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The ministry of Bread of His Presence is centered around bringing ourselves and leading others into the life-giving presence of God in and through Bible study, prayer, and ministering to a world that is in desperate need of the healing touch of Jesus Christ.
Episodes
Sunday Oct 04, 2020
Sunday Oct 04, 2020
Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim.
Heart Language— You know, I remember after my wife Tanya and I first got engaged many years ago we sat down with our dear mentor, friend, and former professor Dr. Gareth Cockerill, who actually performed our wedding ceremony. And I will never forget one piece of advice he offered me. He told me, “Cameron, one of the things you are probably going to want to do is you’re going to want to learn to speak Tanya’s native language.” He understood that she could speak English fluently, but he said, “The reason you want to do this is because her original language (and this is true of anybody’s native language); her native language is the language of her heart.” He said, “If you want to speak her heart language, you need to learn her native language.” Now I had learned some phrases, but I did not really know her language. But he said there is something about hearing a message (especially an important message like a love message) in your own language that speaks to your heart in such a profound way.
More Than Understanding— And you know, he had a point. Now does the Holy Spirit transcend language? Yes. Can He overcome language barriers. Absolutely. But here in Acts chapter 2 while the Holy Spirit does transcend and overcome the language barrier, I find it interesting that the Holy Spirit doesn’t bypass our language. He didn’t just somehow impress the truth of what the people were hearing upon their hearts to where they just somehow understood what was being said. No, He pay respect to all languages in allowing all people to hear the Gospel in their own native tongues. The scripture is very clear on this point. It says…
Acts 2:5-12 (ESV)— 5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
Known Languages— Now I’d like to point out that [The listing of specific countries and ethnic groups proves…that these utterances were known human languages.] This was a use of known tongues that brought clarity of understanding, not a mysterious tongue that might cause confusion and division. Some denominations teach that if you do not speak in a heavenly kind of tongue, you are not a genuine Christian and are going to Hell. Tongues is your confirmation from God that you are saved. However, nowhere in scripture does the Bible say that you need to speak in tongues to be saved. Apart from it being listed with the spiritual gifts (which were understood to be distributed differently amongst Christians), the gift of tongues is not required by any of the early church fathers; it isn’t required by any of the creeds of the early church. In fact, if you look at the text, you will find that what might be interpreted as a kind of secret tongue is not mentioned once in the entire account of Pentecost. That kind of tongue; “tongues of… angels”, as referenced only in 1 Corinthians 13:1, (if it comes on the scene at all; at least in the way some say it does) it most certainly doesn’t come on the scene until after the Church has already been established; but even then, that is debatable. More likely Paul is merely using that phrase “tongues of…angels” as a hyperbolic way of saying “eloquent speech”; not an actual heavenly tongue. Now you can disagree on that, and that’s okay. We ought to feel free to disagree with one another without letting issues like this to divide the Church. But no matter where you stand on the gift of tongues, what is not up for debate is how tongues is to be understood in this passage; because Luke is very careful to emphasize the known places (and therefore the known languages) of the people who were hearing the Gospel in their own native tongues.
After The Heart— Now why did God want this? Why not just empower people to be able to understand what the disciples were saying. Well, it’s because (as someone once put it): [one has not really heard the message of the gospel until one has heard it in one’s own language.] God wanted people to not just understand the Gospel cognitively, but for it to be spoken to them in such a way so as to touch their hearts and resonate with them at the deepest possible level. God wanted to speak to their hearts; not just their minds.
Babel’s Undoing— Now there is another element to all of this; and it has to do with the ancient city of Babel. You will remember the story of the Tower of Babel in the Old Testament. And that is a story that very much centers around the rebellious nature of people. Nimrod, if you remember, leads the people into sin by instead of scattering and filling the whole earth (as God had commanded) choosing instead to settle in a plain and to erect for themselves a massive ziggurat that would be the center of their society and worship. It was to be their ladder to God and a symbol of their strength and power. Yet God, interestingly comes down to see the tower (which in itself is humorous; that He has to step down) and decides to frustrate their language. And so He does; He confuses the language of the people, which is why we speak so many various languages today. So you have rebellion which leads to a fracturing of our very language. But here in Acts 2, immediately after the Holy Spirit enters into the life of the Church, there is a reversal of Babel. And I think what God may be doing (at least in part) is He’s giving us a visual sign that the inner rebellion of man has now been cleansed by the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit of God. It was an outward sign of an inward work; and one that foreshadowed a day in which that fracturing of language which was caused by that rebellion will be altogether restored and we will all speak the same language; the language of the Spirit, which will be the cultural language of heaven.
Healing Our Rebellion— And so the miracle we see here is more than just audible; it is a sign of an inner transformation of the lives of the disciples. The Holy Spirit isn’t just an anointing power to help make our evangelism effective. No, He is a Person of God who comes into our lives in order to mold and reshape us; to purify and refine us. Tongues happened here in Acts chapter 2 because when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, He cleanses us of that pride and self-will that was the cause of that language break to begin with. And God knew that the disciples would never be able to impact the world the way He wanted them to without their first experiencing the cleansing, holy-making power of the Holy Spirit. And the same is true of us. If we are to be true Christians, then we must allow the Holy Spirit of God to set us apart completely to Him. And that involves full surrender.
Remote Access— When we visited my wife’s mom and sister in Ukraine a number of years ago, one of the things that we brought for them was a computer; a computer that we hoped would open up their world and allow them to communicate with friends and family more easily. And it did. But teaching them how to use the computer was an interesting process because they had never used one before. And Tanya’s sister would sometimes click on something and something would pop up and she would not know what it meant or what she should do. Now when I was there, it was very easy for me to simply fix whatever issue she had as it arose. But now that I am back here in the U.S., fixing her computer is much less straightforward. But there is a tool that I use to help us overcome that problem. It is a program on my computer and hers that (when I initiate it) will cause a code to appear on her screen. And when she gives me that code over the phone and I put it into my program, that program gives me full control over her computer. My screen changes and shows what is on her screen. And I control everything her computer does. But she has to give me that code. If she doesn't then I can’t access her computer and I cannot fix her problem.
Our Access Code— You know, I find our walk in the Spirit to be very similar. We receive a new element in our hearts upon conversion; we receive the Person of the Holy Spirit. He is given to us as God's means through which He can access all the dysfunction in our hearts. But we have to give God the go-ahead; we have to give Him the code; we have to say, “Lord, you can assume full control over my life.” It is only then that we can become true disciples and also true missionaries of the Gospel.
A White Funeral— I remember a phone call I had several years ago with my Grandmother on my dad’s side, who began talking with me about my late Grandfather’s life and ministry. And she began telling me about his early days in and around the time he was in seminary. And she told me that he would go out in evangelistic groups into the community to share the Gospel. But before their leader would send them out, he would always tell them, “Make sure that before you go out that there is nothing that you have not surrendered to Jesus. Make sure that there is nothing you are holding back.” Now that had an enormous impact on my Grandfather, who realized that sin that was not dealt with in his own life could affect both his anointing to preach the Gospel and also the ability of the people he would be ministering to to receive it. And so he began learning about and pursuing a life of holiness before God. And it was during this time that my Grandfather had his experience of entire sanctification, where he fully surrendered all of who He was to Jesus and committed to walking in the Spirit and to allowing the Holy Spirit to empower him to live a holy life. And (from the many conversations I had with him over the years) one thing I realized was that that surrender to the Holy Spirit was not about trying to muscle out sin. That would never be how he would describe it. For him it meant that the Holy Spirit created in him such a love for Jesus, there wasn’t room for anything else. And looking back, in talking about the moment he chose to fully surrender himself to Christ (it was too sacred for him to talk about often; but when he did) he described it as his “white funeral”; a death, yes; but a glorious death; the day he died to himself; when he learned to hold nothing back from Jesus; when he emptied his hands of everything so that he could embrace Christ fully.
Embracing Surrender— Now let me tell you; that is the work that God wants most to perform in your life and in mine lives. And I’m sorry to say many people (Christians included) can go years; even decades in the Church without ever knowing the wonder of what it means to live a life fully given over to Jesus Christ; and the life and freedom that comes from that. That is why I want to encourage you today to commit yourself to Christ and to living a life of surrender to the Holy Spirit; choose to be entirely His. When we do, we give God the access code to our hearts; and He can do great things in us; and He can do great things through us. Let us embrace that surrender today. May we come to experience in our lives the fullness of God that comes from the surrender of every area of our lives to Him. And may He use our anointing (our personal Pentecosts) to draw all people unto Himself. Amen.
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Sunday Sep 27, 2020
Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim.
Background of Pentecost— Today, as we begin taking a look at Acts chapter 2, we will be talking about the Holy Spirit’s coming at Pentecost. Now when we as Christians think of Pentecost, we immediately think of the day the Holy Spirit was given to God’s people. But Pentecost was already a major Jewish feast that had been celebrated all the way back to the time of Moses when God was first giving the Law to His people. And the reason it’s called “Pentecost” (a word that derives from the Greek for “the fiftieth day”) is because it falls on the fiftieth day after the Feast of the Passover, when the Jews celebrate God delivering His people from death in Egypt. And remember how they were delivered; God had told them to spread lamb’s blood on the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses. And after that the Lord went through the land to strike down the Egyptians, but he saw the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe and passed over those doorways, and would not permit the destroyer to enter their houses and strike down their firstborn. And so only the first-born of Egypt fell; because the blood of a lamb covered God’s people and became the means through which they were delivered from death. Death had passed over; hence the Passover. Now in the opening of the book of Acts what had happened at the prior Feast of Passover was that Jesus had been crucified. In fact He (the Lamb of God) died at the exact hour the Passover lambs were being slaughtered. And in doing this Christ satisfied the requirement of the Law of God; which is fascinating because after the exile the feast of Pentecost became a time when Jews celebrated the giving of the Mosaic law; the very law that Jesus had satisfied by the shedding of His blood on the cross in order that you and I might be delivered from death on a much larger scale; an eternal scale.
