Romans 14:4-12: The Apocalypse is Nuanced

Presented to The Salvation Army Alberni Valley Ministries by Captain Michael Ramsay, 14 November 2021

The other week the kids and I were able to join Susan and her parents in the BC Legislature as they honoured her father for all the work he did for the people of BC. It was nice to have everyone’s names mentioned too.  

We then got to stay for question period and that was ‘a whole nother matter’. It started off innocuous enough. It actually reminded me of when I was in Grade 6. We each took turns public speaking. Someone would have a timer. You had to be as close to 2 minutes as possible and not go over. The MLAs were doing this very well. I am sure they must have all passed Grade 6 with flying colours... And then it got interesting. 

The clock was set for half-an-hour or so but unlike the 2-minute speeches, this time limit meant… absolutely nothing. The time was done and the politicians were not done; so they kept talking. The opposition, all except one lowly Green Party member who obviously didn’t get the memo, were all asking the same question over and over again about a government policy around Autism: ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’  One after another would read a comment from someone in their riding and then they would ask, ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’ to which Mitzi Dean, the minister responsible, would respond, ‘it is not a claw back’; the next person would read another letter and ask the very same question ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’ to which the ever more frustrated minister would respond, ‘it is not a claw back!’ and this went on for well over the half-an-hour allocated for this: ‘why is the government clawing back Autism funding?’ ‘It is not a claw back!’  

I got to thinking (sarcastically) during this whole show, ‘wow. What a good use of taxpayer money this is.’ Here we have some of the highest paid employees in the province giving Grade 6 level speeches followed by asking each other questions that no one really answered and that no one was really listening to anyway, even if they did. I began to think, what a colossal waste of money is our so-called democracy. 

Then we went upstairs to a ceremony where they honoured Susan’s dad for all the work he had done as leader of the NDP, leader of the Opposition, and as an MLA and MP for this community for decades. They spoke about many of the great things he accomplished, his principles, and even read from some of his speeches. His first ever speech in the house was quoted by more than one person. In it he made a great stand for the people of Port Alberni and argued passionately the case of the local First Nations (he would of course, in later years, be the federal critic for Indian Affairs, as it was then called.) Susan also made one of the best speeches honouring her father, what he had done, and who he is. 

It struck me then that on the same day as we saw question period which pointed out how seemingly useless our system of government and our leaders can be, we also saw how useful and valuable our leaders can be: both at the same time. When I was thinking about all this Romans 14: 4 came to mind: Who are you to pass judgment on servants of another? It is before their own lord that they stand or fall.  

Then I got to thinking – well, that is life in general; isn’t it? We can all and each be equal parts good and useful and bad and useless; sometimes all at the same time, can’t we? (I know I can!) 

Sometimes maybe we paint the world a little too black and white; sometimes we can throw the baby out with the bathwater; sometimes we can say that because so-and-so was wrong or bad on this occasion then everything they say is wrong or bad. I think sometimes we need to remember that when we disagree with each other it might even be the case that neither of us is wrong… or maybe both of us are? Maybe we are both right and wrong all at the same time too. Some examples from Romans 14:5&6:  

Some judge one day to be better than another, while others judge all days to be alike. Let all be fully convinced in their own minds. Those who observe the day, observe it in honor of the Lord. Also those who eat, eat in honour of the Lord, since they give thanks to God; while those who abstain, abstain in honour of the Lord and give thanks to God… [And Verse 10] Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. 

There are many things going on in this world right now. I have spoken a lot about the anguish I have experienced praying and having to make decisions about vaccine passports and Covid-19; so, I am not going to go into that too much today but any of you who have heard me talk have heard me wrestle with the nuances of this. I was chatting about how troubled I was with that the other week to Nancy Wilmot and she had some words of wisdom. She said to me something along the lines of, “Who thought the apocalypse would be so nuanced and multi-layered?” That really resonates with me. I told her I’d quote her. I immediately thought of the passage in the gospels where Jesus reminds us, Mark 13:32-33: 

But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come. 

The Apocalypse is nuanced and multi-layered. We don’t know how precisely everything is going to unfold and when all this will end. There are many challenging things going on right now that require us to seek the Lord’s leading: all the questions around Covid-19 but also the opioid crisis and race relations and gender identity and a re-interpretation of history, and, and, and...  

I could really go on about some of the dangerous policies in place around ‘harm reduction’ these days. I have some real concerns about the way some of these policies are harming those who want to break their addictions and are even creating environments where new people are falling prey to addiction. I can get really worked up about this and Covid-19 policies and other things that directly affect us here. These are some of the many things that I am struggling with – and I know many of you have even more important, more immediate, and more personal things that you are dealing with right now. There are people we walk with on a daily basis whose actions often leave us wondering what is going on or can tempt us into anger, judgement, or frustration – but, in the midst of our frustrating time, here are two things I am learning from Romans Chapter 14 right now. 

One: outside of the body of Christ, we are not a Christian Country so, Romans 14:4, who am I to pass judgement on servants of another? Someone who doesn’t follow Christ, can’t be expected to act as if they do. (But we still should!) 

And two: even within the body of Christ, Romans 4:10-12: Why do you pass judgment on your brother or sister? Or you, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall give praise to God.” So then, each of us will be accountable to God. 

Even amongst those of us who serve the Lord sometimes we are led to do different things. We shouldn’t despise one another. Life, even in our trying times, is confusing. As Nancy said, “who thought the apocalypse would be so nuanced and multi-layered?” It is - or at least our present time seems to be. 

There are many things happening right now. There are people making every kind of decision and as for myself, I probably won’t get everything right. You may not even get everything right- but maybe you will. The Lord, however, is always true and the Lord is always faithful. We need to seek Him in all we do. Verses 5&6 and this whole passage really speak to this: we need to seek the Lord in all of our decisions and whatever He tells us to do, we need to do it. As we are faithful to the Lord, He will provide.  

I will leave you with 2 testimonies here about this truth. One: Many of you know that it looked like we would have to lay off employees from the Thrift Store who are not able to get vaccinated for health and other reasons. This did not sit right with a lot of us. As we approached the Lord, He provided a way that we could provide for them and obey Headquarters’ vaccine mandate all at the same time. Both of those employees are able and willing to work at the Bread of Life until such time as they are allowed to work with the Army again. We faithfully sought the Lord in prayer and the Lord provides. 

Two: Some of you know that consultants that the government hired were trying to force us to hand out crack pipes and syringes to people struggling to be free from addiction in order for us to receive government funding that we had already been promised. We weren’t going to do that. The Salvation Army, the Bread of Life and the Drop-In Centre need to be safe places for people to go. People can already get whatever drug paraphernalia they want at ACAWS, the OPS, Island Health; what they really need is a safe place to go and be allowed to be sober if they so choose. To make a very long story short, we sought the Lord and the Lord provided. God used one of our employees to speak to people higher-up at the city and the consultants were over-ruled. We are still able to provide a safe place for people to go who are struggling with addiction. The Lord provides. 

Likewise, whatever you are struggling with today, whatever it is that is causing you to lose sleep or be preoccupied, whatever it is that threatens your peace of mind, your heart and soul, as we bring it to the Lord and stand firm in the way the Holy Spirit convicts us, He will deliver us. He will. Whatever you are facing today, He is able more than able to handle. He will bring you through to the other side. In Him and Him alone, we can place our trust. Let us pray. 

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Isaiah 11:1-10: On that Day.

