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.

Life Group Application on Faith/unbelief (Numbers 14:39-44)

Today’s Bible study explores the difference between belief as embracing God’s promise (God’s best) for your life vs. unbelief as rejecting God’s promise for your life while trying to create your own vision of life.

The context of the passage for Numbers 14:39-44 within chapter 13 and 14…

• God commanded Moses to send some men to explore the land of Canaan, which he was giving to the Israelites (13:1-2).
• 12 leaders from 12 tribes were chosen to explore the land (13:3-16).
• The object of the exploration was to learn about the condition of the land, the type of people living in the land, the type of protection for their towns, the productivity of soil, and to bring the fruit of the land (13:17-20).
• he account of their exploration (13:21-25).

Pick five people to read these sections 13:26-33 (two reports), 14:1-9 (Reactions to two reports); 14:10-19 (God’s first response & Moses’ intercessory prayer); 14:20-38 (God’s response to Moses’ prayer); 14:39-44 (People’s insincere confession and presumption)

In the table below, compare the responses from the majority, the minority and God

	… of the majority (10 spies and the people)	… of the minority (Joshua, Caleb, Moses and Aaron)	Differences between the two groups in …	Differences in God’s responses to …
Report				reports
Reaction				reactions
Faith or unbelief in God’s promise				Faith / unbelief to his promise

God’s loving promise to give the land flowing with milk and honey was God’s best for the Israelites. Yet, we see the majority rejecting to get hold of God’s promise unlike Caleb and Joshua.

• What inspires you about Caleb and Joshua in how they insisted on going after God’s promise? What inspires you about Moses’ prayer?
• Where do you see the gospel in this story?
• What do you need to change in order to respond in faith to God’s promise, God’s best for you?

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.

Fight for confidence in crisis (Acts 27)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon January 18, 2009

An article’s headline by Eric McClam from Associated Press reads, “Pilot’s life had prepared him for ‘miracle’ flight.” The article begins, “Chesley Sullenberger spent practically his whole life preparing for the five-minute crucible that was US Airway Flight 1549. He got his pilot’s license at 14, was named best aviator in his class at the Air Force Academy, flew fighter jets, investigated air disasters, mastered glider flying and even studied the psychology of how cockpit crews behave in a crisis.” His sister would describe him as “always professional and never cut corners.” She said, “I think Burnett is a very duty-oriented person… He is always looking to get better. He would be the one person who could land a plane in the water without any engines.” [1] 

I am talking about the US Airway pilot who crash landed Flight 1549 after being crippled by the engine failure because of bird strikes. He steered the airplane over the George Washington Bridge and down the Hudson River on Thursday, Jan. 15. Just few seconds before the plane hit water, Sullenberger told the passengers, “Brace for impact.” Mark Hood flying home after a work trip remembered this moment. “He said it in a calm, cool, controlled voice. It was a testament to leadership. Had he let any tension leak into his voice… it would have been magnified in the passengers.” It is reported that Sullenberger climbed out of the jet only after all 150 passengers and his four other crew exited safely and orderly.[2] The Major Bloomberg reported how the pilot walked the plane twice after everybody was off to verify no body else was on board and to be the last to get off the airplane.[3]

How would you be if you were the pilot trying to steer the seriously crippled jet on to water? Would you have fought for confidence in the crisis, in the most stressful situation to land that airplane safely? Or, would you have panicked and become incapacitated, unable to think with clear judgment and courage? Perhaps, if you and I were as prepared as this pilot was, we could have mustered confidence and courage to deal with crisis.

When I meditated on Paul’s voyage through the storms and finally the shipwreck that nearly killed everyone and the way he responded during this life-threatening crisis, I can’t help but notice how prepared Paul was in dealing the crisis confidently. And, in turn I consider my own responses to crises or it doesn’t even have to be crises, but simply stressful situations in my life.

And, I realize how easily I loose calm confidence and give into panic; lack of confidence and panic clouds my judgment and the ability to act courageously. So, I am determined this year to fight for confidence in crises rather than giving into clouded judgment, fear and debilitation. And, I want you to join me on this.

1. Observation about the details.

After the plane crashed into the Hudson River, if you watched news coverage, you would have come across a lot of eye witness accounts from the high rise buildings nearby. And, there were actual passengers aboard this airplane who gave their eye witness accounts.

The book of Acts is eye witness accounts of what took place in the first century as the church grew. In Acts 27, you notice the pronounce changes to we, first person plural. What this tells us is that Luke the writer himself was aboard this doomed ship. When people with knowledge about sailing especially around the region read Luke’s account of what happened they are amazed by the accurate details captured by Luke. What we read is not a made up story, but a real eye witness account by Luke in this doomed sailing along with Paul.

2. Fight for confidence through people who love you.

During my study and meditation, it was pointed out to me by John MacArthur the first ingredient in fighting for confidence in crises in life. MacArthur frames his point from a leadership perspective. He said,

“A godly leader has people who not only follow him but also love him. The difference between spiritual leadership and all other kinds of leadership is the element of love.”[4]

When Paul sailed to Italy he was not traveling as a tourist who wanted to fulfill his life time dream of traveling to Rome on a luxury cruise. He was sailing as a prisoner awaiting a trial before Caesar. And, what we find in Acts 27:1-3 is that he was not traveling alone as a prisoner. Along with him were his two dearest friends, Luke the writer of the book of Acts and Aristarchus a Macedonian from Thessalonica.

They subjected themselves to association with Paul, an accused prisoner. They also subjected themselves to a long and dangerous sailing. Why did they journey with Paul? It speaks to deep affection for Paul. When you read through Paul’s letters you cannot escape how much he cared for the people to whom he ministered. He was compelled by the love of Jesus Christ to care for people. He said in 2 Corinthians 5:14, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

As Paul carried out the ministry of reconciliation, to call people to God who reconcile the world to himself in Christ no counting men’s sins against them (2 Corinthians 5:19), he was surrounded by the likeminded people who too were compelled by Jesus’ love.

