生命之道

Category: 福音行传

  • What to do when you run out of joy in life? (John 2:1-12)

    Sermon manuscript, preached in 2023-08-30 at CEC English Congregation

    Why don’t we start with that prayer?

    Father, we invite you to come today to speak to us through your Holy Spirit. Speak to each one of us. Let us see the power of Jesus who transformed life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

    Do you remember your wedding day? The flowers, the guests, the wedding dress, the song, the joy, the friendship. I see some wives nagging their husbands. You know, you enjoy each other. A wedding is a joyful event. However, oftentimes we discover that the joy of the wedding day does not last.

    After the wedding day, the marriage starts. Life kicks in sooner or later, and the couple gets into some disagreement or argument. And did that happen to you? Do you used to enjoy your marriage and now you have lost the joy in marriage? Do you used to enjoy church and serving at church, but now you are just serving because of obligation?

    Have you lost your joy in serving the Lord? Do you enjoy your career? Maybe you did in the past, but now you are just dragging your feet to Zoom calls. This is just a job. You have lost your joy at work? So my question for us today is what do you do when you run out of joy in life? What do you do when you run out of joy in life?

    That’s the question of today. And my text is John. Gospel of John, chapter 2, verses 1 to 11. Verse 1 to 11. John, chapter 2, 1 to 11. So I have three points today. One is the problem. The problem of the text. Second is the solution that’s presented to us by the text. Third is the application. What does it mean to you?

    Okay? So number one, the problem. What is the problem? The problem is the wine ran out. That’s the problem. Let’s look at verse one with me. On the third day, there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus was invited to the wedding. with his disciples. Well, on the third day, why on the third day?

    If you look a few verses down in verse 19, Jesus answered the question. “Destroy the temple and in three days I will raise it up.” I believe John was alluding to the resurrection. This is the third day.

    And the wedding is held in Cana. A wedding is a joyful time. Everybody loves weddings. Everybody is happy. The bride and the groom enjoyed the celebration with their family and friends. They feasted for not one day, not two days, but seven days. They enjoy the food together. Now, the disciples were with Jesus, you know, Jesus in chapter one, we were told the disciples saw Jesus, Jesus called them and they followed him.

    So Jesus is going to use what will happen later in this text to teach the disciples something about himself. My question to you today is, what are some joyful moments in your life? When you graduated from college? When you get your first job? The first few years of your marriage? When you first become a disciple of Christ? When you start to serve in the church? What is your most joyful moment in life? We all have some joyful moments in life. However, we live in a fallen world. Our joy does not last. All of us experience seasons of life where we lose the joy in our life.

    Let’s look at the text with me in verse 3. When the vine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” No wine. The wine ran out. Wine is essential in weddings in Israel because wine to the Jewish mind means joy. In Psalms 104 verse 15, it says that wine gladdened the hearts and oil made his face shine.

    Wine means joy in Israel. The text says the wine ran out, and the mother of Jesus went to tell Jesus they had no wine. Mary did not just tell Jesus a fact, she expected Jesus to do something. It is like the wife is saying to the husband, we ran out of spaghetti sauce. What does your wife mean? Go get some spaghetti sauce.

    It’s like the Chinese wife is saying, we, our rice bin is empty. Go get some rice. So, Mary, the mother of Jesus is saying, rice, I mean wine, wine ran out. They have no wine. So, in Israel, the bridegroom is responsible to provide wine to the wedding. When wines rain out, it is an embarrassment to the couple.

    B wine represents joy, so Mary may as well say, there is no joy. That’s no wine. That’s no joy. No wine, no joy. How about you? Maybe the Spirit is speaking to you today. Maybe you ran out of your spiritual wine in your marriage. You used to enjoy each other. But now you have lost the joy in your marriage.

    Maybe you have run out of spiritual wine in your ministry at church. Maybe You know, you used to enjoy serving the Lord, but now you just have no more joy when you serve God’s people. You are just doing it as an obligation. Maybe you ran out of spiritual wine at work. You used to enjoy work, but now you hate your job.

    How did Jesus respond to his mother? Well, Let’s read the text in verse four. “And Jesus said to her, women, “What does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” His mother said to the servant, do whatever he tells you.” While woman doesn’t sound respectful in our ear, in Greek it’s better, it’s more like saying, ma’am, what does it have to do with me?

    You know but it’s not normal though, for a son to call his mom woman. Why didn’t Jesus call her mother, mother? Instead, she called her woman, because Jesus was entering into the beginning of his public ministry. What matters to Jesus is not that Mary is his mother. What matters to Jesus is Mary believed that Jesus is the son of God.

    And, and Jesus said, “What does it have to do with me?” Jesus mildly rebuked Mary. Jesus is saying, why do you get me involved? My hour has not yet come. What does he mean by my hour? Remember, this is a word that is used by John in the gospel. That tells us this is the hour of Christ being crucified and resurrection.

    That is the hour of the crucifixion and resurrection. In John 13:11, it says the hour has come to depart out of this world to the Father. In chapter 17:1, it says, “The Lord says, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you.” Well, Mary was thinking about wine, but Jesus was thinking about the cross.

    Mary is thinking about the wine, and Jesus is thinking about the cross. How many times do we only think about our problems? We seldom think about the cross in our life. How are the problems in our lives related to the cross of Christ? So, the problem of the text is, that the wine ran out. What is the solution? The solution, that’s my point number two.

    Point number one, wine ran out, no joy. What is the solution? Jesus transformed the water into wine. Jesus transformed water into wine. Let’s read the text in verse six. Now, there are six stones jarred there for the Jewish riots of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, Fill the jars with water and then fill them up to the brim.

    And he said to them, now draw some out and take it to the master of the feast. So they took it. Six stone jars of water. The text says each one holds about 20 to 30 gallons. How many gallons are there, those who are good in math? It’s about 120 to 180 gallons. 120 to 180 gallons, you know, you think about a gallon of milk.

    That’s a lot of water, right? A lot of water. And this water is used for Jewish rites of purification. The Jews used this water to wash their hands before and after their meals. The water represents the old order of Jewish law and tradition. Jesus is going to change that. He’s going to transform that and replace it with something better.

    Let’s look at verses seven and eight with me. The servants were obedient to Christ. Christ told them \ two commands in the text. He says two things. First, fill the jar with water. Second, take it to the master of the feast. What did the servant do in the text? The servant didn’t say anything. They just obeyed.

    They filled the water into the jar, and then they took it to the feast or the master of the feast. They simply do the work in obedience to Christ without complaint. Christ commanded and the servants obeyed. Well, you are the servant, a servant of Christ. Is that your attitude in serving the Lord? Or do you serve him at church and complain at home?

    Or do you just do the work and obey him?

    Now let’s look at verse 9. “When the master of the feast tasted the water, now became wine, and did not know where it came from. Though the servants who had drawn the water knew, the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, Everyone serves the good wine first. And when people have drunk freely, then they’ll poor wine. But you kept the good wine until now.”

    Well this master went to the bridegroom because it is the responsibility of the bridegroom to provide wine.

    Now the master did not know what Jesus did, which is to change the water, and transformed the water into wine. Therefore, he went to the bridegroom. No one knows what happened. Only the disciples knew. Only Mary knew, and Jesus, and the servants. Now, although the bridegroom failed to provide sufficient wine, Jesus provided, because Jesus is the better bride bridegroom. 120 gallons of wine. That’s a lot of wine. That is a good wedding gift for the couples, don’t you think? That’s a lot of wine. Then he said, why do you keep the wine until now, the good wine? Now Jesus did not only provide wine, the key is He provided good wine.

    That wine in Cana that day is probably the most aromatic, the best wine that ever existed on the planet Earth. Jesus is the better bridegroom.

    My sisters in Christ, maybe your husband failed to provide to your emotional needs. When your husband failed you. When you are disappointed, come to Jesus. Jesus is the better husband. When your husband disappoints you, trust in Jesus, because your deepest needs can only be met by Jesus.

    Maybe you think about CEC. It’s lacking in so many ways. The leaders are not really providing for the church. You complained. We have so many problems. Our jar is empty. Come to Jesus. He is the better bridegroom. He is the bridegroom of the church. This is His church.

