Sermons @ Kingsley - Audio

Sanctified through the Spirit

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 02:06:00 +0000

In part 4 of our series in 1 Peter we continue to explore the glorious salvation that we have been given as Peter describes it in the first 2 verses of his letter. In this message we study what it means to be sanctified through the Holy Spirit. We discover 3 aspects of sanctification: Positional, Progressive and Perfect. It may sound like theological jargon but understanding these concepts makes a massive difference to the way we live each day and the priorities that drive what we do together as a church.

God's Sovereignty, Our Salvation

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 01:49:00 +0000

God’s Sovereignty, Our Salvation - audio

1 Peter 1:1b-9

05/02/2012

Introduction

· Series - Living up to our calling in Christ rather than being controlled by fears, circumstances or sinfulness.

· Last week - importance of right authority in our lives. Principles we discover will help make the choices we face easier, but regardless of whether they are easy or hard, we must have a determination to choose to come under the authority of Christ rather than be controlled by fears, circumstances or sinful desires.

· This week we will explore some truths that are going to be very helpful in making right decisions - truths that centre around the sovereignty of God in our salvation.

1 Peter 1:1-9

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ²who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:

Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

Praise to God for a Living Hope

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, ⁵who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ⁷These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, ⁹for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. ^{^[1]}

Handouts - as we go through you are going to be looking at some wonderful truths about God, particularly relating to His Sovereignty. We are also going to learn some wonderful truths about ourselves and the salvation we enjoy from Him.

Write them down! If you are not yet a follower of Jesus these truths will not yet be true of you - write them down anyway because I pray that as you discover God’s truth you will come to a place of receiving the wonderful salvation that we will be talking about today.

To God’s elect,

This isn’t in Peter’s letter, the translators of the NIV added it in so that the sentence would flow better in English.

strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia

The word “strangers” here is sometimes translated “aliens”. It was commonly used to describe people who came from other places and either settled down as temporary residents.

Philippians 3:17-4:1

¹⁷Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you. ¹⁸For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. ¹⁹Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. ²⁰But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, ²¹who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. Therefore, my brothers, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, that is how you should stand firm in the Lord, dear friends!

Truth about Me: I do not belong here, I am a citizen of Heaven!

I wonder if any of you can finish the line from the first verse of a well-known hymn…

“Guide me, O thou great Jehovah, pilgrim through this barren land.”

That whole song is about the idea being expressed here - we are pilgrims from somewhere else on our way to somewhere else. We are just passing through.

And we’re not strangers in Perth, or Western Australia or Australia - we’re strangers in the world.

Here’s another song for you… “I still call Australia home”. Great song, not true for you if you’re a Christian!

Nowhere in this world is home for us. Home is where the heart is as the saying goes.

Colossians 3:1&2

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. ²Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

If you want to be free from the control of fear, circumstance and sin you need to train your heart and mind to operate according to this truth - you do not belong here, you are a citizen of Heaven.

How does remembering that we are citizens of Heaven help us when we are struggling with fear and stress? How does it help us when our problems seem overwhelming? How does it help us when temptation seems to have an unshakeable grip on us so that we do things we know we ought not to do?

The answer is quite simple - it corrects our perspective. It helps us to see with the eyes of faith instead of by natural sight.

To explain what I mean, we need to get into verse 2:

…who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood:

We are citizens of Heaven because of God’s choice and God’s action in saving us.

We are saved according to God’s grace, not according to anything we have done to deserve it. The reassurance that Peter gives to us through this letter is that just as God saved us by bringing us into His kingdom by His choice and His action; so He continues to save us by His choice and His action. Our security is completely wrapped up in who God is and what He does - it never depends on us. Neither our security in the next life nor our security in this life is in our own hands, it’s in God’s.

If you are a stranger in the world, someone who has been chosen by God to belong to Him, you are completely secure in Him.

Some of you might be feeling a little bit uncomfortable by the whole “chosen by God” part. Didn’t you choose Him? Isn’t it up to you to decide to be saved, to “accept” salvation that He offers to everyone but which most refuse?

What does it mean that we have been “chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father”?

Does it mean that God chose to save those who He knew in advance would believe in Jesus?

That’s what I used to think when I was younger, before I’d studied this concept in detail.

No, it means much more than that. The best way to explain it is to look at the life of Jesus, and how this same word “foreknowledge” is applied to His life.

I want to read to you from Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost - the sermon in which Peter for the first time publicly used the “keys to the Kingdom of Heaven” that we talked about last week, by telling people how they could be saved and be part of God’s kingdom through faith in Jesus.

Acts 2:22-23

“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know. ²³This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.”

Here’s the concept that most of us struggle to get our heads around: even as humanity was carrying out the ultimate act of rebellion - nailing God the Son to a cross - we were still acting in accordance with the set plan and purpose of God. God was not powerless to intervene. God was not surprised, or a victim of circumstance.