Because he was loved by people he loved, he was able to fight for confidence in the midst of storms and shipwreck. By loving people Paul gained people who deeply loved him. By willing to lay down his life for the gospel, he gained believers who would lay down their lives along with him to advance the gospel. When you are fighting, you don’t ever want to be caught in the line of fire alone. To fight for the confidence in life’s crises, you need be surrounded by people who love you. Paul was surrounded by his dearest friends, brothers. Can you count two who will take on a dangerous journey with you because they love you and they love the gospel?

There is this scene in the movie called Fire Proof where Caleb Holt tells a rookie fireman the old firefighter’s saying, “Never leave your partner behind.” We are in the business of plucking the burning sticks out of fire (Amos 4:11), snatching others from the fire and save them (Jude 23). It is a dangerous business that requires confidence on people you can count on. Do you have people you can count on? Can others count on you to never leave them behind in the line of fire?

3. Fight for confidence through integrity

Another source of Paul’s confidence came from the way he was respected for his integrity by non-believers. In Acts 26:32, we see what the officials Agrippa and Festus thought of Paul, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” They knew Paul was innocent and all the accusations were false. He was a man of integrity.

Acts 27:3, we see Julius, the centurion who was assigned to bring Paul to Rome, treating Paul with kindness. The kindness was that Julius allowed Paul to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. In the Roman world, if a guard allowed his prisoner to escape, he was to serve the remaining prison term of the escapee or even face worse consequence. Julius had one of his soldiers accompanied Paul. But still, Julius wouldn’t have taken this kind act unless he was convinced that Paul was trustworthy, a man of integrity.

We see it even later how Paul a prisoner took on a role of encouraging others to eat before the shipwreck and how Julius listened to Paul to prevent sailors from abandoning the battered ship and he stopped his soldiers from killing the prisoners in order to prevent Paul from death.

He earned Julius’ respect and trust because Paul was a man of integrity and sincerity. This winsome character of trustworthiness allowed non-Christians to have confidence in Paul.

Paul isn’t alone in this regard. Joseph from Genesis also earned the respect and trust of Potiphar, Pharaoh’s cub bearer and later Pharaoh himself. Nehemiah was also a man who earned the respect as cupbearer to the king Artaxerxes. And, Daniel and his three friends also earned the respect of the king as well.

When you fight for integrity, you can fight for confidence in crises because you will have people, non-believers, showing you kindness and favor to you as Paul experienced.

4. Fight for confidence through sound judgment

2 Corinthians 11:25 speaks of Paul’s experience in shipwrecks three times and in spending a night and a day in the open sea. Speaking from his experience and common sense, Paul knew that it would be a bad idea to travel out into the opened sea into the opened sea. So, he spoke up, “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also” (Acts 27:10). Apparently from mid September 14 through mid November according to Bible scholar F.F. Bruce was a treacherous season for voyage.[5] Paul knew this as well as the pilot and the owner of the ship.

As with the pilot of the crippled airplane struck by birds, his common sense and experience told him that he couldn’t steer the airplane to the nearby landing strip within six mile distance. If he ignored his own common sense and took the reckless risk, the outcome would have been disastrous.

Back in Acts 23:1, Jesus stood near Paul and told him, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” But this didn’t give Paul a license to be reckless and senseless. Paul was not out to prove himself to the world that he was a man of great faith by taking reckless risks and chances.

If he did, it would have been all about Paul, the hero, not about Jesus Christ, his gospel. God never calls us to purposeless and reckless adventures to prove ourselves to the world that we are great Christians. Following hard after God requires us to be shrewd and smart rather than reckless stupid.

Myron Augsburger has a great insight into this:

There is doubtless much that God would prefer to do for us and for society, but He limits His action to function where and when its results are recognized to be of God and not by our own achievements. To say that God moves where it brings glory to Him is to recognize the integrity of His grace.[6]

Reckless and senseless actions without sound judgment seek to make much about ourselves, but what God wants us is to move with him to where it brings glory to him, where much is made about him.

5. Fight for confidence through humble response to God’s promise

Acts 27:20 captured the gloom that shadowed the people on board. There are times when things get so hard no hope seems possible. “When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.”

Now, this would have undoubtedly included Paul as well. Even the greatest spiritual giant like Paul experienced depression in life when confidence seemed to have evaporated. For fourteen days, they had been helpless tossed by the raging storms. I’ve had only one experience of riding a small boat on choppy water of Lake Michigan. It was no fun as you all know who’ve experienced motion sickness. Last thing you want to do while riding out storms is to have a full stomach especially you’ve given up.

In this darkest moment, when people have given up for any hope, God comes through. We may give up because things get so hard, but God never gives up on his promise because he is faithful to keep his promises.

Isaiah 40:8 says, “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God stands forever.” And, Isaiah 55:11-11, “my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.”

Even the spiritual giant Paul along his faithful spiritual friends Luke and Aristarchus were subjected to dark time when gave up all hope of being saved. No doubts we will be subjected to the dark times. The dark time in this case was brought upon them because the centurion, the pilot and the owner of the ship didn’t listen to Paul’s sound judgment, his common sense. At times we will be subjected to dark times because of our own or others’ stupidity or because of the reasons that are beyond our understanding.

Yet, in the darkest moments when all hopes seemed to have evaporated, confidence came not from soul-searching quest to draw out courage from within them, but from outside of them, from God. God broke into their darkest moment and revealed his will through an angel. “Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.” This revived the battered Paul. God’s revelation gave him courage, confidence he didn’t have. And, from this confidence, he spoke with authority, “So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.”

Hopeless person would say it is no avail to eat now. We are going to die anyway. But, for Paul it was now completely different game. He was no longer a hopeless person, but a person of hope in God’s promise. So, he told everyone who had given up, “Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.” And, he demonstrates his trust in the faithful God who keeps his promise; “he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat.” When the people saw him eat, “They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves… 276 on board… they had eaten as much as they wanted” (Acts 27:34-38).

Don’t you love this guys? Paul was a man who was gripped by God’s promise, God’s faithfulness to his own will. When he acted on God’s promise the result was all on board was affected and encouraged. Don’t you want to be like Paul? Instead of being a person who brings others down, but a person who encourages others out of despair because you yourself are touched by God’s faithful and sovereign promise?

