The wisdom of Richard Sibbes

I’ve been reading “The Bruised Reed” by the Puritan Richard Sibbes (no prizes for guessing why I pulled this one down from the shelf).  Here are some of his pearls.

It would be a good contest among Christians, one to labour to give no offence, and the other to labour to take none. 

Nothing is so certain as that which is certain after doubts.

Illustrating the unworthy thoughts that sometimes come to mind, and distress the godly, he says, A pious soul is no more guilty of them than Benjamin was when Joseph’s cup was put in his sack.

Of Christ: He became not only a man but a curse, a man of sorrows for us.  He was broken that we should not be broken; he was troubled that we should not be desperately troubled; he became a curse that we should not be accursed.  Whatever may be wished for in an all-sufficient comforter is all to be found in Christ.

 

John Blanchard – a humble servant

With John Blanchard

I’ve spent the last week trying to get back to some form of normality.  I’ve been out visiting parishioners, including the bereaved (two funerals next week), and writing my first sermon in 3 weeks.  I’ve resigned from the FT Steering Group—I’ve been involved for five years (plus the couple of years it took us to get it set up)—so I’m now out of the loop.  Journalists, please note—like Manuel, I know nothing!

The great thing that happened last week was that we got to play host to John Blanchard, the evangelist and writer.  John has been the most influential British evangelist of his generation.  Not just through his extensive travelling, but more so through his writings.  Booklets like “Ultimate Questions” have been translated into several different languages and have been instrumental in bringing thousands to faith.  John’s magnum opus is “Does God believe in atheists” which is an incredible journey through every conceivable philosophy and belief-system, including secular humanism and evolution, in an attempt to show that believing in God, and accepting Christ Jesus as Lord, is the most sensible thing anyone can do. 

John is on a Scottish tour at the moment and asked if he could come to Kirkmuirhill.  He conducted a very fruitful mission here in the early 1980s and hasn’t been back since.  I was delighted to welcome him here. 

He’s now 77 and though there is an inevitable slowing down, there is no sign of any loss of sparkle or passion.  He is a voracious reader.  If we were not talking or eating he was reading. 

I only spent a few hours in his company, so I’m far from qualified to give a definitive opinion.  So let me say one thing.  What impressed me the most was the guy’s humility.  Two examples.  First, he was reading a book in order to answer someone’s questions about it.  Not only did he ask my opinion, he noted down what I said and told me that I’d helped him!  Second, before the meeting he was sitting at a table stuffing leaflets.  I can think of men, preachers and ministers, who just wouldn’t do that (“I’ve got an assistant to do that”).  But “the great” John Blanchard was just as happy doing the donkey work as he was standing in the lime-light. 

Our Lord Jesus often spoke about humility (Mt.18, Lk.22:24-28; John 13).  It seems to me that we are most Christ-like when we take the servant’s part.

JUDE: FIGHTING TRUTH DECAY #2

 JUDE THE AUTHOR

I want to begin by saying a few words about Jude himself.  Thomas Hardy, the Victorian novelist wrote a depressing book called “Jude the Obscure”.  It’s an epithet that could be applied to this Jude too.  We know hardly anything about him.  The name Jude is in fact a short version of Judas, and there are half a dozen Judas’ in the New Testament, including two disciples. 

The only clue as to the identity of our Jude is that he calls himself a brother of James. In Mt.13:55/Mk.6:3 we read about Jesus in his home town of Nazareth.  The people he grew up with are amazed at his wisdom and miraculous powers and they say:

Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?  Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas?

This is the only occasion where brothers called James and Judas are linked.  This James is the James who became prominent in the early church, chairing the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15).  It seems that this is the James Jude is referring to.  And if that is the case, it means that Jude was a brother (a half-brother) of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

It’s interesting to compare how Jude begins his letter with how James begins his:

Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ

James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ

Peter and Paul refer to themselves as apostles; John (2^nd & 3^rd John) as “the elder”; James and Jude as servants.  The inference is that this is how they liked to refer to themselves: not as Christ’s brothers, but as his servants. 

There’s great encouragement for us here.  The Gospels tell us that during our Lord’s ministry his brothers didn’t believe in him.  In John 7 we read of them egging him on to make a public exhibition of himself with his miracles.  They wanted him to exploit his abilities to make a name for himself.  Then they could bask in his fame.

John comments: For even his own brothers did not believe in him.  (Jn.7:5)

They didn’t believe that he was the Messiah; they didn’t believe that he was their Saviour.  He was just their big brother, and what an embarrassment he was too.

All that changed with the resurrection.  Paul tells us in 1Cor.15 that the risen Lord specifically appeared to James.  In Acts 1:14 we read that along with the apostles and other disciples who met in the upper room for prayer were Mary the Lord’s mother, and his brothers.  They were there on the Day of Pentecost when God poured out his Holy Spirit into the church, giving them power from on high. 

