Genuine Repentance: Part- 2

The reason why we are going through this Psalm is because we want to examine if our repentance is real/genuine. In doing that what we are doing is: going back to the example of David and seeing what kind of repentance David had. And asking to ourselves a question: If what was true of David is it also true of me? In other words in our attempt to look into this Psalm we are asking some serious questions to the repentance we have done.

(Scripture Reading & Prayer)

The story is told of a famous rabbi who was walking with some of his disciples when one of them asked, "Rabbi, when should a man repent?"  The rabbi calmly replied, "You should be sure you repent on the last day of your life."  "But," protested several of his disciples, "we can never be sure which day will be the last day of our life."  The famous rabbi smiled and said, "The answer to that problem is very simple.  Repent now."

I think this illustration really fits in this scenario. Because, sometimes even believers postpone repentance. And this is exactly what David did and the problems started in his life, in his family and eventually in his kingdom.

This is my prayer that as we are going through these messages the Lord would grant you a proper understanding of genuine repentance. My prayer is especially for those who do not have a proper understanding of genuine repentance; that they would repent and turn from their sin of rejecting Christ and rejecting the gospel. Because if you don’t turn from your sin; right now you are living under God’s judgment.

So, here is the title for the message for this morning.

Genuine Repentance- Part-II

1.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Confession: vs. 5

2.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Salvation: vs.6-7

1.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Confession: vs. 5

As I thought about the last week’s message; I think it would have been appropriate to name the second point as: “Genuine Repentance understands the seriousness of godly sorrow rather than Confession.”

The reason why I say that is because; vs. 3, 4 talk about godly sorrow. Notice those 2 verses. “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”

In those two verses David is a representation of a godly man. Because the first sign of a believer in God is that; he feels the guilt of his own sin. We learnt in our Adult Sunday School that in the New Birth the person understands the gravity of his sin, then he understands the weight of Christ’s sacrifice. And the wonderful part of it is: that just doesn’t stop at Salvation, but it goes on even after Salvation. In David’s case: his repentance was after his salvation. He understood the gravity of his own sin; his soul was hard pressed by God. And according to vs. 4 he felt the heat of God’s anger, that’s why he says, “…my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.” 

The picture here is of a plant which is dried because of the lack of water. That’s exactly David felt when he lived in sin.

That’s why in Psalm 38:2-4, he says, “For your arrows have sunk into me and your hand has come down on me. There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation; there is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me.”

And it’s true of all God’s people. They feel the heaviness of God’s hand upon their heart. Their conscience pricks them of their sin day in and day out. That’s what happened with David; he felt the heaviness of God’s hand, he felt the heat of God’s anger.

But the ungodly people are not like that; they go along in their lives as if that’s the way life works for them. They do understand that they do have problems but though they do notice the root of their problem; they don’t do anything about it. Perhaps they turn to some other methods of psychotherapy. But the inner disease they have is not dealt with.

But that was not the case with David. He was a godly man. And godly sorrow always understands the seriousness of confession. This lead David to confess his sin. That’s what David did in vs. 5, he confessed his sin in this verse.

So, notice vs. 5, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

I like the NIV translation which says, “Then I acknowledged my sin to you…,” the word ‘then’ refers back to the entire episode of David’s sin.

The word ‘Acknowledge’ is very important. Because this word not only refers to the knowledge of sin. David did know his sin but t he did not understand his sin because of his stubbornness. But now when Nathan the Prophet confronted David he fully understood the nature of his sin. That it was ugly, that it was shameful.

Then David says, “….and I did not cover my iniquity…” but previously the opposite was true. Because in vs. 3 he says, “For when I kept silent my bones wasted away…” It simply means that David covered his sin for a long time; he did not open his sin before God as a result he had to face terrible consequences of his sin in every sphere of his life.

Thirdly, David says, “I said I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.

Isn’t it amazing to see that; the moment David confessed his sin he received forgiveness from God.

Application:

Isn’t it strange to see that the very thing that blocks God’s rich blessings is man’s stubborn heart? Isn’t it strange to see that the very thing that hinders us from experiencing God’s grace is our pride?

Most of the times we all don’t confess our sins are because we have a defense mechanism activated in our minds. What I want to say is this: we try to find excuses for our sins.

Well, David did not find any excuses for his sin. In 2 Samuel 12 we have the account of Nathan confronting David for his sin. The amazing thing to notice is: David did not make any excuses for his sin. He acknowledged his own sin; he did not blame Bathsheba. Let’s understand that David was a powerful King. He could have easily got Nathan the Prophet killed but he chose not to; do you know why? David feared God. He knew even though he is powerful King there is even more powerful king who is the King of the universe.

David did not confess his sin before God because he had no other way. He confessed his sin before God because he loved God so dearly. Perhaps during the course of time his love for God had diminished but in order to regain his joy back David had to repent and confess his sin before God.

And the result of that confession was immediate. David immediately received the forgiveness of God. Not tomorrow, not day after; but quickly right then.

Do you know that not trusting in Jesus is a sin? That is the only sin which has no forgiveness. If you reject Jesus you reject God’s offer of Salvation. But God is so rich in mercy that He is willing to forgive each person who comes to him in repentance and confession.

Finally, let me ask you this question: Have you repented of your sins? Have you confessed your sins to Jesus? Because Jesus had to pay the price of our sins. The Bible says, “God made Him who knew no sin to be sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” What it means is: every sin that you and I commit on a day today basis; every evil thought that we think, God treated Jesus as if He did those things. We are not righteous and He is not sinful.

2.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Salvation: vs.6-7

Now we might not find the word ‘Salvation’ in these verses. But the thought is very much there. Please notice these 2 verses.

“Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.”

The word ‘therefore’ refers back to the previous verse. And the previous verse speaks of God’s forgiveness. So this is what David is saying: Because God is forgiving let everyone who is seeking for forgiveness offer a prayer of confession to God. What we have in this verse is the urgency. David is urging his readers to repent and confess their sins while God has given the grace. At the same time David is saying it is better to be in God’s presence than to enjoy the temporary pleasures of sin. And I think David had learnt his lesson painfully. So, David is speaking out of his own experience to leave the sinful pleasures of sin urgently and come to God for forgiveness.

And then if that person comes to God for forgiveness the results are great, that’s what David says further, “…surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him.”

The picture in this verse is that of flood waters. The water that is rushing at a mighty speed.

E.g. recently all of us we witnessed the flood waters in Uttrakhand. We saw the mighty force of the water in which many buildings fell; they were literally carried away by that mighty rush of the waters. It was amazing to see on the TV the kind of force that water had.

What David is saying is: the person who humbles himself is like a strong man that will stand even in the rush of great waters. Those waters will not shake him because he is forgiven of God.

In Matthew 7:24-29 we have a story of a wise man and a foolish man. The wise man built his house on the rock and the foolish man built his house of the sand. Both had the foundations; but the one which has the foundation on the rock endured the mighty winds and the rushing waters. That house didn’t fall; but the one that fell was the one which was build on sand.

Let’s not fool ourselves in thinking that just a little bit more. Let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that I am the master of my life and I will live my life according to my rules. No you won’t be able to live life according to your rules. If Jesus is not on your side.

Our Lord said in Matthew 18:4, “Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Matthew 23:12, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.”

1 Peter 5:5-6, “Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;

In vs. 7 David says, “You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.”

Let’s observe that the same man who said to God that His hand was heavy upon me is now saying to God, you are my hiding place. At one time David was oppressed by God but at this time David is finding his refuge in God’s presence. Now this verse tells us what a honest confession and forgiveness can do to a person. Before repentance and confession David was running from God now he is running towards God.

Now when David says, “…you preserve me from trouble…” he has eternal torment in his mind. Because, his life was not fine until this time and then his life was not fine after his confession. There were terrible troubles in his life after his fall. His Son Absalom wanted to kill him and take his throne. His daughter was raped by her half brother. Things were not good while he was living in sin and after. David had a full assurance that God had forgiven him and has preserved him from the eternal danger.

He knew that he might have to face the immediate consequences of his sin; but he had the joy of knowing that the eternal consequence of his sin has been removed as far as the east from is the west.

And finally David says something great. “…you surround me with shouts of deliverance…”

It really amazes me even though David was going through a lot of trouble he was able to hear the shouts of deliverance. That means to say that God’s grace was victorious in his life.

Application:

Brothers and sisters that’s what happens when a person turns to Christ in repentance and faith. Have you experienced that forgiveness that Christ gives? He is able to give us that forgiveness even today. Are you willing to humble yourself to receive that forgiveness?

We all know the story of Prodigal Son. A rich man had 2 sons. The younger son wanted the share of his property and wanted to go from the presence of his father. The father gave him the money and the share of his property. He went to a far country squandered away all his money on the things of this world. And finally got his pockets empty. He didn’t know what to do. And there was a drought in the country where he lived and he began to be in want; that is he lacked money to feed himself. So he went to a rich man and he gave him the job of feeding the pigs. Imagine a rich man’s son doing the job of feeding the pigs? Later on he came to his senses, and realized the kind of situation he is in. he remembered that even the servants of his Father’s household are in a better condition than he is. So he decided to get back to his father. And the Bible says; that boy started to get back to his father’s house. The Father saw his son coming from a distance; and the Father ran to his son to receive him. As soon as he came near him the Father hugged his filthy son who was rugged in the filth of pigs. The son said to his father, “Father I am not worthy to be called as your son, please keep me as your hired servant.” The Father called his servants and ordered them to bring the costliest robe to put on him. He ordered them to arrange for a party. Because his son was lost and was back he was dead and is now alive.

My brothers and sisters, this is exactly what God does to every repentant person who repents of his sins and turns to Christ for forgiveness. Are you willing to come to receive his forgiveness?

Do you want his forgiveness? Are you burdened like that of the prodigal son? come to Jesus; come to His Cross, that’s where we all had our burdens lifted up. 

Genuine Repentace: Part- 1

While I was on my way to Nasik; I was listening to a message preached by Ps. Conrad Mbewe. He is pastoring Kabwata Baptist Church, Zambia, Africa. He was preaching from Psalm 32 and the title of his message was: “The True Nature of Repentance.” He was speaking from vs. 8-11. While I was listening to this message my heart started to get burdened about this Psalm. At the end of this message I could realize that this Psalm is a very relevant subject which is helpful to examine my own repentance and our repentance; in a sense to question if our repentance has the true biblical nature in it. Another thing that we want to follow during this Psalm is that: we will take the Lord’s Table for the next 3 weeks until we finish meditating on this Psalm.

So, I just want to inform you that for the next 3 weeks we will go through this Psalm. And as we go through it; we will examine our own repentance and ask a question to ourselves if our repentance matches with that of David’s repentance. This becomes extremely important because; if our repentance is not the “kind” of repentance that David had. Then you must really question your “kind” of repentance; if you don’t you may be in a danger of going to hell.

So, let’s begin by understanding what repentance is:

A Sunday School teacher once asked a class what was meant by the word "repentance."  A little boy put up his hand and said, "It is being sorry for your sins."  A little girl also raised her hand and said, "It is being sorry enough to quit."

