When God Heals!
Whilst in Julian Adam’s seminar at the Brighton conference I prayed for a guy with a TSH level of over 5.5, resulting in an overactive thyroid (the normal TSH level is 0.35-5.5), as soon as I started praying for him the power of God took him out and he was flat on the floor. The only way to find out whether his TSH level had dropped was to have a blood test and after speaking to his GP, his blood tests showed that his TSH level had dropped to 1.6 and was completely notmal. The GP said that without medication this was not possible and could only be put down to a miracle.
I received this report via a text message and although I had faith God would heal I was filled with awe, excitement and felt an increase in faith when I heard what God had done.
In John 14 Jesus promises that those with faith in him will not only do the things he did, but even greater things. Whatever way this verse is understood, to do greater things than Jesus did, I think, is exciting beyond comprehension!!
A short report back from the Brighton leadership conference
Well, I’m back from a refreshing but tiring week at the New Frontiers Together on a Mission Conference in Brighton.
It was great to spend time with brothers and sisters from around the world praising God, praying for the nations and fellowshipping together (Had i had a coffee and muffin with each person I bumped into I could have been there another two weeks at least!). It was brilliant to hear about God’s heart for each individual person across the nations of the earth (With Mbonisi Malaba emphasising a ‘global tug’ in the first talk of the week on Tuesday morning) and fact that God is using us in a mighty way to grow His church throught the nations of the world.
The Mobilise meetings focused on the freedom which we have as Christians through Christ’s finished work on the cross and saw many respond to two brilliant messages given by Tom Shaw and David Stroud on how Christ can set us free from idols in our culture which can so easily ensnare us, often without us even realising it!
Worship was shared between Simon Brading, Kate Simmonds and Evan Rogers. Evan incorporated a new ‘Dubian’ style to to some of his songs and led the celebration on Thursday evening brilliantly. Half way through the worship at the end of the meeting you began to notice the smell of sweat as thousands of people were dancing to the glory of God and getting rather warm!
Terry did a three part series on the past, present and future of New Frontiers in response to some of the Mark Driscoll’s comments from last years conference. I found it very inspiring to hear about the future of New Frontiers, the way it is led and the vision which we share; I very much recommend downloading the series and listening to it if you did not manage to make it to the conference. You can find the talks here (www.newfrontiers.xtn.org/resources) hover over talks then speeches and select the event.
The offering which was taken on Thursday evening raised £960,000 and when added to the offering which is to be taken at Newday and other Together conferences is expected to hit £1.5m.
Onto seeing more lives transformed by the Gospel for the glory of God and growth of the perfect, eternal kingdom where Christ is king..!
Christ’s role as teacher – A model for our interaction with Non-Christians
Christ’s role as teacher was to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour to the poor (Luke 4 v 8.) (that the kingdom of God had come) and to equip the 12 apostles so He could send them out to preach (Mark 3 v 14). He drew large crowds from afar (Mark 3 v 7-8), taught in the synagogues (Mark 12 v 15) and even used questions designed to trap Him to teach (Mark 12 v 13-27). Christ was not swayed by other people’s opinions (Mark 12 v 13 NIV). He taught with integrity, wisdom and power showing His authority over demons (Mark 12 v 14) and performing many miracles during His lifetime on the earth.
This gives us a good picture of what Christ’s role as teacher was and is something we can model our interactions with non-believers on. Christ’s teaching was not confined to the synagogue, but He found opportunities everywhere He went to proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God. Three key aspects of His teaching were; integrity, wisdom and power. When we are interacting with non-Christians it is important to speak with wisdom and integrity remembering that the Bible is the ultimate source of authority.
I often hear people say things like “We don’t seem to see many healings today.” I believe that the reason we don’t see many healings is because we don’t pray for many people to get healed! If in conversation with a non-Christian you discover that they are sick why not explain that you know a God who heals and ask if they would like you to pray for them? It can be scary, but are we truly following the model of Christ’s teaching if we are too chicken to pray for our God to heal? What a great opening to speak about the fact that in heaven there is no sickness and you know the way – Jesus Christ!
3. Christ is our great high priest
For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself.
