Archive for June, 2009

The Prayer of Jabez

June 27, 2009 at 10:48 am · Filed under Old testament, Prayer ·Tagged , , ,

 

Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain. And God granted his request.  (1 Chronicles 4:10 )

Some years ago I was in a Christian bookshop in Cardiff, browsing the shelves, when I saw something that caught my attention – “Prayer of Jabez Plaque”. I thought, “Whatever is that?” I looked at it, read the prayer on it from 1 Chronicles 4, and thought, “That’s nice”. Then I looked around and saw a whole shelf of merchandise linked to this prayer of Jabez – book-marks, plaques, key rings – all sorts of things. I thought, “There’s something going on here.” Little did I realise that this was the biggest thing in Christian publishing and merchandising for a long time.

 

Prayer of Jabez coffee mug!

 

How strange! Until recently, hardly anyone had heard of Jabez. All we know of him is in a few verses in 1 Chronicles. Now he has suddenly become the centre of a vast enterprise .  Bruce Wilkinson is the man behind it all. He wrote a book on the Prayer of Jabez which became an international best-seller, topping the New York Times best-seller list and selling nine million copies. It has been embraced by Evangelicals, Catholics, Fundamentalists, and even by non-christians!

 

A prayer or a mantra?

Here is the full text of this prayer from 1 Chronicles 4:9-10

Jabez was more honourable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, I gave birth to him in pain. Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain. And God granted his request.

 
A recipe for success?

Bruce Wilkinson has taken this simple prayer from the Old Testament and used it as a basis for a whole philosophy of life.  I think I can see why  this  is so popular, and why so many people use the Prayer of Jabez as a kind of good luck charm.

The Jabez Prayer is a cry to God for success and to be delivered from pain and evil. It is very natural to want to pray this kind of prayer. (And Jesus did tell us to pray to be delivered from evil.) But some people see the prayer of Jabez as a recipe for success in life -  and not just spiritual success. Jabez prayed that God would increase his territory and God answered his prayer. Some people think in terms of increasing their material wealth.

 
Vain repetition?

Jesus did teach his disciples to pray for their daily needs, as well as for God’s Kingdom to come, and that they might be delivered form the power of the Evil One. So it’s not wrong to pray, asking things for yourself. But Jesus also warned his disciples against using any prayer  as a kind of mantra – something you repeat over and over again, hoping it will bring success.

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.   Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.       (Matthew 6:7-8)

The trouble with much of the literature associated with the Jabez Prayer is that it encourages people to do just that. To keep repeating the same prayer over and over.

 
A formula for blessing?

In the preface to his book Wilkinson writes:
“I want to teach you how to pray a daring prayer that God always answers. It is brief – only one sentence with four parts – and tucked away in the Bible, but I  believe it contains the key to a life of extraordinary favor with God … I challenge you to make the Jabez prayer for blessing part of the daily fabric of your life. To do that I encourage you to follow unwaveringly the plan outlined here for he next thirty days. By the end of that time you’ll be noticing significant changes in your life, and the prayer will be on its way to becoming a treasured lifelong habit.”

In other words, the claim is  that if we just pray the Prayer of Jabez, word for word, every day for a month, then we’ll see Gods power released in our lives. Was it that Jabez stumbled upon the right formula for asking things of God? I don’t think so -  prayer is not a matter of getting a technique right. Prayer is all about our relationship with God. It’s a matter of learning to wait on God and to experience his help and power in our lives. The working of that power might indeed bring worldly success and wealth, but then it is just as likely to involve a life of poverty or persecution. Indeed, to judge by the general tenor of Jesus’ teaching, you could say it is more likely to be the latter.

 

 

A pattern of prayer

Now, I’ve been negative so far in what I’ve said about how some people use the Prayer of Jabez but I don’t want to give the impression there is anything wrong with the actual prayer itself.  Far from it, it is a gem  of a  prayer, and all the more precious in that it is set in the midst of all these dry-as-dust genealogies in 1 Chronicles!

