Can I do a quick review of last week? I shared two motivations for this series: Truth and Assurance, based on two observations. One of the greatest dangers we as Christians face today is the thinking that Christ, his truth and the word are irrelevant. The Bible would teach us that we must be convinced that there is one truth and his name is Jesus. To know what truth is we look to him and what he says.
A colleague of mine said a few weeks ago what voice does the Christian church have anymore? We are now a minority; Jesus is a swear word or just another guru…I beg to differ…
I went away from Monday’s lunch so encouraged. There was a young Maori dad present who has left behind a life of drugs etc, to follow Jesus and said to me, “I am not interested in all that stuff anymore…” he paused, in tears, and then said, “I just love Jesus!”
And secondly, it seems hardly a week goes by without a significant national or global calamity of some kind. But we need to never be in doubt who is in control. Nothing that happens in this world happens without Christ’s knowledge, this is the assurance we have. Jesus is all sufficient and all supreme, and this is Paul’s main message to the church then and today.
We looked at verses 1-8 that are Paul thanking God for the church – we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you – because they were known for their love, their faith, their hope and for their understanding of God’s grace.
Thinking about today’s passage now: scripture has many prayers and models of prayer we can learn from, apply and personalize into our lives and church context. After all what better way to pray than to pray following God’s word. But as we pray what are we praying? That’s the angle I want to take today in working through these verses.
Colossians 1:9-14 says –
“For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, 10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. 13
For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
I wonder if this is something many of us did when our kids were young? Having a growth chart with pen marks somewhere on a wall or doorway, where you would measure your kids’ heights every few months. They, you and their siblings would see how much they had grown. In our case I was reminded why the grocery bill was going up! As a parent, it’s awesome when our kids grow old enough to learn what pleases you and then they do it. “Dad, I put the rubbish out for you” “Mum, I baked you a special cake for your birthday” You know that they’re growing because they want to do things to please you.
Have you ever thought about what spiritual growth looks like as God’s children? Is growing in God important to you? How might we think it is measured? At its heart spiritual growth is learning how God wants us to live, and then for us to please him by living that way.
So as we examine this prayer let us realize that…
Growing in God is Knowing How He Wants Us To Live (v.9)
The first things I want us to look at is how important prayer was for Paul and Paul’s habit of praying. “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you.” (v.9)
The fact that the church was doing so well spiritually did not lull Paul and Timothy into slackening off in their prayer efforts for the Colossians: quite the reverse actually, it led to even more intense prayer.
His prayer for the church was unceasing – ‘we don’t stop praying for you’ – it was regular, intensive and focussed and, is the engine room of any church, it is where the main business of the church is done. There’s an important lesson, as good as things appear to be going, our prayer life as a church must continue to ramp up! Paul here, and in considering other writing teaches us four things: *
Pray regularly. It is not intended prayer be a bland side-line thing, but something that permeates our Christian lives. Spiritual fortitude depends on regularity in prayer.”[1]I can imagine that Paul would have been constantly praying for churches and its people, perhaps as he stitched his tents.
Pray with praise and thanks to God in and for all circumstances.
Pray for others. Certainly pray when we become aware of pressing issues/crises (e.g. our prayer chain). But we want to be confident that someone is praying for us[2], consistently because intercession is more than waiting for a problem…it’s anticipation.
Pray for growth. Growth in the knowledge of God.
How he wants us to live is bathed in prayer.
As I said earlier, even though the church was doing well, Paul and Timothy ramped up their prayer for the church. Name a move of God or a revival that never began with prayer. Prayer behind us and prayer in front of us. Prayer!
“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives.” (The second part of v.9) *
How he wants us to live is full of the knowledge of his will.
Illustration – Tell me how much more water I can fit into this partially filled jug? That difference can be filled with God or something else. What inevitably happens when we’re half full of God and half full of the world and it’s thinking, is we end up living CCL’s. “Clunky Christian Lives”. Kind of like riding a bike on half-flat tyres. A little read of Revelation tells us what happens to half-pie Christians. We want to avoid that.
I think we can easily fill our minds with ‘stuff’ that distract and subtract from Jesus, that prevents the filling of the knowledge of God – and only we know what those things are. I’m not sure we can ask God to “fill us” when we’re filling ourselves with stuff, or exposing ourselves to stuff that’s not, God. It’s the human inclination to be satisfied, contented, happy. But ultimately we can only be completely fulfilled in Christ. We help be the answer to our prayer here, by pushing the delete button on what gets in the way of Jesus…. sometimes literally!!
For example, a young man came to me many years ago struggling with pornography, “I don’t know what to do, I’m looking at this stuff morning, lunch and afternoon tea. What do I do?” Remove any and every avenue…and we’ll set up your devices so that if you were to look up something your wife would receive a message. Woh!
These are the sorts of decisions and radical departures from habitual sin we must make in order to be filled. He asks the question over the next chapter “why as though you still belonged to it do you still submit to its rules?” (Colossians 2:20) “It” being a superficial/false version of genuine faith in Christ. “It” being something that wasn’t putting Jesus first.[3]
When Paul prays for filling with the ‘knowledge of God’s will’ he is not talking about being smarter about God, whether to accept a job offer or who to marry. This is moral knowledge. Knowledge of God’s character. Knowledge obtained by consistent application of God’s word. Knowledge obtained by looking only to the person of Christ who embodies God’s will. Knowledge that guards our hearts, minds and spirits from going spiritually skew-wiff!
I have a very poor sense of direction, particularly when I’m in a foreign place. Thankfully these days we have things like Google maps that help us, helped a lot when we were in Australia recently, and even then when I didn’t listen properly I took a few wrong turns. If I don’t know where I’m going, or how to get there, where am I going?[4]
How do I know what to do in my marriage if I don’t know what God’s standards are? How do I know what attitude to serve with if I don’t know what the Bible says? How do I know what to do with my resources if I don’t understand what God expects of me? (Psalm 119:11)[5]
Behind the reason for Paul’s prayer is the danger that Christians not grounded in the word will unknowingly and unconsciously allow the values and practices of our culture to dilute faith. And that is precisely why we pray for knowledge of God’s will. Then God gives us the knowledge we need, to convict, change and conform us to a closer more meaningful relationship with himself. Because it is only in response to the knowledge of God that we can live in a manner that honours him.
Now all of that leads us to verses 10 – 14. When we know God’s truth, and we know God’s principles, and we have committed to applying them into our lives, there’s going to be amazing results (fruit). Because Knowing how God wants us to live leads us to being able to please God in all things…
Growing in God is Pleasing Him In All Things.
Here, in verses 10-14, are four crucial benefits of applied knowledge and action
We are saved for good works, not by good works, but good works are the fruit of being genuinely saved and on track with Jesus (Ephesians 2). Paul gave thanks to God for the Colossians not just for learning the truth from Epaphras (1:7) but because that led to concrete results. True spirit-filled faith doesn’t decide which areas of life I will be faithful and God-honouring in, and then build walls around other areas. All the walls are down. We’re all in or not. Hot or cold. Choose you this day! True spirit-filled faith changes the way we think, live and act toward others; “pleasing him (God) in every way”.
Whereas people who are enemies of God in their minds (1:21) have consigned themselves to an ignorance of the truth and are part of a society where immorality and other evil behavior are normal and commonplace – and that includes in the church.
