The End of the World (as we know it)

On the Friday morning of the day the Rugby World Cup started, I met at 6am as usual with our men’s group at McDonalds. One of the men had requested a couple of weeks before if he could share something that had been on his heart for a few years starting in October 2008. This date is personally significant for me because it’s the date I broke my leg playing soccer! He then proceeded through a number of dates through 2009-2011 which were also very significant to me so I was very interested in what he was saying. He felt that God wanted him to share these things with us even though he himself thought it might be the wrong time as we would be distracted by the Rugby World Cup. These things concerned the future as laid out in the Bible regarding the End of the World, Jesus coming again, the resurrection of the dead, Israel, the new heavens and earth to come. Big Topic!

Ironically here I am on the day of the World Cup Final with the opportunity to speak about these things! I am not distracted but I must say Go All Blacks! Let’s hope it’s not going to feel like the End of the World tomorrow!

We were watching the film 2012 recently, the theme if you’ve seen it is the end of the world. The name of the film comes from the date the Ancient Mayan people predicted the world would end, of course now next year. In the film Woody Harrelson plays a crazy radio DJ whose only broadcast topic is the conspiracies around the US government covering up that the world is about to end. Of course he is right and meets a fitting end flattened by volcanic rocks crying out “I wish you could be here with me people…you heard it first from me!”

The end of the world conjures up in the mind the picture of a crazy old man with a long grey beard standing by the road, with a sign saying “The end is nigh”. To talk about it is to risk all credibility but here goes!

Because the Bible says quite a lot about the future, I want to focus on one main event and period, Christ coming again to reign here on the Earth for 1000 years as described in Revelation 19-20. The topic today is what the Bible describes as the End of the Age rather than the End of the World (which comes later!)

To do this we need to look back to what was said in the Old Testament before Christ, what Christ said, and what John saw and heard from Jesus after Jesus had returned to heaven, as described in the New Testament. The passages are;

1. Daniel 2 (604BC)
2. Matthew 24 (30AD)
3. Revelation 19-20 (70-90AD)

All of us are naturally very interested in the future. Some people read horoscopes and have their fortunes read just because they are curious or more sincerely, to find direction for their lives. It is very important though to find an accurate forecaster. Your life could depend on it! I recommend the Bible to you. The Bible has accurately forecast specific events-in detail-many years, sometimes centuries, before they occur. Approximately 2500 prophecies appear in the Bible, about 2000 of which already have been fulfilled to the letter—no errors. (The remaining 500 or so reach into the future and may be seen unfolding as days go by.)

A number of years ago, 2 scientists worked out the odds of any one man in all of history fulfilling even only eight of the 60 major prophecies fulfilled by the life of Christ. The probability that Jesus of Nazareth could have fulfilled even eight such prophecies would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000. The authors stated that this would be as many US silver dollars as would cover the state of Texas two feet deep. Texas is 2.5 times the size of New Zealand. A silver dollar is about the same size as our $2 coin. Only God could pick out one specifically marked hidden coin out of all those coins on His first attempt.

Daniel 2 (604BC –“in the 2nd year of Nebuchadnezzar’s reign”)

Ive written about this before you can read about Daniel 2 here. The prophecy from Daniel is very much a political prophecy about the future history of the government of the world. It was given to the King. So in keeping with the tone of the prophecy, the Rock that is coming to smash the great statue to pieces is God’s government which will be established on the earth when Christ comes again.

Matthew 24 (30AD)

The second prophecy I’d like to talk about was spoken by Jesus not long before he was crucified. The charge against Jesus, the reason he was crucified was for claiming to be the Son of God, the Jewish Messiah.  Jesus had said “Destroy this temple and inthree days I will raise it up”. This outraged the religious leaders because only God could have rebuilt the Jerusalem Temple in 3 days and in saying this, Jesus was claiming to be God. But Jesus was talking about his body not the Jerusalem Temple!

As Jesus was leaving the Jerusalem Temple grounds, his disciples offered to take him on a tour. Jesus wasn’t interested! He told them that that the temple was going to be knocked down! This time he was not just talking about his body! We know this from the way Jesus answered their next questions.

The disciples then asked Jesus 3 questions “When will this happen? What events will signal your return, and the end of the World?” Jesus answered with an extended reply, describing a time of pain as like child birth. There would be sudden and terrible pain before the end of the age and Jesus coming again.

However he doesn’t give any further clues on the date when the Temple will be destroyed in Matthew 24. You can read a bit more on this in Luke 21, but most scholars agree that this event was fulfilled in AD70 when the Romans destroyed both Jerusalem and the Temple.

The theme of the period before the beginning of the end of the age is “Localisation”. The first thing Jesus says is not to be too bothered when false messiahs arrive and wars break out, because the end “is not yet”. Jesus was historically the first person to claim to be the Messiah (a very brave claim!), but since then there have been many others.  Secondly, the wars Jesus described were more local wars, not World War. 

In verse 7 the emphasis changes to a more global scale and this marks the “beginning of birth pains”. The term “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom” describes the involvement of many countries which happened in World War 1 followed by World War 2. This is the event that signals the end of the age beginning. There are also famines and earthquakes in many places, suggesting the more global nature of what is happening. From this point on the intensity and turmoil on the earth is increasing. There is persecution of Christians all over the world, a falling away from the faith, Christians turning against each other, false prophets no doubt saying “all is well” despite sin being rampant everywhere and love turning cold. The Good News of the Gospel is preached throughout the World then finally the “end will come”. The theme of the period immediately before the end is “Globalisation”.  I would suggest strongly that this is the period we are in right now.

There is then a specific event that Jesus refers to that kicks off the “Final Countdown”. Jesus refers to Daniel 12:11-12 which says ¹¹ “From the time that the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination that causes desolation is set up, there will be 1,290 days. ¹² Blessed is the one who waits for and reaches the end of the 1,335 days.” This final period has a specific time set of 3.5 years and will be exact. At this point it will be possible to know the day when Jesus will return!

This final brief period is the most terrible of all with persecution worse than any period in history, worse than the Holocaust of World War 2 or any other time. There will be False Christ’s everywhere doing miracles that will deceive almost everyone.  Then immediately after the persecution the sun and moon will be darkened, the stars will seem to fall from the sky, darkness everywhere and the earth will be in convulsion, a very frightening time to be alive on Planet Earth. Suddenly there will be the signal of light and Christ appearing in the clouds in great glory. At last Jesus will return!

What I’ve been describing is scary but you cannot walk around the words Jesus said. We tend to think of this as the end of the story but actually if we understand Daniel 2 and Revelation 19-20 you will see it is only the beginning of Christ coming to reign on the Earth! The End of the Age has arrived but a New Age of peace begins.

Revelation 19-20(70-90AD)

When you read Revelation you can imagine the difficulty John had in seeing the future at least 2000 years ahead. Can you imagine describing the world 2000 years from now? Can you imagine describing heaven which has things in it that no-one has ever seen? You would use the things that you have seen or heard of to describe the indescribable! The book of Revelation is filled with images describing the most amazing things that are to come, it is a wonderful book, so interesting, but it has been interpreted quite differently by many Christians. It’s good to listen to one other because Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit will lead us into all truth and each Christian has the Holy Spirit within them! So I want to always be open to what others think on what is contained in Revelation.

From Revelation 19 we begin to read of the New Age to come. The 2^nd coming of Jesus is described picking up the story from where Matthew 24 left us. Jesus arrives with a sharp sword in his mouth to strike down the nations, ruling with an iron grip, defeating his enemies whether great or small, slave or free. The picture of Jesus is quite different to how we know him from the Gospels – humble, servant, suffering. In Revelation he arrives as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords and anyone who opposes him is killed. Satan is bound in chains and thrown in a bottomless pit for 1000 years. Temptation and Evil are removed from the World.

