Date archive for March, 2008
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Sermons – 2008 Week 13 – Mar Wk 5
The Messages of Christ Crucified Part 8
Christ Crucified In us – IntercessionIsaiah 59:16
He saw that there was no man,
And wondered that there was no intercessor;
Therefore His own arm brought salvation for Him;
And His own righteousness, it sustained Him.An intercessor is one who pleads the cause of another. In Luke 22:31-32, “And the Lord said, “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren”, Jesus interceded in prayer for Peter although Peter thought that he was strong enough when the time of testing came.
Every Christian should be an intercessor for others. In Numbers 16:46-50, it told of a time of a rebellious nature of the children of Israel and when the plague was to consume them, Moses and Aaron interceded for them and Aaron stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped.
In Ezekiel 23:30, there was no intercessor. In Isaiah 59:16, there was also none. It is our responsibility to be intercessors between God and a purpose. In Genesis 1:28, God gave man authority over all on earth. In Psalms 115:16, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’s; But the earth He has given to the children of men.” This authority, which was forfeited because of the Fall, is restored upon salvation. As Christians, we are to replenish the earth with living Christians. God created prayer to communicate to the creatures He created.
How can man exercise this dominion that is his?
It can be done through prayer and intercessions are taken seriously. There must be a willingness to believe and obey.
A prayer warrior has a burden, prays for things and expects answers. An intercessor has a purpose, offers himself to God for fulfillment, must get their prayers answered.
Priesthood of all believers means that every Christian is a priest. We can enter the Holy of Holies and talk to God directly. We should come before God for the people daily. Our prayers should not merely be seeking God’s blessings. We should intercede for our loved ones and for direct and specific purposes.
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
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Sermons – 2008 Week 12 – Mar Wk 4
The Evidences for Christ’s Resurrection
1Corinthians 15:1-11
Greek philosophy believes that the body is bad and that the soul is trapped in the body. The soul is finally released upon death. That is why Paul in Acts 17:32 while discussing the issue of resurrection with the Greeks, met with resistance in belief. They could not believe in resurrection.
Many who do not believe in the resurrection have come up with fantastic ideas to disprove its occurrence. There is the “Swoon” theory, in which Jesus was thought to have fainted and revived after that. Imagine after being pierced at the end, not to mention all the suffering prior to that. There is the “wrong tomb” theory, where everyone seemed to have mistaken an otherwise wrong empty tomb. Imagine the Roman guards keeping watch on the wrong tomb or collaborating with those down and out Christians! Imagine the number of people having made that mistake. Then there was the “theft” theory by the followers of Jesus. There were lots of difficulties with this theory including overcoming the guards and making everyone keep quiet about the theft, as well as making unbelieving Jews keep quiet about that event! Whatever theories that have come up including a collaboration theory have been deemed too fantastic to believe. The simple fact of the resurrection is far easier to believe than all the conspiracies involved.
Why is the resurrection so important to us?
Our whole belief and faith hinges on the resurrection. No other religion has this miracle to prove the validity of their religion. All other religions are man-made, with doctrines all written by a single man. The Bible has the “collaboration” of God, non other, to write all 66 books! It was not a one-man authorship but one-God.
There were witnesses to the resurrection, some of whom were still alive at the writing of the Corinthian epistle. Furthermore, they were reliable witnesses who would give up their lives for this belief. If the resurrection were untrue, it was unlikely so many people seeing Jesus at different times from different walks of life would have all been willing to die for a lie! There were Cephas (Peter), the twelve apostles, the five hundred, James (probably Jesus’ half brother), and by Paul.
In these 11 verses alone, in Corinthians, we see the presentation of the Resurrection, its importance (vv. 1-2), the message (vv 3-4), the witnesses (vv 5-7), and the results (vv. 10-11).
The Corinthians did not deny the resurrection of Christ but the resurrection of believers. Paul linked Christ’s resurrection to that of the saints. He reminded them they were brothers. He reminded them of the gospel and that they had wholeheartedly received his message about Christ. That was the gospel on which they stood (vv 1-2).
Verses 3 and 4 were the classic definition of the gospel message. This was underscored by the phrase, “according to the Scriptures.” Paul delivered what he had received. It did not come from social reforms; it was a life changing message, from Christ Himself to Paul.
Verses 5 to 9 list various groups of witnesses. No women were mentioned although they certainly were witnesses of this event. This was because Paul was presenting his arguments like a legal document so that women were excluded as they could not be legal witnesses at that time of this epistle.
Finally, what was the result of the Resurrection?
There was the principle of Grace, Verse 10, “But by the grace of God, I am what I am.” Paul had become an apostle not through human effort but by God’s grace. There was the power of Grace. Paul continued to say, “and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Paul may appear arrogant in what he seemed to say, but, in fact, he was saying that he had traveled further than anyone and endured much suffering. Yet he attributed everything to the power of the Grace of God.
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
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Sermons – 2008 Week 11 – Mar Wk 3
The Messages of Christ Crucified Part 7
Christ Crucified IN us – Sacrifice
1Chronicles 21:24All too often, we leave leftovers to God. It may be our leftover time or our leftover earnings or even our leftover talents.
Ask ourselves how much sacrifice do we make?
In 1 Chronicles 21:24, King David felt that it was no sacrifice if he took his subject’s property which rightfully he had control over, to turn over to God. He had to sacrifice in full payment to make the sacrifice truly worthy.
What is meant by dying?
