The Coming of the King

/ Cliff Walling / Leave a comment

Four part sermon series for Redeemer Church

December 4 through December 25

Last week we heard about the Promise of the King and this week we will be looking at the light of the King, I was reminded of a blog post by one of my favorite Christian bloggers Tim Challies. Tim wrote this post back in 2010 about the claims earthly kings pursue. The claims of the earthly kings cannot compare to the righteous sinless King, Jesus Christ.

Christmas for Christians demands that we see the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus as an unbelievable gift to a world drowning in sin.

Tim Challies captures what we should be seeing as we await our Savior coming to rescue a world in full rebellion. I have copied it for you all to see below.

Merry Christmas!!

He Has No Claim

December 7, 2010

Studying European history can be both fascinating and frustrating. Understanding the intricacies of all of those nations, borders and rulers could very easily be a life-long pursuit. The history of the continent is filled with claims, and counterclaims as one person after another sought to prove himself the legitimate heir to one of its many kingdoms. There were many who sought to claim thrones and these claims had to be settled through lengthy and detailed examination. Generations, kingdoms, marriages, and thrones had to be examined to understand who had the rightful claim to a throne.

I once found a similar concept of “claiming” in the Bible and it struck me as one of the most terrifying passages of Scripture. I remember as a child finding Revelation a dark and scary book. Visions of beasts and persecution, wrath and disaster played out in my mind as I tried to sleep. But I don’t think that’s any scarier than the implications of what I found in a particular verse.

It comes as Jesus is preparing to leave his disciples for the last time. They are in the upper room together celebrating the last Passover and the first Lord’s Supper. Jesus is giving his disciples their final instructions, telling them that all he has taught them is about to be fulfilled. He is gentle with them, knowing that they are blinded to the reality of what is about to happen. He is kind to promise that he will send His Spirit to indwell and guide and teach them. And then he tells them that it is time for him to leave.

“I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me…” Jesus knew that Satan was about to unleash his full fury upon him. And far, far worse, he knew that Satan’s wrath was as nothing compared to the wrath of God that he would soon have to face. Satan, the ruler of this world, was coming. He was going to drag Jesus, like a helpless, hopeless lamb, through the streets, through the courts, and to the cross where he would be tortured and nailed and pierced in utter agony. Satan was going to do his worst. But Satan would not accomplish what he had hoped. In fact, he would accomplish the very opposite of what he had intended. By inciting the masses to drag Jesus to that tree, Satan would make sure his own doom and ensure the salvation of multitudes of God’s people. Satan could do nothing to Jesus beyond the physical, for he had no claim on him. He had no claim on the Son of God.

The Bible calls Satan the accuser because that is exactly how he does his work. In Revelation 12 we read of a voice that cries out, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.” Satan delights in accusing God’s children of sin. Before the throne of God he tells of our sin and our failure. He tells of his reign in the hearts of all who have sinned. He tells of his rightful claim to the souls of all who have sinned against the Creator.

But he had no claim on Jesus. Satan could not whisper in Jesus’ ear that he was unloving or unworthy or sinful. He could not remind Jesus of sins he had committed, people he had shunned or offenses against God. He could not remind Jesus of impure motives or impure thoughts. Satan was powerless to accuse Jesus. He had no claim against him. In John 8:46 Jesus asked the Pharisees a rhetorical question after they accused him of being in league with Satan. “Which one of you convicts me of sin?,” he asked them. And none of them could answer. They were silent. Satan is likewise unable to convict Jesus of sin. He has no claim. He must stand in silence before the perfection of Jesus.

But not so with us. Satan has a legitimate claim to my soul and yours. Satan can recount endless lists of offenses against God. You and I have committed grevious offenses against God. We have done so joyfully, willingly, deliberately. We have done so as a show of our rebellion against God. We have enjoyed being sinful. We have enjoyed giving Satan a claim on our souls. In a time of judgment there is no doubt that Satan can produce a list of offenses more than sufficient to prove his claim on us. It is a legitimate claim. He has ruled us and we have allowed ourselves to be ruled by him.

Terror should fill the hearts of all who ponder Satan’s claims on their souls. And how could it not? Satan, the accuser, the evil one, wants my soul as his own possession. He has a claim on it. He has a claim on you. How can you not fear as you read those words?