Presented to Corps 614 Regent Park on the second Sunday of Advent 04 Dec 2016 by Captain Michael Ramsay

In our world today we are subservient to politico-socio-economic systems where one person becomes rich as over 25 000 children die each day due to poverty. Some people become millionaires for appearing on a screen or playing sports while many others cannot afford to feed and clothe themselves. In our world today there is pornography, which horribly is America’s most lucrative pastime. In the United States, pornography revenue is more than all money made from professional football, baseball and basketball combined. The money spent on one professional team alone would feed and clothe the world. This is our world today. But…

  

ISAIAH 11:1 A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

  

ON THAT DAY… From a stump – an albeit dead tree – that has been chopped down, burned down, rotted out or otherwise destroyed, from this stump a shoot, new life will Spring up.
  

Isaiah says this shoot will come from the stump of Jesse; who is Jesse? (King David’s father) Who was King David? David was one of only 2 or 3 kings of a unified Israel.

  

David was the first king of Judah. Every other king of Judah claimed to be descended from David. They walked away from God and as they did, they were carried into captivity. The nation and the people, it seemed, were finished. The Kingdom of Judah, like Israel, eventually rotted out and became like a burned out, chopped down stump. It is from this stump that new life will spring. It is a descendant of David who will rule not only Israel but also the whole world. Who is this descendant of David who will rule the whole world? Jesus.[1] ON THAT DAY…

  

11:2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
  

11:3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;

What does it mean that he has knowledge of the fear of the LORD and that his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD? Why does he delight in fear? What does that mean?

The phrase ‘fear of the LORD’ can describe dread (Deut 1:29), being terrified (Jonah 1:10), standing in awe (1 Kings 3:28), or having reverence (Lev 19:3). With the Lord as the object, this phrase captures both aspects of shrinking back in fear and of drawing close in awe. It is not a trembling dread that paralyzes action, but neither is it a polite reverence (Plaut, p. 32).[2]

Strong’s dictionary and concordance define this ‘fear’ as ‘moral reverence’ acknowledging that the phrase encompasses more than that – it can refer to a sense of moral dread or even of an exceeding moral fearfulness.[3] What does this mean? What is the difference between this reverent, moral fearfulness that leads to knowledge or wisdom and the fearful, panic-stricken, timid phobia that leads to cowering? What is this fear of the Lord?

Are we familiar with the word ‘deference’? Deference means respect. People often have a certain amount of deference (respect) for our uniforms. I have had many people alter their language and try not to swear in my presence because of my uniform that represents my office as a representative of God. Even non-believers tend to offer this token of deference to The Salvation Army uniform. Even more than that I have seen people show a healthy respect in courtrooms when they are in front of the judge. This kind of thing is what Isaiah is talking about when he says Jesus will delight in the fear of the LORD. ON THAT DAY…

11:3 His delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide by what his ears hear;

What does it mean that he shall not judge by what he sees or hears? Isn’t that how we are supposed to make judgements - by what we see or hear? What is a better way to judge?

11:4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Jesus is the great equalizer. The Bible tells us over and over again around the birth of Jesus and the reign of God, those that serve the world we be deposed when the systems of the world are overthrown. Capitalism will be overthrown. Presidents will be overturned and presidential elections will end. Corrupt politicians will cease to exist. No more will we live in a world where bankers, athletes, actors, investors, and others live high on the hog while over 25 000 children die every day due to poverty. Jesus makes decisions based on righteousness rather than by what he sees and hears: he kills the wicked and provides equity for the meek. ON THAT DAY…

11:5 Righteousness shall be the belt around his waist, and faithfulness the belt around his loins.

Faithfulness will be his underwear. Not only will Jesus rule the world with righteousness. Faithfulness will guard what is near and dear to him. Jesus, the leader who pulls down the powerful and raises up the powerless – unlike the reputation the world’s politicians seem to have earned – Jesus will not turn on those who endorsed and worked for him. How many times have people elected leaders in this country and even recently in the USA who they thought would be their champions, only to see those politicians seemingly betray the people who voted for them and act in bad faith. Jesus is not like that. Jesus will not betray the poor, the widow, the immigrant, the victimized, the marginalized. Jesus will not betray us. The high and mighty people of today  – as they serve our current socio-politico-economic systems - will be brought low. And those who have been brought low by our world’s leaders will be lifted up by Jesus. You can count on that – faithfulness is the belt around his loins. ON THAT DAY…

11:6 The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.

Lamb is a good meal even for a wolf. The wolf will live with the lamb instead of eating his food. Goat is great food even for a leopard but instead of eating his meal, the leopard will lie down with the kid. The same with veal; the same with the baby calf and the lion and the fatling; and a little child will lead them. Instead of killing – even to eat – the prey will have nothing to fear of the predator; let alone powerless people from Superpowers. In a country that serves God people will not kill each other. ON THAT DAY…

11:7 The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

Predators will no longer be a threat to traditional prey. ON THAT DAY…

11:8 The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den.

Babies will not be attacked by animals and animals will not be provoked by toddlers. You have seen a dog or a cat that is good with babies and toddlers: how they let a child carry them around and do all kinds of things to them. All animals, all creation, all of us will have that same patience when Jesus returns to claim his crown that he was crowned with upon his own death and resurrection. ON THAT DAY…

11:9 They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

We know what is God’s holy mountain? It’s Mount Zion. It is the mountain where Solomon’s, Zerubabbel’s, and Herod’s temple’s were built. It is in Jerusalem. It is the mountain where the Dome on the Rock currently stands. It is the mountain where God spared the life of Isaac, as he was about to be offered up to the Lord as a sacrifice. Zion, for many years, was where some people even thought that God himself lived. God says when the Messiah’s kingdom is fully realized no one will hurt or destroy on His holy mountain. This can mean two things: 1) there will be no hunting there – but this mountain, long before Isaiah lived even, is right in a large urban centre; it is not prime hunting grounds. 2) It can also mean that as God’s seat of power, when Jesus ultimately claims his throne no one in authority will ever hurt anyone again. No more will politicians or their handlers exploit the rest. No more will governments wage war or the powerful take advantage of the poor and the powerless.

11:10 On that day the root of Jesse shall stand as a signal to the peoples; the nations shall inquire of him, and his dwelling shall be glorious.

Advent is about waiting. We remember waiting for the birth of our saviour millennia ago as we eagerly await his return now. And when He returns what a day that of rejoicing that will be. When Jesus comes back, we will no longer be subservient to these brutal politico-socio-economic systems we are today. (The Lord has already provided more than enough resources for the whole world to be fed and clothed many times over.) These systems of oppression will end. The rulers of this world will be brought low. The presidents, money people, and other rulers of our age who oversee all of this will be brought down. This will come to an end. Isaiah promises that. Jesus fulfills that.

When Jesus comes back there will be no more elections, rigged or otherwise. There will be no more ignorance. There will be no more wars. There will be no more death. There will be no more tears. When Jesus comes back, everything will be okay. He promises it will be okay and that is what Isaiah is telling us today.

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And I will add to that the truth that as you serve Jesus, as we follow him instead of the others - politicians, money people and powerful people and their systems - as we serve Jesus instead, here and now; even while there is so much death, dishonesty, pain and suffering all around us and so much pain even within us, Jesus promises that he will comfort us in the midst of all the very real struggles of this world as indeed we look forward to the day when he will return and wipe all of the injustice aside… as God will rule over us forever more with His righteousness and His faithfulness.

