Every once in a while we are quiet enough to hear from God. Last week was one of those times for me. And as I was studying, I had one of those “Ah ha!” moments. You know, those moments of clarity when although you’ve looked at something before, it is as if you are seeing it again, for the first time.
I urge you this morning, to take the Word God reveals to you and allow it to become part of you. As James says, “it is the implanted Word that is able to save your soul.”
God has given us everything we need to know about life and Godliness in His inspired Word, the Bible. But He doesn't stop there. He gives every believer a “resident teacher”, the Holy Spirit, who guides us into His truth.
Not, “up to”, but “into His truth”.
Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth) would take the things of God and reveal them to us. So before we begin, let’s pray.
Pray something like:
¨ “Holy Spirit I welcome your leading. You have promised to bring me into all truth. Please find me willing to hear what you have for me to learn. Heal me of my pre-conceived ideas and opinions. Remove the wax of worldly knowledge from my ears. Heal me of dull hearing and open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your word.”
You may have read the story of Paul being sent to Rome as a prisoner more than a few times, but as I read it this week it was somehow different.
You can read the whole account in Acts 27 but in a nutshell the story goes like this:
Paul is aboard a ship. He was traveling to Rome as a prisoner to be tried.
A huge storm came up, driven by a strong North Easterner wind. Several days without seeing the sun or stars due to the heavy cloud cover caused them to get lost. As the storm worsened, the nearly 300 souls on board lost hope.
But not Paul. He was singing….even though the ship was sinking. "How can you sing at a time like this?" they asked.
Paul said, "Don't worry. Come on, have something to eat. Be of good cheer." "How can we be of good cheer?" they demanded.
Paul replied, "Last night I was talking with the Lord and He told me that the ship is going to sink, but we are all going to be saved."
Did you get that? "Last night I was talking with the Lord and He told me that the ship is going to sink, but we are all going to be saved."
He didn't say to them, “Hey, be of good cheer and read Psalm 23”. No, he said, “The Lord told me that the ship will sink, but we are all going to be saved.”
Paul had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That meant that he didn't have to turn to Psalm 23 to know that he was going to be all right. He had the latest word, direct from heaven.
Now I began seeing it more clearly: A person in whom Christ lives gets up-to-the-minute news.
I noticed Paul had a “present” relationship with Christ, while many today have a “past” relationship.
Let me try and explain what I mean:
I have three siblings, my brother Rob, and two sisters, Rose and Theresa. I left home when Rob was thirteen, Rose was five and Theresa was only four. Because of this, I have but few memories of my siblings growing up. After my salvation, I began to build up a relationship, but my sisters were still pre-teens. Then Judi and I met and we got married, building a family of our own and soon we left Ontario and moved to BC.
Several months ago, one of Rose’s daughters asked me why it is when us siblings do get together, we all speak of memories so far in the past? I explained that we had a very small window of time together - all we really have is “Past” experiences - nothing really new or present. We don’t “really” know each other - but we do know about each other.
And I see some people’s relationship with Christ being that same way. They know about God, but they really don’t know Him.
Matthew 7:23 “And then will I (Jesus) profess to them, I never knew you.”
This will be spoken in the time of judgment - when people stand before God.
Verse 22 says, “Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ Yet Jesus will say, “I never knew you…!”
This word “knew” speaks of intimacy (a close relationship).
It is the same word used in Genesis 4:1 “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and gave birth to Cain.”
I believe many Christians today have settled for a knowledge of the historical Jesus. But that my friends can’t help but be static!
Ahhhhh…..but to know the present day Lord, that is dynamic!
Paul knew Him, not just about Him.
And interestingly the devil knew that Paul “knew” the Lord.
Acts 19:14–15 “Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They said, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” One day an evil spirit replied, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”
I have great respect for the Bible, but the Gospels are only a starting point in a relationship with Jesus. The history of Jesus’ life is not yet finished.
In II Corinthians 5:16, Paul explains that the key to spiritual growth is to:
· know Christ as He is now, and not as He was in the flesh.
Knowing the “Sandal wearing Saviour” is not really knowing Jesus the Christ. He was hidden behind that body. That is why the writer of Hebrews urges us to go through the veil of His flesh to know Him in spirit.
The tabernacle in which the Jewish people worshiped and prayed consisted of three main parts:
· the outer court
· the inner court, or holy place
· and the most holy place, or Holy of Holies
The general congregation was restricted to the outer court. The priests had access to the inner court, but only the high priest was allowed to go behind the veil that separated the inner court from the Holy of Holies, and then but once a year.
