Habakkuk 1: How long, O Lord?

 

Habakkuk despairs about the society he lives in and those who claim to be the people of God.  What should be our assessment of our society and those within it claiming to be the church?

I think that western society is essentially sick!  We live in an indulgent society in a world of need; we are a highly-informed society that closes its eyes to global inequality; a society where young people think that drinking themselves silly constitutes a good time—and so we see staggering and puking youth on our news programs; a society that demands its rights and ignores its responsibilities; a society where the unborn are terminated if they threaten to be an inconvenience; a society where our TVs feed us a junk-food diet of trivia and titillation; a society of self-centred relationships with a cheapened understanding of sex; a society that has turned its back on the church! 

But then let’s look at the church that it has turned its back on!  So many churches in the western world can’t handle an unpopular message.  They don’t want to appear intolerant in saying Jesus is the only way to the Father.  They don’t want to be accused of being narrow and so they dilute the gospel’s warning that we need to be rescued from judgement and hell.  Even churches that pride themselves on holding on to the truth can be little communities of fractured relationships and bitterness.  There is no shortage of stories of people who claim to be Christians who have been harsh and uncaring or crooked in business.  The church is supposed to be the light in a dark world but so often it appears indistinguishable from that world, if not at times worse than the world!

So what is God going to do about this sick society and these twisted people who claim to belong to God?  That’s what Habakkuk wanted to know!

It is about 600 BC.  God had acted in line with his promise to make a people from Abraham.  He had made them a nation and given them a land yet they persisted in unfaithfulness and so the nation was divided in two.  Habakkuk lives in the southern kingdom, Judah.  These corrupt people are supposed to belong to God.  Why is he letting them dishonour his name in this way?

Habakkuk’s first complaint—when will you stop the rot? (2-4)

Have you ever wondered about church history?  When I studied a little church history in college I was left wondering whether what I was studying was actually the history of the church.  What I mean is that it was often the institutions that called themselves the church that were caught up in error and persecuted those who preached the gospel.  There were times when what was called the church was unbelievably corrupt and self-serving.  Why would God allow himself be dishonoured by letting godless people claim his name?  Why does he put up, in our day, with the nonsense of a variety of churches from a variety of denominations that simply refuse to submit to God’s revealed teaching in the Bible?  I just don’t know!

Habakkuk brings a similar complaint before the Lord.  He looks at his society and sees violence and injustice.  His society claimed to be a special covenant people of God.  However they ignored God’s law and the righteous suffered.  This is a place where justice is perverted and strife and conflict abound.  ‘How long, O Lord before you will stop the rot?’

I want us to take something from Habakkuk’s example.  Here is a man who feels passionately about injustice.  Here is a man who is stirred by the wrongs committed by those claiming to belong to God because their actions surely dishonour God’s name.  Here is a man who brings his complaint to the Lord in prayer.

How different Habakkuk is from us!  We often get most passionate about things that are trivial—we get worked up if the service is not quite to our liking but don’t care if our relationships are shallow.  We often are apathetic about things that bring dishonour to God’s name but are enraged if our pride is any way dented.  We tend to gripe to others about our complaints and stir up division rather than begin with bringing them to God in prayer and thinking about how he would have us deal with the issue.

As Habakkuk brings his complaint to the Lord he has to deal with a problem that all of us will face at some time if we pray.  Why does it appear that God is not listening?  Why is he slow to answer?  Why is he not responding by doing what I would have him do?  Commenting on this, Marytn Lloyd-Jones writes, ‘If God were unkind enough to answer some of our prayers at once, and in our way, we should be very impoverished Christians.’  One of the hard lessons we are going to learn as we study this powerful little book of Habakkuk is the need to trust God even when all that we see around us makes us question whether God is trustworthy!  

God’s response—He is in control (5-11)

God says to Habakkuk, “Look at the nations and watch—and be utterly amazed.  For I am going to something in your days that you would not believe, even if you were told.”  We had better be ready for the fact that God’s ways are often surprising.  He tells Habakkuk that he is going to raise up the Babylonians, a ruthless and godless people, who will bring terror to the land.  Indeed this happened in 587BC when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem and carried the people into exile.  Habakkuk could never have imagined that this would be how God would achieve his purposes.

These verses remind us that God is in control of history.  Evil people do evil things but God gets his way.  As one preacher explains, ‘This is a truth that is often unpopular, but clear in the pages of the Bible: God is sovereign over everything – including evil actions.  Nothing happens in this universe, in history, in our own personal lives, that is beyond God’s control.  Everything ultimately serves his purpose – even evil actions.’  Think of the cross.  That was the classic occasion in which God acted in an unbelievable way.  There evil people got their way and crucified Christ, and so enabled God to save sinful people from our sin.   

Would we rather live is a world that was the subject of randomness or one that is under God’s sovereign control?  That’s not as easy a question to answer as it first seems!  In a world of chance we would have no-one to blame and no difficult questions to ask because there is no reason to anything.  In a world subject to God’s sovereign control we can feel perplexed at what God is up to.  God’s sovereign control over history leaves us with many unanswered questions about this world and our lives.  Yet the challenge is not so much to figure out why things have happened as they have but to respond to our circumstances with trust in God.  This powerful little book of Habakkuk presents us with that mighty challenge!

Habakkuk’s second complaint—how can you use evil people to achieve your goals? (12-17)

Habakkuk’s society was bad but the Babylonians were far worse.  How could God use them to fulfil his purposes?  How could God use evil pagans to punish those who were supposed to be his people?  “O LORD, are you not from everlasting?  My God, my Holy One, we will not die.  O LORD, you have appointed them to exercise judgement; O Rock, you have ordained them to punish.  Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.  Why then do you tolerate the treacherous?  Why are you silent while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?”  The people would be helpless like fish swimming into a net and the Babylonians would give glory to their so-called god for the catch!

