The Call and the Challenge to the Vision. Part 3

Part 3 - The call and the challenge.

This message was preached by Colin D' Cruz at Word of Grace Church on the 10th of Feb2013. You can listen / download the audio file by clicking here.

John 11

This morning God has been speaking to us amazingly to prophecy, scripture readings. I ‘d like to dwell on that a bit before we see how our vision of 13/30 will be worked out

This story is about Lazarus. He had two sister Martha and Mary who were good friends of Jesus. Lazarus fell very ill while Jesus was away in another town. They sent word to Jesus about Lazarus’s condition because they knew that Jesus had healed many people from all kinds of disease. Jesus got the message in time but did not do anything about it, in fact he chose to stay there a little while longer. One would think that this is such a strange response (verse4-6) Imagine if you call a doctor in an emergency and he deliberately delays his coming to you.

What we must remember is that Jesus did not do anything outside of God’s will.

Then Jesus comes to Martha and Mary’s house and he is greeted by a funeral party. Lazarus had been buried 4 days. The Jews believed that the soul stayed on the body for 3 days and on the 4^th day it left the body. It was now the fourth day and the body should have decayed really badly.

This is when Jesus arrives.

V22 Martha expressed hope though she is disappointed. You may have dead situations viz. a job, finance, relationships etc that seem hopeless top the point of decay.

Jesus gives Martha hope – “your brother will rise again”

V25- Jesus says “I am the resurrection and the life” Jesus takes them to the grave.

V 38 They come to the tomb and asks that the stone be rolled away.

V 40 Jesus prays aloud

V 43 Jesus commands the dead Lazarus to come out. This is not a fairy tale. This is history. Throughout Jesus ‘ministry he demonstrates that he is God over creation (when he calms the storms), over food (the 5 loaves and two fish), over sickness and death.

Jesus goes on to say in 12:24 unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies it will not bear fruit. Jesus though Lord of creation knew what He had to do.

How does this apply to us?

Our vision is 30/13

This is the way He modeled and taught it.

We know we are going to heaven because he died and paid the price.

Jesus is saying he is the kernel of wheat that is going to die. He knew going to the cross would produce  a great harvest and rose again and the gospel has gone on for 2000+ years.

Verse 25 – It does not end with Jesus. 

Jesus is asking for a response. Are we willing to loose our lives for him?

Q. What does this mean?

We need to have a new way of living. How can we bless and serve others. When you do this it will be inconvenient. It will involve hardships, pain. We get many opportunities to deny ourselves and practice this.

This world is quickly passing by. What will we do with our time on earth? It’s only a short blip in eternity.

There is a great hope in eternity. Jesus set the example. It will cost us – our comforts and preferences.

The people you reach with the gospel will keep growing because of the seed you have sown.

Churches die due to stagnation. We can be comfortable with certain things. But the new wineskin is Church Planting Movements- where you are starting new groups. Start one, don’t stagnate.

Miracles of Jesus Part 3

Miracle of Jesus Part 3

This message was preached by Micahel Eaton at  Word of Grace Church. You can listen or download the audio message by clicking here.

John 21:4:

This is the last miracle of Jesus. There is a connection between this and Luke 5 at the lake of Gennesareth where they fished all night and caught nothing and then they put down their nets at Jesus’ command.

Jesus said to Peter he would catch men.

On both occasions Simon was involved, they failed to catch all night, they catch a huge quantity. Luke 5- it’s a call narrative. It is a call of Peter to be an apostle. In Mark Jesus says, “Come follow me”. Luke has this story instead (Luke leaves the Matthew- Mark stay out) which is similar.

It is a parable about ministry. The sea depicts the human sinfulness. Peter goes out into the rough sea- catching fish/people for God to save them.

Peter will be a key person in bringing people till James the Lord’s brother takes over. 3000 get saved on the day of Pentecost- very successful for God.

In the first occasion Peter is ashamed- ‘go away for I am a sinful man’. That is his immediate response to the call to ministry. That’s the way we all feel. Moses did the same. No one volunteers in the Bible. Only Isaiah volunteers- ‘here am I send me’. Saul of Tarsus did not volunteer. Suddenly Jesus steps into his life and demands his life. Even Jesus did not volunteer. The Father sent Him to be the savior. He did not take the honor upon Himself

.

