“I’m in the know – are you?”
Gladstone Baptist Church – 6/8/06 pm
S1 - Many people have sought to find power in the past – but many have looked for it in the wrong place (sought the wrong god) – OOPS
Over history many, many people have sought to get power – power to change their lives and others around them. Some have gone on a quest for an artefact which would give them power.
Many people for example have sought after the philosopher’s stone. This was a legendary substance that supposedly could turn inexpensive metals into gold and/or create an elixir that would make humans younger, thus delaying death. It was also believed that the Philosopher’s stone was able to allow humans to perform human transmutation (creating a human body with a soul attached). This meant that alchemists could possibly bring humans back to life after death, and also create whole new humans through alchemy. Needless to say, no such stone has ever been discovered.
Some have turned to magic spells or rites to gain power over others of over nature. Some have sought positional or political power to achieve their ends only to end up disillusioned
Alexander the Great, so completely conquered the nations of earth that he wept because there were no more to conquer. Eventually he died at age 33 with no heir or future.
There was Hannibal, the great Carthaginian general who ravaged Italy, who filled three baskets with gold rings taken from the hands of slaughtered knights, finally committed suicide by poisoning himself.
Julius Caesar conquered 800 cities and dyed his garments with the blood of a million of his foes, but was finally stabbed by his best friend, in the court where had been his greatest triumph.
Many dictators believed that they could have ultimate power in themselves. They thought they were the equivalent of a god and that people should worship them. Hitler believed he would be the saviour of the world by creating a super Arian race.
But unfortunately, many people have looked for power in the wrong place and have not ended up getting the power that they sought, but rather a cheap imitation.
S2 - However, Jesus says that power isn’t the be all and end all – it is whether we have salvation – UGH
Jesus says that power isn’t the be all and end all of life. Although many, many people seek for power, Jesus, says – it is not the most important thing!!!!
Last week if you were with us, we spoke about a time when Jesus sent 72 followers out to minister for him. They went through all the towns and cities in the region preparing the way for Jesus. They were to be an extension to his ministry by reaching out to others – healing them and telling them that the Kingdom of God was near.
Well you might remember that when the 72 followers returned to Jesus, they were pretty excited. They came back feeling like supermen. If you’ve got your bibles there, open them up to
Luke 10:17
17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.”
18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
21 At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
22 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
The 72 followers came back excited. They said “Jesus, you wouldn’t believe what happened … even the demons submitted to us in your name.” They’d found power. Power to heal, power to cast out demons. Power to really make a difference in someone’s life. That is power and Jesus agreed. He said “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.”
But to Jesus, there was something to even get more excited about than the power the disciples had found. He says “do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” What is more exciting than discovering that you have power is discovering that you have eternal life. Power is nothing if you don’t have life eternal and Jesus is under no illusions about this.
Unfortunately many people have their priorities upside down. They desire power – power over people. They crave power – positional power. They lie awake at night thinking about how they can get power – from money. Some even want spiritual power. But they neglect what is more important – making sure they have eternal life.
And I want to talk about this a bit more soon. But before we do, let us look quickly at this spiritual power over Satan and the forces of darkness.
Jesus acknowledged that it was an important thing to know where spiritual power came from. He said “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things …
What things? Well the disciples have just been talking about the power they wielded over Satan. Jesus was talking about the spiritual power that his disciples had observed.
In our world today there is spiritual forces at work. Often they are subtle and very much behind the scenes. Occasionally they are more explicit. Jesus knew this. His followers I guess suspected it, but really hadn’t up until this time been forced to fight in this spiritual battle themselves. Yes, they’d seen Jesus cast out the occasional demon and I’m sure that scared them a bit. But here we see, the 72 followers coming back to Jesus and saying – “You’ll never guess what? We were confronted with some demon possessed people and the demons submitted to us when we spoke to them in your name.” During this ministry field trip, the disciples had discovered 2 things …
1) that there was such a thing as a spiritual war going on.