It so true that repentance is not to merely feel sorry about our sin but to turn from it. And this is exactly what David do. He lived in sin for a long time but when he was confronted by Nathan the prophet he repented and turned from his sin.

So, here is the title for the sermon this morning:

“Genuine Repentance”

1.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Sin and the Joy of Forgiveness: vs. 1-2

2.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Confession: vs. 3-4

1.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Sin and the Joy of Forgiveness: vs. 1-2

Before we begin to explain this Psalm let me give you some information about it. Many scholars say that this Psalm was written by David after he wrote Psalm 51. Because in Psalm 51 we find David pleading with God for the forgiveness of his sin. In this Psalm we find him explaining the kind of joy he experienced after God forgave him his sin.

Another reason why we think David wrote this Psalm after Psalm 51 is because of vs. 5, “I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin. This verse has a direct parallel to Psalm 51:3, “For I know my transgressions. My sin is constantly before me.”

So, let’s notice

vs. 1-2, “Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit.”

We must notice in these 2 verses that David is not speaking about any 3^rd person here; though he is writing about the 3^rd person but he is mentioning himself in this Psalm. Perhaps he was so transformed after he experienced the forgiveness of God that he became humble.

Secondly, we can also find that this Psalm is similar to Psalm 1 vs. 1, “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.”  On the other hand this Psalm is also similar to the Sermon on the mount which we find in Matthew chapter 5. In the sermon on the mount our Lord uses the word ‘blessed’ for 9 times.

And the word ‘blessed’ means ‘happy’.

So basically the idea is in order to be truly happy we must be repentant. That’s what David is saying in vs. 1 that the person whose sins are forgiven and the person whose sins are covered is ‘happy.’ Basically, the word ‘forgiven’ and ‘covered’ carry the same meaning. But we need to ask, why the person whose sins are forgiven is happy. Or why the person whose sins are covered is happy. It’s because of the guilty conscience a person has when he or she sins. That guilty conscience does not allow a person to enjoy happiness. They lose their happiness because of the sin they have committed. And this is particularly true of people who know God. They know they have sinned; they know they have disobeyed God. And their conscience does not allow them to enjoy almost anything. They lose peace, they lose sleep and their conscience always condemns them for what they had done.

This was true in case of David, when he committed adultery with Bathsheba his conscience was pricking him. It was condemning him for the adultery he committed with Bathsheba and then murdering her husband. It seems David lived in that sin for almost one and a half years. It was not because of his ignorance of what he had done but because of stubbornness. Perhaps he hiding away his sin or sweeping away his sin under the carpet he had become stubborn. And that’s what happens when we don’t deal with our guilty conscience at the right time. We become stubborn.

But when David genuinely repented of his sin and when he actually experienced God’s forgiveness it was like a heavy burden that was lifted off him. That’s what he says in vs. 4, “For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”

Secondly, when we go to Romans 4:6-8, “Just as David also speaks of the blessing of the one to whom God counts righteousness apart from works: Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

If you look at the context of the passage; you will notice that Paul was laboring the point that; man cannot achieve God’s righteousness by works of the law but by faith. And there Paul gives the example of David’s Psalm.

The point is: even David understood that the only way to be happy and blessed is not by offering many Lambs and Bulls. But by having broken spirit in the presence of the Lord; and by having a contrite heart. That’s what he said in Psalm 51:16-17, “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart O God, you will not despise.”

Application:

Brothers and sisters almost all the times the Devil uses this lie to trap you. If you leave your sinful life you will not be happy. If you leave that sinful life you will not draw pleasures which you are drawing now. Or if you do not leave ungodly habits then you will not be happy or joyful.

While you are hanging on your sin; let me ask you this question. Are you really happy? Are you really enjoying your life? Knowing that if you have to die today it’s the hell that awaits you. Does that concern you my brethren?

Let me ask you this question. Have you repented like David? David repented and he found the forgiveness of God and he was happy. You cannot imagine of happiness without repentance of your sins. Have you repented of your sins? Have you believed in the righteousness of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins? Have you really turned away and turned to Jesus?

2.      Genuine Repentance Understands the Seriousness of Confession: vs. 3-4

Notice vs. 3-4, “For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”

In these 2 verses David is referring to the unconfessed sin. ‘When I kept silent…’ means that David knew he had sinned against God but he chose not to confess it to God. And because he was stubbornly silent the immediate consequence was that: “…my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long.

I don’t know what connection sin has with bones. But when you know that you have sinned against God your entire body groans. Your entire body kind of shrinks; not in a literal sense. What I want to say is that: when you sin you lose a sense of liberty. It’s because of the guilty conscience that brings your sin before you again and again.  

e.g. if a man goes into the honeycomb. Takes all the honey in his hands. Do you think those honey bees are going to let that man enjoy that honey? They will make sure he doesn’t enjoy it by stinging, and stinging until he finds his entire body in pain.

That’s exactly true of the person who sins against God and does not confess.

Proverbs 28:13, “He who conceals his sins doesn't prosper, But whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

David knew that he was outside of God’s mercy when he lived in sin. But those days for him were not good days because he loved being in sin rather than in God.

Vs. 4 says, “For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer.”

This verse explains the heavy sorrow David had to go through because of his unconfessed sin. Since David fell in this sin his entire family had to go through suffering. That’s what sin does; sin promises pleasure but delivers pain. Never has a man who has lived in sin has lived in happiness. That’s why the key verse of this Psalm is vs. 10, “Many are the sorrows of the wicked…” and David had experienced it painfully.