6. Conclusion

My heart is that today you go through rigorous training, to be schooled by Jesus Christ to trust in God’s faithfulness to carry out his good will in your life. God makes no such promise to you that you won’t be caught in storms of life, or that you will have easy life. Rather, if you sincerely love and follow God, and carry out his will faithfully, diligently and courageously, chances are you will face many harsh storms of hurricane force; some brought upon you by others’ mistakes and sins, some by your own misjudgments and sins, some simply because you live in the fallen world.

What is important is not that you avoid storms in life, but rather how you will fight for confidence!

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[1] http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h7pYcNngvuSNrWnBpIicznPetcbwD95OGSR08

[2] http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h7pYcNngvuSNrWnBpIicznPetcbwD95OGSR08

[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vJHlrxj-RE

[4] http://www.biblebb.com/files/mac/sg1799.htm

[5] F.F. Bruce, Commentary on the Book of Acts, Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1975, p. 50.

[6] Wilkins, Michael J. “Bridging Contexts” In NIV Application Commentary, New Testament: Matthew. By Michael J. Wilkins, 522. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 2004.

Fight for the good conscience (Acts 23-26)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon January 11, 2009

Throughout last year, we’ve journeyed through the book of Acts and have spent a lot of time learning about the life of apostle Paul. I am going to spend few more weeks and learn from his life about fighting for the faith.

Today, we are going to cover the period of time when Paul was first accused in Jerusalem by the Jews, and when he was on the trials before Sanhedrin in chapter 23, before Felix the governor of Caesarea in chapter 24, before Festus the successor to Felix and later before Agrippa in chapter 26. What I am most interested in exploring this morning with you is what Paul said before Sanhedrin and before Felix the governor of Caesarea. Acts 23:1, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” And, Acts 24:16, “So, I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.”

When I think about how I am going to live out the year 2009, I am moved by Paul’s unyielding commitment to live with good conscience. I am titling today’s sermon as “Fight for the good conscience” after meditating and studying Paul’s life. Because Paul fought for the good conscience, when he was arrested, accused falsely and put on trials before the Sanhedrin, the governors and the king and later before Caesar, he was able to stand straight without any regret or guilt; no conscience stricken heart for Paul.

Standing at the end of the year 2009 and looking back, it would be awesome if I can feel great about the way I have lived, living without any regret, guilt, or shame. Paul as a spiritual father to Timothy, he charged him to fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:18). And, Paul reminded Timothy how some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. I know that none of us want our faith journey to sink with utter and complete failure. I don’t want to look back and have all these regrets, unresolved guilt and shames, and deep sense of failure. I want to be able to stand straight with a good conscience like Paul did. If I were to defend myself about my life like Paul had to defend his life against those who wanted to tear his life apart, I want to be able to speak out of good conscience with no regret, nothing to hide, no shame, no guilt, but only clarity in my devotion to my King. And, this requires me to fight for the good conscience.

1. Fighting for the good conscience is not…

To talk about what fighting for the good conscience is as Paul fought, we need to begin it by defining what fighting for the good conscience is and what is not. We will first spend talking about what is not.

When you carefully study Paul’s life what you realize is that Paul was someone who lived passionately out of his conscience. Considering conscience is at its basic meaning a sense of knowing right from wrong, it is fitting to describe Paul as thoroughly a man of conscience, meaning he carried out diligently what he thought in his heart to be right. And, this was true of him both before and after he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus. So, in this sense, it is not enough to be a person of conscience if your sense of right and wrong is off.

Think about Paul’s life before meeting Jesus Christ. His conscience informed him that the teaching of Christianity was a complete deviation from the rightful Judaism and therefore Christianity deserved nothing but total obliteration. As a man of conscience, he saw himself as contending for God’s honor when he opposed Jesus Christ because he saw him not as the promised Messiah, but as an imposter. And, acting on his rock solid conscience he earned the fearsome reputation as someone who relentlessly persecuted Christians.

Paul reminds me of Richard Dawkins a evolutionary biologist and Christopher Hitchens a journalist and a literary critic. Unlike Paul, these are modern day atheist who based on their rational and scientific reasoning have developed utter detest and disbelief in the existence of God. I watched them debate last night making their rational reasoning for disbelieving existence of God. They are intelligent, articulate but also downright hostile and intolerant of people like you and me who esteems Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord. In this regard, Dawkins and Hitchens are men of deep conscience as Paul was before he met Jesus Christ.

What this tells us is that you can be a person of deep and sincere conscience, but it doesn't mean you are right about your conscience.  A question must be asked about where you base your conscience. For Paul prior to submitting his life to Jesus as his Messiah, his King, his conscience was built on the misguided zeal for Judaism. Whole teachings of Judaism from the Old Testament bear witness to the Messiah, Jesus Christ, yet unable to see Jesus as the promised Messiah, Paul’s sincerely deep conscience was horribly misguided, resulting in his vicious attacks on Christians. Of course, this horribly misguided conscience was not what Paul strived always to keep clear before God and man as he stated in Acts 24:16.

2. Paul’s fight for the good conscience…

The good conscience Paul fought to keep clear before God and man was solidly based on his relationship with Jesus Christ. It always looked back to the forever life changing moment when Jesus Christ revealed himself to Paul on the road to Damascus and the life after with Jesus Christ. The sense of doing what was right for Paul came no longer from his misguided trust in Judaism, but in his trust in Jesus Christ. So, it was Jesus Christ who formed Paul’s conscience and all his actions out of it. Before the mistreatments, the life threatening attacks, the arrest and the false accusations before the Sanhedrin, before two governors of Caesarea, and Agrippa, all his actions were informed by his conscience in Jesus Christ. Let’s consider them.

Paul came to Jerusalem mostly to bridge the gap between the Gentile Christians and the Jewish Christians. According to Romans 15:25-26, he was on his way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints to bring with him a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem given by the Gentile believers throughout Macedonia and Achaia. In sharing the material blessings with the Jewish Christians, the Gentile Christians were expressing their deepest gratitude for the Jerusalem church for sharing their spiritual blessings received through Jesus Christ. For Paul, who was gripped by the heart of Jesus Christ who said, “By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35), the right thing to do was to seek unity of believers in Jesus Christ.

