Community of Individuals

Individualism

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The Apostle Paul writing in Philippians 2v3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

And finally, the Apostle Peter writing in 1 Peter 5v5-6 "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, "God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble." Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time."

Individualism

Contrast those values to those of the twenty first century society, where morality can be summed up in this kind of attitude: "The more you care for others, the more they will care for you." So look after the interests of others and you will also be looked after. In other words everyone is on level parity and there is total equality within society. In some of the more narcissistic and cynical parts of society, there is no other, the order is "me, me and more me and I am far more important and higher than anyone else". Individualism is where the individual's importance is placed higher than all others and is imbued with self-reliance and personal independence. Even when help and compassion are offered, so often there are strings attached and hoops to be jumped through. If you do this, we will do this for you. And sadly, it is not just within society that this exists, but also within the church and amongst Christians.

It is as if we are denying the basic rule of compassion and mercy, which dictates that we are to be serving others, because they are also humans created in the image of God, loved by God and so should be loved unconditionally by those who proclaim to be God's people - the Church. Denying that basic need to others is pure unadulterated selfishness and places others below our own selves. Individualism within the church, lends itself to hypocritical behaviour and attitudes, which are inconsistent with Scripture and behaviour. Individualism, where you as an individual are placed at the front of the queue, is not loving others and not considering others higher than yourself. It certainly could not be construed as serving other people to always place your own desires above all others. There is an old acronym JOY - Jesus first, Others second, Yourself last.

Relationship

The basic aspect of love is that it involves relationship, so therefore there must be more than one person involved. God is love, and is a trinity of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. If God were not Trinity then God could not also be love. The church community is meant to be a radical community of service and love, which is a reflection of the Trinitarian God. Being part of a radical community of service and love would mean the Church going back to basics. The Church needs individuals to be living radical lifestyles of devotion to Jesus Christ, engaging with the culture, counting the cost of discipleship and reflecting true humanity. But being an individual in community involves much more than merely being an individual in isolation. Christians are to be involved within communities, and not as isolationists. So what does a radical Christian community of individuals look like?

Creative Community

Firstly, the church needs to be a community that is seen to be radical by the surrounding society. At Pentecost, the church began when the Holy Spirit filled the Disciples (Acts 2v4). This momentous occasion started the Discipleship process of how Christians were to live as God's people. The hallmarks of this community were commitment and transformation. This community was radical. It was where people's lives were being changed as the Holy Spirit filled them. Instead of being a withdrawn people filled with fear of retribution from the Roman government and Jewish leaders, they became a people filled with boldness and joy. The New Testament church grew by being a radical community imbued with radical individuals engaging with others. The very existence of the church today is proof that Jesus Christ really did rise from the dead, for if He did not, those who were His disciples would have disbanded and gone back to their old lifestyle and the Holy Spirit would not have come.

Creatively Radical

If we want the church of today to grow then we need to be building a strong community of faith. A community, which involves joining together isolated and solitary individuals and where people are imbued with love, valued and are showing care to each other, in particular the frail, elderly and young, with what the theologian Jürgen Moltmann calls a "creative passion for the impossible." An inherent human need is the need to belong, and by fulfilling relational needs, the radical Church community will become relevant to the people within it. It will then also become relevant to those who are on the outside and looking in. For example, by using virtual reality, digital space and social networks, the housebound and geographically isolated peoples can also be included and cared for.

This involves improving present societal conditions, rather than remaining a conservative community, which merely repairs the status quo. In doing this, today's church will be emulating characteristics of the early church (Acts 2v44-45). As individuals Christians were added to the church, discipline helped ensure that the community was being seen as a holy community. We see in the early church as recorded in the Book of Acts, that to be excommunicated from the community for gross sin, was a severe punishment. However church discipline is not primarily about punishment, but rather a formative and corrective service as part of Discipleship. Church community discipline is foundational to the making of Christian Disciples, because it concerns the community's spiritual health, and strengthens the bonds with the local community.

Committed Community

The church must be a community of committed individual Christians, willing to radically follow God in lifestyle and behaviour. Being holy for the Christian means radically exhibiting love for God and others. It is by being seen as different from the surrounding society, that the church community will grow. Often when prayers are said, it is within the perception of the individual pray-er of what the answer to that prayer will be! It is as if the answer is there, we are just waiting for God to confirm our presupposition. When, in fact, prayer is to be where God is answering the prayers in His own way and timing - often unexpectantly! By the church community and Christian individuals thinking and acting creatively, many more people would be seeing God in action. Instead of independence, one of the prime hallmarks of being a follower of Jesus Christ is the need to be dependent on others as well as being dependable. This is imbued within the story of Jesus Christ washing His disciples feet.