If you look at the circumstances surrounding Jesus’ execution, there are a huge number of factors that were each critical in leading up to His crucifixion in order for it to occur and also for it to fulfil prophecy.

Let me list just a few:

One of His disciples needed to be a betrayer.
The rest of His disciples needed to abandon Him.
The Jewish leaders needed to be corrupt.
The Roman governor needed to be weak.
The Roman soldiers needed to be excessively cruel.
The execution needed to be by crucifixion and not some other method.
Jesus’ bones must not be broken.
The soldiers must gamble for His clothes.
Jesus needed to be buried in a rich person’s tomb.

etc. etc. !

God made His control over these events obvious by revealing in the Old Testament precise details of how He would bring these things about. That’s what foreknowledge is talking about. It’s God knowing in advance how He would bring about His plan.

Proverbs 6:4 says

The Lord works out everything for his own ends—

even the wicked for a day of disaster.

Ephesians 1:11

^“In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will”

What’s left out of everything? Nothing! There is nothing that lies outside of the sphere of God’s sovereignty. He is moving everything toward His own ends.

That’s a staggering truth.

Truth about God: God works out everything for His good purposes.

As we go through life there are times that it gets pretty tough to see that.

There are times that we feel that God is either not that good or not that powerful… why would we be suffering so much otherwise? Surely a good and powerful God would do a better job of looking after us!

Surely He would hold back the tsunamis, prevent the abuse, cure the addictions, ailments and so on.

It’s much easier to like a god who wants to help but is held back for some reason - maybe it’s because he’s not powerful enough, or because he’s respecting our independence or whatever.

But that’s not what the Bible teaches about God.

He is Good, He is completely in charge, yet bad things still happen.

How is that possible?

The truth is that only God knows. We simply aren’t able to know how He is able to move a world which is under the curse of sin and spiritual darkness according to His purposes, while never Himself either doing evil or tempting anyone else to do evil (James 1:13).

What we do know is that someday it will all make sense to us.

When Jesus was about to go through the horrors of His arrest, torture and execution do you know what He did?

He got His disciples together and He told them the end of the story. He explained that His sufferings were necessary in order to bring about the glorious purposes of God - our eternal enjoyment of Him and His eternal pleasure in us. He told them of Heaven (John 14-16).

We need to know that whatever suffering we are going through, have been through or will go through, God is leading us to a wonderful destination, and every part of our pilgrimage here as strangers in the world has a purpose that is linked to eternity.

Truth about me: Every part of my journey in this life has an eternal purpose. I am part of God’s big story.

Illustration - the story of Joseph in Genesis - remember what he went through? Where was God in the midst of all those injustices?

Genesis 50:20

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

Principle - we need to enlarge our vision of God and of God’s story in which we are a part.

Illustrations

· we’re one character in a very large book!

· solar eclipse - God is much bigger than the things that sometimes block Him from our view. (Sun is 400 times wider than the moon, but also 400 times further away).

Application

· How can I rest in God's sovereignty so that I am free from the control of fear, guilt, doubt etc

· How can I tune in to the bigger picture of what God is doing for His eternal purposes instead of being caught up in the near-view picture of my problems and my priorities?

^{^[1]}All Scriptures from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Peter: The Man and His Ministry

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:31:00 +0000

In this message we look at the author of 1 Peter, the Apostle Peter. From Matthew 16 we discover the unique authority given to Peter and the Apostles to serve as the messengers of God's new covenant with humanity. They are given the "keys to the Kingdom", which is the message of salvation in Jesus; and they are given the authority of "binding and loosing", which is the authority to make moral judgements relating to how followers of Jesus should live. As Jesus explains in this passage and Scripture affirms elsewhere, their teaching would in fact not come from themselves but from God as He spoke through them. This is why Apostolic teaching preserved in Scripture remains the authoritative guide for Christian faith and practice today.

Peter: The Man and His Ministry - audio

1 Peter 1:1a, Matthew 16:13-19

29/01/2012

Introduction - who are we listening to?

It’s an Olympic year - London is hosting.

Last Olympic Games were in China, where Lin Miaoke performed the rousing rendition of “Ode to the Motherland” as the Chinese flag was paraded into the stadium. What most people didn’t realise at the time was that they while they were watching Lin Miaoke, they were listening to the voice of Yang Peiyi, who was deemed to be not pretty enough to perform on the big occasion by Communist Party officials.

When we read the words of this letter, whose words are we reading - whose voice are we listening to?

It makes a difference!

If one of my children says to another “Don’t do that”, or “You have to…”, it doesn’t necessarily make any difference to the behaviour of the other child they are talking to.

If, on the other hand, they say “Dad said you’re not allowed to…”, or “Mom wants you to…”, then it usually does make a difference - even if it’s just to cause that child to come and verify those claims for themselves!

Keep that in mind as we begin our study in the book of 1 Peter by reading these words…

1 Peter 1:1a

“Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ…”

When we listen to the words of Peter, who is it that we are listening to? I think you’ll discover today that it’s worth finding out a little bit more about this man and his ministry so that we are ready to hear his message in this letter.

