Hervey Bay Presbyterian Church

Victory over death and slavery

Bible Readings

Luke 24:1-2
Acts 13:26-39
Numbers 33:3-4

Introduction

My dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

It is not uncommon for us, when we hear that someone died, to ask, “How old was he/she?” The younger a child was when it died evokes in us unspeakable emotions. If the person was very old, there is some contentment. We sometimes value life measured against the time spent on earth. We often value a short life as a life wasted. This is because we are born within the limits of time and space.

The celebrations of Atonement Weekend (or Easter) has a pattern: we adhere to the calendar of Jewish times. We commemorate the crucifixion of Christ on the first Friday after the first full moon following the autumn equinox. This was the day on which the lambs were slaughtered when God, at midnight, passed through Egypt and struck all households with the death of the firstborn. The next day was a new beginning for God’s people in Egypt, a day they had to celebrate annually.

On our calendar, today is the third day since Christ’s crucifixion. On the third day, He rose again—it was on the first day of the week, another seven-day cycle indication of time. In a special sense, every first day of the week to the Christian Church is a celebration of Christ’s resurrection.

Resurrection morning

Early that morning, now more than 2000 years ago, followers of Christ went to his grave to care for the body of their dear friend. In ancient times, people believed that one’s spirit would linger in your body for three days after you died; the fourth day heralded the fact that the body now has become a corpse, beyond any possibility of restoration. Maybe they had in mind to d something before the fourth day.

The women arrived at the place where they had buried Jesus, but He was not there! It grieved them beyond measure. They found a messenger of God who announced:

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: (Luke 24:5–6, NIV)

He had not been stolen; He had not disappeared; it is no disaster, it all happened according to his word. He rose from the dead by the power of the Father who called him to life! Peter, on Pentecost Day, declared,

God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. (Acts 2:24, NIV)

The Lamb that was slain is the Lamb upon the throne! He is the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. He holds the keys of death and hell. He was dead, but He is alive! So, we can sing with full voice and conviction: “Christ is risen today!” “I serve the risen Saviour.” “Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.”

According to God’s plan of redemption

The victory of Christ over death was not unplanned unscheduled or without divine purpose. That first day of the week was no accident or a fluke of time. Christ’s resurrection was a fulfilment of a long list of promises of God to the very people who in rebellion snubbed his gracious care and providence by rejecting his ownership over them, falling in sin and with them, dragging all of creation into misery.

Already in Paradise, straight after Adam and Eve’s rebellion, God made this promise:

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.” (Genesis 3:15, NIV)

Out of the bondage of service to idols, God called Abraham and gave him this promise:

“I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:1–3, NIV)

Although Abraham did not see this promise go into fulfilment in his time, he believed this promise of God:

“Know for certain that for four hundred years your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own and that they will be enslaved and mistreated there. But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves, and afterward they will come out with great possessions. (Genesis 15:13–14, NIV)

Our reading from Numbers 33 takes us to the fulfilment of that promise. But first this promise of God:

“I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here, and when he does, he will drive you out completely. (Exodus 11:1, NIV)

There was another addition to this promise:

Tell the people that men and women alike are to ask their neighbours for articles of silver and gold. (The Lord made the Egyptians favourably disposed toward the people, and Moses himself was highly regarded in Egypt by Pharaoh’s officials and by the people.) (Exodus 11:2–3, NIV)

Then midnight came, and God struck Egypt; then, when the sun rose the next morning, everything had changed. It was a new beginning for the people of God. They had a brand-new future. Their enemy was now powerless.

Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.” The Egyptians urged the people to hurry and leave the country. “For otherwise,” they said, “we will all die!” (Exodus 12:31–33, NIV)

Let’s go to the verse in Numbers 33:3

The Israelites set out from Rameses on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the Passover. They marched out defiantly in full view of all the Egyptians, who were burying all their firstborn, whom the Lord had struck down among them; for the Lord had brought judgment on their gods. (Numbers 33:3–4, NIV)

Rameses was the city to showcase the defiant and majestical powers of the Pharaoh. But now, Egypt was in tatters. The once might dynasty did have a successor on the throne. There were dead bodies everywhere. The people wailed for their loved ones; they mourned the loss of their animals. That day, more than ever, people were gathered around open graves in anguish and sorrow. There never had been anything like it. From what was left, they showered the Israelites with gold and silver, just to see them go.

The pharaoh had reigned over peoples in the northern parts of Africa, all along the Mediterranean coast, the peoples who inhabited the Promised Land, and countries including parts of the modern-day Syria, Iran and Iraq. Egypt was a mighty empire—but when God dealt with them, they were in mourning, shaken, and on their knees, struck with sorrow. The officials were divided against their king, and the kingdom was on shaky ground. The pharaoh had enough. “Leave and go!” And as an afterthought, “Bless me also.” Did he mean he was powerless against the God of Israel? I think so.

But God fulfilled the promises for his people. They marched out triumphantly. The Hebrew word has something of walking with your arms raised up in the air. Inevitably there were shouts of joy and jubilance.

Redemption in Christ a reality

Let’s now jump into the New Testament with Paul preaching the Good News of Christ to the people in Antioch. From Acts 13:17 the apostle picks it up in Egypt and makes this statement: “He drove them out of that country with mighty powers.” He proceeds along the line of God’s promise from Abraham to David and says:

Of this man’s offspring God has brought to Israel a Saviour, Jesus, as he promised. (Acts 13:23, ESV)

But one would think that the Jews would have picked up the theme of the prophets about God saving grace to his people in the face opposition. But they did not! What did they do? Verse 27:

The people of Jerusalem and their rulers did not recognise Jesus, yet in condemning Him they fulfilled the words of the prophets that are read every Sabbath. (Acts 13:27, NIV)

He preaches on:

When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the cross and laid Him in a tomb. But God raised Him from the dead, (Acts 13:29–30, NIV)

What is his summary about Christ?

“We tell you the good news: What God promised our ancestors he has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus. As it is written in the second Psalm: “ ‘You are my son; today I have become your father.’ (Acts 13:32–33, NIV)

What is the sum of it all? Listen:

“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through Him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38–39, NIV)

What happened to the people in the time of Moses? They were set free! They walked out of Egypt as people with a new start. The yoke of slavery was removed. They threw their arms in the air and with shouts of joy they left victoriously. Who gave them freedom? God! What happened to their oppressors? They were defeated, broken, on their knees.

What is the inheritance of those who believe in Jesus Christ? The head of the serpent is crushed. Listen to Hebrew 2:14:

Since the children have flesh and blood, He [Christ] too shared in their humanity so that by his death He might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— (Hebrews 2:14, NIV)

Those who believe in Christ are forgiven, they are set free, they are justified. Why? The enemy is destroyed! Satan is defeated. In his letter to the Colossians, Paul puts it this way:

Having disarmed the powers and authorities, He [Christ] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Colossians 2:15, NIV)

Paul writes to Timothy stressing the grace of God in our redemption:

… it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. (2 Timothy 1:10–11, NIV)

Therefore we, with arms in the air, in a jubilant song of victory, march with the Israelites out of Egypt singing,

“Death has been swallowed up in victory.” “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:54–57, NIV)

Satan’s hold on God’s children is broken because from their Saviour they received the perfect righteousness which satisfies the Father. There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

A warning following the Good News

After Paul connected the dots from the Old Testament through to the New to arrive at the redemptive work of Jesus Christ, he ends with this warning:

Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: (Acts 13:40, NIV)

Even then people heard the Good News, but they rejected it. There is, therefore, the possibility that even some who have listened to the Good News that Christ is victorious over death, granting freedom from sin by exchanging his righteousness for our sin to reconcile us with his Father, that some might still walk away with unbelieving hearts. May it not happen to you, my dear friend.

This message of freedom from wrath and sin is for you. Listen, repent, and follow Christ.

May God give you the grace and faith to do so.

Amen.

Sermon preached by Rev D. Rudi Schwartz on Sunday 21 April 2019

2019 Atonement Celebration (Easter)

Crucifixion Friday service:

7:30am in our church building. We will also celebrate The Lord’s Supper.

Resurrection Sunday Service

9:30 am in our church building.

Evening Worship

No evening worship over this weekend. Evening worship will recommence Sunday 28th April.

Services for Atonement Weekend (Easter)

We choose to name the events of Easter to reflect the true Christian meaning of the events.

“Good Friday” in previous decades did evoke a celebration of Christ’s death on the cross. Sadly, the meaning got watered down. Chocolate eggs and bunnies took over. For the majority of Australians Good Friday is just another day to kick off a long weekend.

“Easter Sunday” in the past might have had connections with the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ. The term “easter” might even have sinister connections with other festivals.

Crucifixion Friday service:

7:30am in our church building. We will also celebrate The Lord’s Supper.

The terms we chose are “Crucifixion Friday” and “Resurrection Sunday”. For Easter weekend we’d rather use “Atonement Weekend.”

Resurrection Sunday Service

9:30 am in our church building.

Christ was crucified to die the death we deserve as the penalty for our sins. He rose again on that glorious Sunday after He destroyed death and it’s consequences.

By his death and resurrection, Christ became our righteousness before God. He is our atonement.

The Weekend of 19-21 April is Atonement weekend.

Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. (2 Corinthians 5:20–21, NKJV)

And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. (1 John 2:1–2, NKJV)

You are most welcome to share in our celebration of the atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Atonement – an eye for an eye

Bible Readings

Leviticus 24:10-23
Deuteronomy 19:15-21
Matthew 5:38

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ,

Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. (Deuteronomy 19:21, NIV)

It took me many years to work out what “brotherly love” meant. Our household, like many others I suppose, represented your typical family where brothers got stuck into one another – love between brothers was not always portrayed. Later in life, I worked it out that sin was part of our daily life—but we still loved one another. And it is almost if I can still hear Mom’s rebuke, that is when things got a bit hot, “Do not repay evil with evil!”

Even a word from the Bible sometimes did not help you to knew that you had a case against your brother. You just felt you wanted justice.

Then one day I read this passage in the Bible: “eye for an eye, hand for hand, foot for foot.” I had my verse. I had grounds for retaliation and revenge!

In preparation for this sermon, I read quite a few commentaries. When it comes to this particular verse some of them just skip it. There was one who argued that this verse, and other places in the Bible where it is mentioned, is the most embarrassing in the Bible and should be removed, or not referred to at all.

I beg to differ. It is my clear conviction that this verse underlies the reason for the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. While reading through the Scriptures and finding this verse in Exodus 21:23-24, I wrote:

This principle, I believe, lies behind the cross of Christ. He bore the punishment of God on all harm and injustice in his Person to satisfy the righteousness of God.

Justice, not retaliation!