The people who are left in the World are those that have not opposed Jesus and welcomed him as King. There is also the amazing event of the First Resurrection where believers come back to life to reign with Christ for 1000 years. It is incredible to think that those famous Bible characters we have heard of, not to mention some of our loved ones who have died, will be alive again and reigning with Christ here on the Earth. Daniel for example was told that he would rise again and have his full share in those last days.

Jesus will restore and renovate the Earth to how it should be. Although the Earth is restored, the people that remain alive still have their sinful nature and there is death in the 1000 years, though I would think not for those who have been resurrected. There is a beautiful passage in the Old Testament in Isaiah 65 which reads ¹⁷ “See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. ¹⁸ But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy.  ¹⁹ I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.  ²⁰ Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; the one who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere child; the one who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. ²¹ They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²² No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the work of their hands. ²³ They will not labour in vain, nor will they bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. ²⁴ Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. ²⁵ The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, says the LORD.”

There are many more wonderful descriptions describing peace and prosperity when Jesus is reigning on the Earth that can be found in in the Old Testament for example Micah 4:1-5 and Isaiah 11:6-9.

Revelation 20 tells us that after the 1000 years have ended, Satan is let loose again and goes out once more to briefly deceive the World. Why God would allow that I don’t know. What is hard to understand though is why anyone, after having 1000 years of peace and prosperity under Christ, would rebel and follow Satan but I guess that shows how bad mankind’s sinful nature is. What follows is the final battle and defeat of Satan, the resurrection and final Judgement of unbelievers, then Satan, Death, Hades and all unbelievers are thrown in the Lake of Fire.

Revelation 21 and Eternity

As described above, the Isaiah 65 passage indicates death in the Messianic Kingdom. However, once Death and Hades have been thrown in the Lake of Fire, death is of course no more. Revelation 21 reads quite similarly to Isaiah 65 but with one key difference ¹ “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” Revelation 21 reveals that the Messianic Age gives way to a completely new heavens and new earth for all Eternity.

There you have a brief snapshot of the future described by the Bible. There has been so much written on this subject that I would encourage you to get out some books and read. You may not agree with every author’s point of view, you may not agree with mine but I think it’s very important to talk about it. We often look back and talk on what Jesus did on the Cross for us and that is good and right that we do. But we should equally talk and look forward to the fact that Jesus is coming again in what may well be the very near future. One thing for sure, it’s a lot closer now than it was 2000 years ago!

Dreams

Can you remember the dream you had last night? Do you know that not everyone remembers their dreams? What about you, have you ever had any one of the following seven dreams?

1. Being chased
2. Being late to an important event
3. Finding yourself naked at work or school
4. Falling
5. Flying
6. Losing your teeth
7. Snakes

If you have had one of these seven dreams, you may be interested in what they mean, if you'd like to know click here

Our dreams are a proof that we are spiritual beings and can tell us amazing things if we ask and learn to listen.

A long time ago - 2600 years in fact - the King of the World, the Great King of the Babylonian Empire Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which scared the pants off him. What's more, when he woke up he couldn't remember anything about it. So he called in all his magicians, astrologers, sorcerers and wise men and told them that if they couldn't tell him what the dream was and it's meaning, he would have them all executed. What would you do if you were in their position, when you have to stand and deliver...or die?

Daniel was one of the wise men and he asked the King for a little time...a wise move. Then he went home that night and prayed to God for the meaning of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, very fervently I'd say : ) God told Daniel the meaning of the dream.

When Daniel went to see King Nebuchadnezzar, he told him the truth that only God can reveal the secrets of our dreams and that the King's dream was a prophecy about the future. Nebuchadnezzar had seen a huge and powerful statue of a man, tall as a skyscraper. The head was of gold, the chest and arms of silver, the belly of bronze, the legs of iron, the feet of iron and clay! Then a great Rock was cut from the mountain and hurtled towards the statue, smashing it to pieces. No wonder the King was frightened! Daniel then told Nebuchadnezzar the meaning of the dream.

First of all the head of gold was Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian Empire. There would never again in all of history be a King as powerful as Nebuchadnezzar. In the future, the next kingdom would be less (of silver) with two arms. This was to be the Empire of the Medes and Persians. The next Great Empire of bronze was of the Greeks. The fourth was the Roman Empire, strong as iron, smashing, bruising and conquering. When the Roman Empire was split into East and West in 285AD, there were now the two legs. It's amazing that today we still think of East v West isn't it? Finally the prophecy about the last stage of history, at the end of the two long legs, the feet, the Kingdom of Iron and Clay which is something like our world today. Where governments have formed alliances like the European Union where strong nations are unified with weak nations and different cultures are mixed together in one big melting pot. But as the prophecy says, iron and clay cannot mix and will fall apart! Does that sound to you a bit like now?

All of these things have come true, what comes next? What is the Rock that's coming to smash the great statue to pieces? I think you're wise enough to know the answer. Jesus is coming soon! Jesus is coming back to establish his Everlasting Kingdom. Guys and Girls, Are You Ready?

Good Grief!

Everyone has a memory of a time, a person, a place in their life that is wonderful. For them it was like living in their ideal world. In this life "all good things come to an end" as the saying goes. So when that good moment is gone, there is a sadness because their good experience has died. The person has suffered a loss and they are naturally grieving for it. From that point on, their life may not seem the same, without spark, only very ordinary, routine and dull. They remember the good times with sadness because they seem to have lost them forever.

The Bible teaches that God has placed eternity in our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:10-12). We all know there is something better than this - when we have an amazing experience, we want to hold on to it forever but we cannot in this life. But what if these good moments in our lives were only a foretaste of the things to come? God uses these experiences to create a longing within us for what he has actually prepared ahead for us if we will believe and trust him.

These good memories in your life are merely a picture, a taste of all that God has planned for you (1 Corinthians 2:9). We therefore do not need to feel sad but can rejoice instead for what lies ahead. This is the promise that God has given, the Gospel that I have passed on to you.

The Lottery

Anyone remember the “Good Old Days”? You know the days when the All Blacks actually won the World Cup? 1987. Two years after the Rainbow Warrior was sunk by the French, we got them back. Sweet Justice.

 

It was later that same year the World Stock Market crashed, so if we’re going to win this year, be warned! The All Blacks are 7/4 odds on favourites to win. I’m just saying. The Lottery of Life. I’m going to tell you about a man named Frane Selak, probably the luckiest man alive.

Frane Selak was born in Croatia in 1929 – coincidentally the year of the previous great World Stock Market crash. Frane is like the proverbial cat with nine lives, famous for his number of escapes from fatal accidents. 

The first of his numerous near-death experiences was on a cold January day in 1962, when Frane was on a train to Dubrovnik: it suddenly derailed into an icy river, killing 17 passengers. He managed to escape with a broken arm, minor scratches and bruises.

A year later, Frane was flying, from Zagreb to Rijeka, when a door abruptly blew away from the cockpit of the plane, as he was blown off the plane! The accident killed 19 people, however, Frane was lucky enough to land on a haystack, and wake up some days later in hospital, with minor injuries.

It was in 1966 that he met with the third misadventure while traveling on a bus that crashed and plunged into a river. There were four people dead. Astonishingly, Frane managed to escape unharmed again.

In 1970, Frane was driving along when, all of a sudden, his car caught fire. He was fortunate again to have left the car before the fuel tank exploded. 