Matthew 16:13-19

When we read the words of this letter, we don’t read Peter’s own thoughts or ideas that he gleaned from anyone else, we are reading the very words of God. We are reading truths revealed to Peter by God Himself and transmitted faithfully to us.

Just as Peter’s words “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God” were attested by Jesus as coming from God, so the Bible itself attests to the words of Peter’s letter as coming from God.

2 Timothy 3:16-17

¹⁶All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, ¹⁷so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. ^{^[1]}

When we recognise that words come from God and not man, all of a sudden those words have tremendous authority. (Much greater authority than words spoken by a child on a parent’s behalf)!

That’s what Jesus goes on to talk about from verse 18 onward of Matthew 16.

A True Picture of Authority

Remember last week? Sometimes we get the meaning of Scripture wrong because we read our own assumptions and ideas into it instead of putting in the work to properly handle the word of truth, as Paul advised Timothy to do in 2 Timothy 2:15.

There’s a couple of key ideas here that are really important but sometimes people go off on the wrong tangent with them.

When Jesus talks about the gates of Hades (or Hell) here, He is using a common metaphor for death. The idea is simply that the gate serves as a marker passing from one realm to the next. He’s not talking about storming spiritual strongholds, He’s simply saying that death will not overcome – or prove to be stronger than – His Church.

Keep that idea in mind as it will soon become important!

Let’s move on though to the concept of binding and loosing. Peter’s told that what he binds on earth will be bound in heaven, and what he looses on earth will be loosed in heaven.

First, let’s clear up that misunderstanding – it’s not just Peter that Jesus is talking to here. The authority for binding and loosing is in fact being given to the disciples together.

Peter was the key leader among the disciples it is true. He was the one who first declared the reality of Jesus being the Messiah and the Son of God. This truth is the foundation on which the whole church is built. It was as the Apostles declared the truth of Jesus and was through that truth that Jesus built His Church. That message was then taught, passed on by others and recorded for us and it is still how Jesus is building His Church today.

What are the “keys to the kingdom of heaven”? Sometimes we have this cartoonish image of St Peter at the pearly gates, deciding who gets to go in and who does not. That’s not it!

Jesus may at this point be speaking to all the disciples, because we know that while Peter was certainly the most prominent disciple early on He was never recognised as having any authority that the others did not possess.

It may be that Jesus is speaking directly to Peter here, and will convey the same privilege to the rest of the disciples as they also come to the same point that Peter did of acknowledging the truth of who Jesus really is.

In any case the keys to the kingdom of heaven is not the power to decide who gets in and who does not – that job is given to none but God alone.

Rather, it is the power to unlock the gates of heaven for all who would enter. It is to reveal the truth about the death and resurrection of Jesus by which we are delivered from sin and death and granted eternal life upon our repentance and faith.

Jesus is taking his disciples on a bit of a road-trip out of Jewish territory into Gentile territory. The Jewish leaders and many of the people keep demanding more signs and wonders from Jesus but they are not receptive to the truth of who He really is. So Jesus withdraws with the disciples to a region further north and spends some time preparing His disciples for a really important transition. He wants them to know what His mission really is and He wants to prepare them for their role in it.

Up until now the disciples would have recognised the religious authority of the Pharisees and Sadducees – the religious leaders of Israel.

These leaders had authority in Israel to “bind” and “loose”. This is an expression that means to forbid or to allow, to prohibit or permit. They made judgements about right and wrong.

However not all the religious leaders agreed with each others interpretations of the law and of their traditions. It was a common saying around this time that “the school of Shammai binds while the school of Hillel looses”. Shammai and his followers had very strict rules which they imposed on people, which Hillel and his followers did not agree with!

So how could the common person know which was right? That was one role of the Great Sanhedrin, where the 70 senior religious leaders came together to deliberate. Any difficult cases of law were decided by the Great Sanhedrin. This is the group that sent Jesus to Pilate to be condemned to death.

It was said that what the Great Sanhedrin decided on earth was a reflection of what had been decided in heaven. Together they were God’s voice and had authority to exercise judgement according to His will.

But Jesus says to His disciples in Matthew 16:5-12 to be on their guard against the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. He is saying that these people do not speak for God at all!

Suddenly, in the very next conversation that Matthew records, we find Peter and the disciples being given the authority that used to belong to the Pharisees and Sadducees of the Great Sanhedrin!

They are being appointed as God’s spokespeople on earth. They are being told that the decisions that they make together will be a reflection of God’s will and that God will place His blessing on the decisions they make together. (The sentence can be read either way).

They now know for sure that they are not just followers of a particular Rabbi, they are part of something brand new that will not fit into anything they have known up until now.

Watch what happens as Jesus explains this some more…

Matthew 16:20-28

Remember Jesus saying that “the gates of Hades will not overcome” the church that He is building? He’s just told them why that is so – He is going to personally defeat death by rising from the grave on the third day.