2) That the spiritual power of Jesus was greater than that of his opponents. Jesus’ power is most powerful
Jesus continues his prayer “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure.
Jesus had chosen to reveal these things to his followers. People all down the ages have sought to find the secret to gaining power over evil or other people or well anything. We are all control freaks, lusting after power. Jesus says that the source of his power, has been kept hidden from many people – including the wise and the learned. It seems a bit strange to hide such a great piece of knowledge. But just think about it for a moment. If everyone knew how to harness the power that Jesus had, there would be mayhem, because not everyone would use it in right ways which would benefit others.
Many people seek after power to promote their own interests or to build their pride and self esteem. Jesus used his power to help others and he expects those who use his power to do likewise. Jesus often doesn’t choose wise and learned people to reveal himself to. Many of the 72 followers were probably simple people – most of the disciples were simple – not learned professionals. Why does Jesus choose normal simple people to reveal important things to? Because Wise and learned people have a tendency to think they know what is best and so if Jesus had revealed things to them, it would have been very likely that these things would have been watered down or modified to suit their own thinking. Besides this, if Wise and learned people had received Jesus’ revelation and had the success of the 72 followers, then anyone looking on would have attributed their success to their knowledge or training instead of to Jesus in who the power really rested.
Jesus chooses carefully who to reveal knowledge about spiritual power to. But as we said earlier – that is not the be all and end all is it. What is more important than spiritual power is – power over death.
S3 - Real power – the power of salvation – comes only from God – AHA - it is kingdom power and it is hidden from all but who Jesus reveals it to.
Jesus says that real power is wrapped up in gaining eternal life - power over death. Let’s face it – we will all die than then we are at the mercy of God. The Bible says that what awaits us after death is a judgment which will determine whether we die spiritually or live spiritually. God is in control of that decision. It is Him alone who will make that decision – whether we live eternally or die for eternity. And he makes that decision based on one criteria and one criteria only – whether we have a relationship with Jesus.
People needed to know that Having a relationship with Jesus was important. That is why Jesus sent out the 72 followers in the first place. People around our world today need to know that Having a relationships with Jesus is important. That is why Jesus in Matt 28 has commissioned us to go into all the world and preach the gospel (the good news) about Jesus.
It is a piece of information that is kept hidden from most of the world’s population. Satan has made sure of that. But it is a secret that people need to be told. Jesus encouraged his followers to rejoice that the secret has been revealed to them and that they can reveal it to others.
Jesus says about this secret …
22 “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
This is a really confusing statement just here. It says that Jesus claims that He chooses who to reveal the secret to. He reveals the secrets about the source of spiritual power. And now we find out He also reveals the secrets about God which would result in a person gaining eternal life. He essentially brings about a person’s salvation.
But weren’t the 72 followers just out in the towns and villages revealing the secret? Didn’t they choose who to tell the good news to? Didn’t the people hearing have a choice whether to hear or not? Why is Jesus saying here that he controlled who heard the secret and accepted God?
S4 - God is sovereign and choses who he reveals things to - He even chooses who to reveal himself to. Tension between God’s election and universal offer of salvation.
To try to understand this, you must understand that on numerous occasions, Jesus says that he makes the decisions about who hears and who responds to the gospel …
Eph 4: 4-5 For He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will
2 Thess 2:13-14 But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. 14 He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
John 6:44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
Rom 8:28-30 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, he also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.
2 Tim 1: 8-9 But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us to a holy life—not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace. This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the beginning of time,
Rom 9:18 God has mercy on whom he wants to have mercy, and he hardens whom he wants to harden.
All of these verses seem to teach the same thing – that God determines who will respond positively to him. This is not really all that surprising. God has always chosen some people over others to bless. He chose Abraham and called him out of his homeland to serve him. He choose Isaac not Ishmael. He chose Jacob instead of Esau – even before they were born – to be the father of his nation. He had compassion on Moses, but hardened Pharaoh’s heart against God (Rom 9:14-18). He chose Israel to be his chosen people. Why didn’t he choose the philistines or the Ammorites or the Edomites. I don’t know, but he chose the Israelites. God has always chosen people and will continue to do so – He is sovereign – he rules and he has the right to make choices about things – even about who responds to him.