Three years later, another of Frane's car caught fire, blowing flames through the air vents. There is no mention in the story whether anyone was travelling in the car with him. Probably not I'd say!

In 1995, Frane was in Zagreb when he was hit by a bus, again leaving nothing but a few injuries. 

The following year, while driving through a mountain road, Frane drove off a guardrail to escape an oncoming truck and landed on a tree to watch his car explode 300 feet below.

Someone must have told Frane to buy a lottery ticket. You guessed it, in 2003, Frane won the million-dollar Croatian lottery turning him into either the world's unluckiest man, or the world's luckiest one depending on whether you are a glass half-empty or half-full kind of person!

We live in a world where random things happen to everyone – the good, the bad and the ugly. A wise man in the Bible once observed “¹¹ I have seen something else under the sun:  The race is not to the swift  or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all. ¹² Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.” Ecclesiastes 9:11-12

We all would like security in our lives, not just to rely on dumb luck to get us through. God has made a promise to take care of us and give eternal life to anyone who will believe in Jesus, and he cannot lie. He is the only one who can deliver on a promise – everything else is chance. Take his Word for it.

Nineteen

I was talking to a friend last week who had recently been on a trip to America to spend a week observing a sports program to help troubled youth run by one of the top universities in America - Stanford. This is a famous university where many top athletes go to develop their athletic skills and gain a college degree. Tiger Woods went there. In fact it is expected that all students will develop their intellect as much as their physical talents. Stanford is more like a city, 8180 acres in size with 49 miles of roads, its own police and fire services, a shopping mall, a research park home to more than 150 companies and 23,000 employees, 43,000 trees, 3 dams with a power plant, the list goes on, it is very impressive.

Stanford students are given every opportunity to be the very best they can be. While my friend was there, he witnessed some of the students taking a break from their studies to go and watch Maria Sharapova and Serena Williams play a match on one of Stanford's tennis courts. Another story that impressed was one of the students being offered a $45 million contract to join the NFL but turning it down so he could finish his last year of study! Young people like that will change the world...bring it on.

The words of Psalm 19 are the thoughts of a young man beginning to understand his place in the world. David thinks of how God created the sun and placed it in the sky and how every day it majestically sweeps from east to west giving light and warmth to the earth. The sun doesn't speak but it sends a powerful message of God's faithfulness and provision to all mankind.

When you are young it is a good time to consider what God has made you for because in finding that purpose and then applying yourself to doing it excellently you send a lasting message to the world sometimes without even having to say a word.

Many people end up doing things in life they weren't created for and have a lifelong sense that they have missed their purpose in life. People find themselves in a field of work that just doesn't fit. Maybe they were clueless or too lazy. Maybe they saw what others had and mistakenly wanted that for themselves. Maybe they did only what others wanted, but the Bible teaches God makes each one of us for a unique purpose and he wants us to find and do that thing with excellence, with all our hearts and for the benefit of God and others not just ourselves. I'm sure you would agree that if everyone could do that, this world would be a completely different and better place.

But finding our purpose is oddly elusive for many of us! When I was young I enjoyed learning, reading, writing (and playing football). But when I left school I never knew what I wanted to do! I studied Commerce because it was the easiest option that would lead to a job but it wasn't my field even though I was OK at it. I remember a friend telling me when I was 20 to go into teaching but I never listened. It's funny that at a later age of life I am coming back to the field where I should have started. I guess God has a way of getting us to finally do what he wanted all along : ) We can never happily do for long what we were not created for.

I think that at a young age it's best not to be too specific about what you want to be when you are older, but to know the field you would like to work in and then learn it with excellence. For example, Sports. Many would like to be a famous athlete, but there are plenty of other interesting careers in sports - coaching, refereeing, sports science, broadcasting and so on. There are so many fields to choose from including Arts, Science, Craftsmanship...well you don't need to tell you.

Fulfilling our purpose in life is often the difficult road, that's why so many give up too soon. Daniel was a young man from the royal family with a great future ahead of him. But an enemy nation came and conquered his country and took him back to their land as a prisoner of war. He was forced to learn things that were contrary to his culture and beliefs but he worked hard and applied himself with excellence and within 3 years had mastered all the arts and science of the time and was appointed the King's counselor. Daniel was a young man with a passion for God who when hard times came continued to make the most of every learning opportunity. The things Daniel wrote are still influencing many of us more than 2500 years later. I would like to leave a legacy like that!

So the big question is how to find our life purpose? Here's some sound advice from the Bible! Firstly and most obviously, ask God about it. God has promised to give wisdom to anyone who asks for it. Secondly, we are taught to love and honour our parents which if we do promises us a long life that goes well. Our parents are often right about us aren't they? Thirdly there are others in our lives who love us. A friend of ours thought his life purpose was to be a rock star. The rest of us were skeptical. You can guess the outcome. Always listen carefully to a friend who tells you the truth! Finally there are the desires and passions in our own hearts. I think if all 4 of these things line up then you have you have a clear answer but as they say "success is 5% inspiration and 95% perspiration". It is up to you to work hard and apply yourself with excellence!

On a sadder note this Psalm also contains a warning that we should all pay attention to. David wrote Psalm 19 when he was a young man. He asked God in that Psalm to forgive his hidden faults, the sins that would emerge later in his life and ruin his family. God was gracious to David and restored his relationship to him when David expressed his sorrow over what he later did. Tiger Woods, the worlds most famous golfer educated at Stanford University was the World Number 1 until a scandal started him on a downward career path that he hasn't recovered from yet. I think also of the sadder case of Amy Winehouse, the talented blues singer who died recently because of a life addicted to alcohol and drugs.

The final conclusion is that even with all the talent in the world and the very best education, hard work and success in our careers, we all still need God's everlasting Forgiveness and Grace in order to be truly successful in our lives.

Seventy Times Seven

For more than a year now there has been a clear message coming through in my life of Grace. It's been our Church slogan for as long as I have been there. “I once was lost but now am found - Amazing Grace”. We have been talking quite a lot about it in Church and in our men’s group as well and I think that’s great. We have a lot of very interesting discussions on a Friday morning at McDonalds. I wonder what the eavesdroppers think.

If you had to pick a character from the Bible who you thought the Lord showed the most Grace too, who would that be? For me it is Peter. The Bible tells us quite a lot about Peter;

• From Bethsaida, Galilee (John 1). Spoke with local accent (Matthew 26)
• Commercial fisherman along with brother Andrew (Mark 1)
• Married, wife travelled with him (1 Corinthians 9). Son called Mark (1 Peter 5). Mother-in-law healed by Jesus (Mark 1)
• Known as one of the 3 closest disciples along with James and John who saw Moses, Elijah and transfiguration of Jesus on the Mountain (Mark 9)
• Witness to the crucifixion (1 Peter 5) and the resurrection (John 21)
• Had great faith and did miracles like Jesus including walking on water (Matthew 14), healing a lame man (Acts 3), raising a dead girl (Acts 9)
• Quite often rebuked by Jesus (e.g. Mark 8) and denied Jesus 3 times (Mark 14)
• Preached first sermon and 3000 converted! (Acts 2)
• Freed from prison by an angel (Acts 12)
• Had vision that led him to understand that the Gospel is for ALL not just Jews (Acts 10)
• Went to Rome (1 Peter 5) and died in Rome by being crucified upside down

You get the impression that when Peter first met Jesus he was a pretty tough sort of guy. Fishing for a living on Lake Galilee was a rewarding but very risky business. Big storms would often come up threatening the boat to sink. Tax collectors for the Roman invaders would come seeking a cut of the bounty. Saying no to them was a brave option. You had to be tough in a tough world. Peter wasn’t one to suffer fools or forgive easily. I’m sure you would hear a few curse words daily from his lips about the Romans.