    Men and women will eventually fail to provide. But Jesus never fails. Jesus never fails. Ask Jesus to fill your empty jar. When you trust in Jesus, He will fill your emptiness with His abundance. When you trust in Jesus, He will turn your tasteless, tasteless, joyless, life into sweet, abundant life. Come to Jesus.

    He is your real husband. Come to Jesus. So, what do you do when you run out of joy in life? That’s our question for today. That’s how we started the message. What do you do when you run out of joy in life? That’s my third point. The answer of that question is the third point. That’s the application of my sermon for today.

    When you ran out of joy in life, believe in the transforming power of Jesus. When you ran out of joy in life, believe in the transforming power of Jesus. Let’s read the text with me. Verse 11.  “This, is the first of his signs. Jesus did in canon in Galilee and manifested his glory and his disciples believed in him.”

    After this, he went down to Capernaum with his mother and his brothers and his disciples and they stayed there for a few days. You see, John uses a special word in the Gospel of John. He uses, he used sign. Sign refers to the miracles that were performed by Jesus, but it conveys deeper meaning. The miracle is the transformation of water into wine, but the deeper meaning is Jesus has the power to transform life.

    Jesus does not only have the power to transform physical things. He has the power to transform spiritual things. Why did Jesus do this miracle? When Mary asked him, he wasn’t really just thinking about the water and the wine.

    He wasn’t really thinking about obeying his mother. He called her woman. Jesus, all the time, was thinking about his Heavenly Father. He said, My hour has not come. He was born with a laser focus on the cross. That’s his hour. Why did he perform this sign, this miracle? To manifest his glory. So that his  disciples can know his nature.

    Read the text. That’s what the text says in verse 11. “Jesus did at Canaan in Galilee, and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in him.”

    The transforming power of Jesus displayed his glory. Glory is one of the main themes in the Gospel of John. The Word become flesh and dwell among us and we have seen his glory. Glory as the only Son of God from the Father, full of grace and truth. The disciple believed in him. Their faith grew because they’ve seen Christ’s glory.

    Jesus is the mighty creator. He turns water into wine through the agricultural process. He simply did this process immediately that day. This first sign is a transformation sign. It points to the kind of transformation ministry our Lord would have.

    He would transform physical composites of water. He could also transform the spiritual composites of humans.

    In 2 Corinthians says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. Jesus transformed the Jewish purification of water into the wine of a new creation. The old has passed away, the new has come. Therefore, what do you do when you run out of joy in life?

    Believe in the transforming power of Jesus. Jesus is still doing miracles today. He’s still changing water into wine today. Jesus transformed life. Jesus changes life. He continues to do that in your life today. The purification water only cleansed the outside of a person, but Jesus would transform us from the inside out.

    The power of Jesus to transform water into wine is amazing, but the power to transform Rebellious sinners like us is astonishing. It is staggering.

    I don’t know if there are any unbelievers here. I assume no, but in case there is, without Christ, your life is like tasteless water. You need Christ. You need Jesus. Believe in Jesus as your Savior and He will transform your life from tasteless water into sweet wine.

    Now, most of us are Christians, believers. What does it mean to you? Believe in the transforming power of Jesus. Do you enjoy work? Do you want to enjoy work more? Believe in the transforming power of Jesus. Ask Jesus to transform you from the inside out. Ask Jesus for the power to love your co-workers. Ask Jesus to reveal the purpose of your work life. He doesn’t just send you to this workplace for 40 hours of useless time. God has a purpose for you. Ask him to transform your work, transform you, so that others can see Christ in your work.

    Do you want to receive joy in your marriage? Believe in the transforming power of Jesus. Wake up early in the morning and spend time with Jesus. You want to enjoy have a more joyful married life? Spend time with Jesus. The closer you are to Jesus, the more joy you have in your marriage.

    Do you want to restore your joy in ministry? Believe in the transforming power of Jesus. Learn to see Christ’s glory at church, in CEC. Instead of focusing on the weakness of our brothers and sisters, the lack of the church, learn to see the glory of Christ through the transforming life in this church, in our church. Try to see the goodness of Christ. He is in the business of transforming life. Even today in CEC, in the English congregation, in the Chinese congregation, in the youth meetings, in the children’s meetings, Christ is the bridegroom of the church.

    We can learn to see His glory in our church. Seeing the glory of Christ, which changes your life, is the key to transforming your Christian life. You see, without seeing the glory of Jesus, you’ll be just trying to live a good Christian life with your own strength, you’ll be complaining.

    When you see the glory of Jesus, that is what drives you to serve him in CEC and beyond. So what do you do when you run out of joy in life? I repeat it like six times already. What do you do when you run out of joy in life? Believe in the transforming power of Jesus. Imagine how your life will be transformed when you believe that Jesus is truly in the business of transforming life.

    He’s still doing that today. He’s doing that in your marriage, in your work, in your ministry. He’s in the business of transforming life.

    Just imagine your life, and how you would change when you truly believed that. Our Lord is like the best transformer. He transforms life. So, do you remember your wedding day? Yes, I do.

    Your wedding day is just a picture of the real wedding day that’s coming one day. Now I know some of you are single, and you never had a wedding day, but you will. One day, the bridegroom is coming back for his church. He’s coming back. The church is lacking in so many ways today, but one day it will be perfect because the bridegroom is in the business of transforming life.

    Believe that. Let’s pray.

    Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you that we once lived a tasteless life. You came into our life. Our life used to be like empty jars, and you came and you filled us with your abundance. Lord Jesus, thank you that you are still in the business of transforming life. Lord, we want to be obedient servants like those in Canaan.

    We want to just obey you without complaining. But we can’t do it ourselves without seeing your glory. So, Lord, will you help us? Will you help us to transform our lives? Will you help us to see your glory in the lives of our brothers and sisters in CEC? Will you help us as a church to look to you as our bridegroom?

    Thank you, Lord Jesus. Thank you. In Jesus Christ’s name, we pray. Amen. Let’s stand. We’ll close our time now.

  • How to resolve conflicts in life?

    Preached at DTS on 2022-12-13.

    Outline

    Theological Proposition: The biblical way to resolve conflict is by examining one’s own faults, reconciling with others, and trusting in God’s sovereignty.

    Introduction

    1. Image: I was in a car accident. A car hit me from the back. My wife screamed. My son was horrified. We are in a conflict with the driver who hit us.
    2. Needs: Life is full of conflicts. You may be in a conflict now: conflict with friends, roommates, professors, ministry coworkers, parents, and siblings. You may feel depressed, angry, and lost. When you are in a conflict, your preaching will be powerless. You may feel like a hypocrite.
    3. Subject: How do you resolve conflicts in life?
    4. Text: Matt 7, Matt 5, and Gen 50.
    5. Preview: Three principles on how to resolve conflicts in life. We will look inwardly, outwardly, and upwardly.

    Body

    1. Look inwardly to examine our own faults (Matt 7:1-5a).
      • Take the log out of our own eye so that we can see clearly to help take the speck out of the other person’s eyes.
      • Illustration: My pride has caused conflict that hurts others.
      • Application: Look inward and examine your heart and actions. What is your responsibility in this conflict? Is it your pride? Your anger? Your selfishness?

    (Transition) After you have looked inward, you need to…

    1. Look outwardly to help others to see their faults with the aim of reconciliation (Matt 7:5b, Matt 5:23-25).
      • Lovingly points out the fault of others (Matt 7:5b).
      • The purpose is reconciliation because God is not pleased with our worship if we are stuck in a conflict (Matt 5:23-25).Illustration: Disciples would have to travel 80 miles from Jerusalem back to Galilee to reconcile and return for worship.
      • Application: Have you looked outward to reconcile with others? What is preventing you from doing that quickly?

    (Transition) After you have looked inwardly and outwardly, you need to…

    1. Look upwardly to trust God is sovereign and good(Gen 50:15-21).
      • Joseph trusted God’s sovereignty when handling conflicts with his brothers.
      • Joseph’s response points to Christ.
      • Application: Every conflict is an opportunity to trust God. Look upward and ask God to reveal His goodness in the conflict you are in now.

    Conclusion

    How did I handle the car accident? I look inward, outward, and upward. You should look inwardly to examine your own faults, look outwardly to help others to see theirs with the aim of reconciliation, and look upwardly to trust that God is sovereign. Imagine how you can grow in your trust in God and your relationship with others when you take a step of faith to obey God’s principles to resolve conflicts in life.

