Pastor Edgar Mayer;
For more sermons and other writings check out pastors homepage: http://www.geocities.com/mayeredgar
An
Eternal Perspective
Dust you are and to dust you shall return. These words are straight out of the Bible
and they are not simply a commonplace observation but words of judgement. When
God created the world, the original plan was that we humans would not taste
death we would not die but then
our first human ancestors sinned against God defied God as we still defy
him today which made God respond with
words of condemnation Genesis 3:19:
dust you are and [now as
punishment] to dust you will return. God
had warned the first man and woman previously, saying Genesis 2:17:
you must not eat from this one tree or you will
surely die [original: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you
eat of it you will surely die.] But
they did ignored the warning and
therefore they later died and therefore we now all die return to dust.
As a consequence, every year 40 days before Easter on Ash-Wednesday Christians from all over the world do
something strange. They receive a cross of ashes on the forehead while hearing
these very same words from the Bible: Dust you are and to dust you
shall return. Why precisely are we
doing that? Why have we done so today at Living Grace? (How did it make you
feel receiving this cross of ashes?)
For some reason we have a need to act
out the obvious the Bible truth that we are marked men and women. We have a
need to make it visible that the mark of death is on us the cross of
ashes because we tend to forget. Most
of us we prefer to live in the
moment and in denial. Who ever gets old? Who ever lives with an
awareness that any day could be our last here on earth? But then the
Crocodile Hunter dies and Peter Brock dies and now Heath Ledger dies and the
prospect of being no more than dust becomes all too real. Neither fame nor
youth nothing overcomes the verdict: To dust you shall return.
No one can argue with this truth but and this is a surprise for some reason even Christians tend to play
down if not forget this ultimate
perspective. In a few weeks Heath Ledger and his death will fade into the
background disappear from the head-lines and before long even Christians are once again tempted to live in the now
only live in the moment and in
denial and thus block out the future
the ultimate concern of returning to dust.
We read in the Bible Luke 12:1: Meanwhile, when a crowd of many thousands had
gathered, so that they were trampling on one another, Jesus began to speak
At first sight this seems to be a good Bible verse.
Jesus finally reached the masses. Jesus finally broke through the numbers
barrier many thousands replacing the mere handful of disciples and these massive crowds were fervent
trampling on one another. Again apparent Christians crowding Jesus. That should be a good thing. However,
Jesus was no pleased with them as he may not be pleased with us. They came for the wrong reason
seeking something from this service just for now instead of remembering that
they were dust and having an eternal perspective. Jesus was in no hurry even to talk to them Luke 12:1:
Jesus began to speak first to his disciples
On a previous occasion Jesus explained
his misgivings Luke 11:29-32: As
the crowds increased, Jesus said, This is a wicked generation. It asks for a
miraculous sign,
Do we understand
the judgement? I go off on a tangent here
but will come back to the main point. This is a little confusing. From the
start Jesus himself announced with purpose Luke 4:18-19: The Spirit
of the Lord is on me
to proclaim
recovery of sight for the blind, to
release the oppressed
and this is what
subsequently happened again and again. Jesus healed people and he drove out
demons often in spectacular ways Luke
4:36: All the people were amazed
Then Jesus himself was not shy in pointing to these miracles as a
confirmation of his identity. When John the Baptist wanted to know whether he
was the promised Saviour, he answered Luke 7:22: Go back and report
to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk,
those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised
So why would Jesus now turn on the crowd
when they ask for a miraculous sign? He did them all along and wasnt that his
strategy for mission work? The apostle Peter made this so clear in his first
sermon Acts 2:22:
Jesus of
Nazareth, was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs,
which God did among you through him,
There was nothing wrong with miracles. On the contrary God used them
to accredit Jesus and he keeps using them even today to accredit his messengers
Mark 16:17: And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my
name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues
they will
place their hands on sick people, and they will get well. One more Bible passage this one from
the apostle Paul Romans 15:18-19:
I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has
accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said
and done by the power of signs and miracles, through the power of the Spirit
Can this be any more affirming? By the
power of signs and miracles in
addition to his preaching Paul led
people to have faith and obey God. Signs, wonders and miracles belong and have
always belonged to Gods strategy for mission. Maybe we at Living Grace and
western churches like us struggle
with the concept because signs, wonders and miracles have been rare or
non-existent in our circles. We tended to think that flawless doctrines and
sound preaching alone would bring results. And when that didnt happen many churches sought help from church growth
principles focusing on smart programs, structure and marketing.
