Este é o sermão que preguei no corpo de São Miguel, na reunião da salvação, na noite de 11 de julho de 2010. O tradução foi cuidadosamente editado por Gilmar, a quem sou eternamente grato. Este foi parte da minha série de mensagems sobre os 11 artigos de Doutrina do Exército de Salvação. Para a glória de Deus.
São Miguel Paulista Reunião de Salvação Corpo 11/07/10
Texto: Romanos 3:24
Leitura Bíblica: Romanos 3:21-26
Tema: A Igreja da Graça de Deus
Hoje à oite, a nossa leitura da Bíblia é de
Romanos 3:21-26
Introdução
Esta noite, eu quero falar com você sobre ser uma igreja da graça, uma igreja que é cheia de graça de Deus, uma igreja que respira e vive e age a graça do Deus. Creio que Deus quer que esta igreja seja uma igreja assim - uma igreja que está cheia da sua graça divina.
Mas é claro que nós sempre conversamos sobre a graça de Deus, mas, talvez, a verdade é que não entendo tão bem. E talvez que é porque a graça é algo que é muito mais fácil mostrar do que é falar. E, de fato, às vezes somos melhores em falar sobre as coisas que estamos vivendo-los.
Mas vamos passar algum tempo a pensar esta noite sobre a graça de Deus, o que é, eo que isso significa para nós.
Para nos ajudar, vamos voltar para as declarações do Exército da Salvação do que acredita, nossas doutrinas, e chegámos a número 8.
Por favor, ficamos de pé e ler juntos esta doutrina:
8. Cremos que somos justificados pela grace, mediante a fé em nosso Senhor Jesus Cristo, e que todo aquele que crê tem o testemunho em si mesmo.
Quero usar esta declaração para explicar o que eu acho que é graça de Deus, e eu vou usar três títulos. Estes três títulos todos descrevem quem somos como cristãos, que somos como membros da igreja de Cristo. Em primeiro lugar, somos filhos e filhas de Deus. Segundo, estamos destinatários da graça de Deus através da fé. E, finalmente, aqueles que são tocados pelo Espírito Santo.
1. Filhos e Filhas de Deus.
1 João 3:1
A primeira coisa que eu quero dizer hoje é que quando você recebe a graça de Deus, você se torna um filho ou uma filha de Deus. Agora, todos os seres humanos são filhos de Deus. Isso é verdade. Deus é o pai de todos os seres humanos, no qual ele os criou à sua imagem. Eles são seus filhos. E ele os ama. A Bíblia nos diz isso. Ela nos diz que amava toda a humanidade tanto que Ele enviou Seu Filho para morrer por eles.
Mas nem todos os seus filhos retornam esse amor. Isso pode ser por motivos diferentes. Alguns deles não sabem que ele é seu pai. Alguns deles sabem que ele poderia ser seu pai, mas não estão interessados em ter um pai, porque eles querem ser livres para fazer o que quiser, sem responsabilidade. Alguns deles sabem com certeza que Deus é o seu pai, mas o rejeitaram, eles se rebelaram contra ele.
Mas aqueles que acreditavam que Deus, o Pai enviou seu filho para salvá-los, para morrer na cruz e ressuscitou dentre os mortos para que eles possam ser perdoados por sua desobediência anterior, essas pessoas tornam-se filhos e filhas de Deus, pois eles são amados por ele e retornam esse amor.
Na passagem que lemos, Paulo está usando a imagem de ser declarado inocente diante de Deus, porque Jesus já pagou o preço pelos nossos pecados. Nossa crença de que isso é possível para nós, a nossa fé, faz com que essa inocência seja possível. Mas uma vez que ele proclamou nossa inocência diante dele por causa da nossa fé em Cristo, Deus, o juiz, não deixa o tribunal e nos não voltams para nossas vidas normais, para nunca mais ouvir falar dele. Uma vez que Jesus esteve no nosso lugar e recebeu nosso castigo, ele não apenas acenar e diz, ‘Por nada’, e vai embora e nos nunca o vêmos novamente. Uma vez que o Espírito Santo nos convenceu da nossa necessidade de salvação e trouxe-nos até ao ponto de fé, não apenas nos dá uma tapinha nas costas e diz 'boa sorte' e nós nunca mais sentimos a sua presença novamente. Não. Deus torna-se nosso Pai, mais uma vez, Jesus torna-se nosso irmão e Senhor, eo Espírito Santo torna-se o nosso companheiro e ajudador constante. Voltamos para o seio da família de Deus.
Para ser justificada por Deus não é uma transação legal. Para ser justificado por Deus é retornar a um relacionamento correto com Deus. Estar diante de Deus e saber e sentir que você é seu filho e que ele te ama. É para começar a viver uma vida de relacionamento com Deus.
Um outro dia, meu filho Andrew e eu estávamos jogando juntos e ele me acertou no nariz com um pedaço de um trilho de brinquedo. Foi um acidente, mas ele sabia que não deveria ter agido perigosamente. Ele pediu desculpas, e acho que ele quis dizer isso porque viu que ele tinha machucado meu nariz. E assim, porque eu o amo, eu o perdoei, mas é claro que com uma palavra de advertência sobre a não fazê isto novamente.
E assim é com Deus. Porque todos nós somos pecadores, todos nós temos feito algum dano a nós mesmos e aos outros, mas o pior de tudo, nós quebramos nosso relacionamento com Deus, como todo pecado, tudo o que fazemos de errado, é desobediente à lei de Deus e sua vontade.
Mas, se estamos arrependidos e queremos que a relaçâo seja restaurado, então Deus como nosso Pai encontra uma maneira de nos perdoar por nossa fé através Jesus. Deus graciosamente nos perdoa e através de seu perdão sua relação conosco é restaurada. Não há mais nenhuma rebelião ou desobediência, ou pecado, que possa criar um abismo entre nós e Deus. Isso é o que significa ser justificado.
2. Os destinatários da graça de Deus através da fé.
Mas isso só pode acontecer por causa da graça de Deus. Nós não podemos exigir que Deus restaure o relacionamento entre ele e nós. Nós somos incapazes de fazer algo, o que significa que Deus vai ser obrigado a restaurar esse relacionamento. Algumas pessoas pensam que se eles tentarem ser bom, então, que irá levá-los a Deus. Mas sabemos todos que ser bom sem a ajuda de Deus é muito difícil. Jesus e Paulo, ambôs fizeram claro este ponto na Bíblia. Não, Deus em seu amor surpreendente é o que vem a nós. Ele fala conosco através da Bíblia, através das testemunhas que ele colocou na igreja, e ele diz que, se você acreditar no meu filho, eu perdoarei tudo, e você pode ser meu filho, minha filha novamente. É tudo uma iniciativa de Deus, e seu perdão e amor é um dom que ele oferece completamente de graça, sem amarras. Só temos que acreditar que sua oferta é genuína, que suas palavras são verdadeiras. Temos que ter fé.
Considere a história no evangelho de João sobre a mulher pega em adultério. Vamos ler juntos
João 8:3-11
Agora este é um exemplo da incrível graça de Deus. Jesus estava certo ao apontar que nenhuns destes homens tinham o direito de condenar à morte uma vez que eles mesmos são culpados do pecado, e merecia ser punido. Jesus ele mesmo tinha o direito de condenar o seu pecado de adultério, porque era contra a lei de Deus, e, afinal, ele era o Filho de Deus. Mas ele não o fez. Essencialmente, ele a perdoou. Talvez ele pense que ela tem sofrido bastante por causa de sua humilhação pública. Mas ele a perdoou e a aconselhou contra o pecado novamente.
Os fariseus e os professores da lei não agiram com graça, mas com raiva e ódio contra Jesus e contra uma mulher pecadora. Mas Jesus deu graça a esta mulher, uma segunda chance, uma oportunidade para tentar novamente. Ela não merece isto. Ela provavelmente não esperava isto, mas naquele dia, ela conheceu a graça de Deus.
Algumas semanas atrás, alguns dos nossos jovens organizaram e proporcionaram uma noite de cinema aqui na igreja. O filme foi baseado em uma história verdadeira sobre um garoto americano que foi um atleta talentoso, mas ele era muito pobre e não é bem educado. Uma mulher rica e cristã, que teve um filho na mesma escola que o menino, encontrou o menino e decidiu ajudar-lo e cuidar dele, e ela acabou legalmente adotado ele porque sua mãe era um viciado em drogas e não podia cuidar dele. Esta mulher rica era também branca e este rapaz era negro, que nos Estados Unidos é ainda muito significante. A história tem um final feliz porque este rapaz passou a ser uma grande estrela no futebol americano.
Mas esta era uma história sobre graça. Por que deveria esta mulher que tinha tudo - riqueza e status e da família - por que ela deve oferecer carinho e ajuda para este pobre, ignorante, inábil, menino negro de um fundo problemático e carente? Eu vou te dizer por que eu acho que ela fez isto: a graça de Deus. Eu acho que ela acreditava na graça de Deus. Ela acreditava que ela tinha recebido a graça de Deus, quando ele a perdoou, e ela acreditava que ela deve mostrar que a graça de Deus dentro de si aos outros.
E assim é para nós, se somos cristãos aqui esta noite. Nós recebemos a graça de Deus. Ele demonstrou seu amor para conosco, enviando-nos o evangelho de Jesus Cristo e nos pedindo para acreditar nele. Ele demonstrou seu amor por nós, perdoando-nos quando nos arrependemos. Ele demonstrou seu amor para conosco, dando-nos o seu Espírito Santo para nos ajudar a sermos filhos obedientes. Ele demonstrou seu amor para conosco, respondendo às nossas orações. Nós somos beneficiários da Graça de Deus, porque nós acreditamos que esta oferta de graça, fornecida por nós através de Jesus, era verdade. Nós acreditamos; tivemos fé. E a graça de Deus nos foi dado.
E os amigos, depois de ter experimentado a graça de Deus, realmente experiente, realmente senti que os teus pecados estão perdoados, que Deus te ama e cuida de você, e que Jesus caminha ao seu lado na viagem da sua vida, então você achar que você tem um desejo profundo de ver outros experimentam esta graça, este perdão, este amor. Você tem um desejo profundo de partilhar a sua experiência da graça de Deus. Você tem um desejo profundo de ver outras pessoas reconciliadas com Deus seu Pai. Porque a experiência da graça de Deus é simplesmente a melhor experiência que a vida pode oferecer.
Você já teve essa experiência? Você conhence a graça de Deus? Você sentiu o seu perdão, amor e cuidado? Você quer? Então, acredito que Jesus traz a graça de Deus para você, através do seu sacrifício para você. Acredite que seu sacrifício tem lidado com o pecado que o separa de Deus, e então você vai experimentar a graça de Deus em sua vida.
3. Tocado pelo Espírito.
Mas você pode dizer para mim, Pastor, eu acho que eu tenha feito isso. Eu quero acreditar em Jesus. Eu orei com ele. Pedi a lhe para me perdoar. Eu quero acreditar que a morte de Jesus ea ressurreição significa que Deus me perdoou e agora me aceita como seu filho obediente. Mas como eu sei com certeza que eu recebi a graça de Deus, como eu sei que ele me aceita como um filho obediente? Como eu sei?
Encontramos a resposta a esta pergunta na Bíblia em vários lugares. Mas nós estamos indo olhar em Atos 15:7-9. Nesta passagem, vemos Pedro falando com o conselho da igreja em Jerusalém. Eles vêm discutindo a questão de saber se aqueles na igreja que não eram originalmente judeus devem se tornar judeus, mantendo as leis judaicas antes de serem cristãos. Isto é o que Pedro diz: (Atos 15:7-9)
Lá encontramos. Qual foi a prova de que os gentios, os cristãos não-judeus, tinham recebido a graça de Deus? Deus deu-lhes o Espírito Santo!
Agora, a partir da história da igreja, esta doação do Espírito Santo pode ter dois significados. Em primeiro lugar, o Espírito Santo foi testemunhado claramente agindo sobre estes crentes gentios por testemunhas. E em segundo lugar, estes crentes gentios se sentiram o Espírito Santo. Nesse sentido, a prova de que alguém tem fé e recebe a graça de Deus é que o Espírito Santo está dentro deles. E se o Espírito Santo está dentro deles, então eles e os outros serão capazes de percebê-lo, a experiência dele.
Agora, o que exatamente quero dizer com a experiência do Espírito Santo?
Bem, deixe-me dizer-lhe minha própria experiência. Creio que o Espírito Santo está comigo o tempo todo, mas eu nem sempre o sinto, ou tenho essa experiência com ele. No entanto, quando eu sinto o Espírito, a sensação para mim é por vezes um arrepio físico. Em outras vezes eu sinto o Espírito Santo está agindo, porque eu experimentar uma corrida inesperada de emoção. Mas esta não é a única maneira que o Espírito pode ser experimentado. Diferentes pessoas possuem diferentes tipos de experiências do Espírito Santo. O Espírito Santo também traz à memoria o pensamento e as idéias e imagens que, creio, só poderia ter vindo dele. O Espírito Santo me deu uma premonição da morte de meu pai e de recuperação de Andrew da doença e de um ou dois outros eventos. Para mim, isso é Deus me dizendo que eu sou seu filho e que eu sou justificado diante dele por sua graça, trabalhando através de minha fé em Jesus.
E outras pessoas podem, eventualmente, dar testemunho do Espírito Santo agindo em mim. Tenho quase a certeza que quem me conhece há muito tempo poderia dizer que eu mudei e sou um homem melhor do que era. Outros talvez pudessem testemunhar o fato de que Deus tem me dado palavras proféticas, que Deus me usou para curar as pessoas, que Deus me usou para dar orientação às pessoas, que Deus respondeu às minhas orações.
Novamente, existem milhões de pessoas que demonstraram publicamente que o Espírito Santo tem trabalhoado neles, para fazer milagres, para conduzir as igrejas e organizações, para evangelizar, para ajudar os pobres e assim por diante. E esta é a prova de que eles receberam a graça de Deus através da fé em Jesus Cristo.
Agora, é claro, temos de ser cuidadosos. A Bíblia é clara que existem falsos profetas e falsos messias, e as pessoas que parecem que estão ministrando no poder do Espírito Santo, enquanto na verdade eles estão ministrando no poder do diabo. E nós precisamos do Espírito Santo para nos ajudar a perceber a diferença. E ele fala através da Bíblia sobre este assunto. O Espírito Santo diz claramente, eu não dou os dons sem fruto, e eu não dou poder sem amor, sem graça.
E esta é a verdade vital. Algumas igrejas tornaram-se embriagado com o poder: obcecado com o poder. O Espírito Santo não demonstrar o seu poder entre nós para mostrar o quão poderoso ele é. Ele não mostra o seu poder para nos entusiasmar e emocionar-nos e nos entreter. Então o que podemos dizer, ei, olhe para nós, o nosso Deus é mais poderoso do que o seu, o nosso Deus é mais poderoso e surpreendente do que você. Estamos legais porque nós estamos com Deus e com vocês não ésta. Não, o Espírito Santo vem a nós e nos toca com poder para demonstrar a graça de Deus, para mostrar o quanto ele nos ama, nada mais. As manifestações do Espírito Santo, ambos os dons e os frutos, são sua maneira de mostrar o quanto ele nos ama.
O Espírito Santo mostra-se a nós e trabalha através de nós por duas razões apenas - para nos mostrar que Ele nos ama, e amar outras pessoas através de nós. Deus o Pai escolheu para amar seus filhos através de nós através do Espírito Santo. O Espírito Santo ama os outros através de nós. O Espírito Santo dá a graça para os outros através de nós.
Isso é o que significa ser cristão. Um cristão é uma portadora da graça de Deus; nós experimentamos o amor de Deus e então levá-lo aos outros - a seu favor, a sua gentileza ea bondade e misericórdia. Trazemos sua graça para os outros. E porque o Espírito escolhe nos dar dons diferentes, muitas vezes, de acordo com nossas personalidades diferentes, nós podemos trazer a graça de Deus para os outros de forma mais eficaz quando nós trabalhamos juntos como uma igreja.
Creio que Deus quer que as igrejas estejam cheias de sua graça, que estão cheios do tipo de perdão e de tolerância, paciência e amor que ele mostra para seus filhos. A pergunta que devemos fazer hoje a noite é esta: é esta igreja uma igreja cheia de graça? Eu sou, você está cheio da graça de Deus? Nós acreditamos plenamente em Jesus Cristo? Não estamos plenamente de aceitar que Deus perdoou os nossos pecados e nos aceita como seu filho? Será que a experiência do Espírito Santo como prova de que somos perdoados e redimidos? Nós sentimos um enorme desejo de partilhar a nossa experiência da graça de Deus com os outros?
Queridos amigos esta noite a graça de Deus pode ser suas. Se você não tem nenhuma experiência da graça de Deus, então você pode experimentá-lo aqui neste lugar hoje à noite. Se você tem lutado para acreditar em Jesus como seu Salvador, então você pode acreditar, esta noite, pelo poder do Espírito Santo. Se você ainda não experimentou o Espírito Santo, e assim provado o seu perdão de Deus, você pode experimentar esta noite.
Você pode experimentar todas estas coisas, a fé, a graça, o poder ea sua presença do Espírito Santo, hoje a noite, aqui, neste lugar de oração: só orando.
Se você acha isso difícil, então alguém vai virá e orará com você. Por favor, não perca esta oportunidade. Na sexta-feira, tive o imenso privilégio de participar no funeral do pastor Benedito da Igreja Ebenezer aqui em São Miguel. Ele tinha apenas 55 anos. Mas ele tinha experimentado uma vida da graça de Deus ea presença do Espírito Santo através de sua fé em Jesus. Agradeço a Deus a graça que ele deu ao Pastor Benedito e da maneira que encheu sua vida. E eu agradeço a Deus a graça que ele me mostrou, porque ele foi melhor do que qualquer outra coisa que eu experimentei em minha vida.
Se você quiser experimentar a graça de Deus, se você quiser ter fé em Cristo, se você quiser receber o Espírito Santo, por favor, venha agora até a frente e ajoelhe-se aqui e peça a Deus em oração.
Tuesday, 23 November 2010
Article 8 - Justified by grace through faith.
This is the original English version of a sermon preached in Portuguese on the 11th July 2010 at Sao Miguel Paulista Corps, Sao Paulo. It has been simplified a little for greater ease of translation.
(All the bible readings are from the New International Version.)
Sao Miguel Paulista Corps Salvation Meeting 11/07/10
Bible Reading: Romans 3:21-26
Theme: A Church of Grace
Our reading tonight is from Romans 3:21-26
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Introduction
Tonight, I want to talk to you about being a church of grace; a church that is full of God’s grace; a church that lives and breathes and acts out the grace of God. I believe that God wants this church to be a church like that – a church that is full of his divine grace.
But of course, we often talk about God’s grace, but perhaps the truth is we don’t understand it so well. And maybe that is because grace is something that is much easier to show than it is to talk about. And indeed, sometimes we are better at talking about things than we are at living them out.
But let’s spend some time tonight thinking about God’s grace, what it is, and what it means to us.
To help us we are going to return to the Salvation Army’s statements of what it believes, our doctrines, and we have reached number 8.
Please, let us stand and read this doctrine together:
8. We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.
I want to use this statement to explain what I think God’s grace is, and I’m going to use three headings. These three headings all describe who we are as Christians; who we are as members of Christ’s church. Firstly, we are sons and daughters of God. Secondly, we are recipients of God’s grace through faith. And finally, we are those who are touched by the Holy Spirit.
1. Sons and Daughters of God.
1 John 3
1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
The first thing I want to say tonight is that when your receive the grace of God, you become a son or a daughter of God. Now all human beings are children of God. This is true. God is the father of every human being, in that he created them in his image. They are his children. And he loves them all. The bible tells us this. It tells us that he loved all humanity so much that he sent his son to die for them.
But not all his children love him back. This can be for different reasons. Some of them don’t know that he is their Father. Some of them know that he might be their father but are not interested in having a father because they want to be free to do what the want with no accountability. Some of them do know with certainty that God is their father but have rejected him; they have rebelled against him.
But those who have believed that God the Father sent his son to save them, to die on a cross and rise from the dead so that they might be forgiven for their previous disobedience, those people become sons and daughters of God; they are loved by him and they love him in return.
