Do you fear God?

When the United States invaded Iraq to overthrow Sadaam Hussein, they came in with a tremendous amount of firepower with the intention of causing “shock and awe” among the people leading to a quick surrender. When the Iraqi forces experienced the superior firepower of the opposing militaries they quickly deserted their army and allegiance to Sadaam Hussein. The hearts of the soldiers melted in fear and they quickly changed their minds. The shock and awe produced fear and trembling.
The Bible speaks about fear and trembling but not in the same sense as what happened in Iraq. There is a Biblical fear of the Lord and a trembling that comes from a proper understanding of the character and nature of God.
When we read portions of the Old Testament we often come across statements such as these:
Isa 66:1-2 Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Jer 5:21-22 "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
Psa 119:120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
The word tremble according to Strong’s dictionary means: to twirl or spin, to writhe in pain, to fall grievously,
We don’t like to think about fear and trembling as a physical and mental reaction we should have in our relationship with God. We would much rather relate to the softer side of God who is gentle, compassionate, kind and merciful. Yet we cannot neglect the kindness nor the severity of God. We need to have a healthy understanding of greatness of God and the holiness of God. He is not to be treated as though he were just a common person. He is God and there is none other like Him. He wants us to take Him seriously and honor his Word through our obedience.
Israel’s failure
One of the problems the Israelites faced was going through all the rituals and ceremonies without a humble and contrite heart. Soon the sacrifices came to mean little to them, they were just an obligation, not a true desire of their heart to worship God in obedience to His word and love for him. It became routine, common and the true meaning was lost. Eventually they tried to offer sacrifices that were blemished, not even respecting the word God had given them through Moses. They lost their reverence for God and the things of God. They honored God with their lips, they said all the right things but their heart was far from Him. Their heart was set on doing things they wanted to do, God was a sideshow to them. They neither feared nor reverenced him. They did not tremble at God’s Word. In the end they gave themselves to worship false gods, idols made by the hands of man turning their backs on God and provoking him to wrath. There was no fear of God which according to Proverbs 8:13 is the hatred of all sin in thought, word and deed.
Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Our Challenge
This same issues is something we as believers must constantly be on guard against it happening in our lives. Maintaining a proper fear of God, a humble and contrite heart is needed in this day when it is so easy for us to take lightly the things of God and focus on ourselves, doing things our way, according to what we desire. We become accustomed to the grace and mercy of God and make it cheap, taking advantage of it so we can do things we know are not a reflection of a true fear and reverence for God. This warped view of God has led many believers to embrace universalism. The Christian Post quoted a survey that indicated 1 of 5 Christians believe in universalism which means that everyone will eventually go to heaven because a loving God could not send anyone to hell. He will make a way for everyone to get into heaven. Some believe that even if people are sent to hell, God will continue to reach out in love for them until his love breaks the hardness of their heart and they are saved from their sin and brought into heaven. The Bible does not teach that at all. It teaches that few will find the narrow road that leads to heaven. There are no second chances after death.
Paul understood that one of the reactions to the knowledge of grace was that the people may think they could or should sin more so more grace could abound.
Rom 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
When we come to Christ we receive a new life, a life that desires to not sin, to be holy even as God is holy.
1Pe 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
If there is no desire for holiness, no fear of God which translates into a hatred for sin, no trembling before Him, then one has to question the depth of understanding of God’s nature and the depth of commitment to live in obedience to Him.
In Jesus’ first sermon given at the Mount, his first two beatitudes set the attitude that we must have if we are going to be serious and devoted followers of Christ.
Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
To be poor in spirit means that we see ourselves in our poverty of spiritual status before God. We see how needy we are, how much we need God and need to pursue Him wholeheartedly because in our own strength we fall short of what he requires of our lives. We see that we are nothing in ourselves but because of the grace and mercy of God we have received everything we need in Christ. Apart from Christ we are nothing and have nothing of value to God. When God looks at us, He sees the Christ in us, the righteousness we have received in Christ that has made us acceptable to him and useful to the work of His kingdom. We easily recognize physical or material poverty, it is all around us in Guatemala. But are we as quick to recognize our own spiritual poverty? Jesus said those who see their spiritual poverty are blessed, they are happy.
When we can see our poverty, it causes us to humble ourselves before God with a contrite and broken spirit. Have you ever had those moments when you remember how you responded in your flesh and carnal mind and you shake your head and say to yourself, “What was I thinking!” We see our lack of spirituality and we can only call upon the grace and forgiveness of God. I have had many flashbacks that have caused me to tremble at my own sinfulness and selfishness. Oh how I wish I could relive those moments so I could change the memory. Had I been living in the true fear of God and trembling at His Word I would have never done those things because I would have had the correct attitude toward God, His Word and how He wants me to treat people.
We sing “I am desperate for you.” We will only be able to sing this and mean it when we see our poverty of spirit and how much we must call upon God and cry out to Him to be our life. Jesus said those who mourn will be comforted. We mourn over our spiritual condition when we see ourselves in our great need.
We do not in our human and fleshly nature like to admit our poverty. We like to be self reliant, not needing anyone or anything because we are the captain of our ship. We fight against this attitude all the time when we do not consult others or insist on our way or are quick to give advice to another person without seeking God’s wisdom.
Christ modeled this humility by constantly seeking to only say and do what the Father revealed to Him.
Joh 5:19 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
He came to do the will of His father, not his own.
Joh 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
His teachings were not his own but what the Father had revealed to Him.
Joh 7:16 So Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
