063. Sermon on Mark 8:31-38. “The Need To Commit Oneself To Jesus.” (Jesus Is Coming Ready or Not).

Posted on March 4, 2012 by Jim Holbeck

Imagine going from being dux of the class to the bottom of the class through making one big mistake. That’s what Peter did in this story. At one moment he is hailed as proclaiming an amazing truth that not many people had come to know. When Jesus had asked his disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” He had responded, “You are the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of the living God.”  Jesus had replied, Mat 16:17 “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in heaven.” That is, “Peter you have been the recipient of a divine revelation. God has spoken the truth about Me through you.”    What was the big mistake that Peter made soon after that? We see it in Mark 8:32 (with more detail in Matthew 16:23).

 1).   God’s Will For Jesus Was Made Known. Mark 8:31.  Jesus told His disciples what He had come to do as the Messiah, the Christ, the Anointed One. Mar 8:31-32,  Then he began to teach them that the Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He said all this quite openly.

Jesus had come to be a suffering servant, one who would bear the punishment for the sins of the people on His own body.  He would be fulfilling all the Old Testament prophecies that foretold a suffering servant type of Messiah. One of these well-known passages is in Isaiah 53:4 Surely he has borne our infirmities and carried our diseases; yet we accounted him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted. 5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the punishment that made us whole, and by his bruises we are healed. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have all turned to our own way, and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.  Jesus as the Messiah would die for the sin of His people.

 2).   A  Human Objection To God’s Will For Jesus. 8:32.  Here was Peter’s chance to again be a mouthpiece from God. Instead of that he muffed it. He got it all wrong. He disagreed publicly with his master Jesus. Matthew records in more detail what happened. Mat 16:22  And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This must never happen to you.” He didn’t want to see Jesus suffer and die. He wanted a Messiah, a Christ who would become a ruler in the land. He didn’t want a Messiah who would be slain for sinners. It must never, ever happen, said Peter!

Was Jesus pleased with this strong support from Peter? No! We see how Jesus dealt with the objector and his tempting words.  Mat 16:23  But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things.” Mat 16:22-23. It’s as though Jesus was saying to Peter, Peter, you have just been a mouthpiece for God. Now you have become a mouthpiece for Satan the deceiver, the liar. You are trying to tempt me, to stop me from doing what God sent me to do. Peter had got right the truth about the person of the Messiah. It was Jesus. But he had completely misunderstood the role Jesus as the Messiah had come to play, as a suffering servant.

How about ourselves? Haven’t there been times when we have said something that really proved to be a great blessing to the people who heard us? Then we mucked it all up by saying something that was inappropriate or hurt someone deeply. No wonder many people pray, “Lord set a guard over my lips that I may speak only what You want me to speak.”

 3).   God’s Will For Us Is Made Known By Jesus. 8:34-37.  Jesus moved from talking about God’s will for Him, to telling His disciples about God’s will for His people. They were meant to become His disciples. Mar 8:34  He called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.

Humans have a choice. They can make wrong choices in life as Jesus said in Mark 8:35, For whoever would save his life will lose it. Those who want to live their lives on their own terms are the losers. There is no eternal gain in that choice, (36)  For what will it profit them to gain the whole world and forfeit their life?37)  Indeed, what can they give in return for their life? Life wasn’t mean to be lived in that selfish, self-focussed way.

 Humans are meant to make right choices. Losers (of their own lives) save them. (35)  those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. That’s what life is all about. It’s about getting into the centre of the will of God for us. It’s about becoming followers of Jesus, following His teaching and His example. It’s about dying to self so that we might come alive to Jesus. It’s about doing the will of God for us and not our own will.

4).  The Consequences Of Rejecting God’s Will For Us. 8:38.  Jesus tells us what are the consequences of rejecting Him and rejecting the will of God for us. He said that if we reject Him now, He will reject us when He comes again in glory. (38)  Those who are ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of them the Son of Man will also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.”

Why do people reject Jesus? Don’t they have a right to make up their own minds about Him? Not really. If they are the creatures of a Creator then they have no “rights” before Him. Creatures can’t dictate terms to their Creator. They can only take hold of the “privileges” He longs to bestow on them. Jesus is not only the Saviour. He is also the Creator of everything that exists.  In rejecting Jesus as Saviour they are also rejecting their Creator.

The other thing to note is that people are not really free to make the spiritual choices they should. They are spiritually blind. Satan has blinded their eyes so that they cannot recognise who He is. 2Cor 4:4 the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Unfortunately many people are proud of the fact that they can call themselves “atheists”. They have looked at the world and concluded that God doesn’t exist. But in doing so they are simply affirming the truth that God has told us in His word, they are spiritually blind and they cannot see or understand. Jesus is irrelevant to them because of their spiritual blindness and bondage to Satan. Every time they cry, “There is no God!” they are simply making public their spiritual blindness. A simple definition of “atheist” and “agnostic” is “Someone who hasn’t met Jesus yet.”

We need to pray that people’s eyes are opened to see Jesus as He really is. We need to pray that people will respond to Him in faith. Jesus’ coming is certain. Nothing and no one can prevent it. None can escape it. In the light of that we need to look at the table below. On the left hand side we could place the names of all those who at present have no time for Jesus or for God. We can start less personally and then move down the column to those who are closest to us.  We then look to the right hand column and see what will happen to them when Jesus returns, unless they repent of sin and believe in Jesus. Jesus has told us what is going to happen when He comes. We may not like it. We may not want to accept it. We might try to rationalise and give all the reasons why Jesus should accept them because they are such “lovely people”. But it doesn’t change reality. This IS what is going to happen when He comes. Two thousand years of warning by their Creator (and potential Saviour) should be enough for any creature to investigate and act on.

Names of those who at present are rejecting God or who are ashamed of Him. (As Jesus said in Mark 8:38) Names of those whom Jesus will reject when He comes again in glory. (Unless they repent and believe in Jesus). 
John Citizen John Citizen
My best friend? My best friend?
A close relative? A close relative? 

What we can do in Christian love and concern for those who are perishing. There are a number of things we can do for them.

i).         Recognise that they ARE lost. (That is not a value judgment we place on them. Rather God wants us to see them as He sees them in their great need.)

ii).        Recognise that they ARE in the power of the evil one (blinded by him) and need to be set free.  2Cor 4:4  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. The worst thing about being deceived is that you don’t realise it until you come out of the deception. The worst thing about being spiritually blind is that you can’t see that you are, until the “light is switched on” by receiving Jesus (the light of the world), as Saviour.

iii).        Recognise that Jesus has defeated the powers of darkness in His death on the cross and that humans can walk in His victory. Paul affirmed in Colossians 2:15  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him. We claim that victory in our own lives. We need to claim it in the lives of those for whom we pray.

A Suggested Prayer For Others. (Perhaps by putting down the names of loved ones, friends and others in that left hand column and praying for them until  they receive Jesus as Saviour and submit to Him as their Lord. Then we can know that their names have been removed from the right hand column of those whom Jesus will reject when He comes.)

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have opened our eyes to recognise Jesus Your Son as our Saviour and Lord. We pray for all those who are still in the darkness and ignorance of sin. We recognise that Jesus has overcome the powers of darkness and can bring them light and life. We claim that victory over the evil one and pray that You would set the captives free. Open their eyes to see Jesus alone as the Way, the Truth and the Life. Enable them by Your Holy Spirit to open their hearts to receive Jesus as Saviour and to submit to Him as Lord.  We ask these things so that you may be glorified in our lives and in the lives of all for whom we pray. In Jesus’ name. AMEN

Blog No.063.  Jim Holbeck. Posted on Sunday 4th March 2012 

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062. Lenten Studies on Philippians. Part 2. “God Is In Control!” Philippians 1:12-24

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Jim Holbeck

How desperate are you? There was an American writer and philosopher named Henry David Thoreau who lived from 1817 to 1862.  He once wrote “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation”. In other words, most people are really desperate and are resigned to the fact that there appears to be no way out of their desperate situations.

 It is true that many people are desperate about life and feel that they have no real control over their future. They feel that they are controlled by forces beyond their control or are controlled by other people. For such people even “circumstances” seem to have more say over their lives than they do.  For example when someone asks them, “How are you?”  they often reply, “I’m as good as I can be under the circumstances!”  It suggests that “circumstances” (whatever they might be) are dictating their lives.

The wonderful truth found in this passage is that there is One in this universe who ultimately has control of all the circumstances in life and over all the forces and people involved.  He exercises His control for His own purposes and for the benefit of his people. He is the God who is on the side of believers as St Paul wrote in Romans 8:31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32  He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else?

