Pray Network Forum

• Pray for Arabic speaking churches in UAE to increase in number and grow in maturity.
• Pray for God to establish Christian witness in the towns of Dibba.
• Pray for unity of the Spirit among God’s people in churches throughout UAE.
• Pray for God to graciously protect Emirati marriages from brokenness
• Pray for God to send Arabic speaking witnesses to the emirate of Fujairah.
• Pray for opportunities for the local church to minister to the needs of elderly Emiratis
• Pray for Emiratis to turn to Jesus Christ, the precious cornerstone, in faith.

• Pray for Arabic speaking churches in UAE to increase in number and grow in maturity.
• Pray for God to establish Christian witness in the towns of Dibba.
• Pray for unity of the Spirit among God’s people in churches throughout UAE.
• Pray for God to graciously protect Emirati marriages from brokenness
• Pray for God to send Arabic speaking witnesses to the emirate of Fujairah.
• Pray for opportunities for the local church to minister to the needs of elderly Emiratis
• Pray for Emiratis to turn to Jesus Christ, the precious cornerstone, in faith.

This week my personal devotions are in Matthew 24. And I have been struck by a number of things that Jesus said in this chapter about the last days. I am aware that what I am writing may be disturbing to some of us. And that is not my intent. God is in control no matter what we face in these times. I have joked in the past that in 1 Thessalonians 4:18 where Paul says, “Comfort one another with these words,” we misread it, “Scare the life out of one another with these words.” However, these things need to be taken seriously.

Matthew 24 begins with Jesus caught up in His sadness over the destruction that was going to come upon Jerusalem because His own people rejected Him. Like excited tourist the disciples point out to Jesus the wonderful buildings of the temple. And Jesus shoots back at them, “Do you see these stones? I tell you that there will not be left one stone upon another here that will not be cast down.”

Now, this was shocking to the disciples of Jesus. The Temple was the largest building in the Eastern Mediterranean. It had taken 46 years to build. So the disciples came to Jesus asking when this would happen, and what would be the sign of the second coming of Jesus, and the end of the age. They could not imagine that the destruction of the Temple would not mean the end of the world. From our perspective, we know that the Temple and the entire city were destroyed by the Roman general Titus in 70 AD. That was a terrible time for the people of Jerusalem. Thousands and thousands died at the hands of the Romans.

Interestingly enough Jesus did not correct His disciple’s misconception. He rather used the comparison of the two events to teach about the end times and His return. Let's look at this passage beginning with verse 3. I have emboldened the text in three places to highlight what Jesus gives us to do in these days.

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the close of the age?” And Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ’, and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.
“Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”

The first thing that Jesus tells us to do is, “See that no one leads you astray.” The point and purpose of all the false rescuers, false teachers, and false teachings is to lead astray those who will and can be led away from Christ. Later in this chapter Jesus said that the false teachers and christs will perform signs and wonders that would, “if it were possible, deceive even the elect.” Not being led astray depends upon God keeping us safe. Relationship with God is crucial to endurance to the end. We must depend upon Him. Only God can keep us safe.

The second of these assignments is, “See that you are not alarmed.” Jesus’ words should disabuse us of the notion that everything will get better and better, possibly more and more Christian, right up to the end. I do believe more and more people will probably continue to come to faith in Christ right up to His return. But I also believe it will cost us more and more to follow Him. The Bible does not teach that it will be easy for us. Jesus says, “See that you are not alarmed when you see all the things happening on the Earth.” How do we keep from being alarmed? Well, we need to recognize that God is sovereign in the midst of school shootings, airplanes being flown into buildings, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, floods, famines, climate change, and pestilence. Jesus told us ahead of time that these things would happen. And He has told us that He will be with us to the very end. We need to focus on Him. And He will minister through us to the world that He still loves and weeps over.

The final assignment is not given here as an admonition, but as an assumption. This gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed in the whole world as a witness to all peoples. But make no mistake. We are the ones who must carry this out in the power of God. Elsewhere Jesus gives this to us as a command. And if you are anxious for Jesus to return in His glory, tell people that Jesus died for their sins, and rose again to give them new life. And pray for His power to break their hearts and transform their lives through the gospel.

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Recently my oncologist ask if I would add my experience to the ‘Patient Stories” on his website. I agreed, and began by looking at the stories already included there. I was amazed that out of 27 accounts only one had any mention of prayer or God or anything beyond this life. In 1 Corinthians 15:19 Paul tells believers that if our hope is only in this life we are of all people most miserable. This truth can be applied to cancer patients whether they are Christians or not. It is hard to be positive when you no you may very well lose everything you hope for. This of course is true for everyone, whether you have cancer or not. In Colossians 4:5 Paul speaks of the hope stored up for us beyond this life. Look with me at the context of this verse in Colossians 1:3-6

“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, which has come to you, as indeed in the whole world it is bearing fruit and increasing—as it also does among you, since the day you heard it and understood the grace of God.

