Don’t loose your sight on the beauty and the glory of the gospel and love for God of this gospel

Luke 10:20, "Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this [Satan fall like lighting from heaven, given authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you, v. 18-19], but rejoice that your names are written in heaven." 

When the disciples returned with joy from being sent out to Jesus’ harvest (Luke 10:2) because the demons were subject to them in his name (Luke 10:17), Jesus replied by showing them the greater reality of the demise of Satan because of their work as laborers in his harvest.  Yet, lest they forgot, he reminded them to treasure and rejoice what matters the most, the reality of his gospel. 

Don't loose the sight on the beauty and the glory of the gospel and the God of this gospel who places my name in heaven. The proper motivation for mission comes from rejoicing in the wonder of the gospel, God who has saved a wretch sinner that I am through the sacrificial death and the resurrection power of his Son Jesus Christ.  The motivation, the drive for mission flows out of love of the God of the gospel. 

THE STORY IS TOLD of Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, one of the most influential preachers of the twentieth century. When he was dying of cancer, one of his friends and former associates asked him, in effect, “How are you managing to bear up? You have been accustomed to preaching several times a week. You have begun important Christian enterprises; your influence has extended through tapes and books to Christians on five continents. And now you have been put on the shelf. You are reduced to sitting quietly, sometimes managing a little editing. I am not so much asking therefore how you are coping with the disease itself. Rather, how are you coping with the stress of being out of the swim of things?”
Lloyd-Jones responded in the words of Luke 10: “[D]o not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (10:20—though of course Lloyd-Jones would have cited the King James Version).

D. A. Carson, For the Love of God : A Daily Companion for Discovering the Riches of God's Word. Volume 1 (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 1998).

Faith in the gospel of God who helps you (Isaiah 7)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon, June 20, 2010

Does any of you in this room this morning doesn’t know how to ride bike because you have never learned how to ride bike? Good, you all know how to ride bike. Now, do you remember who taught you how to ride bike?

So, far I’ve taught my two oldest girls how to ride bike. I’ll let you in on how I train my girls to ride bike on their own. I start off their training by first removing the training wheels. Second, I have my girls sit on their cushion and have them balance their bike without trying to ride on them. I tell them to put their feet off the ground as long as they can. The goal is for them to feel the force of gravity trying to topple them down; but more importantly I want their bodies to learn to balance against the gravity. The last stage is the most crucial stage. While holding their bikes, I have them put their feet on the pedals and tell them to pedal hard as they can. With a bit of my help pushing their bikes and helping them balance, they take off and I take off with them. Now, this is where it really gets tough on daddy. Around the age of four and five, their bikes are quite low. So, I have to bend down, flex my knees and slightly lean towards to my right in order to hold on to the back of their seats. That’s how I have to run with them as they pedal hard as they can and gain the momentum to work against the gravity. I do this for 10 minutes, 20 minutes until I see that my girls are able to balance well on their own. Then comes the crucial moment when I let my hand go but still right there to hold on to the seat, and still running next to them awkwardly. 5 feet, 10 feet, 15 feet, 20 feet, 25 feet… uh, uh, they start losing their balance, but I am right there to catch them from the fall. That’s when I get really excited. I yell out, “Did you feel that? Did you feel that? It was all you. I didn’t have to hold your bike. You rode your bike on your own!” And, my girls reply, “I did?” “Yah, that’s right. You did. I am proud of you. Let’s do it more.” All the pain in my back, the strain on my knees, lungs burning, it’s all worth it for the proud daddy seeing his girls ride their bikes on their own.

I am still working on my middle child. She is still working on the fear part. She need to learn to overcome her fear of falling off her bike; she is going to be able to overcome fear when she learns to trust that her daddy running next to her awkwardly with his hand on her bike won’t let her fall. Well, I know it is a matter of time she learns to trust me and will allow me to train her to ride her bike. Perhaps, before the summer is over.

God is like that. He goes out of his way to help his children. And when his children succeed with his help, he gets really pumped up. I could see God going off, “Hey, everyone do you see what my kid can do?”

Today, on Father’s Day, I want you to know God as your Father who goes out of his way to help you. He holds nothing back to help you. And as it is a child learning to ride bike, all you need to do is to trust God is with you, runs next to you, he holds on to you and always ready to catch you when you fall.

Ahaz’s perspective

The perspective that a father has about riding bike and a child’s perspective on learning to ride bike is vastly different. Initially, all that a child can think of is falling off the bike and getting hurt. For a child to learn to ride bike, fear must be overcome by trust in his or her father. In the case of Ahaz in Isaiah 7, he never got over the fear part. God went out of his way to help Ahaz, but he never learned to trust God.

Around the time Isaiah 7 was written, sometime in 734 B.C., the Assyrian empire became the new bully in town. To deal with the new bully, the king of Aram and the king of Israel, the northern kingdom splintered off of Judah the southern kingdom, formed an alliance together to oppose Assyria the new bully. But, they knew that the alliance was still weak and needed to shore up their force. This is where Ahaz, the king of Judah comes into play. According to Isaiah 7:6, the new alliance of Aram and Israel aka Ephraim plotted to topple down the king Ahaz in order to replace him with a puppet king. And, this puppet king would be anti-Assyria and pro-alliance to lead Judah to join the alliance.

That’s what we see in Isaiah 7:1, the alliance of Aram and Israel marching up to topple Ahaz the king of Judah. But, they didn’t succeed for it says, “they could not overpower it.”

Even though the alliance’s attempt to topple Ahaz and force Judah to join the alliance failed, Ahaz and his people became fearful; Isaiah 7:2 described their fear level to that of the trees of the forest being shaken by the wind of hurricane like force.

What was Ahaz to do against Assyria the new bully in town and the alliance formed to oppose the new bully? 2 Kings 16:5-9 shows what Ahaz did.

Ahaz placed his bet on Assyria and against the alliance of Aram and Israel. He was a shrewd politician. He instinctively knew that Assyria was a force to be reckoned with; he knew that neither his country nor the newly formed alliance could match themselves against Assyria. So, instead of trying to fight off the bully and get beat up by the bully, he reasoned that he should join the bully and let the bully beat up the guys messing with him.

It w a shrewd move to have the bully on your side, but it comes at a great cost. To have the bully’s protection meant Ahaz had to cough up his wealth to the bully; he had to strip off the silver and gold from the Lord’s temple and he had to dip into his savings from his treasuries, all in order to buy the bully’s protection; it also meant Ahaz was only a king in title, he was now nothing more than a pawn in the hands of the king of Assyria. But to Ahaz, his perspective was that it was better off being a vassal to Assyria than being terrorized by the alliance.

Going back to Isaiah 7 we see Ahaz at the aqueduct inspecting the water source for the city of Jerusalem. He was out there making sure the supply line for water was working properly. He was not only a shrewd king, but he also was a smart king who knew the important of securing the water source for the defense of his city.

We see Ahaz making a political treaty with Assyria for protection, doing his part to protect the water source. But, what we don’t see is Ahaz turning to God for help. Another word, Ahaz’s perspective on overcoming his fear was to cling to the biggest bully in town, while shoring up his defense. He never learned to trust God.

God’s perspective

When a father works with his child to learn how to ride bike, his perspective is quite different from that of his child. While the child is fearful of falling, the father doesn’t fear it because he is right there to catch the child from falling. While the child doesn’t know how to ride bike, the father does.

From a human perspective of a commander-in-chief, what Ahaz did was the right move. Why wage war against the bully you know you cannot overcome even with the help from other guys? Why experience the sure defeat from the bully when you can be on his side and the bully can be on your side to fight for you? Ahaz thought he could protect himself and his country by being a shrewd manipulative politician, by protecting the water source.

But, that’s not how God saw it. From God’s perspective, the survivability of Judah depended not on Ahaz, but on God himself. Although Isaiah 7:1 doesn’t say explicitly why the alliance couldn’t overpower Jerusalem, in the context, it becomes clear that it was because God protected the city. However, in spite of God protecting Jerusalem the capital city of Judah, Ahaz and his people panicked because they trusted in themselves to figure things out; they didn’t trust God was running with them, .

At times, we just don’t get it and we simply cannot see what God is doing in our lives. And, God has to show us how he is helping us. Ahaz and his people didn’t get it either. So, we see God dispatching Isaiah to Ahaz in order to show him that God was running next to him.

God told Isaiah to take his son Shear-Jashub which means “A remnant will return.” It meant that God was going to protect those who trust in him. Isaiah’s son’s name was like a subliminal message flashing in the back ground to inform Ahaz God is God of help.

But, this subliminal message through Isaiah’s son’s name didn’t get through Ahaz’s fear. So, God decided to speak straight up to Ahaz through Isaiah.

“Come on Ahaz! Be careful now. Don’t lose your cool. Be calm. Think this through instead of panic in fear. Don’t be discouraged by the alliance that is attacking you. You and your people are terrified of them. But, let me tell you my perspective on this. The alliance is nothing more than burned off stubs. The alliance could plan all they want to rid of you, but mark my words Ahaz, it won’t happen. It won’t happen because the alliance between Aram and Israel would be broken off because the nations themselves would be broken apart; they would be too shattered to even be recognized as a people any longer in the near future.”

That’s what God told Ahaz through Isaiah verses 6-9. It was a straightforward, undiluted perspective from God that he was going to help Ahaz and his country as God already helped by protecting the city of Jerusalem.

