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Proverbs 8: Wisdom’s final call

This is Wisdom’s final call! Seek wisdom, avoid injury, and obtain life and favour from the Lord.

Our passages today: 1 Cor 2:6-16 & Proverbs 8. Mark Harrison, Sunday 20th August.

Sermon outline

Proverbs-8 Wisdoms final call – Handout 230826Download

Introduction

So what does it mean to be wise? Wisdom is a concept that’s often overlooked in Christianity, as well as in the world in general. Our passage makes a great deal of wisdom. What were your thoughts as we read through it? Wisdom “crying out” to us. “Better than jewels and all that you may desire”, and then it goes on to say “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work” – invoking imagery of creation and seems to be suggesting wisdom is a person as old as the earth? What’s it all about?

So a really easy passage for a first sermon today, right? 

But there is reason for speaking on this passage: it’s a passage that has stood out to me over the last few years since hearing a series preached on Proverbs, and it’s something we don’t hear about very often which is a real practical aid for all of us in our daily lives. 

I was keen to explore more about what wisdom the Bible has to offer and share some of this with you today.

Biblical context

It can be helpful to note before we start a little bit about the context of the Bible and where wisdom fits:

  • Because the Bible primarily guides us in why we should love God (and the wonderful verse John 3:16 is a great summary: “For God so loved the world he gave his only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”). We can never love God as we should; without this sacrifice, we would face separation from Him. How can we fail to respond to such sacrifice and love? This is the question the Bible poses.
  • The Bible shows us how we should respond and love God: with “faith, hope and love” (1 Cor 13:13) and displaying the fruits of the spirit. 
  • Yet, the bible can appear limited from a human perspective on exactly what we do for day-to-day decision-making, and when we should make it: resolving a dispute with a neighbour, or what job we should take. It’s not really what the Bible is for. 

Biblical decision making

Of course, big decisions still require answers. Some Christians choose to fill the gap with what they say is being “led by the Holy Spirit” (and while occasionally true, it often means being led by emotion or the first prominent thought (this is like being “tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine” Eph 4:14). It’s very much a human spirituality response.

But what is the Bible’s actual prompt to look to in these situations? What are these folks missing? We’ve just read two passages on it: Wisdom! Wisdom can help us understand scripture, deepen our relationship with God, and be successful in our Christian lives. It gives us guidance with ‘what’ to do day by day: it’s really practical, and really helpful for daily life.

So today we’ll look at what, or who, is wisdom, why we need her, and how to find her. 

What is wisdom

Before we start we need a definition: what is wisdom?

Going to the dictionary, wisdom is “knowledge in context” – knowing when to apply the knowledge you have. As the great illustrator Jez Tuya once quoted: “Knowledge is that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad”

And Proverbs has a lot to say about wisdom! It’s a book of the Old Testament, written by Solomon, a King of Israel around 900 years before Jesus, who was reportedly the wisest man on earth. So he’d know a thing or two about wisdom.

Our passage explored

Let’s turn now to our passage, Proverbs 8, which outlines Wisdom’s final call and is helpfully broken into four sections for us in our Bibles:

  1. Wisdom’s call (v1-11)
  2. Wisdom’s offer (v12-21)
  3. Wisdom’s origin (v22-31)
  4. Wisdom’s challenge (v32-36)

We’ll explore these in turn to unpack the call that Wisdom is making.

1. Wisdom calls (Prv 8:1-11)

Wisdom is calling (v1). It’s Wisdom’s final call! Why is she calling? Why does she need to call? There must be people that need to respond. There must be people that don’t know her.

Wisdom is pictured as a person standing by a crossroads (v2) where people are choosing where to go, she’s at the city gates – which was a social hub in biblical times, she’s at the portals (v3), or some translations have main entrance. You have to be blind not to notice her – Wisdom has positioned herself as obviously as she can and she’s making noise!

She is crying out to everyone. She’s not in a synagogue, or an elite forum, she’s out there in public plain to see. There is no elitism here: wisdom is for everyone in this room and watching online.

Her call is a call to the simple and the foolish if they will listen (v4-5):

“To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man. [5] O simple ones, learn prudence; O fools, learn sense.

Proverbs 8:4-5 ESV

We learn from the first chapters of Proverbs that the simple are lacking in wisdom and are easily led astray, but the fools are in deliberate opposition to wisdom, and we’ll see later that opposition to wisdom is opposition to God.

A question for you: How does wisdom’s call make you feel? Hazard a guess that it’s probably similar to your reaction to the call of Jesus. If you want to honour Jesus this should make sense. If you’re indifferent, then this could seem “meh”, and if you’re not a fan of Christianity then it can seem inexplicably repulsive – you can’t quite explain why you don’t like it. Hopefully we’ll touch on some reasons for this.

From v6 Wisdom claims to be truthful, righteous and will make intuitive sense to those who are wise (v9): she claims to be better than jewels and all you may desire (v11).

These are bold claims.

2. Wisdom’s offer

In the next two sections we see more about the nature of wisdom, see if her claims stack up and if her offer is a good one.

Verse 12 and 13 tell us a lot about what wisdom is and isn’t:

In v12 Wisdom goes hand in hand with prudence (which is care and thought for the future) – you may hear our politicians talk about “prudent economic policy”, and it’s definitely wise to think about the long term consequences of our actions.

And Wisdom helps us find knowledge and discretion (which is taking care when to act). This aligns with our definition: wisdom is very much about knowing when to apply what we know.

But when we’re seeking wisdom we need to be careful to get the right sort, and use it in the right way, v13 cautions us:

[13] The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.

Proverbs 8:13 ESV

This is really important and when seeking wisdom we need to be mindful that:

  • Wisdom is from God
  • Wisdom is for God

a) Wisdom is from God

Our NT passage helps us understand two types of wisdom. Paul writes in 1 Cor 2:6-8:

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. [7] But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. [8] None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

1 Corinthians 2:6-8 ESV

He’s saying there’s two types of wisdom: a worldly “wisdom of this age”, and the wisdom of God. 