Study the paragraph of Deuteronomy, and you will know that the setting is that of disputes in a court of law. There is no hint of personal retaliation or vindictiveness.

I am the Lord your God

Above and over all the regulations and case laws that Moses gave to the people of the Lord, stood the Ten Commandments. The top line reads, “I am the Lord your God.” No less than 76 times do we read this in the first five books of the Bible. God has a claim on his people, and his people were different, living under a different law, and were saved from slavery to be the possession of the Lord, their God.

The very fact that Deuteronomy 19:15-21 indeed starts with how do deal with blasphemy indicates that God demanded that he who blasphemes must pay restitution to the Lord who is jealous about how his Name is used. God requires and righteousness from the person who blasphemes his Name.

When it comes to the second table of the love which speaks about the love for the neighbour, God’s people were driven by the first table, which is the love for God and God’s love for them. All relationships between the people of God stood under the overarching principle of love. One would honour your father and mother because God loves you and them, He gave them to you, they love Him, and you love Him. The same applies to adultery, stealing, and lying in court: God loves me, I must love Him; He loves my neighbour, and I must love my neighbour.

Sin distorts justice

So when we go back to Deuteronomy 19 these principles are assumed – but sinful nature gets in the way: people lie, justice is perverted, and retaliation becomes a reality. They needed priests, judges, a thorough investigation and a verdict.

Sin makes life impossible. We hate, lie, steal, and covet. We know the law, and yet we trespass; we need a judge, we need a verdict, we need justice, we need punishment. We need an eye for an eye – not driven by retaliation or vindication, but because we need justice.

In the presence of the Lord

Have you ever wondered where the custom to take an oath and be sworn in as a witness in a court of Law comes from? Where does “So help me God” come from?

“our law (like that of most civilized nations) requires a witness to believe, not only that there are a God and a future state of rewards and punishments, but also that, by taking the oath, he imprecates upon himself, if his evidence is false” (Simon Greenleaf)

Witnesses, even in the day of Moses, must understand that truth is universal because God is omnipresent. That’s why the witnesses of Deuteronomy stood “in the presence of the Lord.” The priests and judges also sat in the presence of the Lord and had to measure out justice as God determined: they could only take the side of truth, not of the circumstance or the person.

Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. (Deuteronomy 19:21, NIV)

To stem the possibility of retaliation, and only seek justice, any person who felt that he was dealt with unjustly, could approach the judges and priests. Then, even the quality and quantity of the witnesses were tested: two or three who were there when the alleged injustice took place; their statements had to be checked. And if it is proved that the witness is corrupt, what he wanted to be done to the person charged, would be done to him.

Punishment fits the Crime

Until very recently this was a principle accepted by the courts. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Justice demands that the penalty for a crime should not inflict harsher punishment than the offence called for. We know of no case in the Scripture where this law required an actual eye, foot, or teeth, but the compensation sought by a person for injustice against him could be measured out only in as far as he received injustice.

Justice good for the people of God

“You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid. and never again will such an evil thing be done among you.” (Deuteronomy 19:20)

Much can be said about punishment dished out by courts in our days, but the fact is many law-breakers do not fear the law, and citizens, in general, have not much respect for the law, purely because the penalty does not fit the crime. It is wrong to try to get rid of a cat by putting it in a rubbish bin, but if you did, and you get caught it, your punishment could be harsher than someone who raped an elderly person, or even killed a partner or killed an unborn baby. Our law system does not necessarily ask what is morally right; it is only concerned about what is legally acceptable.

God instituted the law of “eye for an eye, foot for foot, tooth for tooth and life for life” to be an example of justice; it was meant to be a deterrent. It was not “correctional” as we have it these days; it was exemplary punishment.

God’s righteousness demands justice

Whoever thinks this verse in the Bible is an embarrassment or thinks it gives every individual to exercise personal retaliation, has it wrong. The only principle laid down here is that of justice. Fact is, God’s righteousness demands justice. This principle helps us to understand the cross and death of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

We are all sinners

The Bible is clear about our position before God: “we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23)

Listen to Isaiah 59:

But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you so that He will not hear. For your hands are stained with blood, your fingers with guilt. Your lips have spoken falsely, and your tongue mutters wicked things. No one calls for justice; no one pleads a case with integrity…They hatch the eggs of vipers and spin a spider’s web. Whoever eats their eggs will die, and when one is broken, an adder is hatched…Their deeds are evil deeds…Their feet rush into sin; they are swift to shed innocent blood. They pursue evil schemes; acts of violence mark their ways… there is no justice in their paths… So justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us… Like the blind we grope along the wall, feeling our way like people without eyes… among the strong, we are like the dead. (Isaiah 59:2–10, NIV)

All the sins mentioned here go back to the Law of God, and as such to the paragraph in Deuteronomy: hands are stained with blood (guilty!); false lips (guilty!); no justice (guilty!); utter lies (guilty!); evil deeds (guilty!); violence (guilty!); evil schemes (guilty!). The result? Justice is far from us. We are like dead corpses!

This is the picture Paul paints in his letter to the Ephesians:

As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. (Ephesians 2:1–3, NIV)

God cannot turn a blind eye on sin

There is a principle in the Bible which may crush every sinner if it is not read in the full context of the cross of Christ. It reads:

‘The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished;… (Numbers 14:18, NIV)

God is merciful and abounding in love and forgiving sin, yet He does not leave the guilty unpunished. It seems contradictory: He forgives in love, but does not leave the guilty unpunished!

This is true of the Bible message from the beginning to the end. Anyone who wanted to approach the Lord on his own terms would be crushed. Yes, God is merciful and forgiving, but He demanded a sacrifice: the blood of lambs and bulls satisfied God’s judgment on sin in the Old Testament; without that, there was no forgiveness.

Point is, God does not turn a blind eye to sin. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, life for life. We demand justice, but we need justice. How can we expect justice if we are born in sin, and utterly corrupted by sin? How can we ask for forgiveness if we are unforgiving? Can God just say, “I forgive you”, without penalty on sin? Would He still be holy if He did so? Would He still be righteous if He let the unrighteousness off the hook without repentance and punishment? Such a God I don’t want to worship.

Eye for eye, life for life

God solved our problem, not because we deserved it, and not because He just forgets sin. He solved our problem by being just. He punished in righteousness, not compromising his holiness. He gave his Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord to be our mediator.

When Jesus walked this earth, He regularly told his disciples that He would be handed over in the hands of sinners. He also said to them that he did not come to abolish the Law, but to fulfil it (Matthew 5:17). The Pharisees thought they did well by demanding retaliation and finding avenge for wrongs done to them. Christ, being the fulfilment of the law, now required more of his followers:

For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:20, NKJV)

Where would they find this righteousness? Only in Jesus Christ who made the Law full – He met every demand of the Law in full! Our only hope to ever fulfil the righteousness of God is that we are clothed in Christ righteousness. He is the One who gave an eye for an eye and a foot for a foot because we are not able to meet God’s demand for perfect atonement with Him.

When He was brought before them, all rules went out the window: no proper witnesses, no truth in the allegations; lies conjured up by people in the street; an illegal court meeting in the middle of the night; bribes paid to witnesses. They let robbers free to have Him crucified. They had Him flogged even though they found no reason to do so. Even those who followed Him lied about Him and others deserted Him.

When they nailed Him to the cross, He prayed to the Father that He would forgive them. Then, He faced the righteousness of the Father: justice called for an eye for an eye, tooth for tooth and life for life. He cried out, “Why have Thou forsaken Me?”

Paul understood the cross and the Saviour and writes:

All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to Himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:18, 21) NIV)

In Christ the righteousness of God is met: He paid for our big sins, the small ones and everyone in between – an eye for an eye. We might think it is not a big sin, but all our sins are an offence to the holiness of God and demand his righteous justice. When Christ died in our place, the punishment fitted the crime; if He did not do it, we had to do it – and the consequence would have been disastrous.

Conclusion

My dear friend in the Lord, Christ’s death on the cross is your vindication; those who do not trust in Him for forgiveness will find the justice of God’s righteousness calling for retaliation: an eye for an eye, life for life.

Make sure that your life is saved in Christ who took God’s judgement and became your righteousness. When He returns He will vindicate those who suffered under unbelieving and oppressing regimes, and his enemy will be punished. All because of justice.

Eye for eye, and life for life.

Amen.

Sermon preached by Rev D. Rudi Schwartz on Sunday 14 April 2019

Look out for false apostles (2)

Bible Readings

Luke 21:5-11
2Timothy 3:1-9

Introduction

Dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ,

A friend of mine, then a new Christian, returned from morning worship where the sermon was about false prophets. He settled for a cup of coffee with his wife when the doorbell rang. His visitors asked if he would want to know more about the end times. Of course, he was interested, especially him being new to the faith, wanting to know about the return of Christ. But just to be sure, he asked them if they believe that Jesus Christ is God, the eternal Son of the Father who came into the world to atone for the sins of the lost. They said they believed Christ was a mighty prophet but that they do not believe that He was God. That alarmed my friend, who asked them to leave.

Joining his wife for the coffee, she asked what the visitors were on about. He replied, “I suppose we’re certainly living in last days; the false prophet is already knocking on my door!”

The purpose of this sermon today is to help you understand the danger of people, theologians and ministers, who present a new form of reformation, downgrading the authority of the Scriptures.

Open rebellion against God, his Son and the Bible

False religion is known by its message: the message is the words of man. As such, they are just like the false prophets of the Old Testament.

The coming of a radical reformation

When you hear someone saying, “We should give Jesus a demotion. It is no longer credible to think of Jesus as divine. Jesus’ divinity goes together with the old theistic way of thinking about God”, you know you have to do with a false prophet.

These are the words of Robert Funk of the Jesus Seminar who wrote “The Coming Radical Reformation”. The goal of the Jesus Seminar was to review each of the sayings and deeds attributed to Jesus in the gospels and determine which are authentic. Here are a few of 21 theses by Funk:

The God of the metaphysical age is dead. There is not a personal god out there external to human beings and the material world.
The doctrine of the atonement—the claim that God killed his own son in order to satisfy his thirst for satisfaction—is sub-rational and sub-ethical. This monstrous doctrine is the stepchild of a primitive sacrificial system.
The resurrection of Jesus did not involve the resuscitation of a corpse. Jesus did not rise from the dead, except perhaps in some metaphorical sense.
The Bible does not contain fixed, objective standards of behaviour that should govern human behaviour for all time. This includes the ten commandments as well as the admonitions of Jesus.

One of the members of the Jesus Seminar, bishop Selby Spong joins in by stating,

“The Bible has lost every major battle it has ever fought. The Bible was quoted to defend slavery and the Bible lost. The Bible was quoted to keep women silent, and the Bible lost. And the Bible is being quoted to deny homosexuals their equal rights, and the Bible will lose.”