Application:

I remember my own family at this point. Many of you know the background of my family. Many people say that if my mother had escaped from my father’s house she would have lived and so on. But the issue is because of my father’s selfishness the entire family had to suffer. Because of my father’s sin; all of us had to suffer. Because of his sin we all were scattered in different places. Because of my father’s sin our family never ever came to normalcy. And all of that was because of sin.

My brethren, sin always promises pleasure but delivers utter pain. My question to you this morning is this: are you living in sin? Think how much your sin is causing so much of suffering to your family, your friends, your siblings.

Does your heart get burdened with it? If so I have good news for you. Your burden can be lifted up at the cross of Calvary. That’s where we all went with our burdens. Jesus Christ lifted up our burdens and gave us a new life he gave us a new heart. It’s only through Jesus our burdens can be lifted up because He paid the price of our sins on the Cross; He died and rose again from the dead and that’s why we must believe in Him only.

A Call to Abide in Perfect Love

This is the message I preached in Kolhapur Bible Church on 07/10/2012. May God bless you as you go through it. 

The book of 1 John is filled with many tests and many calls. And when we think of the call to love one another; it is a never ending topic. We cannot stop talking about love; because it’s limitless, has no limit to it. I remember in our Book Club we were going through the book named: Leading with Love. In this book the author gave an illustration of a pastor. This pastor arranged for a revival meeting in his Church. The revival meeting lasted for one week. The author tells us that during those 7+ days; the preacher preached about nothing except love of God. The messages were well received by the belivers in the Church. And the pastor himself was so thrilled by those messages preached by the preacher; that that pastor actually started preaching about love for the next 5 years in his Church every Sunday. By this illustration you can understand how important is the topic of love is. And it is so because John says, not that we loved God but that He loved us and gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. No wonder that John uses this word ‘love’ for 43 times in his epistle. Because that is what sums up a Christian life.

So, once again I want to call you attention to the title of our sermon is:

“A Call to Abide in Perfect Love”

1. The Basis (paayaa) of Perfect Love: vs. 14-16

·        The Testimony (saaXa) of Perfect Love: vs. 14a

·        The Confession (kxbaUlaI) of Perfect Love: vs. 15

·        The Belief (ivaEvaasa) in Perfect Love: vs. 16

2. The Purpose ({d\d\oSa) of Perfect Love: vs. 17 

·         The Function (kxaya-) of Perfect Love: vs. 18

3. The Initiation (pauZakxar) of Perfect Love: vs. 19
4. The Obligation (kxta-vya) of Perfect Love: vs. 20-21

1. The Basis of Perfect Love: vs. 14-16

Last week we saw that the meaning of vs. 12 & 13 is; the evidence of a believer’s life in God is the existence of the Holy Spirit in that person. And we also saw the evidence of having the Holy Spirit in a believer’s life is the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Another important thing we need to notice is: from vs. 12 to vs. 16 John uses the word ‘abide’ for 6 times. Last week we saw that the word ‘abide’ means to stay in all conditions. To be present for a long time no matter whatever kinds of situations arise. Therefore we must understand what John was communicating to his readers.

That you have to love one another, and then you have to exibit your love for one another in giving yourself for one another as Christ gave Himself for us.

Then from vs. 14 onwards John is writing to his readers that you cannot love in that way if you do not abide (means to live) in such a kind of love. And therefore he gives them 3 Basis of such love to his readers. The first basis is found in vs. 14.

The Testimony of Perfect Love

Notice vs. 14, “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.”

In these words John draws his reader’s attention to the basis of Perfect Love. Because he says God sending His Son was the highest act of His Love. Because the Father gave His Son to be the Savior of the world. We need to understand that the word Savior has in itself the idea of being rescued. Savior and Redeemer are two similar words. It has the concept of buying back the prisoners of war by paying a ransome. To be precise Jesus paid that ransome to redeem us from the eternal judgment to come.

But we need to notice that John’s idea of love is not based on his emotions. Because whatever he was says was based upon what he had seen with his own physical eyes. And here he is testifying, that truth and calling his readers to abide or to live in that perfect love. That is what he said in the 1^st chapter vs. 1-2, “That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life.”

The second basis that John gives is

The Confession of Perfect Love

And that is found; in vs. 15 Notice this vs. “Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.”

Now, when I first looked at that verse I thought John was offering this verse as a password to heaven for his readers. What does he mean by saying those words? “Whoever confesses...” anybody can confess that Jesus is the Son of God.

Even Paul in Romans 10:9, “That if you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Well if you examine those verses we find that anybody can confess that Jesus is the Son of God when they find themselves in trouble and reject him when they are not in trouble.

E.g. when we were children we were told some stories about ghosts. So many times we were asked, “What you would do if the ghost comes before you and tries to take your life. Then we would say that I will make a sign of a Cross with my fingers and the ghost will run for his life.  So our answers were based on what we were taught.

The question is, are John & Paul trying to promote a superstitious kind of faith in their readers? The answer is of course NO!!! Because John says in chapter 5:4-5, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith.Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” The key phrase in this verse is overcomes the world. So what John and Paul mean to say that whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, and overcomes the world, or is being sanctified, God abides in him.”

Because James says, “Even demons belive that Jesus is the Son of God.” (James 2:19). But God does not abide in them.

You know this is important to understand. Because many pastor and preachers are promoting a superstitious faith. They ask questions like, “Do you believe in Jesus Christ?”And who doesn’t want to believe in Jesus Christ when he is going to give you health, wealth and prosperity? The point is they depend upon a mere verbal confession, not that they should not but that verbal confession should be backed up with a life transforming process called SANCTIFICATION. John is not promoting a faith based upon some superstition; or he is not promoting a faith based upon a lucky charm.