    Manuscript

    Introduction

                A few years ago, I was in a car accident. I was on my way to send my son to his soccer practice. When we stopped at a traffic light, we suddenly heard a large collision sound, “boom!!!” The entire car was shaken. My wife screamed, and my son was horrified. I was in shock because we had never experienced anything like that. A car hit us from the back. I immediately checked on my wife and my son. Thank God they did not get hurt. So I stepped out of the car to deal with the situation. We are in a conflict with the driver who hit us.

                Life is full of conflicts. Some conflicts are caused by others; some are caused by ourselves. Many times, conflicts are caused by both sides. You may be in a conflict now. Maybe you are not getting along with your roommate. Maybe he is not doing his part in cleaning the toilet or the dishes. Maybe he makes too much noise when you are trying to study. Maybe you are in a conflict with one of the professors. Maybe he is giving you a hard time with your grades. Or maybe you are in a conflict with someone at church. Or maybe you are in a conflict with your parents or siblings. You may be feeling depressed, angry, or lost because of the conflict. You may feel like you are a hypocrite when you preach or teach because you let the conflict continue when you know you should resolve it. Most importantly, if you do not deal with conflicts in your life, your ministry and worship will not be pleasing to God, as we will see in today’s text.

                “How do you resolve conflicts in life?” That is my subject today. My text is Matt 7, Matt 5, and Gen 50. I will talk about three principles on how to resolve conflicts in life. We will look inwardly, outwardly, and upwardly.

    Body

    Look inwardly to examine our own faults (Matt 7:1-5a)

                First, we must look inwardly to examine our own faults in a conflict. I get this principle from Matt 7:1-5. Let me read Matt 7:1-5 for us, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment, you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye’, when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

                This text is part of the sermon of the mount. Jesus was teaching his disciples how to resolve conflicts in life. “Judge not” does not mean no discernment of right or wrong because in verse 5, the Lord instructed the disciples to take the speck out of the person in conflict with them. “Judge not” means we should not look down on others with a judgemental attitude that we are superior to them. “Judge not” means we should not criticize or condemn others without loving them. “Judge not” means we should not make ourselves look good at the expense of others.

                Because of our sinful nature, we tend to see the speck in someone else’s eyes but do not notice the log in our eyes. Our pride has blinded us from seeing our own faults and caused us to put on a magnifying glass when we look at the faults of the person in conflict with us. Looking inwardly to examine our own faults is a prerequisite to being able to see clearly the faults of others. The Lord is saying if you pretend you have no faults as you look down on someone else and criticize them, you are a hypocrite!

                When I was pastoring in china, I ran into a conflict with a brother on the church’s leadership team. He was a rather immature Christian but liked to have a voice in everything. I was annoyed by him because he was not qualified to be in a leadership position but refused to step down. During that time, the church was increasingly pressured by the government to stop gathering. Therefore, I met with the church leaders but left him out. We decided to divide the church into smaller groups to make it harder for the government to track us down. And then I called a church leadership meeting that included this brother. He challenged the decision immediately because he was not involved in the decision-making process. Out of my flesh, I told him, “we are not here to ask for your opinion; the decision has already been made.” He was furious when he heard that. That event triggered him to rally brothers and sisters to go against me. During that process, I started to look inward at my responsibilities in this conflict, and the Lord convicted me of my pride. I waited to show this brother that I was in charge. I was a hypocrite. My pride has caused me to see the pride in my brother, but I did not notice my own pride. I apologized to the brother for my behavior and stepped away from ministry for awhile to deal with my pride.

                How about you? Think about the conflict you are in right now. Have you looked inwardly to ask the Lord to reveal your faults and responsibilities in the conflict? Have you examined your hearts and behaviors that may have contributed to the conflict? If you have not, may I ask you to do that now? I want you to close your eyes and think about the conflict in your mind now. I want you to ask the Holy Spirit to work in your hearts so that you can see the log in your eye. I will give you 20 seconds to do that. You can open your eyes now. Brothers, I urge that you do this exercise at home. Instead of being judgmental, allow God’s standard to be applied to your life first before you apply it to others. If you are honest, you will discover that you fall short. It will hurt, but you will see clearly.

    Look outwardly to help others to see their faults with the aim of reconciliation (Matt 7:5b, Matt 5:23-24)

                How do you resolve conflicts in life? After you have looked inwardly, you need to look outwardly to help others to see their faults with the aim of reconciliation. I get this principle from Matt 7:5 and Matt 5:23-24. In Matt 7:5, the Lord said, “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” After you have examined your own faults, you will be more compassionate and have more understanding in your assessments and better help others to address their faults. The purpose is reconciliation. In Matt 5:23-24, the Lord said, “So if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.”

    This text is also part of the sermon of the mount. The Lord is saying that reconciliation is a prerequisite of worship. If you want your worship and ministry to be pleasing to the Lord, you must take action to resolve conflicts in life to the extent of your responsibilities. If you are in a conflict and do not take action to resolve it, even if you could preach a great sermon, your ministry and worship will not be pleasing to the Lord. But if you have taken action, even if the person did not respond to you, you have already done your part, and the Lord knows it.

    The Jews could only make an offering at the altar at the temple in Jerusalem. Jesus was teaching the sermon on the mount in Galilee, some 80 miles north of Jerusalem. Imagine you traveled 80 miles and ascended 3200 feet from Galilee to Jerusalem to make an offering in one of the feasts. When You realize you are in conflict with a person at home and need to travel back to reconcile with him before you can make an offering!

    Thank God because we now have phones, internet, car, and airplane. You don’t have to travel by foot or on a donkey. But, have you looked outward to try to reconcile with the person in conflict with you? With all the technologies we have today, you have all the means to access the other person easily. What is preventing you from doing that? What is holding you back? Maybe you can reach out to your roommate or your friend to tell him that something he said or did hurt you. Maybe you need to pick up the phone to call your parents to apologize for something you did that hurt them.

    Look upwardly to trust God is sovereign and good (Gen 50:15-21)

                How do you resolve conflicts in life? After you have looked inwardly and outwardly, you need to look upwardly to trust that God is sovereign. I get the principle from Joseph’s story in Genesis 50. Please look at Genesis 50:15 with me. “When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “It may be that Joseph will hate us and pay us back for all the evil that we did to him.” Because Joseph’s brothers were jealous of Jacob’s love for Joseph, they sold Joseph to slave traders. Verse 16 says, “So they sent a message to Joseph, saying, “Your father gave this command before he did, ‘Say to Joseph,  Please forgive the transgression of your brothers and their sin, because they did evil to you.’ And now, please forgive the transgression of the servants of the God of your father.” Joseph wept when they spoke to him. Verse 18, “His brothers also came and fell down before him and said, “Behold, we are your servants.” Do you remember how did Joseph respond? See verse 19, “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. So do not fear; I will provide for you and your little ones.” Thus he comforted them and spoke kindly to them.”

                Joseph responded to the conflict he had with his brothers by looking upwardly. He trusted God is sovereign and good. Joseph did not seek to revenge on his brothers. He forgave them. Not only he forgave them, but he also saved them by providing food to them. The response of Joseph reminds me of our Lord Jesus’s response to those who mocked Him and crucified Him on the cross. Christ looked upwardly and cried to the Father, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34). Christ was in the greatest conflict of the world, the conflict between God and humans. If Christ looked inwardly at himself, He would find no faults, for He was tempted in every respect like us, yet without sin (Heb 4:15). If He looked outwardly, He would see all the faults, all the sins in you and me. And then Jesus look upwardly and trusted God is sovereign and good in all things. The Jews meant evil when they said, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” (Mark 15:13-14) But God meant it for good, for God accomplished His glorious redemption plan through the death of His Son on the cross.

                Brothers, because you have been saved by Christ. Christ is now living in you. You have been given a new life to have the ability to trust God. Every conflict is an opportunity to trust God. People may mean evil against you, but God meant it for good. I know it is very hard to see something good when you are in a deep conflict. But you can trust God because He is sovereign, and He is good. Think about the conflict you are in now. Look upward and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you the goodness of God in this conflict.