But I thank God that there is more. When Satan flung Jesus upon that cross, he was unwittingly bringing about his own destruction. When Jesus’ time on the cross was complete, he cried out, “It is finished!” It was a cry of triumph–a cry whose fullest meaning we can never know. It was a cry that pierced history–it divided the history of humanity. It was the greatest, purest, most meaningful utterance the world can know. In his death Christ took our sin upon himself. He took the upon himself. He took the accusations of Satan and bore them on our behalf. As God turned his back on Jesus, while at the same time pouring out his wrath upon him, Jesus atoned for our sins. He entered a claim of his own in the lives of his children. My sin became his and his righteousness became mine.

The accuser lost his claim. When Satan accuses me I am now able to know, to believe, to trust and to affirm that his claim is null and void. I am clothed in Christ’s righteousness. My sin has been removed. My guilt has been taken away. I have been redeemed. And, as the triumphant climber leaves a flag at the peak of a mountain, Jesus Christ has sent his Spirit to live within me and to mark me as his own possession.

Satan may still accuse me. He may still seek to convince me that I am his. But he has lost his claim. Jesus has washed me with his blood. He has set his Spirit within me. Jesus Christ has claimed me as his own. Satan has no claim on me. And that is a glorious, wonderful thing.

 

Tim Challies is an author, blogger and Christian book reviewer his web site is Challies.com

Call…Send…Do…

/ Cliff Walling / 1 Comment

Call…Send… Do…

Mark 6:7-13

This past Sunday at Redeemer the message was centered upon the calling, the sending, the doing of the disciples as Jesus sent them into the towns and villages. Jesus calls and sends the disciples almost simultaneously, then he instructs them on what to take, not to take, and finally what to do when they get to where they are going. There is a great simplicity to the way Jesus sends, instructs and tells the disciples. The simplicity provides a way for us to see how our own lives were changed by the command of Christ, when, just like the disciples we were not prepared for it. The authority of Christ is what prepares the disciples, it’s this authority that gives them power over “unclean spirits”(v.7). In the same way we have no power by ourselves to come to Christ, it’s only through the regenerative power of Jesus that our hearts are changed and we enter into the family of God. Simply, it is this authoritative power that is given by The Son of God to his disciples that prepares them, and it is the power of the blood of Jesus on the cross that prepares and changes us.

The instructions that Jesus gives to his disciples (v.8-11) along with his authority, put the disciples on a narrow path where they must trust in Jesus for their everyday needs. These men can’t take any of the things that you might take on an extended journey, no food, no money and no extra clothing. They must rely on the people they meet to supply their needs, but more importantly they have to place all their trust in Jesus. Although they can’t take the things they are used to taking on a trip Jesus allows them to wear sandals to protect their feet on the stoney roads. Jesus knows their needs before they do and he takes care of their needs, the need for sandals on a hard road, and the need for increased faith. We all need our faith to be strengthened and we all need our basic everyday needs to be taken care of and God does both. Christ challenges us to increase our faith by challenging us to look to him for “every good gift and every perfect gift…” (James 1:16).

So just as Jesus knows our needs before we do, so we should be seeing the times we are in as challenges that God has placed before us to strengthen our faith and renew our love of Jesus Christ. Just as these disciples were sent out, we are sent out into the world with all we will ever need, true faith and total reliance upon God.

As this week ends many of you have seen things that may shake your confidence in this country, but remember this is not our home, we are “sojourners and exiles…” (1Peter 2:11). We have been born again with a new faith and a new desire not to serve man but to serve God. We are told by the Apostle Peter to “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the might hand of God…” so that we can put “all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”(1Peter 5:6-7). Nothing in our lives is not seen and known by Almighty God, as Peter tells us, he cares for us. Everything in this world is groaning, and falling apart, as evil masquerades as good, and evil tries to push aside the light of Christ, we know that in the end Jesus wins.