The next thing John does is, he draws his reader’s attention about is the

·         Belief in Perfect Love

Notice vs. 16, “So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”

Now what does it mean to have come to know and believe the love that God has for us? To answer this question, we need to go to the Gospel according to John 6:67-69 because in this verse we find the similar claim of Peter about coming to know and belive in Jesus as the Son of God. “So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Somon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. And we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy one of God.”

In this verse John is making an affirmation that both he and his readers have come to know and believe the love that God has for them. And then he adds those three wonderful words, ‘God is Love...’what it means is: when God revealed Jesus Christ to the world He revealed His Love towards the world (i.e. the people in the world). So Jesus Himself is God’s manifestation of Love.

That’s whay John says in the next sentence, whoever abides in love (i.e. whoever abides in Christ) abides in God and God abides in him.

Application:

As we bring this point to application. We need to consider 3 areas of our lives. Our testimony, our confession and our belief.

We need to ask ourselves: what is my testimony among the unbelievers? Do they know me as a Christian? And if they know me that I am a Christian do they really see Christ in me? Because we may be confessing Christian and our lives may be completely contradictory to our confession. And if that’s the case we need to examine our lives.

E.g. If you say that your doctor is very good surgeon. And if you are on a death bed dying and if your doctor fails to do his job. Who is to be blamed? The doctor.

Similarly, when we fail to reflect a Christlikeness we are claiming that our Christ does not save souls.  

"A Christian baroness, living in the highlands of Nairobi, Kenya, told of a young national who was employed as her houseboy. After three months he asked the baroness to give him a letter of reference to a friendly sheik some miles away.  The baroness, not wishing the houseboy to leave just when he had learned the routine of the household, offered to increase his pay.  The lad replied that he was not leaving for higher pay. Rather, he had decided he would become either a Christian or a Mohammedan.  This was why he had come to work for the baroness for three months.  He had wished to see how Christians acted.  Now he wanted to work for three months for the sheik to observe the ways of the Mohammedans.  Then he would decide which way of life he would follow.  The baroness was stunned as she recalled her many blemishes in her dealings with the houseboy.  She could only exclaim, 'Why didn't you tell me at the beginning!'"

 The question that comes out of that story; has our belief transformed our behaviour?

However, the other side of the story is: Many people blame the Church for being filled with hypocrites. I must say that if you are looking out for a perfect Church there isn’t any. Many people abstain from coming to the Church because they think that the Church is a place of hypocrites. Well if that’s the case you also should abstain from going to the work. Because you find those hypocrites there as well.

Let me ask you brethren. Are you resisting Christ because there are no perfect followers out in the world? You won’t find any perfect follower of Christ. Let me ask you a question: Are you born again? Have you repented of your sins? Have you asked God to forgive you of your sins? Have you asked Him to take control of your life?

A Call to Discernment

Hello Dear brethren , this is the message that I preached yesterday at the Church. May the Lord bless you as you go through it.

If we examine the aspect of Truth, we come to understand that Truth is always painful. It is painful because it seperates falsehood. So truth is like a magnet, when you throw down on the land it attracts the iron ore it does not attract the dust itself. At the same time Truth is like a fish by the name of Salmon that swims upstream. Meaning this fish swims against the force of the flow. I watched some videos on the Youtube and they are really good and I could see how this fish swims upstream; goes against the current of the water.

And I believe God has called us to be swimmers upstream. The Salmon fish always swims upstream; i.e. it swims against the current. It swims against the flow. And that is what God has called us to do as Christians. We are to be the people who swim upstream. Like Salmon we are to swim against the flow of the false teaching that is going on around us.

Speaking about John and his readers; they also were surrounded by such a people that were professing to be Christians but did not reflect in their lifestyle. John’s readers could see that the world was going in one direction and they were going in exactly the opposite direction. The world around them was full of immorality and evil; but John was telling his followers to swim opposite to the current. He was telling his readers to swim opposite to the flow of the world.

Therefore the messages that we have so far heard are all about swimming opposite to the current. Because the call for discernment is not just so that we would become good Biblical Discerners but so that we would follow where ever the discernment leads us. So, once again the title for today’s message is.

A Call for Discernment Part-IV

• The Origin of Truth Teachers: vs. 6a 

• Their Audience: vs. 6b

• Their Opponents: vs. 6c

The Origin of Truth Teachers: vs. 6a
As we begin this message let me give you a recap of the last Sunday’s message. So that we understand the context in which John was writing this letter.

Last Sunday we examined vs. 5. In this verse we looked at 3 aspects of the false teachers that John told his readers to be aware of. Those 3 aspects were; 1. The origin of false teachers; 2. The origin of their message;

3. Their Audience.
In verse 6 John gives the opposite aspects of what he had given in vs. 5.

Notice verse 6, “We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of Truth and the spirit of error.”

Again, if we compare vs. 6 with vs. 5; John is giving the similar aspects of those people who are of the Truth. In the sense that they also had origin and they also had the audience.

So the first aspect John gives about the Truth teachers is, “Their Origin.” Notice John’s words in the first sentence of the verse, he says, “We are from God...” in the first part of vs. 5 he said, “They are from the world...” the word ‘they’ in vs. 5 refers to the false teachers and in vs. 6 the word ‘we’ refers to John himself, the other apostles and his readers. Because one verse earlier in vs. 4 he did the same thing. He assured his readers that, “...you are from God.”