I. Worldly wisdom will fall away

As an example of this: 

We’ve been watching “Alone” lately, a TV show where participants get dropped in the wilderness to survive on their own. They create their shelter, find food: there is wisdom on what they are doing: making clay for a fireplace to get better efficiency, using rocks to store heat, building a pier to fish in deeper water. 

But the conclusion I’ve come to watching it is that none of the contestants (save perhaps one) really had any chance of surviving the winter. If there wasn’t an extraction team a button press away: eventually they’re going to die. This could be starvation, sickness, loneliness, self-evaluation, injury, and eventually everyone is going to die.

Worldly wisdom can’t ultimately help us. As Solomon says in Ecclesiastes 1:14 worldly wisdom is like “chasing after the wind”. All is “vanity” and will eventually pass away.

II. Godly wisdom will sustain

In contrast Godly wisdom will endure – Jesus says those who follow him will have eternal life (John 3:16).

As you’d expect: Godly Wisdom and God are intrinsically linked. Proverbs 9:10 says:

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of [Godly] wisdom.

Proverbs 9:10a ESV

And Paul refers to Jesus being the “foundation” of Godly wisdom in 1 Cor 3:10-11. 

So good news: if Jesus is the “foundation” of wisdom, then every Christian here has some wisdom!

And this is why you’ll notice both here and in our NT passage: wisdom’s call goes unheeded – the world doesn’t respond. 

Proud people don’t want wisdom, arrogant people don’t feel they need it, and evil people are opposed to wisdom. A wise person knows to listen and be corrected. So when wisdom calls, when Jesus calls, people have a choice, we have a choice: to be humble and heed it, accepting that we need Him to save us, or be too proud or arrogant to think we don’t need to. It takes a humility to heed the call, and to follow God’s will. 

If you do heed the call the remainder of the second section gives encouragement that you’ve made the right choice:

You’re in fine company: kings, princes, nobles rule justly through wisdom (v15-16). There are significant blessings to be gained, as we read in Proverbs 8:18:

Riches and honour are with me, enduring wealth and righteousness.

Proverbs 8:18 ESV

Now you may be thinking: “that’s good, I’ve heeded the call, prayed the prayer and have a bible verse on my bedroom door. Now v18 says I get riches – let’s have a new car!”

Well that’s our second point:

b) Wisdom is for God

Let’s look back at v13: Wisdom warns us that trying to use wisdom to sin, or subvert God’s will isn’t right. Wisdom is from God. You can’t beat the maker at his own game!

A few years back I was unfortunate enough to listen to a sermon preached by another less reputable church in Wellington where the preacher was using bible verses out of context to say “if you want a car, you need more faith; if you want a house you need more faith”. 

This ‘prosperity gospel’ is not what Wisdom is about – mindless so-called “faith” leading to untold wealth. But wealth does tend to follow wisdom. Making wise decisions about where we invest our time, resources, and love for the Lord will generally result in his blessing.

So if you really want a new car – seek wisdom. Maybe wisdom will reveal the car isn’t what you really need! Or maybe wisdom will provide a path for you to obtain that car, by the grace of God, through humble obedience and service to the Lord. Or maybe the riches you really need right now are the eternal ones!

From these examples and others, we can see that Wisdom’s call will be heeded by Christians, but not fully by everyone as the final section warns.

3. Wisdom’s origins

Before this, we’ve now arrived at the difficult part of our passage: wisdom’s origin. How we read what or who Lady Wisdom is, will help us (a) trust her, (b) understand what she is saying.

To help us with this I’ll read three well-known passages – can you name the book and chapter?

“The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. [23] Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. [24] When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. [27] When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, [I was there]

Passage 1 – answer below

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. [2] The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. [3] And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

Passage 2 – answer below

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. [4] In him was life, and the life was the light of men. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Passage 3 – answer below

The passages above are:

  • Passage 1: Proverbs 8:22-24,27 ESV – Evocative language… which may remind us of creation.
  • Passage 2: Genesis 1:1-3 ESV – Creation
  • Passage 3: John 1:1-3 ESV – beginning of John’s gospel talking about Jesus

Notice the parallels here – the creation language. There’s something special about wisdom that we cannot ignore – she’s claiming to be God! Some commentaries resolve this by equate Lady Wisdom with Christ – is she Jesus? Others say being “possessed” by God is being part of the character of God.  What are we to make of this?

Beside him, like a master workman

We know from our passage that she is with God “besides him, like a master workman”, “set-up” as a foundation of creation, and “rejoicing” in creation and humanity indicating an ongoing relationship with it. 

So what is Wisdom’s role in creation? Again we know from the Bible that the persons of God work together during creation with specific roles:

  • God the Father initiates the creation and provides the Word (Gen 1:1)
  • The Word of God (Jesus) is spoken throughout creation: he created all things and holds all things together (1 Col 1:16-17)
  • the Spirit of God is hovering ready to provide life and complete the creation. 

Wisdom carries the plan and order. She is logic and rationality that is part of God’s nature, also manifested in the created order. Everything around us has been perfectly created to sustain life – that is the physicality of wisdom. 

Jesus is Wisdom personified

So, given the language used and that Wisdom is present and active through Creation, there is a real question over whether Wisdom Personified here is referring to Jesus. People make arguments both ways, but subtly if we flip the question and ask instead: Is Jesus Wisdom Personified? The answer is yes, He certainly is! 

Jesus perfectly displays wisdom throughout his life and ministry and is directly referred to as “wisdom from God” in 1 Cor 1:30.

It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.

1 Corinthians 1:30

Yet you don’t need to have an abundance of wisdom to trust in Christ: little children can know him (e.g. Luke 10:21). You see it’s a start: knowing God is the beginning of wisdom, a “foundation” (1 Cor 3:10) and we’re told to seek more and build on this.

Attribute of God, or personified in Jesus?

So: on the one hand you have Jesus who is wisdom personified and the beginning of all wisdom, and on the other you have wisdom as the plan and logic of God; that the Father, Son, and the Holy Sprit “possess”, and are working alongside. And both are true statements according to scripture. So there doesn’t need to be a debate, we just need to understand this.

Both statement say: Wisdom is from God: we can trust her and we need to heed her call and challenge.