Transformed Community

The Church community is to be actively engaged in radically helping people to be transformed and not merely happy. Transformation is a powerful witness to the power of God and shows the relevancy of God and His people. The best way to show this transformation is for the Church leadership to set the example, and show a way forward. Good leadership has good accountability to each other and to the whole Church community. If the church leaders are displaying a transparent life of creatively loving God and others, then the individual Christians within those churches will also seek to be transparently loving God and other people. The media love to report when a Church and/or Church leader has done something inherently wrong

Finally, Jesus recommends that those who follow Him be wise like serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10v16b). This means that we are to be skilful and shrewd in making decisions that are characterised by intelligence, patience and shrewdness. Additionally, we are to be gentle and harmless, like doves. This would make our church leaders and us accountable to live a life of integrity worthy of the gospel (Philippians 1v27). This is a life, which is seen to be as holy and blameless. In order to do this, we need to depend on the Holy Spirit for strength and caring for others is a vital necessity for you and I. By relying on the Holy Spirit who indwells us, we are therefore perpetually connected to Jesus Christ, who is after all, the Head of the church community who are His bride.

The antidote to individualism is the continual creation of radical communities of transformed individual Christians, willing to be totally devoted to God, and each other and being sustained by the Holy Spirit who indwells, empowers, comforts, transforms, sustains and guides! By being radical communities thinking and acting creatively, we will be reflecting a creative Trinitarian God, and the Church will fulfil her bridal mandate of faithfully serving Jesus Christ, in submission to God the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus in Matthew 5v43-45 gloriously explains how to do this: "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven." And then to verse 48 "In a word, what I'm saying is, Grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you." Now that is the key to radically transformed communities and the antidote to individualism!

For more to think about please do ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.

Q1. What in my life could I change, so that the focus is away from myself and onto helping others?

Q2. How can my church and I reflect the Trinitarian God by being creatively loving, transforming and serving?

Q3. How can I help my church be more relevant in the community where it is located?

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POD - Psalm 40

Psalm 40

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For the Chief Musician. A Psalm by David.

40:1 I waited patiently for Yahweh. He turned to me, and heard my cry.

40:2 He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand.

40:3 He has put a new song in my mouth, even praise to our God. Many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in Yahweh.

40:4 Blessed is the man who makes Yahweh his trust, and doesn’t respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

40:5 Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to you. If I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

40:6 Sacrifice and offering you didn’t desire. You have opened my ears. You have not required burnt offering and sin offering.

40:7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come. It is written about me in the book in the scroll.

40:8 I delight to do your will, my God. Yes, your law is within my heart.”

40:9 I have proclaimed glad news of righteousness in the great assembly. Behold, I will not seal my lips, Yahweh, you know.

40:10 I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your loving kindness and your truth from the great assembly.

40:11 Don’t withhold your tender mercies from me, Yahweh. Let your loving kindness and your truth continually preserve me.

40:12 For innumerable evils have surrounded me. My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to look up. They are more than the hairs of my head. My heart has failed me.

40:13 Be pleased, Yahweh, to deliver me. Hurry to help me, Yahweh.

40:14 Let them be disappointed and confounded together who seek after my soul to destroy it. Let them be turned backward and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt.

40:15 Let them be desolate by reason of their shame that tell me, “Aha! Aha!”

40:16 Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let such as love your salvation say continually, “Let Yahweh be exalted!”

40:17 But I am poor and needy. May the Lord think about me. You are my help and my deliverer. Don’t delay, my God.

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POD - Psalm 5

Psalm 5

(As read by Jenny)

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5:1 Give ear to my words, Yahweh. Consider my meditation.

5:2 Listen to the voice of my cry, my King and my God; for to you do I pray.

5:3 Yahweh, in the morning you shall hear my voice. In the morning I will lay my requests before you, and will watch expectantly.

5:4 For you are not a God who has pleasure in wickedness. Evil can’t live with you.

5:5 The arrogant shall not stand in your sight. You hate all workers of iniquity.

5:6 You will destroy those who speak lies. Yahweh abhors the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

5:7 But as for me, in the abundance of your loving kindness I will come into your house. I will bow toward your holy temple in reverence of you.

5:8 Lead me, Yahweh, in your righteousness because of my enemies. Make your way straight before my face.

5:9 For there is no faithfulness in their mouth. Their heart is destruction. Their throat is an open tomb. They flatter with their tongue.

