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“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”
-John 3:3 (ESV)
A New Year of Worship
December 31, 2024.
19 Why did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil in the eyes of the Lord?” 20 “But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.” 22 But Samuel replied: “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. 23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king.” 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I violated the Lord’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the men and so I gave in to them. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord.”
-1 Samuel 15:19-25 (NIV)
Does anyone have New Year’s resolutions? To be honest with you, I rarely make any because I’m hard on myself and don’t like disappointing myself when I fail to uphold New Year’s resolutions, so my flawed solution is that I usually don’t make plans that I can’t keep, to avoid disappointment and failure.
However, I really do want to keep this one: Be obedient to our God through Jesus Christ. To be clear, the gospel is not about obedience. Voddie Baucham (American Pastor, author) once said, “The gospel is not about obedience. Instead, the gospel produces obedience!” If the gospel was about obedience, then we would have a false works-based righteousness. I’ve quoted many times from Rev. 7:10 that says “Salvation belongs to our God…” He alone owns, wields and gives the gift of salvation as he pleases, and we cannot earn or take away from that. However, and by his grace and mercy, if it’s real salvation that is granted to us through the gift of faith (Eph. 2:8) in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, the fruit is good works and thus obedience with it, but we cannot have the “cart before the horse”. We must have true and genuine faith first and after that, obedience is produced by it. Obedience cannot proceed before true and genuine faith. Otherwise, some people can give money to the poor, save a man from a burning house, encourage with sweet words of comfort and yet be completely far away from Jesus Christ, with their hearts turned away from him in complete rebellion.
I personally want obedience for myself, the family of St. Andrew’s and for all Christians in developing sanctification, especially as we wrap-up 2024 and look ahead to 2025. Some people may think, “Well, why do we need sanctification if the gospel is all we need to get us there to heaven?” That question in itself is a self-defeating form of selfishness and a skewed sense of the gospel. That question implies the only desire to be saved as the end goal and nothing else. Heaven is an aspect and a part of our relationship with Jesus Christ. The real reward is an ongoing, rich, deep, transformative and fruitful relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. I wouldn’t want heaven without that kind of relationship and heaven wouldn’t exist without Jesus. Now for some reason, a lot of people simply go to church, sing a few hymns, pray only during a crisis, etc., thinking they can buy their way into heaven when really, they don’t want anything to do with Jesus! They really don’t want to worship God truly in this temporal life and somehow think for all eternity when faced with the fullness of God, it’ll get any better. These people want God on their terms and not vice versa - Ie. We’re supposed to submit to God on his terms! Many people truly forget that because of Christ’s work on the cross, we are saved in order to glorify God, period! We are saved and in the process holiness/sanctification is a by-product. And this was a major desire of the apostle Paul (Rom. 6:19). Not only that but our triune God also wants us to be sanctified (1 Thess. 4:3, Heb. 12:14, Eph 1:4, 1 Peter 1:15-16) for his name’s sake!
This is why Saul in our story got it twisted. Saul was given direct orders by God and was not obedient. Saul tried to substitute one seemingly good act with the right act that God wanted instead. From a certain perspective, it’s similar to the story of Martha and Mary (Luke 10:38-42). God wanted his enemies wiped out (the Amalekites) and instead, Saul took back their king and brought back plundered items instead of destroying everything. Saul thought bringing some things back and sacrificing them to God was good enough, but it’s not what God wanted. Once again, we are to come to God on his terms and by what he wants us to do in obedience. There is no alternative to pleasing God. You please God by doing what he wants, or you don’t. You don’t mask one good deed over the right deed and you don’t do good works while keeping away your heart from God.
May 2025 be the year of faithful obedience and every year after that! And don’t be so alarmed when things don’t go as planned because this is a very slow process! The ‘P’ in the TULIP reformed acronym stands for “Perseverance of the Saints” because, “I’m convinced that God, who began this good work in you, will carry it through to completion on the day of Christ Jesus.” This verse tells me that he can and will carry out our sanctification process until we meet Christ in eternity.