About the Bible he further says,

“I could not believe that anyone who has read this book would be so foolish as to proclaim that the Bible in every literal word was the divinely inspired, inerrant word of God.”

About the cross of Christ, he says,

“The view of the cross as the sacrifice for the sins of the world is a barbarian idea based on primitive concepts of God and must be dismissed.”

A fellow of the Jesus Seminar, Dr Francis MacNab, was an ordained minister of the Uniting Church at the time when he said: “The old faith is in large sections unbelievable. We want to make the new faith more believable, realistic and helpful in terms of the way people live.” So, he launched a $120,000 advertising campaign to propagate the new faith, and declared: “The Ten Commandments, [is] one of the most negative documents ever written.” He described Moses as a mass murderer, Abraham as concocted and Jesus as a Jewish peasant who is certainly not God. The Uniting Church strangely did not discipline MacNab because no formal complaint had been received; so, he remained minister till 2016 when he retired. Dr MacNab became a member of the Order of Australia for his contributions to psychotherapy and religion.

Statements like these are not only shocking but also blasphemous. Although it promised something new, a coming radical reformation, it presented nothing more than another idea. It outright rejects the authority of the Bible.

A church-like movement

It is sometimes a bit harder to see the false prophet when it does not come so direct and upfront like the Jesus Seminar. When a movement comes to you and says they are really set against stale traditional churches, with its absolute structure, style of worship and time-frozen culture where there are no personal relationships and a genuine expression of warm Christian care—or the word might be “authentic”—you would find it hard to disagree with them. But it is sometimes just here where you need to ask about their strategies to change things.

Emergent Church

Another new thing on the religious scene is the Emergent church. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between this and another, the Emerging church.

Most of its members are unsatisfied with what they term “organised religion” and the “institutional” church and are trying to reinvent the church from within. Biblical models for church discipline, church government, the sacraments, and church offices are being ignored which as a consequence allows for ongoing, unrepentant sin to exist within the church. There is more often than not a blatant absence of the sacraments, which they describe as hangovers from the Roman Catholic Church.

Because those in the emergent church movement are so heavily influenced by post-modernism, theologians of the Emergent church sometimes fail to nail down exclusive truth. In some churches the inerrancy of the Word of God, the Bible, is not upheld. The Emerging Church is a place where people have felt the freedom to explore questions and experiment with new forms of lifestyle and corporate practice. The term “seeker-sensitive” can be applied to the emergent church, purely because absolute truth can offend people: you cannot proclaim the truths of the Scripture as absolute truth, because it will offend those who do not know the background—they will just walk out again.

Emerging Church members believe it is first of all necessary to establish relationships with people, going where they are, meeting them on their level, and only later presenting doctrinal truths after they have become part of their lives. But the problem is that the gospel becomes stripped of the necessity of a Savior because it frequently fails to define sin, repentance, confession, church discipline, and fruits showing regeneration by the Holy Spirit.

The single greatest concern is their attitude towards doctrine. They don’t believe that truth itself is an objective propositional thing that has a yes and a no. Nothing is ever either/or, good or bad, right or wrong, ugly or beautiful. It’s all vague.

Brian McLaren, one of the people associated with the Emergent Church writes,

“The church latched on to that old doctrine of original sin like a dog to a stick, and before you knew it, the whole gospel got twisted around it. Instead of being God’s big message of saving love for the whole world, the gospel became a little bit of secret information on how to solve the pesky legal problem of original sin.”

Once again we have poor and low esteem of the Bible as authoritative Word of God.

A brand-new reformation like the world has not seen

When people come to you with an earnest desire to see the Kingdom of God grow to be seen in all human institutions; when they say that prayer is an effective weapon and strategy to achieve this goal; when they say we need to become more proactive in marches against abortion and other moral issues; things get all the harder to know if there might be some false prophet lurking behind the good sounding words and intentions.

New Apostolic Reformation

Leaders in the NAR believe that God has restored the offices of apostle and prophet, along with the others mentioned in Ephesians 4. But the main offices are the apostles and the prophets.

Leaders teach that the proper church government—headed by living apostles and prophets has been restored. Both prophets and apostles in the NAR movement can give new divine revelation. They receive new revelation and instruct their followers on how to properly respond to the new revelation. What is interesting is that NAR prophets are not expected to be 100% accurate in their predictions. They still can be considered legitimate prophets even when they make errors!

The task of the apostles and prophets is to implement dominion of the earth. This is a redefined gospel in contrast to the gospel of salvation from sin. Angus Buchan (known for his book “Faith Like Potatoes”) regularly attract hundreds of thousands of people to his rallies, with the main drive to recapture the political and social institutions into the kingdom of Christ. His meetings consist more of binding demons, pronouncing curses, and the like—but of the old-time revival preaching, where people are called to repentance to Christ, not much happens.

Because the apostles and prophets claim that it is God’s desire for the church to take dominion of the earth in preparation for His return. This task will be accomplished with the help of miraculous powers wielded by the under the leadership of apostles and prophets. They propagate a “seven mountain mandate”: taking control of the seven most institutions in society—government, media, family, business/finance, education, church/religion, and arts/entertainment.

This is not much different from the worldview of the Roman Church, with the Pope as the sole representative of Christ; the only difference being that apostles and prophets are in control. Islam califs have the same thing in mind: sharia law must rule every aspect of life. If the NAR has this in mind it is surely a very dangerous pathway.

The Biblical understanding has never been that the church should take the place of governments, and never for governments to rule over the church.

Once this is achieved before Christ returns, God will transfer control of the world’s wealth from the hands of the wicked to the hands of the NAR apostles. The church will then have the financial resources it will need to establish God’s earthly kingdom.

The apostles, the prophets and their followers will develop vast supernatural powers and will perform miracles that will surpass those performed by the biblical apostles and prophets and even those performed by Jesus during his earthly ministry. These miracles will include healing every single person inside hospitals and mental institutions simply by laying their hands on the buildings and having command of the laws of nature, including gravity. People who continue to receive the new revelation given by the apostles and prophets will gain more and more supernatural powers until they eventually become “manifest sons of God.”

The NAR movement has its own global television network, called GOD TV which broadcasts to more than 200 nations. Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN)— the world’s largest religious television network — regularly features the teachings of NAR apostles and prophets.

And you may ask: what’s false about it? One short answer: the low value they put on the authority of the Scriptures. To succeed, the NAR needs to rely on revelations—something which is an addition to the Word of God, even if the prophets are sometimes wrong. People are not saved from sin through miracles, but by the power of the Gospel through the Holy Spirit.

It is further not for the church to take over governments and financial institutions.

The big problem is: who gives these apostles and prophets authority? Are they elected or self-appointed? Are they under any form of accountability? Can they be disciplined? Can they be opposed? Or will it just be another form of the papal system?

If this is the case, run for your life.

Run to Christ, run to the Word, run for the grace of Christ who saves. Run the race till the end, even in the face of oppression. That’s the calling of the Gospel.

Amen.

Sermon preached by Rev D. Rudi Schwartz on Sunday 7 April 2019

Watch our for false prophets (1)

Scripture Readings

Matthew 7:15-23
Matthew 24:1-14

Introduction

My dear friends in Christ,

On one of my mission trips into the outback of New South Wales, a pastor-friend tagged along for the experience. Fortunately, shearing was on, so to a large extent, the shearing quarters were relatively clean and rid of spiders and snakes.

We took a shower, and I heard him say, “Man, o man, o man!” I thought he just appreciated the hot water. “If you should see the electrical connects above my head!”, he exclaimed. “If any inspector saw this, he will close down the whole joint!”

Russel had been a trained and certified electrical engineer before entering the ministry.

Our farmer friend got his electric supply going, but he was oblivious to the danger of his connections. It takes someone with knowledge to see the risks.

Some self-appointed prophets don’t have neither the knowledge nor the insight, to understand the danger of their teachings. Others are plainly and deliberately on a mission to cause destruction, but the gullible Christian is easily trapped by good-sounding words, even sugar-coated Bible verses used to support their teachings. Of course, it makes the job of God-called, approved and appointed ministers very hard. When the gullible Christian defends the position of the unskilled preacher by pointing to the glowing globe of ministry, true ministers of the Word warn against the connections. And he himself then inevitably gets labelled as a false prophet because he stands in the way of those who preach so freely, seemingly with so much success. But be warned, Benny Hinn says, “Anyone who is attacking me is attacking the very presence of God!”

Don’t fall for pragmatism. Don’t be trapped by the argument that “it must be right because it works.” Pragmatism looks at what it visible, often disregarding the truth (like the dangerous electrical connections of our farmer). The fact that some preachers draw large numbers to their services does not necessarily mean it is right. Large numbers in pubs do not make the pub the best place to hang out. Overpopulated hospitals do not make a hospital the place of desire; overcrowded prisons are not a sign that the authorities are doing something right.

My friend, the Word of this morning warn against false prophets. The words of our text come from the mouth of Christ.

“Watch out that no one misleads you. Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. (Matthew 24:4 11, NKJV)

A turning point

What was the background for these words of our Lord?

All of Matthew 23 was aimed at the false teachings of the Pharisees. Harsh words were in the mouth of Jesus Christ when He addressed them:

Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell? Therefore, indeed, I send you prophets, wise men, and scribes: some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to city, (Matthew 23:33–34, NKJV)

The end of chapter 23 ends with these words:

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ” (Matthew 23:37–39, NKJV)

Chapter 24 continues with a jaw-dropping act of our Saviour: “Jesus left the temple.” His disciples knew there was more behind Jesus just leaving the temple that day: He would never return. Somewhat embarrassed they then pointed to the beautiful stonework and architecture of the temple. But Jesus answered:

“Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, not one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” (Matthew 24:2)

What a shocking statement. Did Jesus not once clear the temple out of zeal for the house of God? He did, but He then also said:

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.” (John 2:19)

John clarified this statement after Jesus was raised from the dead: “But He was speaking of the temple of His body.” (John 2:21)

Jesus was about to be crucified; He would leave them to proclaim his good news.

The disciples followed Jesus to the Mount of Olives and asked Him in private:

“Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3, NKJV)

They wanted a sign, and Jesus did give them a sign. What was it? Look out for false prophets! The prime concern for the church living up to the end of times should be to watch out for false prophets.

Marks of a false prophet

Self-appointed

Let’s just back-track into Matthew 23:34. Our Lord says He sends prophets and wise men and teachers. They are the men who make fools of the diviners and overthrows the learning of the wise, turning it into nonsense. The words of God’s prophets, according to Isaiah 44:25-26, are carried by God, who fulfils the predictions of his messengers. Jeremiah 7:25 states the same principle.