Christ lived with a dependency upon his Father and without humility he would never have been able to do this. Humility causes us to submit ourselves to God and to one another. We realize our poverty and need and are willing to submit ourselves to God and to each other in true humility.
Because of our poverty of spirit we have to learn to first go to God and in humility and contriteness of heart to seek His wisdom and counsel so we don’t just do what we want to do. We come to God in humility, dependence upon Him because we see our need and in expectation that He will respond. Joy Dawson is one woman who has learned to seek God in her ministry and life. She was invited to speak at a conference but when she prayed about what she should teach, the Lord did not give her a word to share with the people. So when she got up to speak she told the audience that she did not have a word from God and they would have to wait in prayer with her until he gave her something to say. Now for most people this would be very uncomfortable and perhaps humiliating but for Joy she did not care about pleasing people but being obedient to God. She said she waited joyfully for 10 minutes and then the Lord gave her a word to share with the people. She has learned to fear God, to wait upon him until he speaks before she acts.
Pro 18:1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.
This verse is talking about someone who is so intent on getting what they desire that they refuse to seek the counsel of anyone, isolating himself from everyone. He is not open to receiving counsel and in truth does not want it. When we isolate ourselves we insulate ourselves from the help of others and we do it because we do not want them to speak against what we have already determined we want. In so doing we shut out sound judgment and we are destined to fail.
Humility and contriteness of heart is also demonstrated when we invite the counsel of others who will also seek the mind of God. I believe that when we have this attitude we please the heart of God and He will give us what we need.
When the early church had to make a decision about what to do with the new Gentile believers, they met together in Jerusalem to seek the wisdom of God. They came up with a solution that “was good to us and to the Holy Spirit”.
Act 15:28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:
They did not come up with their own solution based on their own ideas but relied on the Holy Spirit to show them what was the right way to respond to the issue they faced. This response reflected that they understood they were poor in spirit and needed the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
When we recognize this poverty of spirit it should drive us to our knees in prayer. We should be less prone to make quick decisions based solely on our own understanding and desires. We should immediately seek God for his wisdom and trust that he will give us the answer and the wisdom we need. If we are in a crisis God will respond and give us the solution as we seek Him.
The early church learned quickly to take God seriously and not try to deceive the Holy Spirit. When Ananias and Sapphira were stuck dead because they lied to the Holy Spirit, great fear came upon the people.
Act 5:11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
The church did not shrink nor were people afraid to join the church but it grew quickly and God did great signs and wonders among the people.
Act 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
When God is feared and taken seriously it has a positive effect and people are drawn to him in repentance.
When you read of the revivals in England and in the USA during the 1800 and early 1900 one of the amazing results was how people were convicted of their sin as the fear of the Lord came upon them. Bars were shut down and people fell under conviction of their sin. They got serious with God and abandoned their sins to seek Him with all their heart. There was a healthy fear and trembling that took place in these revivals.
We need to pray and ask for the fear of the Lord to come upon us in our daily pursuit of God. When we have the fear of the Lord it will be demonstrated in hatred for evil and a desire to be obedient to whatever the Lord asks of us. Our main desire will be to please him and do what he desires in instant obedience.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Prov. 1:7). If we desire to grow in knowledge of God it begins with having an understanding of the fear of the Lord. We must pray not only for ourselves to have this fear but also for those who are teachers and preachers of God’s Word who are held at a higher standard because of the influence they have (James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.)
We must also pray for the lost that the fear of God will come upon them to cause them to repent and seek God wholeheartedly. In the ministry to the homeless many of them are where they are at because of a sinful lifestyle that is marked with addictions to drugs. In talking with some of them there is no desire to totally give up what is holding them back and keeping them in their situation. There is no fear of God, no hatred for the sin that is keeping them in bondage. They are playing with sin and it is destroying their lives. We need to start praying for the fear of God to fall upon them, for such a hatred of what they are doing that they will repent from it and renounce it and seek the help they need to see their lives completely transformed.
Joy Dawson told a story of an evangelist with YWAM Allan Williams. Before he came to Christ, he was living a life of a pagan. He was a sailor and spent every weekend on shore in the bars. When he arrived in New Zealand he did the same things he always did, got drunk and lived immorally. But during this time several people in New Zealand were praying for the fear of the Lord to fall upon sinners and bring them to salvation. One day when Allan was walking down a main street of Auckland he suddenly said to himself, “Is there no other way to live?” As he kept repeating these words he saw a church and went into it, kneeling in prayer, he asked God to show him if there was another way to live. The next day he went walking again and walk into a coffee shop. A believer sitting next to him began to share the gospel message with him. He listened but did not make a decision for Christ at this time. Two days later he was walking the same street and another man came up to him and invited him to go to an evangelistic service at a mission and he accepted. At this service he accepted Christ and never turned back from following him. Allan became one of the most effective street preachers in YWAM and has led many people to Christ.
As we come in contact with people who are lost let’s begin to pray that the fear of the Lord will fall on them to turn them away from sin and toward God who desires to set them free.
I believe God is calling us to a higher standard in these days when evil abounds. He wants us to be separated unto him. When we reverence Him and fear Him, we lay the foundation upon which he can build our lives based on the knowledge of him and live a holy life to honor Him. He wants us to take Him and His word seriously. As we live this out, we can pray for others to also live in the fear of the Lord and enter into the life of obedience that God desires and deserves.

