Jesus…

Quotation from Frdeerick Faber…

“Wherever we turn in the church of God, there is Jesus. He is the beginning, middle and end of everything to us. …There is nothing good, nothing holy, nothing beautiful, nothing joyous which He is not to His servants. No one need be poor, because, if he chooses, he can have Jesus for his own property and possession. No one need be downcast, for Jesus is the joy of heaven, and it is His joy to enter into sorrowful hearts. We can exaggerate about many things; but we can never exaggerate our obligation to Jesus, or the compassionate abundance of the love of Jesus to us. All our lives long we might talk of Jesus, and yet we should never come to an end of the sweet things that might be said of Him. Eternity will not be long enough to learn all He is, or to praise Him for all He has done, but then, that matters not; for we shall be always with Him, and we desire nothing more.”

Perspective..

Its all about perspective… Perspective; the one sized fit all answer to our problems….

The food was bad.. hey, at least you’ve got food.. some people don’t..

My job is boring.. hey, at least you’ve got a job which earns this amount of money; there are a lot of other worse jobs out there you know…

My boiler broke down for 4 day and I had no hot water.. But X’s boiler was down for 2 weeks…

I’ve lost X and Y but at least I’ve still got family, friends and stuff..

When things turn bad, whom do we really turn to? What do we use to comfort ourselves? Who do we turn to? Do we turn to the World or do we turn to Jesus? If the economy goes to pot and I don’t get an expected pay rise and as a result I can’t afford the mortgage and have to downgrade my flat then what do I do if I am upset. Do I think “okay, it doesn’t matter because at least my new smaller flat is still in quite a nice area?”.. by doing that, am I not using another item from the World to comfort my Worldly worry? What if I get downgraded again… what if I get upgraded..

Don’t get me wrong.. we should thank the Lord that we can still have a place to live in a scenario like that.. and we should thank the Lord that he provides us with jobs (no matter how boring)… but I guess I am often at the risk of ‘thinking about the right perspective’ without thinking about the Lord…

And when I think directly about the Lord and I turn to Jesus… perhaps my perspective will change and continue to be developed by HIM to focus on the real issues…

Then no matter whether I have a huge flat or a tiny flat; and whether its luxurious with amazing furniture or just has a few stools, the Lord Jesus is head of the house and that is all the comfort I need..

Or whether I have a great job or a crap job, I don’t have to make myself feel better by thinking about worse jobs out there (which thankfully the Lord has not asked me to do).. If I truly had the right perspective, I would not think of that but will simply be thankful that my identity is in Christ and all my significance rests in that and he can be my boss no matter what job I do…

That no matter whether I have a nice meal or a bad meal… I will enjoy the most amazing feast ever with Jesus in the New Creation..

Once again, we should thank the Lord for his blessings… and perspective is important.. but we need the right perspective… a perspective which focuses solely on Jesus…

Layers of Exodus

Different layers to the Exodus Story? I did this really quickly so there aren’t any references and there maybe many typos etc!

Layer One

The Israelites are in slavery and then are redeemed out of Egypt by God and go into the Promise Land.

Layer Two

The Israelites are in slavery and this symbolizes Christians being enslaved to Sin. The Passover takes places where the lamb is sacrificed and this symbolizes the Cross where the Lamb of God is sacrificed for our sins. The Angel of Death passes over those who are covered by the blood of the Lamb but does not pass over those who do not. The first born sons of the Egyptians and other Israelites who are not covered in the blood of the Lamb are killed. This symbolizes that when Jesus comes again at his second coming, those who trust in the blood of the Lamb (the Cross) will be saved and those who do not, will be punished. The next morning, the Israelites begin their journey to the Promise Land, the land of milk and honey. This symbolizes Resurrection Morning when Jesus has come, those who have trusted him are saved and we proceed to the New Creation; the true land of milk and honey.

Layer Two and a Half

It is Jesus who takes the Israelites out of Egypt. It is he who meets with Moses at the Burning Bush. It is he who then speaks through Moses and Aaron to Pharaoh. It is he who is the actually Angel of Death and passes judgment on those who do not trust in the Blood of the Lamb and it is he who leads them into the Promise Land (the Pillar of Cloud and the Pillar of Fire).

Layer Three

It is Jesus who then goes through parts of the Exodus during his Ministry. Jesus goes into Egypt as a baby and then he leaves it. Jesus is the one who like the Israelites is enslaved and treated harshly. Jesus is the one who is forgotten by the earthy Rulers (like the Israelites are forgotten) and is enslaved by sin by becoming sin for us. Jesus is the one with the special relationship with God the Father of which the relationship between Church and Christ is a picture of. Jesus is the one who trusts in the Father’s Promises just like the Israelites trust in what God told Abraham about being enslaved and then being delivered. Jesus is the actual Lamb who is slain during the night but unlike the lamb in the Passover, Jesus is the Slain Lamb who is resurrected, vindicated and ascends to the right hand of the Father.

Instead of saying that Jesus goes through parts of the Exodus; perhaps we should say that the Israelites get to share in some of the experiences that Jesus goes through. It is of course not a total picture as in Layer 2, some of the Exodus events will not be completely fulfilled until the Second Coming.