The disciples knew something about Jesus, they knew he was different then anyone they had seen before, no Rabbi ever acted like Jesus. Jesus gave them authority, his authority over demons and they were able to heal many people. Today we have the authority of Jesus living inside of us and our faith should be renewed and increased despite anything we see in this world. Christ’s authority gives us all the assurance we will ever need to go through this world and bring others the good news of the gospel. There will be times ahead that we will become anxious or afraid, but through it all we have been given the same reassurance that was given to the disciples, we have been called, sent and given authority to do. Let Christ reign in your hearts throughout the weeks ahead and see the magnificent love of Christ Jesus pour out of you into others. Moses tells the people of Israel not to be afraid after they came out of slavery in Egypt and were facing the Red Sea, “…Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians you see today, you shall never see again. The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” (Exodus 14:13-14). This is the God we serve and this is who reigns over us.

Looking For The Light

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Looking For The Light

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This past Sunday at Redeemer in South River New Jersey we looked at Mark chapter four verses twenty-one through twenty-five. The parable that Jesus speaks to his followers and those gathered along the Sea of Galilee is the “parable of the lamp”,

“ And he said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket, or under a bed, and not on a stand?  For nothing is hidden except to be made manifest; nor is anything secret except to come to light.”

What is this light that Christ tells us about? How is this light brought into our daily lives and how is this light to be used by followers of Jesus? These three ideas will be the focus of the post today.

What is the light? The light that Jesus is referring to is really two different things. For those who are hearing the parable and not allowing the deeper truth of God to rest in their hearts, the light Jesus speaks of is the light coming from the small terra cotta lamps that were filled with usually olive oil or some other oil that was flammable, these small lamps gave light to the dark nights in Israel and most of the world at this time. These lamps were the only source of light when the Sun went down, they allowed people to do things during times of darkness and they were mobile, you could take them from place to place.

Secondly, if your heart was open and being led by The Holy Spirit, then these words of Christ were going deeper then just a physical rendering of light; then you saw the light as something much different then your friends saw, you saw this light reflecting the truth, the truth of God coming from The Son of God. This light was not going to be contained in some man made vessel. This light could never be constrained inside boundaries made by man. This light was eternally present, before creation in eternity past, and now this light bridges the gap between the Scriptures of the Old Testament which promise the Messiah throughout it’s inspired pages, and the new covenant which shows the promise in Christ Jesus.

The light this person sees is not breakable like the lamp. This light is unbreakable and cannot be broken by anything this world does. The light that Jesus reveals to us in this parable is a light that destroys darkness, it doesn’t just light it up for a while like our terra cotta lamp, but it utterly and completely destroys darkness wherever this light goes.

So we are pushed into a new focus here, the light goes forth destroying darkness as it goes.

Our second focus question today is about the method of this light and how it is used by us the followers of Jesus Christ. We are helpless in our own attempts to gather this light and therein lies the rub, the more we work for the light, the further the light gets away from us. This light of Christ, his holiness, his underserved love, makes it’s way to us because of nothing that we do, but only through the amazing love of God, and that should make us see the light for what it is; a gift that has been given to us freely without any deserving work, simply because in God’s mysterious awesome love, he chose to give it to us.

Now, don’t get bogged down in the weeds, see the big picture, just look at how much God loves you, so much so that he gave you the gift of salvation. Hope is yours because of the awesome love of God through Jesus Christ; our future is secured because of this tremendous gift of light.

The gift desires to be used, the gift of this wonderful light cannot be sitting on the shelf like the emergency flashlight in your closet. We all know how reliable that flashlight is, when we go for it, the light is dim and the batteries have rusted. No, this light must be used by the followers of Christ, it is meant to be used, if it is not used it is not the light that you think it is, it is an imposter light. The real light of Christ moves us to use it, to send the light forth regardless of the pressures, the time or the finances. This light runs on faith, “The righteous live by faith” (Romans 1:17)

Faith brings us to our third focus question today, how do the followers of Christ use this light of Christ? Since this light of the Holy Spirit dwells within us because we have been reborn as true believers of Jesus, the light we have is not our own; it is The Holy Spirit that moves the light within us. The use of the light therefore is not something that we move in our own power, we are constantly relying upon Christ to use us to bring the light to places where God chooses. Since we are totally reliant upon God to use the light within us we have to be in constant contact with him. There will be times that God wills to send the light in us to places where we would never choose if we were in control of the light, good thing we are not 🙂 So, humility and repentance figure into using this beautiful light of Jesus Christ. Humility, because we have to have an attitude of knowing that we are sinners saved by grace. We have to see others as people in desperate need of a Savior, we have to see ourselves as once lost but now found. We have to see others as Jesus does.

