Here’s a sermon I preached last week at the 8am service at BH.

I do note form, so you need to get in my brain to work out what goes in between!

---

Today we start a new sermon series in the book of James…

…so this morning, I want to spend the first few minutes looking at the book of James as a whole – what’s it all about? Then the rest of our time in today’s passage, James 1:1-12

So what do we know about the book of James?

READ:      James 1:1

It’s an early LETTER

Written by James…  an apostle, church leader in Jerusalem, and the brother of Jesus

It’s written to Jewish Christians   (12 Tribes)

…who have been persecuted  (scattered among the nations)
…Acts 8:1 (after Stephen got stoned)

A very PRACTICAL book

…short, punchy, to the point   …often little explanation  …just do it!

BUT… James knows we don’t do things to merit God’s love… we do because of God’s love

James 2  -  “show me your faith without deeds”… faith that leads to action

Famous Verse…    James 1:22
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

As church goers… We are in danger… we hear the word… but we must do what it says!

Let’s make that our prayer throughout this series on James (and any other time)… that we would HEAR the word and DO what it says.

Let’s pray that our hearts may be gripped and changed by the word!

PRAYER
READ:      James 1:1-12

Were you thinking what I was thinking??  Did he just say what I think he said??

v.2    Consider it pure joy… ??    Wow, what a way to start a letter!

Context:    Religious persecution (v1)  +  Poverty (v9)

Wider Context:    “Trials of many kinds”  (v2)
Make it personal…  Bereavement, Unemployment, Sickness, Loneliness etc.

“Whenever” - expect them to come, expect them to come again

BIG QUESTION  -  How do we move from trials to joy?

Follow James’ Argument…

Trials = Testing of Faith (v3)  -  (not Judgement for the Christian)

Testing develops Perseverance

Perseverance must finish it’s work so you may be Mature + Complete

This is Joy… being mature + complete in Christ!

But there’s a problem!!

v.4 – mature, complete, not lacking anything …that’s joy!
But…  v.5 – If any of you lacks wisdom he should ask God

We need God’s wisdom to persevere through trials!

v.5 God gives wisdom to those who ask in Faith

What is wisdom??

Wisdom  =  Seeing things God’s way

Seeing…    the BIG picture, God’s plan, Hope in despair, God’s sovereign hand at work

Seeing the Big picture takes us to verse 12  -  CROWN OF LIFE… a picture of Joy!!

I don’t know your trials… But let’s persevere!
…and lets ask for God’s help, his wisdom
…and lets focus on the prize, the joy of knowing Christ now, and reigning with him forever!

I don’t often cry, but it’s hard not to when listening to Gianna Jessen speak of her hope in Christ. Part 1 is her story, a child who survived an abortion, part 2 is a moving call for men to be men, women to be women, and to live for Jesus.

I’d never heard of this lady before, so thanks to Adrian Warnock for blogging it.

I, like John Piper, hate the prosperity gospel. But, I wonder if your reaction to it is dependant on the audience that views it… I guess when I flick on GodTV, TBN etc. (a rare event) and see a bit of TD Jakes, Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Benny Hinn, Todd Bentley, Creflo Dollar or maybe the Copelands…* my general reaction is indifference, I know the teaching is wrong, but part of me thinks, so what, if stupid Americans want to waste their money on a prayer hankerchief (true story) then who am I to stop them!

What makes me hate it more is when you hear people speak from personal experience from the developing world of how via crusades and GodTV, prosperity preachers will extract money from the poorest of the poor - and what if you don’t get financial blessings or you’re not healed - that’s right, you didn’t have enough faith! This exploitation of the world’s poorest people makes me actively hate it, but shouldn’t I have felt this strongly anyway? Hatred that God’s word is twisted? Hatred that people get rich on the name of Jesus? Hated that the faith of many is crushed by the false promises of wolves?

I don’t know if you watch ‘Mock the Week’… anyway one of the rounds on the show is called “Things you wouldn’t hear at…” So here is my list… “Promises of God you wouldn’t hear from a prosperity preacher“… if you like a ‘poverty gospel’, name and claim these promises of God for yourself!

1. Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted (2 Tim 3:12)
2. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away (Job 1:21)
3. [God's] power is made perfect in [your] weakness (1 Cor 12:9)
4. There is no one who does good, not even one! (Rom 3:12)
5. Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds. (James 1:2)

Paul has some good quotes on this:

If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. (2 Cor 11:30)

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. (Phil 3:10)

Let’s name and claim these truths - let us boast only in our weakness and in Christ crucified that He may get all the glory!

* On a side note, I found two books by one of the prosperity preachers named above on my church bookstall. None of my church leaders had heard of this preacher, so were unaware of the heresy contained there in. If you’re a church leader make sure you read up on who’s teaching what - go to Wesley Owen, chances are 50% of the books in the best sellers will be prosperity preaching!

Mark Driscoll’s new book comes out at the end of September and is a book form of the ‘Christ on the Cross’ sermon series. Here’s the promo video…

Here’s an outline of my talk from camp… it’s all about Jesus, penal substitution, Passover…

---

In our time together now we’re going to look at 2 big points that help us to understand Jesus’ death - so please keep your Bibles open as we look at them together. Ultimately we’re going to see that the Cross is the focal point of John’s Gospel and the central point in human history and God’s plan for his world!

CHRISTIAN – keep listening
PRAY

So where are we in John?..
We saw this morning that Jesus physically gave new life to Lazarus – he spoke life into him. We gonna see in this final section of Chapter 11 how Jesus gives us new life.

Come with me into the passage. From verse 47 we see that Caiaphas and he other priests are plotting. He may be the high priest, kindof like the Archbishop of Canterbury, but he’s not a good man, in fact he’s plotting to kill the only, truly good man.

It says (v.51) that Caiaphas ‘prophesied’… that would usually imply that he’s speaking God’s words, but he’s not. He’s speaking his own words, they’re selfish words that expose him, he’s trying to preserve his position and his power (v.48) – he sees Jesus as a threat to this.

John sees the irony of Caiaphas’ words, the fact that unwittingly he does prophecy, he does speak God’s words. Look down with me at v.50, here’s the key verse:

“You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish”
John knows, writing after Jesus’ death that Caiaphas’ words couldn’t have been truer – it was better that Jesus died than the whole nation perish!

1.    Jesus will die for others

Caiaphas reveals two true aspects about the nature of Jesus’ death:
1.    There is a penalty – death
2.    There is a substitution – either Jesus dies or the nation dies

This is a concept that clever theological people call ‘Penal Substitution’ – it sounds long and complicated, but it’s quite simple – there is a punishment to face (death) but there’s someone else (a substitute, Jesus) who takes that punishment.

We’re going to see that this idea of the death penalty and a substitution are repeated throughout the Bible.

Let’s move on to the next section in this passage to see how Penal Substitution is revealed.

Come with me to verses 55-56…
Let’s read…

Why did John include this section?  - it seems like a fairly mundane question…

Isn’t He (Jesus) coming to the (Passover) Feast at all? (v.56)

But the question asked by the crowd, and John’s reason for including it here takes on a whole new significance, when we understand what the Passover Feast is, and who Jesus is…

Passover Feast = lamb sacrificed to remember the Exodus (God’s rescue of his people) from Egypt
Celebration for the Jews

“Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

So of course Jesus will be there! Why? Because He is the Lamb (Jn 1:29)
Paul - Christ, our Passover lamb – 1 Corinthians 5:7

2. Jesus will die at the Passover (v.55-56)

What else do we see… (v.55) People had come for ‘ceremonial cleansing’
Cleansing from Sin…
What is the job of the lamb? – (Jn 1:29) ‘who takes away the sin of the world’, it is Jesus (the lamb) who will do the cleansing

How does he take away sin?  -  by dying!

To really understand what’s going on we need to take a closer look at the first Passover… Exodus 12:

(DEATH) PENAL(TY)

Come with me to Egypt, over 1000 years before Jesus. God’s people are in slavery. God sends a judgement of 10 plagues against the whole land, after the Pharaoh refuses to set God’s people free. The final plague is that the first-born son in every household and every first-born animal would be killed by God…
(v.12) I will pass through Egypt and strike down every first born – both men and animals – and I will bring judgement on all the god’s of Egypt. I am the Lord.

…a death penalty

SUBSTITUTE

God promised that if his people sacrificed a lamb for a special meal and then spread its blood on their doors then the angel of God would pass-over, and spare judgement on that household. God provides the substitute.