Not only that but Paul goes on in the same chapter to say that nothing and nobody in the whole of creation can ever separate His children from His love, Rom 8:38  For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39  nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 St Paul, as he formulates this letter to the Philippians, is in prison awaiting trial. Death or release could come at any time. But in the meantime he knows He is in the hands of His God. That confidence comes out in these verses in Philippians 1:12-26.

 1)        God Can Over-Rule Our Difficulties For Eternal Good

Paul saw that his imprisonment had two good results.

i).         He could share Christ with a captive audience. Php 1:12  I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, 13  so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ.   As he sat there in prison chained to a succession of elite soldiers he could share with them the gospel about Jesus. Over a period of time all the elite troops had heard the gospel from his lips. They would know that he was not a criminal but simply a servant of Jesus and a preacher of the gospel about Him.  Comments about Paul and about his message about Jesus had spread far beyond prison walls.

How about us? Do we really see what might be happening in the difficult times we face? Can we see any benefits flowing to others? If we can’t it may that we see the situation only from a human point of view. We fail to have the Lord’s perspective on our situations. We may fail to realise what grace He has been imparting to us to cope with difficult situations.

 ii).        His trust in God encouraged others to trust in the same God.  Php 1:14  And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Most of the time in our lives as believers we are protected from many things without realising it. Sometimes though the Lord allows us to go through difficult times. We may not know why in this lifetime. But He promised in 1 Cor 10:13, No testing (temptation) has overtaken you that is not common to everyone. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tested beyond your strength, but with the testing he will also provide the way out so that you may be able to endure it. 

Here Paul was being allowed to be in this difficult position. One result of that was that other believers (knowing Paul could not be out there to share the Christian message with others people), had themselves taken on the task of spreading the word about Jesus. Paul was in prison but the word of God, the message of Jesus was being spread through other people.

What about us? Other people notice our plight. Some may be aware of the difficulties we face but feel powerless to help us. But our example of trusting God to work all changes for good does give an encouragement to them to “hang in” as they go through their own set of difficulties.

2).        God Can Over-Rule Human Motivation For Eternal Good

There were mixed motives in those who preached Christ. Php 1:15  Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will.

i).         Some preached Christ from a right motive.  Php 1:16  The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. They were saying, “If Paul can’t preach, then out of our love for him and our gratitude to him we will preach in his place.” Their motives were pure.

ii).        Some preached Christ because they were jealous of Paul. Php 1:17  The former proclaim Christ out of rivalry, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. They had a wrong motivation.  They thumbed their noses at Paul, flaunting their freedom to preach while Paul couldn’t. They wanted to hurt him by their actions. They had a double wrong motivation, jealousy and spite.

iii).       Paul’s Positive Attitude.  He didn’t get despondent or bitter at the actions of these preachers. He knew that they were preaching Jesus.  Php 1:18  What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.  If Jesus was being lifted up and preached about, God could use that to bring people to Himself. Paul would have known the words of Isaiah 55:11  so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it. God has committed Himself to ensure that His word as it is preached or shared in any way, will accomplish what He wants it to accomplish in His plan and purpose.

It is like the story I have told before of the preacher who spoke to a down and out fellow who came forward to the penitential rail in the Mission Hall to give his life to Jesus.  The preacher asked him to describe what part of his sermon got through to him causing him to come to the penitential rail. He was humbled when the man replied, “It wasn’t  nuthin’ you said guv’nor. It was the text on the wall behind you.”  The text was that from John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” God had used His word in written form on a wall to achieve His purpose in this man’s life.  Paul explained it in Rom 10:17.  Faith comes from hearing the gospel about Jesus. 17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes through the word of Christ.  When the message of Jesus is preached it builds up faith in the lives of those who hear it.

So here was Paul in prison. He wasn’t expressing any bitterness or resentment as he wrote. He wasn’t suppressing any deep anger at these preachers. He just had a quiet confidence that God could take His word preached through people of differing motives, to bring people to Himself as they heard about Jesus. Paul knew, God is in control.

What about us? Do we expect that God will bless the messages about Jesus being given out by people who are not in the same theological group we are in? That is putting an emphasis on the person preaching and not on the word being preached. How much more blessing would flow in the church if people listened for what God was saying to them through the word being preached rather than concentrating on the preacher’s theological background. Are we expectant for God to bring changes in our lives as we hear and respond to His word?

3).    God Can Over-Rule Our Circumstances  For Eternal Good

Yes, and I will rejoice, Php 1:19  for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance. The believer in this life is in a win-win situation.

i).         To keep living a life of faith in Christ means victory for the believer.  Php 1:20  as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honoured in my body, whether by life or by death. Every moment of our lives is meant to bring honour and glory to Jesus as we live for Him. We can glorify Him by the lives we live. We can glorify Him through our deaths as we remain faithful to him until the end.

ii).        To die means a greater victory for the believer.  Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. 22  If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labour for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. 23  I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. A life of faith in Christ in which we know His victory in our lives is to be followed in death by a life in which that victory is made complete in His presence.

iii).       Trusting God to over-rule in our lives to His glory.  Paul trusted God with his present and his future. If God took him home soon then that was OK with Paul. He looked forward to it. If God allowed him more time to minister on earth, then that was OK too with Paul. He saw himself in a win-win situation no matter what others might do to him.  Php 1:24  But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.

 What about us? As you and I face difficult situations do we have the same healthy attitudes as Paul? We see from his example a number of truths.

  • God can work through our human hardships as we hang on to Him in faith, to bring about eternal blessings for ourselves and for others. God is in control.
  • Can we give thanks to God in every situation in which we are placed? If we can’t we are out of the will of God. St Paul wrote in 1 Thess 5:18, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. It doesn’t mean thanking God for every situation in which we may be placed. Rather it means thanking God in the midst of every situation so that our focus remains on Him and not on the difficulties presented by the situation.  God is in control!
  • God can work through preachers with various motives to bring about eternal blessings as they preach Christ. God is in control. (But are we really listening to what He is saying to us through them?)
  • God can work through us throughout our lives and even through our deaths provided we are living for Him. God is in control.

This is the win-win situation for all believers, for you and for me. In this life we have His blessing and protection. God is in control.

In the life to come when we go to be with Jesus or when Jesus comes again, we will enter into the fullness of what we have already received in part in Christ from the unsearchable riches which are ours in Him.  God is in control!

Do you believe it! Do you act on it by giving thanks to Him IN EVERY SITUATION? After all, God is in control!

Blog. No.062.  Jim Holbeck. Posted on Wednesday 29th February 2012

 

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061. The Baptism and Temptation of Jesus. Jesus’ Ministry And Ours. Mark 1:9-15

Posted on February 26, 2012 by Jim Holbeck

What would you do if there was a man going around your local streets yelling out day after day, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Mat 3:2. You’d take notice, especially when you saw he was dressed in a garment made from camel hair, and wore a big leather belt. Then you noticed that as he walked along, he was munching into a meal of locusts and wild honey. You’d have to work out “Is he a prophet from God or is he just plain crazy?”

Jesus saw such a man in His day, John the Baptist. He saw Him not as a crazy man, but as a prophet sent from God to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. The religious leaders thought he should be ignored. We read the story in Mark 1 and in Matthew 3.

 1).           THE PREPARATION FOR MINISTRY BY JESUS.  Mark 1:9. In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. Matthew adds more detail in Mat 3:13  Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. 14  John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” 15  But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then he consented.

 Jesus saw that this was the right thing for Him to do in the sight of God. He recognised that John was a prophet sent from God to get people to repent of their sins and to turn back to God. He recognised that He as a Jew needed to be baptised, not because He was a sinner for He had no sin of His own. Rather He was identifying with all the Jewish people as He went forward to receive baptism at the hands of John the Baptist. He was saying a great “AMEN” to what God was doing through John the Baptist as He submitted to John’s baptism.

 By contrast the Religious leaders of the day didn’t do what God wanted. Luke records what Jesus said of John, Luk 7:28  I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”   Luke then added an important comment. 7:29  (When all the people heard this, and the tax collectors too, they declared God just, having been baptized with the baptism of John, 30  but the Pharisees and the lawyers rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him.)  In their pride and arrogance they saw no need for them as religious leaders to do any repenting. That was for the “lesser” people who obviously needed to repent.

What strong words, they rejected the purpose of God for themselves, not having been baptized by him. The leaders of God’s people were out of the will of God because of their pride. They rejected God’s messenger and his message. Jesus, however, humbled Himself to be baptised by John as part of God’s purpose for Him. It became a very significant moment for Him. At that moment it was as though He was commissioned for His ministry.