God sent a subliminal message about his help through the name of Isaiah’s son. God sent a direct message of his help through Isaiah. But, just in case it was still hard for Ahaz to trust God’s help, he decided to make it really easy for Ahaz to get it.

We see in Isaiah 7:10-12 how God spoke to Ahaz through Isaiah to ask for a sign from God. God was saying to Ahaz, “Let me help you trust me on this. I want you to ask me any sign you can think of that would help you to trust in me. Don’t hold back. Ask for a sign, weather in the deepest depths or in the highest heights, meaning there is no limit on what sign you can ask from me.” As Ortlund illustrates, essentially God handed Ahaz a blank check. He could put whatever the amount he wanted and cash it.[i]

Gee, can God make it any easier for Ahaz to ask for help? What else could God do to help Ahaz realize God really wanted to help him?

Unbelief

In spite of God going out of his way to assure Ahaz of his help, Ahaz refused to ask for the sign. Ahaz actually used the scripture to reject God’s help. Deuteronomy 6:16 says not to test the LORD and Ahaz equates asking for a sign as testing the LORD. The irony is that it was God himself who told Ahaz to ask for a sign from him. Isn’t it illogical to think that doing what God has told you is tantamount to testing him? To step out of fear and to trust God’s promise to help you is not testing God. It is faith. But, what we see here is Ahaz in his unbelief driven by fear making a bad decision.

We see also his unbelief masked behind religiosity. He sounded religious and pious, but really he didn’t trust God for help, nor desired for God’s help. What we see here is that piety is not the same as faith. Oswalt said, “Piety is the appearance of religion while trust in God is the substance of religion.”^[ii] Ahaz had the façade of spirituality, but inside he was nothing more than a cynical unbeliever.

Ahaz refused to embrace God’s perspective over his own deeply flawed and troubled perspective. He knew that trusting God and accepting God’s help meant doing things God’s way. He would rather hold on to being in control in his way. That’s unbelief.

The consequence of unbelief

What happens when you reject God the Creator, the Great Redeemer, the Savior who wants to come along side of you and help you? God doing everything he could to help you which is a lot when you remember it is God doing everything… when you reject this God who really wants to help you, then what happens?

The answer comes from the sign the Lord himself gave to Ahaz. Since Ahaz refused to ask for a sign in trust, Isaiah 7:14, God himself gave him a sign.

And the sign was that “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.” Immanuel means “God with us.” As it was the case with the name of Isaiah’s son, here another child’s name carries spiritual significance.

Immanuel, “God with us,” carries a double edge sword. On the one hand, for those who accept God’s perspective and God’s help, Immanuel means the Great Companionship, God’s abiding presence of help. It can be your source of comfort as well your confidence if you walk in faith.

But on the other hand, if such abiding presence of God’s help is rejected, it is no longer the presence of neither comfort nor confidence, but it is the presence of judgment.

That’s what we see in Isaiah 7:15-25. Before the prophesized child came to the age of understanding right from wrong, the two kings would be destroyed by Assyria, the bully (7:16). But, Assyria would not stop there. It would also turn against Judah that sought its help. A rather strange image from Isaiah 7:20 of the king of Assyria shaving off hair from Ahaz is essentially the vision of Ahaz being shamed and crushed by the Assyrian king he once trusted.

Faith response

In the light of the double edged sword reality of Immanuel, God with us, how should we respond to God?

Raymond Oswalt said “faith is the God-awakened capacity to respond fully to Christ.”[iii] Although we don’t see the name of Jesus Christ here in Isaiah 7, Isaiah 7:14 is one of the most celebrated verse for the Christians. Do you know where this sign of Immanuel God gave to Ahaz as a sign of judgment is picked up in the Bible? Matthew 1:23 quotes the sign of Immanuel from Isaiah 7:14 on the account of the birth of Jesus Christ.

The whole world will rise or fall on the account of Jesus Christ. There is now no excuse to ever think that God doesn’t care for you. There is no excuse ever to think that God isn’t with you. There is no excuse ever to think that God doesn’t want to help you. There is no excuse ever to think that God doesn’t love you. There is no excuse ever to think that God isn’t looking out for what’s best for you. There is no excuse any more to question God’s motive. You simply do not question the motive of someone who lets his own son be executed in place for you, to pay your monstrous crimes you committed. The sign of Immanuel was partially fulfilled in Isaiah’s time as a sign of judgment. But, now the sign of Immanuel fulfilled in Jesus Christ two thousand years ago the sign of grace, that which you and I must respond in faith.

Isaiah 7:9, “If you do not stand firm in your faith, you will not stand at all.” Ahaz rejected in unbelief the gospel of God who helps. How about you? Are you standing firm in your faith? Are you standing at all? Are you standing firm in the radical surrender to the love of God fully expressed and demonstrated in the sign of Immanuel, ^[iv] in Jesus? Do you have the faith that produces calm confidence in the hurricane size storms?

Do you know that God is running next to you holding onto your seat, ready to catch you when you fall, cheering you and empowering you to succeed so that you become an effective witness in the world?

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[i] Ibid., p. 90.

^[ii] Oswalt, J. (2003). The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah (142). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

[iii] Ortlund, Raymond C. Isaiah: God saves sinners. Crossway Books: Wheaton, IL. 2005. P. 89.

^[iv] Oswalt, J. (2003). The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah (145). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Commissioned life begins with the gospel transformation of your life (Isaiah 6)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon, June 13, 2010

I am going to begin my sermon by telling you a story about William Wilberforce who lived from 1759-1833 in England. I want to tell you little bit about him to show you what a commissioned life looks like, what it looks like when a person takes up God’s cause and go for it wholeheartedly.

This was said about Wilberforce, “No Englishman has ever done more to evoke the conscience of the British people and to elevate and ennoble British life.” When people of his time accepted and justified slavery as indispensible necessity for the economical wellbeing, he stood with few others for abolition of the slave trade. He wrote, “So enormous, so dreadful, so irremediable did the trade’s wickedness appear that my own mind was completely made up for abolition. Let the consequence be what they would: I from this time determined that I would never rest until I had effected its abolition.” In his early years in the Parliament, he was optimistic for a quick success to end the slave trade, but his legislative effort to pass the bill to end the slave trade was repeatedly defeated. From 1787 till twenty years later in 1807, he campaigned tirelessly to end the British slave trade. And, then for the next 26 years until July 26, 1833, he worked to outlaw slavery itself only three days before his death.

He didn’t give up throughout the years of failure to end the slave trade and slavery itself. Twenty years later the slave trade was outlawed, another twenty six years later, slavery itself was outlawed in England.

Do you wonder what motivates a person like Wilberforce to spend one’s whole life singularly to promote the great cause? Do you wonder how a person like Wilberforce perseveres against the tide of defeats without losing the courage to believe in the great cause? Do you wonder how you can too live a commissioned life to go after God’s cause?

As Wilberforce was commissioned to spend his whole life to end the slavery, Isaiah was commissioned for God’s cause. Isaiah 6:8-9 tells us Isaiah was commissioned to go and to tell people God’s message. As we will see from Isaiah 6:9-13, Isaiah would encounter long years of people rejecting God’s message to their destruction before seeing some turning to God.

• God is looking for men and women who will give their lives for the cause of the gospel.
• God is looking for men and women who will advance the gospel faithfully in spite of drawn out defeats and failures and rejections.
• God is looking for men and women who will advance the gospel without losing heart.
• God is looking for men and women to take the gospel to their neighbors, to their friends, to their coworkers, to the colleagues, to the families.
• God is asking, “Whom shall I send?” God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is asking, “who will go for us?” Isaiah 6:8.

I believe that it is you and me that God wants to commission to go and tell the gospel. But, before you can share the gospel to anyone, you must be exposed to the gospel and experience its power to transform your relationship with God. That’s how it happened with Isaiah and that’s how it happened with Wilberforce and that’s how it must happen with you and me. First is the experience of the gospel transformation daily in your own life, and then the daily faithfulness to the commissioned life to share the gospel with the world. Commissioned life begins with the gospel transformation of your life.

The gospel transformation in seeing God

Isaiah 6:1-8 tells the vision of this gospel transformation that took place in Isaiah before he was commissioned to go and tell the gospel.

Isaiah 6:1 tells a little piece of information that it was when the king Uzziah died he had his vision of God. Before I walk through with you of the vision of God, I want to stay and explore the significance of this information about the death of a king.

2 Chronicles 26:16-21 tells the story of Uzziah, the king of Judah. He was the tenth king. He became the king at the age of 16 and reigned next 52 years. It says in 2 Chronicles 26:5, “He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. And as long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success.” And, the passage goes on describing the success God gave him over the Philistines, building up the nation’s defense system of fortified cities, and a well-trained, supplied and equipped army. And, 26:15 tells us, “His fame spread far and wide, for he was greatly helped until he became powerful.” Then, there was the turning point to worse, “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall.

He was unfaithful to the LORD his God, and entered the temple of the LORD to burn incense on the altar of incense.” When you read further you see Azariah the priest and other 80 courageous priests confronting the king for doing what was wrong. It says in verse 19, Uzziah became angry at the priests trying to stop him from assuming their priestly role. And, immediately God struck Uzziah with leprosy, visible on his forehead. And, there is the sad commentary about his reign in verse 21, “King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a spate house- leprous, and excluded from the temple of the LORD.”