However, over the last few years in this
church we have been on this journey of recapturing the truth of the Bible and the
faith for more of Gods power among us. Right now some of us (who knows?) a good number of us may still be hesitant about signs, wonders
and miracles. Who would step out and attempt to do anything outside the square
on Sunday mornings and what would we be comfortable with a healing but
not a demonic manifestation an inner peace but no outbursts of excited joy? Nevertheless it may be slow but we are going forward clawing back the Bible
truth about the Holy Spirit and doing mission work in his power. Thus, right
now I am not so happy with Jesus words Luke 11:29-32: As the crowds
increased, Jesus said, This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign,
I am struggling with Jesus words. Last
weekend on Saturday at St Barts
Anglican we offered another Holy
Spirit seminar on what it means to be filled and refilled with the Holy Spirit.
The church was full about 170 people from across the city St Barts
were wonderful hosts yummy cakes for morning and afternoon tea and all day there was a wonderful sense of
Gods presence among us. [During the day we laughed together, the Word of
God worked conviction, brought us to repentance and raised expectations
faith.] When evening came most of us were
ready to receive what God had in store for us and my own desire to see God
break through in peoples lives was strong. If you want, I was seeking a
miraculous sign the supernatural infilling with the Holy Spirit a confirmation of the Bible teaching.
And it happened. There were no
earthquakes and thunder-bolts and the whole atmosphere was rather gentle but there
were numerous people that went to the ground under the power of the Spirit,
others simply sensed his presence, one person rang me up reporting a healing,
some received the gift of tongues (a
prayer team member from the Anglican church knows of at least half a dozen
among his circle), one or more people
were surprised with holy joy laughter even, a good number of people were renewed in their faith ready to
recommit
Praise God for all of that but then
there were also some for whom the desired infilling with more of God did not quite
happen on the night. I feel for them. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes:
you will find in all
the literature on this great matter that there is always this element almost of
desperation that comes in before God really hears this prayer and grants our
request. You notice it came out in the case of John Newton and of George Bowen.
They were brought to the point at which they really were almost complaining and
wondering what was happening, and were almost at the
point of despair and of giving in. Then suddenly, at that point, God granted
their request and blessed them in such a manner that they could scarcely
contain it
(Martyn Lloyd-Jones: Joy
Unspeakable, Eastbourne: Kingsway Publications 1995, p381).
I would like to spare people the
discipline of seeking God and the heart surgery that God does in the process making them almost despair. However, that is how God often works and thats how he seems to work
within me as well. My question is: When is there going to be an awakening in
Toowoomba? Martyn Lloyd-Jones says it well: Revival does not come the
moment people begin to pray for it. Neither does this personal blessing. A
revival is as we have seen, this baptism of the Holy Spirit happening to a
large number at the same time. There are people who have prayed for revival for
years but nothing has happened. But they go on, and rightly so
(p382).
Yes, we will go on I want to go on but how many years of praying will suffice? You and I we seek miraculous signs miraculous power
encounters with whatever holds our city in the kingdom of darkness. Let there be healings. Let there be rallies
with hundreds and thousands overcome with sensations of Gods wrath for
repentance, grace, love and forgiveness raptures of joy. Jesus, yes
I we seek a miraculous sign. And
once again according to the
Bible this is not wrong Romans 15:13: May the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace
so that you may overflow
by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Ephesians 3:16-19:
I
pray that
he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit
to grasp how
wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love
Recently I watched the four-part
documentary of Reinhard Bonnkes life. He had been a missionary in Africa for
ten years and nothing much happened. One day he walked from the airport to this
one town because he was too poor to pay the taxi. He walked past a stadium and
felt a sudden impression by the Holy Spirit to book the stadium and hold a
preaching rally there. He continued walking to the town and visited the only
pastor whom he knew. He told him of his plan but that pastor had a church of a
mere 40 people and eventually he managed to talk sense into Reinhard Bonnke: Dont book the stadium. Book the town hall.
They did and according to past
experiences same old same old only
100 people showed up. They would have been rather lost in a big stadium. But
then the Holy Spirit fell on them and day by day the crowds began increasing
and in the end they did book the stadium. Half of the population about
20,000 filled the stadium, the Holy
Spirit came with power hundreds and thousands of people were getting
caught up in waves of his power falling to the ground. People repented and they came to faith
that was the beginning of his
Reinhard Bonnkes ministry to reach the continent of Africa. One day in Nigeria
and this makes the mind boggle one
day in a single service he
preached to 1.7 million people and of these 1.7 million people about 1.1
million people made a commitment to Jesus Christ under the power of the Holy
Spirit.