Feast of Unleavened Bread— Now the day after Passover you have the beginning of another feast called the Feast of Unleavened Bread. And that feast lasts eight days. During that feast, an offering of the firstfruits of the grain harvest was made and the priest would take a sheaf of grain and wave it before the Lord. Now Leviticus 23:15 commands that that offering to be made on the day after the sabbath. And so [the day the first fruits were offered would always be on a Sunday. Now that provides an apt picture of the Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection because remember that Jesus was raised from the dead (the scripture says) on the first day of the week and therefore “became the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:20).
Pentecost— Now Pentecost would happen fifty days later and would also fall on a Sunday. And what would happen during this feast was the priest (instead of waving a sheaf of grain) would present two loaves of bread. Now the reason this is significant for our study of Pentecost today is because it was a visual symbol for how the Church (after the baptism of the Holy Spirit) would be united into one body by the Holy Spirit; the body of Christ (who is the Bread of Life).
3 Manifestations— Now here in Acts 2 this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is signaled by three different manifestations. And the first of these is wind. While the disciples were gathered together, it says…
Acts 2:1-2 (ESV)— 1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.
1. Wind/Breath— Now [Spirit in both the Greek (pneuma) and the Hebrew (ruach) describes wind or “breath.” Here, the idea of “wind” captures the impact of the Holy Spirit (John 3:8). Just as man did not exist until the life-giving breath of Almighty God (Gen. 2:7), so the Church did not come alive until God breathed forth the Holy Spirit.] And just as in Ezekiel’s encounter with the wind (the breath) of God bringing dead bones to life (Eze 37:5–14), you and I are lifeless until God breathes His Spirit into us and brings us from death to life.
2. Fire— Now the second manifestation we see here is fire. It says in…
Acts 2:3 (ESV)— 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.
God’s Presence— Now in scripture [Fire serves as a symbol of the presence of God (Ex. 3:2-5; 13:21; 19:18; 40:38; Isa. 4:5; Ezek. 1:4) and a representation of the Holy Spirit.] God had appeared to Moses in a flaming bush in Exodus 3:2-5; after the Israelites left Egypt it says the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light in Exodus 13:21; Exodus 19:18 says Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln, and the whole mountain trembled greatly. And there are countless other examples (God’s appearing as a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch to Abram (Gen 15:17), Elijah on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:20-40), the visions of Isaiah and Ezekiel, etc.). And so fire was symbolic of the presence of God. Now fire does two things. First, it gives light, which is both physical but also spiritual in the mind of the Jew; it is associated with wisdom and understanding. But fire can also be destructive; and so it is often associated with the judgment of God. Sodom and Gomorrah experienced that judgment in a physical sense, but there is also a spiritual judgment by fire as well. John the Baptist had said in…
Matthew 3:11-12 (ESV)— 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
Purifying Fire— Now the righteous don’t need to fear the fire, because instead of destroying them, it purifies them; and so the Holy Spirit is the One who remakes us in the image of and helps us to live like Christ; in purity. And fire can also spread in a powerful way; something which we have seen (especially recently) here on the West Coast. Fire is POWERFUL; and so it is a great symbol by which to characterize the spread of the Early Church, as the apostles spoke with purity and power and multitudes came to faith in Christ.
The Gift of Tongues— Now there was a third manifestation in addition to the wind and the fire. And no, it was not earth. Earth, wind, and fire, that’s something else. But rather the third manifestation was an empowerment of the disciples to speak other known languages. It says in…
Acts 2:4 (ESV)— 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.
Cultural Shock— Now language is a funny thing. If you don’t have it, it can be a problem. Because nothing can be more frustrating than being unable to communicate what you are trying to communicate or to understand somebody who is not speaking your language. A few years ago my wife and I and the kids took a trip to Ukraine to visit her mom and her sister. And we flew into Detroit and then went from Detroit to Amsterdam (where there were some English speakers). But then we flew from Amsterdam to Ukraine. And boy did everything change. A lot of people were talking, but I could understand very little of what was being said; OR WRITTEN! Suddenly I found myself depending on my wife in a whole new way because without her nothing would have made sense. She became my interpreter, explaining to me what I was seeing and what I was hearing. And during our visit with her mom and sister, she would interpret between us. But even though I couldn’t understand a lot of what was being said, sometimes the emotions were what spoke louder than anything. A smile is the same in every language; tears are the same in every language; laughter doesn't need a translator. And there was plenty of all three, let me tell you. But that tells us something.
Dr. Bill Ury: Our Sameness— Some time ago I was listening to one of my Uncle Dr. Bill Ury’s radio broadcasts. And on this episode of his show The Hour of Holiness he was talking about evangelism and the role that each and every one of us has to play in the evangelism process. He talked a lot about the fear we often face; the intimidation we feel whenever we feel God nudging us in the direction of witnessing. And though he has been in ministry and Christian education for many many years and has seen countless Christians and ministers, he admitted that there were precious few who seemed to evangelize as if it was purely natural; where they we absolutely 100% in their element and absolutely confident. So often times we are so worried about what people are going to think; and wonder how we are going to present the Gospel in such a way that is relevant to their lives (and to where they can see it. But my uncle then said something that was so simple and yet so insightful. He said that when we approach evangelism, one of the things we have to understand about the people we are sharing the Gospel with is that they are exactly the same as us. He said they are the same; all people are the same as us. Now seeing a person wearing a kimono and dancing to Japanese music with white face paint; or in my case seeing the different styles of dress and different way of life of the people of Ukraine, it is easy to see the differences. But his point was that once you get past the paint; past the clothes; past the cultural differences; when you get right down to the most intimate needs of people, we are absolutely and totally the same. We have the same basic needs. The language of our souls is exactly the same. And when we know the language of the soul, then the door is opened for real change to happen through our ministry and through our witness.
The Language of The Spirit— And that is why one author I read said… [The most important language for communicating the gospel is not the language of culture or of common experience. The true language of the soul is the language of the Spirit.]
The Holy Spirit is Key— And that is why all ministry (if it is to be effective) must be entrenched in the saturating, abiding presence of the Holy Spirit’s anointing. Because if it isn’t, it doesn’t matter if we can speak people’s cultural language or not; our words (by themselves) will have no power to produce in them lasting change. The Holy Spirit is the One who must speak to their hearts. He is the link between our message and their hearts. And that is why you and I need to make sure that we are attuned to Him and His voice, which is always speaking into our lives. We just need to listen; to follow; to keep in step with Him. If we can do that, we will be effective witnesses for the Gospel. Let’s tune ourselves to Him today. Amen.
Sunday Sep 20, 2020
Sunday Sep 20, 2020
Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim.
Not Just Another Business Meeting— You will remember that last week we explored the nature of how the Jews viewed history; and how deeply they loved and sought to ingrain the Word of God into their hearts and minds. And I wanted to lay that foundation for you because when we come to this point in Acts 1, we see that the eyes of the disciples have been opened to understand in a whole new way the scriptures that they had hidden in their hearts; they now understood them in the light of Jesus Christ and were beginning to see how the entirety of God’s plan fit together and what their own place was in it. And when we understand that, the first board meeting of the Church here in chapter 1 (which we might be tempted at first glance to think of as kind of a boring way to kick off the book of Acts) is really a time of wondrous excitement and purpose. Peter (whose name means “rock”), but who had recently denied Jesus, was now standing in the midst of the company of the disciples and is telling them what the Old Testament means and what their immediate plan of action needs to be. And notice nobody is saying to him, “Who are you to tell us anything, you’re not a rock; you’re a chicken!” Nobody is saying anything like that. Because they know Peter is not just speaking from his own wisdom anymore, which we know rarely worked for him. Rather they acknowledge now that he has been led by God into an understanding of the Word of God; and he is speaking out of that understanding. And that was somebody they were willing to follow. It says in…
Acts 1:15-17 (ESV)— 15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”
God’s Plan Unhindered— Now the betrayal of Jesus by Judas is a sad story. But what it shows us (and this is key) is that even a betrayal at the most intimate and personal level (the level of a disciple of the Son of God) could do nothing to thwart the plans of God. God’s plan of salvation didn’t miss a beat. And even though it says Satan entered into Judas (twice in scripture it says that), God was able to use even that betrayal to bring about the fulfillment of His plan; the provision of His Son to die on the cross in order to make atonement (to pay for) our sins. Now it says of Judas’ subsequent suicide (after he realized what he had done)…
Acts 1:18 (ESV)— 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.
Hung vs. Falling— Now the description here of Judas’ death is very graphic; and it is meant to be so. But why is it so different from Matthew’s account? In Matthew’s account we have a different description of Judas' death than what is given to us here. In Matthew it simply says that Judas went out and hung himself (Mt. 27:5). Is it a contradiction (as some people say it is)? Well, not really. Judas apparently had hung himself on a tree next to a cliff (which is very plausible when you consider the topography of the land). And either the rope broke during his initial attempt to hang himself or the body fell after decomposing for a while and then burst open upon hitting the ground.