Peter did not want it either-he thought himself as very sinful. Jesus did not take the slightest notice. He knows we aren’t, we’re sinful. Jesus does not deny it, He ignores it. You are not called because you are good. It is all grace- your salvation, your calling, your marriage, etc. when the Lord says ‘well done good and faithful servant’ you might argue there saying ‘well done good and faithful savior’. Even the reward we’ll get is grace.

Jesus gives them this overwhelming catch- a picture of the day of Pentecost- the amazing conversion of 3000.   

John 21 is a repetition of the same miracle, only it is 3 years later. Peter has here indeed been a sinful man- its 48 hours after Peter denied Jesus, where he cursed and swears that he doesn’t know Jesus. Jesus had warned him that Satan would try to sift you but Jesus prayed that his faith would not fail i.e. we would never cease to believe. A backslider is saved because he knows the gospel is true, not a pretender or false Christian.

Peter did not stop believing. That’s why he breaks down and cries.

So in John 21 he has sinned- let the Lord down badly. If anyone should be dismissed from ministry it should be Peter. But 6 weeks later he is leading 3000 to repentance at the day of Pentecost.

What Jesus does is he does the same miracle all over again.

Jesus is recalling Peter into ministry. Your ministry is not going to be taken away from you even when you are weak. It takes extreme rebellion for your ministry to be taken away. E.g.: King Saul. Even then, Saul did not lose his salvation. He was just not to be king anymore. He lost his kingship not salvation.

When Israel lost (Numbers 14) because they rebelled 10 times, they were not taken back to Egypt-they did not lose what they had got but they lost what they could have had- their inheritance.

Even that is rare (Hebrews 6). Peter even though he cursed and swore- we can be harder on ourselves than God is (Hebrews 4).

As long as you can hear His voice, Him challenging you, grip you- you will be O.K. He has not given up on us at all.

Q. When Israel was in the wilderness- did God give up on them? The best generation was the Joshua generation (Jeremiah 2). How did they come to be? I believe their parents taught them even though they would miss out. Numbers 14- God said, ‘I have forgiven them’. Even if you lose one ministry, God will give you another.

Peter does not want to answer Jesus’ questions. Jesus asks him, ‘do you love me?’ 3 times because Peter denies Him thrice. 3 times, Jesus restores him. He had not lost his call to be an apostle.

Peter’s ministry is to tend the sheep- there will be 3000 new converts. The amazing thing about God’s grace is God works all things together for good (Romans 8:28). It is so good you can hardly believe it.

Does this include the bad things and the sins- yes! The good things are good. It is the bad that needs to be made good. E.g.: Jonah. Have you sinned that it resulted in so much good?

Jonah- the sailors on the boat to Tarshish get saved through his running away. God can over-rule what you have done but should not have done.

When you go through the experience of falling it humbles you- you are sympathetic with the sinner and not be like a Pharisee. Though it is not a good way of learning mistakes but it is for your humbling.

If you have a doubt- look at the cross. Wicked men were used to crucify Him. They are there on the day of Pentecost. What they did in wickedness is for the salvation of the world.

God does not make sin happen but He can control it to fulfill His purpose- “You meant it for evil, but God worked it out for good.” God works all things for our good. You may say, “It does not matter what I do, God will over-rule it”. Yes, but God will take His time. It may take a long time because there will be a lot of pain and suffering. It may take time, so don’t misuse it.

All things for good- the condition being that you love God. So what does the Lord want me to do now? Confess your sin and hand your troubles, mistakes to Him. Samuel tells them they should not have chosen a King but now if they would obey God, the Lord will bless you.

The principle is that you start from where you are- that’s how we live every day. Every day we start from zero (though you have learnt a few things) in terms of your position- Phil 3. That’s where Peter is- a sinful man- he fell but God ignored his guilt then and now.

Jesus did not even raise the subject but re-commissioned him. A new start- that is where we all are every day.

One of the great secrets of the Christian life is not to depend on yesterday’s experience. Go to God for fresh grace every day and you live that way. If you don’t live that way the Lord may let you fall and show you something- how weak you are. Take it that you are weak and need Him every day. Grace is the most amazing thing that you could ever imagine.                