I think that for many of us, brought up in the Presbyterian Church, nurtured in a Calvinistic way of looking at things, there is no danger of getting bogged down in prosperity teaching. The danger is the opposite. Perhaps some of us have been taught to believe that it is wrong and selfish to pray for ourselves, that you should never ask things for your own benefit. I have heard that view expressed. Well, the Jabez Prayer can perhaps help us to see that it is not wrong to ask things for ourselves. ( Although we should be able to see this from the Lord’s Prayer.) If we put God first in our lives surely we do have the right to believe that he will provide all that is needful for us to serve him.
What then can we learn from the Prayer of Jabez?

 
1) Jabez was more honourable than his brothers

The word could mean more “distinguished”, or even more “honoured”, than his brothers. However I think it might mean that he had a greater concern for the honour of God. He asked great things from he Lord because he believed that the Lord was  a great God.

Once there was a philosopher in the court of Alexander the great. He was of outstanding ability, but was very poor. So he asked Alexander for financial help, and was told to draw whatever he needed from the Imperial Treasury. So he asked the treasurer for an amount equal to about £30,000 in our money. Of course the the treasurer refused. But Alexander said, “Pay the money at once. This man has done me a singular honour. By the largeness of his request he shows that he has understood both my wealth and my generosity.”
One hymn writer says:

Thou art coming to a King;
Large petitions with thee bring.
For his grace and power are such
None can ever ask too much.      (John Newton

Jabez also had that kind of faith. Have we?

 

 

 2) His mother had named him Jabez, saying, I gave birth to him in pain.

She had named him Jabez because he had been born in pain – she had had a terrible time in labour. Jabez, in the Hebrew language, means “he causes pain”.

Such a name would have been seen as a very bad omen in those days. The Hebrews had an almost magical understanding of the effect of names. To be called Jabez ( he causes pain) was almost like a curse. But by his faith Jabez turned the curse into a blessing. That’s why he is mentioned in 1 Chronicles.

 
3) Jabez cried out to the God of Israel

He cried out to the God of Israel no doubt in his concern to avoid making a disaster of his life, and thus fulfil the meaning of his name. He was also concerned for the honour of God. He cried out, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory!”

In these words we are reminded of the prophet Isaiah:
Enlarge the place of your tent, stretch your tent curtains wide, do not hold back; lengthen your cords, strengthen your stakes.   (Isaiah 54:2)

In Christian terms this can be seen as a prayer for the extension of God’s Kingdom. Both texts have been an inspiration to many pioneer missionaries, eager to extend the Kingdom of Christ. Do we cry to God like this?
“Oh that you would extend the borders of your Kingdom Lord! Oh that more people would come to know Christ’s love and power! Oh that the people of this city would turn to you!  Oh that the Church would grow in numbers and in spiritual depth!”

Do you pray like that for your city, for your church, for the members of your family? That they will come to know God?

Jesus taught us to say: “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done”.  Do we pray that way.

 
4) Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.

Matthew Henry comments: He prayed that God’s hand might be with him. God’s hand with us to lead us, protect us, strengthen us, and to work all our works in us, is a hand all-sufficient for us”.

“Free from pain” – this is a very natural thing to pray for. Jesus teaches us to pray, “Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
“Do not bring us to the time of hard testing” is an alternative translation.
Jabez was very concerned that he might suffer harm and pain because of his name.

 Matthew Henry comments:  He prayed that God would keep him from evil, the evil of sin, the evil of trouble, all the evil designs of his enemies, that they might not hurt, nor make him a Jabez indeed, a man of sorrow. God granted that which he requested. God is ever ready to  hear prayer: his ear is not now heavy.”

 

 

5) And God granted his request

This is the whole point of the passage. Jabez and his prayer feature in the book of Chronicles because something amazing happened in his life. This prayer is spiritual dynamite! Not in the way that some people would want to use it - as some kind of mantra to be recited - but as an inspiration to faith.

In the nineteenth century John Hyde the missionary was inspired by this verse to start a life of faith and prayer that resulted in him being known  by the nickname “Praying Hyde”.