Why The Variance?— So Luke and Matthew merely emphasize different things. But why? And why does Luke’s emphasis have to be so graphic; so gory? Well remember that Matthew’s account was written to a Jewish audience. And the Jewish mind would have connected Judas being hung with Deuteronomy 21:23, which says “he who is hanged is accursed of God”. And so the emphasis is placed on Judas’ being hung because that is what is going to resonate most deeply with a Jewish audience. However, remember that Luke is a gentile writing to a gentile audience who wouldn’t know the text (at least to the same degree). And you'll remember that the gentiles (especially the Greeks and those influenced by Greek culture, which was pretty much any gentile in the Roman empire) placed an enormous weight of value on the human body. You don’t have to see too much of Greek artwork from that period to understand they pretty much worshiped the body. The body was the picture of perfection in the mind of the Greek. And so for a Greek person to hear of the physical mutilation and destruction of the body of Judas sent home the same emotion a Jew would've felt in hearing about the "hanging" of Judas “on a tree”. So there is no contradiction. Matthew and Luke merely emphasize different details based on who their audience is in order to generate the same gut-wrenching reaction so to speak. Now Peter continues in…
Acts 1:19-20 (ESV)— 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “‘Let another take his office.’
12 Witnesses— And so once again Peter, who is looking back at these Old Testament prophecies (which are Ps 69:25 and Ps 109:8), now understands what they are supposed to do in preparation for the building of God’s Church. Peter recognized that they needed another eyewitness to the life, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. And that’s first of all because people take eyewitness testimony more seriously than other claims. But it was also important because Jesus had chosen twelve disciples as representative of the 12 tribes of Israel. In the mind of the Jew that was a very sacred number. And so it was vital that this renewal movement within Israel be marked by this very important number. So Peter takes the initiative (no doubt with the Holy Spirit’s leading) and says they need to choose another apostle who will help them too represent the 12 tribes of Israel to the world. So he says in…
Acts 1:21-26 (ESV)— 21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
2 Characterizing Words— Now I love how Barsabbas doesn’t mention any problem in the voting system or demand a recount. He doesn’t say, “Fine, you think Matthias is better than me, I’ll find some other place to go down the street.” No, he (along with all of them) accept it as God’s choice. They are unified in this. And that really serves to drive home the point that if you were to characterize the driving force of this early Christian community in two words, those two words would be “unity” and “prayer”. It says in verse 14 that All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
“with one accord”— Now that phrase [“with one accord,” {is} a phrase that is found six times in Acts (1:14; 2:1, 46; 4:24; 5:12; 15:25; and note also 2:44). There was among these believers a wonderful unity that bound them together in Christ (Ps. 133; Gal. 3:28), the kind of unity that Christians need today {(especially now in a time of such disunity in the world)}.] Notice how none of them are asking, “Who is the greatest?” or, “Who committed the greatest sin?”] No, they are simply [praying together, standing together in the Lord, and worshipping together as they wait to be prepared for the work ahead of them.
Achdut— One Jewish man I read recently said that [the one precondition G-d said for every miracle that occurred to the Jewish people, and there was only one thing that was a precondition, is unity, achdut. {He said} From when we stood at Mount Sinai as "one people with one heart," …to the time when Queen Esther told Mordecai to "gather all the Jews together" to fast for her success.… It is in every miracle, in the rescue of Ethiopian Jews, of Russian Jews, of Syrian Jews - achdut is the one thing G-d demands of us and all of us have to work to see that this is the case.] And you know, he’s right. This is why Jesus in His High Priestly prayer in John 17 prays over and over again for His disciples to be one, as He and the Father are one. Well, His prayer is finally being answered. They ARE becoming one; and God is using prayer to do it.
The Disciples Criticized— Now some criticize the disciples for this and say that they should've waited until the Holy Spirit was given rather than choosing an apostle themselves. They say that it would've been better for the Holy Spirit of God to choose an apostle than for them to trust such an important choice to blind chance. But it is important to note that the disciples did not believe that their choice (although made by casting lots) was blind choice. It's as it says in Proverbs…
Proverbs 16:33 (ESV)— 33 The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.
Not Chance— So they understand that it's not blind chance. They're not just rolling the dice as you and I roll dice in Candyland or any other board game that my kids like to play with me. No, after a season of intense prayer (and that is key) and knowing that God is moving in and through them and would guide their decision, they cast lots.
God Will Lead Us— And similarly when we abide in prayer (both corporately but individually) we can trust that God will lead us to make the right decisions and will move in the way we need Him to. That is why we must always persist in prayer. Prayer we see in the book of Acts was the life-blood of the Early Church. In almost every chapter in Acts you find a reference to prayer, and over and over again we see throughout the book clearly demonstrated the truth that things happen when God’s people pray. This is certainly a good lesson for the church today. {It has been said that} Prayer is both the thermometer and the thermostat of the local church, for the “spiritual temperature” either goes up or down, depending on how God’s people pray. John Bunyan, author of Pilgrim’s Progress, said, “Prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan.” In the book of Acts, you see prayer accomplishing all of these things.]
The Word, Unity, & Prayer— And so I want to encourage you today (and me as well) let us be a people who are characterized by prayer. And may we (in prayer) be united with one another in such a unity so as to cause us to be a force to be reckoned with as we seek to further the Kingdom of God. Amen.
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Sunday Sep 13, 2020
Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim.
Experiential History— I want to open up today by talking a little bit about history. What is the goal and purpose of history? You know there is so much difference between our western (Greek rooted) way of viewing history and the Biblical (Eastern-rooted) way of viewing history. We see history as a bunch of facts and dates, which is why so many of our young people think that history is boring. And honestly, most of us are not interested in history for that very reason. But the Jewish way of viewing history is vastly different and infinitely more exciting. And that is because when they study history, when they celebrate their chagim (holidays) it is not just about ritual, but committing themselves to experiencing their history, to learn from it, and to allow it to re-shape the way they live their day to day lives.
No Word For History-- I recently learned that in Hebrew there is actually no word for history. The word they use is zechira, which means “remembrance”. And zechira (the act of taking the time to remember) involves not just knowing what happened at any given time, but understanding those things that led to those events and what things came out of those events. And so they believe that it is in our looking back at our history that we begin to understand who we are and our place in God’s overall plan of salvation. And this is what was happening in that 40 day period following Christ's resurrection. Jesus was teaching His disciples about the Kingdom of God, but He was also connecting them back with the Old Testament, showing how He was the fulfillment of all the messianic prophecy’s.
456 Prophecies-- Now, just so you are aware, [In total, there are over 456 prophecies stating specific things that the King {(the Messiah)} would do, and Jesus fulfilled them all right down to the smallest details. {In fact, there are}…twenty-nine prophecies that Jesus fulfilled just in the last twenty-four hours of His life.] How Jesus fulfills prophecy is actually one of the greatest evidences we have of the truth of His claims.
Not Contrived or Accidental-- Now some have argued that Jesus tried to fulfill these prophecies in order to deceive us. The reason that hypothesis falls apart is because when you actually look at the prophecies, you discover that many of those prophecies He fulfilled during (and even prior to) the time He was born, while He was a young child, and also prior, during, and following his execution on the cross; all of which (if He were a mere man) He could have had no say over. Now others suggest that He fulfilled these prophecies by accident; that it is just a coincidence.
Texas Silver Dollars-- But [In his book, Science Speaks, Peter Stoner applies the modern science of probability to just eight prophecies regarding Christ. He says, "The chance that any man might have ...fulfilled all eight prophecies is one in 10 to the 17th. That would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000." (one hundred quadrillion) {And just to give us a picture of these odds} Stoner suggests that "we take 10 to the 17th silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state 2 feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly... Blindfold a man and tell him he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up [that one marked silver dollar.] What chance would he have of getting the right one?" Stoner concludes, "Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing those eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man,...providing they wrote them in their own wisdom.”] Now keep in mind that that is JUST 8 PROPHECIES being fulfilled by Jesus. And yet we now know that there are over 456 prophecies that have been fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
This is why it is so important for us to study and know these scriptures; because if we know them we can prove that Jesus is who He says He was. And this is exactly what we will see a man named Apollos do later in the book of Acts. It says in…
Acts 18:28 (ESV)-- 28 for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that the Christ was Jesus.
Peter’s Use of Prophecy at Pentecost-- Peter did this as well. In fact, when we will come to his famous sermon that immediately followed the Holy Spirit’s coming at Pentecost, we will see (a little more in depth) how that sermon is composed primarily of prophecies about Jesus that Peter pulls directly from the Old Testament. And the rest of his sermon is commentary on those passages; him connecting the dots for his Jewish listeners. And this was an exciting thing for the disciples. They understood for the first time how Jesus was the fulfillment of all the Old Testament promises. And so for those who knew the Old Testament, hearing the apostles show and prove that Jesus is indeed the promised Messiah was a powerful powerful thing.
They Understood!!!-- Now one of the things that we wonder as we begin moving through these opening chapters of the book of Acts is: How did the disciples experience such an incredible change in their lives? How did they go from being fearful, Christ-denying and Christ-forsaking cowards to being courageous soldiers of the cross who were ready and able to move mountains on behalf of the gospel? Now you will of course say the Holy Spirit. And you are absolutely correct. The Holy Spirit plays a huge role in the transformation of the hearts and lives of these men (and women). And we will talk about the Holy Spirit more in the coming weeks. But there is another element that is often overlooked, which plays an equal role in their transformation; at it occurred before Pentecost. And that was that for the first time the eyes of the disciples were opened to understand the Old Testament. Now many of these Jewish men had much of the Old Testament memorized; that was just expected during that time. In fact, it was forbidden for any person to speak on any passage of the scripture that they had not first committed to memory. You were expected to know the text before even thinking of teaching it. Even the women were required to have at the very least Psalms, Proverbs, and Deuteronomy completely committed to memory. That’s why, by the way, you will notice that whenever Jesus speaks to a woman, He always quotes to them only from those three books; because those were the books they would have known by memory. And these traditions continue even to this very day.