Repentance because we are still in the grip of our sinful fleshly bodies, every day experiencing thoughts of sin, our repentance requires us to go before God and ask for forgiveness. This repentance is the constant contact with our Creator we spoke of before. These twin light movers, humility and repentance allow us to be the people God wants us to be, people that are able to receive the light of Christ and people that are equipped to pass on the light of Christ.

So we have seen three answers to some focus questions about the Light of The Son of God. How you use the light of Christ in your life rests on seeing the light as not your own, the light is Christ in you working in all the everyday things we do in life. Wherever you go the light of Christ goes with you and the glory of God shines.

No Tongue Can Bid Me Thence Depart

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“No Tongue can Bid Me Thence Depart”

How a 19th century Hymn (Before The Throne of God Above) enforces our understanding of Mark’s Gospel

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The song, “Before The Throne of God Above” is a great hymn written in 1863 by Charitie Lees Bancroft–originally entitled the hymn “Advocate”.   Charitie was the child of an Irish minister, born in county Dublin in 1841, the hymn had various musical tunes but was given the music now known as Sovereign Grace Music in 1997. Why is this important as we go through Mark’s gospel? I think this hymn especially, gives us a perspective on who Jesus is and why Mark has as an overriding theme, Jesus, The Son Of God.

Lets look at the first stanza:

Before the throne of God above

I have a strong and perfect plea:

A great High Priest, whose name is Love,

Who ever lives and pleads for me.

My name is graven on His hands,

My name is written on His heart;

I know that while in heaven He stands

No tongue can bid me thence depart

No tongue can bid me thence depart.

In our messages on Mark we have seen Jesus as The Son of God, reaching out to the people of Israel healing and restoring them. In the Old Testament the people of Israel came to the High priest for a blessing in the Temple (Numbers 6:22-24). Today the Jewish people are preparing for the return of the Temple at Jerusalem and are preparing people to become “priests”1. All of these functions for a priest or a high priest will prepare that person to be a “conduit for God’s blessing”.

In the hymn “Before the Throne of God Above” the stanza before us reads :

A great High Priest, whose name is Love,

Who ever lives and pleads for me.

In Mark we see Jesus tearing away at the way the Law has burdened the people, a law that has been a chore instead of a joy. Jesus does not do away with the law, no he has not come to do that, he has come to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17-20). The law that the Pharisees are heaping upon the people is not the same law that God handed down to Moses, it is a man-made law placed upon God’s law. It is because this “keeping” of the law has become so burdensome, Jesus proclaims the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God you can’t keep the law, you must rely totally upon God for His saving grace and mercy. Our Hymn reminds us of that, telling us of the great love of God in giving us a “High Priest” who is there all the time for us. What a great act of love for God to give to us his “…only Son” so that we can be forgiven through him and not forgiven through another sinful human being.

We continue with our hymn onto another part of the song, “My name is written on his hand, My name is graven on his heart”. All of us whether we are saved through Christ or outside of that, are still known to God. God has complete control over everyone whether they are Christian or not, he is in control and he will judge everyone. Those of us who have been given the gift of understanding how sinful we are and then coming to faith; our names are written in the book of life and our names are known to Jesus. This is the amazing work of Christ, that as he suffered and died, he knew who he was dying for; the entire world, and he knew who would come to him through this sacrificial act (John 17:20-21; Ephesian 1:3-14).

The hymn continues to state that “…while in heaven he stands no tongue can bid me thence depart…” Jesus is our mediator, the holy one who receives our prayers and is our redeemer before the Father. Our needs and our earthly desires go to Christ as well as our repentance and our asking for forgiveness. Forgiving one another for their sins against us and asking God to forgive us is accomplished through the finality of the crucifixion. “It is finished” (John 19:30); Jesus speaks to all that will hear gathered around the Cross, that the work the Father gave him is now completed. Our sins have been forgiven, there is no other work for us to do, except come before Christ and acknowledge our sinfulness with a heart that is repentant. Jesus has completed the task, if we reject that forgiveness we reject the Cross and reject the Father. “No tongue can bid me thence depart”, there is no human being that can move us from our stand for Christ (Romans 8:1). The world may wag its finger at us, it may condemn us, even imprison us, maim us or kill us but we have been forgiven; and what a glorious way to say it, “No tongue can bid me thence depart”