5:10 Hold them guilty, God. Let them fall by their own counsels; Thrust them out in the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against you.

5:11 But let all those who take refuge in you rejoice, Let them always shout for joy, because you defend them. Let them also who love your name be joyful in you.

5:12 For you will bless the righteous. Yahweh, you will surround him with favor as with a shield.

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POD - Psalm 89

Psalm 89

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¹I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

²For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

³I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,

⁴Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

⁵And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O LORD: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

⁶For who in the heaven can be compared unto the LORD? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the LORD?

⁷God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

⁸O LORD God of hosts, who is a strong LORD like unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

⁹Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

¹⁰Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.

¹¹The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

¹²The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.

¹³Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

¹⁴Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

¹⁵Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance.

¹⁶In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

¹⁷For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

¹⁸For the LORD is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

¹⁹Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

²⁰I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:

²¹With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

²²The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

²³And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.

²⁴But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

²⁵I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

²⁶He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

²⁷Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

²⁸My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

²⁹His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

³⁰If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;

³¹If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;

³²Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

³³Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

³⁴My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

³⁵Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.

³⁶His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.

³⁷It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

³⁸But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.

³⁹Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.

⁴⁰Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.

⁴¹All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.

⁴²Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

⁴³Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.

⁴⁴Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.

⁴⁵The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.

⁴⁶How long, LORD? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?

⁴⁷Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

⁴⁸What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

⁴⁹Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?

⁵⁰Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people;

⁵¹Wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O LORD; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.

⁵²Blessed be the LORD for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

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Ezekiel 36 - God? So what?

God - so what?

Ezekiel 36v22-28

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God - so what? Ezekiel 36v22-28

Good evening. Glad you could be here. For the benefit of those who were not here this morning, let me quickly recapitulate. We saw from Ezekiel first vision in Chapter 1 several things about God! We discovered that God is holy; that God is universal in presence, power and knowledge. We also saw that God is mission-minded and that He is personal!

The Context - Story of Ezekiel from Chapter 2 onwards...

a. Symbolic Actions (4v1-5v17)

• Lying down facing a map (4v1-8)
• Eating siege rations cooked on cow's dung (4v9-17)
• Cutting off hair and destroying it (5v1-17)

b. Vision of Jerusalem (8v1-11v25)

• Idolatry in Temple (8v1-18)
• Unfaithful in Jerusalem are killed (9v1-11)
• Actions of the cherubim (10v1-22)
• Exile and restoration announced (11v1-21)
• Glory of God leaves Jerusalem (11v22-25)

c. Symbolic Actions (12v1-20)

• Digging through wall of his house (12v1-16)
• Eating in fear (12v17-20)

d. Prophecy Concerning Israel (12v21-24v27)

• Judgment is very near (12v21-28)
• Against false prophets (13v1-23)
• Against idolatry (14v1-8)
• Against false prophets (14v9-11)
• Israel's sin history (20v1-44)
• Death of Ezekiel's wife (24v15-27) and he isn't allowed to show any public mourning.

e. Prophecy Concerning Foreign Nations (25v1-32v32)



f. Salvation for Israel (33v1-39v29)

• Ezekiel, the watchman (33v1-9)
• Call to repent (33v10-20)
• Jerusalem falls and God allows Ezekiel to speak (33v21-22)
• Trust only in God (33v23-33)
• Work of the Good Shepherd (34v1-31)
  
  • Prophecy against bad shepherds (34v1-10)
  • God will shepherd his flock (34v11-16)
  • God will judge sheep (34v17-22)
  • God will care for His flock (34v23-31)
• Prophecy against Mount Seir (35v1-15)
• Restoration of Israel (36v1-38)
• Vision of dry bones (37v1-14)

And that is the section we are in tonight. So please do turn in your bibles to the book of Ezekiel and chapter 36v22-28. The title I have given, is God - So what? We are going to continue to investigate briefly together 5 things about God, how relevant God is to us and how we are to react to Him?


1. A God who is holy (Ezekiel 36v22-23)

²² "Therefore say to the house of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. ²³ I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.

As we saw this morning, God is holy! God's holy name is set apart because of its uniqueness, distinctiveness and power! The nation of Israel was to be God's representative to the pagan nations and to the world! But, Israel had disobeyed and now God's name was a laughing stock amongst the nations! So God was going to act, so that all nations of the world would recognize his sovereign power because of what He would do in them and for them.