Are we also prepared to be inspired by the Prayer of Jabez?

 

[Sermon preached in Park End Presbyterian Church, Cardiff, June 16th. 2009]

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The Serenity Prayer

June 27, 2009 at 9:59 am · Filed under Christian living ·Tagged , , ,

 

 Proverbs 8:1-12, Luke 10:25-37,  James 1:1-8

Introduction

Today I want to look at a prayer which is very popular. It’s not from the Bible but you see it everywhere – on plaques, on cards, on bookmarks.

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.

This is usually known as the Serenity Prayer. It was written by Reinhold Niebuhr as part of a longer prayer.

Karl Paul Reinhold Niebuhr was an American theologian and pastor in the early part of the last century. In 1915 the Mission Board of his denomination (the Evangelical and Reformed Church) sent him to Detroit as a pastor. He served there for 13 years, during which time his congregation grew from 65 to nearly 700. (The increase was no doubt partly due to the tremendous growth of the automobile industry in Detroit.) Niebuhr composed this prayer in 1932. In 1939 it came to the attention of a member of Alcoholics Anonymous who liked it so much that it was taken up by the AA. Cards were printed and passed around and this simple prayer became an integral part of the AA movement.

 The prayer is today so popular that it might seem to be a bit trite, yet it is actually very profound.

 

 God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change

Now serenity is not the same as complacency. It is all about accepting that there are certain things in life we are not meant to change. Maybe, in his divine plan, God intends someone  else to change them. Maybe they cannot be changed by any human agency at all.

The Apostle Paul had learned this kind of serenity when he wrote:

 I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.     (Philippians 4:11-12 )

What sort of things we can not change? The weather, the financial markets, international affairs. Indeed we have very little direct influence over these things. You know, some people live in a state of constant forboding. The weather forecast is bad for today so they expect foul weather. But often the expected bad weather doesn’t materialise. Or they get depressed with the news.

I knew a lady in North Wales – her name was Hannah. Hannah was housebound and spent a lot of time watching daytime television and listening to the radio. Every hour there was a news bulletin reminding her of the terrible things happening in the world. Hannah used to get really upset. I think it is a good thing to take a rest from the news sometimes. Remember: there are many good things happening in the world that you don’t hear about on the news.

In a perfect world everyone who worked hard would be rewarded with the appropriate exam results, job prospects and family happiness. In reality we know that those who work hard are not always rewarded. Sometimes those who just happen to be in the right place at the right time reap the reward. So often it is just by chance. A pop singer is discovered by a talent scout and becomes a great star. But there are hundreds of other performers just as good who never made it.

The Bible has something to say about this phenomenon:

The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favour to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.       (Ecclesiastes  9:11)

There is really nothing we can do about this but accept it philosophically and trust in God. Perhaps we should avoid the kind of fatalism seen in other religions. In Islam people just say “It’s the will of Allah” and accept it. Perhaps we should avoid that kind of fatalism, but nonetheless there has to be some kind of acceptance of those things that can not be changed.  “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change”.

I think we need to also realise that we can not change people.

A bride was very nervous just before her wedding day. At the rehearsal, the Vicar said to her, “Now don’t worry, you don’t have to remember a lot. Just come down the aisle on your father’s arm, stand by the Groom at the altar, and then we sing a hymn. Remember Aisle – Altar – Hymn.”

Well she practiced these words over and over again. As she came down the aisle in her nervous state the Bride was repeating the words to herself: “Aisle – Altar – Hymn. Aisle – Altar – Hymn.”  Or, as it sounded to the Groom, “I’ll alter him!”

Well it’s true, often people get married to someone who has faults or habits they don’t like. They think they will be able to change them after they are married. But it doesn’t work like that. You have to love a person as they are. Otherwise it can lead to disaster.
Often people say that we ministers ought to do more telling people how they ought to live their lives. “Tell them the right way to live, then that will sort out their problems”  Isn’t this  a very superficial view? Experience shows that simply telling people makes no difference at all. the Holy Spirit has to work in their, hearts convincing them, before they will change. God can change people – we can’t.