On the other hand, self-appointed, false prophets twist the truth of God’s Word and so deceive God’s people. Jeremiah 8:8 says,

“How can you say, ‘We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us’? But behold, the lying pen of the scribes has made it into a lie. (Jeremiah 8:8, ESV)

Of these false prophets God says:

They have seen false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘Declares the Lord,’ when the Lord has not sent them, and yet they expect Him to fulfil their word. Have you not seen a false vision and uttered a lying divination, whenever you have said, ‘Declares the Lord,’ although I have not spoken?” (Ezekiel 13:6–7)

A false prophet speaks when God does not speak. Of them our God says:

Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:32, ESV)

The Lord told me

How many times have I heard preachers use this phrase, “the Lord told me”; this apparently gives them license to say whatever they like, or to interpret the Word as they see fit. Where does this phrase come from? Can I take you on a bit of a journey?

It originates in the New Thought philosophy, which was inspired by Phineas Parkhurst Quimby in the mid-nineteenth century. He studied mesmerism, which he believed is the power behind mind-over-matter. He believed that to know the truth about life is the remedy for all ills. This is, according to Quimby, the truth Jesus came to declare; and Quimby claimed to practice the same great truth. In 1862, Mary Baker Eddy received treatment from Quimby and was cured quickly. She went on to become the founder of the Christian Science movement.

Another disciple of Quimby was E.W. Kenyon who became the father of “positive confession” theology. He, in turn, influenced the theology of Kennith Hagin, who is considered to be the Father of the Word/Faith Movement. On August 8, 1934, he says he was raised from his deathbed by a revelation of “faith in God’s Word” after reading Mark 11:24. This verse reads, “Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” (Mark 11:23–24, ESV). Hagin, a charismatic Pentecostal preacher, was ordained as a minister of the Assemblies of God. He founded the Rhema Bible Training College (the Rhema FM radio has no direct connection with Kennith Hagin). He once said, “Believe it in your heart; say it with your mouth. That is the principle of faith. You can have what you say.” Hagin had a problem with the message of the cross, “When you preach the cross, you’re preaching death, and you leave people in death.”

Hagin later joined his ministry efforts with Oral Roberts, a strong representative of the “seed-faith” idea. This teaches that the things received by faith start with a seed: investment of money in faith will necessarily produce financial gain. Benny Hinn said, “Sow a big seed, when you confess it, you are activating the supernatural forces of God.” Because, “When you don’t give money, it shows that you have the devil’s nature.” The whole idea is probably to support his ministry.

This movement (sometimes referred to as Word of Faith movement) also teaches that Christians can access the power of faith or fear through speech. A “positive confession” (a so-called “prophetic word”) of God’s promise stirs the power of resurrection which raised Christ from the dead and brings that promise to fulfilment. This movement rejects poverty, suffering, and defeat as necessary to a godly life and glorifying Jesus Christ. It teaches that the salvation won by Jesus included health and prosperity for believers. Hagin said, “God is glorified through healing and deliverance, not through sickness and suffering.” Robert Hilton joins in, “Being poor is a sin.” Therefore, “Do not say ‘Lord if it be thy will’”; that is a sign of unbelief. Fred Price affirms by saying, “God has displeasure in poverty.“

Where do you find any of this in the Bible, or is a “revelation knowledge”?

Preachers claim to have “revelation knowledge” (i.e. special revelations from God: “God told me…”) This “revelation knowledge” is often placed alongside, and sometimes above Scripture. Some believe they can use words to manipulate the “faith-force”, and as such, actually create what they believe the Scriptures or the “revelation” promise.

A local minister in Hervey Bay also used this phrase the other day: “We just need to speak into it!” Poor me was in the dark, I must admit.

The Word of Faith movement urges believers to speak what they desire, in agreement with the promises and provisions of the Bible, as an affirmation of God’s plans and purposes. Kenneth Copeland states: “God did not create the world out of nothing, He used the Force of His Faith.” He goes on to say, “Jesus existed only as an image in the heart of God until such time as the prophets of the Old Testament could positively confess Jesus into existence through their constant prophecies.” “All of God’s attributes and abilities were invested in Adam.” Therefore: “God and Adam looked exactly alike.” When Adam fell in sin, “God could not intervene since He had made Adam the god of the earth. God was left on the outside looking in.”

The phrase “God told me” is common amongst Word of Faith preachers. It places members of their congregations in an untenable situation to differ from them. It is tied to the gift of tongues and the gift of prophecy described in 1 Corinthians 12 as if they are the same thing, and as if it always means a “positive revelation”. Joyce Meyer once declared:

“Do you know something? A large majority of the church really doesn’t even know. Honestly and truly they really don’t even know. Well you are going to know when this night is over.”

Copeland comes to this conclusion: “When we use the spiritual laws that God has set up, God must obey what we request.” Why? His colleague Paul Crouch answers, “God draws no distinction between Himself and us. God opens up the union of the very godhead (Trinity), and brings us into it.” We are actually little gods. Kenneth Hagin has asserted, “man…was created on terms of equality with God, and he could stand in God’s presence without any consciousness of inferiority…. He [God] made us the same class of being that He is Himself…. He [man] lived on terms equal with God…. The believer is called Christ, that’s who we are; we’re Christ”. Copeland adds, “God’s reason for creating Adam was His desire to reproduce Himself…He was not a little like God. He was not almost like God. He was not subordinate to God even”.

Last week I warned against the teachings of one of the prominent prophets in the Word of Faith Movement. Some of you afterwards asked me to give more clarity.

Mrs Joyce Meyers declared confidently:

“All I was ever taught to say was I a poor miserable sinner. I am not poor, I am not miserable, and I am not a sinner. That is a lie from the pit of hell. That is what I were and if I still was then Jesus died in vain. I am going to tell you something folks I didn’t stop sinning until I finally got it through my thick head I wasn’t a sinner anymore and the religious world thinks that is heresy and they want to hang you for it. But the Bible says that I am righteous and I can’t be righteous and be a sinner at the same time.”

Although Mrs Meyers holds three doctorate degrees, she somehow missed the instruction of the Bible on not allowing women in the ministry of the Word (1Timothy 2:12-14).

What does Mrs Meyers teach about the atonement of Christ? I quote:

“The Bible can’t even find any way to explain this. Not really that is why you have got to get it by revelation. There are no words to explain what I am telling you. I have got to just trust God that he is putting it into your spirit like he put it into mine.”

“There is no hope of anyone going to heaven unless they believe this truth I am presenting. You cannot go to heaven unless you believe with all your heart that Jesus took your place in hell.”

Here’s her theology of Christ’s atonement:

“During that time he entered hell where you and I deserved to go because of our sin. He paid the price there. No plan was too extreme. Jesus paid on the cross and in hell.”

“Well here comes Jesus into hell. Now I don’t know what hell looks like but God gave me a few ideas. It is hot, fire hot but at the same time it is cold and clammy. That is kind of different isn’t it? Fire hot, but cold and clammy.”

The Devil thought he had it, the devil thought he had won. Oh they were having the biggest party that has ever been had. They had my Jesus on the floor and they were standing on his back jumping up and down laughing and he had become sin. Don’t you think that God was pacing wanting to put a stop to what was going on. All the hosts of hell were up on him, up on him, up on him. The angels are in agony, all the creation is groaning. All the hosts of hell was up on him, up on him, they got on him. They got him down in the floor and got on him and they were laughing and mocking, ‘haha you trusted God and look where you ended up. You thought he would save you and get you off that cross – he didn’t haha.’”

“Sunday morning here comes the sun. Sunday morning God gets himself together. Justice has been met somehow everything has been taken care of and oh God gets his voice together and he hummers up three words and they go roaring through the universe and entering the gates of hell. He said it is enough. It is enough.”

“God rose up from his throne and said to the demon powers tormenting the sinless Son of God let him go. Then the resurrection power of the almighty God went through hell and filled Jesus. He was resurrected from the dead the first born again man.”

This is heresy! And yet, people support her ministry. It is projected that her ministry has an income of just under $100,000,000 per annum. Anyone who buys a book or a recording of Joyce Meyers supports her heresy.

Don’t be gullible. Watch out for false prophets.

Amen.

Sermon preached by Rec D. Rudi Schwartz on Sunday 31 March 2019

Undivided loyalty to the King, Jesus Christ (3)

Bible Readings

Daniel 3:8-18
Revelation 13:11-18

Introduction

My dear friends in Christ,

Long before I arrived at uni, Steve had been there. It seemed that Steve had an academic problem: the lecturer to teach him Greek 1, was a classmate who did Greek 1 with him when Steve was repeating it for the third time.

It took us a while to work out why Steve did not at first succeed. Before every exam, Steve would go through all the old exam papers and work out the most likely questions. Even for oral exams, Steve would do his research. To predict questions, he teamed up with Math students who had access to the mainframe computer.

But Steve did not pass the exams. Why? He focussed all his energy on poorly-directed preparation. Yes, he was spot-on with the questions, but he was unprepared to answer them!

Scores of Christians read copious amounts of books and articles to work out what the number of anti-Christ is — the 666 — and what the signs on the forehead and the hands of his followers mean. All of these studies remind me of Steve: one can be occupied to work out what all of this means, but when it comes to standing the test against anti-Christ and his godless strategy against the church of Jesus Christ, the fascination with all the symbols blur the mind to the point that we find ourselves arranging the deckchairs on a sinking Titanic.

Biblical hermeneutic

We have to carefully follow principles of Bible exegesis: This means that we do not go to the text with preconceived conceptions and read those into the text; this can make us biblical ventriloquists. A real danger is to work from history or read the newspapers first and then go to the Scriptures to see if we can find something to give us light on our pre-shaped mind. The process really should be the other way around: we must first of all honestly study the Bible, interpret it within the context of the book itself, understand the type of literal category we are considering, interpret the cultural, and historical background of the author, and know the broader context of the Bible itself. Only then can we come to conclusions and applications for our day.

Reading Revelation 13, we need to understand that the category of literature: It is apocalyptic—it is full of mysterious and symbolic language, written in times of distress, and puts some emphasis on salvation, either in a new world to come or in another world beyond.

John wrote his apocalypse in a certain historical setting, surrounded by certain cultural and historical events. The Revelation was not supposed to mean something only for the church just before the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. When the letters were delivered to the congregations of Smyrna, Ephesus, Sardis and the others, the Christians then did not only read the first three chapters of the book and disregarded the others because they did not apply to them.

What are the implications of what we have just said? At least this: if we interpret the book as if was only written for our day we might, with spectacular mental gymnastics, come up with unbelievable speculations which will surely leave us red-faced in years to come.