This illustrates how bad a job, Israel as a nation had done at being God's chosen representative. So God Himself would perform the function Himself by revealing Himself so that the world would know that He is the sovereign God over all. He would do this for the sake of His name. They, and we, deserved nothing. They had failed Him in every direction, and they had failed themselves. But far more important than them, and us, is that God should be known and revealed to the world. Without that there could be no salvation, no deliverance. Without that the saving purposes of God would fail. So by their own folly Israel had ceased to be important except as a means by which the world could see the glory and love of God, for they had forfeited their right to any privilege. That is why the concentration had now to be on redeeming the situation by using them as a means to reveal that love and glory.

2. A God who gathers (Ezekiel 36v24)

36v24 "For I will take you from among the nations, and gather you out of all the countries, and will bring you to your own land."

This gathering of the people of Israel back to the land began as a relative trickle on the decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1), and continued over a long period, with more and more people returning from all over the known world, until Israel was a recognised nation again established in its own land with its own capital city, relatively free from idolatry and worshipping in its own way

3. A God who cleanses (Ezekiel 36v25) and operates (Ezekiel 36v26)

²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

Ezekiel would have had images of Leviticus in his mind at this point. So when the priestly Ezekiel spoke of ‘clean water' he had in mind water that had been cleansed by sacrifice. And indeed this was the only kind of water that was ever sprinkled. In Leviticus the cleansing of a defiled house required sprinkling with a mixture of blood and ‘living' water, the bird having been slain over the water (Leviticus 14.51), and in Numbers 8.7 and 19.2-22 the ‘water of separation' (19.9, 20 - this was also called ‘living water' - 9.17) is mentioned. It was water that had been sprinkled with the ashes of a red heifer (Numbers 19.2), and was kept aside for the purifying by sprinkling of those who had touched a dead body. Thus in both cases the water had been cleansed by sacrifice and the shedding of blood. The cleansing was to be through the blood of sacrifice, applied through the sprinkled water.

But this water was here to be sprinkled by God Himself acting as the high priest. Before anything else the people need to be cleansed, by the divine water of separation sprinkled on them by God, from their defilement brought on them by their sinful ways and their idolatry. There is no cleansing without the shedding of blood. This pointed forward to the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness (Zechariah 13.1), and its efficacy depended on the One Who would be slain as a sacrifice for the sins of the whole world, Whose benefit reached backwards to ‘sins done aforetime' (Romans 3.25).

Then they were to receive a new heart and a new spirit, indeed God's Spirit (verse 27). The heart included the mind, the will and the emotions, it was the whole of the inner man. The spirit was the life principle within, the inner impulse, and while it could include the activities of heart, mind and will, it was also that which was Godward (Ecclesiastes 3.21; 12.7), and was affected by God's Spirit. So the idea here is of the renewing of the whole inner man, and of awakening towards God.

Its effect is then described. ‘And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh.' Instead of hardness there would be tenderness, instead of obduracy there would be yielding, instead of coldness there would be warmth; instead of disobedience there would be obedience. The law would be put in their inward parts and in their hearts, and they would ‘know Yahweh' individually through the new covenant.

This process of cleaning we know now as Sanctification or cleansing! We have been sanctified (Hebrews 10v10); washed clean (1 Corinthians 6v11) and have perfect holiness (2 Corinthians 7v1) and are being transformed into the very image of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 3v18) and conformed to His likeness (Romans 8v28-29). We are to be living sacrifices, transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12v1-2). This holiness is the pursuit of moral excellence, not just obeying the law, and is by necessity a high standard (1 Thessalonians 4v3)

This process of sanctification is where God the Holy Spirit transforms us into the likeness of Christ (2 Corinthians 7-18). As we walk and live in the Spirit, led by the Spirit (Galatians. 5v16; Romans 8v13), the fruit of the Spirit, "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control", is produced in the life of the Christian Disciple (Galatians. 5v22-23).

Our condition before God if we are His follower is now:

• Set apart - separated from sin.
• The attainment of moral holiness.

In principal, we are saints, and God has already declared all Christian Disciples sanctified:

• We have been made holy (Hebrews 10v10)
• We are washed and sanctified (1 Corinthians 6v11)

In practice, as growing Christians, we should be:

• Perfecting holiness, freed from the contamination of sin (2 Corinthians 7v1)
• Process of becoming Christ-like (Romans 8v29; 2 Corinthians 3vv18)
• Transforming of character by renewal of our minds (Romans 12v1-2)

The standard all Christian Disciples are to attain and maintain is "Be holy, as I am holy" (1 Peter 1v16; 1 Thessalonians 4v3). The Process by which this is achieved is by the Christian Disciple devoting them self to righteousness (Romans 6v19) with a desire and choosing to be holy, submitted and consecrated to God. Christian Disciples are to put off the old nature - crucify the passions and desires (Ephesians 4v22; Galatians 5v24) and put on the new nature created to be like God (Ephesians 4v24). This is done by a work of God (1 Thessalonians. 5v23, Philippians 2v13).