What God has revealed he is going to do flies in the face of what Habakkuk believes about God; it seems unjust, it leaves him utterly perplexed!  Have you ever been perplexed by the things that God lets happen to us and in our world?  Habakkuk had surely wanted God to remove wicked people from the land but God was about to remove everyone.  It would appear that God was giving up on his promise to Abraham and destroying his people.  How can this be?  We will see how God responds when we look at chapter 2.  What we can declare from our vantage point in the here and now is that God did not give up on his promise to Abraham.  He continues to save people from sin and the consequences of sin—that’s what the promise to Abraham was really about.  From the remnant of these people comes Jesus upon whom God’s plan of salvation rests.  Despite appearances his faithfulness is certain!

Conclusion

We finish with a warning: we may have questions about the things that God lets happen but these questions never provide an excuse for refusing to put our trust in him.  Someone may say ‘I can’t believe because . . .!’ Whatever it is won’t let them off the hook on the day of judgement. 

In Acts 13 the Apostle Paul is speaking to the Jewish religious leaders in Antioch.  There he quotes Habakkuk 1.  He is pointing out that their forefathers, at the time of that prophet, ignored God’s warnings, refused God’s grace, and so faced God’s judgement.  He urges them not to make the same mistake: ‘. . . my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you . . . Take care that what the prophets have said does not happen to you: “Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.”’  In Jesus we can know forgiveness for our sin but a coming judgement awaits all those who refuse to repent and avail of the grace of God in Christ.

So we may look at others in our fallen society and see their sin, but have we realised that our sin contributes to the sickness of this world?  We may look at the hypocrisy of those who claim to belong to the church, but have we seen our own hypocrisy?  Let’s not choose to miss out on the mercy that God offers to us in Jesus Christ!  God’s ways may remain a mystery to us and we might never get the answers to the questions but one day we will see that he has done what is right and that he has been wonderfully gracious and faithful to his promises and his people.  May we be among those who have placed our trust in him!

 

Copyright note:

Unless otherwise stated all Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission.

 

Acts 9:10-19 ‘Results of conversion’

Sadhu Sundar Singh lived at the turn of the twentieth century.  His conversion was remarkably similar to that of Saul.  He too was a young man who vehemently opposed Christianity until he had a vision of Christ that transformed his life.  When his family members, who were Sikhs, realised that his claim to be a Christian was not just a passing fancy, they poisoned him and sent him away from home.  He landed at the doorstep of a pastor, desperately ill.  The doctor who saw him gave up hope that he would recover.  But as he lay there, he received a profound belief that God would not call him out of the darkness to die without witnessing to his faith in Christ.  So he began to pray with all his remaining powers.  He recovered and launched into a life of witness.  Donning the garb of an Indian holy man, he travelled the length and breath of India barefoot, preaching the gospel.  This earned him the name ‘the apostle of the bleeding feet.’  For his feet, unprotected from the hostile elements, sometimes bleed.  When it latter came to his death his realisation was that he had been saved to tell others the gospel. 

Of course the conversion of the apostle Paul was in some senses unique.  People often speak of how they were brought to faith and say, ‘I didn’t have a Damascus Road experience.’  But there is a number of ways in which it is typical.  In every conversion it is God who takes the initiative; in every conversion the spiritual blind are given sight; and in every conversion a hostile mind is turned to Christ.  As we continue to look at this chapter we also see that every person is saved for service—as Sadhu Sundar Singh realised when he looked back on his life as a Christian and realised that that he had been saved to tell others the gospel.

As we continue to look at Acts 9 I want us to realise that conversion transforms our relationship towards Christ’s people and conversion is surrender to the supreme authority of Jesus.

Conversion transforms our relationship with Christ’s people

For those who missed our last look at Acts we saw that a man called Saul, backed by the religious establishment of his day, was filled with hatred of Christians and was on his way to Damascus to take them and bring them back as prisoners to Jerusalem.  But along the way a light from heaven flashed around him and Jesus addressed him personally.  Following this encounter the blinded Saul was brought to Damascus where he fasted for three days and three nights.  This was probably an intense kind of fast, without eating or drinking.  People engaged in such a fast if they were repenting or seeking God’s face.  Both are appropriate to Saul’s situation.  Saul is earnest—he is not going to rest until what began on the Damascus Road is completed! 

Meanwhile, in Damascus, the Lord spoke to a believer named Ananias.  ‘Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Troas named Saul, for he is praying.  In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.’  Ananias has heard about Saul and all the harm he did to the believers in Jerusalem and knows that he was coming to town to arrest Christians.  But the Lord tells Ananias to go to him.

Look at the first words Ananias speaks to Saul: Brother Saul.  The archenemy of the church, the dreaded fanatic, is now welcomed into the family.  Here is Ananias laying hands on someone who had approached this city hoping to arrest people like him.  Saul receives his sight and is baptised—a sign of being incorporated into the body of Christ.

Is it right to welcome former enemies in the name of Christ?  Is it right that someone like Saul should be accepted into the church?  Is it fair to expect Ananias to think of this man as his brother?  Grace says it is!  Barriers are broken down amongst God’s people when we realise the grace which saved us and the mercy the God keeps showing us.  Saul had no right to expect God’s forgiveness, but then neither does any of us.  Saul would later write, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Rom. 5:8).  By nature all of us were enemies towards God but through the cross we have been reconciled with him (2 Cor. 5:18) and with his people.

