Intro:
Have you ever been shocked or surprised by the unexpected?  One of those times when something came out of nowhere and slapped you in the face?  You stagger back and think, “where did that come from?”  Or maybe someone said something you never thought you would hear them say.  You know, like you heard a politician tell the truth!  Or even more unexpected, you saw a preacher perform manual labor!  From time to time we have all been surprised.  Sometimes it is a pleasant surprise.  At other times it is a devastating surprise.

When I read the Gospels, I’m often surprised by what I see and hear.  Sometimes I see the response of Jesus and it shocks me – usually because it is so unlike they way I would have responded.  At other times I hear the words of Jesus and I think, “that can’t be right.  I must not have heard that right.  The Lord couldn’t possibly expect me to do that.”  Without a doubt the most shocking portion of scripture to me is the account of the arrest and the crucifixion of our Lord.  To see Him abandoned.  To see the injustice.  To hear the lies.  To hear the bloodthirsty mob and to see the cowardice of Pilate – I want to cry out, “No!  This can’t be.  This can’t happen.”  Yet the majestic bearing of our Lord is evidence enough that He is in complete control.  The sovereign hand of the invisible God is guiding all things to a predetermined end.  Each participant is acting according to his own choice yet playing the role determined by the Divine Author.

I want to encourage you to keep all of this in mind as we explore John’s account of the crucifixion.  Our text this morning is found in John chapter 19.

Text: John 19:17-30

We have been treading on holy ground for the last few weeks as we have moved closer and closer to the cross.

This morning we step behind the veil in to the holy of holies or the most holy place.

This is the pivotal moment in all of history.

This is why the Lord Jesus left the glory of heaven to become a man.  This is the reason for the incarnation.  This is the “hour” that Jesus kept referring to throughout His ministry.  This is the revelation of those Old Testament prophecies.  This is the reality behind the symbols of bloody sacrifice and the various offerings.  Jesus, the great high priest is about to enter in behind the veil in that tabernacle not made with hands, into the very presence of God to offer that once and for all sacrifice for the sins of man.  Redemption’s payment is being made.  Salvation is being secured.  The cross of Jesus is not a tragedy, it is a triumph!

As I read John’s account, there is something that stands out in my mind.

It is something that John has done throughout his Gospel.

John has used contrast as a literary tool.  Light and darkness, spirit and flesh have been reoccurring themes.  And there are several contrasts in his account of the cross.  That is what I would like to focus on this morning.

I want to encourage you to look closely at the cast of characters surrounding this story.  Again, you’ve heard it so often that it is difficult to see it with new eyes or hear it we fresh ears – but try to this morning.  Experience the cross this morning as we explore our text.

There are three contrasts that I want to note.

1. Note the contrast between the blindness of the religious establishment and the orthodox confession of Pilate.  (John 19:17-22)
2. Note as well, the contrast between the indifference of the Roman soldiers and the loving concern of the crucified.  (John 19:23-27)
3. Finally, note the contrast between death’s arrival and our Lord’s shout of victory.  (John 19:28-30)

Conclusion:
We’ve been talking about contrasts.  Seeing and hearing the unexpected.  That’s what is unique about the Gospel.  It is not what you might expect.  The Gospel is the “good news” of how an absolutely pure and holy God reaches out to rescue dirty, sinful, stubborn folks like you and like me.

It’s not about what you do – it’s about what He did.
It’s not about your getting your act together – it’s about your declaring spiritual bankruptcy.
It’s about justification by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, for the glory of God alone!

Intro:
It was a dramatic moment.  Tensions ran high following the fiery sermon from God’s prophet.  The people had demanded a king.  A king like the nations surrounding them.  Though it was a rejection of God’s sovereign reign, God gave them a king.  In dramatic fashion old Samuel told the people to assembly by tribes.  Through the casting of lots the tribe of Benjamin was selected.  From the tribe of Benjamin the clan of the Matrites was taken.  Finally the family of Kish and that dramatic moment when Israel’s new king was introduced…hello.  Is anyone home?  You must picture this scene.  Imagine a dramatic fanfare as the king is announced.  Every head turns the people straining for a glimpse of his royal majesty and no one appears.  His name is called again.  Nothing.  A search is made - nothing.  Finally they resort to prayer as they inquire of the Lord, “Can you please help us find our king?”  “He is over there hiding in the baggage!”  Israel has her king but perhaps he’s not like the kings of her neighbors.  Our text this evening is found in 1 Samuel chapter 10 and verses 17-27.

Text: 1 Samuel 10:17-27

1 Samuel is not about Samuel, or Saul, or David or even the kingdom…it is about God.
It is about His sovereignty, His rule, His reign, His character.
It is a reminder to us that God will accomplish His purpose in the earth.
God has a people and He has entered into covenant with them.
While they may violate that covenant, He never will.
While they may prove unfaithful, He will remain forever faithful.

In their lust to be like everyone else the people of God forgot His ways are not our ways neither are His thoughts our thoughts.  The people of God, then and now, are often blind to their own wickedness and folly.  Out of their own sinful hearts they clamored for a king and rejected the only rightful king.  Yet even in their sin they served God’s sovereign purpose.

This passage serves to remind us that God’s will is done in spite of us.
God’s plans cannot be thwarted.
What is clear in this text is that…

Thesis: Saul’s public coronation as king makes it clear that Israel’s king is like no other king.

Chapter 10:1-16 introduces us to Saul.
A handsome young man who is literally head and shoulders above all others.
His father Kish had some runaway donkeys and Saul is sent to look for them.
But we learner the seeker is actually the one sought!
Lost donkeys were just part of God’s sovereign plan.
There was a private ceremony in which Saul is anointed king.
Then he goes home and tells no one!

This is where I know Saul is different.
I don’t think I could have kept such a thing a secret.
“Hey, don’t tell anybody but I’ve been declared king.”
Saul is even asked directly - “What did Samuel tell you?”
“Oh, he told us the donkeys had been found.”

I would have taken the question to be a clear sign that God wanted everyone to know I was their new king!

As we consider this text I want to point out three things to you.  Things that are important for us to understand.

1. In their rush to be like everyone else Israel was rejecting their standing as God’s unique people.  (10:17-19)
2. God’s choice of a king and his appointment underscores Israel’s ultimate dependence upon God.  (10:20-24)
3. As Samuel establishes Israel’s monarchy, he establishes the priority of God’s law and brings division among the people.  (10:25-27)

Conclusion:
Israel’s king is like no other.

When God’s people long to be like everyone else they abandon God and His calling.
When God appoints His leader - He underscores our dependence upon Him.
We have no king other than Jesus.

Intro:
I don’t know why I did it.  It was a dumb thing to do.  It was in a weak, unthinking moment.  I actually said, “Oh go on Rheadon.  Why don’t you just get out of here?  I can handle things.  I’ll watch the baby.  I can handle it.”  She left and I said, “What do you want to do Zac?  Watch a little of the ball game – do some guy things?  It’s you and me pal.  Just the guys.”  I’m thinking how hard can this be?  He’s just a few weeks old; I’m a college graduate – a seminary man, no problem.  Things were going just fine and then all of a sudden – I noticed an odor.  What in the world?  Where is that coming from?  Suddenly I knew from whence cometh the smell.  Oh no!  I broke out in a cold sweat.  A crisis had arisen and I wasn’t sure I was up to the occasion.

Throughout the years various crises have arisen.  In each crisis I, as the husband and father, the rock, the stabilizing influence of the family, have proven my true character.  The rock of Gibraltar has consistently been reduced to a mound of Jell-O!  A crisis has a way of revealing our true nature.  In the midst of a crisis we find out what we are really made of.  We are exposed for what we are.  Not what we want to be.  Not what we want others to think we are – but what we in fact are.

Early in His ministry, the Lord Jesus angered the religious establishment.  It was clear He was not impressed by their ceremonial splendor or intimidated by their authority.  His teaching cut across the grain of their traditions.  The multitudes were flocking to Him and they saw their power base eroding.  It was in that house in Capernaum that we heard the first rumblings of the storm that would ultimately lead to Calvary.  The hour had come.  The moment set by the Father’s authority had now arrived.  God’s eternal plan of the ages was now unfolding.  The die had been cast.  Our Lord, knowing that He had already been betrayed, met with His disciples in that upper room to celebrate the Passover and to institute the new memorial meal.  He spoke with them about His coming death and His resurrection.  He told of the coming of the Holy Spirit.  He taught them about their need of abiding in Him.  He told them of the glorious place He was preparing for them and then He prayed for them.  He prayed for their protection and for unity.  Then they left the upper room, crossed the Kidron brook and into the Garden of Gethsemane.  Soon the quiet of the evening was shattered by the approaching, angry mob.  Temple police, Roman soldiers, and religious officials led by the betrayer approached Jesus and His frightened disciples.

Judas, the black-hearted disciple had sold the precious Lord of Glory for 30 pieces of silver.  The night would be a whirlwind of activity.  Shuttled from one place to another.  False accusations, lying witnesses and innumerable injustices would lead to the sentence of death.  There is that part of us that looks at the events of that evening and says, “Lord how could such a thing happen?  Where were you?  Why?”  But on the other hand we know that while each of those involved acted according to their own will, they were doing the bidding of the sovereign, eternal God.  The death of Jesus Christ was no accident.  It was the plan of the ages.  For He is, “The lamb slain before the foundation of the world.”

As we explore the events of that evening we learn a great deal about the character of those involved.  One thing is certain.  The character of the Lord Jesus stands in sharp contrast to those around Him.

Text: John 18:28-19:16

This is the most dramatic account of the trial of Jesus in the New Testament.  We are, in dealing with this section, on holy ground.  In the midst of all this uncertainty and confusion – the sovereign hand of the invisible God is very evident.  History was moving to a predetermined end.  I want to invite you to look closely at this section.  In particular I want you to contrast the Lord Jesus with the others mention in this text.  When you do, I am convinced that you will see that:

Thesis: The trial of Jesus serves to reveal His incomparable glory.

To read this section is almost laughable.

The very idea that these petty leaders thought that they were in control.

Look at John 18:12-13.

They “bound” Him?  They bound the eternal one?  The creator bound by His creation?  The one who spoke and the universe came into being.  The one who put the stars in place.  The one who spoke to the storm on the Sea of Galilee and said, “Hush, be still!”  This is the one they bound?  They did not bind Him.  Love bound Him.  Love for you.  Love for me.  Love for those for whom He came to redeem.  He gave himself.  He chose the way of the cross.

He was taken first to Annas the former High Priest who was the power behind the scene.  He had served as High Priest from 6 – 15 A.D. before being removed from office by the Romans.  Four of his sons and his son-in-law Caiaphas all served as High Priest.  Annas was a corrupt man who made his fortune through corruption and graft in the Temple.  In fact the shops in the Temple where you could buy sacrificial animals were called the Bazaars of Annas.  The Jews themselves hated the household of Annas.  There is a passage in the Talmud that says:  “Woe to the house of Annas!  Woe to their serpent’s hiss!”  This is the man they brought Jesus to.  Annas served as Jesus’ first questioner.  Jesus showed nothing but contempt for Annas.

From there it was on to Caiaphas then to Pilate to Herod and then back to Pilate.

As we explore this passage I ask you to look first at the Jews.

1. The Jews: the face of intense hatred and hostility.
2. Pilate: the face of cowardice and compromise.
3. Jesus: the face of sovereign authority.

Conclusion:
This is our King.  This is the savior, the Son of God.  His kingdom is not of this world.  He came to reveal the truth and those who love truth come to Him.  He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  He is the great High Priest who willingly gave His life.  He chose the way of the cross.  He chose to give His life for His sheep, those, who believe, who trust in Him.

The trails serve to reveal His incomparable glory.

Intro:
We know Him because He wants to be known.  We have understanding of God and His ways because He has graciously chosen to reveal himself to us.  How has He revealed himself?  In what ways does He make himself known?  The Psalmist tells us the heavens declare His glory.  All of creation is a revelation.  Through the creation we can know that God is powerful, that He has supreme intelligence, that He loves variety, and that He cares about the smallest detail.  But we do not know His name.  We do not know how He thinks or what He thinks of us.  Thus God has revealed himself through His word, the Bible.  Theologians call these two forms of revelation “general” and “specific” or “special” revelation.  Another way God has revealed himself is through history.  History is His story.  We do not believe in random chance.  We do not view history as an endless cycle.  Rather we see it as linear.  History is moving somewhere.  It is moving toward a point God has determined.  God is not a detached, disinterested “watchmaker” who simply watches history unfold, He is making history.  He is personally and intimately involved in the affairs of men.  History is a revelation of God.  That is the focus of our text this evening found in chapters 9 and 10 of 1 Samuel.

Text: 1 Samuel 9:1-10:16

It is a critical time in the life of the nation of Israel.
Samuel has been Judge of the people for decades.
He has been their God-appointed leader.
He is now an old man and his sons, whom he appointed judges, have proven inadequate.
The people have demanded a king like the nations around them.
Chapter 8 ends with God telling Samuel to give the people what they want.