Storm of life - Does Jesus Care?

 This message was preached at Word of Grace Church, Pune, By Lav Samuel on the 3rd of Feb 2013. You can listen/download the audio mp3 by clicking here.

Mark 4:35-41

The storms come and they can come suddenly. This happens to Christians and others alike. It’s for these occasions that Jesus prepares us.

 We may know the Bible but in life we often forget what we have read or what we have heard in the Word of God.

Jesus is now in the boat in a storm. This is particle training time for the disciples. Some storms come with warning but some come unannounced. The same story is in Matt 8. The waves broke over a boat. The disciples were with Jesus in the boat and they were fishermen who understood changes in weather.

Job sudden storms calm in the life of God fearing men. Everything was OK but then suddenly a storm broke out. It may be health, jobs, and relationships. Suddenly a marriage breaks down. But we have an answer in the Word of God. Let’s not live in cuckoo land Satan tries hard to rock our boat.

What was the disciple’s reaction?

1.    They panicked – fear came. They forgot Jesus’ teaching. Fear destroys faith and develops into doubt. Fear is a strong weapon of the enemy. In Job 3:25 “What I have feared has happened” Satan takes a grip of what we fear. God will not remove his hedge of protection around us, only we can give way and allow Satan to have a foot hold when we give way to fear.

2.    They looked at Jesus- this is the only thing they did right, Jesus was asleep in the boat. Today if our boat is being rocked, he is not bothered because He is the creator. HE overcame everything. He said it is finished on the cross. He is aware of what is happening.

3.    They blamed Jesus. Surprised? “Do you care?”He does care for us! They did not wake him up to calm the storm ( v.41). They woke hi m up to blame him. Even older Christians doubt when in trouble.

4.    Luke 10:38-41 “Don’t you care?” God cares for us He loves us so much that he came down to earth. How bad must he feel when we blame him and tell him that He does not care. How sad it is when we do this?

5.    We should be like Job – he did not sin by charging God for any wrong but he fell down and worshiped God.

Why did the disciples react the way they did?

They forgot his presence – When God is for us who can be against us?

They forgot his power. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead is alive and at work in you. The problem is that we don’t use that power

They forgot his promise – Jesus said lets go to the other side. Today he is promising that to his people. It’s an invitation to come over to the other side. The hope that you and I have is tremendous – our last breath on earth shall be the first in heaven. The Word of God is applicable today for each one of us.

Promises of God work out in different ways.

Jesus reaction

Jesus gave the storm an order- “ Be still” Storms have “eyes and ears”!

Afraid?” Jesus is with us. Don’t be so afraid. Jesus did not give up on them. Jesus believed in them. He still believes in us. That’s the love of God for us.

Our faith should be strong. Faith without deeds is dead.

Joshua – walking around Jericho 7 times. But Joshua had faith in god because God had said so, it will happen. If we have faith it will come to pass.

What are the faith evidence in your life? Share it with others to build their faith.

Miracles of Jesus - Part 2

Miracles of Jesus  - Part 2 of 3

This message was preached by Micahel Eaton at  Word of Grace Church. You can listen or download the audio message by clicking here.

Matthew 14- walking on the water. Jesus has been 2 years in ministry. He is 2/3^rd into His ministry, He does 2 amazing miracles. Matthew 14:13-22- He feeds the 5000 and then He gets into a boat and walks on the water. He does this to show that He is really in control of everything and that they need never fear again.

He wants them to learn a lesson from all of this. He feeds 5000 and there were 12 baskets left over (someone counted)- 12 tribes of Israel would be provided for. If you are in need, He can provide but if He doesn’t it is God’s will for you. God does not guarantee your life would be easy- there is suffering, sickness but there is a purpose behind the scenes, in the heavenly realms. Eg. Job- God finally speaks and tells him that He made the elephant. i.e. I can make things totally unique and strange but I know why.

Nothing happens to you unnecessarily. Even if you die for your faith- there is a reason for it.If you worry about lunch- you have not understood. ‘Immediately’- because they are connected- one is positive and the other negative. The first- I can provide for you. The second- I can protect you in times of trouble. They are timed nicely because Jesus is about to be crucified and the nation will reject Him as a whole.