 2).           THE COMMISSIONING OF JESUS FOR MINISTRY. Mark 1:10-11

Two things happened after He was baptised.

i).   The Holy Spirit came on Him. Mar 1:10  And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. Jesus knew the significance of the situation. It was a fulfilment of Isaiah 42:1 Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. (see Mat 12:15-18). God had anointed Jesus by His Spirit to carry out His ministry.

 Jesus spoke of that anointing with the Spirit for ministry also in the passage from Luke 4:16-21. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read. 17  And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written, 18  “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, 19  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” 20  And he rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all in the synagogue were fixed on him. 21  And he began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”  He was saying out loudly and clearly “I am the Messiah! My ministry will be done under the anointing and empowering of the Holy Spirit. 

ii). The Father affirmed Him. Mar 1:11  And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  Jesus, God’s beloved Son. Jesus the Creator. Jesus the Messiah. Jesus, the Great High Priest who would later offer His own body on the cross to bring forgiveness, eternal life and healing to the people of God throughout the ages. Jesus, the King had introduced His kingdom.

3).           THE EMPOWERMENT OF JESUS FOR MINISTRY. Mark 1:12-13

i).   Out on the battlefield. Mar 1:12  The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. The wilderness was seen as the haunt of Satan the devil and of the powers of darkness. It’s as though Jesus was saying to the powers of evil, “The battle is on. You will not defeat me. I’ve come to defeat you on your own home turf. ” And He did.

ii).  Winning the battle over the powers of darkness. Mar 1:13  And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him. Jesus withstood all the temptations and all the enemy could throw at Him. He remained victorious throughout all that time over every temptation.

 Jesus knows how to resist temptation. He knows how to help us have victories over temptation as well. Heb 4:15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Our temptations. The story reminds us that being tempted is not sin. Jesus was continually being tempted throughout His life. You may say “You have no idea of the strength of temptations I face day by day.  They are always there and I just feel so guilty that my temptations are so frequent and so strong.”  There’s a word for that. It’s called being “human”. We all face temptations. Many of them can’t be avoided. And very often they attack us at our weakest point. Other times they are directed at our strengths and catch us off guard.

The great German reformer Martin Luther knew what it was to be strongly tempted. But he gave a very good piece of advice on how to deal with the temptations we face. He said, “You can’t stop the birds flying over your head, but you can stop them building nests in your hair.” That is, temptations are sure to come but you can and must stop them lodging in your mind and dwelling on them. St Paul put it like this, 2Corinthians 10:5  … we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. We too can overcome temptation as we learn to take all our tempting thoughts to God and say, “Lord please break the power of those thoughts in my mind. Help me to focus on You and on Your will.”

Jesus had won the victory in the power of the Holy Spirit who had anointed Him and empowered Him to do the will of God. We too can know that same victory as we allow God to fill us with His Holy Spirit. As He fills us with His Spirit He renew our minds by the transforming power of His Holy Spirit, Romans 12:2.  We begin to have more and more of the mind of Christ.

4).        THE COMMENCEMENT OF JESUS’ MINISTRY. Mark 1:14-15

i).   The right time had come for Jesus to minister. John the Baptist’s task as the forerunner to Jesus was now complete. Now it was time for Jesus to begin His public ministry. Mar 1:14  Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,

ii).   The right response was needed to His message about the kingdom. Mar 1:15  and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”  The King had come. His kingdom was being established. But people needed to turn from their sins in repentance and to turn to submit to Christ as Lord, Saviour and King.

 Your role and my role as those who now belong to the family of God, and are subjects of the King, is to live worthily of our great calling, so that Christ is seen in our lives. Our role through our witness and our prayers is also to encourage others to repent of their sins, to turn back to God and make Christ the King, the Lord and Master of their lives.

Today, we look back to what God has accomplished through us as a church and through us as individuals over the past year. We need to answer the questions, How many lives did we impact for Christ as a church?  How many lives did we impact for Christ personally and individually?  Why not determine to live for Christ in this coming year so that God can accomplish what He wants to do through you as an individual in our parish and beyond.

 A Prayer asking that God may use us.

Lord I repent of anything that stops me from being what You want me to be. As I open my heart to You, fill me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can:- 

  • be the person You want me to be
  • know what You want me to know, 
  • do what You want me to do 
  • speak of You to those whom You want me to speak 
  • touch the lives of those whom You want me to touch in Your love 
  • and bring to You, those whom You want me to bring to You, so that they can accept You as Saviour, and submit to You as their Lord, Master and King. In Jesus the King’s name I pray. AMEN
  • Blog No.061.  Jim Holbeck.  Posted on Sunday 26th February 2012


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060. Lenten Studies On Philippians. Part 1. “The Healing Of Our Hurts.” Philippians 1:1-11.

Posted on February 22, 2012 by Jim Holbeck

It hurts. It hurts to be ignored. It hurts to be humiliated. It hurts to be physically assaulted. It hurts to be booed at by crowds of people. It hurts to be imprisoned unlawfully. It could make one bitter and twisted, thinking the worst about those who did it to you. You certainly wouldn’t write nice encouraging letters to those responsible. But St Paul did. His letter to the Philippians shows how he was able to forgive those who had brought such hurt to him. It shows how he even came to have love and deep affection for them.  It shows how we can be helped to deal with all the hurts we have suffered in the past.

1).           THE HURT PAUL ENDURED IN PHILIPPI

i.              The Hurt From Physical And Emotional Distress.  Paul had come into Philippi to preach the gospel. There he met a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune‑telling. She followed Paul for a few days, shouting out, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” Finally Paul turned around and told the spirit to come out of her, which it did. We read what happened in Acts 16:19-22, as the owners of the girl realised that their hope of making money was gone as she no longer had that ability to foretell the future.

They seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. … The crowd joined in attacking them, and the magistrates had them stripped of their clothing and ordered them to be beaten with rods. 23 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison and ordered the jailer to keep them securely. No wonder Paul wrote in 1 Thess 2:2 that in Philippi they had suffered and been shamefully mistreated. The word for “shamefully mistreated” (hubrizo) describes great violence.

  • There was a 2 fold suffering involved for them.
    • One was the physical pain that came from the severe flogging.
    • The other was the public humiliation and shame that was forced on them as they were arrested, stripped and beaten.

Ourselves? Perhaps some of us can begin to identify with St Paul in the hurt he suffered. There may have been those who inflicted upon us physical hurt so that we were deeply wounded physically and scarred emotionally. Or it may have been a sense of being deeply humiliated publicly, so that we were left with an acute sense of embarrassment and shame. Today even the memory of that incident brings us a renewed sense of shame.

ii.            The Hurt From Being Let Down By Others. Paul had been let down by those who had promised to support him in his ministry. At first the church in Philippi had supported him, (Phil 4:15). But after some time, the support had dropped off. But he was able to write in Phil 4:10, I rejoice in the Lord greatly that now at last you have renewed your concern for me. It was hurtful for Paul to have support promised and then for that support to dry up.  How did Paul deal with the hurt?Paul had come to know the freedom that comes from forgiving others of the hurt they inflicted on him.  He had been able to pray a blessing on them as he does in this letter.

Ourselves? Many of us know what it’s like to be disappointed by people who promised to be there for us. But when we needed them they weren’t there for us. It hurt deeply. One can only imagine the deep hurt of those whose marriages ended because one of the partners betrayed the trust of his or her spouse by walking out of the marriage to begin a relationship with another person. What ongoing hurt and pain that must bring.

2).           THE GRATITUDE HE FELT TO GOD. 1:3-7.  He expressed it in 1:3. “I keep on thanking my God”. In other words, he was so grateful to God for all His blessings to Him that it had become a habit for Paul to pray with thanksgiving as he prayed (as he advises his readers to do in Chapter 4). He tells us why He was thankful to God. In v. 5.  it was for their fellowship, their appreciation of the Gospel message he had shared with them. In v.6, because God had touched the lives of the Christians in Philippi, and would continue His work of transformation in them for as long as they lived. In v.7 that he and they were the recipients of grace, of God’s unmerited favour. That grace had come to him when he was free to go around preaching the Gospel. It came to him even when he was shut up in prison. That grace had come to them as they heard about Jesus and invited Him into their lives. Prison doors couldn’t shut out the grace of God. Neither can cement or steel. (It is only hardened hearts, hearts of stone towards God, that can keep out the grace of God from any person.) Paul looked beyond the hurts he had suffered, to the God who could heal him and transform him.

Ourselves? Where is our focus in life? Is it still on the hurts we have received? Is it on the people who hurt us? There is no healing in having a wrong focus in life. Healing comes as we lift our eyes from the hurts and from the people who hurt us, to the Lord who alone can bring the healing.