4. Wisdom’s challenge

Wisdom concludes by saying:

“And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways… [35] For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the LORD, [36] but he who fails to find me injures himself; all who hate me love death.”

Proverbs 8:32,35-36 ESV

Listen to Wisdom, keep her ways. Seek her and find life and favour.

This is a challenge to Christians who risk injury by failing to find her, and non-believers who risk the eternal death that comes from hating God.

And this is why I think it’s unhelpful to take a view that this passage is exclusively referring to Jesus. It certainly can be read that way, and as we’ve seen, it’s true that Jesus personifies Wisdom, but it doesn’t seem correct to say Lady Wisdom personifies Jesus: we miss some key consequences if we just go: “yup passage refers to Jesus”, tick box and move on.

Spiritual injury

Let’s take a look at v35 – spiritual injury. Clearly if you “fail to find” Christ and accept his grace and merciful offer of salvation, there’s only one outcome: that’s God’s judgement.

So v35 seems to be referring to a middle ground: it’s believing, so not being a “fool” opposed to God, but it’s being “simple”: not being filled with Godly wisdom. The author is addressing Christians who are lacking in wisdom; this is something we’re all at risk of.

So this is a message for all Christians: seek wisdom to guide your walk with Christ! If you don’t you risk injury!

The natural question is then: what’s injury? It’s described through the rest of Proverbs as the consequences of being simple and foolish; being led astray to sin and facing the consequences, as Pastor Ian has preached on many times. Missing opportunities that a wise person would take. And the Apostle Peter reminds us:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

The Christian life is not easy, and being injured when the lion is prowling and smells blood is not a good image. For instance, Cain was devoured when he gave in and killed his brother (Gen 4:7). We are told to take up the shield of faith to protect ourselves from the “flaming arrows of the evil one” (Eph 6:16). The challenge to us today is to be wise and let wisdom guide us in our walk with Christ.

Application

There’s quite a bit to consider, how should we apply:

Non-Christians

If you’re a non-Christian this whole session will seem foolish to you and you’re probably glad it’s nearly over, and well done for surviving so far:

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV explains:

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 2:14 ESV

God chooses who will follow him and who will respond. But that’s kind of irrelevant for us on a human level – there’s a choice to make: God so loved the world he gave his only son for you so that whatever you’ve done in life, however much you’ve ignored him or failed to give him the honour he deserves you can have a relationship with Him. That’s the good news of the gospel. There’s only one thing that matters and it’s that Jesus is here to welcome you with open arms if you accept his sacrifice and follow Him. 

The logic, wisdom and truth of this are all around us.

So there is another path for you as there was for Cain, if you want to choose it: “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prv 9:10). Wisdom is calling, Christ is calling, all of creation is calling (Ps 19:1, Rom 1:20) to you to turn, acknowledge, and follow Him. You don’t need to be wise to follow Christ, we’re a church of simple sinners! Following Him is the only hope we have: it’s the beginning of wisdom and the eternal joy of a relationship with Jesus Christ. That is our prayer for you today.

Christians

For Christians the message is similar: 

  1. Seek God’s wisdom and ask
  2. Seek God’s wisdom and read
  3. Seek God’s wisdom and trust
  4. Seek God’s wisdom and follow

But you get the main application, right?

1. Ask (pray)

We need to ask! There is a promise given by wisdom in v17

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

Proverbs 8:17 ESV

So Pray! Seek wisdom. Read her call in Proverbs and the other wisdom literature. Pray for her guidance every day. Love her as you love God. She will love you and keep you close to Him. 

Pro 4:7 says you just need to ask:

The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight. Prize her highly, and she will exalt you; she will honour you if you embrace her.

Proverbs 4:7 ESV

2. Read

And we need to read. The Holy Spirit will provide insight to scripture (1 Cor 2:12). Remember: knowledge, prudence and discretion go hand in hand with wisdom, and scripture helps us with this (v12). Wisdom can help us uncover false teachings and understand more about what it means to live in a way that’s pleasing to God. Ultimately our goal is to be a good disciple to our Lord Jesus in honour of His sacrifice. We need to let ourselves hear his word to do this.

3. Trust

Now if you feel you’re not getting what you need – ask again and trust! Do not doubt the Lord will provide as James remarks:

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. [6] But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

James 1:5-6 ESV

Because God wants what’s good for us (Luk 11:11-13 – good passage to refer to), and as long as we’re wanting wisdom for the right reasons generally he will not withhold it. Yet, asking in order to boast, for arrogance, pride or trying to subvert God and go your own way is worldly wisdom – chasing the wind: it’s ultimately futile. You can’t beat the maker at his own game!

Because finally we need to:

4. Follow

This is making decisions prayerfully with understanding of scripture, and letting wisdom guide your application. 

Now we’re short of time, so let’s look at one example I’ve practically used in deciding whether to challenge people who are making questionable decisions. Proverbs 9 says don’t reason with people who aren’t open to listening: 

[7] Whoever corrects a scoffer gets himself abuse, and he who reproves a wicked man incurs injury. [8] Do not reprove a scoffer, or he will hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you.

Proverbs 9:7-8

We need to be careful with our wisdom, the world doesn’t want to hear it, but nothing stops us relying on it; indeed, our faith may depend on it.

Listen to God’s Wisdom, keep her ways, and whether you’re a Christian today or not: her call is the same: seek her, and find life and favour, with our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ (Prv 9:10).

A lot to consider: the sermon outline handout is at the top of this post with the passages referenced. Thank you for listening (or reading online) today.

Resources

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Medieval Crown

Judges 9:22-57: Downfall of the Wrong Leader

Read Judges 9:22-57

Last year while the family were away (work kept me home while they played) I watched the German movie Downfall, which is the story of the last days of the Third Reich. It shows the pitiful state that Berlin and the Third Reich’s leadership became before their fall and demise, including the now “internet famous” rant scene which has become a meme. The great machine of carnage, conquest, and tragedy fell to a timely end.

This movie and the history behind it came to mind because this passage also covers the downfall of the wrong type of leader. Abimelech, cursed by his half-brother Jotham, faced judgement for his evil leadership. Shechem, which evilly trusted Abimelech as leader, met the same fate. Both downfalls were orchestrated by God, who ultimately will judge all wrong leadership and establish the right leadership.