We’re not here to fit in, but to stand out.[7] We must be cautious of complacency. To be “holy … without blemish and free from accusation” (1:22) in our society requires a spiritual resilience and knowledge, “endurance and patience” (1:11) that sustains us in going against the tide. True, spirit-filled faith changes the way we live and treat others. Only true Christian existence can produce fruit. And fruit is something that God expects from every Christian[8].
Some practical examples…
being exemplary employers/ employees. Standing out, being above reproach
responding in a godly manner in hostile situations
not being offended when the truth is being spoken to us
denying ourselves for others
even when we know it might hurt us, tell the truth
What we notice about every one of these is they are the complete opposite to the way we might like to react and they are the opposite to the way the world reacts, that’s the point!
b. Growing in the knowledge of God
I covered this earlier so just a brief comment: I get terribly sea sick. There are a few people here who might like to see me on a fishing boat or a cruise, but I’m not sure I’ll take the risk. However, a quality vessel will have adequate and well-calculated ballast for the conditions. Ballast stabilizes the ship. James describes best what a Christian without “ballast” looks like: “a wave blown here and there, tossed about by the wind…doubting, unstable”. Knowledge of God is ballast! We set ourselves up for shipwreck and spiritual crises in the absence of growing in the knowledge of God in the word of God.
For Christians to grow in the knowledge of God, our homes, children’s church, church, home groups must be a rigorous biblical training ground. Why? Because the need for truth and a moral compass from being scripturally saturated in God’s word could not be greater. We must fill up in our tank of love for God, love for his word, filling of his Spirit…that’s our ballast!
c. Being strengthened with all power
You’ll note in Paul’s prayer this power is connected to endurance and patience[9]. Two qualities we need to navigate this world in which we live. We need God’s power to endure in our circumstances and for patience towards others. Power that comes from the gospel (Romans 1:16-17), power that comes by the Holy Spirit (Romans 15:13[10]). Every Christian will meet with adversity of some kind, it is only by God’s power we can work effectively through any suffering, crisis, grief and trial. These will require endurance and patience, clinging to Christ in tough times. Paul puts it best in verse 29, “To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me”.
I want to pick up the story of the young man from Monday’s lunch. His youngest daughter was born with a heart murmur, requiring surgery and then heavy sedation for a couple of weeks. The family didn’t know if she would make it, but they prayed and trusted God. That’s not all. He believed God had even placed it there, for a purpose…so He could be shared with others.
Endurance and patience by the power of God, because we ‘know’ God is, we know we’re called by God.[11]
d. Through joyfully giving thanks.
Why would we joyfully give thanks to God? Because he has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:12b-14).
There’s a lot in here, to have an attitude of gratitude and thankfulness toward God. Let me start with this: until we are assured and utterly convinced that God’s grace in Jesus is enough, and what Christ has done for us is enough and fully sufficient, we’ll find it difficult to be thankful[12].
Do we find that we effortlessly criticize and complain about people and things? Is that our default response?
(refer back to the jug illustration) A spirit full of thankfulness of Jesus makes no space for ingratitude. Time spent in God’s word and prayer equips us to recognize discontent and ingratitude, and turn it around. Paul says, “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances” (Philippians 4:11). Pleasing God, is joyfully giving thanks!
Thanksgiving is not intended to be something that we squeeze into our lives in the margins like that last tiny item we barely have room for in the suitcase – “get in there”. The way we are to live life is with gratitude and thanksgiving, crowding out complaining etc.[13]
Helen Keller, who became blind and deaf at a very early age, wrote in her autobiography: “For three things I thank God every day of my life: thanks that He granted[14] me knowledge of his works; deep thanks that He has set in my darkness the lamp of faith; deep deepest thanks that I have another life to look forward to — a life joyous with light and flowers and heavenly song.” Her claim was that so much had been given to her that she had no time to think about what had been denied her.[15]
*A thankful and grateful heart keeps us mindful that our lives depend entirely on God, not on ourselves. The main reason we cannot be thankful or have gratitude, is because we’re not free. Not free from what I think my rights are. Not free what I think I deserve. Not free from my unforgiveness, and attitudes towards others when the biggest problem is me. “Sin cripples; God’s grace in Christ frees”[16]
Did you notice there were at least two reasons in the prayer that should seal the gratitude of every Christian? He has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light…and he has rescued us, we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. If Christ is your Saviour, he has qualified, you and rescued you.
Qualified – imagine if I turned up to Porritt Stadium next Saturday and the New Zealand athletics coach told m I had qualified for the team, and all I did initially was commit to the team. How absurd. Yet here, when I say yes to Jesus, he makes me ‘fit’, he qualifies me for eternity with him[17]. He does that, not me.
We have been qualified to receive a personal inheritance, something that belongs to us as individuals. What is it? Peter says it is an inheritance than can never perish, spoil or fade (1 Peter 1:4). It is eternal life; it is God living in me now, by his Spirit. It is the earth, yes the earth (see Matthew 5:5)[18]. Jesus will return one day and take over the earth and we will reign with him in glory.
When do I receive it? You have! Right now we are living in the inheritance.[19] When you come to Christ, you immediately inherit eternal life, the whole earth, and all the promises. Marvellous!
Rescued – you have been rescued, delivered, forgiven. Rescued from what? The power of darkness. In Romans 16, Paul said Satan is under our feet. That’s a tremendous reality! In Christ’s death, at the cross, Satan was defeated, he (Christ) has rescued us from the “clutches of the power of darkness”[20] And once rescued church, we need never fear that power, rather we give thanks!
What hope do you and I have apart from Christ? Apart from his grace? Answer: no hope.
Let me sum up like this. When we look at what Christ has done, how can we can do less than worship him, give him thanks, and live to please him?
Conclusion
Lord we ask that you would fill us with the knowledge of your will, through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. We pray this in order that we may live a life worthy of you Lord, and please you in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of you God, being strengthened with all power according to your glorious might so that we may have great endurance and patience, joyfully giving thanks to you Father, because you have qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.
“For you have rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son you love, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Thank you Lord!
[2] We need to be assured we are cared for, prayed for, and supported.
[3] There are still things we belong to or that have made their home in us, we need to repent of, get rid of, they are rubbish…in order to be free to pursue Christ.
[4] Where are we headed if what is guiding us isn’t the word of God?
[5] I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.
[7] Not melded into the world, not conformed to the world, but distinct. Tolerance, and inclusiveness are not to be confused with compromising the truth of our calling.
[13] We fill up on the one to crowd out the other! “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfil your vows to the Most High” (Psalm 50:14). It was Jesus habit – see Matt. 11:25; 26:26; John 6:11; 11:41. Paul mentions those who don’t thank God in Rom. 1:21
Today we begin what will be a several months-long series in this awesome New Testament letter of Paul’s to the Colossian church. Before we get to the opening verses, as this is the beginning of the book, let me take a few minutes to give you an overview, some context and speak to my motivation for this series.
Colossians is one of four of Paul’s prison letters – the others are Ephesians, Philippians and Philemon. It is likely he wrote from prison in Rome to the church at Colossae, which was located about 160 km SE of Ephesus. Paul never visited the church prior to writing. Epaphras, a convert of Paul’s, planted the church, and as a young church they became a target for attack from false teachers – I’ll speak to this more in a moment. It was Epaphras reporting to Paul in Rome which sparked the need for the letter. We’ll see Paul’s letter speaks relevantly into our circumstances today. Different day and issues but the battle remains the same.