So What?

I remember one time witnessing to some young girls from the USA in Central Park of Antigua who were not believers in Christ and were in fact quite hostile toward Christians. When they were told that Christ died for them, one girl said “So what, a lot of people die for other people.” To her the death of Christ was not anything more special than the death of someone who perhaps gave their life to protect freedom or some other cause. She did not understand what the death of Christ accomplished because she did not understand her need for a Savior. When we understand our status before God without Christ we should tremble. The prophet Isaiah had this experience when he was in the presence of God.

(Isa 6:1-7) In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost (undone); for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

When Isaiah stood in the presence of God, he saw himself for who he was and his comment was “Woe is me for I am undone.” The word undone can be translated disintegrated, or coming apart. He felt shattered in the presence of a holy God because he knew he was a man of unclean lips. He saw himself as he truly was and how unworthy he was to be in the presence of a holy God because of his sin. The holiness of God, his utter separation from sin and hatred of sin, is a concept foreign to many people today. We tend to downplay sin and make it a trivial thing that everyone does so get used to it kind of thing rather than see it for what it is in the eyes of God and what he had to do to take care of the problem of sin. The world tries its best to make us insensitive to sin until we reach the point where we accept behaviors identified as sin in the Bible, as normal.

When Peter met Christ and saw his miraculous power at work, he saw himself for who he was.

(Luk 5:1-8) On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

When we have a revelation of the holiness of God, we see ourselves as we truly are and we are made aware of our sinful state. We live in a time when people do not want to see God for who he is, they want to see him in the way they have created him so they can continue living a lifestyle that is not in agreement with his standards. I read of a couple in England who were rejected as potential foster parents because they said that homosexual behavior was wrong and because of this they were deemed unfit to be foster parents because they would teach this belief to others which in the eyes of the authorities were wrong. Your Christian beliefs may disqualify you from work with a government that has accepted values that are not in alignment with the Scriptures. The separation of true believers in Christ and the truth of the Bible is becoming more defined each day. God’s holiness is not understood and it is being trampled under the feet of those who have no revelation of this aspect of God’s character and nature. It is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin. He has to reveal to the heart of man his sinful condition before a Holy God so that he will feel undone. If we do not have this revelation, we will never grasp the significance of the death of Christ and what he has accomplished for us.