After Jotham’s curse spoiled the coronation of Abimelech by the elders of Shechem (vv.7-21), Abimelech reigned over Israel for three years (v.22). It did not take long for things to fall apart, because God sent an evil spirit between Abimelech and Shechem to avenge the deaths of Gideon’s sons (vv.23-4).

The first instance of bad blood was Shechem employing ruffians to ambush and rob travellers on the roads (v.25). Maintaining public order, including on the highways, has always been a kingly duty so this was the ancient equivalent of orchestrating ram raids on local businesses, and had the same effect on Abimelech’s status.

Next, a man named Gaal moved to Shechem with his pals, and started talking smack about Abimelech with the help of some liquid courage (vv.26-9). Curiously, his speech sounded somewhat like Abimelech’s (v.2) and drew the leadership of Shechem astray from Abimelech.

Zebul, Abimelech’s local appointee, informed him of how to quell this simmering revolt (vv.30-33). Abimelech, with four companies of soldiers, confronted big-mouth Gaal at the city gate at dawn, appearing as if out of thin air to take up Gaal’s offer of a fight (vv.34-8).

Abimelech easily dispatched Gaal and followers (vv.39-41), and the folk of Shechem seemed to think that was that so went back to their fields the next day (v.42). Unfortunately, Abimelech blamed them for following Gaal – the gall! So he massacred the locals, razed the city, and sowed it with salt to stop crops growing there (vv.43-5). The city leaders escaped to the tower of Baal-berith’s temple (vv.46-7), and the “bramble” set a brushfire to either burn or smoke out the leaders (vv.48-9). Jotham’s curse was coming true in a literal sense.

By that point, Abimelech was in full-on self-destruct mode. Anybody who had lifted a finger against his reign would feel his wrath. Next to face Abimelech’s anger was the town of Thebez, which presumably had joined in the rebellion against his rule (v.50).

As with Shechem, Abimelech successfully captured the city (v.50). Thebez also had a tower in it, and the locals and leaders fled into this tower to escape Shechem’s fate (v.51).

As with Shechem, Abimelech figured fire was a good weapon, and the burning bramble attempted to burn his way in (v.52). But a certain woman had lugged her heavy upper millstone to safety in the tower, and dropped it on his head (v.53).

Since Abimelech did not want the shame of dying at a woman’s hands, he had a soldier kill him (v.54). Then, without a leader to lead and a reason to fight, everyone went home (v.55). 

God had brought judgement on Shechem and Abimelech for their parts in killing Gideon’s sons, and seeking power and leadership for their own reasons and gain (vv.56-7). The wrong leader brought his own downfall on himself, and on those who put him in place.

Firstly, note that God is unmistakably acting in this passage. While Shechem and Abimelech are busy destroying themselves, they do so because God sent an evil spirit between them. Perhaps John Calvin had passages like this in mind when he reputedly said “when God wants to judge a nation, He gives them wicked rulers.” 

God does not always strike with lightning or fire and brimstone. Sometimes, God judges through decline and self-destruction. Sometimes, God uses evil to destroy itself. Sometimes, judgement comes from within, not just from outside a nation.

If the same is true of nations, it is also true of churches. Churches which abandon their first love and God’s leading will suffer God’s judgement and decline. Their lampstand will be taken away. We must take care to be ruled by the right kinds of leaders. Those whom God appoints. Those who point us to Jesus. Those who themselves bow the knee to King Jesus.

Ultimately, only one leader is the right kind of Leader. God will judge all the nations in fire for their failure to acknowledge King Jesus’ righteous reign. All will one day fall down, in judgement or in praise. Worldly leaders will fail and disappoint, but King Jesus will never fail to lead his people in paths of righteousness.



Christ our example, relections on prayer with Pastor Elmir

Prayer: Luke 22:39-46 – Christ, our example

In Jesus’s final hours before His arrest, he prayed as no one has done before, such that his sweat “became like great drops of blood”. Feeling extreme anguish, well-practised prayer comforted and sustained him as he faced unimaginable punishment for our sin. In our passage today, Luke 22:39-41, our saviour gives us an unforgettable lesson in the power and importance of prayer.

Our passage today: Luke 22:39-46. Preacher: Pastor Elmeir Pereria.

Leading by example

My father was a missionary for 55 years. In his first sermon he preached some of it in English, being a native Portuguese speaker. Perhaps I feel as though I am following in his footsteps today, as this is my first sermon in English.

The main thing is: whatever the language, the message of God can be spoken into our hearts.

In order to teach effectively we need to be an example of what we preach, as Peter points out in his letter:

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

1 Peter 2:21 ESV

Parents: do we want children who love Christ, His Word and His Church? In the Lord, our perfect parent, we have a perfect example to follow.

The example of prayer

In our passage today we see the example of Jesus in pain: about to be arrested and sent to the cross. He was in agony because he would experience God’s wrath for our sins.

To get Him through this He needed to pray.

And being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

Luke 22:44 ESV

He was suffering, and it was unbearable.

Then he said to them, “My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, and watch with me.”

Matthew 26:38 ESV

How could he cope? He went to the Mount of Olives for some precious time in the presence of God; receiving comfort and grace to fulfil his mission.

From this extraordinary time, we learn about the importance of prayer, following the example of Jesus.

1. Prayer must be a custom

Prayer must be a habit. This was not a one off for Jesus, it was his custom

And he came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him.

Luke 22:39 ESV

He got strength and courage from prayer. Throughout His life and death, Jesus prayed for us all.

Christians who don’t pray are weak in faith and immature. How much time do you spend in prayer daily?

2. Have a separate place to pray

Jesus had a preference for private place for prayer.

In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.

Luke 6:12 ESV

Any place and any time is is fine: Jonah prayed from inside a fish, Daniel from inside a furnace and den of lions, but Jesus’s preference was private prayer.

But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Matthew 6:6 ESV

It’s especially helpful to have somewhere quiet and free from distractions.

Suzana Wesley had 19 children, but made time every day to be in prayer and intimate communion with God. The house they lived in had only one room with no quiet place, however she had a separate place to pray inside the house. Every day she went to a corner of the house and covered her face with an apron. In that time, all her children were quiet.