3).           THE GRATITUDE HE FELT FOR INDIVIDUALS.  Paul was filled with gratitude to God for His blessings to him. But he was also deeply grateful to the human instruments God had used, to bring that help to him. The Philippians featured in his prayer life as we see in verses 3 to 9. Notice the number of times he says “all” or “every” in these eleven verses. He thanked God for:-v.3 every remembrance of them. v. 4. always, in every prayer for them. v.7 that they had all been partakers with him of God’s grace. His attitude to them was so healthy. He prayed for them with a yearning for them all with the affection of Christ Jesus, verse8.  In verse 9 he prayed that their love might abound with all knowledge and all discernment.

Paul’s gratitude, love and concern were not selective as sometimes ours becomes. We love those who love us. We accept those who accept us. We honour those who honour us. We prefer those who have the same views as we do. By contrast, Paul’s love and concern was for all of them: All, including those who had shouted with the crowd against him and Silas when he first came to Philippi. All of those who had been responsible for his being beaten up in Philippi and had now been converted to Christ. All those who had supported him and then had withdrawn their support. All, including the two women who had laboured side by side with Paul in the Gospel, Euodia and Syntyche (chapter 4), who had had words and were playing “no speaks”. Paul prayed for and was thankful for all of these people, with all their hang‑ups and faults.

Just after Paul was beaten up and imprisoned on his first visit to Philippi, he brought his God into the equation. Acts 16:24 After they had given them a severe flogging, they threw them into prison. How did Paul react?  We read in (Acts 16:25)  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. The situation around them might be horrible but Paul and Silas in pain would still give glory to God and praise Him in song. They practised the presence of God with them in the prison.  They turned their focus from their hurts and from those who had hurt them to focus on God Himself.

Ourselves? Giving Praise and thanksgiving to God can release us emotionally. It gets our focus right. It rids us of the poison of bitterness and resentment that destroys us inwardly, that distorts our vision of reality, that reads wrong motives into innocent statements or actions. In worship we invite the Lord to be seated on our praises, the concept seen in Psalm 22:3, Yet you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel. Praise invites the Lord to take His rightful place in our lives and to establish His will in our lives and in the lives of those for whom we pray.

Gratitude to God releases us to love, with the love of Jesus. That’s what Paul told them in verse 8, “I’m loving you with Jesus’ love”. What an incredible release, what an improvement in our mental and physical health, comes when we become grateful people.  One final thing. This gratitude needs to be expressed.

4).             THE GRATITUDE HE EXPRESSED TO OTHERS.  In these verses Paul is telling his friends why he is grateful to God for them.  He also tells them what he is praying for them. If he had not bothered to write to them, they would never have known. Now he is blessing them, helping build up their emotional, physical and spiritual well‑being, by sharing his gratitude for what God means to him, and what they meant to him.

Ourselves? Is our gratitude being expressed in love, adoration and praise to God? If not our focus in life is wrong. Are there people to whom we need to communicate our gratitude, even for little things?

This passage forces us to consider some questions. Are you a grateful person? Are you thanking God for all the blessings He showers upon you day by day? Are you resentful because you feel as though He has let you down? Do you grumble at your circumstances in life? God hates grumbling because He knows what it does to us, rather than what it does to Him.

Gratitude opens us to receive the grace of God, the love and peace of God, to become more whole. Ingratitude closes the door to God’s grace. Paul wrote in 1 Thess 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” To be ungrateful, is to be out of the will of God.

THE HEALING OF DEEP HURTS.  Jesus spoke about the need to forgive those who hurt us and to bless those who despitefully use us or persecute us. He demonstrated that in His own life on the cross as He prayed for those who had hurt Him physically and who had publicly humiliated Him, “Father forgive them for they know not what they do.”

St Paul demonstrated the same attitude in His life. He wrote in Col 3:13 … forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. He knew that he had been marvellously forgiven by God of all his sins, even his sins of persecution against Christians. He had learned to forgive those who had sinned against Him. He encouraged his readers to forgive in the same way. The word used here to forgive is charizomai which comes from charis grace. Forgiveness is extending grace to those who don’t deserve it.

Ourselves? What are we going to do about those who hurt or humiliated us? Will we keep thinking about those hurts and about the hurtful people? Or will we be like Jesus and St Paul, and turn from those hurts, that humiliation, and let God free us from the pain of those things, and bring us healing? Remember, when God forgave you, you didn’t deserve it. You could have done nothing to earn it. It came when you received Christ into your lives. In Him we have forgiveness of our sins and redemption through His blood. The people you need to forgive can never deserve your forgiveness. Forgiving someone is gracing them with something they could never earn.

Today as you think about this passage from Phil 1,

  • where is your focus?  Is it on the hurts you have received and the people who hurt you? Or is it on the Lord who forgives you in Christ and wants you to forgive others? Some of us may need to change our focus because dwelling on our hurts or on those responsible for them doesn’t get us anywhere. We’ve got to let them go. We let them go through forgiveness.
  • Who hurt you? I want us to think of just one person whom we may need to forgive for hurting us in any way. It doesn’t have to be the person who hurt you the most. It can be anyone at all.  Let’s go through the process of forgiving such a person through prayer. As we do so we need to know that we are forgiven by God so that we can really forgive others. Only forgiven people can really forgive.

Almighty God, I recognise that I am a sinner needing your forgiveness. I thank you that Your Son Jesus came to take away my sin by dying for me on the cross. I thank You that I can have forgiveness by receiving it in Jesus. Lord Jesus come into my life to be my Saviour from sin. I thank You for the forgiveness I now have in You. 

Lord, You have told us to forgive one another as You have forgiven us in Your Son. I choose now to forgive this person (xxxxxxxx) for their sins against me. I know they don’t deserve my forgiveness but I choose to “grace” them with my forgiveness. I ask that You would bless them especially by bringing them to Yourself.  As I forgive that person and let the sin go, please heal me of the damage from the hurt that person brought into my life. I want to be always in the centre of Your will.  In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.

Blog No.060.  Jim Holbeck.   Posted on Wednesday 22nd February 2012

Posted in BIBLE PASSAGE OUTLINES, Forgiveness, STUDIES IN PHILIPPIANS, TOPICS | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

059. The Transfiguration Of Jesus And Our Transfiguration. Mark 9:2-9

Posted on February 19, 2012 by Jim Holbeck

Can you remember watching a play, a ballet or an opera and suddenly the lights faded and the spotlight fell on the main character? You were dazzled at the intensity of the brightness. His or her white garments glowed like an advertisement for Drive, Dynamo or Hurricane washing powders. (Products sold in Australia). Perhaps it might have been an ad for less dynamic sounding brand names like Omo or Earth Choice. Or it might well be that another brand name Radiant would be the best description one could get for the intensity of that light.

In the Gospel reading for today from Mark 9 we read that Jesus “radiated” His glory as He was transfigured before them. They saw Him as He really was, the eternal Son of God, the Creator, the King of glory. The incident is called the “Transfiguration of Jesus.”

1). WHAT THE TRANSFIGURATION REVEALED ABOUT JESUS.

About a week after Peter had recognised Him as the Messiah, Jesus had taken the inner three, Peter, James and John up onto the mountain to pray. Three amazing things happened.

i. Jesus was transformed or transfigured before them. Mark 9:2) Six days later, Jesus took with him Peter and James and John, and led them up a high mountain apart, by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, (Mark 9:3) and his clothes became dazzling white, such as no one on earth could bleach them They were exceeding white (leukos from which we get the word Leukemia). His garments shone like glistening white snow. A metamorphosis had taken place. It’s as though the veil that hid His pre-existent glory as the Son of God, was lifted, and for that short time, the disciples saw His unveiled glory. The vision of that day, would never leave them.

ii. There appeared two representatives of the OT with Jesus. The vision they saw, wasn’t just a bright light. It was personal in that 2 men appeared with Jesus. Somehow the three disciples recognised them as Moses and Elijah. (Mark 9:4) And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses, who were talking with Jesus. And he was transfigured before them. There was a special meaning behind those 2 people appearing with Jesus.

The significance of Moses was that he represented the Law of the Old Testament, as the law giver. The significance of Elijah, was that he was a representative of the Prophets of the OT, a man powerful in word and deed, as Jesus was. The “Law” and the “Prophets” formed the major part of the OT. They pointed to Jesus, they witnessed to the Christ, and now Jesus as the fulfilment of the Law and Prophets was present with them. There was about to be a third witness to Jesus, God the Father Himself.

iii. From heaven God the Father bore witness to Jesus. Mark 9:7) Then a cloud overshadowed them, and from the cloud there came a voice, “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him!” God Himself bore witness to Jesus that Jesus was His Son. From that time, Peter, James and John would know for certain that Jesus was not only the Messiah, but also that He was God’s eternal Son.