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Let us pray

www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay, Acts 15:1-19 - The Chihuahua Barks Again. Presented to Nipawin and Tisdale Salvation Army, 09 September 2007 and Swift Current, 26 May 2013. On-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2007/09/acts-151-19-chihuahua-barks-again.html

[2] Cf. Allen P. Ross, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Proverbs/Exposition of Proverbs/I. Introduction to the Book of Proverbs (1:1-7)/C. Motto: The Fear of the Lord (1:7), Book Version: 4.0.2

[3] Yirah, in The New Strong’s Complete Dictionary of Bible Words. (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1966), p. 395. Cf. also Cf. The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. ‘5374: yir’ah’ (Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson Publishing, 1995), p.59.

Revelation 21:10, 22-22:5: City of God.

Presented to TSA Corps 614 Regent Park, 01 May 2016 by Captain Michael Ramsay

We believe that there is only one God, who is infinitely perfect, the Creator, Preserver, and Governor of all things, and who is the only proper object of religious worship.

We believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be wholly sanctified, and that their whole spirit and should and body may be preserved blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today we are invited to worship God visually and creatively. We often worship God in church by singing. Today we are invited to worship God by drawing, sketching. There are sheets of paper on the wall and there are pieces of paper up front. You can create your worship picture song on whichever scale you want. Today the worship picture we will be drawing will be a picture or two pictures of the City of God. You may draw your picture as the Spirit leads. There are pens, felts, crayons, pencil crayons. I invite you to move to a spot you want and take the materials you need. As I read from our Scriptures, I will put my pictures on the screen. These are not for you to copy unless you really want to; these are the images that moved in my heart as I was reading through. Yours will probably look different. Let us pray and then I will read through the Scripture again and we will create our worship pictures together.

10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

   This passage comes into the end of the NT, the end of Revelation, and the end of time. What happens at the end? The Holy City comes to earth[1].  This is important. We don’t get sucked up into outer space like Star Trek and ‘Beam me up Scotty’ at this point; the Holy City comes from Heaven to earth[2].  It is a holy city: What does it mean to be holy? To be set apart AND to belong to God[3];  in the NT, Christians by definition are holy[4].  What is the name of the Holy City? Jerusalem. We remember that Jerusalem was the name of the capital city when Israel and Judah were one country. What was the most important building in Jerusalem? The Temple. This brings us to our next addition to our pictures and our next verse.

22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 

   The Temple was the centre of worship for a unified Judah and Israel and, at times, it was the whole focus of life and worship for the ancient city of Jerusalem and the Southern Kingdom of Judah[5].  Some people even believed that God lived [only or primarily] there (cf. 2 Samuel 7; 1 Kings 5:3-5, 8:10-17; 1 Chronicles 22, 28:1-29:9; 2 Chronicles 5:13-14, Joel 3:5). Now there had been a number of temples in the old Jerusalem throughout history. The first one was built by King Solomon and the last by King Herod. Today there is no Temple there but rather a mosque (The Dome on the Rock). 

In our text, when we have a New Jerusalem descending to earth from heaven to replace the old one, you will notice that there is no temple at all. This place that was the centre of worship of the LORD does not even exist when God sends down His new city to His new earth. How can that be? Quite simply the key is that one no longer needs to go to a building to worship God because God himself is there. 

Who is this Lamb? The Lamb is Jesus. Jesus and God are the Temple in the new city. We can all be in the presence of God. This brings us to our next addition to our pictures and our next verse:

23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 

   Jesus as God is with us forever in the New Jerusalem; we don’t need a temple. According to our verse, what else don’t we need because God is with us? (The sun and the moon.) What is the point of the sun and the moon? They give us light and more than that, they give us life. Nothing can survive in our world and our cities today without the sun and the moon but at the eschaton, at the end of this age, in the new age, there will be no need for the sun and moon to sustain us because we will be sustained simply by being in the very presence of Jesus as God. And more than that, there isn’t a need for streetlights or anything like that because Jesus, the Lamb, is the light of God. This brings us to our next addition to our pictures and our next verse.

24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendour into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honour of the nations will be brought into it.   

   Its gates will never be shut. Why did ancient walled cities close their gates? For protection. Now the city doesn’t need protection from enemies or the dark because just like God is their temple and God is their light and life, He is also their protection. At the end of the book, at the end of the age, at the end, we don’t need to worry about any of those things, at the end there is God to protect us and sustain us. This City of God will be so attractive that everyone will want to pour into it. And everyone can. The nations of the earth will walk by its light (remember there is no more sun) and even the world leaders will be subject to it[6].  All the earth will serve God in the New Jerusalem. The Glory and honour of all the nations will pour into it. This brings us to our next addition to our pictures and our next verse.

27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

  God and being in the presence of God provides light, life, and protection for the whole world and each and every one of us are invited to be a part of it but some people will not serve God in His City for eternity. No one needs to but some will choose to perish. In Revelation these people are referred to in a number of different ways, here John underlines that those who are shameful and deceitful choose not to serve the Lord. This is important, Heaven, where the New Jerusalem comes from and the new earth upon which it lands, do not have evil in them[7].  They do not have deceit. They do not have lies, white lies or otherwise[8].  When we walk by the light of the Lamb, we are honest and pure. Do you want to be honest and pure? You can be. Jesus died and rose again so that we can all be a part of this kingdom to come. 

In a moment we will start our second picture of the Capital City but first if you want to be a part of this world where there is no fear because there is no darkness, no night; there is nothing impure but instead the light and the love of God, then I invite you to stand with me and sing, Create in me a Pure Heart. Because as our heart is pure, we can be with God. If you would like a pure heart, stand and pray in song with me, now.

This brings us to our second picture of the city of God. I will only speak for a couple of more minutes here. You can take a new piece of paper if you like or you can continue to add to your first piece. Reading from Revelation 22:1

22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb 

2 down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. 

     This verse speaks about the Tree of Life. Does anyone know where the Tree of Life shows up in scripture? In Genesis (Gen 2:9, 3:17-24), remember there were two trees in the Garden of Eden, the tree that brought death, the Tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. In Genesis, we ate of the tree whose fruit brought death. In Revelation, we have access to the Tree of Life.

And in the eternal presence of God, it is an everlasting harvest. Every season is harvest season. Every month the tree bears fruit. No one starves anymore, no one goes hungry anymore. God’s provision continues forever and more than that; you will notice that the leaves of this tree provide healing of the nations. Our nation is sick. Almost every nation is sick, not just in people being ill and dying but also in all of the sin that flows around us in our world today. In the world to come what flows around us, by contrast, is the river of life, flowing from the very throne of God: there is no more pain, no more tears, no more suffering. The curse we suffered when humanity ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil is lifted. (Next slide.)

3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 

 5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.

Do you want to reign with God forever? Do you want to be in this city with no sin, no hate, no death, no deceit; where everyone is honest and loving and serving our Lord? Do you want to? You can. Salvation starts today and last forever.

Look around you. Today, as you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and leader, you are surrounded by the City of God. You are in a representation of the City of God. On every wall before you, behind you, and around you is the City of God and that person sitting next to you, they too are in this city of God. If you would like to live forever in the eternal City of God, where there is no more pain, no more suffering, no more sin, no more hate, no more death, no more deceit; where everyone is honest and loving and serving our Lord then why don’t you join me of singing of this triumph where the Lamb rules forever from the throne of God. Let us sing together, Are You Washed?