Peter doesn’t like all this talk of suffering and death, so he says “No way, we’re not going to let that happen”!

Suddenly he goes from being an instrument of God to being an instrument of Satan. He goes from uttering truths of God rather than human ideas to not having in mind the things of God, rather the things of man.

Jesus then goes on to talk about suffering in the light of eternity. Pay attention to what Jesus says here, because you will discover these same truths expressed in 1 Peter. It is clear that Peter took on board Jesus’ rebuke and his understanding of suffering and death were completely changed by the time the day of Pentecost rolled around.

Many of us are a bit like Peter in this story. We have embraced the truth of Jesus as our Saviour and Lord – with a greater understanding of what that means than what Peter had in Matthew 16. Yet like Peter we may need to be challenged about some of the ideas we hold to which are human ideas rather than godly ones.

There’s an authority issue here. Jesus had the authority to rebuke Peter. Jesus gave Peter and the other disciples authority to speak on His behalf and to make judgements on His behalf when He returned to Heaven, and these are the things we have recorded for us in the New Testament.

Will you acknowledge the role of binding and loosing that was given to the Apostles? Will you allow the words of Scripture to have authority in your life/ Will you do what Scripture allows and commands you to do and will you refrain from doing those things it forbids?

Some people treat Scripture a bit like a counsellor or therapist. They go to it hoping to find something that will make them feel better or help them to live better. Or perhaps they go to it simply looking for something to learn.

Friends as we study the book of 1 Peter together – or any part of Scripture – we need to recognise the authority it must have in our lives. It is the outcome of what Jesus did in Matthew 16 (and 18) in giving authority to the Apostles to speak for Him.

I mentioned last week that studying this book is going to be really helpful for us in overcoming our fears and being free from their control in our lives.

That’s true and it’s wonderful, but have you ever tried to get someone to do something that’s good for them if it’s a bit difficult, scary or unpleasant?

Think of it in these terms – how do you get a child to eat healthy food when they prefer sugar-saturated or fat-filled rubbish?

Do you explain the benefits of healthy eating? Of course!

Do you warn of the dangers of unhealthy eating? Definitely!

Do you then rely on your children to make enlightened choices? No way!

When our kids state their desire to skip veggies and go straight to desert we often need to say simply – “I know you don’t want to eat up your vegies, but I want you to”. That’s enough, because Carolyn and I have the authority to say that.

(OK, our kids aren’t perfect so there’s plenty of haggling attempted, but eventually we get there!)

That’s a bit like what God does for us with His word. He describes for us the benefits of doing what He says. He describes for us the dangers of not doing what He says. But in the end we must obey simply because He says.

I hope that I never fall into the trap of trying to sell obedience to you. I hope that it will be enough to simply say “This is what God’s Word says”, and then rejoice together as we learn by experience that God’s ways are always best.

You might think “well, I am already committed to the authority of God’s word and I do my best to obey it”. I would think that most of us here today would be like that.

What I’m asking you to do though is to raise the bar.

But what about when a crisis hits?

My kids are happy to obey me when I ask them to do things they enjoy. It’s when I ask them to do things they will not enjoy that we begin to have issues.

Those of you who are parents will have probably also seen that your child’s behaviour also can change if they are around other people that they are trying to impress or fit in with. I’ve also seen my kids behaviour change dramatically when they are tired.

We’re all like that! I want to challenge you today to not lower the standards you have when it comes to the authority of God’s Word or your obedience to it.

Times of crisis when its hardest to obey are usually the times that it’s most important to obey. It’s those times that our fears tend to bight, but it’s not just our fears, it’s our sinful desires that really leap up in crisis moments and try to wrest control over our lives.

It’s in those moments that our training in obedience kicks in. If we have trained ourselves to believe that the Bible always has authority beyond our own ideas or the advice and example of others, then that will stay true for us in the crises.

We need to train ourselves to obey despite difficulty - that’s a big emphasis of what Peter writes about in his letter.

Blessings follow obedience. But that’s not what will cause us to obey in the hard times. Only a rock solid commitment to the Lordship of Christ and the authority of God’s Word will see us through the tough decisions and tough circumstances.

It’s the first step toward overcoming our fears and the control they have in our lives.

Let’s close by looking at the last stage of this handing of authority to Peter and the disciples.

Jesus says at the end of chapter 16…

²⁷For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father’s glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. ²⁸I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.”

So Jesus has given authority to the Apostles, He’s talked about His own suffering for our sake and the fact that His followers will need to be prepared to also suffer for His sake. Then finally He promises eternal reward that will follow. But what’s this, some of the disciples will see Jesus coming in His kingdom? Well the disciples are all dead and Jesus has not returned in power as He promised – is this a mistake?

No! We simply need to read on.