Let me explain to you why this act of a king assuming a priestly duty amounted to unfaithfulness to God. When God instituted kings to rule Israel, he wanted make sure that the people and the kings knew very well that it was their God who was their true King. Another word, the kings of Israel were commissioned to serve the true King, their God under the ministry of the priests. So, Uzziah trying to assume the role of the priests was equivalent to him rejecting God as his true King. His action undermined God’s reign over him through the ministry of the priests. The king Uzziah who was commissioned to serve God his true King, instead became proud. He attributed the success to his own skill and ability and he saw no need to submit to the true King.

What does this have to do with the gospel transformation? It shows that the heart of the gospel transformation is about knowing, trusting and serving God as our true King. The gospel transformation is about living under God’s reign.

Although the earthly throne was vacated by the death of the king, God’s throne is never vacated. True King lives forever. So, Isaiah was given the amazing vision of God’s presence in the holy temple. It says that temple was filled with the train that is the hem of God’s robe by his ankles. The vision shows that God is so big that the temple itself cannot contain him. And, there are seraphs heavenly and mysterious creatures with six wings, flying two wings while covering their faces and feet with the rest of their wings. And, the vision shows them calling to one another. And, the sound of their voices shakes the temple and filling it with smoke. Their voice had the explosive thunder like the explosion of hydrogen gas.

“Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” Holiness is God’s otherworldly character that sets him apart from his created order. As the Creator of the world, God’s otherworldly character is not stained by the sin, corruption, evil, lies, hatred in the world. Holiness unstained by the corruption of the world is like a light in darkness. As darkness cannot overcome a light, the darkness of the world cannot overcome God’s holiness.

So, here Isaiah writes for us his vision of God the true King as big beyond our imagination, fully worthy of our worship from the whole creation, and powerfully holy and uninfluenced by the darkness of the world but transforming it with his glory.

The gospel transformation of humility

When Isaiah was exposed to this unveiled vision of God who is big, worthy and holy, he was hurting. It was like the naked eyes staring at the fully glory of sun and feeling the scorching pain over his utter sinfulness. The pain he felt was like the pain felt when the purifying agent of salt liquid is poured over the exposed wound infested with infection.

“Woe to me… I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

I think Isaiah realized how he had tried to reduce God to be a small, unworthy, and compromising deity. And, God would not concede to men’s effort to box him to something he is not.

Contrast Isaiah’s response was to that of Uzziah. When the priests courageously told Uzziah the truth that it was not right for him to undermine God’s reign over him by assuming the priestly role, Uzziah responded not with humility but with the pride of anger. He probably thought, ‘I am the king. And, I can do whatever I want. You priests, who are you to tell me what I can do and what I cannot do. Get out of my way.’

The gospel transformation of forgiveness

Being exposed to the true vision of God, humbling himself to King’s reign, and now we see God doing that which Isaiah could not do, that which none of us can do.

We see the heavenly creature taking a live coal with the tongs from the altar and with it touching Isaiah’s mouth. And, the creature proclaims with the voice of thunder, “See, this has touched your lips, your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”

Cleansing, forgiveness is something God does on the basis of his provision. It was God’s provided sacrifice that took the place of Isaac under Abraham’s knife. It was God’s provided lambs that took the place of Israelites under their sins.

It is God’s provided perfect lamb, Jesus Christ who took our place of guilt, condemned, crucified to die on the cross.

Contrast this to that of Uzziah. Being confronted by the priest of his sin, his rebellion against God, the true King, becoming angry in self-righteousness and the attitude of I can do whatever I want to do, Uzziah was struck down with leprosy. While Isaiah received cleansing through Christ’s sacrifice when he humbled himself, Uzziah received the mark of unclearness fit for his heart that undermined God’s reign over him.

This morning, who do you see in yourself? Do you see Isaiah who was commissioned because he was humbled himself and experience God’s grace in Christ or do you see Uzziah who was shamed from participating in God’s work because of his pride?

William Wilberforce used to pray this way. “Oh Lord, purify my soul from all its stains. Warm my heart with love of thee, animate my sluggish nature and fix my inconsistency, and volatility, that I may not be weary in well doing.”[i]

As Isaiah was, as Wilberforce was, God wants to use you for his great cause of the gospel. Would you let God to shine his bright light on you to expose the sins? Would you let God shower you his grace to forgive and restore? Would you let God commission you to be faithful to share the gospel regardless of how people respond to you?

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[i] http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/Biographies/1492_Peculiar_Doctrines_Public_Morals_and_the_Political_Welfare/

The fruit of the gospel (Isaiah 5)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon, June 6, 2010

In this passage, I want people to understand who God is, especially of his covenant faithfulness, his love towards his people and the consequence of rejecting his covenant faithfulness, his love. Rather than rejecting this God of love, God of covenant faithfulness, I want people to respond to him and embrace justice of loving others. Call people to respond to the gospel and bear the fruit of righteousness and justice, loving God and loving people.

Few weeks ago, I brought our family van to Busse Automotive in Mt. Prospect to get break repaired. The great thing about this place is that I usually can have a loaner car if the job requires few days of work. That day, Mark Busse the owner didn’t have a loaner car for me. So, I opted to wait for the repair. I headed down to Caribou coffee

Shop across the Metra station. There were signs over the town. “Vote for Lee,” “Vote for Lee Dewyze.” The guy worked in the local paint shop. He would show up to work in the mornings and would belt things out in the back of the shop with his guitar.[i] He sang his way up to in American Idol to win it with millions of people voting for him. It’s crazy. Something about Lee, something about his sinning raspy voice has moved people to become his fan.

That’s kind of what we see here in Isaiah 5. Imagine Isaiah belting out with his guitar. He is not singing for himself. He is not singing to win a completion. He is singing for the one he loves a song about his loved one’s vineyard hoping that the Israelites would hear his song and be changed. But, the reality was people plainly rejected his song. I am praying that instead of rejecting the truth, we would listen to the song of the vineyard for transformation.

The portrait of God’s love

The song is an allegory about God’s love for Judah and Judah’s non-response to God’s pursuit. God in the song is the owner of a vineyard who works hard at it to provide just the right condition for the vines to yield abundant crop of good grapes.

But, in this case, the vines which represent the people of Judah, they miserably fail to yield good grapes; instead they yield only bad fruit.

In verse 2, we hear that the vineyard belongs to Isaiah’s loved one and that the vineyard is located a fertile hillside. It is a fertile hillside, but with many stones to be cleared. Here, we see the owner of the vineyard going out to the field digging out and clearing the vineyard of stones. It’s backbreaking work to rid of stones from a field. I am sure such work would leave the hands of the laborer blistered and bruised. Not only is the ground fertile and now cleared of stones, the owner plants the vineyard with the choices vines. He personally handpicked them, chose them. And, in order to protect the vineyard with the newly planted vines from the animals, intruders, the owner builds a watchtower with the cleared stones from the vineyard and guards it to ensure its safety. To be ready for the time when he can extract grape juice to make wine, the owner cut a winepress out of lime stones. There was no fancy breaking hammer, hammer drill or rotary hammer; it was all done by hands with crude tools to cut out a winepress.

We see the image of the owner of the vineyard going out of his way with his selfless hard works to ensure the best possible condition for his handpicked, chosen vines to yield good crop of grapes. The owner gave his best that he could give and nothing was held back to take care of the vineyard. In verse 4, God asks, “what more could have been done for my vineyard that I have done for it?” Nothing, there was nothing more he could have done for his vineyard.

What else God could do than to having sent his own Son, to work, to suffer, and to die in our place for our sins on the rugged cross and to raise hip up from the dead? What more could he have done to demonstrate his love for us? Nothing!

Having poured out his own sweat, his labor, his life, the owner of the vineyard having nothing more to give now expects fruitful yield from his chosen vines. But, instead of getting plum grapes, all he got from the vines are bad yield of wild grapes. I read that wild grapes only produce small fruit with large seeds and are often sour."[ii] Wild grapes are not the product for which the owner had planned and labored. The wild grapes of inferior quality were worthless. They were bad.

We learn from verse 7 clearly what this allegory means. The LORD Almighty is the owner of the vineyard. The vineyard is the house of Israel and the vines are the people of Israel, the chosen people of God’s own delight.

And, the fruit that the LORD looked for was justice and righteousness, but what he got from his people was the bloodshed and the cries of their victims from their self-serving greed. I really like what Dennis Bratcher had to say about righteousness and justice.

Righteousness is what is owed to God because he is God… not a moral category of perfection, but living a life… that acknowledges that God is indeed God. It is a response of faithfulness that is willing to accept the responsibility of being God’s people. It is a relationship in which the people “love the Lord” totally and completely.

And, when righteousness reigns that is when people love the Lord, it is manifested in justice. Bratcher says this about justice.

Justice is… a way to talk about equality and fairness arising from a concern for others that is willing to place human need and relationship as the highest priority of life flowing from relationship with God. In the fullest sense, to “do justice” is the same thing as loving one’s neighbor as oneself.

God is after the response of righteousness and justice that is love of God and love of people from you and me. Righteousness, love of God, justice, love of people is truly the fruit of the gospel. Anything else is bad yield unfit for the gospel.