Let us sing and let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com

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[1] J.B. Moffatt, EGT, 5:477: “From the smoke and pain and heat [of the preceding scenes] it is a relief to pass into the clear, clean atmosphere of the eternal morning where the breath of heaven is sweet and the vast city of God sparkles like a diamond in the radiance of his presence" Quoted from Alan F. Johnson, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM:Revelation/Exposition of Revelation/V. Vision of the New Heaven and the New Earth and the New Jerusalem (21:1-22:5)/A. The New Jerusalem (21:1-27), Book Version: 4.0.2

[2] Cf. N.T. Wright, ‘Farewell to the Rapture!’ Bible Review, August 2001. Available on-line at: http://www.ntwrightpage.com/Wright_BR_Farewell_Rapture.htm

[3] W.E. Vine. . 'Holiness, Holy, Holily.' In Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words. (Nashville, Tennessee: Royal Publishers Inc., 1939), 555.

[4] John D.W. Watts. 'Holy.' In Holman Bible Dictionary, general editor Trent C. Butler. Nashville, Tennesee: Holman Bible Publishers, 1991), 660. W.E. Vine. 'Holiness, Holy, Holily.' In Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Word. (Nashville, Tennessee: Royal Publishers Inc., 1939), 555.

[5] Cf. P. Alexander, ‘Temple’ in Lions Encyclopaedia of the Bible (Herts, UK: Lion Publishing, 1986).

[6] M. Eugene Boring, ‘Revelation’ (Interpretation: a Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching: Louisville, Kentucky: John Knox Press, 1989), 221.

[7] Cf. Simon J. Kistemaker, Exposition of the Book of Revelation (New Testament Commentary: Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 564.

[8] Cf. NT Write, Revelation for Everyone (For Everyone Series, London: SKPC Publishing, 2011),194-195.

Mark 11:27-12:12 (Mt 21:31-46): Tenant Farmers.

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army 08 March 2015, 25 July 2010; Nipawin 21 June 2009; and Warehouse Mission 614 in Toronto, 20 May, 2018; by Captain Michael Ramsay

To read the 2009 sermon on Matthew 21:31-46, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/06/matthew-2133-46-john-31617-tenant.html

To read the 2018 sermon, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2018/05/mark-1127-1212-mt-2131-46-resentful.html

When Sarah-Grace was about Heather’s age now (4), she played soccer in a league up in Nipawin and Tisdale where we lived and I was one of her coaches. We actually won the whole tournament one year. It was good. I think of my role, when I am coaching, as more of an encourager than a coach per sae. I like to try to rally the troops and cheer the team on - celebrate their successes with them. I find myself often calling out from the sidelines ‘Go so-and-so go!’ ‘Go score a goal!’ or ‘pass to so-and-so, she’s open’ or more commonly, ‘Goalie wake up!’ ‘Goalie, don’t lie on the ground!’ or ‘Goalie, stop talking to your friend and untangle yourself from the net – the ball is coming’… encouragements like that.

I remember this one game. Sarah-Grace made an excellent header. The ball came right to her and she headed it to her teammate – that was really quite something, particularly at this age, so at the break I complimented her on her head ball and she, in front all the parents, told me her secret. She said, ‘Dad, you know how I did the head ball? …I saw the ball coming to me but I forgot to move out of the way’. I like being a dad. It is a lot of fun. And being a coach of your kids’ teams can be fun and it can be a bit of work too.

Here in Mark (cf. Mt 21:31b-46, Lk 20:1-19) we read about an employer who, as Jesus tells us, has a bit of a challenging team working for him. This businessman is in the grape business. He is farmer of sorts and it is recorded in Mark 12:1 that he put a bit of work into his farm. (He must love it!) It says that he plants his vineyard, he puts a wall around it, he builds a pit for a wine press, and he even builds a watchtower (cf. Isa 5:1-7 and Ps 80:6-16). It sounds like it is a pretty good setup that he has here. It says here that he could even afford to go on vacation or a family trip or a business trip of some sort; it says that he had enough time and money that he could leave the vineyard. This is pretty good especially remembering that all this is happening in first century Palestine. It says that he could afford to go away and hire the fields out to some tenant farmers not unlike a number of people who do that in this area today.

Now the absentee landlord’s fields, his vines, are doing pretty well. He is still away doing whatever he is doing – sitting in his big corporate office or on the beach in Florida, Texas or in Arizona or wherever it is that the rich farmers spend their time when they aren’t at home. The landlord is away and it is time to collect his rent. The harvest is in and he wants his cut. He wants his share so he sends some of his employees up from the big city – briefcases, laptops, and calculators in hand (okay their were neither briefcases and laptops nor calculators then) – to collect the rent and it says in Verses 3-5 that the tenant farmers, the fruit pickers, the contractors working the land, want to renegotiate their contract or something like that…it says in Verse 4-5 that they seize his employees, they grab his servants and they beat some slaves severely, wound others and they even kill some. These farmers aren’t very nice to the landlord’s employees at all.

Now when the landlord hears about all this, what does he do? Well, what would you do? What would you do if you rented out your land for a season so that you could head down south and you send some property management company to go get the rent and they are beaten and killed? What are you going to do? Call the RCMP, right? Get the authorities. You’re going to want to do something!

What does the landlord do? This landlord just keeps sending more servants (12:5). Now I don’t know how keen I would be to head out to collect the rent after hearing what had happened to the others. Nonetheless the employees are good and the employees. The Landlord sends more and more of them to get the rent from these tenant farmers and just like their predecessors, they are l met with resistance, beatings, and death.

I don’t know about you but if I were the employer I would be getting quite upset right now. I have been a landlord before. I know what it is like when your tenants try to pull the ‘midnight move’. I know what it is like when they don’t want to pay their rent. I also used to be a magazine publisher and I know what it is like when your clients give your employees a really bad time and don’t want to pay them – It isn’t good. After all, good help isn’t all that easy to come by – and in our story today the tenant farmers are even killing them off. So what does the landlord do? Does he call the residential tenancy board? Does he call the American ATF or an ERT (SWAT) team to storm the compound? Does he act like a US President and order a drone attack on the vineyard or an air strike on their families? This landlord is a powerful landlord. He can do the ancient equivalent to all that. He can literally have their heads but what does he do?

Remember that Jesus, God’s son, is telling the story. We read that this landlord is a loving father who has absolute faith in the ability of his son. Verse 6: he says, ‘they will respect my son.’ They don’t. The tenant farmers don’t respect his son. Verse 7: “But the tenants said to one another ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.” Verse 8, “So they took him and killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.”

Jesus stops the story here and he asks those listening to the story, Verse 9, “‘what then will the owner of the vineyard do?’ He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others” He will kill the tenants and give the land to others who will pay the rent and will give him what is due.

Jesus is telling this parable to the Jewish leaders who are in the crowd he is addressing, Mark 11:27: The chief priest, the teachers of the law and the elders of the people - and Matthew 21:41: the Pharisees - have all asked Jesus upon what authority he is doing his ministry.[1] This parable is part of his answer and he tells the elders and he tells the chief priests and he tells the Pharisees who are present  – The Matthew version of this story is quite specific – he tells them plainly 21:43 “…the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who would produce its fruit.” Mark 12:12, “Then the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders looked for a way to arrest him because they knew he had spoken the parable against them. But they were afraid of the crowd; so they left him and went away.”[2]

They knew what he was talking about. Do we know what he is talking about? God, the landlord, sends his prophets, the servants, to check up on the tenants and how they are doing at looking after his vineyard and -as we know- the Israelites and their leaders stoned and even killed many of the prophets of God (cf. 1 Ki 18:4, 13; Jer 26:20-23; 2 Chr 24:21-22; and Matt 23:37; Heb 11:37). God, the landlord, then sends his own son to the people chosen to tend his vineyard and the Israelites and their leaders kill him and because they kill him, those who reject the landlord and his son, those who reject Jesus die outside of the vineyard and the vineyard is given to others.[3]

You and I here today, how are we doing with what God is entrusting us?[4]  Do we heed his servants when they are sent with messages or to collect our rent? What do we do when Jesus shows up to tell us what we need to do? Do we obey him? Do we pay our rent?