One day Jesus came and called Peter to leave his nets and come follow him. I don’t know what was going through Peter’s mind. It’s not easy to give up the security of a successful job for the unknown. Was he tired of the hard working life he was living? The thought of doing something different must have been appealing to Peter.

After being with Jesus for a while, hearing the sermons and parables, seeing the miracles, living an adventurous life on the road, Peter began to soften a little. Watching Jesus began to have an effect on how he thought about things. Peter had heard the Sermon on the Mount and the part about forgiving others before God could forgive you. Peter thought about some of the wrong things he had done and he remembered one of his shifty relatives who still hadn’t paid him for a large quantity of fish that had been taken to market, more than once in fact.

21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?”. 22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.”
Matthew 18:21-22

“Seventy times seven? Forget it!” We can all identify with Peter.

“Seventy times seven”. To the one receiving is Grace, to the one giving is Suffering. Grace and Suffering go hand in hand.

In the story of the Prodigal Son, the father showed a lot of Grace to the son throughout the story from the beginning to the end. If your son came and asked you for half his inheritance so he could go travel the world and gain a great life education, what would you say to him? Does the son think his father is a fool and doesn’t know what he’ll be spending the money on? In showing his son such Grace, the father had to endure a lot of Suffering;

• Having a foolish and ungrateful son
• Knowing his hard earned money would be spent foolishly by his son
• Never hearing from the son while he was away
• Knowing the risks his son would take, that he might never see him again
• Spending every day missing his son, gazing hopefully out the window for his return

Grace releases the other person to their choices, their mistakes and their life but in letting go there can be a lot of pain. It is every parent’s dilemma, the dilemma of anyone who loves someone.

It seems to me that suffering is greater if it is because of someone you love that you are suffering.

Peter was one of Jesus three closest friends along with James and John. Jesus had given all three the greatest of experiences of standing on the mountain when Moses and Elijah appeared and seeing Jesus transfigured into his heavenly form. That was like something from out of a science fiction movie, an out of this world experience. Of all the things that Peter witnessed as a disciple, I’d say that was the greatest because it was the most personal, the most amazing of privileges. Like standing in the Heavenly Palace with all the light, glory and wonder and you are there because you are invited.

After such an experience as that, and many other great experiences, how did Peter come to fail Jesus so badly? That was the sorrow that ripped at Peter’s heart when he ran away crying from the courtyard where he had denied he even knew his friend. Peter saw the sadness and pain in his Jesus’ face as he walked by on his way to judgement alone.

Peter thought he was a tough guy, the one guy who Jesus could count on but he failed the Lord big time when it mattered. Have you ever had a close friend or relative who let you down when you were counting on them? Probably all of us can think of someone. Possibly we can also recall when we have let down someone we love.

Peter is the disciple to whom I think Jesus showed the most Grace but had to endure the most Suffering.

After Jesus had been resurrected we can read how he met the disciples cooking them breakfast on the shores of Galilee. John 21 should be read in the light of Peter and the disciple’s failure. If your friends had deserted you when you needed them most, hurt you, would you go looking for friends like that, let alone cooking and serving them a meal? It took a lot for Jesus to forgive Peter, but you wouldn’t really know it from the pleasant scene described, if you didn’t know the history.

“Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these others?” That sounds to me like Jesus is unsure that Peter loves him because he’s back to calling him “Simon”, like they’ve only just met. That’s what happens when a relationship breaks down. It’s awkward.

“Yes” Peter replied, “You know I’m your friend”
“Then feed my lambs” Jesus told him. Show me you care. Jesus repeated the question; “Simon, son of John, do you really love me?” I’m not convinced. You really let me down bro’.

“Yes, Lord”, Peter said, “You know I am your friend”. It’s great that you’re here now. Can’t we just forget what's happened and go back to how it was?

“Then take care of my sheep”, Jesus said insistently. Once more he asked him “Simon, son of John, are you even my friend?” You see I’m not really sure you are my friend anymore. There’s Jesus expressing his doubts over exactly how much of a friend Peter is.

That one hurt Lord. I know I’m a weak and rotten sinner but you know I really love you “Lord, you know my heart, you know I am” he said.

Jesus said “Then feed my little sheep. When you were young, you were able to do as you liked and go wherever you wanted to; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands and others will direct you and take you where you don’t want to go.” Jesus said this to let him know what kind of death he would die to glorify God. Then Jesus told him “Follow me”. Peter, let’s be friends again but I won’t pretend it’s going to be easy for you. Because following me means you’re going to suffer like I have. You’re also going to learn that Grace and Suffering go together.

About thirty years later Peter is now an old man writing a letter from Rome to the Jewish Christians scattered throughout the world. He is a changed man who has had an amazing life, so different from the life he had been living as a small town commercial fisherman. His influence is across the world in a day when travel was difficult and dangerous and there was no media to help instantly spread the message. He has obeyed Jesus and gone into the world and preached the Gospel even in Rome, the most dangerous place to live. The Emperor Nero is killing Christians, burning them, throwing them to the lions. Peter writes to tell believers everywhere to obey the Government, honour the Emperor! Peter is full of Grace towards even the Romans he had once hated, a fisher of men just as Christ had foretold.

Last week I spoke to the Community Dinner Gathering about what it takes to transform an acorn into a great oak tree and I think that Peter is an example of that type of transformation. Born Again! From a small, insignificant acorn to a remarkable great oak tree – a strong shelter for the birds and animals that might live in it.

In every one of the five chapters of 1 Peter, Suffering is mentioned as part of the way things are for Christians in this world. There is no doubt that there is a lot of suffering in the world and that everyone suffers in some way whether they are a Christian or not. I don’t want to attempt to explain the reason why there is general suffering for mankind because I know I couldn’t give you a satisfactory answer. I also don’t want to try and answer the question of why random bad things happen to good people. I think about the tragedy of the Elim students and teacher killed at Mangatepopo Gorge and I don’t think I can offer the right words.

Peter is talking about Suffering like Christ, Suffering for doing right and sometimes in our human failings Suffering for doing wrong. So let’s limit it to those types because God has made some great promises to Christians who suffer for those reasons, yes even to those who suffer for doing wrong!

Probably the least popular promise Jesus made, the one we don’t hear too often these days is in Matthew 5:11-12 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

So let’s look at what Peter says about suffering in his first letter. I picked out only the statements around Suffering, each contains a promise;

1. Chapter 1 talks about the reward for Suffering v 6-7. Earlier in the chapter Peter mentions how trials come to test our faith, but the promise is that these fiery trials refine us and bring us praise and honour on the day of Christ’s return. The trials Peter is talking about are ones that come because of our Christian faith described by Jesus in Matthew 5 because the world and the devil are against Christ.

2. Chapter 2 talks about Christ’s example v 21-23. It takes unusual strength to remain silent under fire. Be strong! The promise is that the Father will judge justly. Earlier in the chapter Peter describes how the One rejected was made the Cornerstone of the Church. We also are living building stones for God’s use in building his house. The Suffering makes us strong like stones, like Christ. What an honour!

3. Chapter 3 distinguishes between suffering for doing right and wrong v 13-18. Here Peter encourages us to quietly trust ourselves to Christ because the promise is God knows our innocence and will reward us (v14). Later in the Chapter, Peter reminds us that Christ is now given the highest honour in Heaven next to the Father and all the angels and powers of Heaven bow down and obeys him. The implication from other scripture is that the one who overcomes will also reign with Christ.