Paul also had a personal reason to visit Jerusalem; it was to complete a Nazirite vow he took during his stay at Corinth. He took a Nazirite vow to ask God to intervene when things were depressingly difficult for him. When he saw God in answer to his prayer working in his life and in the lives of the Corinthian Christians, Paul made his way to Jerusalem to fulfill his vow by offering his hair as a burnt offering and offering sacrifices in the temple (Acts 21:26).[1] What we see here is Paul being motivated by his good conscience to express his heartfelt gratitude to Jesus Christ.

He also knew that there were false rumors against him that he taught the Jews to turn away from Moses… and not to circumcise their children (Acts 21:21); and, how this troubled Jewish Christians who still felt compelled to uphold their cultural tradition of Judaism without undermining the gospel message of grace.

To fight for the good conscience meant to help the Jews find out what he really stood for. By fulfilling his Nazirite vow, Paul sought to put to rest these false rumors about him. Paul didn’t teach against Moses, the Laws and the Old Testament scripture; he only pointed to Jesus Christ as the One who fulfilled them all.

So, Paul had no other alternative motives in coming to Jerusalem beyond wanting to encourage the Jerusalem church with the contribution from the Gentile Christians, to promote unity among Christians, to fulfill his own personal Nazirite vow to God, to put the false rumors against him to rest. Of course, Paul’s zeal to complete the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace (Acts 20:24) was the huge motivating factor that influenced Paul’s decision at every level. To sum up Paul’s motives, they all came from fighting for the good conscience, doing what was right in Jesus Christ. I think Peter explains what Paul was doing really well in 1 Peter 3:15-16 who said:

“But in your hearts set apart Christ as the Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. It is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.”

3. A testimony of a teenager

How are you and I are going to fight for the good conscience this year as Paul did with his life? I want to share a testimony to answer this question for us. It comes from the podcast by Francis Chen, a pastor from Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, California, I listened this past week. In it, I heard a testimony from an 18 years old teenager who was told by his oncologist that he only had most three months to live; he has leukemia. Two months passed, he was standing in front of a crowd of junior and high schoolers to give his testimony. Here is the part of what he said that was so powerful to me when I thought about living my life in a good conscience before God and before man. He said:

I am dying of blessings given to me by God… I am scared for everyone else. I am scared for everyone who don’t know where they are going when they die. I am scared for those who think they know where they are going when they die, but they don’t. I am scared for all the people distracted by this world controlled by Satan. Especially you guys who are in America. I am scared for everyone who is distracted by friends, iPods, video games, movies, by having roof over your heads, by feeling secured, by feeling comfort...

I am dying so it’s not hard for me to live everyday like it is going to be my last day. Because tonight, I easily can go into coma and never wake up from it. It is not hard for me to thankful for life when I know tomorrow I might not have it. And it is not hard for me to be thankful for my friends because I know I might not be able to see them again very soon. Yes, I am dying but here is the kicker, so are you guys. We all have clock, timeline when we are going to kick the bucket. And, for me I have the luxury of knowing when I might go. I feel sorry for you guys because you don’t know when you are going to die. I do. So, everyone who is blinded by this world and is not living everyday as it could be their last which is very well could be, I feel sorry for you guys. So, these are people that I am afraid of.[2]

I see Paul who was not afraid of dying in this young teenager’s testimony. Paul said in Acts 20:24, “I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me- the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” To a person who is not afraid to die, there is this clarity about the way they see life. They are able to see what really matters in life. And, with this clarity about what’s really important in their lives comes this ability to think clearly about what’s right and wrong and act on what’s right. And, when a person sees with clarity about priority in life and fight for the good conscience, he or she can live life without regret, shame or guilt.

So, I ask myself these questions.

• Do I know what’s really important in life?
• Can I fight for what really matters?
• Can I live before God with this clarity about what my life is all about, what’s really important to God?
• Can I live with deep sense of “liberty and boldness”[3] to act on God-enriched conscience in most difficult circumstances like Paul faced?
• Will I look back at the end 2009 and have no regret, no shame, and no guilt over how I lived my life with good conscience?

How about you? Will you "fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience”? Or will you shipwreck your faith by rejecting these? (1 Timothy 1:18-19)

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[1] Longenecker, Richard N. “1. Paul's return to Palestine-Syria (18:18-23)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 9. 488. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1981.

[2] Francis Chen, Living a life that matters: Stop Talking (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EGWOh7-aHQ)

[3] Blum, Edwin A. “A. The Blessing of Suffering for Righteousness (3:13-17)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 12. 240. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1981.

Count on God’s blessing in Jesus Christ (Numbers 6:24-26)

Cornerstone Mission Church, Sunday Sermon on January 4, 2009

As you start off another new year, I want you to think about this. What can you count on for the New Year? As you think about this, let me tell you a story:

Although one of the smartest people ever lived famed scientist Albert Einstein had more trouble finding his way home from work than unlocking the secret of atomic power. One evening while Einstein sat deep in thought aboard the train that brought him home each night, the porter was collecting tickets. As the porter approached Einstein, he rummaged around in his coat, through his pockets, his shirt and everywhere he could think of, but couldn’t find his ticket.

The porter told, “That’s okay, Dr. Einstein, I know you ride this train every day. I can collect tomorrow.” To this Einstein replied, “That’s fine for you, young man, but how am I supposed to know where to get off the train without my ticket?”

I am glad that I can find a similarity in being forgetful with Dr. Einstein who depended on his ticket to where to get off. As you envision this year, what can you count on?

This morning, I want you to know that you can count on God this New Year. If 2009 is anything like 2008, we can expect unexpected surprises, the good and the bad. All aspects of our lives will be touched by the prolonged recession, the global conflicts and wars around the world, the changes that will be brought by the new administration. It is uncertain time and that makes it more important to know that you can count on God.

When we talk about counting on God, it is important to have right encounter with God. We get into trouble when we start formulating our own understanding about God with our own feelings. If I start on the assumptions that God is angry, grumpy and is out to catch me when I screw up and punish me for it, that he is removed, uninvolved and uninterested about my life except advancing his own agenda, or that he is irrelevant and archaic all because the way I feel about him, I would not want to know God nor count on him.

I want you to know that you can count on God not because you feel like you can count on him, but because God says you can count on him from his own word.

Open your Bible to Numbers 6:22-26. Let’s consider together why we can count on him for the New Year.