This is an important question. Jesus is the ultimate authority. He is God’s only begotten son who was killed (and raised from the dead) and if we reject him like many leaders and other Judeans in the first century, we will not have the blessing of remaining in the eternal vineyard; we will die. As this is the case, let us make sure that we submit to our master, that we serve him faithfully now and forever.

There is even more to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We know that God knows that Jesus is going to die before he ever sends him into the world (Cf. Jn 3,15). We know that Jesus’ death is necessary so that anyone can live and have eternal life. We know that He chooses to send His son to die so that we can live. Still some will hear even this story and instead of concentrating on the authority of Jesus and the sacrifice of God they will fixate on the fact that God punishes these farmers and ask how come there is so much death? How come God punishes some people? In our world today we often hear the question, how can a supposedly loving God arbitrarily punish people and even condemn some to Hell?”

He doesn’t. Listen carefully to what I am saying here… Jesus doesn’t condemn people to Hell (Jn 3:17). Hell is real but Jesus does not send people there. Those who are going there, like the tenant farmers in our story today who lose their lives and our removed from the vineyard, they make that decision all on their own. Those who stand condemned, condemn themselves by denying (like the Apostle Paul makes clear in Romans 1 and 2) what is plainly obvious to everyone.[5] I truly believe that God gives us all we need to know in this life from our experiences and even creation itself (cf. Ro 1:18-24) just like he sent more and more servants to give the tenants more and more opportunities to repent and submit to His authority and indeed there will actually still be a time when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Ro 14:11, Phil 2:10) and then some, some who believe in the Lord and obey His commandments will spend eternity with Him in His vineyard and some, some who deny Christ (Mt 10:33) and do not obey His commandments (Jn 14:15), some who simply refuse His love will go off to the hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth (Mt 25:31ff). This is sad.

This is particularly sad because we know that God loves us. John 3:16 says that He loves the entire ‘Kosmos’. He loves us so much that He laid down His life for us (Jn 15). God loves us so much that He sent His only begotten, his only natural, his only sired Son to die so that we may live.

I can’t imagine how much this must hurt God that some of us do actually perish. I am a father. Many of us are parents here. Can you imagine if you send your son and he dies to save others but still they decide to perish anyway?

God sent His Son and His Son died so that we may live but yet some still refuse His love and some still reject His Salvation. God sent Jesus not to condemn us (Jn 3:17) but to save us but some of us refuse to obey Him. Some of us simply refuse to be saved. John 3:18: “Those who believe in Him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already…” of their own accord because, John 3:19, “people loved darkness rather than light.”

So today we are in the vineyard of that parable that Jesus told 2000 years ago. We are in the privileged position of knowing the truth that the religious leaders of Jesus day were. We have access to the light. We have knowledge of our salvation; so, I ask us in our own lives, when Jesus comes back, when God returns to the vineyard will we experience the same fate as the tenant farmers, those religious leaders in Jesus’ day? Will we experience the same fate of those who chose to perish by serving themselves instead of God or will we accept salvation that Jesus provided and live our life tending to in his perfect vineyard. He is even now standing at the gate. It is time for us to decide. What will we do? Will we attack, deny, or ignore Him and die; or will we meet him with open arms and live? It is time to decide.

Let us pray.

www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] M. Eugene Boring, Matthew (NIB 8: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 409: “by adding two additional parables [he incorporates] the woes into the full-blown speech (23:1-25:46).”  This parable is not meant to stand in isolation.

[2] Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 14-28. (WBC 33B: Dallas, Texas: Word Books, 1995), 612. The purpose of this series of parables then is “the depiction of the unfaithfulness of the Jewish leaders. It is for this reason Jesus asks the Jewish leaders for their opinion concerning which of these two sons was the faithful one.” The religious leaders’ response in the affirmative to Jesus question is then, through typically parabolic procedure, a self-indictment.

[3] Cf. NT Wright, “The Law in Romans 2,” Paul and the Mosaic Law, ed. James D. G. Dunn (WUNT 89; Tübingen: Mohr-Siebeck, 1996), republished with English translations of German essays (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2001): 136. The equality of the Gentile to the Jew before God, as expressed by Paul in Romans in no way negates the primacy of the Jews (cf. Romans 11:7, 11). Cf. Romans 11:12-13, where it is recorded that it was only “through their stumbling [that] salvation has come to the Gentiles…Now if their stumbling means riches for the world, and if their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full inclusion mean!.”

[4] It is important to note as Douglas J. Moo does that, “contrary to popular Jewish belief, the sins of the Jews will not be treated by God significantly different from those of the Gentiles.” Douglas J. Moo, The Epistle to the Romans (NICNT 6: Grand Rapids, Michigan / Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1996), 126. Cf. also NT Wright, The Letter to the Romans (NIB 10: Nashville, Tenn.: Abingdon, 1995), 440

[5] Cf. Michael Ramsay. “Paul and the Human Condition as Reflected in Romans 1:18-32 and 2:1-16”. Available on-line at: http://www.sheepspeak.com/NT_Michael_Ramsay.htm#Paul%20and%20the%20Human%20Condition

1 Corinthians 1:17-25 (Romans 1 and Philippians 1): God Will See Us Through The Storm, We Will Proclaim the Gospel with Power

Presented to Swift Current Corps, 11 May 2014 and 05 July 2009. By Captain Michael Ramsay.

  

Click here to read the 2009 Version: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2009/07/romans-116-i-am-not-ashamed-of-gospel.html 

Two very interesting things happened last week – well a number of very interesting things happened last week but two combined to make me think – one good, one maybe not so good. 1) I had my birthday – thank you to everyone for the well wishes and the cake. This is good. 2) It snowed. That is not so good. Growing up in Victoria, if it ever snowed anywhere near my birthday, I’m sure they would call in the Navy from Equimalt thinking that this was the end of the world or some foreign plot or something like that. May in Victoria is the time when students spend their spare time spread out on the lawn - not looking for a toque or a pair of mitts. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love it here in Saskatchewan where we get all four seasons instead of just Spring and Fall but there comes a time when Winter just needs to be over.

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I really did enjoy a couple of the good days that we have had recently here as the seasons are changing. At times when the air smells a certain way after the rain, I am reminded of growing up on the Island. I remember one Canada Day in Victoria when Rebecca was very little. We went to some Canada Day celebrations at Fort Rodd Hill (which is an historic fort). It was fun: they had a lot of things we could see and do from days gone past. We could see people dressed up in historical costumes. They even had various mascots dressed up like animals walking around: great for kids, right? There was even one person who was dressed as a tree giving balloons to the children and telling them about the environment and this tree came to say ‘hi’ to us and leaned over to offer Rebecca (who was 2 at the time) a balloon and asked her, “Do you like trees?” and she answered – as sweet as can be – “not trees that talk and walk.”

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Young kids are great for innocently speaking their minds. They may not have great fancy words of wisdom but they do have the power of wisdom that can really make us stop and think. We all know the expression, ‘out of the mouths of babes...’ This is actually some of what Paul is speaking about in the passage we are looking at in 1 Corinthians 1:17: “…[Christ sent me] to preach the Gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.” And 1 Corinthians 2:3-5:" I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power."