4. Chapter 4 can help us if we’re suffering for doing wrong. It’s funny, Peter says in v 15 “Don’t let me hear of your suffering for murdering or stealing or making trouble or being a busybody and prying into other people’s affairs” What kind of a rogue Church was Peter in charge of? I’ll tell you. A Church that consisted of people who had accepted God’s Grace in their lives. After the way Peter failed the Lord, I’m sure he had learned Grace to all kinds of people despite their failings. Verse 1 tells us 1 “Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude, because whoever suffers in the body is done with sin.” The promise is that when we suffer, sin loses its power. Remember Peter is talking about the believer who sins. The Christian who suffers because they have sinned will realise they need to change and will seek God through their suffering. The non-believer might pray but in their heart they are only praying that their suffering will end!

5. Chapter 5 tells us who is behind our Suffering in this world v8-10. The promise is that the devil cannot keep attacking you for very long. The devils time is short and in due course we are restored and strengthened. So don’t think that your troubles will never end. Only the devil wants you to think that!

Every person needs hope ahead of them to keep going through personal failure or hard times. Peter had that amazing experience of standing on the mountain with Jesus, Moses and Elijah. I like to look at that picture of Mt. Cook, it reminds me of the Mountain of God to which I’m travelling to. It’s not an easy journey to the top of a mountain but it’ll be worth it once I get there.

That’s the message Peter was trying to pass on. Grace and Suffering are close friends.

• Whether you are suffering for doing right or for doing wrong, Keep going.
• If you have to forgive your brother or sister seventy times seven. Keep going.
• Your eternal life is waiting for you up ahead. Keep going!

Now may the Grace of the Lord Christ Jesus and the love of the Father above and the presence and power of the Spirit of God be with us forevermore!

Transformers 3

It's the middle of winter and all around our Papatoetoe Community Church building are hundreds of acorns lying on the ground. They would be a great source of food for squirrels if we had any living in New Zealand...but we don't. I miss them! I showed an acorn to the Wednesday Community Gathering and asked them what it was. Of course they knew, it's easily recognisable. But when I asked what was contained within, the best answer was a nut. That's true, but hidden within the acorn is everything required for a great oak tree.

The sprout from an acorn to an oak tree is instant but the time taken to grow the tree is very long. With a caterpillar, the transformation to a butterfly is much faster but just as remarkable.

So many things nature can tell us about God if we'll pay attention, I'll give you two!

The first is that God's design is that we reap what we sow. If I plant an acorn, I'll get an oak tree. The Bible teaches us that if we sow sin, we'll reap Death. But if we'll sow the things of the Spirit, we'll get Life. You can identify the work of the Spirit in someone's life very easily, just look for some or all of the nine fruit described in Galatians 5:22-23

The second is that something has to happen to change the acorn to an oak tree. If I leave an acorn on a table, it stays the same forever. The oak tree is in the DNA of the acorn but a transformation has to take place. That is the germination of the seed and there are three things required for that - Oxygen, (the right) Temperature and Water.

God has designed everything and everyone for a purpose. We all contain within us remarkable Spiritual DNA to make us unimaginably different and beautiful from what we are but a transformation has to take place. What changes a person from the natural to the supernatural Life is God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Three again!

That is why we are told in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that "When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun." If you know someone who has become a Christian, the transformation to the new life is instant. The person is "Born Again". What's more, the final result will be amazing and beautiful and unimaginably different. Quite often you hear a story of some person whose life was instantly transformed when they put their faith in Christ. But for others the change is not so fast.

If you are a believer, be patient, for the growth to the final result can take a short time like a caterpillar to a butterfly but it can also take a long time as an acorn to an oak tree : )

Emotional Rescue

"I'll be your Saviour steadfast and true, I'll come to your Emotional Rescue". Who wrote those words, they are not from the Bible but maybe God likes to sing them haha!

Pick a number from 1 to 150.

Read the 1st verse of the related Psalm (there are 150 of them).

There are many different feelings behind each one of the Psalms - love, isolation, guilt, faith, doubt, laughter, sorrow, hope, fear bordering on paranoia! Probably you have experienced all of them, sometimes all in one day with kids!

A very useful modern invention called emoticons helps express feelings in text language. I thought the kids in the Youth Group would know them all but surprisingly they didn't. No doubt they know a few not in the official list ; )

Someone once told me that when you become a Christian, the sky would seem more blue. Well yes it did but then Monday came : (

The fact is that to be human is to suffer our emotions.

Some people cope by "toughening up". Others break down. I think the only answer though to some of life's emotions is - take them to God.

As in the Psalms.

How would you text God right now?

Bob Dylan and Sam Hunt

Yesterday Bob Dylan turned the dubious age the Bible warns us of seventy. Much of Dylan's life and best work has been under a black cloud...I'm sure being 70 doesn't bother him too much. I have an appropriate BLACK book at home called "Bob Dylan Lyrics 1962 - 1985". It is the collection of his songs laid out as poems which paint pictures of people and places! Bob might score me 2/10 for alliteration...he's much better at it than me.

Also this week our famous New Zealand poet of about that age, Sam Hunt, has had a film released about him called "Purple Balloons and Other Stories". If you know Sam Hunt, you will know quite often his poems don't rhyme and they are delivered in a kind of monotonous tone a bit like Bob! But that's what makes them unique and well loved. I have 2 fond memories of Sam. The first when he came to our school in 1982 of him standing to attention outside the school library saluting one of the boys who came to school on mufti day a bit different to everyone else in full army uniform. The second memory is of Sam sitting in a chair at Waitangi, drink in hand, chuckling to himself as he observed Prince Charles arriving in a Maori canoe on to land and walking past the crowds on his way to the marae for the annual celebrations. I'm not exactly sure but I think he was enjoying the irony of the moment. If you know New Zealand history, and the problems caused by the Treaty of Waitangi of 1840, you might get it.

Bob and Sam both have their own unique way of delivering their poems. Most modern poetry is in musical form so we are not really accustomed to people reading poetry as popular art. But at times in history, poets have been very famous - Yeats, Shelley, Blake, Plath...it's a long list including David and Solomon from the Bible. Poems are big ideas in small rhyming phrases - a way of telling stories in a concise and memorable way. Sam Hunt reckons he can remember 4000 poems by heart, he said it's because they are so good that he cannot forget them!

When Sam was asked why he preferred to perform poetry rather than write it he said "The day the printing press was invented poems were well and truly hammered down on the page and quickly taken over by the academics. A lot of people still think a poem on a page is the poem but it's not - that's the score of the poem. If somebody handed me a sheet of music I'd say 'Well, can you play it or get some musicians to play it? Then I could hear it'. I feel the same with poems. The poets I really love and would die for, all their poems work out there when you say them."

The Bible is exactly as Sam describes. It is just words on paper but like music and poetry, it only comes to life when it is performed.

Forgive us our Debts

With the recent assassination of Osama Bin Laden, some of the first words we heard the President of the United States utter afterwards were "Justice has been done". Indeed. In the case of violence, the Old Testament law clearly states "an eye for an eye". However, for a lot of people, a quick bullet to the head will not have been enough for a man responsible for the deaths of thousands. No justice handed out could ever bring back their loved ones. For many people it is humanly impossible to forgive the crimes that have been committed against them.