The Only Man Who Hadn’t Memorized-- Recently I was listening to a man talk about his experience beginning Jewish studies. And as he registered for a class, his rabbi told him he wasn't qualified for the class. And he was a little bit offended, because he had his degree and felt that he knew a lot. But he was a gentile and the rabbi explain to him you don't know what you don't know. But he allowed him to join the class, which he did. But it was not long into the class when he realized that he was the only man in that class who did not have the entire Old Testament memorized from cover to cover. And for the first time he realized that he (though a well educated Christian man) knew nothing about the Bible (at least comparatively). And this same man shared how he once was with a group of Jewish 8-year-boys (my son’s age) in Israel and discovered that they also had massive portions of the Old Testament memorized. And he and the group that was with him decided to put them to the test; and so they asked them to name all the birds mentioned in the Old Testament. And together this group of 8-year-olds named those birds one by one merely by mentally working their way through the text. Because the Word of God (the Old Testament) was so deep in their bones! And what the speaker noted was that every time these 8-year-olds had a free moment, instead of pulling out their cell phones or their gaming machines or their iPads or whatever it is, they would pull out their Bibles and continue memorizing the text. Let me tell you something; the Jews understand what it means to hide the Word of God in the hearts of their children. And the reason they do this is because they know that if they don't, then they are only one generation away from being extinct. Their hope as a people (and our hope as well) rests in the promises given by God to our fathers in history (in time and space).
Knowing Without Understanding-- Now you can memorize something without ever really truly understanding it. Many Jews today have massive parts (if not the whole) of the Old Testament memorized. And yet they miss the very Messiah that the Old Testament prophesies about.
The experience for the disciples here in this upper room as they were awaiting the coming of the Holy Spirit was that they finally got it! They understood how God was working (and had worked) to bring his Messiah into the world and the Messiah's role in offering atonement (through his blood) for the sins of the world. And because they understood that, their history came together for them in their minds but also (most importantly) in their hearts; and they were willing to charge into the future under the banner of a risen Christ!
Looking Back-- And this is one of the reasons that we must never let ourselves be convinced that the Old Testament (or history in general) doesn't matter. Winston Churchill once said "The further back you look, the further ahead you will see.” And that is true. If you want to understand current events, then you have to look back and truly understand the history of God’s people. And I want to tell you today that (as a whole) we have allowed ourselves to become very ignorant of our history, particularly our Jewish roots. The Jews in the early Church were able to live dynamic and powerful lives because (for the first time) they could truly see. And the reason they could truly see was because they knew the importance of looking back and the veil had been lifted from their eyes to where they could finally see and understand the Word of God; they finally understood God’s plan (at least in part) and their own role in helping that plan unfold. But it came through their wrestling and coming to grips with the Old Testament.
Our History-- And so I want to encourage you today (and myself as well); may we also be intentional about studying and knowing the scriptures; because the Old Testament isn’t their heritage. No, it is OUR history. And when their history becomes our history (not just in our minds, but in our hearts), their hope and their joy and their salvation becomes our hope and our joy and our salvation as well. You want to know Jesus (fully) then you must understand His Word. If you want to hear God’s voice clearly; then you must become tuned to His voice in and through His Word. And if you want to have the right words to say at any given moment, fill the reservoir of your heart with His Words; and He will use them at the opportune times both for others and for yourself. And so let us commit (together) to know and walk in the light of His Word. Amen.
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
Sunday Sep 06, 2020
Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim. In our passage today from Acts chapter 1 we find Jesus getting ready to ascend into heaven. Now if I were one of the disciples who had been with Jesus during these 40 days following His resurrection, I cannot even imagine the grief I would feel. I’d be clinging to Jesus’ feet, never wanting to let Him go. To be in a world without the visible presence of Jesus was something these disciples did not want to experience again. But Jesus had said back in…
John 16:7 (ESV)— 7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.
Comforter— And of course He was talking about the Holy Spirit, the One here called the Helper. Some translations read Comforter. And Comforter is not a bad translation; but the word incorporates much more than what we typically mean by our English word “Comforter”. Yes, the Holy Spirit comforts us, but a better translation is Helper or “the one who strengthens/empowers”; because the Holy Spirit is the One who enstrengthens and empowers us to be like Jesus. He is the One who had anointed Jesus’ own life and ministry and is the One Christ promises will empower ours as well, convicting us, drawing people to Christ, shaping us into His image, and helping us to carry out His mission. He is also the one who teaches us and reminds us of what Christ has said (John 14:26). But He is also Jesus’ guarantee that His followers (including us) will never be alone. Because He would bring the presence of God into their very hearts and lives. Jesus (Immanuel) had been God with them. The Holy Spirit would be God in them. And so (as unbelievable as it might seem) the Holy Spirit actually brings God even closer to us than Jesus had been to these disciples when He was on earth. And with God in them, they could finally be empowered to be like Jesus. Jesus had said in…
Acts 1:8 (ESV)— 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
“Be My Witnesses”— Now that verse, [Verse 8 is the thematic statement for all of Acts. It begins with the Spirit’s power that stands behind and drives the witness to Jesus. {And} Then it provides a rough outline of the book: Jerusalem (chs. 1–7), Judea and Samaria (chs. 8–12), and the end of the earth (chs. 13–28).] And so right at the outset we see God’s plan for the Gospel to reach beyond just Jerusalem; beyond just the Jews. God’s salvation would be for the whole world. Now it says in…
Acts 1:9 (ESV)— 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
Here All Along— Not long ago, after preaching on this passage in my Church, I had a dear woman approach me afterwards with a look of disappointment on her face. And she told me why. She said that she appreciated the message, but wished that I had spoken more about the ascension. And she was right. I had gone through it way too quickly. And maybe that is because we naturally think of the ascension of Christ as kind of small potatoes in comparison to His death and resurrection; or even His future coming. And that is something I think a lot of us pastors I think rush through, missing some of the amazing applications that the ascension of Christ has for you and for me today. A godly man whose writings have been some of the most formative for me in and throughout the years is Dr. Dennis Kinlaw. And even he once said: [As a pastor I had never preached a sermon on the ascension. I had preached on Christ’s birth, his baptism, the events in his life, his death, and his resurrection, but I had never preached on his ascension. {And so he said} Because I thought that there must be something significant in that story, I began to prepare a sermon on it, trying to understand what the significance is. {And he says} As I worked, I thought of two questions: How far did Jesus go? And how long did it take him to get there? Then {he said} I laughed at my own stupidity. How far is a space question. He created space. He was there before there was space. He is not in space; he transcends space. Space is in him. How long is a time question. He created time because it is a reflection of space, a reflection of the creation. Days, hours, and minutes are part of created experience; they are not part of God’s experience. He is not bound by time or space. {And he says} When I reached that point in my thinking, I had a moment of revelation. When Jesus returns, he will not have to travel through space; nor will it take him any time, for he is Lord of space and time. That means he is already here. He never really left. We just don’t have the capacity to recognize his holy presence. We speak of having Christ in our hearts. The reality though is that we are in him because there is nowhere he is not. As Paul said to the Athenians, “He is not far from each one of us; for in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:27–28). {And he says} Suddenly I found that I had a sense of his nearness that I had never had before. When Jesus comes again and our eyes are opened to see him, I think we will realize that he has been here all along.] What an amazing thing to think about; the fact that Jesus (although He ascended) has actually neither left nor forsaken us. Perhaps we also often overlook the end of the Great Commission passage given to us in…
Matthew 28:20b (ESV)— …And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
He Has Never Left You— The reality is that Jesus has never left you. There has never been one single moment in your walk with Christ where He has ever left you. And He will never leave you. Now it says in…
Acts 1:10-11 (ESV)— 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
In A Human Body— Now a key thing to recognize here is that Jesus ascended to the right hand of the Father still bearing His physical resurrected body. [The amazing miracle of the incarnation is not only that the eternal Son of God took human nature on himself and became a person who is simultaneously God and man, but also that he will remain both fully God and fully man forever.] He has brought humanity into the very being of God. God has joined mankind in the flesh of Jesus Christ. And the angels reveal that someday Jesus is going to return just as they saw Him leave; with that same resurrected body. His [return, like his ascension, will be bodily and visible.]
Maranatha— And we as followers of Christ have been looking forward to His return ever since that very day. In fact, the early church didn’t say “hello” or goodbye.” Rather they said “Maranatha”, which is a Syriac expression that means: “our Lord comes.” They were always looking forward to that day when Christ would return.
Get Going!!!— Now I think it is kind of humorous how the angels ask the disciples why they are standing there, as if it was an everyday thing to see our Lord ascend in a cloud into heaven. But it’s the angels’ way of saying, “All right guys, the show’s over. Christ gave you a very important commission to complete. Go prepare for it.” And the disciples turn and leave. And it says in…
Acts 1:12-14 (ESV)—12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day's journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Waiting in Prayer— And so we see [The main activity in the upper room was prayer. Jesus had told them “to wait for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4), but “waiting” on God and prayer are closely related in several places in the OT, and therefore it is likely that they were praying constantly that the promised Spirit would descend.]
An Explosion Through Prayer— Now (perhaps like the ascension) we often also skip over this section because we want to get to the good stuff; Pentecost and the awesome power of the Holy Spirit made manifest in and through the disciples. But what we so often miss is that the Holy Spirit only came after the disciples had a 10 day, nonstop prayer meeting. They were praying together, confessing sins, becoming of one mind and of one accord. They are saturating themselves in prayer. And throughout the book Acts we see that everything the disciples did was centered on prayer.
What is revival?— Now I hear a lot of people say how they want to see revival happen in our nation. But do we want revival like this? Are we hungry enough to seek the Lord like these few disciples did? You know, a lot of times we get it backwards when it comes to how we understand how revival comes. We don't want to pray or draw close to God by ourselves. We want God to do all the work for us; so we ask God to bring us revival; to make us hungry for prayer; hungry for him. But God says, “No no no. Pray first; then I’ll make you hungry. I don't think it's an accident that James 4:8 (ESV) says: 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you...