This was the place where the presence of God was manifest. The other priests were kept outside by a very thick curtain (the veil), and they never saw within.
They ministered in the holy place, but never in the holy of holies. However, when Jesus died on the cross, the Bible says that the veil (curtain) of the temple ripped in two.
Jesus died for many reasons, but one of them was to finish with that veil.
We must understand the veil was ripped from top to bottom - indicating it was God who tore it.
The sad part is the Jews quickly sewed it back together. They closed off the holiest from view. However, the author of Hebrews begs us to go through the holy place into the holiest - to go beyond the Christ of the Gospels and know Him in the Spirit.
Several years ago songwriter Dave Browning penned the lyrics to a song that describes the heart longing of God’s remnant today:
Take me past the outer courts
Into the holy place
Past the brazen altar
Lord I want to see Your face.
Pass me by the crowds of people
And the priests who sing Your praise
I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness
But it's only found in one place.
Take me in to the holy of holies
Take me in by the blood of the lamb
Take me in to the holy of holies
Take the coal, cleanse my lips, here I am.
Sadly, it seems that many denominations today are still on the outside of the veil. They certainly know Jesus in the flesh (His life on earth, as a man). You tell them the first word, and they’ll tell you the rest of the story…
¨ Jesus with the children on His lap
¨ The feeding of the 4000
¨ Jesus talking to the woman at the well
BUT - that was over 2000 years ago.
From His birth to His death most of us know it all by heart.
Could that be because most of today’s ministry is still in the outer courts, on the wrong side of the veil?
All across Canada, pastors are forever preaching about Jesus' earthly ministry. I wonder what the angels would say if they attended one of our services, and they saw that the Lord of Glory was still feeding the five thousand, raising Lazarus, and talking to Zacchaeus?
Let’s be honest, We are more historically-centered than we are Christ-centered.
The new covenant is an agreement God made to come and live within us.
· We read the Bible, then we try to live by it.
· We see what our founder did, and we try to copy Him.
Not much different than the way the Muslims use the Koran.
That makes us a religion just like every other religion. But the new covenant is not a religion! Our founder is still alive - He lives within us.
I Corinthians 6:17“For me to live is Christ.”
That is why Paul could say, “The Lord told me that the ship will sink, and we are all going to be saved.”
Hebrews 10:19-25 (NTL) “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
I urge you this morning, to take the Word God reveals to you and allow it to become part of you. As James says, “it is the implanted Word that is able to save your soul.”
God has given us everything we need to know about life and Godliness in His inspired Word, the Bible. But He doesn't stop there. He gives every believer a “resident teacher”, the Holy Spirit, who guides us into His truth.
Not, “up to”, but “into His truth”.
Jesus told us that the Holy Spirit (Spirit of Truth) would take the things of God and reveal them to us. So before we begin, let’s pray.
Pray something like:
¨ “Holy Spirit I welcome your leading. You have promised to bring me into all truth. Please find me willing to hear what you have for me to learn. Heal me of my pre-conceived ideas and opinions. Remove the wax of worldly knowledge from my ears. Heal me of dull hearing and open my eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of your word.”
You may have read the story of Paul being sent to Rome as a prisoner more than a few times, but as I read it this week it was somehow different.
You can read the whole account in Acts 27 but in a nutshell the story goes like this:
Paul is aboard a ship. He was traveling to Rome as a prisoner to be tried.
A huge storm came up, driven by a strong North Easterner wind. Several days without seeing the sun or stars due to the heavy cloud cover caused them to get lost. As the storm worsened, the nearly 300 souls on board lost hope.
But not Paul. He was singing….even though the ship was sinking. "How can you sing at a time like this?" they asked.
Paul said, "Don't worry. Come on, have something to eat. Be of good cheer." "How can we be of good cheer?" they demanded.
Paul replied, "Last night I was talking with the Lord and He told me that the ship is going to sink, but we are all going to be saved."
Did you get that? "Last night I was talking with the Lord and He told me that the ship is going to sink, but we are all going to be saved."
He didn't say to them, “Hey, be of good cheer and read Psalm 23”. No, he said, “The Lord told me that the ship will sink, but we are all going to be saved.”
Paul had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That meant that he didn't have to turn to Psalm 23 to know that he was going to be all right. He had the latest word, direct from heaven.
Now I began seeing it more clearly: A person in whom Christ lives gets up-to-the-minute news.
I noticed Paul had a “present” relationship with Christ, while many today have a “past” relationship.
