Pastor Edgar Mayer;
For more sermons and other writings check out pastors homepage: http://www.geocities.com/mayeredgar
The
Joy Of A Written Name
Jesus provided a foretaste of what was
to come and therefore I read from
the Bible Luke 10:1-4:
the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent
them two by two ahead of him to every town and place
He told them, The
harvest is plentiful but the workers are few
Go! I am sending you out like
lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals
Jesus provided a foretaste of what was
to come. But the way we are feeling
right now this morning sitting in a pew do we like the sound the taste of Jesus words? All Jesus seemed to offer was hardship: The
harvest is plentiful [in other words: there is so much to do] but the
workers are few [meaning: those that are there trying to do the work on their own will easily burn out]. Go!
I am sending you out like lambs among wolves [in other words: you will run
into opposition that is ferocious and seems to be so much stronger than you and
will want to eat you for breakfast]. No
the first taste of what Jesus seems to offer is less than attractive.
Accordingly there seem to be so many
gloomy Christians. This week we had the Qld pastors conference at the James
Byrne centre and we heard a lot about intentional programs and courses and
strategies to get people from A to B to C but for all of the clever books and expert advice none of us had any great success stories
and none of us had any first-hand experiences of breaking through in our
communities. Many a time we look like a beaten-down clergy. One young graduate
after only two years in the field is
already on sick-leave and on the edge of a nervous breakdown.
Then this week I received an email which
expresses the feeling of so many of us. It read: I am sick of fighting. I am going to give up on God.
If he loves us, why does he treat us in this way? Yes the wolves are real and the struggle with sin, death and the
devil is real. Why then does Jesus make us lambs?
Yet, at the same time there seems to be
something wrong with our gloom and doom. The feeling of defeat was not on the
agenda of Jesus. The Bible reading from before continues in this way Luke 10:8-17:
When you enter a town
Heal
the sick who are there and tell them, The
kingdom of God is near you. But when you enter a town and are not welcomed,
go into its streets and say, Even the
dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure
of this: The kingdom of God is near
Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you,
Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed
anywhere else [original: Tyre and Sidon], they would have repented long
ago
He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but
he who rejects me rejects him who sent me. The seventy-two returned with joy
and said, Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.
The seventy-two returned with joy. What
they had experienced was amazing! Jesus had said: Heal the sick who are there and tell them, The kingdom of God is near you. And they did what Jesus had said and it
worked. Miracles were performed with the preaching of the kingdom and even the
demons submitted to them in Jesus name. Wow! Some places rejected them but for
them too much happened on the positive side to feel anything but joy. How cool
was their assignment our assignment? Wherever
we go we carry the authority of Jesus and his kingdom which means that we bring
destiny to every town that we enter destiny to every city that we enter
destiny every time we enter a shop or a neighbourhood or work. Jesus had said: Heal the sick who
are there and tell them, The kingdom of
God is near you. He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you
rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me.
A few months ago at a seminar in
Brisbane Bill Johnson shared how he is focusing now on hosting the presence of
God in his person. According to him
and he is right there is no greater
privilege than carrying the presence and authority of God in your person.
Wherever you go (in obedience and faith), the spiritual climate the atmosphere changes and even demons must submit to you in Jesus name. Anything can
happen.
Maybe there is so much doom and gloom in
our churches because so few of our programs and courses and strategies comply
with the words of Jesus. Many a time when Western church people meet, there is not
a single reference to healing people and not a single reference to casting out
demons. Instead, we treat these things with suspicion and consequently, we miss
out on the joy of seeing people set free. But how good is it to hear
testimonies of Gods grace in church. I still remember how a few weeks ago Faye
Grieshaber waved and rotated her arm because God healed her. I still remember
the joy in her face and Peters face [her
husband]. Yes the wolves are with us
also and suffering but not
without the kingdom not without
the joy of Jesus authority and name.