Do you have brothers and sisters who are unbelievers?  So did the Lord Jesus.  He can sympathise with how you feel.  He knows how hurtful it is, how distressing it can be, when you think of how they turn their back on the Lord you love.  He was on the receiving end of it himself.

Never give up praying for your brothers, your sisters, your children, you husband, your wife; maybe even your mother or father.  By God’s grace they may yet join you in the place of prayer.  They may yet be filled with God’s Holy Spirit.  Just like our Lord’s own brothers. 

 INTRODUCTION

Now, I was saying last week that although I don’t base my sermons on stories from the news, I do often find illustrations from current events.  Well, it seems to me that the outbreak of swine flu provides with an excellent illustration of the problem Jude was trying to address. 

 

Our bodies are constantly under assault from viruses and bacteria.  Sometimes it’s just a nuisance, nothing that a day in bed and a few cups of Lemsip won’t cure.  Others, however, are far more serious.  And initially it can be hard to tell the difference.  It might be heart-burn, it might be a heart-attack.  It might be a mouth ulcer; it might be cancer.  It’s so important to diagnose the problem correctly so that the correct treatment can be administered. 

It’s the same within the church.  The church is made up of people, imperfect people.  The Lord Jesus himself said that it’s not the healthy who require a doctor, but the sick.  Christians are people who recognize that spiritually speaking we are unwell, and that we need a doctor for our souls.  Anyone who thinks they have acquired spiritual perfection is just kidding themselves. 

They would no longer be able to call themselves Christians for they would have departed from the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints. 

Jude, however, is not one of those critics who can uncover all the faults but never comes up with a solution.  Jude knows exactly what medicine the church needs. 

BRIDGE

Friends, today the Church of Scotland faces a crisis.  The Church hasn’t merely caught a cold.  It is infected with a deadly virus.  I’m not talking about inappropriate or unbiblical sexual activity.  That’s a symptom of the illness.  That’s just the sore throat and the aching bones. 

The problem is that we have been infected by a view of God that is man-centred.  It’s an attitude towards religion, towards faith, towards the Bible that starts with “me” and what I think, and I feel. 

How does this approach work?  It starts by saying: this is how I feel, these are things I like, these are the things I want to do, this is how I want to life my life.  Then it reasons: I am a child of God, God made me with these feelings and desires.  Therefore, God must approve of me, he must approve of how I live my life.

We see this in action when people say they feel they can be a Christian without being part of the Church.  They don’t see the need for organised religion; they prefer to worship God their way.

Or when people say that they are doing their best to live a good life, and surely that must good enough for God without the need to repent of their sin.  Indeed, what is sin anyway? 

Or when they say that what’s really important in a relationship is that the couple love each other; what difference does a marriage certificate make; it’s only a piece of paper. 

Do you see what they are doing?  They are starting with themselves and deducing that if this is how they see things, God must see things their way too.  It’s a “bottom up” approach. 

Thus, the argument that people who are attracted to others of the same gender are not sinning when they engage in same-sex activity because that’s how God made them. 

The other approach, the approach Evangelicals like myself take, could be called the “top down” approach.  We start with God, and with his revelation of himself in Christ, as witnessed to us in the Bible.  The first question we ask is, What does the Bible say?  Because we believe the Bible is God’s word to the human race. 

If my feelings, my desires run counter to the teaching of Scripture—and let’s be honest, they usually do—I do not set aside Scripture as irrelevant or anachronistic.  I seek to reform my feelings, to amend my desires, to conform my behaviour to the standard set by the Bible.  And I do so, not begrudgingly, but recognizing that this is the will of my Creator who is also my most loving Heavenly Father. 

Do you see the difference? 

My argument is that the “bottom up” approach, which you might call the Liberal or the Progressive approach, is not Christianity.  It’s a philosophy which its adherents are free to practice if they wish: just don’t call it Christianity. 

If I can change my metaphor from medical to sporting: it’s as if we’ve been playing football, and suddenly someone picks up the ball and starts running with it.  The game has changed.  We’re now playing rugby and if that’s what you want to play, fine.  Just don’t call it football. 

I want to emphasise that homosexuality is not the core issue.  It’s only a symptom.  I emphasise this because the great danger for us is that we start pointing the finger at others.  We need to hold a mirror up to ourselves first. 

Could it be that you have been practicing a “bottom up” approach to the faith?  Could it be that the God you worship is made in your own image?  Do you ever find yourself arguing with your conscience?  You are behaving in a certain way; you are taking a certain course of action and your conscience blows the whistle and pulls out the red card.  And you argue. 

You argue that you are following your heart; that there is no harm in what you are doing; that no one will get hurt; that you’ve prayed about it and feel it’s the right thing to do; you’re sure that God will understand.  Perhaps you’ve even reasoned that what you’re doing isn’t bad enough for God to mind.  There are plenty people worse than you.  And at the end of the day, you can always say sorry.  God will always forgive. 