Sin has infected the entire world, no one is exempt from its influence. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sin brought death to mankind, physical death and eternal separation was what Adam and Eve received when they disobeyed God. Adam was not created to die but to live with God eternally, sin cut his life short as well as the lives of all who would be born after him. Physical death meant separation from God and the possibility of living eternally with God no longer existed. God did not want to be eternally separated from his creation that he created to have an eternal relationship with him. The only way the death penalty could be taken away was to deal with the problem of sin that brought death. The solution was found in Christ who was slain before the foundation of the world. God’s plan was to send His Son who would live a sinless life and give his life as a sacrifice to meet the just demand of God for payment for sin.

In preparation for Christ’s death on the cross for mankind’s sin, God introduced the sacrificial system in the Passover feast celebrated by the Jews at this time of year. The symbolism and the significance of this event would be fulfilled and explained in the death of Christ. The lamb that chosen by each family and was slain symbolized the Lamb of God who would one day come to take away the sins of the world. This lamb was unblemished and was a mature lamb just as Christ was sinless and at a mature age. When the blood of the lamb was spread on the door posts of each home, the death angel passed over it and the lives of all inside the home were spared. Death of the first born whether animal or male was required. Those who did not offer the lamb lost their first born son. Christ was God’s first born and he had to die, he had to shed his blood, in order for God’s justice to be served and the death penalty to be met. His blood represented his life and through his blood we received forgiveness for our sins so that we would not be eternally separated from God. The problem of sin and its penalty were taken care of on the cross where Jesus willingly laid down his life and shed his blood for us. His blood cleanses us from all our sin, it wiped out the record of all our wrong doings past present and future. Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sin and the penalty of death and separation would still be upon us.

Jesus experienced the wrath of God for sin when he took on our sins. We no longer have to experience the wrath of God because Jesus took our place. Those who have placed their faith in the finished work of Christ have been liberated from the wrath of God and the penalty of sin.

God could not overlook sin; it was too serious an offense and a violation of his nature to brush it off lightly. Payment had to be made to maintain the character of God. He could not be a holy or loving God if he allowed sin to remain and not go unpunished. True love is demonstrated in hatred of sin. Every parent hates to see things happen to their children that will destroy them. Their love for their child is demonstrated in their hatred of things that will destroy or harm them. God has a holy hatred of sin because of the death and destruction it has brought into the world. He cannot tolerate it and remain holy or say that he loves us. Sin stirs up the wrath of God and Jesus became the object of God’s wrath when he took upon himself the sins of the world. The most violent display of God’s wrath was demonstrated in the crucifixion of Christ. God’s full wrath against sin was placed on Jesus. As Jesus hung on the cross and neared his time of death, darkness came upon the physical earth which is symbolic of the darkness of sin that would enter Jesus. When the full brunt of sin was placed upon Jesus he cried out, “It is finished!” In the Old Testament sacrificial system when the priest offered the lamb to be slain he would state, “It is finished.” Jesus used those same words when he offered himself as the sacrifice for our sins.

Immediately after this the heavy curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy place was torn from top to bottom signifying that access to God was not completely restored. When a Jewish father learned of the death of a son, he would rip his clothing from top to bottom.

The debt of sin has been paid in full and the death of Christ was the full payment God required. Paul used this analogy .

Colossians 2:13-15; 13And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made youalive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmedthe rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

In the days of Paul it was customary for the debt of a person to be written by the debtor on a piece of paper and placed on the door of their home as a reminder of what they owed. When the debt was paid the person who the debt was owed would write that the debt had been paid in full and fold the paper over so that no one would see the debt. Another way that was used to eliminate the debt record was to wipe the ink from the vellum that was used to record the debt. The ink did not penetrate the vellum so a person could use a wet cloth and wipe completely clean the ink record of the debt. Christ’s death wiped clean the record against us which was the Law that we could not keep. Christ paid a debt he did not owe and I owed a debt I could not pay! How can we say “So what?” when we understand what Christ has done for us in our helpless condition! We should be doing cartwheels, handstands, loud shouting and whatever expressions that reflect the gift we have received. Christ has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. The weight of debt has been lifted off of us and we are free!