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We are talking about being willing to preach the Gospel today and – just like a child – with boldness, confidence, and power but first can anyone tell me what the Gospel is?^[1] (This is important) The word Gospel literally translated means ‘good news’ – it is a rendering of the Greek word euangelion, which means ‘good news’ or ‘good message’ (cf. Isaiah 40:9, 52:7) - so the Gospel is good news. And what is this good news? The good news is that we can be saved from eternal death and damnation.^[2] We can actually be bodily raised from the dead to eternal life and even more than that: it is the totality of the Christian message^[3] and through the power of God we can start to experience that new life this very day! Today we can begin living a life transformed with Christ. And this is good news and we should definitely not be afraid to proclaim this boldly with the confidence and power of Christ! But sometimes some of us, sometimes, are afraid.

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What are some of other things about which people are commonly not so bold… what are some things that some of us are hesitant to speak about? I know that many people are not forthcoming about their weight either because they have too much of it or not nearly enough. I know that I was caught off guard once when a reporter asked for my wife’s and my ages – I gave him mine. As far as Susan’s was concerned, I told him he’d have to asked Susan himself.

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Similar to this, it is Susan and my anniversary soon and I was reminded the other day of a story relating to our honeymoon. On our Wedding night, we had reservations at a bed and breakfast (Abigail’s’ in Victoria, BC) that was a grand old building and looked just like a castle from the brochure. It was in a really neat area of the city too with a number of castle-like buildings but none of these castles seemed to want to put their addresses where they could be easily seen; so after quite a little bit of driving around we find the one that looks like the brochure and I leave the car out front and go up the main entrance in my kilt, in my full wedding regalia. I knock on the door. I tell them that we have reservations for the night. And the lady who answered says, “not here you don’t” – it is at that time I realise that she is dressed in a Nun’s Habit…I had knocked on the door of the Nunnery…an interesting place to wind up on your honeymoon. Whoops. She was kind enough to direct us to the correct castle though…this event was more than a little bit of an embarrassing mistake: one that at times certainly curtailed any boldness of spirit in me.

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I have also attended more than a few Alcoholics Anonymous meetings in my time. I can tell you that their meetings provide a very safe place for people to tell stories that we would certainly be otherwise ashamed to tell. The format for discussion there is very much like a testimony Sunday. We mention what we were like, what happened, and what we are like now. The reasons we wouldn’t want to share the stories in too many other places are twofold. 1) We wouldn’t want anyone to think that we are celebrating our sins and as a result tempt anyone else into the life of a drunkard (Deuteronomy 21:18-21; Proverbs 23:21, 26:9; 1 Corinthians 5:11, 6:10). And 2) we have changed. In many cases we are ashamed of what we have done. We are ashamed of how we were before we allowed God to deliver us from our addiction.

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The Gospel: Jesus died and rose again so that we can be free from sin. And we can be free from death. There are some people who don’t realise this yet. They aren’t yet experiencing the power of the gospel of Salvation. They live as if they are not free. It reminds me of an Emergency Disaster Story. A few of us just got back from Saskatoon last night, where I was a course on CISM: ESC in Disasters. I shared this experience with my class

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In 2008, After Hurricane Ike struck, I was asked to head down to Galveston Island in Texas as part of a team from Canada to help out with Emotional and Spiritual care.^[4] More than 1 million people were saved from the hurricane and flood that followed as they obeyed the evacuation order but some refused to evacuated. No one needed to die but some refused the offered salvation and around 100 people were found dead as a direct result of Hurricane Ike. Bodies were still being found while I was down there. I spoke with people whose family members had refused the provided salvation from the storm and suffered the natural and logical consequences.

Homes were destroyed. Businesses were destroyed. The sewers, the water, and the phones were still not working when we were down there. People were housed in shelters both on and away from Galveston Island. Many still had no place to go. Power was still out in some of the parts while we were posted there. The power outage means that even for families that did not lose their stoves and refrigerators in the hurricane and the subsequent flood  - and most did: there were many refrigerators destroyed and lying on the side of the road for pick up – they were unable to keep or cook any food. They didn’t have food and they didn’t have water.

Food and water: this is a big part of the salvation that the Lord provided through The Salvation Army mission down there. We had around 30 food trucks (called canteens) from which we help to serve around 75 000 hot meals every day and give the people water and ice. Ice is very important. It was around 90 F during our time there. And the food: many people told me that without The Salvation Army they wouldn’t have eaten at all. They wouldn’t have survived. We thank the Lord for the service He provided to this community through many people. We prayed for them. We continued to pray that the Lord would continue to save the people down there. Our work there was very much His saving work through us.^[5] This I think is also very much a part of the totality of salvation – the real salvation for both the here and now as well as forever in Jesus’ impending, proleptic Kingdom.^[6]

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We were honoured and privileged to see many people saved not only from their suffering here and now but we were honoured and privileged to celebrate with people as they gave their lives to the Lord so that they could experience that salvation forever. We didn’t shrink from sharing the gospel: we shared the good news and some people grabbed hold of it and chose everlasting life.^[7]

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In our own daily lives here  - in our regular Monday to Friday and Saturday and Sunday lives - do we point people to that same salvation that is offered to all or do we deny the power of the Gospel? Jesus tells us that if we deny Him before men, he will deny us before God (Matt 10:33). That sounds fair.

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How do we do at proclaiming the gospel? How do we do at presenting the gospel even if it is in weakness with fear and trembling, as 1 Corinthians 2:3, says? Do we overcome our fears as the Apostle Paul extols us? As our friends or colleagues are speaking about life, do we tell them what we have heard from God or what we have read in the Bible? When someone shares their struggles with us do we share with them the strength to persevere that is offered through Jesus Christ? If we feel that God is prompting us to ‘lead someone to Christ’ – do we do it? I have one friend of mine who didn’t. The next day he heard that fellow he was ashamed to share the gospel with died. No more chances.

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There is even more than this - of course - because Salvation is about the future but it is also about the present. We were missionaries in Vancouver’s infamous Downtown Eastside a few years ago; Salvation is this: Can you imagine if you have a friend who is living on the street? He is very poor and suffering from various illnesses and struggles through the most painful of lives thinking that he is all alone. Now, imagine that you know his father. Imagine that you know that his father wants your friend to come home and live with him. Imagine that his father is very well off and in his father’s house there are many, many rooms (John 14:2). Imagine that you know his father’s first born – his only truly begotten. Imagine that he told you to invite your friend home and imagine that you don’t and imagine that your friend lives out his whole life alone and sick when he doesn’t need to. Imagine that you don’t share this information because you are afraid? Imagine that you don’t share this information because you were ashamed? Imagine if every time you see your friend it becomes more and more difficult to share the good news of his father who loves him because you were too embarrassed to admit that you hadn’t told him yet? Imagine if he suffers and dies and you don’t remind him on every possible occasion that there is another way: that he can turn to his father and live. If that happens, what kind of friends are we?

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This is what our life here is like. When Christ returns it will be like a thief in the night (Matthew 24:42-44). The time and the hour is unknown (Matthew 25:1-13) but we do know that it is coming and he is coming to judge the living and the dead (Acts 10:42, 2 Timothy 4:1, 1 Peter 4:5) and some will go off to eternal happiness and some to hearing weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8:12, 13:42, 13:50, 22:13, 24:51, 25:30; Luke 13:28).  To know this is good news, believe it or not. It is like when the hurricane struck Galveston Island. Even though 100 people chose to stay behind and perished, even though we met with, spoke with and prayed with people whose family members chose to reject salvation from the hurricane. The people knew it was coming and as a result thousands of others were saved.