Most people in our country have at least heard of the The Lord's Prayer. In this prayer are the memorable words "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors". The prayer is recorded by Matthew, one of Jesus' disciples. Matthew was an accountant, a tax collector. He knew a thing or two about keeping accounts and the legal right to collect debts! It is interesting to read that a wrong committed creates a debt that must be paid. That is what the justice system is all about. A man can "pay for his crimes" by going to prison. On a more personal level, if I hurt your feelings it is said that I "owe you an apology".

If I commit a big crime like murder that creates a big debt immediately. But over time, even a small wrong which creates only a small debt will build up to a great debt if it is repeated over and over again. This is especially true between family and friends who we spend a great deal of time with. Over a lifetime our debts can become so huge that we cannot repay them. No wonder people get divorced over what to others seem like very small matters! In another parable recorded in Matthew, Jesus told the story of a man with a great debt to the King. It is called the parable of the unmerciful servant. The man begged for mercy from the King and got it! But then the man went and threw one of his own debtors into prison until his much smaller debt could be paid. When the King found out he was furious and the man had to pay an even heavier price than in the first place! But more disturbingly Jesus said the same would happen to us if we refused to forgive others!

Why would Jesus say that? We do know that holding a grudge against someone eats us up inside. When we won't forgive because we want retribution, it is us who remain angry and without peace. If not for anybody but ourselves, we need to forgive!

But Jesus is saying more than that. He is saying that in fact we ourselves owe a great debt to God and to others, and that if we are a believer, we have been forgiven that debt through Jesus dying on the Cross for us. Therefore if we have been forgiven such a great debt, it is evil for us to hold on to others' debts to us.

And even more than that! How can we say we love God, if we refuse to love others? These are very strong words from Jesus! It is only possible to forgive someone if there is love in our hearts for that person. We need to see the person through Jesus' eyes. He died to forgive all our wrongs. That took an immeasurable amount of love on his part. We need to see the other person with love and compassion, perhaps we need to hear their story. But in some cases, people are evil and will never change. We need to remember that Jesus died on the Cross for everyone - he loves everyone.

Forgiveness pays the full price of every debt. Forgiveness costs the individual who has been wronged more than anyone else can say. God knows that. But to forgive is to be like God. To love like God loves. Does that mean that we don't need a justice system? Of course not! Was it wrong to execute Osama Bin Laden without trial. No, not by God's Law. But would the World be a different place if we could all learn to forgive like God has forgiven us?

Osama Bin Laden

Yesterday the notorious enemy of the West, responsible for the events of 9/11 in 2001 that changed the world into a more fearful place - Osama Bin Laden - was killed in a military raid having finally been discovered after nearly 10 years in hiding. There have been scenes particularly from the US, of people everywhere rejoicing at his demise.

I must admit to very mixed feelings on the news, I actually feel a bit sad. You see, a few years ago now, my youngest son began requesting every night that we pray for just 2 things - his friend Aaron who had emigrated to Australia and surprisingly, Bin Laden. There was something about Bin Laden that particularly struck a chord with my son. The prayer request never changed and every night we would pray "Lord please help Bin Laden, please show him that what he is doing is wrong and help him to change". It seemed a very insignificant prayer and usually a bit of an effort to say at the end of a long tiring day!

Jesus told us to love our enemies, to pray for them. From all accounts I doubt whether Bin Laden did change, he kept up his threats of terrorism right until the end. There does come a time in everyone's life when the die is cast and Bin Laden's time came. I guess we don't know for sure what happens in someones final moments. God can reach even an atheist when he is dying. Was the prayer worth anything at all?

What I can say for sure is that Aaron is doing very well at his school in Australia but that he still very much misses his friend in NZ. I believe that is more than a coincidence. And I also believe that praying for an enemy does change our own heart if not our enemy's. Yesterday I could have been rejoicing too, but instead I just feel sad.

The Victory

I love this time of year. There is something very special about Easter isn’t there? You could think it’s just because it’s autumn and the mornings are crisp, the sky is blue, the colours and the light is different than any other time of year. It’s more than that. I’ve been in England for the opposite season when it is spring and it’s the same feeling. I wonder if it is different in countries with other religions whether other times of the year are more special.

One good thing about preaching on Good Friday – you know exactly what you’re going to talk about!  If you’ve been a Christian for some time, and even if you haven’t every one of us knows and believes that Jesus died on the Cross on Good Friday for our sins and then on Sunday he rose again!  It is an amazing message and certainly ought to get our attention if nothing else.

I’ve joined Twitter! I can follow all the latest trends and it’s really interesting to see what people are saying about different topics. Through the last weeks the Easter theme has been building up. It’s been really interesting to see what people are saying about Lent, Palm Sunday, Holy week, the Cross. It’s good to know what people think about Jesus. People are talking! I feel connected. I aspire to tweet something good each day - a word of wisdom, a meaningful proverb. I’m changing the world one tweet at a time! Only problem is I’ve only got two followers : )

Now I’m going to say a few things today that I normally wouldn’t say. I’m not saying them about myself and I’m sort of poking my head out from behind the true Victor - Jesus. But I think it’s a good day to celebrate the Victory Jesus won for us on the Cross. I think it is right to celebrate being on the Winning Side!

But even though it is a simple message and I believe it, there always seemed to be more going on than I could understand. How could Jesus’ death on the Cross pay for the sins of all mankind? Why was the Cross at Calvary the Victory in the Great Spiritual War that had started before the dawn of time?

Pre-history we can read how this Great War started. How Satan had plotted to overthrow God’s throne but had failed miserably. Count the number of times Satan boasts “I will” in this passage from Isaiah 14:12-16;

 ¹² How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn!
You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!
¹³ You said in your heart, “I will ascend to the heavens;
I will raise my throne above the stars of God;
I will sit enthroned on the mount of assembly, on the utmost heights of Mount Zion.
¹⁴ I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.”
¹⁵ But you are brought down to the realm of the dead, to the depths of the pit.

God hates Pride and that is why the Bible warns us that Pride comes before a fall and not to make too many plans!

Now I don’t know why but somehow Satan managed to persuade a third of the angels to join his failed rebellion and they got thrown out of Heaven too. What a bunch of LOSERS!

Amazingly Revelation 12:3-4 tells us

³ Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its heads. ⁴ Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that it might devour her child the moment he was born.

I guess they were anticipating a final victory for Satan. Everybody loves to back an underdog but surely not the flea on the underdog.  Sometimes you’ve got to know when to cut your losses.

Satan has a big vendetta against God for throwing him out of Heaven but God keeps blowing him out of the water hardly lifting a finger. And he’ll do it again in the future so we do not have to fear Satan or the future.

At man’s fall, God promised Satan that “he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”           

What I would like to know why the Devil didn’t see it coming?

 It wasn’t like the first time the Devil had tried and failed to defeat God after all;

• Killing all the Israelite babies in Egypt except the right one… Moses
• The entire Egyptian army drowned in the Red Sea…Pharaoh
• Thinking that a 10 foot giant warrior soldier would squash a small shepherd boy…David
• Confusing all his soldiers into killing each other until they all lay dead on the ground…Jehoshaphat
• 850 of his followers pleading and cutting themselves with razors so their god would come out of the toilet and act only for the one true prophet to call down fire from Heaven on a soaking wet altar to blow it to ash …Elijah
• Hoisted by his own petard…Haman etc. etc.

It was a long list of humiliating defeats.

During Jesus’ lifetime, Satan had tried to kill him several times.

At Jesus birth, we know that Herod tried to kill him by murdering all the young boys in Bethlehem.

The 2^nd temptation of Christ was for him to jump from the temple and to prove he was the Son of God

For claiming to be the Messiah the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill him in John 10:31-33

The strong wind that rose up on Galilee threatening to sink the boat with Jesus and the disciples in it, that travelled to Gerasene across on the other side of Galilee on the way to deliver the man possessed by demons.