A couple of Sundays we have explained to you what it means to be from God. But let me do that once again; to have a better understanding of that phrase. To be ‘from God’ means to be ‘born of God.’ To be ‘from God’ means to ‘belong to the family of God.’ To be ‘from God’ means to have the ‘Spirit of God’ in a particular person, who is a believer. To be from God means to have a personal and intimate relationship with God.

We need to notice John’s words carefully because he refers to himself as ‘we’. It is because, so that his readers would understand that John was not the only one who was preaching and teaching the Truth. But there were many other who had gone ahead of him. There were other apostles who preached and taught the same thing John was doing.

Now we need to understand what John is not saying. He is not saying that we are from God because we preach and teach the truth. But we teach the Truth because we are from God.

With all of this information in our mind we need to ask a question. Why was John telling his readers that he and the other apostles were from God? Because by writing these words John was drawing a line of distinction between truth and falsehood. Another reason could be that his readers would not fall into the same trap once again. We have heard about that last Sunday. However, what is important for us to see is what other apostles had to say about it?

I am sure more than any other apostle Paul had a lot to say about the false doctrine than anybody else. Paul said in 1 Thessalonians 5:21, “Examine everything, and hold fast to what is good.” In other words Paul told his followers to test everything. And to this test John was calling his reader’s attention. Again In Ephesians 4:14 Paul says, “that we may no longer be children, tossed back and forth and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in craftiness, after the viles of error.”

So the reason why John was writing these things to his readers was; that they had been tossed back and forth by every wind of doctrine.

And by these words John was establishing the truth that his teaching was from God. “We are from God...” John said.
The second aspect of the Truth teachers John was laying down was: 

Their Audience: vs 6b
Notice the second part of the verse. “Whoever knows God listens to us...” once again if you compare vs. 5 with vs. 6 John is saying the same thing. But this time it’s in relation to the Truth teachers.

However, the important words in this verse we need to consider are the words ‘knowing’ & ‘listening.’
Meaning of the word ‘knowing’ in Greek language is: Ginosko. To be aware of something, or to feel something, to perceive, to be sure, or to understand. So what’s important about this word is it has understanding in it. You canno know something unless you understand something or someone.

E.g. If a doctor has had the knowledge of how to treat a patient he knows how to handle a patient. But even if a doctor has a knowledge of treating a patient and if he does not practice his knowledge; nobody will know him as a doctor.

Therefore, if we ‘know’ something our behaviour needs to change by it. If our behaviour does not change by that knowledge then we have not acquired that knowledge. Therefore the knowledge that John is talking about is not just an outward knowledge of somebody or something. It is an in depth knowledge of God that John is talking about.

This tells us that the audience that John was talking about was an audience that has a deep knowledge of God. Those who have the knowledge of God through Jesus Christ.

Similar thing applies with listening. In the original Greek language the word ‘listen’ is a verb (ik`xyaapad) ‘akouo.’ Now if a word is a verb then there is some activity involved. That’s why it’s called a verb.

Imp: This tells us that the kind of listening John was talking about was active. You might say what is active listening? Active listening means listening by your ears and understanding by your mind and getting influenced in your heart and then doing according to what you have heard with your ears, understood with your hearts. This is the kind of listening John was talking about.

Example:
E.g. many years back we had a boy coming to our Church. Whenever we had teaching sessions with him; he would always nod his head in agreement at the same time he would be looking somewhere else. I was wondering if whatever was taught was understood by him or not. Because he was hearing with his ears but his mind was always wandering. One day it was clear to us when he told us that he wanted to leave the Church.

In John’s words he is saying that whoever knows God not only listens outwardly but understands inwardly and then does accordingly. That is active listening. So this makes us to examine our own listening to the messages at Kolhapur Bible Church. Is it just about listening by our ears or understanding with our hearts? Therefore our prayers have always been that we would not only become hearers of the Word but the doers of the Word as well.

Just to give some more examples about knowing and listening. Matt 13:14-15, “In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, 'By hearing you will hear, And will in no way understand; Seeing you will see, And will in no way perceive: For this people's heart has grown callous, Their ears are dull of hearing, They have closed their eyes; Or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, Hear with their ears, Understand with their heart, And should turn again; And I would heal them.'

So in the end what John is saying is: whoever knows God listens to God or listens to His people. And John was the one who had seen Jesus Christ face to face; therefore he had the first hand knowledge about who God is. And he had not only known Jesus Christ but he had experienced His power in his own life. And then he had listened to His words face to face.

The third thing that John lays out about the Truth teachers is:
Their Opponents: vs. 6c
Notice the next sentence in that verse, John says, “...whoever does not know God does not listen to us...”
To give a simple description of this sentence. It’s everything opposite to what John had said in the previous sentence. “...whoever does not know God does not listen to us...”

When Jesus was confronting the Jews and the Pharisees in John 8:47 He also said the similar words. He said, “Whoever is of God (meaning, who knows God) hears the Words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God (meaning, you do not know God).”

Now there words of Jesus to Pharisees and the Jews were a slap on their face. Because all their lives they had claimed to have known God through Abraham. It was too much for them to face this.

At the same time Jesus said something very important about listening, when he was brought to Pontius Pilate; he asked Jesus the question about the Truth. John 18:37, “Then Pilate said to Him, “so you are a King? Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world- to bear witness to the Truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

In conclusion what John was saying in his letter was: those who do not know God will not hear the Words of God. The reason why many people do not listen to the Word of God is because Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:14, “Now the natural man doesn't receive the things of God's Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can't know them, because they are spiritually discerned.”

Speaking about the people who were causing confusion in the Church. John says they are doing what they are doing because they do not know God. That’s why he says if they knew God then they would listen to God and His apostles.

And that’s the detection; that is the measuring scale that those who do not listen to God are not from God and if they are not of God then they are of the devil.