Though their demand was from impure motive and was a clear rejection of God, God said, “Let them have their way.”  That is seldom, if ever, a good thing.  Samuel was not pleased yet he was determined to obey God.  Yet the chapter ends with Samuel sending the people away.  He told them to go back to their cities.

What is going to happen?
Are they going to get their king?
How will they get one?
When will they get one?
We are left with all kinds of questions and not even a hint of an answer!

Chapter nine opens like an entirely different story - “There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish, the son of Abiel, son of Zeror, son of Becorath, son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a man of wealth…”

It reads like the opening of 1 Samuel chapter 1.  Further we are told this man Kish had some missing livestock and he sent his son to look for them.  What is going on here?  We are at a crisis moment.  Tension is high.  The people have made demands.  God has said, “Make them a king.”  Why does the Spirit inspire the biblical writer to include this farm report?

Who cares about lost donkeys?
A nation is at stake.

When I first read this it reminded me of the old Monty Python show.  There would be a skit or story and then the announcer would say, “…and now for something completely different” which would be followed by something that had nothing to do with what had been going on.  That’s how this reads.  It’s how life often seems.  But we are going to find they are related.  It’s all part of one grand story.  A story that gives us insight into the character of our God.

As we work through these two chapters I want you to see that…

• Thesis: 1 Samuel 9 and 10 serve to remind us of the rule, the mercy and the sovereignty of our God.

There are 4 things to note.

1. In God’s orchestration of the events of Saul’s life we are reminded of the wonder of God’s providential leading.  (9:3-27)
2. In the opening words of chapter 10 we are struck by the kindness of God in providing assurance.  (10:1-9)
3. With God’s empowering of Saul we are encouraged by God’s faithfulness in equipping.  (10:9-13)
4. Our text closing in silence reminds us that we are not entitled to know what God is up to.  (10:14-16)

Only Saul is aware of the anointing.
Only Saul knows that he is king.
He says nothing.

So often we feel entitled.
We demand to know what is happening.
But who are we to make demands?
What right do we have?
God is God.

In this extraordinary tale of God’s sovereign work we find a revelation of God.  We come to see He reigns, He is merciful, He is faithful and He is sovereign.

This is the God we serve.
This is the God who has made himself known to us.

Intro:
Betrayal.  The word itself makes me mad.  Inherent in the word is the breaking of trust, the denial of relationship and the violation of confidence.  It is ugly, offensive and deserving of scorn.  Yet when you are betrayed by one you love the primary emotion is not hatred.  It is not anger.  It is hurt.  A deep, genuine sorrow caused by the loss of relationship.  That’s if you are the one betrayed.  When you are on the outside looking in well, that’s another matter.  I must admit when I read the text I get upset.  I just can’t believe what I’m reading.  How could he do it?  What kind of worthless degenerate are we dealing with?  How could you do that to Him after all He has done for you?  How could you be so calloused?  Have you no heart?  Have you no conscience?  Have you no decency?  After my initial burst of self-righteous indignation I then settle down and think it through.  It is then I get uncomfortable.  I start to realize that he is really no different than me.  Reflecting on the context I’m forced to consider how often I’ve been guilty of the same betrayal.  How often I’ve played the coward and practiced the fine art of denial.  Suddenly the tables are turned.  I’m no longer angry with him in fact I’m sympathetic.  I understand how difficult it must have been.  As I seek to justify his, and in turn my own, failure I am overcome with a since of shame.  Then I’m grateful, once again, for the Gospel.  I’m grateful for the love and grace of God that secured my redemption.  The grace that removes my sin and says, “You’re loved.  You’re accepted.  You’re Mine and forever will be.”  I’m grateful for the truths revealed through failure.  Our text this morning is found in John’s Gospel chapter 18 beginning with verse 12.

Text: John 18:12-27

We are marching toward the cross.
Judas has completed his treacherous work.
Our Lord is in the custody of the Jewish authorities.
Now begins the mockery of a trial that will lead, in hours, to His brutal death.
John, as he has done throughout his Gospel, provides us with another contrast.
This time the contrast of the strength of Jesus and weakness of Peter.

The fact that it is Peter who denies the Lord is part of what is so shocking about all this.  Had it been Nicodemus we would not be shocked.  He came at night and there seemed hesitancy on his part.  If he were to deny Jesus we’d  not be shocked.  If it had been the Rich Young Ruler we would not think much of it.  After all he loved the things of this world.  But Peter?  Earlier that evening Peter said, “Lord even if I must to die with you, I will never deny you!”

As we work our way through this text I want us to see that…

• Thesis: Peter’s monumental failure serves to teach us valuable truths about ourselves and our Savior.

Before we get to the lessons we can learn let’s set the scene.
Our Lord has been arrested and we begin with this mockery of a trial.

1. Peter and John (another disciple) followed the authorities and because of John’s connections were able to gain entrance to the courtyard (18:15-16).
2. Peter’s first denial - 18:17-18
3. Jesus before Annas - 18:18-24
4. Peter’s second and third denial - 18:25-27

What do we learn from this?

Peter’s failure reveals the depth of the perversion of the human heart and warns of the danger of an overconfident faith.

Peter’s failure serves to reveal the depth and the wonder of our Savior’s love.

Conclusion:
You must not walk away from this text without hearing Luke 22:31-32:
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat,
32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.

Following the resurrection Jesus said to Mary, “Go tell my disciples and Peter…” (Mark 16:7).
Then comes that passage in John 21:15 when our Lord commissions Peter, “…feed my sheep.”

Peter’s failure becomes a means for teaching us great truths about ourselves and about our Savior.  Apart from the grace of God there’s nothing we would not do - be warned.  Take heed less you fall.  Yet our Savior is a gracious merciful God whose love never fails.  That’s the Gospel.  Therein is our hope.

Intro:
No one likes to be exposed or revealed for who they really are.  At church we put on the smile and cheerfully respond, “I’m doing well, thanks for asking.”  When in reality we are, at times, dying inside.  At work we’re praying our boss never finds out how incompetent we are.  We hope our friends and neighbors never see past the facade we’ve built.  Perhaps worst of all we think maybe God hasn’t noticed the truth about us after all He’s busy running the universal why should He take not of me?  I don’t want to burst any bubbles but probably the only person you’ve fooled is you!  You’ve not been exposed because your fellow church members, your boss, neighbors and friends have their own faults they’re trying to keep under wraps.  As painful as it may be, from time to time, we need to take a good, honest look at ourselves.  We need to take a no holds barred look deep into our own souls.  The mirror through which we are to look is the Word of God.  When we look carefully into the Word we often see our own reflection.  Not the reflect we want others to see, not the reflection we are trying to create but the cold hard truth about ourselves.  Our text this evening is one of those texts.  1 Samuel chapter 8 is a mirror that reflects the true nature of Israel and in turn each of us.

Text: 1 Samuel 8:1-22

A considerable amount of time has passed between 7:17 and 8:1 (30 or more years?).  Samuel is now an old man.  He has appointed his sons Joel and Abijah as judges.  They were far from him in the south.  The problem is they were not like their father.  They did not “walk in his ways but turned aside after gain.”  They took brides and perverted justice.

Sound familiar?  Sounds an awful lot like Eli and his boys.  Why did he appoint them?  Well he was getting old.  Making the circuit became increasingly difficult.  By having his boys cover the south he would not have to travel as much and it lighted the work load.  That’s logical but by what authority did he appoint them?  Samuel was a judge.  Israel’s judges did not appoint successors.  Judges were raised up by God.  In fact there was a time when Israel wanted their judge to establish a dynasty.  They said to Gideon, “Rule over us…you and your son and your grandson also.”  Gideon replied, “I will not rule over you and my son will not rule over you; the Lord will rule over you” (Judges 8:22-23).

Why did Samuel do it?  We don’t know why but we do know it was a colossal failure!  Samuel’s sons were no better than Eli’s.  That brings us to a proposal from Israel’s elders and that is the heart of our text.

Their proposal seems logical.  It seemed like a reasonable means for bringing security and stability but as we will discover…

Thesis: Israel’s demand for a king, like the other nations, exposes the depth of human depravity.

There are two reasons for why I say that.

1. Israel’s demand exposes our penchant for substitutes.  (8:5-8)
2. Israel’s demand exposes disdain for holiness.  (8:5, 19-20)

Conclusion:
1 Samuel chapter 8 is a mirror.  It reveals Israel and you.  It shows how easily you misplace your trust; how ashamed you are to be different; how resistant you are to any word that does not agree with your opinion.  You are exposed.  And that is a good thing.  Because exposure leads to repentance and faith.

Intro:
It’s not hard to find people who “believe in Jesus.”  For the most part, people feel pretty good about Him.  The problem, of course, is believe in what Jesus? Or Which Jesus?  The Jesus who was a “spiritual man” with great insight?  The Jesus who was a revolutionary who consistently thought outside the box and was a threat to the establishment?  The Jesus of the Muslim faith, the Mormon Church or the Jehovah Witness?  Or the Jesus of their own making?  Just which Jesus are we talking about?  That is an important question because there are eternal consequences to the answer to that question.  The Jesus of most people’s thinking is very one dimensional.  To most he seems to be an innocuous figure who is a bit effeminate, mild-mannered and other-worldly.  For others he is the original radical bent on overthrowing the establishment.  I wish I could say these mischaracterizations all came from outside the church but they don’t.  Many within the church love and serve a Jesus of their own making who bears little or no resemblance to the Jesus of the Bible.  I know this because when you talk to people and ask them about Jesus the thing that seems constant is that there is a feeling that He is “safe.”  He is comfortable, like a favorite shirt, well worn.  But even a casual reading of the Scripture should make it clear that He is anything but safe.  Yes, He is the lamb of God but He is also the lion of Judah.  He is the Good Shepherd but He is also The Conquering King.  The Jesus of the Bible is complex and complicated.  He is fully God and yet fully man.  He is divine yet human.  Not half and half as the gods of mythology, rather He is fully both.  He is the creator of everything that exists yet He was born of a woman and became part of His creation.  He was the bread of life and yet He got hungry.  He had life in His being yet He became weary.  There is mystery here and unanswered questions.  We like things in neat packages.  Everything is always where it is supposed to be.  Our Lord doesn’t like boxes.  Try as you might you will not be able to fit Him in one.  Nowhere is the complicated, paradoxical nature of our Lord more fully on display than at the events surrounding His arrest.  Our text this morning is found in the 18th chapter of John’s Gospel.

Text: John 18:1-12

Albert Schweitzer published a book in 1906 entitled, The Quest for the Historical Jesus.  His goal was to discover the real Jesus as opposed to the Jesus of legend created by the church.  For Schweitzer the real Jesus was a mere man caught up in the delusional expectation of a coming kingdom of God.  His Jesus sought to force the issue by making wild claims and seeking to hasten the coming of the kingdom of God through political means.  Sadly Jesus was crushed by the wheel of history.  Schweitzer’s Jesus dies a mistaken idealist who was confused, despairing and rejected.  According to Schweitzer the historical Jesus’ great contribution to mankind was to rid us of the delusional hope of a coming kingdom!

Keep Schweitzer’s Jesus in mind as we read our text and you tell me if his Jesus bears any resemblance to the one set forth by John.

We, the church, are called to proclaim the message of Jesus.  Not the Jesus of our own imagination.  Not the Jesus of our own intellect or design but the Jesus revealed to us in the Scriptures.

Thesis: A biblical understanding of Jesus demands that we see in Him the strength and terror of divine majesty combined with the comfort and assurance of humble obedience and sacrificial devotion.

We seldom see these things in combination.  Sovereignty and humility generally do not go together.  In our world strength and humility are not compatible.  But in the person of the Lord Jesus it all fits.

When we see Him as He is - we cannot help but fall down before Him in worship.
It is the only logical response to His person.
Our natural response will be to pull back in fear while, at the same time, feeling drawn to Him.

There are two things I want us to note from our text.

1. Our Lord exercised sovereign control over the events of that fateful night.  (18:1-9)
2. Our Sovereign Lord lovingly and humbly chose the path of obedience.  (18:10-12)

Conclusion:
Gethsemane was no tragedy.  It was the triumph of divine majesty and humble obedience as our Lord began His march to the cross.  If you want to understand the Jesus of the Bible you must see both His terrifying majesty and His humble obedience.  You must stand in awe of His majestic power and His sacrificial devotion.

Ground on the wheel of history?  No, He is turning the wheel of history.  This is the Jesus we are called to proclaim and this is the Jesus before whom you must bow.

Intro:

I’m the youngest of three boys – that means I might as well have had a target painted on my shirt - a big bull’s eye right here!  I was teased without mercy.  I was the constant butt of ridicule.  My brothers and all their friends used to call me Carbondale Fats.  Once a neighbor overheard me singing to myself in the backyard.  Of course he told everybody so the chant became, “Hey Carbondale, sing us a little ditty.”  Add to the mixture that I was, to put it kindly, gullible as a kid.  Whether it was the perfect stooge to take on a snipe hunt or the idiot child eating hot peppers all afternoon as my oldest brother assured me each time – “This one’s not hot like those others.”

