Why Hearing and Doing the Words of Jesus Matters

The Son of God is to be Believed – 5:24

John 5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

These build upon one another…

• Hearing the Words of Jesus are of the Utmost Priority – 5:24a Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word

We need a hearing ear and a believing heart.

Matthew 7:24 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”

• Hearing the Words of Jesus Affirms the Father who Sent Jesus – 5:24b  and believes him who sent me 

He gets the glory in that He sent Jesus to us.

During Christ’s ministry, so many heard Him teach and proclaim everywhere He went, saw first-hand His miracles, but in the end few believed & responded to His offer of life now and in eternity. Obviously it was such a privilege to hear the long awaited Messiah proclaim the truth, but just hearing words was not enough, the people needed to respond to Christ in belief.

It is not that much different today as the Gospel is proclaimed more than ever before through churches and the many forms of media.

The message of the Gospel is that Christ died for the sins of the world, but people must respond to the hopeful offer of salvation by faith in Christ.

Knowing of Christ will not bring salvation,

but believing in His finished work by faith will.

• Hearing the Words of Jesus Leads to Belief that Brings Eternal Life – 5:24c  has eternal life.

Romans 10:14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?”17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

All who receive Him, believing He is the Christ, inherit eternal life. We no longer stand condemned before God because of sin. Our guilt is removed as our debt is paid in full. In Christ we have passed from death unto life! 

•  Hearing the Words of Jesus and Believing Moves Us from Judgment to Life – 5:24d  He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 

Romans 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? 33 Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? 36 As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Critical & Timely Words for the 21st Century Church

The Church – the most important ordained & organized group on the planet, made up of the redeemed people of God, bought by the blood of Jesus the Christ. The church is also called the Bride of Christ and she is deeply under attack in these trying days.

Over the next couple of weeks, I am going to write on the 7 churches Jesus addresses in Revelation 2 & 3. These 7 churches are indicative of the types of churches that have been present throughout the last 2,000 years and especially we can see them in our generation. 

In light of that, in these unprecedented days of Covid-19, the world-wide shut-down experienced from the virus, the racial discussions & battles being waged, the confusion & anger, the loneliness & financial destruction that has been brought – a healthy discussion on the church is needed.

The purpose of these upcoming 7 addresses is to remind us of these important matters…

(1) Jesus Affirmation of What He saw as good in the church

(2) Jesus Admonition in regard to what is Wrong with the church

(3) Jesus’ Warnings of the Grave Pitfalls that damage the Church and make it like the world and the answer to getting the church right with Him

Q: Why is this look so important & critical?

Jesus has been gone from the earth in His glorious Ascension to be the Great Intercessor in Matthew 28 and Acts 1. Right before He left the earth, these were his parting Words to the men who would start the first churches and would be the first church planting missionaries of the first century.

Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Acts 1:6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 

While it is hard to precisely pin down the exact date of the Ascension of Jesus, it can be safely thought to be in the range of 33AD-36AD. With that in mind, by the time John is exiled as a prisoner of the cross on the Island of Patmos and he receives the Revelation of Jesus sometime around 95AD – the church has been in existence for around 60 years.

This is enough time for strength & maturity to set into a church or for a church to lose its focus in complacency or by slipping into the ways of the world and compromising her integrity.

This makes these words from Jesus fresh to the church 60 years after He ascended on high, which makes this perspective from His mouth incredibly important to examine and embrace. 

As we look at each of the 7 churches, the structure of Jesus’ Words in the 7 Messages is basically same to everyone of them, which goes like this…

(1)  Addressed to a pastor & a church

(2)  Author is stated – Jesus (connected to what John saw in Revelation 1)

(3)  Assessment from Jesus “I know…” (said 7x)

·      Affirmation

·      Against you in this…

·      All-inclusive – affirms and is against something in a church

(4)  Answer to the church connected with His assessment of them

(5)  Admonition (counsel)

·      Hear the voice of the Spirit in the Scriptures

·      Heart of a Conqueror

·      Heaven is alluded to

Overview of The Seven Churches

1.  Ephesus – Church with the Right Ministry, but lost their first pure original love for Christ

2.  Smyrna – Church dealing with Persecution

3.  Pergamum – Church of Compromise

4.  Thyatira – Church of Tolerance

5.  Sardis – Church that is Spiritually dead

6.  Philadelphia – Church of Faithfulness

7.  Laodicea – Church content with being lukewarm

Addressed to a Pastor & a Church - Revelation 2:1a

As we embark on some of the most critical New Testament teaching on the church today,  we will see 7 churches in 7 different cities.  As you know, while there are similarities in every church with one another, truth be told - no church is exactly the same.   This we do know, that a church is to have a strategic place of ministry wherever it is located.   As we will look at the 7 churches, we will see that they were to be 7 strategic lights of Jesus in 7 specific cities.

Churches are not to be hidden in the wilderness, but strategically placed in a community to be light amongst the people.  They are to be “cities on a hill that cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14).  

Throughout the ages and as well in our age, churches needed these particular messages for the particular needs they found themselves in.  With this being the case, these messages are timeless in the Church age to point us to how we are to walk and function as a church that honors Jesus.