He dismisses the crowd and He is alone with the disciples. The other time (Luke 8) when He calms the storm, Jesus is in the boat. Here He is not in the boat but is seeing them. The other difference is this- trouble came unwillingly, expectantly  Here Peter says, ‘ you tell me to walk’. Peter wants to walk upon the waves and falls into doubt. Here Jesus is absent and Peter walks into the storm on his own initiative. What is significant about this? We should not be surprised that life is full of storms. The function of the Gospel is not to make your life easy. This is the current heresy. The medieval time heresy was the catholic church- the mass. infant baptism etc. 19^th-20^th Century heresy was the brotherhood of man, that morality will be spread by Jesus- they wanted the Christian ethic but not Jesus. 

When Churchill was asked, “how do you rebuild the new era?” he said that he would build it on the teachings of Jesus but he meant Christian ethic that will make society nice, not His Lordship. League of Nations, etc. 21^st century heresy is the idea that God is a sugar-daddy, a senior matron of the hospital who will take care of you. That is not the gospel, neither is sacramental ism or the brotherhood of man.

Here are the disciples and storms come upon them. You might find life gets tougher when you become a Christian. He will be with you in the storms. Storm will go when you go to heaven.

Different types of storms:

1.       Opposition- When you become a Christian and you tell your family, they are not pleased. Nothing unusual. Don’t be surprised. When you get saved, you get a new friend- Jesus, and a new enemy- Satan. Don’t be surprised Peter.

2.       Temptation- some think that when they get saved, they will not sin. You are out of the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God. But, sin is not dead. People are different in temperament- each Christian is different- we all have different temptations. You don’t need to be discouraged by that. Eph 6- we wrestle against principalities and powers. Even Jesus was attacked- when He was starving for 6 weeks, he tempts Him to make bread from stones.

The devil gives you a tough time because you are saved. Some have great sexual temptations because it is their particular temptation. For some, it is money- insecurity, endlessly fearful.

3.       Fear- Satan likes it when we fear (Matt 14:6). A spirit of fear does not come from God. We don’t fear the Lord- but it’s a fear of losing blessing. God never oppresses or discourages us. It comes from the satanic realm. When we walk in the spirit, we are not under law. The spirit never makes you feel condemned. These are storms that break out in life.

These miracles are coming up- Jesus is about to be executed and will go away. The disciples are worried- they don’t understand. There is a storm of persecution heading their way- Acts 12. They will be scattered.

These storms are a part of the Christian life. It is not a sign that you are doing something wrong. Trust in God. When you falter, pick yourself up. We are in the Kingdom of grace. The sea or water is the picture of life. Dan 7- beasts that arise from the sea- it is the kingdom of the world. Then, something rises from the clouds- i.e. God. Clouds move calmly. Tossing of the sea- depicts the storms of life.

In Luke 8:22 Peter is not in trouble, but he wants to walk on the water. So Peter walks out confidently- on the troubles of life. It is not about storms coming on you but doubts that come when you are doing well. And suddenly we are in trouble.

We’ll learn a few things about doubt- it is possible to be attacked by doubt- you wonder if you are doing the right thing because nothing new is happening.

Peter sees the wind, the water and Jesus. Nothing changed from 5 minutes before. So why did he doubt? The wind did not blow harder, so what happened? That’s what doubt is like- it comes at you when there is no reason at all. Suddenly you are in trouble.

It comes from Satan and weaknesses in yourself. Sometimes sooner or later you will face this- don’t be surprised.

How do you deal with them? Why do they come? Maybe you are disillusioned- you thought life would be perfect.

1.       Why? For some, it’s the way they are made- they are doubters. Peter was like that- always the first to stand and first to fall. Some are unstable by nature, sometimes natural leaders. He was the first to receive a gentile believer and he is the first who does not want to eat with them. That is because he acts before he thinks.

In the Christian life, everyone is different. We are the weakest when we are the strongest. Our greatest strength is also our greatest weakness. Eg: intellectual enthusiastic people, etc. We need to learn to handle ourselves.

If you are strong- don’t trust in that. Trust in God. You might have a mighty success on Monday and fall on Tuesday.