God’s response to bad fruit

Verse 5 and 6 describes God judgment against the vines that yield only bad. To protect the vineyard, often throne hedge or stone hedge were built around its parameter. Here, in response to vines that only yield bad fruit, he would remove the hedge thorns and wall of protection. And, the hedge that thwarts away the wild animals and the invaders now gone, the vines would be trampled and destroyed; God withholding the rain, withholding work of pruning, cultivating, the vineyard would be reduced to a wasteland.

When God lifted his protective force shield around Israel, it became vulnerable to the surrounding nations and would face devastating invasion from Assyria and exile. James Mead said that this judgment didn’t mean Israel lost its election status, but instead what they lost for many generations was the blessings of that election.[iii]

Read Isaiah 5:25-30, we see the devastating effect of God removing his hedge of protection over Israel. In his righteous anger, we see God lifting up a banner for the foreign nations, giving them permission to be the rod of his anger against unfruitful, unfaithful Israel. 5:27-30, we see how fierce these forces against Israel… mighty strength, readiness to attack with their destructive weapons, and the sound of battle cries, their roar that sends chills to bones, even the light will be darkened by the clouds. That’s quite depressing.

Colossians 1:16 speaks of Jesus as the image of the invisible God… all things were created… by him and for him. And, verse 17, “in him all things hold together.” This hedge of protection from God is too often unappreciated and unnoticed by us. It is chilling thought to imagine what could happen if God lifts up his hedge of protection over us. And, if God lifted up his hedge of protection over Israel because they didn’t love him and love people, should you and I be alert by the tragedy of history and turn to God?

We too face the same warning from Jesus. Jesus warned against unfruitfulness in Matthew 21:43, “the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people that produces the fruits of the kingdom.”

How do we make sense of this chilling warning against unfruitfulness? God’s goal is not to just to plant choice vines. His goal is to grow vines that would produce the fruit of righteousness and justice, the fruit of loving God and loving people.

The nature of bad fruit

If we are not growing in righteousness of loving God and justice of loving people, we are bound to produce the bad fruit. Isaiah 5:8-24 identify the specifics of the bad fruit.

• Greed (5:8-10)

for bigger houses and more land… they violated God’s ownership of the land and the spirit of stewardship…  In verse 9-10 we see that the greed of possession would meet the consequence of dispossession and unfruitfulness. C. S. Lewis, in The Great Divorce…he likens hell to an enormous city with mansions set off at vast distances from one another, because nobody likes anybody else and they end up living alone.[iv]  “a ten acre vineyard will produce only a baht of wine, a homor of seed only an ephah of grain”… this is an image of ineffective and unproductiveness (5:10). 10 acre = 10 yoke (each yoke equals the area of land where a single pair of oxen can plow in a day); “bath” liquid measure = “ephah” a dry measure of grai = between 4.5-9 gallons.  “homer” a donkey load, the amount of grain a donkey can carry = 1/10 of an ephah.

• Self-indulgence (5:11-17)

… is the preoccupation with worldly stuffs, worshiping the object of God’s blessing instead of worshiping the Giver of all good gifts in life.  It shows “no regard for the deeds of the LORD and no respect for the work of his hands” (5:12)

• Cynicism (5:18-19)

… talks like this to God, “bring it on God… whatever judgment you have against me, go ahead and bring it on because I am just going to go on doing whatever I feel like doing.”  The cynicism about God emerges as it becomes clear there is a conflict between what I want and what God’s revealed will is. If there is no submission of my needs and myself to God at that moment, cynicism about him is the logical next step: “If God doesn’t like what I am doing, let’s see him stop it.”^[v] 

• Rationalization/justification… Moral perversion (5:20, 21)

Rationalization is calling sin not as sin, evil not as evil… conscience is seared.   It assumes their own personal moral authority over God’s moral authority.

It is like the way synsepalum dulcificum works. A slightly tart “Miracle fruit” West African berry can turn sour to sweet by altering taste buds about an hour after you eat it. So, you may see people eating up lime wedges as if they were candy. Straight lemon juice tastes like lemonade, goat cheese tastes like it is covered in powdered sugar, beer tastes like milkshake, rhubarb tastes like a sugar stick… physiology behind it… the fruit’s protein polyphenols binds to taste buds and altering the tongue’s sweet receptors to activate when they come in contact with sour foods.[vi]

Greed breeds self-indulgence. Self-indulgence dulls and clouds the spiritual faculty making it easy to rationalize sins.

• Social injustice (5:22-24)

Social injustice is born out of greed, self-indulgence, cynicism, and rationalization.  “The astounding truth of the covenant is that how we treat each other is perhaps the most significant indicator of our relationship to God… If we are to be in a relationship with him, we must agree to treat one another fairly and with fundamental respect, recognizing that a person’s life, possessions, reputation, and marriage are inviolable. This is so because God is a person and this is how he treats persons”^[vii]  There cannot be social justice until some persons decide that the meeting of their personal needs must be secondary to having the basic needs of others met. This will never happen until such persons come to the realization that God wishes to meet their needs and can do it better for them than they themselves can.^[viii]

So, what can you do to stop the growth of these sins? Simply trying really hard not to be greedy, self-indulgent, cynical, not try to rationalize, not to become unjust is not going to go too far. The best way to retard and rid of the growth of bad fruit is by producing the good fruit of loving God and loving people.

Righteousness and justice, loving God and loving people begins with responding to Jesus who calls us to remain in him. “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” The gospel points us to relationship with Jesus. It is in relationship with Jesus we see clearly to what extent God went to care for and to protect his vineyard. It is in relationship with Jesus we understand we are created to produce the fruit of righteousness and justice. And, it is only in relationship with Jesus that we are empowered to produce the good fruit.

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[i] http://blog.zap2it.com/frominsidethebox/2010/06/american-idol-lee-dewyze-sang-in-the-paint-shop-all-the-time.html

[ii] http://www.cresourcei.org/lectionary/YearC/Cproper15ot.html

[iii] http://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?lect_date=10/5/2008&tab=1

[iv] C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. pp. 20-22.

^[v] Oswalt, J. (2003). The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah (117). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

[vi] http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=81

^[vii] Oswalt, J. (2003). The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah (117). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[viii] Oswalt, J. (2003). The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah (118). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Subtraction before gaining (Isaiah 3-4)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon, May 30, 2010

Concerning the breakup of the engagement and the wedding of our brother and sister in our church, I would like to take little bit of time to help you make sense of it.

• You are not married until you walk down the aisle as husband and wife.
• Engagement period is for preparing for marriage, but it is also a buffer time when a couple can make their choice not to marry each other for various reasons.
• It is not my place to elaborate for the reasons for their breakup. But, I will say this much. Although it is hard to see right now if any good can come out of this breakup, I believe that God is in control and he is working in their lives. They’ve worked earnestly through many issues during the premarital counseling sessions. However, in honesty they realized that there were things about their personal convictions and values that couldn’t be reconciled for marriage. And, I want you church to know that it is okay for them to dissolve the engagement and wedding in the light of what they’ve discovered about themselves and about each other.
• To do what’s right for the right reasons takes great courage and dependence in the Spirit of God. And, it is never late to do what’s right even it meant calling off the wedding.
• I am sure you are wondering how you can care for our brother and sister.  Let me suggest some ways for you. 
  • You need to be convinced of the gospel that God is at work and he is in control even in the heart wrenching breakup of engagement and wedding. If you are not sure that God is at work in times like this, you will not be much help to them; you will actually become hindrance to what God wants to accomplish in their lives.
  • You need to know that at times God takes things away from us that we depend on for pleasure and self-sufficiency in order to point us to Jesus Christ as our sufficiency.
  • The best way to help them is to soak them with your prayer. They are both suffering from massive heartaches that God will need to heal.
  • Call them, email them, text them to let them know that you support them, that God is at work. Pray for them in person, on the phone.
  • Offer them your listening ears and understanding and that you are there for them if they want to process with you. Offer your shoulders for them to cry.
  • Don’t participate in gossiping or speculating. Don’t participate in blaming game. If you must know, ask them personally.
  • Remember… we are a gospel community. In all circumstances, we need to trust in the power of the gospel to birth something beautiful and life changing from ugly and messy situations.

Now, for the message, I said earlier that at times God takes things away from us that we depend on for self-sufficiency and pleasure in order to point us to Jesus Christ as our sufficiency and our joy. That is the nature of the gospel. Gospel of Christ turns us away from the world and turns us to Christ. Paul said it well when he said in Philippians 3:7, “But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.” The gospel requires subtraction before gaining, subtracting the idols of self-sufficiency and pleasure in order to gain the sufficiency and joy in Christ.

Jesus explains it this way in Matthew 16:26, “What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” Eugene Peterson paraphrases it like this, “What kind of deal is it to get everything you want but lose yourself? What could you ever trade your soul for?” Who wouldn’t want to gain the whole world? But, if adding the whole world to your possession means losing your life, you understand that this is not a sound proposition. It is a bad deal. Really, who wants to gain the whole world but only to lose your soul, your life?

Subtraction of the idols of self-sufficiency and pleasure must take place before your soul can be sufficient in Christ alone. Something must go, something must be taken out, something and everything that blinds you from seeing God as your true support and supply for your existence they all have to go. Chapter 3 deals with that which must be taken out while chapter 4 envisions what God wants to give.

Subtraction: What must be taken away?

