How will we be remembered? - Mal 3:16

How will we be remembered?

May 27, 2012

Malachi 3:16

Memorial Day

• Down through history, there have been battles to be fought and wars to be won
• Our young men and women go out in service to their country, to fight these battles on our behalf
• On this day, memorial day, we will remember them!
• We remember them because of their patriotism,
• We remember them for their courage in fighting for their country
• We remember them for giving their lives for freedom
• We will spend a moment in silence, now, as we remember them
• TAPS

Introduction

• Those we just remembered were fighting for a flag, representing their country
• There are particular things that we remember them for
• In remembering, we do not think about negative things that may have happened in their lives
• These men and women gave their all, and that is what we remember, not their sins, or negative stuff they may have done.
• They finished well and that is what counted.
• The Christian is also in the army
• We fight battles that may be far more intense than fighting on the field of war
• Our battles are huge, because we are not fighting flesh and blood, but instead we are battling spiritual forces – 2 Cor 10:3
• As human beings we see only the material and physical things
• But there is a spiritual war going on around us
• There are casualties in this war, and there are wounds we carry around and scars we bear
• This war is real, whether we see or recognize it or not
• If we want to be on the winning side in this war, there are steps that we need to take, to ensure victory.

Repentance

• The first step we take is to repent of our old way of life
• Repent means to turn around, start going in the right direction, living in sync with our Commander’s directions
• When we repent, and ask Jesus into our lives, something extraordinary happens
• We are removed from the kingdom of darkness, and are placed into the kingdom of God
• It is as though we crossed the lines, across no-man’s land, and into the Lord’s army
• What happens then is that we become God’s children, instead of being subject to the devil and his forces.
• We now have a fresh start. Our sins are forgiven and are remembered no more
• Psalm 103:8-14
• Our guilt has been washed away
• But it requires stepping across the line, from one side to the other

Baptism

• At the same time as we take this step, into Jesus’ kingdom, we are baptized
• Acts 2:36-39
• Repentance is followed by baptism
• We need to be baptized because in the heat of battle, we can sometimes become discouraged, and we can forget or discount the thought we had of surrendering our life to God
• Baptism gives us a ceremonial reminder of the decision we made, and emphasizes to us that we now have a new allegiance
• Romans 6:3-7
• When we are baptized following Jesus example, we are immersed in water
• There is meaning to being immersed in water
• As we go down into the water, we are burying our sinful past
• Our sins are forgiven and will be remembered no more
• As jesus bore our sins when he died on the cross and then was buried in a tomb, we too bury that past in the waters of baptism
• But just as Jesus was raised from the tomb, we too arise from the waters of baptism, to live a new life, no longer under the penalty of sin
• We will be baptizing during the service, next Sunday
• If you want to be a part of that, please let me know so we can be prepared

Power for the battle

• The next step is that we need ammunition for the journey, power to defeat the enemy
• This is what Jesus promised us in Acts 1:4-8
• In our human flesh we have little power to stand against the enemy’s arrows and darts
• He is attacking us daily, and there is no way for us to stand, except to wear the armour God gives to us.
• God wants to give us power to be his witnesses, to move against the forces of darkness, and release the captives the enemy has taken.
• This baptism of the Holy Spirit is a baptism, an immersion
• Instead of having only an earnest, a deposit of the Holy Spirit (Eph 1:13-14), we are now filled with the Holy Spirit, God living in us
• The book of Acts shows us that the filling with the Holy Spirit is accompanied by the gift of tongues
• It is available to you, it is not scary, it is a gift
• If you want to receive this baptism with the Holy Spirit, it will be available to you at the end of this service
• If you would like to receive Jesus into your life, today, please come forward right now and take a seat here on the front row
• If you would like to be baptized in water, please come forward and let us know
• And if you would like to receive the baptism with the Holy Spirit, please come forward now, ready to receive.

Conclusion

• Today we are remembering those who went before us
• But God too has a book of remembrance
• Mal 3:16
• God remembers those who fear him
• He remembers those who stand with him in battle
• And he rewards those who are faithful in their walk with him

The Cleansing Flood - Eph 1:7

The Cleansing Flood
May 6, 2012
Ephesians 1:7

Introduction

Have you ever done something and wondered how this could ever be set straight again?