It is one of the great points of the Calvinistic branch of Christianity (to which we belong) that we believe in the Sovereignty of God. His the one who makes the changes – we are his instruments and his co-workers. How often have we heard people say, “I was converted by Billy Graham”  – or some other evangelist. that person’s life was indeed changed,  but it wasn’t Billy Graham who did it – and he would have been the first to say so.

As preacher I can’t convert people. I can’t pressurize people to come to church – I can’t change people’s habits. But God can. I need to learn the lesson of serenity – to accept the things I can’t change. Do you?

 
Courage to change the things I can

What is often seen in eastern countries, where the prevailing philosophy is Hindu or Buddhist, is the idea that you must not intervene when you see a needy or suffering person. what is happening to them is supposed to be the result of their Karma. They have to suffer to expiate sins committed in a previous incarnation. Don’t interfere with the will of the gods.

Now Christianity is the opposite of this. If you see a needy person you should try to help them – to do what you can. Not to even try is to fail as a Christian, according to the teaching of Jesus in the Parable of the Good Samaritan.

Some things you can’t change, but a great many other things you can. The Samaritan couldn’t stop the man being attacked. He couldn’t stop the Jews and Samaritans hating one another. But he could at least care for the injured man. And it takes courage to be a Good Samaritan.

It takes courage to change things. It takes courage to stand up for truth and justice. It takes courage to speak out against evil.

·  In the Old Testament, Daniel and his friends had this kind of courage.

·  In our day we see this kind of courage in people like Aung Suu Kyi, the democracy campaigner in Burma. And Christians in Saudi Arabia who are prepared to go to prison for their faith.

Some things in life can be changed – by campaigning, by protesting, by praying.

It was protesting and praying that brought down the Iron Curtain. And the apartheid regime in South Africa. There are things we can do to change the world. We can, for example, support the movement for Fair Trade.

Over the centuries social reformers have campaigned to abolish slavery, to stop children going down mines and up chimneys, to improve prison conditions. Almost all these reforms were carried out by Evangelical Christians with a strong belief in prayer and the sovereignty of God, and in the life hereafter. But that didn’t stop them campaigning to improve things in this life too.

There are things we can change. We ministers can’t change people, but we can preach the Gospel which, under God’s sovereignty, can change people.

You can’t convert your neighbours to the Christian faith, but you can be a good neighbour to them and help them in any need. That might open the door. yes, there is a lot we can do to change things, and often it requires courage.

 
Wisdom to know the difference

How essential this is. I could give you a list of things, as long as my arm, that I think need to be changed in the world. And you could give me an equally long list. But we could both be wasting our time. God has got works for each of us to do – so I must concentrate on what he has for me. We need to discern God’s will for us. We need wisdom.

Many people fret about things that they can’t change. They waste time and energy in trying to change them. Others fail to act when they can. They can’t see what needs changing. They have become complacent. Wisdom can save us from  both these errors.

The Apostle James writes:

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind.   ( James 1: 5-6  )

 

 
Conclusion

May God give us all serenity, courage and wisdom to make a difference in the world in which we live.

Let us pray:

(the full version of the Serenity Prayer)
 
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time,
Enjoying one moment at a time,
Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace.
Taking, as he did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.
Trusting that he will make all things right if I surrender to his will.

That I may be reasonably happy in this life,
And supremely happy with him forever in the next.   Amen.

[Sermon preached in Park End Presbyterian Church, Cardiff, June 16th. 2009]

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With Jesus in the boat

June 22, 2009 at 7:27 pm · Filed under Jesus Christ, New Testament, Suffering ·Tagged , , ,

 

 

Mark 4: 35-41

Introduction

“With Jesus in the boat we can smile at the storm, Smile at the storm, Smile at the storm, With Jesus in the boat we can smile at the storm, As we go sailing home.”         (Children’s chorus based on this incident in Mark.)