Happy New Year!
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Christ is Born!
December 24, 2024.
18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed[f] 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.
-Matthew 1:18-25 (NIV)
In a recent sermon I shared that Jesus fulfilled over 350 prophecies, and in fact he fulfilled 351 prophecies. In case anyone wants to know the website I referenced, here it is:
351 Old Testament Prophecies Fulfilled In Jesus Christ
In particular and with the birth of Jesus Christ, it fulfills a number of Old Testament prophecies by itself including being born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), from the lineage of David (Psa. 132:11), from a virgin (Isa. 7:14), etc. Some may go through those listed prophecies and say, “….but that’s just conjecture! You don’t have enough evidence!” Actually there will always be skeptics, doubters and some even haters. That’s just the nature of faith. Some can go to church their entire lives and not be given the gift of faith from God (Eph. 2:8). Others can be in the middle of nowhere for a brief moment and will be granted the gift of faith.
I don’t know where your heart is at, but will you believe? Will you believe that Jesus Christ is born of the Virgin Mary, conceived by the Holy Spirit and is the Son of God in the flesh?
God came to us, taking on human flesh not because he had to, but because he wanted to! God existed before this world began and he’ll exist long after this world fades away. God does not need us, but in his infinite wisdom he realizes that we definitely need him, which is why Jesus was sent to us as the Saviour of the world! I remember in past sermons in other churches when I mentioned “God doesn’t need us!’ and I’ve seen jaws drop in shock. You see, we tend to have a giant misnomer about God through Jesus Christ. We are created to serve God and not vice versa. Jesus is the faithful servant and serving God the Father. And He exemplified the righteous lifestyle that we all are aiming for.
That being said, let us consider the wonder and amazement of Jesus Christ’s birth. Can you imagine the reaction from Joseph? He was betrothed (legally bound to wed) to the Virgin Mary. The only similar agreement we have in today’s western world is when a couple are engaged to be wed. When he found out his future wife is now pregnant, he took the news well. He wanted to quietly resolve the matter instead of blowing-up his anger and making a public ordeal of it.
Now interestingly enough, Joseph completely changed his heart when an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. Some doubters will say, “…but wait! Crazy people have dreams and visions all the time of doing incredibly heinous acts!”….Yes, but how many of these dreams align with scripture and many Old Testament prophecies? How many of these dreams intend to save the world? And how many of these dreams was an intricate part of the birth of the Messiah leading to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus such that millions of people would be saved?
In the case of Joseph, “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us)” (Matt. 1:23). It’s a miracle that happened and it’s a miracle most of the world still rejects the biblical Jesus and even his miraculous birth!
The biblical Jesus is like no other!
1) He is the Son of God (Ps. 2:7).
2) He is the Saviour (Lk. 19:10).
3) He is God in human flesh (Phil. 2:7).
4) He is conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20).
5) He is born of the Virgin Mary (Isa. 7:14).
6) He is higher than all other false gods (Ps. 97:9, Eph 1:19-23).
7) He is King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Rev. 19:16)
Some people believe Jesus is a created being. Other people don’t believe he is the Son of God. There are even people that believe he has a heavenly mother and thus, not conceived by the Holy Spirit. And still others believe he is one of many gods equal or lower in status to others.
Will you believe in the biblical Jesus and will you place ALL your hopes, ALL your trust, ALL your fears, and ALL YOUR JOYS in him and only him? Your life depends on it!
He is the Saviour of the world and he came to meet you! This is the miracle of Christmas and the miracle of Christ’s birth!
Merry Christmas!
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Scripture is Authoritative & the Gospel is Good New for Everyone!
December 17, 2024.