    Conclusion

                How do you resolve conflicts in life? You should look inwardly to examine your own faults, look outwardly to reconcile with others, and look upwardly to trust that God is sovereign and good. Imagine how much you will grow in your trust in God and your relationship with others when you take a step of faith to follow God’s principles to resolve conflicts in life.

  • Eternal Rewards for Pastors

    Eternal Rewards for Pastors

    Introduction

    (Image) Imagine your graduation day has finally arrived. You are extremely excited. You have worked very hard for four years. You have been waiting for this day to come. At the graduation service, your friends and family are there. Your fellow graduates are there. The professors are there. The president, Dr. Mark Yarbrough, is there.

    Your name is called. You walked up to the stage. Dr. Yarbrough is examining your transcript for a final check. You are standing in front of him nervously. Dr. Yarbrough finally looks up. He said, “we got some problems. First, a professor in the pastoral ministry department has reported that you plagiarize your outline and manuscript. We have decided that you have not been faithful to the task the Lord has called you to do at the seminary. Second, your parents told us you have never called or visited them during seminary. And the scholarship department has reported that you lied about your financial situation. Therefore, we have decided that your character is unsuitable for serving the church as a preacher. And finally, I can read your heart. Your motive to study at seminary is to glorify yourself with your own power by preaching your ideas instead of God’s word. I am sorry to tell you that you have lost your ThM degree.” And then you woke up. You are on your bed, dreaming. It is not graduation day yet.

    (Needs) The story was totally made up. Dr. Yarbrough cannot read your heart to find out your motives to study and serve the Lord. But the Lord can. One day, at the end of this church age, the Lord Jesus will return. You will stand before the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ to give an account of your life and ministry. The judgment seat of Christ is not about eternal salvation. “For it is by grace you have been saved through faith” (Eph 2:9) . You already have it. You will never lose it. The Lord has paid the price to redeem you at the cross. His precious blood has cleansed all your sins. Your salvation is secure in His hands. The judgment at the judgment seat of Christ is about eternal rewards. How you live your life for Christ will determine your eternal rewards. It is a very important topic for all Christians, especially for teachers in the church, because “we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.” (James 3:1).

    (Subject) What I want to talk about today is “How you live for Christ in this life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.” We only have one life. We only have one shot. Therefore, we need to take this topic seriously.

    (Text and Preview) We will be looking at three passages of scriptures today. They are 1 Corinthians 4:4-5; Luke 19:11-27; and 1 Pet 5:1-4. We will look at one basis for eternal rewards in­ each passage, for a total of three bases that will determine our rewards in eternity.

    Body

    Your motives in ministry determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.

    (Explanation) First, your motives in ministry will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. I get the principle from 1 Corinthians 4:4-5. “For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.”

    Some of the Corinthians believers have been judging Paul’s motives in ministry. Paul said, “I have examined my heart, as far as I know, I am not aware of anything against myself. But I am not the judge. Christ is”. When the Lord returns, He will reveal the purposes of our hearts. We will receive praise from the Lord based on our motives in ministry.

    (Illustration) I believe Paul gave a parable earlier in chapter 3 that illustrates this principle. He gave the parable of builders. A builder could build a building using gold, silver, precious stones, or wood, hay, and straw. At the end of the construction, the building will be tested with fire. Only what was built with gold, silver, and precious stones will remain. What was built with wood, hay, and straw will be burned up.

    Similarly, at the judgment seat of Christ, all our motives in ministry will be tested. All the purposes of our hearts will be revealed before the Lord. Any work we did with the motive to glorify ourselves instead of glorying God will be burned up. Only the work with motives that please the Lord will remain.

    (Application) What is your motive for studying in seminary? What is your motive to serve the Lord? Is your motive to glory your name or to glorify Christ’s name? While you can hide your motive today, you cannot hide from the Lord at the judgment seat of Christ. If your motive is to glorify yourselves, your work will be burned up at the judgment seat of Christ.

    Let’s be honest, no one has completely pure motives all the time in this life. All of us will have some self-glorifying motives in ministry. Therefore, you need to frequently ask the Lord to help you examine your motives in ministry. Every time when you embark on a project or ministry, ask yourself this question, “will this glorify Christ or glorify me?” Ask the Lord to give you a pure heart to serve Him. Ask the Lord to reveal more of His love to you so that your motive is to respond to His love and to glory Him. You serve Him because His love compels you. That is why Paul lived for Christ. He reveals his motive in the second letter to the Corinthians,  “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again” (2 Cor 5:14-15).

    Your faithfulness in ministry determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.

    (Explanation) Not only will your motives determine how Christ will reward you in eternity, your faithfulness to what Christ has entrusted to you will also determines how Christ will reward you in eternity. I get this principle from Luke 19:11-27, the parable of the minas. Jesus told this parable at the end of His journey from Jericho to Jerusalem. It goes like this. A nobleman went to a far country to receive His kingdom. Before he left, he gave one mina, which is about 100 days of wages, equivalent to about $20,000 in today’s money, to each of his ten servants and told them to engage in business until he returned. When the nobleman returned, he ordered the servants to give an account of what they had done with the one mina.

    The first servant reported he had turned the one mina to ten minas. The nobleman praised him, “Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little (v17), you shall have authority over ten cities. The second servant reported he had turned the one mina to five minas. And the nobleman rewarded the faithful servant with five cities. But the third servant did not do anything with the one mina. The nobleman took the only mina he had and gave it to the first servant, who had ten minas. What is the point of the parable? Your faithfulness to what Christ has entrusted to you in this life determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.

    (Illustration) I used to work in IT. There are two kinds of programmers. The sloppy and the faithful. How can you tell one from the other? A regular person will not be able to tell because it is behind the scenes. What separates a faithful programmer from a sloppy programmer is his code. A sloppy programmer writes code without proper structure and without comments. But a faithful programmer writes code with proper structure and with proper comments so that other programmers can look at the code and know what he is trying to do. A faithful programmer puts in the hard work behind the scenes that is not apparent to the end users.

    (Application) Similarly, if you want to be a faithful preacher, you will need to put in the hard work that may not be apparent to the congregation. (Smile) You cannot avoid it. Some people will think you only work for one hour on Sunday when you preach in the pulpit. But none of the work you do will be in vain. The Lord knows all the hard work you put in behind the scenes, and He will reward you lavishly. In the parable, the nobleman lavishly rewards the first servant who turned one mina, about $20,000, to ten minas, about $200,000, with authority over ten cities. When you are faithful in little things, the Lord will reward you with greater responsibilities in eternity.

    In today’s celebrity church culture, men praise famous preachers, but the Lord praises faithful preachers. Faithfulness means doing the hard work of exegesis. Faithfulness means do not compromise the word of God in fear of men. Faithfulness means doing the hard work of knowing God’s people and applying the Scriptures to their life. Faithfulness means praying for the flocks God has entrusted you even when no one knows it. Men praise famous preachers, but the Lord praises faithful preachers. Therefore, serve the Lord faithfully with the spiritual gifts the Lord has entrusted to you.

    Your character in life determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.

    (Explanation) Not only your motives and faithfulness in ministry will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. Your character in life will also determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. I get the principle from 1 Peter 5:1-4. “So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.”

    Pastors are not only called to preach the word faithfully; pastors are called to practice the word faithfully. Pastors are also called to be examples to the flock of God. Pastors are not only called to apply the word to the flock of God; pastors are called to apply the word to themselves first. When the Chief Shepherd, Christ, returns, He will judge pastors based on their character in life and will reward those who reflect the character of the Chief Shepherd with the unfading crown of glory. Character matters.

    (Illustration) When I was a young man, I used to love cycling. And Lance Armstrong was my hero. After beating testicular cancer that had already spread to other parts of his body in 1996, Lance Armstrong won Tour de France, the most prestigious and difficult race in cycling in the world, in 1999. Not only that, he repeated the victory seven times in a row before retiring at the age of 33! His status was really elevated, and he became one of the most revered athletes of all time. However, in 2012, US Anti-Doping Agency reported that Armstrong cheated in the races with illegal drugs. In 2013, Armstrong publicly admitted that he doped during each of his Tour de France wins. He was stripped of his seven Tour de France victories. Character matters. Because of his character, he lost all seven of his rewards. (pause)

    (Application) Similarly, your character in life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity. How you love your family will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.