Part of the motivation for this series is recognising that in today’s world where we seek to live as Christ-followers, there is a constant deviation from the truth. The prevailing idea that “my truth is just as good as your truth if it works for me.”[1]
If I say my daughter is my biological child and you say she is yours, the fact you said that doesn’t make it true. Relativism doesn’t make any sense. It is a fallacy.[2]
But one of the greatest dangers and obstacles to mission we Christians face today is the thinking that Christ, His truth and His word are irrelevant – we need only read a newspaper column[3] and that is why many call today “post-truth”. For many, God’s truths are even dumbed down, altered, scripture is conveniently interpreted to fit a certain way of living as if it’s God’s responsibility to accommodate how I’ve chosen to live…
Jesus said “…the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” (John 18:37)
We must be convinced that there is one truth and his name is Jesus. He is truth, he defines truth. To know what truth is we look to him and what he says.
God’s word says (Colossians 2:8-10) “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ, you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority.”
Another part of the motivation is from recognising what’s happening in the world and the anxiety and uncertainty such things can cause. It seems hardly a week goes by without some significant national or global calamity. We need to never be in doubt who is in control, who is supreme and sovereign. Nothing that happens in this world happens without Christ’s knowledge…assurance.
The Christian life, therefore, is about an implicit trust in him for all things, a life aimed at living life his way unto him for him.
Colossians 1:16-18, “…all things have been created through him and for him….so that in everything he might have the supremacy.”
So with these two motivations in mind, we look to Paul’s purpose for writing this letter, which was/is to encourage Christians to keep looking to Christ, trust Christ, look to him as the only true Saviour (truth), he alone is all-sufficient and he alone is supreme (assurance).
Why was this necessary? Because of false teachers bringing their influence to bear on Christians with a false view of who Jesus was with their hollow and deceptive philosophies and human traditions (Colossians 2:8). So Paul’s task was to bring clarity around who Jesus is because everything – Christians and the church – is in proper alignment when Jesus is given his rightful place. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
We can only be in right unity and purpose and one with each other in our worship our ministry and mission when Christ has his rightful place – at the forefront of all our lives and all we do. If Christ is out of place, if he does not have supremacy, then everything else we do matters little…
Let me speak very quickly to what the two main issues were that Paul was addressing. This is important because it’s these issues that make the whole letter make sense[4]
Here are the two issues:
Jesus was less than God, not supreme, not all-sufficient.
There was a secret knowledge, a secret mystery available to only a select group of people in the church – so it may be that only 10% of us in this room would receive this secret knowledge about God that is otherwise to advanced for the average person in the congregation. So this would have been the Colossae spiritually elite small group
Paul writes to address these threats…speaking to the second one for a moment, this secret spiritual knowledge, the key, the code, the one answer. I’m intrigued by how relevant that is, to this day.
Have you heard of a book titled, “The Da Vinci Code”? I could not find a precise amount, but as of 2009 80+ million copies had been sold, and translated into 44 languages[5]. Why was it so popular? People want answers, it told the world about “secret things”, codes, not provided for in the scriptures. This is the modern-day equivalent of exactly the sort of threat Paul wrote about. Dan Brown doesn’t have the secret code, and I would much rather have Colossians in hand than The Da Vinci Code. Isn’t that what the enemy would love to do, preoccupy us and distract us from the truth of God’s word?
There is no salvation in feel-good-about-yourself-philosophy, no salvation in man-made rules, no salvation in traditions, we cannot think-positively ourselves into the kingdom of God, there is no secret knowledge for certain individuals (see Colossians 1:26) and Jesus most certainly is God!
The hopelessness of the world and for the world outside of Christ is all the motivation we need to keep to the truth and stay true to the gospel. It is all the motivation we need for our ministry, mission and reaching others for Christ.
READ Colossians 1:1-8
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people— the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you.
In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world—just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and truly understood God’s grace.
You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.[6]
Someone might say Paul was so super-spiritual, an idealist, out of touch with the real issues and the normality of people’s lives, too pushy, to ‘judgy’? Fine for him to talk this way, he was an apostle.[7] This thinking/resistance comes from wanting to have our own brand of truth; one of the matters Paul was addressing. Paul is not self-absorbed or arrogant, just a man zealous for Jesus! Think of a rugby player fending off an opponent so not to be tackled, or tripped up. That’s what Paul is doing here.[8]
So how is it possible to apply these truths and live in the knowledge of the future prospect, of soon being with Christ in eternity, because that’s our goal. But we can tend to live, make decisions and be drawn into worldly ways of thinking and acting when Christ wants us to be free of self-centred worldliness. That’s where Paul leads us in Colossians.
Let’s look at the first two verses:
“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To God’s holy people in Colossae, the faithful brothers and sisters in Christ: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.” (v.1-2)
Usually, a letter would have the name at the end, different in the 1st century, and this letter is not written by just anyone, not that Paul is better than anyone else, but he has God-given authority and apostleship. This gives what follows credibility, authority, a sign that it is important to listen.
We probably all have (or have had) someone in our lives we deeply respect for their wisdom, and sense of authority they wield. When these people speak, you know their reputation precedes them, and you just know you’ve got to listen because this will be gold.
Most of the church would not have met Paul but would have known his reputation. And even though the letter touches a few raw nerves in places, Paul, in the middle of all the stuff they were dealing with, had this ability both to build into the people wisdom and correction at the same time. In the middle of hard times Paul says, you are “God’s holy people…faithful brothers and sisters…we thank God for you…(but) set your mind on things above, not on earthly things.”
…and that church, is precisely what we need to be and aspire to in this day, God’s Spirit helping us. We want God to say of us, as we fight for truth, you are holy, you are faithful…
The church was…
Known For Their Faith
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus (v. 3-4a)
Epaphras had gone back to Paul in Rome and told him the church is dealing with this matter or fighting that issue, but Paul speaks of their faith, and that they remain strong in Jesus. And so what an encouragement for them to hear that commendation from Paul. He did not assume that they knew this for themselves, sometimes we can’t unless others help us. Some of us find it hard to encourage because we’ve rarely been encouraged. Our default should always be, to lift each other up. “…when I pray for you, I thank God for you…”. You can’t imagine what that does for someone’s spirit. With the background of the letter in mind, we know Paul’s purpose for such words was to counter the opposition and maligning they were facing with possible resultant nagging doubts these Christians may have been developing.
It happens – Christians do succumb to doubts and criticism and disappointment from unmet expectations[9], it happens, today: I met someone like that several weeks ago! Faith isn’t to rise and fall dependant on our circumstances[10], because the object of our faith is Christ and the gospel…
Am I talking about faith that ignores hard times, sin and sickness and being so heavenly-minded that we are outside of reality? No! I’m talking about viewing matters of life through a lens of faith and knowing that in all things Christ is our sufficiency! Being over heavenly-minded is not our challenge, being worldly-minded is![11] Where is the Christian whose heart and mind are so set on the glory of heaven with Christ? This life is literally our preparation for that.