1. Count on God’s blessing in Jesus Christ.

There is a very strong connection between Numbers 6:22-23 to Leviticus 9:22. In Leviticus, Aaron emerges from the Holy of Holies after sacrificing the sin offering, the burn offering and the fellowship offering. That is when he lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them (Leviticus 9:22) with the blessing recorded in Numbers 6:24-26. So, what you see here is the priestly blessing by Aaron taking place after sacrifices of offerings were made to God.

And the offerings were made in a particular order in Leviticus 9. (1) Sin offering or guilt offering: (2) burnt offering: (3) fellowship offering and grain offering (along with drink offering). The order is important. First God dealt with sin through sin offering; second, the worshipers committed to God wholeheartedly through burnt offering and grain offering; and third, fellowship/communion was established between the Lord, the priest and the worshiper.[1] God prescribed these sacrificial offerings for the Israelites in order to forgive their sin, for their devotion to him and for peaceful relationship between him and the people. When these offerings of forgiveness, devotion and fellowship were carried out, that is when Aaron pronounced the blessing upon the Israelites.

From the book of Hebrews, we see it clearly that it is Jesus Christ who came as high priest (Hebrews 9:11) and as the mediator of a new covenant (Hebrews 9:15) who did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood (Hebrews 9:12).

Blessing only flows from what God purposed in his Son, and how Jesus Christ, his Son, carried out his redemptive purpose at the cross. In other words, you cannot entertain God’s blessing for you apart from Jesus Christ’s sacrificial offering of his life, his blood on the cross. It is Jesus who makes forgiveness of your sin, devotion of your life to God and fellowship with God and people possible. Only on what Jesus has accomplished for you already can you count God’s blessing!

For the Israelites to enjoy God’s blessing they needed to trust in God-ordained and prescribed offerings to deal with their sin, divided heart and broken relationship. In the same, to enjoy God’s blessing, we need to turn to Jesus who is the perfect Lamb sacrificed to deal with our sin, our divided heart and broken relationship.

2. Count on God who wills for your good and is committed to keep you.

Numbers 6:24, “The Lord bless you and keep you.”

When you find yourself in Jesus Christ you can count on God’s blessing. God’s blessing speaks to his will. What’s God’s will for you who are in Christ? The priestly blessing shows God’s will for your good. So, when you hear, “The Lord bless you!” what you need to hear is that God wills for your good. Apostle Paul talks about said in Romans 6:9-10, “Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” In Christ, you are no longer an object of God’s wrath; in Christ, you are saved. The Lord bless you. The Lord wills for you good.

A commentator says, “Blessing is his idea, his purpose. It is not something his people must beg for, but it is the outreaching of his grace.”[2] God is not greedy with his blessing, only determined to give to those beg really hard. No, if you are in Christ, God’s stance toward you is not crossing his arms in greed, but that of posture of blessing. God wills, is determined to have you walk in his blessing and enable you to live in his abundant purpose for you.

Not only God wills for your good, he is committed to keep you, safeguards you. Jesus said in John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” The good shepherd who laid down his life is according to Paul in Romans 8:34, “Christ Jesus, who died- more than that, who was raised to life- is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.” This you can count on that Jesus is fighting for you, praying for you to succeed in God’s purpose, in his blessing. He promised, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” in Matthew 28:20. The one who promises his presence forever in your life is committed to safeguard you to the end of the age. That you can count on!

3. Count on God’s presence and his favor.

Numbers 6:25, “the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you.”

Do you remember what happened to Moses when he came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands? Exodus 34:29 says that although Moses wasn’t aware, his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. So, when you hear the blessing of God making his face shine on you, it is about his commitment to draw near you, be present in your life, to speak clearly to you. He won’t have to scream at you because he will be near you to speak to you. Again, it is Jesus who said in John 10:15, “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” Count on God’s presence in your life.

You can also count on God’s favor upon you. Some of you have worked for difficult bosses who are not easy to please, whether you do a good job or not, because they are unreasonable in their demand, unkind, rude and unsupportive. You walk away from them feeling like they aren’t interested in seeing you succeed at your work; their interest isn’t about your professional growth. Well, the blessing for God to be gracious to you promises that you won’t have that problem with God. God’s blessing to be gracious to you is a promise to show you favor. You will not have to earn his favor because his favor is given to you in Christ. You don’t say and do things hoping that God will be favorable to you. No, he is already committed to be favorable to you in Christ. You say and do things not to earn God’s favor, but as your thankful responses to God for showing you favor in Christ.

4. Count on God’s smile and peace.

Numbers 6:26, “the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”

To turn his face toward is God’s promise to smile on you. It speaks to God’s pleasure and affection for you.[3] Again as it was with God’s favor, you cannot earn God’s pleasure, his affection. He gives you his pleasure, his affection, his smile on you in Christ. When you sin, you come to Jesus and received God’s forgiveness through Jesus’ blood, and God smiles on you. When you are doing what’s right before God, God smiles on you because it is through the life of Jesus Christ and power of the Holy Spirit you are growing in holiness. From being justified to being sanctified, from being delivered from darkness to walking in the light, being delivered from Satan to walk in the Spirit, God smiles on you because how the life of Christ bearing good fruits of the Holy Spirit. So, God’s promise to smile on you is his commitment to be pleased by the life of Christ within you. So, if you want to fine smiles on God’s face you need to remain in Jesus.

To give you peace is God’s commitment for the year 2009. Again, I emphasize to you that peace is not what you earn by doing the right things. God’s peace is given to you. Peace he promises is the quality of life you will enjoy when you follow Jesus as your Shepherd, as your Lord, your Savior. Sometimes, doing the right thing can cause whole lot of troubles in your life. Stephen from Acts did what was right when he accused the Jews of having betrayed and murdered Jesus (Acts 7:52). But, what he got was execution by people throwing stones at him. While being stoned to death, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” and falling on his knees and crying out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:59-60). What I see is man of great peace who entrusted himself to God and who interceded for those who were stoning him to death. I highlight this to make sure you know that God’s promise for peace is what he is going to give you when you follow Jesus.

5. Benediction!

Numbers 6:27, “So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.”