Let me try and explain what I mean:
I have three siblings, my brother Rob, and two sisters, Rose and Theresa. I left home when Rob was thirteen, Rose was five and Theresa was only four. Because of this, I have but few memories of my siblings growing up. After my salvation, I began to build up a relationship, but my sisters were still pre-teens. Then Judi and I met and we got married, building a family of our own and soon we left Ontario and moved to BC.
Several months ago, one of Rose’s daughters asked me why it is when us siblings do get together, we all speak of memories so far in the past? I explained that we had a very small window of time together - all we really have is “Past” experiences - nothing really new or present. We don’t “really” know each other - but we do know about each other.
And I see some people’s relationship with Christ being that same way. They know about God, but they really don’t know Him.
Matthew 7:23 “And then will I (Jesus) profess to them, I never knew you.”
This will be spoken in the time of judgment - when people stand before God.
Verse 22 says, “Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ Yet Jesus will say, “I never knew you…!”
This word “knew” speaks of intimacy (a close relationship).
It is the same word used in Genesis 4:1 “And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived and gave birth to Cain.”
I believe many Christians today have settled for a knowledge of the historical Jesus. But that my friends can’t help but be static!
Ahhhhh…..but to know the present day Lord, that is dynamic!
Paul knew Him, not just about Him.
And interestingly the devil knew that Paul “knew” the Lord.
Acts 19:14–15 “Some Jews who went around driving out evil spirits tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who were demon-possessed. They said, “In the name of the Jesus whom Paul preaches, I command you to come out.” One day an evil spirit replied, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know about, but who are you?”
I have great respect for the Bible, but the Gospels are only a starting point in a relationship with Jesus. The history of Jesus’ life is not yet finished.
In II Corinthians 5:16, Paul explains that the key to spiritual growth is to:
· know Christ as He is now, and not as He was in the flesh.
Knowing the “Sandal wearing Saviour” is not really knowing Jesus the Christ. He was hidden behind that body. That is why the writer of Hebrews urges us to go through the veil of His flesh to know Him in spirit.
The tabernacle in which the Jewish people worshiped and prayed consisted of three main parts:
· the outer court
· the inner court, or holy place
· and the most holy place, or Holy of Holies
The general congregation was restricted to the outer court. The priests had access to the inner court, but only the high priest was allowed to go behind the veil that separated the inner court from the Holy of Holies, and then but once a year.
This was the place where the presence of God was manifest. The other priests were kept outside by a very thick curtain (the veil), and they never saw within.
They ministered in the holy place, but never in the holy of holies. However, when Jesus died on the cross, the Bible says that the veil (curtain) of the temple ripped in two.
Jesus died for many reasons, but one of them was to finish with that veil.
We must understand the veil was ripped from top to bottom - indicating it was God who tore it.
The sad part is the Jews quickly sewed it back together. They closed off the holiest from view. However, the author of Hebrews begs us to go through the holy place into the holiest - to go beyond the Christ of the Gospels and know Him in the Spirit.
Several years ago songwriter Dave Browning penned the lyrics to a song that describes the heart longing of God’s remnant today:
Take me past the outer courts
Into the holy place
Past the brazen altar
Lord I want to see Your face.
Pass me by the crowds of people
And the priests who sing Your praise
I hunger and thirst for Your righteousness
But it's only found in one place.
Take me in to the holy of holies
Take me in by the blood of the lamb
Take me in to the holy of holies
Take the coal, cleanse my lips, here I am.
Sadly, it seems that many denominations today are still on the outside of the veil. They certainly know Jesus in the flesh (His life on earth, as a man). You tell them the first word, and they’ll tell you the rest of the story…
¨ Jesus with the children on His lap
¨ The feeding of the 4000
¨ Jesus talking to the woman at the well
BUT - that was over 2000 years ago.
From His birth to His death most of us know it all by heart.
Could that be because most of today’s ministry is still in the outer courts, on the wrong side of the veil?
All across Canada, pastors are forever preaching about Jesus' earthly ministry. I wonder what the angels would say if they attended one of our services, and they saw that the Lord of Glory was still feeding the five thousand, raising Lazarus, and talking to Zacchaeus?
Let’s be honest, We are more historically-centered than we are Christ-centered.
The new covenant is an agreement God made to come and live within us.
· We read the Bible, then we try to live by it.
· We see what our founder did, and we try to copy Him.
Not much different than the way the Muslims use the Koran.
That makes us a religion just like every other religion. But the new covenant is not a religion! Our founder is still alive - He lives within us.
I Corinthians 6:17“For me to live is Christ.”
That is why Paul could say, “The Lord told me that the ship will sink, and we are all going to be saved.”
Hebrews 10:19-25 (NTL) “And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus. By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place. And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise. Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”