Faith is not an intellectual belief; faith is that I’m giving my whole self to trusting God. If there is a subtle message behind Paul’s encouragement, it’s not being so heavenly-minded that affects your faith and your love, it is being worldly-minded! Guard yourself…
Vincent J. Donovan tells of a conversation with a Masai elder about how the word for “faith” was to be translated into his language. The elder contended that the word chosen was unsatisfactory because it meant “to agree to.” He said that it was similar to a white hunter shooting an animal with his gun from a great distance. Only his eyes and his fingers took part in the act. We should find another word. He said for a man really to believe is like a lion going after its prey. His nose and eyes and ears pick up the prey. His legs give him the speed to catch it. All the power of his body is involved in the terrible death leap and a single blow to the neck with the front paw, the blow that actually kills. And as the animal goes down the lion envelops it in his arms (Africans refer to the front legs of an animal as its arms), pulls it to himself, and makes it part of himself. This is the way the lion kills. This is the way a man believes. This is what faith is.[12]
They had great faith and were known for it, but Paul wanted to further build that faith and confidence in God.
Known For Their Love
“…we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus…and of the love you have for all God’s people.” (v.4b)
Their faith was expressed in their love for others. Their love for others said they had faith in Christ (see also v.8). This was their public reputation.
The Bible says: We know that we have passed from death to life because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death (1 John 3:14). Love is only love when others are involved. To love is a reflection of our salvation; our response to the gospel, and an appreciation of his grace. To love is not optional. I love because to not love is to disobey obey a basic command, and to not love is to ignore Christ’s work of the cross, and Paul said to the church, you guys are doing it…
“By this, all men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another” (John 13:35). The world assesses our born-againness by our love for each other, that’s a high calling, isn’t it? Love is often determined first by how I feel about a person or a situation but biblical love considers Christ first. I love because he does, and he says to.[13]
I have thought about this a bit and wondered practically what does this look like. Here’s a little list. We love each other by –
Meeting together regularly (Hebrews 10.25)
Caring for each other (1 John 3:17-18)
Praying for each other (Ephesians 6:18)
Sharing our resources
By the way we talk with and about each other
By the way we deal with issues – not being easily irritated, or offended, not bearing grudges…[14]
Known for bearing Fruit
“…the faith and love that spring from the hope stored up for you in heaven and about which you have already heard in the true message of the gospel that has come to you. In the same way, the gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world” (v.5-6a)
Paul zeros in on where this faith and love come from – and I’ve already alluded to it – hope. Hope motivates our faith and our love because the word hope here refers to the goal of our hope which is Christ and the reality of life eternal with Christ.
One of the reasons Karyn and I work with people who have lost loved ones to suicide is to try and bring hope[15]. We are not aloof, from how broken people can be, but we are motivated to persevere by the prospect of one person…wouldn’t that be great fruit?
This is what makes the gospel glorious, and is why Paul was so thankful to God for the Colossian Christians. Their hope motivated them to a deeper faith and a deeper love.
I think of Moses and what may have motivated him to leave Pharaoh’s court and become the leader of a bunch of grumbling, stubborn people, and be faithful to them for forty years.
“By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.” (Hebrews 11:24-26)
Moses considered his decision and what he did to be of greater worth than all the treasures of Egypt, as tempting as that may have been. He set that aside and was transformed by the renewing of his mind. How? “…because he was looking ahead to his reward”. He had set his mind on his hope that was directed on the great promises of God[16]. Let me say it again: being over heavenly minded is not our challenge, being worldly-minded is! The only question that should be on our minds is how, here, do I give my whole to God, that stores treasure in heaven?
We’re all too aware the enemy works hard to dim or even sometimes destroy the believer’s hope. People walk away from Christ. We must do everything to safeguard our hope, invest in hope, be reassured in our hope, protect our hope. Christians with a lack of hope will also lack joy and purpose and will be prone to compromise. When we struggle to see the wonder and grace of Christ and the glorious life that awaits us in heaven, we inevitably will be prone to compromise, we have to find hope somewhere.
How is our motivation for Jesus, let alone hope in him? I’ll tell you how to answer that: look at your prayer life, your word life, your worship, service and giving life.
Reset and realign your hope in Christ, not on the temporary and failing pleasures of this world, trust in the heavenly promises of God and the gospel. We need to come to terms with this hope not only for ourselves, but our evangelistic efforts require it. The gospel is for all people, of all cultures and circumstances. We cannot be intimidated or set back by such talk as “this is a post-truth, or post-Christian world or the gospel has no relevance”.
It’s that hope of the gospel and from the gospel, that motivates love and faith that Paul says was bearing fruit throughout the world and having a universal impact. As for our community? People need Jesus more than ever…
Known for understanding God’s Grace
“…you…truly understood God’s grace. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit.” (v. 6b-8)
This means from Epaphras and from the gospel they learned and understood God’s grace. All that we have talked about was because they saw, felt, appreciated, understood and responded to God’s grace. That’s the key![17] They understood in detail John 3:16[18]
This was a church that came to terms with God grace. That’s a church that we could be thankful to God for! That’s who we are and that’s what we aspire to. I am certain that as we grow in our appreciation and understanding of God’s grace, fending off untruths and worldliness, living for Jesus, we will be known for our faith, love and hope!
Prayer
Not to us, not to us but you O God be the glory. God that you might visit with us, today, in the power of your Spirit, for the glory and honour of Christ, that we might be filled with your hope, that might see and understand your grace, be renewed and re-inspired in our faith. God that the bonds of worldliness might be broken off, so we might pursue Christ, only.
[6] Paul was an encourager and exhorter…listen to this: To God’s holy people…faithful brothers and sisters in Christ…Grace and peace to you from God our Father…We always thank God…when we pray for you because…we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all God’s people …you truly understood God’s grace…we have not stopped praying for you…We continually ask God to fill you…You please him in every way, growing in the knowledge of God…he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom
[7] To question one’s belief system is to be unpardonably judgmental and intolerant – Col. NIV COMMS
[8] Anything that doesn’t honour or love Jesus, don’t listen to it, don’t believe fend it off. Paul was not about limiting what people do, rather promoting life in Christ.
[9] The church should have done this or been this and that for me, and you’re right they should have…but that isn’t a rationale to abandon Christ.
[10] If it does, our faith is in our circumstances, less than it is in Christ
[12] Adapted from https://thepastorsworkshop.com/sermon-illustrations-on-gods-pursuit/
[13] Is there ever a time or a situation when Jesus would say you don’t have to love that person?
[14] We think and behave as if we have the right to hold onto grudges, to not forgive, to not extend grace, as these things are conditional. In Jesus, those “rights” were nailed to the cross.
[15] For a long time, I felt as though I could have been living in a bubble removed from reality
[17] Why we need Jesus, what Jesus has done for us, what we must do, and how our lives change = gospel
[18] The gospel can only bear fruit successfully when people faithfully proclaim it and when others respond with understanding and obedience. (Col. Niv Comms)
We’re continuing our discussion about worship we started last week…the key points were: when we see the Lord, we see his holiness, recognise our sinfulness and therefore our natural response is worship, such is our appreciation of his grace.
But how do we view worship? Something we primarily do here on Sunday or is worship everything we do? [1] The phrase I shared a few weeks ago, in reference to gratitude to Jesus, was: our lives ought to be one big long thank you – that’s worship. Worship is not particular or peculiar to the place or any circumstances we might find ourselves in. We are, as A.W. Tozer puts it “called to an everlasting preoccupation with God!”. We are left in doubt about this from the scripture.
How we view worship, how much it costs me, how intentional we are to engage in worship, is how we view God[2]. If we’re aware, we’re always in his presence, he is always watching, listening, if that is what we believe then worshippers are who we become. But with so many competing distractions our lives are often filled with greater competing preoccupations.
