Just Give Me Truth

Luke 12:8-34
(1) The call to make a commitment of ourselves to Christ: "Whoever acknowledges Me before men, the Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God" (Luke 12:8). This means more than paying lip-service to Christ. Choosing Him means choosing to live a life which shares His priorities. It is to be a whole-hearted commitment. Jesus teaches us what we are to avoid and what we are to seek. (2) What we are to avoid - "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed" (Luke 12:15). (3) What we are to seek - "Seek His Kingdom" (Luke 12:31).
(4) The choice we make reveals what is really important to us: "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Luke 12:34). A real confession of faith in Christ as your Saviour and Lord leads to a life lived in the light of eternity, a life which is shaped by the values of eternity, a life which the Bible calls "eternal life." This "eternal life" is not only far away in the in the future, far away in heaven. It is life here-and-now. It is life which is being transformed by the eternal perspective which Christ brings into our life. Christ challenges us: Will you treasure the things that are above? Or Will you place value only on the things that are below?

Luke 8:1-15
"The seed is the Word of God" (Luke 8:11). This is what Jesus' parable of the sower is all about. It's about the Word of God. God's Word is sown in our hearts. God's Word bears fruit in our lives. The sowing of God's Word in our hearts requires patience. We don't reap the harvest right away. We must work patiently for the harvest which God will give to us in His time. Let us be faithful in sowing the seed of God's Word. Let's keep on praying that God will give to us the "hundredfold" harvest (Luke 8:8). May God help us to be faithful in sowing and fruitful in reaping. God's Word comes to us. It is given to us by the Lord. What are we doing with His Word? When God's Word is sown in our hearts, what kind of soil does it find there? Are we allowing it to grow in our hearts? Are we allowing God to produce His abundant harvest in our lives? God's Word emphasizes to us the direct connection between sowing and reaping: "Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny." Let there be good soil. Let there be good thoughts and actions, good habits, good character and a great destiny.

We have noted Christ's Word of forgiveness - "Friend, your sins are forgiven" (Luke 5:20) - and His call to repentance - "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:32). Now, we turn our attention to another great theme of Christ's Gospel - conversion. This is emphasized in Luke 5:37-38: "no one pours new wine into old wineskins ... new wine must be poured into new wineskins." The contrast between the old and the new - This is what Jesus is speaking about here. Our old life is our life without Christ. Our new life is our life with Christ. Our old life is life in ourselves, life in our sin. Our new life is life in Christ, life in our Saviour. ... Here's a link to the rest of this sermon: Sermons on Luke's Gospel - Luke 5:33-39

God allows His people to suffer difficulties. Why? - To strengthen our faith (Exodus 15:25; 16:4; Deuteronomy 8:2,16; 1 Peter 1:6-7). He chastens us, to teach us repentance (Revelation 3:19). Don't forget God’s love. He is faithful: ‘He didn’t bring us this far to leave us’. He shows us His glory (7). He assures us that He is God (Exodus 16:12). He provides us with ‘daily bread’ (Exodus 16:4). Yesterday’s ‘bread’ is insufficient for today’s challenges (Exodus 16:19-20). ‘Morning by morning’, the ‘bread’ is to be gathered (Exodus 16:21; Lamentations 3:22-23). Jesus is the Living Bread (John 6:32-35,48-51). Feed on Him each day. Don’t invite spiritual starvation by missing days. If you miss some days, don’t let it continue. Remember: ‘Seven days without prayer makes one weak’! ‘How long has it been since you talked with the Lord?’ Too long? It is time to pray and feed on Jesus!

It is good for us to remember that, on that day of celebration, the day of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem, there were those, among the crowd, who were, quite clearly, under the judgment of God. We read of "the great multitude of the disciples (who) began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice" (Luke 19:37). Sadly, however, we read of the Pharisees, who said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples" (Luke 19:39). The story of the first Palm Sunday is repeated in our world today. There are those who are learning to rejoice in the Lord.. They are learning to worship the God of their salvation. Unfortunately, there are also those, mingling with the Lord's people, who seek to dampen the spirit of praise. They themselves know nothing of the true spirit of worship, and they don't like to see others rejoicing in the Lord. From the story of the first Palm Sunday, the Lord is speaking to us concerning salvation and judgment. Are you a disciple of Jesus, a disciple who is learning the meaning of true worship? Or, are you a Pharisee who knows nothing of the spirit of true worship?