In chapter 3, we see God doing a demolition work. Here is how C. S. Lewis saw our problem in his book Mere Christianity. He wrote, “You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage; but he is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself.” Because God’s vision is to build a place, a dwelling for himself, C. S. Lewis wrote, God “starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense.” So, what is God after? What is God trying to demolish in order to realize his vision?

Unbelief (chapter 3:1-15)

What we see in 3:1-15 is God rooting out unbelief in him.

Isaiah 3:1 says God was taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah all supplies of food and all supplies of water. And, from Isaiah 3:2-15, we see God taking away both the legitimate and illegitimate leadership: hero, warrior, judge, prophet, elder, the captain of fifty, man of rank, counselor, craftsman (ESV skillful magician) and the legitimate leaders of soothsayer (diviner, fortune teller) and clever enchanter (the expert in charms).

All the supplies and support came from God. And, God established the leadership among them to remind them who is their true support and supplier. But, the leadership was corrupted. They were practically atheists who denied God of all-knowing, all-present, and all-powerful.

When God took away the corrupted leadership that people trusted in, we see people desperately trying to fill the leadership vacuum; They put up boys to be their officials; mere children to govern them (Isaiah 3:4). We know it didn’t work because we see in Isaiah 3:5 the nation engulfed in chaos of oppression and uprising. The country became so poor and devastated that if you simply owned a cloak, if you had a coat to wear, that is if you were little better off than the rest, then you could become a leader. But, the reality was that no one wanted to step up and lead because they have forgotten who God is and what God was after. God was after building his Kingdom, but the Israelites were trying to build their own little territory without God.

Isaiah 2:20 says, “Stop trusting in a man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?” The Israelites trusted in leadership that was against God. Isaiah 3:8 says that their words and deeds were against the LORD, and they defied God’s presence. Another word, they talked and acted as though they didn’t believe God could see their wrongdoings, or, perhaps, believed that God would just be silent and unmoved by their wrongdoings. Their words and their actions showed unbelief in God who is all-knowing, all-present, and all-powerful God. Again, practically speaking, they were atheists. So, it makes sense what we read in Isaiah 3:14-15. Since the leaders and the elders behaved like atheists, they had no fear in plundering and crushing the poor, the helpless whom God looked after.

• How about us? Are we Christian atheists? We say we believe in God, but in practice do we reject God who is all-knowing, all-present, and all-powerful God? Can you think of the ways you may defy God’s glorious presence, talk and act as though God cannot or doesn’t care to see when you wrong or when you don’t do what’s right?

Vanity of self-obsession (Isaiah 3:16-26)

What happens to a nation when the leaders become practical atheists? When the leaders ignore all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful God, what happens to the people? It creates self-obsessed people who only have eyes for luxury and comfort.

When you take your eyes off of God who is all-knowing, all-present, all-powerful, God who has his mission for you to make him known in this world, you cannot help but look to yourself. That’s what we see in 3:16-26. When the male leadership of the nation squandered away their God given mandate to lead the nation to make God known in the world, their women became proud and self-obsessed. They became obsessed with everything that made them beautiful, ornaments, headbands, crescent, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, veils, scarves, ankle bracelets, sashes, perfumes, charms, rings, jewels, party clothes, gowns capes, purses, mirrors fine linen garments, head ornaments, and shawls, perfume, rope, elegant hair… The list goes on.

But, Isaiah 3:18 says, “In that day the LORD will snatch away their finery.” Isaiah 3:24 echoes, “instead of beauty, branding.” Instead of fragrance, stench, instead of well-dressed hair, baldness, instead of beauty, branding… NLT makes it clearer, “Shame will replace her beauty.”

• Think about your life. Are you obsessed with yourself? Do you spend most of your time trying to appear put-together, confident, competent, and beautiful? Do you realize that all your effort to appear put-together will amount to nothing? Do you realize that all your beautifying obsession will amount to shame?

What does God want to give you?

So, we see God is after getting rid of unbelief in him who is all-knowing, all-present and all-powerful, we see that God is after getting rid of vanity of self-obsession.  Now, what is that God want to give us in place of unbelief and vanity of self-obsession?

Isaiah 4:2 says that “In that day the Branch of the LORD will be beautiful an d glorious…”  The Branch of the LORD is a Messianic title that points to the rule of Christ. The true leadership and beauty are not derived from human leadership, nor from things we put on, nor from the persona we put out. True leadership and true beauty comes from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 4:3 and 4… here, we see God envisioning us as those left in Zion, as the remnants and holy because Jesus washes away our filth from sins and our mistreatment of others. God wants to transform us from being plagued with unbelief and vanity to being covered by his grace, his kindness, his power of forgiveness.

Isaiah 4:5-6… here, we see God envisioning us under his proactive canopy in the desert, covered by his cloud of smoke by day and flaming fire by night, a shelter and shade from the heat of day, a refuge and hiding place from the storm and rain.  This is one of the most beautiful images of what God wants to give us.  These verses remind me of what apostle John wrote in John 1:14.  “The Word [the Son of God] became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” Jesus is the canopy, a shelter and shade, a refuge and hiding place. He is our full support and our full supply. He is our true leader, he is our true beauty. That’s what God wants to give us, his Son Jesus Christ to dwell in us. Isn’t that great?  The gospel seeks to change the idolaters like you and me who sees the universe with ourselves at the center of it^[1], to people who see the universe with Jesus at the center as our true leader and as our true beauty.

Consider what Oswalt wrote in his commentary.

We have sinned in our lust for comfort, pleasure, and security, and we are now experiencing those results. But it is not a cruel God who brings those things upon us, and it is not a rejecting God who abandons us to the fire. Rather, it is a loving God who sees no other way to bring us to the place where he can live in us.^[2]

He is talking about God’s pruning working of subtracting unbelief and vanity of self-obsession.  God takes away precisely because he loves us in order to give us the best that he can give us, his Son Jesus Christ.  That’s love. 

Do you know what must be subtracted in order to gain Christ as your true leader and your true beauty?

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^[1] Oswalt, J. (2003). The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah (101). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

^[2] Oswalt, J. (2003). The NIV Application Commentary: Isaiah (107). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Apostasy (Numbers 14:39-44)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon, May 9, 2010

On Mother’s Day…

“Making a decision to have a child–it’s momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.”

“Mothers hold their children’s hands for a short while, but their hearts forever.”

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Today, I want to share with you what God’s been pressing in my heart to ponder, the sin of apostasy. D. A. Carson says, “The essence of apostasy is rejection of covenant standing through unbelief.” It is “Knowing the promises and the power of God who confirmed them with an oath,” but refusing to believe. Unbelief in God’s promises and his power leads down the road to despising God; and this spirit of contempt against God leads to rebellion. Once down this road of rebellion, it leads to dispossession of the covenant standing and dying outside of God’s promise.[1]

Simply said, apostasy is rejecting God’s vision for your life while trying to create your own vision of life. The scariest thing about apostasy is that you do get what you want in place of what God wants for you. When God wants to give you heaven, the apostasy desires hell. This is why apostasy is dangerous and we must avoid it.

Now, apostasy doesn’t concern people outside of church. People who don’t know God cannot commit apostasy because apostasy involves standing away from one’s covenant relationship with God. Apostasy assumes that a person has tasted what it is to stand in God’s promises, his grace, his love, his power. So, the warning against apostasy is for you and me.

One of the clearest pictures of apostasy emerges from Numbers 14-15. Our focus is on Numbers 14:39-44. The Israelites appear to be confessing their sins, “we have sinned” and ready to embrace God’s promise, his vision to give them the land. But, they hear these crushing words from Moses, “This will not succeed! Do not go up, because the LORD is not with you. You will be defeated by your enemies… Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword.”

Instead of possessing God’s promises to them, apostasy led them to dispossessing God’s promises and facing the sword of judgment. That was the consequence of apostasy.

Context

Unbelief birthed fear.

In Numbers 13, the spies were sent out to the Promised Land and they came back at the end of forty days and showed the Israelites the fruit from the land.  They confirmed that indeed the land was flowing with milk and honey, which is a metaphor for all good things available through the land's richness (Numbers 13:25-27).  The problem was not that the land was no good. The land was exceedingly good. The problem was that there were powerful people, literally giants living in the fortified and large cities (Numbers 13:28).  Facing these giants, the ten spies were convinced that the Israelites were no match to these giants; compared to these giants, in their own eyes, the Israelites were like insignificant and helpless grasshoppers (Numbers 13:27-33). 

Caleb tried to silence these spies giving the bad report. He demanded, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it" (Exodus 13:30). Joshua, Moses and Aaron were all with Caleb on this. They urged the Israelites to stand in God’s promise, God’s vision to give them the Promised Land. But, the Israelites chose to believe the bad report from the majority voice; instead of embracing God’s vision for them in the Promised Land, they began envisioning life back in Egypt.

Fear birthed grumbling and rejection.

When they allowed themselves to be overcome by fear of these giants living in the fortified cities in the land God promised to give to them, they grumbled against Moses and Aaron (Exodus 14:2). And the grumbling led to standing away from God’s promise.