There are three inroads to the cross of Christ, each creating a different fellowship with God. There is death to the old self. 2Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” Then, there is a need to move on with a Spirit filled life. One should not stay at the point of justification. Finally, there is death of the new man. It is death to creature comfort, security and avoidance of pain. There is a daily handing over to God.
There is no substitute for sacrificial living. Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
There are three levels of Christian giving.
There is proportionate giving, like giving tithes. There is giving as Zaccheus did. When he was saved, half of what he had, he gave. There was giving everything as did the widow with her two mites.
True Christian life is a sacrificial life. It costs time, effort, comfort, security besides money. We no longer seek to save ourselves and are ready to be broken to reveal the Christ within.
Fruit bearing is for others to enjoy, not for self. John 12:24,”Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.” Fruit bearing can only come about when we allow ourselves to be planted with the experience of death that we may blossom with fruit for others.
Communism with its self sacrificing principle taught that its progress far outreached that of Christianity. However, without the Cross, their gospel cannot be taken seriously and was doomed to fail. Even though there is very rapid progress of communism, theirs was no guiding principle in the Cross. Everything that seeks itself closes the door that allows divine flow.
Without the Cross, the gospel cannot be taken seriously.
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
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Sermons – 2008 Week 10 – Mar Wk 2
The Messages of Christ Crucified (Part 6)
Various Texts
The sermon began with an exhortation to live the spirit-filled life.
To begin with, some people fake being spirit-filled by looking holy, but
there is no joy in their lives. Do we not claim the promises in
Ephesians 5:18-19 which states, “but be filled with the Spirit,
speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,”. When spirit-
filled, there should be joy and there should be the fruit of the Spirit,
as shown in Galatians 5:22-23.The question is: how thirsty are we for the Spirit?
John 7:37-39 reviews this issue.
Are you thirsty? Do you want to be filled with the Spirit?
One must come clean with the Lord to be filled with he Spirit.
If you are filled with sin, how is the spirit going to fill you?
Isaiah 59:1-3 reflects this. One cannot bargain with God. The Lord does not hear
when there are iniquities.How clean is clean?
When one has sinned, confess and move on. Confession must come with repentance. Be careful in discerning
spiritual truths.How to trust God for His promises?
It is not a matter of random opening of the Bible. It must be upon the Word of God and must be discerning.
Otherwise, when things don’t work out – one question that is asked is: where is God?
Christ has been crucified for us, for the unregenerate man. Christ has
been crucified as us, for our sanctification as a continuous process.
If there is no sanctification, any superficial “discipline” is just to
improve the old man.Sanctification takes away sin and there is cleansing.
What kind of daily life should we live?
The new man also needs to bear the cross. He needs daily sacrifice and daily brokenness. Luke 9:23 tells us to take up the cross daily and follow Christ. Unless the new man bears the daily cross, he will still be the old man.
The body is the servant, not the master. The reason why so many of us
have no victory in our life is because our body is in control. Look at
1Th 5:23. The emphasis is on “spirit, soul and body”, not “body, soul and
spirit”. It is the de-emphasis placed upon the body in this verse.There is nothing wrong with the flesh except when it lives for itself.
This dominion is ended when given in to the Spirit. Gal 5:24,” Those who
are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passion and desires.”
The flesh is not dead. God does not kill the flesh. When the Spirit
rules, the flesh is pure and right. On the other hand, if the flesh
rules, it accumulates a lot of garment and must be discarded. If flesh
is controlling habits, let God take control. Put off many old habits;
they may not be sinful but are not good, nevertheless.Be soldiers of Jesus Christ. Have the desire to be spirit-filled. Ask
God to move us to new heights!Mr and Mrs ET Chua
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Sermons – 2008 Week 09 – Mar Wk 1
God’s Proclamation of Himself
Exodus 34:1-8
The background to this chapter is the follow up of the first two
tablets on which the Ten Commandments had been written. These were
destroyed. God told Moses to hewn two new tablets upon which God was
to write the Ten Commandments again.It was a solemn occasion to approach God or even to mention the name
of God. Similarly in our lives today we should treat God’s Word with
great solemnity, with respect and with reverence. We should treat God’s name
with the utmost reverence unlike many blasphemous swear words where
“god is prefixed or suffixed to some other word!Moses was awed in approaching God and when given the tablets he was going to tell the people about it.
God is still doing wonderful things. God is going to show him His glory.We then see the attributes of God recorded in verses 6 and 7.
First is the proclamation “The Lord, The Lord God”. This is the
infinite, independent being. Another term is God is sovereign.God is merciful. Mercy is when God spares us the troubles we deserve for
our sinful nature. Otherwise we would have suffered for our sinful
natureGod is gracious. God gives us blessings we do not deserve. It is
likened to the good Samaritan who took care of the downtrodden Jew. It
is similar blessings on us when we do not deserve them.God is longsuffering. He is patient and strong in spite of our failure
to acknowledge Him, in spite of our turning away from Him.God is abundant in goodness. He is reliable and He is loving. He does
not go back on His covenant.God is abundant in truth. He is bountiful in worthiness, faithfulness
and truthfulness.Keeps mercy for thousands. God is constantly orchestrating things and
keeping watch.He forgives iniquity, transgressions and sins. Such is His merciful
nature that he forgives but in forgiving there is a cost to God.
On our part we must repent of our sins. However, God is also righteous
and just and will punish us for our unrepentant transgressions and iniquity.And Moses was going to go back to his people in great haste to tell
them about God after spending time with God, a lot of time in fact.Do we? Do we spend time with God by spending time in His Word?
Mr and Mrs ET Chua
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