chapter.

Beloved, the Gospel welcomes you this morning to find boldness in God to stand firm in the midst of much conflict and not be bogged down by sufferings and taunts from unbelieving family members and friends. Paul says – “We have a treasure in our earthen vessels.

We are hard-pressed on all sides, yet not crushed. Perplexed – yet not driven to despair.” He says elsewhere in Galatians 6:17 – “We carry in our bodies the brand marks of the Lord Jesus Christ”. Conflicts and sufferings are going to be an integral part and brand of a Christian’s life yet his boldness in his God will enable him to carry out great exploits.

But our boldness in God must stem from a deeper understanding of the Gospel which brings me to point 2.

Enriched by the purity of the Gospel

Let me read to you what Paul says from verse 3 – “For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive”. Beloved, Paul has a Gospel message – free from impurity and error – which makes him appeal to the Gentiles in boldness.

He is so passionately caught up with the Gospel message that it burns like fire in his bones – He knows that the Gospel is the power of God to those who are being saved. He need not add or subtract to the Gospel that he received.

He warns as well in the epistle to the Galatians that ‘let anyone who preaches to you any other Gospel than that which you received from me – let him be accursed.’

He knows that the Gospel is sufficient to save – both himself and his hearers and so he preaches it. He knows that nothing else other than the Gospel can ever save and so he preaches it even more.

What is the Gospel? “I am a great sinner. Jesus Christ is a great Saviour”. The purity of the Gospel makes a man go passionately crazy such that they are termed as “fools for Christ’s sake”. Let me take an example here – Martin Luther – the leader of the reformation – when he was moved by the purity of the Gospel in the doctrine of justification – he turned the world upside down.

How else can you explain a person being willing to defy every authority structure of this world and to stand utterly alone as a young priest against all of the authorities of the church—against the pope, against church counsels, against the finest theologians in the land?

Martin Luther had a high and holy view of God. He trembled before a Holy God. He kept evaluating himself, not by comparing himself to other human beings, but by looking at the standard of the character of God—the righteousness of God.

As he saw himself so awful in comparison to the righteousness of God, after a while he began to hate any idea of the righteousness of God.

He had such a fear of the wrath of God that, early on in his ministry, somebody put this question to him: “Brother Martin, do you love God?” You know what he said? “Love God? You ask me if I love God? Sometimes I hate God. I see Christ as a consuming judge who is simply looking at me to evaluate me and to visit affliction upon me.”

Imagine a young man preparing for the ministry declaring that he goes through periods of hating God. Luther’s hatred was inseparably related to this paralyzing fear which he expressed that he had about God.

Then one night he was preparing his lectures as a doctor in theology to teach his students at the University of Wittenberg in the doctrines and teachings of the Apostle Paul in the book of Romans.

He then came to these words: “For the righteousness of God is revealed by faith, and the just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17). And suddenly the concept burst upon his mind that this passage in Romans was not describing that righteousness of God by which God Himself is righteous, but the righteousness of God that He graciously and freely provides for you, me, and anyone who puts their trust in Christ.

Anyone who puts their trust in Christ receives the covering and the cloak of the righteousness of Christ.

Luther said: “It broke into my mind, and I realized for the first time that my justification, my station before God, is not established on the basis of my own naked righteousness, which will always fall short of the demands of God. Rather, it instead rests solely and completely on the righteousness of Jesus Christ, which I must hold on to by a trusting faith.

And when I understood that, for the first time in my life I understood the gospel. And I looked and beheld the doors of Paradise swung open, and I walked through.”

It’s like Luther said to the world, from that day forward, to popes and to counsels, and to kings: “The just shall live by faith; justification by faith alone. ‘God is holy and I am not’ is the article upon which the church stands or falls, and I negotiate it with no one because it is the gospel.” Is that crazy?

Brothers and sisters, if that’s crazy then I pray that God would send an army of insane people like that into this world so that the gospel may not be eclipsed.

So that we might understand that, in the presence of a holy God, we who are unjust may be justified by the fact that God in His holiness—without negotiating His holiness—has offered us the holiness of His Son as a covering for our sin. This is the Gospel for which Luther was ready to die!

Beloved, maybe there is someone here who has never experienced what this passion and craziness is all about. And it is our prayer that you would be ignited today with a fiery passion through and for the Gospel.