Young people, if you don’t get on with your brother or sister it is not just them that you will hurt—it will sadden your parents too.  Parents when your heart is saddened because you children are squabbling just remember that if you don’t get on with other Christians you heavenly Father is grieved.   It’s the same in God’s family.  He cares for each of us and is saddened when we refuse to love one another.  Maybe we don’t think they deserve our love—is our place in the Christian family based on what we deserved?  Maybe they have a habit of doing things that annoy us—don’t we realise that Christ accepts us even though we continue to fail him?  Maybe they have character traits that they really need to work on—have any of us reached perfection yet?  Next time you are about to complain about someone in the church think about how patient God is with you and see if that transforms you attitude towards them.  Grace transforms community.  Like Ananias we are called to accept former enemies as brothers or sisters.        

Conversion is a surrender to the supreme authority of Jesus

We are saved for service.  It is our great privilege that God has given us gifts to use and has things for us to do.  Before sending Ananias to Saul, Jesus explains to him that Saul ‘is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.’  Sri Lankan Bible commentator Ajith Fernando writes, ‘While Saul encountered more suffering than many other obedient Christians, we must remember that suffering for Christ is a normal part of Christianity and it should come into standard introductions to Christianity for new believers.’ ‘Not to present the need for total surrender to Christ is to present the gospel without a key aspect of Christianity’ (Fernando).  German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in his book ‘The Cost of Discipleship’, “When Christ calls a person he bids him or her, die”.

Since the summer I have been trying to underline this theme of sacrifice.  Part of the reason is because in our culture we are constantly being tempted towards half-heartedness.  The Christian in school is being told that if you want to be happy then you must fit in, so the temptation is to keep your head down and not tell anyone that you belong to Jesus.  The Christian student is being told (sometimes by Christian parents) that the key to fulfilment is achievement of grades, so study becomes everything, and so there is no good time for church or fellowship or Christian service because they are stuck in the books.  The Christian in the office or factory sees the next wrung up the career ladder and believes that will bring satisfaction, so they become a workaholic who ignores their Christian duty towards their home.  The Christian single is being bombarded with messages that say you need to have a partner to be happy, so if there is no suitable Christian to go out with they are tempted to go out with someone who is not a believer.  The Christian shopper sees the advertisement and the glitz and is fooled into thinking that they need that next purchase.  Then add the temptations to gluttony (whether that is to spend all our time in the fridge or in front of the TV), selfishness and laziness.  Our search for joy is so often misdirected.

But then there are the complimentary themes of God’s glory and our joy.  Everything that we are being told is that we will have joy if we put ourselves at the centre of our world.  God calls us to put him at the centre of our world.  God’s glory is to be our chief aim.  But, as John Piper says, ‘God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.’  So when I speak of sacrifice I am not trying to rob you of joy.  I am trying to help us realise the place to find our greatest joy.  I am trying to show us the fullness of life that we were saved for.  Half-heartedness will steal the joy that is on offer.  When Saul set out on a life in which he would suffer for Christ’s name he was not been given second best, he was not to be pitied, he did not have reason to regret being confronted by Christ.  Let’s not deny ourselves the joy that is to be found only in wholehearted service of Christ.  At the end of Sadhu Sundar Singh’s life, as he looked back and realised that he had been saved to tell others the gospel, I am sure he did not think ‘oh if only I could have had a comfortable home, a few foreign holidays, and a nice car, then life would have been a delight.’  I am sure he looked back on his life of sacrifice and thought ‘what joy!’  Add to that the heavenly reward for his service.

Conclusion

Ajith Fernando writes, ‘the fact that the worst of sinners could be converted is a sign that the least likely people can be saved.  Such realities should encourage us to dream about, pray for, and work toward the conversion of resistant people and enemies of the gospel.’  I want to finish with the story on another hostile person who was converted—I read about this guy in a sermon.

Peter was a student in one of the best universities in the England.  He was studying law and was extremely bright.  He had everything going for him.  In fact he thought he was the bee’s knees.  He was also very good at arguing.  He was able to argue against anything his Christian friends could throw at him.  He wasn’t the sort that people expected to become a Christian.  He was too set in his ways and too arrogant.  Well one day, after Peter had had several long discussions with friends about Christianity he sat down and read a book about Jesus.  He read all that night.  At the end of that night he gave his life to Jesus.  That might not be a Damascus Road conversion but it is also amazing.  Jesus had met with him and turned him around.  He rescued this bright young law student who thought he was too clever for Jesus.  Now he is a beautiful Christian who seeks to live for Jesus Christ in his office in London.

Thank God that he is still recuing people today.  Thank God that he rescues some of the least likely people.  Thank God that he rescued us—which is amazing, for by nature we were spiritually dead, blind and hostile to God.  Thank God that as his rescued people he has a great desire to use us in his service.

Copyright note:

Unless otherwise stated all Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission.

Acts 9:1-9 ‘What happens when we truly encounter Jesus?’

This is Christopher Hitchens.  He is an outspoken opponent of all forms of religion.  He is not content to simply call himself an ‘atheist’ but wants to get the term ‘anti-theist’ into circulation.  He explains that you ‘could be an atheist and wish that belief in god were correct’, but an anti-theist ‘is someone who is relieved that there’s no evidence for such an assertion.’  His most famous book is entitled, ‘God is not great.’  Last June, Hitchens was diagnosed with cancer.  He says that his smoking and heavy drinking made him a candidate for the disease and that he would be a very lucky person to live another five years.  As far as I know he has asked that people would not pray for his recovery, for he would not like God to get the credit if the cancer was healed.  He has also asked that people ignore any rumours that might be circulated that he turned to God during his illness.