Matthew 17:1-9

Peter, James and John got to see Jesus in the glory of His second coming – they got a sneak preview! They were permitted to see the glory of God’s Son that no-one else during His earthly ministry was permitted to see – in fact no-one else was even allowed to hear about it until after Jesus’ resurrection.

As we read from 1 Peter keep in mind that we are hearing from a person who has witnessed the sufferings of Jesus, who has suffered himself for Jesus, and who has also seen first-hand the glorification of Jesus. He knows that Jesus has won. He knows that Jesus has overcome the grave. He knows that Jesus will return as promised and He even has an image seared into his mind of the glory that will be revealed at that time (read 2 Peter 1:12-21).

So like Peter let’s live in joyful anticipation of Christ’s return. Let’s fix in our minds Jesus glorified, the rightful ruler of our lives and the One who holds us safely in His hand.

^{^[1]}All Scriptures The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Surprised by Suffering?

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 14:07:00 +0000

Surprised by Suffering? - Audio
1 Peter pt 1
Introduction to the Letter
22/01/2012

As we begin a series of messages from 1 Peter we familiarise ourselves with the story behind the letter. Peter writes to Christians who suffer in various ways for their faith, and who will undergo greater suffering in the future.

God in His providence gives them the help they need through this letter so that they may be secure in His grace and not give in to fear. As we examine the role of fear and worry in our own lives and discover that we too need help to be freed from being controlled by fear. Only then can we truly set apart Christ as Lord in our lives.

Sowing Generously: Playing Our Part in the Global Body of Christ

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:12:00 +0000

As we send a team to the Philippines on a 2 week church-building mission, we take the opportunity to study principles of sowing resources into the work of God's Kingdom. We expose the poisonous error of the prosperity gospel which promises personal wealth and instead rejoice in the genuine promise of God to richly provide all we need in order to do what He calls us to do.

Sowing Generously:

The Global Body of Christ in Action

(click for audio)

2 Corinthians 9:6-15

15/01/2012

Introduction

My encouragement about the Talibon effort:

· 8 people who have given time, invested $2,500 each plus their personal expenses in order to go on our behalf.

· The effort of the congregation in contributing over $10K to the building project

I believe that this is just the latest example of a pattern of growth in how God is being pleased to provide generously for His work and His people through this congregation; and I’m very excited as I look toward the future and what God might do through us.

This morning I hope that you will share my encouragement and excitement about what God is doing and that together we will set ourselves to continue the journey of being invested in the things that matter, the things of eternal value. I hope that as we explore our passage in 2 Corinthians 9 that you will have a deep sense of resonance that says “Yes, this is what I’m about.”

God can do amazing things through people who align themselves with His purposes. I want the members of our Talibon team as well as the rest of us to be reaffirmed in that truth today. Our passage has some great things to say on that subject.

Prayer

What Does God’s Provision Look Like?

Let’s put our attention first of all on verse 11, which sits at the heart of what Paul is saying in this section.

2 Corinthians 9:11

You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God. ^{^[1]}

I want you to imagine what that looks like for a moment. Imagine yourself being made rich in every way, so that you can be generous on every occasion and that your generosity results in thanksgiving to God.

What does being made rich in every way look like? What sort of house do you live in? What sort of car/s do you drive, clothes & accessories do you wear, food do you eat, places do you go? How big’s your TV?

Aren’t these the sorts of things that we think about when we think of wealth?

Wouldn’t most of us like to be wealthy? Wouldn’t you enjoy being able to give big amounts of money to all sorts of good causes because you’ve got a big stash to start with?

Isn’t that exactly what God is promising here?

How the Church in the Developing World Sees Us

You know that when we get involved with churches like the church in Talibon, they see us as being incredibly wealthy.

Sadly they often associate our faith in Jesus with our wealth, and the good news about eternal life in Jesus can actually be corrupted to become good news about a more comfortable life on this earth.

It’s something that we need to be very careful about, because we have seen many occasions where the work of the kingdom has been shipwrecked by the pursuit of money.

We have sometimes hindered our Christian brothers and sisters in poorer circumstances by putting temptation in front of them through easy access to resources and a lack of accountability in how those resources are used. Our church has certainly learned a lot about that over the last few years and so we are very conscious of putting good systems in place so that we use our resources to help and not hinder.

But tragically, there have been false teachers who have sold a lie to millions of believers in the developing and the developed world, that says “God wants to make you rich”.

The Poison of the Prosperity Gospel

Usually the way to start receiving these riches from God is to first give generously to these churches or ministries which begins a vicious cycle. The false teachers get richer, so it looks like their message is true. Church buildings get fancier, people get dressed up in their absolute best in order to look like they fit in with the prosperous faithful, so a whole veneer of prosperity is build up. Secretly though people are still struggling financially, waiting for God to give them the blessing that others are obviously receiving. They cling to hope in desperation, listening to the testimonies of the fortunate few who get paraded out as “success stories”.