In the passage we read, Paul is using the image of being found innocent before God because Jesus has paid the penalty for our sin. Our belief that this is possible for us - our faith - makes this innocence possible. But once he has proclaimed our innocence in his eyes because of our faith in Christ, God the Judge doesn’t leave the coutroom, and we go back to our normal lives, never to hear from him again. Once Jesus has stood in our place and received our punishment, he doesn’t just wave and say, no problem, and walk away and we never see him again. Once the Holy Spirit has convinced us of our need for salvation and brought us to the point of faith, he doesn’t just pat us on the back and say ‘good luck’ and we never feel his presence again. No. God becomes our Father again, Jesus our brother and Lord, and the Holy Spirit our companion and constant helper. We return into the heart of the family of God.
To be justified by God is not a legal transaction. To be justified by God is to return to a correct relationship with God. It is to stand before God and know and feel that you are his child and that he loves you. It is to begin to live one´s life in relationship to God.
The other day my son Andrew and I were playing together and he smacked me in the nose with a piece of toy railway track. It was an accident, but he knew he should not have been waving it around dangerously. He said sorry, and I think he meant it because he saw that he had hurt my nose. And so, because I love him, I forgave him, but of course I also added a word of warning about doing it again.
And so it is with God. Because we are all sinners, we have all done some damage to ourselves, and to others, but worst of all, we have broken our relationship with God, because all sin, everything we do wrong, is disobedient to God’s law and will. But if we are sorry and want that relationship to be restored, then God as our Father finds a way to forgive us through our faith in Jesus. God graciously forgives us and through his forgiveness his relationship with his us is restored. There is no longer any rebellion or disobedience or sin that can create a rift between us and God. That is what it means to be justified.
2. Recipients of God’s grace through faith.
But this can only happen because of God’s grace. We are unable to demand that God restores the relationship between him and us. We are unable to do something which means that God will be obliged to restore this relationship. Some people think that if they try to be good, then that will bring them to God. But we all know that being good without God’s help is very difficult. Jesus and Paul both make this point clear in the bible. No, God in his amazing love, is the one who comes to us. He speaks to us through the bible, through the witnesses he has put in the church throughout its history, and he says, if you believe in my son, I will forgive you everything, and you can be my son, my daughter again. It is all God’s initiative, and his forgiveness and love is a gift he offers completely free, no strings attached. We just have to believe that his offer is genuine, that his words are true. We have to have faith.
Consider the story in John’s gospel about the woman caught in adultery. Let’s read together
John 8:1-11
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Now this is an incredible example of the grace of God. Jesus is quite right to point out that none of these men have any right to condemn her to death given that they themselves are guilty of sin and deserve to be punished. Jesus himself does have the right to condemn her sin of adultery because it is against God’s law, and after all, he is the Son of God. But he doesn’t. Essentially, he forgives her. Perhaps he thinks that she has suffered enough because of her public humiliation. But he forgives her and warns her against sinning again. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law did not act out of grace but out of anger and hatred against Jesus and against a sinful woman. But Jesus gave this woman grace, a second chance, an opportunity to try again. She didn’t deserve it. She probably didn’t expect it. But that day, she met the grace of God.
A few weeks ago, some of our young people organised and hosted an evening of cinema here at the church. The film was based on a true story about a young American boy who was a talented athlete but he was very poor and not well educated. A rich Christian woman, who had a child at the same high school as this boy, met this boy and decided to befriend him and look after him, and eventually she adopted him legally because his own mother was a drug addict and couldn’t look after him. This rich woman was also white and this young boy was black, which in the United States is still very significant. The story has a happy ending because this young boy went on to be a big star in American Football.
But this was a story all about grace. Why should this woman who had everything, wealth and family and status, why should she offer kindness and help to this poor, uneducated, awkward, black boy from a troubled and deprived background? I’ll tell you why I think she did it; the grace of God. I think she believed in the grace of God. She believed that she had received God’s grace when he forgave her, and she believed that she should show that grace of God within her to others.
And so it is for us, if we are Christians here tonight. We have received God's grace. He has shown his love to us by sending us the gospel of Jesus Christ and asking us to believe in him. He has shown his love to us by forgiving us when we repented. He has shown his love to us by giving us his Holy Spirit to help us to be his obedient children. He has shown his love to us by responding to our prayers.
We are recipients of the Grace of God, because we believed that this offer of grace, provided to us through Jesus, was true. We believed it, we had faith. And the grace of God was given to us. And friends, once you have experienced the grace of God, really experienced it, really felt that your sins are forgiven, that God loves you and cares for you, and that Jesus walks by your side on your life’s journey, then you find you have a deep hunger to see others experience this grace, this forgiveness, this love. You have a deep hunger to share your experience of God’s grace. You have a deep hunger to see other people reconciled to God their Father. This is because the experience of the grace of God is simply the best experience that life can offer.
Have you had that experience? Do you know the grace of God? Have you felt his forgiveness and love and care? Do you want to? Then believe that Jesus brings the grace of God to you, through his sacrifice for you. Believe that his sacrifice has dealt with the sin that separates you from God, and then you will experience the grace of God in your life.
3. Touched by the Spirit.
But you may say to me, Pastor, I think I have done this. I want to believe in Jesus. I have prayed to him. I have asked him to forgive me. I want to believe that Jesus' death and resurrection means that God has forgiven me and now accepts me as his obedient child. But how do I know for sure that I have received God's grace; how do I know that he accepts me as his obedient child? How do I know?
We find the answer to this question in the bible in several places. But we are going to look in Acts 15:7-9. In this passage, we find Peter speaking to the council of the church in Jerusalem. They have been discussing the question of whether those in the church who were not originally Jews should become Jews by keeping the Jewish laws before they can be Christians. This is what Peter says:
7After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
There you have it. What was the proof that the Gentile, the non-Jewish Christians had received God's grace? God gave them the Holy Spirit!
Now if we look at the history of the church, this giving of the Holy Spirit can have two meanings. Firstly, the Holy Spirit was clearly seen acting upon these Gentile believers by witnesses. And secondly, these Gentile believers themselves felt the Holy Spirit. In this sense, the proof that someone has faith and receives the grace of God is that the Holy Spirit is within them. And if the Holy Spirit is within them, then both they and others will be able to perceive him, to experience him.
Now what exactly do I mean by experience the Holy Spirit?
Well, let me tell you my own experience. I believe that the Holy Spirit is with me all the time, but I don’t always feel him or experience him. However, when I do feel the Spirit, the sensation for me is sometimes a physical tingling. At other times, I feel the Spirit is acting because I experience an unexpected rush of emotion. But this is not the only way that the Spirit can be experienced. Different people have different kinds of experiences of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also brings to mind thought and ideas and images which I believe could only have come from him. The Holy Spirit gave me a premonition of my Father’s death and of Andrew’s recovery from illness and of one or two other events. To me, this is God telling me, that I am his child and that I am justified before him by his grace working through my faith in Jesus.
And other people can possibly testify to the Holy Spirit at work in me. I am fairly sure that those who have known me a long time could say that I have changed and am a better man than I was. Others could perhaps testify to the fact that God has given me prophetic words, that God has used me to heal people, that God has used me to give guidance to people; that God has answered my prayers.
Again, there are millions of others who have demonstrated publically that the Holy Spirit has been at work in them to do miracles, to lead churches and organisations, to evangelise, to help the poor and so on. And this is proof that they have received the grace of God through their faith in Jesus Christ.
Now of course, we must be careful. The bible is clear that there are false prophets and false messiahs, and people who look like they are ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit whilst in fact they are ministering in the power of the devil. And we need the Holy Spirit to help us to tell the difference. And he speaks through the bible about this. The Holy Spirit says clearly, I do not give gifts without also giving fruit, I do not give power without also giving love, without giving grace.
And this is the vital truth. Some churches have become drunk on power: obsessed with power. The Holy Spirit does not demonstrate his power amongst us to show how powerful he is. He does not show his power to excite us and thrill us and entertain us; so that we can say, hey look at us, our God is more powerful than yours, our God is more powerful and amazing than you; we are cool because we are with God and you are not. No, the Holy Spirit comes to us and touches us with power to demonstrate God’s grace; to show how much loves us; nothing more. The manifestations of the Holy Spirit, both the gifts and the fruit, are his way of showing how much he loves us. The Holy Spirit shows himself to us and works through us for two reasons only – to show us that he loves us, and to love other people through us. God the Father chooses to love his children through us by means of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit loves others through us. The Holy Spirit gives his grace to others through us.
This is what it means to be a Christian. A Christian is a bearer of God’s grace, we experience and we carry to others God’s love, God's favour, his kindness and goodness and mercy. We bring his grace to others. And because the Spirit chooses to give us different gifts, often according to our different personalities, we can bring God’s grace to others most effectively when we work together as a church.
I believe that God wants churches that are full of his grace; that is, full of the kind of forgiveness and tolerance and patience and love that he shows to his children. The question we must ask tonight is this: is this church a church full of grace? Am I, are you full of the grace of God? Do we fully believe in Jesus Christ? Do we fully accept that God has forgiven our sins and accepts us as his children? Do we experience the Holy Spirit as evidence that we are forgiven and redeemed? Do we feel an overwhelming desire to share our experience of the grace of God with others?
Dear friends, tonight the grace of God can be yours. If you have no experience of God’s grace then you can experience it here at this place tonight. If you have struggled to believe in Jesus as your saviour then you can believe tonight, by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you have not experienced the Holy Spirit, and so confirmed your forgiveness by God, you can experience this tonight.
You can experience all these things; grace, faith, the Holy Spirit’s power and presence, here tonight at this place of prayer: just by praying. If you find this difficult, then someone will come and pray with you. Please do not miss this opportunity. On Friday, I had the immense privilege of participating in the funeral of a pastor at another church here in Sao Miguel. He was only 55 years old. But he had experienced a lifetime of the grace of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit through his faith in Jesus. I thank God for the grace he gave to this pastor and the way this filled his life. And I thank God for the grace he has shown me, because it has been better than anything else that I have experienced in my life.
If you want to experience God’s grace, if you want to have faith in Christ, if you want to receive the Holy Spirit, please come forward now and kneel here and ask God in prayer to give it to you.
(All the bible readings are from the New International Version.)
Sao Miguel Paulista Corps Salvation Meeting 11/07/10
Bible Reading: Romans 3:21-26
Theme: A Church of Grace
Our reading tonight is from Romans 3:21-26
21But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, 23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 25God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 26he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.
Introduction
Tonight, I want to talk to you about being a church of grace; a church that is full of God’s grace; a church that lives and breathes and acts out the grace of God. I believe that God wants this church to be a church like that – a church that is full of his divine grace.
But of course, we often talk about God’s grace, but perhaps the truth is we don’t understand it so well. And maybe that is because grace is something that is much easier to show than it is to talk about. And indeed, sometimes we are better at talking about things than we are at living them out.
But let’s spend some time tonight thinking about God’s grace, what it is, and what it means to us.
To help us we are going to return to the Salvation Army’s statements of what it believes, our doctrines, and we have reached number 8.
Please, let us stand and read this doctrine together:
8. We believe that we are justified by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ and that he that believeth hath the witness in himself.
I want to use this statement to explain what I think God’s grace is, and I’m going to use three headings. These three headings all describe who we are as Christians; who we are as members of Christ’s church. Firstly, we are sons and daughters of God. Secondly, we are recipients of God’s grace through faith. And finally, we are those who are touched by the Holy Spirit.
1. Sons and Daughters of God.
1 John 3
1How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!
The first thing I want to say tonight is that when your receive the grace of God, you become a son or a daughter of God. Now all human beings are children of God. This is true. God is the father of every human being, in that he created them in his image. They are his children. And he loves them all. The bible tells us this. It tells us that he loved all humanity so much that he sent his son to die for them.
But not all his children love him back. This can be for different reasons. Some of them don’t know that he is their Father. Some of them know that he might be their father but are not interested in having a father because they want to be free to do what the want with no accountability. Some of them do know with certainty that God is their father but have rejected him; they have rebelled against him.
But those who have believed that God the Father sent his son to save them, to die on a cross and rise from the dead so that they might be forgiven for their previous disobedience, those people become sons and daughters of God; they are loved by him and they love him in return.
In the passage we read, Paul is using the image of being found innocent before God because Jesus has paid the penalty for our sin. Our belief that this is possible for us - our faith - makes this innocence possible. But once he has proclaimed our innocence in his eyes because of our faith in Christ, God the Judge doesn’t leave the coutroom, and we go back to our normal lives, never to hear from him again. Once Jesus has stood in our place and received our punishment, he doesn’t just wave and say, no problem, and walk away and we never see him again. Once the Holy Spirit has convinced us of our need for salvation and brought us to the point of faith, he doesn’t just pat us on the back and say ‘good luck’ and we never feel his presence again. No. God becomes our Father again, Jesus our brother and Lord, and the Holy Spirit our companion and constant helper. We return into the heart of the family of God.
To be justified by God is not a legal transaction. To be justified by God is to return to a correct relationship with God. It is to stand before God and know and feel that you are his child and that he loves you. It is to begin to live one´s life in relationship to God.
The other day my son Andrew and I were playing together and he smacked me in the nose with a piece of toy railway track. It was an accident, but he knew he should not have been waving it around dangerously. He said sorry, and I think he meant it because he saw that he had hurt my nose. And so, because I love him, I forgave him, but of course I also added a word of warning about doing it again.
And so it is with God. Because we are all sinners, we have all done some damage to ourselves, and to others, but worst of all, we have broken our relationship with God, because all sin, everything we do wrong, is disobedient to God’s law and will. But if we are sorry and want that relationship to be restored, then God as our Father finds a way to forgive us through our faith in Jesus. God graciously forgives us and through his forgiveness his relationship with his us is restored. There is no longer any rebellion or disobedience or sin that can create a rift between us and God. That is what it means to be justified.
2. Recipients of God’s grace through faith.
But this can only happen because of God’s grace. We are unable to demand that God restores the relationship between him and us. We are unable to do something which means that God will be obliged to restore this relationship. Some people think that if they try to be good, then that will bring them to God. But we all know that being good without God’s help is very difficult. Jesus and Paul both make this point clear in the bible. No, God in his amazing love, is the one who comes to us. He speaks to us through the bible, through the witnesses he has put in the church throughout its history, and he says, if you believe in my son, I will forgive you everything, and you can be my son, my daughter again. It is all God’s initiative, and his forgiveness and love is a gift he offers completely free, no strings attached. We just have to believe that his offer is genuine, that his words are true. We have to have faith.
Consider the story in John’s gospel about the woman caught in adultery. Let’s read together
John 8:1-11
1But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2At dawn he appeared again in the temple courts, where all the people gathered around him, and he sat down to teach them. 3The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman caught in adultery. They made her stand before the group 4and said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. 5In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" 6They were using this question as a trap, in order to have a basis for accusing him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her." 8Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
9At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. 10Jesus straightened up and asked her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11"No one, sir," she said.
"Then neither do I condemn you," Jesus declared. "Go now and leave your life of sin."
Now this is an incredible example of the grace of God. Jesus is quite right to point out that none of these men have any right to condemn her to death given that they themselves are guilty of sin and deserve to be punished. Jesus himself does have the right to condemn her sin of adultery because it is against God’s law, and after all, he is the Son of God. But he doesn’t. Essentially, he forgives her. Perhaps he thinks that she has suffered enough because of her public humiliation. But he forgives her and warns her against sinning again. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law did not act out of grace but out of anger and hatred against Jesus and against a sinful woman. But Jesus gave this woman grace, a second chance, an opportunity to try again. She didn’t deserve it. She probably didn’t expect it. But that day, she met the grace of God.
A few weeks ago, some of our young people organised and hosted an evening of cinema here at the church. The film was based on a true story about a young American boy who was a talented athlete but he was very poor and not well educated. A rich Christian woman, who had a child at the same high school as this boy, met this boy and decided to befriend him and look after him, and eventually she adopted him legally because his own mother was a drug addict and couldn’t look after him. This rich woman was also white and this young boy was black, which in the United States is still very significant. The story has a happy ending because this young boy went on to be a big star in American Football.
But this was a story all about grace. Why should this woman who had everything, wealth and family and status, why should she offer kindness and help to this poor, uneducated, awkward, black boy from a troubled and deprived background? I’ll tell you why I think she did it; the grace of God. I think she believed in the grace of God. She believed that she had received God’s grace when he forgave her, and she believed that she should show that grace of God within her to others.
And so it is for us, if we are Christians here tonight. We have received God's grace. He has shown his love to us by sending us the gospel of Jesus Christ and asking us to believe in him. He has shown his love to us by forgiving us when we repented. He has shown his love to us by giving us his Holy Spirit to help us to be his obedient children. He has shown his love to us by responding to our prayers.
We are recipients of the Grace of God, because we believed that this offer of grace, provided to us through Jesus, was true. We believed it, we had faith. And the grace of God was given to us. And friends, once you have experienced the grace of God, really experienced it, really felt that your sins are forgiven, that God loves you and cares for you, and that Jesus walks by your side on your life’s journey, then you find you have a deep hunger to see others experience this grace, this forgiveness, this love. You have a deep hunger to share your experience of God’s grace. You have a deep hunger to see other people reconciled to God their Father. This is because the experience of the grace of God is simply the best experience that life can offer.
Have you had that experience? Do you know the grace of God? Have you felt his forgiveness and love and care? Do you want to? Then believe that Jesus brings the grace of God to you, through his sacrifice for you. Believe that his sacrifice has dealt with the sin that separates you from God, and then you will experience the grace of God in your life.
3. Touched by the Spirit.
But you may say to me, Pastor, I think I have done this. I want to believe in Jesus. I have prayed to him. I have asked him to forgive me. I want to believe that Jesus' death and resurrection means that God has forgiven me and now accepts me as his obedient child. But how do I know for sure that I have received God's grace; how do I know that he accepts me as his obedient child? How do I know?
We find the answer to this question in the bible in several places. But we are going to look in Acts 15:7-9. In this passage, we find Peter speaking to the council of the church in Jerusalem. They have been discussing the question of whether those in the church who were not originally Jews should become Jews by keeping the Jewish laws before they can be Christians. This is what Peter says:
7After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: "Brothers, you know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of the gospel and believe. 8God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. 9He made no distinction between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.
There you have it. What was the proof that the Gentile, the non-Jewish Christians had received God's grace? God gave them the Holy Spirit!
Now if we look at the history of the church, this giving of the Holy Spirit can have two meanings. Firstly, the Holy Spirit was clearly seen acting upon these Gentile believers by witnesses. And secondly, these Gentile believers themselves felt the Holy Spirit. In this sense, the proof that someone has faith and receives the grace of God is that the Holy Spirit is within them. And if the Holy Spirit is within them, then both they and others will be able to perceive him, to experience him.
Now what exactly do I mean by experience the Holy Spirit?
Well, let me tell you my own experience. I believe that the Holy Spirit is with me all the time, but I don’t always feel him or experience him. However, when I do feel the Spirit, the sensation for me is sometimes a physical tingling. At other times, I feel the Spirit is acting because I experience an unexpected rush of emotion. But this is not the only way that the Spirit can be experienced. Different people have different kinds of experiences of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit also brings to mind thought and ideas and images which I believe could only have come from him. The Holy Spirit gave me a premonition of my Father’s death and of Andrew’s recovery from illness and of one or two other events. To me, this is God telling me, that I am his child and that I am justified before him by his grace working through my faith in Jesus.
And other people can possibly testify to the Holy Spirit at work in me. I am fairly sure that those who have known me a long time could say that I have changed and am a better man than I was. Others could perhaps testify to the fact that God has given me prophetic words, that God has used me to heal people, that God has used me to give guidance to people; that God has answered my prayers.
Again, there are millions of others who have demonstrated publically that the Holy Spirit has been at work in them to do miracles, to lead churches and organisations, to evangelise, to help the poor and so on. And this is proof that they have received the grace of God through their faith in Jesus Christ.
Now of course, we must be careful. The bible is clear that there are false prophets and false messiahs, and people who look like they are ministering in the power of the Holy Spirit whilst in fact they are ministering in the power of the devil. And we need the Holy Spirit to help us to tell the difference. And he speaks through the bible about this. The Holy Spirit says clearly, I do not give gifts without also giving fruit, I do not give power without also giving love, without giving grace.