Let us come to Jesus and experience His love. Let us come to Jesus and give Him our love.

When God looks on us, He does not see our sin. He sees our Saviour.

Pray that God's light will shine brightly: "Shine, Jesus, shine. Fill this land with the Father's glory."

"The Saviour of the world" died "for the sins of the whole world" - Good News for "all the world."

Through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Christian can look back to the past and say, "The old life has ended." Through Christ, the believer can now say, "The new life has begun." Do you have this testimony? - The old life has ended. The new life has begun. No matter how far down the old life may have dragged us, the Lord Jesus Christ reaches us and lifts us up to a new life. "Wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin ... Wonderful the matchless grace of Jesus, deeper than the mighty rolling sea. Higher than the mountain, sparkling like a fountain, all sufficient grace for even me. Broader than the scope of my transgression, greater far than all my sin and shame; Oh, magnify the precious Name of Jesus, praise His Name!" However far we may have fallen, the Word of God says, "you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the Name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11). we rejoice in the great words of the Psalmist: "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us" (Psalm 103:12).

What are we to say about the distinction between “believing” and “belonging”?

There may be people of ‘vague faith’ who do not have a feeling of belonging because they do not really want to move beyond a ‘vague faith.’ Surely, we must ask whether this kind of ‘vague faith’, which shows no real interest in becoming a life-changing faith in Christ, should be described as ‘believing’.

There may also be people of a very strong faith who do not have a sense of belonging when they come to our congregations because they do not feel that Christ is at the centre of all that we do. Often, such people will go elsewhere, feeling that they must look for a fellowship of believers who seek to keep Christ at the centre of their worship and witness.

Whatever else may be said about ‘believing’ and ‘belonging’, those who wish to focus attention on Jesus Christ must surely agree with the statement that “any attempt to promote the church as an institution, to ‘sell’ the church as a form of religious commitment is futile.” We do not promote the church. We “preach … Jesus Christ as Lord” (2 Corinthians 4:5). We do not ‘sell’ the church. We point people to the Saviour, emphasizing that “the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

What do we mean when we use words like “evangelism” and “mission”? If “evangelism” means no more than bringing people to faith in God, have we taken them any further than the deist who sees ‘God’ as the most rational explanation of the mystery of life. Surely, evangelism takes us beyond this by focusing attention on our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. When mission emphasizes the importance of being a “gracious neighbour”, we must surely take care to make it clear that being a gracious neighbour arises out of loving the Lord our God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength (Luke 10:27).

If, in our understanding of our work for the Lord, we emphasize the importance of both our words and our actions, I don’t think there is any great need to say that evangelism is one thing and mission is something else. Both words describe our commitment to serving the Lord in the whole of life.

It’s often said that our theology should be an “answering theology.” We are to engage with the questions people are asking. Recognizing the importance of this approach, we should be aware of the danger that our theology can end up becoming a “questioning theology.” When we end up saying things like, “We have more questions than answers”, are we not losing the simplicity of the Gospel which tells us of God’s Answer to the problem of human sin? We don’t need to have “all the answers to all the questions”, but we can point to “Christ Jesus who came into the world to save sinners” (1 Timothy 1:15). “The courage to doubt” may help us to acknowledge that we don’t have all the answers. It is only the courage of faith that will enable us to confess Christ as our Saviour and call upon others to trust in Him.