God could display his glory by allowing Hitchens to carry on in his rebellion and then judge him for all his sin on the day of Judgement.  God could also display his glory by intervening in Hitchens’s life and bringing him to repentance and faith.  We can be sure God will do what is best.  But before we write off the possibility of God converting Hitchens we should remember all the amazing testimonies of faith that there have been through the centuries, including that of Saul of Tarsus.  Indeed, this morning, I want us to realise how amazing our own conversion was (or if you have not yet turned to Christ, how miraculous it would be if you would respond to his gracious invitation).

This was a typical conversion

When it comes to a passage like this—a narrative that focuses on a central character—preachers often ask, ‘what would this person look like if he was around today?’  That’s a complicated question in the case of Saul of Tarsus.  Here was a man in favour with the religious establishment in a society where that religious establishment carried some influence.  He actually believed that he was doing the right thing—he was sure that Jesus was dead and that this new movement of Christ-followers was a danger to his religion.  But behind any outer respectability was a callous heart, as can be seen in the fact that he had stood by giving approval to Stephen’s death and now is breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. 

Saul of Tarsus was blind to the truth of Jesus.  His hatred of Christians revealed that he was actually hostile towards God.  He would have been happy to say that he despised the person of Christ.  So it is going to take a miracle to convert him.  However, the truth is it takes that miracle to convert anyone.  Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit this man would latter write that the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the gospel of the glory of Christ (2 Cor. 4:4); he would explain that the sinful mind is hostile to God (Romans 8:7); and declared that before we were converted we were dead in their transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1).  Of course the blinding light, and heavenly voice, of these events on the Damascus Road were not typical, however Saul’s conversion is typical in the fact that what happens to him is what has happened anyone who has come to faith.

What hope do we have of seeing people come to faith when they are spiritually blind, hostile and dead?  By ourselves we have as little chance of producing spiritual life as someone who goes into a graveyard and tells those who have been buried to get up and live.  It takes an act of God to bring someone from the darkness into the light.  If we want to see people ‘born again’ then we need to be depending on God.  We need to pray for people; we need to ask God to take his life-giving message and open their eyes to see its truth; and we need to obey his instructions to be both a holy and loving community of redeemed people that he can use to display his presence.  These are generally the means that God uses as he brings people to life.

Conversion brings a new attitude towards Christ’s people

Saul had gone to the high priest and asked for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, which was about a week’s journey away.  He had gotten permission to take any Christians he found there as prisoners to Jerusalem.  He had set off on his journey.  But as he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

Notice the connection between Jesus and his people.  It wasn’t Jesus himself that Saul had been going about arresting and imprisoning.  It’s was Jesus’ people.  But Jesus asks, ‘why do you persecute me?’, and declares “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”  To persecute them is to persecute him!

How is our love for Christ demonstrated in our love for his people?  If we refuse to love his people then it is unlikely that we actually love Jesus.  What does it say about our love for Christ if we refuse to forgive people who belong to him?  What does it say about our love for Jesus if we are selective about whom we will be seen with?  What does it say about our love for Jesus if we belittle his people because they don’t sing the songs we like or worship the way we do?  Surely these words put to bed the myth that you can be a follower of Jesus but not desire to be a part of a fellowship of Christians! 

Paul would go from being someone who hunted followers of the Way, to being someone who would call Christians his brothers and sisters, who wrestled in prayer for their spiritual well-being, who went out of his way not to be a burden to them, who gave of himself for their benefit, who shed tears over them, and who cried at times when he was being parted from them.  Encountering Jesus, enables the spiritually dead people to live, the spiritually blind see, changes our attitude towards those who follow him, and finally, transforms our lives for good!

Conversion transforms our lives

“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what to do.”  So marks the beginning of a new journey for Saul.  He would live to face opposition, imprisonment, beatings and eventually execution but he would also experience a joy, peace and hope that would surpass them all.  As one person has said, his life would now be infinitely harder, but infinitely richer. 

I fear that many of us think that inviting Jesus into our lives will leave us on the same path, only now we will have a heavenly friend to walk our way; whereas actually we are put on a new road.  Saul’s life was transformed by encountering Jesus!  Do our lives show that we have been brought on to a different road?  Do we set the agenda or does Jesus?  Are we living to promote ourselves or seek his glory?  Have our priorities and passions been changed?  Do we let him tell us what is right and wrong and then respond in obedience?  Are we following his command to love all our brothers and sisters in the Lord?  If our lives are shaped the same way as they would be if we were not followers of Christ then we have some serious questions to ask ourselves.

My final thought is especially for those who are becoming aware that Christ is trying to get your attention—although it is equally relevant for those of us who are tempted to hold back in our walk with Jesus (which is all of us).  Imagine that we were to visit Saul on the last day of his earthly life.  He is just hours away from execution.  You ask him about those events on the Damascus Road and all that has happened since.  Was it easy being a follower of the way?  No!  Do you regret how you life was changed?  Definitely not!  If you were to do it again would you do it with less passion?  Absolutely not! 

Christ invites us on a path that is tougher, but infinitely richer.  He demands that he sets the agenda.  He commands us to give us sins that we cherish.  He orders us to stand by him when the crowd is going in the other direction.  Remember his words, deny yourselves, take up your cross and follow me.  But though the life he is calling us to may be tough it is infinitely better.  So don’t cheat yourself out of the joy of a life lived for Christ!

 

 

Copyright note:

Unless otherwise stated all Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission.