Our hope is stored in heaven for us. Our great treasure, our ultimate rewards are waiting for us in heaven. It is there that we will enjoy the embrace of our Lord, and hear him say, “Well done.”

The gospel gives our lives purpose, meaning, and hope beyond this life. and it will bear fruit in our lives and in the lives of others to the last breath that we take. If this is true, we do not need to escape our trials. God will give them meaning to the last moment we live on this earth.

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The 4th chapter of 2 Timothy is Paul's final declaration of faith before he was executed by Nero. When he pinned these words he was in prison and fairly certain of his imminent death.

I suppose that my situation is somewhat similar to Paul's, although Paul's physical condition was much more severe than mine. But my doctors tell me I am going to die before too long.

I have communicated with several people in the last few months that had a much different perspective on life and death than I. One was a man in his 80s who was actually in amazing health for his age. I told him I was reacting against people saying if they were in critical condition they didn't want “extreme measures” to keep them alive. I said extreme measures were what I wanted. He spoke to me as if he had much more wisdom than I. “Well, when you can no longer have quality of life you would rather not linger.” But what he called quality of life was comfort and diversion. He jokingly said, “If I couldn't play golf.” Those are not my purpose in life.

In 2 Timothy 4 Paul gives us a marvelous example of integral hope in his life. Paul's life even at that difficult end was still buoyed by a higher purpose. 2 Timothy 4:1,2 reads,

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

Paul challenges Timothy, and us, to preach the word. And faithful endurance of his painful situation was crucial to that encouragement. He saw his approaching death as part of his challenge and a crucial part of his worship. He encourages us in versus 6-8 by comparing his life to a drink offering. 

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

A drink offering was a powerful expression of devotion in the desert middle east where water was life. The first drink offering mentioned in Scripture was made by Jacob as he met God at Bethel in Genesis 35. As he emptied his canteen onto the ground, he was trusting his life to the Lord who had appeared to him. Later when drink offerings were included in worship in the Tabernacle the vessels for it were to be of gold, befitting costly devotion. 

Paul sees his final circumstance as the ultimate worship and witness for God. And he could endure it however long it wood last for two reasons. First, as he wrote earlier to the Philippian Church,(Philippians 1:22-24) God might allow him to continue his purpose on this Earth. Also, he knew the reward waiting for him in the presence of God was worth whatever he had to endure.

Relationships were also crucial to the hope Paul clung to. The English Standard Version of the New Testament labels the final two-thirds of this chapter as, Personal Instructions. Verses 9-13 capture this.

“Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia. Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry. Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.”

I do not believe Paul saw his purpose or even his worship as separate from the lives of other people. He was investing himself in them. 

God has allowed me to live some years longer than the doctors thought I would. But I still have the cancer that they believe will take my life. Shortly after they began telling me my condition was terminal, I wrote an article for Mature Living Magazine entitled Filling The Unforgiving Minute. You can see that article on my website listed below. Of course I took my title from Rudyard Kipling's poem If. “If you can fill the unforgiving minute with sixty seconds worth of distance run.” In the article I said I wanted to devote the remaining days of my life to writing, prayer, and relationships. In these days I see writing is my purpose and calling from God. It is an extension of my original calling to preach. And of course prayer is essential to that. I pray for God to do what only he can do in the lives of people through my writing. Prayer is also crucial to relationships. I pray for those I love and for others i meet. And relationships are in the purpose of God. Even after my condition deteriorates so that I can no longer write, I hope to be loving and pray for people around me. 




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Last Sunday our pastor preached on Psalm 133. And God spoke to me as he preached. I am reminded of something I once heard from a spellbinding preacher. He said God gave him his best sermons as He spoke to him when he was listening to other preachers preach. Well, in fact, although my preaching is now done with my pen, God still seems to be giving me sermons. And I would like to share this one with you. And my sharing will be most blessed, if at some point in reading this God gives you a sermon to preach to His people.

UNITY AMONG BROTHERS

I once heard a denominational leader say he could tell the spiritual temperature of a church by simply walking into a worship center as people were gathering for the service on a Sunday morning. I think he was absolutely right. You can sense excitement in the people or the lack of it. And most of all you can feel the love and unity binding the church together. Jesus said all men would know we are his disciples by the way we love one another.

One of my favorite Psalms is Psalm 133. The first verse of Psalm 133 calls us to see the goodness of unity in the family of God.

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is
   when brothers dwell in unity!”