4. A God who indwells (v27)

²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

How can all this come about? It can only be through the work of God Himself. If it was by our own efforts, we would fail continually! No, it was to be through God's Spirit that this great work would come about. It is He who would cause His people to walk in His statutes and keep His judgments in their hearts and in their lives.

The Holy Spirit is God, and a member of the Trinitarian Godhead. He is spoken of as God (Acts 5v3-4; 1 Corinthians 3v16). The attributes of God are ascribed to the Holy Spirit life (Romans 8v2), truth (John 16v13) and love (Romans 15v30). It was He who spoke through the Old Testament prophets and induced godliness (Ezekiel 36), and equipped God's leaders for service (Judges 13v25; Zechariah 4v6).

The Holy Spirit is also a Person. Some people refer to the Holy Spirit as "It", but they are clearly wrong and in error! The Holy Spirit is always referred to as ‘He' in the New Testament (John 16v14). He relates to us as a person for He is comforter, guide and teacher (John 14). He can be blasphemed against and be grieved (Ephesians 4v30), and wherever the Holy Spirit is, the Father and Son are also present because they are one. (John 14v18-23).



God lives inside each Christian through the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, a person cannot be a Christian Disciple (Romans 8v9; Gal 2v20; Colossians 1v25-27). The Holy Spirit indwelling the Christian Disciple is assured proof of being God's possession (2 Corinthians 1v22; Ephesians 1v3). The Holy Spirit is a deposit, guaranteeing our future redemption, salvation and inheritance (Ephesians 1v13; 2 Corinthians 1v22). This indwelling Holy Spirit, seeks control or domination of our lives. This is being filled with the Spirit, and it is a continuous thing, not a one off process. It also signifies how much the Holy Spirit has of the life of a Christian! As Christian Disciples, we are to be continually filled (Ephesians 5v18), and this is meant to be our normal state

Being indwelt by God the Holy Spirit from the moment of conversions, Christian Disciples are also to ‘walk in the spirit' ((Galatians 5v16).

This is done by:

• Desiring holiness, feed the new nature with God's Word in order to renew our mind.
• Communicating with God. Talk to Him!! By doing this sin will be starved.

Confess known sin immediately, consciously allowing Christ total control in all circumstances

All this will gives a desire to live totally for God!

5. A God to live for (v28)

²⁸ You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.

This confirms that this work of the Spirit was to begin when the exiles returned in faith to the land of their inheritance. The words were spoken to the true Israel, the Israel within Israel, as Paul explains (Romans 9-11). Those whose hearts were true would be truly His and He would be their God.

It also has application to all Christians in that they have become citizens of Heaven (Philippians 3.20), residents in a better land, God's greater land, being His people and knowing Him as their God, something beyond the conception of Ezekiel and therefore having to be prophesied pictorially in the form of an idea (see on 37.26-28). He could not know then that the land of God's inheritance would become a heavenly land. That would be revealed in the future, and the final words are specifically applied in Revelation 21.3 to the new Heaven and the new earth

Conclusion - What about you?

What about you? If you are already a Christian here tonight, then it is not because of anything you have done. It is because of the events at Easter that you are a Christian, when God took the necessary steps so that all people could have the choice to either follow Him or not. We are primarily Christians, not because we come to church services or just happened to have been born in a supposedly Christian country. We are primarily Christians, because God first chased and harried us into His arms. We are Christians, if you are one, because God first loved you. And as a tremendous lover, He beckons and calls people all the time to respond to His call, and back to Him.

When I was younger, in my more smug moments I used to congratulate myself for being a Christian. How proud I was that I, Dave Roberts, was a Christian and that God was a jolly lucky God that I had decided to follow Him. It was during one of my less self-deluded moments, that I examined myself and I found God pricking my conscience and correcting me, and I read the New Testament "For the Son of Man came, not to serve but to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mk10v45). So... If you are a Christian here tonight, go show and tell the transformation that the all-powerful living God has performed in you. If like me, you are a Christian today, our sins were forgiven through Jesus' death on the Cross. That is when we had our "bath" as it were. That is the point when we were justified before God and we are declared His child. Having been justified already, we don't need a bath anymore! But we do need the equivalent of a foot-washing daily and or every time we take Holy Communion and a cleansing of our sin when we confess it before our God and repent.