“They” meaning this prayer of blessing from v. 24-26 will put God’s name on the Israelites. Having God’s name on you is another way of saying God’s blessing is on you. So, NLT translates it, “Whenever Aaron and his sons bless the people of Israel in my name, I myself will bless them.”

As such as, I would like to pronounce this prayer of blessings on you, and as I do, may God himself come now and bless you richly.

• The Lord bless you and keep you...

In Christ God wills for your good and wills to keep you.

• The Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you...

In Christ God promises to be so near you that you feel the warm of his face and show you his favor.

• The Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace...

In Christ God is pleased with you, he smiles on you, and grants you peace.

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[1] Barker, Kenneth L. NIV Study Bible (Fully Revised): Leviticus. 150-152. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, © 1985, 1995, 2002.

[2] Allen, Ronald B. “(b) The Aaronic Benediction (6:22-27)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 2. 754. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1990.

[3] Allen, Ronald B. “(b) The Aaronic Benediction (6:22-27)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 2. 755. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1990.

Practical solutions to fight for the faith (Jude 17-23)

CMC 2009 Winter Retreat, January 3, 2009

1. To fight for the faith, you need to keep yourselves in God’s love by fixing your eyes on the mercy of Jesus Christ that will sustain you.

Jude says in Jude 21, “Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”

This is the important strategy to fight for your faith. To fight for the faith, you need to always ground yourselves in God’s love for you.

As a preacher, I am always looking for modern parables that illustrate for me the reality of God’s love for us. Well, it came to me few weeks ago when I was watching Fox network’s new reality show promo called “Secret Millionaire.” The first episode was aired on 12/3.  It is a modern-day twist on “The Prince and the Pauper.”  It takes America’s wealthiest individuals away from their luxurious lifestyles with huge mansions, private jets, spending $5,000 easily for a dinner.  It takes them away from their unbelievably rich lifestyles and places them undercover into some of the most impoverished neighborhoods in America. 

Embedded into these impoverished neighborhoods, they are to live on minimum wages.  Their goal is to befriend those in need and decide to give their own $100,000 to one of them in need.

The one I watched featured a businessman/entrepreneur Greg Haerr, who’s got a small fleet of airplanes, a helicopter, Ferrari 512 TR, two yellow Porsche Cabriolets, Rolls-Royses, lives in a mansion 7500 square feet.  And, he said in the beginning of the show, “If any body deserves to live like a king, it would be me… If you can treat yourself, uh, to the good life, you know who’s gonna do it for you?”  You get the idea.  I was quite irritated by this self absorbed snob say the least.

Well, he leaves it all behind for a short time and gets embedded into North Las Vegas where the crime rate is the double the national average with over 12,000 people living in the streets; he gets to live in the North side of Las Vegas where not only him, but most of the people who travel to Vegas never even know exists in such a poor condition.

He finds a place to stay at a cockroach infested motel; he doesn’t have enough money to stay so he works there to stay, cleaning, taking out trashes… He finds three individuals to help; a lady who runs a community center to give foods and other goods to those in need, a boy named “Wheels” with Spina Bifida who rides his wheelchairs like it is a skateboard and a lady who runs a placed called “Street Teens,” a homeless shelter for teens.  He gave $30,000, $20,000 and $100,000 to these three individuals.  The most moving parts of the whole episode were about how these three individuals responded when they were given these unexpected gifts.  I was especially moved by Lisa who runs Street Teens. The building they were renting to run the shelter was foreclosed and they were on 60 days notice to vacate the property.  As of Greg’s visit, they were dangerously close to having to shut down the program; you can see in Lisa’s face.  She was cheerfully working, yet you could see her thinking, “What if, nothing comes through…”   To hope without knowing how it is going to work out is not easy.  When Greg revealed his true identity Lisa was stunned, shocked; she was deeply grateful to receive this totally unexpected gift of money to find a new place to continue their program from this guy who she thought was doing a documentary on poverty.

I have to admit though that I felt very cynical about this multi-millionaire who at the end of the show riding on a limo and saying, “This experience has changed me forever.”  I keep thinking what is $150,000 to a guy who has about fifty million dollars?  Later I calculated and it is about 0.003% of his wealth.  How does giving away 0.003% of your wealth really change your life? If you earned $40,000 last year, it would be equivalent to giving away precisely $120. Can anyone of us having earned $40,000 and giving away 0.003% last year in the amount of $120 make this millionaire’s claim, “This experience has changed me forever.” None of us in the right frame of mind would make this claim. $150,000 sounds a lot, but as giving away $120 from your $40,000 doesn’t hurt you at all, it makes virtually no difference to a millionaire. It is no sacrifice at all!

Now, consider Jesus Christ Sovereign and Lord. Jesus wouldn’t make silly statement like this millionaire, “This experience has changed me forever,” after giving away his 0.003 5 of his wealth. But, the statement Jesus would make is “My giving will change you forever.” He gave it all. He gave his blood, he gave his body, he gave it all for you and me. Now, that’s sacrificial love to brag about.

2. To fight for the faith you need to do life together

Jude 20 gives us another command, “But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith…”

This command is really subordinated to Jude 21 of keeping yourselves in God’s love. The logic would be to keep yourselves in God’s love you work on building yourselves up in your most holy faith.

It is important to notice that Jude doesn’t call us individually to build our faith. Instead, Jude’s emphasized the corporate nature of building together. The idea here is that we cannot build faith apart from the body of Christ. 1 Peter 2:5 says, “you… like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house…” When you build, you build it together.

In a corporate setting like this, as we have fellowship with each other, talking about how God is moving you and me, listen to the word of God and express our appreciation, our passion, our love to God in songs, we can grow together.

Just to verify if this rings truth for us, would you raise your right hand high if you feel built up this weekend?

And, as you feel built up, do you also feel closer to God? And, as you feel built up and feel closer to God, do you feel like you can run harder, faster?

This is why doing life together is so important. You do life together in Christ! That is how you are going build yourselves upon in your most holy faith.

3. To fight for the faith you got to pray in the Holy Spirit

This is a call to pray according to the Spirit’s will to accomplish God’s work by God’s power.

How do you know the Spirit’s will? 1) by the word of God prompted for specific situation, 2) by the situation prompting by the Holy Spirit.  Obedience to the word of God makes it possible for us to obey the Holy Spirit when he prompts us in situations.