I received an email last week of someone who concluded: “It seems clear to me that the Ottoman empire was the next empire after Romans which was in power when John wrote Revelation, and then there was another empire that controlled the middle east/old world and then this will be revived again at the time of the end.”

Interesting about the articles attached to the email is that there is no solid interpretation of the Scriptures. At one stage the number 666 is interpreted as pointing to the shape of a set of floor tiles in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem: the first “6” is the outer lines, this second “6” represents mini triangle within the bigger one, and the third “6” represents the six-sided polygon. The conclusion is that this “666” is the symbol of the ancient Rempha (or Chuin) also known as Moloch, which is another representation of Nimrod, husband of Semiramis, queen of Babylon which the Rothschilds, who were papal knights, put in the flag of Israel.

One can only ask, “What would the folk in the seven congregations make if this interpretation!” This is not how to read Revelation!

Another common wrong interpretation of Revelation is to narrow the implication of the message down only to the restoration of national Israel. Reformed understanding of Bible interpretation surely sees Israel as the descendants of Abraham out of which the Messiah had to be born. To understand how we should read the Old Testament is to look back from the New Testament as the fulfilment of the prophecies. To understand the New Testament is to interpret it as a continuation of the prophecies—all having its meaning in Christ and his completed work of salvation. Only then do we understand that all believers in both eras are of Israel because all who believe in Jesus Christ are children of Abraham (Galatians 3:29). Believers of the Old Testament together with believers of the New Testament together make up the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. This means the real Israel of the Old Testament was made up of those who expected the coming of the Messiah, together with those who actually received Christ when He came were included into the true Israel of which Paul writes in Romans 9. National Israel as we know it today is not the church, and as such not the unique nation of God; it is a political entity. Some nationals of that state believe in Christ, and many more will come to faith in Christ, and together with believers from all nations of the world who worship Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, they are spiritual Israel. References to Jerusalem, Israel and the people of God in Revelation should be understood within this framework.

God is control

God gave John the visions “to show his servants what must soon take place.” (Revelation 1:1) The message was meant to encourage the believers for times of distress. It was intended to help them interpret what was going on around them on political and church level.

John writes about Christ, the Living One, who was dead but who is alive forever. He holds the keys of death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). John takes his readers to the throne in heaven. God is on the throne—He rules the world—and worshipping him, were twenty-four elders representing spiritual leaders from both the Old and New Testament era. (That this is the case, is also seen in Revelation 21 where the new Jerusalem is described as having twelve gates with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel written on them. The wall of the city has twelve foundations with the names of the twelve apostles written on them. The number of those inside the city is mentioned in Revelation 14 as 144,000. This number is the complete number of believers from the Old Testament and the New Testament: 12 X12 X 000 = 144,000).

Before the throne of God is the Holy Spirit of God; there are four living creatures who never stop proclaiming, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8). At the right hand of God is Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, who triumphed. He is the Lamb who was slain but lives forever. To Him those around the throne of God bring the same praise as they bring to God, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” — seven attributes, meaning completeness. (Revelation 5:12).

So, never forget this scene: in whatever comes your way on this world, and in whatever you have to suffer for Christ, He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. All other rulers are under Him.

The anti-Trinty

Over the last two Sundays, we had a brief look at chapters 12-13. The context is this: Satan lost his position in heaven and declared war against Christ. He is focussing on the people of God. With his two off-siders, they form the anti-trinity: they parade godlike, they are powerful and fearsome. John’s readers are warned to be careful to not fall for their cunning and craft.

Godless governments and states are controlled by the Devil, who employs all political and economic tricks to entangle and entice Christians into worshipping him, rather than Christ.

The false prophet

A false Gospel

The third party in this anti-Trinity is described in verses 13:1-18, our reading of today. He is a parody of the messianic Lamb of 5:6 and is the antithesis of the Lamb. It, too, is a lamb with horns. Like the first beast, this beast speaks with the devil’s full authority: “he was speaking as a dragon.” (Revelation 13:11)

This beast has primarily a religious role since it is later repeatedly called “the false prophet” (16:13; 19:20; 20:10). In contrast with the true prophet, who calls people to worship the living God, this prophet leads them to worship the state. This beast may take many forms and may at times be equal to the state, as well as with false prophets within the church. Our Lord warned:

For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. (Matthew 24:5)

They appear harmless but,

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. (Matthew 7:15)

The false prophet professes to represent the truth and appears harmless as a lamb, but he reveals his Satanic nature because he speaks with the authority of the dragon. His message is the same deceptive speech of Satan that led Adam and Eve into rebellion against the Authority of God. The first beast, the godless leaders of states, speaks loudly and defiantly against God, but the second beast makes the first beast’s claims sound plausible and persuasive, sounding harmless like a lamb. False teachers in the church are encouraging compromise with the culture’s idolatrous institutions, which are all associated in some way with the Roman cult of Emperor or state worship. The Nicolaitans, false apostles, and Jezebel in chapter 2 show how the churches fell for the deception of this beast. It takes a discerning Christian to detect the evil intrinsic to the second beast.

In control of the Dragon

The false prophet’s purpose is stated openly in verse 12:

It makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast, whose mortal wound was healed. (Revelation 13:12, ESV)

The false prophet mimics his authority on the credentials of Christ’s apostles: [1] Just as Christ sent out his disciples under his authority (Acts 1:1–11), the false prophet too is the successor of his master in both ministry and authority, [2] Just like the apostles preached about the risen Christ in Acts 2:22–47, he too attempts to persuade others to worship his master who looked like his was slain but somehow was resurrected, [3] Just like the apostles did in Acts 2:43; 5:12, and 15:12, he too performs miraculous “signs” as concrete manifestations of his authority. [4] Like the true prophets receive their inspiration from the living Christ, likewise the false prophet receives his inspiration in the presence of the beast.

He employs every trick in the book to convince people that his master represents the real object of worship. He tries to present his master as the one who controls the nations, who has the power to overthrow all who dare stand against him. As a master of deception, he performs miracles, even causing fire to come down from heaven. Do you remember the magicians in the court of the pharaoh who mimicked Moses when his staff turned int snake?

Controlling science

In our day modern inventions, “new” scientific research, and electronic wonders are getting a controlling influence over the minds and actions of people. People are absolutely in its spell, and cannot live without it.

Computer forecast models for climate change is referred to as “science has spoken”. Just last week a professor of the James Cook University was fired because his own scientific research results questioned the acceptable trends, and he is not alone. What happened to the scientific method which demands that the same tests and experiments must deliver the same results when performed by other scientists? What happened to peer review? Students are not taught to think but to just regurgitate the ideas of lecturers.

Fantastic computer models and computing devices, based on augmented reality (miraculous signs?), bring to life extinct animals based on very scanty evidence, and the theory of evolution is projected over it to “with certainty” tell us how they looked like and where they lived. It is sometimes hard to distinguish between reality and animation. Documentaries with real-live animation are presented with commentary and “science” which makes it almost impossible to argue against it.

Unscientific prove about the outcomes for children is put forward against centuries of family units between a father and a mother. The sexual revolution, driven by gay and lesbian groups, as well as hostile feminist propaganda, promoting a society opposite to accepted Biblical norms, and are forced upon civilisations as a tool to force the world to bow before the image of the beast.

The servant of both the dragon and godless states

The power (verse 15) vested in governments, and even the UN with its handmaiden, the World Council of Churches, is enormous. Everything has to be sacrificed at the altar of political correctness. Social pressure on Christians is extensive, just ask Christian bakers. Mass media outlets and TV bosses choose what they want to present, deliberately ignoring opposing ideas — and devout followers of Christ become the target of ridicule. And as a result, they lose their voice.

When it comes to Revelation 13:16, which talks about receiving the sign of the beast on the right hand and the forehead, very many predictions have been offered, most of them nothing more than wild speculations. Some are outright preposterous and would leave the folk in the congregations to whom the apocalypse was written in absolute bewilderment.

A servant of financial institutions

The mark hints to the state’s political and economic “stamp of approval,” given only to those who go along with its religious demands. Keep in mind that the Devil, along with godless world political structures, as well as the false prophet do one thing very well: they mimic God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The mark on the forehead, which is the name of the beast and the number of his name, is the parody and opposed to the “seal” of Revelation 7:3–8, which is God’s name written on the foreheads of true believers. We also read in Revelation 14:1:

Then I looked, and behold, on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. (Revelation 14:1, ESV)

The Name of our Lord is also on the foreheads of those who will be gathered in heaven with Him. Just as this invisible seal and the divine name on believers signifies God’s ownership and spiritual protection of them, so the mark and Satanic name mean those who belong to the devil and will undergo eternal punishment. It is most likely also invisible.

A battle for our hearts and minds

John writes to the early church which was under attack of the devil, and the same message which applies to us today. The “forehead” represents ideological commitment, and the “hand” represents the practical outworking of that commitment. Keep your mind free from influence from him who desires your destruction, and keep your hand from doing what he wants you to do. Do not conform to the pattern of this world (Romans 12:2).

Just as the early Christians were excluded from trade if they did not set their minds and actions into going along with worldly demands and emperor worship, so Christians in all ages can be excluded from general financial activity. Is it possible to include a cashless society where all members of society must use prescribed methods to trade? Someone also thinks that money as we know it will be phased out in favour of an economy of carbon credits. Our cars and household goods are already carbon measured, and it would not be impossible to read our energy consumption in terms of carbon debits. To spread the privilege of energy evenly across the populations of the world, individuals will have to earn carbon credits, and will only get what they earn, the rest will be divided with the rest of the world. This seems plausible if international power grids are developed in a world without national borders. It will also restrict carbon consumption to prevent so-called climate change. Is it possible, but one must guard against fantastic schemes and speculations.

The identity of anti-Christ

How can we identify anti-Christ? What does his number 666 mean? Some ascribe numerical values to letters, and so get possible names. Indeed, if one would translate the name “Nero” into Greek and then add up the numeral values, one can arrive at 666. The problem starts when the spelling of Nero in Greek can differ widely between scholars. One can actually identify Hitler and Henry Kissinger as the ant-Christ if you pick the right language to work from. The dilemma is that John does not give his readers any indication that they must do some mathematical calculation. Remember Steve who did all the research but never passed an exam? Don’t miss the point here.

Every time John uses a number in Revelation it has a symbolic meaning. So, why would he, in this case, use a real number? The beast, although he parades as God while appearing to achieve divine perfection, always embodies imperfection; he always falls short. Only God is perfect: of Him, the number seven is used. The three Person of the Trinity gives as 777. Three sixes are a parody of the divine trinity of three sevens. That is, though the beast attempts to mimic God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit, he falls short of succeeding.