At the Cross, Satan finally saw the opportunity that he had long been waiting for to murder the Son of God and make the way to take over the throne he coveted. He couldn’t help himself! Satan was exposed as the liar and murderer that he is and utterly defeated. It was a brilliant victory for Jesus because it was disguised as utter defeat. It was a complete humiliation for Satan that God at his weakest, stripped of all his power, dying in darkness had defeated every force of evil that Satan could muster. Amazingly he had fulfilled exactly the battle plan that had been laid out for the enemy to see in advance. Imagine that! You even tell the enemy exactly what you’re going to do and he still walks right into it!

Colossians 2: 15

And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

In the book by CS Lewis, the White Witch has Aslan on the Stone Table ready to kill him. She has him there because of the Emperor’s law that said there must be blood shed for a traitor otherwise all Narnia will be overturned and perish in fire and water. Edmund had betrayed his brother and sisters. Aslan had taken his place and had to die. But the White Witch did not know or understand the Greater Law which said that if another took the Traitors place, that the Deeper Magic would take effect and Death would be reversed.

God had written Greater laws that came into effect the moment Jesus died.

“Cursed is Him who hangs on a Tree”. Deuteronomy 21:23 tells us “you must not leave the body hanging on the pole overnight. Be sure to bury it that same day, because anyone who is hung on a pole is under God’s curse. You must not desecrate the land the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance.” This is why the Jews took the body down on the Friday night. Through these words God had both laid out what would happen and also made it possible to place the sins of the World on Jesus.

Similarly in another place, the High Priest laying his hands on the goat and transferring the people’s sins on to it (Leviticus 16:21-22)
Remember the Serpent on the pole that if the people looked at it, they would be healed of the snake bites. (Numbers 21:8-9). John 3:14-15 “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up,¹⁵ that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”

In another place referred to in Hebrews 9:22, the passage that said that without bloodshed, there could be no forgiveness of sins.

So many things that God had also said that came into effect the moment Jesus died cancelling out our sins!

So we see how easily the Devil was defeated.  Now having understood how foolish Jesus made the Devil look before the entire Heavenly court and the Underworld as well, I want to change the emphasis away from the Devil to Jesus.

We tend to think of Resurrection Sunday as being the day of triumph but spiritually speaking Jesus defeated the Devil at the Cross. Instead of doom and gloom, we ought to start celebrating Victory on Friday! It is our V-Day!

Even so in the hours leading up until that triumphant moment, Jesus suffered physical torture and spiritual anguish that we cannot understand. I would like to read some passages from work by Seventh Day Adventist Pastor Jack Sequira that gave me a new appreciation.

“As God, all that is true of God is true of Christ. Likewise, as a man, all that is true of men was true of Christ (Hebrews 2:14-17). Therefore for Christ as God to become like us men, Christ had to empty Himself completely of all His divine prerogatives. Only then could He be made in all points like unto us and qualify to be our Saviour and substitute.

As a man, Jesus was totally dependent on the Father. He could not do anything without the Father. Incidentally, now we can live like Jesus did, dependent on the Father but with the empowering of God’s Spirit.

All this throws important light on His death on the cross. For not only was Christ as the Son of man totally dependent on the Father for His every need, but even when it came to the resurrection, Christ (who even though He possessed His own uncreated, unborrowed, divine life) could not raise Himself from the dead without the authority and direction of the Father. It is for this reason that Scripture clearly teaches that Christ was raised up from the dead by the glorious power of the Father (Romans 6:4; Acts 2:24, 32; Ephesians 1:20)

Romans 6:4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

In the garden of Gethsemane, we hear Him pray three times in agony: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39-44).

What exactly did He mean by the cup? The answer can be found in the three angels’ message of Revelation 14. “And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation” (Revelation. 14:9, 10). The cup is clearly the irrevocable curse of God, which is the second death

This is something that I had never thought of before. Jesus died as we do but also he tasted the 2^nd Death. Jesus had emptied himself of all that was divine and become a man who must pay the ultimate price for his sins – the 2^nd Death. That is the depth of love that he has for each one of us. It was just like when Abraham was about to kill Isaac and had the knife poised to strike. In that moment Abraham was willing to kill Isaac. In those moments leading up to Jesus death, he was willing to be separated from the Father for our sakes! Jesus was experiencing our penalty of the 2^nd Death and the wrath of God. That is why the Earth went dark. That is why Jesus cried out “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”

Have you ever faced something in your life where you were sure you could handle it right up until the moment it was about to happen? Even though Jesus had spoken “Destroy this Temple and in 3 days I will raise it up”, when the actual moment came it felt like utter defeat, hopelessness and despair. God wasn’t there.

If I can draw another analogy from Anzac Day, it was like the men who signed up to go to Gallipoli in World War 1. Those brave men were willing to give up their lives and they did so with bravery and in confidence. But I’m sure that when the moment came, when they were facing the hail of bullets from the machine guns, the full horror of their sacrifice was known to them. There have been many people in history who have laid down their lives for others but no-one like Jesus. Even the bravest of men who is willing to give up their life cannot match the sacrifice Jesus made.

 

So while Christ was suffering untold mental anguish under the wrath of God, the devil, once again using the world as his agent comes to the Saviour with fierce temptations that can never be fully understood by mortal men: “He saved others, let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God . . . If thou be the King of the Jews, save thyself” (Luke 23:35-37)

At this point Satan knew Jesus was close to death. Was he simply mocking Jesus as the Crowd were, because he thought he had won? Or was it possible that God’s plan was being revealed and Satan was in panic trying with all his might to change Jesus mind? You decide, either way he was about to lose!

Finally the moment of Victory came. Jesus had endured until the end. The Devil had lost. When Jesus died he cried out “It is finished!” It was a Victory Cry! The price was paid, the wrath of God ended, the temple curtain torn in two signalling our relationship to God being restored. Now we can live in peace.

I would like to finish by reading the famous passage from Philippians that proclaims the magnitude of Jesus’ Victory that will one day be acknowledged by every person that’s ever lived.

  

Philippians 2:9-11

 ⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Amen

Guilty Your Honour

Would you like to live in a world with no rules where you could do what you like? I do what I like, you do what you like...as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else : ) Well there you have it, your first rule! It doesn't take too much intelligence to figure out that the World needs rules. And we sure got a lot of them at this stage in our history. Don't forget all the unwritten rules - especially if you're a man haha.

Well unfortunately the more rules we know, the more likely it is we will break them, which causes an unusual effect on us - Guilt! There's no denying it, the older we get, the more rules we have learned, the more prone we are to feeling guilty. And guilt is seriously bad for us. I don't just mean emotionally, but physically, psychologically, socially, spiritually. It is highly destructive and has to be dealt with.

Some things we do we can seek restoration for. For example, if I have hurt a friend's feelings I can go and apologise to them. If I am sincere, the friend will usually forgive me. If I have stolen something from someone, the Bible says we should repay 4 times what we have taken. If I stole a $100 mobile phone from some unsuspecting person, I should go and buy them an IPhone instead. That sounded a good idea to one of the girls in our Youth Group. She asked if I could steal her phone!

But some things we do wrong cannot be put right by our actions. I'm sure you can think of a few, maybe some in your own life. You can't reverse the thing you have done and you can't bring a life back. You can either cover it up and live with the guilt or you can confess and suffer the consequences. Quite often the consequences are severe so we choose to cover it up, but live with the guilt.