 

A storm at sea

Jesus had been working hard, teaching the crowds, healing the sick. He was exhausted. So he said to his disciples, “Let’s get in a boat and go to the other side of the lake”. That was the Gentile side – he knew it was unlikely that any Jewish people would want to go there. Jesus climbed into the boat just as he was and lay down on a fisherman’s leather cushion at the stern of the boat. Within a short while he was fast asleep – worn out. And so they set off in their boat, and a few other small boats with some other followers of Jesus went with them.

Now, weather conditions on Lake Galilee are treacherous. The hillsides and valleys all around the lake funnel the winds. Sometimes a squall can blow up out of nowhere, with no warning. That’s what happened here. One moment all was peaceful and calm, the next they were struggling against strong winds and huge waves. The waves were breaking over the boat and they were in danger of being swamped. The disciples panicked – but there was Jesus, fast asleep! One is reminded of Jonah fast asleep, below deck on the ship to Tarshish. The difference is that in Jonah’s case, his sleep was an escape from a guilty conscience. In the case of Jesus it was sheer physical and mental tiredness. He was asleep and he was at peace.

All this was too much for the disciples. “Master don’t you care if we drown?” they cried, as they tried to rouse him. Jesus rubbed his eyes, got slowly to his feet, and in a loud clear voice said, “Quiet, be still!” Jesus spoke to the storm just as you might command a barking dog to be quiet. And the wind just petered out, the waves died down, and calm came over the sea.

“Why are you so frightened?” he said to his disciples. “Do you still have no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and fear. “Who is this, even the wind and the waves obey him?” It was fear that had led them to awake the master. Now he is awake it is replaced with a much more profound awe and fear. Who is this man?

At the beginning of this incident we see a very human Jesus. He lies down in the stern of the boat just as he is: unwashed, unfed, totally worn out. He seeks the oblivion and restorative power of sleep. This is a very human Jesus. He is so obviously a man, and we can all identify with him. But when he calms the storm they see his divine power. Here is a man who can control the weather with a single word of command. We see no magic mumbo-jumbo here, no incantations, no spells. Not even an invocation of the name of Jehovah. By his own power Jesus stills the storm, with a word of command. And the wind and waves obey him.

Who is this man? He’s more than just a man. What then, an angel? A semi-divine being? No, something more than that. For the disciples this was the beginning of a steep learning curve that will lead ultimately to Thomas’s great words of faith: “My Lord and my God!” The recognition of the divinity of Jesus Christ.

 

Storms of life

Now we, as followers of the Risen One, also believe that Jesus is Lord and God. We also believe he has power to calm storms. Like many preachers, and commentators, and hymnwriters of the past, we can see a parallel with the storms of life which Jesus can calm.

“Will your anchor hold in the storms of life, When the clouds unfold their wings of strife?

When the strong tides lift and the cables strain, Will your anchor drift, or firm remain?

“We have an anchor that keeps the soul Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,

Fastened to the Rock which cannot move, Grounded firm and deep in the Savior’s love.”

 

And:

Be still, my soul; thy God doth undertake To guide the future as He has the past.

Thy hope, thy confidence, let nothing shake; All now mysterious shall be bright at last.

Be still, my soul; the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.”

 

what do we mean by “the storms of life”? Well, I suppose, all the “heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to”, as Shakespeare says in Hamlet.

We are thinking of all the trials and difficulties we face at times. For one person it might be financial crisis of debt. For another: life-threatening illness. Or it could be bereavement. It could be be pain and disability. It could be rejection and opposition, perhaps persecution for one’s faith, or because of one’s race. Some might suffer slander and backbiting. Others might be worried about loved ones: their safety, their heath, their moral or spiritual well-being. It might be the burden of broken relationships or divorce. It might be the pressure of work or the stress of responsibility. It might be the loss of a job or the pain of long-term unemployment. It might be the intolerable burden of caring for someone else. This is a far from comprehensive list. I’m sure some of you could add to it from your own experience.