My friends, our text calls us to wisdom to see through the deceptive and imperfect nature of the beast. He is an imitator, nothing more. Adam and Eve could not see through his schemes and fell for him.

The beast is the supreme representative of sinful humanity, separated from God and unable to achieve divine likeness, but always trying. God created man on the sixth day, but without the seventh day of rest and communion with God, Adam and Eve would have been imperfect and incomplete. The 666 for the Christians should emphasise that the beast and his followers fall short of God’s creative purposes for mankind. They are fake gods who can offer nothing but death.

Conclusion

Be careful of compromise, not just with the Roman emperor, but with all the facets of the state in collusion with religious, economic, and social aspects of the idolatrous culture, which all epitomise fallen humanity. Be like Daniel and his friends: when they needed it most, they were on their knees before God where they found insight and strength to combat the evil. Keep in mind, their steadfastness before Nebuchadnezzar to acknowledge:

I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honoured Him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and He does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?” (Daniel 4:34–35, ESV)

Amen.

Sermon preached by the Rev D. Rudi Schwartz on Sunday 24 March 2019

Undivided loyalty to Christ, our King (2)

Scripture Readings

Daniel 7:1-14;
Revelation 13:1-10

Introduction

My dear friends in Christ,

It was without fail that, before we set off in our old Chrysler—this was long before the days of seatbelts—that Mom, ever-caring for her little brood of children—would look back over the rest of the front seat and asked, “Have you locked the doors?” And in one chorus we would reply, “Why?” Mom’s trump card was, “Because the devil can just open the doors!”

In my little mind I wondered if pressing down the door lock the can really keep the devil from us; wouldn’t he be able to unlock and open the door!

Mom’s warning helped us to understand that the devil is an ever-present pest, and he doesn’t mean any good for us. But we can sometimes be more aware of the destructive intent of the evil one than we are aware of the authority of Christ over Satan.

So, when we approach Revelation 13 let’s not be overcome by the dread of his destructive persecution of the church of Christ; instead, let us persistently fix our eyes on our Saviour. Let the words of Revelation 12:10-11guide us:

And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down… (Revelation 12:10, ESV)

The title of this short series us therefore not something like “Persecution by the Beast out of the Sea.” No, for Christians it is always about Christ. It is not about the power of Satan, it is about how Christians should respond to him in the light of the victory of Jesus Christ.

Persecution always has, and will always be part of the Christian life

The Book of Revelation is not only about what will happen sometime just before the return of Christ. It writes about the events that have always been part of the Church of Christ—and surely tells about how all of history will come to an end before the last and final judgement. It is indeed within the bounds of the understanding of the Scriptures to believe that the attack on the Church will become intensified, accelerated and global towards the end of time. Dr Stephen Nichols uses words like systemic and rapid change which leads to confusion. Isolated and localised past attacks against the Church are becoming global, orchestrated, and intense. We live in this world. But are we the first? No, surely not.

Emperor worship

The churches in the time of John received his letters when Roman emperors began to require worship of their person as divine beings. Christians in Rome were required to recognise Nero’s deity. Persecution emerged because Christians refused to worship the ungodly king. This already happened in the time of Daniel when the whole world was ordered to bow and worship before the massive statue of the king.

In John’s time, the only escape was to deny being a Christian, bow and conform to the demands of the Emperor. By the end of the first century A.D., all of the seven cities addressed in Revelation’s letters had temples dedicated to the deity of Caesar.

Trade Guilds

Something else happened simultaneously. There were different trade guilds which held control over certain trades with the effect that only people who belonged to them could buy or sell their goods. (Trade and labour unions can quickly become something similar). These guilds were influential and generally vied for recognition of the Emperor. In some ways, these two powers, the political and economic forces, promoted a worldview opposite to the Bible. After all, the patron gods of the guilds together with the imperial god of Rome were made out to be responsible for the social and economic blessings that the culture enjoyed. Refusal to show gratefulness to these gods was undesired citizenship.

Religious alliance

There was another problem for Christians. According to Roman law, religions were considered illegal outside their country, with Judaism enjoying some exemption of Emperor worship. Initially, Christians were viewed as an arm of Judaism and had the same privilege, but in about 70 A.D. the Jews dissociated itself from Christianity, at least partly because Christians claimed that Jerusalem’s destruction was punishment for the Jews’ crucifixion of Jesus. After this, Christians were exposed to full political, social and economic persecution.

Some Christians, however, compromised their faith in Christ with the idea that they can still be counted as Jews, or publicly attend Emperor worship, or join the trade guilds, while they privately worshipped Christ.

Others understood true undivided loyalty to Christ as their King in both private and public worship; they were heavily persecuted, and some even died because of their service to Christ alone.

Why persecution?

Revelation 13 gives us insight into what is happening behind the curtains. If we don’t understand this, we are bound to fall prey to the attacks of Satan. And there is more at stake than this life; we may forfeit our eternal life.

The anti-trinity

Revelation 13:1 talks about the dragon on the shore of the sea. What does this mean? Well, the dragon is Satan, the devil, the ancient serpent who leads the world astray (12:9). The sea represents the spiritual storehouse of evil, where wicked spirits are confined under God’s sovereignty. Little wonder then that 21:1 refers to the new and earth without the sea.

The beast out of the sea is governed by the dragon. He is the second entity of the anti-Trinity. The second beast (verses 11-18) is the third entity; he is the false prophet and anti-Christ (more about him next week).

The Beast out of the Sea and his “ten horns” are based on Daniel’s vision. This Beast is the ultimate evil force behind the earthly kingdoms of the world. The number of seven heads and ten horns emphasises the completeness of oppressive power and its global effect. The dragon, Satan, has crowns on his heads, as we read in 12:3, but now the beast has them on his horns, which means that the dragon executes his plan through the beast.

In all of this Satan puts himself forward as if he has the authority and dominion like Christ. He and his undertakers are a fake trinity. Both Christ and the beast (1) have swords, (2) have followers who have their names written on their foreheads, (3) have horns, (4) are slain, (5) rise to new life and are given new authority, (6) have jurisdiction over “every tribe, tongue, people, and nation”, and (6) receive universal worship.

In Daniel 7:3–8 the lion, bear, leopard, and terrifying beast represent four successive world empires, but here in Revelation 13:1–2 these four images are combined in one beast, highlighting the extreme fierceness of this beast.

Early Christians might have understood this beast to be the political power of Rome, and they would not be wrong. But for the Church through the ages, it represented every oppressive form of political power. Today we have godless regimes across the world, even by the United Nations with its program of world dominion. It can surely point to global political oppression, with godless governments banding together with a unified program of political dominance. We have already seen the push for the demolishing of national boundaries, the abolition of passports, and the call for a global government, with the so-called aim of preventing individual nations from causing unrest driven by patriotism, or even the drive for war against global warming.

Satanic evil historically expressed itself through the kingdoms of Assyria, Egypt, Babylon, Persia, Greece, Sodom, and Rome. This evil will continue to display itself in future political regimes of the world and can manifest itself as well in global economic, social, and religious structures on earth. It seems the time will come that even migration will gain one nothing.

We learn from John about the anti-Christ.

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour. (1 John 2:18, ESV)

Another verse:

and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. (1 John 4:3, ESV)

Our confidence living in a world where the antichrist is already at work is that he received a fatal wound. Our Lord, who came to earth to rescue us

“… that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.” (Hebrews 2:14–15, ESV)

Therefore, whenever believers withstand persecution, deception and compromise, the devil and his agents are defeated. Though Satan and the beasts are repeatedly mentioned as having “authority” in Revelation 13, they have no authority over the saints and no authority but what God gives them. The power he has to make war against God’s people was “given to him” (Revelation 13:7). He has a limited time, forty-two months. Only God, not the devil, sets times and seasons. If left to himself, the devil would never want to limit his work against God’s kingdom to a mere “three and a half years”, which is symbolically a short time measured against God’s power to control all times.

Deception

The dragon is so convincing in camouflaging his defeat as an apparent victory that “the whole earth marvelled after the beast.” Those whose names are not written in the Book of Life and not protected by God’s seal (7:1–4) fall for the beast’s claims and give him allegiance.

And they worshipped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshipped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” (Revelation 13:4, ESV)

World leaders have, and will, try to magnify themselves above God. They will promise peace and prosperity to all who give in to their schemes. Just think about it: pay your taxes, don’t question the expense, and what you receive is a clean environment with fresh air and clean water free of all pesticides, a good health system, an education system which will bring freedom to millions, equality between all people and peoples including the sexes, a good retirement plan and even more rain as they will fix global warming. The beast carries out the dragon’s will to “flood” the church with deception.

All along he blasphemes God’s name, speaking out and mocking God through self-deification. They mock Christians and bring accusations against those who have God’s name written on them.

Conclusion

My dear friend, do you understand that there is a war going on? It’s aimed God, Christ, his church, and at every individual Christian. How will be able to stand?

It brings me back to the devil who presumably had the power to open the car door. Are we going to trust God protect us through the journey, or are our eyes going to be fixed on the door, and in the process live in fear?

There is a way. It is not a way around persecution for the sake of Christ; it might be through terrible persecution. It surely is not the way of compromise—please, keep your faith pure and serve Christ with undivided loyalty. What is that way through all of this? The victory of Jesus Christ, our King. If your name is written in the Book of Life in the blood of the Lamb, Christ will take care of you, whatever comes your way. Verse 10 gives us a picture of the worst case scenario.

If anyone is to be taken captive, to captivity he must; if anyone is to be slain with the sword, with the sword must he be slain. Here is a call for the endurance and faith of the saints. (Revelation 13:10, ESV)

Whatever the case, never forfeit your divine rights by bowing to the wishes of the world and him who desires your defeat. May Christ help us. Amen.

Sermon preached by Rev D. Rudi Schwartz on Sunday 17 March 2019

Undivided loyalty to Christ, the King (1)

Scripture Readings

Deuteronomy 6:1-9, 17-22
Revelation 13:1-10

Introduction

Dear friends in the Lord,

They tell of the event when an umpire made a questionable judgment during a footy match. It sent the crowd into an uproar. The line judge was asked for his opinion. Then just for a brief moment, there was total silence. In that little window of quietness someone yelled out, “He wants to know how the rules work because he doesn’t know it himself!”

Can you imagine the confusion on any sports field between the players if there were no rules! More than that, can you picture the situation on the stands if there were no rules! We have vivid pictures in our minds of soccer fans being stampeded and even killed in support rage.

God and his law

We don’t read the Ten Commandments every Sunday as we did this morning, be we surely should pay more attention to it. In God’s Kingdom, there is just no room for people to follow their own minds and make their own laws. We heard in the children’s address about the need to walk by the Law and to think according to the law.