2.       Doubts do not mean you do not have faith. You can have doubt and faith at the same time. Peter had little faith. You know Jesus is the savior but you are attacked by doubt. Doubt is compatible with faith, so don’t condemn yourself. Eg: Francis Shaffer- he totally lost faith in the gospel- but slowly he came out of it. This does not mean you are not saved. The answer is to remedy it.

Why? It happens to things you once settled, i.e. Peter thought he had dealt with the storm issue. If you know you have dealt with something and had victory. So when it comes back- it’s a mark of Satan. We don’t need to go back to square one. Don’t go back to an old battle. Recognize it as what it is. Why should you battle something you settled long ago?

Peter took his eyes off Jesus- nothing new was happening around him except that he took his eyes off Jesus. When you take your eyes off Jesus, you will have doubts. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus (Heb12). Take everything to Him. Get yourself in the presence of the Lord Jesus.

Here is the good news. In the end, it does not matter. He will rescue you whether you have weak or strong faith. It damages the joy of your faith, your witness and example, but you have not lost everything. It does not matter whether you are faithful to Jesus. It matters that He is faithful to you and He always is.

Peter cries out to Jesus. Jesus is there for you even if you are sinking or drowning. This is the Christian life- it is storming, we think we will drown. But our salvation does not depend on this. 2Tim 2:13- He will never leave us. He is able to keep us from falling. Jude 24- The key to the Christian life is fellowship with Jesus. Keep in touch with Him always. When you have Jesus, you have everything- John 1: 16.

These two great miracles tell us that the Lord will meet every need and when the storm of life breaks upon you He will walk to you. Don’t take your eyes off Him and He will keep you from falling. The attacks don’t disappear forever. You stand by keeping your eyes on Jesus. You can walk on the storms of life to Him.

( to be concluded in Part 3)

Miracles of Jesus Part 1

 This message was preached by Micahel Eaton at  Word of Grace Church. You can listen or download the audio message by clicking here.

THE MIRACLES OF JESUS

Matthew 14:22

The Christian life begins by putting our faith in Jesus and then gazing upon Him. Hebrews 12 talks about running the race fixing our eyes on Jesus.

The Bible says we feed on Him i.e. we take Him into our minds and hearts.

We see His origins- He comes from glory- the son of God. He is not ordinary. He is God’s replica- He is united with His divine nature. He took on flesh- He did not stop being God- He took within Himself the human nature and became a man. He was like us in every way- He ate, drank, was tired, sad, perplexed and hungry but He did not sin. In humanity He did not know about His second coming.

His decisions: He knew about the cross right from being a boy. He knew this. He decided to join John the Baptist. We would launch ourselves with a big bang but not Jesus. He joined John because he was the one sent by God to prepare the way.

He started His ministry with 6 weeks of prayer. He lived the life we have lived and died what we should have died- He has done it all for us. He is coming back for us. When you see Him, you see His salvation. When you see Him you see a short time. You don’t have to live long to do something for God. What did He do? He preached a lot- sometimes to one. We like to preach to thousands. He answered and told them the truth of God.

He spent a lot of time- having meals with people. He even invited Himself- E.g. Zacheus, Nicodemus. He did a lot of miracles but John only recorded some. The first miracle, he turned water into wine, banished sickness from a town (when He healed Peter’s mother in law), raises the boy from the dead- all done by faith. At the depth of His soul, He was divine- had perfect faith. He had the spirit without measure which we don’t have.

Q. What are the miracles there for and what do you do with it? 

It is not for us to copy necessarily. People love miracles, especially healing miracles. People don’t go to walk on water, or find a coin in the fish’s mouth, or control the natural elements.

He is the only one who raised Himself up from the dead. He laid it down and took it up.

1.       They are signs of Messiah-ship: when the saviour came he would show that He was the creator and Lord- heal, control nature. The father has given everything in Jesus’ hands. You can’t get to God without Jesus.

The world is interested in the super-natural. Not many atheists- the world wanders into false gods not so much into atheism. When you reject the God of the Bible you get false gods.

Everyone has a sense of God. We have a conscience but it can lead to idolatry and superstition. The only way to contact God is through Jesus- the way, the truth and the life. The Father gets to you through Jesus.