First comes obedience— You see, first comes obedience, then comes the presence of God. We obey first; we draw near to Him whether we feel like it or not and then He will draw near to us. We choose to go to church whether we feel like it or not; we read our Bibles whether we feel like it or not; we pray whether we feel like it or not. We seek God out every moment of the day because it is in the times when we don’t feel like doing these things and yet do them out of obedience; it is in those times that God is most pleased and often pours out His greatest blessings. And so I want to encourage you today to draw close to God. Allow His Holy Spirit to fill and renew you in the image of your Creator. And with that renewing will come a mighty power; a power He can use to help change the world. Draw near to Him today. Amen.
Sunday Aug 30, 2020
Sunday Aug 30, 2020
Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim. In today’s message from the book of Acts, we are going to discuss the greatest call that you and I can have on our lives.
Close to Extinction— I remember in one of the writings of the late Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias, his asking: [And what is the first call for each one of us? It is to understand God’s primary description of who and what we are. {Ravi Zacharias put it thus:} All the other accolades that people want to thrust at us are secondary at best. The fact that someone writes, another speaks, still others invest or play sports, is merely the means to express the greater end. {He said} Some time ago, I attended a Bible study session with some sports professionals. The speaker that morning challenged the players to leave a legacy they could be proud of. He began by asking them how many knew the name of their great-grandfather. A handful of hands went up. Then he asked how many of them knew where their great-grandfather was buried. Most of the hands stayed down. With each more specific question, fewer hands went up. He then made his point: “Each one of us is just three to four generations away from extinction.” {Ravi said} Silence gripped the room. How sobering to think that, just a few generations down the family tree, no one would even know I had ever existed! Then the speaker challenged these men about the legacy they would leave behind. One after another, the players responded. But then one said, “Really, I don’t care whether or not my great-great-grandson or great-granddaughter knows that I played ball professionally. It really doesn’t matter that much. I just want them to know the God I served and loved.” The words came from the heart, and for a moment, in the silence, {Ravi said} we all knew the truth of both thoughts. Our devotion to God’s call and to his claim on our lives provides the groundwork of all that ultimately matters. Words like those of the professional ballplayer are all the more profound, because many of our youth consider his calling a dream. But the greatest dream of all is to know God and to know what he has intended for your life.] The greatest call upon your life is the call He has given for you to follow Him in radical, world-changing discipleship.
Soldiers of the Cross— And that was Jesus’ ultimate mission while here on earth (aside from the cross); to make disciples who would be world-changers. As someone once pointed out: [He did not want to be just a Bible teacher to a group of spiritually hungry souls who would get their only ration of spiritual food once a week from his sermons. He wanted to train a band of strong, rugged soldiers of the Cross who would then collaborate with him in the work of the ministry in the church.]
No Other Plan— And the man who said that (LeRoy Eims) also shared a personal story in his book The Lost Art of Disciple Making. He said: [I had gone to a Christian conference and in one of the messages the speaker was emphasizing how vital these men were to Jesus’ mission. He told us a story that stirred our imaginations. He spoke of the return of Jesus to heaven—His ascension—and the excitement that it caused among the angels. He painted quite a picture, for he was good with words. He told of one of the angels who asked the returned Son of God a question, “What plan do You have to continue the work You began on earth?” Without hesitation Jesus answered, “I left it in the hands of the apostles.” Another angel asked, “What if they fail?” Again there was no hesitation, “I have no other plan.” The speaker assured us it was only a story, but it got the point across. The future of Christianity, humanly speaking, rose or fell on the ministry of these men.]
Our Responsibility— Now when you think about that, the implications are profound. Jesus has entrusted the success of His Great Commission to you and to me. He has placed the fate of the world in our hands. It is up to the obedience of individual men and women who (daily) have to choose how sold out they are to Jesus Christ; just how dedicated they are to Christ’s mission of discipleship. And that is a choice that you and I have to make as well. Are we going to orient our lives around Jesus Christ and His mission?
The 40-day gap— Now in our passage today, Jesus had recently risen. But the ascension doesn’t happen right away. There is a forty-day gap between the resurrection and the ascension in which Jesus is appearing to the disciples, instructing them, training them, and preparing them for His ministry that they are about to continue in the world. Verse 3 says that He was also speaking to them about the kingdom of God; that kingdom they would soon be bringing people into. And it says in…
Acts 1:4-5 (ESV)— 4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
Awaiting The Holy Spirit— So we see here that Jesus doesn’t want the disciples to leave Jerusalem until they have received the Holy Spirit. Why? Because He knows that in order for any ministry to be affective, we must have the Holy Spirit go with us (and also “before us”), because it is not ultimately our work. Rather we join in the work the Holy Spirit is already doing. And so Jesus is preparing the disciples for the more immediate event of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit will come down upon them and cleanse them and empower their lives and ministry.
A Time of Excitement— Now just imagine the excitement the disciples had during this time. Their Lord had risen; He was walking and talking with them once again. The hope in Him as their Messiah, that hope they lost at His death, was restored. And they are beginning to get excited about knowing what comes next. And we see that Jesus has led them to [the Mount of Olives (v. 12), at the foot of which lay Bethany (Luke 24:50).]
My Journey to Olivet— I remember when I went to Israel, coming to the Mount of Olives. And one of the things I remember seeing that I did not expect was a massive number of tombs; white sepulchers all over. And in fact there are an estimated 150,000 graves on the Mount. Tombs traditionally associated with Zechariah, Haggai, Malachi, and Absalom are among them. Numerous rabbis and Jews are buried there even to the present age; though at an exorbitant price. It is very expensive to be buried there. And when I asked why, our guide said it was because of a very interesting prophecy in the Old Testament. It says in…
Zechariah 14:3-4, 9 (ESV)— 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward. {And verse 9 says…} 9 And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
They Missed It— Now after telling me this, our guide said of many of the Jews then, “They missed it.” And you know, they still miss it even today because they are not being told. But the disciples see what is happening; they see Jesus, their Messiah, leading them up the Mount of Olives. And the whole time their knees are like buckling and shaking. They’re thinking “Is this the moment?” “I don’t know.” “Should we ask the Master?” So verse 6 says...
Acts 1:6 (ESV)— 6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
What The Disciples Expected— And they asked Him this because they had drawn the conclusion from his resurrection and promise of the Holy Spirit that era of the Messiah had dawned and Israel’s final salvation and restoration was at hand. But keep in mind that they were still expecting the Messiah to drive out the Romans and restore Israel to physical, military, and political glory, as God had done numerous times in and throughout the Old Testament. But look at Jesus’ response. He says…
Acts 1:7 (ESV)— 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
And in that we see that Jesus is not interested in revealing to us the hour of His return. Rather He wants us to focus on abiding in Him in the present, doing the work that He has commissioned us (as His ambassadors) to do in the world. Look at what He says in…
Acts 1:8 (ESV)— 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
“Be My Witnesses”— [Jesus corrected them...but by telling them (Acts 1:8) that they would receive power from the Holy Spirit, not in order to triumph over Roman armies but to spread the good news of the gospel throughout the world.] The disciples wanted to know the hour of the coming of Christ’s kingdom. Jesus says, “Don’t worry about that. It’s in God’s hands. But until then, you are to proclaim my name; be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. And then He gives them the Great Commission, which is recorded for us in…
Matthew 28:19-20 (ESV)— 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
I am with you always— Now that last phrase I am with you always is an intriguing phrase. We often treat it like a separate promise of His presence to be with all believers. And that may be true. But you almost get the sense that this promise is also connected with the commission He just gave. It’s almost like He’s saying, “I am with you always, to the end of the age” as you continue in the work of making disciples. And what this may be hinting at is the reality that you and I are never going to experience Christ more fully or more closely (in our own lives) than when we are bringing somebody to Jesus or into a closer walk with Him. You want to experience Jesus Christ? Go where He’s at work and join with Him. And when you do, you will find that you will have connected yourself with one of the central purposes of your life; and that will allow God to bless you in ways He otherwise would never be able to. And so let us commit to live lives where we are intentionally reaching out to make disciples. Amen.
Sunday Aug 23, 2020
Sunday Aug 23, 2020
Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim. As we have started a new series on the book of Acts, we have been taking a look at the testimony of Luke (author of the both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts). Luke had become the companion of Paul and one the early Church’s greatest historians. Now although Luke writes as a historian, Luke’s occupation before this had been quite different. He had been a physician.
Medical Machinery— I remember not long ago I went to visit a gentleman in the hospital; to both minister and pray with him and just be with him through a very difficult time. And as I stepped into that hospital room I found myself almost instantly surrounded by all kinds of medical equipment. Now I didn’t know what much of that equipment does. But I remember a nurse came in with a rather large piece of machinery. And as she proceeded to hook my friend up to it and to press other pieces of machinery onto his chest, I saw on the computer screen live video images of my friend’s heart. And as she moved the equipment around, she began to take precise computer measurements, calculating every sound; every pulse. Laid out in visual form were the wavelengths; the very heartbeat of my friend.
Now that kind of thing is awe-inspiring to me. But it also leads me to wonder what it must have been like to receive medical care in the first-century world of Jesus. In talking about this, my wife remarked to me how she could not even imagine giving birth during that time. And in fact, if she had, she would probably never have made it because of how our son was positioned in her womb. She very likely would have died in childbirth. Conditions and injuries that we would consider relatively minor were so much more dangerous then. Some of you tuning in today may be in the medical field. Have you ever imagined what it would have been like to treat somebody in ancient times or during this time period in and around the life of Christ?
Luke’s Focus on Christ’s Birth— Well, Luke didn’t have to imagine, because that was his primary occupation; he was a physician. And interestingly, he is the gospel writer who gives us the most details concerning the events in and surrounding the birth of Jesus. Maybe as a physician he was just so captivated and couldn’t get over the fact that in the womb of Mary; that womb that medically sustained Jesus, was the very Creator of the Universe who was at that moment already sustaining her; that her very blood which was bringing Him life would one day be poured out on the cross, bringing life to her.