“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose” – Jim Elliot wrote this down in his diary.

Jim threw his life for the Gospel as he was ignited by a passion through the Gospel and Elisabeth continued the good work seeking boldness in an all-Sovereign God who entrusted them with the Gospel.

Categories
Mark Sermon

What Stops us from Offering our Best to God ? – Mark – 14:1-11

Our passage for today is from Mark 14:1-11 [READ]

If we stay alert and pay close attention to our passage today, I believe it reveals some of the heart idols that prevent us from experiencing the joy of living out a fulfilling Christian life.

Context:
This event takes place two days before the Passover & the feast of unleavened bread. The chief priests and the scribes were seeking how to arrest Jesus and kill him.

While Jesus was in a place called Bethany in the house of Simon, the leper, reclining at the table, a woman came with an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly, and broke the container and poured it over Jesus’s head.

Pure nard is also known as ‘Jatamansi oil’, only found in the Himalaya mountain in India, extracted from the root of a tree, is one of the most effective essential oils for supporting a calm mind and balanced body. Jatamansi oil is one of the most important herbal medicines for dealing with grief after losing a loved one. It can also be used to anoint those who are transitioning from life to death.

The ointment the woman poured on Jesus’s head was one of the rarest and best in those days. The woman spent around 2 months of wages to purchase it, probably for a special occasion in her life, or as an investment for the future.

The same ointment is also mentioned in the Songs of Solomon 1:12 where the bride says “While the king was at his table, my perfume spread its fragrance.”

The perfume mentioned in this verse is the same ointment the woman poured on Jesus. Probably she brought and saved it to please and attract her future husband.

In today’s context, it’s almost like our saving accounts, a fixed deposit, or a gold deposit that we set apart either for a special occasion, like marriage, children’s education, children’s wedding etc.  or as security for future.

Seeing what the woman did with that expensive ointment, some of the people gathered there scolded the woman and did not appreciate it.

According to them, it was a stupid thing to do; instead, they said the ointment should have been sold and the money given to the poor.

Jesus, instead, turns to those guys and tells them to leave her alone and says something remarkable about the woman. He says “She has done a beautiful thing to me. For you always have the poor with you, and whenever you want, you can do good for them. But you will not always have me. She has done what she could; she has anointed my body beforehand for burial. And truly, I say to you, wherever the gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will be told in memory of her.”

I want us to pause here for a moment and understand why it was such a significant act for Jesus.

1.    The woman knew something that others didn’t

The woman’s act showed that she learned something about Jesus that others didn’t. She recognised who Jesus really is. Just like Simeon, the man who saw baby Jesus in the temple brought for dedication and instantly recognised him as Lord, like the Shepherds who saw Jesus in the manger and was filled with Awe.

She knew she was in the presence of her true Lord and King. The one who has come to give abundant life, a peace that passes all understanding, joy unending, life eternal. One who is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

Just like when we first heard the Gospel and heard the story of Jesus, the veils from our eyes fell and hearts responded in faith.

2.    The woman responded in Worship.

When she recognised who Jesus was her natural response was adoration & worship.

3.    The woman offered the best Sacrifice

Like Abel who brought the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions to offer at the altar of God, she brought the best she had.

I could imagine this woman when she heard Jesus was in the town. She must have run into her home, looking around and thinking what the best gift she has in her house that she can offer to her Lord and Savior. And her eye fell on the Alabaster flask of pure nard that she had saved for her future. And immediately without a second thought, grabs the flask and runs towards Jesus.

The price didn’t matter to her, the people didn’t matter to her, the occasion didn’t matter to her, the place didn’t matter, her dignity didn’t matter.

All that mattered was the Jesus.

4.    The woman expressed Passionate Love.

She didn’t do it just to merely impress Jesus or show off to the people how wealthy she is. She didn’t do it because she wanted her name printed on the wall saying “Donated by Miss”.

She did it purely out of passionate love for Christ.

It was clearly seen through her act of worship.

5.    The woman Empathized with Jesus.

Imagine, Jesus as he was reclining on the table, he is dealing with the pain and agony his body is going to suffer. He could feel the weight of the sins of the whole World upon him. He is dealing with the pain of separation from this Father.