Psalms

About two weeks ago I finished going through the Psalms. When I read the Bible I usually read it from cover to cover; Genesis to Revelation and when I get to the Psalms, an element of me used to be like ‘oh man, the Psalms are soooo long.. I’m going to be stuck here for weeks’… People often tell me “oh, I have this favourite Psalm” or ‘God gave this Psalm to me and now its my Psalm” or “I really like this Psalm because when X happened, someone showed it to me and it really encouraged me etc”.

Now, that’s great and I’ve been really encouraged by the Psalms in the past as well.. In fact, I specifically remember the Summer of 2004. I was about to start my summer vacation schemes at various law firms and I was pretty worried and distressed. Why? Because to me, coming from the shelter of University and Church, these law firms seemed like really scary places full of Worldly people who would overrun me and cause my faith unreparable damage! But a friend of mine showed me Psalm 139… what a comfort it was at the time… “Verse 7: Where can I go from your Spirit, where can I flee from your presence?”.. God would not abandon me when I walked through the doors of my law firm.. “Verse 11: If I say “surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me”… That was how I felt… whatever light I had was going to become darkened by the worldliness of the law firm.. but looking at “Verse 12: even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day for darkness is as light to you”.. But there’s no need to worry thanks to Verse 12! Needless to say, Psalm 139 really encouraged me..

But there are many many other Psalms which didn’t really seem to talk about situations that affected my life and thus dare I say at times I would find them boring to read. I used to read the Psalms like a bit of a ’self help book’.. in times of trouble, stress or distress, I’d try and find a Psalm which suited my situation and which could give me comfort. And praise God, because the Psalms contain such a wide range of situations and emotions that Christians go through.

With the Psalms, we can look at it and think ‘oh wow, we can praise God that there was a Christian (the writer) who went through a tough time and made it through and we can not rely on it! A Christian who went into a metaphorical pit and went through it and came out strong on the other end… a Christian who was abandoned by his family but its ok, God loves him.. a Christian who rejoices in the Lord because of the good things that the Lord does for him.. a Christian who learns how to be still.. a Christian who suffers as he thinks that God has abandoned him.. a Christian who delights in reading the Law and the Bible… a Christian who only wants to do what the Father wants him to do… a Christian who delights being in the great assembly forever, a Christian who has ‘clean hands and a pure heart’.. a Christian whose body does not see decay… etc etc etc.

However, there were a few things that I was not comfortable with: 1) Some of these Psalms must be Messianic as a human being cant do some of the things mentioned in these Psalms… e.g. see what Peter says in Acts 2… 2) Even if a Christian could, how could it be possible for me? Just because God did this for X and Y, would I be able to have the same experiences and the same comforts and the same results? How could I be sure? was I holy enough?? was I saying the right prayers to get the right results? 3) This doesn’t apply to me still.. I haven’t been abandoned by my family.. I’ve never felt that I’ve been in a pit… Maybe I’ll skip over these Psalms until I need to read them..

I was happy with Point 1.. yes, some of these apply to Jesus.. Glory.. Jesus in the Old T… but how about the others not seemingly so Messianic.. I still struggled with Points 2 and 3… But if all the Psalms are about Jesus as opposed to some of them.. then Point 2 is sorted…And why wouden’t they be for in John 8 Jesus says that all Scripture is about HIM…So with all these tough situations, how can I go through them? I can go through them because I am in CHRIST and he has gone through them.. Christ went into the pit.. Christ was abandoned by all his family and friends on the Cross.. Christ was abandoned by God on the Cross.. Christ knows how to be still. Christ delights in reading the Law and the Bible.. Christ only wants to do what his Father wants him to do.. Christ is the one who will be in the Great Assembly Forever.. Christ has the clean hands and the pure heart.. etc etc…

So I can go through any of these situations described in the Psalms because Christ did.. We can do all things in Christ! (of course that doesn’t mean we will due to our flesh and our sin, another topic about sanctification etc etc etc) and Point 3 is dealt with.. because its not about me… its a character study on Jesus and his Church… I don’t need to think about my life and what I think is pitiful and what I think is tough and what I don’t think is tough.. and whether my hands are really clean enough.. I just need to look at Christ and study his life through the Psalms and rejoice because this is a great opportunity and an awesome Book.. its not about picking Psalms to suit my situation at the right time.. its about looking at each one to learn more about Jesus!

Sermon on the Mount

We’ve just finished an eight-week course on the Sermon on the Mount on my student Bible Study table. Its been great to have the fellowship and to be able to teach this passage with my co-leaders. And in other groups, its been awesome to see people come to the Lord Jesus and to start taking their Christian lives seriously because of this term’s work. God is so gracious and good!

Now, as we’ve just finished it, I’ve been reviewing and thinking about how it was taught and ultimately I wonder about my group and whether we could we have taught the students more about Jesus Christ? Were the studies focusing on “do this and do that because you are a Christian and Jesus says you should and it’s about being a good witness etc?”