Does this stir us up? We dont have to
compete with that no but when is there an awakening in Toowoomba
and Australia? God works by signs, wonders and miracles to accredit his messengers
encourage faith and then fills
us with his Holy Spirit. There is nothing wrong with that. In fact there is no
alternative to that but nevertheless Jesus did say: This is a wicked
generation. It asks for a miraculous sign,
What Jesus censors is the lack of an
eternal perspective. If we spelled out the meaning of his rebuke, it would be something
like this and here I am coming back
to the main point: Listen! Men and women, dust you are and to dust you
shall return but you forget this. You are only interested in a miraculous sign
for the here and now instead of listening to the preaching that comes with the
sign and the offer of salvation to which the sign points. Stop seeking thrills.
Seek me instead.
This has always been a problem for Gods
people. When God delivered his people from slavery in Egypt, he parted the Red
Sea for them, provided manna in the desert miraculous food , sent quail,
water from a rock, appeared to them at Mount Sinai, healed them from venomous
snakes, abided with them in a cloud of glory by day and a pillar of fire by
night, and so on. Yet, as soon as the excitement of any of these miracles faded
away, the people reverted back to their default position, that is: unbelief, no
relationship with God, grumbling and complaining against God. These people only
sought miracles for the here and now of the immediate concern and never invested
much in a lasting relationship with God. Thus, God judged them in the Bible
Numbers 14:11-12:
How long will these
people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in
spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike
them down
How foolish not to get the point of the
miracles, that is: repent and relate to the God behind the miracles.
What are we thinking? Do Jesus words
target us? Is he right rebuking us also? We have to admit that the temptation
is there or would be there to go from one service to the next
expecting emotional highs or the wow factor of miracles. And on a smaller scale
we may go from inspiring book to inspiring book or from great worship CDs to
the next great worship CDs chasing an experience. Benny Hinn is coming to Brisbane and I know that he is controversial.
However, I am going and to be honest I probably wont go for the preaching even though the preaching
may be good I go for the power of the
Holy Spirit. I am curious about what may happen.
This is a wicked generation. It asks for a miraculous sign,
How much of
Jesus words hits the mark among us? Even without miraculous signs we can fall
into this trap of living only for the now failing to take in the bigger picture of being dust, of one day having
to return to dust
We need to repent before we die. We need to gain new life,
faith and hope for the future eternity.
In the Bible reading from before Jesus
continues to challenge Christians about focusing so much on the now. This
is out-and-out dangerous. Jesus continued to say (confronting words) Luke 12:1-12:
Be on your guard against
hypocrisy. There is nothing concealed that will
not be disclosed
What you have said in the dark will be heard in the daylight
do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.
But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after the killing of
the body, has power to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him
Dont
be afraid
I tell you, whoever acknowledges me before people, the Son of Man
will also acknowledge him before the angels of God. But he
who disowns me before people will be disowned before the angels of God
Hyprocrites chase pleasures in the now a cool reputation among friends,
comfort, money while
at the same time faking a good Christian life. Jesus said: Be on your
guard against that. The truth will come out. Eternity is what really matters. Jesus said: Fear him who,
after the killing of the body, has power to throw you into hell.
Can we take on board Jesus words also
this one:
a wicked generation . asks for a miraculous sign
40 days before Easter we pause for a
moment, feel the cross of ashes on our foreheads and remember that we are dust
and that to dust we shall return. We stop asking for one miracle after another only
to satisfy our most immediate cravings. Instead we look beyond the miracles
we learn from them and see the God who
has provided a future for us in eternity a good one in heaven. God the Father gave up his only begotten
Son Jesus Christ to suffer and die on a cross as the punishment for our sins.
Then he raised him to new life on Easter morning. As we believe in him as
we put our faith in him as we live for him we are all of a sudden more than dust. New life unending life awaits us.
You and I feel the dust of these
earthly bodies and prepare yourself. Meditate on Jesus,
his suffering and death the deep
meaning of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. Let
Walter Wangerins book Reliving The
Passion help you on the journey.
I close with a final warning and good
news from the Bible Philippians 3:18-21:
many live as enemies of the cross of
Christ. [They dont want any sufferings or sacrifice only miracles.] Their
destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their
shame. Their mind is on earthly things [on the here and now]. But our
citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Saviour from there, the Lord
Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his
control, will transform our lowly bodies [our bodies of dust] so that they will
be like his glorious body.
Miracles have their place but we embrace
them from an eternal perspective loving our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.