4. To fight for the faith, practice mercy for those who doubt

Fight for the faith won’t happen unless we are captivated by God’s mercy and express God’s mercy. 

When I visited House of Prayer, a church serving homeless people and homeless people serving in Chicago, I witnessed how people who have so little expressed their joy in Jesus Christ in their worship, in their testimonies and in their prayers.  They have been deeply touched by God of mercy and it showed! 

To possess the guts to fight for the faith, Jude calls us to show mercy to those who doubt.  In order to show mercy, we must have the firsthand experience of God's mercy. 

5. To fight for the faith is to look for those who need to be snatched from the fire and be saved.

Jude's call for us to snatch others from the fire and save them reminds me of Zechariah 3:1-10.  In this passage, you find a high priest named Joshua who was snatched from the fire.  Before the angel of the Lord, stood Joshua, the high priest, but standing at his right side was Satan who heaped accusations against Joshua.  And, the Lord said to Satan, "LORD rebuke you, Satan!  The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you!  Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?"  And, along with the Lord's defense against Satan's accusations and his rescue, he also ordered Joshua's filthy clothes be taken off, to take away his sin and to put rich garments on him.  This is a beautiful picture of how God delivers people out of the power of Satan and establishes their righteousness in him. 

To fight for the faith means we as Christians look for opportunities to be used by God to deliver those who are being tormented by Satan's accusations and his power. 

6. To fight for the faith, you got to learn to hate sin.

Hating even the clothing stained (filthy with excrement) by corrupted flesh (sinful flesh)... how we need this holy hatred against sin.  To fight for the faith, we need to be brutally honest before God who searches us and knows everything about us, even better than we know ourselves.  Sin of unbelief, sin of lust, sin of laziness, sin of all shapes and sizes must be dealt with brutal honest before God.

And, to genuinely hate sin, our love for Jesus Christ needs to be real and grow deeper. 

Fight for the faith against spiritual forgery (Jude 4-16)

CMC 2009 Retreat, January 3, 2009

I remember watching Catch Me If You Can directed by Steve Spielberg that tells the true story of Frank Abagnale played by Leonardo Dicaprio. In 1960s Abagnale was so successful at his con work that he was able to forged and altered checks to nearly $4 million in five years. I guess he was the youngest man ever placed on the FBI’s Most Wanted List. Not only was Frank a master in forging check, but he was incredibly good at forging lives as well. He impersonated an airline pilot, an FBI agent, a doctor, a lawyer, and a sociology professor. Good money, living a fantasy life eventually showed its limits as he felt lonely and unfulfilled. He even called the FBI agent Carl Hanratty every Christmas because he had no one else to talk with. His criminality destroys his romance. Carl Hanratty called the con game “living the lie” and told Frank repeatedly that “the house always wins,” which meant Frank would eventually have to pay for his sins. Well, in the end he got caught and later turned his life around by becoming an expert on beefing up security measures to prevent check forgery.

Today’s message is about spiritual disasters of the past brought on by the fakes, who distorted the grace of God into license to sin more and denied Jesus Christ Sovereign and Lord.

With Christian confidence comes Christian responsibility to live out the faith; this is godly life responding to God’s grace that covers us from the past, now to the future with deep thankfulness and our love for God. When this Christian confidence falls into the hands of the godless people mentioned in Jude 3-4, instead of thankful and joyful obedience reaping spiritual fruits, they only produce disasters. The destructive impact was so great that although Jude wanted to write about the salvation we share, he felt he had to write and urge the readers to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints (Jude 3).

Jude responded to God’s amazing grace that covers eternity past, now and future of eternity by humbling himself, entrusting his life in God’s hands by serving God’s son. Jude was a servant of Jesus Christ. He loved Jesus Christ. As in John Piper’s latest email describing his love for Jesus, Jude admired Jesus Christ more than any other human or angelic being, enjoyed his ways and his words more than he enjoyed the ways and words of anyone else, wanted his approval more than he wanted the approval of anyone else, felt more grateful to him for what he had done for him than he did to anyone else…

trusted his words more fully than he trusted what anyone else said, and more glad in his exaltation than in the exaltation of anyone else.[1]

Unlike Jude, these godless men responded to God and his Son not with gratitude and humility, but by distorting God’s grace as license to sin more and by denying Jesus Christ. Jude calls you and me to fight for the faith against this distortion of God’s grace and denial of Jesus Christ. As we learned from Jude how to respond to God as servants of Jesus Christ last night, we can learn something this morning, as we take tour of the disaster sites caused by the fakers. Jude hopes that by exposing the con men that forged God’s grace into a license for immorality and denied Jesus Christ Sovereign and Lord, we will get to avoid being fakers and cause spiritual disasters.

1. Historical disaster caused by spiritual fakers

Three specific events of spiritual disasters are mentioned in Jude 5-8.

· The first from Jude 5 involves the time of Exodus. The Lord delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. God patiently struck down the presumed gods of Egypt one by one through ten plagues and ultimately delivered all Israelites out of Egypt from the slavery. But, none of them except just the handful including Moses, Joshua and Caleb and their families got even close to the Promised Land because they did not believe. They saw God flexed his muscles in major ways. They not only saw but walked on the dry ground under Red Sea when God separated the water for them to pass through. They witnessed the Lord’s fire at nights and his cloud during days to lead them. Yet, when some men came back from exploring Canaan and saw the people living there, they reported, “the people who live there are powerful, and the cities are fortified and very large (Numbers 13:28)… We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:33). Although God brought down Egypt to its knees to release the Israelites, the Israelites couldn’t believe that God could deal with the giants in Canaan.

Only Joshua and Caleb out of all the spies who scoped out Canaan were convinced that they could take the land. Caleb silenced the people before Moses and told them, “We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it.”

Joshua and Caleb sought to convince the Israelites they could successfully fight to capture the Promised Land. They urged the Israelites not to rebel against God in unbelief. Eventually, the whole assembly turned against them and they tried to stone Caleb and Joshua (Numbers 14:8-9).