Were the last eight weeks simply “You are a Christian and this is how you should live if you profess to be a disciple of Christ, but man, its so hard and I know I’m going to fail but thankfully Jesus died for my failures and my sins”. I’m still undecided but perhaps there should have been more on an emphasis on “This is who Jesus is, do you want to follow him? If so, you’ve got to be like him and I can only do that if I know him better and rely completely on him”.

In other words, were the studies focusing too much on the “actions” and the “original meaning and intentions of the law (because the Sermon on the Mount often says “Again you have heard it was said to those of old “bla bla bla”) than actually on the Lord Jesus Christ? Ultimately is not the law is all about Jesus and isn’t the Sermon on the Mount a description of Jesus? It is just a description of his disciples? But as his disciples, we are called to imitate and follow our master. Its really not about us..

For example, with divorce in Matthew 5:31, did we focus too much on “the original meaning of the Law was to make divorce hard and not to be taken lightly but the Pharisees had twisted it to make it really easy. Jesus thus points us back to the original meaning which is that we should not take divorce lightly”. Now, I agree with that statement but should we have also focused more on “and that is because Jesus will never divorce his Bride. The original law was designed to show people their sin and to point people to the Lord Jesus. If the Church in the Old Testament was to be a faithful witness in the land of the Gentiles, should it not have been witnessing to the certainty that Christ will never divorce us because we are his and because of that he is now ours?”

When we go through the Beatitudes, do we simply think… okay… this is the description of the Christian Life and it’s awesome because of the comforts and reassurances Jesus gives.. or should we also think about this being a description of the Christian life as lived by Jesus Christ? And as his disciples, we are meant to follow that as we become more and more like Him?

For example.. Is this just about us? “Blessed are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”… Of course we are poor in Spirit and we acknowledge that we must renounce self-righteousness, declare ourselves to be spiritually bankrupt and turn to Christ for riches.. and because of that we can praise the Lord because we will have the Kingdom of Heaven… But could we also have focused on the fact that no one was every more poor in Spirit than Christ on the Cross… At the Cross, the Man of Sorrows was poor in Spirit as the weight of the World’s sin lay on his shoulders but glory as his was the Kingdom of Heaven and boy it was amazingly glorious at this ascension when he entered into it (Daniel 7, Psalm 24 etc).

Two Communions on a Sunday

Last Sunday, I had the privilege of having Holy Communion twice at Church (at the 8.00AM and 6.30PM service). We don’t often have Holy Communion at All Souls (perhaps once every six to eight weeks) so to have it twice in a day is something a little out of the ordinary. It brought back memories of when I was a baby Christian (I still am a baby Christian in so many ways) during my first year of University. I was attending All Souls then and Holy Communion was pretty much done the same way then as it is now. I remember that I used to struggle immensely during Holy Communion.

I remember that Richard Bewes (or whoever was leading the Communion part of the Service) would often start with a Prayer of Penitence along the lines of “Brothers and sisters in Christ, as we gather at the Lord’s table we must recall the promises and warnings given to us in the Scriptures. Let us therefore examine ourselves and repent of our sins”…

I’d hear something like that… and I can clearly remember the strain I used to be under as I thought about the sin in my life. The week’s/month’s sins would flash in my head. The Devil would accuse and condemn. There was no real joy in Communion. It would be a real struggle as I just to think how rubbish a Christian I was.

I did not enjoy it and often felt further away as the Minister would pray the Prayer of Humble Access “We do not presume to come to this your table, merciful Lord, trusting in our own righteousness, but in your manifold and great mercies. We are not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table”… that was right, and it still is right… I should examine myself and must recall the promises and warnings.. And I can not approach the Lord trusting in my own righteousness. I am not worthy so much as to gather up the crumbs under your table..”

Holy Communion actually had become all about me and how unworthy I was… but really, it should not have been.. I’d be sitting there, eyes closed yet I find myself in Romans 7 mode.. the bit between Verses 15 to 24… Where I do what I don’t want and I don’t do what I want to do.. ending in Verse 24 with “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”…. And I’d just get stuck there… What a wretched man I am… but I should have kept reading and thinking about Chapter 7 Verse 25 on to Chapter 8 Verse 2… with “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” and “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death”…

The Prayer of Penitence continues with “Let us give thanks to God for his redemption of the world through his Son Jesus Christ, and as we remember Christ’s death for us, and receive this pledge of his love”.

And what did Jesus say about the Bread and the Wine? He broke the bread and gave it to his disciples saying “Take, eat; this is my body” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he give it to then, saying “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”.

I still fall back into these ways every now and again. The idol that is myself. Looking to myself and not to the Lord Jesus. Not just during Communion but throughout the day. Communion was when the I’d be tempted the most to look at myself instead of looking at the Lord Jesus. Of course, I still sin and I should constantly examine my life to see where I am failing and to see where I am sinning. But it should not stop there because if it does, what one sees is a vile person with corrupted flesh. I should look to Jesus instead and praise him that he is glorious and righteous and holy. That he has dealt with my vile sin once and for all and that one day I will be free from the things that used to drag me down and down and depress me.