CPAC sermon 09-11-08
“Be bold, be strong for the Lord is with you!” Hebrews 10:19-25
The elections,in both USA & NZ – an interesting few days….
• USA election campaign x 2 years = have that wow factor!
• Barack Obama > words like messiah, saviour are being used in the same breath when his name is discussed…!!!
• Significantly we have had a changing of the guard…in USA & NZ… however God is still very much in control…
The book of Hebrews reminds us of who is really in charge.
…let this scripture speak for itself - read chapter 10:19 to end…
Chapter 11 goes on to describe one of the secrets of the Christian life.
The writer of Hebrews uses the lives of certain men and women of God to explain that secret.
What is that secret?
- it is faith, yet not so much their faith but their reliance upon a faithful God.
One of the first things I came to understand in my early life as a Christian was that it was not so much MY faith that mattered but my faith IN THE FAITH of Jesus Christ.
I had to learn to rely on the faith of Christ.
There is nothing that I could, or can ever do to earn the right to enter the Most Holy Place, as Hebrews puts it.
BUT, I CAN enter the Most Holy Place when I “piggy back” Jesus.
On my behalf, through His death,
through the shedding of His blood on the cross of Calvary,
Jesus has earned the right to enter the Most Holy Place,
and you and I have every right to tag along.
The Most Holy Place is of course being in the presence of the Almighty God.
How do we get there? …. John 14:6 : “I am the Way, I am the Truth and I am the Life. No one comes to the Most Holy Place, no one can come to the Father except through me”, said Jesus.
Jesus is our passport into the presence of God.
This means that one of the other secrets of Christian living is allowing Christ to meet our every need.
To live like this demands that we live by faith.
Whether you are a Christian or a non Christian, faith is a pre-requisite for life.
Imagine if you tried to live without having faith.
You would find it extremely difficult.
For example, if you did not have faith you probably would be very reluctant to fly.
Most of us, if not all of us here, would have travelled on a plane.
You buy your ticket and get on the plane.
In the course of your journey a pilot will fly that plane.
Without seeing the pilot or knowing anything about his ability, you put your safety and your well being into his hands!
You literally put your life into his hands!
How? Through faith.
You trust that pilot implicitly, otherwise you would never have got on that plane.
In reality, I never give the pilot a second thought such is my faith in the pilot
We all live by faith in one way or another.
The trouble is, when it comes to faith and God, we too easily allow ourselves to have a brain explosion!
Faith is trusting the pilot and believing in his flying skills.
Faith is trusting God.
Faith is believing God - believing in God’s ability to sustain our lives.
There is nothing mysterious about such faith.
It is a simple act of the will.
Either we believe God, or we don’t.
There can be no ummms and arrrghhs.
There can be no sitting on the fence.
There can be no lukewarmness.
Jesus said to the church in Laodicea in Rev 3:14ff,
“I know all the things you do, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish you were one or the other!... since you are luke warm I will spit you out of my mouth!”
Your faith in God is a simple act of your will.
When you begin to trust God implicitly, it’s like turning on a light switch.
It’s not difficult to do and when you do power surges through the network and the light comes on.
When you switch on your faith in God, a faith that is founded on the faith of Jesus Christ, then supernatural life and power enters your life.
God’s light, the light of Christ, will flood your life.
And so one of the very practical results of faith is that it makes the weak and the anxious, strong and certain.
Hebrews 11:3, 4 “By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled
with justice and received what God had promised them…their weakness was turned to strength”.
To live by faith you and I need to believe wholeheartedly that Jesus is trustworthy.
Jesus is the key.
He is the One who can unlock our lives in a way that releases us to live as God intended > chapter 11 describes what that living looks like.
So that’s why the writer of Hebrews makes a big play for Jesus.
Jesus is the One!
It’s not what WE can do for God that really matters.
It’s what Jesus has done for us and continues to do for us, that really matters.
Jesus is our great High Priest who has saved us from the jaws of eternal damnation;
Jesus is the One who continues to intercede to His Father for us;
Jesus is the One who introduces us to His Father and takes us right into the Most Holy Presence of His Father.
Can we do anything then?
Yes, we must believe.
Every moment, we must live with an implicit, childlike faith in God.
And also, we must understand the importance of Hebr 10:26….
We must strive to lay aside every encumbrance, every hindrance,
stumbling block, every obstacle, every sin that would hinder or restrict
our access to the Father.
Now, here are four conditions given in just one verse, Hebrews 10:22, for drawing near to God.