The wording of this reminds me of the creation account in Genesis 1. There the Hebrew word tov, which translates to our English word “good” is first used in the Bible. Again and again as God creates, the scripture says “God saw that it was good.” But after He created man, we have His greater exclamation in verse 31 which begins with the word, “Behold.”

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good.”

With this call for us to sit up and pay attention, Psalm 133 is calling us to see that in the unity of the family of God, He is restoring the goodness of His creation.

And he says it is good and pleasant. There is a sweetness that is not only enjoyed by our Heavenly Father, but that He shares with us in the unity of the Church of Jesus Christ.

• CONSECRATION

Verse 2 of Psalm 133 paints a vivid picture for us.

“It is like the precious oil on the head,
   running down on the beard,
on the beard of Aaron,
   running down on the collar of his robes!”

The Holy Spirit is comparing unity in the family of God with the consecration of the priesthood. What this must have brought to the minds of the Children of Israel is something very similar to some things God did in my early life.

I grew up in Oklahoma going to Falls Creek Baptist Assembly. You do not have to be from Oklahoma to have herd of the largest Youth Camp in the world. But I remember going as a young person with thousands of other young people and listening to the word of God preached. At the end of each evening service hundreds of young people would go forward in the altarcall to commit their lives to Christ. When they would finally bring that invitation to a close they would lead those young people to the chapel where where there was counseling space. And as they marched away we would all sing, I have decided to follow Jesus. I seldom sing that hymn without chills rising up on my neck and the the backs of my arms as I remember seeing those crowds of young people, and myself being one of those committing our lives to Christ.

The psalmist here is saying our unity is a God thing. He brings it about. And it is an expression of consecration to him.

But I said this reminds me of two things in my early life. The other is when I first sensed God calling me to preach. I struggled with His calling for an entire semester in college. And when I became convinced that God was indeed calling me, that became the driving force of my life. It is that to this day. You may not be called to preach. But as you sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ you have been given a calling by God. And like Aaron and all the priest who followed him you have a special anointing, a purpose that is to be the driving force of your life. This picture says the unity of the church is an expression of our

1.   PURPOSE AND THE GOSPEL.

The next picture given in verse 3 is very different but quite as vivid.

“It is like the dew of Hermon,
   which falls on the

   mountains of Zion!
For there the Lord has commanded the blessing,
   life forevermore.”

This is a picture of rich blessing from God.

III.   BLESSING

Mount Hermon is a snow capped-mountain, part of a snow-capped range just north of Israel. We lived for 30 years in the Pacific Northwest surrounded by glorious snowy mountains. And the rain fall was a continual mist of blessing. We had a 90 foot Douglas Fir in our backyard. There was a hundred fifty foot tree in the park two blocks from our house. And our library had in a glass case a cutting of the largest Douglas Fir ever removed from the forest. The base of that tree was over 12 feet in diameter. In this picture God is saying unity the church grows from his continual blessing upon us. And it ends by saying this blessing is itself eternal life.

1.   ETERNAL LIFE

When we see and enjoy unity in the family of God we ought to immediately think of John 3:16. Let's say that verse together in the version we have projected.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Do you have a longing in your heart to be part of the unity of God's family?

The sermon that God gave me is different from the sermon our pastor preached. And I suspect if God speaks to you through this brief, the sermon you preach to your people will be much different than mine. However, I suspect any sermon preached on Psalm 133 would depend upon similar fundamentals. In the days when I was preaching week by week I always began with the basics listed below. With these basics in my mind I would usually take a walk. As I walked my sermon I would preach everything that came into my mind on these basic points. And so I actually composed my sermons out loud.

THE CENTRAL IDEA OF THE TEXT : The psalmist exclaims over the God given goodness of unity among brothers.

PEOPLE : believers who make up this church

  Felt/Need : unity in the church

PURPOSE : Doctrinal; I want my hearers to know unity in the church is a work of God.

THRUST : Unity in the church is a God thing.

PICTURE : The Dew from Mt. Hermon

STORY : Oil on, Aaron's beard

POINTS :

Introduction :

Good and Pleasant

• Consecration

• Purpose, Gospel

• Blessing

• Eternal life

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Do you know the central teaching of Scripture? It can be found in every book of the Bible and brings it all together. It is the gospel. “For God so loved the world. . .” “That Jesus died for our sins according to the Scriptures.” That, “In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself.”

On the day of Pentecost Peter stood and explained what God was pouring out into the world and in Acts 2:22-24 Peter focused everything on the gospel.

Men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it.

It is important to understand that Peter did not present the gospel as an abstract concept.

Look at Peter’s words. “Hear these words, ‘Jesus of Nazareth!’”