That’s the “bottom up” approach.  And it’s not Christianity.  It’s not the Christian faith, the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints.  I don’t want anyone at the door saying to me, “Ah, you told them.”  I’m speaking to you who are here today first and foremost.  And by the way, you know who the first person to hear this sermon was?  Me. 

TEXT

Let’s look carefully at what Jude has to say about this. I’m only going to ask one question: Where?  Where is the problem?  Where is the trouble?  The answer is, the problem is in the church.  v.4:

For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. 

Jude is not writing to the world at large.  The Bible has a lot to say to the world.  As Ps.24 says, The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.  Every single human being owns allegiance to their Creator God.  However, the human race is in rebellion against its true king. 

The Apostle Paul spells this out very clearly in Rom.1.  That chapter is like a large canvass on which he paints the grotesque consequences of humanity’s rejection of God (v.25):

They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator

He says, because of this we are riddled with the dry rot of gossip and deceit and slander and arrogance.  Our blood-stream is polluted with ruthlessness, heartlessness, envy, murder and pride.  And our sexual desires have been corrupted.

He’s not pointing at anyone in particular; he is speaking about humanity in general.  This is what we have become because (v.18) we suppress the truth which we know deep down in our hearts, the truth that we are accountable to our Maker.  That’s the world. 

Christians, however, are called to be different.  There is supposed to be a marked distinction between the Church and the world.  The Apostle Peter reminds us that:

You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you might declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.  (1Pet.2:9)

Darkness is what Paul is describing in Rom.1.  He says in Eph.4:17:

So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.  They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 

The unbelieving world is enshrouded in spiritual darkness.  Christians have been called out of the darkness into God’s wonderful light.  We are now, to use Peter’s phrase, aliens and strangers in the world. 

The problem Jude was addressing was of professing Christians living unchristian lives.  And it wasn’t just sexual immorality (v.16):

These men are grumblers and fault-finders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage. 

The “bottom up” approach to faith blurs the distinctions.  It goes with the flow of the culture of the day and dresses up society’s values in Christian clothes.  Like the false prophets in Jeremiah’s day they cry Peace, peace, when there is no peace.  (Jer.8:11)

One of the accusations levelled against Evangelicals is that we have no right to tell people how to live.  People are free to make whatever choices they wish.  Of course that is true.  It’s interesting to note the approach the apostles took when they first started preaching the gospel to Gentiles, to the non-Jews.  They didn’t call fire and brimstone down upon these godless pagans and curse them for their immorality. 

Instead, they spoke reasonably to them about creation, and what creation tells us about God; how it cannot be that the true God would live in temples built by human hands; and how idolatry was illogical.  They didn’t bring a gospel of condemnation.  They brought a gospel of grace and freedom. 

When we speak to the world, we don’t stand in judgement, we don’t condemn.  We expect the world to be the world.  Our aim is to lead men and women out of the world. 

It’s completely different when we’re dealing with Christians, with those within the church.  To become a Christian is to repent of your sin; it’s to accept Jesus Christ is our only Sovereign and Lord.  As the song says,

I have decided to follow Jesus…The cross before me, the world behind me, no turning back. 

We’ve left the world behind.  We don’t bring the world with us into Christ’s kingdom.  And therefore, when the apostles detected worldly behaviour in the church the kid gloves came off.  They had no scruples about telling Christians how to live. 

The apostles passed this authority onto their successors, the elders who lead the churches.  In Gal.6:1 the Apostle Paul writes:

Brothers, if anyone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.  But watch yourselves or you also may be tempted.

Catching someone in sin implies that that you have confronted them with their behaviour, and named it as sin.  Restoring gently implies calling on them to repent of their sin, and bringing them back to a way of living that is worthy of the name Christian. 

Here in Kirkmuirhill Church, whenever someone joins us, I read a statement detailing what church membership means.  It includes:

• allying ourselves with the doctrines and morals of Christians
• allowing ourselves to be cared for by the church, which includes being disciplined when required for our own spiritual good.

I don’t have my fingers crossed behind my back when I read that out. 

Primarily, it’s a pastoral responsibility, for the church leadership.  But on a personal level, we ought to be able to rebuke one another if we discern unchristian attitudes and behaviour (Luke 17:3).  Just remember, however, that if you do that, it can’t be a hit and run rebuke.  Love demands that you help the brother or sister overcome their sin.

How does all this apply to the specific issue of homosexuality within the church?  Turn to 1Cor.6:9,10:

Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 

Well, that’s that then.  It’s a clear as day.  No one who is an adulterer, no one who is a homosexual, no one who is thief, no one who is drunk will inherit the kingdom of God. 