And if you are not a Christian here today, then God is actively pursuing you. I, of course, don't know the circumstances in which He is, but I do know that He is. He wants all people to be followers of Him. That is why He is gathering, cleansing, and indwelling His people. If you would like to know more about the Christian faith, then please don't leave here tonight without talking to somebody about it.

Thank you.

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POD - Psalm 81

Psalm 81

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For the choir director: A psalm of Asaph, to be accompanied by a stringed instrument.

¹ Sing praises to God, our strength.

Sing to the God of Jacob.

² Sing! Beat the tambourine.

Play the sweet lyre and the harp.

³ Blow the ram's horn at new moon,

and again at full moon to call a festival!

⁴ For this is required by the decrees of Israel;

it is a regulation of the God of Jacob.

⁵ He made it a law for Israel

when he attacked Egypt to set us free.

I heard an unknown voice say,

⁶ "Now I will take the load from your shoulders;

I will free your hands from their heavy tasks.

⁷ You cried to me in trouble, and I saved you;

I answered out of the thundercloud

and tested your faith when there was no water at Meribah.

Interlude

⁸ "Listen to me, O my people, while I give you stern warnings.

O Israel, if you would only listen to me!

⁹ You must never have a foreign god;

you must not bow down before a false god.

¹⁰ For it was I, the Lord your God,

who rescued you from the land of Egypt.

Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.

¹¹ "But no, my people wouldn't listen.

Israel did not want me around.

¹² So I let them follow their own stubborn desires,

living according to their own ideas.

¹³ Oh, that my people would listen to me!

Oh, that Israel would follow me, walking in my paths!

¹⁴ How quickly I would then subdue their enemies!

How soon my hands would be upon their foes!

¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him;

they would be doomed forever.

¹⁶ But I would feed you with the finest wheat.

I would satisfy you with wild honey from the rock."

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ADD - Community

40. Partake – The Christian Disciple and Community

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Jesus said in Matthew 10v16: “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.”

How should individual Christian disciples react in regards to a life of Discipleship in an age where church attendance is rapidly declining? It is by being a radical community of radical individuals, which will help stop this decline. The Church needs Christian disciples to be living a radical Discipleship, engaging with the culture, counting the cost of Discipleship and reflecting true humanity while not compromising core beliefs.

Radical Community

Firstly, the church needs to be a community that is seen to be radical by the surrounding society. At Pentecost, the church began when the Holy Spirit filled the Disciples (Acts 2v4). This momentous occasion started the Discipleship process of how Christians were to live as God’s people. The hallmarks of this community were commitment and transformation. This community was radical. It was where people’s lives were being changed as the Holy Spirit filled them. Instead of being a withdrawn people filled with fear of retribution from the Roman government and Jewish leaders, they became a people filled with boldness and joy. The New Testament church grew by being a radical community imbued with radical individuals engaging with others.

Today’s church will grow by building a strong community. A community which involves joining together isolated and solitary individuals where people are imbued with love, showing care to each other, particularly the frail, elderly and young, with what Moltmann calls a “creative passion for the impossible.” An inherent human need is the need to belong, and by fulfilling relational needs, the radical community will become relevant to the people within it. It will then also become relevant to those who are on the outside and looking in.

This involves improving present societal conditions, rather than remaining a conservative community, which merely repairs the status quo. In doing this, today’s church will be emulating characteristics of the early church (Acts 2v44-45). As individuals became Christian disciples, they were added to the church. Discipline helped ensure that the community was being seen as a holy community. To be excommunicated from the community for gross sin was a severe punishment. However church discipline is not primarily about punishment, but rather a “formative and corrective” service as part of Discipleship. Church discipline is foundational to Discipleship making, because it concerns the community’s spiritual health, and strengthens the community bonds.

The church must be a community of Disciples, willing to be holy. It is by being holy, that the church will grow. The role of the community engaged in radical Christian Discipleship is to help people to be holy and not merely happy. Happiness will flow from holiness, but holiness will not necessarily flow from an induced ‘feel good factor’. The radical community needs to be making Christian Disciples who are trained, equipped and developed in order for them to make Disciples themselves. Whereas in the past, Discipleship processes and programmes have emerged after people have joined the church, it should be foundational. The best way is for the leadership to set the example, and show a way forward. Good leadership has good accountability to each other and to the whole community. 