We know that those who sheltered under the blood of the lamb were passed-over, they were spared God’s judgement. The substitute took the penalty from God, blood was spilt so that those who trusted in it and in God’s promises would be spared – they found shelter and safety from God because of the blood of the lamb.

This great rescue of God is a huge flashing arrow pointing to the cross. That’s why John includes this section, it’s reminding us of God’s great rescue of his people in the past, to point us forward to his great rescue at the cross.

We know the whole of John’s gospel is building up to the cross…  my time has not yet come! (John 2, Wedding at Cana)

PENAL
We Sin  -  Thoughts, words and actions
We do stuff God hates
We fail to do stuff God loves
God judges us, we deserve death

SUBSTITUTE
-    Caiaphas was right! Better that one man die (Jesus) than we all perish
-    God provides the substitute
-    At the cross Jesus takes our death penalty

RESULT
Life… eternal
No Condemnation

This is why the Cross is the biggest event in human history…
…because rightly sinful humans like you and me deserve to face the full force of the right and just anger of a perfect, holy God – that means we should face the death penalty.

But here’s the shock, Jesus – God himself – gave up his life for us, he was our substitute, he stood in our place, he exchanged his goodness for our rebellion, and suffered under God’s punishment, that which we deserved.

CHRISTIAN
Look to the cross. Enjoy the fact that you have eternal life, that you have no punishment to face because Jesus took it for you. Don’t be ashamed by the apparent weakness of the cross – it saved you. Don’t move on from the Cross – it is sufficient to save you and sufficient to keep you.

NON-CHRISTIAN
Where is your substitute!  You have none! So as it stands you will face the death penalty. You will face God in judgement for eternity, standing alone, with no defence and no shelter from his just anger. Come to Jesus and find life, shelter under his blood, begin eternal life today.

Only when we understand that we are sinners, rebels against God, and that we deserve to face the death penalty for our rebellion - and only when we look to the Cross, to see Jesus hanging and dying in our place as our substitute can we truly and rightly understand how far God’s love for us goes.

This, the power of the cross:
Christ became sin for us;
Took the blame, bore the wrath—
We stand forgiven at the cross.

This, the power of the cross:
Son of God—slain for us.
What a love! What a cost!
We stand forgiven at the cross.

Adrian Warnock interviews Mark Driscoll - videos here

Mark Driscoll reflects on his time in the UK here and here

My posts on Together on a Mission 2008

My posts on the Dwell London conference

Mark Driscoll’s pastors training track (audio) - Be Radical Plant Radical Churches

Together on a Mission 2008 (audio) - Main Sessions

Off to CYFA camp in Colwyn Bay (sunny North Wales tomorrow) - 10 days of fun, hard work and learning lots about Jesus from John’s Gospel.

Mark Driscoll concluded the Dwell London conference on the subject of Preaching Jesus, and then finished with a short Q&A session. He gave 6 points about preparing to preach:

• What does the Scripture say?
• Theological - What does it mean?
• How can I make it memorable? - a hook to hang the sermon on - connect with doctrines, big words, emotion, images, people, characters
• Apologetic - How do people resist the message? - Answer the objections
• Missional - Why does this matter to our community?
• Christological - How is Jesus the hero?

On the 6th point Driscoll went on to talk a lot about how we can preach Christ from the Old Testament by using; prophecies, Christophonies, types (Adam, Priests, Prophets, Kings), services (tested in a garden, tested in wilderness etc.), events (Passover, Day of Atonement etc.), titles of God.

Mark simply concluded by saying:

“It’s all about Jesus”   “Love Jesus”  “Talk about Jesus lots”

He said, “If it’s about Jesus, it works… and it makes up for a lot!”

He then addressed a Q&A session mainly answering questions about the role of a wife and family life in church planting ministry. He also had time for a quick jab at us Brits, he said two of our biggest weaknesses were our “fake niceness” and our “cowardice” particularly in addressing big questions - like sex. All in all great conference, watch this space for more stuff from the Acts29 and Porterbrook Network partnership…

Here’s a little video produced by UCCF for the final night at NWA. If you want to understand the Bible from beginning to end and only have 3 minutes, this is a good place to go!

This morning I was roused from my bedroom at the unearthly hour of 10am. I was expected the gas man, so I just picked up the phone and buzzed him in. To my surprise I was greeted at the door by two averagely well dressed young men. They said they were from the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and asked me if I’d like a leaflet about the Bible… you can guess where this is going.