Christ’s death satisfied God’s just requirement. It is the only solution for the problem of sin in the world today. Nothing but the blood of Jesus could satisfy God’s justice. Thank you Jesus for your blood!!!

Christ’s resurrection was the capstone of the work of Christ. His resurrection makes possible our resurrection.

(1Co 15:12-17) Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Had Christ not been raised we would not have the hope of eternal life. If there is no resurrection Paul stated that we have been fools because we are destined to the grave and that is all there is. If Christ was not raised from the dead it would mean that falsehood and lies are stronger than the truth. If the enemies of Christ has succeeded in destroying him, their lies would have been stronger than the truth he proclaimed. John 8:40 “ but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.”

It would have also meant that evil and hatred were stronger than goodness and love. If Christ was not raised from the dead then these forces that were unleashed in the crucifixion were stronger than goodness and love. We would have no hope that evil and hatred would ever be overcome.

If Christ was not raised from the dead it would mean that death is stronger than life. We would have no hope of being resurrected from the dead, the grave would be our final destination.

Our resurrection means we will be transformed with a new body just as Christ was transformed. The physical limitations we have experienced will be eliminated. We will receive a glorified body that will not perish but live for eternity with God. The apostle John said, 1Jn 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. It will be an instantaneous transformation that takes place, we shall be changed. Doctors can do a lot today to transform our bodies. We can receive artificial limbs, someone else’s organs and now they are able to take someone else’s face and put it on you. But all of these things are temporal, death will come to all of us but through the resurrection of Christ we too will be resurrected to a new body and life that will be beyond any human description. God has something special prepared for us and we will have to have a new mind and body to be able to enjoy it. I can’t wait for that to happen, in fact I have asked God in 2011 to give me a visit to heaven. Now I don’t know if I will get my request and I am not asking for an early death, I just want to get a little glimpse of what is waiting for us. If you are interested in joining me let me know so that when the journey happens I can ask if you can come with us!

We want to remember Christ tonight as we take the communion elements. Jesus had a great desire to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. He made special arrangement to be with them in a private room where he would have his final meal with them. When he took the bread and the wine he gave them new meaning. The bread would from now on symbolize his body that would be beaten to shreds and placed on the cross. The wine represented his blood that would symbolize the new covenant that would never need to have a high priest make sacrifices of animals nor all the ceremonies that accompanied the sacrificial system.

(Heb 9:11-23) But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Mat 26:26-29 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

As we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection Day, let us always be mindful of all Christ has done for us through his death that has enable us to have access to God and the hope of life eternal.

God's Heart for the lost

Jesus came to show us the heart of His Father toward the lost and in every encounter Jesus had with people we understand more clearly what God is like and what we are also to become. Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well in Samaria gives us a clearer understanding of God’s heart toward the lost.
When Jesus encountered the woman at the well in Samaria, he did several things that crossed barriers between the Jews and Samaritans. He crossed an ethnic and religious barrier by talking with a Samaritan. There was no love between these two groups of people, they were bitter enemies of each other. The Samaritans were not considered true Jews because they intermarried with the pagan nations after their captivity in 722 B.C. and lost their identity as a nation and became known as the lost tribes of Israel. They were also at odds with the other tribes because they did not worship in Jerusalem but worshipped at Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans were considered as pigs to the true Jews.
The Jews in route from Galilee to Judea had to pass through Samaria which was in between the two areas or take an alterative route that was twice as long. So in order to save time Jesus and his disciples were passing through.
Another barrier was the gender issue of talking to a woman. Rabbis were not supposed to talk to women or their wives or daughters in public. Women in general were not treated with great respect nor given equal opportunities for education and training in the Law. A sect of Jewish Pharisees would close their eyes when a woman was coming toward them so as to not look at them. This caused them to run into things which caused some physical pain. The woman Jesus was talking to had another strike against her as she was a 5 time divorcee and was currently shacking up with a man. There were enough strikes against her to keep a true Jew and Rabbi away from her and this is why the disciples were shocked to see Jesus interacting with her.

Their small confined world needed to be expanded to see God's love for all people and desire to give them "living water." They needed a revelation of the heart of God and Jesus modeled that to them. Tonight I want to look at several of the misunderstanding the disciples had about the heart of the Father toward the lost as we look at the actions and words of Jesus.
John 4:31-42

Joh 4:31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."
Joh 4:32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."
Joh 4:33 So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him something to eat?"
Joh 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
Joh 4:35 Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Joh 4:36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
Joh 4:37 For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.'
Joh 4:38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."
Joh 4:39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did."
Joh 4:40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.
Joh 4:41 And many more believed because of his word.
Joh 4:42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."