Luke’s Focus on The Healings of Jesus— Also we find that Luke places special emphasis on the healing ministry of Jesus; and when we understand he was a physician, we can kind of see through his eyes and recognize why he was so fascinated by it. Jesus needed no equipment; Jesus never prescribed any medication; He never had to make a single surgical cut. He merely spoke and the worst conditions imaginable; even those that were beyond the hope of cure; conditions that Luke had encountered over and over again, were cured. I wonder how many times Luke had to tell someone, “I’m sorry, you will never see again,” “I’m sorry, you will never walk again,” “I’m sorry, but this infliction is incurable.” Luke presents Jesus in a way that only a physician could; because Jesus had succeeded in many of the same kinds of situations where Luke himself had failed. Only one time in all four of the Gospel accounts is Jesus called or thought of as a medical Physician; and it is here in the Gospel of Luke; Luke 4:23. Luke simply could not get over the power of God made manifest in Jesus Christ in the absolute worst of medical situations; how every illness and every defect left at the mere touch (or even just the mere spoken word) of Jesus. And Luke, like Matthew, also recognizes this as a fulfillment of prophecy.
Isaiah 35:5-6a (NIV)— 5 Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 6 Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy.
At one point John the Baptist sends messengers to ask Jesus if He truly is the promised Messiah. And Luke says in…
Luke 7:20-22 (NIV)— 20 When the men came to Jesus, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?’”
21 At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. 22 So he replied to the messengers, “Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor.
So Luke points out how Jesus knowingly fulfilled these prophecies from Isaiah; the last of which is that the good news is proclaimed to the poor.
Luke the Gentile— And this is another one of Luke’s major themes (particularly in his Gospel); [Jesus’ compassion for Gentiles, Samaritans, women, children, tax collectors, sinners, and others often regarded as outcasts in Israel.
The Compassion of Jesus— Luke found hope and exceeding joy that he, though an outcast, could become a part of the family of God. This is why Luke was so fascinated by the compassion Jesus extended to all who were considered lost. In his Gospel he therefore records more of the parables of Jesus than any other gospel; many in which God’s mission (carried out by Jesus Christ) is shown to be one of pursuing; God being likened to characters who are searching for something that has been lost. He is like a shepherd seeking a lost sheep (Luke 15:1-7); He is like a woman searching for a lost wedding coin (Luke 15:8-10); He is like a father yearning for the return of a lost son (Luke 15:11-32). A.W. Tozer once wrote a book that has since become one of the great Christian classics, entitled The Pursuit of God. Yet this is somewhat of a misnomer because here we find that what Luke was captivated with was God’s pursuit of us; Jesus is seen to be the one who pursues us into the darkness; into the night; so that He might bring us back to God. This was absolutely central to Luke’s theology.
Luke 19:10 (ESV)— 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
A Misplaced Phone and Document— I remember one week when my wife and I misplaced two things. She misplaced her cell phone and I misplaced a very important document. And so on two separate occasions in that same week we found ourselves searching all over the house, overturning all kinds of things in order to find that cell phone and that document. And in each case there was joy when that item was discovered.
A Misplaced Engagement Ring— I can still remember back when she and I first got engaged, her tearfully telling me some days afterwards that she had misplaced her engagement ring. She had woken up, looked at her hand, and discovered that it was gone. And she had been going frantically through every part of her dorm looking for it. And soon afterwards, after being allowed in to help her search, we found it in her bed; having slipped off while she was asleep. And I still remember the joy in her face and the tears in her eyes when she joyously put the ring back on her finger.
God’s Pursuit of us— And I just think, what an amazing thing that God pursues each and every one of us with just as much (in fact infinitely more) fervency. God does not leave one stone unturned in His pursuit of us. We are all valuable to Him; Jew or Gentile, man or woman, adult or child, righteous or sinner; rich or poor. God is pursuing you. And He will find you if you let Him. And He will make you His own. And in every healing Luke records, he shows how Jesus points people to the part of them that needs to be healed the most; their hearts. In Jesus, God has provided that ultimate healing. All we have to do is receive Him, surrender to Him, and allow Him (as our Great Physician) to heal and transform our hearts. And so I want to encourage you today, if you need to receive that healing today, invite Him into your life and say, “Lord, I need you to heal my sin; I need you to heal my brokenness; I am crippled, blind, deaf and mute without the abiding presence of your Holy Spirit in my life. Come fill me, heal me, change, and transform me.” Receive healing from Jesus. Amen.
Sunday Aug 16, 2020
Sunday Aug 16, 2020
Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim. Last week we started a new series on the book of Acts, beginning first by taking a look at the life and ministry of the author (Luke), who had formerly been a physician but who left everything to follow Christ and come alongside and minister with the Apostle Paul. And (as we will see today) God used Luke in remarkable way and (as He so often does) redirects Luke in a way he himself probably could never have imagined, as he went on to become the historian of the early Church.
Our Historian— You know, it’s interesting; whenever we visit my Grandmother in Kentucky, she will often tell us various stories of when she and my grandfather (and their children, my father, aunts, and uncles) were missionaries in Taiwan. And those stories are fascinating to listen to. But more often than not, when she is telling these stories, she has sitting by her side my dear Aunt Faith, whose memory surpasses the memory of anybody I have ever known. She can remember many addresses and phone numbers not only from the current time, but can also tell you what they were at any given stage of their life. She can remember every fact and every detail. She is, without a doubt, our family’s personal historian. She catches the mistakes and (when necessary) points them out in order to make sure the story is accurately passed down. And so far (thanks to her) they have been.
Luke the Historian-- And so we see here (and really throughout the entirety of his Gospel) that Luke writes with the same kind of precision as any first-class historian. He had said back in his introduction to his Gospel (which is the prequel to the book of Acts written to the same recipient: Theophilus)…
Luke 1:1-4 (NIV)— 1 Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. 3 With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.
Three Atheists Converted— Luke wanted his recipient Theophilus and all else who would read this account to know the facts, so that (knowing the facts) they might reasonably place their faith in Jesus Christ. Three great men I would put Luke in the same category with are C.S. Lewis, Josh McDowell, and Lee Strobel. All three of them were unbelievers until they began investigating the reliability of the accounts given to us in scripture. C.S. Lewis said he was very reluctant to the idea of becoming a Christian, but eventually was dragged (in his own words) “kicking and screaming into the kingdom” because the evidence he found for Christianity was so absolute and irrefutable. Josh McDowell likewise was very cynical of Christianity, but was challenged by a group of loving friends of his who were Christians to actually look at the evidence. And so he set out on a personal vendetta to try to disprove Christianity. He ended up also becoming a Christian; because of the overwhelming amount of evidence. Lee Stobel, author of The Case for Christ was a reporter for the Chicago Tribune; and a devout atheist. And the worst thing he thought could happen happened; his wife became a Christian. And he was terrified that she was going to become some kind of religious prude, and so he decided to take all his skills as an investigative journalist and expose Christianity for the cult he knew it had to be and convince his wife to get out of it. And his book chronicles his journey, as he interviewed scholars and numerous experts and authorities on the issue. But he was surprised at what he found; and that was that there are mountains of evidence stacked in Christianity’s favor. And he says he finally sat down and wrote a list of all the positive evidences for Christianity and then another (what he perceived to be) negative list of the evidences against Christianity and put the lists side by side. And he said he found (to his amazement) that after comparing those lists it would actually take more faith for him to maintain his atheism. And so he also was compelled to become a Christian.
Luke’s Desire for Proof-- Now I say all this because Luke would have been like these men; he would have wanted proof beyond a reasonable doubt, which is why he investigated as thoroughly as he did. He wanted to be sure for himself; but he also knew that others were not going to believe unless they also had sufficient evidence. And so he became a historian; perhaps the greatest historian of all time. And as we move through the book of Acts, one of the things we will see is that Luke is a guy who (like in his Gospel) is very much concerned with the details; the facts in and surrounding the life and ministry of Jesus. This is why he is careful to give us the [details that helped identify the historical context of the events he described] He takes time to explain when they happened and what was going on during that time period. Phrases like In the time of…, In those days…, In the ____ year of.… Over and over again Luke ties his Gospel in with known history. And these details can be checked out.
Sir William Ramsay-- In the [Late 1800’s/early 1900’s Sir William Ramsay was a well-known archaeologist and historian…{and} was considered to be the world's most imminent scholar on Asia-Minor, and it's geography and history. He read the book of Acts and said,“the book of Acts is a highly imaginative and carefully colored account of primitive Christianity” (in essence, “of my knowledge of history, I have no respect for Luke as a historian”). {But} Then he went to the middle east for the express purpose of proving the Bible wrong in its history. He came home and wrote the book, “Luke, The Beloved Physician” in which he proclaimed Dr. Luke to be one of the worlds foremost historians. Here’s a quote from Sir William Ramsey…this was after looking carefully at the evidence: “I take the view that Luke’s history is unsurpassed in its trustworthiness. You may press the words of Luke in a degree beyond any other historian, and they will stand the keenest scrutiny, and the harshest treatment.”] [Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely are his statements trustworthy . . . this author should be placed along with the very greatest of historians”]
Pretending The Bible Was True-- Now what is fascinating about the story of Sir William Ramsey is that he had decided (almost as a joke) to pretend that the Bible was true and to start using the Bible as the basis for his archeological digs. And what ended up happening is he made discovery after discovery after discovery using the Bible as his starting point. And he came to this conclusion (and we don’t know if he ever became a Christian or not). But this is the conclusion he came to (and I paraphrase): “If the Bible (Luke in particular) can be trusted at every single point that it can be checked out, I wonder if I shouldn’t take more seriously those areas that can’t be checked out.”