I said I already knew a fair bit about the Bible and that I was a Christian. I think they might have left it there, but I couldn’t resist asking them why my translation of John 1:1 was so different to theirs… I kept trying to get an answer as to why their translation, the New World Translation, changes the phrase “and the Word was God”, to “and the Word was a god“. I tried to explain that all other translations I know of, those translated before and after the NWT all use “was God”, and only theirs renders it differently - and completely changes the meaning.

These guys weren’t able to answer the obvious translation issue. But they’re not stupid (well they are a bit) they had another argument up their sleeve… If Jesus is God then why did he pray to his Father in John 17? This brought back happy memories of Mike Reeves on the Trinity at Word Alive, I explained that Jesus is in nature God, but is a distinct person from the Father, and the Spirit… you know, Trinity, Father, Son and Spirit loving each other?? They said, “oh you believe in the Triune God?” as if it was some weird and wacky belief.

The other guy then took me to Colossians 1 - “Jesus is the firstborn”. I explained that firstborn is not the same as being born first, or being created first but is to do with Jesus’ pre-eminence and heir status over creation. I asked them why humanly speaking Jesus died, why it was that that the Jews brought blasphemy charges against Jesus??

The first guy sensed they weren’t really getting anywhere so made moves to go… I enquired once more about the accuracy of their bible, but no answers. But they said they might come back, part 2 pending, maybe…

A Biblical Response to JWs

Key Verses to look at

What do you do when your world falls apart? What do you do when everything goes wrong? What do you do when as the Psalmist says, your flesh and heart fail (Psalm 73:26)? What do we do, how do we respond when we face suffering, and what seems like pointless random suffering?

I thought those were just theoretical questions before a few years ago, and they were challenged again after receiving the news of a mate from back home dying suddenly on Friday. He wasn’t a close friend, but he was a mate; we played football together, we went to the pub together, we played Football Manager together… we grew up together. From perfect health, to illness and death within a few days, 23 years old - it is tragic and sobering.

(some of) The Riseley Boys: Campbell, Czaicki, Stu, Me, Bonce, Boom

How do we respond? Shock - sometimes when people die it’s a long process, people have time to prepare, this was sudden and shocking. Grief - I cried, I’m a long way from home right now, I’m not there with the guys to grieve, but am still in mourning. Shaken - it shakes me up to the reality, the brevity of life… will I make my life count?

How do I respond as a Christian? How do I respond to the fact that I believe in an all-powerful, all-loving God who has power over life and death and all things in this world, yet let this tragedy take place? First, I grieve (John 11:35), I cry out to God to bring the pains of this world to an end. But why would God let it happen, surely this suffering is pointless? Jesus is asked some tough questions like this in Luke 13… there’s some people at a place called Siloam who get crushed by a falling tower (18 people die)… Jesus doesn’t focus on those who die, but on those who are left, those asking the questions… he says that one day you’ll die too, and face God. The only way we can escape death is to trust the One who beat death, Jesus Christ.

Why do I keep going? Why do I keep trusting a God who lets this stuff happen? Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26). Why then must I persevere - because there is hope! There is hope of life, true life, eternal life, for whoever puts their trust in Christ.

I’ve just come back from New Word Alive. On the final night Richard Cunningham spoke on our call to serve God, in his talk he spoke about David, his nephew. David was diagnosed with Leukaemia at the age of 11 (he died a few weeks ago) at his diagnosis he said to the doctor - “I’m not scared of death. I’ve got a friend called Jesus who will keep me safe”. That is simple, child-like faith, but that is all that is required to receive new life, a simple trust that Jesus is king, that he died in your place for your sins, and that he rose to new life that we might too.

If you’re not a Christian, can you give any answers to the problem of suffering, do you find hope or meaning in tragedy? Seek Jesus, only the One who has suffered to the point of death, and now lives can help, can give answers. If you are a Christian is your view of God big enough, is He sovereign enough to answer these questions? If you’re not currently experiencing suffering, do you have a theology of suffering which is rooted in the cross and the glory of God’s sovereignty - if not, how do you expect to stand when the storm comes? I can’t commend highly enough a book by Marc Maillefer called ‘God in the Storm‘, it will help you to focus on Christ in your suffering.