    How you treat your friends determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.

    How you love your neighbors determines how Christ will reward you in eternity.

    How you serve the church will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.

    How you live for Christ in this life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.

    Your character in life matters.

    Therefore, you need to cultivate your character to be more like Christ starting today. Are you spending time with the Lord daily? Do you take time to reflect on your relationship with the Lord and with the people in your life? Are you constantly abiding in the Lord like a branch abiding in the vine? Does your family sense that you love them? Do your friends and classmates sense that you care for them?

    I like to suggest two applications for you. First, no matter how busy you are, spend some time alone with the Lord daily. Talk to the Lord. Hear from the Lord. Cultivate your relationship with the Lord. Second, look around you and ask the Lord whom you can show the love of Christ in this stage of your life. Take a step of faith and reach out to that person. Help him, encourage her, support him. Cultivate your character starting today because a Christlike character is not formed in one day. A Christlike character is formed slowly over a long period of walking with the Lord, submitting to His will, trusting Him, and taking small steps of faith daily to extend the love of Christ to people God has put in your life. If you do that, slowly and surely, you will be more like Christ, the Chief Shepard, over time. And when you meet Him at the judgment seat of Christ, you will be rewarded with the unfading crown of glory. Your character in life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.

    Conclusion

    (Close intro Image, cast vision, repeat HP and main points) Imagine it is graduation day. But this time, this is not a dream. It is not DTS graduate day. It is your life graduation day. You are not standing in front of Dr. Yarbrough. You are standing in front of the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, the Chief Shepheard, your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Imagine the Lord praises you because the motives of your ministry are to express your love to Him and to glorify Him. The Lord praises you because you have served the Lord faithfully with the spiritual gifts He has given you. Imagine the Lord rewards you with the unfading crown of glory because your life as an undershepherd reflects the character of the Chief Shepherd. One of the Lord’s faithful preachers, CT Studd, missionary to the Chinese, Indians, and Africans, once said, “Only one life, it will soon be past; only what is done for Christ will last.” You only have one life, one chance, one shot; make it counts for eternity. (HP) How you live for Christ in this life will determine how Christ will reward you in eternity.

  • Minister Failure is Ministry Failure (Mark 9:14-29)

    Minister Failure is Ministry Failure (Mark 9:14-29)

    Preached on 2022-7-6 at Dallas Theological Seminary.

    Introduction

    I like you to think of a minister who had failed in his ministry and is well known in the Christian community. I will give you some profiles as examples. A world-famous apologist who believed in his own ability to convince the audience but had a secret perverted sexual lifestyle. A megachurch pastor who believed in his own ability to draw large crowds but had an abusive, authoritarian, bullying lifestyle towards his coworkers and the church members. Do you have a name in your mind yet? Good. You do not have to tell me who he is. Each of you might have different names in your mind because, sadly, there is no lack of ministers who failed in their moral conduct in today’s church. You can verify that with a simple google search for “pastor misconduct.” I am sure none of us want our name to appear in this google search. What can we do to avoid moral failures as a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ? As I was doing the research, I noticed a pattern. They were successful in the past, and their success seems to contribute to their failure.

    My subject for today is, “Ministry failure is doing ministry by believing in ourselves instead of believing in Christ.” Or, to say it in another way, “Ministry failure is doing ministry by trusting in ourselves instead of trusting in Christ.” The text I was assigned is Mark 9:14-50. Due to time constraints, I will be focusing on Mark 9:14-29 only. This is the story of the disciples failing to cast out an evil spirit from a boy. My devotion has three parts, the problem, the solution, and the application.

    Problem: Disciples experienced failure in ministry because they believed in themselves instead of in Christ (9:14-19a).

    What is the problem in this passage? To see the problem, we need to see the bigger picture of the book of Mark. In Mark chapter 6, verse 7, Christ has called the twelve, given them authority over the unclean spirits, and sent them out for ministry. And then we are told in verse 13 that they cast out many demons. Fast forward to chapter 9, after Peter, John, and James saw Christ’s transfiguration, they came down from the mountain. Mark wrote in verse 14, “And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw Him, were greatly amazed and ran up to Him and greeted Him. And He asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought my son to you, for He has a spirit that makes him mute. And whenever it seizes him, it throws him down, and he foams and grinds his teeth and becomes rigid. So, I asked your disciples to cast it out, and they were not able.” And He answered them, “O faithless generation, how long am I to be with you? How long am I to bear with you? Bring him to me.”

    The disciples failed to cast out a demon in a boy and ended up arguing with the scribe, and the crowds were watching. Similar situations can be seen today. Pastors’ moral failure has caused arguments among Christians and non-believers on Television and social media. What kind of image is the church portraying to the watching world?

    The rest of the story is mostly about the interaction between Jesus and the boy’s father. This is the pattern of the gospels; the Lord oftentimes uses His interaction with other people to teach the disciple what it means to follow Him and be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. Brothers, can you relate yourself to the disciples? Have you had ministry failure in the past, and the Lord taught you a spiritual lesson through other people in your life?

    Most commentators agree that “O faithless generation” was Jesus’s rebuke towards the disciples. Their previous success in casting out unclean spirits has caused them to have faith in their own experience and ability instead of faith in Christ.

    Brothers, we are getting some of the best education in DTS, and some of you have years of ministry experience and success. However, as your knowledge and experiences increase, you will face greater and greater temptation to believe in yourselves instead of believing in Christ in ministry. If you ignore this problem, your pride will continue to grow, and you might end up in the result of a google search of “pastor misconduct.” The worst thing that can happen to you as a minister is not that you failed to grow the size of the ministry that you serve. The worst thing that can happen to you as a minister is failing to grow your trust in the Lord in ministry.

    Solution: Jesus used the opportunity to teach the disciples to believe in Him instead of in themselves (9:19b-29).

    So, what is the solution? Let’s continue to read the text. Verse 19, after Jesus rebuked the disciples, he instructed them, “Bring him to me.” And they brought the boy to him. And when the spirit saw him, immediately it convulsed the boy, and he fell on the ground and rolled about, foaming at the mouth. And Jesus asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. And it has often cast him into fire and into water, to destroy him. But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!”

    After Jesus rebuked the disciples, He instructed them to bring the child to Him. Brothers, we need to bring our challenges to the Lord. This will become harder as we gain more experience because we think we can do ministry with our own strength.

    When the spirit attacked the boy again, the father asked the Lord to help his son, although he was not sure Jesus had the ability to help him. Interestingly, Jesus said it is possible for one who believes. Brothers, I think the Lord is teaching us to believe He is all-powerful but also trust Him with the result because He is sovereign. We need to ask Christ for help and also ask that His will be done in our ministry.

    Then the father replied that he believed, but he was also honest in asking Jesus to help with his unbelief. Brothers, we as seminarians and ministers are very good at hiding our doubts in ministry. We do not need to hide our weaknesses from the Lord. On the contrary, we need to be real with Jesus. Jesus can handle our doubts. We need to frequently examine ourselves and ask the Lord to help us with our witnesses.

    Application: Cultivate a lifestyle of believing in Christ for ministry through prayers.

    We talk about the problem and the solution and let’s talk about the application. Let’s read the remaining of this passage. Verse 25 to 29 reads, “And when Jesus saw that a crowd came running together, he rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You mute and deaf spirit, I command you, come out of him and never enter him again.” And after crying out and convulsing him terribly, it came out, and the boy was like a corpse, so that most of them said, “He is dead.” But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when he had entered the house, his disciples asked him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

    Since most of us will not face demon-possessed situations, how do we apply this text in ministry? I think the application of this text to ministers of the gospel is we should not serve the Lord by believing in our own ability. Instead, we should believe in Him. Ministry failure does not happen overnight. It is a result of a lifestyle of trusting in ourselves. Therefore you need to cultivate a lifestyle of trusting the Lord starting from now.

    Doing ministry by believing in our own ability is like running a marathon with illegal drugs as your energy drink. You will be disqualified. Doing ministry by believing in Christ is like running a marathon with the official sanctioned energy drink. Chris is our God-sanctioned energy drink. Disciples are called to live by faith in Christ, not faith in ourselves, “My righteous one shall live by faith” (Heb 10:38). “Without faith, it is impossible to please God” (Heb 11:6).