3. Don’t give up

We must not give in to temptation: Jesus was tempted to give up his mission.

Satan the tempter has been active to prevent the woman’s destiny to “crush [Satan’s] head” (Genesis 3:15).

He got Pharoh to kill the young Hebrew boys to destroy the people, as Moses was being born (Ex 1:22). Herod tried the same to destroy Jesus (Mat 2:16). He was present in the desert to tempt him to give up (Mat 4).

Pray you may not fall into temptation. As an example: even though Satan’s power was broken on the cross, he still tempts us.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. [9] Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world.

1 Peter 5:8-9 ESV

We can put on the armour of God (Eph 6:11-12) and pray in the spirit at all times (Eph 6:18). Prayer is a powerful weapon.

4. The right condition to pray

We don’t need to be in a specific position to pray. The Lord prayed in different positions.

But we need to humble ourselves: Jesus here with his knees bent in prayer recognises God’s majesty.

This reflects a contrite heart, which is important as God doesn’t like proud people.

5. Asking correctly

God’s will was the priority for Jesus.

saying, “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.”

Luke 22:42 ESV

God has many blessings for those submitting their will to God:

And behold, a leper came to him and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.” [3] And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, “I will; be clean.” And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.

Matthew 8:2-3 ESV

This man went to the right person to solve his problems: he bowed down before Jesus.

We know that God is present and pleased when we pray.

6. In difficult times we may need to pray alone

Sometimes no one will pray for, or with us.

And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow,

Luke 22:45 ESV

It would have been a comfort for His disciples to be there for Him, but He was alone: no-one prayed for Him.

In Acts 12 the church was persecuted and many leaders put in prison.

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

Acts 12:5 ESV

When a believer prays, great things happen. In this example, Peter escaped (Acts 12:7-11)

7. When we pray God sends his comfort

When Jesus was in agony, His Father provided company.

And there appeared to him an angel from heaven, strengthening him.

Luke 22:43 ESV

Now God sometimes allows intense affliction, but when we pray to God he comforts and protects us.

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [7] And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 ESV

Resources

Questions? Please contact us. Inspired? Come and worship with us on Sundays.



Ephesus with tourists

A Christian’s Life: Ephesians 1:15-23 – A church family prayer

We’re picking up our series in Ephesians again looking at what it means to be a Christian. In the second half of Ephesians Chapter 1, Paul prays for the church family. This is a model for mature Christian prayer.

Our passages today: Ephesians 1:15-23 and 1 Samuel 2:1-10, Preacher: Ian Bayne, 21st February 2021

Recap

Let’s recap verses 1-14 that we looked at before Christmas.

Understanding the author helps us to understand the intent of the book. We looked at the apostle Paul and how he was converted from a self-righteous persecutor of the church to a transformed individual.

The recipients of the letter were at Ephesus – they were recognised as the church of God. When I was growing up there was a backlash against organised religion and an emphasis on personal faith. Actually, scripture says there’s a mix of both. Elders and Deacons are organised and recognised. But we all have a part to play:

Q. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.

Westministher Shorter Catechism

1. We are to worshop God

All Christians are saints: called to worship God. We’re saved by faith.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,

Ephesians 2:8

It’s not because of what we do, though what we do should follow. Have you ever been disappointed because you aren’t as you want to be? Even despite your best efforts? It’s a comfort that we are both saved by faith and called to live by faith.

2. We are a family

We have faith in Jesus. This means we become incorporated into His body, a family, a Church of Christians. This is why the family aspect of church is so important.

3. We are blessed

We have a huge amount of blessings stored up for us in eternal life, and we can draw down on some of this now. Some of the trials we go through in life are only bearable because of faith.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,

Ephesians 1:3 ESV

When we look at our lives we can only see the past and present as it relates to us.

4. We are predestined

he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,

Ephesians 1:5 ESV

We did not choose God, before He chose us. We need to be born again to enter the Kingdom.

Our passage explained

Our passage starts with an apostolic prayer. There are two of these (the other is in Ephesians 3). This is the Church Family Prayer if we want to give it a name.

When someone asks “how can I pray for you?” we tend to think of something mundane, but here we see the better answers we can give!

When we’re young believers we may pray in a child-like way. God loves this, but we do need to grow, and we can use the apostles’ prayers to model ourselves on.

The previous verses are talking about the status of believers. We did a very brief recap, but look how this flows from talking about the church to praying for the church.

  • The preparation of the prayer
  • The growing of the prayer
  • The sowing of the prayer

1. Preparing

Firstly Paul gives thanks for fellow believers:

For this reason, because I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints,

Ephesians 1:15 ESV

What is he giving thanks for? He’s giving thanks for their faith and their love for one another. This prepares our heart.

2. Sowing

Paul prays for knowledge for the church and for the ability to use it well (wisdom).

that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him,

Ephesians 1:17 ESV

3. Growing

He also prays that we would be enlightened to know more about God’s calling. It’s for the Church to pray for one another to know God’s calling.

having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,

Ephesians 1:18 ESV

This calling is an inheritance for believers, and Paul wants us to understand it.

It’s amazes me how much God loves us – He gave His life for us, he wants us to understand more about Him, and He grants us power to get us out of tricky situations.

Application

1. Give thanks first and supplicate second

We can treat God as a supermarket, with a list of demands.

fools rush in where angels fear to tread

An essay on Criticism, Alexander Pope (1711)

When we cook meat, we let it rest for tender results. Season your prayers with thanksgiving.

do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. [7] And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7 ESV

Thanksgiving helps us to focus on what’s important and puts everything in perspective.

2. Have patience

Back in the day, long car journeys with children were challenging as they would always ask “are we there yet?”. We didn’t have screens to keep them entertained for hours – we had to play games.

We can be like this as Christians. Even mature Christians are not there yet.

We don’t really understand the attributes of God.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:7 ESV

3. Pray for each other

If we pray these things for each other all the detail will fade into insignificance.

Christian counselling is quite different from secular counselling. The counseller has all of the answers before knowing the problem. It’s helping the counsellee understand the answers.