Eventually they get completely burned out and leave, disillusioned not just with the false teacher but with God. But never mind, they will be replaced by many others who are easily hooked by the hope of a god who wants to make them rich.

The prosperity gospel makes an idol out of money, turns God into a vending machine and leaves lives destroyed. If you hear anyone listening to or even teaching this sort of nonsense you need to warn them with all earnestness. It is poison.

But isn’t it Biblical?

Didn’t we just read it?

No, we read into it! We read a text and with my encouragement we imagined our desires into the text. That’s not the way to understand God’s Word, but I asked you to do that in order to highlight the fact that it is what we naturally tend to do, and it is what false teachers encourage people to do.

2 Timothy 4:1-4

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: ²Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. ³For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. ⁴They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Reading our desires into Scripture is popular but it is not right. We need to expose myths with the truth of God’s Word which is actually far more exciting and wonderful than the myth that seeks to replace it.

So let’s do that with this passage.

Remember our slogan - you can’t understand a text unless you understand it’s context. What is the literary context - how does this sentence fit with everything else being said in this section of Scripture? What is the historical context - what was God saying to a particular group of people at a particular time and place in history?

Let’s start with the historical context.

Famine in the Empire

In Acts 11 we read that a prophet named Agabus in Antioch predicted that a famine would strike the Roman world during the reign of Claudius, sometime between 41 and 54 AD. This famine had a particularly dire effect on the people living in Judea, so the believers raised money and sent it with Barnabus and Paul to Jerusalem. When they heard about this, other churches in the areas that we would now call Turkey and Greece decided to raise funds to send to Jerusalem for the sake of their destitute brothers and sisters in Christ.

The Corinthian church was one that asked to join in, so Paul recommended that they take up a weekly offering so that when he and the other people entrusted with the mission arrived, there would be funds waiting for them. He even suggested that some Corinthians could be entrusted with the task of delivering the money to Jerusalem (1 Cor 16:1-4).

Already at least one contribution has been sent (2 Cor 8:10), but the need is still there and so they are being urged to complete what they have started.

I want you to remember that Agabus predicted that the famine would strike the whole Roman world. In other words, the areas that gave to the church in Jerusalem were themselves affected by the famine, just not as severely as what Judea was.

Now Paul is on his way to Corinth. He has some issues that he really needs to deal with there, including a number of people who are seeking to turn the church against him and to teach things that do not fit with the truth of Jesus.

He writes this letter to prepare the church for his visit. One way that he wants to prepare the people is for them to have their gift for the Judean Christians ready to go. He doesn’t want to get there and find them unprepared. He doesn’t want to have to try raise the money as a last-ditch appeal. He wants them to put their love and commitment into action by being generous as part of a regular Christian discipline.

The last part of the historical context is revealed in chapter 8 of 2 Corinthians.

2 Corinthians 8:1-5

And now, brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. ²Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. ³For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, ⁴they urgently pleaded with us for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints. ⁵And they did not do as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then to us in keeping with God’s will.

Notice here that the Macedonians are not wealthy. Their overflowing joy does not stem from financial abundance or even security - they are extremely poor.

Yet their joy in Christ despite their trials produces a desire to help other believers worse off than themselves.

They discerned for themselves that it was God’s will for them to give - they were not coerced or even expected to do so, but their love for God and His people found expression in giving beyond their ability. Their trust in God was proven by the fact that they relied on Him to meet their needs even as through them He met the needs of Christians elsewhere.

Paul mentions the Macedonians because they are an example of the very principles he is about to teach.

He mentions them for another reason also. He is aware that some of them might travel with him down to Corinth.

How do you think the Corinthians would feel if they - as people who are better off than the Macedonians - had not followed through on their promise of help? How would the Macedonians feel visiting a wealthier church that showed no concern for their poorer brethren?

Paul wants to make sure that doesn’t happen, so he gives the Corinthians fair warning.

If you hold to a prosperity gospel, the Macedonian Christians were failures. But inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Apostle Paul holds them up to the Corinthians and to us as examples.

Moving from Poison to Promise

So if God is not promising us financial prosperity in 2 Corinthians 9:11, what is He promising us?

Let’s look at the immediate literary context, starting at verse 6…

2 Corinthians 9:6-11

⁶Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously.

⁷Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. ⁸And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. ⁹As it is written:

“He has scattered abroad his gifts to the poor;

his righteousness endures forever.”

¹⁰Now he who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will also supply and increase your store of seed and will enlarge the harvest of your righteousness. ¹¹You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God.

Picture this - you have a bag of seed that represents the material resources God has entrusted to you. How much of that are you going to sow into God’s work and how much are you going to keep for yourself?

Sometimes we see giving to the Lord’s work as giving away what’s ours. But who is the real owner of everything we have? God is! He is the one who supplied the seed (v.10).

So we can either hog God’s resources for ourselves or we can invest them into others.

It’s interesting isn’t it that what we keep for ourselves does not multiply, but what we give away does. It produces more than what it starts out as.