“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:4–5, ESV)

Because God is the one and only God, there is only one law to live by. “For the Lord, your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.” (Deuteronomy 4:24, ESV) He poured out his love on his people, holding back nothing to save them.

…it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments… (Deuteronomy 7:8–9, ESV)

Moses repeatedly called the people to obey God with an undivided heart. He used the phrase “Hear now…” in 4:1, 6:4, and 9:1, and in between he repeats phrases like “remember” and “keep”.

The book of Deuteronomy is a section of sermons of Moses which he preached to the people after their forty years of wanderings through the wilderness, but before they crossed the Jordan into the Promised Land. He reflects on lessons of the past and prepares them to occupy their God-given inheritance.

He stressed the importance of undivided loyalty to God by observing his laws. One major point of his sermons was his warning not to mix with the heathens and so become like them.

It is the Lord your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you— (Deuteronomy 6:13–14, ESV)

The gift of an inheritance

You know how one can read the same pages of Scripture for years and still miss things. In my study last week my mind caught specific threads running through the Scriptures, but previously I just couldn’t make the connections. To be honest, it is not so obvious, and one needs to cross-referenced through the pages to get it.

In Deuteronomy 7:22, Moses says:

The Lord your God will clear away these nations before you little by little. You may not make an end of them at once, lest the wild beasts grow too numerous for you. (Deuteronomy 7:22, ESV)

Just a few verses further he mentions the silver and gold of the idols and calls them “a testable thing”.

On the surface, the “wild beasts” and the “detestable thing” may just mean what it actually says, but John in Revelation draws from these pictures of the Old Testament. He leans very heavily on the visions of the “wild beasts” in Daniel who also makes mention of the “detestable thing” of which we read about in Revelation 13. One commentator thinks that the “wild beasts” can indeed serve as a figure of the demonic which perverts the divine image of man into something sub-human.

John, as one of the apostles of Christ, wrote the Apocalypse to prepare Christians for an era of unprecedented persecution. Christ sends his church into the world to spread the good news about his victory over sin and death, and he also prepared them for the abuse they would face. The apostle John received the word of the Apocalypse from Christ Himself (Revelation 1:10), all the while being persecuted himself (Revelation 1:9), to encourage the Christians during the persecution, but also the warn them to serve the Lord with undivided loyalty.

John uses known elements of the Old Testament in his book. To all seven of the congregations he wrote to he uses the phrase very similar to the one Moses used to warn the people against the mixing of pure obedience to the Lord. Moses repeated “Hear Israel”, and John uses “he who has an ear, let him hear” to the six churches in Asia Minor. He also uses the phrase “he who overcomes” repeatedly, meaning “he who resists” the evil and not give in. When it comes to Chapter 13 as we read it this morning, he repeats “he who has an ear” in verse 9. In verse 18 he uses a phrase which connects back to both hearing and overcoming: “This calls for wisdom and insight.”

A fierce battle

The connection between Moses in Deuteronomy is more than just accidental. Moses prepared God’s people to cross the Jordan with the Word of God in their hands and minds, facing fierce resistance in a land filled with idols, false gods, and demons — “wild beasts”. For them to overcome and settle the land as God promised they had to serve God with undivided loyalty; compromise with any god other than their Covenant God would lead to disaster.

When you father children and children’s children, and have grown old in the land, if you act corruptly by making a carved image in the form of anything, and by doing what is evil in the sight of the Lord your God, so as to provoke him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you will soon utterly perish from the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess. You will not live long in it but will be utterly destroyed. (Deuteronomy 4:25–26, ESV)

But they had God’s promise of his absolute love and compassion, his unfailing love to go ahead of them, to destroy the wild beasts before them, and live with them. Their inheritance was free, a gift of grace, they just needed to take hold of it by faith and obedience to their God.

…you shall not be afraid of them but you shall remember what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt…You shall not be in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God. (Deuteronomy 7:21, ESV)

The same applies to the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We will receive a Promised Land one day, but in the meantime, we need to “occupy” the mission field of the world with undivided loyalty to Christ and his Word. From this Word we shall not take away anything, to it we cannot add; we need to pay absolute obedience to it — it is the only warranty for success. We are engaged in a fierce battle with the “wild beasts” — not only symbols of resistance but the real deal: the devil!

I apologise for not really getting into chapter 13 of Revelation today as announced. But know this: the church of Christ is the target of Satan who seeks to destroy her. We know that he employs all he can, both political structures and false prophets to try to seduce God’s people away from the truth by all possible means.

Satan hates Christ and his church

Let’s just get the framework which Chapter 12 gives us. It tells the story of God’s people of the Old Testament from whom the Messiah would be born. The picture is of a pregnant woman, about to give birth. But as she was about to give birth an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns appeared. It was a mighty beast who had much power. The dragon (verse 9 identifies him as the ancient serpent, the devil, Satan who leads the whole world astray) wanted to kill the child, Jesus Christ, as soon as he was born. We learn for this scene that the actual war was aimed at Christ, who brought salvation and had authority over him.

However, as soon as the child was born, he was taken into a place of safety under the guard of God, and Satan was hurled down. Satan has no authority against the blood of Christ, and Christians loved Him more than their lives. This is undivided loyalty.

But Satan is more than ever determined to undermine the work of Christ. He is filled with fury because he knows his time is short. He knows he has no authority over Christ and focusses his destruction on the church. What he just cannot understand is that God’s people, those whose names are written in the Book of Life (13:8) live under the protection of Christ. What he is aware of, is that not everyone in the church is indeed a faithful follower of Christ. Satan is enraged and makes war against the offspring of the woman, which is the church, those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus (12:17).

Conclusion

My friend, do you get the picture? If you belong to Christ, if your name is written in the Book of Life, if you are under that protection of the blood of Christ, you are the target of Satan who will try whatever he can, he will employ all the forces he can to drag you away.

Therefore the warning of the Word of God: serve Christ with undivided loyalty, have his Word in your heart, in your mind, let it reign your thoughts and your decisions. The battle is fierce and if you don’t stand firm, you will not endure. But don’t be afraid. Your Saviour gave you this command:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18–20, ESV)

Lord-willing, next week we will concentrate on the beast out of the sea, and then, the beast out of the earth.

Amen.

Biblical eldership (3) “Who?”

Bible Readings

Exodus 18:13-23;
1Timothy 3:1-7

Introduction

My dear brothers and sisters, family in Christ,

For some reason, I love the “Air Crash Investigation” programs. About all episodes begin with a simulation of the crash. The pilot is barking out commands to his off-sider, the sirens are loud, in the background, there is this annoying repetition of the alarm systems. Then there is a mighty explosion, followed darkness. This is followed by real footage of the wreckage covered in smoke, usually with ambulances, the right lights of emergency vehicles, and the pieces of the once beautiful aircraft strewn all over the place.

Everyone watching these programs wonders why on earth they would ever fly again!

The investigation usually, first of all, focusses on the pilot: what did he do wrong, or where could he have understood the signals better.

Who wants to board a plane with a half-trained pilot!

Unfortunately, many Christians are careless when it comes to the calling of a minister or the election of elders to be their spiritual pilots.

The seriousness of well-equipped elders

When Paul makes a list of the gifts to the church, about every time, he puts church leaders first. He does so in the chapters mainly concerned with spiritual gifts.

And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. (1 Corinthians 12:28, NIV)

This is not accidental, and we should not miss his point. When he continues his argument about the importance of gifts in chapter 14, he states,

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. (1 Corinthians 14:1, NIV)

He continues in verse 3 and 12:

Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, excel in those that build up the church. (1 Corinthians 14:1, 12, NIV)

“Prophecy” in these verses must not be confused with the gift of tongues, which is last on the list of gifts—Paul makes it clear that prophecy is more important than the gift of tongues. Prophecy is, in the normal scheme of things, nothing more than declaring the Word of God and to glorify his Name. After the canon of the Bible was closed, only in very rear circumstances is prophecy something which will happen in future. The phenomenon of people speaking in tongues to predict the future does not line up with the Scriptures; prophecy and speaking in tongues is not the same thing! Real discernment is needed to determine the difference between that sort of prophecy and fortune-telling.

Now, back to eldership. Why is it so important? It is paramount to understand that God calls people to preach the Word, and others to keep guard over the pure preaching of the Word, and also to shepherd the flock to live according to the Word. All other gifts become less critical when we grasp this truth.

This means that eldership is significant. It says that you must make sure that you elect elders who meet the qualifications of Scriptures, or they will be like half-washed pilots in control of the plane in which you are a passenger—not really because no-one in God’s Kingdom is a passenger. We are more like an army where everyone is engaged in battle, with the elders acting as the training officers.

Well-equipped elders

When it comes to the “who” of eldership we don’t call the shots; members of the church cannot determine what they think elders must do, and what sort of lives they should live. It is the prerogative of God; it concerns his church bought in the blood of his Son Jesus Christ.

When Moses had to elect elders back in Exodus 18, he had to select men with specific spiritual values: capable men—men who fear God, trustworthy, who hate dishonest gain (Exodus 18:21, NIV).

When Paul instructed Timothy and Titus to appoint elders for leadership and feeder-ship of the congregations, he essentially lists the same attributes as mandatory for elders.

Our text says to be an elder is to fulfil a noble task. What is noble about it? Does is mean elders are of particular bloodline, more or less untouchable, high above the rest of the congregation? The Bible is more concerned about the respectability, of the calling of elders than it is about the people who hold the office. Elders need to meet qualifications to adorn their calling and fulfil the task they are called to do. These qualifications were not set by the apostle, but by God. After all, elders are caring for God’s people.

It seems one can divide the qualifications for eldership in two major categories: their moral character, and their testimony.

The elder’s moral character

Above reproach

An elder should be someone who cannot be attacked (even by non-Christians) because of his ethical conduct. This does not mean that an elder must be sinless; it does mean that he has set his mind at serving the Lord with all his heart. Titus 2:8 uses a similar idea which is translated as “that those who oppose you may be ashamed because they have nothing bad to say about you.” In this regard, an elder must have a good track record. Verse 7 states: In terms of his good character, he must have a good reputation even with outsiders. Unbelievers might not share the same beliefs as elders, but they will have respect for them because they are trustworthy, respectable men of their word, men who practice what they preach. They are not two-faced hypocrites.