It’s obvious that the whole incident made a great impact on them, for we find Peter writing shortly before his own death, “For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For when He received honour and glory from the God the Father, and the voice was borne to Him by the Majestic Glory, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,’ we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with Him on the holy mountain.” 2 Pet 1:16-18.

Peter was writing about facts, not myths; about Jesus the Messiah who had come in power, not weakness; about Jesus as God’s beloved Son, not simply a man bearing the curse of God in crucifixion.

The apostles came to recognise that Jesus was the Messiah sent to redeem His people, but also that Jesus was none other than the eternal Son of God who had come to live in the world He had made, and to die for the sins of His people.

2). WHAT THE TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS REVEALS ABOUT US

What the transfiguration says to you and to me is this. “You are significant. You are loved”. Why? Because the One who came to die for us on the cross is none other than the Son of God Himself. How can we ever say that God doesn’t love us! What more does He have to do, to show us how much He loves us? The coming of Jesus Christ into this world, and His dying on the cross for sinners like you and me, shows two things.

On the one hand it shows the utter abhorrence God has towards sin in all its forms. Only His perfect Son could come and die to take it away. On the other hand, it shows the incredible love He has towards sinners. Jesus came and died to make forgiveness and reconciliation with God possible. Paul wrote in Rom 5:6-8, that God’s love isn’t based on prejudice nor on discrimination. “While we were yet helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. Why one will hardly die for a righteous man- though perhaps for a good man one will dare even to die. But God shows His love for us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”

We see the great contrast between human commitment where we commit ourselves to one another, and God’s commitment to us. In human commitment we might go out of our way to help someone whom we feel is worthy, deserving or lovely. By contrast, God’s commitment to us is seen in His love. The love of God is shown in the death of Jesus as He died for those who were unworthy, rebellious, largely ungrateful and unlovely.

The Command At The Transfiguration. Not only did God say of Jesus, “This is My beloved Son.” He also said to the apostles, “Keep on listening to Him.” That was significant because Luke records that both Moses and Elijah had appeared with Jesus at the transfiguration, speaking with Him about His exodus (departure, death) at Jerusalem. At the transfiguration, there was the threefold witness; the law and the prophets and the voice of God Himself bore witness to the truth about Jesus.

The new factor was the command from God, “Listen to Him.” That is, “As you have obeyed the law (Moses) and the prophets (Elijah), now observe His teaching.” The word of Jesus was being added to the word of God through the ages. His word had authority because He had authority as the Son of God and as the Messiah. The attitudes we adopt to Jesus and to Jesus’ words, are the attitudes we are adopting to God Himself who sent Him into the world to be the Saviour of humankind.

3). OUR TRANSFIGURATION. (INTO THE LIKENESS OF CHRIST)

Did you know that many people around the world are being transfigured or undergoing transformation at the present time? You don’t have to go to Palestine to see them. They are right around you. They are in fact you and your fellow believers. Paul wrote of all believers in 2Cor 3:18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. “Being transformed” is the very same word used of the transfiguration of Jesus. What God did in Jesus He does in us. Our part is

i) to turn to the Lord, verse 16. As we do so, God takes away the veil that prevents us from recognising His glory. We begin to become increasingly aware of His majesty and His holiness.

ii) to behold the glory of the Lord, verse 18. Behold means to contemplate, to focus on, to gaze upon. It also means to reflect what we are looking at as the NAS BIble translates, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord.

It’s the same concept we see when we gaze into a log-fire. We gaze at it, but it also reflects its light back on us. As the fire grows dimmer, the brightness on our face diminishes. When a fresh log is put on the fire, and the fire bursts into life, the glow on our faces increases as well. We begin to reflect what we are gazing at.

The more we focus on the Lord in adoration, praise and thanksgiving as we read His word and as we pray, the more like Him we become. As Paul wrote, we are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. It’s a gradual transformation, the process of sanctification. When our focus is right, God brings about the transformation into His own likeness. He transforms us by the power of His Spirit within us.

Let’s get our focus right in life by taking the time to gaze upon the Lord as we read, mark, learn and inwardly digest His word. Let’s take the time to enthrone Him on our praises as we continually reflect on Who He is as the Son of God and on all He has done for us as Creator, Redeemer through His blood and Sanctifier by His Spirit.

Blog No 059. Jim Holbeck. Posted on Sunday 19th February 2012

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058. Jesus. His Willingness And Ability To Heal. Mark 1:40-45

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Jim Holbeck

The Healing Service in St Andrew’s Cathedral in Sydney has been operating almost every Wednesday night for the last 51 years. In that time thousands of people have received various degrees of physical, emotional and spiritual healing. There are also hundreds of other healing services in Australia and overseas where people receive prayer and later testify to healings received. What are the common factors behind them all? In this gospel story today we find two factors that show us why Healing services exist. They are firstly, God’s love and compassion for people and secondly, His willingness to bring blessing and healing to those who ask for them. We see this in Jesus’ ministry. The first of these factors is compassion. 1).           THE COMPASSION OF JESUS.  The word that is used for compassion in the New Testament is the Greek word splagchna, It is the word used to describe the deep innermost part of a person; the heart, the lungs, the liver, and the intestines. These were thought by the Greeks to be the seat of the emotions. The word stands for the emotion that moves a person from the very depths of his or her being. i).            Jesus used it to describe the good qualities of the main characters in some of the parables. People reached out in a loving way to someone in need.

  • In the Parable of the Unforgiving Servant, the word is used of the master who out of  compassion, freely forgave the man who owed him millions of dollars. Mt 18:27.
  • In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, it is used of the compassion of the Prodigal son’s father. When he saw his son returning home in the distance, he ran out to warmly welcome him home. Lk 15:20.
  • In the Parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ it is used of the Samaritan who out of compassion went to the help of the wounded traveller on the Jericho Road. Everyone else passed by on the other side. They didn’t want to get involved.  But the most unlikely person, a despised Samaritan was the one who had compassion. He went to the man’s aid. He really cared for him. Lk 10:33