Acts 8:26-40 ‘The hidden hand of God works for the joy of people

One thing that convinces me that Christianity is true is seeing the various ways that God brings people to himself.  Now you might look at me and say, ‘well, you only became a Christian because you grew up in a Christian home.’  Yes, God often uses the witness of parents to bring people into a living faith.  But I also know of people who God brought to faith through different circumstances.  For example, Mucky came to faith in a remand centre where he turned to the Bible and read of Paul in prison; Neil was influenced by the love of a godly teacher; and in London I met a man from Pakistan whose interest in Christianity was aroused when he read that the Bible teaches that we are to love our enemies, and he pondered on how this was different than anything he had read in the Qur’an.

Every Christian has there story to tell.  Whatever the circumstances surrounding your conversion I hope you can see the hand of God at work.  The seventeenth century preacher, John Flavel, said, ‘In nothing does Providence shine forth more graciously in this world than in ordering the occasions, instruments and means of conversion of the people of God.’  Before you acknowledged him he was at work in the circumstances of your life, ordering events, and moving people to act and speak, that you would come to the place where you would receive his saving love.  The poet Francis Thompson spoke of the ‘Hound of Heaven’ who graciously pursues us.  John Stott writes:

Looking back over my life, I have often asked myself what it was that brought me to Christ.  As I have said already, it was neither my parental upbringing nor my own independent choice; it was Christ himself knocking at the door, drawing attention to his presence outside … Did I open the door, or did he? Truly I did, but only because by his persistent knocking he had made it possible, even inevitable. 

Realising that God is at work in bringing people to himself should affect how we go about telling people about Jesus.  We should know that if it all depended on us then the task would be hopeless.  But as we look at this passage we see that as people step out to offer Christ to others God goes before us.  I also hope that some here will see that the hound of heaven is pursing them and that they will stop running from him.

The individual means God uses to save people (26-29)

Notice the length God goes to meet this one individual, an Ethiopian eunuch.  Philip was in Samaria telling people of the good news of Jesus and amazing thinks were happening.  It might have seemed best that he should stay there God has another plan.  Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaze.”  At that time the Ethiopian is passing in his chariot—God is setting up a divine encounter.  The Holy Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’

Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet.  “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip said.  This man’s encounter with God did not begin when he met Philip.  God had already being working in the situation.  This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship—it would seem that God had created an apatite for spiritual reality.  He is in his chariot reading from Isaiah.  The passage happens to be open at one of the clearest Old Testament prophesies of Christ.  God was the one who set up their meeting.  Philip simply stepped into the situation that God orchestrated and played his part.

God often uses a variety influences and people in bringing people to himself.  You may be aware of a praying grandmother, the witness of a father, the example of a Christian friend, the content of a book and the message of a meeting.  Orchestrating the whole thing is the hand of God.

A young pastor was used to lead a hardened criminal in a county jail to Christ.  This man told that preacher, ‘Now preacher, don’t get the big head because I accepted Christ.  You are just the twenty-fifth man.’  On asking what he meant, the pastor was told that at least twenty-four others had witnessed to him about Christ and that his conversation was the effect of all these together. 

God was at work before the pastor came on the scene.  We may be the first in a line of people or events that God uses to share the good news with someone or the ‘twenty-fifth man’ who witnesses the birth of new life.  Don’t be discouraged if you are never there at the birth stage, you had a role to play.  Whatever our role in that process let’s not forget that true spiritual life is a work of God!

The privilege he gives his people

If we were to turn to the twenty-first chapter of Acts we would see Luke describe Philip as an evangelist.  God gives some people a certain gifting in the area of the sharing the good news.  I often feel that churches don’t put enough effort into finding who God may have gifted in this way and are slow to give evangelists the resources to free them up for this task.  However it is not only those who are gifted as evangelists who are to undertake the task of sharing their faith.  All God’s people have a role.  At the beginning of this chapter we see that, after Stephen was martyred, all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria … Those who were scattered preached the word wherever they went (8:1-4).  Speaking about Jesus is something for the whole church to do!

But, we might say, ‘I don’t have that sort of confident outgoing personality.’  I am not the salesperson type.  Someone responsible for sales once explained, ‘I’ve got these guys working for me who think they’re great salesmen, because they are fast-talking, ambitious ‘sales’ guys.  But they’re actually not the best salesmen.  The girl who’s bringing in the most business is much more laid back, but she’s genuine.  She communicates real concern and sincerity.  She gets next to people, understands and listens to them, and then works really hard to help them get what they want.  She’s brining in the business, but if you asked her, she wouldn’t say she’s a natural salesperson.  It’s really about whether you love the product, and know it well, and whether you actually care for people and want to see them satisfied.  If you really believe in it, then you’ll sell it.’

A Christian writer explains, ‘… although we have different gifts and abilities, the most important factor is how much we love the message of God, and how much we love the people all around us who need to hear it.  You may not be the person who is going to preach to crowds, or lead Bible study groups, but if you really long to see other people become disciples of Jesus, then you will find ways of doing that within the gifts God has given you …’

What we do need is obedience!  Philip responded to the instruction to go to the desert road; he responded to the direction to stay near the chariot; he took the opportunity to answer the eunuch’s question; and he told him the good news about Jesus. 

Sri Lankan Bible-commentator Ajith Fernando writes, ‘When an opportunity comes to talk to someone about Christ, we must pray for guidance, be aware of our shortcomings, and launch out into loving witness about our Saviour … We often miss out on opportunities to witness simply because we do not take the first step to turn a conversation into a witnessing situation … I can think of several situations where I talked about many things with an individual and missed opportunities along the way to make the conversation into a witnessing situation.  I recognise too that the basic problem was my disobedience to the prompting of the Spirit.  But I also know of other situations where I did use the opportunities—and how joyous was the result, for there are few things as thrilling in life as talking to someone about the Saviour.’