Imagine you’re invited to your own surprise birthday party and we all came along, you came into the room and we all jumped up and said, “Surprise!” And you were! “Oh my goodness, this is a birthday party…” And just as soon as we’d said surprise and gestured toward you we all went back to talking to each other: we totally ignored you, no gifts, no cards. There was no further sign or mention of the specialness of the event, and you were in the middle of all this, waiting for a cake or, something.
Finally, we all left and there you were. You’re left thinking, hang on, what kind of party was this? We came to the party, but we didn’t show up!
When it comes to our worship, at some point we have to decide, how much Jesus is worth for our worship. The answer is, of course, he’s worth everything, but do we deliver on that?
And I think the story we’re looking at today – Mary anointing Jesus with the expensive perfume – teaches us what worship is, when we see the worth of Jesus, when his worth is matched by our love for him, that is worship.
These verses challenge our motivation in our serving and worship. They address the risks of worship being for self-gratification and seeking self-satisfaction as if I need to get something out of it. “What did you get out of the worship today, how was the worship for you today…?” Perhaps we can turn such questions around: “What did you offer Jesus today…?”
Because the true motive for serving Christ is, we do what we do because he is worthy of everything we can do for him.[3]
READ John 12:1-8
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honour. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.
Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
“Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you but you will not always have me.”
These verses are a lesson in giving Jesus all he is worth, generous worship, giving him all of our devotion and worship at great cost to our-selves – Mary poured it (the perfume[4]) all out…the gratitude and the inexplicable cost of the act of worship. The story is also a lesson in guarding our hearts against self-preservation and selfishness too: Mary’s act demonstrates what ought to be true of our daily worship.
In the last chapter of Watchman Nee’s book, The Normal Christian Life he points out that in the parallel accounts of this story in Matthew (26:6-13) and Mark (14:3-9), all the disciples joined Judas in scolding Mary for wasting this expensive perfume on Jesus when it could have been sold and the money given to the poor. But Jesus defends Mary by replying (Matthew 26:13), “Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”
Nee says that Jesus “intends that the preaching of the Gospel should issue in something along the very lines of the action of Mary here, namely, that people should come to Him and waste themselves on Him.” Or, to state it another way, the gospel is “to bring each one of us to a true estimate of His worth.”[5]
Let’s look at principles we can draw from the characters in the story…
Jesus’ Honour
(Verses 1-2a) Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honour.
This is a celebration of the resurrection of Lazarus, its focus is on Jesus, a dinner is held in his honour to express gratitude to Jesus for raising Lazarus from the dead. King Jesus is in the house! And Lazarus this man once-dead now-living is right there reclining at the table as the product of their praying, and the power of Jesus. Mary and Martha have just seen their dead brother walk alive from the grave. What does that do for their sense of worship of Jesus?
The dinner, however, was just to set the scene…
Martha’s Serving
(Verse 2b.) Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him.
I like to think Martha and Mary and others in the home would have discussed their plans, they wanted it to be special after all Jesus was coming. Lazarus is probably quietly watching on, appreciating being alive and grateful to Jesus. Martha is in her usual place, serving and organising the meal, ensuring everything is in order and the meal is well served. Her service and gratitude is the worship of Jesus. But Mary is about to express her gratitude and worship of Jesus in a lavish way.
Mary’s Worship
(Verse 3) Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
So Martha’s role was to thank Jesus by seeing to the details of the dinner, and Mary’s role was to thank Jesus by pouring this expensive ointment out on Jesus. In both these ways, they would express their worship and gratitude for Jesus’ grace and power to raise Lazarus from the dead.
Mary so loved Jesus, that her desire to worship him, following what she had seen him do and who she believed he was, meant complete disregard to her self in terms of the cost of her worship.
Some might ask about the sensibility of such an act, was it foolish, irrational? We know it was worth about a year’s wages, let’s say in today’s terms 30k worth. Any way you figure it, Mary’s action was costly! She could have sold the perfume, given 90 per cent of the proceeds to poor people, and still had a sizeable amount to give to the Lord. But that is missing the point of the act.
And the Lord rebukes them “For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.” He was not implying that the poor should not be helped, he was saying, “I am more worthy of your unselfish act of generosity and worship than all the world’s poor put together!” He was accepting the worship that Mary gave him because she rightly saw that he is worthy of all that we can give him and even more.[6]
Because when we see who is he is, we’re not concerned about ourselves, we’re concerned about how he sees us and how we worship.
Mark 14…. Jesus said it was a beautiful thing she had done. What was beautiful about this act and why was it beautiful?
The consideration was less about the economic cost of the perfume and more on the investment being made in the Lord. The perfume that Mary had was not some side-street cheap and nasty watered down version, it was the real deal.[7] For Mary, the spiritual investment was greater than the physical cost.
The bible calls faith, the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. Mary had faith. Even though she had the benefit of having Jesus in person right there, faith required her to sacrifice that expensive perfume for a greater spiritual goal. What she gave only had earthly value – there were plenty of people who thought they had better ideas of what to do with the money – she saw beyond this to the eternal benefits.
You know the most striking part of this story is Mary’s disregard for what others thought (social costs), or may have been thinking – she wiped his feet with her hair – something respectable Jewish woman would never think of doing, in fact, was the act of someone with loose morals. Remember David danced before the Lord despite opposition. But his response was (2 Samuel 6:14-23) “I will become even more undignified than this, I will be humiliated in my own eyes.”
Mary had complete disregard for the financial cost and was concerned only with the Lord. There is no teaching here that suggests we are to imitate what Mary has done, however, the principle is, our worship is to cost us something – could be our dignity like David, could be your time, could be our finances. Is Jesus worth more than anything I own than all my finances (because he owns it all anyway!). Is he worth more than my pride, and how others might view my acts of love toward him?
When John Paton let it be known that he planned to move with his new bride to take the gospel to the cannibals in the South Sea Islands (mid-1800’s), an old man in his church said, “You’ll be eaten by cannibals!” “My dear sir (Paton said), you’re getting up in years and soon will be laid in the grave and eaten by worms. If I can but live and die honouring the Lord Jesus, it doesn’t matter to me whether I’m eaten by cannibals or by worms, because on resurrection day, my body will arise as fair as yours!”[8]
Judas’ Scheming
(Verses 4-6) But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.
Judas wasn’t concerned about the poor, at all, but more about the fact he thought that was a just a waste of good money, down the drain. Before we go taking the speck out of Judas’s eye…Judas’ response, tragically shows us the state of our hearts when not matched to the worth of Jesus.
It may not be a financial matter, but something quite different, where we’re placing greater worth on ourselves, our opinions, our feelings over those of the worth and worship of Jesus. Notice Judas’ attempts to appear genuine in his concern? But it was an affront to his real motivations, which was for money, not Jesus.
For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. (1 Timothy 6:7-10)
Martha served out of a heart of gratitude and thankfulness. Mary worshipped extravagantly and generously with no regard for herself, the cost, or for others. Judas’ was all about me, myself and I. The home is filled with the fragrance of the perfume but at the same time the betraying heart of Judas. And Jesus rebukes Judas, not hard to see why?!
Jesus’ Worth
(Verses 7-8) “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. You will always have the poor among you but you will not always have me.”
There was a plan in place for the perfume, but Jesus did not see her act as reckless, or foolish but as worship. He accepted the worship that Mary gave Him because she rightly saw that he is worthy of all that we can give Him and even more.[9]
“Leave her alone” Judas because she exemplifies what it means to love me. Jesus is saying, Judas your preference for money and self-serving blinds you to my worth. You “cannot serve two masters” (see Matthew 6).