Radical Discipleship & Radical Leadership

A radical community requires radical discipleship. Radical discipleship commences with compassion, similar to that of Jesus when he looked over the crowds, and commented that they were like sheep without a shepherd (Matthew 9v36). It should be a compassion driven like that of Jesus towards the woman at the well (John 4vv1-26). With compassion as motivation, and a contrite heart, the radical church community can reach out to those emerging who primarily see Jesus and the church as irrelevance.

A radical Christian Disciple needs also to involve the voices of others by engaging in dialogue with trusted others. This will involve having a diverse team in the Church who are both willing and empowered to give advice. This team will require an individual leader to have relaxed grip on control, with power delegated to others, which is radical in that it goes against current strains of leadership.

This radical leadership style requires a pursuit of relationship in order to work, rather than a pursuit of aims and outcomes. This will enable trust to form and helps establish the community on a firm relational foundation. Once relationship has been formed, then the spiritual gifts of the Christian disciple can be used in order to serve the community. By exercising gifts and being functional enables the Christian Disciple to grow, be used by God and to flourish with confidence and support. Radical leadership and radical Christian Discipleship encourage the fringe members.

Finally, Jesus recommends that Christian disciples be wise like serpent and innocent as doves (Matthew 10v16b). The means Christian Disciples are to be skilful and shrewd in making decisions that are characterised by intelligence, patience and cunning. Additionally, Christian Disciples are to be gentle and harmless, like doves. This would make Christian Disciples and leaders who are accountable to live a life of integrity worthy of the gospel (Philippians 1v27). This is a life, which is seen to be as holy and blameless. In order to do this, dependence on the Holy Spirit for strength and care is a vital necessity. By relying on the Holy Spirit, the Christian Disciple is perpetually connected to Jesus Christ, who is after all, the Head of the church community.

The Christian Disciple is to be a shepherd leader rather than a manager, so that guidance and nurture are central, rather than merely feeding the community. A Christian Disciple who cares and loves is one who goes out to find the lost rather than waiting for the lost to come. This shepherd is also involved in the training of other Christian Disciples so that care is disseminated. This does not mean however that a radical Christian Disciple leader becomes a subordinate to the community, catering to every whim and fad suggested by others. The Christian Disciple leader needs be a servant but also requires discernment. 

Discipleship at most churches these days is organized around their programmes of small groups, Sunday services, prayer groups, leadership group and opportunities to serve. Discipleship in these churches usually involves some form of leadership accountability in four key areas: Mission, Maturity, Outreach and Leadership. Mission involves helping people become Christian and nurturing their faith diligently. If Western churches and Christian disciples started to take radical steps, both in being and making Christian Disciples, then growth would systematically increase. The Church would no longer be seen as irrelevant but as a thriving community where Jesus is glorified and transformation sought.

For more to think about please do read Acts 2v42-47. Ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together. 

Q1. How, and in what ways, were the early church community creative?

Q2. What creative ways can I serve the community I live and work in?

Q3. How can I help my church be more relevant in the community, without compromising?

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ADD - Contentment

Christian Disciple and Contentment...

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Paul writing in the Book of 1 Timothy 6:6-10; 17-19 "A devout life does bring wealth, but it's the rich simplicity of being yourself before God. Since we entered the world penniless and will leave it penniless, if we have bread on the table and shoes on our feet, that's enough. But if it's only money these leaders are after, they'll self-destruct in no time. Lust for money brings trouble and nothing but trouble. Going down that path, some lose their footing in the faith completely and live to regret it bitterly ever after. Tell those rich in this world's wealth to quit being so full of themselves and so obsessed, with money, which is here today and gone tomorrow. Tell them to go after God, who piles on all the riches we could ever manage-to do good, to be rich in helping others, to be extravagantly generous. If they do that, they'll build a treasury that will last, gaining life that is truly life."

A major opponent of contentment is what is labelled the prosperity doctrine. This stipulates that since as Christians we are children of the King, then we should be living like kings in the physical sense. If you are God's child, then God will bless you so abundantly you will have that earthly mansion, a million pounds in the bank, a good wife or husband and children, if only you follow him. And if you don't receive these things, then maybe you should be asking for forgiveness, because apparently you are not a child of the King. What a load of rubbish! It is just materialism in another disguise where possessions and material things are their gods and not the living God. Its very source is pride, and not humility, because they proudly proclaim "I am first, and everyone else is last". I defy anyone who believes this prosperity doctrine to take a trip to the poorer areas of the world and tell that false doctrine to the leaders of the churches who are working faithfully in those areas. I guarantee you would cause more harm than good. That is not to say that God never blesses His children with material possessions, because He does - the Old Testament King Solomon is a prime example of this.