• They believed that God was not good after all to bring them out to this land only to let them fall by the sword of the giants (Exodus 14:2). 
• They sounded pious and righteous when they raised their concern for their helpless wives and children from being taken as plunder (Exodus 14:3).
• Facing what appears to be the impossible task to take over the Promised Land in spite of what God promised to them, they determined that it was better to retreat back to Egypt where they were slaves (Exodus 14:3). 
• Having rejected the leadership of Moses and Aaron as flawed, they were determined to choose a new leader for themselves to lead them back to Egypt (Exodus 14:4). 

Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb intervened. As the rebellion escalated, Moses, Aaron fell facedown in front of the Israelites, and the two other spies Joshua and Caleb tore their clothes as a sign of great distress (Exodus 14:6) and they intervened to convince the Israelites that God was indeed good and strong to fulfill his promise to them. They were telling them, “Come on, don’t stand away in your own vision. Come and embrace God’s promise for you, his vision for you.’

• if God was pleased with them, he would lead them into the land flowing with milk and honey and give it to them (Exodus 14:8).
• Only if they did not rebelled against the LORD, Only if they did not fear the people of the land, they would take the Promised Land with God's help for the LORD was with them (Exodus 14:9).

Grumbling and rejection birthed violent rebellion.  Their grumbles and rejection turned now to violence as they threatened to stone Joshua and Caleb (Exodus 14:10). 

God intervened. What did God think of their grumbling and rejection of Moses, Aaron, Joshua and Caleb?   God's questions sum up what he thought of them. 

"How long will these people treat me with contempt?  How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?  (Exodus 14:11)... Contempt and unbelief was how God saw their actions.  He was ready to strike them down with a plague and to destroy them and to raise up a nation through Moses (Exodus 14:12). 

Moses interceded.  In the face of God's holiness and his justice, Moses appealed to God's love.  "In accordance with your great love, forgive the sin of these people, just as you have pardoned them from the time they left Egypt until now." (Exodus 14:19)

God's response to Moses' intercession.  "I have forgiven them... Nevertheless... not one of the men who saw my glory and the miraculous signs I performed in Egypt and in the desert but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times- not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their forefathers.  No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it." (Exodus 14:20-23).

Driven by the progression of apostasy of unbelief, fear, grumbling, rejection and rebellion, they stood away from God’s vision for their lives, God now allowed them to have their way, the vision for their own lives.

When they decided to stand away from God’s vision for the Promised Land, they now faced having to stand in the desert and live and die there (Exodus 14:34).

• God's forgiveness meant not treating their contempt and rebellion with swift justice of death right then except those spies who were responsible for spreading the bad report about the land; God struck them down to death with a plague (Exodus 14:36). 
• Forgiveness didn't shield them from the consequence of suffering from sins of contempt and rebellion against God's promise, God's vision, God's hope for them.  Their contempt and rebellion resulted in forfeiting God's promise. 
• Consequence of rebellion... spending forty years in the desert and tasting what it is like to have God against them
• Collateral damage... In their fear, they thought they were protecting their children from being taken as plunder by rejecting God's promise, but their rejecting meant their children suffering for their unfaithfulness (Exodus 14:33). Children instead of growing up in the Promised Land, they wandered in the desert for forty years.

Let’s recapture what can be learned from this context:

When people of God grumble and reject God's vision for their lives repeatedly, they forfeit the life God envisions for them while causing the collateral damage. (Instead of enjoying the land flowing with milk and honey, they remained in the desert for forty years, subjecting their children). 

That brings us to our passage Exodus 14:39-44.  Having heard and seen God's judgment against the repeated contempt and rebellion, it doesn't surprise us to see them confessing, "We have sinned."  But, what's surprising is their action.  "We will go up to the place the LORD promised" (Exodus 14:40). 

When God blessed them and promised to go with them to take the land flowing with milk and honey, they dealt God with contempt and rebellion; and the consequence was the forfeiture of the Promised Land.  Now, facing the alternative of having to live and die in the desert for next forty years, suddenly, they gained the new appetite for God's promise of the land flowing with milk and honey. 

The way a child takes the time out shows a lot about their heart.  Biting, screaming, kicking, stealing, etc. get you consequence of timeout or even spanking.  But, suddenly awakened to the consequence to one's action, the child has a surge of tears and begging, "I promise.  I won't do it again."  They sound so sincere.  As parents, we have to discern if this child is responding in genuine repentance or trying to avoid the consequence.

When the Israelites saw the spies with bad report about God's Promised Land struck dead, and now having faced with the alternative to spend the rest of their lives on the other side of the Promised Land in the desert, they are tearing up, they are welling up with strong emotions and sheer determination to make things right.  

But, the problem was that their contempt and the rebellion against God's vision for their lives in the Promised Land didn't go away.  Behind the façade of confession of their sins was still the same attitude of contemptuous rebellion. It was too late to stand in God’s promise. Moses made this very clear to them, "Because you have turned away from the LORD, he will not be with you and you will fall by the sword" (Exodus 14:43).  Yet, the sad reality of apostasy is that they didn’t believe this would happen to them. They thought few tears, and sheer determination to take back what they rejected repeatedly would be good enough. But, it was too late.

That’s the sad reality of apostasy. Apostasy doesn’t go away with few tears. You cannot undo the sin of apostasy. When people push aside God’s vision for their lives repeatedly wanting nothing to do with God’s vision, God allows it. Instead of the Promised Land, you get the desert.

Having tasted the heavenly gift of manna, witnessed God’s power to break them free from the bondage under Egyptian rule, seen the parting of the Red Sea and walked on the dry ground of the Red Sea, all those who had experienced God, yet couldn’t trust God’s promise to give them the Promised Land, they were to stand away from God’s promise.

In the New Testament, Hebrews 6 speaks to the sad reality of apostasy. It says:

“It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting him to public disgrace.” (Hebrews 6:4-6).

Although the writer of Hebrews spoke in this stark warning against apostasy, he remained optimistic and hopeful about the readers. He said in verse 9, “Even though we speak like this,” meaning warning against apostasy, “dear friends, we are confident of better things in your case-things that accompany salvation.”

So, it is in the similar tone that I speak to you this morning. Although I speak to warn against apostasy, against standing away from God’s promise, God’s vision for your life, I am optimistic that you will stand in God’s promise. I am confident that you will learn to envision your life as God envisions for you.

This ought to give you tremendous hope. When you look back, you are reminded of your failures, your sins, and your darkness. When you look back, you are faced with spiritual apathy and lethargy. When you look back, you wonder if your life can be any different. Yet, not because you are able to change anything about yourself, but sorely because of the gospel of good news for the new heart and the new life transformation, you can envision better things that accompany salvation.

This is why we must hear the gospel freshly and daily. The gospel is not just for those who don’t have relationship with Christ. The gospel is not something that gets you in the kingdom of God, but then you can forget about it. No, the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ that he suffered and died in our place for our sins, and that he remained in the tomb, and that he was raised to life by the power of God, this gospel is the power of God that allows us to have relationship with God and to experience things of salvation, now, today, everyday. In the gospel, you can be honest with your sins, your failures, your darkness because God covers you with forgiveness. In the gospel, you can hope for transformation, because the gospel is all about producing lasting changes in you so that you conform to Christ. In the gospel, you can envision your life freshly as God sees your life, unhindered by your dark past. So, keep the gospel at the center of your heart. Keep sin out of your heart. And, keep God’s vision, his promise for your life alive.

Illustration from Jesus

Let me close the sermon by sharing the story of parable that Jesus told in Matthew 25. Jesus said the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five were wise to take oil in jars along with their lamps, while the foolish five did not take any oil with their lamps.

Only those who were prepared, ready with the oil were able to greet the bridegroom and enter the wedding banquet. But those, without the oil and on their way to buy some oil forfeited the opportunity to greet the bridegroom and be at the banquet.

The vision that is laid out in this parable is the vision of wedding banquet. Christ is the bridegroom who is coming. The church is the virgins waiting for the return of the bridegroom.

We all know how much our friends who are getting married spend their time, energy, money to get ready for their big day. It takes months and months of preparation, getting reception hall, getting the guest list ready and invitations mailed out, getting premarital counseling, preparing the wedding ceremony details, then there are rehearsal dinner, gifts for the wedding party, oh and also honeymoon trip to take care of. Did I mention photography and video, limo service? How about place for the wedding guests to stay? How about losing those extra pounds to fit into the wedding dress and the tuxedo? Are Makeup and hair ready?

Six month to a year or even more is spent when people get married. Apostasy is like once envisioning that wedding day, but then you decide that you don’t want to marry that person anymore. So, you break the engagement and break the relationship to pursue new relationships.

Perhaps, none of us are prepared to go all the way to break our engagement with Christ. But, church, how are you spending your energy, resources, and creativity to prepare to meet your bridegroom, and the wedding banquet?

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[1] Carson, D. A. (1994). New Bible commentary : 21st century edition (4th ed.). Leicester, England; Downers Grove, Ill., USA: Inter-Varsity Press.

The Gospel is for Christians: Various ways to say it (Justin Taylor)

From Tullian Tchividjian’s Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels (p. 16):

I once assumed the gospel was simply what non-Christians must believe in order to be saved, but after they believe it, they advance to deeper theological waters.

Jonah helped me realize that the gospel isn’t the first step in a stairway of truths but more like the hub in a wheel of truth.

As Tim Keller explains it, the gospel isn’t simply the ABCs of Christianity, but the A-through-Z.

The gospel doesn’t just ignite the Christian life; it’s the fuel that keeps Christians going every day.