One pastor and missionary explained how
the words of Jesus in the Bible still applied to his ministry today. I share
from his book [abbreviate and tell in
your own words]: Every time
meetings are arranged in prominent cities, we
have to go through the same moments of agony as Jesus went through in the
Garden of Gethesemane. In preparation for these meetings, we fast for many
days, praying earnestly. Our gracious Lord will come down, and clearly and
precisely impart to us, to me, my wife and my son, the exact Gospel truths
which we should preach. Then I will wait at the feet of our Lord for a new
anointing, and grace to come down upon us and that particular city for
demonstrating His power. This is the toughest time; I will shed tears of blood,
undergoing the agony of Jesus, in the Garden of Gethsemane as explained in Luke
22:40-44. An unbearable burden for the souls in that particular city will
acutely surge into my heart. At these times, in order to keep the people of
that city under their continual bondage of sin, the evil spirits, the prince
of the power of the air (Eph. 2:2) and the spiritual hosts of wickedness in
the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12) will appear before me; wrestling with them, I
will pray on my knees with great prevail, sweating profusely. The great burden
for the souls of the city will make me labour in birth, as mentioned by St
Paul in Galatians 4:19. All of a sudden, our gracious Lord Jesus will appear,
and at His sight, the evil spirits would bow down and disappear. Every dark
cloud would also vanish. My heart would become light again. Then the promise of
Jesus will ring out: That place has been given in your hands.
(Dr
D.G.S. Dhinakaran: Gifts Of The Holy Spirit, Tallakulam Madurai: Word Of
Christ, p268-269).
This account fleshes out a little more
how the ministry works in detail: fasting,
waiting on God, burden for intercession, receiving from Jesus the messages for
preaching, wrestling with demonic forces,
victory in the spiritual realm. There was and is much agony the
blood, sweat and tears of spiritual work but
then the ministry of this particular pastor and missionary in city after
city year after year decade after decade [until he died earlier in the
year] bore the marks of great joy.
Hundreds of thousands of people came into the kingdom of God.
He writes: Once I had been to a big city to preach
where
nearly 300,000 people had gathered. When a particular man came to the stage to
give his witness, weeping bitterly, the whole crowd of people was astounded;
because, he was a notorious personality in that town; a very cruel hearted man;
a drunkard; a man with all conceivable vices; a villain who had planned a
murder in the ensuing week; and a sceptic who hated all spiritual meetings and
who played havoc at such meetings. In fact, he had come to that particular
meeting also with that evil purpose. Propped up against a lamp post, he was
listening to my message, fully drunk. As I was going on describing the
incomparable love of Jesus, that mans heart began to soften and melt. When I
finally gave the altar call, inviting all those who desired to have their
hearts transformed, so that I could pray for them, he ran towards the stage,
unaware of what he was doing. The boundless love of Jesus descended into his
heart. Just in one minute, God transformed his entire life. He went home as a
new man; he fell at the feet of his wife and children and asked for their
forgiveness for the cruel way in which he had treated them till then. That was
the first day when joy flooded their home. Today, he is a servant of God
preaching the love of our Lord Jesus Christ; his family is immersed in great
rejoicing now (Dr D.G.S. Dhinakaran: Gifts Of The Holy Spirit, Tallakulam
Madurai: Word Of Christ, p269-270).
There is joy in being sent out by Jesus.
There is joy when even demons submit to us in his name. There is joy because we
represent Jesus. So much hinges on us entering a particular town or city. What
privilege! There is joy. Feel the joy. How great to be a church in mission.
Jesus replied to the disciples Luke
10:18-20:
I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you
authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of
the enemy; nothing will harm you. In
other words: You are right to be joyful. You have authority to overcome
all the power of the enemy. But
then Jesus continued with these words: However, do not rejoice that the
spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
This is from Jesus himself. He allows us
no: more he encourage us he
commands us to be selfish in joy. There
is a gift for you. The Christian faith is not all about obedience and hard
labour and suffering and being lambs among wolves and not enough labourers in
the harvest task orientation and
so on. Its not even about the power over demons or the miraculous. The
Christian faith is about your joy that your name is written in heaven. Eternity
matters and eternity is yours unending joy in the presence of Gods
glory.