So if the prosperity doctrine is a false teaching, what does a truly biblically balanced view of contentment consist of?

Contentment.

In the Bible passage I read earlier, Paul commands Christian Disciples to be content with godliness. We came into this world with nothing, and we will leave this world with nothing (v6). The bare necessities for contentment of life are food, clothing & shelter (v7). However, we could, with justification say that some other things are also necessary. Cars, books, and computers may with some justification to ourselves as individuals, be a necessity. That is up to our own individual consciences. But what we need to do, when considering purchasing items is, not to ask "Can I afford it?" but rather "Can I justify it, and could the money be better used elsewhere?"

There are many Christian organisations that need money to continue operating. Perhaps, the money I was going to use for the trip overseas, could be of better use elsewhere in the kingdom of God? Further on in 1 Timothy 6, Paul states that we are not to desire riches, lest we fall into the temptation of coveting and wander away from the faith of God (vv9-10), not to love money because it is a source of evil (v10). Everyday Christians pray that God would not lead them into temptation; and he does not, they do that quite easily by themselves. And those that are rich, are not to flaunt it arrogantly and are not to place their hopes in them (v17). Those who are rich, are commanded to be rich in good deeds, to be generous and sharing (v18), building up heavenly treasure instead of earthly rubbish (v19). I should hasten to add, that contentment should also carry with it, the idea of living simply, in sympathy and solidarity with the poor of the world. Every one of us, could to some degree, live that little bit more simply, and donating the money saved to a worthy concerned organisation helping out the poor of the world. Remember we are blessed by God, in order to bless others!

The humble, say "God is first, others are second, and I come last" and puts people before possessions. The Christian Disciple is to place their trust in God alone, and not in their material possessions. It so easy to fall into the trap of saying - "If only I had that new computer; or camera; or car; or an easier job with more money?" It is so easy to say these things, and forgetting to be content with what we have. And it is even easier to forget to say thank-you to God for giving us all our good things. I would hazard to say, that probably the only time we say thank-you to God, is before the food that we eat. We hardly ever thank him, for friends and all the other material blessings He does provide and the pleasure we gain from He gives us. And that is the key to biblical contentment. "Could I really thank my Lord for this particular item I want?"

For more to think about, please do read for yourself 1 Timothy 6. Ask yourself the following questions, writing them down if you can, and see how you respond or react to them. Then why not share your answers with your spouse or a close friend, so that you can pray over any issues together.

Q1 - As a Christian Disciple, in what ways are you not content?

Q2 - What blessings has God bestowed upon me, that I should give Him thanks for?

Q3 - How can I use the money and possessions God has blessed me with, in order that He is glorified and worthy of honour, this week?

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POD - Psalm 74

Psalm 74

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A maskil of Asaph.

¹ Why have you rejected us forever, O God?
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?

² Remember the people you purchased of old,
the tribe of your inheritance, whom you redeemed-
Mount Zion, where you dwelt.

³ Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,
all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.

⁴ Your foes roared in the place where you met with us;
they set up their standards as signs.

⁵ They behaved like men wielding axes
to cut through a thicket of trees.

⁶ They smashed all the carved paneling
with their axes and hatchets.

⁷ They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
they defiled the dwelling place of your Name.

⁸ They said in their hearts, "We will crush them completely!"
They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.

⁹ We are given no miraculous signs;
no prophets are left,
and none of us knows how long this will be.

¹⁰ How long will the enemy mock you, O God?
Will the foe revile your name forever?

¹¹ Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the folds of your garment and destroy them!

¹² But you, O God, are my king from of old;
you bring salvation upon the earth.

¹³ It was you who split open the sea by your power;
you broke the heads of the monster in the waters.

¹⁴ It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan
and gave him as food to the creatures of the desert.

¹⁵ It was you who opened up springs and streams;
you dried up the ever flowing rivers.

¹⁶ The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and moon.

¹⁷ It was you who set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.

¹⁸ Remember how the enemy has mocked you, O LORD,
how foolish people have reviled your name.

¹⁹ Do not hand over the life of your dove to wild beasts;
do not forget the lives of your afflicted people forever.

²⁰ Have regard for your covenant,
because haunts of violence fill the dark places of the land.

²¹ Do not let the oppressed retreat in disgrace;
may the poor and needy praise your name.

²² Rise up, O God, and defend your cause;
remember how fools mock you all day long.

²³ Do not ignore the clamor of your adversaries,
the uproar of your enemies, which rises continually

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