The consequence was that what could have been taken few weeks before they could move into the Promised Land, none of them were allowed into the Promised Land wondering in the desert for years. So, the whole generation that rebelled against God in disbelief died out in desert. This was the spiritual disaster brought on by their unbelief and rebellion.

· Jude’s second example from Jude 6 is about the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their own home. The detail is sketch as to what Jude is referring to. What is certain is these angels instead of being faithful to where God had placed them, they decided to take matters into their own hands; like the Israelites, they too rebelled in disbelief thinking that they had better things to do than where God positioned them.

They too were judged as God kept them in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day (Jude 6).

· Then there was the infamous story of Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns. The people living in these cities gave themselves into the sexual immorality and perversion so completely that when the angels came to visit them, instead of being struck with fear and awe, they tried to sexually violate them. You know how the story ends, right? The Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24) and by the time when he was done all that Abraham could see was dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace (Genesis 19:28).

Jude 11 mentions another three figures from the Old Testament who also are like those who distort God’s grace and deny Jesus.

· Cain worked the soil while his brother Abel kept flocks. Both of them brought offering to the Lord. But, it says Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord, while Abel brought fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock (Genesis 4:2-4). Abel thoughtfully and carefully chosen the best from some of the firstborn of his flock to offer to God; it shows that Abel loved God. But, Cain just brought some fruits he could get his hands on instead of carefully picking the best firstfruits to offer God. God who searches and knows our hearts and our motives only accepted Abel’s offering with favor, while rejecting Cain’s offering.

This made Cain very angry. He could have acknowledged and confessed his sloppiness and lack of care in the way he offered to God; he could have confessed his unthankful heart to God. Instead of dealing with his sin, he decided to direct and unleash his anger to Abel. Cain was really angry at God. And, since he couldn’t do anything to God, he went after Abel and coldheartedly murdered him. This is what happens when we ignore sin in our lives. It gives birth to greater sins. God told Cain, “if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:7). Obviously, Cain didn’t care what God told him since he allowed his sin to dominate him and be slaved by it.

· Balaam… is a man from Numbers 22-24. He was a prophet who was hired by Balak to curse Israel, but God wouldn’t allow him to curse Israel, only to speak blessing over Israel. Throughout the narrative from Numbers, it appears as though Balaam was submitting to God’s rule over him.

But, later accounts show that he was nothing but a con man who only appeared to be a follower of God. Balaam later became a principle instigator who seduced Israel into sexual immorality by promoting the Canaanite practices of Baal full of sexual immorality.[2] Later he too was killed by God (Numbers 31:8, 16).

· Korah… from Number 16 was a potentially great leader but never got there because he was overcome by passion for power. God led Israel through Moses and Aaron as a high priest. Yet, hungered for power, Korah cut Moses and Aaron down and challenged their leadership. He didn’t oppose Moses and Aaron on his own. He led other 250 Israelites men with him to oppose God’s chosen leaders. And, he led them all to destruction along himself when God judged them. God’s judgment showed who true followers of God were. Moses and Aaron were, but Korah and his 250 other fakers weren’t.

2. The anatomy of the spiritual fakers

What are the common threads that connect these historical disasters? They involve men and angels who loved themselves in self engrossed way, they were selfish, they certainly didn’t love God or people; they were manipulative with very high opinions of themselves who only to answer to their own instincts.

They are known according to Jude 1:8 as dreamers who claimed to have special visions from their dreams and embraced them as truth even though dreams contradicted the way of God. In following their dreams, they became their own authority while denying Jesus Christ Sovereign and Lord.

Even the chief angel Michael in dealing with the devil would not rebuke the devil with his own authority; instead Michael rebuked the devil by saying, “the Lord rebuke you” (Jude 9). He positioned himself under the authority of God in order to fight the devil. But, the godless the fakers foolishly assume authority even over the angels.

They were also known for the way they were driven by their instinct, like unreasoning animals rather than subjecting themselves to God’s truth as their guide (Jude 10).

Their self engrossed ugliness is revealed for they are shepherds who feed only themselves. Shepherds’ job is to look out for the flock, to feed them, to take care of them. But, these cons, fakers only look out for themselves. They are shepherds who let the flock go hungry and become emaciated and left to perish.

More graphical illustrations are given in Jude 12 -13. They are like “clouds without rain blown along by the wind” and “autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted-twice dead.” Jude is pressing the point; these are fakers. They have the appearance of Christianity, but has no substance when it comes to knowing and living in the kingdom of God, for the King of Kings and Lord of lords. As though they may appear to genuinely following God, like wild waves of the sea their shame foam up and giving away their true identity. They are like wandering stars that are no good for giving accurate directions.

Jude 16 sums it up. “These men are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own devil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.” The single thread that runs through Jude 16’s description of spiritual faker is love for themselves that trumps everything else. Why do they grumble and finds faults in others? It is because the people irritate them; they get in their ways. They are overly gracious to their own faults and but get enraged by others’ faults. They love themselves and they pride in themselves. When they appear to speak good words to others, you find out they are only doing it to fatten themselves.

As it wasn’t clear Jude presses on to make his case, spiritual fakers, cons will have to respond to the house, for “the house always wins.” Looking forward on the dreadful day of the Lord’s coming, he will come and judge everyone. He will judge the ungodly of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all that harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Conclusion

Why did Jude go through all this trouble to talk about the spiritual forgery by these fakers? One purpose is for us to know how to spot spiritual forgery. The Carl Hanratty was single-mindedly devoted to exposing Frank Abagnale.

The call to fight for the faith against disasters must include self examination to root out spiritual forgery. The thing about spiritual forgery is that it is built on hearts that are deceptive. Being a Christian means witnessing the transformation of our deceptive hearts that are engrossed with ourselves into the new hearts that are most passionate for God, most in love with Jesus Christ, most in sensitive and obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

Spiritual forgery thrives because Jesus Christ Sovereign and Lord is not taken seriously. Spiritual forgery manifests in sensuality. Sensuality of all forms and shapes that loves self more than loving God and loving people.

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[1] http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2008/3476_I_Love_Jesus_Christ/

[2] Allen, Ronald B. “(1) The involvement of Israel in the worship of Baal Peor (25:1-3)” In The Expositor's Bible Commentary: Volume 2. 915. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, © 1990.