A kid can only take so much.  I used to lie awake at night dreaming about how I could get even.  I plotted and planned how I would get everyone.  Some days they would set me off and I would fly into them with a rage.  My brother would hold me at arms length and laugh while I wore myself out.  A scene not unlike the one described by the Psalmist in Psalm 2.

Text: Psalm 2:1-12

The book of Psalms is a collection of songs – expressing the hopes, dreams and faith of the people of God.

Actually our one book is a collection of five books!
1-41
42-72
73-89
90-106
107-150

Throughout the Psalms we find the full range of emotions.
There is joy and fear; heartache and rejoicing; anger and comfort – it’s all there.
The Psalms are “real”; there is an earthiness about them.
This is where we live.
Perhaps that is why so many of us are drawn to them.

There has been some disagreement among OT scholars as to whether Psalm 2 is a Messianic Psalm.  A Psalm that speaks of Messiah.  Modern scholarship tends to say this is a Psalm is a “coronation psalm.”  One that deals with the coronation of an earthly king.  One who sits on the throne of David.  Perhaps David himself or one of his descendants.  I’m convinced that there is compelling evidence that it is in fact a Messianic Psalm dealing with the reign of the Lord Jesus – “God’s Anointed.”

Scholars will point to similarities in 2 Samuel 7:5-16.
The similarities with this passage are found in the last section from 11-16.
Scholars agree the focus of this section is on the Messiah – the ultimate fulfillment of this promise.

Not to mention that the NT explicitly connects this passage with the Lord Jesus.
At his baptism – Mt. 3:17; Mk. 1:11; Lk. 3:32
Acts 4:24-27; 13:32-33
Hebrews 1:5; 5:5
Rev. 1:5; 2:27; 11:16-18; 12:5

There is also some evidence among various Rabbis and in the early Greek manuscripts of the Psalms that Psalm 1 & 2 were once considered 1 Psalm!  Begins (1:1) and ends (2:12) with blessing.  The rebellion of the nations against God is the outgrowth of walking, standing and sitting.  That God’s Anointed is the perfect fulfillment of the “blessed believer.”

Reading this from the perspective of a Messianic Psalm we discover that:

Thesis: The righteous reign of Christ seals the fate of the wicked while offering hope to the repentant.

There are three things I want you to note in the development of this Psalm.

1. The wicked arrogantly plot to overthrow God’s Sovereign rule.  (2:1-3)
2. The Sovereign Lord dismisses the vain plots of the wicked and declares the reign of His Anointed.  (2:4-9)
3. The Sovereign God graciously warns the wicked and offers hope to the repentant.  (2:10-12)

Intro:
Have you ever lost hope?  Have you ever been in the midst of a situation when there appeared there was nothing you could do?  Overwhelmed you just threw up you hands and said, “I quit?”  As far as you could tell there was no reason for going on.  You were just too tired to care and besides it just wasn’t worth the effort.  Have you been there?  Are you there now?  The loss of hope is a devastating thing.  Hopeless people do desperate things.  Hopelessness and despair are major killers.  Hope isn’t just something that helps us over the hurdle – it is essential to life.  Hope is necessary for survival.  Without hope life is a dark and grim existence.  Studies have shown that this time of year is one of the most depressing.  For all the talk of “Christmas cheer” and the joy of the season – vast numbers of people find the Christmas season unbearable.  How ironic that there would be such despair during the celebration of life’s coming to earth!  That is what Christmas is all about.  A world wrapped in death and heartache was awakened by the arrival of the Creator come to redeem for himself a people for his own glory.  The good news announced that night on the starlit plains of Bethlehem was that a Savior had been born who is Christ the Lord.

The Creator had stepped into his creation to fix what had been broken.  His birth was not like ours – his was an advent, a coming.  And he came on a mission.  The joy, laughter and celebration of Christmas means nothing apart from the meaning and purpose of his coming.  The angel said to Joseph, “You are to call his name Jesus for he will save his people.”  He came to rescue us.  He came to deliver us.  He came to give us hope.  If I’m ever stuck in an elevator and I push that button and tell them I’m in car number 6 in building number 3 – I’m not interested in feeling a hand on my shoulder and a fellow passenger say, “I feel your pain.”  I want to hear a voice from outside that car say, “We know where you are.  We are working on it now and we will have you out in 5 minutes.”  It’s nice to have someone who shares your burden it is better to have someone who gives you hope.

Webster defines hope as:
“A desire accompanied by an expectation.”
“A belief in fulfillment.”
“To expect with confidence.”

In an increasingly despairing world where are we going to find hope?  War rages.  Threats abound.  Cherished beliefs are mocked.  Traditional values crumble.  Our once dominant worldview is marginalized.  Where do we turn?  Well we find some help from a wise old man.  He wasn’t a king or philosopher.  He was not a sage or guru.  He was a fisherman.  A man who traveled the road of despair but joyously found a way out.  His name was Peter.  Our text this morning is found in 1 Peter chapter 1.

Text: 1 Peter 1:3-12
This time of year provides us a great opportunity.  It gives us an opportunity to tell others why we sing, why we celebrate, why we have hope.  And it is not in a general feeling of goodwill.  It is not because of a jolly old man in a red suit.  Let’s face it, Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer might make for an enjoyable evening but when the doctor says, “We’ve got to operate and it doesn’t look good” – Rudolf’s not going to sustain you!  When that envelop that you thought contained your Christmas bonus turns out to be your “pink slip” – “Have a Holly, Jolly, Christmas” will not lift your spirits.

What is it that will sustain you?
What is it that will grant you peace of mind and heart during the darkest night?
What enables you to stand firm when all hell breaks loose?

It is the knowledge that we are not alone.  That unto us has been born a Savior who is Christ the Lord.  Not just a baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger but one who grew to manhood; lived a sinless life; perfectly obeyed God’s law; and then gave himself for your sin and your rebellion and offers you life eternal and abundant.

Peter was a follower of Jesus.
He came to Jesus through the efforts of his brother Andrew.
He was a mixture of courage and daring yet he lacked consistency.
He was quick to speak but often slow to think!
On the night our Lord was betrayed Peter pledged to “die for him.”
Yet before the evening was over he denied even knowing him.

It is hard to imagine Peter’s pain as a result of denying Jesus.
Immediately he went out and wept bitterly.
We can only imagine the pain of seeing his Lord crucified.
The despair of seeing his lifeless body limp on the cross.
And then came that word – “I am alive.  Go.  Tell my disciples and Peter.”

Hope was reborn in the heart of that despairing, defeated disciple.
Now, years later, as an old man he is writing to believers in the face of despair.
Persecution, pain and suffering await them.
Peter says to these hurting, struggling believers, “There is hope.”

The words of Peter echo through the centuries bringing encouragement and life to embattled believers today.  His words, inspired of the Holy Spirit remind us that:

Thesis: Hope is the birthright of the child of God.
Regardless of your circumstance, regardless of how dark your world may seem – there is hope.  Hang on.  Only believe.  I know that sounds simplistic.  And I’m not talking about “positive thinking” or “possibility thinking”.  I’m talking about biblical thinking.  I’m not suggesting that you “suck it up” and just get on with it.  I’m asking you to remember what is yours because of Christ!  I know there are those who do not believe that “doctrine” is practical.  I know there are those who prefer messages that deal with “real life issues” but consider this.  Peter is writing to a group of folks who are in desperate times.  Facing life and death issues and he begins by making a profound doctrinal statement about the nature of salvation!  And by the way he doesn’t talk to them about salvation because they are going to need it after they die – but because they are going to need it in order to live!

There are four things I want you to see related to our hope in Christ.

1. Our hope is anchored in God’s gracious work of redemption.  (1:3-5)
2. Our hope is fortified through adversity.  (1:6-7)
3. Our hope is secured by saving faith.  (1:8-9)
4. Our hope has been the focus of God’s progressive revelation.  (1:10-12)

Intro:
It is an overwhelming task.  There are now 6,750 identified people groups listed as “unreached.”  That means that less than 2% of the population is evangelical Christian of any stripe.  Of those unreached 3,684 are listed as “unengaged.”  That means there is gospel work being done in their midst.  These are people who’ve never heard the simple story of Jesus.  Many living lives of quiet desperation in the face of famine, disease, war and genocide.  West Africa alone has more than 150 million lost people.  That 150 million is broken down into 1,612 people groups speaking 1,100 different languages.  Currently Southern Baptists have 242 missionaries working in the midst of that population of 150 million.  That is one missionary for every 619,834 people!

We are a mission people.  We were born “on mission.”  Missions has always been at the heart of who we are.  Evangelism and missions is said to be the life- blood of the SBC.  Through the Cooperative Program we have 4,952 missionaries serving around the world.  Last year Southern Baptist established 29,237 new churches, baptized 360,876 people.  Our churches impact the globe every day.  11% of our undesignated gifts go directly to the Cooperative Program impacting the work of the gospel here in Oklahoma, across our nation and around the world.  Just last week we began our emphasis on the Lottie Moon Christmas Offering for International Missions.  We believe in missions.  But why do we believe in missions?  What is it that motivates us to be on mission?  Why should you care?  Why should you give sacrificially to this offering?  One great reason - we desire to display the glory of our God throughout the world!

When you think of “mission texts” what texts come to mind?
Do you think of the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:18-20?
Perhaps you think of Acts 1:8.

I’m not a betting man, but if I were, I’d be willing to bet when you think of missions you think New Testament.  We are New Testament believers and understandably we tend to focus there.  I remember my grandmother saying, “Oh yeah, that’s in the Old Bible” when she was referring to the Old Testament.  We have a tendency to think that God thought “locally” in the Old Testament and that he thinks “globally” in the New.  God thought only in terms of Israel in the Old Testament and thinks in terms of the world in the New Testament.  But our God is the same yesterday, today and forever.

It is true that God singled out a people, the Jews, in the Old Testament to enter into a unique relationship.  But that was not to the exclusion of all other peoples.  Yes Israel had great privileges but with those privileges came great responsibility.  And they were not to keep the revelation of God to themselves.  Missions is not a New Testament concept.  It is a biblical concept.  Abraham was told that his seed, singular, would be a blessing to the nations of the earth.  Jonah, the prophet of God was called to go and preach to the people of Nineveh.  In fact a great revival came to that wicked city after Jonah finally arrived via the belly of a great fish!

This morning I want us to consider a great mission text found in Old Testament.

Text: Psalm 67:1-7

You know it never fails.  When I’m interested in a certain text or have questions – when I go to the commentaries they have little or no information on the text I’m interested in!  Psalm 67 is one of those texts.  Very few commentators spend much time on it.  In fact Martin Luther skipped this psalm entirely in his commentary.  He wrote 5 volumes on the Psalms but did not address Psalm 67.

Yet I’m convinced there is a valuable lesson in this Psalm for us.
Keep in mind we are looking at Israel’s hymnbook.
These words where given by the Spirit of God to be sung back to God in worship.

In this Psalm we learn that…

Thesis: Worship and missions are inseparably and essentially linked.

Remember the context of the birth of the mission movement – Acts 13?
The church was in worship when the Spirit of God set apart Barnabas and Saul.

John Piper says the goal of history is the worship of God – therefore missions exist because worship does not!  There are people around the world who do not actively engage in the worship of God.  How can they worship a God they do not know?  And how can they know unless there is a preacher?  How will there be a preacher unless we go?  Worship and missions are inseparably linked.

Alexander Maclaren says of this psalm, “This psalm is a truly missionary psalm, in its clear anticipation of the universal spread of the knowledge of God, in its firm grasp of the thought that the Church has its blessings in order to evangelize the world, and in its intensity of longing that from all the ends of the earth a shout of praise may go up to the God who has sent some rays of his light into them all, and committed to his people the task of carrying a brighter illumination to every land.”

Spurgeon commented that, “The great theme of the psalm is the participation of the Gentiles in the worship of Jehovah.”

The hymn is divided into three stanzas.

1. Through worship we seek God’s favor in order to be a blessing to the peoples of the earth.  (67:1-2)
2. A genuine encounter with God imparts a passion to see others come to a saving knowledge of Christ.  (67:3-5)
3. Our overwhelming passion is to be God’s glory above all else.  (67:6-7)

What Can You Do?

• You can go – long term, short term, mission trip – opportunities available.  Can you say with certainty, “God has not called me to give my life to mission service?”  Who knows but that sitting in this service this morning is the person that God will use to open to the door to some distant unreached people?
• You can also recognize that you live in a mission field. One of the great foreign mission fields right now is the college campus!
• You can give – Lottie Moon, – your tithe. Give enthusiastically, joyfully to the work of God.  If you cannot go – you can make it possible for others to go.
• You can pray –
• What you cannot do – remain indifferent.

God grant that we become passionate about missions.  That we come to the point we are so enamored with the glory of our God we will not rest until the world joins us in praise to his glorious name.