Once God rescues sinners, his plan isn’t to steer them beyond the gospel but to move them more deeply into it.

After all, the only antidote to sin is the gospel—and since Christians remain sinners even after they’re converted, the gospel must be the medicine a Christian takes every day. Since we never leave off sinning, we can never leave the gospel.

The Supremacy of the Gospel demands Risk takers for the gospel (Matthew 14:22-31)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon, March 21, 2009

I have spent last two weeks laying out for you what I believe is God’s vision for our church, Cornerstone Mission Church. Because God has his vision for our church, our aim is not about ceasing to be a church. Rather, our aim is to make some radical changes in order to faithfully live out God’s vision for our church.

Let me take little bit of time and revisit the vision for CMC that I laid out for you last two weeks. From the message about the supremacy of the gospel over cultures, I see us shaping CMC where we can “become all things to all men” so that “by all possible means… save some” “for the sake of the gospel” according to 1 Corinthians 9:19-27. From this, I can see us .

· Within the next year, we envision each of CMC members making meaningful friendship with at least one non-Christian, sharing the gospel to this person, and inviting the non-Christian friend to our church.

· Within the next year, We envision CMC equipping members to share the gospel through evangelism training.

· We envision CMC not as an ethnic church, but as a church that engages broader network of friends, co-workers, colleagues, neighbors around us.

· We envision CMC to be a church where we can proudly invite anyone to witness the power and the reality of the gospel.

From the message about the supremacy of the gospel that redefines family, I see our church being shaped and strengthened by the spiritual family bond rather than the biological bonds. (Mark 3:31-35)

· We envision CMC to be a church where people of different ethnicity or race, singles or nuclear families can belong together in a spiritual family.

· We envision CMC to realize the spiritual family bond by doing God’s will together.

The supremacy of the gospel envisions risk takers for the gospel

And, today, I am going to cast another vision for CMC. The supremacy of the gospel means evangelism beyond ethnic, racial, class boundaries and creating spiritual family. The supremacy of the gospel also means that CMC becomes church of risk takers. Imagine you and I belonging to church culture where taking risks for the sake of the gospel is not only acceptable but encouraged and expected. Imagine risk takers thinking outside of box, outside of what’s seems possible, in order to live out their faith courageously and adventurously and fearlessly.

Fear factors

Before we see how the supremacy of the gospel calls for risk takers for the gospel, I want us to consider the fear factor.

Taking risk requires overcoming fear, doesn’t it?

In today’s passage, Matthew 14:22-33, Peter had to deal with fear before he could take the risk of walking on the water towards Jesus. As a fisher man, Peter knew better than anyone what could happen out in the open water during powerful storms.

Right before this passage, Jesus cared and fed miraculously well over ten thousand hungry men, women and children out of five loaves of bread and two fish. What do you think the disciples thought of Jesus at this point having witnessed and tasted this utter impossible being carried out by Jesus? I bet they were bewildered, awestruck, surprised; perhaps, they felt healthy dose of respect and reverence toward Jesus. They experienced the supremacy of the gospel. Peter was touched by the supremacy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Without any break from the story of Jesus’ miracle of feeding, we see him in Matthew 14:22 instructing the disciples to immediately… get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side” probably to find a shelter to spend the night in Galilee. Jesus stayed behind to disperse the crowd to make their ways to each of their homes.

In verse 23, we see Jesus going up on a mountainside to pray and by evening time, he was alone. While Jesus was alone praying, we see the disciples struggling to cross the Sea of Galilee in their boat. They were stuck in the middle (Mark 6:19) unable to make any more progress.

Jesus walked miles on the water to where the disciples were in their boat during the fourth watch of the night. That’s between 3 – 6 am.

It says in verse 26, the disciples were terrified seeing Jesus walking on the lake. In fear, they mistakenly believed that this unbelievable sight of man walking on the water was a sight of a ghost. I am sure we would have done the same if we saw someone walking on the water. Nevertheless, it is not pretty trying to image twelve grown men crying out in fear. Not a manly sight at all, right?

I want to pause here and think about fear factor in life. Until Jesus told them who he was and encouraged them, the disciples were gripped with fear. They feared that their boat crumble by the pounding waves. They feared they were going to drown to death. And, they feared the ghostly figure walking on the water.

What fears are you dealing with as I encourage you to embrace God’s vision for CMC which calls us to the path of radical changes?

· Do you fear of making wrong mistake, choosing the wrong path for our church?

· Do you fear of what KCUMC congregation might think of us, perhaps many of your parents? Do you fear for the relationship breakups and hurts?

· Do you fear of unknown as to where we will gather to worship or how we are going to afford financially?

· Do you fear leaving the boat that you’ve been dependant on for long time?

I am sure you can add your own fear to these fears. Without clear direction, clear vision from God, we had been paralyzed to make any meaningful decision. I too was paralyzed for many months without clear vision for our church. Without the vision for CMC, I seriously thought that merging with KCUMC and become a part of Korean church was the right solution.

But, I think differently now. I see it differently because I’ve been able to dream again for the future of CMC. In addition to envision the church that pushes for the supremacy of the gospel to go beyond the ethnic, racial, class boundaries and for the supremacy of the gospel that creates the new spiritual family, now I envision our church of risk takers overcoming fears…

Risk takers overcome fears…

Consider that it was not Peter who first envisioned Jesus walking on the water. He and the rest of the disciples were not able to see clearly Jesus because of their fears and misconception. Although they witnessed Jesus performing amazing miracle of feeding over ten thousand people, they didn’t think it was possible for Jesus to walk on the water.

It was not Peter or any other disciples, but Jesus himself who revealed himself to them. “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” (verse 27). This was the defining moment for the disciples, especially for Peter. Until this moment, they didn’t have the vision of Jesus. All they had was fear of drowning and perishing helplessly; their fear of death was heightened by what they thought as a ghost. But, it all changed when Jesus revealed himself to them.

As soon as Jesus said, “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid” Peter responded in verse 29, “Lord, if it’s you… tell me to come to you on the water.” And, Jesus replied, “Come.” And, we see Peter getting down out of the boat and started walking on the water and coming toward Jesus.

Do you see what’s happening here? Peter went from being paralyzed by fears to boldly talking the biggest risk thus far in his life. Peter changed because he heard Jesus speaking to him, he saw Jesus standing on the water, and he heard Jesus calling him to take the risk. His voice, his vision, his calling is how Peter overcame the fears. That’s how he took his first steps.

I believe that is what’s happening to us as church. You and I were stuck in the crazy storm; we were confused and weren’t able to see clearly where we need to go. But, I believe now that he has been speaking his words of affirmation to us. “Take courage, CMC! Don’t be afraid.” In a way I did the same thing that Peter did. I asked Jesus to show me and show us the vision for our church. I asked Jesus to call us out with his vision to himself. That is how Jesus has shaped the vision I see for CMC; his vision to build church where the supremacy of the gospel reaches out beyond the boundaries of ethnicity, race and class, the supremacy of the gospel that transcends biological family bond to create far stronger and eternal spiritual family bond forged by his blood. That’s what I see.

As the Lord casts his vision for CMC, I believe it is now for us to become the risk takers for the supremacy of the gospel; it is time to get down out of the boat and take our first steps on the water. It is time to walk on the water.

The risk takers are covered by the grace of Jesus

As with anything taking risk assumes even failures as Peter did. Peter took those steps out on the water fixing his sight firmly on Jesus who stood on the water. But, he started sinking as soon as he saw wind and was afraid. The fear of death came back when he took his eyes of Jesus. He began to fail when he took his eyes of the vision.

But, this failure was only momentary lapse. Because Peter took the risk and walked out of the boat on to the water, what we see is Jesus covering Peter with his grace. Peter didn’t sink into death as he feared because Jesus was right there to catch him. Verse 32 says that the wind didn’t die down until Jesus and Peter climbed into the boat. This means Peter after being pulled out of water began to walk again along side of Jesus.

Taking risks has its cost. There is the cost of having to face fear when we lose our focus on the supremacy of the gospel. When as church we take the risk for the supremacy of the gospel, God’s vision for our church, things will not get easier. Remaining in the boat is infinitely easier than to walk on the water. But, the cost of taking risk will be rewarded because Jesus takes care of those who take risk for his gospel. He will be right there for us along the way even when we get distracted from his vision and start to sink. Jesus will be right there to pick us up and we will walk on the water with him again.

The risk takers worship

Look at verse 33. It says those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

Because Peter took the risk, he walked on the water with Jesus; this took them to the new level of worship and adoration of Jesus.

I believe that when we take risk for the supremacy of the gospel, we are going to experience whole new level of worship. To worship in Greek means literally to prostrate oneself before God. This new level of worship, deeper allegiance to Christ will be the reward when we take risk for the supremacy of the gospel.

The Supremacy of the Gospel: “Yes” to Jesus for changes (2 Corinthians 1:15-22)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon

Explore the flickering nature of human faithfulness… I know that some of you love playing golf. Depends on the outcome of the first Annual CMC golf outing in April, perhaps, I will become one too. Who knows? Well, you don’t have to be a golf fan to know something about the disgraced superstar, Tiger Woods. Known for his clean image and integrity, he has made tons of money through endorsements and advertisements. One company called Accenture had built its company image through the image of Tiger Woods, nice guy with integrity and excellence in performance. Their ads assume this about the company, “We know what it takes to be a Tiger. Talk to us to see how we can help.” It fits well with the company’s mantra, “High performance. Delivered.”  