And this is the vital truth. Some churches have become drunk on power: obsessed with power. The Holy Spirit does not demonstrate his power amongst us to show how powerful he is. He does not show his power to excite us and thrill us and entertain us; so that we can say, hey look at us, our God is more powerful than yours, our God is more powerful and amazing than you; we are cool because we are with God and you are not. No, the Holy Spirit comes to us and touches us with power to demonstrate God’s grace; to show how much loves us; nothing more. The manifestations of the Holy Spirit, both the gifts and the fruit, are his way of showing how much he loves us. The Holy Spirit shows himself to us and works through us for two reasons only – to show us that he loves us, and to love other people through us. God the Father chooses to love his children through us by means of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit loves others through us. The Holy Spirit gives his grace to others through us.
This is what it means to be a Christian. A Christian is a bearer of God’s grace, we experience and we carry to others God’s love, God's favour, his kindness and goodness and mercy. We bring his grace to others. And because the Spirit chooses to give us different gifts, often according to our different personalities, we can bring God’s grace to others most effectively when we work together as a church.
I believe that God wants churches that are full of his grace; that is, full of the kind of forgiveness and tolerance and patience and love that he shows to his children. The question we must ask tonight is this: is this church a church full of grace? Am I, are you full of the grace of God? Do we fully believe in Jesus Christ? Do we fully accept that God has forgiven our sins and accepts us as his children? Do we experience the Holy Spirit as evidence that we are forgiven and redeemed? Do we feel an overwhelming desire to share our experience of the grace of God with others?
Dear friends, tonight the grace of God can be yours. If you have no experience of God’s grace then you can experience it here at this place tonight. If you have struggled to believe in Jesus as your saviour then you can believe tonight, by the power of the Holy Spirit. If you have not experienced the Holy Spirit, and so confirmed your forgiveness by God, you can experience this tonight.
You can experience all these things; grace, faith, the Holy Spirit’s power and presence, here tonight at this place of prayer: just by praying. If you find this difficult, then someone will come and pray with you. Please do not miss this opportunity. On Friday, I had the immense privilege of participating in the funeral of a pastor at another church here in Sao Miguel. He was only 55 years old. But he had experienced a lifetime of the grace of God and the presence of the Holy Spirit through his faith in Jesus. I thank God for the grace he gave to this pastor and the way this filled his life. And I thank God for the grace he has shown me, because it has been better than anything else that I have experienced in my life.
If you want to experience God’s grace, if you want to have faith in Christ, if you want to receive the Holy Spirit, please come forward now and kneel here and ask God in prayer to give it to you.
Monday, 18 October 2010
Article 9 - Continued obedient faith.
This is the original English version of a sermon preached in Portuguese on the 25th July 2010 at Sao Miguel Paulista Corps, Sao Paulo. It has been simplified a little for greater ease of translation.
(All the bible readings are from the New International Version.)
Sao Miguel Paulista Corps - Salvation Meeting 25/07/10
Text: Matthew 13:23
Bible Readings: See below
Theme: Continued obedient faith.
Introduction
Tonight we have witnessed the enrolment of three Junior Soldiers. And what that signifies is that these three young people have made a choice in their life. They have said that they want to be Junior Soldiers. They have said that they want to be young disciples of Jesus. They have said that they want to be Christians and live Christian lives, more specifically, they want to live a particular form of Christian life that is the special calling of the young Salvationist. They have made a choice.
They have made a decision. I sincerely hope that this is their decision: that they have been persuaded and not coerced. Because I believe that children can make decisions, even important spiritual decisions, despite their lack of experience. God can speak to children, and sometimes they hear him more clearly than many adults! They can understand the difference between right and wrong. They can understand that Jesus is God and that he died to save them; that Jesus died so that God the Father can forgive them. Hard as that might seem to understand, in their simple innocent way, they can understand it. They can understand that God loves them, and that they can love God, and that the Holy Spirit can help them to be good. And if they can understand all that, then they can decide to put their faith in Christ, and they can be saved.
How many people here were children when they became Christians? I think I probably was a Christian as a child. But then I stopped being a Christian. And that is the biblical truth that I want to look at tonight: the truth that says that once we have made that decision to put our faith in Christ that is not the end; it is not all over. It is not true to say that at the moment we believed our salvation was guaranteed for the rest of our life, no matter what we then do or say. Yes, of course, we can be assured that we are saved every day of our lives; but only if we know that every day of our lives we continue to believe in and to be obedient to God.
If we continue to believe and obey, then we continue to be saved. This is a very important truth for these new Junior Soldiers to learn and to hold on to. If you put your faith in Christ and obey him every day of your life, then every day of your life, you will know for sure that you are saved. If you put your faith in Christ and obey him every day of your life, then every day of your life, you will know for sure that your life will be filled with the presence of God; If you put your faith in Christ and obey him every day of your life, then every day of your life, then every day of your life you will you will know for sure that you have eternal life.
What a fantastic promise for each one of us who believes! But for us to receive this promise, we are required to choose every day. We are required to use our will to choose salvation. We must choose every day to accept God’s promise or reject it: every day. And this is the truth that lies within the Salvation Army’s ninth article of faith. So, please, let’s read this article together now:
9. We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon a continued obedient faith in Christ.
When a person repents of their sin, says sorry to God for everything they have done wrong; when they trust in Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross as the means by which God can forgive them; when they ask the Holy Spirit to come and dwell within them to make them a different person, a better person - then that person is saved: that person is in a state of salvation.
And if a person is in a state of salvation, if they then die, only one second later, because they are in a state of salvation they will immediately go to heaven to be with God forever. Aleluia! If a person is in a state of salvation, they know that God loves them and will never leave them.
However, a person can only continue in that state of salvation by continuing to have faith in Christ. And if that person has faith in Christ to save them and to keep them saved, then it is inevitable that that person will be obedient to Christ. That person will follow his commands in the bible; and they will follow his commands brought to them by the Holy Spirit through other non-biblical means. If a person continues to have obedient faith, then they will continue to be in a state of salvation.
But of course, the obvious implication of all this is that it is possible for a person to not continue to have faith in Christ and obey him. It is possible for these new Junior Soldiers at some point in the future to stop having faith in Christ and then stop obeying him. I pray O Lord right now that in your mercy you will find a way to ensure that this will never happen. Amen.
But the doctrine that we read suggests that it is possible. Christians can stop being Christians. And this is only possible because God only persuades and never forces. The bible tells us that God is love and so he will use every means to persuade us, but he will never force people to believe in him. If God forced us to put our faith in him, he would have to take away our free will, and if he did this, he would be controlling us, and this would not seem to be a very loving thing to do. Indeed, if he did this, it would be hard to see how we could freely love him, which is what the Bible says that he wants.
But if God only persuades and doesn’t force, then that must mean that people can choose to reject him. In the gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses one to twenty three, Jesus told a parable about someone who went out into a ploughed field to sow seed. Perhaps some of us have seen pictures that have been painted to represent someone sowing seed in the time of Jesus. In the pictures, the Semeador doesn’t bend down and carefully press the seed into a carefully prepared seedbed. No, he scatters the seed by throwing it into the air around him. And this is why Jesus is able to talk about the seed landing on places where it will not grow. I’m going to use the four different places where the seed lands in Jesus’ parable as the framework on which we can look at continued obedient faith in Christ.
Let’s begin with
1. The seed that falls on the path.
1. Not understanding the gospel allows wrong thoughts to destroy our faith in Christ.
Let’s take a look at John 6:60-71; now here, Jesus has just spoken about how he is the bread of heaven and therefore is someone wants to have eternal life they must eat his flesh and drink his blood, which, at first sight, is not an easy teaching, I think we would all agree; so how do his disciples react?
John 6:60-71
60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
70Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
So here we have disciples betraying Jesus, firstly by turning back and not following any more, and secondly, in the case of Judas, by selling Jesus to his enemies. Now the scripture here seems to suggest that these disciples (presumably including Judas) had never really believed. But in that case, why had they followed him. In the end, that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that when their understanding of religion was challenged, when Jesus said something that seemed to them a blasphemy, when he said something that they just could not accept, they left him. The devil spoke into their confusion the lie that Jesus was mistaken, that he was a heretic, that he was lying, and they made up their minds and they left him.
And that still happens, when new believers struggle to understand the gospel, perhaps because it challenges the ideas that they have always held, perhaps because they lack good teaching, then the devil whispers into their ears different ideas that deny the gospel. Paula and I ran a youth group in our church in Scotland and one of the young boys who attended for a little while was very keen to debate with us on the subject of evolution. He had once been a junior soldier, but the influence of his science lessons at school and his father who was an intelligent atheist influenced him to reject the church. I hope and pray that he has returned to God, but I don´t know.
I also know someone who left the church because they could not accept the church’s position on sex outside of marriage. People decide to stop following Jesus because the gospel has not had a chance to take root in their understanding which in turn leads to a change of heart.
However, even when the gospel has put down a root into someone’s heart, it might not be deep enough.
2. The seed that falls on the rocky ground.
2. Persecution and troubles make us forsake our faith in Christ
Let us read together
2 Timothy 4:6-18
6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
9Do your best to come to me quickly, 10for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 12I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
14Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. 15You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
16At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. 18The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Now this reading is set against the dramatic background of Paul locked up in a prison dungeon. It is possibly near the end of his life as he awaits his execution. So the general context is one of persecution, possibly at the hand of Emporer Nero who had thousands of Christians executed during his reign. And what Paul seems to describe is betrayal on every side. In particular, when he most needed supporters to stand by him, they all deserted him. This is not unlike Jesus being deserted by all his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane.
And why did Paul’s followers desert him? Well, the implication here is that the difficulties of Paul’s ministry – the opposition he faced, the lack of funding, the risks he took – made life very difficult. And more than that, there was now a very good chance that accompanying Paul could result in your arrest and execution.
Once again, I knew a someone who was actually a local leader in her church who had various problems in her personal life. These problems got worse and her response to all this was to leave the church and stop following Jesus.
As to persecution, this is not something that happens to Christians today in the way that it happened to Paul. We read stories of modern martyrs and those who kept the faith despite persecution. Indeed, there are wonderful examples in the twentieth century of Salvationists in China, the former Soviet Union and Korea who kept on following Jesus despite state persecution. But what we don’t hear so much about are those people who gave up their faith when it appeared to be too costly.
I heard the story of a minister who was forced to give up his ministry because he was convicted of a crime. Apparently, he stopped attending church and had feelings of resentment and anger towards many people in his church because of what had happened to him.
We have looked at how a lack of understanding, and experiencing trouble and persecution can make people decide to stop having faith in Jesus, and therefore stop following him, but in the parable of the Semeador, Jesus goes on to describe people who might well still be in the church, even perhaps following him, if at a considerable distance. These are people who allow their worldly concerns to stop their faith from producing fruit. They have a faith which they testify to in church, but this faith doesn’t result in much love or joy or peace, or patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control. Neither does it result in anybody being helped to become a Christian.
3. The seed that falls amongst the thorns
3. The worries of life and the promise of wealth make our faith in Christ unproductive.
Let’s read from
Mark 10:21-31
21Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is[a] to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
27Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
There is a book which all Recruits are supposed to read as preparation for become a Senior Soldiers in the Salvation Army, called Chosen to be a Soldier. And I think I am right in saying that in this book there is a section about living the simple life. The idea is that a Soldier in the Salvation Army should not be concerned with accumulating unnecessary wealth or possessions. Part of the rationale for this is that these things can become, at best, a distraction from the mission of saving souls, at worst, an idol that one can worship instead of the one true God. Most of us would refute the idea that we would ever worship our money or possessions; but it is a useful spiritual exercise to regularly calculate how much time and money we given to acquiring things for ourselves, and how much of our time and money is given to God’s mission to save souls and serve suffering humanity. Jesus asked the rich young man to make such a calculation. He asked to swap his earthly wealth for heavenly riches.
I had a friend once who was quite a successful man with a high position in a company. That success was demonstrated by the house he owned, the car he drove, the clothes he wore and his hobbies. We were talking about faith and he confessed to me that he really believed in things he could touch with his hands, and to demonstrate he slapped his hand on his newly fitted kitchen units. Now this man was not a bad man. I´m sure that he tried to do good to others and to be a good example to his family. But there are perhaps many people who have spent much of their lives engaged in the business of making and losing money, who could perhaps have done much more to help and grow the church than they did. And indeed, I think there are many people who have left the church, because it didn’t fit in with their plans for prosperity, or they didn’t see how it could fit in with their schedule. And there are many people who are still inside the church who put the making of money or their worries about family, or friendship, or education, or work before following Jesus, before growing the church. And let us be clear, we are not talking about circumstances forcing them to make other things a priority. Like the rich young man, they have a choice. We all have a choice. And this choice faces us every day of our lives. Do we say yes to Jesus? Do we say, whatever you require of me Jesus, I will do, regardless of the cost? Do we say, whatever you require of me Jesus, regardless of all my own worries and concerns, I will do it? Or like the young man, does our face fall, and we go away sad?
Well, I realise that all this sound very negative. But I am trying to emphasise that we are involved in making a decision. We all get to decide what we do with our lives. Some of the circumstances of our lives might be decided for us, but we get to decide how we live our lives; whether we live a life of faith in Christ, or whether we live a life of faith in ourselves or something else. But let me end on the positive, just as Jesus’ parable ends on the positive.
4. The seed that falls on good soil
4. When we understand the gospel and have faith in Christ, we produce a harvest of goodness.
Let us carry on reading from Mark 10 beginning at verse 28:
28Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"
29"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
Jesus acknowledges to Peter that he has asked a great deal of him. But he assures him that the reward for his sacrifice will be so much greater than that which he has given up. Peter, the humble Galilean fisherman would go on to become a leader of the worldwide church. He left his home and family but gained a thousand homes and many thousand new brothers and sisters in the new church of Christ. And it is the same for us, Jesus asks us sometimes to give up things that are precious to us. And his promise to Peter is true for us too. If we obey Jesus; if we do what he asks of us, no matter what the cost, then he promises to reward us. I could perhaps interpret Jesus’ saying as meaning that our reward will be responsibility within the church. For that is what he asks of us, that we will be responsible for his church, by playing our role within the church. And that responsibility is also our reward, because when we play our part in the growth of the church, then we become shareholders in the church. And one day that share in the church will reap a great dividend, eternal life.
But notice again, that Peter and the other disciples and the followers of Jesus through history have each day had to decide to obey Jesus’ demands upon them by faith in him. They had to have faith in him that he would deliver on his promises, both in this life and in the next. And history shows us that when they had faith in him, and they obeyed him, Jesus kept his promise. When they had faith and they obeyed him, they remained in a state of salvation.
The officers and soldiers who began the work of the Salvation Army here in Sao Miguel Paulista obeyed the call of Jesus to begin a church here, and to put its growth above their own personal desires and cares. And 42 years later the Lord is still rewarding their obedience and faith. In 1865 the Reverend William Booth was obedient to the call of Jesus to leave the comfort of his position in the Methodist Church and start a evangelistic mission amongst the poorest people in the East of London. And one hundred and thirty five years later, Jesus is still blessing the Salvation Army with new life – at the recent World youth congress they celebrated the fact that the Salvation Army has recently begun work in ten more countries of the world.
And this is his promise to you as well. If you have faith in Christ every day for your salvation, and you demonstrate this by being obedient to whatever it is that Jesus asks of you, then you will be in a state of salvation, and you will receive his blessing. And that blessing is first of all a certain knowledge of his presence being with you. And then he also blesses you with a new family to love you, called the church. And that blessing is also the certainty, that you will know and love God forever.
Obedience is not always easy for us. For some of us, it is very difficult indeed. For various reasons, some of us have made vows to never be obedient to anyone, if this is possible, and these vows can sometimes include Jesus. But thank you Lord, you help us. You send the Holy Spirit to persuade us, to help us understand, to soften our hearts, to heal us, so that we can obey you as we should. Thank you Lord.
Tonight my challenge is a simple one. Have you been obedient to Jesus? Are you being obedient to Jesus? Have you trusted him for your salvation, and are you living your life as you know he requires? Does your obedience to Jesus show itself in the fruit of the Spirit that I spoke of earlier? Is your faith and obedience demonstrating itself by a growth in the church?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, don’t be embarrassed or offended or upset. Someone is here who can help you – the Holy Spirit is here. The Holy Spirit can help you start again. The Holy Spirit can give you a fresh start, or he can help you be more obedient, have more faith. If the word of God that we have read tonight has challenged you; if the Holy Spirit, even now is giving you a feeling of conviction about your fruitfulness, about your state of salvation, then respond to him by coming and kneeling here at his altar. Here, at this place, you can meeting God, you can know his forgiveness, you can choose to follow Jesus, to be obedient to him, for the rest of your life, one day at a time. As we sing together, please be obedient and come and meet with your Saviour.
(All the bible readings are from the New International Version.)
Sao Miguel Paulista Corps - Salvation Meeting 25/07/10
Text: Matthew 13:23
Bible Readings: See below
Theme: Continued obedient faith.
Introduction
Tonight we have witnessed the enrolment of three Junior Soldiers. And what that signifies is that these three young people have made a choice in their life. They have said that they want to be Junior Soldiers. They have said that they want to be young disciples of Jesus. They have said that they want to be Christians and live Christian lives, more specifically, they want to live a particular form of Christian life that is the special calling of the young Salvationist. They have made a choice.
They have made a decision. I sincerely hope that this is their decision: that they have been persuaded and not coerced. Because I believe that children can make decisions, even important spiritual decisions, despite their lack of experience. God can speak to children, and sometimes they hear him more clearly than many adults! They can understand the difference between right and wrong. They can understand that Jesus is God and that he died to save them; that Jesus died so that God the Father can forgive them. Hard as that might seem to understand, in their simple innocent way, they can understand it. They can understand that God loves them, and that they can love God, and that the Holy Spirit can help them to be good. And if they can understand all that, then they can decide to put their faith in Christ, and they can be saved.
How many people here were children when they became Christians? I think I probably was a Christian as a child. But then I stopped being a Christian. And that is the biblical truth that I want to look at tonight: the truth that says that once we have made that decision to put our faith in Christ that is not the end; it is not all over. It is not true to say that at the moment we believed our salvation was guaranteed for the rest of our life, no matter what we then do or say. Yes, of course, we can be assured that we are saved every day of our lives; but only if we know that every day of our lives we continue to believe in and to be obedient to God.
If we continue to believe and obey, then we continue to be saved. This is a very important truth for these new Junior Soldiers to learn and to hold on to. If you put your faith in Christ and obey him every day of your life, then every day of your life, you will know for sure that you are saved. If you put your faith in Christ and obey him every day of your life, then every day of your life, you will know for sure that your life will be filled with the presence of God; If you put your faith in Christ and obey him every day of your life, then every day of your life, then every day of your life you will you will know for sure that you have eternal life.
What a fantastic promise for each one of us who believes! But for us to receive this promise, we are required to choose every day. We are required to use our will to choose salvation. We must choose every day to accept God’s promise or reject it: every day. And this is the truth that lies within the Salvation Army’s ninth article of faith. So, please, let’s read this article together now:
9. We believe that continuance in a state of salvation depends upon a continued obedient faith in Christ.
When a person repents of their sin, says sorry to God for everything they have done wrong; when they trust in Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross as the means by which God can forgive them; when they ask the Holy Spirit to come and dwell within them to make them a different person, a better person - then that person is saved: that person is in a state of salvation.
And if a person is in a state of salvation, if they then die, only one second later, because they are in a state of salvation they will immediately go to heaven to be with God forever. Aleluia! If a person is in a state of salvation, they know that God loves them and will never leave them.
However, a person can only continue in that state of salvation by continuing to have faith in Christ. And if that person has faith in Christ to save them and to keep them saved, then it is inevitable that that person will be obedient to Christ. That person will follow his commands in the bible; and they will follow his commands brought to them by the Holy Spirit through other non-biblical means. If a person continues to have obedient faith, then they will continue to be in a state of salvation.
But of course, the obvious implication of all this is that it is possible for a person to not continue to have faith in Christ and obey him. It is possible for these new Junior Soldiers at some point in the future to stop having faith in Christ and then stop obeying him. I pray O Lord right now that in your mercy you will find a way to ensure that this will never happen. Amen.
But the doctrine that we read suggests that it is possible. Christians can stop being Christians. And this is only possible because God only persuades and never forces. The bible tells us that God is love and so he will use every means to persuade us, but he will never force people to believe in him. If God forced us to put our faith in him, he would have to take away our free will, and if he did this, he would be controlling us, and this would not seem to be a very loving thing to do. Indeed, if he did this, it would be hard to see how we could freely love him, which is what the Bible says that he wants.