Let the truth of these conditions sink into your mind and spirit:
1. A sincere heart (Hebrews 10:22). God sees the inner working of our hearts. He knows that life is difficult for us and that we will mess up at times. He understands. That is why He will always give us chance after chance, but we need to be genuine in the way we are trying to live our lives as best we can.
2. Full assurance of faith (v. 22) Faith that knows no hesitation in trusting and following Christ.
3. Hearts sprinkled from a guilty conscience (v. 22). Understand that you are totally free from a sense of guilt, based on Christ’s sacrifice. You see, we too easily beat ourselves up and think ourselves constantly unworthy. We may think we are being humble with this kind of attitude but it is really a false humility and a cunning way that the enemy of our soul uses so that we are unwittingly deceiving ourselves. I can recall a personal mentor once pointing this (false humility) out in me, and he was right! There is no need for us to “grovel” before God. In the end we have every right to come boldly before the throne of God, through Jesus!
4. Bodies washed with pure water - not an external ceremony presumably, although one could suppose it refers to baptism. But this most likely is a figure for inner cleansing. Ezekiel prophesied of this washing with pure water when he, speaking of God, said: "I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols" (Ezekiel 36:25).
So be strong and bold – be encouraged to go face to face with the Living God who loves you.
You have every right to enter into His Most Holy Presence because of what Christ has done for you on the cross.
Hold fast to that hope that is within you, for "He who promised is faithful" (Hebrews 10:23b).
It’s a new day.
There has been a changing of the guard in the physical sense (new Government).
In the spiritual sense the Son (sun) has come out. The darkness is gone.
We can move forward no matter what the circumstances.
That is our hope.
We will only truly & fully change when we get into the Most Holy Presence of the Lord and have an authentic, godly Christian walk (Hebrews 4).
This is possible right now. How?
We are called to be a consecrated people.
There is a difference to being a believer vs. being consecrated. Many Christians are saved but that is the extent of their Christian walk – they are saved, but not surrendered to the Lord.
To surrender oneself to the Lord is to consecrate your life to the Lord.
Prayer is the lifeblood of consecration. Why?
When you are consecrated (ie in the Most Holy Presence), you can, and are, communing with God.
What’s the best way to commune with God?
It is through prayer. Prayer is the lifeblood of consecration.
Eg. in book of Joshua… the priests were the intercessors who had been before God, in His Most Holy Presence – because of their prayerful attitude they were the ones who went first when Joshua crossed the water and entered the Promised Land.
Also, note that prayer is your secret weapon in any crisis.
Joshua prayed desperately at Ai when the enemies of Israel were defeating them because of the sin of one of their people, Achan.
Through his prayerful cry to God, God answered him with a commandment for consecration.
We are called to be a consecrated people.
Let’s now consecrate ourselves to God……
Here is a consecration prayer we will use (personalise it where appropriate):
Father, in Jesus’ name, we thank you for the revelation of who You are.
We thank you for how you have been, and are being, revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.
Please glorify your Son in and through our lives, as we consecrate ourselves now for your purposes.
Not our will, but Your will be done.
Father, we ask for Your help because we need it so badly, not only now, as we open up our hearts to you, but moment by moment through our lives.
Help us in our difficult moments and in our times of weakness. (pause for personal confession to bring before God the issues you/we struggle with in our attitude, behaviour, actions & speech which offend God/others/ourselves….)
Father, please forgive me/us…. create in me/us a clean heart and a
right spirit.. thank you Father…
Please now strengthen me/us in the tender years so we will be fully prepared when You launch us into certain areas of responsibility both inside and outside your church.
Thank you for the help, support, encouragement & preparation we have received from fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and from our loved ones.
Thank you for some whose quality of life has been, and is, gold to us.
Thank you for the preparation that You are giving us now.
May I/we be of the highest quality of substance for this generation, and the generation to come, but even more fully, Lord, for the world to come.
We are your church family.
Thank you so much for what you are building in us and through us at CPAC. Open our eyes that we might see.
Open our hearts that we might hear.
Deal with our hearts that we might become even more tender as You speak to us.
In Jesus’ name we come against all the works of evil that would try to overcome and destroy us in any way.
We are strong in the finished work of Jesus on the cross.
As individuals and as your church family, with His stripes we are healed—in spirit, soul, and body.
Thank You so much Father.
May You receive all the glory now.
We consecrate ourselves/myself to you.
Thank you that we can enter into your Most Holy Presence.
In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