• You did something and it seemed so bad or vile, that we could not imagine it ever being removed from our life
• Yet we know that as Dennis told us last week, when we confess our sins, he is faithful to forgive
• We are on a journey through the Old Testament tabernacle, entering into the presence of God
• Sin separates us from God
• So God first of all gave us a means to be cleansed from our sins. For the Israelites, this was through the altar
• It was on the altar that a sacrifice was laid, and was then offered up to God. Forgiveness was given to the person who had come to take care of sin in his or her life
• Today we are going to look at the process of forgiveness, how God set in motion a means to roll back the clock, on our sins

The tabernacle is a picture of what is in heaven

• Some may wonder, why is pastor teaching us old testament material?
• Rom 15:4 The OT was written for our learning
• Heb 8:5 The tabernacle was built as a copy of what is in heaven
• So there is new testament relevance to the old testament tabernacle and temple
• A person who had sinned and wanted to be forgiven, would bring an animal presecribed by the law, his sins would be transferred to the animal by his laying his hands on the animal’s head, and then the animal would be sacrificed on the altar. The person was now cleansed from sin.

Example of David

• David was chosen by God to reign as king over Israel
• David had not had a lot of training
• He was a shepherd boy, being the youngest of his brothers
• How could that prepare him to be king?
• As a shepherd, he had few distractions and a lot of time to spend with God
• I think this was the best training he could receive for being a leader, one whom people would respect and follow
• David wrote most of the psalms. Some were written while shepherding the sheep, others while he was on the run from Saul, and some were written during his time as king.
• As a king, there is a lot of pressure on you.
• Pressure not only relating to your job and responsibilities, but also because Satan wants you to fall

David’s sin

• As I talk about David, we need to be thinking about our own life
• These things were written for our learning
• 2 Sam 11:1-12:14
• David was taking t5hings easy
• Normally he would have been with his troops, doing battle.
• But the troops were out doing the dirty work, and David was at home
• One evening he couldn’t sleep, so he got up and started walking around on the patio on his roof
• He looked over the edged, and he saw the woman next door bathing.
• This may have been out in the open, but more likely David was looking through her window
• She was close enough that David could see she was very beautiful
• Why was David looking in that direction – I am sure he must have seen her before, and a lustful thought had come up in his mind.
• The enemy works this way, he plants a thought, if we let him
• James 1:13-15 the process of sin, it starts in the mind, we entertain it, we act on it and it kills us
• David fell into a trap
• You may think, how could this godly man fall into this trap
• But he did, and so could we, oh so easily
• Bathsheba becomes pregnant after this one night stand
• David tries to cover their sin up, by making it look as thought the baby is Uriah’s
• But Uriah doesn’t cooperate with David’s coverup scheme, and David arranges his death, in order to keep up his hypocrisy
• I don’t think David was very close to God during this time

His sin is uncovered

• David thought nobody knew, but God knew
• God sent Nathan the prophet to David with a message
• The game is up.
• Suddenly David sees the enormity of his actions
• And he repents before God
• He writes a song expressing his repentance
• Psalm 51
• This psalm is a classic description of repentance
• I'm sure David felt dirty after all that had happened
• V10 - He asks God to change his heart, to clean him up
• V 2 - He asks God to wash away all his iniquity and to cleanse him from his sin
• V 7 – Cleanse me with hyssop and I will be clean, wash me and I will be whiter than snow

God’s solution

• God knew man would sin, he knew it all ahead of time
• So before man was even created he had already agreed with the Son that he would come and die, so that our sins could be forgiven.
• Jesus would die, not an easy death in his sleep, but as the object of a bloodthirsty crowd, that beat him to a pulp, and then crucified him, hanging from a cross, his lifeblood flowing out, running down the cross, and flooding our to cover our sins
• The sacrifices of the old testament pointed forward to the Lamb who was slain from the foundation of the world
• Victory over sin was achieved by this precious flood, Jesus blood poured out for us so that our sins could be forgiven
• We are reminded of the enormity of what Jesus did for us each month as we take communion

Communion

• Matthew 26:26-29