Pray for one another as Paul did: with thanksgiving for knowledge and wisdom so that we can understand God’s plan for us.

Resources

Questions? Please contact us. Inspired? Come and worship with us on Sundays.



book with pages flipping

James 3:13-18 – Wisdom for life

Following our church camp mini-series on Marriage and the Family, in order to encourage our spouses and families we need wisdom for life! Our guest preacher: Steve Williams takes a looks at how to respond to challenges of life, and how to test whether our thoughts and the advice of others can be trusted. How can we tell wisdom is from God?

Our passage today: James 3:13-18.

Preacher: Steve, 14th February 2021

Wisdom from above – sermon slidesDownload

Wisdom in hindsight

In New Zealand, imagine you’re walking up a mountain and can see sections of all the tracks – how they begin in front of you, and how they end up at the top. The rest of the path is hidden.

Actually walking these paths, you could find that one was straight to the top, but steep, and another perhaps has a precarious ledge that you would rather avoid. It’s only at the top can you see the big picture.

Sometimes we look back and think: if only I’d had more wisdom.

Our passage today is in the book of James. James is the brother of Jesus who was prominent in the early church and the writer of one of the early letters.

Wisdom in the Bible

When we think of someone who was wise in the Bible, we think of King Solomon. He was the son of David. Now David wasn’t perfect, but he had a heart for God. Solomon had a half heart for God.

Solomon was wise (an example is in 1 Kings 3:16-28 where he makes a wise judgement), but in contrast he didn’t take down the high altars and had lots of wives and concubines who caused his heart to go astray to the point he started to worship other gods. People can be wise at times, and not at others.

What is wisdom?

Where does wisdom come from and what is it?

Wisdom is from God: it’s knowing what to do with knowledge, resulting in a life well-grounded in the reality of a situation.

True saving faith produces good works, yet, in contrast, earthly wisdom is unspiritual and “demonic” according to James. This is pretty strong language!

How can we tell if wisdom is from God?

If a person is earthly and follows worldly thinking then they are not following God’s wisdom. In contrast: Heavenly wisdom is pure and reflects godliness. It’s peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

We can test “wisdom” by looking at the characteristics of it: including it’s motive.

In summary, godly wisdom tends towards the big picture and is ultimately about honouring God.

And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

James 3:18 ESV

One question many people ask is: why are there so many Christian denominations?

The church seems like a mess with soon many believers believing different things. Why can’t the church be one as Jesus prayed? Are we bringing unity or division? Not peace at any price, but we should seek unity over division.

Where does wisdom come from?

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Proverbs 1:7 ESV

For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Proverbs 2:6 ESV

Wisdom comes from God.

How do we get wisdom?

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.

James 1:5 ESV

We need to ask God and therefore we need to get to know Him. The only way to do this is through His Son, Jesus.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

1 Timothy 2:5 ESV

See also: Hebrews 9:15 and Hebrews 12:24.

If we’re feeling short of wisdom and as though we’re far from God, it’s not God pushing us away, we push God away. Ultimately the wisdom of this world will get us nowhere. We need the wisdom of God and that’s my prayer for us all.

Resources

Questions? Please contact us. Inspired? Come and worship with us on Sundays.



Owl looking sleepy

Remain alert VI: a heavenly perspective

As we round off our series, it’s important to keep our life in perspective. Specifically: a heavenly one – our life is temporary. In our struggle to remain alert we need to focus on heaven and life to come.

Our passage today: Acts 7:55, Pastor Ian Bayne, 7th February 2021.

Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven. He saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Acts 7:55 CSB

Last week we looked at striving each day for the Holy Spirit; working out out salvation with fear and trembling.

This will we continue looking at living every day with a heavenly perspective.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit means our eyes are automatically starting to lift to heaven.

1. Put the world in is place

As the song goes: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, In the light of His glory and grace”

We need to get the balance right. This world is temporary, yet heaven is eternal. Even if science can extend our lives, we’ll never reach eternity

As sung in Amazing Grace: “There’s no less days to sing God’s praise than when we first begun”

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

Romans 8:18 CSB

And Paul also says:

For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Philippians 1:21 CSB

This helps us put our lives in perspective.

2. Find meaning in hardship

We will experience trials and suffering. Especially as Christians we should expect this.

But this happened so that the statement written in their law might be fulfilled: They hated me for no reason.

John 15:25 CSB

James says:

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,

James 1:2 ESV

3. Know that God sees everything

We can think that because we can’t see God, he can’t see us. But He sees everything.

The eyes of the LORD are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

Proverbs 15:3 ESV

He has witnessed all since creation:

“And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: ‘The words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God’s creation.

Revelation 3:14 ESV

If we know God sees everything then we want to do right so we can please him. Lol heavenward more often and know God sees everything.

4. You have an eternal future with Christ

In our passage today, Stephen sees his deliverance: Jesus was raised, therefore He can raise us as well.

We’re looking forward to a place where:

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

Revelation 21:4 ESV

As Emmylou Harris sings: “It don’t matter where you bury me I’ll be home and I’ll be free It don’t matter where I lay All my tears be washed away.”

Series summary

We’ve been looking at:

So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

1 Thessalonians 5:6 ESV

We looked at the reasons we might snooze

  1. Doubt the promise of God’s return
  2. Denial of the certainty of death
  3. Comfortable and secure environment
  4. Times of feasting and frivolity

And we looked at antidotes found in scripture:

  1. Hear the gospel
  2. Gossip the gospel
  3. Keep the cross constantly before your eyes
  4. Keep a watch out for the enemy
  5. Strive to be filled daily with the Holy Spirit (Phi 2:12)
  6. Seek to live every day with a heavenly perspective

Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

Revelation 3:2 ESV

Resources

We hope you’ve enjoyed this series. If you have any comments or questions, we’d love to hear from you. Please fill out the contact us form.

Inspired? Come and worship with us on Sundays.

Referenced songs

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Amazing grace
All my tears be washed away



Owl looking sleepy

Remain alert V: filled with the Holy Spirit

Perhaps remaining alert feels too much? We have an important ally in our struggle: the Holy Spirit. Today we’ll look at how to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

Our passages today: Genesis 32:24-30 and 1 Thessalonians 5:6.