‘… there are few things as thrilling in life as talking to someone about the Saviour.’  When we keep the message to ourselves we not only rob our potential hearers of the opportunity to hear the message of life, we also rob ourselves of the joy of being a part of God’s purposes in the world.  But I want to finish by pointing to the joy for those who respond to the message.

God offers you joy

John Piper says that ‘God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.’  He says that the first line of the Westminster Confession of Faith should read, ‘The chief end of man is to glorify God by enjoying him forever.’  God wants our joy!  He doesn’t promise us comfort, immunity from sickness and sorrow, or freedom from opposition and hardships.  But there is joy!  There is the joy of knowing that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.   There is the joy of knowing that our shepherd carries us close to his heart.  There is the joy of living for his pleasure.  There is the joy of the sure hope of the life to come!

The eunuch hears the message about Jesus, foretold by Isaiah hundreds of years before.  He listens to Philip share the good news.  He identifies Christ in baptism.  Then when Philip was taken away from him he went on his way rejoicing.

I want to finish by challenging two sorts of fools. 

The first is those of you who sit in this room, hear the message but hold back from responding.  Somehow you believe that you will have more joy apart from God rather than in the grip of his grace.  Maybe you think that the challenges he will bring are too much.  But remember Jesus’ words, whoever wants to save his live will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and the gospel will save it. 

The second fool is the person who claims that they are a Christian but who persistently compromises with sin.  We all have been there!  The problem is you are looking in the wrong place for joy.  Paul wrote of Demas who because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.  Demas’s problem was not that he sought joy, but that he sought joy in the wrong place.  He sought the shallow joy of worldly pleasures rather than the eternal joy of serving Christ.  Like someone playing with the wrapping paper rather than seeing how great the gift is.  If you are walking at a distance from God because some compromise is too precious for you to give up then you are a fool who is choosing to miss out on the joy of living a life that pleases God.  What’s more your persistent disregard for the challenge of God’s word might suggest that you are not yet been ‘born again’.

If you are a Christian look back on how you came to faith and recognise the hand of God.  If the hound of heaven is perusing you why not give in and let him embrace you in his love.  Let’s all seek the joy of being a part of God eternal purposes in the world.

 

Copyright note:

Unless otherwise stated all Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission.

Acts 4:36-5:11 ‘The Good, the Bad and the Godly’

There are a number of terms we can use to describe ourselves as Christians.  We could say that we are ‘committed Christians’, although I don’t like this term because it gives the impression that the only difference between ourselves and other people is that we put in a bit of effort into our Christian faith.  Some people call Christians ‘good living’—which on one hand might give the impression that Christians are simply moral people who take things a bit seriously, but on the other hand might point to the change that Christ does bring in his people’s lives.  I like the term ‘born again’ because being born is something that you don’t contribute to—we have been given new life in Christ.  What about ‘saint’?  A ‘saint’ in the New Testament is not a special dead Christian it is every Christian (although you will probably be considered a bit arrogant if you start calling you self ‘Saint Eddie’).

 

A term that used to be used to describe Christians was to say ‘those are God-fearing folks.’  To be called a God-fearing person was seen as a good thing.  Now we should know that there is a type of fearing God that a Christian should not feel.  Those who are born again should not fear being condemned on the last day—Christ has dealt with our sin and we have been declared righteous in him.  But there is a type of fear that every Christian should have.  We should be people of awe and reverence towards God.  There is a balance to be found between familiarity with God and revenant fear towards him.  Someone who heard Martin Luther pray said, ‘It was with so much reverence, as if he were speaking to God, yet with so much confidence as if he were speaking with a friend.’ 

 

At the end of this morning’s passage we read that all those who heard of what happened to Ananias and Sapphira, even those in the church, were filled with fear.  This is ‘a fear of displeasing God that comes from a knowledge of his holiness and the consequences of our sin’ (Fernando).  It is a fear we all should have.

 

1. The Good—Barnabas

We have a contrast in our reading.  Barnabas’s actions are compared with those of Ananias and Sapphira.  Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at his disciples feet. 

 

Giving in the early church was voluntary and was designed to meet the needs of others and later to fund the ministry.  This giving was often radical.  Don’t imagine that it was easy for Barnabas to give in the way he did.  This was a part of his financial security that he was selling, in a time with no social welfare.  Perhaps this was his inheritance that he was handing over.  I’ll be the first to put up my hand and say that my giving tends to be safe and not sacrificial.  We give in a way that doesn’t affect the type of car we drive, won’t change our holiday plans or wouldn’t put at risk our ability to treat the kids to whatever indulgence they want.  Here’s a challenge: we are approaching the most materialist and opulent holiday of the year, Christmas; would we be willing to tell even one of our family members not to buy us a gift but to give the money to a Christian charity like Fields of Life or Tearfund?

 

In Forgotten God Francis Chan writes

A few months ago I was speaking at a summer camp, and I was speaking to one of the organisations there that sponsors children.  This volunteer told me about a sixteen-year-old girl there at the camp who sponsors fourteen children, on her own.  I was astonished by this.  Fourteen children (at about thirty dollars a month for each child) is a lot of money for a high school student to come up with.  I talked to this girl and asked her how she did it.  She told me that se works year-round and she works three jobs in the summertime to pay for the child support.  While other teenagers are saving for a car, she is saving lives!  Instead of spending her hard-earned money on herself and her future, she gives it to these fourteen children because she believes God loves them just as much as He loves her.