Intro:
It is a common misperception.  “The God of the Old Testament is an angry, vengeful God.”  When you have a defective view of both God and man such a misperception is understandable.  If you do not fully comprehend what it means to say that God is holy and that man is sinful you will naturally mischaracterize both God and man.  Too often when we say man is “sinful” we think of a lovable, bumbling character who makes some bad decisions.  When we think of God as holy we think of Him as rigid and unyielding.  If you think in those terms then you will misread a passage like 1 Samuel 6.  The Ark is returned to Israel the people rejoice, make sacrifice and then God kills 70 men because they “looked” at the Ark!  That seems a bit rigid.  That seems to be an over reaction.  But there is more to this story.  There are other issues in play.  Though there is much death and destruction in the opening chapters of 1 Samuel, it is actually the story of God’s grace.

In fact as we work through this evening’s text we are going to discover that…

Thesis: 1 Samuel chapter 7 reminds us of God’s gracious, merciful dealings with His wayward people.

Let’s make sure we put the passage in context.
This overlaps the period of the Judges - “When every man did what was right in his own eyes.”
There was great wickedness and corruption throughout the land.
Much of it in Shiloh - in the house of God!
Eli’s boys, Hophni and Phenihas were “worthless” men, who did not know God.
The priests were corrupt!
They showed contempt for the things of God.
They used the House of God as a brothel.
There was a famine of the Word of God.

Israel went to war against their archenemy, the Philistines and was routed.
They asked, “Why has God done this to us?”
They brought up the Ark of the Covenant and said, “It will deliver us.”
They treated the Ark as if it were a “rabbit’s foot.”
They were routed again, 30,000 men died, the army fled, Hophni and Phenihas died and the Ark was captured.

When word reached Shiloh - Eli, dropped dead, Mrs. Phenihas went into labor and died from childbirth and with her dying breath asked, “Where is the glory of God?”

These were dark days in Israel.

Meanwhile - things weren’t so good in the land of the Philistines.
Dagon was humiliated.
A plague broke out.
The hand of the Lord was heavy on the people.
It was a miserable 7 months.
They sent the Ark back to Israel along with a guilt or trespass offering.

God brought judgment on the people of Beth-shemesh.
They should have known better.
Leviticus and Numbers gave clear instruction about sacrifice and handling the Ark.
Instructions that were ignored.
A burnt offering was to be a male without spot or blemish
They sacrificed two milk cows
The Ark was never to be touched
They took it off the cart
They put it in place
It was never to be looked upon (it was to be covered)
They looked upon it

If you are going to act like Philistines don’t be surprised when you get treated like Philistines!

The folks at Beth-shemesh said, “This Ark needs to go somewhere else.”
It was taken to Kiriath-jearim to the house of Abinadab.
It would stay there until David has it brought to Jerusalem (about a 100 years later)!
It seems their attitude was, “out of sight, out of mind.”

At least that’s how it reads to me beginning at 7:2: From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

As we work our way through the 17 verses of this chapter I want you to note a progression.  I think there is something for us to learn from this passage about the nature of God and how He deals with His wayward people.

How does God deal with His people when they fall into sin?
When corruption consumes, how does He respond?

3 things.

1. In response to our desperate, belated cries, God’s mercy allows for full restoration.  (7:2-6)
2. Such a restoration brings a renewed sense of humility and an attitude of complete dependence.  (7:7-11)
3. Humble dependence allows for a settled rest and increased sanctification.  (7:12-17)

Intro:
We’re all different.  Some of us are more “out-going” than others.  Some more verbal.  Some easily share their feelings or emotions while others are more guarded.  It’s not that one is right and the other is wrong – it’s just that we are different.  Rheadon is learning to deal with it – but I’m not a “great fan.”  When at a ball game I don’t clap and stomp and shout and cheer.  When those cheerleaders tell me to stand up and cheer I sit there in absolute defiance!  Stone faced, arms crossed – “you can’t make me cheer.”  You see I’m perfectly capable of enjoying a game without making a fool of myself.  I just happen to believe what is needed is a little dignity and decorum in the stands.  Let’s show a little class here.  But try as I might – some things bring me to me feet.  Sometimes, without warning, words, phrases fly out of my mouth.  Without a moment’s thought – without being aware of any formation of words – I’m cheering.  When that happens, I quickly survey the room and see if anyone noticed my outburst and then I regain my composer.  Regardless of my disposition some things just demand a response.  Some thing internal says, “You aren’t setting through this one and you aren’t remaining silent!”  I didn’t plan it and I can’t stop it.  The more unexpected and the more incredible – the louder and the more exuberant the response.  Now I don’t care for Pentecostal enthusiasm – but some things will make even a Baptist shout!

The apostle Paul was writing to young Timothy, his son in the Lord and co-laborer in the Gospel, about life in the church.  Paul was writing to inform Timothy about how “one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of truth (3:15).”  Timothy had been placed as pastor of the church in Ephesus.  Ephesus was a dearly loved congregation.  Paul had ministered in the city for three years and bid it a tearful farewell in Acts 20.  This dearly loved fellowship had succumbed to false teaching.  They had abandoned the truth Paul had delivered them and given themselves to endless myths and genealogies.  They had wandered from the truth and lost themselves in vain speculation.  Paul placed Timothy there and then wrote him charging him to stand up to those who were teaching lies.  Stand in opposition to those who like to see themselves as “teachers of the law” but who do not understand what they are talking about or have any real knowledge of the things about which they make such confident boasts.  This letter from the great apostle is very pertinent to us given the similarities in our culture with that of Ephesus.  Ephesus was a pluralistic culture, dominated by materialism and commercialism and enamored with “spirituality.”  Timothy was called to hold the biblical rope in a thoroughly pagan culture not unlike the task before us today.  Our text this morning begins in verse 12 of 1 Timothy chapter 1.

Text: 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Chapter 1:1-11 is about staying the biblical course.
Standing on a sure word with divine enabling.
Demanding doctrinal integrity – the aim of which was love (agape).
Remaining focused on the Gospel and evangelism.

Keep in mind this is a letter not a doctrinal dissertation.
Paul is writing to a dear son in the Lord about a beloved church in great trouble.
Thus it is a passionate letter/expressing his heart not just his head.
Our text is an expression of his heart about the passion of his life – the Gospel.
In fact it contains the Gospel in miniature in verse 15.
Our text is a burst of emotion – but must be read in the context – 1:3-4; 1:18-19.
To loose sight of that is to miss the message.
This is not a peripheral issue – it is central to the faith.
It is the heart and soul of the faith.

As we walk through these verses we learn that…

Thesis: The heart touched by grace erupts in spontaneous praise of God’s saving work.

When you consider what God has done for us in Christ – it is not time to sit on your hands.  It is not time to defiantly sit with arms crossed – unmoved – it is time to cheer!

There are three things I want us to note in our text.

1. Those who have been forgiven are overwhelmed by the magnitude of the mercy shown to them.  (1:12-14)
2. Those who have experienced the grace of salvation joyfully declare the wonder of salvation to all.  (1:15-16)
3. The heart set free bursts forth in praise to God our Savior.  (1:17)

When news reached Shiloh that the army had been defeated, the two priests had died and the Ark had been captured panic set in.  Eli died, Mrs. Phinehas died giving birth to a son and with her dying breath named her son Icabod, declaring the glory of God had departed.  What now?  Israel has no king.  The high priest is dead.  His successors both dead.  Their God is in the hands of their enemy.  What’s next?

Meanwhile in Ashdod the Ark of the Covenant has been brought to the house of Dagon, the pagan god of the Philistines.  As far as the Philistines were concerned the god of the Hebrews was obviously no match for the great and awesome Dagon.  They were overjoyed in their triumph.

The pagans are rejoicing.
The people of God are mourning.
What’s wrong with this picture?
Does it pay to know God or not?

Both are about to be taught a lesson through “Arkeology.”

Text: 1 Samuel 5:1-7:1

This section reads like the Grim Reaper meets the Keystone Kops!
Serious awful things happen yet there is humor in the way the Philistines respond.
At one point the Ark becomes a hot potato and nobody wants it yet they don’t want to let go of it.
Later when the Ark makes it back to Israel they rejoice but they would like for it to be somewhere else.

As we make our way through the text I want us to notice three things and then draw a conclusion.

1. The supremacy of God prominently displayed.  (5:1-5)
2. The judgment of God painfully executed.  (5:6-16:12)
3. The holiness of God powerfully revealed.  (6:13-7:1)

The story of the Ark is intended to shatter our pagan concepts of God.

He is not some tribal deity struggling to carve out his niche - he is the sovereign king of the universe.

He is not some benign idol to set on your shelf - he is the sovereign judge of all the earth.

He is not some tolerant, over indulging grandfather - but the holy one of Israel.

From this we learn…

Thesis: The living God cannot be used, manipulated, or managed.  Spiritual power is not a matter of getting your hands on the right method or technology.  The personal God cannot be reduced to an impersonal power, He is and forever will be the Sovereign King of all that exists!

Intro:
Prayer.  It is one of those things we talk a lot about…but seldom do.  Everyone knows it is important and that we all need to pray more than we do but we’re busy, there’s so much going on, well you know.  Sure there is that quick word before a meal.  There are the performances at church but what about real prayer?  When I think about people who really pray, I think of folks like Martin Luther, the great reformer, who spent four or five hours a day in prayer.  When asked how he could afford so to spend so much time in prayer given all he had to do Luther replied, “I have so much to do I can’t afford not to pray!”  I think of folks I’ve known through the years who were definitely prayer warriors.  That is not their assessment.  They did not see themselves as such (I would question anyone who did).  That was the observation of those who knew them.  Prayer is a powerful thing.  You know the strength and encouragement that comes when someone says, “I’m praying for you” and you know they mean it.  You can tell a lot about a person by their prayers.  You learn what is important to them.  You learn their priorities, who they love and what they love.

Of course the ultimate prayer warrior, the ultimate man of prayer is our Lord.  How often do we read in the Gospels that he spent the entire night in prayer?  That sounds strange to many of us.  We hear that and think, “What do you say all night?  How do you stay awake?”  Yet there is not one of us who hasn’t sat down with a friend or loved one and talked the night away.  You suddenly realize that hours have passed and it seemed like only a moment.  Maybe it seems foreign to us because God is a stranger.  Perhaps we can’t imagine being comfortable in His presence.  The Lord Jesus had shared a glorious unity with the Father from all eternity.  What did they talk about?  What went on in those exchanges between the Father and the Son?  Wouldn’t it be something to “get in on” the prayer life of the Lord Jesus?  Well we are given that opportunity on a few occasions in the Gospels.  One of them is our text this morning.

Text: John 17:1-26

This is sacred ground.  Jesus is in the final hours of his earthly ministry.  He has gathered with his disciples in the upper room to share the Passover Meal.  This is his final moments with them before the cross.  He talked with them concerning his death.  He spoke of his resurrection.  He told them of a home he was going to prepare for them.  He talked about abiding in him and bearing much fruit.  He promised the gift of the Holy Spirit.  He warned of the trouble that was to come.  At the end of their time together he prayed.  And what a prayer!  This is the Lord’s Prayer.  The passage in Matthew 6 contains the model prayer.  Jesus said, “When you pray, pray like this…”  This is the prayer he prayed.

As we work our way through the chapter here is what we find…

Thesis: This prayer of the Lord Jesus reveals His heart and soul.

This prayer gives us tremendous insight into the mind and heart of our Lord.  We find out what is important to him.  We find out what mattered to him.  Were were his priorities?  What was of greatest value to him?

The prayer naturally breaks into three sections.

1. The prayer of the Lord Jesus reveals his unrivaled love for the Father and the Father’s plan.  (17:1-5)
2. The prayer of the Lord Jesus reveals His gracious, superintending love for His disciples.  (17:6-19)
3. The prayer of the Lord Jesus reveals his merciful, inclusive love for the whole church.  (17:20-26)

Conclusion:
He prayed for you that night.
But that was not the last time he prayed for you.
He is now at the right hand of the Father interceding for his own!

Take heart dear Christian.  Are you in a dark place today?  Are you struggling?  He’s praying for you.  Are you frightened, uncertain anxious about your future?  He’s praying for you.  Are you awakening to your sin?  Coming to see your need of a Savior?  He’s praying for you!

Intro:
There are some lessons you just don’t want to learn.  Lessons that are valuable and add immensely to the happiness and well being of your life.  But lessons that are painful and difficult.  1995 was not a “good” year for me and yet one of the best years of my life.  I began the year with a brain tumor and I ended the year with a kidney stone!  Neither experience was welcomed or appreciated, at the time.  Both were painful and frightening.  Yet I learned during that year that what I preach is really true.  I discovered the care and comfort of God in ways I had never known it.  Looking back, it was a good experience.  Yet a lesson I didn’t want to learn.  I’ve learned through the years that God’s peace really does “pass understanding.”  I’ve discovered that there is peace in the darkest night.  I’ve learned death does not win.  But in order to learn that I had to say goodbye to people I love.  Some lessons you just don’t want to learn.  The problem is they are often lessons you really must learn.

