Thinx 94: Sermon notes #3

Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from among them and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They sent Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men among the brothers,  with the following letter:
    The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.  Since we have heard that some persons have gone out from us and troubled you with words, unsettling your minds, although we gave them no instructions,  it has seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men and send them to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,  men who have risked their lives for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ.  We have therefore sent Judas and Silas, who themselves will tell you the same things by word of mouth.  For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:  that you abstain from what has been sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from what has been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves from these, you will do well. Farewell.

— Acts 15:22-29 [ESV] (italics mine)

seemed good – ἔδοξεν (edoxen) – make a subjective decision based on personal perspectives and values.

This is what everyone does. So the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian is the personal values. The values/perspectives of the Christian must be informed by Scripture.

Also decisions cannot contradict previous declarations by God. Nor can one claim that the Spirit has told them something that contradicts previous declarations by God, as the Spirit is the 3rd person of the Trinity so what the Spirit says, the Father and the Son also say. What the Father and Son say, so the Spirit also says. E.g. gifts of Spirit are also gifts of Son are also gifts of Father.

So it's just not on to claim that you got a private prophetic utterance from the Spirit that your marriage should be dissolved. The will of God the Father and God the Son concerning marriage has already been stated -- what God has joined together let no man separate (Matthew 19:6). To claim that the Spirit can rescind that is to introduce dissension into the Godhead. Jesus has already stated that a house divided against itself cannot stand (Mark 3:25). Are you saying that God can be divided against himself?

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2018

Thinx 93: Sermon notes #2

By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death: “He could not be found, because God had taken him away.” For before he was taken, he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.

— Hebrews 11:5-6 (emphasis mine)

Faith/trust are what it takes to receive anything beyond the usual providential stuff: rain, sunshine, seasons etc. Like it says in Acts 17:28 when Paul is in Athens,"In Him we live and move and have our being."

Decision-making is hard. We are afraid of making the wrong decision. Of “hearing a voice behind you” (Isaiah 30:21) because you had headed off in your own direction.

Everyone does what seems good to them. We also must do what seems right to us. However, we need to do that in the light of God's word and in the context of the people of God (the church). Imagine, having purchased a ticket to fly somewhere, kneeling in a toilet cubicle (in search of some privacy), prayerfully waiting for a voice from heaven authorising you to get on the plane.

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2018

Thinx 92: Sermon notes #1

Now someone came up to him and said, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to gain eternal life?” He said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.” “Which ones?” he asked. Jesus replied, “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself.” The young man said to him, “I have wholeheartedly obeyed all these laws. What do I still lack?” Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go sell your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” But when the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he was very rich.

— Matthew 19:16-22

Interesting how Jesus asks questions first before giving answers. Interesting too how gracious Jesus is. I'd be saying “Which ones???!!! Seriously?? What are you looking for? The absolute minimum rules to keep so that you can max out on breaking all the others? You want to do some good works so that God will owe you something?"

What was that young man really after? He wanted an answer and got one. It wasn't the answer he was expecting. People ask us questions too. Sometimes we're too quick to give answers. And sometimes we're too quick to say a comfortable lie rather than an uncomfortable truth. After all, saying something that's offensive or disappointing is really bad, right?

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2018

Thinx 91: Preaching

There's an old joke about the minister traveling to a distant church in an outback farming community. He gets there to find that only one man has turned up for the service. The minister asks the man, a farmer, what he should do. The farmer says, "If I take a trailer-load of feed out into the paddock and only one beast turns up, I still feed it."

So the minister does the whole service with all the hymns, the eucharist, the offering, the sermon ... everything. At the end the minister goes to the front door as the farmer ambles out. Shaking the farmer's hand the minister asks how he found the service. The farmers says, "I said I'd feed the beast. I didn't say I'd give it the whole trailer-load!"

So there's this verse in Matthew that keeps prodding me. It says,

“Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom his master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their allowance of food at the proper time?"

— Matthew 24:25 NRSV

It what I see happening in church when the bloke up front speaks: He's a slave of God. He's talking to other slaves of God. And he's feeding them. And he'd better be feeding them good wholesome food and not junk. The goal is spiritual growth not spiritual indigestion. God will hold him to account for what he says and, I expect, what he fails to say. The barest mininum will not suffice -- the full counsel of God (Acts 20:27) is the goal. And that takes time and commitment both from the speaker and from the listener.

I get it that the world (and even some Christians) think preaching is stupid and out of place in this "scientific age" (whatever that means.) But I believe in it. It seems good to me to preach. It seems good to the Holy Spirit to have people preach. He does good things in peoples hearts when healthy, nourishing food is served up in a sermon.

So I recently had an opportunity to preach at a Redeemed Christian Church of God gathering in Hilton, WA. There were only 10 in the congregation, but I fed them all the same. And it's good that they have a tradition of 50 minute sermons, because I took longer than I expected unpacking Acts 15:1-31. By the time I was done with that, I turned to the pastor, my good friend and neighbour Akin Oyemade, and asked how much time I had left. He said, "it'd be good to wind up fairly soon." Winding up took about 10 minutes but we all got home in time for lunch.

They want me back on the last Sunday in April and likely after that as well.

© Copyright Bruce M. Axtens, 2018