He must be a man who honours his marriage

The statement “a man of one wife” does not mean that an elder must be married. Unmarried men can surely serve as elders. But when they are married, two aspects must stand out:

An elder is a man of one wife. This does not mean that a divorced man can never serve as an elder; what it surely implies is that if his infidelity in a previous marriage led to the breakdown of that marriage, and he subsequently married the wife with whom adultery was committed, such a person cannot serve as an elder. Such a man is surely not above reproach.
The second aspect of the elder’s marriage is equally important: he must manage his family well. This includes disciplined children who know to respect their parents. The point is this: if an elder fails to be a successful godly example to his family, how can the congregation expect that he will be able to lead them to show reverence for God, and bow before the authority of the Bible?

Do you want a godly elder who can lead you in your Christian walk right into eternity? See if he is a godly father and husband.

Temperate, respectable

An elder is a man whose conduct is free from any form of excesses, particularly in moral and spiritual matters. It might suffice to say an elder is a sensible and dignified Christian. He has a mind that is earnest and sound, he is well-ordered and free from confusion, hence “orderly” and well-behaved.

This takes us to understand the opposites mentioned in the paragraph: an elder cannot be a drunkard, a violent man, quarrelsome or someone who loves money. He is not someone who is known who can fly off the handle quickly; he is not someone who picks a fight or gets involved in a battle of words just to win an argument or to have the first and the last say. An elder is not greedy; too many widows can witness to the greed of church leaders who cheated them out of property and money. The opposite should be true of an elder: he is called to willingly part with his cash when needed—not putting his own family in jeopardy—to help the truly destitute.

Hospitable

An elder is a friend of strangers. His house is open to those in need. This might become more pressing in times of Christians losing their jobs because they profess Jesus Christ as Lord. In tough economic times, the elder is the one who welcomes in the destitute to give them shelter.

The elder’s testimony of the Word of God

An apt teacher

An elder is a true prophet to the people of God.

Not all elders need to be able to preach, but all elders must have sufficient knowledge of the main aspects of the teachings of the Bible to guide the people of God in their spiritual walk. Historically it was the task of the elder to teach the young people of the congregation to prepare them to make public profession of faith. Elders teach from house to house when they read the Scriptures, pray for those in their care, encourage the sick, the lonely and those who mourn. An elder must be able to apply the Scriptures when a member of the flock goes astray; he must be able to refute false teachings. It speaks for itself that an elder must love and study of the Word of God.

An elder is a true prophet to his own family.

It calls for sincere love and dedication of a father to be the prophet of his family and to make it his priority to lead them to salvation in the Lord, but it is also an unspeakable privilege. It calls for much prayer, teaching in the Scriptures, a good example, love, and dedication. Sadly, it is right here at this point that many who end up in eldership failed before they begin.

Not an immature Christian

It now speaks for itself that an elder cannot be a new Christian. Before he can be able to teach, he must himself grow in the knowledge of the Word; he must mature in his walk with God to the testimony of the congregation before he can take on the spiritual leadership role.

An elder is a male who loves Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour

Much is said about the equality of male and female roles in our society. We don’t have enough time to go into all the arguments, but it does not need an in-depth study of the Bible to come to the conclusion that leadership in both family and church family is ordained of God. We in the Presbyterian Church of Australia subscribe to the complementary understanding of God-given tasks between males and females. One is not higher or greater than the other; we have different roles which complement our service under the Headship of Christ. Eldership is according to the Bible a role for men.

Conclusion

It speaks for itself that capable elders can only be elected by members who are circumspect in their walk in the Lord. Watch over yourself; be diligent and prayerful to elect capable pilots to guide you to arrive safely at your spiritual destination.

Amen.

Sermon preached by Rev D. Rudi Schwartz on Sunday 24 February 2019

Biblical Eldership (2) “What”

Bible Readings

Psalm 23
Acts 20:17-31

Introduction

Dear friends in Christ,

Lord willing, in the near future, the congregation will elect elders. Last week we learned from the Scripture “why” the congregation of God needs elders. There are mainly two reasons.

The first reason is that Christians, however living under the grace of God, are still not perfect. We rebel and struggle against sin and the attacks of Satan, both in our private lives and in our lives as members of God’s people. We need discipline to keep on the straight and the narrow, and we need guidance in our relationships as members of the body of Christ. We need the oversight of elders to pull us up and lead us back to the clear waters of the Scriptures.
The second reason is that everything in the household of God needs to be according to his declared will in his Word to maintain unity, peace and Christians love. We need people, who are called and appointed by God, to shepherd us to obedience and order on the way to our promised land. This they do under the authority of the Scriptures.

In all of this, both our leaders and us, bow under the authority and Headship of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Today we are listening to the Word on the “what” of eldership.

The offices in the church find their example and fulfilment in the Person of Jesus Christ. He is the fulfilment of the offices of priest, prophet and king of the Old Testament. We need no priest anymore because our Lord was the last High Priest, the final sacrifice and the fulfilment of the sacrificial system. Christ is the fulfilment of all prophesies; He is the Word of God through whom God speaks to us. The Holy Spirit takes the words of Christ and declares them to us. As king, He rose from the dead, victorious of sin, Satan, death and hell.

The perfect Shepherd

Keep this in mind, and Psalm 23 gives us a perfect example of Christ as our Shepherd. He provides all we need so we don’t lack anything. He leads us and protects us, even through te valley of death. He prepares a feast for us in the sight of our enemy. He leads us to our eternal dwelling. Christ himself declared:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (John 10:11, ESV) My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. (John 10:27–28, ESV)

Paul met with the elders of Ephesus and commanded them:

Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. (Acts 20:28, ESV)

Elders take their role as shepherds from the example and command of Jesus Christ.

The flock of Christ belongs Him

Let’s never forget who we are. The Bible is clear on this point.

…the church of God, which He obtained with his own blood. (Acts 20:28, ESV)

The reference to blood takes us to the office of priest. There is no redemption, salvation or forgiveness of sin without the shedding of blood. Jesus Christ was the Lamb without blemish—perfect because He knew no sin.

The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. (Hebrews 9:13-14, 24, NIV)

As members of the body of Christ never forget that you belong to Christ, and the price was his blood.

For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. (1 Peter 1:18–19, NIV)

Without question, then, elders should have experienced this redemption for themselves. Those called to be elders can only lead the flock in the ways of the Lord if they know and walk that way themselves. It was custom in years gone by for leaders in the civil community got elected as elders to acknowledge their leadership. Bank managers, school principals, doctors, chairmen of public organisations got the nod to become elders (and in may an occasion, unfortunately, members of the Lodge!), but unfortunately, many of them did not have any, or minimal, Christian experience. They could not make a credible profession of faith, they hardly knew the Scriptures, and they did not display a life consistent with a life in Christ. The church suffered badly because their leadership was not godly, was not based on the Scriptures, and in many cases was a shame to the Name of Christ. This is not the plan of God for his church. It was the death nail to the people of God in the Old Testament. Isaiah writes: 56:10-11

Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep. They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, they seek their own gain. (Isaiah 56:10–11, NIV)

An ungodly elder is like a bull mastiff eating through its meal like a hungry lion, but afterwards, it goes to sleep in the sun. As a watchdog, it is useless.

When someone is called to take up eldership in the church of Jesus Christ, such a person takes up and weighty and significant appointment. To his care is entrusted not just any group of people. The flock he needs to tend to belong from eternity to Christ. God chose them in Christ before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight (Ephesians 1:4); He predestines them to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1:5); He did this so that they should live to his praise and glory (Ephesians 1:6); Christians, bought in his blood, are now the family of God (Ephesians 3:14) and Jesus Christ lives in his church because they are his holy temple (Ephesians 2:21).

Elders as shepherds

To maintain good order, unity and peace within his church, our Lord calls elders to guard and protect the flock. They need to feed the flock too. That’s what shepherds do. Elders take their cue from the Upper Shepherd, Jesus Christ. He left the 99 and went looking for the lost one. He put everything on the line for the wellbeing of the flock.

For elders to be good shepherds, they need to take care of themselves, and of fellow-elders. “Watch over yourselves”, is the command. Elders are not a rule unto themselves. Fact is every heresy started amongst elders, of which the preacher is one. Elders watch over other elders and need to test their ministry against the Word of God; they first must stand under the discipline of the Word, before they will be able to take care of the flock. The point is, they have not appointed themselves. Once someone displays the attributes of being an elder, two things need to happen:

He needs to have an inward calling from the Holy Spirit. It is a stirring which only the person who is called would know and understand. He might then put up his hand for the job, but a second calling is needed.
The congregation, under the guidance of the same Spirit, must call him to the office. This is what we are preparing for at the moment. We are presently ascertaining the role of an elder against the Word of God. We are going to pray about it; then we are going to have a ballot. Those elected will receive training, the existing elders will come back to the congregation and report about the readiness and spiritual life of those appointed. Only then will we have a proper election—and after that will the elders-elect be ordained and inducted. This is a slow process but a necessary one.

Savage wolves seek to destroy the flock

There’s one thing the owner of the sheep knew very well in ancient Israel: you can’t leave the flock alone in the paddocks. Even today with the luxury of fences we understand the devastation of dingos and foxes. They can destroy a flock and cause much damage.

The same applies to the church of our Lord. We have an enemy, a raging lion who seeks to devour. It is the calling of an elder to be the guard against these attacks. It is for the benefit of the sheep that they heed to the warning of the shepherds, even if sometimes they don’t like it. Don’t despise the pastoral care of your elders when they speak out against spiritual laziness and sin in your life. It is entirely within the plan of God that his people need spiritual discipline by the elders. They don’t stick their nose into your business when they pull you up on slack attendance of public worship; they are not nosy when they inquire about your Bible reading and prayer, or your participation in congregational activities and witness to the outside world. They are there for your good.

How would you know if their oversight is godly? Easy! Test it against the Word of God. Elders are not permitted to Lord it over the people of God, but they are called to rule under the Word of God. Paul speaks of himself as a servant of Christ:

I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. (Acts 20:27, NIV)

On this basis does he charge elders to watch over the flock of Christ—they would need to do the same: through constant study and contemplation, they need to understand the Word and know how to break the bread of the Word to their flock. This does not imply that they need to be theologians; they just need to love the Word and live under its authority. Paul says:

“Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. (Acts 20:32, NIV)

The Word builds up; it guides us on the way to our inheritance. We are all under this gracious Word.

A calling with high demands

If Paul is anything to go by, and indeed he in some place calls people to follow his example, elders need to hear this:

I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace. (Acts 20:24, NIV)

Not all elders are full-time workers, but in some sense, this must be true of all elders. They are called by God, they need to take care of the flock bought in the blood of Christ, they need to know the enemy, and they need to complete the task God has called them.

Conclusion

My dear friends, take your privilege of electing elders very seriously. Don’t expect of them more than you expect of yourselves; they are feeble human beings. They would certainly need to be held up by your prayers and encouragement. May God help us to be a congregation to his glory.

Amen.

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