  1. “The Temple Institute” 20160908 http://www.templeinstitute.org/red_heifer/levitical_priests.htm ↩

Together in the Gospel of Mark

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Going through Mark’s Gospel at Redeemer 2016

Yes, we are going through the entire gospel of Mark here at Redeemer. We started the gospel in May and as of this writing we are in Chapter Three, preparing the Lord’s Day message on the fourteenth of August. Being a Pastor of a church means being responsible for many things chief among them is having the great privilege of preaching the Word, “in season and out of season…” ( 2 Timothy 4:2). It is a glorious pleasure to be able to stay in one gospel looking at the original meaning and what God is saying through His Word to us today.

Every week I am sitting with the sermon for next week, and truthfully I am thoroughly amazed at how God is speaking through the pages of Mark’s gospel. Jesus is plainly seen walking on the road to the Cross in this fast paced narrative. Everything that the Lord does in this gospel is reflected from the “Big Picture View” of the sacrificial act of crucifixion which is sufficient for the entire world to be saved. This aspect is crystal clear from the first verse of Mark, “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” to every verse in this inspired account of the life of our Lord. Our theme as we go through Mark’s account is then appropriately titled “Jesus Christ The Son of God”.

This is a quick study of Jesus, Mark gives us a different look into the life of Christ. Mark along with the gospel of John, doesn’t give us a study into Jesus’ birth, but we start out with a strong statement that cannot be denied in verse one that Jesus is, The Son of God.

Many people will deny that Jesus is God, many religions deny that Jesus was God, but Mark tackles that issue head on with this undeniable statement. In the first century this would have been very controversial to say the least, the Romans worshipped Caesar as God and the Romans were in charge.

This is the atmosphere that Mark wrote his Holy Spirit inspired narrative. The actual date of the writing of Mark is not known, scholars have used other means to identify the period in which it was written, so there is a span of about five or six years for the writing. James Edwards in his excellent commentary on Mark writes:

In summary, although none of the foregoing arguments and evidence is conclusive in itself, a combination of external and internal data appears to point to a composition of the Gospel of Mark in Rome between the great fire in 64 and the siege and destruction of Jerusalem by Titus in 70, that is, about the year 65.161

So here we are in the beginning of the gospel of Mark going through the pages of the Bible together as a church. Every week on the Lord’s day we have the opportunity to hear the Word of God preached in Portuguese or English, but every sermon is geared towards our theme for Redeemer Church (Redentor Igreja) this year that God has given to believers, gifts of the the Spirit. Through Christ, God has given to us certain gifts to share and build up other believers. The gifts of the Spirit can be seen in all the pages of Scripture and now we can see them as we go through Mark. Let us see our Redeemer Christ Jesus revealed each week and let us hold on to that gift as we begin our week, strong and anchored in the grace, love and mercy of Jesus.

  1. Edwards, James R. The Gospel according to Mark. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI; Leicester, England: Eerdmans; Apollos, 2002 .9. ↩

Joy

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Preaching on Philippians is a joy for me as well as I hope and pray for the church that I serve, Redentor Church. Reading Paul’s love for the church at Philippi I can see God’s love radiate through the joy that is in Paul’s heart for this church. Paul sees that this church is becoming mature, becoming more loving, more caring, more compassionate through knowing Christ more.
For us in the church this should serve as a teaching moment. We should see this “love, joy, humble” relationship as a blueprint for us in the Body of Christ. It should be for us, a “spiritual workout” to gain more knowledge of God through His Son Jesus, then to know Him better, then ultimately, to see the “good work” started by God brought to completion, “…at the day of Jesus Christ”. (Philippians 1:6)
The church has many obstacles to overcome in this quest to be a joy filled church like the one at Philippi, but we can never let this thinking allow us to stop our journey to joy in Jesus Christ. Our joy begins and ends in the love and grace of who Jesus is and what He has done for us. Every obstacle will be overcome through the power of our Savior, after all He has done it all already, right?