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Can you imagine if the news announcers were so ashamed of the fact the hurricane was coming that they didn’t share the information that it was coming? Can you imagine if the meteorologists were so ashamed of the fact that they did not know the exact time and hour the hurricane was going to strike that they didn’t tell anybody? Can you imagine if your neighbour knew that the hurricane was coming and she evacuated but she never told you because she couldn’t explain exactly what, why, where, how, and when the hurricane was coming? Can you imagine the horror as you look up to see your life being swept away – and no one ever told you how to be saved because they were afraid of embarrassment?

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Well, an eschatological hurricane is coming and it is a lot more dangerous than Hurricane Ike. There are people in this city here today who are sleeping in their beds or watching their TVs right now who have no idea that the end is coming. There are people like the homeless man of our earlier analogy who are living their life away from the shelter of their Heavenly Father’s House when He wants nothing more than to have them safely at his side. There are people out there who are lost and just waiting for us to point them to salvation.

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So today, let us do that. Today let us be like the rescue workers who go around pointing people to safety. None of us know when our lives are going to end. We may be taken tomorrow. None of us know when the Lord is returning and bringing with him the end to our world as we know it. But, like the weatherman watching the storm, we do know that the things of this earth are going to pass away (Matt 24:35, Mark 13:31, Luke 21:33, Revelation 21:1) and it is our job to share with everyone we meet the good news of the way to salvation so that they do not need to perish.

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It is our responsibility to share the Gospel for, indeed, the Gospel is the power of God for all to be saved both now and forever. To this end then, I encourage us all to look for opportunities to share the good news of salvation in the upcoming weeks here so that we may all turn to God and experience the full power of His Salvation.

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Let us pray.

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www.sheepspeak.com 

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[1] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p. 47: “The gospel is not merely the initial proclamation of Christ which wins converts, but is the whole Christian message and claim in terms of the rest of the letter.”

[2] Cf. Don Garlington, “A ‘New Perspective’ Reading of Central Texts in Romans 1-4,” Prepared for Evangelical Theological Society: 15 August 2006. Cited 20 02 2007. Online: http://www.thepaulpage.com/Rom1-4.pdf.12. and James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p.39.

[3] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p.45.

[4] Cf. Captain Michael Ramsay,' 2 Corinthians 9:12-15: Thanks be to God for His indescribable Gift! (Hurricane Ike relief)' Presented to each the Nipawin and Tisdale Corps 12 October 2008 and the Rotary Club of Nipawin, October 2008. Available on-line at: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/10/2-corinthians-912-15-thanks-be-to-god.html

[5] James D.G. Dunn, Romans 1-8 (WBC 38A: Word Books: Dallas, Texas, 1988), p. 47

[6] Cf. Joel B Green. ‘The Gospel of Luke’. NICNT. Vol. 3. (Cambridge, UK: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1997), p. 25.

[7] The term translated ‘salvation’ has a range of meaning from ‘bodily health, preservation, and safety (cf. e.g., Mark 5:23,28,34; 6:56; 10:52; Acts 27:34), to – as is frequently the case in the Psalms and Isaiah - deliverance from peril and restoration to wholeness. God’s righteousness here is linked with the provided salvation. (cf. e.g., Pss 35:27-28; 72:1-4; 85:9-13; 96:13; 98:2-3, 9; Isa 9:7; 11:1-2; 45:8, 22-25; 51:5-6; 53:10b-11; 61:1-2, 11; Jer 23:5-6; Mal 4:2).  Don Garlington, “A ‘New Perspective’ Reading of Central Texts in Romans 1-4,” Prepared for Evangelical Theological Society: 15 August 2006. Cited 20 02 2007. Online: http://www.thepaulpage.com/Rom1-4.pdf.12 :“In other Psalm texts, it is surely striking that the psalmist prays for the Lord to deliver him in his righteousness (Ps 31:1; 143:1, 11; 71:1-2, 15; cf. 79:9). In these instances, deliverance from the enemy is the godly person’s salvation.”

Mark 13:24-37: Happy New Year!

Presented to Swift Current Corps of The Salvation Army, 27 Nov 2011
Presented to each the Nipawin & Tisdale Corps, 30 November 2008[1]

by Captain Michael Ramsay

    

To view the original 2008 version click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/11/mark-1332-37-hope-for-happy-new-year.html

   

Happy New Year: does anyone know why I would wish you a happy new year today? Today is the beginning of Advent. In traditional liturgical churches, Advent is the beginning of the church year where we celebrate the first coming of Christ and celebrate the hope that is in his anticipated return. Now often at New Years there are all kinds of quizzes; so I thought that I would put a little tongue-in-cheek one together for us today. Quiz:

What do these times and dates have in common: 8:00 AM October 19, 1533; April 5, 1534; March 21 and October 22, 1844; Sept. 10, 1979; Dec. 31, 1981; Sept 11 -13, 1988; March 31, 1991; October 20, 1997; May 21 and October 21, 2011; December 12, 2012?

A: They are various people’s predictions for the end of time date.

What do these people have in common: Nero, the Pope, Mikhail Gorbachev, Prince Charles, the US President, and David Hasselhoff?[2]

A. They were/ are various people’s predictions for ‘The’ Anti-Christ.

Now this next one is a good one. It is a riddle –you’ll have to pay attention. Someone has figured out a way to ‘out’ the beast of Revelation by using a Latin-based number system to solve the riddle of ‘666’ – let’s see together of we can solve the riddle and figure out for ourselves who is the beast of John’s Apocalypse?

Given that 666 is the number of the Beast, first we must break that number down into its component parts in such away that when we reassemble them and add them back together, they will total 666.

I will give you this part. If we break 666 down into decimal equivalents, it should look like this: 100. 5. 5. 50. 500 .1 .

Let’s do the math to prove we are right: so we have 100 + 5 =105 + 5 = 110 + 50 = 160+500=660+5+1= 666

So then mathematically proving as we did that these are the component parts of the number of the beast, we will need to translate them into Roman numerals as this was the number system in use at the time that the riddle of ‘666’ was written. Let’s see how we do?

               100   =   C

               5       =   V

               5       =   V

               50     =   L

               500   =   D

               1       =   I

               5       =   V

              CV VL DIV

Now if we expand this ancient Roman system using new web-based lettering for reassembling fragmented texts, we get the following:

CVT PVRPL DINOSVR

Accounting for the fact that Roman lettering had no ‘U’ and used a ‘V’ instead and adding the missing ‘E’s and ‘A’s, we find out from this that the one the number points to as the beast… is…

A CUTE PURPLE DINOSAUR; and we all know who the cute purple dinosaur who is leading children astray… Barney the dinosaur! “I love you; you love me!’

This tongue-in-cheek mathematical proof was published in Science Askew in 2001.[3] This is silly right…we all know that an imaginary purple dinosaur is not the Anti-Christ…anymore than David Hasselhoff or the mayor of Swift Current, or whomever.

About the end of times though, our text today (Mark 13:24-37) says clearly in verses 32 and 33: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come….” So instead of just hoping for Christ’s return, why do we waste our time with this stuff? – People in general, I mean, why do we? I don’t think that I have ever gone an entire year without hearing someone thinking that they are smarter than God incarnate, Jesus, and telling the whole part of the world that they can reach that they have solved the puzzle about the end of time.