Application:
As I bring this message to conclusion I remember a story of two men. They had an argument. To settle the matter, they went to a Sufi judge for arbitration. The plaintiff made his case. He was very eloquent and persuasive in his reasoning. When he finished, the judge nodded in approval and said, "That's right, that's right."

On hearing this, the defendant jumped up and said, "Wait a second, judge, you haven't even heard my side of the case yet." So the judge told the defendant to state his case. And he, too, was very persuasive and eloquent. When he finished, the judge said, "That's right, that's right."

When the clerk of court heard this, he jumped up and said, "Judge, they both can't be right." The judge looked at the clerk of court and said, "That's right, that's right."

Now, my question to is: what are you going to do with the truth that you have received today? You cannot be like that judge saying that both the parties are right just because both sound convincing. You have to discern the Truth.

You cannot serve the world and Jesus at the same time. The truth that you have heard here must be understood by you. It must be applied by you to your own life.

To do that you must be born again. Have you been born again? Have you given your life to Jesus Christ? Have you repented of your sins and pleaded for forgiveness to Jesus Christ?

God's Sovereing Hand in Persecution

This is one of the messages that I preached at Kolhapur Bible Church. May God be praised as you go through it and may you know of His Sovereign Hand if you are going through suffering and pain.

Introduction:

This morning again we are going to look at the Gospel according to John chapter 15:21-25. A couple of weeks ago we finished at verses 20. This morning we will be looking at vs. 21-25.

Before we begin the message I want to give you an illustration of a real story that took place in Manoharpur, Orissa. You might have heard about the story of the missionary Dr. Graham Steins and his two sons, Philip & Timothy. All 3 of them were burnt alive while they were sleeping in the car at night. Some Hindu fundamentalists came in and poured petrol on the car and other inflammatory liquids and set the car on fire. Inside the car Dr. Graham Steins along with his two sons were sleeping inside were burnt alive. The reason for that was Dr. Graham Steins was preaching the gospel and leading many people to Christ. He was a medical missionary who was involved in the medical missions he was doing the work of medical missions in the people who were affected and infected by Leprosy.

What happened after that was: when Mrs. Gladys Steins was asked about her response about her husband’s killing by those Hindu fundamentalists. She calmly replied that, “she forgave the killers of her husband.” What was so unique about Mrs. Gladys steins response towards the killers of her husband? She was not surprised about such a terrible act. She knew those things will come and she will have to stand the test of time. 

So I invite you to please open your Bibles to John chapter 15:21-25. In these 5 verses again we see that Jesus was giving warnings to His disciples.

What we see in this short passage that we have read are the 3 points.

1. The Certainty of Persecution: vs. 21

·         Because of Jesus Himself

·         Because they don’t know God

2. The Certainty of Guilt: vs. 22-24
3. The Sovereignty of God: vs. 25

We see in this verse Jesus warns His disciples of the certainty of persecution. And we call this word as certainty because in the preceding verses Jesus in vs. 18 shows His disciples the possibility of being hated and persecuted. Notice the word ‘if,’ this word either means a condition or a possibility. In the context of the passage this word is used as a ‘possibility.’ But when you come down to vs. 21, notice what Jesus says, “All these things will they do to you...” in this verse the word will is the emphasis there. And if that’s the case then Jesus is warning His disciples about the ‘certainty’ of the future persecution. Now what does these things involve? 1. They will be hated 2. They will be persecuted. In the last message we saw the very thin line between these two words. Hatred is inside a person’s heart and persecution is that hatred brought in actions. So Jesus warns His disciples, “all these things will they do to you...” in the next half sentence Jesus gives them the reason why will the world would persecute His disciples?

1.                  Because of Jesus Himself:

Notice the next half of the verse. Jesus says, “All these things will they do to you for My Name sake.” What did it mean to them is that, if they have borne the name of Jesus on their lives, persecution is inevitable. Meaning it is certain. In the earlier verses Jesus gave them the reasons as to why they would be persecuted: Because they were chosen by Him out of the world. We saw the meaning of it a couple of Sunday s ago. That: since they were chosen by God out of the world they were not to walk as the world does. But contrary to the world. Because even Paul gave the reason why believers were chosen by God even before the foundation of the earth. Eph 1:4, “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and without blemish before him in love; so God’s election of believers was not without any purpose but so that they would be holy and without blemish before Him in love. At the same time Paul also warned Timothy about the persecution of those people who are of Christ. 1 Timothy 3:12  “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” Another reason that Jesus gives that the world will hate the disciples is.

2.                  Because of wilful denial of Jesus: vs. 21b: notice the words of Jesus in this part of the verse. He says, “Because they don’t know Him who sent me.” What It means is that: God sent Jesus but they don’t know God. But then you ask; how is it possible? The Jews in all the history in all their lives claimed to know God as their father. They worshiped Him, they gave a lot of sacrifices. The point of all their worship is that, they just had the knowledge about God but they didn’t know God. Now knowing God and knowing about God these two are different things. You may have knowledge about God but not necessarily know God Himself. What it means is that?  Knowing about God and knowing God is not similar. There is a whole wide difference between those two.

Example: Sonia Gandhi, we all know about her. But there are only a few people who are close to her, only they know her closely and intimately. However, you can get in touch of the people who are close to her and find out about her, but still you have acquired knowledge about Sonia Gandhi. You still do not know her personally. That’s exactly what happens when some people claim to know God and don’t know Jesus. Because Jesus said, no one can come to the father except through Him. On another occasion He said He who has seen Me has seen the Father. But what Jesus is bringing to His disciple’s notice is the fact that: these people have knowledge about God but they didn’t know God personally. It is only those who are close to Jesus, those that are His disciples, only they knew God. The many disciples of Jesus who were very close to Him knew God. Because only if you know Jesus you know God. If you don’t know Jesus you don’t know God.