When John the Baptist was imprisoned, he fell into doubt. Jesus sent a message that the blind see, the poor have good news preached to them. He is the only one who has a message for the poor.

Only the Christian faith says you are saved by doing nothing- Romans 4:5. Therefore, we need to be poor in spirit to be saved. If you have something, you are in trouble. There is only one thing you can do- identify with the poor- come empty.

If you try to save yourself, you block your salvation. Christ takes you up- Jesus takes you- you have nothing. Faith is putting out your empty hand. Miracles are proof of sonship.

2.       Flashes of glory: You see this in the raising of Lazarus. People were upset that He let him die. Jesus told them that He is the resurrection and the life. It’s a flash of the last, now. Every miracle is a flash of that. In the last day everyone will be raised. Every Christian will be healed. In heaven, you will not have faith or hope because you will only have love. Love will go on forever. The baptism of the spirit is a little bit of heaven now. We are people living in the future because we have a little of the future glory now.

In the new heaven and earth everyone will be able to walk on water. Everything Jesus could do, you will do- Philippians 3:20. The whole Christian life is a little flash of glory- the first fruits of what is to come.

3.       Every miracle is a proof of what He could do, even when He doesn’t: Don’t live on miracles- don’t be disappointed when it does not happen. We have limited faith. Jesus fed 5000, walked on water and then they have no bread and they are worried!! Jesus rebuked them. We don’t need to be afraid. He can always do something but He doesn’t necessarily do it. Dan 3:17-18 “Our God is able… but even if He doesn’t, we will not bow down…” This should be our outlook to miracles.

He is able and He loves us, but He is also sovereign- we trust Him anyway.

Jesus can deal with all kinds of problems of hearing- physical and spiritual. He, who has ears, let him hear.    

  

4.       Every miracle is a kind of parable: it contains a special (specific) lesson. There are 35 miracle stories in the 4 gospels.  If you read them, they are pointing to His power directly. John7-9- everybody is confused. People are wondering who He is. The Pharisees are against Him, the common man thinks He is the savior. In John 8 He stands up and says ‘I am the light ‘. In the Greek, ‘I and I only’. Only He can deal with people’s confusion. He is not educated or of political influence- He is only a carpenter. His biological father is a carpenter.

I am the light of the world- God humbles human pride. He takes a carpenter’s son. God does not save the world in a way that makes anyone proud. You cannot save yourself. God will not allow anyone to boast that they could save themselves- where a human can take glory.

In the eyes of man He was ordinary-peasant- salvation has a humbling side to it.

John 9 He takes a blind man and given him his sight. The miracle is a picture of what He just said and heals a blind man. He was blind not because of sin, he was born blind. This is so that they would see the glory of God.

Jesus is teaching that everybody is born blind about God, ourselves, our ideas of spirituality. We don’t even know ourselves. I am the only one who can get rid of your confusion and help you understand. Only Jesus can change the world- not a professor, Socrates, Plato or Aristotle. Jesus shall reign and the Kingdom of God shall stretch from shore to shore.

Jesus is in charge of the whole world and He does this for the sake of the Gospel and His church. The Romans left behind their roads, the Greek their language, the English their language- we can preach to the whole world.

So when you read your Bible, there is a story there- paralyzed, blind, deaf, fear, storms. He does these things not just physically but spiritually as well. As you received Jesus, live in Him, joined to Him, trusting in Him- Col 2:9. Be strong in the grace. Contact Jesus the first thing in the morning. 

Word of Grace Church is a spirit filled (charismatic), evangelical  ( Born- again) English speaking church that preaches from the Bible as God's inspired Word of life. We are a church community that have people from every part of India and parts of the world. We are here to  put the Great Command and the Great Commission into practice by equipping and releasing every member into works of service. 

Vision 2013 - New Wine skins Part 2

 This message was preached by Colin D' Cruz at Word of Grace Church on the 27th of Jan 2013. You can listen / download the audio file by clicking here.

 Last week we looked at Hab 2:14 where God’s ultimate purpose and plan is the whole earth be covered with His glory as the waters cover the sea.