It was a dark time for the nation of Israel.
There was no king in the land and every man did what was right in his own eyes.
Moral decay and spiritual corruption where common place.
Tragically the greatest corruption was in Shiloh at the house of God.
Hophni and Phenihus, the worthless sons of Eli, served as priests.
They did not know the God
They treated the sacrifices with contempt
They used the house of God as a brothel

All the while, in the midst of the corruption, God was raising up Samuel to be a priest, king-maker, judge and prophet.  God was at work in spite of how it seemed.  God was at work though faithlessness abounded.

A man of God arrived in Shiloh with some bad news for Eli.
God was fully aware of the corruption of his sons and was coming in judgment.
Never again would there be an “old man” in the house of Eli.
The house of Eli was finished and God was raising up another.
Eli would know this is coming about when his 2 boys die on the same day.

Later God revealed himself to Samuel and reinforced the message as he called Samuel as a prophet in chapter 3.  That brings us to 1 Samuel chapter 4.

Text: 1 Samuel 4:1-22

The first part of verse 1 of chapter 4 establishes Samuel as the lead figure in this drama.  Then he’s put on the back burner until chapter 7.  Chapters 4-6 have a new focus - the Ark of the Covenant.  That wooden box, plated with gold that served as the visible reminder of the presence and power of God.  You remember that the Ark contained the tablets of stone Moses brought down from the mountain; Aaron’s rod that budded, and a jar of manna.  Further this box had on its top the “mercy seat” upon which the blood was spilt on the Day of Atonement.  The mercy seat was flanked by 2 cherubim giving the appearance of a seat or throne.  Once the people settled in the land, the Ark was placed behind the heavy curtain, in the most holy place in the house of God at Shiloh.

That Ark becomes the focus of the next three chapters.

Chapter 4 opens with Israel at war with the Philistines.  They had already been Israel’s enemy for 200 years and would remain their enemy for the next 300 years.  The Philistines occupied 5 cities along the coastal lands to the west of the hill country were most of the Israelites lived.  Those cities were, Ekron, Ashdod, Gath, Ashkelon, and Gaza.

An important, painful lesson is learned in this chapter…

Thesis: 1 Samuel 4 is a potent reminder that God will not be used and is always faithful in fulfilling His word.

There are 2 things I want to point out in our text.

1. In times of crisis, serious corruption and imminent threat superstition is a sorry substitute for genuine faith.  (4:1-11)
2. Even in the midst of chaos, judgment and confusion God is at work fulfilling His purpose.  (4:12-22)

Intro:
I was just a naive kid.  He was my oldest brother.  I loved him, adored him, and most of all, trusted him.  When he said, “No those peppers aren’t hot.”  I believed him.  When he assured me they were delicious I ate one!  After a couple of hours crying and recuperating I was encouraged and touched by his remorse.  He had made a terrible mistake.  The red ones were hot.  It is the yellow one that is not.  As a goodwill gesture he offered me a yellow pepper.  After a few more hours of tears, wash clothes, bread and other remedies, I was feeling better when he offered me the green pepper.  Yes, I took it.  Fool me once shame on you.  Fool me twice shame on me.  The third time - I must have been an absolute idiot!  But that was when I was a child.

During my college days my roommate suggested we order pizza.  I called it in and had it delivered to our room.  Just before the pizza arrived my roommate suddenly discovered he had no cash.  No problem.  I got it.  Well, that happened four or five times and I finally caught on!  But I was a college kid.

She was a sweet little old lady who was overjoyed that the young seminary student was buying her trailer.  In a way she was investing in the ministry.  She even through in the refrigerator.  After 3 years I sold the trailer, for which I paid $9000, for $2000 and was glad to get it.  I’m afraid there’s a pattern here.

I felt sorry for them.  Their story was heart-wrenching.  Their mother had died.  They were here trying to make arrangements.  The hospital had taken what money they had.  One of the sisters had her son with her.  As they told their story I kept looking at the boy.  His head down.  Polite when I spoke to him.  Sure I provided them a room for the night and some help for a meal.  Of course I feel bad later when I saw them on the news and read the story of how they have manage to work their con-game crisscrossing the United States for the last 10 years.

I’m reasonably intelligent.  I graduated cum laude from OBU.  I have a masters degree from Southwestern Seminary.  I like to think I have some spiritual insight.  So how did I miss it?  How come I didn’t get it?  Presumption is a dangerous thing.

They had spent three and a half years with him.  They heard the teaching.  They witnessed the miracles.  They had a front row seat to everything and yet they just didn’t get it.  Nearness to Jesus did not guarantee understanding.  Believing and receiving his truth did not ensure insight.  Our text this morning is found in the 16th chapter of John’s Gospel.

Text: John 16:16-33

All of this is happening on the night of our Lord’s betrayal.
He is in the upper room with the disciples encouraging and equipping them for what is to come.
In our text he tells them some glorious things.

There is wonderful, good news in this text but the thing that stands out is their failure to understand.

As we work our way through the text we discover…

Thesis: Our joy and standing before God are not dependent upon our spiritual perception and insight but rather by the work of Christ alone.

Remember the context is - all hell is about to break loose.
Their world is about to be shaken.
What they have believed and committed themselves to is about to be violently taken from them.
A key thought emphasized is, “I am the vine, you are the branches.”
Their life is in Christ.
Not in their understanding of Christ but in Christ himself.

There are three things I want to call to your attention.

1. A genuine spiritual experience does not guarantee spiritual perception.  (16:16-24)
2. There is a fine line between spiritual perception and arrogant presumption.  (16:25-31)
3. Our joy and standing before God are secured by the work of Christ alone.  (16:33)

Intro:
“After darkness, light.”  That was the motto of the reformation in Geneva under John Calvin.  After years of spiritual darkness and superstition light had reappeared through the preaching of the Word of God.  The Word of God and preaching were so central to the life of the church in Geneva, believers were treated to six sermons a week!  Three on Sunday and then one each day on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.  The reformers believed the way out of darkness was through the Word of God.  The way to lift, not only the slumbering church but society in general, out of its silly superstitious ways was the way of biblical literacy.  Let the good news be proclaim throughout the land.  The Old Testament seems to hold the same assumption.  That’s why God would send a prophet.  This is important for us because I think we’ve lost that understanding.  I’m afraid we (the conservative, evangelical church) have bought into the American notion of power politics.  Organize, strategize get our guy elected and change things by playing hardball.  Well, to quote Dr. Phil, “How’s that work’n for us?”  I think the last 30 years has shown that we will never play the world’s game as well as the world plays it.  We also have learned that power corrupts.

Maybe we need to go back and look at this again from another perspective.  We would do well to ask, “How did God do it in the past?”  It just may be there is a more productive way for us to impact the world.  I’m not at all suggesting that Christians not be involved in the political process.  I believe Christians should run for office.  I think they should allow their faith to inform their decisions and seek to use godly influence whenever and wherever possible.  But as the church we should come at this from a very different perspective.  I’m convinced there is a lesson to be learned from the 3rd chapter of 1 Samuel.

Text: 1 Samuel 3:1-21

It was a time when every man did what was right in his own eyes.
A time of great corruption demonstrated by the corruption at Shiloh, in the house of God!
Yet in the noise and chaos of this corruption God was at work in the heart of a young boy.
God was raising up yet another judge who would be a king-maker and as we learn this evening - a prophet.

As we work our way through this chapter we discover that…

Thesis: In times of great darkness, moral and spiritual decay, light and vibrancy come through the ministry of the Word of God.

There are three things I want us to note.

1. In times of darkness God brings light by His Word through His prophet.  (3:1, 19-4:1a)
2. In the calling of the prophet God demonstrates His kindness and long-suffering.  (3:2-10)
3. The ministry of the prophet is one of joy and great sorrow.  (3:11-18)

Conclusion:
The way out of moral and spiritual darkness is through the Word of God.  May God give us grace as He raises up preacher to declare the truth of His Word; as He reveals His kindness and grace; and as we maintain the tension of the joy and sorrow of biblical proclamation.

Intro:
It was an eventful evening.  Our Lord and his disciples gathered in the upper room to share the Passover meal.  It was during that meal he stunned them with the announcement that there was a betrayer in their midst.  How was that possible?  How could they not have known?  Who was it?  While they were still reeling from the revelation he hit them again.  “Peter, before tomorrow morning you will deny that you even know me.”  These revelations along with news of his arrest and brutal death was more than they could handle.  In love and kindness our Lord sought to equip and encourage his shell-shocked followers.  He told them he would send a Helper to remind them of all that he had told them and to guide them.  He reminded them that their life was in him.  He was the vine, they were the branches and as they abide in him they would bear much fruit but apart them him they could do nothing.  He told them, in advance, that the world would hate them just as it hated him.  In the face of that hostility they were to proclaim the Gospel and stand their ground.  Information was coming fast and furious.  Trying to take it all in was a bit like drinking from a fire hose!  It must have seemed like a dream.  It couldn’t be happening.  Not like this.  Not now.  So much of what he said that night seemed impossible to believe.  What he said next was outrageous!  Our text is found in chapter 16 of John beginning with verse 5.

Text: John 16:5-15

It seems blasphemous to even think it.
I can’t even imagine what their response would have been that night.
“I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away…”

How can that be?
He is the Christ.
He is the Lord’s anointed.
What about the kingdom?
How is it advantageous to the kingdom for the king to go away?

Think about what Jesus said.  Let it settle in.  Have you ever thought, “Oh, I wish I could have been there and walked with Jesus?”  Have you ever wished you could have been there when he opened the eyes of the blind, made the lame to walk?  Would you have liked to taste the fish and loaves as part of that vast multitude fed by the boy’s lunch?  Yet Jesus said you are in a better position.  It is to your advantage he’s no longer here.  Does that make sense to you?  How can that be?

As we look carefully at what our Lord said in this text we discover that…
Thesis: We are blessed beyond measure by our Lord’s departure from this earth.

That just sounds so wrong.
How is that possible?
The answer is found in the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
We Baptist get a little antsy when it comes to talking about the 3rd person of the Trinity.

“Be careful preacher, we don’t want to do what they have done.  We don’t want to become fanatics!”  I don’t know too many Baptist who are on the verge of getting fanatical about the Holy Spirit.  Truth be told I’d rather calm down and fanatic than try and resurrect a corpse!  The fact is we have nothing to fear from the Holy Spirit.  You cannot be saved apart from the work of the Holy Spirit.  Unless the Spirit illumines your understanding and quickens your heart you will never believe the Gospel.  Apart from the Spirit’s power and enabling you cannot grow in your faith or serve Christ and his kingdom.  Every child of God is a charismatic (little c) grace-gifted, spirit empowered believer.

In our text our Lord gives two reasons for why his departure is to our advantage.

1. Because when he departs, the Lord Jesus will send the Holy Spirit in full convicting power.  (16:7-11)
2. We are blessed because of the Spirit’s confirming work in the life of every believer.  (16:12-15)

Intro:
I have a picture on my computer that is a poster.  It is like those motivational posters, the ones with a word and then an uplifting phrase to go along with it.  This one says, “Despair: remember it’s always darkest just before it goes pitch black!”  I have to admit I’m not an optimist.  I never see the glass half full.  I tend to dwell on the negative.  I know what you’re thinking.  “Gee I was going to go see the pastor next week about my problem.  This is a great thing to learn.”  When I say I never see the glass half full I mean in my circumstance.  I’m pretty good at telling you to be encouraged.  I’m just not good about taking my own advice.  Don’t you find it is easy to be discouraged?  When things go from bad to worse don’t you find it easy to pile it on and say, “Of course this is the story of my life.  Nothing ever goes right for me.  I’m not sure what else can go wrong but I’m sure I’ll find out tomorrow.”  When I add to the equation my general suspicion about people and their motives - it get’s bad.  That’s why the book of 1 Samuel is so interesting to me.  The story is set in a bad time.  We are in that period of time when there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in his own eyes.  That time when the nation spiraled through the cycle of the Judges - corruption, judgment, repentance and a cry for deliverance, God was merciful and provided a deliverer and the nation enjoyed peace and prosperity and until they fell into corruption and the whole cycle started over.

Now this was not an endless circle, it was a spiral downward.  With each completion of a cycle they were not at the same point but worse off.  As we approach the middle and last half of 1 Samuel chapter 2 we find just how dark those days were.

Text: 1 Samuel 2:12-36

Hannah has just completed her song of praise to God.
That glorious statement of God’s power and provision.
That there is none holy like the Lord, a rock like no other.
That section ends with Samuel “ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli the priest.”

Samuel God’s gracious answer to Hannah’s prayer is acting in the role of priest with Eli’s oversight and supervision.  If you stop there it sounds pretty good.  But we’re just at the beginning of the story.

Listen as we begin at verse 12 - 2:12-17.
This is incredible!
These men are priests - their father is apparently the high priest.
They service in Shiloh at the house of the Lord.

Note how they are described: “Now the sons of Eli were worthless men.  They did not know God.”  They were priests!  They were responsible for worship and the sacrifices.