Many of us have seen the practical reality of this. What a dollar can achieve if I spend it on myself here is far, far less than what it will achieve if I invest it in a child in Malawi or a church in Talibon. So I reap a far greater blessing by sowing than I do by saving or spending.

But this principle is not just true practically but also spiritually. When we allow God’s spirit to guide our giving so that we are not giving reluctantly or because we feel compelled, but cheerfully; God has a way of making His grace abound to us so that we have enough to do the good things He wants us to do.

We may think that we only have enough seed for a certain amount. We only have so much to give. But when we start, we find that God provides more than we expect or causes what we do have to stretch further so that we are able to do far more than what we expected to be able to do. We find that just as He promises, we have everything that we need in order to abound in every good work.

I want to tell you a little bit of how this has worked out for Carolyn and I in our married life.

We got married straight after I finished Bible college and had no real resources behind me. We moved to Busselton to take up a 2-day a week youth ministry position with an understanding that the church was going to work toward increasing the number of hours as the ministry grew and as their resources increased.

So we moved down and I started looking for other part time work. Carolyn got some cleaning work but for some reason the other work I applied for never worked out - until God provided work for me teaching in Christian schools in Busselton and Bunbury. It was a bit discouraging not getting work straight away, but when God provided work in ministry to young people we began to see His plan for us.

Despite working a number of different jobs we weren’t bringing in a lot of money. We were able to afford to rent a fairly compact unit which was full to overflowing when we had youth bible study. We had a rusty old Mazda hatchback named Faith - I think it was probably only faith that got her going on cold winter’s mornings!

Then God provided through an Elder in the church a house for us at below market rental which really helped us in being able to work from home and host the young people together as a group. It was a great ministry base for us.

Not only that, but when my parents finished their ministry as missionaries to indigenous Australians they needed somewhere to live as they sought God’s direction for the next chapter of their lives. Having the house in Busselton gave us the ability to help them out.

So in our early years in ministry God provided not only the extra income to sustain us, but also the extra opportunities to do good works in the process. That’s exactly what Paul is talking about in this passage. We were given everything we needed to do every good work that God planned for us to do.

That’s what 2 Corinthians 9:11 is actually saying. The English Standard Version translates it like this: “You will be enriched in every way to be generous in every way”^{^[2]}

False teachers would argue that it’s saying that we will be made rich in every way that we desire, so that as well as being rich ourselves we can give generously to others.

People who swallow this lie therefore look forward to becoming rich so that then they can also become generous. That’s not what the Macedonians did. It’s not what the vast majority of faithful Christians in history have done and it’s not what this passage teaches.

It’s saying that God will enrich you - He will generously provide you - with everything you need in order to be generous to others.

Does God want you to provide money for the work of the Kingdom? He will generously give you everything that you need in order for you to do that good work.

Does God want you to provide wisdom for those who need it? He will provide it generously so that you may offer it as a service to others.

Does God want you to perform an act of service? He will generously provide you with the strength to carry it out.

Does God want you to invest time in serving others? He will generously provide you with enough time to do that good work.

God will give you everything you need in order to serve Him. Is that what you want to do? That’s what Paul is challenging the Corinthians about. He’s saying “Don’t keep the seeds in your bag. Sow them! Watch God multiply them and increase your joy and your righteousness”.

This section comes to a close with a series of reasons why generosity matters.

2 Corinthians 9:12-15

¹²This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of God’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. ¹³Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, men will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. ¹⁴And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you, because of the surpassing grace God has given you. ¹⁵Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!

Through our financial generosity:

The needs of God’s people’s and others are met (v. 12,13 - see Gal 6:10)
The people of God are given reason to thank and praise Him; and those who do not know God see evidence of what we believe (v.12-13,15).
We prove that we are truly children of God who share His heart and are obedient to His will (v.13)
We build a real sense of unity, love and concern for each other (v.14)

According to the principles taught in this passage, these outcomes will continue to multiply as we prove faithful in sowing generously.

Conclusion

I’m excited to see how this is unfolding in our mission to help the Church in Visayas region of the Philippines. I’m excited to see how this is unfolding in our mission to support workers going to connect with ethnic minorities in Scotland, to train church leaders in East Asia and among indigenous Australians as well as many other people and places.

I’m excited at what we are sowing into the lives of people in the community surrounding Kingsley and particularly as we plan for the year ahead there are some wonderful new opportunities that God is opening up for us.

Will you be a generous sower?

Will you be encouraged and amazed by what God does to multiply the things you release from your hands?

Do you want to be part of reaping a harvest of fruit that is eternal, being diligent to guard your heart from the obsession of saving for and spending on things that are temporary?

There’s nothing wrong with saving and there’s nothing wrong with spending - I recommend that you do both! But will you guard your heart from being controlled by what you save and spend for?

Jesus said that we cannot serve both God and Money (Matt 6:24). Does your discipline of giving show that you are a true servant of God, that you trust Him as your Provider?