 

With Jesus in the boat we can smile at the storm

Whatever the storms of life may be, we know we are safe if the Lord is with us. Those disciples were safe as long as Jesus was in the boat with them, even when he was asleep! God would look after him: it was not his destiny to drown in Lake Galilee. Rather, he was to go on to die at Calvary. That was God’s plan. Yes, “With Jesus in the boat we can smile at the storm”.

But notice this: Jesus has to be in the boat with us. Have we got Jesus on board?

Our church, the Presbyterian Church of Wales, faces many storms at present – have we got Jesus on board with us? If we are seeking to glorify him, then we will weather the storms.

We have storms in our lives too. Ask yourself: “Have I got Jesus on board? Is he the Lord of my life? Does he rule my actions? Do I know him as my Saviour? If the answer is “yes”, then I can face the storms of life that come at me. The Lord is in the vessel of my life, I need not fear the storms. And if, perchance, he does not calm the storm, then he will give strength to endure it. If we have Jesus on board, then we can face the storms. But if we don’t yield our lives to him, then there is no way we can expect his help in our lives.

 

Conclusion

So, once again, the call is to follow the Risen Christ, who is Lord and God in human form. “Immanuel: God with us.” He will be with us in the boat as long as we have invited him on board.

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The Holy Spirit in the Church

June 8, 2009 at 7:43 pm · Filed under Christian living, The Church, The Holy Spirit ·Tagged , , ,

 
 
 

 (based on a sermon outline by Roger Campbell, p179 in Preach for a Year # 1 )

Acts 11: 9-14, 2: 1-8, 42-27

 When God’s Son came into the world, the world did not know him, even though the world was made by him. That was the coming of God’s Son into the world. After he had returned to heaven he sent the Holy Spirit, and it was the same old story. The world did not recognise him. Indeed, on the Day of Pentecost when the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit, some people just said they were drunk!

And since then in the history of the Church there have been times when people have not recognised the Holy Spirit. And they have forgotten about him. They have gone about the Christian life as if it were just a matter of keeping laws, man-made rules and regulations in one’s own strength. The Holy Spirit is in the Church, and the Church was made by the Holy Spirit, but at times the Church knows him not.

What a difference it would make to our Christianity if every individual member of the Church were to be filled with the Holy Spirit! We can look into the Book of Acts to see what that situation would be like. What is a church like when it lives in the renewing power of the Holy Spirit?

We can note three things:

 

1)  From weaklings to witnesses (Acts 1:8)

The early chapters of Acts show us the followers of Jesus, just after the death and resurrection of Jesus. Just before he ascended to heaven Jesus met with his disciples and they asked him some questions:

“Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (V6)

In other words: “Is it now time for us to go out in your name and bring in the Kingdom of God?”

Jesus said, “Not yet.”

“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you (v7-8)

You must wait first until the Holy Spirit comes upon you – you will not carry out this work in your own strength.

 

When we consider the weakness of that first group of disciples we are amazed at what they were able to achieve in the power of the Holy Spirit.Remember just who they were:

· There was Peter who had denied his Lord in a moment of crisis.

· There was Philip whose faith was weak, who had asked, “Lord show us the Father and then we will believe.”

· There was Thomas who doubted the Resurrection of the Lord.

· And there were all the other disciples, cowering behind locked doors for fear of the Authorities.

These are the people Jesus took, and filled with his Spirit, and used to turn the world upside down.

However weak we may be in our own human strength we will be witnesses to Christ when we are filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

 

2)  From faction to fellowship  (Acts 4:32)

There was the possibility of all kinds of faction and division in the early Church. Those first followers were such a disparate group of people. Some had been fishermen: others tax gatherers. Some had been Zealots, fighting against the Romans: others had worked for the Romans. Some had lived highly moral lives others had been crooks or prostitutes.

Before the death of Jesus his disciples had quarrelled about who was going to be the most important in the Kingdom. After the Resurrection there was still the question of Peter’s denial, Thomas’s lack of belief, the other disciples forsaking Jesus at his arrest. Yes, there were plenty of possible causes for recriminations and dispute.