8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
-Luke 2:8-11(NIV)
A lot of people may not realize this about me but one of my favourite topics in Christianity is Christian apologetics. It’s the idea of defending Christianity in an intellectual manner. I would argue it’s really about explaining Christianity in a winsome manner to gain Jesus Christ followers. It usually but not always applies archaeology, manuscript and scriptural textual criticism (a science involving correctly identifying the validity and accuracy of ancient texts), and comparative sources and other literature. Often times with comparative literature ANE (Ancient Near East) language etymology and writings are involved and they can even come from non-Christian sources to confirm and corroborate scriptural accuracy (eg. Flavius Josephus, a Roman-Jewish historian that wrote about Jesus and New Testament stories from an unbiased opinion since he’s not Christian). Often times logical reasoning methods are also applied as well, such as how presentations are done in a court of law to prove or disprove a case based upon evidence (primary, secondary and tertiary sources). All of this tells me scripture and the gospel is 100% completely true, authoritative and good news for everyone! Now I recognize the field of Christian apologetics doesn’t resonate with everyone.
It seems that a number of people in the congregation really resonates with and appreciates strictly what scripture says, solely explaining truths coming from scripture and stripping away anything else that may prove the validity and accuracy of scripture, because it’s just not their interest. Obviously I’m not opposed to that - Sola Scriptura right? This is why a number of people in our congregation resonates with the expository preaching style whereas a speaker examines, analyzes and extracts scriptural text from an exegetical framework (extracting all the cultural, thematic, theological and positional meaning from scriptural text) and letting the scripture speak for itself for today’s people. Usually expository preaching manifests in a verse-by-verse expositional and explanatory delivery.
However and in today’s changing world, I believe Christians really should know and understand at least in part of why scripture and the gospel message is not “a truth” but “THE TRUTH” (Jn. 14:6) founded and built upon Jesus Christ. This is where Christian apologetics comes in. Why is it important? Typical Monctonians, Riverviewians, Dieppians, Memramcookians, Hillsboroughians, and New Brunswickers in general are waking up to newcomers from around the world. Many of them are not Christian and make claims that the Quran is the only uncorrupted and true book of faith. Others may say Namaste (coming from a Sanskrit language meaning “my spirit bowing to or encountering your spirit”) typically coming from those practicing Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. Typical New Brunswickers may also notice that many other fellow New Brunswickers (and Canadians) don’t go to church because they’re either atheist or agnostic. By the way, there’s no such thing as being agnostic because agnosticism is practical atheism. If someone really believes in a god out there, that person would do something to express that belief on a regular basis and would promote and circle their lives upon this god or higher being because by very definition this god is higher than themselves.
Now let’s look at what Luke 2:8-11 says, but when we do, we first have to realize something here: God is not only love, but he’s also good, powerful and holy (and I can’t count how many times liberal Christians only say God is love and ignore the rest). We also have to remember that Ex. 33:20 says, “….you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” The ESV is a better translation here than others because it mentions “for man shall not” rather than “no one” (NIV translation or others), which is closer to the Hebrew הָאָדָ֖ם (ha-a-dam) or Greek ἄνθρωπος (anthropos) translation for mankind. Now what creature in all of creation can withstand the direct presence of God? It’s not a human (not ha-a-dam or anthropos).
We have to realize that because God is so infinitely holy and powerful where any person would instantly die just by being in the presence of God’s face, the messenger (angel) delivering this good news is not human! The holy and powerful angels themselves (though not as holy and powerful as God) are in God’s direct presence all of the time in the heavenly realms! They can at least stand and bear witness to the fullness of God’s presence (his glory and face) and live! The fact that they can live in God’s presence tells me how holy and terrifyingly powerful they truly are. We don’t know what kind of angel appeared before the shepherds, but surely they didn’t appear human here. If they were mere human in appearance and if God’s glory were not there, the shepherds wouldn’t be terrified. And what possible news could this terrifying angel deliver? In verse 10, the angel said he brings “….good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”
As Christians, we know the good news is salvation only through God in human flesh, Jesus Christ! It’s also good news because it’s 100% true. Once again, let’s remember Jn. 14:6 here. The angel said it’s good news for “all the people” not “some people”. This implies that this good news in Jesus Christ and the gospel message is even good news for Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, atheists, agnostics, and everyone else! Not only that, but as Christians we also know that scripture (all of it and 100% of it) is authoritative for everyone! We can come to this conclusion when we consider this is actually God through the Holy Spirit that wrote scripture (2 Pe. 1:21) and with the weight of 2 Tim. 3:16-17. From this we know scripture is perfect, complete and authoritative for everyone!
