No Surrender!
“Long ago by God’s word the heavens
came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By
these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same
word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the
Day of Judgment and destruction of the ungodly…the day of the
Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the
elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it
will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of
people ought you to be? 2 Peter 3: 5-11
“Long ago by God’s word the heavens
came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By
these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same
word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the
Day of Judgment and destruction of the ungodly…the day of the
Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the
elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it
will be laid bare. Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of
people ought you to be? 2 Peter 3: 5-11
Those two
words will forever be synonymous with the Rev. Ian Paisley particularly and
with the ‘loyalist’ cause in Northern Ireland. Still today they are the slogan
of the thousands who protest
over the withdrawal of the flying of the Union
Flag over Belfast City Hall except for ‘Designated Days’ and of other similar
groups throughout the United Kingdom. It is not however a phenomenon restricted
solely to those shores; it is not unique to have shows of patriotism and
nationalism all over the world. Whether in the USA where there too they have an
ardent admiration for their flag, incorporated of course into their National
Anthem and right here in Tenerife, graffiti is evident everywhere declaring,
“Independence for the Canaries”!
_ThemeArt.png)
In Church
these past Sunday mornings we have been studying the Apostle Paul’s letter to
the Philippians. This Sunday, we have come to the last few verses of Chapter1,
from verse 27 to verse 30. Just FOUR verses but mighty profound and thought
provoking I felt as I prepared the message. Here is the impassioned plea of
Paul to this little group of believers, this family of God, these citizens of
heaven, meeting, worshipping, working and warring in the hostile environment of
a Roman Colony, where they were distinctly un-roman! Paul not only exhorts them
to live their lives worthy of BUT to “stand firm in the one Spirit, striving
together as one for the faith of the gospel” v27 Paul’s NUMERO UNO was THE GOSPEL everything else was
secondary to the Gospel. “His jailhouse
joy rested in the fact that the gospel went out to pagan soldiers, then through
his encouraged brothers and was even preached by his competitors who were
trying to afflict him. ‘What then?’ asked Paul. ‘Only that in every way,
whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice”
(R Kent Hughes. The Fellowship of the Gospel)
over the withdrawal of the flying of the Union
Flag over Belfast City Hall except for ‘Designated Days’ and of other similar
groups throughout the United Kingdom. It is not however a phenomenon restricted
solely to those shores; it is not unique to have shows of patriotism and
nationalism all over the world. Whether in the USA where there too they have an
ardent admiration for their flag, incorporated of course into their National
Anthem and right here in Tenerife, graffiti is evident everywhere declaring,
“Independence for the Canaries”!In Church
these past Sunday mornings we have been studying the Apostle Paul’s letter to
the Philippians. This Sunday, we have come to the last few verses of Chapter1,
from verse 27 to verse 30. Just FOUR verses but mighty profound and thought
provoking I felt as I prepared the message. Here is the impassioned plea of
Paul to this little group of believers, this family of God, these citizens of
heaven, meeting, worshipping, working and warring in the hostile environment of
a Roman Colony, where they were distinctly un-roman! Paul not only exhorts them
to live their lives worthy of BUT to “stand firm in the one Spirit, striving
together as one for the faith of the gospel” v27 Paul’s NUMERO UNO was THE GOSPEL everything else was
secondary to the Gospel. “His jailhouse
joy rested in the fact that the gospel went out to pagan soldiers, then through
his encouraged brothers and was even preached by his competitors who were
trying to afflict him. ‘What then?’ asked Paul. ‘Only that in every way,
whether in pretence or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice”
(R Kent Hughes. The Fellowship of the Gospel)
I know I have been here before (See ‘Are
You ashamed of the Gospel’) BUT I think it needs to be repeated again and again
until we start to get a grip of the reality of our task and particularly here
in Tenerife! There is so much that is anti-God on this Island and events and
organisations endorsed by the authorities (EG New Buddhist Centre in Adeje!)
that will only serve to mislead the community and rather than us as God’s
people proclaiming the Good News we are occupying ourselves with sideshows?? I
stand four square with the Apostle Paul in his firm belief that God transforms
people and communities by the Power of the Word PREACHED and therefore he and I
say again “For I am not ashamed of the
gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who
believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile” (Romans 1:16) and from that I
will not and we dare not surrender to any other cause for this alone is our
DUTY!
The Gospel must be our priority, the Church is NOT called to stand firm for
a political opinion or a political party or for an ideology or for a pro-stance
on something, those things are NOT the central core issue that the Church is to
stand for the faith of the Gospel and the Gospel ALONE. You see that’s how we
can go into our Communities. We go into our Communities with this; I am NOT
ashamed of the Gospel because it is the Power of God for salvation for
EVERYONE!! No matter who you are, what you are, what language you speak, what
religion you practice, what situation you are in. We go into our community
because we have GOOD NEWS; it’s the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet what
do we spend so much of our time doing? Telling them about every other thing and
getting ourselves tied up in all sorts of agendas and arguments! Even if they
are good and may well be the ‘BIG ISSUE’ OF OUR DAY, yes even the whole debacle
over gay marriage and homosexual rights!
How do we change our communities, our
cities, our nations?? One soul at a
time.. That is our business, that is our task AND that is OUR COMMISSION!
“The weapons
we fight with
are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they
have divine power to demolish strongholds.”(2 Cor.10:4) What are those
weapons? The Preaching of the Word and Prayer!!
What Paul recognises and highlights is that to do that is to enter dangerous ground and to invite conflict and suffering therefore it is an imperative that WE the Church, WE THE FAMILY OF GOD (I put that here because that is what we are, a family..I know as family we have times when we fall out, say some things to each other that we don’t mean BUT when we are attacked by others boy are we able to forget the things we did to each other and rally together and become a force to be reckoned with – Don’t mess with my family!!! There just is nothing like family, and that’s what we are folks and WE MUST STICK TOGETHER AND WE MUST FOCOUS ON THE MAIN THING. We will never do it alone BUT together we can with the help of the Holy Spirit conquer the world for Christ…HALLELUJAH!!..
are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they
have divine power to demolish strongholds.”(2 Cor.10:4) What are those
weapons? The Preaching of the Word and Prayer!! What Paul recognises and highlights is that to do that is to enter dangerous ground and to invite conflict and suffering therefore it is an imperative that WE the Church, WE THE FAMILY OF GOD (I put that here because that is what we are, a family..I know as family we have times when we fall out, say some things to each other that we don’t mean BUT when we are attacked by others boy are we able to forget the things we did to each other and rally together and become a force to be reckoned with – Don’t mess with my family!!! There just is nothing like family, and that’s what we are folks and WE MUST STICK TOGETHER AND WE MUST FOCOUS ON THE MAIN THING. We will never do it alone BUT together we can with the help of the Holy Spirit conquer the world for Christ…HALLELUJAH!!..
So! Where do YOU
start? Well let’s begin with our own families then our communities at least and
leave the result to our ALL POWERFUL SOVEREIGN GOD!
Let me finish with repeating verses 27 and 28 this time as translated
in the New Living Bible “Stand united,
singular in vision, contending for people’s trust in the Message, the good
news, not flinching or dodging in the slightest before the opposition. Your
courage and unity will show them what they’re up against: defeat for them, victory for you—and both because of God.” NO SURRENDER!
No comments:
Post a Comment