But after the coming of the Holy Spirit they are united in heart, mind and will

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed any of his possessions were his own, but they shared everything they had.” (Acts 4:32)

The Holy Spirit had united them with a bond of love that was far more important to them than mere possessions.

It is always so with the Holy Spirit. When he is at work he brings unity and love among the members in the local church. When the Christians truly love one another, then their work of outreach is not compromised. But if there are divisions in the church, how can they expect to be able to bring in others?

Sadly some of the very churches which make the greatest claims about the work of he Holy Spirit are riven by internal divisions. Such division between groups of people who both believe in Jesus is a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is not being given his rightful place. However much lip-service may be paid to the work of the Spirit – if there is division, then he is not being given his rightful place.

 

 

3) Growth without gimmickry (Acts 4: 33)

In the Book of Acts, every time we see the Holy Spirit at work in the church we also see growth.

· 3000 people were converted on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2: 41)

· After Peter and John had been arrested, the number of believers rose to 5000 men (not counting women and children). (Acts 4: 4)

· After the incident with Ananias and Sapphira, multitudes were added to their number. (Acts 5: 14)

· “So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith. (Acts 6: 7)

 

This was church growth in New Testament times.

· It was not the result of a strategy drawn up by a committee.

· It was not attained by adhering to “church growth principles”.

· It was not the result of massive evangelistic rallies with world-famous names on the platform.

· It was not the outcome of natural gifts and abilities.

· It was not brought about by gimmicks.

Such things are often used today to try and whip up revival. But without the power of the Holy Spirit none of these things will produce real growth. And by that I mean growth in depth of faith and love, as well as growth in numbers. And the Book of Acts shows us that the Holy Spirit does not need any of these things to produce revival!

Aren’t you tired of gimmicks? I am.

All we need is what those first disciples had: we see it in Acts 2 as they waited in the upper room.

They joined together to pray and to worship God in the name of Christ. They waited on God with a humble spirit.

Are we prepared to do this?

 

If we are, then we too can be:

· changed from Weaklings to Witnesses,

· our relationships can be mended as we go from Faction to Fellowship,

· and converts will join the Church as we experience Growth without Gimmicks.

If only we will trust God for his power.

 

 

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Pentecost Power

June 5, 2009 at 6:12 pm · Filed under New Testament, The Holy Spirit ·Tagged , ,

 

Acts chapter 2

(Sermon Preached in Brecon Presbyterian Church on Sunday 31 May 2009)

Today is Pentecost Sunday – although I don’t ever recall it being called that when I was a child in Park End Church, Cardiff. I can’t remember it being called anything but Whit Sunday. In those days Whitsun was a bank holiday and Whit Monday was always the day for the Whitsun Treat. I remember us as children clambering onto a lorry with Sunday school benches roped to it. We clung on to those benches for dear life as the lorry climbed the steep hill out of Cardiff,  up to some farmer’s field, where we had games and a picnic. There didn’t seem to be any Health and Safety regulations in those days!

I think, to most of us, the the religious significance of Whitsun was completely lost. We must have been taught about it in Sunday School but I don’t ever recall hearing about the coming of the Holy Spirit. For children today it probably has even less significance. It’s not even called Whitsun now, it’s the Late Spring Bank Holiday, and it doesn’t always happen on Whit weekend.

By the way, if you’re wondering about the origin of the phrase Whit Sunday, it comes from the time when confirmations were always held at Pentecost. The candidates for confirmation all wore white robes and dresses: hence White or Whit Sunday.

 

Rumours

But how can we get back to the true meaning of Whitsun? It helps a bit, I think, to call it Pentecost because that reminds us of the events we read about in Acts Chapter two. On the Jewish Feast of Pentecost, when Jerusalem was filled with pilgrims from everywhere Jews lived, the Holy Spirit came. He came upon an obscure group of Galilean fishermen and ex tax-collectors who were followers of Jesus of Nazareth -  Jesus who had been crucified seven weeks previously. On that day, Good Friday, the Sun had been darkened, there had been an earthquake and the heavy curtain in the Temple had been torn in two  – momentous and apocalyptic events.