    A lifestyle of dependency on Christ is cultivated and manifested in prayers, therefore don’t sacrifice your prayer life for seminary and ministry. I urge you can examine your prayer life right now. What is your attitude when you pray? Do you pray out of routine, or do you pray because you truly feel you do not have the ability to write the paper or serve in ministry without Christ? Do you just go through the motion of prayers, or are you honest with God? Do you bring your doubts to Christ, or do you hide from Him? Why don’t you spend some time tonight to pray about what is one thing you can improve in your prayer life to help you to depend more on Christ instead of yourselves in ministry? Maybe you already pray a lot. Maybe you don’t need to pray more, but you need to pray more sincerely.

    Conclusion

    In conclusion, my proposition is, “Ministry failure is doing ministry by believing in ourselves instead of believing in Jesus.” We have looked at the problem, the solution, and the application. The problem is as we continue to increase in our knowledge and experience in ministry, we will experience more and more temptation to trust in our own ability instead of trusting in Christ in ministry. The solution is to bring your ministry challenge to Christ, believe Christ is all-powerful but trust the result to Him, and be real to Christ by bringing your doubts and weaknesses to Him. The application is to examine your current prayer lifestyle and ask the Lord to reveal one area where you can improve in your prayer life to help you to depend more on Christ in ministry.

    No matter how hard we try, we will inevitably experience some failures in ministry, but Christ will never give up on us. He will turn every one of your failures into opportunities to teach you to trust in Him. When the disciples could not cast out the demon, Christ came down from the mountain to look for them. It is Christ who took the initiative to tell the disciples to bring the demon-possessed child to Him. On the surface, the Lord was teaching the father, but what the Lord was doing was teaching the disciples who were watching. The Lord desires the disciples to trust in Him by telling them they need to pray. Brothers, none of us want our name to show up in a google search of pastor misconduct. Let’s cultivate a lifestyle of believing in the Lord instead of ourselves in ministry so that Christ will be glorified through our life and ministry.

  • No sacrifice is too great for Christ (Mark 1:1-20)

    No sacrifice is too great for Christ (Mark 1:1-20)

    Introduction

    In Feb 1885, seven young men in their twenties, known as the Cambridge Seven, set sail from England to China to join Judson Taylor as missionaries to the Chinese. The group leader is C.T. Studd, a very successful cricket player from a wealthy family. He sacrificed the fame of the sport to serve Christ. When he was in China, his dad died in London. He gave away all the inheritance from his father to support the Christian works of George Muller and DL Moody, except for 3400 pounds which he kept for his newlywed wife. His wife asked him, “what did the Lord tell the rich man to do?” He answered, “sell all”. The couple proceed to give the rest of the money after for the Lord’s work. Studd sacrificed his wealth to Christ. After ten years of ministry with a lot of hardship, Studd became very sick and had to return back to England. He sacrificed his health for Christ. However, when Studd heard about the need of the gospel in India, for the second time he set sail from England to Southern India to preach the gospel and pastor a church. After six years of ministry in very harsh conditions in India, once again C.T. Studd became very sick and had to return back to England. Studd sacrificed his fame, his wealth, and his health for Christ. Many of his family and friends think he has sacrificed too much for his faith.

    Have you ever wondered whether it is worth sacrificing your time, money, and energy to prepare yourself to serve Christ? Have you ever wanted to give up seminary and ministry to do something else when money is tight? Maybe you are holding on to something that God wants you to sacrifice for Christ? Today, I want to exhort you with this truth: No sacrifice is too great for Christ. Again, no sacrifice is too great for Christ. Our text is Mark 1:1-20. Again, our text is Mark 1:1-20. We will look at three reasons why no sacrifice is too great for Christ.

    Because it is our greatest honor to serve Christ

    No sacrifice is too great for Christ. The number one reason is that it is our greatest honor to serve Christ. I get this principle from the life of John the Baptist. Please look at Mark 1:1-8 with me. John the Baptist was called by God to prepare the way for Christ. The call was prophesied by the prophet Isaiah 700 years ago: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight”. John the Baptist was from a priestly family, but he gave up his predictable and comfortable life in response to God’s calling to prepare the way for Christ. Instead of living in the comfort of a house, he lived in the wilderness. Instead of wearing comfortable cloth, he was wearing coarse cloth made with camel hair. Instead of eating a regular Jewish diet with bread, fish and lamb, his food was locusts and wild honey.

    Did John think he has sacrificed too much for Christ? No! Instead, John the Baptist felt it was his greatest honor to sacrifice for Christ. How do I know this? In Jesus’s time, untying the straps of sandals is one of the lowliest works any person can do. However, John proclaimed he is not worthy to even untie the strap of the sandal for Christ. It is like the president of the United States has come to a beggar on the roadside in Dallas and call him to sacrifice everything he has to serve him. It will be the greatest honor for the beggar to do so. The president does not need his service, but he has chosen the beggar to serve him. Brothers, each of us has sacrificed a lot to come to seminary. We have sacrificed worldly pursuits to serve Christ. We have put many hours into our studies while our friends are enjoying life. When ministry and life get tough, you may be tempted to think your sacrifice is too much. Brothers, never give up your call to serve Christ. We need to realize that you and I are like John the Baptist, unworthy to even tie the shoe strap of Christ. But God, by His grace, has called us to serve Christ. Therefore, no sacrifice is too great for Christ. It is our greatest honor to serve Christ.

    Because we should follow Christ

    The second reason no sacrifice is too great for Christ is that we should follow Christ. Look at verses 9 to 15 with me. Jesus of Nazareth has come to the Jordan River to be baptized by John. When Jesus came up from the water. He immediately saw the heavens opening and the Holy Spirit descending on Him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son, with you I am well pleased.” Mark introduced Jesus as the Son of God in verse 1. But now, suddenly Mark mentioned Jesus as Jesus of Nazareth of Galilee. Why do you think Mark emphasized Nazareth of Galilee? I think Mark wanted to tell us that Jesus came from Nazareth, a real place in Galilee. Jesus is not in heaven with the Father. He is on earth, incarnated as a man. Christ humbles Himself to come down on this earth in obedience to the Father. Christ has sacrificed His glory to serve God the Father.

    Christ’s sacrifice can be further observed in the temptation He faced from Satan while He was in the wilderness for forty days. Jesus could have killed Satan simply by speaking His word. But He voluntarily restricted His own power. Jesus even needed the angels to minister to Him. Our Lord has exemplified a sacrificial life to serve God the Father. Many commentators agree that Mark 10:45 is the key verse of the book. It read “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

    After John the Baptist was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee to preach the Gospel of God. We are called to be like Christ. Jesus has called each of you to follow Him, just like Jesus has called the disciples to follow Him. To follow Christ is to be like Him. Christ has sacrificed His glory to serve God the Father. If we want to be like Christ, we should be willing to sacrifice anything to serve Christ.

    When I served the Lord in Guangzhou, China 10 years ago, I took the opportunity to visit Samuel Lamb. Who is Samuel Lamb? He is one of the Chinese home church leaders, a preacher of the Gospel, and a faithful servant of God. Because of his faith in Jesus Christ, he was imprisoned for over 20 years! Take a guess at what did he do with his life after he was released from prison in 1979 at the age of 54? He started a home church again. Thousands of Christians flocked to worship Christ weekly at the church. Samuel Lamb was willing to sacrifice all he had for God, following the footsteps of our Lord Jesus Christ. Brothers, I like you to examine your heart right now. Is there anything you know you should sacrifice to follow Christ but have not done so? Maybe it is a habit or hobby that is affecting your relationship with Christ and your witness for Christ. Maybe you watch too many movies and waste too much time on social media when you are supposed to develop your characters for Christ. Are you willing to take a step of faith to make the sacrifice to be more like Christ?