The disciples did not understand Jesus' motivations for talking with this woman. The scriptures said they did not say anything to him when they returned from shopping and saw Him talking to her but John records what was going through their minds..." "What do you seek?" or, "Why are you talking with her? You have to wonder what they were thinking Jesus was after, was it good or bad? Maybe they thought Jesus had some bad motives in talking to her. Perhaps they put themselves in the situation and thought about what they would have been seeking from this woman who came alone. Jesus' motivations are always pure; they are always with the best in mind for whomever he is talking to. The disciples perhaps wrestled with the idea of impure motivations but they did not say anything. We can often do the same thing with God. We question him in our mind and lack understanding of why he is doing something in our life or the life of another person. God's motivations are always based in his love for us, there can never be an evil thought in God's mind in his dealing with us.
Or perhaps the disciples had learned by this time to not question what or why Jesus did the things he did. Maybe they at least understood that he had good reasons and motivations for what he did even though they did not understand and inwardly questioned his actions because of their prejudices against Samaritans and women.
Our motivations in talking with people have to come from our obedience to God and they must be pure. Jesus was concerned about the spiritual well fare of this woman. He understood her wrong beliefs as well as the rejection she faced from many people. His motivation was to bring truth to her and be a blessing to her life. In crossing the ethnic, religious and gender barriers Jesus demonstrated that he cared for her as a person and the things held against her would not keep him from demonstrating his concern for her.

Jesus gave this woman value, she was worthy of his time and effort to engage in a conversation with her.
The disciples did not give this woman the same value that Jesus gave her. She was a 5 time loser when it came to marriage fidelity. She probably did not have many friends and came to the well by herself at the hottest part of the day. She was doctrinally way off and ethnically not the right pedigree. Jesus saw past all of that but the disciples could not. They were locked into a different mindset that would not give any value to this woman. Jesus saw a woman who needed understanding. She needed to be set free from misunderstandings and be given the opportunity to see her true Messiah. Jesus could have completely ignored this woman and the disciples would have totally understood and agreed with his actions. But Jesus came to save sinners not condemn them. The value of the human soul cannot be measured and that is why it is imperative that every person has the opportunity to meet the Messiah. Jesus did not care what the disciples might think when they saw him talking to her. He saw a person of infinite value who deserved to know the truth. He was willing to taint his reputation to talk with her because she was of such value in the eyes of God.
Sometimes the hardest thing for us is to look beyond the exterior or even the interior of a person to see their true value to God. How we treat people and interact with them is often a reflection of the value we give them. We are all of equal value and importance to God and if this were not true Jesus would not have become a man to save us from our sin. Often we need to just get over our prejudices and preconceived ideas and get beyond our limited understanding so we can get to the real issue and the need of lost people.
If you have never had the opportunity to listen to "A Man Called Norman" by Mike Atkins I would encourage you to do it. It is the story of Mike's befriending his neighbor Norman who was an outcast in his city. Mike was able to get over many of his self imposed barriers, get beyond Norman’s limitations and idiosyncrasies so he could get to the heart of Norman and reveal the Messiah to him. It is a great testimony that I know you will enjoy.

Another thing the disciples did not understand was the real purpose of Jesus' life. They often only thought in terms of the physical and did not see the spiritual aspect of Jesus life and words. When they wanted him to eat he came up with a reply that they did not understand in the sense that Jesus meant it to be understood.
"I have food to eat that you do not know about." Their first thoughts and only thought at this time was that Jesus was talking about physical food. Jesus often seemed to communicate at a level that they were not able to understand and I am sure it was a bit frustrating for them. Their lack of spiritual understanding was evident in their response. ”Has anyone brought him something to eat?" The disciples did not understand that they were spiritual beings that had a soul that lived in a body. They saw and interpreted things through their 5 senses and thus did not understand the spiritual things Jesus was communicating to them. Years later they could look back and say, "Oh now I get it!"
The food Jesus was talking about was his true purpose in life "My food is to do the will
of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
This took precedence over physical needs and this was the priority of His life. The very thing that gave Him life was His obedience to His Father. His greatest desire and I believe His greatest joy was found in doing the will of His Father.
This has to be our focus as well, knowing and doing the will of the Father. There are two areas we must focus on to accomplish the will of God.