God’s plan right from Genesis is to fill the earth with His glory. We see God’s glory in creation as well. Redeemed men are bearers of God’s glory as well and God wants to fill the earth with people He has redeemed so that Hid glory will fill the earth.

The new wine skin for this to happen is the start of many, many, house gatherings that are reaching out to their communities.

In U.P 50,000 people in the villages have come to know Jesus through this method. This is happening in the hardest of places viz. Bihar, M. P both which were formally known as the graveyard of the missionaries.

The gospel is the only hope for the nations. Last week we gave a call and 25 responded to start house groups.

How will God use us, weak vessels to spread His glory?

Ezk 47

Ezekiel was a trainee priest who lived during a very tragic period in Israel’s history during the reign of King Josiah. They had lost all the scrolls. This went on for generations. All they had was what the prophets taught them. Then one day on 622 B C they found the scrolls. This is when Ezekiel is born on the cusp of the rise of one power and the fall of another.

Ezekiel’s time saw the Assyrian empire crumbling and the Egyptian and Babylon jostling for power.

Israel was split into North ( the 11 tribes) and South ( Judah). North Israel was in captivity.

Josiah removed idolatry in Israel. The Bible speaks over and over again against Idolatry. Josiah dies in battle and Judah goes into captivity. Ezekiel was about 25 when he was taken in to captivity. He was trained to be a priest but he becomes a prophet.

Ezekiel was shocked that God revealed himself to him in an ungodly nation  i. e Babylon. God was at work in the most unlikely places. This is pre picture of John 14:4 . The Samaritan woman though God could only speak to her in a particular place. Ezekiel’s experience is a shadow of what is to come where God could be encountered and worshiped anywhere.

God gave Ezekiel revelation and vision of what was happening in Jerusalem. God gives him hope of a new thing happening. The book of Ezekiel has more visions than any other Old Testament book.

He has a vision of a new city and a new temple. An angel was showing him around. At one of the side gates there was a trickle of water. The angel takes him 450 meters away from the gate and it gets ankle deep, then knee deep and then waist deep and the too deep.

The irony is the further away they went from the temple the river got deeper and wider. Then the angel took Ezekiel to the banks of the river where there were fruit bearing trees and then the river reaches the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea as the name suggests does not support any life. But in this vision the river flows into the Dead Sea and the water begins to get fresh and there is life.

How does this story fit in with the whole story of the Word of God.

The Temple –  a place of worship where God and man meet. The first temple was in the Garden of Eden. It’s a source of blessing. The people are blessed there s that they can be a blessing o others. In Israel the temples ha plants and fruits ( Gen 2:8) and animals engraved on the pillars because it reminded them of Eden.

Gen 2: 10  A river watering the garden flowed out of Eden and split into 4. Along that garden are trees. God placed Adam and Eve there and the plan was that the entire earth would be blessed. Today’s temple is the church. Eph 2:22 – you are the temple.

We think that God’s blessing was in the temple. But in the temple the water was only a trickle but as you went further away it got deeper. In the same way as we go further into the mission field, barren situations God’s power and presence increases.

Evangelical and Charismatic churches stress being in God’s presence. That’s good but not enough. Some people just go from one meeting to another, one conference to another seeking blessing and it can be like the Dead Sea where there is resistance to anything fresh.

John 7:37 One the last day of the feast they would have large water jars. Jesus says “ If anyone is thirsty… “

Ezekiel had a vision of a river. In was symbolic of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and streams of living water flowing out of us.

As we believe in Jesus – streams of living water will flow out of us and into dead situations to bring life.

Jesus promised us his presence in the context of going. Matt 28:18-20 “… I will be  with you always… “

Acts 1:8  a promise to receive the Holy Spirit so that we will be witnesses to the ends of the earth.

Pentecost – was a movement – it was a declaration that every language group would receive the gospel.

Rev 22:1 “ River of water of life” Revelation is where the curtain is pulled back and we see the fulfillment of Genesis, John and Ezekiel coming to pass.

Genesis and Revelation- the Tree of Life is mentioned. How does this apply to us?

You are the river of God- for you are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Take the river of God to a thirsty and dying nation. God’s words will come as we go into different situations. So this year as we start the 30 house gatherings remember his grace is sufficient – his presence is with you.