As you can imagine, the company soon found out that they really didn’t know what it takes to be a Tiger. Beneath the high performance delivered in golf fields, beneath the squeaky clean image of integrity, was the ugly truth of unfaithful husband at home. Accenture was the one of the earliest companies to drop Tiger Woods from their ads.

Tiger Woods, the iconic sports super star’s rise and fall isn’t the unique story. I am afraid that he not only represents the world of golf, but also the world of unfaithfulness, the world that has gone out of control behind the façade of excellence, high performance and control. What’s important in the world is not to produce a perfect product, a perfect life, because that would be too costly and consuming with no means for profitability… The world values the mere appearance of excellence that’s going to guarantee the bottom line profit. The world doesn’t want perfection.

As Christians, if we take our cues from the world on how to live our lives well, we will undoubtedly go after the appearance of high performance and excellence. But, the supremacy of the gospel doesn’t envision mere appearance of excellence. The gospel envisions the perfect and spotless mirror that reflects the full glory of God. The gospel is not after raising compromised people; the supremacy of the gospel envisions uncompromised people who don’t settle for the appearance of excellence, but the perfection of Jesus Christ.

When the vision is the formation of the perfect image of Christ, the only way to realize it is through saying “yes” to Jesus. Instead of asking, “Am I living excellently?” we need to ask, “Do I say “yes” to Jesus?” Only when you say “yes” to Jesus, you are going to see changes. And, those changes are what’s going to make your life count for eternity.

• The illustration of “Yes to Jesus” in Paul’s life

Paul’s life illustrates this “Yes to Jesus.” Do changes equal to inconsistency?

Let me give you the context to better understand what Paul is talking about in this text. Paul was being accused of being fickle, changing plans at whims. Therefore, some accused him unfit to lead with authority.

The plan A laid out in 1 Corinthians 16:2-8 was the itinerary plan was Ephesus-Macedonia-Corinth-Jerusalem. But, here in 2 Corinthians 1, Paul adopted to the plan B, Ephesus-Corinth-Macedonia-Corinth-Judea. But, then the actual itinerary was not the plan A, nor plan B, but Ephesus-Corinth (=the painful visit”) –Ephesus-Troas-Macedonia.

· Plan A: Ephesus-Macedonia-Corinth-Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:2-8)

· Plan B: Ephesus-Corinth-Macedonia-Corinth-Judea (2 Corinthians 2:15-16)

· Actual: Ephesus-Corinth (=the painful visit”) –Ephesus-Troas-Macedonia (2 Corinthians 2:1, 2:12-13)

So, he was accused of talking things lightly (2 Corin 1:17), changing his plan arbitrarily and selfishly without regard to his promises or concern for the Corinthians. He was accuse of flip-flopping, saying “Yes” to one thing, but then later saying “no” to it.

Was Paul indeed unfit to lead because he disregarded his own plans, because he took things lightly? Was Paul unfit to lead because of his presumed low performance due to changing his mind? Surely excellence and inconsistence don’t go together!

“Yes” to Jesus = Changes in Paul’s life

To this Paul argues that the fact that he changed his mind about his plans, not once, but twice isn’t because he is flawed in his character, but rather it shows his commitment to Christ; it shows Paul knew how to say, “Yes” to Jesus.

In his plan A, his desire was not just to “make only a passing visit,” but to spend the winter with them, to spend more time with them (1 Corinthians 16:7).

But, he decided not only to visit once, but to visit them twice in order to benefit the Corinthians twice. Paul said “yes” to Jesus for living to benefit the Corinthians. So, there was his plan B.

But, when he went to his initial visit to Corinth, it became an incredibly difficult visit for him. Paul calls the visit “painful visit” in 2 Corinthians 2:1. It was a painful visit because he faced the rebellion against his apostolic authority. And, to revisit them as he planned in plan B, would have meant that he would have to exercise his apostolic authority to rebuke the rebellions and to exercise the church discipline to expel those who rebelled. So, instead of risking another “painful visit” (2:1), Paul decided to return to Ephesus. There in Ephesus, he wrote them a letter; Paul said he wrote it “out of distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve [the Corinthians] but to let [them] know the depth of [his] love for [them].” (2:4).

But, some considered Paul as a coward who couldn’t face up his accusers. But, the truth is Paul made the change of plan not because he was afraid of people, but because he was driven by the mercy of Christ. In 1:23 he called on God to be his witness that indeed it was to spare them from God’s judgment that he didn’t return to Corinth. Instead of defending his reputation against those in rebellion by exercising his apostolic authority, Paul sought to win those in rebellion over through his letter rather than through his visit. Paul said “yes” to Jesus and showed the mercy of Christ.

Paul went from plan A to plan B but ended up doing plan C. Paul argues that such changes reflect not a deficiency in his leadership, but his commitment to Christ. Paul was compelled by the gospel of Jesus Christ and instead of selfishly being motivated to promote himself, he was motivated to benefit those he loved.

“Yes” to Jesus… my changes…

Perhaps, some may argue that I am being inconsistent in my leadership as a pastor. Many of you know that I until December and the first week of January I encouraged us to consider the possibility of joining KCUMC. But, then shortly I came out strongly against merging with KCUMC and started advocating for continuing the life of CMC; not only that I’ve also been advocating for replanting our church outside of our current location, to become truly an independent church.

Perhaps, some might wonder if I am I taking things lightly, if I am being inconsistent in my leadership, if I care for myself. I tell you that left to my own natural self I will not be choosing the path to lead us out to become fully independent church. I don’t like taking risk. I don’t like when people don’t like me. I don’t like taking responsibility for which I can be blamed later if things don’t quite work out. Left to my natural tendency, I will avoid risking, concede and appease people so they like me, and I will shrug my shoulders and passed my responsibility to others to make the call.

But, I tell you that God is doing something very unnatural inside of me. He has ignited the fire, the deep passion for the explosive power of the gospel. He has awakened me to the vision of the supremacy of the gospel over cultures and over biological ties. He has awakened me to the vision of equipping you to be accomplish God’s mission; God’s mission to call the lost so they can be found, to give life to death, to give hope to those who have given up, to free up those who are captured, to call those who are lonely to belong.

As Paul says in our text, I want to see our church being built up so that there is not “yes” or “no” but only “yes” to the promises of God, to that which God wants to accomplish through us. Verse 20, Paul says, “For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God.” It means that God is going to fulfill his promises through the gospel of his Son Jesus Christ.

I want to see our church full of people who are tired of saying “no” to Christ out of fear, out of lazy comfort, out of lack of vision and challenge. I want you to be tired of saying to “no” to the great things God wants to accomplish.

I want to see our church full of people who say “yes” to Christ, who will dare to risk, who will dream big, who will sweat and work to make God’s vision happen.

As I reflect on what God has entrusted me, to take care of you, his sheep, his lambs, I am compelled to lead you to the path, to the direction, that you will not venture out on your own. So, have I changed? You bet I’ve changed. But, I am not satisfied. I want more changes.

So, what’s going on here? And, you are seeing changes taking place as I learn to say “yes” to Christ. And, I believe that when you say “yes” to Christ, you cannot help but want to change and experience change.

Reasons to say “yes” to Jesus

Paul gives three reasons why we need to cultivate lifestyle of saying “yes” to Jesus.

· You stand in Christ. God ordains to stand firm in Christ.

· You are set apart. God anointed you.

· You belong to God. God owns you.

· You have God’s vision for your life. (God put his spirit in your hearts as a deposit guaranteeing what is to come)

Are you in the habit of saying “yes” to Jesus?

Difference between excellence and obedience

· To aim for obedience is to aim for perfection, not for “excellence”…

· Mere excellence allows room for a mixture… not a fixed standard… a mixed standard.

American businesses are in search of excellence, not perfection. Perfect products, perfect service is too costly because it eats into profits. Rather than be perfect, businesses know it’s enough to seem perfect to their customers. By stopping short of perfection, they find a profitable balance between quality and costs.

So, the businesses ask, “How far can we go and still seem perfect? By how far can we stop short?” To find that profitable point of stopping short at the middle ground of excellence.

While in business it’s profitable to seem perfect, in the spiritual realm it’s merely comfortable to seem perfect. It is never profitable.[1]

With excellence we try to cover our disobedient tracks.[2] Satisfied with mere excellence, we stop short of God’s standards. We move nearer our peers only to find distance from God.

Excellence is the result of living out obediently… the goal is to obey, not to perform excellently.

It’s time to step up.

· If it’s important, then you will make it happen no matter what. If it is not happening, it is because it doesn’t matter. Time to repent!

· In order to move forward, you need to own this church as yours. This is such a crucial time, the major crossroad that you need to step up to the challenge.  Is this your church? Does it matter what happens to it?

Let’s not ask How far we can go and still be called a Christian? Instead, let’s ask how holy I can be?

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[1] Areterburn & Stoeker, Every man’s battle, Colorado Springs, Colorado: WaterBrook Press, 2000, p. 50.

[2] Arterburn & Stoeker, p. 51.

^[3] O'Brien, P. T. (2002). Vol. 44: Word Biblical Commentary : Colossians-Philemon. Word Biblical Commentary (228). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.