But if God only persuades and doesn’t force, then that must mean that people can choose to reject him. In the gospel of Matthew, chapter 13, verses one to twenty three, Jesus told a parable about someone who went out into a ploughed field to sow seed. Perhaps some of us have seen pictures that have been painted to represent someone sowing seed in the time of Jesus. In the pictures, the Semeador doesn’t bend down and carefully press the seed into a carefully prepared seedbed. No, he scatters the seed by throwing it into the air around him. And this is why Jesus is able to talk about the seed landing on places where it will not grow. I’m going to use the four different places where the seed lands in Jesus’ parable as the framework on which we can look at continued obedient faith in Christ.
Let’s begin with
1. The seed that falls on the path.
1. Not understanding the gospel allows wrong thoughts to destroy our faith in Christ.
Let’s take a look at John 6:60-71; now here, Jesus has just spoken about how he is the bread of heaven and therefore is someone wants to have eternal life they must eat his flesh and drink his blood, which, at first sight, is not an easy teaching, I think we would all agree; so how do his disciples react?
John 6:60-71
60On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
61Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? 62What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! 63The Spirit gives life, the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. 64Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. 65He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him."
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67"You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
70Then Jesus replied, "Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!" 71(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)
So here we have disciples betraying Jesus, firstly by turning back and not following any more, and secondly, in the case of Judas, by selling Jesus to his enemies. Now the scripture here seems to suggest that these disciples (presumably including Judas) had never really believed. But in that case, why had they followed him. In the end, that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that when their understanding of religion was challenged, when Jesus said something that seemed to them a blasphemy, when he said something that they just could not accept, they left him. The devil spoke into their confusion the lie that Jesus was mistaken, that he was a heretic, that he was lying, and they made up their minds and they left him.
And that still happens, when new believers struggle to understand the gospel, perhaps because it challenges the ideas that they have always held, perhaps because they lack good teaching, then the devil whispers into their ears different ideas that deny the gospel. Paula and I ran a youth group in our church in Scotland and one of the young boys who attended for a little while was very keen to debate with us on the subject of evolution. He had once been a junior soldier, but the influence of his science lessons at school and his father who was an intelligent atheist influenced him to reject the church. I hope and pray that he has returned to God, but I don´t know.
I also know someone who left the church because they could not accept the church’s position on sex outside of marriage. People decide to stop following Jesus because the gospel has not had a chance to take root in their understanding which in turn leads to a change of heart.
However, even when the gospel has put down a root into someone’s heart, it might not be deep enough.
2. The seed that falls on the rocky ground.
2. Persecution and troubles make us forsake our faith in Christ
Let us read together
2 Timothy 4:6-18
6For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time has come for my departure. 7I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
9Do your best to come to me quickly, 10for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. 11Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. 12I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
14Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. 15You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.
16At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. 17But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. 18The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Now this reading is set against the dramatic background of Paul locked up in a prison dungeon. It is possibly near the end of his life as he awaits his execution. So the general context is one of persecution, possibly at the hand of Emporer Nero who had thousands of Christians executed during his reign. And what Paul seems to describe is betrayal on every side. In particular, when he most needed supporters to stand by him, they all deserted him. This is not unlike Jesus being deserted by all his disciples in the garden of Gethsemane.
And why did Paul’s followers desert him? Well, the implication here is that the difficulties of Paul’s ministry – the opposition he faced, the lack of funding, the risks he took – made life very difficult. And more than that, there was now a very good chance that accompanying Paul could result in your arrest and execution.
Once again, I knew a someone who was actually a local leader in her church who had various problems in her personal life. These problems got worse and her response to all this was to leave the church and stop following Jesus.
As to persecution, this is not something that happens to Christians today in the way that it happened to Paul. We read stories of modern martyrs and those who kept the faith despite persecution. Indeed, there are wonderful examples in the twentieth century of Salvationists in China, the former Soviet Union and Korea who kept on following Jesus despite state persecution. But what we don’t hear so much about are those people who gave up their faith when it appeared to be too costly.
I heard the story of a minister who was forced to give up his ministry because he was convicted of a crime. Apparently, he stopped attending church and had feelings of resentment and anger towards many people in his church because of what had happened to him.
We have looked at how a lack of understanding, and experiencing trouble and persecution can make people decide to stop having faith in Jesus, and therefore stop following him, but in the parable of the Semeador, Jesus goes on to describe people who might well still be in the church, even perhaps following him, if at a considerable distance. These are people who allow their worldly concerns to stop their faith from producing fruit. They have a faith which they testify to in church, but this faith doesn’t result in much love or joy or peace, or patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness or self-control. Neither does it result in anybody being helped to become a Christian.
3. The seed that falls amongst the thorns
3. The worries of life and the promise of wealth make our faith in Christ unproductive.
Let’s read from
Mark 10:21-31
21Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
22At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!"
24The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said again, "Children, how hard it is[a] to enter the kingdom of God! 25It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26The disciples were even more amazed, and said to each other, "Who then can be saved?"
27Jesus looked at them and said, "With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God."
There is a book which all Recruits are supposed to read as preparation for become a Senior Soldiers in the Salvation Army, called Chosen to be a Soldier. And I think I am right in saying that in this book there is a section about living the simple life. The idea is that a Soldier in the Salvation Army should not be concerned with accumulating unnecessary wealth or possessions. Part of the rationale for this is that these things can become, at best, a distraction from the mission of saving souls, at worst, an idol that one can worship instead of the one true God. Most of us would refute the idea that we would ever worship our money or possessions; but it is a useful spiritual exercise to regularly calculate how much time and money we given to acquiring things for ourselves, and how much of our time and money is given to God’s mission to save souls and serve suffering humanity. Jesus asked the rich young man to make such a calculation. He asked to swap his earthly wealth for heavenly riches.
I had a friend once who was quite a successful man with a high position in a company. That success was demonstrated by the house he owned, the car he drove, the clothes he wore and his hobbies. We were talking about faith and he confessed to me that he really believed in things he could touch with his hands, and to demonstrate he slapped his hand on his newly fitted kitchen units. Now this man was not a bad man. I´m sure that he tried to do good to others and to be a good example to his family. But there are perhaps many people who have spent much of their lives engaged in the business of making and losing money, who could perhaps have done much more to help and grow the church than they did. And indeed, I think there are many people who have left the church, because it didn’t fit in with their plans for prosperity, or they didn’t see how it could fit in with their schedule. And there are many people who are still inside the church who put the making of money or their worries about family, or friendship, or education, or work before following Jesus, before growing the church. And let us be clear, we are not talking about circumstances forcing them to make other things a priority. Like the rich young man, they have a choice. We all have a choice. And this choice faces us every day of our lives. Do we say yes to Jesus? Do we say, whatever you require of me Jesus, I will do, regardless of the cost? Do we say, whatever you require of me Jesus, regardless of all my own worries and concerns, I will do it? Or like the young man, does our face fall, and we go away sad?
Well, I realise that all this sound very negative. But I am trying to emphasise that we are involved in making a decision. We all get to decide what we do with our lives. Some of the circumstances of our lives might be decided for us, but we get to decide how we live our lives; whether we live a life of faith in Christ, or whether we live a life of faith in ourselves or something else. But let me end on the positive, just as Jesus’ parable ends on the positive.
4. The seed that falls on good soil
4. When we understand the gospel and have faith in Christ, we produce a harvest of goodness.
Let us carry on reading from Mark 10 beginning at verse 28:
28Peter said to him, "We have left everything to follow you!"
29"I tell you the truth," Jesus replied, "no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first."
Jesus acknowledges to Peter that he has asked a great deal of him. But he assures him that the reward for his sacrifice will be so much greater than that which he has given up. Peter, the humble Galilean fisherman would go on to become a leader of the worldwide church. He left his home and family but gained a thousand homes and many thousand new brothers and sisters in the new church of Christ. And it is the same for us, Jesus asks us sometimes to give up things that are precious to us. And his promise to Peter is true for us too. If we obey Jesus; if we do what he asks of us, no matter what the cost, then he promises to reward us. I could perhaps interpret Jesus’ saying as meaning that our reward will be responsibility within the church. For that is what he asks of us, that we will be responsible for his church, by playing our role within the church. And that responsibility is also our reward, because when we play our part in the growth of the church, then we become shareholders in the church. And one day that share in the church will reap a great dividend, eternal life.
But notice again, that Peter and the other disciples and the followers of Jesus through history have each day had to decide to obey Jesus’ demands upon them by faith in him. They had to have faith in him that he would deliver on his promises, both in this life and in the next. And history shows us that when they had faith in him, and they obeyed him, Jesus kept his promise. When they had faith and they obeyed him, they remained in a state of salvation.
The officers and soldiers who began the work of the Salvation Army here in Sao Miguel Paulista obeyed the call of Jesus to begin a church here, and to put its growth above their own personal desires and cares. And 42 years later the Lord is still rewarding their obedience and faith. In 1865 the Reverend William Booth was obedient to the call of Jesus to leave the comfort of his position in the Methodist Church and start a evangelistic mission amongst the poorest people in the East of London. And one hundred and thirty five years later, Jesus is still blessing the Salvation Army with new life – at the recent World youth congress they celebrated the fact that the Salvation Army has recently begun work in ten more countries of the world.
And this is his promise to you as well. If you have faith in Christ every day for your salvation, and you demonstrate this by being obedient to whatever it is that Jesus asks of you, then you will be in a state of salvation, and you will receive his blessing. And that blessing is first of all a certain knowledge of his presence being with you. And then he also blesses you with a new family to love you, called the church. And that blessing is also the certainty, that you will know and love God forever.
Obedience is not always easy for us. For some of us, it is very difficult indeed. For various reasons, some of us have made vows to never be obedient to anyone, if this is possible, and these vows can sometimes include Jesus. But thank you Lord, you help us. You send the Holy Spirit to persuade us, to help us understand, to soften our hearts, to heal us, so that we can obey you as we should. Thank you Lord.
Tonight my challenge is a simple one. Have you been obedient to Jesus? Are you being obedient to Jesus? Have you trusted him for your salvation, and are you living your life as you know he requires? Does your obedience to Jesus show itself in the fruit of the Spirit that I spoke of earlier? Is your faith and obedience demonstrating itself by a growth in the church?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, don’t be embarrassed or offended or upset. Someone is here who can help you – the Holy Spirit is here. The Holy Spirit can help you start again. The Holy Spirit can give you a fresh start, or he can help you be more obedient, have more faith. If the word of God that we have read tonight has challenged you; if the Holy Spirit, even now is giving you a feeling of conviction about your fruitfulness, about your state of salvation, then respond to him by coming and kneeling here at his altar. Here, at this place, you can meeting God, you can know his forgiveness, you can choose to follow Jesus, to be obedient to him, for the rest of your life, one day at a time. As we sing together, please be obedient and come and meet with your Saviour.
Artigo 11 - Ele vai julgar a terra
Este é o sermão que preguei no corpo de São Miguel, na reunião da salvação, na noite de 26 de setembro de 2010. A tradução foi cuidadosamente editado por Gilmar, a quem sou eternamente grato. Este foi o último da minha série de mensagems sobre os 11 artigos de Doutrina do Exército de Salvação. Para a glória de Deus.
Corpo de São Miguel Paulista Reunião de Salvação 26/09/10
Texto: 2 Timóteo 4:1
Leitura Bíblica: Mateus 25:31-46
Tema: Ele vai julgar a terra
Vou arriscar em dizer, que eu acho que o maior perigo espiritual de nosso tempo é que as pessoas não acreditam em céu e inferno.
É minha impressão que as pessoas certamente não parecem agir como se eles acreditam muito em céu e inferno. Eles não agem como se soubessem que é um fato que um dia eles vão estar diante de Jesus e serão julgado pelo que fizeram durante a sua vida na terra. Se eles sabiam e acreditavam isso como um fato, então eu acho que eles agiriam de maneira muito diferente.
Na minha experiência de vida, durante muitos anos, eu acho o que eu tenho percebido que eu chamaria de um universalismo. Eu certamente já vi esse fenômeno entre as pessoas que não professam fé em Cristo. Muitos deles acreditam em um Deus vago, um tipo de Deus, que é como um supermercado, um Deus que eles poderiam ir a ele apenas quando precisassem, mas o resto do tempo eles ficam sem dá-lo um outro pensamento.
Eu já vi esse tipo de crença em especial nos funerais. De repente, em um funeral, a questão de saber se existe um Deus e se há um céu se torna muito importante. E essas pessoas parecem pensar que, enquanto a pessoa que morreu não era uma pessoa má, mas tentou o seu melhor e, ocasionalmente, fez algo de bom para alguém, então certamente este Deus vago, a quem tinham ouvido falar e quase acreditar, permitirá que a pessoa falecida a fosse ao céu. Ou talvez seja mais correto dizer que só acreditam realmente no céu, e não em Deus.
E, portanto, de alguma forma, todos nós, eventualmente, chegamos em um paraíso espiritual, porque ninguém tem o direito de nos julgar. Então, todos nós ganhamos no final! Agora, isto me soa como uma propaganda para a loteria nacional! (Aqui está uma foto que resume esse tipo de idéia. - É uma visão olhando do céu sobre o telhados de alguns prédios altos, sugerindo a idéia de que todos os mortos estão em segurança lá em cima no céu, olhando para os viventes).
Então eu digo, esse tipo de pensamento é um terrível perigo espiritual, porque o que acontece quando deixamos de acreditar realmente em um céu e inferno, em uma vida após a morte, em um Deus que julga entre o justo eo ímpio. Pense nisso por um momento. Se nada do que fazemos aqui na Terra tem qualquer conseqüência eterna, se ninguém vai nos responsabilizar pelas vidas que vivemos, então por que devemos ser bons? Bem, o ateu talvez possa responder a esta, que devemos ser bons porque sendo bons garante que a função da sociedade de forma adequada, e se não formoss bons em seguida, todos irão sofrer inclusive nós.
Mas há pelo menos dois problemas com o argumento ateísta; em primeiro lugar, se Deus não existe, quem decide o que para constituir, efetivamente, ser bom? O governo deve decidir? A Organização das Nações Unidas? Os bancos? O presidente dos EUA? O presidente do Irã? O Partido Comunista na China? Você deve decidir, talvez? Eu devo decidir?
E segundo problema com este argumento, que está relacionado com o primeiro problema, é que às vezes fazendo o que achamos que é bom, podemos levar os outros a sofrer. Por exemplo, quando cuidarmos dos nossos próprios interesses e os dos nossos familiares e amigos em primeiro lugar, a maioria dos pessoas pensam que, certamente, é uma coisa boa, não é? E, no entanto isso pode realmente ser a causa do sofrimento dos outros. Afinal, foi esse tipo de raciocínio que levou as pessoas a trazer escravos para o Brasil. Foi esse tipo de raciocínio que levou ao desenvolvimento de armas atômicas. Foi esse tipo de raciocínio que levou ao aquecimento global. Foi esse tipo de raciocínio que levou à injustiça atual no comércio mundial e as finanças mundiais. E, de fato, é esse tipo de argumento, o argumento que diz que é bom cuidarmos de nós mesmos em primeiro lugar, que é parcialmente responsável pela terrível pobreza no mundo de hoje.
E mesmo que muitas vezes ouvimos os líderes políticos do mundo falarem sobre auxílio para aqueles em situação de pobreza, claramente há uma dificuldade em dar essa ajuda, porque este argumento para o auto-interesse é realmente muito poderoso em seus países.
Então eu estou dizendo que uma das principais razões que há tanto sofrimento no mundo de hoje é porque as pessoas já se esqueceram ou que se recusaram a acreditar que existe realmente um céu e um inferno e que um dia todos nós teremos de comparecer perante Cristo e prestar contas do que temos feito com nossas vidas. E eu acho que se as pessoas realmente acreditaram nisto, então eles queram conhecer melhor a Jesus e saberiam o que ele exige deles, e eles seguiriam seus ensinamentos e comandos com cuidado, para que quando ele viesse para julgá-los eles estarão prontos.
Agora, como isso aconteceu? Como é que as pessoas deixam de acreditar na verdade do julgamento de Deus e no céu e inferno? Bem, essa falta de crença deve ter começado em algum lugar, e talvez tenha começado na igreja! De todos os lugares que isto pode acontecer, isto começou na Igreja de Jesus Cristo! Sim, eu estou sugerindo que talvez tenha havido no passado, e ainda existem pessoas que se dizem cristãos e mesmo assim negariam que há um inferno, nem um julgamento que os enviariam a isto. E ainda pior, talvez também há aqueles que dizem que eles acreditam que há um céu e um inferno e um julgamento, mas então eles vivem suas vidas de uma maneira que sugere que eles realmente não acreditam no que eles dizem.
Bem, o artigo final do Exército da Salvação da fé deixa bem claro que salvacionistas devem acreditar. Vamos ficar em pé e lê-lo juntos.
11. Cremos na imortalidade da alma, na ressurreição do corpo, no juízo final, na felicidade eterna dos justos e no castigo eterno dos maus.
Agora, é claro, sempre houve muito debate sobre o que as palavras nesta declaração realmente significa - imortalidade, ressurreição, julgamento geral, céu e inferno -, mas hoje eu quero tentar dar a minha interpretação dessa verdade que eu espero que tenha sido guiado pelo Espírito Santo.
E eu tenho alguma confiança que o Espírito Santo estará me guiando, e também vocês como vocês ouvir, porque nós vamos olhar extensivamente na escritura, e isso porque a primeira coisa que precisa ser dito sobre esse artigo que acabamos de ler é que é completamente bíblico, você encontrará todas as idéias que contém dentro da bíblia.
1. Pois estabeleceu um dia..
Em Atos 10:42 temos o registro histórico do apóstolo Paulo fala sobre o chamado dos primeiros apóstolos, entre cujo número ele se incluiu. O que Deus chama Paulo para fazer? Vamos lê-lo.
Atos 10:42
Ele nos mandou pregar ao povo e testemunhar que foi a ele que Deus constituiu juiz de vivos e de mortos.(NVI-P)
A pregação de Paulo aos atenienses demonstra sua fidelidade a esta vocação. Vamos ler Atos 17:29-31.
Atos 17:29-31
"Assim, visto que somos descendência de Deus, não devemos pensar que a Divindade é semelhante a uma escultura de ouro, prata ou pedra, feita pela arte e imaginação do homem. No passado Deus não levou em conta essa ignorância, mas agora ordena que todos, em todo lugar, se arrependam. Pois estabeleceu um dia em que há de julgar o mundo com justiça, por meio do homem que designou. E deu provas disso a todos, ressuscitando-o dentre os mortos".(NVI-P)
Paulo, por sua vez, passou o chamado de Cristo a Timóteo, seu jovem protegido. E o chamado foi para pregar a mesma mensagem. Vamos ler 2 Timóteo 4:1-2.
2 Timóteo 4:1-2
Na presença de Deus e de Cristo Jesus, que há de julgar os vivos e os mortos por sua manifestação e por seu Reino, eu o exorto solenemente: 2Pregue a palavra...(NVI-P)
Então, na minha opinião, não há ambigüidade aqui. Não há nenhuma possibilidade real de fazer um erro sobre o que está sendo dito aqui. Paulo está dizendo exatamente o que Jesus disse antes dele. Ele disse à seu público na época, e ele nos diz agora, através das escrituras, que, no final da história humana, que ainda continua no presente momento, haverá um grande julgamento de toda a humanidade.
Todos os que já morreram serão ressuscitados e, juntamente com todos aqueles que vivem ainda, serão feitos para estar diante de Jesus, que vai passar julgamento sobre eles. Ele irá julgar as suas vidas. Ele irá avaliar como eles viveram suas vidas. Jesus vai considerar o que cada pessoa soube sobre ele, e com base nisso, ele vai julgar se eles colocaram sua fé nele.
E, como resultado desse julgamento, alguns de nós saberá a felicidade eterna de estar com Jesus para sempre, e alguns de nós saberemos a dor eterna de estaremos sem Jesus para sempre. Em outras palavras, alguns de nós vamos entrar no céu, e alguns de nós vamos entrar no inferno.
Eu me pergunto o que você pensa quando você pensa sobre o céu e inferno. Bem, aqui estão algumas imagens que podem te ajudar a pensar sobre isto. Em primeiro lugar, aqui está uma foto de uma bela vista de uma montanha. Paz e beleza: - Eu acho que o céu vai estar cheio de ambos. Então, há uma foto de uma família se sentando para comer em junto. Muita alegria e amor: - Eu acho que o céu vai estar cheio destas coisas também.