ii).           The Gospel writers used it of Jesus. Mark used it of Jesus in Mark 6:34, in the feeding of the five thousand. Mark says that Jesus saw a great multitude and had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. He was touched by their confusion. He cared about them. He ministered to their needs by teaching them. He wanted to satisfy their spiritual needs. He also miraculously fed them to satisfy their physical needs. We also see compassion in action in Mark 8:2, in the feeding of the four thousand. Jesus recognised that some of His followers had been listening to His teaching for 3 days.  They were without food. In His compassion He moved to meet their need of food. In Mark 9:22, we have the healing of the boy with the unclean spirit.  The boy’s father cried out to Jesus, “Jesus have compassion on us and help us if you can.” Jesus demonstrated His compassion. He rebuked the spirit and healed the boy. In Lk 7:11, He saw a woman weeping as the body of her dead son was being carried out to be buried. Moved with compassion He said to her, “Do not weep.” He came and touched the coffin and told the dead son to arise. He did! The crowd cried out “God has visited His people.”  He had! They saw in Jesus, the compassion of God. They also saw God’s power at work in Him. The power of God restored a dead son to his broken-hearted mother. Here in this passage in Mark 1:41 we read of the healing of the leper. He had challenged Jesus with the words, “If you will, you can make me clean”.  Filled with compassion, Jesus did the unbelievable. He touched the untouchable! He said to the leper,  “I will, be clean”. The leper was instantly healed. In all these healings, we see that the motivation for healing, came from compassion, from the love of God in Christ. Compassion notices human needs. Compassion reaches out to meet the needs of others. That’s what Jesus did. That’s what happens in healing services as people motivated by compassion for others in need, reach out to pray for them.  We turn now to the second ground for healing. ie., 2).           THE WILLINGNESS OF JESUS TO HEAL. The two questions we sometimes have in our minds about healing, come out in the story of the boy with the unclean spirit, and in the story of the healing of the leper. i.   The first question concerns the ability of Jesus to heal. The father of the boy with the unclean spirit said to Jesus “Help us if you can”.  Jesus replied “If you can? All things are possible to him who believes”. In other words, “I am able to heal. But you need to trust me to bring the healing you need.” ii.  The second question concerns the willingness of Jesus to heal.   The leper said, “If you will, you can make me clean”. Jesus replied “I will, be clean”.  In other words, “That’s my desire. I want to bring blessing and healing”.  It reminds us that God is on the side of healing. He healed through Jesus, He healed through the disciples. He has healed people throughout history. As we pray for God’s healing and blessing, we know we’re praying according to His will. He is willing and He is able to heal. That brings us to a very big question we need to answer in today’s world. If God is compassionate, and has the ability and the willingness to heal, why aren’t more people healed? A QUESTION TO ANSWER. Why Isn’t There More Healing?  There are many hindrances to receiving healing. We look at just a couple of them. i).  We can have a wrong attitude towards God and towards Jesus.   The sort of attitude that thinks that God isn’t concerned with us as individuals. The attitude that thinks that He’s got more important things to do, than to care about you and me. The mind-set that thinks He has more important people to worry about than you or me. We need to remember that it was “while we were yet sinners” that God sent His Son Jesus to die for us. It wasn’t just for the good people. It wasn’t just for the important people. It wasn’t just for the clean people. Rather His loving compassion and power were seen in Jesus’ ministry as He reached out to touch the untouchable, the leper, and to heal him. No matter how insignificant people may think they are in the sight of others; now matter how dirty or unclean they may feel within; the compassion of Christ reaches to all those who are willing to receive it. ii).  Having a wrong attitude towards God as Father.  The truth is that He is a loving Heavenly Father to His children. Some people may not believe that, or feel it to be true. A bad experience of an earthly father may have tainted their minds. They find it hard to think of God as a loving Father. Some people may need to replace their faulty concepts of fatherhood, with the biblical picture of fatherhood. That is, to see that God is the true pattern of Fatherhood.  Every human father is only a pale reflection, or in some cases, a terrible distortion of the perfect Father. But He is the perfect Father who gave His only Son to die for us. He is the loving, compassionate Heavenly Father who gives us everything we need in Jesus. That was in the mind of a woman who came to a Sunday afternoon healing service in St Andrew’s Cathedral many years ago. She was over 8 months pregnant and came to the service supported by her mother. When the time came for prayer with the laying on of hands, she told me that her legs were badly swollen and that her doctor was very concerned for her. But she felt that God as her loving Heavenly Father could do something about her situation. As we prayed over her I thought of the passage where Jesus told His disciples to have faith and pray, Mark 11:22 “Have faith in God. 23 Truly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and thrown into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will come to pass, it will be done for him. 24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.   I then felt led to pray that the “mountains” in her blood stream go, by dispersing and vanishing from her body.  Even as I prayed those words I felt it was a pretty dramatic thing to pray out loud, especially in a Cathedral! Especially St Andrew’s! After the service I wondered about what I had prayed. Then came Wednesday. The phone rang and it was the woman who had received prayer at the service.  Her conversation went something like this, “I went to my doctor yesterday and he looked quite baffled. He said after examining me that he could find no trace of any swelling even though he knew how swollen my legs were when he last saw them. He commented that that sort of swelling just can’t reduce like that. It would take weeks of the very best medication to reduce it in any measure. Then he asked what I had done to bring about such a surprise result. I told him that I had received prayer at a Healing Service in the Cathedral on the previous Sunday. He looked puzzled and said , ‘Well it must have worked. There can be no other explanation’.” Our Heavenly Father gave us His Son. Paul reminds us that God gives us all things in Him.  This includes all the blessings and healings we need to live for Him in today’s world.  As St Paul reminds us in Romans 8:31-32,  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32  He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? PRAYER.  Heavenly Father we thank you for Your amazing love. We see it in this story of a leper made clean. Help us to turn to You in all our need, so that we too may know Your loving and powerful touch on our lives. We ask it in Jesus’ name. AMEN.  Blog No.058.  Jim Holbeck. Posted on Sunday 12th February 2012

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057. A Prayer For Freedom From The Powers Of Darkness

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Jim Holbeck

In the previous article I wrote about a young fellow who came to be released from his addiction to pornography. In that article I outlined the steps he needed to follow to become free. I repeat them here and include a suggested prayer to pray to allow God to set us free from that which has bound us or to which we are addicted. It is a prayer that we can pray for release from the many things that have adversely affected us in life. Sometimes we don’t even know what they are but we know that we are not as free as we feel we should be. It is a prayer asking God to set us free from whatever He sees has been (or is) a problem in our lives. 

The suggested steps to freedom from bondage to the powers of darkness 

The first one is repentance. God commands us to repent of all known sin in our lives by confessing it before Him, and asking for His forgiveness and turning to follow Him.

The second step is renunciation.  The word means to forsake, to cast off,  have nothing to do with. If we have tapped into supernatural powers through our own wrongful activities, it’s to say, “I’m handing all this over to God. I no longer want any part of it. I’m renouncing it, forsaking it.” It is saying to God, “I don’t want anything to do with the powers of darkness. Please set me free”.  

The third step is to submit oneself completely to the Lord, so that He can do in our lives what He wants to do as He ministers to us in Kingdom power. It means asking Christ to be the Lord of every part of our lives, the past, the present and the future.

The fourth step is to pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It means asking God to fill us with His presence so that we live by the power of the Spirit of God. It means allowing Him to set us free of any wrong supernatural power in our lives, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

The suggested prayer.

“Lord Jesus Christ, I thank You that when You died on the cross, You made forgiveness possible. I thank You for the forgiveness I now have in You.

I thank You too that the cross showed Your victory over all the powers of darkness.

I want to be free from all that may have bound me in the past. I want to be released to fulfil Your plan and purpose for me.

I repent of being associated with the powers of darkness in any form, whether it be through my own personal involvement, or through the involvement of members of my family or other people.

I renounce everything to do with the powers of darkness, and I want nothing to do with them. I want you to set me free. 

Lord Jesus, I submit to You as the Lord and Master of every part of my life.

Please heal me in body, mind and spirit by the power of your Holy Spirit.  

I now thank You by faith for the victories and release I now have in You.

Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and lead me and empower me to live for You from this day on. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Blog No.057.   Jim Holbeck.  Posted on Sunday 29th January 2012

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056. Jesus Sets The Captives Free. Mark 1:21-28.

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Jim Holbeck

Jesus began His ministry with the news that the kingdom of God had come in Himself. That meant that He would be operating with Kingdom authority in the various aspects of His ministry. God’s power would be at work through Him. In this passage we see this authority being exercised in His teaching and in His ministry.

1).        THE AUTHORITY IN JESUS’ TEACHING. The authority in Jesus’ teaching came from God, Mark 1:22)  They were astounded at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes. People recognised that His message wasn’t a second hand message, telling people what other scholars had written. They were amazed at the authority with which He spoke.  It was as though God Himself was speaking through the lips of Jesus. That’s what Jesus said, was in fact happening, John 14:10  Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. His teaching came from the mind of God and not just His own thoughts. Jesus was imparting the words the Father wanted Him to speak. How? Because of the intimacy of their relationship as Jesus said, John 14;11  Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves. It was amazing that people could hear Jesus speaking the words God had given Him to speak, but many rejected Him. In rejecting Him and His words they were rejecting God Himself.

Today humans in their free-will can close their ears and their minds to the word of God in the Bible. They can also close their hearts to Jesus, and in doing so, to the living God.

2).        THE AUTHORITY IN JESUS’ MINISTRY. A man with an unclean spirit interrupted His teaching, Mark 1:23-24,  Just then there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit, 24)  and he cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.”  It was the demon, or the evil spirit speaking through the man.  It’s as though the demon was challenging Jesus’ authority, for the words can mean, “Why do you interfere with us?” or “Mind your own business.” Evil spirits recognised who Jesus was. This one called Jesus “the Holy One of God.”  But Jesus did not let the truth about Himself declared by the powers of darkness go unchallenged, Mark 1:25-26, But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” 26)  And the unclean spirit, convulsing him and crying with a loud voice, came out of him.

A spiritual power encounter had taken place. Jesus commanded the spirit to “be muzzled”, to be silent, and to come out of the man, and it came out.   The people were again amazed, Mk 1:27)  They were all amazed, and they kept on asking one another, “What is this? A new teaching–with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” What an exciting, scary time for those who were there. Here was Jesus operating with kingdom authority in His teaching and with kingdom authority and power in delivering the man of a demon.

The late Professor C.S. Lewis saw 2 dangers as we read a story like this. We can either deny the existence of the powers of darkness. Or we can take an unhealthy interest in them. In doing the latter we take our focus off God and put it in the wrong place, on the devil and his cohorts. As we focus on the powers of darkness we give them more power than they really have.  These two warnings are relevant today, for there are many who have gone too far in both extremes, and lost the balance of Scripture.

3). THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS OVER THE POWERS OF DARKNESS TODAY. People today can come under (or are already under) various degrees of control by the powers of darkness. This is seen in many areas of life.

i).         People can be blinded to the gospel message. Paul wrote of some people who did not know the gospel, 2 Corinthians 4:4)  In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  Satan has blinded the minds of all those who don’t believe. They don’t realise they are spiritually blind. They don’t give Jesus His rightful place in their lives because they don’t understand Who Jesus is or the significance of His death and resurrection. We need to realise that it includes those who are in outright rebellion against God. But it may also include our dear loved ones, our close friends and other fine people who haven’t yet come to trust in Jesus. They simply don’t understand how wonderful God is. We need to pray that God would open their blind eyes to enable them to see who He is and to come to know Him and to love and serve Him.

ii).        People can be under the power of Satan and his demons. God said through the apostle John, 1John 5:19  We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. People may not realise it but they are under the devil’s power. They think they are “calling the shots” for their lives, but He has control over them.  St Paul was sent by God  to preach to the Gentiles like those of us who do not have a Jewish background, Acts 26:18  to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’  Praise God that in His love for us from gentile backgrounds He has opened our eyes to understand the truth; He has given us power over the evil one; He has forgiven us in Christ and He has accepted us in His Son.

iii).       People many actually be doing what the devil wants rather than what God wants.  Paul saw that many people had been deceived by Satan and had come under his power.  They needed God to touch their lives so that they would repent,  2Timothy 2:26  and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.  Such people may not realise they are “snared”. They may not realise that they are captives to do Satan’s will and not their own will or God’s will. They need spiritual enlightenment and release by God. We need to pray for all our loved ones that they might be set free from any power of evil in their lives. Then and only then can they know and experience God’s power in their lives.

Victory is possible for those who seek it. We see it in Paul’s teaching, where he states that the powers of darkness have been dealt a mortal blow. For example, he reminded the Colossians that when Christ died on the cross, He not only died to take away sins so that forgiveness might be available to the people of God, but He also disarmed the principalities and powers.  (Col 2:13)  And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14)  erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15)  He disarmed the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

The cross was the placarding, the public proof, that He had defeated the powers of darkness. These powers need no longer have the power they once had in human lives. Victory is ours through the victory Christ won on the cross and made available to the people of God.

iv).       People may be in bondage to the evil one by allowing Satan to have footholds in their lives.   It may be opening their lives to the powers of evil by continuing in anger and unforgiveness, Eph 4:26  Go ahead and be angry. You do well to be angry–but don’t use your anger as fuel for revenge. And don’t stay angry. Don’t go to bed angry. 27)  Don’t give the Devil that kind of foothold in your life (NIV). Or the door might be opened to the powers of darkness by getting involved in any of the things that are taboo for the believer, such as the occult or pornography. A young fellow in his early 20’s once came to see me. When I asked him how I might be able to help him, he replied that he was a Bible Study leader in his church, but in recent times had not been able to say the name of J J J J. When he could not get the word out I said, “Jesus?” He nodded. It turned out that he had been heavily involved in pornography and his mind was filled continually with all the images he had seen with a longing to see even more. He was addicted to porn. But now he saw the need to be set free.

I told him that the way out of bondage to freedom involved 4 things. The first one is repentance. God commands us to repent of all known sin in our lives by confessing it before Him, and asking for His forgiveness and turning to follow Him.

The second step is renunciation.  The word means to forsake, to cast off,  have nothing to do with. If we have tapped into supernatural powers through our own wrongful activities, it’s to say, “I’m handing all this over to God. I no longer want any part of it. I’m renouncing it, forsaking it.” It is saying to God, “I don’t want anything to do with the powers of darkness. Please set me free”.

The third step is to submit oneself completely to the Lord, so that He can do in our lives what He wants to do as He ministers to us in Kingdom power. It means asking Christ to be the Lord of every part of our lives, the past, the present and the future.

The fourth step is to pray to be filled with the Holy Spirit. It means asking God to fill us with His presence so that we live by the power of the Spirit of God. It means allowing Him to set us free of any wrong supernatural power in our lives, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

That is what he did in all sincerity. He repented of his sin. He renounced the powers of darkness. As he tried to pray “Lord Jesus, be the Lord of my life” he got stuck on the “J J J J J” again. But as we continued to pray, he struggled to eventually say loudly, “Jesus is Lord, and I want you Lord Jesus to be my Lord”. As he said those words, he was set free. God had released him from the power of the evil one.  Some months later he brought back a Christian friend who had also been heavily involved in pornography. He too was set free as he followed the same steps of repentance, renunciation, submission to Christ and asking to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

What God did in Jesus’ day through His ministry, He does today through Christian ministry which is based upon His word and is open the guidance and leading (and empowering) of the Holy Spirit.  It means that if we have friends, neighbours, even family members who are under some sort of control by the powers of darkness, they can be set free. They don’t have to stay as they are. We don’t have to give up on them as a lost cause. They too can walk in Christian freedom. As Jesus said, “If the Son shall make you free you shall be free indeed” John 8:36. It’s as true today as it was then. The victory is there in Christ. But we have to personally appropriate that victory through faith in Him.

(In a later article No.057 we look at a suggested prayer for being released from the powers of darkness.)

Blog No.056.  Jim Holbeck.  Posted on Sunday 29th January 2012. 

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055. The Body As A Temple Of The Holy Spirit. 1Corinthians 6:19-20

Posted on January 19, 2012 by Jim Holbeck

“Don’t tell me what to do! It’s my life and I can do whatever I want to do with it.” Words such as these may be heard outside many homes in our world as parents try to correct a child’s inappropriate behaviour. Or the words overheard might be, “It’s my body and I can do whatever I want with my body.” Inside a home a mother may be questioning her daughter about her choice of clothing (or lack of it) as she prepares to go out for yet another night on the town. Or it might be the expression of a young woman who discovers she is pregnant. She is planning to have an abortion and her best friend asks whether she has considered options apart from abortion.

Both of these statements are understandable, but they carry no weight in the sight of God. He says in His word that we are responsible and accountable to live in the way He wants us to live. We are accountable to use our bodies in the way He has planned for us to use them. Paul used very strong language to show that believers are responsible to live their lives God’s way and not theirs. 1Co 6:19  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own… . What does it mean that our bodies are the “temple of the Holy Spirit”? We look back into the Old Testament to see what the temple meant for the people of that day.

1).        The Temple Was Seen As Housing The Presence Of The Lord.  We see that on the day that King Solomon dedicated the Temple.  2Chronicles 7:1  As soon as Solomon finished his prayer, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the LORD filled the temple. 2Ch 7:2  And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD’s house. 2Ch 7:3  When all the people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of the LORD on the temple, they bowed down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and worshiped and gave thanks to the LORD, saying, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.” The glory of the Lord, the presence of the Lord filled the Temple.  The Temple represented the presence of God among His people.

2).        Jesus Saw His Body As A Temple. The Dwelling Place Of God. We read in John 2:14-16  how Jesus cleansed the temple. The Jews present asked Him to declare by what authority He had done that dramatic action.  His answer confused them, 19  Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” They thought that He was talking about the temple building.  20  The Jews then said, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and will you raise it up in three days?” But as John explained, 21  But he was speaking about the temple of his body. He saw His body as a temple of God, as housing the presence of God within Him.

The writer to the Hebrews in Chapter 10 wrote of Jesus’ attitude to His body. Jesus saw His body as God’s gift to Him. Heb 10:5  “Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6  in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7  Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'” Jesus was saying that His incarnation, His becoming a human, meant accepting the human body that was God’s gift to Him. He determined to live in His body in such a way that God’s will was always done for every moment of His life, in and through His body.

3).        The  Bodies Of Believers House The Presence Of God By His Spirit. The passage goes on, 1Co 6:19  Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 1Co 6:20  for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.  What does that mean for us?

It means that we belong to God, body, mind and spirit.  In 2 ways. We are His

a.  By right of creation. He made the universe and everything in it. your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God. You are not your own. We belong to Him, lock, stock and barrel. AND

b.  By right of redemption. 1Co 6:20  for you were bought with a price. Before Jesus came humans were in slavery to sin and to Satan. They were under the control of the powers of darkness. Jesus came to set them free. But it cost Him His life. He shed His own blood on the cross for you and me. As St Paul wrote, 2Co 5:15  and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.  You and I are people who have been died for and by none other than the Son of God Himself. We owe Him big-time. We owe Him everything. We owe Him “us”. As Paul concluded 1 Cor 6:20, So glorify God in your body.  In other words let His presence be seen in you for every moment of your life. Let His transforming power be seen in you as He keeps transforming you into the likeness of Christ by the power of His Spirit, 2 Cor 3:18.  Let His love be manifest in you for every moment of your life. Let His love be experienced through you for every moment of your life as God fills you with His own love, Rom 5:5, ... God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Theodore Monod once wrote a hymn which depicted his deep desire to glorify God in his body, to live for the One who had died for him. He wanted to have less of self and more of Christ in his life. We see the progression in the words of the hymn. At the beginning Christ meant nothing to him. However there is growth as he desires more of God in his life. In the last verse he wants Christ to be all in all in his life. The closing words of the hymn have become the prayer of many people since he wrote them:-

1,. O the bitter shame and sorrow,
That a time could ever be,
When I let the Saviour’s pity
Plead in vain, and proudly answered,
“All of self, and none of Thee!”
 2. Yet He found me; I beheld Him
Bleeding on th’accursèd tree,
Heard Him pray, “Forgive them, Father!”
And my wistful heart said faintly,
“Some of self, and some of Thee!”
 