All of the issues seen in these 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 are the very ones that we have read about in history and see all around us today.  There is nothing is new under the sun, even with the church.

To be a strong, vibrant, and healthy church, we will either embrace what we will walk through in these weeks or we will shun the admonition that comes from Jesus. 

Cities need strong Biblical churches pouring their lives into those they shepherd.  

I really want each of us to look at ourselves as well as look at our church as we walk through these pages so that we will not fall prey to pitfalls found in them so that we will passionate walk aiming after the truth concerning a Biblical church.   

This should be a great journey together over these next few weeks.

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The Journey Toward Forgiveness

Arriving at Forgiveness – Genesis 44-50

When we get to Genesis 42, it has been around 27 years since Joseph and his brothers were in one another’s presence. That last encounter together was tremendously painful for everyone involved. After almost 3 decades, what are the chances you would run into your betrayed brother in the court of Pharoah? He is so far from their minds and they cannot even imagine that he would even be alive. They don’t recognize him but he knows them well.

This first encounter after all of those difficult, yet God-ordained days reveal this…

Genesis 42:6 Now Joseph was governor over the land. He was the one who sold to all the people of the land. And Joseph's brothers came and bowed themselves before him with their faces to the ground. 7 Joseph saw his brothers and recognized them, but he treated them like strangers and spoke roughly to them. “Where do you come from?” he said. They said, “From the land of Canaan, to buy food.” 8 And Joseph recognized his brothers, but they did not recognize him. 9 And Joseph remembered the dreams that he had dreamed of them. 

Joseph remembered the dream where they would come and bow before him.

The brothers return home to Canaan and then return again to Egypt which brings us to the revelation of Joseph to his brothers in Genesis 45…

Genesis 45:1 Then Joseph could not control himself before all those who stood by him. He cried, “Make everyone go out from me.” So no one stayed with him when Joseph made himself known to his brothers. 2 And he wept aloud, so that the Egyptians heard it, and the household of Pharaoh heard it. 3 And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am Joseph! Is my father still alive?” But his brothers could not answer him, for they were dismayed at his presence. 4 So Joseph said to his brothers, “Come near to me, please.” And they came near. And he said, “I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. 5 And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life. 6 For the famine has been in the land these two years, and there are yet five years in which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. 7 And God sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant on earth, and to keep alive for you many survivors. 8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt. 

 As they are all before him, Joseph has two choices…

(1) Exact Revenge

Think about the emotions Joseph could have been feeling in those initials encounters with his brothers and how he could have allowed all of those ‘wasted years’ to get the better of him as he could have allowed his heart to seek revenge.

It would have made his flesh feel much better and from a human perspective, he could have justified his actions and his desire for self-made justice. All around us today, people are aiming for justice by taking matters into their own hands. The problem with this is that God has not fully given us this responsibility to exact man-driven justice on others for what they have done for us.  This leads us to the 2^nd option before us…

(2) Release the Hurt – 45:1-8

The true life of faith in the realm of forgiveness releases 2 people from a prison of bitterness…

         (1) Ourselves

         (2) Us

One of the greatest sins in the church today is unforgiveness.

         Joseph shows us 3 critical things in 45:1-8

(1) Handle Life’s Pain by Seeing that God is Always at Work – 45:8

Genesis 45:8 So it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.

Joseph did not diminish what his brothers did (whom you sold into Egypt), yet he saw that God’s purpose was fully in it all & God's purpose was greater than the evil of the brothers brought.  “Why was Joseph in Egypt? Was it because of the sin of his brothers or because of the good plan of God?” The answer is that both options are true, but ultimately God was behind it all.

Joseph did not have Romans 8:28 to rely on, plus he did not in any way romanticize the sin of his brothers for he said “you meant it for evil”. Sometimes though, there is a much greater truth and it was this - “God meant it for good.”

(2) He Refused to Take the Place of God with His Brothers – 50:19

Am I in the place of God? Joseph first understood he was not in the place of God. It wasn’t his job to bring retribution upon his brothers. If the LORD chose to do it, He would have to find another instrument than himself as a brother on the receiving end of their sin.

From a human perspective, Joseph had the “right” and the ability to bring retribution upon his brothers, but he knew God was God, and he was not.

     (3) Forgiveness and Kindness are always the right response

In all of our lives we have the chance to choose to hold tight onto things that have been done to us that are traumatic and wrong, or we can exercise the one freeing thing at our disposal - to let go of the action done toward us and let God sort it all out. We must forgive as He has forgiven us.

The Grinding Work of God to Get Us Ready

Joseph - Part 5

The Waiting as Refinement - 39:20-41:36

While we can’t fully know the amount of time that passed in prison, after some amount of time, two new prisoners joined Joseph in prison (1) Pharaoh’s cupbearer (2) Chief baker. Both of them held important places in Pharaoh’s court. A cupbearer was not just the one who tasted the wine before Pharaoh drank it to ensure he was not poisoned, but he would have also been an advisor to Pharaoh. The baker would have held the important position of making sure the food served was excellent and fitting for Pharoah and safe for him to eat. 