But hold on.  Let’s read on (v.11): And that is what some of you were.  But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 

Hallelujah!  There were idolaters and adulterers, thieves and swindlers in the Corinthian church.  Converted idolaters, converted adulterers, repentant thieves, repentant swindlers. 

And homosexual people too.  People who used to be homosexuals.  That is what some of you were.  But they too had been washed, spiritually cleansed, by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and his blood shed on Calvary’s hill.  They had left the world behind. 

It’s the same for all of us.  Jesus takes us as we are; but he doesn’t leave us that way. 

CONCLUSION

The government says that it is better prepared for this flu epidemic than ever before.  They have stock piles of anti-viral drugs and it seems that those suffering from the flu are responding well to treatment. 

Let me finish by quoting Mark Patterson, who is a minister in the PC (USA) our sister denomination in the US.  It won’t surprise you to learn that they too are fighting the same battles. 

He says:

The church is dying of tolerance.  The politically correct but ultimately vapid act of accepting any belief and any practice has led to an anaemic church that has lost sight of what it believes.  In attempting to stand for everything we have become a church that stands for nothing…It is time that we adopt, formally or informally, a zero tolerance policy toward that which distorts the truth of God, the message of the Gospel, and the life of the church.  [from an article in Theology Matters Vol.13 No.2 Mar/April 2007]

I think I can hear Jude giving that a hearty “Amen”.

Drama for Easter Day: The Soldier’s Tale

Over the years I’ve written some monologues for our early morning Easter Day service.  This year it is the voice of one of the soldiers guarding the tomb.  We meet at 7am at Kirkmuirhill Church if you’d like to join us. 

 

My name is Marcus Aquis. 

I’m an old soldier, a veteran of many a campaign throughout our great empire.

I’ve seen it all—except defeat!

Never lost a battle; never lost a standard.

We were the best. 

I’ve a hundred stories I could tell you. 

But I heard something the other day that made me decide to tell a story I’ve never told before.

It  sends shivers down my spine every time I think about it,

and I’ve thought about it every day for the last 40 years.

 

It was back in the days when I was a young recruit.

My first tour of duty.

We were stationed in Jerusalem.  “Peace-keeping” you might call it.

It was during one of their holy festivals—Pullover or Rollover or something like that. 

Tensions were running high.

There had been the usual crop of crucifixions,

but one rebel in particular was getting a lot of attention,

Jesus his name was, I’ll never forget it. 

 

The governor at the time was Pontius Pilate—a typical politician on the make.

But this fellow Jesus got under his skin.

The Jewish priests wanted him dead but Pilate was reluctant to oblige.

I heard him say to someone that Jesus had done nothing wrong.

“I’m not going to execute him just to keep that self-righteous mob happy.”

 

He gave in in the end.

I said to the sarg that I didn’t think it was fair—unRoman I called it.

But he just shrugged his shoulders and gave me his stock reply,

“Ours is not to reason why”.

 

So Jesus was crucified and buried in a tomb.

End of story, or so we all thought. 

 

But then I gets word that the governor wants to see us.

When we arrive he’s got some of their priests with him.

They’re not like our priests.  These guys are seriously scary.

Pilate says to us: I want you to go with these gentlemen [sarcastically] and do whatever they tell you.”

 

So we go with them and they take us to a grave yard.

I don’t like grave yards, never have.  They give me the creeps. 

They march us straight to one particular tomb, with a huge boulder placed at the entrance,

and there’s a seal over it. 

One of them shouts at us, “Soldiers, this will your home for the next three days.  Guard this tomb with your life.  Make sure nobody gets in [pause] or out.”

 

In or out!  We look at each other.

One of our lads laughs.

“Wot you expectin’?  A resurrection?”

 

One of the Jews frowned and spoke to us through gritted teeth,

“This is the tomb of the rebel Jesus of Nazareth.  We have reason to believe that his followers will try to steal his body and spread rumours that he is alive again.  So yes, you could say we are expecting a resurrection.  Don’t let it happen.”

 

That was the Friday night.

Morning came—nothing.

Saturday passed—nothing.

Saturday night—just the same.

 

And then, at first light on the Sunday morning there was a noise—footsteps and muffled voices.

The sarg shouted out, “Who goes there?”

There was a shriek.  Women.  A group of women.

Were we guarding this tomb against a bunch of women?

I began to feel angry.

 

That’s when it happened. 

The whole place began to tremble.

The trees shook and the birds scarpered. 

The ground was moving.

I thought the hand of hell was bursting through the ground

to snatch us all. 

 

Instead, a light appeared.  A light floating down from the sky.

A god, a demon, an angel, I don’t know what.

We were all glued to the spot—the women and us. 

This light, this divine light, started coming towards us.

 

That’s when I fainted. 

We all fainted. 

Don’t think I’m a coward—you’d have fainted.

 

The next thing I know, the sarg is shaking me.

“Wake up lad, wake up!”

I look around. 