An Accurate Habit of Mind-- And this was his reasoning. He said: “There is a certain presumption that a writer who proves to be exact and correct in one point will show the same qualities in other matters. No writer is correct by mere chance, or accurate sporadically. He is accurate by virtue of a certain habit of mind. Some men are accurate by nature; some are by nature loose and inaccurate.”
And so his conclusion was that Luke was this kind of accurate person; consistently accurate.
Why Luke Wanted To Get The Details Straight-- Luke was trustworthy in his investigation; and the reason was because Luke didn’t want have a false picture of Jesus (remember his own salvation was on the line); rather he wanted to know for certain who this Jesus really was. And he had to be thorough in his investigation because, unlike Matthew and John, he was not an eyewitness of the events of Christ’s life. And so he had to get most of that information second-hand.
Positioned to Examine Witnesses-- And Luke is in a fantastic position to gather information about Jesus because he was (as we said before) a close friend and traveling companion of Paul, which allowed him to come into contact with and interview those who were eyewitnesses; not just the disciples, but the many others as well. Jesus touched a lot of people and therefore there were a lot of witnesses. Think about all the people He touched; all the miracles He performed. It says in John’s Gospel…
John 21:25 (NIV)-- 25 Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
Many Witnesses— And so we see that there would be many accounts because there were many witnesses of all these events. Even just the number of those who were witnesses to the Resurrection (to whom Jesus appeared to after He rose from the dead) is staggering. Paul writes in…
1 Corinthians 15:5-8 (NIV)-- 5…that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. 6 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7 Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8 and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
Eyewitness Records-- And Paul was a reluctant witness as well. He didn’t want to believe. But then he encountered the risen Christ and had to change his beliefs based on what he saw. But all this to say, there was a multitude of witnesses to all these events and therefore there was a multitude of stories and accounts. And many endeavored to write them down, as we see in verses 1-2 of Luke chapter 1.
Luke 1:1-2 (ESV)— 1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us,
A Reasonable Faith-- Now I say all this because sometimes we need to be reminded that the Bible is unlike other religious works in that (by giving us specific historical details) it puts kind of puts its neck on the line and says “come and see”; come and check this out; come verify that this is true. Are we to accept what it says by faith? Yes. But what we must always remember that it is not a blind faith (believing not having any real reason to) but rather we have a faith in Christ and His Word that rests on the sufficiency of the evidence. It is a reasonable faith. We can trust the scriptures and find in them solid reason to believe that Christ is who says He is. And consequently (because of that) we can also have assurance that He can do for us what He says He can do; and that is to redeem us from all our sins. And so let us give Him thanks for that today. Amen.
Sunday Aug 09, 2020
Sunday Aug 09, 2020
Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim. Thank you for joining us today as we begin a new series on a book of the Bible that has so much to say to us as we face these difficult and unusual times. If you are seeking a book that shows what God can do in and through men and women sold out to Him, this is it, as it gives us an account of the dynamic birth and explosive growth of the Early Church. And of course I am talking about the book of Acts, a book that (in the midst of what we are facing now) will really help us to grasp what it means to be the Church during all these trials that we are facing in these days.
Who’d You Follow?— Now the way I want us to start off today is by having you think of the many giants of the faith in and throughout all of scripture; the men and women you admire the most. And I want you to think; which is the one (besides Jesus, of course) that (if you were given the opportunity) you would want to follow around the most? If you had the opportunity to minister with and be discipled by anybody (to share in their life experiences) who would that be? Would you join Noah in his ministry of building the ark and preaching repentance to the people? Would you sit under Daniel in Babylon and then Persia, joining him in prayer in that room with its windows open facing Jerusalem; would you even be willing to join him in a den of lions? Would you follow David through his many excursions; joining him on the battlefield to face Goliath or running with him in fear from King Saul, who would be seeking to take both of your lives? You know, what is amazing when we think of these giants of the faith is that nobody that we would want to seek to follow, to sit under, and to emulate had a perfect or stress-free life. Many (if not all) of them faced persecutions and dangers like we can’t even imagine.
Following Paul— There are a number of men (and women) in scripture I look up to and would love to follow, but whom I also think would be very challenging to follow in ministry. And one of these in particular (although I would love to follow him), it would be incredibly difficult because of what he faced. He was the victim of numerous hate crimes, being pelted with stones; being whipped mercilessly; dealing with imprisonment and even shipwreck. And of course I am talking about the apostle Paul. I can think of few people I admire more than him; and yet at the same time I think about how difficult it would be to share in his ministry. And [We know enough of what Paul and his fellow travelers endured to know that anyone identifying with Paul and the cause of Christ were candidates for the same sufferings.]
Growing Pain— But suffering (especially for the sake of Christ) is not something we should seek to avoid. And that’s because suffering and difficulty is what causes us to grow. This is why James writes in…
James 1:2-4 (ESV)— 2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
Strengthened Character— And so while in looking at the life of Paul our flesh might hesitate to want to share in his sufferings, we know that to walk with somebody like that through the things that they faced would be both an honor and a privilege; and would produce such a strength of character in us.
Luke, A Companion of Paul— Paul had that steadfastness; and those who walked with him had that steadfastness as well. And one of those men who walked with Paul is the author of our book; a man who was willing to follow Paul to the ends of the earth for the sake of the Gospel; and that was a gentile convert to Christianity by the name of Luke; author of both the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. [Although some of the material in Acts was no doubt collected from different sources by Luke, much of the material comes from his own experiences traveling with Paul (Col 4:14; 2Tm 4:11; Phm 24). {There are}…many instances in Acts where the point of view changes from “he/they” to “we,” implying that the author himself was there with Paul during those periods.] He was with Paul in the midst of many of his trials and tribulations. He was with Paul on Paul’s second missionary journey and saw the savage and brutal attacks on Paul and Silas, their subsequent imprisonment, and their miraculous release (16:10-17). He was with Paul on Paul’s sea voyage from Caesarea to Rome when (as you remember) the ship was overcome by a storm of hurricane-like force that battered and ultimately wrecked their ship upon the coast of Malta. Luke had swum with Paul through the breakers as the ship ran aground before being broken apart by the waves. We also know that (among other circumstances) Dr. Luke also stayed by Paul’s side when Paul was under arrest in Rome (27:1—28:16; Col. 4:14). Now the question is, “Why go through all of this?” Why would anyone choose a religion like Christianity that would involve so much pain and suffering?
Beans or Songs— [Tim Stafford, a senior writer for Christianity Today, wrote in one of his articles, saying: A pastor I know, Stephey Belynskyj, starts each confirmation class with a jar full of beans. He asks his students to guess how many beans are in the jar, and on a big pad of paper writes down their estimates. Then, next to those estimates, he helps them make another list: their favorite songs. When the lists are complete, he reveals the actual number of beans in the jar. The whole class looks over their guesses, to see which estimate was closest to being right. Belynskyj then turns to the list of favorite songs. "And which one of these is closest to being right?" he asks. The students protest that there is no "right answer"; a person's favorite song is purely a matter of taste. Belynskyj, who holds a Ph.D. in philosophy from Notre Dame asks, "When you decide what to believe in terms of your faith, is that more like guessing the number of beans, or more like choosing your favorite song?" Always, Belynskyj says, from old as well as young, he gets the same answer: Choosing one's faith is more like choosing a favorite song. Tim Stafford writes: When Belynskyj told me this, it took my breath away. "After they say that, do you confirm them?" I asked him. "Well," smiled Belynskyj, "First I try to argue them out of it.”]
Meaningful or True?— The concept of truth is an important issue because it affects how we view Christianity. Are we Christians only because it is meaningful to us, or is it because we know it to be true? You see a lot of people today (even many Christians) think that what is true for me is true for me and that what is true for you is true for you. But what they really mean is “what is meaningful for me is meaningful for me and what is meaningful for you is meaningful for you.” It is pretty much the same as choosing your favorite music artist; it simply comes down to what you feel speaks to you. But I want to stress to you that this is not how the early Christians came to faith in Christ. If choosing Christianity was like choosing a song, I am sure they would have sought a different tune. No, for the disciples it was more than that. Listen to what Luke writes in…
Luke 1:1-4 (ESV)— 1 Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.
Eyewitnesses —> Certainty— You have the word “eyewitnesses”, which is why there were ministers by the way. People were willing to be ministers because there was eyewitness evidence that Christianity (founded on the resurrection of Christ) was actually true. And then you have in verse 4 this amazing word. And that is the word “certainty”. Luke writes to Theophilus in order (he says) that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught. Now look at the rest of Luke’s introduction at the opening of the book of Acts. It says in…
Acts 1:1-3 (ESV)— 1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
Why Luke Followed Christ— Any Christian who says you can’t prove (at least beyond a reasonable doubt) that Christianity is true has not really read Luke; because Luke believed the resurrection was a proven event. And the evidence he uncovered is what provided Luke with the intellectual groundwork to be able to receive and accept Christ. You see, if you were a Christian at that time, you had a good reason. It wasn’t just because you found Christianity to be meaningful or because it gave you warm fuzzies inside. No, it is because it was true; it was verifiable; it was rooted in facts; in history; in geography. It wasn’t out there somewhere in the cosmos. No, Jesus had happened right there in their very midst! There were witnesses (hundreds of witnesses) to His resurrection. And these early Christians had nothing to gain in this world for following Christ other than pain, persecution, and even death. And what I want you to note is that Luke’s decision to follow Christ could not have been an easy one. Luke abandoned his whole livelihood. His whole medical career he abandoned completely to follow Christ. As the disciples who had been fishermen left their nets to become fishers of men, so Luke left his practice to become a physician (not just for people’s physical bodies) but for THE Body of Christ; for the sake of the Kingdom. He went from a clinic (whatever that looked like) to binding Paul’s many wounds and no doubt caring for him and nursing him back to health after his many beatings; and he himself may have endured some of that. This was a major life change for Luke; a change that can only be explained (not by the latest fad religion on the block) but rather in encountering the truth of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The truth changed him; and Luke allowed it to re-shape and change the course of his entire life.