Jesus is also saying something much subtler. I’m referring to his statement “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial” The perfume was already poured out, so why would Jesus say this? Here are two possible reasons:
Jesus didn’t want Judas to disrupt Mary’s gratitude, love and worship after his death. Jesus wanted to preserve that, so he says “leave her alone” Judas, don’t you be a voice that spoils her love for me.
And 2ndly, Jesus was indicating that Mary had anointed him in preparation for his sacrifice, death, burial…and didn’t want Judas distracting from that
The world screams at us to live and behave a certain way. God has changed, the world says, why doesn’t the church? In many cases, the church has, tragically. What you believe is no longer applicable and relevant.
There is a Judas-like voice that says, why do we need to do that, isn’t this good enough? Church, any voice that tells us to moderate the truth of our love and worship for Jesus, we do not listen to. Why? Because God does not accommodate what I think or feel is right, that makes me sovereign.[10] Our affections for Jesus must be in keeping with who he is and what he deserves: all of us and everything![11] Any voice that tells you, or implies that Jesus is not worth our affections we do not listen to.
What did Mary see in Jesus that the disciple Judas Iscariot, didn’t? Because that affected their contrasting responses. Mary saw Jesus’ worth, grace and glory, Judas, well, did not! And so it follows when we are unable to see his worth, grace and glory, the focus becomes ourselves, Jesus (at best) takes second place!
There is no measure we can apply to our love and worship of Jesus, we cannot scale his worth, which is why the best we can do is to give him everything we are and have.
Reflecting on this story you might ask how do we know the difference between what is [12]reckless and what is worship? Best answer; the motivation of your heart. (Does it match Jesus’ worth) If what you are giving or doing is in the first instance for Jesus’ glory, and for the kingdom of God…
What today for you is the equivalent of “pouring out the perfume on Jesus”; the equivalent of this kind of selfless, extravagant worship and giving ourselves uninhibited to Jesus?
At a pastors’ conference, Bill Mills told about a time when he was speaking to a group of Wycliffe missionaries in South America. On the last evening, as he ate dinner with the director and his wife, she told him how years before they had been assigned to translate the Bible into one of the local languages, a lengthy process then, often taking about twenty years.
During the process, the translators were teaching the Scriptures and seeing a new church emerging among the tribe. But as they came toward the end of the translation project, the tribal people became more and more involved in selling their crops for the drug trade and less and less interested in the Scriptures. When they finally finished the translation of the New Testament and scheduled a dedication service, not even one person came!
The missionary’s wife was angry and bitter. She had given twenty years of her life so that these people could have the Scriptures, then they didn’t want it! Reflecting on this season Bill said it is as though God has been washing His Word over my soul and healing me, and He has opened my eyes to see this all from His perspective. I am just beginning to realize now that we did it for Him! That is the only thing that makes any sense in all of this. We did it for God!… We do it for Him[13]
Conclusion
There’s a story about a woman in Luke 7, a prostitute, but she learned to love Jesus. She also anointed the Lord and worshipped him. She also used perfume. This time it was Simon Peter who objected, he comes alongside Jesus and says (my words) “did you notice what she was doing over there?”
Listen to what He said, Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon Peter, “Have you noticed this woman? When I came into your home, you didn’t give me any water so that I could wash my feet. But she washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss.
But from the time that I came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You didn’t pour any olive oil on my head, but she’s poured this perfume upon my feet.” “Simon (Jesus said) let me tell you something. She has worshipped me, do you?
What is it we will pour out at the feet of Jesus that he will be glorified among us today?
What is Jesus saying to Fairfield Baptist this morning?…
Mary’s act of worship gives a biblical basis for evaluating our own act/s of worship, and Judas’ example helps us to test our motivations of worship. Mary didn’t do this out of duty or obligation, but sheer devotion and love for Jesus, and she gained this posture how? By sitting at His feet.
Worship is not about self-gratification, for me getting something out of it, or for me to feel good about myself. Worship puts self aside to focus fully on Jesus who is worthy of all we can give him…
What is it we will pour out at the feet of Jesus that he will be glorified among us today?
Let’s be a church that really does love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and it shows. Let’s not be ashamed of our love for Jesus, who is our Lord: he is worth it!
[1] Worship is constant because God is: he always is
[2] When I see him in all his glory, I will want to worship him
[7] Nard was a rare and precious spice imported from northern India. Nard is a shrub whose leaves and “shoots” were harvested and taken by caravan to the west. Sometimes it was mixed with its own root to increase its weight. Note that Mary’s gift is called “pure” nard, meaning it had no additives. Nard smelled like gladiolus (gladiola) perfume (Pliny: “a sweet scent”) and had a red colour. It could be used in a variety of ways: in medicinal recipes, as an aromatic wine, as a breath scent, and as a perfume (for clothes and body). (NIV Comms John)
[10] That God is a God of love doesn’t mean (or ought to be confused with) he is approving and accepting of all behaviours immoral. The other side of the ‘coin’ is God hates sin. He judges sin. But makes a way nonetheless through Jesus…
I’ve mentioned here before I love the beach, I haven’t got there much, yet Karyn will tell you I have no interest in sitting on the sand sunning myself, I want to be in that water! Right in. Some are a little more cautious, just want a little water around the ankles and knees, safety first. I’m always thinking of a spiritual connection – and here’s what God is saying to me, for this year, it may seem a little simple, little absurd but work with me – how much of God do I want to experience (encounter, etc) this year? Little of God or like, fully immersed in Him, everything of God I can get?
How much of Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Father God do I want to experience this year? You might have your own version of this question…we might think there’s a simple response. God wants all of us, so of course, I want to give all of myself to him, and I want to experience the fullness of all he is able to provide.
For me, it’s not such an absurd question. Why? Because the fullness of God may be right there, his Spirit wanting to fill me each day, but it only happens when I am intentional when I’m hungry when I desire more. What would each day this year look like, if every day started with an intention to practice his presence all day? Why do we need to talk about such things? Because being in his presence, being aware (conscious) he’s with me, affects everything I do, say and think. And this starts with realizing he is holy…seeing that God is always there!
Who of you, each time we meet, would not want to experience and encounter God and the power of his Spirit in all His fullness? I think we all want that, don’t we?
The idea behind such messages as this is the belief that our worship experience in this place can take on a new dimension…dynamic, vibrant, exciting, transforming…“Worship (that) is our response to the reality of God in every part of daily living”
It’s a potentially scary thing isn’t it, when we say to God, you do what you want here this morning Lord, I’m ready for anything? We want you to have the freedom to be God among us. When we ask God such a thing we’re also willing to lay down anything that’s between me and God, anything I love more than him, that I give more attention and affection to than him, we’re willing to let go of[1]
When was the last time that any of us are able to say, “I know I met with God today, he showed me this, he ‘said’ this, convicted me in this”. We’ve already determined we need to be intentional, however, what is required to have an encounter with the living God, one that will change us?