Let’s be like the Macedonian believers. They gave themselves first to God, and then to doing God’s will.

^{^[1]}All Scriptures unless otherwise noted from The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984. Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

^{^[2]}The Holy Bible : English standard version. 2001 (2 Co 9:11). Wheaton: Standard Bible Society.

1st to 21st

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 15:17:00 +0000

1st to 21st - Audio

Since the very beginning, Jesus’ priorities for the church have always been the same – to be a healthy, growing community that honors God in both word & deed. From Jesus’ own mouth come 2 of the most telling statements of His will for us. The “Great Commandment” in Matthew 22 tells us to love God & to love others, while the “Great Commission” tells us to make new disciples, include them in the life of the church, and to be transformed in obedience through the truth. The way we do it in the 21st century is different from the 1st century, but it’s never a bad time to review the foundations of our calling, and Jesus’ purpose for His people.

How to Have a Great Christmas

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 12:15:00 +0000

How to Have a Great Christmas - Audio

In the final message of our Christmas series, we add tinsel and treats to our tree. The Tinsel reminds us of the humility of the Saviour’s birth. If He had chosen to come as a king He would have needed to rule justly, treating us as we deserve. The Baubles we added to the tree on the previous week remind us that we have all sinned against God, and the penalty that our sins deserve is death. Jesus as King would need to pass judgement.

However He did not come to function as a King, He came to play the role of servant. Instead of a palace He had a stable and a bed of straw, which is symbolised by the tinsel on our tree. As a servant He did exactly what the angel announced to Joseph – He saved us from our sins. Now there is forgiveness and freedom for those who accept it from Him.

The treats complete the message. They represent the goodness that waits for those who have been saved from sin. Because our sins have been dealt with, we are free to belong in God’s family and enjoy eternal life with Him. We look forward to the time when Jesus returns as King or we go to be with Him, where evil no longer corrupts us and everything around us because it has been judged and dealt with by the King of Kings.

So how can we have a great Christmas? The shepherds provide us with a great example.

· They Heard the Message about Jesus
They didn’t give in to fear and run away! They allowed God to break into their normal experience to speak a life-changing message.

· They Received the Message about Jesus
They allowed the angels’ message to shape their actions. They left their sheep behind and went to Jesus.

· They Shared the Message about Jesus
Once they had encountered Jesus for themselves, they then shared about Him with others.

We can choose to do the same this Christmas. We’ve had the chance to hear the message about Jesus. Will you receive that message and allow it to shape your life? Will you accept Jesus as the Saviour who came to free you from your sins and the King who now reigns in glory? Will you share the message about Him with those around you who need to hear about Him?

All of us will meet Jesus as King one day. How we meet Him will depend on whether we have first met Him as our Saviour. Will you stand before Him as one whose sins are forgiven and who can receive blessings from His hand, or will you stand before Him on your own merits and face the awful reality of His judgement?

Your Christmas can only be a Great Christmas when it reminds you of why Jesus came the first time and when you know that you stand prepared for when He comes again.

The Lure of Sin

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:02:00 +0000

The Lure of Sin - Audio

The Light of the World shows us who God is, but He also reveals who we are. Part of that is good news - we are people made in the image of God. Part of it is bad news - we have been corrupted by sin. There is a part of us that is attracted by things that we know are wrong, even though we are aware that the consequences of sin are disastrous. In this message we explore some practical biblical instruction for how we can turn away from the lure of sin in order to live the life Jesus came to give us. He has set us free and shown us how to live in that freedom. We discover the need to:
   1) start at home, looking at our own lives rather than focusing on the sins of others; to
   2) identify the issue, which is not temptation 'out there', but evil desires within us; to
   3) set our hearts and minds on things above rather than focusing on things that draw our sinful nature; and to
   4) use the tools God's given, which are His Spirit, Word and People who serve to identify areas of hidden sin and help us to change.

Jesus is the Light of the World

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 11:55:00 +0000

Christmas series 2011 pt 2
Jesus is the Light of the World - audio
11/12/2011

Having established in the previous message that God is by nature relational - He exists in a perfect love relationship with Father, Son and Spirit - we now move on to explore Jesus as the One who reveals God to us. We can share in the love relationship that exists within God Himself as we believe and receive the truth that is found in Jesus. This truth not only reveals who God is, but who we are and how we can be reconciled to God.

Three's a Crowd?

contact@kingsleychurch.org (Kingsley Church of Christ) — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 21:56:00 +0000

Three's a Crowd - audio

The Glorious Doctrine of the Trinity

The Doctrine of the Trinity is a mystery that is beyond our understanding, yet it is something that God desires us to know about Himself. In this message we discover some of the Biblical evidence for the fact that there is only one God, yet He exists simultaneously in three persons - Father, Son and Spirit. This perfect state of relationship is a picture for us of what we will enjoy for all eternity - a love relationship of complete unity, unbroken by sin.