The author continues his argument on why we can have confidence in Christ by giving three requirements of a high priest. The first is that every high priest is taken from among those he is to represent before God. The second requirement is that a high priest is kathist?mi appointed on behalf of /ordained/set over those he is to represent in things pertaining to God. A high priest is concerned about matters relating to God, there are many matters relating to God but the matters highlighted here are those of offering gifts and sacrifices for sins. The main job of a high priest is that of offering sacrifices for the sins of both himself and the people he represents. Because God cannot allow sin into His presence, mankind could not approach God apart from the high priest. People brought their sacrifices and offerings to the high priest who offered them to God on their behalf. A high priest is obligated to offer sacrifices for His own sin as well of that of those he is to represent because he too is beset with weakness[1]. The Greek word rendered obligated here is opheil? /opheile?, this word is used in the context of owing money or giving the goodwill due. It is used in 1 John 4 v 11 to speak of how we ought to love one another; “if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” And in Ephesians 5 v 28 where Paul says that men ought to love their wives as they do their own bodies.[2] In this same way a high priest is obliged to offer sacrifices for his own sins as well of those he represents. Because he is taken from among men and beset with weakness he is able to deal gently/show compassion metriopathe? to those who are ignorant and misguided. Some sins may be committed in ignorance, people may not realise that what they are doing is sin or if they understood how serious what they are doing, would they do it? Even though some people’s sin may cause him anger or grief he must be able to find in his heart to deal gently, show compassion and intercede with God for to all the people he represents. We can now freely approach God through Christ, the great high priest who was sacrificed for the sins of the whole world, Christ can represent mankind before God because He too was subject to the weakness of the flesh;[3] He faced temptation and saw it through to the end, suffered loss, experienced both emotional and physical pain and experienced the ultimate weakness of the flesh, death. Christ never sinned and yet is one with us in our sinfulness because he took our sin upon Himself on the cross. [4]
[1] Not just sin but all the weaknesses of the flesh.
[2] opheil? /opheile? Cf; 1 John 2 v 6, 3 John 1 v 8, Philemon 1 v 18, Hebrews 2 v 17, 2 Thessalonians 1 v 3, 2 Thessalonians 2 v 13
[3] Hebrews 2 v 14
[4] 2 Corinthians 5 v 21
Romans 1:1-32
God’s wrath towards all unrighteousness (1:18-32)
- Those who suppress the truth are running headfirst towards eternal death, God’s wrath is his intense hate of all sin, sin must be punished and Christ took that punishment on the cross. “Christ became sin…” this punishment was something we deserved, yet Christ bore God’s wrath for all those who “live by faith” (1 v 17). God’s wrath will eventually be completely revealed through eternal separation from Him. It is now being revealed through the act of dying without being saved.[1] Cf point 6: Romans 6:23
- Those who suppress the “Truth” turn away from the Gospel, deny that they need it and live in sin.
- What may be known about Him, is what God has revealed to us through the grandeur and unity of nature, intricate detail, POWER etc… of Creation, they have clearly been seen by all mankind (as we are all on Earth!), everyone has seen them, therefore all are without excuse to give God the glory for His creation while God and creation are separated to prevent idolatry.
- For although they knew God i.e. in the Garden of Eden and the Israelites from crossing the desert through the exile in Jerusalem, they did not honour/glorify Him or thank Him for creation and His provision (also Jesus’ death on the cross for us today).
- When you look at creation you can’t but come to the conclusion that there is a god who has orchestrated it. [2]Many people would like to believe there is some force bigger than creation looking after them, they are searching for God. But because they can visibly see the power of creation they worship it rather than God who has created it and deserves the glory. Claiming to be intelligent, people have turned away from God and believe they can explain everything without the need for Him. Thus they became foolish and even the very power of God [3]- the Gospel – is foolishness to them[4]. They deny that it is valid, necessary and relevant; have become blind to the Truth and enslaved to their unbelief.
- Lack of faith leads to unbelief.[5] Because of the Israelites’ lack of faith they habitually worshipped idols instead of God,[6] glorifying the created and not the Creator. Because God did not get the glory, honour, praise and worship that he was due He gave the Israelites over to their sinful desires. Do we also do this today? Worshipping temporary, material things such as money, wealth, fame, celebrities, television…
- Because of their sinfulness “God gave them over to their shameful lusts” (1:24-26) they exchanged the Truth for a lie Cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:10. God wanted mankind to truly love him and not be programmed to do so; therefore their actions have a consequence.
- Women exchanged natural relations with unnatural ones i.e. other women
- Lust is typically sex (and in this passage it is all about sex) but can be for power, wealth, worldly desires. Note: the desire must be SHAMEFUL to fit into this category; since a lust after God, for example, is not shameful!
- In the same way women were with women, so were men with men.
- Men completely abandoned women
- Men were overwhelmed (G1572) with passion for each other (inflamed: it burned in their hearts)
- The penalty for their perversion is death, and death (Verse 32) is separation from God (Romans 6:23)
- 4 words Paul uses to describe unnatural acts: shameful (1:26), indecent (1:27), degrading (1:24) and perverse (1:27). In the Word on the Street the acts are referred as “inhuman”
- Verse 28 – Because they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, give Him the glory he deserves and committed indecent sexual acts, God allowed them to continue in this way, He gave them over to their depraved mind and did not stop them from doing what should not have been done (Verse 29 – 31). [7]
- God did not stop them because true love does not come from being forced to do something, true love is from the heart. We are not robots, but have free will and can choose to love God.