 

The Bad—Ananias and Sapphira

Presumably Ananias and Sapphira saw what Barnabas did and how it was approved of by the apostles.  They were jealous and decided that they would seek the adulation Barnabas received.  Where Barnabas had given out of a desire to please God they were going to give in order to win praise.

 

When Ananias brings the gift to the apostles Peter sees his deceit.  How did he know about the lie?  Presumably the Holy Spirit gave him insight.  I came across something similar with regards the nineteenth-century London preacher Charles Spurgeon:

‘While preaching at Exeter Hall, [Spurgeon] once broke off his sermon and pointed in a certain direction, declaring: “Young man, those gloves you are wearing have not been paid for: you have stolen them from your employer.”  After the service, an obviously pale and agitated young man approached Spurgeon and begged to speak with him privately.  He placed a pair of gloves on the table and said, “It’s the first time I have robbed my master, and I will not do it again.  You won’t expose me, sir, will you?  It would kill my mother if she heard that I had become a thief”’ (Sam Storms).

 

No one had been forcing Ananias and Sapphira to give.  When Peter addresses Ananias he says: ‘Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold?  And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?’  The problem was not that they hadn’t given all that they received from the sale of the property; the problem was that they pretended that they had—they sought to lie to the church.  ‘How is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit…?’  Satan is the ‘father of lies’, the deceiver—don’t let him get a foothold in your thinking!  Let us always seek to be people of transparency and honesty.  Let us never put on a show to impress and deceive others.

 

Apparently the Greek word translated ‘kept back’, in verse 2, is the same word that is used of Achan’s sin in Joshua 7 in the Greek translation of the Old Testament (LXX).  Luke wants us to see the parallel.  In both accounts the sin is met with a severe punishment.  God cares when there is hypocrisy and deceit in the camp.  God takes the purity in the community of his people seriously.  As Bible commentator Ajith Fernando writes, ‘today when Christians sin against the body, they lose their peace, the body loses its power, and the blessing of God is withheld.’  You may feel that how you behave is only your business; but if you are claiming to be a Christian and this is your fellowship then what you do affects the health and witness of this church.

The Godly—Do we have a godly attitude towards sin?

If we were to read on we would see that this story about Ananias and Sapphira is followed by an account of the church being blessed by God (5:12 -16).  The apostles were unwilling to compromise with hypocrisy and deceit, and the church was better for it.  We need to realise that church discipline is essential to church health.  Ajith Fernando writes that ‘we must confront sin when it appears in the body … today when Christians sin against the body, they lose their peace, the body loses its power, and the blessing of God is withheld.’ 

 

Do we have the godly fear of displeasing God that comes from the knowledge of his holiness and the consequences of our sin?  What about deceit?  Do those who know us best see the same person at home as they do when we are at church?  What about honesty?  One of the things that impacted me about my parents’ faith was I always knew that they told the truth!  If we are married are we committed to our spouse for better or for worse, as we promised we would be?  Are we living for our glory or God’s glory?  Remember that God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble!  What about sacrifice?  Does obeying God mean more to us than our reputation, bank accounts and homes?  What about purity?  Do we battle with temptation seeking the help of the Holy Spirit or have we given up the battle and settled for a life of compromise?  What about living under God’s word?  If we are a single Christian are we committed to only entering into relationships with those who are born again? 

 

What about our church?  Do we realise that our actions are actually the church’s business?  Is discipline one of the features of this congregation?  We should welcome the non-Christian with a non-judgemental attitude, but demand that those who are our members seek to walk in obedience!  Are we so concerned that everyone would be pleased with us that we are unwilling to speak hard words to those whose actions are compromising the church’s witness?  Are we setting an example for our young people in love and truth?  Are we willing, in love, to rebuke and correct those whose actions are contrary to the Bible’s teaching in the hope that such people will not make a ship-wreck of the faith they claim to have?

May we be God-fearing folks who have ‘a fear of displeasing God that comes from a knowledge of his holiness and the consequences of our sin’ 

Acts 1:1-11: ‘Mission is the central purpose of the church’

Imagine a young woman, we’ll call her Sarah, and she becomes a Christian through the witness of a friend at work.  She was full of enthusiasm and wanted everyone else to experience what she had found in Christ.  Being told of the importance of meeting with other Christians she joined a local church—they were a friendly lot and she enjoyed the fellowship. 

Then one Sunday morning the preacher announced that there was going to be a ‘congregational meeting’.  ‘What’s a congregational meeting?’ she whispered to the person beside her.  ‘It’s when everyone comes together to discuss an important issue for the church.’

‘Wow’, she thought how exciting.  All week she wonders what could be so important that the whole congregation has to come together to talk about it!  ‘Maybe the leadership want to inform us of how we are going to reach the whole village for Christ.’  ‘Could this be the start of a revival?’

On the night of the meeting she arrives bubbling with enthusiasm.  She was one of the first there.  But as she looks at people coming in she is surprised that they do not appear as excited as she is.  Did they not know how significant a night this might be? 

The meeting was called to order.  The pastor rises to address the assembled crowd.  ‘My friends, thank you for coming out this evening, we have asked you here because the elders need your advice for making important decision.’  Sarah sat on the edge of her seat in anticipation.  He continues, ‘we cannot decide what colour we should paint the new toilet block’.  The meeting lasted for two hours and involves much heated debate. There are many mundane decisions that our church will have to make if we are going to function effectively.  Toilets do need to be painted; sound-systems do need to be purchased.  But buildings and structures are not what we are about.  These things will only have value if they help us fulfil our central purpose.  But what is our central purpose?  What is the primary thing that we are here to do?  I hope we will see as we look at Acts 1:1-11.