The entrance to the tomb was wide open. 

The sarg must have read my mind: Yes lad, gone. 

 

I distinctly remember thinking to myself,

“I may as well walk into that tomb and do the honourable thing; we’re all dead men and that’s where we belong.”

 

The sarg gathered us all round.  He had a plan to save our skins.

We’d go to the Jewish priests, and tell them what had happened.

They’d know what to do. 

 

That’s what we did. 

When we told them they were obviously upset.

But their top man spoke up. 

He said, “Are you sure they only other witnesses were women?”

We all nodded.

He smiled.  “Nobody will believe women.”

 

He told us that if anybody asks what happened to tell them we were overcome by Jesus’ followers.

The sarg protested.  If Pilate ever got wind of that we’d be court marshalled.

The head priest told us not to worry, that he’d smooth everything over.

And then he gave us all a bag of money—a gift, he said, from the Jewish people for keeping the peace.

 

So that’s the story we put around. 

We took some ribbing for it from the other guys.

The sarg got demoted to the ranks, and the rest of us spent a week in the cooler.

After that we were transferred, and that’s the last I ever heard of Jesus.

 

Until the other day. 

I was strolling through the forum when I heard some bloke say the name, Jesus of Nazareth.

I looked round.  It was a street preacher.

He was saying that Jesus of Nazareth was Lord of all.

He had been crucified, but his God had raised him to life,

and therefore we should worship this Jesus. 

He said there was an empty tomb in Jerusalem that proved Jesus was alive. 

 

There was a crowd round him, laughing. 

But I felt like I’d been struck by lightening.

It had never occurred to me that 40 years later people would still be talking about Jesus. 

Or that the empty tomb might be important. 

 

I’ve found out where these people meet.

I’m going there now. 

I’m interested to hear their story.

And maybe they’ll be interested to hear mine. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Me at All Souls

 

Proof, in case you didn’t believe me.

Cornhill students

This week we have a team of students from the Glasgow Cornhill course working with us. Cornhill is a year long course that trains people in how to read and communicate the Bible.  Sometimes those on the course have already done some theological training and want some practical training in preaching; for others this is the first step towards ministry. 

Two of the students preached yesterday- very effectively I must say.  Constructive criticism will be given privately!  What has struck me is the variety of backgrounds.  Among them are an ex-sailor, an ex-A&E nurse (male), a painter and decorator, a lad with a farming background, and a ski instructor.

What is particularly thrilling is to hear their testimonies.  One lad came to faith while his marriage was disintigrating; but the Lord brought him and his wife back together.  Another was raised in a Christian family, went to church, and always assumed he was a Christian until he heard a message that convicted him of his sin.  Another was invited to a Christianity Explored course by a work colleague.  It’s just wonderful how the Lord intervenes in people’s lives.

Please pray for this week.  The guys have already been doing some door-to-door work.  They’ll be going to various meetings within the life of the church, taking part, and observing.  And on Friday we’re holding an evangelistic curry night – men only. 

I’ll try to find the time to keep you posted.

Jesus prays

John 17

(A note for those interested in sermon construction.  When I began this series in John’s Gospel I set my task as to preach big picture sermons as Don Carson recommends.  There is so much more I could have said in this sermon and certain themes are not touched at all eg. Judas, “thy word is truth”.  Contrast this with my approach to Ephesians which has been more detailed.  It has been a very interesting to be taking these different approaches at the same time.)

 

INTRODUCTION

It’s always nice when someone tells us that they’ve been thinking about us, particularly if we’ve been going through a difficult time.  It’s even more encouraging when someone tells us that they’ve been praying for us.  That indicates that they’ve given us more than a passing thought.  It suggests that being aware of our circumstances, they have deliberately brought us to mind and have named us to our heavenly Father.  Often that’s all we can do for each other.  The problem is not something we can fix.  But we can pray.  As David Young reminded us last Sunday night, we pray because we are helpless.

 

Let’s take this scenario one step further.  If we feel encouraged that someone is praying for us, how do we feel if that person themselves is going through a bad patch.  Perhaps even worse than ourselves.  I have visited people in hospital, who are seriously, terminally ill.  I am there to minister to them, to comfort them, to pray for them.  Yet, what do they tell me: I’ve been praying for you, I’ve been remembering you in my prayers. 

 

It’s amazing.  And I can’t help thinking: There you are, in pain, probably in the final days or weeks of your life, and you’ve been praying for me!  And for the church.  It’s so humbling.  How do they manage to divert their thoughts from themselves and their circumstances to think, to pray for others? 

 

Let me tell you, it’s not a lesson to be learned on the hoof.  It’s not a spirit, an attitude that develops overnight.  It comes from a life-time of selflessness, a life-time spent in the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ, who on the very night he was arrested, less than 24 hours before he was crucified, poured out his heart in prayer, not for himself, but for his disciples. 