One is to destroy the works of the enemy by proclaiming what Christ has done to defeat him. Jesus' resurrection has stripped him of his greatest weapon, the fear of death. The resurrection of Jesus is the greatest moment in history because of its impact on Satan. As long as Satan could kill people in their sin they would never be able to be united with a Holy God. He experienced being cast out of heaven because of his own rebellion. He understands that sin brings death and his greatest tool was creating a fear of death and its destiny. We were helpless to do anything that could take away this fear. We were in bondage to the enemy whose greatest delight is to see people killed and die in their sin. He knows there destiny and when Jesus died he thought the battle was won. Christ's resurrection destroyed his power and liberates everyone who believes in Christ from the fear of death. Every time we proclaim the gospel message we do violence to Satan and his demons. They do not want to hear the gospel proclaimed and we can see the wrath of the enemy in the laws of certain religious beliefs that today are killing people who do not believe as they do. This belief is 100 percent inspired by Satan because its whole purpose is to impose death and silence the voice of messengers of the gospel. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will never die." These are powerful words that destroy the work of the enemy.

The second focus is to establish God's Kingdom and will on earth as it is in heaven. Heaven is our pattern. If it exists in heaven then we need to bring it to earth. Establishing God's Kingdom means we bring heaven to earth. When Jesus came to earth he brought the Kingdom of heaven to earth through his acts of obedience to the will of His Father. Everything that Jesus did was in response to what he saw his Father do. Jesus performed the will of His Father which involved revelation of truth and its proclamation, miracles, signs and wonders.
Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, Cal. made this statement. "We often form our theology based on the things that don't happen rather than on the things that do happen." When someone is healed of a sickness we don't base our theology on the healing but instead base it on those who were prayed for but not healed. If sickness is God's will then why should we fight against it? Will we not be fighting against God? If we base our beliefs on what heaven is like it will solve some of the areas that we see confusion. We have to believe with all our heart that what God desires on earth is the same thing he has in existence in heaven. Our job is to bring that Kingdom to earth but that will only happen when we truly believe that this is what God desires.
We can look at the end times prophesies in a couple of ways. We can see them as promises of what is going to happen and sort of just give in and say it is coming to an end and there is not much we can do about it. Or we can look at these words as being descriptors of the conditions that we will face in the battle to establish God's Kingdom. I believe God wants us to engage in the battle with greater intensity in spite of all the things that are happening that are causing some to lose heart and lose faith. We are not to throw in the towel but take up the towel and serve as Jesus served. Our goal is to establish as much of the Kingdom of God as is possible until they day Jesus returns to reign for 1000 years.

The disciples also did not understand the time factor.
Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
The harvest as they viewed it was in the future but in Jesus' eyes it was now. The Samaritans were the harvest field and the time of the harvest was now. I believe that God is opening a door for the gospel in several of the nations in the Middle East. I listened to a message from Andrew White, a Vicar from the Anglican church of England who has been working in Iraq for 13 years. He reported that the church is growing and God is doing miracles among the people. Christians have been killed and Andrew asked God what he should do and he told him to get the Islamic leaders together for a meeting at which he presented a fatwa. A fatwa is an Islamic religious ruling, a scholarly opinion on a matter of Islamic law.
He did that and presented the problem of the killing of Christians and since that time there has been any killings.
God is opening the doors in Libya as well. CBN in their news broadcast called "World Christian News"(April 1: 6.50) has reported that there is an openness to the gospel and a great need for literature to be given to the people.
We must understand the time and act quickly because the harvest is ripe. We have to always be ready to share with people. The devil will always tell you that this is not the right place or time to do it. You may be in a public place or in your work place and it may seem to be awkward but when the opportunity is there we have to take advantage of it. Delayed obedience is disobedience. We need to be more concerned about being obedient to God than any lies and limitations the enemy may place in your mind to tell you to wait.
The time for the Samaritans to hear the message from Jesus was now and after Jesus' conversation with the woman he stayed in the city for two days to minister to the lost and many came to believe in Him.