For the next two Sundays, I want to talk about worship, the presence of God, encountering God. Today we’re going to take a look at a passage where the prophet Isaiah met with God and what that did in (and for?) him. We’re going to look at Isaiah’s vision (commissioning) and encounter with God to help us unpack these themes a little…
As I read and re-read these chapters in Isaiah, though dealing with serious matters in terms of God’s judgment I find myself being awestruck with all God is…
Isaiah 6:1-8
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it, he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for. Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send?And who will go for us? ” And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
This was Isaiah’s encounter with God, but he is stating for himself what is true for all Israel and indeed what can be true for us today. So let me summarise in a sentence the context of these verses: we need to see our hopeless state in light of the Holiness of God.[2]
I believe this passage that teaches us about worship and gives us a biblical example of an encounter with God, shows us two key areas:
The process that God desires to take us through in worship
Our responses that God desires to take us through when we worship
So let’s look at the process. The first thing is, God was revealed in a very special way during Isaiah’s encounter. Look at Isaiah 6:1 “And it was in the year that King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord.”
The revelation of God
It’s very significant that Isaiah would begin with these words. Significant because King Uzziah had been on the throne for decades (52 years, from the age of 16). He had been a strong, godly king, a good leader that people had placed their security in until pride led to his undoing (burning incense in the temple; see 2 Chr26).
And it was when King Uzziah died, feeling the emptiness of a lack of leadership in the country, and a need for something significant to happen, that God spoke to Isaiah in this encounter. As he came close to God he looked on the throne and saw the Lord. Isaiah says, I saw him, and it was just the train of his robe that filled the temple.
We’ve seen pictures of brides (mostly royal brides) whose dresses have these long trains, fills the aisle, and then gathered around them covering the steps in front of them afterwards. Here, the train of God’s robe fills the entire heavenly temple…and the heavenly creatures covered themselves such was the magnificence and the glory of God. The point is they couldn’t look on the Lord such was their reverence for him.
I wonder if we’ve lost some of that – reverence for God? This is why it’s good to talk about his holiness and what worship really means?
My view is Isaiah wrote this to make the point that Uzziah might be dead but God is not, he cannot be forgotten: he is very much alive and at work, alive today, too. Like Uzziah many Kings, important people have come and gone, we are finite, but not God, God is always and forever. He is from everlasting to everlasting! (Psalm 90:2)
100 years from now most of us will be gone and there’ll possibly be billions of new people on the earth (unless Jesus…) But not God. He was the living God in 1966 when Theologian Thomas Altizer proclaimed him dead and Time magazine put it on the front cover.[3] In my research I discovered then, around 97% of Americans believed in God, yet had shrunk to about 63% by 2014[4]
Isaiah saw the Lord, God had caught his attention, but he was ready and receptive. What is our worship, if it’s not worship that see’s God?
I think of Job here. For all of his personal issues and challenges, he was able to see the Lord. (Job 42:4-6) “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.[5]
How ready and receptive are we to seeing the Lord? “Worship is our response to the reality of God in every part of daily living” Worship has to begin when we focus only on Him.
What do we think will happen – I know we’re certainly praying for this – what will happen, this year, when we gather together here, in our prayer meeting, services, small groups, in our hospitality, each one of us SEEING GOD? Do we realise the experience of Isaiah can happen here? God, is moving, doing stuff, it’s for us to get in step with him, to see him.
Yes, in the year that the king died[6], but what’s to note here is that it was this moment that sparked a (shall we say) spirit-filled ministry. Revival? IS God saying ready when you are?
Revival happens when we see less of ourselves and more of God. When we see ourselves in light of his holiness, disobedient, broken and in need of his grace and forgiveness. That’s when we’re beginning to see him…we’re only in a place to do what he wants us to do, be where he wants us to be, when we, see him…and that was the purpose behind Isaiah’s message
Many of us will be familiar with the infamous Watergate scandal in the USA that resulted in President Nixon resigning. One of those involved was Chuck Colson, known now as the founder of Prison Fellowship International, but back then served time in prison following which he made a commitment to follow Christ. His story is that on June 1, 1973, he was so confronted with his sin — not just the dirty tricks of Watergate, but the sin deep within me, the hidden evil that lives in every human heart. It was painful and I could not escape. I cried out to God and found myself drawn irresistibly into his waiting arms. That was the night I gave my life to Jesus Christ and began the greatest adventure of my life.
Here was the so-called White House hatchet man, willing to cry out to God in 1973, but also willing to repent several years later of a woefully inadequate view of God.
A friend suggested to Colson that he watch a series by R.C. Sproul on the holiness of God. Here’s what Colson writes: All I knew about Sproul was that he was a theologian, so I wasn’t enthusiastic…but at my friend’s urging I finally agreed to watch the (teaching). By the end of the sixth lecture, I was on my knees, deep in prayer, in awe of God’s absolute holiness. It was a life-changing experience as I gained a completely new understanding of the holy God I believe in and worship. My spiritual drought ended, but this taste for the majesty of God only made me thirst for more of him.[7]
Is God’s holiness such that we have a growing appreciation and appetite for him/ for his majesty? As the deer…The first key is that all significant worship begins by seeing the Lord…if we don’t “see” him, does worship to take place?
The next interesting part of Isaiah’s experience was…
The realisation of God’s holiness.
Once we see Him and He reveals Himself to us, we begin to realize and see His holiness and the (real) worship experience takes place. Real worship is throwing our sinful and broken self at his holy feet in utter dependence.
In verses 3 and 4, we see the creatures calling out to each other that day, saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God.” Doorways and things are shaking and there’s smoke…power and glory of God shaking things up a little…
There’s an old song we sing sometimes, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face, And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace.” When we worship and we really see Him and we see His holiness, our awareness of His presence grows and other ‘stuff’ begins to fade away. It does something in us (if we want it to) because we live in such an unholy, unhealthy, upside-down world. Realising his holiness gives us the ability to transcend stuff in life that is disappointing, discouraging, dismal and, unholy, it’s pulling me down, because despite what we feel, he is still, God! A little shaking drives us to God…
The heavenly creatures “called to another, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!’ When we say or sing Holy is the Lord what are we saying, what are we wanting to say? Anything we say is completely inadequate to describe God, no language comes close. So we do say it, but our minds and hearts know he is infinitely more.
1 Samuel 2:2: “There is none holy like the Lord, there is none beside thee.” Isaiah 40:25: “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One.” Hosea 11:9: “I am God and not man, the Holy One in your midst.”
Being in the presence of God changes our perspective…WORSHIP. I believe that’s what God was showing Isaiah in this vision, with the creatures, “calling to one another…Holy, holy”.
When we see the holiness of God, our spirits are lifted up and makes us want to become more like Him. That is worship. This worship – realising Gods holiness – can’t be manufactured, drummed up, hyped up. We can so easily come to rely on music and other components to help us feel as though we’re connecting with God, and sometimes we are[8]…worship though is being so aware of his majesty and holiness, our natural inclination is to love him, we don’t need anything apart from knowing, he is holy
I want to make a comment and I say this carefully: we don’t necessarily come into this space to feel God present, we come knowing in faith he is present.[9] We don’t come ‘into a time of worship’, this is a continuation of our worship. The environment is a factor, but it matters little when I know God is here. Who knows what might happen if only we stop resisting what his Spirit is wanting to do is us?
There’s another significant thing that happened with Isaiah, but perhaps one we rarely talk about, and that is if we are face to face with God’s holiness we can’t help but recognise our sinfulness…
The recognition of our sinfulness
As soon as Isaiah saw God as Holy, what did he do? He said, “Woe is me!” He cried, “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.” (Isaiah 6:5)
One evidence of knowing that we’re close to God and seeing his holiness is that we’re faced with our sinfulness, inadequacy and shortcomings. We realize the truth of Romans 3:23. “all have sinned and all have come short of God’s glory.”