 

Who would have blamed him if the lion’s share of his prayer had been about himself?  Asking for courage to face what he had to face; asking his Father not to abandon him.  But no.  Out of this chapter of 26 verses, only 5 specifically concern himself.  All the rest are about the disciples, and those who would follow them.  That’s what he says in v.20:

My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message.  That means us. 

 

It’s amazing to think that with the shadow of the cross looming over him, our Lord Jesus did  more than just give us a passing thought.  He prayed for us. 

 

CONTEXT

We’re near the end of John’s Gospel.  There are only five chapters left.  And in common with the other three Gospels these final chapters concern the death and resurrection of our Lord. 

 

Some ministers plan out their preaching programme for the whole year.  They decide which book they are going to preach through, or what topics they’d like to cover, and they make a plan.  They even announce that plan to the congregation so that everyone knows what to expect Sunday by Sunday. 

 

I’m not like that and never have been.  All I know is that I would like to preach through a certain book of the Bible.  I have no idea how long it will take me; because I have no idea which chapters or verses will arrest me in the course of the series. 

It might seem that a particular chapter can be covered in one sermon; but what if a particular verse in that chapter grabs my attention and demands to be given a sermon all of its own.  I just take things verse by verse, chapter by chapter.  If I were the kind of minister who plans his preaching programme in advance we wouldn’t be studying the closing chapters of John’s Gospel; not in January.  These chapters are for Easter. 

 

Yet here’s what happens when we leave room for the Holy Spirit.  What is the driving force behind this prayer of our Lord’s.  What does he have his eye on?  What great goal motivates every petition within this prayer?

 

Mission!  Ultimately, this is a missionary prayer. 

 

Why does he ask the Father not to take the disciples out of the world?  Because he is sending them into the world on mission (v.18): As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

 

Why does he want his disciples to be united? (v.23):

May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 

 

What could be more relevant for our church today?  Many of us have been thinking very carefully about mission to the parish.  The Community Questionnaire has been a first step.  It won’t be the last. 

 

I may not be one for planning my preaching programme well in advance; but I think all of us are awestruck at just how relevant the Bible passages are for us.   It demonstrates quite clearly who really is in charge of the preaching! 

 

PLAN

What I want to do, then, is ask these three very simple questions:

1. For whom is Jesus praying?

2. Why does he pray what he prays?

3. What does he pray for?  What is the content of his prayer? 

 

WHO?

First of all, for whom does Jesus pray?  Initially, he prays for himself.  In typical Jewish fashion he raises his eyes heavenwards and addresses God as he had taught his disciples.  v.1:

Father, the time has come.  Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.

 

In the run up to Christmas I preached a sermon entitled “From riches to rags” about how in coming into our world the Lord Jesus Christ forfeited the splendour of heaven and exchanged it for poverty and disgrace.  It cost the Lord Jesus dear to become a man.  It cost him dear to win our salvation. 

 

The time has come for him to fulfil his mission, to complete the work the Father gave him to do.  Beyond the cross, beyond the tomb, is the glory Jesus enjoyed as the Son of God from before the world began.  But don’t let that obscure from your mind the road he had to take. 

 

The Lord Jesus prays for himself.  But very quickly he turns his attention to his disciples.  Though they do not know it, they desperately need his prayers.

 

He’s very specific, indeed, we might say exclusive.  He says in v.9:

I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours.

 

He is not praying for the world.  By the world he means the world in distinction from the church, the world which has rejected him.  We pray for the world in our prayers of intercession.  We pray for peace in war zones; we pray for wisdom for our political leaders.  What we can’t do, as Jesus could not do, is pray God’s blessing on the world’s worldliness, on the world’s godless mentality.

 

When we pray for the world we are really expressing our desire to see God’s kingdom permeating the world, till the world ceases to be the world, till the kingdom’s of this world become the kingdoms of our God. 

 

If the Lord Jesus made a distinction between the world and his disciples so should we. 

 

It’s worth examining how the Lord Jesus describes his disciples.  He uses a variety of phrases.  Many of us like to think of ourselves as Christians.  Though diminishing in number every year the latest polls still indicate that when asked about religion the majority of Scots still call themselves Christians.  What do they mean?  Do they mean someone who believes in God (but so do Jews and Moslems); do they mean someone who is good and upright (so are most atheists)?

 

Surely, if we want a definitive answer to “what is a Christian?” the person to ask the Lord Jesus Christ himself. 

 

When Jesus prays for his disciples he refers to them in terms of those who know God, those to whom he has revealed God, those who obey God, those who accept Christ’s words, those who are convinced that Christ came from God.  In summary, they are those who, as he says in v.20 “believe in me.” 

 

There’s a very strong sense of ownership throughout the prayer.  For example v.6:

I revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world.  They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word.