Preacher: Ian Bayne, 31st January 2021

Recap

We’ve been looking at antidotes to spiritual snooziness.

Last week we looked at keeping one eye on the devil. Our enemy is looking to exploit us. Don’t give him more attention than he deserves, or enter conversation with him, but keep an eye on him.

The Holy Spirit

We have an important ally to help us in this spiritual battle: the Holy Spirit. We ought to strive to be daily filled with the Holy Spirit.

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own,

1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV

The Holy Spirit is promised to all believers.

I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Mark 1:8 ESV

We’re talking about receiving a special anointing of the Holy Spirit to achieve miraculous results.

Let’s look at some scriptural examples:

for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb.

Luke 1:15 ESV

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Acts 2:4

People were filled with the Holy Spirit to be able to complete a task.

Every Christian has the Holy Spirit within them, but from time to time we get extra help and power from the Holy Spirit. This is referred to as being “filled with the Holy Spirit”.

If we desire to be filled with the Holy Spirit on a regular basis, how do we do this?

1. Ask Him

In Luke 11 the disciples ask Jesus how to pray. He gives them the Lord’s prayer, followed by a story about a woman who petitions a judge until she gets justice. He finishes up with the following:

10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for[d] a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

Luke 11:10-13

He teaches us prayer, persistence and what we should ask for.

Keep on asking, keep on seeking, keep on knocking. Persist on praying for the Holy Spirit, so that we can do what the Lord wants us to do.

2. Struggle

It’s not just asking, we need to struggle:

“Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

Luke 13:24 ESV

Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

1 Timothy 6:12 ESV

In our passage in Genesis 32, Jacob wrestled with the angel until he was blessed.

And Jacob was left alone. And a man wrestled with him until the breaking of the day.

Genesis 32:24

All these require us to be alert. It’s impossible to spiritually snooze if we’re engaged in such combat. There’s no snoozing here!

Application

We should ask ourselves three questions:

1. What do you really want as a Christian in your life?

Do you want to be a servant of God? To be enabled to do great things for God’s glory?

2. How much do you want to seek the Holy Spirit for this?

Once a week or once a month?

We say we want to be effective, but are we prepared to work at it?

If you are, then you will seek and strive for this.

3. What are you prepared to sacrifice for the Holy Spirit?

If we’re seeking the Holy Spirit on a daily basis then we’ll avoid snooziness.

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

Ephesians 5:18 ESV

If I want to drink a glass of wine a day, then surely I want more of the Holy Spirit than wine!

Resources

If you have any comments or questions, we’d love to hear from you. Please fill out the contact us form.

Inspired? Come and worship with us on Sundays.



Owl looking sleepy

Remaining Alert IV: Satan’s snare

We are continuing our series looking at antidotes to bring snoozy or lukewarm Christians. How can we hold fast to the gospel and not focus on our comfort? Today there’s one more dimension we must consider: Satan’s snare: the devil, and his plan to dull our senses.

Our passages today: 2 Kings 6:11-18 ESV and 1 Thessalonians 5:6 ESV. Preacher: Ian Bayne 24/01/21

So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

1 Thessalonians 5:6 ESV

Recap

We can be snoozy Christians. Feasting and frivolity can make us forget our calling.

We looked at antidotes previously:

  1. God’s Word – we need constant immersion
  2. One another
  3. Living holy lives

We must encourage one another, both in word and action:

not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:25

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2 ESV

We may not always feel like doing this – we’re too tired or put our comfort first. But if we’re living lives in spiritual obedience then it helps us overcome snooziness:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, [2] looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV

Satan’s snare

Today we’re looking at the devil’s involvement in our snooziness, and how he seeks to dull our senses and cause us to drift from God into sin.

After last week’s sermon, I was discussing the series with my grandson, who wisely pointed out: if you have two eyes on Jesus, how can you keep one eye on the devil?

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8 ESV

He’s right – we need to watch out because we have an enemy. We can be tempted to ignore this as we are very physical or materialistic, and don’t see anything of the spiritual world.

In our passage 2 Kings 6:11-18, Elisha’s servant only saw the enemy army, but Elisha knew there were spiritual forces around them.

Of course, there’s a danger we can become too spiritual. CS Lewis is quoted as saying: “the devil is pleased with both”.

We don’t want to give more than we ought to the devil:

But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”

Jude 1:9 ESV

Michael kept his involvement with the devil to a minimum.

When we see what’s going on in the world, we can get disappointed with certain political decisions. We can be disappointed with the people who make them, but that’s not the real battle. Satan is weaving his plan behind human actions. Satan’s snare is set for us.

We should keep an eye on the devil because:

1. He’s sneaky

He wants to blend in in the world and also in the church. Darkness is within them.

As Bob Dillan’s song goes: “the enemy I see wears a cloak of decency”

2. He looks for and exploits our weaknesses

He knows when you are vulnerable:

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8

There’s nothing wrong with addiction when it’s focused on the right thing, for example: being addicted to scripture is a good thing. When focussed on the wrong things – addiction can destroy our life, and our soul!

3. He’s tricky

Our strengths can also be used as our weaknesses. For instance, intellectual argument.

In this example, the disciple Peter, is using what seems like common sense, but Jesus rebukes him.

From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. [22] And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” [23] But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

Matthew 16:21-23 ESV

After Jesus says He’s going to die and be resurrected, Peter doesn’t believe him. The others may be thinking it, but Peter says it, and so the first disciple becomes an agent of Satan trying to prevent Jesus’s rescue.

But it seems like Peter is speaking common sense, under the guidance of concern and friendship. We need to be wary and keep focussed on God.

4. He’s a liar

If you’re going to tell a lie, tell a big one because people will believe it

Adolf Hitler (paraphrased)

Some people are very convincing.

You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

John 8:44 ESV

While Jesus came to save, the devil came to destroy.

Application

We can make application:

  1. Know your enemy – test the spirits
  2. Be forewarned and armed
  3. Satan is defeated but he’s still active (he’s bound)

The scriptures don’t divide humanity into body and soul. This has come from Greek philosophy.

Today we know that physical and mental well-being can go together.