For some reason, they found themselves at odds with their master and they found themselves in prison with Joseph.

While they all lived in prison, there came a night where both men had a dream, and by God’s help Joseph interpreted their dreams. The cupbearer’s dream meant that in three days he would be restored to his position, but the baker’s dream meant that in three days he would be killed. The text reveals that Joseph pleaded with the cupbearer for this in…Genesis 40:14 Only remember me, when it is well with you, and please do me the kindness to mention me to Pharaoh, and so get me out of this house. 15 For I was indeed stolen out of the land of the Hebrews, and here also I have done nothing that they should put me into the pit.”

Can you not see the humanity in Joseph’s request? Sure enough, 3 days later Joseph’s interpretations came true, and you wonder if the cupbearer said, “I’ll remember you and get you out shortly”! For years now, Joseph had experienced not much hope in Egypt & they likely were the best they had been since his brother’s betrayal.

He was getting out, or this was his assumption, but not God’s plan. We should all be careful that we don’t allow assumptions to equal God’s purposes in our lives. If we do this, then we can open up our lives to blame Him when our assumption does not come to fruition. He needed to be worked on a bit more in the prison.

Did he roll up his bedroll and start imagining his return home to his father Jacob?

The first night came & no word came about a release from prison. The next day and then another came with no word about freedom. 

Over time Joseph realized that he had been forgotten. He was not alone, but for the time being, he was forgotten by man, but he still knew God was with him.  

This story informs us keenly that…

God uses disappointments to bring His people

 to the place where their only hope is in Him.

Often this can be a very painful process, but at times this is needed as God pulls from  us the false human hopes and our confidence in things to bring us joy. These moments force us to cling to Christ alone as the only certainty in this life. We’ve got to come to the place where we know in our mind, experientially and in our heart that God alone is to be trusted. 

Disappointments will move us either to despair or hope.

Our text does not indicate what happened in Joseph’s heart as he waited day after day and we are left to wonder the depth and implications of these words in Genesis 40:23 Yet the chief cupbearer did not remember Joseph, but forgot him.

            Two Years in the Prime of Life

We notice in our Bibles now a new chapter comes and as we enter this new chapter, that period represents 2 whole years of Joseph’s life in the prime of his life. Those two years indicate the deepening & maturing of Joseph, when he dealt with his disappointments and moved, not into despair and anger, but into hope in God alone.

Genesis 41:1 After two whole years, Pharaoh dreamed that he was standing by the Nile, 2 and behold, there came up out of the Nile seven cows, attractive and plump, and they fed in the reed grass. 

Sometimes we have to learn that we are not 

too trust in the cupbearer but in Christ for our deliverance.

We know Joseph became a much deeper man in God as he is not cynical or angry, but he is a man who is godly & ready for great responsibility to run a nation. 

Psalm 105:19 speaks of this time as one where “the word of the Lord tested him”  & it gives us more insight into this period of time of 2 years in prison. It is staggering to read the next verses now in Psalm 105 describing those 730 days.

Psalm 105:16 When he summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread, 17 he had sent a man ahead of them, Joseph, who was sold as a slave. 18 His feet were hurt with fetters; his neck was put in a collar of iron; 19 until what he had said came to pass, the word of the Lord tested him.

Look at 105:18 – His feet hurt with fetters and he often stayed in a collar of iron.

Man will often forget but God never will.

Though Joseph could interpret dreams, he could not see his future and had to continue to wait and trust.

            Another Reason We Have to Wait

Sometimes we have to wait because God has not gotten someone else ready for what we need to do in their life.  Pharaoh was not yet ready for he had not had his dream, so Joseph remains until God’s perfect timing.

So, what lessons do we need to learn on waiting?

(1) Difficult days force us to listen to and look to God

(2) Difficult days bring a necessary godly refinement to our character

God’s grace is always sufficient if we will receive it. Joseph came through these trials stronger, not weaker, gentle, not bitter, because he hoped in God. 

(3) Difficult days teach us much about the grace of God in our lives

            Spurgeon on Grace

The 19th century British preacher, Charles Spurgeon, was riding home after a heavy day’s work, feeling weary and depressed, when suddenly the verse flashed into his mind, “My grace is sufficient for you.” He said, “I should think it is, Lord,” and he burst out laughing. It seemed to make unbelief so absurd.

He said, “It was as if some little fish, being very thirsty, was troubled about drinking the river dry, and the river said, ‘Drink away, little fish, my stream is sufficient for you.’ Or, it seemed like a little mouse in the granaries of Egypt after seven years of plenty fearing it might die of famine, and Joseph might say, ‘Cheer up, little mouse, my granaries are sufficient for you.’ Or it was like a man up on a mountain saying to himself, ‘I fear I shall exhaust all the oxygen in the atmosphere.’ But the earth might say, ‘Breathe away, O man, and fill your lungs; my atmosphere is sufficient for you.’” You can’t exhaust the grace of God to meet your need in every trial.

Joseph found this to be true in prison!

Some of us may be right now in the midst of extreme and broken circumstances and disappointments.  Whatever we may be going through – we have hope for He is Sovereign over all.