    Because Christ will turn our sacrifice into something greater than we could imagine now

    The third reason why no sacrifice is too great for Christ is that Christ will turn our sacrifice into something greater than we could ever imagine. Look at Mark 1:16-20 with me. After Christ preached the Gospel of God in Galilee, He started to call four fishermen to follow Him. He saw Simon Peter and his brother Andrew casting a net in the sea of Galilee. So, Jesus called them, “Follow me, I will make you fishers of men.” Simon and Andrew immediately left their net and followed Christ. After that, Jesus called James and John, who were mending nets in their boat. Both responded by leaving their Father, Zebedee, in the boat with the hired servants and following Christ.

    Fishermen are the middle class in Israel at that time. We are told John, and James’ family had servants who worked for them. So, their life can’t be too bad. They thought their future was set. They were going to be fishermen. But their life was changed upside down when Jesus called them to follow Him. James and John left their father to follow Jesus. They sacrificed their comfortable and predictable middle-class life to follow Jesus into a challenging and unpredictable life. But Christ promised He would change them from fishermen into fishers of men! How did they turn out? Did Jesus keep His promise? When we look at the rest of the New Testament and church history, we know Christ was faithful to His promise. All four of them became leaders of the early church. They became preachers of the Gospel. Many people were saved through their ministry. Peter became the leader of the twelve and one of the greatest evangelists ever. John wrote five New Testament books. Andrew preached the Gospel in Russia. James died in Jerusalem to witness Christ. All of them lived extraordinary lives as fishers of men.

    A few of us were involved in Cru or Campus Crusade for Christ. The ministry was started by Bill Bright and his wife, Vonette in 1951. They signed a contract with God to sacrifice everything they had to follow Christ. 72 years later. Cru had ministries in almost all the countries in the world, and millions of people became followers of Jesus Christ through this ministry. Christ has turned Bill and Vonette Bright’s sacrifice into something far greater than they could have imagined in 1951. Brothers, when you are feeling pressure from your studies and ministry, don’t give up. When you are discouraged because of criticism from others, or a bad grade, or financial issues, or tiredness, don’t give up, press on! No sacrifice is too great for Christ because Christ will turn your sacrifice into something greater than anything you could imagine today.

    Conclusion 

    After serving in China and India for a total of 16 years, many of CT Studd family and friends told him he had done enough for his faith and should spend the remaining of his life in England. He refused to listen to their advice, for Christ. When he heard about the great need for the Gospel in Africa, once again left the comfortable life in England and went to serve the Lord in central Africa for the next 20 years. He endured much hardship during those years and died there at age 71. C.T. Studd sacrificed his fame, fortune, and life for Christ. He and others laid the foundation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in China, India, and Africa. He once wrote: “If Jesus is God and He died for me, then no sacrifice can be too great for me to make for Him.” “Only one life, it will soon pass; only what is done for Christ will last.” He inspired thousands of men and women to sacrifice their life for Christ. Brothers, no sacrifice is too great for Christ because it is our greatest honor to serve Christ, because we should follow Christ, and because Christ will turn our sacrifice into something greater than anything we could ever imagine today. I urge you to examine yourself today, to see what else you need to sacrifice, for our Lord Jesus Christ.

  • 十架七言：成了（约19:30）

    十架七言：成了（约19:30）

    地点：科林郡恩友堂

    时间：2022年4月15日

    主耶稣在十字架上说的第六句话是“成了“。只有使徒约翰记载这句话，记载在约19:30。那时，主耶稣已经被钉在十字架上六个小时。其他三本福音书记载，从中午十二点到下午三点，日头和全地都变黑了。好像表示这个世界为它的创造者在十字架上受苦而悲哀！

    在主断气前的几秒钟，当主耶稣尝了一口醋后之后，就说了这一句话，“成了！”。主说这话是用什么的口气呢？其他三本福音书记载，主断气前在大声的喊叫。而约翰记载，这喊叫就是，“成了”！这不是失败的呻吟，而是得胜的宣告！

     “成了”是什么意思呢？是指什么成了呢？这句话，其实在约翰福音里出现两次，这是第二次。第一次是上两节，第28节。使徒约翰记载：“耶稣知道各样的事都成了，为要使经上的话应验”。“各样”也可以翻译成 “所有”。所有旧约的律法，诗篇和先知所预言的事都成了！所有天父所差派主耶稣基督道成肉身的工作，主耶稣都完成。

    整个以色列人的历史，整本的旧约圣经，就是说到人的罪恶，和神的救赎计划。主不但知道神的救赎计划，而且主耶稣道成肉身的目的，就是要执行这救赎计划。主被钉十字架，不是一个意外，而是神救赎人的方法！主被钉十字架，不是显出祂的软弱，而是显出主在掌权！

    成了在希腊原文只有一个字,tetelestai!主耶稣用一个字来表示祂成就了神整个的救赎计划！这个字是完成时态，是perfect tense，表示已经完成了,而且继续有功效！主耶稣一次被钉十字架完成救赎，却永远有功效。Tetelestai!

    女人的后裔已经伤了撒旦的头，成了！(创3:15)神律法公义和圣洁的要求已经满足了，成了！主耶稣已经得胜了黑暗的权势，成了！逾越节羔羊已经被杀献祭了（林前5:7），主耶稣的宝血已经流出了，成了！我们所犯的罪的工价，全还清了，成了！进入至圣所的幔子已经从上到下裂开了，好让信祂的人可以坦然无惧的进入施恩的宝座前,成了!(路23:45)这么大的救恩，已经作成了，成了！

    所以当你看见周边和这个世界充满着罪恶时，不要灰心,以信心仰望主耶稣吧，因为祂已经作成了！当撒旦控告你的时候，不要被迷惑，以信心仰望主耶稣吧，因为祂已经作成了！当你作基督徒作的很累时，当你认为自己作的不够时，不要靠自己，仰望主吧，因祂已经作成了！当你里面与罪争战时，不要放弃，以信心仰望主耶稣吧,因为祂已经作成了！成了！成了！

  • 神爱世人（约翰福音三14-21）

    神爱世人（约翰福音三14-21）

    注：这视屏在美国的youtube网站，国内需要翻墙。

  • He comes to change lives (Matt 1:18-25)

    He comes to change lives (Matt 1:18-25)

    Preached on 12-21-2020 by Ken Yeo

    Imagine you are facing a difficult situation in life, you know what God wants you to do, but if you choose to obey God, you know you would pay the price to follow Christ and face some challenges in life, possibly including some misunderstandings from people around you. If you choose to ignore God and go on your own way, you may live a life that pleases others, except God. What would you choose?

    Today we will be looking into Matthew 1:18-25, it is about the events that happened in the life of Joseph 2000 years ago. I will read Matt 1:18-25 out loud for us. 

    Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: 23“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). 24 When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, 25 but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. 

    Let’s pray.

    Joseph is a carpenter from Nazareth, a small town in the hill north of Jazreel valley in the land of Israel. His father’s name is Jacob, just like Jacob in the Old Testament, he named his son Joseph. It suggests that Jacob wanted his son Joseph to be faithful to Jehovah God just like Joseph in Genesis. His father must be delighted in Joseph because Matthew tells us that Joseph was righteous, which means he was a man who fears God. He has met his dream girl, probably it was an arranged marriage by his father. Joseph wanted to get married and start a family. He dreamed about raising children according to the Torah. Joseph and Mary were engaged and were planning for their wedding. They were in love, happy and excited about the life they would be building together. 

    Imagine you were raised in a Christian family, your father loved the Lord very much. You were raised to fear God. You are a good son, your father is proud of you because you are a faithful follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. You dreamed about starting a family with a godly Christian lady and raising children according to the teaching of the bible. And then you met a beautiful sweet Christian lady, you fell in love and eventually asked her to marry you and she said yes! You were in love, your heart was filled with joy. You were excited to be a husband and eventually to be a father.

    Now back to the story. However, while preparing for the wedding, Joseph found out his fiancée was pregnant, but not by him. His life was suddenly turned upside down. It changed from joyful to sadness, from sunshine to gloomy. his plan was ruined by this unfaithful lady, his dream to build a godly family was crushed. He was worried that he could disappoint his father and God. He thought about divorce. However, he did not want to bring public shame to Mary, so he came up with a plan to divorce her privately, without anyone knowing. But what will happen to Mary? How will she raise a child without a husband? And the child? It will be bad for the child to grow up without a father, who will teach him the laws? These questions may have come across the mind of Joseph, or maybe not, either way, we were not told. All we know is Joseph had made a decision to divorce her. His future is more important than the welfare of Mary or the child.