Now I’m going to blow your mind away in comparative literature in Christian apologetics. Did you know that even Muslims must agree to the above statements (all of them) that scripture is authoritative and the good news of the gospel is good news for all? - because it says so in their own Quran?
Check-out the authority of scripture (the Bible) as mentioned in the Quran 10:94:
Notice the Quran even says to observe (uphold) the Torah and the Gospel in Quran 5:68:
https://quran.com/en/al-maidah/68
Notice the Quran calls the Torah and the Gospel as true (revealed by God) in Quran 3:3
https://quran.com/en/ali-imran/3
Also check-out the fact that the people of the Gospel (Christians) must judge by the Gospel (the message God revealed to us) or we’re found to be disobedient and rebellious – once again, as mentioned in the Quran 5:46-47:
https://quran.com/en/al-maidah/46-47
Therefore if we judge the Quran by the Gospel in scripture, we as Christians will find the Quran to be false! I told you I would blow your minds away!.....that or offend some people – and if it’s for the latter, then consider Matt. 10:34-40, Heb. 4:12, 2 Cor. 4:3 and 2 Cor. 2:15-16.
Is scripture God’s absolute, undefiled and the only true word of God? You’re absolutely right and I proved it from a Muslim perspective AND Christian perspective! – just don’t get me started on proving scripture to be authoritative and good news for all from other perspectives or this posting will be dozens of pages long!
Moreover he who has ears, let him hear (Matt. 11:15).
The angel that came to the shepherds that brought God’s powerful news of Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour delivered a whopping bang of good news for EVERYONE! You can count on it!
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The Miracle from the Wilderness
December 10, 2024.
In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— 2 during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. 3 He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 4 As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5 Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’”
-Luke 3:1-6 (NIV)
Is there anyone out there that looks forwards to a Christmas miracle? When I was younger, I really looked for miracles to prove my relationship with God. I heard about all of these great miracles happening to people around me, and I wanted a similar experience. I personally believe miracles still happen today and believe I experienced miracles later on in life. - but even if that wasn’t the case and even if I didn’t experience a miracle, I realize looking back that I didn’t need miracles to believe God is out there and he cares. How am I so confident in my relationship with God through Jesus Christ? I have God’s inspired, inerrant and infallible Word!
Do you have any idea how amazing and supernatural scripture actually is? Recently my wife is blown away by documentary findings from the Dead Sea Scrolls (the oldest known substantial Bible manuscripts). I tell you the more I find out about scripture, the more the effects of God’s supernatural hand is revealed to me. I once took a Christian Apologetics class at Tyndale University (Canada’s oldest and largest theological school), and I had the privilege of having a class Skype chat (video chat) with Dr. Craig A. Evans. Amongst many accomplishments, Dr. Craig A. Evans founded the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute where he’s one of the authoritative voices in that field of bible authorship and archeology. In my opinion, he would be considered a bible juggernaut of biblical thinkers with all the credentials to back himself-up! Let’s just say I thoroughly enjoyed that lecture and having the Q&A with him afterwards. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, the entire Bible has been proven to be trustworthy, factual and reliable time and time again. Anything and everything scripture says has been thoughtfully written and preserved not by chance, but by miracle because it was actually carried on by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21), such that ultimately God is the author, not man.