Worthless men = Sons of Belial.
Hannah’s prayer 1:16 - “…do not regard your servant as a worthless woman” (daughter of Belial).  Ironic isn’t it?

We find sons of Belial in Judges 19:22 and 20:13 and the awful story about the worthless men in Gibeah violating the Levite’s concubine and the bloodshed that followed.  Paul asks the rhetorical question in 2 Corinthians 6 - “What does Christ have to do with Belial?”  The obvious answer is nothing.  Godliness and ungodliness have no common ground.

1 Samuel 2:13-17 goes on to speak of the corruption of these worthless men.
They were not satisfied with the portion given them by the law of God.
They sought additional provision.
The custom spoken of is an extra-biblical custom of these greedy, corrupt priests.
They were literally and figuratively growing fat on this practice.

But their greed went even further - 2:15-16
Conclusion - 2:17 - thus their sin was very great, they treated the offering of the Lord with contempt.

Do you get the picture here?
Do you see the corruption, the greed, the contempt?

Now look at 2:18-21.
What a contrast.

Here is the principle:

1. In times of great corruption and moral decay the people of God can rest assured that God is at work and deliverance will come.
2. In times of great corruption and moral decay the unrighteous can rest assured that justice delayed is not justice denied.  There is coming a day of reckoning.

Conclusion:
There was public, scandalous sin at Shiloh.  It was ongoing; it was unchecked.  Nothing was being done about it.  No wonder God’s people were cynical about worship and sacrifice.  If Hophni and Phinehas threaten to destroy God’s people then Hophni and Phinehas will be destroyed to spare God’s people.  It is a work of judgment.  It is a harsh reality and yet at the same time a gracious reality.  God protects his people.

God’s people must always remember he is at work, deliverance will come.

The unrighteous must remember God is not mocked, there is coming a day of reckoning.

One last thing…

Our hope, our confidence, our peace as the people of God rests in the fact that God’s purpose cannot fail!

Intro:
In some circles he is the face of Evangelicalism.  He does pastor the largest church in the United States.  His message is one of hope and optimism.  You’ve seen his smiling face.  You may have even read one of his best selling books, Your Best Life Now or his new book Everyday a Friday.  Joel Olsteen’s gospel is one of joy, happiness and prosperity.  His message draws thousands to his Houston area church every weekend, while millions are drawn to his televised messages.  Olsteen says, “Our message is about the goodness of God…It seems just that people come alive when they realize God is for me, he’s got a plan for my life and I can do something great. I can be who he wants me to be.”  In Olsteen’s gospel there is no room for heartache, pain and struggle.  If you believe, if you have faith you will be happy!  You will succeed!  Who doesn’t want to believe that?  That is a wonderful message.  Of course it doesn’t play well if you are a Christian in the Sudan and your home has been confiscated and your life threatened because you dared to publicly profess faith in Christ.  In Iran pastor Youcef Nadarkhani is set to be executed because he refuses to recant his faith in Christ.  More that 200 million of our brothers and sisters in Christ, in over 60 countries, face persecution daily.  This year nearly 165,000 of them will die for their faith.  I’m not sure the gospel of Everyday Is A Friday is going to be of much help.  We live in a very different world than a few decades ago.  The Church, once a player in our culture, has been removed from the table.  While there remains a few faint reminders of the church’s influence, for the most part, society has moved on.  Culture is becoming increasingly antagonistic toward the Church and its message.  What are we to do?  How are we to respond to our hostile world?

It was the night of His betrayal.  Jesus and his followers were gathered in the upper room for the Passover meal.  It was quite and evening!  He startled them by telling them there was a traitor in their midst, “One of you will betray me.”  They were devastated by the news that he must be handed over, tried, convicted and executed.  He knew their world was about to be rocked so in love and kindness he sought to prepare them.  “I’m not going to leave you orphaned.  I’ve asked the Father and he is sending a Helper.  He will guide you into truth and remind you of all that I have said.”  As part of the preparation he told them of what to expect from the world.  That’s where we pick up the story.  John chapter 15 and verse 18.

Text: John 15:18-16:4

The question before us is this: In light of the world’s intense hatred of Christ, His Gospel and all that is associated with Him, what are we, the people of God, to do?

Three things are clear.

1. We are to expect opposition.  (15:18-25)
2. We are to speak the truth with courage and boldness.  (15:26-27)
3. We are to stand our ground.  (16:1-4)

Conclusion:
What is the point of such a passage?  It is to remind us that we are part of something greater.  It’s not about our comfort and happiness in this life.  The Gospel is not about a better life now.  You cheapen the Gospel when you make it about such trivial matters.  It is about the kingdom of God.  It is about God’s glory and eternity.  And we are to give our lives, if necessary, in service to the cause of Christ.

The message of Christ then and now is this: In this life you will face persecution.  In this world you will have trial and tribulation - yet take heart, I have overcome the world.  One day you will reign with me in glory.  Until that day, stand your ground.  Proclaim my Gospel.  Live for my glory.

Intro:
Do you ever stop and evaluate your prayers?  I don’t mean that you record them and then grade them according to content and delivery.  I mean have you given thought to what you pray for and about?  Have you considered the aim of your prayers?  I’m often convicted by the prayers of others.  Their direction and their insight.  When I read the prayers of those who’ve gone before whether the prayers of the Puritans or the prayers of Scripture I find their focus often differs radically from mine.  My prayers seem so petty.  My concerns seem selfish.  My prayers are often “local.”  I said, “local” not “loco!”  My prayers often center on me and mine.  Of course it is not wrong to pray about personal needs and concerns.  In fact we are command to “cast our cares upon Him.”  We are to be anxious about nothing but in everything with prayer and supplication let our request be made known but, at some point, our praying has to move beyond the immediate to the eternal.  We must be more concerned about the great issues of the kingdom of God not just our little corner of the world.  I guess that’s why I find the first two chapters of 1 Samuel so interesting.  In these two chapters are two prayers.  Both prayed by Hannah.  Both sincere and directed toward God but very different.  This evening I want to focus on the second prayer, found in the opening verses of chapter 2.

Text: 1 Samuel 2:1-10

Remember Hannah was heart broken over the fact that she was childless.
Her husband, Elkanah, loved her very much and tried to do all he could for her.
Elkanah’s other wife, Peninnah enjoyed tormenting her rival.
Peninnah had many children and constantly threw it in Hannah’s face.

One day while in Shiloh for worship Hannah went to the tabernacle and poured her heart out to God.  She knew it was God who had closed her womb but rather than allowing that to embitter her toward God she fled to God as the only means of relief.  Only God could change her condition.  “O Lord of Host, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant and remember me and not forget your servant, but will give to your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life…”

Knowing the character and heart of God based on His past dealings with His people she prayed in confidence.  God heard her cry.  We read that she went on her way and at, and “her face was no longer sad.”
Shortly thereafter she conceived and in due time gave birth to a son and named him Samuel.
After his birth Elkanah announced to the family it was time to go to Shiloh again and worship.

Hannah said she would not return until the boy was weaned and she would then go and present him to the Lord and he would remain in Shiloh in service to God.

1:24-28 tells of her fulfillment of her vow.

Then with the beginning of verse 1 of chapter 2 she prays.
But this is a much different prayer.
The first was in bitterness of soul - the second with great joy.
The first begged for God’s mercy - the second rejoiced in God’s power and glory.

Here is what I want us to learn…

Thesis: The experience of grace leads to God exulting prayer.

The word “exult” means: to rejoice, be joyful, be happy, be delighted, be elated, be ecstatic, be overjoyed, jubilant, or rapturous

That’s what her prayer is like.
Some read her prayer and conclude that the language is over the top.
That the language is hardly appropriate to the circumstance.
I beg to differ.

There are three things to note as we work through this prayer.

1. Exulting prayer stands in awe of God’s incomparable glory and power.  (2:1-3)
2. Exulting prayer sees beyond the immediate circumstance and glories in God’s sovereign rule over all the earth.  (2:4-8)
3. Exulting prayer aims towards God’s ultimate triumph over His enemies and the enthronement of His righteous king.  (2:9-10)

Conclusion:
Is it wrong to be consumed with our own heartaches?
No.
Is it wrong to plead with God to be merciful and kind?
Of course not.
But when God answers understand that His answers are great.
They move well beyond the immediate to the eternal.
Lift your eyes.
Glory in God’s great work.

The experience of grace leads to God exulting prayers!

Intro:
Incredible.  Spectacular.  Unbelievable.  The difference is night and day.  That is why it is described as passing from death to life.  It is called “the new birth.”  To come to faith in Christ is to enter into a completely new kind of life.  It means to undergo fundamental change.  That is why it bothers me when there is no visible difference between a pagan and one who claims to be a child of God.  To be a Christian is to be different.  You should not have to have a program to point out the different teams - it should be obvious!  Your life, as a Christian, should be distinctly different from the nonbeliever.  Yet statistically, in today’s world, there is virtually no difference morally or ethically.  I understand that we are all sinners.  I know that we are in the process of being made holy.  We are not there yet.  It is a lifelong process.  I get that.  But when the divorce rates is the same inside the church as outside the church, something is wrong.  When there is little to no difference in lifestyle inside the church, something is wrong.  I’m not suggesting that you must trade your SUV for a horse and buggy.  I’m not saying that you your wardrobe must be limited to basic black and certain shades of gray and brown.  I am suggesting that your lifestyle should differ from your lost neighbor.  I am saying that your worldview ought to stand in sharp contrast to that of the atheist.  Your values should clash with the secularist.  When you read the Gospels you find our Lord talking a lot about character.  He makes it clear, in the Sermon on the Mount, that character precedes conduct.  What we do flows out of who we are.  He said, the Christian is to be “known by their fruit.”  A good tree produces good fruit.  A bad tree produces bad fruit.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit.  In other words a “professed faith” ought to be backed up by a life of faith.

Yes we are saved by grace alone through faith alone but not by a faith that is alone.  Genuine faith produces works of righteousness.  As Jesus says repeatedly in John 15, and elsewhere, “If you love me you will do what I say.”  It is the night of His betrayal.  He is in the upper room with His apostles.  He is instructing them, equipping them, preparing them for the trial that is to come.  He pulls no punches, He refuses to “sugarcoat” it, He speak directly and powerfully to issues central to their survival and their carrying on the work of the Kingdom.  Our text this morning is found in John chapter 15 beginning with verse 12.

Text: John 15:12-17
Our Lord is clear…

Thesis: Life in Christ radically alters the believer’s life.

This is basic, or fundamental to the Christian life yet almost forgotten.
For too long we’ve talked of “putting faith in Christ” without stressing what that means.
It has come to mean, “pray a prescribed prayer and then live however you want to live.”
Walk the aisle, get baptized, get your name on the roll - then kick back - you’re done.
THAT’S NOT THE BIBLICAL MODEL!

Scripture talks of “conversion.”
Conversion means change - radical, fundamental, to the core change.
When you come to Christ your life changes fundamentally.

It is not that you become a Christian version of what you were before your faith in Christ.  Rather if any man is in Christ he is a new creation.  The old has passed away and everything is made new.

Our Lord speaks of three great changes in our text.

1. Life in Christ demands a totally new approach to life.  (15:12-13)
2. Life in Christ enables intimacy with God.  (15:14-15)
3. Life in Christ grants ambassador status.  (15:16)

Intro:
It is a book filled with political struggle and intrigue.  The story of major shifts in the religious and political life of the nation.  It contains epoch-making events that will not only shape the nation but impact the world.  Yet it begins by calling our attention to a humble woman living in the backwaters of the hill country of Ephraim, weeping over her dead womb.  Why?  In what possible way does her pathetic tale intersect with this great story?  Her name means, “favored one” but her condition betrays her name.  How can a “favored one” be barren?  Why should we care what happens to this childless nobody?  It matters because this is just the kind of place, and just the kind of circumstance that catches the attention of our God.  We begin our study of the book of 1 Samuel with a look at the story of Hannah.  Our text is found in the first chapter of  1 Samuel.

Text: 1 Samuel 1:1-28

We need to begin with some background.
1st and 2nd Samuel were originally one book.

They along with the book of Kings (now 1st and 2nd Kings) comprised a 2 volume set telling the story of the 500 year period of Israel’s existence under a monarchy.  When the Hebrew Old Testament was translated into Greek, in the 2nd century B.C., the 2 scrolls Samuel and Kings were divided into 4 books.  Writing Greek took twice the space of writing Hebrew.  For convenience the Church has maintained the division.

4 figures dominate - Hannah, Samuel, Saul and David.

The book opens at the end of the Period of the Judges described in Judges 21:25 as a time when - “…there was no king in Israel.  Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.”  You remember the “cycle of the Judges.”  There would be apostasy, followed by a foreign oppressor, the people of God would repent and cry out for a deliverer, God would raise up a deliverer, they would be set free, enjoy a time of peace and then start the whole thing over again.  This was basically a 200 year period of anarchy.