- Everyone knows at least a part of the Law (God’s righteous decree), the Law reveals what sin is (Romans 7:7) and the consequences of our sin. They also know God (V 21), weather saved or not they still know Him.[8]
- Not only people commit sinful acts but fail to rebuke those who commit acts, by doing so approve and encourage others to do the same sinful acts.
[1] Paul is not ashamed of the Gospel because it is the Truth, it is the only way and those who live by faith will enjoy heaven. Paul has a righteous fear of God and His punishment for sin. It is Christ’s sacrifice (1 John 2:2 NASB) that removes God’s wrath we deserve and by which we can be credited with righteousness.
[2] We should not only recognise that God orchestrated creation but consider each part of creation relation to Him and see Him through each intricate part of it.
[3] Romans 1:16
[4] 1 Corinthians 1:18
[5] Romans 1:8
[6] The first time was when they constructed a bull out of the gold meant for God’s temple worshipped it instead of God. Exodus 32; Psalm 106:20
[7] Cf. 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Gal 5:19, Col 3:5
[8] The ‘way out’, to be credited with righteousness = The Gospel, good news.
Romans 1:1-32
Introduction (1:1-7)
- Introduces himself because his audience haven’t seen him before.
- He is chosen by God (Apostle) to spread the Gospel
- He begins by summarising the whole Gospel (v2-6)
- God has made his promises beforehand through prophets (1:2) (Hebrews 1:1)
- Jesus is a descendant of David i.e. fully man (1:3) (was prophesied from Genesis)
- He is fully God as defined by his resurrection (1:4) (Hebrews 1:2-3)
- He is gracious in giving us obedience through faith “for the sake of His name among all the nations” (emphasis on cross-cultural good news) (1:5)
- Paul prays for the church in Rome (1:7)
Longing to go to Rome (1:8-15)
- Thanks God that their faith is known across the world. (1:8)
- Wishes to see them and provide mutual spiritual nourishment. (1:12)
- Paul cannot but preach the gospel to both Jew and gentile alike. (1:14)
The righteous live by faith alone (1:16-17)
- Paul states he is not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God’s for salvation. For everyone who believes, both Jew and Gentile alike. (1:16)
Those who are made righteous (Christians) live by faith (1:17)
Preaching the whole Bible as Christian scripture
According to the New Testament, however, the one great event of the last day turns out to embrace the whole of history between the first coming and the second coming of Jesus. Commentators have often used the illustration of the foreshortened view of one looking at a vista of mountain peaks. In the distant view the peaks appear to merge into a single range, but as we come closer to the range we discover that there is in fact a more considerable distance between the peaks and that we must travel further to reach the most distant. In the same way, the prophetic view is said to be foreshadowed so that all the events of the end, separated by unspecified time, appear as one event. When we arrive at the fulfilment, however, we discover that the coming of the son of Man is not a single peak but twom or three if we include His coming by His Holy Spirit. I refer again to the discussion on the structure of revelation in chapter 8.[1]
[1] P 234
Preaching the whole Bible as Christian scripture
Believing that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, so that we might have life in His name is about more than conversion. It is about life, about living by faith, about living with God, about knowing who Jesus is and what he has done, about what God is like. You can hardly get anything more comprehensive than that. But the point is that John put his material together with care and according to plan. The authors of the four gospels do not invite the preacher to treat their brilliant assembling of the events in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as if they were a collection of unconnected texts.[1]
[1] P 232
Preaching the whole Bible as Christian scripture
Thomas, however, cannot believe that Jesus has really risen, and thus Thomas needs to be convicted of the continuity of things, not the radical discontinuity. So, the invitation to touch him is to convince him that the Jesus that stands there is the same Jesus he knew before, the Jesus who had died on the cross. As was true of the disciples who thought Jesus was a ghost (Luke 24:36-43), Thomas needs to know that Jesus is a physical reality and not a ghost or apparition. As the crucifixion has been bodily, so the resurrection is bodily. The resurrection, then, signals both continuity with the past and discontinuity. The same Jesus is alive, but henceforth they will relate to him differently. The age of the spirit as the agent of the world is about to begin.[1]
[1] P 229
Preaching the whole Bible as Christian scripture
Bruce Waltke writes of the Psalms, that wee see four distinct points in the progressive perception and revelation of the text occasioned by the enlarging of the canon.
1. The meaning of the Psalm to the original poet.
2. Its meaning in the earlier collections of Psalms associated with the first temple
3. Its meaning in the final and complete Old Testament canon associated with the second temple.
4. Its meaning in the full canon of the Bible including the New Testament.[1]
Then we will understand why some of the great exegetes, commentators, and preachers saw that it was the Samaritan who was the neighbour and that before we can love our neighbours we must love and receive the one who came to be our Samaritan Neighbour and to rescue us. Pertinent to this point is the statement by Thomas Long in which he sees sermons as literary parallels to their progenitor, which is, “the ‘gospel’ genre itself, a literary form in which virtually every element of plot is shaped by its denouement, the passion.”[2]