Application:

I want to ask you the question. Do you know the God that we are talking about? I have to ask this question. Perhaps you might have been coming to the Church for a long time to hear about God; perhaps you are here this morning to gather information about God or about the Bible. But I must tell you that you can only know God if you know Jesus. Because, Jesus said that: He alone is the way the Truth and the life. He also said no one comes to the Father except through Him. Have you come to Jesus with a deepest need for forgiveness? Have you come to Him with the deepest longing to be right with God? Please understand that you are not right with God unless you ask for forgiveness for the sins you have committed. Once Aristotle the great scientist was asked about the value of education. The great scientist replied: the difference between an educated and uneducated man? It’s the same as being alive and being dead. And that’s true even about the knowledge of God. The Bible tells us that we are dead spiritually if we don’t know God. Eph 2:1. Do you know God? Do you know Jesus?

2.      The Certainty of Guilt: vs. 22- 24

Secondly, notice vs. 22, “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have had sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin.” Notice this verse very carefully: Jesus first introduces to them with the possibility of their sinlesness. In the sense that: they could have been without sin, “...if I had not come and spoken to them...” but since I have come to them and spoken to them they have no excuse. Understand what Jesus is saying: since I came to them and spoken to them still they did not pay heed, they did not submit themselves to me therefore, it is certain that they have no excuse for their sin. We also need to parallel vs. 22 with vs. 24, “If I hadn't done among them the works which no one else did, they wouldn't have had sin. But now have they seen and also hated both me and my Father.” What it means is that: the Jews not only heard what Jesus had to say but they had also seen the works of Jesus which were extraordinary in nature. Such works that could only be done by Him who has come from God and is in constant fellowship with God. Jn 3:2. But since they were not willing to accept the claims of Jesus: he says they had no excuse for their sins. They absolutely had no regard for the Words of Christ as well as the works of Christ, therefore they not only hated Jesus Christ but they hated God the Father who sent Jesus. Ironically they claimed to know God as their Father through Abraham. That is what Jesus warned His disciples of: that people would claim to be the followers of God at the same time hate His works. In John 16:2 Jesus warned His disciples about the intensity and eventually the intensity of the persecution that, “They will put you out of the synagogues. Yes, the time comes that whoever kills you will think that he offers service to God.” All this will happen Jesus says is because they wilfully don’t want to know God or His purposed for their lives. Their lack of knowledge of God is wilful; their lack of knowledge of God is deliberate. And therefore they have no excuse for their sin. That’s what it means that the guilt of their sin is certain. Therefore Jesus says in vs. 23, “He, who hates me, hates my Father also.”

Application:

I want you to understand. Those of you who have been baptised and want to please the Lord with their entire lives please understand that. Since Jesus was speaking in the context of Jewish community, it applies to us as well. More than from the idol worshipers, the persecution that you and I will face is from within the Christian community that is around us. But we have to persist, we have to go on knowing that He who has promised is faithful and He will not delay in keeping with His promise. Please understand that the “smooth seas don’t make skilful sailors.” Persecution will come because they don’t know God. They don’t know Him Who sent Jesus on this earth. We need to be like Mrs. Gladys Steins. She forgave the killers of her husband because the killers of her husband did not know the God that she worships or her husband worshipped and talked about.  

3.      The Sovereignty of God: vs. 25

Finally, notice vs. 25, “But this happened so that the word may be fulfilled

which was written in their law, 'They hated me without a cause.”

We name this point as the Sovereignty of God is because: Jesus in this verse is letting the disciples know about the truth of the Sovereignty of God. That means though they will persecute you, it’s not something out of God’s control. They did the same thing to the prophets and priest of old. This means that: God uses persecutions and afflictions to form our character. To confirm us to the image of our Lord Jesus Christ, that’s why God doesn’t remove our persecution but He lets us through the persecution and hatred. God used the crucifixion of Christ to bring about the salvation of those who would believe in Him. It was the worst persecution that our Lord went through so that God would bring about our salvation through His death, burial and resurrection. 1 Corinthians 10:13 is a wonderful comfort for those who are persecuted for their faith, who are going through affliction and trouble. “No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.” The word temptation here is translated as ‘test’. It has to deal with testing time, persecution. God is sovereign and He will not let us be tested more than what we can bear.  However, the worst thing that happens to a Christian is the best thing that will happen to him. The worst is death, and what will death do to us? It will bring us to our Lord. Therefore, the worst that will happen to him will be the best for a Christian because death will bring him to his Lord. 

Application:

As we have seen in the previous message on this subject: the question is not whether we will be persecuted or not. Persecution is inevitable, but the question is: how do us response to the persecution that comes upon us. Do we respond as if it’s going to get out of God’s hands? What does your personal persecution on your job, in your family does to you? Does it lead you to respond like Mrs. Graham Steins responded? Or does it make you to respond like Jesus did on the cross? He said Father forgive them for they do not know what they do. Or does your persecution makes you to respond like Stephen did in Acts ch 7? They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my Spirit!" He kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, "Lord, don't hold this sin against them!" When he had said this, he fell asleep.”

May it be Mrs. Steins may it be Jesus all of them were convinced of the Sovereign hand of God in the persecution of saints. All of them looked to God and were convinced of His Sovereignty, that He will allow them to go through it because he knows best the level of our tolerance, because He has created us.

May God bless you!!!!