3. Day by day His tender mercy,
Healing, helping, full and free,
Sweet and strong, and ah! so patient,
Brought me lower, while I whispered,
“Less of self, and more of Thee!”
 
4. Higher than the highest heavens,
Deeper than the deepest sea,
Lord, Thy love at last hath conquered:
Grant me now my supplication,
“None of self, and all of Thee!”
 

St Paul expressed the same sort of desire. He saw himself as dying to self so that Christ might live in and through him.  Galatians 2:20  I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh,  I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  

That could be our prayer for today and every day, “Lord, work in us by the power of your Spirit so that we too can say with St Paul, ‘I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me’. In Jesus’ name we pray. AMEN”. 

Blog no. 055.    Jim Holbeck.  Posted on Thursday 19th January 2012

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054. “What’s Happening?” A Search for Meaning In Life. Ephesians 3:1-12.

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Jim Holbeck

“What’s happening?” It seems to be way young people communicate today on their mobile (cell) phones.  They utter that particular phrase to find out what their friends are doing. Often the response seems to be “Come on over!” or an invitation to meet up at a later time.  However I felt it had gone a bit too far when our grandson at less than 3 years of age heard us talking excitedly in the kitchen and shouted out, “What’s ‘appening?”

On a broader scale many people are asking the question, “What’s happening? What’s going on in the world.” Some ask the question with real concern as they see so much evil in the world, the breakdown of morality and increasing revolt and rebellion.  I’m going to share with you what’s happening behind the scenes; what is really going on in the world today. It’s hidden. It’s a “mystery” as St Paul wrote many years ago.

Everyone wants to know the secret to mysteries. There was once an episode of “The Saint” on British television with Roger Moore. At the end of each episode he would declare who the murderer was. On this particular night there was an electrical breakdown over much of Britain just as Roger Moore said, “And the murderer is …”. People were in suspense to find out “Who done it.” But the TV didn’t come back on for some hours. Meanwhile the TV studio’s switchboard was besieged with calls from people who wanted to be relieved of their suspense, “Can you please tell us who the murderer was?”  We all like to know the answer to mysteries.

Let me put you out of your suspense by telling you what is going on in the world behind the scenes. It was the same thing that was going on when St Paul wrote the letter to the Ephesians.

1).        GOD’S MYSTERIOUS PLAN HAS BEEN REVEALED. 3:1-5.  No one could really recognise what God was doing in the world until Jesus came at that first Christmas. St Paul wrote, Ephesians 3:5  In former generations this mystery was not made known to humankind. However the mystery was revealed to those whom God had chosen. 3:5 …as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit:  It needed the Holy Spirit to bring enlightenment about God’s plan and purpose for a world in darkness. He revealed what was going on in God’s world; what was happening behind the scenes.

This is what Epiphany Sunday is all about. Epiphany stands for the manifestation or revealing of Christ to the Gentiles (non-Jews). St Paul had been chosen by God to make God’s mystery known to those from Jewish and from Gentile (non-Jewish) backgrounds. He wrote in Ephesians 3:8  To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9  and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things.  Paul was preaching Christ, and telling Jewish and Gentile believers about the unsearchable, unfathomable, incalculable riches that existed in Him for all who believed from any background.

2).   WHAT ARE GOD’S UNSEARCHABLE RICHES TO US IN CHRIST?  Ephesians 3:6-11.

I).         Paul made them known to all peoples. (Jews and Gentiles).  He wrote, Eph 3:8  Although I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to me to bring to the Gentiles the news of the boundless riches of Christ. What are the boundless or unsearchable riches in Christ? That all who respond to Christ through the gospel and receive Him, gain these three blessings. They become:-

i). fellow heirs.  As the born-again children of God from every background they share in the same inheritance of Christ. All that God has given to Jesus, is ours in Him. Paul wrote in Romans 8:17, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. It means that we are fellow-heirs with one another and also co-heirs with Christ of all the Father has given to Him.  We may have known the pain of missing out on family inheritances but as believers we have the greatest inheritance this world has ever seen. It is the inheritance that God has given to His Son and to His children in Him. To you and me in the family of God.

ii). members of the same body.  Paul is saying that all believers belong to the one body of Christ, the same body. There is only one body of Christ in the world. As Paul wrote in Galatians 3:26-29, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith. 27 As many of you as were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise.  You and I belong equally to the same body of Christ as the great missionaries Hudson Taylor and William Carey. We belong to the same body of Christ as the great preachers such as John Wesley, George Whitefield, Jonathan Edwards, Charles Spurgeon, Dr Martyn Lloyd-Jones and others. We belong to the same body of Christ as Mother Teresa, Billy Graham and all the other great saints or believers throughout history. We BELONG! To God, to the body of Christ and to one another in Him!

iii).  sharers in the promise in Christ Jesus.  Paul wrote in Galatians 3, 3:29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to the promise. What was the blessing of Abraham that would bless all the nations of the earth? It seems to be the gift of the Holy Spirit who would come to indwell all believers in Christ in every generation. Paul had previously written, Gal 3:13  Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us–for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”– Gal 3:14  so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.

Jesus had promised that His followers would receive the long-promised gift of the Holy Spirit. As Peter explained on the Day of Pentecost, Act 2:33  Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. The promise was fulfilled on the day of Pentecost.  Jesus was anointed and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Paul was indwelt and empowered by the same Holy Spirit. You and I as believers are anointed and empowered by the same Holy Spirit. The person in Australia who hears about Jesus today and believes in Him receives the same Holy Spirit. The man or woman on the other side of the world who believes in Jesus today, receives the same Holy Spirit. The drunkard crying out to God for mercy and sincerely asking Jesus to come into his life to make him different, receives the same Holy Spirit by believing in Him. The good news is that every person born on this earth from whatever background is a potential candidate to receive the same Holy Spirit of God if they put their trust in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord.

II).        The church is to make the “mystery” known to all in the universe. Paul wrote, Eph 3:10  so that through the church the wisdom of God in its rich variety might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. 11 This was in accordance with the eternal purpose that he has carried out in Christ Jesus our Lord.  The “church” (Greek word “ekklēsía”) means the “called out ones”. They are called out of the unbelieving world to trust in Christ and to belong to the family of God.  It includes all who belong to God through putting their faith in Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord from every generation, from every locality, from every background. It includes you and me as believers. We have a job to do, to make Christ known in the world. That is God’s mysterious secret plan and purpose that is going on behind the scenes. Despite everything else that might be happening in the world He is at work bringing more and more people from every nation into His family. He is filling them with His Holy Spirit and He is using them to share Him with others.

3).        WHAT IT MEANS FOR US TODAY. 3:12.  Paul concludes this section in Eph 3:12 in whom we have access to God in boldness and confidence through faith in him. Every believer has direct access to God through Christ. I discovered that on New Year’s Eve 53 years ago when I asked the Lord Jesus to come into my life to be my Saviour and Lord. I realised then that I did have access to God. As the days went on I came to understand that I could come to God in boldness and confidence, not in arrogance.  I discovered that He wanted me to come to Him at any time and in any place in adoration, praise, thanksgiving and in prayer.  From that moment on New Year’s Eve, 53 years ago, life has meant sharing with others the mystery of Christ; that people from any background (even from a Gentile background like myself) can come to God through Him. They too can receive the same Holy Spirit of God I received, to enable them to know God, to love God and to serve God in His purposes in the world.

The Greek word for “mystery” (mustērion) means an open secret for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, all those enlightened and made alive by the Spirit of God.  The mystery of “What’s happening?” is solved.  The hidden things are now clear, but only to those who receive God’s offer of His Son into their lives and are born again of the Spirit of God. Only they really understand “What’s happening” in God’s world. Because God has made them part of what He is doing! You can become part of His plan by receiving Christ as Saviour and allowing Him to guide you by His Spirit to fulfil your particular role in His purposes in the world.

Blog No. 54. Jim Holbeck.  Posted on New Year’s Day, Sunday 1st January 2012

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