Mas o que seria o inferno? Bem, eu acho que tem mostrado esta fotografia antes, mas é uma imagem de uma mina de ouro do Brasil com milhares de trabalhadores carregando sacos pesados de terra até as escadas muito longas e perigosas. Dor, cansaço, medo e desesperança - Eu acho que o inferno vai estar cheio deles. E então aqui está uma foto de jovens prostitutas paraguaias. Vergonha, dor, desespero: - Eu acho que o inferno vai estar cheio disso também.
O general do Exército da Salvação pediu a todos os salvacionistas ao redor o mundo para orar neste dia para o assunto de tráfico para exploração sexual, que o crime terrível que continua ao redor do mundo. Este é o texto bíblico que acompanha o seu pedido:
Miquéias 2:9
Vocês tiram as mulheres do meu povo de seus lares agradáveis. De seus filhos vocês removem a minha dignidade para sempre.(NVI-P)
O tráfico de seres humanos por outros seres humanos a serem utilizados para fins sexuais ou laborais é um verdadeiro inferno na Terra. Por isso, vamos orar, agora.
Senhor perdoa-nos se não estamos fazendo a nossa parte para tentar acabar com esse grande mal no mundo que é o tráfico sexual. Oramos pelas vítimas, que você pode levantar heróis e heroínas que lutarão por sua libertação. Oramos para que você vá curar as feridas terríveis que tenham sido infligidas as suas mentes e corpos. Nós oramos para que eles conhecem o seu poder de limpeza e sejam restaurados para suas família e seus amigos e sejam capazes de começar uma nova vida, salvo daqueles que os exploram.
Oramos para os homens e mulheres que escravizam e tráficam outros seres humanos. Oramos para que você mexer em suas consciências para que eles se odeiem aquilo que fazem e, portanto, decidam parar de fazer isso. Nós oramos para que eles vão sejam obrigados por sua consciência para fazer a restauração de suas vítimas e, se necessário, se entregem a pagar a pena por seus crimes. Oramos para que se fizessem isto, que pelo mistério da sua graça, você vai perdoá-los.
Oramos para que os governantes e as agências policiais e de outros grupos internacionais e instituições de caridades que estão tentando acabar com este terrível crime ou para ajudar aqueles que são vítimas dele. Oramos para que eles tenham o desejo, o financiamento, a sabedoria, a coragem e a cooperação necessárias para acabar com esta forma moderna de escravidão.
Oramos para que aqueles que têm poder vai usiou para trazer a justiça, e para evitar o tráfico no futuro.
Senhor, sabemos que Tu odeias tráfico de seres humanos, e oramos para que Tu possas nos conceder o privilégio de ser usado por Te de alguma maneira para acabar com ela. Oramos isso em nome de quem veio para servir e para salvar, Jesus Cristo. Amen.
A partir dos relatos que vimos e ouvimos, nós sabemos que o mundo do escravo é um mundo de intimidação, violência, solidão, dor, perda, humilhação e injustiça; todas as coisas que nós todos o odiamos ter com experiência. E o que jaz sob todas essas coisas é uma ausência de Deus.
Por outro lado, as coisas que nos gostamos, como música, dança, festas, belos objetos e pessoas, a beleza da natureza, a possibilidade de realização, a bondade, a generosidade, a amizade, o riso e a inocência das crianças; debaixo de todas estas coisas está a presença de Deus. E o que a Bíblia nos diz é que para estar no céu é apenas estar na presença de Deus, enquanto que estar no inferno é estar separado de Deus. E a Bíblia explica que Deus decidiu que Jesus será julgado que são dignos de conhecer a presença de Deus, e que são dignos de saber a separação de Deus - para a eternidade.
Mas você ou eu sabemos qual é qual? Não sabemos quem será salvo e quem será condenado, que é dirigido para o céu e que é dirigindo para o inferno? Consigo pensar em pelo menos duas pessoas neste mundo que têm uma má opinião de mim. Disso eu estou razoavelmente certo. Claro, tenho certeza que há provavelmente mais como eles, mas eu não tenho tanta certeza disso! Não surpreendentemente, estas duas pessoas não estão muito perto dos meus amigos mais! (Embora este não era necessariamente a minha escolha, eu devo a acrescentar.) Agora, este fato poderia me fazer sentir mal sobre mim, mesmo me fazer sentir culpada, mas na verdade eu acredito que tudo o que foi que eu fiz para eles que os levaram a ter esta má opinião de mim já foi perdoado por meu Salvador Jesus Cristo, mesmo que eles não possam me perdoar.
E assim, quando estou diante de Cristo para serem julgados (e aqui é uma pintura de Jesus julgar no dia do julgamento), ele não vai olhar para mim e dizer, você feriu as duas pessoas e por isso eu te condeno. Não, ele vai dizer, seu pecado está perdoado, vá em paz. Então, se essas duas pessoas ouvem isso, podem queixar-se que Jesus está sendo injusto, mas não, seu julgamento é justo. Jesus recebeu a punição que eu deveria ter tido para os meus pecados morrendo na cruz, e é pela sua graça, e sua graça somente que ele vai me julgar inocentes naquele dia. Mas se ele fez isso por mim, (e nenhum de vocês sabem a extensão do meu pecado assim como eu não sei a extensão do seu pecado), se ele fez isso por mim, quem sou eu para julgar alguém? Quem sou eu para condenar o outro e dizer: você é um pecador e você vai ser condenado ao inferno?
Ouça o que Jesus diz sobre isso em Lucas 6:37-38
Lucas 6:37-38
"Não julguem, e vocês não serão julgados. Não condenem, e não serão condenados. Perdoem, e serão perdoados. Dêem, e lhes será dado: uma boa medida, calcada, sacudida e transbordante será dada a vocês. Pois a medida que usarem também será usada para medir vocês".(NVI-P)
Às vezes quando eu penso sobre o comportamento de algumas pessoas em relação a mim, em relação aos outros, a igreja cristã, em relação ao Exército da Salvação, aos seus irmãos cristãos, com os mais necessitados, bem, eu confesso que eu acho que é muito fácil condená-los, para julgá-los. Acho que eu quero que eles sofram por seu comportamento, eu quero que eles sejam punidos. Mas o que Jesus está dizendo é que ele, e só ele será o juiz de que pecou contra Deus, e ele, e só ele vai decidir quem será condenado. E eu, seu discípulo, estou a mostrar a mesma graça e perdão aos outros que ele mostrou para mim.
Será que alguns dos que tráfico seres humanos sejam salvos e vão para o céu? Será que alguns dos que se comportam mal na igreja serem salvos e vão para o céu? Só Jesus sabe de verdade. Mas a lição do ladrão na cruz ao lado de Jesus é que o verdadeiro arrependimento será sempre encontrado com a graça divina.
2. Pois eu tive fome...
O próprio Jesus diz que muitas pessoas vão se surpreender com o seu julgamento. Vamos ler sua parábola em Mateus 25:31-46.
Mateus 25:31-46
"Quando o Filho do homem vier em sua glória, com todos os anjos, assentar-se-á em seu trono na glória celestial. Todas as nações serão reunidas diante dele, e ele separará umas das outras como o pastor separa as ovelhas dos bodes. E colocará as ovelhas à sua direita e os bodes à sua esquerda. "Então o Rei dirá aos que estiverem à sua direita: 'Venham, benditos de meu Pai! Recebam como herança o Reino que lhes foi preparado desde a criação do mundo. Pois eu tive fome, e vocês me deram de comer; tive sede, e vocês me deram de beber; fui estrangeiro, e vocês me acolheram; necessitei de roupas, e vocês me vestiram; estive enfermo, e vocês cuidaram de mim; estive preso, e vocês me visitaram'. "Então os justos lhe responderão: 'Senhor, quando te vimos com fome e te demos de comer, ou com sede e te demos de beber? Quando te vimos como estrangeiro e te acolhemos, ou necessitado de roupas e te vestimos? Quando te vimos enfermo ou preso e fomos te visitar?' "O Rei responderá: 'Digo-lhes a verdade: O que vocês fizeram a algum dos meus menores irmãos, a mim o fizeram'. "Então ele dirá aos que estiverem à sua esquerda: 'Malditos, apartem-se de mim para o fogo eterno, preparado para o Diabo e os seus anjos. Pois eu tive fome, e vocês não me deram de comer; tive sede, e nada me deram para beber; fui estrangeiro, e vocês não me acolheram; necessitei de roupas, e vocês não me vestiram; estive enfermo e preso, e vocês não me visitaram'. "Eles também responderão: 'Senhor, quando te vimos com fome ou com sede ou estrangeiro ou necessitado de roupas ou enfermo ou preso, e não te ajudamos?' "Ele responderá: 'Digo-lhes a verdade: O que vocês deixaram de fazer a alguns destes mais pequeninos, também a mim deixaram de fazê-lo'. "E estes irão para o castigo eterno, mas os justos para a vida eterna".(NVI-P)
Eu estava lendo um comentário sobre esta parábola. O escritor salientou o extremo choque e surpresa que os que ouvem as palavras de Jesus parecem experiência. Por um lado, aqueles que eram de compaixão e cuidado para os “irmãos” de Jesus estão chocados e surpresos ao saber que eles estavam fazendo isso para o próprio Jesus. Talvez eles estivessem apenas fazendo o que achavam que deveriam naturalmente ser feito para aqueles que tinham necessidades. Eles estavam agindo como seres humanos devem, com compaixão e preocupação pelos outros. Eles não sabiam que esta seria a prova que decidiria se iria passar a eternidade com Deus.
Por outro lado, aqueles que foram condenados também estavam chocados e surpresos. Os estudiosos da Bíblia sugerem que Jesus podia ter dito esta parábola contra os judeus de seu tempo, ou mais especificamente os líderes judeus, que ele sabia que iria perseguir a igreja, assim como eles fizeram a ele. E assim, quando ele fala sobre os seus pequeninos ele está se referindo aos seus discípulos que iria representá-lo depois que ele voltasse para o céu. Agora, esses líderes judeus seriam surpreendidos com o julgamento negativo de Jesus, porque eles pensavam que eram justos, e, portanto, seriam salvos. Mas Jesus diz que, porque eles perseguidos ou não para ajudar aqueles que ele representou na terra, então eles também têm perseguido ou não ajudá-lo e por isso são condenados.
Então há ainda aqueles que hoje pensam que a sua justiça é o resultado deles fazer todas as coisas religiosas. Eles freqüentam a igreja, eles dão o seu dízimo, e eles dizem as coisas certas em público. Você vai se lembrar que esta foi a lição do jovem rico na semana passada, ele pensou que era justo, porque ele manteve todas as leis.
Mas a verdade da fé de alguém é demonstrada por aquilo que fazem para os outros.
As ovelhas na parábola fizeram boas obras, porque eles foram realmente bons e amorosos, e não porque buscavam para ganhar uma recompensa, mas porque teve compaixão genuína pelos outros, e talvez também porque eles sabiam que sua necessidade do Evangelho que os discípulos de Jesus estavam trazendo para eles.
Mas os bodes na parábola não poderiam enganar a Deus. Eles claramente pensavam que eles eram inocentes em negar a Jesus, mas a verdade é que se tentamos ser bons apenas para evitar a punição, ou para ganhar uma recompensa, então nós provavelmente iremos falhar em fazer o bem, porque isso nunca é uma motivação suficiente. E na minha experiência, é perfeitamente possível que as pessoas fazem todas as coisas religiosas, e soe muito santo e ainda, nunca realmente ajude alguém que tenha uma necessidade. E, curiosamente, essas mesmas pessoas são também os mais propensos a julgar a condição espiritual dos outros.
(Mas na misericórdia de Deus, talvez estes bodes, tentando fazer o bem, mesmo que seja pelo motivo errado, talvez possam ver a reação daqueles que ajudam e pelo poder do Espírito Santo, pode alterá-las e eles serão convencidos de sua própria necessidade de perdão e amor.)
O princípio fundamental da parábola é que o altruísmo, em outras palavras, colocando outros antes de si mesmo, é o que caracteriza o céu. E o egoísmo é o que caracteriza o inferno. No céu, ficaremos com a fonte de toda bondade e de amor. E aqueles no inferno serão separados a fonte de toda bondade e de amor. E talvez, isto significa que pode haver aqueles que apesar de nunca terem confessado a fé com a boca, mostrou compaixão para com os cristãos e assim será perdoados. Considerando que haverá aqueles que se diziam cristãos, mas não para ajudar aqueles que deveriam ter cuidado como seus irmãos e irmãs, e eles serão condenados.
3. Arranque-o.
Então, como vamos responder a estas palavras de Jesus? Como podemos garantir que nós vivemos uma vida que demonstra a nossa crença na realidade futura de seu julgamento, céu e inferno?
Bem, Jesus nos diz como fazer isso em Marcos 9:43-49.
Marcos 9:43-49
Se a sua mão o fizer tropeçar, corte-a. É melhor entrar na vida mutilado do que, tendo as duas mãos, ir para o inferno, onde o fogo nunca se apaga, onde o seu verme não morre, e o fogo não se apaga. E se o seu pé o fizer tropeçar, corte-o. É melhor entrar na vida aleijado do que, tendo os dois pés, ser lançado no inferno, onde o seu verme não morre, e o fogo não se apaga. E se o seu olho o fizer tropeçar, arranque-o. É melhor entrar no Reino de Deus com um só olho do que, tendo os dois olhos, ser lançado no inferno, onde " 'o seu verme não morre, e o fogo não se apaga'. Cada um será salgado com fogo.(NVI-P)
Agora, esta é uma linguagem muito extremas. O nome para esse uso da linguagem é uma hipérbole. Mas mesmo que Jesus não quis dizer literalmente que deveríamos mutilar-nos fisicamente, eu acho que ele estava sendo muito a sério e estava usando o exagero para nos mostrar como era importante lidar com o nosso pecado. E isto porque, de todas as pessoas que já viveram, eu acho que Jesus tinha o melhor entendimento de como é terrível o inferno seria. Afinal, ele tinha alguma memória do céu, e uma experiência em curso, vibrante da presença de Deus, seu Pai e ao Espírito Santo e, portanto, ele poderia imaginar o terror de sentir sua ausência, e na verdade, alguns dizem que mais tarde experimentou esse terror e desolação, quando ele foi crucificado e morreu.
Então, Jesus quis deixar-nos em nenhuma dúvida que nós devemos lidar com qualquer coisa em nossas vidas que poderiam ameaçar a nossa salvação.
O contexto dessa passagem é o ensinamento de Jesus sobre as pessoas que recebem ou rejeitam o evangelho e aqueles que pregam. E assim, Jesus está dizendo que se há alguma coisa que nos impede de aceitar o evangelho, tudo o que nos impede de ser seu seguidores verdadeiros, tudo o que nos leva a rejeitar os seus ensinamentos e comandos, então nós precisamos nos livrar dele, se quero ser salvo. Precisamos livrar-se dela, mesmo que nós sentimos que isso é tão importante para nós como uma mão ou pé ou olho.
Mas o que é isso que ele poderia estar falando? O que é isso que precisamos renunciar, porque nos leva ao pecado?
É algo em nossa vida, como um programa de televisão, ou um amor de moda, ou a música que ouvimos ou os livros ou revistas que lemos, os sites de internet que olharmos?
É a nossa amizade? Existe algum amigo que está nos levando ao pecado, a quem temos de parar de estar com amigos? Poderia até ser alguém da nossa família?
Tratam-se certas opiniões que temos tido por muitos anos, e nos sentimos muito fortemente?
É uma emoção forte ou atitude?
É a nossa religião, nossa compreensão de como a igreja deve ser feito? É algum tipo de dependência de alguma coisa? É um desejo oculto? Alguma destas coisas nos leva a pecar?
Jesus está dizendo que é melhor evitar essas coisas em conjunto, para removê-las completamente de sua vida, ao invés de comprometer a sua salvação, porque o pecado é tão grave que pode separá-los de Deus.
Uma das grandes obras do Espírito Santo é a convicção. Ele vem até nós, e através da palavra de Deus, falado no culto de adoração, ou falado por um crente, ou lido por nós em particular, o Espírito Santo suscita em nós e nos revela o que é que é profano em nós. Eu acredito que ele fez isso hoje. Enquanto preparava esta mensagem que ele estava fazendo o mesmo trabalho em mim.
Sei que Jesus é o meu juiz. Ele vê dentro do meu coração e sabe se há alguma coisa de errado lá e ele condena. E se ele permanece lá e não é resolvido, ele vai condená-la no dia do julgamento. Mas eu também sei e acredito que Jesus é meu salvador, e assim eu sei que se eu pedir-lhe para me perdoar e limpar-me, ele vai enviar o Espírito Santo para mim para me ajudar a remover o pecado do meu coração. E eu sei que se eu permitir que o Espírito Santo faça esse trabalho em mim, então não apenas eu tenho um sentimento crescente da presença de Deus na minha vida, me trazendo paz, alegria e amor, enquanto eu viver nesta terra, mas muito maior do que isso, no dia do Julgamento Final, quando estou diante de Jesus, ele vai sorrir pra mim, ele vai me abraçar, ele vai me pegar pela mão e me levar com todos os santos no céu. Oh, que dia será! A maior promessa! O maior presente!
Meus amigos, esta noite, vocês escutaram o Espírito Santo? Vocês renunciaram a essa coisa, esse pensamento, o sentimento que o impede de aceitar a Cristo? Vocês vão renunciar o seu pecado, que põem em perigo a sua salvação?
Venham para este lugar hoje à noite e buscar o perdão, busquem a limpeza, procurar uma nova maneira de ser, aceitando o Senhorio de Cristo através do poder do Espírito Santo.
E para aqueles de vocês que têm a certeza em seu coração esta noite que você vão para o céu, peçam-lhe, em primeiro lugar agradecer a Deus por suas salvação! Façam uma oração de gratidão para com ele, que ele os salvou do inferno, e tem proporcionado um lugar para você no céu. E quando vocês tiverem feito isso, eu quero que vocês pensem em todas as pessoas que vocês conhecem que não aceitaram Cristo como seu salvador, todas as pessoas que vocês sabem que ainda não são cristãos. E talvez vocês também precisem vir aqui para este lugar, para interceder por seu destino eterno, para pedir a Jesus para ajudá-los a pregar o evangelho às pessoas da maneira que vocês podem, tendo em qualquer oportunidade que ele dá. Trazem essas pessoas ante a ele agora e implore por suas almas eternas, peçam que após o julgamento, eles serão encontrados entre os santos e não entre aqueles que são expulsos da presença divina.
Convido todos vocês para virem agora e se encontrarem com o Senhor Jesus neste lugar especial de oração.
Corpo de São Miguel Paulista Reunião de Salvação 26/09/10
Texto: 2 Timóteo 4:1
Leitura Bíblica: Mateus 25:31-46
Tema: Ele vai julgar a terra
Vou arriscar em dizer, que eu acho que o maior perigo espiritual de nosso tempo é que as pessoas não acreditam em céu e inferno.
É minha impressão que as pessoas certamente não parecem agir como se eles acreditam muito em céu e inferno. Eles não agem como se soubessem que é um fato que um dia eles vão estar diante de Jesus e serão julgado pelo que fizeram durante a sua vida na terra. Se eles sabiam e acreditavam isso como um fato, então eu acho que eles agiriam de maneira muito diferente.
Na minha experiência de vida, durante muitos anos, eu acho o que eu tenho percebido que eu chamaria de um universalismo. Eu certamente já vi esse fenômeno entre as pessoas que não professam fé em Cristo. Muitos deles acreditam em um Deus vago, um tipo de Deus, que é como um supermercado, um Deus que eles poderiam ir a ele apenas quando precisassem, mas o resto do tempo eles ficam sem dá-lo um outro pensamento.
Eu já vi esse tipo de crença em especial nos funerais. De repente, em um funeral, a questão de saber se existe um Deus e se há um céu se torna muito importante. E essas pessoas parecem pensar que, enquanto a pessoa que morreu não era uma pessoa má, mas tentou o seu melhor e, ocasionalmente, fez algo de bom para alguém, então certamente este Deus vago, a quem tinham ouvido falar e quase acreditar, permitirá que a pessoa falecida a fosse ao céu. Ou talvez seja mais correto dizer que só acreditam realmente no céu, e não em Deus.