Being in the presence of God, and seeing his holiness, causes us to see our sinfulness and therefore, because of Jesus, appreciate his grace. The opposite of this, of course, is complacency, hardening of our hearts, we forget our state before God, which is why coming before God every day is so vital, to worship; acknowledging our sin and accepting his grace.
And the irony of Isaiah’s encounter with God in chapter 6 is that his ministry would do the very opposite of what had happened with him. His preaching would harden hearts, dull ears and closed eyes (Isaiah 6:10). God’s judgement, the price of disobedience.
We have the benefit of learning from such stories and getting ourselves right with God, putting ourselves in the best place to see him. Which brings us to the last and probably most obvious point all this leads into a true encounter with God leads to a response
A natural response of our lives
What do I mean…? The response of a real worship experience is a change in commitment to God.
Let me explain: worship leads to commitment, and committing ourselves to God is worship. Because, when we ‘see’ God in His fullness and we realise his holiness, our response is similar to that of Isaiah’s – “Whom shall I send?And who will go for us?” Isaiah said, “Here am I. Send me!” (Isaiah 6:8-9)
Our first and arguably natural response in being confronted with His presence is “Lord, take me. I’m available.” That sort of availability and growing denial of self…is worship!
I think of Isaac Watts’ great hymn:
“When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God;
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did ever such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small:
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.”
If we come into the presence of God, we’ll make commitments to God, he turns our heart in servanthood to Jesus. If we have, or will have our ‘lips touched with the burning coal’ as Isaiah had as part of his commissioning and worship experience, we need to be ready for anything.
Worship is commitment to God, it stretches even to doing the stuff that we might not otherwise do or is way outside our comfort zones (no hesitation with Isaiah). Because worship is not thinking what is right and comfortable for me, it is accepting what is right from the Lord for me to do. Worship is not God accommodating my wants because that would make me sovereign, it is obeying what he wants, from me…
What might God be ‘commissioning’ you to today?
TAKEAWAYS
See the Lord
See his holiness – we need a fresh vision of the blazing holiness of God!
We’ve just heard in the scripture readings about who Jesus is, the light of the world. He is the light that is God, that helps us see God, that helps us know God. Christmas is a celebration of this light, Jesus, given to us as a son, for the salvation of all who *might believe. But Christmas is more than a celebration, it is an acknowledgement, it’s ‘yes God, you did this, for me, thank you for this great gift’.
In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:4-5). The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. (John 1:9)
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness. (John 12:46)
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5)
…he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
Where Jesus is when he says these words is important to appreciating who he is and what him being light of the world means…picture the scene…
He’s in Jerusalem, in the temple courts, and there are 1000, s of people gathered for one of the great feasts of the year. Jesus is in the most populated part of the temple.[1] One of the main ceremonies during this Feast was the Illumination of the Temple. Four enormous stands, each with four golden bowls filled with oil, so huge they needed to be reached with a ladder. So when these things were lit up at night, the light shone out all over Jerusalem. This great blaze lit up every courtyard in the city, and it burned all night long.[2]
In that setting, Jesus finds himself a spot and announces, “I am the light of the world”, not a light, “the” light! And then begins an exchange with the Pharisees, the spiritual authorities. “You are who?” “What are you saying, your claims simply cannot be true?” They didn’t understand, they were conflicted, because they didn’t want to believe. When Jesus said, “I am the light of the world,” they saw no light.
For centuries this promised Saviour had been spoken about through the prophets, they could quote all the scriptures off by heart, but that was no help to them with their hardened hearts. At the end of the same chapter John says even as he spoke many put their faith in him (8:30). That was the response to Jesus’ message…many who were initially blind to what Jesus was saying, heard the truth and responded to the truth so they could have the “light of life”. The life that gives the light.
You know someone said once it takes greater faith to believe Jesus doesn’t exist than the faith to believe he does, because the evidence is so overwhelming.
…he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
If you look in the dictionary, a definition of light is something that makes vision possible. In a physical sense, light makes it possible for us to see in the dark. Without light, we are blind to our surroundings, situations and circumstances, blind to even ourselves. Light makes it possible for us to see things as they really are.
Think of the simple electric light, most of us probably don’t think twice about flicking a light on when we need to, but it becomes pretty important all of a sudden when the power goes off. Perhaps we realise we take this privilege for granted?
I wonder if there’s an even greater, Light, we take for granted, Jesus. Oh, it’s just Jesus (motion flick light). But he’s not just Jesus! There was a moment when in the heart of God, he looked at humanity on the earth and said, now is the time, called a team talk with the angels made his plans, then sent the angel to Zechariah…
That Jesus is the light of the world doesn’t mean the whole world is being lightened by Him, it’s not, not yet anyway. It means he is the only light in the entire world, the only means of hope in the entire world. It means anchored to Jesus the light we’re able to navigate our way through life…
Out at sea a battleship and the crew were practising a number of manoeuvres and the ship’s lookout noted a light in the dark, foggy night. After noting the light’s coordinates, the captain recognized his ship was on a collision course with what appeared to be another vessel. The captain gave the order: “Signal the ship: We are on a collision course; we advise you change course 20 degrees.” The return signal countered, “Advisable for you to change your course 20 degrees.” The captain signalled again, “I’m a captain, change course 20 degrees.” The response was, “I’m a seaman second class, you’d better change your course 20 degrees.” By this time the captain was furious and angrily ordered, “I’m a battleship. Change course 20 degrees, NOW” The reply: “I’m a lighthouse. You make the call.”
The message here is the light will save you. Carry on the course you’re taking, deaf to the truth, unaccepting of the light and you’re on a collision course.
Jesus, God’s only son, introduced into this world as a baby, fully human, to live and then die as God’s own answer to our sin, because he, God, is willing that no person should perish, but that all should have life with Him in eternity. God says in this dark world, I’ve made a way available, here’s my son Jesus, he’s the light, believe in him, trust him, follow, him.
The only alternative to Jesus is being in the dark, but he says, “whoever follows me will never walk in darkness”.
He’s not dreamt up, fictitious, just a name in a book. All of us ask the question at some point – is Jesus real? It’s a yes or no answer! Mary’s immaculate conception was real, Jesus born as a babe was real, Jesus’ death and resurrection were real. All real. We, have Christmas, because of Christ…the greatest gift you could receive this Christmas is him, it’s free, it’s a “yes” away…
Before Jesus, most of the world was spiritually blind. It was unable to see spiritual reality. Blind because people had rejected God.
In the song authored in 1772, and performed approximately 10 million times annually[3], John Newton says “I was blind, but now I see”. What was Mr Newton referring to? God’s amazing grace – that is, God being willing to give us something we do not deserve – Newton says, “whoa…now I see it! God has opened my eyes to see who he is, who I am and now I’ve got to do something about it…”
“Jesus said, ‘…I came into this world, that those who do not see may see.’”. (John 9:39-41). Jesus came as the light to help a blind world, a world imploding and revelling even in its dark and dangerous state, to regain its sight.
Can we say today, ‘I was blind, but now I see, I see you Jesus, I believe’. When we respond to the light that is Jesus, the Holy Spirit does a work in us, the eyes of our hearts are opened and then we have the light of life. “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light”[4]
Are we walking in the Light today or are we still in darkness?
*Christmas, means that God himself was willing to come into a dark place and bring the light of salvation. Because of Him, salvation is available to all of us. Christmas is the event that marks the coming of Jesus the light of the world.