The disciples also needed to have the same vision that Jesus had. They had to lift up their eyes so they could see the harvest. Their focus was on getting through Samaria and they missed seeing the harvest field of souls that was there. We can miss out on what God wants to do because we are so focused on the next thing that we do not see what is in front of us or around us. We have to be in tune with the Holy Spirit and respond when he puts a message in our heart to talk with someone. God has spoken to Jesus about this Samaritan woman's life and Jesus knew that this was given to him to be used to open her heart to him. God revealed to Jesus that this woman had been married five times and was now shacking up with a man. I don't think he did this to shame her but used it as a way to get her attention and reveal His true nature and mission. Words of knowledge have a way of getting our attention and are gifts from God to show us his love and concern for us. We need to keep our eyes open to see what God sees so we can respond as He wants us to respond. As we learn to walk in the Spirit and hear God's voice I believe He will reveal things to us about people that will open their hearts to receive the gospel. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the Word of Knowledge where the Holy Spirit supernaturally gives you knowledge about a person or situation. It is a great gift to have when we are witnessing to people. The Samaritan woman was so impressed that she went back to her village and invited the people to meet Jesus. "He told me all that I ever did." was her summation of Jesus' conversation with her. Ask God for his vision to see the harvest field of souls and for the gift of the word of knowledge to help open the door to the soul of a person.

The final area the disciples did not understand was the process of sowing and reaping when it pertains to the salvation of people. God is always at work to prepare people to receive the gospel message. He has placed eternity in the hearts of people. When we talk with people we are either ones who are sowing seeds of the gospel in the heart of the person or we may be the one who leads them to Christ. We may not always see instant results but we must believe that when the word is sown it will not return void. It will produce results. Some seed may take years to take root and grow while others will be planted in fertile soil and come to Christ quickly. Our witness must always draw people to Christ and give them a clearer picture of the love of God for them.
In the news of recent days we have witnessed the response of the Muslims in Afghanistan after the pastor Terry Jones from Florida had a trial on the Koran and it was burned. The Daily Beast reported the following:
"During his day in New York City, in full peace-maker mode, Jones promised Today show host Carl Quintanilla that his church wouldn't burn any Korans, "not now, not never." By the New Year, however, Jones had come up with a knockout pitch. The church couldn't burn Korans—but what if it was no longer a church? What if it was, instead, a courtroom, the Koran was on trial, and burning was one of the possible penalties? "The complaints about International Burn a Koran Day was that it was unfair," the pastor told The Daily Beast. "Muslims told us that it was not a book of violence but one of peace. We said, OK: a fair way to discern that would be to put the book on trial. We'd bring charges against it and invite them to defend it." The charges were the following:
"1) Crimes against humanity: training and promoting terrorist activities throughout the world. 2) Death, rape, and torture of people worldwide whose only crime is not being of the Islamic faith. 3) Crimes against women, against minorities, against Christians with the promoting of prejudice against anyone who is not a Moslem."
The Koran was found guilty and sentenced to burning. The aftermath has been horrible as over 20 people have been killed by irate Muslims.
NBC April 3 ( 6:13) gave this report.
The political process and relationships that have been established have been set back by these actions and I am sure the spiritual advances in the lives of many of these people have also been damaged. Actions like these hardly show the love of God for the Muslim world. Has the burning of the Koran drawn people to Christ or driven them further away?
We must be careful of what type of seeds we are planting in the hearts of people. We must speak the truth in love if we want it to be received and responded to positively. We do not have to apologize for the truth but we must be careful how we speak against what other beliefs and trust the Word of God to be living and active, sharper than a two edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God will accomplish more than any negative criticism we speak against people. We have a message of love, redemption, healing, freedom, forgiveness and grace that this lost world needs to hear.

Jesus came to reveal God's heart for the lost. In his interaction with the Samaritan women and through his teaching to the disciples at this incident we see more clearly what this involves.
1. Our motivation in sharing with people must always be pure and for their benefit.
2. We must give them the same value that God does putting away all or our preconceived ideas and prejudices.
3. We must embrace our true purpose as Jesus did by destroying the works of the enemy and establishing the Kingdom of God.
4. We have to understand the time of the harvest is now and take action.
5. Our vision must be focused on the ripened harvest and not ourselves.
6. Our witness is part of the process of sowing and reaping. Our seeds must always draw people closer to acceptance of Christ as Savior.

I pray that each of us will have the heart of the Father toward the lost and be actively sharing the gospel message as Jesus has demonstrated to us in his life and ministry.