E, portanto, de alguma forma, todos nós, eventualmente, chegamos em um paraíso espiritual, porque ninguém tem o direito de nos julgar. Então, todos nós ganhamos no final! Agora, isto me soa como uma propaganda para a loteria nacional! (Aqui está uma foto que resume esse tipo de idéia. - É uma visão olhando do céu sobre o telhados de alguns prédios altos, sugerindo a idéia de que todos os mortos estão em segurança lá em cima no céu, olhando para os viventes).
Então eu digo, esse tipo de pensamento é um terrível perigo espiritual, porque o que acontece quando deixamos de acreditar realmente em um céu e inferno, em uma vida após a morte, em um Deus que julga entre o justo eo ímpio. Pense nisso por um momento. Se nada do que fazemos aqui na Terra tem qualquer conseqüência eterna, se ninguém vai nos responsabilizar pelas vidas que vivemos, então por que devemos ser bons? Bem, o ateu talvez possa responder a esta, que devemos ser bons porque sendo bons garante que a função da sociedade de forma adequada, e se não formoss bons em seguida, todos irão sofrer inclusive nós.
Mas há pelo menos dois problemas com o argumento ateísta; em primeiro lugar, se Deus não existe, quem decide o que para constituir, efetivamente, ser bom? O governo deve decidir? A Organização das Nações Unidas? Os bancos? O presidente dos EUA? O presidente do Irã? O Partido Comunista na China? Você deve decidir, talvez? Eu devo decidir?
E segundo problema com este argumento, que está relacionado com o primeiro problema, é que às vezes fazendo o que achamos que é bom, podemos levar os outros a sofrer. Por exemplo, quando cuidarmos dos nossos próprios interesses e os dos nossos familiares e amigos em primeiro lugar, a maioria dos pessoas pensam que, certamente, é uma coisa boa, não é? E, no entanto isso pode realmente ser a causa do sofrimento dos outros. Afinal, foi esse tipo de raciocínio que levou as pessoas a trazer escravos para o Brasil. Foi esse tipo de raciocínio que levou ao desenvolvimento de armas atômicas. Foi esse tipo de raciocínio que levou ao aquecimento global. Foi esse tipo de raciocínio que levou à injustiça atual no comércio mundial e as finanças mundiais. E, de fato, é esse tipo de argumento, o argumento que diz que é bom cuidarmos de nós mesmos em primeiro lugar, que é parcialmente responsável pela terrível pobreza no mundo de hoje.
E mesmo que muitas vezes ouvimos os líderes políticos do mundo falarem sobre auxílio para aqueles em situação de pobreza, claramente há uma dificuldade em dar essa ajuda, porque este argumento para o auto-interesse é realmente muito poderoso em seus países.
Então eu estou dizendo que uma das principais razões que há tanto sofrimento no mundo de hoje é porque as pessoas já se esqueceram ou que se recusaram a acreditar que existe realmente um céu e um inferno e que um dia todos nós teremos de comparecer perante Cristo e prestar contas do que temos feito com nossas vidas. E eu acho que se as pessoas realmente acreditaram nisto, então eles queram conhecer melhor a Jesus e saberiam o que ele exige deles, e eles seguiriam seus ensinamentos e comandos com cuidado, para que quando ele viesse para julgá-los eles estarão prontos.
Agora, como isso aconteceu? Como é que as pessoas deixam de acreditar na verdade do julgamento de Deus e no céu e inferno? Bem, essa falta de crença deve ter começado em algum lugar, e talvez tenha começado na igreja! De todos os lugares que isto pode acontecer, isto começou na Igreja de Jesus Cristo! Sim, eu estou sugerindo que talvez tenha havido no passado, e ainda existem pessoas que se dizem cristãos e mesmo assim negariam que há um inferno, nem um julgamento que os enviariam a isto. E ainda pior, talvez também há aqueles que dizem que eles acreditam que há um céu e um inferno e um julgamento, mas então eles vivem suas vidas de uma maneira que sugere que eles realmente não acreditam no que eles dizem.
Bem, o artigo final do Exército da Salvação da fé deixa bem claro que salvacionistas devem acreditar. Vamos ficar em pé e lê-lo juntos.
11. Cremos na imortalidade da alma, na ressurreição do corpo, no juízo final, na felicidade eterna dos justos e no castigo eterno dos maus.
Agora, é claro, sempre houve muito debate sobre o que as palavras nesta declaração realmente significa - imortalidade, ressurreição, julgamento geral, céu e inferno -, mas hoje eu quero tentar dar a minha interpretação dessa verdade que eu espero que tenha sido guiado pelo Espírito Santo.
E eu tenho alguma confiança que o Espírito Santo estará me guiando, e também vocês como vocês ouvir, porque nós vamos olhar extensivamente na escritura, e isso porque a primeira coisa que precisa ser dito sobre esse artigo que acabamos de ler é que é completamente bíblico, você encontrará todas as idéias que contém dentro da bíblia.
1. Pois estabeleceu um dia..
Em Atos 10:42 temos o registro histórico do apóstolo Paulo fala sobre o chamado dos primeiros apóstolos, entre cujo número ele se incluiu. O que Deus chama Paulo para fazer? Vamos lê-lo.
Atos 10:42
Ele nos mandou pregar ao povo e testemunhar que foi a ele que Deus constituiu juiz de vivos e de mortos.(NVI-P)
A pregação de Paulo aos atenienses demonstra sua fidelidade a esta vocação. Vamos ler Atos 17:29-31.
Atos 17:29-31
"Assim, visto que somos descendência de Deus, não devemos pensar que a Divindade é semelhante a uma escultura de ouro, prata ou pedra, feita pela arte e imaginação do homem. No passado Deus não levou em conta essa ignorância, mas agora ordena que todos, em todo lugar, se arrependam. Pois estabeleceu um dia em que há de julgar o mundo com justiça, por meio do homem que designou. E deu provas disso a todos, ressuscitando-o dentre os mortos".(NVI-P)
Paulo, por sua vez, passou o chamado de Cristo a Timóteo, seu jovem protegido. E o chamado foi para pregar a mesma mensagem. Vamos ler 2 Timóteo 4:1-2.
2 Timóteo 4:1-2
Na presença de Deus e de Cristo Jesus, que há de julgar os vivos e os mortos por sua manifestação e por seu Reino, eu o exorto solenemente: 2Pregue a palavra...(NVI-P)
Então, na minha opinião, não há ambigüidade aqui. Não há nenhuma possibilidade real de fazer um erro sobre o que está sendo dito aqui. Paulo está dizendo exatamente o que Jesus disse antes dele. Ele disse à seu público na época, e ele nos diz agora, através das escrituras, que, no final da história humana, que ainda continua no presente momento, haverá um grande julgamento de toda a humanidade.
Todos os que já morreram serão ressuscitados e, juntamente com todos aqueles que vivem ainda, serão feitos para estar diante de Jesus, que vai passar julgamento sobre eles. Ele irá julgar as suas vidas. Ele irá avaliar como eles viveram suas vidas. Jesus vai considerar o que cada pessoa soube sobre ele, e com base nisso, ele vai julgar se eles colocaram sua fé nele.
E, como resultado desse julgamento, alguns de nós saberá a felicidade eterna de estar com Jesus para sempre, e alguns de nós saberemos a dor eterna de estaremos sem Jesus para sempre. Em outras palavras, alguns de nós vamos entrar no céu, e alguns de nós vamos entrar no inferno.
Eu me pergunto o que você pensa quando você pensa sobre o céu e inferno. Bem, aqui estão algumas imagens que podem te ajudar a pensar sobre isto. Em primeiro lugar, aqui está uma foto de uma bela vista de uma montanha. Paz e beleza: - Eu acho que o céu vai estar cheio de ambos. Então, há uma foto de uma família se sentando para comer em junto. Muita alegria e amor: - Eu acho que o céu vai estar cheio destas coisas também.
Mas o que seria o inferno? Bem, eu acho que tem mostrado esta fotografia antes, mas é uma imagem de uma mina de ouro do Brasil com milhares de trabalhadores carregando sacos pesados de terra até as escadas muito longas e perigosas. Dor, cansaço, medo e desesperança - Eu acho que o inferno vai estar cheio deles. E então aqui está uma foto de jovens prostitutas paraguaias. Vergonha, dor, desespero: - Eu acho que o inferno vai estar cheio disso também.
O general do Exército da Salvação pediu a todos os salvacionistas ao redor o mundo para orar neste dia para o assunto de tráfico para exploração sexual, que o crime terrível que continua ao redor do mundo. Este é o texto bíblico que acompanha o seu pedido:
Miquéias 2:9
Vocês tiram as mulheres do meu povo de seus lares agradáveis. De seus filhos vocês removem a minha dignidade para sempre.(NVI-P)
O tráfico de seres humanos por outros seres humanos a serem utilizados para fins sexuais ou laborais é um verdadeiro inferno na Terra. Por isso, vamos orar, agora.
Senhor perdoa-nos se não estamos fazendo a nossa parte para tentar acabar com esse grande mal no mundo que é o tráfico sexual. Oramos pelas vítimas, que você pode levantar heróis e heroínas que lutarão por sua libertação. Oramos para que você vá curar as feridas terríveis que tenham sido infligidas as suas mentes e corpos. Nós oramos para que eles conhecem o seu poder de limpeza e sejam restaurados para suas família e seus amigos e sejam capazes de começar uma nova vida, salvo daqueles que os exploram.
Oramos para os homens e mulheres que escravizam e tráficam outros seres humanos. Oramos para que você mexer em suas consciências para que eles se odeiem aquilo que fazem e, portanto, decidam parar de fazer isso. Nós oramos para que eles vão sejam obrigados por sua consciência para fazer a restauração de suas vítimas e, se necessário, se entregem a pagar a pena por seus crimes. Oramos para que se fizessem isto, que pelo mistério da sua graça, você vai perdoá-los.
Oramos para que os governantes e as agências policiais e de outros grupos internacionais e instituições de caridades que estão tentando acabar com este terrível crime ou para ajudar aqueles que são vítimas dele. Oramos para que eles tenham o desejo, o financiamento, a sabedoria, a coragem e a cooperação necessárias para acabar com esta forma moderna de escravidão.
Oramos para que aqueles que têm poder vai usiou para trazer a justiça, e para evitar o tráfico no futuro.
Senhor, sabemos que Tu odeias tráfico de seres humanos, e oramos para que Tu possas nos conceder o privilégio de ser usado por Te de alguma maneira para acabar com ela. Oramos isso em nome de quem veio para servir e para salvar, Jesus Cristo. Amen.
A partir dos relatos que vimos e ouvimos, nós sabemos que o mundo do escravo é um mundo de intimidação, violência, solidão, dor, perda, humilhação e injustiça; todas as coisas que nós todos o odiamos ter com experiência. E o que jaz sob todas essas coisas é uma ausência de Deus.
Por outro lado, as coisas que nos gostamos, como música, dança, festas, belos objetos e pessoas, a beleza da natureza, a possibilidade de realização, a bondade, a generosidade, a amizade, o riso e a inocência das crianças; debaixo de todas estas coisas está a presença de Deus. E o que a Bíblia nos diz é que para estar no céu é apenas estar na presença de Deus, enquanto que estar no inferno é estar separado de Deus. E a Bíblia explica que Deus decidiu que Jesus será julgado que são dignos de conhecer a presença de Deus, e que são dignos de saber a separação de Deus - para a eternidade.
Mas você ou eu sabemos qual é qual? Não sabemos quem será salvo e quem será condenado, que é dirigido para o céu e que é dirigindo para o inferno? Consigo pensar em pelo menos duas pessoas neste mundo que têm uma má opinião de mim. Disso eu estou razoavelmente certo. Claro, tenho certeza que há provavelmente mais como eles, mas eu não tenho tanta certeza disso! Não surpreendentemente, estas duas pessoas não estão muito perto dos meus amigos mais! (Embora este não era necessariamente a minha escolha, eu devo a acrescentar.) Agora, este fato poderia me fazer sentir mal sobre mim, mesmo me fazer sentir culpada, mas na verdade eu acredito que tudo o que foi que eu fiz para eles que os levaram a ter esta má opinião de mim já foi perdoado por meu Salvador Jesus Cristo, mesmo que eles não possam me perdoar.
E assim, quando estou diante de Cristo para serem julgados (e aqui é uma pintura de Jesus julgar no dia do julgamento), ele não vai olhar para mim e dizer, você feriu as duas pessoas e por isso eu te condeno. Não, ele vai dizer, seu pecado está perdoado, vá em paz. Então, se essas duas pessoas ouvem isso, podem queixar-se que Jesus está sendo injusto, mas não, seu julgamento é justo. Jesus recebeu a punição que eu deveria ter tido para os meus pecados morrendo na cruz, e é pela sua graça, e sua graça somente que ele vai me julgar inocentes naquele dia. Mas se ele fez isso por mim, (e nenhum de vocês sabem a extensão do meu pecado assim como eu não sei a extensão do seu pecado), se ele fez isso por mim, quem sou eu para julgar alguém? Quem sou eu para condenar o outro e dizer: você é um pecador e você vai ser condenado ao inferno?
Ouça o que Jesus diz sobre isso em Lucas 6:37-38
Lucas 6:37-38
"Não julguem, e vocês não serão julgados. Não condenem, e não serão condenados. Perdoem, e serão perdoados. Dêem, e lhes será dado: uma boa medida, calcada, sacudida e transbordante será dada a vocês. Pois a medida que usarem também será usada para medir vocês".(NVI-P)
Às vezes quando eu penso sobre o comportamento de algumas pessoas em relação a mim, em relação aos outros, a igreja cristã, em relação ao Exército da Salvação, aos seus irmãos cristãos, com os mais necessitados, bem, eu confesso que eu acho que é muito fácil condená-los, para julgá-los. Acho que eu quero que eles sofram por seu comportamento, eu quero que eles sejam punidos. Mas o que Jesus está dizendo é que ele, e só ele será o juiz de que pecou contra Deus, e ele, e só ele vai decidir quem será condenado. E eu, seu discípulo, estou a mostrar a mesma graça e perdão aos outros que ele mostrou para mim.
Será que alguns dos que tráfico seres humanos sejam salvos e vão para o céu? Será que alguns dos que se comportam mal na igreja serem salvos e vão para o céu? Só Jesus sabe de verdade. Mas a lição do ladrão na cruz ao lado de Jesus é que o verdadeiro arrependimento será sempre encontrado com a graça divina.
2. Pois eu tive fome...
O próprio Jesus diz que muitas pessoas vão se surpreender com o seu julgamento. Vamos ler sua parábola em Mateus 25:31-46.
Mateus 25:31-46
"Quando o Filho do homem vier em sua glória, com todos os anjos, assentar-se-á em seu trono na glória celestial. Todas as nações serão reunidas diante dele, e ele separará umas das outras como o pastor separa as ovelhas dos bodes. E colocará as ovelhas à sua direita e os bodes à sua esquerda. "Então o Rei dirá aos que estiverem à sua direita: 'Venham, benditos de meu Pai! Recebam como herança o Reino que lhes foi preparado desde a criação do mundo. Pois eu tive fome, e vocês me deram de comer; tive sede, e vocês me deram de beber; fui estrangeiro, e vocês me acolheram; necessitei de roupas, e vocês me vestiram; estive enfermo, e vocês cuidaram de mim; estive preso, e vocês me visitaram'. "Então os justos lhe responderão: 'Senhor, quando te vimos com fome e te demos de comer, ou com sede e te demos de beber? Quando te vimos como estrangeiro e te acolhemos, ou necessitado de roupas e te vestimos? Quando te vimos enfermo ou preso e fomos te visitar?' "O Rei responderá: 'Digo-lhes a verdade: O que vocês fizeram a algum dos meus menores irmãos, a mim o fizeram'. "Então ele dirá aos que estiverem à sua esquerda: 'Malditos, apartem-se de mim para o fogo eterno, preparado para o Diabo e os seus anjos. Pois eu tive fome, e vocês não me deram de comer; tive sede, e nada me deram para beber; fui estrangeiro, e vocês não me acolheram; necessitei de roupas, e vocês não me vestiram; estive enfermo e preso, e vocês não me visitaram'. "Eles também responderão: 'Senhor, quando te vimos com fome ou com sede ou estrangeiro ou necessitado de roupas ou enfermo ou preso, e não te ajudamos?' "Ele responderá: 'Digo-lhes a verdade: O que vocês deixaram de fazer a alguns destes mais pequeninos, também a mim deixaram de fazê-lo'. "E estes irão para o castigo eterno, mas os justos para a vida eterna".(NVI-P)
Eu estava lendo um comentário sobre esta parábola. O escritor salientou o extremo choque e surpresa que os que ouvem as palavras de Jesus parecem experiência. Por um lado, aqueles que eram de compaixão e cuidado para os “irmãos” de Jesus estão chocados e surpresos ao saber que eles estavam fazendo isso para o próprio Jesus. Talvez eles estivessem apenas fazendo o que achavam que deveriam naturalmente ser feito para aqueles que tinham necessidades. Eles estavam agindo como seres humanos devem, com compaixão e preocupação pelos outros. Eles não sabiam que esta seria a prova que decidiria se iria passar a eternidade com Deus.
Por outro lado, aqueles que foram condenados também estavam chocados e surpresos. Os estudiosos da Bíblia sugerem que Jesus podia ter dito esta parábola contra os judeus de seu tempo, ou mais especificamente os líderes judeus, que ele sabia que iria perseguir a igreja, assim como eles fizeram a ele. E assim, quando ele fala sobre os seus pequeninos ele está se referindo aos seus discípulos que iria representá-lo depois que ele voltasse para o céu. Agora, esses líderes judeus seriam surpreendidos com o julgamento negativo de Jesus, porque eles pensavam que eram justos, e, portanto, seriam salvos. Mas Jesus diz que, porque eles perseguidos ou não para ajudar aqueles que ele representou na terra, então eles também têm perseguido ou não ajudá-lo e por isso são condenados.
Então há ainda aqueles que hoje pensam que a sua justiça é o resultado deles fazer todas as coisas religiosas. Eles freqüentam a igreja, eles dão o seu dízimo, e eles dizem as coisas certas em público. Você vai se lembrar que esta foi a lição do jovem rico na semana passada, ele pensou que era justo, porque ele manteve todas as leis.
Mas a verdade da fé de alguém é demonstrada por aquilo que fazem para os outros.
As ovelhas na parábola fizeram boas obras, porque eles foram realmente bons e amorosos, e não porque buscavam para ganhar uma recompensa, mas porque teve compaixão genuína pelos outros, e talvez também porque eles sabiam que sua necessidade do Evangelho que os discípulos de Jesus estavam trazendo para eles.
Mas os bodes na parábola não poderiam enganar a Deus. Eles claramente pensavam que eles eram inocentes em negar a Jesus, mas a verdade é que se tentamos ser bons apenas para evitar a punição, ou para ganhar uma recompensa, então nós provavelmente iremos falhar em fazer o bem, porque isso nunca é uma motivação suficiente. E na minha experiência, é perfeitamente possível que as pessoas fazem todas as coisas religiosas, e soe muito santo e ainda, nunca realmente ajude alguém que tenha uma necessidade. E, curiosamente, essas mesmas pessoas são também os mais propensos a julgar a condição espiritual dos outros.
(Mas na misericórdia de Deus, talvez estes bodes, tentando fazer o bem, mesmo que seja pelo motivo errado, talvez possam ver a reação daqueles que ajudam e pelo poder do Espírito Santo, pode alterá-las e eles serão convencidos de sua própria necessidade de perdão e amor.)
O princípio fundamental da parábola é que o altruísmo, em outras palavras, colocando outros antes de si mesmo, é o que caracteriza o céu. E o egoísmo é o que caracteriza o inferno. No céu, ficaremos com a fonte de toda bondade e de amor. E aqueles no inferno serão separados a fonte de toda bondade e de amor. E talvez, isto significa que pode haver aqueles que apesar de nunca terem confessado a fé com a boca, mostrou compaixão para com os cristãos e assim será perdoados. Considerando que haverá aqueles que se diziam cristãos, mas não para ajudar aqueles que deveriam ter cuidado como seus irmãos e irmãs, e eles serão condenados.
3. Arranque-o.
Então, como vamos responder a estas palavras de Jesus? Como podemos garantir que nós vivemos uma vida que demonstra a nossa crença na realidade futura de seu julgamento, céu e inferno?