If present-day circumstances get us down
confusion, betrayal, fears,
exhaustion,
then pause take
the time focus on what you have or can have imagine your future Jesus said:
rejoice that your
names are written in heaven. Live
for the future with joy.
And know that you are not alone in rejoicing
over your salvation. Your personal joy is shared with all of heaven. Jesus said
Luke 15:10:
suppose a woman
has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house
and search carefully until she finds it? And when she finds it, she calls her
friends and neighbours together and says, Rejoice with me; I have found my
lost coin. In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of
the angels of God over one sinner who repents. We are probably not even aware of the magnitude of our joy. Salvation
seems cheap we may take it for granted but it is not so. All of heaven knows a different story. God lit a lamp,
swept the house, searched carefully until
he found us and when we were found there was rejoicing in the presence of the
angels of God over one sinner who repents. All of heaven cheered you
celebrated with you when your name was
written in the book of salvation. Can we now recapture some of that joy
for us? Nothing can take that away.
According to our Bible reading the theme
of joy continued and now it was Jesus turn. I read Luke 10:21: At that time, Jesus, full of joy
through the Holy Spirit, said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed
them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
This verse teaches us an important
principle. Jesus was full of joy through the Holy Spirit. Our joy your joy over
anything in the kingdom of God is supernatural. It is through the Holy Spirit.
The Bible explains 1 Peter 1:8-10: Though you have not seen Jesus
Christ, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in
him and are filled [by the Holy Spirit] with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
1 Thessalonians 1:6:
in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the
message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22: But the
fruit of the Spirit is love, joy
This means that we ourselves cannot work
up this joy but need to receive it from God. On the one hand Jesus commanded
his disciples and us to rejoice that our names are written in
heaven. He commanded us to rejoice and therefore whatever we may be
feeling we step out in faith and we
obey and we praise God for what we have received but on the other hand we know
that any feelings of joy the inexpressible and glorious joy comes through the Holy Spirit. And he is
generous with that joy. The joy of the Lord is meant to be our strength
imparted to us by God.
What gave Jesus joy? I repeat the Bible
verse: At that time, Jesus, full
of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and
revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
Jesus rejoiced over Gods grace.
Children people with no reputation and no particular skills and no money
they were given to recognize the truth
of Gods kingdom and they were the ones that Jesus sent out into all of the
towns and cities.
We you do not have to be anyone
for God. We as a church we do
not have to be anything special to be used by Jesus. According to Jesus his
disciples were not wise and learned but they were like children from a
certain perspective not all that valuable in an adult world. But God gave them joy. God gave us joy
is giving us joy because we have come
to know him and therefore our names are written in heaven. And even the
strategy for mission work was simple child-like. Going out two by two all of the seventy-two disciples could do the
work: Enter a town or city, heal the sick and preach the kingdom of God.
Maybe the time to watch in our lives is
when we make the Christian faith complicated and maybe the time to watch in our
lives is when we think that we have gained knowledge and wisdom because Jesus
said:
[Father,] you have
hidden these things from the wise and learned
Maybe we can recover more joy by becoming again more like children
dependent on Father-God dependent on his simple commands dependent on the
Holy Spirit with no self-made church culture or wisdom that stands in the way
of God and joy.
Do you want joy this morning? I do. As a
church why do we not try out what Jesus said:
Go! I am sending you out
When you enter a town
Heal the
sick who are there and tell them, The
kingdom of God is near you
He who listens to you listens to me
Then we will also return with joy, saying:
Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name. And then Jesus will also remind us of our core joy:
rejoice
that your names are written in heaven. The joy is supernatural imparted by the Holy Spirit to people that are like children. Let go of
your wisdom and let go of your learning. Let go of what stands in the way of
receiving. Rejoice and receive joy. Amen.
Short altar call. Come, put your faith in Jesus and receive
joy.