Dale Ralph Davis provides a helpful outline of the book in broad strokes:

1. A Prophet from God’s Grace (1-7)
2. A King in God’s Place (8-14)
3. A Man after God’s Heart (15-31)

This evening I want us to walk carefully through the 1st chapter.  We need to be cautious when dealing with Old Testament narrative.  We must do more than simply retell the story.  In addition, we also must be careful not to just find moral lessons or examples to follow or avoid.  It would be easy to read the first chapter and say, “Hannah is a great example of faith for us to follow; and let’s make sure we’re not like Peninnah or Eli!”  I would agree Peninnah and Eli are poor examples while there is much to commend in both Elkanah and Hannah but they are not the point!  The story is not primarily about Hannah - but about Hannah’s God.

Here is what I want us to see in this opening chapter…

Thesis: Our understanding of God directly impacts our praying and informs our worldview.

If we really believe there is a God and we believe He has revealed himself to us through the Scriptures, that belief will impact everything in our lives.  It will impact the way we think and direct the way we act.  It will shape our view of the world around us and how we interpret world events.  Genuine belief in God is not relegated to discussions on Sunday morning in Sunday School.  He dominates our thinking daily.  We see His hand everywhere.

There are three things I want us to see in this text.

1. In times of trouble and great distress the righteous have nowhere to turn but to the Sovereign Ruler of all things.  (1:1-10)
2. Our God’s sovereign and gracious rule inspires honest, transparent and confident prayer.  (1:11-17)
3. The Righteous respond to God’s good grace in quiet confidence and steadfast obedience.  (1:18-28)

Conclusion:
Here is where we must be careful.  Are we to assume that Hannah was particularly righteous thus God heard her prayer?  Are we to believe that she was extraordinarily fervent in her prayer so God granted her request?

It’s not about Hannah.
I’m sure there were other barren women whose prayers were every bit as fervent.
I’m confident that good and godly women wept daily with no answer, no relief.
Why Hannah?
Because God sovereignly, graciously chose to do something great.

His kindness was not just to Hannah but to the nation and ultimately the world!

Intro:
It is really sad.  A pathetic description of life.  In fact I hesitate to call it life but one leading social commentator described modern man’s “life experience” with these words:  …were the truth to be known most people are born and years later die without really having lived at all…they eat, sleep, they work and reproduce; they study and forget; they play it safe and tip-toe through life with no greater aspiration that to arrive at death safely!  To borrow from the Preacher of Ecclesiastes, “Vanity, vanity.  All is vanity!”  Our culture is infected with a sense of meaninglessness.  There is a “deadness” to our world that seems to permeate every area of life.  Life, for the most part, is without meaning or purpose.  Teenage suicide.  Senseless violence.  Corruption.  Abuse and neglect.  They are all the bitter fruit of meaninglessness.  Empty lives, restless souls, hopeless futures - where does it end?  Where is it we find life and meaning?  Where do we go to find a purpose, something worth living for?  The answer is found in the Gospel.  Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life and that life in abundance!”  On another occasion Jesus said, “This is eternal life, Father, that they know you.”  We continue our look this morning at the words of Jesus to His followers on the night of His betrayal.  Our text is found in John chapter 15.

Text: John 15:9-11

For three years they have walked with Him.
They have given themselves to Him as Lord and master.
Now he’s talking about death, going away, leaving them.
Their world is about to be rocked.
No amount of instruction will protect them from the sock they are about to experience.
To see your leader arrested, tried, convicted, executed in a matter of hours is too much to bear.
Especially if you believe Him to be Messiah!
How can the Lord’s anointed be slaughtered before establishing the kingdom?
This one whom the winds and waves obey - how can He be “taken?”

Knowing that the events would be overwhelming Jesus gave them teaching designed to encourage and strengthen after the fact.  One of the keys is stated in 15:5 - “I am the vine, you are the branches.  Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

As we explore the words of 15:9-11 we discover that…

Thesis: A life of genuine significance, meaning and purpose can only be found in an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.

It was Augustine who said, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.”

You will never know joy and lasting peace until you know Christ.
Listen to what I’m saying.
I did not say you can never know joy or peace until you know Christ.
Due to general grace even the unrighteous have moments of joy and peace.
I said you will never know joy and lasting peace until you know Christ.

Joy and peace, meaning and purpose are the fruit of a living, loving relationship with Christ.  This is part of what sets our faith apart from the religions of the world.  It is about relationship.  It is personal and intimate with the person of God.  It is a restoring of relationship.  It is a return to what God intended from the beginning.  Getting back what was lost in the Fall.

There are three things I want to call to your attention.

1. This abiding relationship is grounded in an unshakeable love.  (15:9)
2. That unshakeable love produces loving obedience.  (15:10)
3. That loving obedience results in resounding joy.  (15:11)

“These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Conclusion:
Have you noticed there is a progression?
These things are related: they build on one another.

This unshakeable love upon which this relationship is built produces loving obedience which results in resounding joy!

A life of genuine significance, meaning and purpose can only be found in an abiding relationship with Jesus Christ.

Intro:
It has been a source of strength and encouragement for believers through the ages.  In times of tremendous hardship its words have served to inspire and fortify beleaguered hearts.  The embattle Huguenots sang it as they marched into battle against their oppressors.  The English Covenanters sang it at Drumclog in 1679 when they defeated the government troops.  It was sung as a thanksgiving hymn in 1588 marking the defeat of the Spanish Armada.  The Pilgrims loved this psalm and sang it often as they carved a home out of the wilderness of Massachusetts.  This “fighting psalm” of Israel has faithfully served the church through the ages and can be of great encouragement to you in times of peril.  Our text this evening is the 76th Palm.

Text: Psalm 76:1-12

Life is often overwhelming.

We sometime say, “The Lord is not going to give me more than I can handle.”
There is a sense in which that is true – but you must remember – everything is more than you can handle!

Because God is gracious He allows us to be overwhelmed that it might drive us to His loving arms.  What kind of God would allow you to live under the delusion that you can handle things?  No, our God shows us our weakness so that in our weakness we can be made strong.

The life of peace and security is not the life that knows God is there for those things I can’t handle.  Peace and security is found in understanding our complete dependence upon Him.  Do you know when fear entered the world?  In Genesis 3 when Adam rebelled against God.  When Adam said, “I don’t need God to tell me right from wrong/good from evil – I’ll decide for myself.”  He moved from total dependence to independence and it “scared the stuffing out of him!”

Adam said, “We heard you and we hid ourselves for we were naked and afraid.”

To acknowledge your dependence upon God is the first step toward resting in the security of His presence and power.  That is the message of this psalm.

This is a psalm of Asaph.
We do not know the specific context – it is not given to us in the title.
It is obviously in celebration of a great victory won by the hand of God.
There is a connection between psalms 74, 75 and 76.

Psalm 74 sees violence and injustice and cries out for God to do something.
Psalm 75 God says at the appointed time he will respond.
Psalm 76 rejoices in God’s miraculous intervention.

James Boice suggests the passage fits with the invasion of Sennacherib – 2 Kings 18-19.
Note 76:5-6 and 2 Kings 19:35-36.

Regardless of the context the message for us is clear:

Thesis: In times of great distress and struggle the righteous find peace in God’s strong presence.

We find a powerful description of God in this psalm.
It is not just God’s presence but His presence in power and glory.

I know that God cannot be present in any other way – God is God – but I think it is important to use the terms of his strength and might.  Our comfort and encouragement is in a God who is big enough and powerful enough to handle whatever threatens us.  Over and over again in the psalms and elsewhere we read of “God’s right hand,” “God’s mighty arm” etc.

This hymn is divided into three stanzas marked off by the instruction selah meaning, “Stop and meditate on that a minute.”  Give some serious thought to what that implies.

Let’s reflect on these three great truths this evening.

1. The righteous rest in their knowledge of God.  (76:1-3)
2. The righteous glory in God’s intervention on their behalf and stand in awe of His justice.  (76:4-10)
3. The righteous respond to God’s working with acts of worship and service.  (76:11-12)

Intro:
Something is wrong.  I don’t believer there is any question about it.  Things simply do not add up.  Claims are made that just cannot be substantiated.  Many claim a “born-again” experience but their lives produce no evidence of such an experience.  There are those who say they believe the Bible to be the Word of God, it is God’s revelation, but turn right around and dismiss what the Bible clearly teaches.  Something is wrong.  How can we explain the inconsistencies?  We start by acknowledging that there a both genuine and false professions of faith within the church.  Jesus spoke of wheat and tares growing together in the same field.  He also stated that there would be those who would be surprised at the judgement, “Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never knew you.”  On the night our Lord was betrayed, He shocked the 12 by announcing there was a traitor in their midst.  How could one of them turn on Him?  How could they not know one of them was a false disciple?  What separates the true from the false?  What is the difference between the genuine article and the phony?

Webster defines genuine as, “Actually having the reputed qualities or character of the original; that which is free from hypocrisy or pretense.”  As we explore the opening verses of John 15 we are going to consider the marks of genuine faith.

Text: John 15:1-8

We are on the threshold of the holy place.
It is the night of betrayal and our Lord is instructing His disciples.
He is preparing them for what is to come.
Their faith is about to be tested.
Their world is about to be turned upside-down.
In love and grace He is getting them ready.
He wants them to have a “settled heart” in the midst of the chaos.
“Let not your heart be troubled, don’t even let it fear.”
That’s easier said than done!
But He did not leave them without means.

He made them promises, He assured them of provision, He secured a “Helper.”

This is a very familiar passage.
As we work our way through it we discover that…

Thesis: All genuine believers bear the fruit of a relationship with Christ.

There can be no question this passage is focused on fruit-bearing.
It is equally clear that this is not just true for the “elite” or the “extraordinary” but every believer.
Note the language in 15:2 - “every” (2); 15:5 “whoever” (1).

There are three (3) things I want to point out along the way.

1. The genuine believer recognizes the absolute necessity of being united with Christ.  (15:1, 4, 5, 6, 7)
2. The genuine believer humbly yields to the pruning of the Lord.  (15:2b, 4)
3. The genuine believer lovingly abides in the presence of Christ.  (15:4-7)

Intro:
I like music.  In fact I like music of all kinds.  Well not every kind.  I don’t care for Indie or punk or new wave or rap or any of that weird stuff.  But I like to listen to music.  But I have to admit some music is just depressing.  I’m sure some of the new stuff is really depressing if I could understand the words.  See, now I know I’m getting old.  I’m well on my way to becoming a curmudgeon!  But it’s not just this new stuff that is depressing.  I mean if you want to talk about depressing music, we have to talk about country and western music.  You know they say if you play rock music backwards you get a message from the devil.  You know what happens when you play country music backwards?  You sober up.  Your wife comes back and your dog rises from the dead!  No wonder people drink when they listen to country music!

Now when we think of the Psalms we normally think of praise.  And the Psalms are filled with praise but there are also some depressing Psalms.  The Psalms run the full range of emotions.  And Psalm 39 is a sobering Psalm.  It is a psalm that is not easily understood.  But I’m convinced that if you wrestle with it you will find that it contains a very encouraging message.

Text: Psalm 39:1-13

This is a Psalm of David.
We are told, in the title, that it is for the director of music.  For Jeduthun.

Jeduthun, along with Asaph and Heman, was one of the musicians appointed by David to lead public worship (1 Chronicles 16:37-42; 25:1-8; 2 Chronicles 5:12; 35:15).

Psalm 39 asks us to think about the brevity of life.
That is not a subject our culture is particularly fond of.
We are captivated by youth and vitality.
In fact I would go so far as to say – “We don’t like to think!”

We rush headlong in pursuit of amusement.
Amusement is a compound word.
“Muse” means to ponder, meditate or think.
The prefix “a” is a negative.
So amusement means, “not thinking.”

Most people want to drift through life without giving a lot of thought to anything.
Psalm 39 is a rebuke of that attitude.
The Psalmist calls on us to stop and give some serious thought to this issue.
As we walk through this psalm, here is what we discover:

Thesis: The righteous are characterized by hope in spite of the brevity and the vanity of life.

This psalm has four stanzas each of which provides us with a different characteristic of the righteous and their attitude toward life.

The righteous are characterized by a resolve to remain steadfast in spite of an intense struggle with life’s vanity.  (39:1-3)

The righteous are characterized by a determination to live a meaningful life in spite of life’s apparent meaninglessness.  (39:4-6)

The righteous are characterized by a desire for relationship in spite of God’s rebuke for sin.  (39:7-11)

The righteous are characterized by a recognition that life has a meaning, which is not tied to this world.  (39:12-13)

Intro:
Not that I’m cynical, jaded or soured on humanity but when someone says, “Trust me” everything in me screams, “Run away!”  Maybe it’s because those words seem to have preceded most disappointments in my life.  It has generally been my experience that if someone feels it is necessary to convince me they are trustworthy…they probably aren’t.  So I understand the skeptical.  I sympathize with those who struggle to believe.  That’s under good conditions.  That’s when things are going well.  What about when things are tough?  What about when all hell breaks loose?  What about when everything you’ve believed, everything you’ve dreamed of is taken from you?  And taken in a violent manner?