Bem, Jesus nos diz como fazer isso em Marcos 9:43-49.
Marcos 9:43-49
Se a sua mão o fizer tropeçar, corte-a. É melhor entrar na vida mutilado do que, tendo as duas mãos, ir para o inferno, onde o fogo nunca se apaga, onde o seu verme não morre, e o fogo não se apaga. E se o seu pé o fizer tropeçar, corte-o. É melhor entrar na vida aleijado do que, tendo os dois pés, ser lançado no inferno, onde o seu verme não morre, e o fogo não se apaga. E se o seu olho o fizer tropeçar, arranque-o. É melhor entrar no Reino de Deus com um só olho do que, tendo os dois olhos, ser lançado no inferno, onde " 'o seu verme não morre, e o fogo não se apaga'. Cada um será salgado com fogo.(NVI-P)
Agora, esta é uma linguagem muito extremas. O nome para esse uso da linguagem é uma hipérbole. Mas mesmo que Jesus não quis dizer literalmente que deveríamos mutilar-nos fisicamente, eu acho que ele estava sendo muito a sério e estava usando o exagero para nos mostrar como era importante lidar com o nosso pecado. E isto porque, de todas as pessoas que já viveram, eu acho que Jesus tinha o melhor entendimento de como é terrível o inferno seria. Afinal, ele tinha alguma memória do céu, e uma experiência em curso, vibrante da presença de Deus, seu Pai e ao Espírito Santo e, portanto, ele poderia imaginar o terror de sentir sua ausência, e na verdade, alguns dizem que mais tarde experimentou esse terror e desolação, quando ele foi crucificado e morreu.
Então, Jesus quis deixar-nos em nenhuma dúvida que nós devemos lidar com qualquer coisa em nossas vidas que poderiam ameaçar a nossa salvação.
O contexto dessa passagem é o ensinamento de Jesus sobre as pessoas que recebem ou rejeitam o evangelho e aqueles que pregam. E assim, Jesus está dizendo que se há alguma coisa que nos impede de aceitar o evangelho, tudo o que nos impede de ser seu seguidores verdadeiros, tudo o que nos leva a rejeitar os seus ensinamentos e comandos, então nós precisamos nos livrar dele, se quero ser salvo. Precisamos livrar-se dela, mesmo que nós sentimos que isso é tão importante para nós como uma mão ou pé ou olho.
Mas o que é isso que ele poderia estar falando? O que é isso que precisamos renunciar, porque nos leva ao pecado?
É algo em nossa vida, como um programa de televisão, ou um amor de moda, ou a música que ouvimos ou os livros ou revistas que lemos, os sites de internet que olharmos?
É a nossa amizade? Existe algum amigo que está nos levando ao pecado, a quem temos de parar de estar com amigos? Poderia até ser alguém da nossa família?
Tratam-se certas opiniões que temos tido por muitos anos, e nos sentimos muito fortemente?
É uma emoção forte ou atitude?
É a nossa religião, nossa compreensão de como a igreja deve ser feito? É algum tipo de dependência de alguma coisa? É um desejo oculto? Alguma destas coisas nos leva a pecar?
Jesus está dizendo que é melhor evitar essas coisas em conjunto, para removê-las completamente de sua vida, ao invés de comprometer a sua salvação, porque o pecado é tão grave que pode separá-los de Deus.
Uma das grandes obras do Espírito Santo é a convicção. Ele vem até nós, e através da palavra de Deus, falado no culto de adoração, ou falado por um crente, ou lido por nós em particular, o Espírito Santo suscita em nós e nos revela o que é que é profano em nós. Eu acredito que ele fez isso hoje. Enquanto preparava esta mensagem que ele estava fazendo o mesmo trabalho em mim.
Sei que Jesus é o meu juiz. Ele vê dentro do meu coração e sabe se há alguma coisa de errado lá e ele condena. E se ele permanece lá e não é resolvido, ele vai condená-la no dia do julgamento. Mas eu também sei e acredito que Jesus é meu salvador, e assim eu sei que se eu pedir-lhe para me perdoar e limpar-me, ele vai enviar o Espírito Santo para mim para me ajudar a remover o pecado do meu coração. E eu sei que se eu permitir que o Espírito Santo faça esse trabalho em mim, então não apenas eu tenho um sentimento crescente da presença de Deus na minha vida, me trazendo paz, alegria e amor, enquanto eu viver nesta terra, mas muito maior do que isso, no dia do Julgamento Final, quando estou diante de Jesus, ele vai sorrir pra mim, ele vai me abraçar, ele vai me pegar pela mão e me levar com todos os santos no céu. Oh, que dia será! A maior promessa! O maior presente!
Meus amigos, esta noite, vocês escutaram o Espírito Santo? Vocês renunciaram a essa coisa, esse pensamento, o sentimento que o impede de aceitar a Cristo? Vocês vão renunciar o seu pecado, que põem em perigo a sua salvação?
Venham para este lugar hoje à noite e buscar o perdão, busquem a limpeza, procurar uma nova maneira de ser, aceitando o Senhorio de Cristo através do poder do Espírito Santo.
E para aqueles de vocês que têm a certeza em seu coração esta noite que você vão para o céu, peçam-lhe, em primeiro lugar agradecer a Deus por suas salvação! Façam uma oração de gratidão para com ele, que ele os salvou do inferno, e tem proporcionado um lugar para você no céu. E quando vocês tiverem feito isso, eu quero que vocês pensem em todas as pessoas que vocês conhecem que não aceitaram Cristo como seu salvador, todas as pessoas que vocês sabem que ainda não são cristãos. E talvez vocês também precisem vir aqui para este lugar, para interceder por seu destino eterno, para pedir a Jesus para ajudá-los a pregar o evangelho às pessoas da maneira que vocês podem, tendo em qualquer oportunidade que ele dá. Trazem essas pessoas ante a ele agora e implore por suas almas eternas, peçam que após o julgamento, eles serão encontrados entre os santos e não entre aqueles que são expulsos da presença divina.
Convido todos vocês para virem agora e se encontrarem com o Senhor Jesus neste lugar especial de oração.
Article 11 - He will come to judge the earth
This is the english version of a sermon preached in portuguese on the 26th September 2010 at Sao Miguel Paulista Corps, Sao Paulo. It was the last in a sermon series on the 11 articles of doctrine of the Salvation Army. (All scripture quotations are from the NIV)
Sao Miguel Paulista Corps - Salvation Meeting 26/09/10
Text: 2 Timothy 4:1
Bible Reading: Matthew 25:31-46
Theme: He will judge the earth.
I will go as far as to say, that I think that the greatest spiritual danger of our time is that people don´t really believe in heaven and hell.
It is my impression that people certainly do not appear to act as if they believe in heaven and hell very much. They do not act as if they know that it is a fact that one day they will stand before Jesus and be judged for what they did during their life on earth. If they did know and believe this as a fact, then I think they would act very differently.
In my experience of life, over many years, I think I have perceived what I would call a creeping universalism. I have certainly seen this phenomenon amongst people who do not profess faith in Christ. Many of them believe in a vague God, a convenience-store type of God, who they can go to only when they need him, but the rest of the time they get on with their lives without giving him another thought. I have seen this kind of belief particularly at funerals. All of a sudden at a funeral, the question of whether there is a God and whether there is a heaven becomes very important. And these people seem to think that as long as the person who died was not a very terrible person, but tried their best, and occasionally did something good for someone, then surely this vague God, whom they have heard about and almost believe in, will allow the deceased person to go to heaven. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that they only really believe in heaven and not God. And therefore, somehow, we will all eventually end up in a spiritual paradise because no one has the right to judge us. So, we all win in the end. Now this sounds to me like an advert for the national lottery! (Here is a picture which kind of sums up this sort of idea – it is a view looking down from the sky onto the tops of some tall buildings. It demonstrates the idea that all the dead people are safely up above the sky looking down on the living.)
Now I say this kind of thinking is a terrible spiritual danger because of what happens when we stop really believing in a heaven and hell, in a life after death, in a God who judges between the righteous and the wicked. Think about this for a moment. If nothing we do here on earth has any eternal consequence; if no one will hold us accountable for the lives we have lived, then why should we be good? Well now, the atheist might perhaps reply to that, that we should be good because being good makes society function properly, and if we are not good then everyone will suffer including us.
But there are at least two problems with that argument; firstly, if there is no God, who decides what actually constitutes being good? Should the government decide? The United Nations? The banks? The President of the USA? The President of Iran? The Communist Party in China? Should you decide? Should I decide?
And second problem with that argument, which is related to the first problem, is that sometimes by doing what we think is good, we can cause others to suffer; for example, when we look after our own interests and those of our families and friends first, surely that is a good thing, isn’t it? And yet doing this may actually be the cause of others´ suffering. After all, it was this kind of reasoning that led people to bring slaves to Brazil. It was this kind of reasoning that led to the development of atomic weapons. It was this kind of reasoning that has led to global warming. It was this kind of reasoning that has led to the current injustice in world trade and world finance. And, in fact, it is this kind of argument, the argument that says that it is good to look after ourselves first, that is partly responsible for the terrible poverty in the world today.
And even though many times we hear the political leaders of the world talk about Aid for those in poverty, clearly there is a difficulty in giving that aid because this argument for self-interest is very powerful indeed within their countries.
So I am saying that one of the chief reasons there is so much suffering in the world today is because people have either forgotten or have refused to believe that there is indeed a heaven and a hell and that one day we will all have to stand before Christ and account for what we have done with our lives. And I think if people really believed this, then they would want to know Jesus better and know what he requires of them, and they would want to follow his teaching and commands carefully, so that when he comes to judge them they will be ready.
Now how did this happen? How did people stop believing in the truth of God´s judgement and in heaven and hell? Well, this lack of belief must have started somewhere, and perhaps it started in the church! Of all places for it to happen, it started in the church of Jesus Christ. Yes, I am suggesting that perhaps there were and still are people who would call themselves Christians and yet would deny that there is a hell, nor a judgement that will send them to it. And even worse, perhaps there are also those who say that they believe that there is a heaven and a hell and a judgment, but then they live their lives in a way that suggests that they do not actually believe what they say.
Well, the Salvation Army’s final article of faith makes it very plain what Salvationists are supposed to believe. Let’s stand and read it together.
11. We believe in the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, in the general judgement at the end of the world, in the eternal happiness of the righteous, and in the endless punishment of the wicked.
Now of course, there has always been much debate about what the words in this statement actually mean – immortality, resurrection, general judgement, heaven and hell – but tonight I want to try to give you my interpretation of this truth which I hope has been guided by the Holy Spirit.
And I have some confidence that the Holy Spirit will be guiding me, and also you as you listen, because we are going to look extensively at scripture, and that is because the first thing that needs to be said about this article that we have just read is that it is thoroughly biblical; you will find all the ideas it contains within the bible.
1. He has set a time.
In Acts 10:42 we have the historical record of the Apostle Paul speaking about the calling of the first apostles, amongst whose number he included himself. What did God call Paul to do? Let us read it.
Act 10:42
He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.
Paul´s preaching to the Athenians demonstrates his faithfulness to this calling. Let´s read Acts 17:29-31.
Acts 17:29-31
29"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. 30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
Paul, in his turn, passed on the call of Christ to Timothy, his young protégé. And the calling was to preach the same message. Let us read 2 Timothy 4:1-2.
2 Timothy 4:1-2
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word..
Now in my opinion, there is no ambiguity here. There is no real possibility of making a mistake about what is being said here. Paul is saying exactly what Jesus said before him. He told his audience then, and he tells us now, through the scriptures, that at the end of human history, which is still continuing at the present time, there will be a great judgment of all humanity.
Everyone who has ever died will be resurrected and they, along with all those still living will be made to stand before Jesus who will pass judgement on them. He will judge their lives. He will judge how they lived their lives. Jesus will consider what each person knew about him, and on that basis, he will judge whether they put their faith in him.
And as a result of that judgment, some of us will know the eternal happiness of being with Jesus forever; and some of us will know the eternal pain of being without Jesus forever. In other words, some of us will enter heaven, and some of us will enter hell.
I wonder what you think of when you think of heaven and hell. Well, here are some pictures which might help you think about this. Firstly, here is a picture of a beautiful view from a mountain. Peace and beauty: – I think that heaven will be full of both. Then, there is a picture of a family sitting down to eat together. Lots of joy and love: – I think that heaven will be full of these too.
But what about hell? Well, I think I have shown this photograph before, but it is a picture of a Brazilian gold mine with thousands of workers carrying sacks of dirt up very long and dangerous ladders. Pain, exhaustion, fear and hopelessness – I think hell will be full of those. And then here is a picture of young Paraguayan prostitutes. Shame, hurt, desperation: – I think that hell will be full of that too.
The General of the Salvation Army has asked all Salvationists around the world to pray on this very day for the issue of Sexual Trafficking, that terrible crime that is continuing around the world. This is the bible text that accompanies his request:
Micah 2:9
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
The trafficking of human beings by other human beings to be used for sex or labour is truly hell on earth. So let us pray, right now.
Lord, forgive us if we are not doing our part to try and end this great evil in the world that is sexual trafficking. We pray for the victims, that you may raise up heroes and heroines who will fight for their release. We pray that you will heal the terrible wounds that have been inflicted upon their minds and bodies. We pray that they will know your cleansing power and be restored to their families and their friends and be able to begin a new life, safe from those who would exploit them.
We pray for the men and women who enslave and traffic other human beings. We pray that you will stir their consciences so that they will hate themselves for what they do, and therefore decide to stop doing it. We pray that they will be compelled by their conscience to make restoration to their victims, and if necessary, to give themselves up to pay the penalty for their crimes. We pray that if they do this, that by the mystery of your grace, you will forgive them.
We pray for the governments and law enforcement agencies and other international groups and charities that are trying to stop this terrible crime or to help those who are the victims of it. We pray that they will have the desire, the funding, the wisdom, the courage and the cooperation they need to stamp out this modern form of slavery. We pray that those who have power will use it to bring justice, and to prevent trafficking in the future. Lord, we know that you hate human trafficking, and we pray that you might grant us the privilege of being used by you in some small way to end it. We pray this in the name of the one who came to serve and to save, Jesus Christ. Amen.
From the reports we have seen and heard, we know that the world of the slave is a world of bullying, violence, loneliness, pain, loss, humiliation and injustice; all the things that we all hate to experience. And what lies beneath all these things is an absence of God.
On the other hand, the things we love, like music, dancing, parties, beautiful objects and people, the beauty of nature, the possibility of achievement, kindness, generosity, friendship, the laughter and innocence of children; underneath all these things is the presence of God. And what the bible tells us is that to be in heaven is just to be in the presence of God, whilst to be in hell is to be separated from God. And the bible explains that God has decided that Jesus shall judge who are worthy to know the presence of God and who are worthy to know separation from God – for eternity.
But do you or I know which is which? Do we know who will be saved and who will be condemned; who is bound for heaven and who is bound for hell? I can think of at least two people in this world who have a bad opinion of me. Of this I am fairly certain. Of course, there are probably more like them, but I´m not so sure of that! Not surprisingly, these two people are not really close friends of mine anymore! (Although this was not necessarily my choice, I hasten to add.) Now this fact could make me feel bad about myself, even make me feel guilty, but actually I believe that whatever it was that I did to them that caused them to have this bad opinion of me has now been forgiven by my Saviour, Jesus Christ, even if they cannot bring themselves to forgive me.
And so when I stand before Christ to be judged (and here´s a picture of a painting of Jesus on judgement day) he will not look at me and say, you hurt those two people and for that I condemn you. No, he will say, your sin is forgiven, go (into heaven) in peace. Now, if those two people hear this, they might complain that Jesus is being unfair; but no, his judgement is fair. Jesus has received the punishment I should have had for my sins by dying on the cross, and it is by his grace, and his grace alone, that he will judge me innocent on that day. But if he has done this for me (and none of you know the full extent of my sin just as I do not know the full extent of your sin), if he has done this for me, who am I to judge anyone else? Who am I to condemn another and say, you are a sinner and you will be condemned to hell?
Listen to what Jesus says about this in Luke 6:37-38
Luke 6:37-38
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Sometimes when I think about some people´s behaviour towards me, towards others, towards the Christian church, towards the Salvation Army, towards their fellow Christians, towards those in need, and well, I confess that I find it too easy to condemn them, to judge them. I find that I want them to suffer for their behaviour; I want them to be punished. But what Jesus is saying is that he, and he alone, will be the judge of who has sinned against God, and he, and he alone, will decide who will be condemned. And I, his disciple, am to show the same grace and forgiveness to others that he showed to me.
Will some of those who trafficked human beings be saved and go to heaven? Will some of those who behave badly in the church be saved and go to heaven? Only Jesus truly knows. But the lesson of the thief on the cross next to Jesus is that true repentance will always be met with divine grace.
2. For I was hungry...
Jesus himself says that many people will be surprised at his judgement. Let us read his parable in Matthew 25:31-46.
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
I was reading a commentary about this parable. The writer pointed out the extreme shock and surprise that those hearing the words of Jesus seem to experience. On the one hand, those who were compassionate and cared for Jesus´ brothers are shocked and surprised to learn that they were doing this for Jesus himself. Perhaps they were only doing what they felt should naturally be done for those in need. They were acting like human beings should, with compassion and concern for others. They didn´t realise that this would be the test which would decide whether they would spend eternity with God.
On the other hand, those who were condemned were also shocked and surprised. The bible scholars suggest that Jesus may have been speaking this parable against the Jews of his time, or more specifically the Jewish leaders, whom he knew would persecute the church, just as they did him. And so when he speaks about his little ones he is referring to his disciples who would represent him after he had gone back to heaven. Now these Jewish leaders would be surprised at the negative judgment of Jesus because they thought they were righteous, and therefore would be saved. But Jesus says that because they persecuted or neglected to help those who represented him on earth, then they have also persecuted or neglected him and so are condemned.
Now there are still those today who think that their righteousness comes from doing all the religious things. They attend the church, they give their tithe, and they say all the right things in public. You will remember that this was the lesson of the rich young ruler last week; he thought that he was righteous because he kept all the laws.
But the truth of someone´s faith is demonstrated by what they do for others.
The sheep in the parable did good works because they were genuinely good and loving, not because they sought to gain a reward, but because they had genuine compassion for others, and also perhaps because they knew their need of the gospel which the disciples of Jesus were bringing to them.
But the goats in the parable could not fool God. They clearly thought they were innocent of neglecting Jesus, but the truth is that if we try to be good only to avoid punishment, or to gain a reward, then we will probably fail in doing good, because that is never a sufficient motivation. And in my experience, it is perfectly possible for people to do all the religious things, and sound very holy and yet never really help anyone who has a need. And interestingly, these same people are also the ones most likely to judge the spiritual condition of others.
(But in the mercy of God, perhaps these goats, by trying to do good, even if it is for the wrong motive, may perhaps see the response of those they help and by the power of the Holy Spirit, it may change them and they will be become convicted of their own need for forgiveness and love.)
The key principle of the parable is that selflessness, in other words, putting others before yourself, is what characterises heaven. And selfishness is what characterises hell. In heaven, we will be with the source of all goodness and love and kindness. And those in hell will be separated from the source of all goodness and love and kindness. And this will mean that there may be those who, although they never confessed the faith with their mouth, showed compassion to Christians and so will be forgiven. Whereas there will be those who called themselves Christians but failed to help those who they should have cared for as their brothers and sisters, and they will be condemned.
3. Pluck it out.
So how do we respond to these words of Jesus? How do we ensure that we live a life that demonstrates our belief in the future reality of his judgement, and heaven and hell?
Well, Jesus tells us how to do this in Mark 9:43-49.
Mark 9:43-49
43If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.[d] 47And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48where
" 'their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.' 49Everyone will be salted with fire.
Now this is very extreme language. The name for such a use of language is hyperbole. But even if Jesus didn´t mean to say that we should literally maim ourselves physically, I think he was being deadly serious and was using exaggeration to show us how important it was to deal with our sin. And this is because, of all the people that ever lived, I think Jesus had the best understanding of how terrible hell would be. After all, he had some memory of heaven, and an ongoing, vibrant experience of the presence of God his Father and the Holy Spirit, and therefore he could imagine the terror of feeling their absence, and indeed, some say he later experienced this terror and desolation when he was crucified and died.
So Jesus wanted to leave us in no doubt that we should deal with anything in our lives that might threaten our salvation.
