1 Pastor's Point of View

• Has Our Victorious Lord Finished Suffering For or With Us, Post-Resurrection?

  (Is He now too busy rejoicing for a deserved victory, along withthe inhabitants in heaven.)Main texts: Acts 9:1-19, especially verses 3-6; Hebrews 4:15;Revelation 6:9-11Does God with His massive victory over sin, through His SonJesus Christ, now live and only part of in an eternal, infiniteheavenly bubble, eagerly and happily awaiting us to join Him?Yes & No: There is great rejoicing in heaven for every soul thatjoins the great Feast of the Lamb (Luke 15:7) and it is ongoing foreternity but there is also a divine awareness, intercession(Hebrews 7:25) and empathetic feeling from the top down (fromGod and the saints.) (Revelation 6:9-11)They are not only rejoicing but feel our persecutions down here(note the Lord’s rebuke of Saul in Acts 9:3-6.)We who still live and work in this fallen world remain in all aspectsof life deeply entangled with our personal Lord, not from afar orwith an aloofness but with great empathy: “Saul why are youpersecuting me…” This statement is not just an example ofempathetic symbolism or a statement by the Lord as to how Heremembers how it felt when He was persecuted, rather it is a“now” reality expressed in the present tense. And it applies also toour present relationship with Christ. He, in His intercession for us(Hebrews 7:25) “… is touched by the feelings of our infirmities(KJV)” or my paraphrase of the NIV version: “for we do not have ahigh priest who is unable to empathize (actually feel with us) inour varied pains and struggles, very much part of this fallen world:He somehow suffers with us (and so does heaven’s saints,implied in Revelation 6:9-11.)And He will act in all our situation in His time and manner. Therisen Lord confronted Paul on his way to Damascus to persecutethe Christians but Jesus, feeling their persecution, confronted andstopped him. This was part of His intercession for His childrenand even for their persecutor.With His powerful revelatory act, He eased the believer’spersecution by converting the persecutor.Again, consider Jesus words to “Saul, Saul, why do youpersecute me.” Again, this illustrates how God touched when Hischildren hurt: He somehow hurts with them and replies in His timeand manner.

  --------  

  32:20

  --------

  32:20
• The Biblical Idea of Prosperity

  Jeremiah 29:1-14; 2 Corinthians 9:11; Matthew 6:32-33Mark 10:28-31 (earthly things gained with possible persecution); Galatians 5:22-24 (The fruit or product of Spirit living in and through us); Roman 12:2 (The developing of the mind/attitude that Jesus portrayed and Paul’s inner desire expressed in Philippians 3:10, his central driving force in his life and ministry).These passages highlight the varied aspects of Biblical prosperity, especially clarified in the New Testament. It covers the whole sphere of life’s possibilities in a fallen world; where we are called to be living witnesses, which includes both experiences of resurrection power and sufferings (again not Philippians 3:10).Jeremiah’s letter to the first of the Jewish exiles to Babylon (597 B.C.) instructed them on how to behave in their current situation of captivity: The message is found in verses 5-9. They were to settle down, accept God’s discipline and experience divine prosperity even in the context of their captivity.Even in the Old Testament, Romans 8:28 was relevant. They were even expected to pray for the prosperity of their captors (verse 7); of course, the false prophets kept a hacking Jeremiah’s message concerning this (see Jeremiah 29:15-23).God again rebukes them, tells them there would be many more deportations to Babylon. Therefore, learn to accept prosperity even in your captivity. Also read James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6-7.This would be a lesson that both Old Testament and New Testament followers had to experience and learn: Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up; Peter adds “in due time” and Galatians 6:9 adds “if you faint not or give up.” Therefore, to prosper in the Lord includes all of the above verses that point to not only physical or earthly prosperity but spiritual prosperity; and developing, by the Spirit in all circumstances, the mind or attitude of Christ. And God’s support, both to the captives in Jeremiah’s time and us, who live and work in this fallen, challenging world, will be given continued support in spite the fact that we remain imperfect saints; again, note Romans 8:28 and Jeremiah 29:11-14 (read again).Some ways God wants to prosper us;1–Guide us in our praying for His personal purposes for our lives, in all areas of living and witnessing (Romans 8:28); (Mark 10:28-31); (Matthew 6:32-33)2-Pray especially that we will develop the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24) and the mind/attitude of Christ in our dealings with the world: This is our primary goal and prosperity (Matthew 6:33).3-Pray that you and I will function selflessly in the prosperity of the Body of Christ; and, ask and receive the spiritual gifting chosen for us by the Spirit, 1 Corinthians 4:4-11” “… for the common good”, not for our egos!4-Consider the fact that in the whole process of prospering in the Lord, our mistakes and the world’s challenges will be covered by the Lord, Romans 8:28 “… for our good.”Consider the fact that “God is able to do more abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.” So that we prosper in all areas of living and witnessing, considering also Philippians 4:13 “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” And His plans for all of us is to prosper us holistically, but more importantly to be more like Christ in the midst of all our captivities.AMEN

  --------  

  30:58

  --------

  30:58
• The Actual Lord's Prayer

  A Sermon expounded from John 17:1-26.