Remember earlier this year, the Californian preacher, Harold Camping of Family Radio, telling the world that ‘rapture’ would occur and the world would end on May 21^st?  One of my favourite comments about that was this: The day after the rapture was supposed to take place, a news commentator seeking to calm the distraught followers of this fellow that that was the day said, “Cheer up, it’s not the end of the world.” When the end didn’t come that day, Family Radio revised the date to October 21^st, which also came and went without the destruction of the world. A few years ago too, I heard a southern preacher being played on the local Christian station (Lighthouse FM) going on and on about how the then leader of Syria is the anti-Christ who will usher in the end of times at such and such a date. Before the US invasion of Iraq, we heard of a number of these so-called ‘Christian pastors’ telling people that they know the unknowable day and hour and that Sadam, as their country’s current adversary must be the antichrist. Dante, himself, located many prominent churchmen of his day in Hell, as did some Reformers and Counter-Reformers in the Reformation and Catholics and Orthodox at the time of the East-West Schism…

Why do we profess to know what we do not know? Why do we pretend to know what we cannot know? And why are reckless people, espousing Christianity, claiming that they know the unknowable specifics of the end of time and, seemingly, leading so many people astray?

Whenever I hear someone say that the world will end on this day or that day or so-and-so is the anti-Christ, I wonder if they themselves by intentionally saying the opposite of what the Bible teaches is true - sometimes I wonder if these people may indeed be antichrists themselves…at the very least they are very confused.

After all, we know, of course, like 1 John 2:18ff says that there are many antichrists and that anyone who denies Jesus as Lord is an antichrist who must and will be overcome (1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3) and 2 John 2:1-7 says this:

[There are] Many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch out that you do not lose what you have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 

If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take him into your house or welcome him. Anyone who welcomes him shares in his wicked work.

Anyone, anyone who does not continue in the faith but rather teaches against it is an antichrist, John says. And Jesus says about this end of times that people seem to like to talk about so much: “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come….”

This is important, I think often times we get distracted by discussing things like ‘pre-trib’, ‘post-trib’, and ‘amillennialism.’ I think we often get distracted by adiaphorons, which are matters of spiritual indifference really. We get distracted by what Timothy refers to as a ‘vain jangling’ (KJV) or ‘meaningless talk’ (1 Timothy 1:3-8, NIV, NRSV). We really shouldn’t worry about who or if there is an arch-end of times antichrist or on what date or at what time the world may come to an end (Matthew 6:25ff; Luke 12:22ff; cf. Matthew 10:19, 13:11; Luke 12:11, 21:14; cf. also, in contrast, Philippians 4:4; cf. Matthew 5:12; Luke 6:23; John 16:22; Romans 5; Philippians 2:17-18, 3:1; 1 Peter 4:13). As fun as some of the things we discuss may be; at best there is a time and a place for them but we really must remember that ‘no one knows the time or the hour’ and we must be careful not to lead or be led astray by various false teachers (Mark 13:22).

Actually as I say this I am reminded of a person I know on the west coast, Michael Collins; he is quite an evangelist. He is a Salvationist and he has a love for the Lord and a passion for souls. He does have a rather long spiel where he states that he does know when Jesus is coming back. As part of his spiel he tells us how much he has studied eschatology, the end of times, and that he is convinced that he knows when Jesus is coming back based right in the scriptures (Matthew 24:32-35,36-51; 25:1-13, 14-30; Mark 13:28-37…) He says without a doubt Jesus is coming back and he knows when  - He says Jesus is coming back … soon. And this is true.

We know this is true. Jesus will come back ‘like a thief in the night’ (Matt 24:33; 1 Thessalonians 5:2); he will come back when no one expects him to, the Bible says, and he is coming back soon (Mark 13:22;Matthew 24:43,44; 25:1-13). And this is the truth of our text today – Jesus says he is coming back and he is coming back soon. Our hope comes from Jesus and our hope should be in Jesus, as this is the case, are we ready?

I had mentioned that today is indeed the Christian New Year and New Year is often a time to look forward in hopes of a better world and of reflection upon what has transpired in the year before; as our hope is in Jesus, are we ready for his return? Do we believe that tomorrow might really be the day when Jesus will come back and that the world and/or your or my life here might end? If we did know that tomorrow was the end of our life here for sure would we, would I do anything different?

As our hope is in Christ, we know that if we deny Jesus, he will deny us (Matthew 10:33); so looking back today as people like to do on New Years, on this Christian New Years Day, how have we done this past year at being bold for the gospel (Philippians 1)? We know that as Jesus says, if we love him we will obey his commands (John 15; cf. Romans 2:7; Jude 1:21)? This includes loving God, loving our neighbour, and laying down our lives for Jesus. How have we done this past year laying down our lives for others and for Jesus? How have we done at listening to and obeying God’s commands rather then just listening to and obeying mans’ or our own whims or personal values? And in this New Year ahead how can we show that we do have hope in Jesus Christ?

In John Chapter 3 is recorded the Pharisee Nicodemus’ coming to Jesus. Jesus tells him that if he hopes to see the Kingdom of God then we must be born again (of the Spirit) and really, actually believe in God’s son. (Cf. also John 5, 6, 12, 17:1b-4; Acts 13; Galatians 6:8; 1 Timothy 1,6; Titus; 1 John.) This past year have we given any reasons for someone to believe that we may have indeed been born again? Are we any different than anyone else? Do we rely on God’s Spirit? And in this year ahead how can we show this hope that we have in Jesus?

In Luke 10, someone asks Jesus what he must do to fulfil the hope of eternal life. Jesus affirms that we must “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’” (Cf. 1 John 3:15). As an example of loving ones neighbour, Jesus tells the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ where a person puts his life and his finances (which sadly seems to be even more important to people these days) on the line for a stranger when no one else will help him (Luke 10:25-37). This past year how have we done at loving God and loving our neighbours in this way? Have we, in Jesus’ name, put ourselves on the line for others? In this upcoming Christian year how do we resolve to show this hope that we have in Jesus?

Matthew records the parable of ‘The Sheep and the Goats’ (Matt 25:31ff.). In this parable two groups of people bow before the Lord as King. One goes to eternal salvation and the other to eternal damnation; the difference…the one group, whose hopes are realised, serves the Lord by, when someone is hungry giving them something to eat, when one is thirsty giving them something to drink, when someone is a stranger inviting them in, when someone needs clothes clothing them, when someone is sick looking after them, when one is in prison coming to visit him. For we serve the Lord by serving each other in this way. Let us all resolve here today to serve the Lord in this way and so show this hope that we have in Jesus.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke each record that a rich man asks Jesus this same question about what he must do to inherit eternal life. Jesus answers here as well, that among other things, we must love our neighbour. The man replies that he has kept all the commandments and loved his neighbour –what else is there he asks, what else? Jesus replies, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Those who sacrifice, those who leave their families, possessions, and very lives because of Jesus are indeed the ones who will inherit eternal life (Matthew 19:13-30; Mark 10:17-31; Luke 18).

Have we been willing to, as it says in Matthew 19:29, leave our houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for Jesus’ sake so that we will inherit eternal life. How do we show the love for and the hope that we have in Christ Jesus?

This is the beginning of the Christian New Year today so let’s make a resolution. We know that Jesus is coming back soon so let us resolve to be ready to meet him by loving him more than ourselves, by loving him more than our earthly families, and by loving him more than all our earthly possessions. Let us indeed place our hope in Christ and in Christ alone.

Let us pray…

http://www.sheepspeak.com/

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[1] The earlier version of this sermon is available on-line: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.com/2008/11/mark-1332-37-hope-for-happy-new-year.html

[2] Cf: End of time predictions: http://www.bible.ca/pre-date-setters.htm David Hasselhoff: http://www.esquilax.com/baywatch/ Barney the dinosaur: http://www.comedycorner.org/20.html Gorbachev: Robert Faid 1988 http://www.scatteredsheep.com/perilous_times/antichrist/antichrist.htm  Prince Charles, Pope JP II

[3] Science Askew:  Is Barney the Anti-Christ?