    Now Mary probably had told Joseph that she was not unfaithful. It was the Holy Spirit that conceived her. As a good Jews, Joseph must have known the verse Matthew has quoted on verse 23, that is the prophet Isaiah has prophesied this, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel.” “But who would believe that? It was prophesied 700 years ago, that is no way it would happen right now, not in this little village, especially to a woman I want to get married to!” Thoughts like this must have gone through the mind of Joseph.

    Imagine that you are planning for the wedding with your fiancee, and then you notice that her stomach is getting bigger daily, she is pregnant! The bad news is, you and she are not married yet! She was not pregnant by you. How would you feel? If this happened to me I would be shocked, and then I probably would be angry at her and felt sad because she had betrayed me. She was unfaithful to me, even before we got married! Now your plan to start a godly family has been crushed. How would you feel when your plan was interrupted by bad news? Angry? Fear? Sad? Disappointed? Confused?

    Well, I know none of us are in this situation, for we are all married men. But you might be facing a different difficulty in life right now. You may have big dreams and have made big plans for it, but suddenly you found out there is a problem. Maybe you have a plan to serve God in a certain way, at church or at Cru. But suddenly some bad news came, maybe the church asked someone else to serve instead of you, or maybe your position at Cru was changed unexpectedly. Maybe you felt that you were betrayed and were cheated by someone you trust. You may be afraid that you would disappoint your wife or someone else.

    At this point, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told Joseph who the baby was and told him not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. The angel also told him to name the baby Jesus, which means Joshua in Hebrews, the meaning of Jesus is Jehovah saves. The angel explained to Joseph that the name means the baby will save his people from their sins!

    Now Joseph was in a very difficult situation, he either took Mary in and raised the child as his own or to divorce her and find another Jewish woman to marry and have nothing to do with the child. It was a life changing decision, this decision will alter his entire life. “What should I do?” “People are going to find out because Mary’s stomach will get bigger and bigger every day! What should I tell dad?” Thoughts like these were probably going through his mind.

    Have you had a similar kind of experience? Are you experiencing a similar difficulty at this stage of your life? Have you ever faced a difficult situation, and you felt that God had shown up and had spoken to you? God may have spoken to you through the bible, through another Christian, through a sermon, or through a situation in life. It seems that God wants you to go one way, it is the harder way. Maybe the way was not your original plan, or maybe people would misunderstand you if you obey God, what would you do? Do you want to be obedient to God, or do you care so much about what other people think and would disregard what God has revealed to you?

    Now look how did Joseph to respond to God’s command, he took Mary as his wife but did not have physical relationships with her until she had given birth to a son. As a result, he became the earthly father of the most special child in the history of mankind, the child is the ultimate son of David, the savior of His people from their sins, He is God living in the midst of men, His name is Jesus.

    When we make the right decision to be obedient to God’s leading during difficult situations in life, we will also enjoy special blessings from God, that is the special presence of Christ when He reigns in our heart.

    Why did Jesus come into this world? He came to change lives. He came to forgive our sins, to rescue us from our sinful nature so we can live a life that glorifies God. He wants to live in us, he wants to reign in our hearts. Are you facing a difficult life situation right now? Is God speaking to you? What would you choose? Would you choose to trust God by letting Christ reign in your heart so that your lives would be changed? Or would you choose to ignore God and let yourselves reign in your hearts? Let’s pray.

  • 五旬节-教会的诞生

    五旬节-教会的诞生

    这个主日是七七节，又称为五旬节。七七节是指着七个七天，五旬节是指着五十天。七七节是初熟节之后的第七个安息日的次日（利23：16），是庄稼初熟的日子（民28：26），耶和华神吩咐以色列人每年在五旬节要去圣殿献祭敬拜祂（利23：15-22）。“初熟”在希伯来文是bikkurim，是小麦初熟的日子。耶和华吩咐以色列人要把小麦磨成细面用油调作素祭献给神自己（民28：28）。

    小麦成熟的日子

    耶和华吩咐以色列人在七七节需要献一个特别的素祭，称为新素祭（利23：16）。通常的素祭都是无酵的，但是七七节的新素祭却是有酵。以色列人需要烤两个有酵饼献给耶和华神。

    两个有酵饼

    五旬节豫表基督的教会的诞生。在第一个五旬节过了1500年后，在耶路撒冷，在主耶稣复活之后的第五十天，圣灵降下充满主耶稣第一批的门徒，教会诞生，开始了教会时代（徒2：1-4）。主在最后一周曾经说过麦子豫表祂，麦子死了，结出许多的子粒（约12：24）。基督如麦子，麦子磨成细面，圣灵如橄榄油浇灌在细面上，教会就诞生了，如此美丽的豫表，我们赞美神的智慧、能力与恩典！

    圣灵降临的地点

    那两个有酵的饼很可能是豫表教会。有酵指着人虽然被拯救了，但是还是有罪性在里面。主今天在教会的工作，就是要致死忍人的罪性，用水藉著道把教会洗净，成为圣洁，可以献给自己，作个荣耀的教会，毫无玷污、皱纹等类的病，乃是圣洁没有瑕疵的（弗5：27）。

    “五旬节”法国画家Jean Restout II (1692–1768)的作品

    如主赐恩给你去耶路撒冷，参观教会诞生的地点，应当思考神救赎的工作，感谢神把我们这些信祂的人浸在教会里，成为基督的肢体，彼此相爱配搭服事，连于元首基督，使神的旨意彰显在地上如同在天上！

    彼得可能在圣殿附近讲道，因此从各地来耶路撒冷过七七节的以色列人听见福音
  • 一个比加（beka)重量的小石头

    一个比加（beka)重量的小石头

    【凡过去归那些被数之人的，从二十岁以外，有六十万零三千五百五十人。按圣所的平，每人出银半舍客勒，就是一比加。】（出38：26）

    最近（2018年十一月）耶路撒冷圣殿附近的Emek Tzurim 国家公园土堆中发现一个小石头，上面写着比加（beka），是出埃及记用来衡量半舍客勒的重量。这些泥土是从西墙的Robinson’s Arch底下的街道里被挖掘出来的，重量有11.33克。这是含有的发现，再次证明圣经的真实性。

     

    神的律法命令出埃及的以色列人二十岁以上的男人必须奉献半个舍客勒银子来作建造会幕的材料。耶和华神在出30：15-16两次指出这半个舍客勒是为了赎生命的，是赎罪银！

     

    【他们为赎生命将礼物奉给耶和华，富足的不可多出，贫穷的也不可少出，各人要出半舍客勒。你要从以色列人收这赎罪银，作为会幕的使用，可以在耶和华面前为以色列人作纪念，赎生命。】（出30：15-16）

     

    所以银子在圣经里豫表赎罪，神要以色列男人代表全以色列人纪念他们的生命是耶和华拯救的。

     

    这是对于神在基督里救赎计划的豫表。这些银子不能赎人的罪，不过他们豫表的耶稣基督能。

    【到了迦百农，有收丁税的人来见彼得，说：「你们的先生不纳丁税（丁税约有半块钱）吗？」彼得说：「纳。」他进了屋子，耶稣先向他说：「西门，你的意思如何？世上的君王向谁徵收关税、丁税？是向自己的儿子呢？是向外人呢？」彼得说：「是向外人。」耶稣说：「既然如此，儿子就可以免税了。 但恐怕触犯（触犯：原文作绊倒）他们，你且往海边去钓鱼，把先钓上来的鱼拿起来，开了他的口，必得一块钱，可以拿去给他们，作你我的税银。」】（太17：24-27）

     

    主耶稣是神的独生儿子，祂无罪的，不需要被拯救，所以不需要那丁税。但是为了不绊倒以色列人，主耶稣吩咐彼得钓鱼纳丁税。主耶稣是无罪的，为了拯救我们这些罪人，就被顶死在十字架上，为所有人赎罪。凡信靠祂的，所有的罪都能被神赦免！并且得到主耶稣基督的生命成为信祂的人的生命。何等大的救恩，我们敬拜赞美祂！

     

    【神使那无罪（无罪：原文作不知罪）的，替我们成为罪，好叫我们在他里面成为神的义。】（林后5：21）