 

A Christian is someone who no longer belongs to themselves.  I am not my own man; I am not my own woman.  I do not do it “my way.”  My decision is not final.  I belong to God.

 

And therefore it follows that I obey his word.  I have surrendered to him my will, my ambitions, my dreams.  I obey God’s word even when it doesn’t suit me; when it’s commands inconvenience me; when they conflict with what I want.  I obey God’s word when I don’t understand why he is saying what he is saying. 

 

But this is not an abdication to the impersonal forces of fate.  This is not the kind of attitude that says “que sera sera”. 

 

No.  It’s based on knowledge, the knowledge of a person, of a God who is personal, of a God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ.  The original twelve disciples had many faults.  They weren’t the brightest kids on the block; nor were they most spiritual.  But by God’s grace they recognized Jesus for who he really was.  v.8:

For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them.  They knew with certainty that I came from you and they believed that you sent me.

 

That’s what distinguished them from everyone else.  The Pharisees couldn’t deny the reality of Jesus’ miracles, so they accused him of being in league with the devil.  The chief priests couldn’t deny the reality of his popularity.  So they labelled him a rabble-rouser, a threat to national security. 

 

Eventually, even the ordinary folk deserted Jesus.  His teaching was too difficult, too challenging for them.  But the disciples stuck by him.  Back in 6:67, as the crowds turn away from him, the Lord asks the disciples: You do not want to leave me too, do you? 

 

Peter, on behalf of the Twelve answers:

Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.

 

Ultimately, what makes someone a real Christian is their relationship with Jesus.  That there is a relationship.  An active relationship.  A relationship of love, obedience, faith, dependence.  A relationship that binds us to him, so that we are in him and he is in us.   

 

This, my friends, is eternal life.  v.3:

Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

 

Don’t think of eternal life as life that goes on and on and on for ever.  Eternal life is life that goes on and on and on for ever with God, with Jesus.  Think about when you’re in love.  You gaze into your lover’s eyes for hour after hour after hour.  When you’re on the phone, you don’t want to hang up: you hang up first, no you first, no you first…Or quite simply being on your own together, not doing anything, just being, just knowing.

 

This is what Christians have with Jesus.  Eternal life.  Knowing the Father, knowing the Son. 

 

I wonder if you realize that you can know God.  To some ears it sound ludicrous.  How can the creature know the Creator?  How can the worm know the eagle? 

 

It would be ludicrous if God had not revealed himself to us in his Son. 

v.6: I have revealed you

 

Jesus prays for those who know him, who accept him, who obey him.  Was Jesus praying for you that night? 

 

WHY?

Second question: why was Jesus praying for his disciples?  The immediate reason is that he was about to leave them.  v.11:

I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. 

 

He goes on to say in v.12:

While I was with them I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. 

They need protection, and while he was with them he could do that.  But now that he is leaving, he has to entrust them to his Father’s care. 

 

What do they need protection from?  They need protection from the world v.14:

I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. 

 

And they need protection from Satan (v.15):

My prayer is not that that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.

 

When you pray for your loved ones to be protected, what do you want the Lord to protect them from?  Illness, physical danger (perhaps on the roads), unemployment, sorrow, their own stupidity? 

 

Isn’t it interesting that our Lord doesn’t pray that his disciples would keep good health, or that they would be successful in all they do, or that they would always be happy.  Our Lord homes in on the greatest danger facing his disciples: that they would succumb to the pressure to conform to the world around them and abandon their faith in him.

 

Ill-health won’t keep you out of heaven, nor will being poor, nor will sorrow.  But giving up on Jesus will. 

 

Jesus had warned the disciples back in 16:18 that the world would hate them.  Their message, their lives would show up the spiritual poverty of the world, the moral bankruptcy of the world.  Their call to repentance would offend people who liked to think that sinners are those with a criminal record.  Their insistence on the lordship of Christ would rile everyone who prefers to do their own thing. 

 

Christians still do that; and the world still hates us.  Unbelievers mock us, ridicule us, persecute us and in the same breath accuse of being intolerant.  The pressure to swim with the tide is enormous, and the Lord Jesus knew it.

 

He also knew that the assaults from the evil one would be almost unbearable.  He himself had done battle with Satan all his life, not just with the three temptations in the desert.  Indeed, that very night, as the crucial hour approached, the temptation to disappear into the darkness of the night was so overwhelming that he begged the Father to remove the cup of suffering if possible—yet not my will but yours be done. 

 

If Satan was not frightened to attack the Son of God and attempt to deflect him from his mission, you can be sure that he regards you as an easy target.  In Eph.6 the Apostle Paul talks about the devil’s flaming arrows which rain down upon our souls, aiming to consume our faith and leave nothing but the ashes of love and devotion for him. 

 

There are no Queensbury rules with Satan, no Geneva Convention.  He’ll use sweet promises or dire threats.  He’ll get at us through our family, our friends, our wallets. 