It’s often said that people no longer understand Biblical and theological language. What are we to do about this? Are we to “demythologize” the Christian message? Can we share the Good News if we are dismissive of the facts on which the Gospel is based – “Christ died for our sins” and was “raised on the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3-4)? By focusing on words such as suffering, social justice and mystery, we may find points of contact with people’s experience. This may lead to wide-ranging discussion of issues that are of general interest to people who might describe themselves as humanists. At what point do we speak of Christ? Sometimes, when we speak of dialogue, it can end up in a rambling type of discussion which never really gets very near to focusing attention on the Jesus Christ of the Bible. He always has more to say to us than simply calling us to love our neighbour. When we get people’s attention, what are we to say to them? If we are to get their attention for Jesus Christ, we must surely seek to move beyond a conversation about social issues.

The birth of John the Baptist was foretold in an angelic message (Luke 1:13-17) which speaks of prayer - “your prayer is heard” (v. 13), preparation - looking forward to a time of “joy and gladness” (v. 14), power - “filled with the Holy Spirit” ( v. 15) and purpose - “he will turn many of the people to the Lord their God … to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” (vs. 16-17). John’s ministry is described in John 1:19-34. In his ministry, there is prayer -pointing to Christ, the One who is worthy to receive our prayers (v. 27), preparation- preparing people for Christ (v. 23), power - pointing people to the power of Christ which comes to us in the gift of the Holy Spirit, purpose -pointing people to the purpose of Christ’s coming (v. 29). Prepare for Christmas prayerfully, remembering that the power of the Christian message lies in the purpose of Christ’s coming.

Jesus Christ is the Word of God. He is the Beginning. He is also the End (John 1:1-3; Revelation 21:6).

He is ‘the Word... made flesh’. ‘We have seen His glory’(John 1:14). This is only the beginning. When He returns, we shall see His glory - ‘we shall see Him as He is’(1 John 3:2).

From Him, there is creation (John 1:1-3).

From Him, there is salvation (John 1:12-13).

In Him, we receive the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit (John 1:29, 32-34).

He is the Word of God, the Lamb of God and the Son of God (John 1:1, 29, 34). When we look at Jesus Christ, we see God - ‘the ‘Word was God’(John 1:1), ‘No one has ever seen God; the only Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has made Him known’(John 1:18).

Do you want to know what God is like? - Look at Jesus (John 14:9).

What do we see when we look at Him? - ‘the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world’(John 1:29).

From the heights of heaven and the depths of suffering, ‘God... has spoken to us by His Son’ (Hebrews 1:1-2).

Jesus Christ is God’s ‘Word’ to us. He is ‘the Word’ who came from heaven: ‘In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God’. He is ‘the Word’ who came to earth: ‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us...’ (John 1:1-14).

In heaven, He is worshipped by angels: ‘Let all God’s angels worship Him’(Hebrews 1:6).

On earth, ‘He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone’(Hebrews 2:9).

We see the greatness of Christ in both His heavenly glory and His saving grace. None can compare with Him. He is our Lord. He is our Saviour. We consider all that He has done for us - ‘the nail marks in His hands...’- and we worship Him - ‘my Lord and my God’(John 20:19-20,24-28).

‘Good News’- Let us ‘shout for joy’. ‘Good News’- Let us sing ‘songs of joy’.

There is the Good News of God’s reign - ‘Your God reigns’.

There is the Good News of our redemption - ‘The Lord has redeemed’ us.

We are not to keep the Good News to ourselves. This ‘news of happiness’ is to be shared with everyone. We must let ‘all the ends of the earth see the salvation of our God’.

‘Christ died for our sins’- This is Good News.

Christ was ‘raised on the third day’- This is Good News.

‘Jesus is Lord’- This is Good News.

This is the Good News we must ‘pass on’ to others. In our world, there is so much bad news. We must not let the Good News be drowned out by the bad news. We must make sure that the people hear the Good News - loud and clear (Isaiah 52:7-10; 1 Corinthians 15:3-4; Mission Praise, 249).

Here are a few articles you may find helpful.

Season of Christmas: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas Day) II – Isaiah 62:6-12; Psalm 97; Titus 3:4-7; Luke 2: (1-7), 8-20

Season of Christmas: Nativity of the Lord (Christmas Day) I – Isaiah 9:2-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-14, (15-20)

It's wonderful to know that Jesus prays for us. We fail in prayer. We forget one another. Jesus never fails. Jesus never forgets.