And when I look at the account of John the Baptist in our reading today, there is no mistake about his story. Once again anything and everything scripture says has been thoughtfully written and preserved. For John the Baptist and unlike other biblical disciples, there was no “miracle” involved in what he did, and yet Matthew 11:11 tells us that he was the greatest! He wasn’t great by worldly standards but by God’s standards and that’s the only thing that matters. He was great not for miraculous gifts, but only because he preached “repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Indeed his story was the completed prophecy of Is. 40:3-5, but he himself wasn’t documented to walk on water, heal infirmities or raise people from the dead. Sometimes we forget miracles only sometimes accompany God’s Word focussing on belief and repentance and nowhere should we always look for miracles at all. Now if you want a little twist on things, I believe the real miracle is belief (Eph. 2:8) and repentance (2 Tim. 2:25) themselves because only God can make that happen in people’s hearts! – so from this perspective, is John the Baptist a miracle worker? You got that right (with God’s help)! May we all be miracle workers in this sense and that’s what makes Christian disciples!
By the way and if you’re interested in the Dead Sea Scrolls and Dr. Craig A. Evans, here’s a few websites:
https://www.youtube.com/@CraigAEvansHCU
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We Need a Saviour
December 3, 2024.
14 “‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.
15 “‘In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.
16 In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’
-Jeremiah 33:14-16 (NIV)
If you’ve attended the last two Sundays in person or online with us, you’ve been hearing me preach about the ‘Time is Near’ and ‘The Son of Man is Coming’. Indeed this is all true and we absolutely need this news! It is good news for some, but for the vast majority and sadly, the world will mourn (Matt. 24:30). Jesus is the Saviour of the world, but he came to save his lost sheep and in here is the great distinction (Matt. 1:21). This is what’s known as ‘Limited Atonement’ in the TULIP acronym. Let’s be clear here: there’s no such thing as universalism (the idea where everyone goes to heaven regardless of their beliefs). If this was true, then scripture would have no mention of hell. Also if this is true, then God wouldn’t have to come down to earth and be conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary in the first place 2000+ years ago. In other words, if there was such a thing as universalism, then nobody would need a Saviour.
Then there’s other people (and I met some in my seminary days) that told me they believe since Jesus came and died on the cross and resurrected already, and because this is a past event that already took place, then everyone would go to heaven automatically. Both views negate righteous living by faith (2 Cor. 5:7). Both views negate the need for repentance that coincides with righteous living (Matt. 4:17). Both views are completely flawed! We currently and presently need a Saviour, we need THE Saviour and his name is Jesus Christ! Though we cannot add to or remove anything from salvation (Rom. 7:10), if we are truly saved then our lifestyles would include belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, but also repentance (Matt. 3:8) as continual produced fruit. Belief and repentance has always been the two-part formula for all God’s followers (Old Testament, New Testament and beyond), though in the Old Testament believers were forward looking to the Messiah and for New Testament believers, they already knew the Messiah in Jesus Christ.
For Jeremiah, this forward looking hope is found evident in our text today. Jeremiah believed in the Messiah and lived a holy lifestyle preparing himself for this Messiah. In Jeremiah 25, Jeremiah warned the Israelites that should they continue to not live holy and pursue idolatry, the Babylonians would come, capture them and sweep them away and it happened as foretold in God’s divine judgment. God’s plan for Jeremiah included being alone and being unable to marry or have children (Jer. 16:2), because of God’s judgment on the southern kingdom (Judah). This coincides with covenantal theology and a focusing on God’s story, not our own. We receive and take on God’s blessings and sin challenges together (not individually). If you think this is unfair, remember: We belong to God not to ourselves. – But God’s ultimate plan is always for redemption of his lost people and so Jeremiah looks ahead to the “righteous Branch” from David’s line. God’s promises are eternal and still this prophetic time is coming. We know this branch is Jesus, and we know he will come back a second time to fully redeem his people. Interestingly enough and although we know Jesus to be the Messiah, we also have a forward looking hope like Jeremiah. Jeremiah was known as the “Weeping Prophet” because he was alone and wept over the destruction of people. He warned them but was ignored. You too are warned and you too are privileged to hear God’s message of redemption and hope. This Advent season may we aim to live righteously and holy (belief and repentance) in preparation for Jesus Christ’s return. Do it now with urgency. Do it now with power. Do it now filled with the Holy Spirit that gives and enables God’s power to do so!