You may have heard the story of King David and Bathsheba. The moment David saw Bathsheba bathing naked on the roof, he had the thought "Wow, she's a beautiful woman". That was not the sin. We may often have a thought that we immediately recognise is wrong. That is not the sin. If we turn away, walk away, we haven't sinned even though the thought was bad. David's sin started the moment he chose to keep looking! Everything went from there. First adultery. Then deception. Then evil plans, then murder, then more deception. Each sin lead to something worse. A common approach people take when they have done wrong is to try and cover it up. Finally what David had done could not be put right. He could not make restoration to the man he had murdered! David had to live with his guilt and he did so for a year.

Now God won't let us get away with it. Like hunger telling us we need to eat, guilt is God's way of telling us to seek forgiveness and restoration. With David, God sent the prophet Nathan to jolt David from his position of false comfort that came from fooling himself that he had successfully covered it all up.

Finally David admitted his guilt and began the process of his forgiveness and restoration which you can read in Psalm 51. I do want to add that after confessing his sin, David accepted a punishment. This is not clear in the Psalm but if you read the previous passage above, you will see that the Lord did punish David. It is not easy to accept punishment but this is also part of the overall process of healing in some cases. The process is;

• Admitting our guilt  
• Admitting our weakness
• Asking to be made clean and new
• Asking for restoration
• Accepting our punishment
• Praising God from a true heart
• Asking for a future blessing

I put that last one in because sometimes in our guilt, we feel undeserving of anything anymore. But don't forget God loves us and being restored means everything in our relationship also is !!! Only God can give us that kind of forgiveness. Only God can remember our sins no more.

So there you have the remedy for persistent guilt. It's not in convincing ourselves that we have done nothing wrong, but in finally acknowledging that there is something wrong we have done and going to the one Person who can forgive and restore us again 1 John 1:5-8.

Please don't be offended

Tony Campolo is a radical evangelical Christian who at one time in his life was the spiritual counsellor to Bill Clinton, former President of the United States.

Tony's life message has been that Christians speak and live the Gospel message to the outcast and the poor and he is not afraid to speak out on what should be the Christian response to controversial issues such as abortion, gay marriage and war.

Often direct, always challenging, this is a famous quote by Tony speaking to a Christian audience a few years ago. "I have three things I'd like to say today. First, while you were sleeping last night, 30,000 kids died of starvation or diseases related to malnutrition. Second, most of you don't give a sh#t. What's worse is that you're more upset with the fact that I said sh#t than the fact that 30,000 kids died last night."

Tony Campolo is speaking at Manurewa Baptist on Thursday 7th April at 7pm.

Here's a classic clip entitled "Birthday Party"...

Who Am I?

"Who do you think you are?". It's a question we ask of someone we think needs to come down a notch or two...

Read Matthew 16:13-28. One minute they're having a pleasant walk together, enjoying each others company. The next, Jesus is talking about the end of the world, shouldering your cross and throwing away your life for His sake.

"Who do you think I Am?" is the question Jesus asked to them. Peter replied "You're the Messiah". It wasn't the pat answer from the head. It was straight from Peter's heart. No-one had taught Peter that - he just knew. Jesus told Peter that God had revealed that truth to Peter. Peter felt great. "I must be something special, a bit ahead of the others" he thought to himself.

So when Jesus switched the conversation to the dark and disturbing, Peter thought he would encourage Jesus and change topics - "You shouldn't say things like that", he told Jesus.

Jesus turned and said to Peter very sternly "Satan, get behind me". In other words you're going ahead of me - your pride is taking over. You're getting too big for your boots. You're speaking for Satan!!!

Quite frankly following Jesus IS disturbing. One moment cruising along, life's wonderful, you got the the inside knowledge, "Praise God I'm Saved". The next, some sin, some little scripture, the horror of thinking you are lost, cut off from God, without hope. You don't believe me, read the Psalms! I know that's how Peter would have felt.

It's not easy! You do have to give up your life, take up your cross and follow Him. Peter had given up everything to follow Jesus. He naturally felt good about himself because his life measured up. That was until Jesus was arrested. When the time came, Peter failed so badly, he felt lost forever.

He nearly forgot that one crucial thing. Jesus loved him. That's what picked Peter up, strengthened him and kept him going until the end.

The Kauri Tree

When I was young, my Dad planted a Kauri tree in our back garden. I can remember being disappointed at how slow it was to grow. Some Kauri trees are huge and are believed to be over a 1000 years old. But that's a long time to wait. Too long. I knew that I would never live to see it grow to any real height, I'd much rather have put a bush in...at least then I could see something happening.

Every Christian has read the challenge Jesus gave to the Rich Young Ruler in Matthew 19:16-30 to sell all that he had and come and follow Him.

We recently were privileged to have Murray Smith tell us his story of how he and his wife Michelle gave all that they had away...their newly built $1.3 million dollar home...so that a new Community Centre could be built.

I know it is meaningless to invest in the material things of this World when it is all going to dust. I've spent a lot of time thinking about how I can be effective for God's Kingdom which will last beyond my lifetime. The things I do though, don't seem to grow very quickly. My work seems very small. Maybe that's because I haven't taken enough risks, haven't given up everything. I worry about that. But I do know my life in Jesus' hands is like the Kauri tree. It might not be visible to the eye, but it is growing.

Risky Business

You know the saying - “nothing ventured, nothing gained”. What does it mean? What about the saying “I’m in over my head”?

A few weeks ago I was away with the Church Youth Group at Mt Mauganui on a Camp. We had a great time together – climbing the mountain, eating, learning, watching a movie outdoors and because the weather was so good, a lot of swimming…at the pools, in the river and in the sea. I wanted to join in at the beach so I went out into the surf with my glasses on, planning to only go in as far as my waist. However, because it was a lot of fun, I slowly went further and further out until eventually I was swimming and jumping to get over the waves. A lot more fun, but obviously more risky. Someone asked me if I should be out there with my glasses on... a first warning. Shortly after a wave came and just lifted my glasses slightly off my ear. A second warning which I again ignored. That’s good I thought; they aren’t going to fall off easily, so I went a bit further out. The next wave was a very big one. It came in and swamped me, knocking me over…and as I stood up I found I couldn’t see. Yes stupidly my glasses had been lost in the ocean! Despite a great search, they were lost. I spent the rest of the weekend depressed :(

Life is more fun if there is danger and risk involved. We take risks for the reward.

There is good risk and there is bad risk. Even with a good risk sometimes we will bomb out and we’ll suffer the consequences but we can learn from our failures. Next time we’ll achieve something great. For example, Thomas Edison failed a lot of times (some say more than 1000) to make the light bulb. It cost him a lot of time and money but eventually he invented something that changed the world.

But there are some risks we can take that don’t fall in that category. These are bad risks. We know they are wrong and dangerous to our health. God’s warned us, our parents have warned us, authorities have warned us, even our friends have warned us.

We need to distinguish between the 2 types of risk and take only the good risks in life. But the Bible teaches us that we are weak and give in easily to the bad risks which it calls Sin. That’s a bad situation! If we are struggling to avoid bad risks, only Jesus can save us from them. What does that mean? It means that with Him living inside us, He gives us His power to avoid the bad risks. The Power he showed when he died on the Cross for the whole World’s Sin. Only Jesus can do that, we can’t do it on our own.

The simple Gospel is we need to believe in Jesus and trust Him. Ask Him to help us. When we do this, He comes and lives inside us and gives us His Power to avoid bad risks in our lives. We need to know when we are “in over our heads”. My glasses cost me plenty of money to replace. There are some things in life we simply cannot afford to lose.