 

Jesus knew what he was doing when he prayed that the Father would protect us from the world and the evil one.

 

How seriously do you take the threat to your faith?  The threat to your witness?  You ask the Lord to forgive your sins.  Do you ask him to keep you from sin?  To lead us not into temptation.  And not just yourself, but others.

 

Why does Jesus pray for his disciples?  Because we need praying for.

 

WHAT?

Thirdly, what does Jesus pray?  What is the content of his prayer? 

 

With what I’ve just said you’d think it would have been kinder to take the disciples out harm’s way all together, to take them out of the world.  But in v.15 the Lord specifically says:

My prayer is not that you take them out of the world

 

All of us have had times when we’ve wished we could be removed out of this world, out of our hard and trying circumstances and immediately transported to heaven—like Captain Kirk (“beam me up, Scottie). 

 

But that’s not what the Lord wants.  This takes us back to what I said at the beginning.  The whole thrust of our Lord’s prayer is towards mission.  He loves this world that hates him.  For God so loved this self-centred, rebellious world that he gave up his only begotten Son, sacrificed him, so that whosoever in the world believes in him should not perish, should not be condemned to an eternity with God, but should have eternal life. 

 

Now the Man Jesus of Nazareth was one man, confined in time and space.  If his work was to be continued it would be continued by his people.  v.18:

As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.

 

So what does Jesus pray so that the church’s mission will be effective?  Does he pray for handsome evangelists with a winning smile?  Does he pray for clever programmes that will take people step by step from unbelief to faith?  Does he pray that the church will always have the resources to employ the latest technology? 

 

Answer: none of the above.

 

v.20: My prayer is not for them alone.  I also pray for those who will believe in me through their message that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.

 

v.22 I have given them the glory that you gave me that they may be one as we are one.

 

He prays that we might be one, that we might be united.  A lot of people have used this prayer of Jesus as a justification for trying to erase the denominational barriers that exist within the worldwide church.  Their hearts may be in the right place.  The problem arises when these people push for institutional unity at the expense of Biblical truth.  Often they are willing sweep under the carpet the very distinctions between the church and world which our Lord is so precise about in the rest of this prayer.

 

I’m not addressing the World Council of Churches so I’m not going to say any more about that.  I am addressing the members and friends of Kirkmuirhill Parish Church.  Surely what we learn from our Lord’s prayer here is that the biggest barriers to evangelism in our parish (and here I’m quoting Bruce Milne) is not so much outdated methods or inadequate presentations of the gospel, as realities like gossip, insensitivity, negative criticism, jealousy, backbiting, an unforgiving spirit, a root of bitterness, failure to appreciate others, self-preoccupation, greed, selfishness and every other form of loveliness.

 

He goes on to say: These are the squalid enemies of effective evangelism which render the gospel fruitless and send countless thousands to an eternity without a Saviour. 

 

It’s a wake-up call, isn’t it.  It’s alerting us to the consequences of disunity.  If we are to be effective witnesses for Christ, we must be united—not around one man, not around one idea; it’s not the unity of a dictatorship.  It’s a unity in Christ.

 

That’s why Jesus prays that our unity would reflect the unity he has with the Father.  It’s personal.  It’s relational.  It’s visible. 

 

CONCLUSION

It’s always encouraging when someone tells us they are praying for us.  What an encouragement to us, then, to know that our Lord Jesus Christ prayed for us in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

 

He prayed for us who would believe in him, who would obey him, who would gladly receive eternal life from him.

He prayed for us because he knew we would be tempted to give, in take the line of least resistance against a hostile world. 

He prayed that we would be united, for only a united church can be a missionary church, and our Lord’s greatest desire is for the world to cease to be the world, for the world to glorify the Father through him.

 

Jesus prayed and his prayer has been answered.  Otherwise we wouldn’t be here today. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations!

Barak Obama is not the only person who will remember 20th Jan 2009 for the rest of his life.  Today Eddie Farrow and Jo Olsen got married in London.  Congratulations, guys.  It hasn’t been easy.  They had to get married in a hurry – but not for the usual reasons.  Jo is an American student whose visa runs out at the end of this month.  She had hoped that it would have been automatically renewed, but it wasn’t.  So the date for the wedding had to be brought forward from 21st Feb to today.  They are now hoping and praying that our Home Office will show its human side and give her an extended visa now that she is a spouse. 

Eddie is from Kirkmuirhill and when he got a job in London he did the right thing.  He went looking for a good church.  The fact that he found one in All Soul’s, Langham Place, is no surprise.  And not only did he find a good church, he found a wife.  Learn the lesson, one and all! 

There’s to be a big celebration on 21st Feb in which I’ll be taking part.  In the meantime, God Bless, Mr and Mrs Farrow.

Christmas Letter

In case you haven’t notice, I’ve posted our family Christmas letter as a separate page.