Likewise: we need to fix both eyes on Jesus but keep one eye on the devil. This is spiritual multi-tasking!

Resources

If you have any comments or questions, we’d love to hear from you. Please fill out the contact us form.

Inspired? Come and worship with us on Sundays.



Owl looking sleepy

Remaining Alert III: Remember the Cross

We continue our mini-series: making sure we’re awake and alert, especially as we enter 2021. It’s easy to get complacent. Today we’re looking at another antidote to Christian slumber: the Cross of Christ. How can we snooze at the foot of the most awful event in history: with blood, gore, and all of humanities sin laid on Jesus!

Our passages today Isaiah 53:3-12 & 1 Thessalonians 5:6

Preacher: Ian Bayne, 17th January 2021

So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

1 Thessalonians 5:6

Recap

We can become sleepy Christians if we:

  1. doubt Christ’s return
  2. doubt the certainty of death
  3. live in comfortable and secure environments
  4. are constantly frivolous and feasting

Difficulty and troubles are part of our journey as Christians.

The antidotes are:

  1. Hold onto God’s Word: constant exposure to the light of God’s Word. Hang on to hope, anticipating with pleasure the gospel, and be assured of the power of the gospel.
  2. Gossip the gospel: not bad gossip, but we should share and talk about the gospel.

Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

Proverbs 17:9 ESV

not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:25 ESV

The gospel is instructive: it preserves us, instructs us and heals us.

We are stronger together:

And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him-a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Ecclesiastes 4:12 ESV


Today we’ll look at a further antidote:

The cross of Christ

To keep the cross of Christ before your eyes.

It’s impossible to go to sleep at the foot of the cross. It was a terrible place. Yet the disciples managed to snooze when Jesus was in danger:

And again he came and found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy.

Matthew 26:43 ESV

Jesus was praying and sweating blood, and his disciples were asleep!
While they were snoozing them, they were not snoozing when Jesus was on the cross. There’s a sacrifice taking place.

For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet-

Psalm 22:16 ESV

Jesus quotes:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning?

Psalm 22:1 ESV

Trust in Jesus. He died for our sins.

Trust in God and root out any idols that are competing with Christ.

Eddie Robinson, a soul singer said: “I give my all to you, all unto you my lord, because you gave all to me. You set my spirit free… If there’s more that I can give, show it to me…”

If you’re feeling sleepy or discouraged, do something for the Lord, do something for someone. You’ll be surprised at how quickly drowsiness is overcome.

See how Christ suffered and “let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.”

Resources

If you have comments, or questions, we’d love to hear from you. Please fill out the contact us form.

Inspired? Come and worship with us on Sundays.

A difficult song to find online


Owl looking sleepy

Remaining alert II: How to practice Godly conversation

In our comfortably safe country, we can be tempted to become sleepy Christians. This week we’ll look at the second method to stay awake: having godly conversation. Why is this so important and what does this look like?

Our passages today: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 and 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 with a focus on verse 6.

Preacher: Ian Bayne, 10th Jan 2021

[6] So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Introduction

In 2020 New Zealand has done very well in managing covid and we’re grateful for the freedom this permits. We must be careful not to be smug and let our guard down.

Last time we looked at why our guard may be let down because we might:

  1. Doubt Christ’s return – because we don’t see it today we can think He’s not coming back, or that it doesn’t matter.
  2. Deny the certainty of death – especially given that medicine today is very good. The average age of 80 seems to be a long way off, but we will all die.
  3. Live in comfortable and secure environments – focussing on improving our own comfort
  4. Be tempted to feast and be frivolous all of the time – while feasting is fun, we must balance this as the writer of Ecclesiastes says:

It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.

Ecclesiastes 7:2 ESV

Steps to avoid drowsiness

We need to keep ourselves from becoming drowsy Christians. How do we do this?

1. Allow the light of God’s Word to shine on us.

We hear, heed, harbour and hold fast to the gospel.

We anticipate the completion of the gospel and can be assured of our salvation, and feed our love for Him by having appreciation for His mercy and grace towards us.

Today we’ll look at the second point:

2. Practice the art of godly conversation to make sure we are alert and sober

Some people are good at getting to the core issues in our Christian journey.

We need to foster the art of godly conversation to be an encouragement for one and another. This is one of the main reasons to meet.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, [25] not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Hebrews 10:24-25 ESV

This is one of the great purposes of coming to church. Modern technology (e.g virtual meetings) can help but it isn’t a perfect substitute. What are the purposes of conversation?

Why have godly conversation?

Godly conversation…

1. Instructs us

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.

Deuteronomy 6:7 ESV
2. Preserves us

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.

Colossians 4:6 ESV

Salt is a preservative and flavor enhancer.

3. Encourages

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

Ephesians 5:19 ESV

This sort of conversation encourages one another.

4. Heals us

There are words that hurt, and words that heal.

The old saying: “Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me” is not correct.

Words can hurt.

There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

Proverbs 12:18 ESV

In the book ‘Pilgrims Progress,’ characters Christian and Hopeful are crossing enchanted planes quite late into their journey. These plains cause them to feel sleepy. In order to prevent sleep, they have good godly conversation to keep them alert and sober. Many Christians late in their journey, when life becomes comfortable, can be at risk of this.

In the book, they realise that they need to (and therefore we should) discuss the:

  1. foolishness of relying on self-righteousness and keeping the law for salvation.
  2. necessity of gaining the righteousness of Christ and how this is the only option for salvation.
  3. relief we experience as we are saved in Christ

Try this after church!

In New Zealand we are masters of the understatement. People say things differently in America – they’re typically more direct. The advantage this gives them is the art of testimony – they are more willing to share their Christian faith openly. This isn’t saying we need to become American, but to talk more about the Christian journey.

Application

Therefore we should concentrate on godly conversation which:

1. Builds up rather than tears down.

The name Barnabas means encourager.

2. Causes our hearts to burn within us

They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

Luke 24:32 ESV

This will happen when we speak the scriptures and express what the Lord has done for us.

3. Remembers the value of others

If we walk alone we are vulnerable.

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. [10] For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 ESV

Whatever we are, we need to practice how to use godly conversation – it might just save someone’s faith!

Resources

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