The context of this passage is Jesus´ teaching about people receiving or rejecting the gospel and those who preach it. And so Jesus is saying that if there is anything that stops us from accepting the gospel, anything that stops us from being his true follower, anything that causes us to reject his teachings and commands, then we need to get rid of it, if we want to be saved. We need to get rid of it, even if we feel that this thing is as important to us as a hand or foot or an eye.
But what is it that he might be talking about? What is this thing that we need to renounce because it causes us to sin?
Is it something in our lifestyle, such as a television programme, or a love of fashion, or the music we listen to, or the books or magazines that we read, the internet sites we look at?
Is it our friendships? Is there some friend that is leading us into sin, whom we need to stop being friends with? Could it even be someone in our family?
Is it certain opinions that we have had for many years, and feel very strongly about?
Is it a strong emotion or attitude?
Is it our religion; our understanding of how church should be done? Is it some kind of addiction to something? Is it a hidden desire? Do any of these things cause us to sin?
Jesus is saying that it is better to avoid these things altogether, to completely remove them from your life, rather than jeopardise your salvation, because sin is so serious that it can separate you from God.
One of the great works of the Holy Spirit is conviction. He comes to us, and through the word of God, spoken in the worship service, or spoken by a believer, or read by us in private, the Holy Spirit stirs us up and reveals to us what it is that is unholy within us. I believe that he has done that tonight. As I prepared this talk he was doing the same work in me.
I know that Jesus is my judge. He sees within my heart and knows if there is anything wrong there, and he condemns it. And if it remains there and is not dealt with, he will condemn it on the day of judgement. But I also know and believe that Jesus is my saviour, and so I know that if I ask him to forgive me and to cleanse me, he will send the Holy Spirit to me to help me remove the sin from my heart. And I know that if I allow the Holy Spirit to do this work in me, then not only will I have an increasing sense of the presence of God in my life, bringing me peace and joy and love while I live on this earth, but far greater than this, on the day of Judgement, when I stand before Jesus, he will smile at me, he will embrace me, he will take me by the hand and lead me and all the saints into heaven. Oh, what a day that will be! The greatest promise! The greatest gift!
My friends, tonight, will you listen to the Holy Spirit? Will you renounce your sin that keeps you from accepting Christ? Will you renounce your sin that endangers your salvation?
Come to this place tonight and seek forgiveness, seek cleansing, seek a new way of being, accepting the Lordship of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
And for those of you who have the assurance in your heart of heaven tonight, I would ask you firstly to thank God for your salvation! Say a pray of gratitude to him, that he has saved you from hell and provided a place for you in heaven. And when you have done that, I want you to think of all those people you know who have not accepted Christ as their saviour; all those people you know who are not yet Christians. And perhaps you also need to come here to this place, to plead for their eternal destiny; to ask Jesus to help you preach the gospel to those people in whatever way you can, taking whatever opportunity that he gives. Bring these people before him now and plead for their eternal soul; ask that after the judgement, they will be found amongst the saints and not amongst those that are cast out of the divine presence.
I invite you all to come now and to meet with the resurrected Lord Jesus at this special place of prayer.
Sao Miguel Paulista Corps - Salvation Meeting 26/09/10
Text: 2 Timothy 4:1
Bible Reading: Matthew 25:31-46
Theme: He will judge the earth.
I will go as far as to say, that I think that the greatest spiritual danger of our time is that people don´t really believe in heaven and hell.
It is my impression that people certainly do not appear to act as if they believe in heaven and hell very much. They do not act as if they know that it is a fact that one day they will stand before Jesus and be judged for what they did during their life on earth. If they did know and believe this as a fact, then I think they would act very differently.
In my experience of life, over many years, I think I have perceived what I would call a creeping universalism. I have certainly seen this phenomenon amongst people who do not profess faith in Christ. Many of them believe in a vague God, a convenience-store type of God, who they can go to only when they need him, but the rest of the time they get on with their lives without giving him another thought. I have seen this kind of belief particularly at funerals. All of a sudden at a funeral, the question of whether there is a God and whether there is a heaven becomes very important. And these people seem to think that as long as the person who died was not a very terrible person, but tried their best, and occasionally did something good for someone, then surely this vague God, whom they have heard about and almost believe in, will allow the deceased person to go to heaven. Or perhaps it is more accurate to say that they only really believe in heaven and not God. And therefore, somehow, we will all eventually end up in a spiritual paradise because no one has the right to judge us. So, we all win in the end. Now this sounds to me like an advert for the national lottery! (Here is a picture which kind of sums up this sort of idea – it is a view looking down from the sky onto the tops of some tall buildings. It demonstrates the idea that all the dead people are safely up above the sky looking down on the living.)
Now I say this kind of thinking is a terrible spiritual danger because of what happens when we stop really believing in a heaven and hell, in a life after death, in a God who judges between the righteous and the wicked. Think about this for a moment. If nothing we do here on earth has any eternal consequence; if no one will hold us accountable for the lives we have lived, then why should we be good? Well now, the atheist might perhaps reply to that, that we should be good because being good makes society function properly, and if we are not good then everyone will suffer including us.
But there are at least two problems with that argument; firstly, if there is no God, who decides what actually constitutes being good? Should the government decide? The United Nations? The banks? The President of the USA? The President of Iran? The Communist Party in China? Should you decide? Should I decide?
And second problem with that argument, which is related to the first problem, is that sometimes by doing what we think is good, we can cause others to suffer; for example, when we look after our own interests and those of our families and friends first, surely that is a good thing, isn’t it? And yet doing this may actually be the cause of others´ suffering. After all, it was this kind of reasoning that led people to bring slaves to Brazil. It was this kind of reasoning that led to the development of atomic weapons. It was this kind of reasoning that has led to global warming. It was this kind of reasoning that has led to the current injustice in world trade and world finance. And, in fact, it is this kind of argument, the argument that says that it is good to look after ourselves first, that is partly responsible for the terrible poverty in the world today.
And even though many times we hear the political leaders of the world talk about Aid for those in poverty, clearly there is a difficulty in giving that aid because this argument for self-interest is very powerful indeed within their countries.
So I am saying that one of the chief reasons there is so much suffering in the world today is because people have either forgotten or have refused to believe that there is indeed a heaven and a hell and that one day we will all have to stand before Christ and account for what we have done with our lives. And I think if people really believed this, then they would want to know Jesus better and know what he requires of them, and they would want to follow his teaching and commands carefully, so that when he comes to judge them they will be ready.
Now how did this happen? How did people stop believing in the truth of God´s judgement and in heaven and hell? Well, this lack of belief must have started somewhere, and perhaps it started in the church! Of all places for it to happen, it started in the church of Jesus Christ. Yes, I am suggesting that perhaps there were and still are people who would call themselves Christians and yet would deny that there is a hell, nor a judgement that will send them to it. And even worse, perhaps there are also those who say that they believe that there is a heaven and a hell and a judgment, but then they live their lives in a way that suggests that they do not actually believe what they say.
Well, the Salvation Army’s final article of faith makes it very plain what Salvationists are supposed to believe. Let’s stand and read it together.
11. We believe in the immortality of the soul, the resurrection of the body, in the general judgement at the end of the world, in the eternal happiness of the righteous, and in the endless punishment of the wicked.
Now of course, there has always been much debate about what the words in this statement actually mean – immortality, resurrection, general judgement, heaven and hell – but tonight I want to try to give you my interpretation of this truth which I hope has been guided by the Holy Spirit.
And I have some confidence that the Holy Spirit will be guiding me, and also you as you listen, because we are going to look extensively at scripture, and that is because the first thing that needs to be said about this article that we have just read is that it is thoroughly biblical; you will find all the ideas it contains within the bible.
1. He has set a time.
In Acts 10:42 we have the historical record of the Apostle Paul speaking about the calling of the first apostles, amongst whose number he included himself. What did God call Paul to do? Let us read it.
Act 10:42
He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.
Paul´s preaching to the Athenians demonstrates his faithfulness to this calling. Let´s read Acts 17:29-31.
Acts 17:29-31
29"Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. 30In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. 31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."
Paul, in his turn, passed on the call of Christ to Timothy, his young protégé. And the calling was to preach the same message. Let us read 2 Timothy 4:1-2.
2 Timothy 4:1-2
In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word..
Now in my opinion, there is no ambiguity here. There is no real possibility of making a mistake about what is being said here. Paul is saying exactly what Jesus said before him. He told his audience then, and he tells us now, through the scriptures, that at the end of human history, which is still continuing at the present time, there will be a great judgment of all humanity.
Everyone who has ever died will be resurrected and they, along with all those still living will be made to stand before Jesus who will pass judgement on them. He will judge their lives. He will judge how they lived their lives. Jesus will consider what each person knew about him, and on that basis, he will judge whether they put their faith in him.
And as a result of that judgment, some of us will know the eternal happiness of being with Jesus forever; and some of us will know the eternal pain of being without Jesus forever. In other words, some of us will enter heaven, and some of us will enter hell.
I wonder what you think of when you think of heaven and hell. Well, here are some pictures which might help you think about this. Firstly, here is a picture of a beautiful view from a mountain. Peace and beauty: – I think that heaven will be full of both. Then, there is a picture of a family sitting down to eat together. Lots of joy and love: – I think that heaven will be full of these too.
But what about hell? Well, I think I have shown this photograph before, but it is a picture of a Brazilian gold mine with thousands of workers carrying sacks of dirt up very long and dangerous ladders. Pain, exhaustion, fear and hopelessness – I think hell will be full of those. And then here is a picture of young Paraguayan prostitutes. Shame, hurt, desperation: – I think that hell will be full of that too.
The General of the Salvation Army has asked all Salvationists around the world to pray on this very day for the issue of Sexual Trafficking, that terrible crime that is continuing around the world. This is the bible text that accompanies his request:
Micah 2:9
9 You drive the women of my people
from their pleasant homes.
You take away my blessing
from their children forever.
The trafficking of human beings by other human beings to be used for sex or labour is truly hell on earth. So let us pray, right now.
Lord, forgive us if we are not doing our part to try and end this great evil in the world that is sexual trafficking. We pray for the victims, that you may raise up heroes and heroines who will fight for their release. We pray that you will heal the terrible wounds that have been inflicted upon their minds and bodies. We pray that they will know your cleansing power and be restored to their families and their friends and be able to begin a new life, safe from those who would exploit them.
We pray for the men and women who enslave and traffic other human beings. We pray that you will stir their consciences so that they will hate themselves for what they do, and therefore decide to stop doing it. We pray that they will be compelled by their conscience to make restoration to their victims, and if necessary, to give themselves up to pay the penalty for their crimes. We pray that if they do this, that by the mystery of your grace, you will forgive them.
We pray for the governments and law enforcement agencies and other international groups and charities that are trying to stop this terrible crime or to help those who are the victims of it. We pray that they will have the desire, the funding, the wisdom, the courage and the cooperation they need to stamp out this modern form of slavery. We pray that those who have power will use it to bring justice, and to prevent trafficking in the future. Lord, we know that you hate human trafficking, and we pray that you might grant us the privilege of being used by you in some small way to end it. We pray this in the name of the one who came to serve and to save, Jesus Christ. Amen.
From the reports we have seen and heard, we know that the world of the slave is a world of bullying, violence, loneliness, pain, loss, humiliation and injustice; all the things that we all hate to experience. And what lies beneath all these things is an absence of God.
On the other hand, the things we love, like music, dancing, parties, beautiful objects and people, the beauty of nature, the possibility of achievement, kindness, generosity, friendship, the laughter and innocence of children; underneath all these things is the presence of God. And what the bible tells us is that to be in heaven is just to be in the presence of God, whilst to be in hell is to be separated from God. And the bible explains that God has decided that Jesus shall judge who are worthy to know the presence of God and who are worthy to know separation from God – for eternity.
But do you or I know which is which? Do we know who will be saved and who will be condemned; who is bound for heaven and who is bound for hell? I can think of at least two people in this world who have a bad opinion of me. Of this I am fairly certain. Of course, there are probably more like them, but I´m not so sure of that! Not surprisingly, these two people are not really close friends of mine anymore! (Although this was not necessarily my choice, I hasten to add.) Now this fact could make me feel bad about myself, even make me feel guilty, but actually I believe that whatever it was that I did to them that caused them to have this bad opinion of me has now been forgiven by my Saviour, Jesus Christ, even if they cannot bring themselves to forgive me.
And so when I stand before Christ to be judged (and here´s a picture of a painting of Jesus on judgement day) he will not look at me and say, you hurt those two people and for that I condemn you. No, he will say, your sin is forgiven, go (into heaven) in peace. Now, if those two people hear this, they might complain that Jesus is being unfair; but no, his judgement is fair. Jesus has received the punishment I should have had for my sins by dying on the cross, and it is by his grace, and his grace alone, that he will judge me innocent on that day. But if he has done this for me (and none of you know the full extent of my sin just as I do not know the full extent of your sin), if he has done this for me, who am I to judge anyone else? Who am I to condemn another and say, you are a sinner and you will be condemned to hell?
Listen to what Jesus says about this in Luke 6:37-38
Luke 6:37-38
"Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 38Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Sometimes when I think about some people´s behaviour towards me, towards others, towards the Christian church, towards the Salvation Army, towards their fellow Christians, towards those in need, and well, I confess that I find it too easy to condemn them, to judge them. I find that I want them to suffer for their behaviour; I want them to be punished. But what Jesus is saying is that he, and he alone, will be the judge of who has sinned against God, and he, and he alone, will decide who will be condemned. And I, his disciple, am to show the same grace and forgiveness to others that he showed to me.
Will some of those who trafficked human beings be saved and go to heaven? Will some of those who behave badly in the church be saved and go to heaven? Only Jesus truly knows. But the lesson of the thief on the cross next to Jesus is that true repentance will always be met with divine grace.
2. For I was hungry...
Jesus himself says that many people will be surprised at his judgement. Let us read his parable in Matthew 25:31-46.
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
40"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'
41"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'
44"They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'
45"He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'
46"Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."
I was reading a commentary about this parable. The writer pointed out the extreme shock and surprise that those hearing the words of Jesus seem to experience. On the one hand, those who were compassionate and cared for Jesus´ brothers are shocked and surprised to learn that they were doing this for Jesus himself. Perhaps they were only doing what they felt should naturally be done for those in need. They were acting like human beings should, with compassion and concern for others. They didn´t realise that this would be the test which would decide whether they would spend eternity with God.
On the other hand, those who were condemned were also shocked and surprised. The bible scholars suggest that Jesus may have been speaking this parable against the Jews of his time, or more specifically the Jewish leaders, whom he knew would persecute the church, just as they did him. And so when he speaks about his little ones he is referring to his disciples who would represent him after he had gone back to heaven. Now these Jewish leaders would be surprised at the negative judgment of Jesus because they thought they were righteous, and therefore would be saved. But Jesus says that because they persecuted or neglected to help those who represented him on earth, then they have also persecuted or neglected him and so are condemned.
Now there are still those today who think that their righteousness comes from doing all the religious things. They attend the church, they give their tithe, and they say all the right things in public. You will remember that this was the lesson of the rich young ruler last week; he thought that he was righteous because he kept all the laws.
But the truth of someone´s faith is demonstrated by what they do for others.
The sheep in the parable did good works because they were genuinely good and loving, not because they sought to gain a reward, but because they had genuine compassion for others, and also perhaps because they knew their need of the gospel which the disciples of Jesus were bringing to them.
But the goats in the parable could not fool God. They clearly thought they were innocent of neglecting Jesus, but the truth is that if we try to be good only to avoid punishment, or to gain a reward, then we will probably fail in doing good, because that is never a sufficient motivation. And in my experience, it is perfectly possible for people to do all the religious things, and sound very holy and yet never really help anyone who has a need. And interestingly, these same people are also the ones most likely to judge the spiritual condition of others.
(But in the mercy of God, perhaps these goats, by trying to do good, even if it is for the wrong motive, may perhaps see the response of those they help and by the power of the Holy Spirit, it may change them and they will be become convicted of their own need for forgiveness and love.)
The key principle of the parable is that selflessness, in other words, putting others before yourself, is what characterises heaven. And selfishness is what characterises hell. In heaven, we will be with the source of all goodness and love and kindness. And those in hell will be separated from the source of all goodness and love and kindness. And this will mean that there may be those who, although they never confessed the faith with their mouth, showed compassion to Christians and so will be forgiven. Whereas there will be those who called themselves Christians but failed to help those who they should have cared for as their brothers and sisters, and they will be condemned.
3. Pluck it out.
So how do we respond to these words of Jesus? How do we ensure that we live a life that demonstrates our belief in the future reality of his judgement, and heaven and hell?
Well, Jesus tells us how to do this in Mark 9:43-49.
Mark 9:43-49
43If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. 45And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.[d] 47And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48where
" 'their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.' 49Everyone will be salted with fire.
Now this is very extreme language. The name for such a use of language is hyperbole. But even if Jesus didn´t mean to say that we should literally maim ourselves physically, I think he was being deadly serious and was using exaggeration to show us how important it was to deal with our sin. And this is because, of all the people that ever lived, I think Jesus had the best understanding of how terrible hell would be. After all, he had some memory of heaven, and an ongoing, vibrant experience of the presence of God his Father and the Holy Spirit, and therefore he could imagine the terror of feeling their absence, and indeed, some say he later experienced this terror and desolation when he was crucified and died.
So Jesus wanted to leave us in no doubt that we should deal with anything in our lives that might threaten our salvation.
The context of this passage is Jesus´ teaching about people receiving or rejecting the gospel and those who preach it. And so Jesus is saying that if there is anything that stops us from accepting the gospel, anything that stops us from being his true follower, anything that causes us to reject his teachings and commands, then we need to get rid of it, if we want to be saved. We need to get rid of it, even if we feel that this thing is as important to us as a hand or foot or an eye.
But what is it that he might be talking about? What is this thing that we need to renounce because it causes us to sin?
Is it something in our lifestyle, such as a television programme, or a love of fashion, or the music we listen to, or the books or magazines that we read, the internet sites we look at?
Is it our friendships? Is there some friend that is leading us into sin, whom we need to stop being friends with? Could it even be someone in our family?
Is it certain opinions that we have had for many years, and feel very strongly about?
Is it a strong emotion or attitude?
Is it our religion; our understanding of how church should be done? Is it some kind of addiction to something? Is it a hidden desire? Do any of these things cause us to sin?
Jesus is saying that it is better to avoid these things altogether, to completely remove them from your life, rather than jeopardise your salvation, because sin is so serious that it can separate you from God.
One of the great works of the Holy Spirit is conviction. He comes to us, and through the word of God, spoken in the worship service, or spoken by a believer, or read by us in private, the Holy Spirit stirs us up and reveals to us what it is that is unholy within us. I believe that he has done that tonight. As I prepared this talk he was doing the same work in me.
I know that Jesus is my judge. He sees within my heart and knows if there is anything wrong there, and he condemns it. And if it remains there and is not dealt with, he will condemn it on the day of judgement. But I also know and believe that Jesus is my saviour, and so I know that if I ask him to forgive me and to cleanse me, he will send the Holy Spirit to me to help me remove the sin from my heart. And I know that if I allow the Holy Spirit to do this work in me, then not only will I have an increasing sense of the presence of God in my life, bringing me peace and joy and love while I live on this earth, but far greater than this, on the day of Judgement, when I stand before Jesus, he will smile at me, he will embrace me, he will take me by the hand and lead me and all the saints into heaven. Oh, what a day that will be! The greatest promise! The greatest gift!
My friends, tonight, will you listen to the Holy Spirit? Will you renounce your sin that keeps you from accepting Christ? Will you renounce your sin that endangers your salvation?
Come to this place tonight and seek forgiveness, seek cleansing, seek a new way of being, accepting the Lordship of Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit.
And for those of you who have the assurance in your heart of heaven tonight, I would ask you firstly to thank God for your salvation! Say a pray of gratitude to him, that he has saved you from hell and provided a place for you in heaven. And when you have done that, I want you to think of all those people you know who have not accepted Christ as their saviour; all those people you know who are not yet Christians. And perhaps you also need to come here to this place, to plead for their eternal destiny; to ask Jesus to help you preach the gospel to those people in whatever way you can, taking whatever opportunity that he gives. Bring these people before him now and plead for their eternal soul; ask that after the judgement, they will be found amongst the saints and not amongst those that are cast out of the divine presence.
I invite you all to come now and to meet with the resurrected Lord Jesus at this special place of prayer.
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