Jesus is the gospel. If you have never come to know Jesus Christ personally, you need to understand that Jesus Himself is reaching out to you in His incomparable love. In John 14:6 Jesus said He was the way, the truth, and the life. 1 John 5:20 tells us He is eternal life.

You who are believers need to understand that the gospel is not something you will ever grow beyond. The privilege of knowing Jesus is the wonderful foundation of everything you will ever learn, or need, or enjoy in Christ. Let me point out just one narrow application of this truth. Do you know why the fellowship of the church is so wonderful? It is because Jesus indwells us. You can see Jesus, you can hear His voice and feel His embrace when we get together in the church.

But there are many applications of the gospel in our lives. If we look at the fruit of the Spirit for example. Galatians 5:22-23 begins the list with love. “We love because He first loved us.” The next is joy. At the birth of Jesus the Angel told the shepherds he brought them “Good news of great joy!” Next comes peace. “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The list continues from patience through self-control. Each of these and every other facet of spiritual growth comes as we understand and apply the gospel to our lives. And the gospel is Jesus Christ. We do not believe in it. We believe in Him.

This and the next few entries in this blog come from a sermon I preached at Crosspoint Church in Reno, NV. You can find the recording on their website.  http://crosspoint.org/index.php/2016-06-01-08-45-06/274-now-to-him-who-is-able-listen-carefully

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We often think of the gospel as that most elementary truth of the Christian life that you leave behind as you grow deeper in the faith. But that is not true at all. It is true that the gospel is simple and may be the first thing a person becoming a believer understands. But we never outgrow the importance of the gospel in our lives.

The Humility of the Gospel

Few things are more important in the Christian life than humility. Peter said, "Humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, and he will lift you up." The gospel is the final source of our humility. The Son of God had to die to redeem me!

The Security of the gospel

But there is no security like the gospel. God loved me so much that He sent His Son to die for me. His love is the foundation of our security.

The virtue of the gospel

Because of the gospel we do not try to do what is right so God will accept us. We hunger to do what pleases God because we have been accepted in the beloved.

We ought to see everything in Scripture in the light Jesus and through the lens of the gospel. From time to time over the next few months  I want to show how one passage or another must be seen through the perspective of the gospel.

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"For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance:  that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of them are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, and to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."

The gospel is not something that wise men thought about and conceived through eons of time. It is the good news of Jesus. And the witness of the gospel is essential. Hundreds of people saw Him alive, followers, enemies, family, and strangers. To this day people say Jesus has forgiven me. He has embraced me with the gospel of His love and grace. He is alive! I have experienced Him in my life too.

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Possibly even more than Romans 3:23, the passage we last dealt with in this blog, Romans 6:23 sounds like anything but good news. That is partly because we have been bombarded all of our lives with the nonsense of self-esteem. You are important! You are wonderful! You are flawless! You are a winner! You can be anything you want to be!

But as helpful as that thinking may be, it strikes many of us as unreal, a little like the Easter Bunny. We were on the ball team where everyone got a meaningless trophy when we didn't win a game. Or we told a friend she had a beautiful hat, when we were just too shocked to speak the truth.

But in His love God speaks reality to our hearts. Romans 6:23 reads,

“For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Let me point out two crucial things this verse teaches.

1. This verse brings us to the Desperate Need of the Gospel.

The world promises wages in its counterfeit currency. The true wages of living our lives as if we didn’t need God are lostness and death without Him.

So you have cancer. You go to two doctors. One of them smiles, gives you pain pills and a fishing poll. The other doctor says we are going to operate on you to remove the tumor from your body. I have been there. The hard words are the good news?

2. This verse also teaches the Wonderful Gift of the Gospel.

The gospel is not something you earn. It is the gift of God's love.

Many years ago I served in a church that was unhappy with me. God gave my wife and I great comfort in Revelation 3:9. He assured us that the people would come to know that He loved us. At first I wanted to say, "No God. I want them to know that I was right." But after His word began to wash over us, we decided we needed His love in our lives more than we needed to be successful or impressive.

Every wonderful thing in life comes from His love and the gift of the gospel. It is eteranlly good news!

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In the week that we set aside to celebrate the cross and the resurrection of Jesus we remind one another of importance of the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 15 Paul reminds the believers in Corinth, and a thousand generations who would follow, of the gospel that transforms lives. Verses one through three read,

"Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures."

The gospel is not just the starting point of the Christian Life. It is crucial to everything we are and do. We can rejoice all of our lives that Jesus died for our sins. Our eternal hope is in the gospel. Paul reminded the believers that this is what he preached to them. He reminds us that this is what we received. The good news fulfills all the Law and the Prophets. This makes sense of everything in our lives. Upon this truth we stand!

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