Truth Shaping Us— And that is how it always is when we truly encounter Jesus. It changes us; it empowers us; it moves us out of our comfort zone and makes us willing to face any persecution necessary in order to bring people the good news of the hope of salvation in Jesus. My hope is that in and throughout our study, we also might not just learn the history of the early Church, but that we will also experience the same kind of Spirit-empowered change that Luke, the apostles, and the rest of the believers experienced as they followed Christ. May we embrace the truth as fully as they did. And may it shape us into being the men and women Christ has called us to be. Amen.
Sunday Aug 02, 2020
Sunday Aug 02, 2020
Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim. Thank you for joining us from wherever you are choosing to listen today.
Jesus' Deliverance Foreshadowed— As you know, we have in the book of Esther; and today we will be wrapping up this 20-week journey we have been taking together through this marvelous book. And the overall theme of the book of Esther has been the victory of God on behalf of His people; and so it is very pertinent to us today, as we need hope; we need victory during these very unusual and difficult times. In this book God gave His people victory over their enemies who sought to destroy them. He is shown to raise up the smallest of people (like Esther; like Mordecai) to bring about that divine victory. And in our passage today that victory has already taken place. The enemies of God’s people have fallen and His people are preserved. Now anytime there is an awesome victory, there is almost always celebration. And that is what we see here in Esther chapter 9. After the Jews experience this incredible victory that God has given them, they break out in spontaneous celebration. Verse 17 and following says…
Esther 9:17-19 (ESV)— 17 This was on the thirteenth day of the month of Adar [(February-March)], and on the fourteenth day they rested and made that a day of feasting and gladness. 18 But the Jews who were in Susa gathered on the thirteenth day and on the fourteenth, and rested on the fifteenth day, making that a day of feasting and gladness. 19 Therefore the Jews of the villages, who live in the rural towns, hold the fourteenth day of the month of Adar as a day for gladness and feasting, as a holiday, and as a day on which they send gifts of food to one another.
From Victory to Celebration— You know when God breaks through; whenever you have victory, there must always be celebration; a recognition of who God is and what He has done for you and for me. And that is what we see here, as Jews (all throughout the Persian empire) celebrate the faithfulness of God. But you know, we often forget the things God has done for us because we don’t take the time to look back. And you know, that harms our faith. Because it is in looking back that we observe how God has faithfully led us in the past and therefore it provides us the rational grounding we need to trust God also with our future. And so God therefore wanted His people to be a people who were constantly looking back; constantly remembering How He had moved faithfully in their midst time and time again.
Institution of Festivals— And one of the ways He led them to look back was in and through festivals. He had written into the lives of the Jewish people 7 festivals for them to observe throughout the year. And they would come together as a community at specific times of the year to throw (basically I’ll call them) God-parties. He wanted His people to come together to joyfully and collectively and remember. Now festivals (unlike just written reminders of God’s faithfulness) are participatory; they would not only help His people to remember, but they would also give them a personal way to actively and joyously orient their hearts, their minds, and really their entire lives around remembering and personally engaging with God.
Jesus Within a Culture of Remembrance— What would it be like to be a part of a culture in which every holiday; every feast; every communal celebration all revolved around remembering what God has done for us? That is what it was like to live as a Jew. And it is important to note that Jesus Himself observed all these festivals. In fact, many of the main events in His life took place in accordance with the timing of these Jewish festivals. And we’ll talk more about that in the future. But Jesus observed them.
Post-exile (Ordained by Man)— And I want to point out that the Feast of Purim is not among the feasts that God instituted, which were all instituted before Israel was sent into exile in Babylon and then Persia. Two human-ordained feasts were established post-exile that are still being observed even until today. And those are Hanukkah and Purim. But Jesus still observes both of them, Hanukkah in John 10:22 (also called the Feast of Dedication) and Purim, which is most likely the unnamed feast mentioned in John 5:1, which verse 9 reveals took place on a Sabbath. And chronologically, the only feast that occurred on Sabbath between the years of 25-35 CE was in fact Purim (in the year 28 CE). And it is ironic that this feast is not named explicitly in John because remember that the book of Esther doesn’t explicitly mention the name of God. And so perhaps God (who guided the Gospel writers) is showing a little bit of humor here. As His name is concealed in Esther, so in John the name of the feast is also concealed.
Establishing Purim— But although Purim was not a festival ordained and commanded by God, Mordecai and Esther established it because they wanted God’s people to always remember what He had done for them in Persia. So they take this spontaneous outbreak of celebration by the people, and officially establish it as a feast to be kept annually from generation to generation. Verse 20 and following says…
Esther 9:20-22 (ESV)— 20 And Mordecai recorded these things and sent letters to all the Jews who were in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus, both near and far, 21 obliging them to keep the fourteenth day of the month Adar and also the fifteenth day of the same, year by year, 22 as the days on which the Jews got relief from their enemies, and as the month that had been turned for them from sorrow into gladness and from mourning into a holiday; that they should make them days of feasting and gladness, days for sending gifts of food to one another and gifts to the poor.
Now those Jews in Susa fought an extra day and therefore celebrated a day later. [Mordecai avoids any difficulties this might cause by ordering that both days be observed.] We see also that there were [gifts of food. This would enable all alike to share in the feasting, including the poor (cf. Deut. 16:11; Neh. 8:10, 12; note on Est. 2:18).] Everybody’s to celebrate. Nobody is left out. Verses 23 and following say…
Esther 9:23-32 (ESV)— 23 So the Jews accepted what they had started to do, and what Mordecai had written to them. 24 For Haman the Agagite, the son of Hammedatha, the enemy of all the Jews, had plotted against the Jews to destroy them, and had cast Pur (that is, cast lots), to crush and to destroy them. 25 But when it came before the king, he gave orders in writing that his evil plan that he had devised against the Jews should return on his own head, and that he and his sons should be hanged on the gallows. 26 Therefore they called these days Purim, after the term Pur. Therefore, because of all that was written in this letter, and of what they had faced in this matter, and of what had happened to them, 27 the Jews firmly obligated themselves and their offspring and all who joined them, that without fail they would keep these two days according to what was written and at the time appointed every year, 28 that these days should be remembered and kept throughout every generation, in every clan, province, and city, and that these days of Purim should never fall into disuse among the Jews, nor should the commemoration of these days cease among their descendants. 29 Then Queen Esther, the daughter of Abihail, and Mordecai the Jew gave full written authority, confirming this second letter about Purim. 30 Letters were sent to all the Jews, to the 127 provinces of the kingdom of Ahasuerus, in words of peace and truth, 31 that these days of Purim should be observed at their appointed seasons, as Mordecai the Jew and Queen Esther obligated them, and as they had obligated themselves and their offspring, with regard to their fasts and their lamenting. 32 The command of Queen Esther confirmed these practices of Purim, and it was recorded in writing.
Purim Celebrated Today— Now the Jews still celebrate and remember the feast of Purim even to this day. And the way they do that is: [the day preceding (13th Adar) is kept as a fast day (called "the Fast of Esther"), in accordance with the command of the queen (4:15-16). As soon as the stars appear the festival commences, candles are lit, and all the Jews go to the synagogue, where, after the evening service, the benediction is pronounced, and the book of Esther is read {in its entirety}… As often as the name of Haman is mentioned in the reading, the congregation stamps on the floor, saying, "Let his name be blotted out. The name of the wicked shall rot!" While the children shake rattles. After the reading the congregation exclaims, "Cursed be Haman; blessed be Mordecai!" etc.; the benediction is said, and all go home and partake of milk and eggs.
On the 14th, in the morning, the people go to the synagogue; several prayers are inserted into the regular ritual; Ex 17:8-16 is read as the lesson from the law, and Esther, as on the previous evening. The rest of the festival is given up to rejoicing, exchanging of presents, games, etc. Rejoicing continues on the 15th, and the festival terminates on the evening of this day.] And that is how they remember what God did for them.
Remembering Our Heritage— Now this leads me to ask, “How are we passing true remembrance and communal worship of God down to the next generation? What symbols do we have in our homes to remind us of what God has done for us?” God instituted these festivals so the Jews would constantly live in a spirit of remembrance. Do we remember? The book of Esther was written so that the Jews of a later generation might understand the mighty hand of God that moved on their behalf. What steps are we taking to make sure that the next generation knows what God has done for them? Are we modeling to them lives that are truly centered on Jesus Christ and on living in remembrance of what He has done for us on the cross, and in the empty tomb, and in the giving of His Holy Spirit and Pentecost? We need to; future generations are depending on our remembering and our teaching them to remember.
The Greatness of Mordecai— Now the book of Esther closes by telling us what happened to Mordecai; the one who remembered and obeyed the Lord; the one who (though Haman sought to destroy him) God chose to lift up. It says…
Esther 10:1-3 (ESV) The Greatness of Mordecai— 1 King Ahasuerus imposed tax on the land and on the coastlands of the sea. 2 And all the acts of his power and might, and the full account of the high honor of Mordecai, to which the king advanced him, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia? 3 For Mordecai the Jew was second in rank to King Ahasuerus, and he was great among the Jews and popular with the multitude of his brothers, for he sought the welfare of his people and spoke peace to all his people.
Lifted Up— If we are obedient to God as Esther and Mordecai were, He will lift us up. If we choose to live in remembrance and in the fear of Him, He will bless us and He will preserve us; and His favor will be and will remain with us. Let us be a people who are obedient; who remember; let us be a body that is truly centered on our Lord in every way. Let’s do so. Amen.