  --------  

  35:17

  --------

  35:17
• God Is Both Our Father and Our Dad: Respectful Intimacy

  Matthew 6:9-14; Luke 11:2-4; Galatians 4:1-7 and Romans 8:14-17Our relationship with God our Savior and Lord is illustrated in the N.T. with the deepest, most loving relationship possible in this life: Parent to child. When this relationship is good it provides, world wide, the greatest example of love, joy, but when the parents are bad or evil, it becomes repulsive and shocking to all good parents everywhere. God manifested His love for us by sending His Son to atone for our sins, while we were yet sinners. We become adopted children, precious in His sight. He asks us to refer to Him primarily not as oh Powerful God, but as “Father” (Matthew 6:9) and even “Dad or Daddy” in Luke 11:2 (See also Galatians 4:6, “Abba Father” Romans 8:14-17)And even when scripture tells us the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; it is referring to awe and respect for our creator parent and sustainer not to be scared of Him. Both renditions of the Lord’s prayer reminds us to develop a respectful intimacy with God our Father and our dad, daddy (“Abba”). The aspects of God, parenthood can be summarized by the following points:Respect “Our Father”Matthew 6:9-10. Remember the danger of over familiarity especially in relationship to heavenly Father.Intimacy (love) Father! Luke 11:2see also Galatians 4:1-7 and Romans 8:14-17; verse 17 “Abba”Adopted Children; In ancient societies, Roman and Jewish was very important and precious; See Ephesians 1:5; Romans 8:14-16As our Divine Parent He is delighted to provide for usNote the second part of the Lord’s prayer in both Matthew 6:11-13 and Luke 11:3-4; Note these provisions come after worship and respect for our all powerful and loving parents.The primary things He wants us to develop;  “the chip off the old block.” Develop HIs character. The fruit of the Spirit, especially, forgiveness (Matthew 6:13-15; Luke 11:4; Galatians 5:22-26)

  --------  

  28:10

  --------

  28:10
• Laughing at the Will of God?

  Read Genesis 17:1-26, especially verse 17; Genesis 18:1-15, especially verses 10-13When Paul rehearses the theological significance of God’s dealing with Abraham and Sarah’s, he presents a picture of faith, and rightly so, but seemingly without much struggle and no mention of their laughter (See Romans 4:1-25, especially verses 18-25). Not only did Abraham and Sarah laugh at God’s seemingly ridiculous proposal, but they lived an imperfect life, in spite of the fact that all along the way God spoke to them directly. But, there were long times of silence when their lack of understanding and faith manifested in their actions, examples: lying to Pharaoh when they lived in Egypt during a famine about Sarah not being his wife; a similar episode with King Abimilek lying again with Sarah not being his wife (20:1-18); Abraham’’s relationship with Hagar had produced Ishmael, but God insisted that Sarah, not anyone else, would produce the miracle Son of Promise (16:1-16). Abraham and Sarah were not so perfect as Paul describes in Romans 4:18-25, note especially verses 19-20 “... yet he and she did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, what? In the passage in Genesis clearly presents a more realistic human picture of them. The major challenges to their faith was their time waiting and their ages: Abraham was 99(17:24) and Sarah way passed child bearing age (Romans 4:18-19 “...Her womb was dead.”) But from God’s point of view and ability He reiterated that he and Sarah must be the parents. At this he fell face down and laughed, “but to himself” (Sarah was close to 90 years of age!) But, God knew they laughed, see also 18:17, even though they thought they were hiding it from God. But, nothing can be hidden from our God, so better to be honest. And even though they lied, God remained faithful, because He realized that they were only human. But, I don’t think that their laughter was a sin of disrespect but a sort of nervous laughter overwhelmed by the promise!Finally sometimes in certain difficult to believe situations we need divine hope: Paul suggests in Romans 4:18, “Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed…” This idea may be connected to one of Paul’s gifts of the Spirit: the gift of faith (1 Corinthians 12:9 a special impartation of faith, beyond saving faith, to empower to remain hopeful for the miracle promised to happen. This is what I think Abraham, Paul and others received and although remaining imperfect, God brought these promises to pass.Re-read Romans 4:18; Hebrews 10:23-25; Philippians 1:6

  --------  

  32:54

  --------

  32:54

More Religion & Spirituality podcasts

Trending Religion & Spirituality podcasts

About 1 Pastor's Point of View