They thought he was going to usher in the kingdom of God.  By that they meant he would run out the hated Roman occupation army.  They meant that a golden age would begin.  A time of unprecedented prosperity when Israel would finally get the recognition it deserved.  How does his dying serve that end?  How does his “going away” fit into that scheme?  “Let not your heart be troubled?”  Is he kidding?  Before you shake your head at their lack of insight or their failure to see the obvious, have you ever questioned the wisdom or work of God?  Have you ever looked at the circumstance of your life and wondered if maybe you’ve believed a lie?  If you say, “No, I’ve never thought that.”  I have to ask you another question - do you lie about other things too?  The life of faith is a struggle.  Our Lord understood that.  As our Creator He knew we are frail children of dust who are victims of the Fall and its curse.  That’s why in love and grace He prepared His disciples for what was to come.  He instructed them.  He told them what was coming.  Yet He knew they wouldn’t understand.  He knew they would need another teacher to instruct and remind them.  In fact, He told them He would send a helper to do just that.  Our text this morning is found in John chapter 14 beginning with verse 18.

Text: John 14:18-31

We are in the upper room on the night of His betrayal.
Jesus is talking with the 11 remaining disciples about what is coming.
Judas has already left the group to meet up with his conspirators.
In verse 1 of chapter 14 our Lord sets the tone for this section.
“Let not your hearts be troubled.”
This chapter is taken up with the reasons and means for a settled heart.
He is going to prepare a place - 2
He is coming to take them to be with him - 3
He alone is the way, because he alone has the truth and he alone has the power of life - 6
He and the Father are one - 9-11

As we consider the last half of this chapter I want you to see that…

Thesis: A calm heart, in the face of utter turmoil, demands confident faith in the word of Christ and His gracious provision.

Let’s note three things.

The Lord Jesus promises abundant provision through His abiding presence.  (14:18-24)

The Lord Jesus assures us of an accurate and intimate knowledge of God by the work of the Holy Spirit.  (14:25-26)

The Lord Jesus guarantees us lasting, eternal peace as His gracious gift.  (14:27)

Conclusion:

There is a way to the settled heart.  A heart at peace in spite of the storm.  A heart at rest though all hell breaks loose.  Such a heart demands confident faith in the word of Christ and His gracious provision.

Our Lord promises abundant provision through His abiding presence.
He assures us accurate and intimate knowledge of God through the work of the Holy Spirit in us.
He guarantees lasting, eternal peace as His gracious gift.

Intro:
I’m convinced the life of faith is greatly misunderstood.  There are those who embrace the lie that “religion is a crutch” for the weak.  There are those who are convinced that the life of faith is dangerous, not only for those who believe, but for culture in general.  If you haven’t noticed, the “new atheism” is militant and aggressive.  They no longer shake their heads in pity for the poor misguided religious crowd, they seek to rid society of any and all reference to faith.  That is to faith in general and to Christianity in particular.  Of greater concern to me is the lack of understanding within the church.  Too many of us misunderstand the life of faith.  We think of faith in “magic” terms.  Prayers are used as incantations.  Church membership is reduced to a talisman or good luck charm to ward off evil spirits.  It is thought if I claim Jesus nothing bad can happen to me and if it does - then there must not be anything to this faith and we walk away.  The life of faith is my trust in the sovereign, gracious work of God in saving me from the wrath to come.  It is God’s mercy in taking me from death to life and enabling me to have a relationship with the Creator.  It isn’t about wealth, health and the good life.  It is deeper than that.  It is more profound than that.  The life of faith recognizes that we live in a fallen, broken world where horrible, awful things happen to people.  It happens to both the righteous and the unrighteous as part of the curse of the Fall.  Faith is not a “free pass.”  It is not a note excusing you from life’s troubles.  Rather it is the assurance that you will not walk the valley alone.  That you will not be the victim ultimately.  That you will overcome by the blood of the Lamb and His testimony.

The wind had been knocked out of them.
For the last 3.5 years they have walked with Jesus.
They’ve heard His teaching, witnessed His miracles, and marveled at His character.
They are convinced that He is the Messiah.
He is the Anointed One.
But what is the talk of death, of going away, of betrayal and denial?

In a matter of hours, with rapid succession He will be arrested, tried, convicted, condemned, crucified and buried.  What happens then?  What are they to do then?  Are they next?  Would anyone believe our message?  Who wants to follow a dead Messiah?  In love and grace, in mercy and kindness Jesus prepares His disciples for what is about to come.  In turn we find perspective on the life of faith.  Our text is found in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John.

Text: John 14:12-17

Context:
In the face of confusion, doubt, discouragement and unrest Jesus speaks of peace.
He speaks of a settled heart rather than a shuddering heart.

“Let not your heart be troubled…” right.  Just how do I do that?
That is the context for understand all that Jesus is saying in this section.
How do I have a stable heart?
Where do I find courage to continue on?

Here is what I want you to see…
Thesis: In the face of great heartache and overwhelming sorrow Christ promises not only His abiding presence but divine enabling so that we not only survive but serve to advance the kingdom of God.

The life of faith is “messy.” I wish it all fit into neat categories and everything had its place but it doesn’t. Often it is a balancing act. This is one such place.

When I say that the life of faith is not about health, wealth and the good life do not take that to mean it is the life of sickness, poverty and despair!  I’m not suggesting that real faith is about “gutting it out” or gritting your tear and bearing up under it all.  I am saying that life is often hard and filled with trial and struggles but the good news of the gospel is not just that we survive but that we overcome.  After all the apostle Paul says we are more than conquerers through Christ who loved us.  This is a fascinating, surprising text.

Look at verses 12-14.

An extraordinary claim and an astonishing promise.  (14:12-14)

A Remarkable gift and an essential connection.  (14:15-17)

Conclusion:
The Gospel comes with an extraordinary claim and a remarkable gift which together mean that in the face of great heartache and overwhelming sorrow Christ promises not only His abiding presence but divine enabling so that we not only survive but serve to advance the kingdom of God.

This is at the heart of what I mean when I say we, the church, too often misunderstand the faith.  It’s not primarily about us.  It’s not about our happiness, our holiness or our future destiny.  It is primarily about God, His glory and His Kingdom - then our happiness, holiness and destiny.

Intro:
It was a beautiful day for climbing.  The sky was clear the air was crisp.  He had set out early to get a jump on the day.  He had made good progress when loose rock gave way.  He lost his balance, fell, rolled down the slop grasping at anything and everything as he picked up speed.  Nothing held.  There was absolute silence as he went over the edge and began his descent.  Miraculously he managed to grab a limb that hung over the abyss.  When he opened his eyes he saw that he was a good 20 feet below the ledge and 200 feet above the canyon floor.  In a panic he cried, “Help!  Somebody, help!”  Nothing but the sound of his own echo.  Terrified he cried, “Oh God, help me.”  A voice responded, “Let go.”  “What?”  “Let go of the limb.”  “Who are you?”  “It’s me, God.  Let go of the limb.  Trust me.”  Silence.  After a few seconds the man cried, “Is there anyone else up there?”

Do you ever have trouble believing?  Have you ever found yourself needing a little something extra to boost your faith?  It’s not that you doubt God’s existence.  It’s not that you question His power or ability.  You just would like a little more tangible proof that He’s there before you let go of the limb.

We’ve entered the “holy place.”
For three years they have walked with Him.
They’ve shared life with Him.
They’ve heard the teaching, witnessed the miracles and marveled at His character.
But the last week has been confusing.
A grand welcome into Jerusalem began the week.
Shouts of, “Hosanna” and praise fit for a conquering king.
Yet Jesus spoke of death and going away.
He said it was time for the Son of Man to be glorified, yet He washed their feet.
They had been through so much together and yet He said one of them would betray Him.
Peter was told he would deny Him.

Confused, frustrated, frightened and uncertain they tried to make sense of it all.  Then Jesus said, “Don’t let your heart be troubled.”  That was almost funny.  They believed He was Messiah.  He was going to usher in the Kingdom of God but He is talking about dying and going away.  “Oh but don’t let that upset you.  Don’t let that get you down.”  What were they to make of all this?  How were they to get their mind around it all?  The path to peace, they were told, was to trust Him.  Believe in Him.  He was going to prepare a place for them and then come take them to be with Him but that was later.  They can’t come right now.  For now they must believe.  Trust God.  Trust Him.  But how?  Our text this morning is found in John 14 beginning with verse 7.

Text: John 14:7-11

The life of faith is not an easy life.
It is marked by starts and stops.
It is halting and hesitant.
Yes there times it is robust and bold but more often than not it is a struggle.

Look at 14:6-7.
14:6 = is a core confession of the church.
It states in no uncertain terms the uniqueness of Christ and His exclusivity.
He is the only way to the Father.
Not one of the ways - the one way, the only way.

It upsets a lot of folks in our culture - due to our independent way and our view of religious liberty.  However equal protection under the law does not mean equally valid.  (Barnhouse on religious liberty)

14:7 gives us a clue as to what is going on in the hearts and minds of the 11 remaining disciples.
“If you had known me, and apparently you don’t, you would have known my Father also.”

They are struggling to believe.
If there was any question about that Philip removes it - 14:8
Philip’s plea = “How can we know God?”  “Where do we find assurance?”

What’s clear in Jesus’ response is…

Thesis: Jesus Christ perfectly reveals God the Father to the seeking heart.

• He and the Father are one.  (14:9-10)
• His words are the words of God.  (14:10)
• His works are the works of God.  (14:10)

Conclusion:

• He is worthy of your trust.
• He is the only way to heaven.
• He is the way, because He is the trust, because He alone has the power of life.
• He perfectly reveals the Father and He is the only way you will ever see the face of God.

Intro:
It is the growth industry right now - “How to.”  Books, television programs, infomercials, even entire networks are dedicated to it.  You can get on the internet and find videos and other teaching materials for about anything you can name!  How to improve your golf swing, do your own plumbing, loose weight, raise your kids, make a fortune, get out of debt - you name it you can find it.  The interesting thing is they all say the same thing - “It’s easy!”  Really?  You just have to follow their easy 5-step program.  Funny, it’s never as easy as they say.  Sometimes we, in the church, fall into the same trap.  You want to grow in Christ?  You want to be His disciple?  It’s easy just follow these five steps.  The problem is - its not easy.  Faith is difficult, frustrating and often discouraging.  The life of faith is “messy.”  It doesn’t fit into nice, neat categories.  There are no shortcuts and it requires faith.

How does the Bible define faith?  The evidence of things you cannot see; the substance of things hoped for.  The life of faith is filled with bumps and bruises, skinned knees and smashed fingers.  To make matters worse I have to do it with other people.  We are called to live the faith together.  I need you and you need me.  And we’re both going to mess it up and that’s okay.  The sooner we recognize that the better.  We’re all stumbling towards holiness.  If you don’t believe me just pick up the book and read.  Start anywhere you like.  Old Testament or New, you are going to find flawed, broken people struggling to live as God intends.  At times they succeed.  Sometimes they fail.  Most of the time they are somewhere in between.  “Boy pastor, have you had a rough week?  You’re sounding a little cynical.”  No.  I’ve just spent too long trying to live up to an unrealistic understanding of what the life of faith looks like.

Sometime in the mid 50’s the apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth.  The church in Corinth was one mixed up group of believers.  Their problem ranged from immaturity to immorality and about everything in between.  Yet Paul addressed them as “saints.”  Set apart ones.  Those in whom the Spirit of God dwelt.  They had been set apart by the work of the Spirit marked as the genuine people of God but you wouldn’t know it to look at them.  I’m encouraged by that.  Don’t misunderstand - Paul did not look at their immature and immoral ways and say, “That’s okay folks.  Nobody’s perfect.”  No, he said, “Grow up!”  He said, “You’re the people of God and you better start acting like it.”  In fact the first 14 chapters are taken up with addressing errant behavior on the part of the congregation.  Chapter 15 address errant doctrine.  Then he ends the letter with a call to godly living.  I want to conclude our look at this book with just a brief word focused on just two verses.

Text: 1 Corinthians 16:13-14

He begins the chapter by reminding them of the offering he is collecting (1-4).
There we learn about giving:
Its a regular part of worship
All are expected to give
Our giving is to be primarily through the church
It is to be proportional

Then he advices them about his travel plans (5-9).

Ask them to look out for and take care of Timothy when he comes through (10-11).

Then there are some final words and concluding greetings (12-24).

I want to focus on his words in 13-14.
Here Paul gives 5 keys to steadfast faithfulness.
Five things to aim at.
Characteristics that will aid your growth in the things of God.

1. To be steadfast demands that we be spiritually alert.  (16:13)
2. To be steadfast demands we be firm in the faith.  (16:13)
3. Steadfastness demands maturity.  (16:13)
4. Steadfastness demands strength.  (16:13)
5. Steadfastness demands that we love.  (16:14)

Conclusion
Living the faith is not easy.  We will struggle along this path until we reach our heavenly home.  As we struggle toward holiness let’s set our eyes on these sign posts:

• Be alert
• Be firm
• Be mature
• Be strong
• Be loving