We could see a glimpse of his pain in the garden of Gethsamani when he is crying out to his Father saying “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

And there as he is dealing with all this in his mind, this woman breaks the alabaster flask with pure nard. The ointment that is meant to ease the grief of a suffering man who is transitioning from life to death.

They say the texture & aroma of the ointment is so strong that it sticks to the hair and keeps throwing out the fragrance for almost a week. Probably, when Jesus was taking all the painful lashes, beatings and piercing, he might have smelled the aroma of the ointment that woman poured on his head.

All these reasons make the moment very significant, and only Jesus could understand it.

Immediately after this event, we read about a person who is exactly opposite to the woman. He goes to the chief priests to betray Jesus for the sake of money, for his own selfish gain.

He failed to recognise Jesus as his true saviour and master. Instead, he was so corrupt in his mind that he sold himself to the high priests.

Now, as a Christian, we are called to be like the woman in faith, in action, in thought.

James 4:8 says “Draw near to God as He will draw near to you, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

Romans 12:1 Paul writes “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 Timothy 2:8 says “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to the gospel”

And, even though we ought to live in this manner, we still fail to give our best to Jesus in our practical lives. I believe one of the reasons why we fail to experience the joy of living out a fulfilling Christian life is because we fail to offer our best to God like the woman with alabaster oil.

– It doesn’t mean that if we don’t offer our best God will not love us.
– We don’t do it to win his favour and approval.
– God has already approved us in his son Jesus, the day we repented of our sins and put our faith in Him.

But consider the words of James 2:14-17

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Matthew 25:35-36 & 40
For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

Whatever you do for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’

Hebrews 13:15-16
Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

Sadly, we all fail to do this in some measure or the other.

As an application point, I want to share from our passage what are the reasons some of us fail to offer our best to God.

I believe the three characters represented in this passage reveal three reasons why some of us fail to offer our best to God.

Woman

The first reason we fail to offer our best to Jesus is when we fail to see our sinful state, especially our ungodly attachments with the world and the things of this world.

When we look at the woman, the first thing that stands out is that she didn’t care about the value of the ointment, she apparently comes out as a person who has no attachments to the things of the world and second, she was desperate to be with Jesus.

Let me highlight some ways in which we attach ourselves to the things of this world that stops us from offering our best to God?

–    Our attachment with money & possessions – “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”
–    Our attachment with ungodly people – “Are we unequally yoked with unbelivers & ungodly people”
–    Our attachment with habitual / unrepented sins.
–    Our attachment with fame and prosperous lifestyle.
–    Our attachment to self.

Romans 12:2 – We ought not to be confirmed to the patterns of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of our mind. – Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The People

The second reason some of us fail to offer our best to Jesus is like the people who scolded the woman and was unable to see and understand what was going to happen to Jesus in a couple of days, we also fail to see what Christ has accomplished for us by His death on the cross.

The people failed to understand Jesus even though he told time and again that he will be handed over to the chief priests and will be killed. They expected that Jesus will defeat the Romans, establish his Kingdom & become their King. But what Jesus was about to accomplish through his death on the cross was far greater that what they imagined

The second reason we fail to offer our best to Jesus is because we fail to value and understand what it means to be forgiven of our sins and what it means to be adopted in the family of God for eternity.

And that is why we keep reminding ourselves daily the Gospel.

Judas Iscariot

The third reason some of you fail to offer your best to Jesus is because, like Judas you have stooped so low that for your selfish gains you have sold yourselves to the devil.

The reason you come to church and fellowship with people is to betray Christ and betray his people. You have become wolves in sheep’s clothing in the hands of the devil, to turn away the minds and hearts of the people, from God.

The purpose of your lives has become to cheat and destroys one another for your own selfish purpose of gaining wealth & possession.

We have become deceivers and lairs.

To those who are in this position, I want to warn and encourage you that it is still not late for you to turn back, repent of your wrongdoings to God and his people.

Don’t end up like Judas who couldn’t gather the courage to come back to Jesus and ask for forgiveness. I’m 100% sure that Jesus would have invited him with open arms.

Finally, as I end, I hope this passage has convicted your hearts just as it has convicted mine.

Our response shouldn’t be to hide our faces and run away from God and his people, rather it should be to go to God in repentance and faith, and confess our sins to one another so that we are restored back to God.

Let’s pray.