Mak 16: 19-20 This is God’s promise to us

Are you ready to take that step of faith Jesus is with us as we go and in the going? AS we go His presence will increase. As we make disciples and take steps of faith His presence will increase. 

Vision 2013 - New wineskins

Part 1

 This message was preached by Colin D Cruz at Word of Grace Church on the 20th of Jan 2013 . You can listen or download  to the  audio by clicking here

Acts 15:35 Paul and Barnabas return to Antioch and they along with many others taught the Word of God. We often skip the bit that says “others”. This is my prayer for Word of Grace that many will begin to teach and preach the Word of God.

Great things happened in 2012. Some of the highlights were :

The 10 Year Celebration.

We had 450 visitors at word of Grace last year of which 50 have joined us. 

13 Graduated from IDT. Acts 11:36. Teaching the Word of God systematically is very important.

We had several baptisms last year and we look forward to many more this year

Gift Day – We got a little over 5 lakhs which was a huge target for a church of our size to achieve.

At Christmas we distributed 700kgs of food grain to the poor.

Serving Teams are growing and new people like Sunny, Jeevan and Austin are leading them.

The Worship Team has seen new additions in Rakhi, Austin and Jerome and we are looking to add more in the future.

There has been visible spiritual growth in the lives of many people.

With 2013 before us what can we expect?

God will do even greater things in our lives individually and corporately. Habbakuk 1:5 “Look at the nations and watch— and be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something in your day that you would not believe even if you were told.” I believe God will do that and all we need to do is believe.

We need to find out what is God’s purpose and we need to fit in.

Hab 2:14 “ For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, even as the waters cover the sea” God’s desire from eternity past to eternity present is to fill the earth with His glory.

Throughout  the Old Testament God’s appeared in glory to the Israelistes. Acts 7:2, Ex 33:18. God the father displayed His glory .

In Heb2, Jn1:14 we see the Son displays God’s glory. Jn16:13-14 The Holy Spirit brings glory to the Son.

Creation declares the glory of god ( Ps 19:1), Is 6:3 says the whole earth is full of His glory.

What about man ? God’s desire is that we ( 1Cor 10:31) too will display the glory of God. In anything we do we can demonstrates the glory of God.

2 Thes.  2:14 God tells us how man displays the glory of God. When someone believes in Jesus an sis a new creation we share in God’s glory. A  Christ follower is a bearer of God’s glory. Jesus is the light of the world and then he tell us : you are the light of the world. All mankind are created in God’s image but its only when we are saved do we demonstrate the glory of God on earth as well.

How will the earth be filled with the glory of God? As more people bear the glory of God. Therefore we need to put all our energies into taking people who only bare the image of God to becoming his glory bearers as well.

Mk16:15  There are  4 Calls

1.       Call from above – Matt 28:18-20. We are told to go into all the earth.

2.       Call from below – Luke 16:19 Hell is a real place of real agony. This is not a fairy tale because the story teller is Jesus himself. The rich man is being tormented and wants to warn his family.

3.       Call from within us. 1 Cor 9:16 I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach.

2 Cor 5:14 Christ’s love compels us . Do we have the love to Jesus in our heart – the  you can’t sit still while people are perishing.

4.       Call from beyond. Acts 16:9 There are many groups of people who are calling who need the gospel to be shared with them.

What will we do?

All over the world God is using new wine skins – they are house groups. We start up little groups everywhere.

Jn 4:39-40 the Samaritan woman had no qualifications. She only had her story. God uses weak people . The whole town gets impacted because of one person’s story.

Mk5 the demonized man is set free by Jesus and the whole region gets to know about it.

At Word of Grace we can start 30 groups this year. All it requires is for you to say God use me . From our city it will go beyond.

What will it take?

1.       God wants our availability not our ability.

2.       Give your time- pray and meet people. You can meet them anywhere- Coffee shops, super markets, at your home etc.

3.       How many people? For starters you and another person is all you need to begin.

4.       What do you do? Share your story and what Jesus has done for you. The power of these groups is that from one you start the next and so on.

5.       What do you teach? Stories from the Bible. They are full of truth and power.

Next Sunday I will share part 2 of this vision for 2013.