 1.  The continuing work of Jesus (1-5)

Luke begins by writing, In my former book, Theophilus I wrote about what Jesus began to do and to teach until he was taken up to heaven.  The implication is that in his second book—what we call ‘Acts’, Luke records what Jesus ‘continued’ to do and to teach having been taken to heaven.  This verse sets Christianity apart from every other religion.  They all regard their founders as having completed their ministry during their lifetime; Luke says that Jesus had only begun his.

But how does this ministry of Jesus continue?

We will see the special role of the apostles, whose sermons and miracles Luke records.  Indeed the teaching of the apostles forms the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20).  We will also see the vital role of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus continues to work in conjunction with the person of the Holy Spirit.  As we take the teaching of the apostles and depend on the enabling of the Holy Spirit Jesus will continue to work through us too!

In his book, Forgotten God, and it claims that the church has largely forgotten the person of the Holy Spirit.  It focuses primarily on the change the Holy Spirit brings in our lives as he transforms us from within and produces his fruit.  It also warns that in terms of appearance churches can think they are doing a good job by their own efforts.  Get an entertaining speaker, a good praise band and adequate buildings and you can see growth.  But if we want real God-honouring change that changes peoples life we need to rely on God the Holy Spirit.

Zechariah 4:6: ‘… not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty.  Our programs, our events, our plans and our meetings need to be blessed by the power of the Holy Spirit if they are truly going to achieve anything for God.  So let’s humble ourselves, give up on doing anything merely in our strength, and together pray that we might see Christ at work. 

2.  The continuing commission of Jesus (6-11)

In verse 6 the disciples ask about the coming of the kingdom.  Jesus replies that it is not for them to know the times or dates that the Father has set in his own authority.  Then he gives them his commission:  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  This commission reads like a table of contents to the book of Acts for the Holy Spirit is given and the gospel goes to each of these regions—at the end of the book Paul has reached Rome (the centre of the world at that time).

After Jesus had given them his commission he was taken up hidden in a cloud before their eyes.  We read that they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.  “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky?  This same Jesus, who was taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”  John Stott explains that ‘in the same way’ does not imply that his return will be like playing a film of his departure in reverse.  It does not imply that he will return to exactly the same spot on the Mount of Olives or be wearing the exact same clothes.  It does imply that his return will be personal, ‘the Eternal Son still possessing his glorified human nature and body’, and it will be visible and glorious.  And there are some differences between his going and his return.  His departure was witnessed by just eleven disciples, at his return ‘every eye will see him’.  While he departed on his own, he shall return ‘in blazing fire with his powerful angels’ (2 Thess. 1:7).

Here are a couple of the central things that strike me about this passage.  Firstly, Jesus’ command had to do with what they were to be at until he returned.  He has not yet returned so this commission applies to us.  Jesus commands us to be his witnesses here and to the ends of the earth.  Secondly, as we will see in a few weeks, the promised Holy Spirit came at Pentecost; we live after the time of Pentecost so the person of the Holy Spirit is now with us, his people, to equip us for the task. 

 So what is our primary purpose as a church?  What does Jesus commission us to do?  We are to be a reaching-out people.  Mission is to be at the centre of our concerns.  Indeed we should be concerned not only with our own mission but the mission of all God’s people!  Perhaps we need to be more in touch with those who are involved in missionary service overseas.  Hearing and praying about overseas work was a vital part of the spiritual diet of a previous generation—have we become too narrowly concerned with our small corner?  In our small corner do we realise that the mission we share in is God’s mission and that we share in it with other fellowships?  Do we see other local churches in this area as rivals or partners in the task? 

Conclusion: Are we Great Commission Christians?

The founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth, was too old and sick to attend one of the important anniversaries of the organisation.  So he sent a telegram, which was not to be opened until the anniversary meeting.  It contained just one word: ‘others.’  Our church exists not only for the benefit of our members but also for the benefit of those who are not our members.  Reaching those on the outside is largely to set our agenda.  Someone said that ‘the church that lives for itself will die by itself.’ 

When we look at those who don’t know Jesus we have concerns for them—like Jesus we should be moved with compassion when we see people in physical or emotional pain, but also like Jesus our greatest concern for those we come across is that they would know the forgiveness of sin, rescue from the coming judgement and new life with God.  

Swiss theologian Emil Brunner once wrote, ‘a church exists by mission as fire exists by burning.’  So the questions I want to finish with are these ‘Are we are Great Commission church?’, and ‘Are we Great Commission people?’  Do we have a desire to see people won for Christ?  Now I realise that sharing our faith can be difficult, we don’t always know what to say and we can lack the courage to say it.  I have been guilty of keeping my shut when I should have spoken.  As we move through Acts I hope that we will grow in confidence as we see how the Holy Spirit enables people.  But for the moment let’s just limit ourselves to motivation: ‘Do we have a passion to obey Christ, honour God and love people as we share the good news of the gospel?’   

Let that passion keep us praying for non-Christian family and friends.  Let that passion move us to give and pray for the work of evangelistic organisations that work at home and abroad.  Let that passion shape the program of our church.  Let that passion move us beyond our zones of comfort.  Let that passion cause us to want to speak to people about how we have experienced God’s love, forgiveness and acceptance that is offered to all through Christ.

 

Copyright note:

Unless otherwise stated all Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE,

NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION.

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.  Used by permission.