A week later there were rumours going around that Jesus had risen from the dead and had been seen by his disciples. His tomb was empty and his body gone – the Jewish and Roman authorities didn’t know what to make of it.

And still the rumours kept coming. More and more people said they had met with the risen Jesus – on a mountaintop, by Lake Galilee, in Jerusalem behind locked doors, in the village of Emmaus. Jesus kept popping up everywhere! But despite these appearances of the risen Lord his followers seemed to be pretty intimidated. They were scared of the authorities. They didn’t want to risk facing jail and crucifixion, so they met in secret. No doubt the authorities hoped all this religious enthusiasm would die down. After a while surely people would realise Jesus was dead. And then his followers would disperse – going back to their old lives as fishermen, etc. That’s what the authorities hoped, but how wrong they were!

About six weeks after the Passover there were more rumours rumours going round. This time it was claimed that Jesus had gone back to heaven. Some of his followers even claimed to have been at his ascension. It all seemed too ridiculous to be true to the authorities, but his followers continued to believe in him. They started holding daily prayer meetings in the upper room of a house in Jerusalem. They were waiting for something to happen – the coming of that mysterious power Jesus had promised them.
“Do not leave Jerusalem,” he had said, “but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”      (Acts 1:4)

And that’s what they were waiting for.

 

 

A storm of spiritual power

Then, ten days after the Ascension, it happened. On  the Day of Pentecost there was a sound like a rushing wind, something that looked like tongues of flame resting on each follower of Jesus. Every one was filled with the Holy Spirit, They felt a new joy and peace and love, a new power. They started praising God in strange tongues. It all happened at once. That quiet little upper room in Jerusalem suddenly became the centre of a veritable storm of spiritual power. People outside heard the noise and came running. And the disciples spilled out into the street proclaiming God’s glory in a variety of languages. And so the Christian Church was born.
Imagine a news report of the time might have looked (if they had had them).

 

AMAZING EVENTS IN JERUSALEM AS RELIGIOUS HYSTERIA HITS THE CITY

Yesterday a tremendous wave of messianic fervour hit the Metropolis as crowds of followers of the prophet Jesus rampaged though the streets. Jesus of Nazareth was a messianic pretender who was crucified by the Romans seven weeks ago, during the Passover festival. Now his followers claim he is alive again. They have been seen in the streets shouting out in many different languages that Jesus is the Messiah and praising him as the Son of God.

Why do the authorities tolerate such blasphemy? Why don’t they just produce the body of the imposter Jesus and put paid to these claims? And how did these ignorant men become proficient in so many different languages – Parthian, Elamite, Phrygian and Egyptian among others?

In an astonishing further development it appears that about 300 people publicly joined themselves to the new Jesus sect yesterday.

The man Peter seems to be the ringleader of the group. Yesterday he harangued the crowd and publicly accused them of responsibility for the death of Jesus. Then, in an unprecedented turn of events, instead of lynching him, the crowd asked how they too could become followers of the so-called Messiah! Will this madness never end? Will it take over the whole world? Can the authorities do nothing?

 

Well, we know it didn’t stop there – and it is still taking over the world. Here, in the West, we get despondent when we see the decline of Christianity in our society, as well as the increase in other religions such as Islam. And yet the Gospel is spreading like wildfire in many parts of the world. Even in the Muslim heartlands of North Africa thousands of people are turning to Christ.

Here in Wales – formerly known as “the Land of Revivals” – we have a situation which makes us feel despondent. Our clinging to outworn traditions and basking in our knowledge about the great revivals of the past have made us complacent. We somehow think revival will come automatically, like the ebb and flow of the tide. 

  • But will it come if we don’t pray?
  • Will it come if we don’t spread the Gospel?
  • Will it come if we don’t repent of all evil in our lives?
  • Will it come  if we don’t seek reconciliation with our brothers and sisters?
  • Will it come if we don’t open our hearts to the work of the blessed Holy Spirit.

(close with prayer)

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