Now that means that no one can become a Christian unless God chooses him in the first place. This has some pretty serious implications for us.
- It says that we don’t have a choice in the matter of our eternity – some are blessed and some are damned because that is how God has ordained it.
- It suggests that evangelism is probably a waste of time. Though I don’t know that this holds too much water, because Jesus had just sent out his 72 followers to go and evangelise.
- It suggests that we will never be able to find salvation in God unless God does some supernatural drawing and when he does, we will be saved because failure is not in God’s dictionary.
But I want to also show you another side to this coin … While there are many scriptures which say that Jesus has the ultimate say in who comes to him, there are other places in Scripture which explicitly say that our salvation depends on our decision. It is us making the choice of whether we accept Jesus or not.
Rom 2:5 – 8 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. 6 God “will give to each person according to what he has done.” 7 To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, he will give eternal life. 8 But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.
Rev 20:11- 12 Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. [You’ll be judged on what you have done, not on what Jesus has decided for you]
John 3: 16-18 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Rom 10:11-13 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
This is confusing isn’t it. Some passages say that Jesus chooses who is saved. Some passages say that we choose for ourselves. Some passages like John 6 have both teachings in them in. Which is right? To our minds they say the opposite things and both can’t be right. What is the go here?
I want to say up front here 3 things …
First I want to state explicitly that I believe that God is sovereign. God does choose those who will respond positively to him. He has a grand master plan which we are part of. Not only does he have a plan, but he has the power to bring it about in what ever way he chooses. God is above all and entitled to therefore control all things and make decisions for all things. I don’t fear that because God is good, he is just and he is loving. His decisions will be made in this context. David the psalmist says … “The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made.” (Ps 145:17)
Secondly, I want to state explicitly that I believe Man has a free will and that each of us have a responsibility to respond positively to Jesus. For some inexplicable reason. God has chosen to “incorporate human freedom and responsibility into His all-inclusive plan. Even though the Lord is in sovereign control of the details in His creation, He never forces any man to do anything against his will. The fact that He judges sin means that He is not responsible for the commission of the sins He judges. When a person sins it is because he has freely chosen to do so. Similarly, when someone is confronted with the terms of the gospel, he can freely choose to accept or reject Christ’s offer of forgiveness of sins.” (Boa)
Thirdly, I want to state that how these 2 seemingly opposite positions work together is impossible for us to understand. We will never reconcile these seemingly opposite facts. People down through the centuries have debated which is the correct interpretation and we have accounts of so many fights and arguments that it is not funny. I firmly believe that this is one of those instances where we don’t have a big enough brain to work it out and if you think you can, you are too puffed up with your ego to recognise the truth.
I believe that, while this all seems to be an impossible quandary in our small minds, it is not complex, contradictory or even confusing to God. We need to be prepared to accept both points of view and to leave them in tension. I think to God it is just two sides of the same coin or two sides of one gate as someone has put it. Someone has said that the differences in these two viewpoints maybe because the Bible is describing the events from 2 different viewpoints …. A person standing outside the “gate of heaven” sees the inscription “Whosoever will may come!” Passing through and looking back he sees written on the other side, “Chosen before the foundation of the world!”
I don’t think we can resolve this quandary here tonight and I certainly haven’t set out to try to do that. I believe we need to be prepared to live with this tension and maybe one day when we come face to face with Jesus, he can explain the details of how they worked together.
S5 - Jesus wants to reveal his power and his Father to all who truly seek him. We need to be followers (who act not just sing) and seekers
What I do know however, without doubt, is that even in this passage here, Jesus commissioned his followers to go and reach others for Christ so that they might make a decision for him and come to know the truth about the Kingdom of God. Those that Jesus chose, he revealed the secrets of the Kingdom of God to and people were radically changed. People were saved as Jesus drew them to himself and revealed God to them.
I believe with all my heart that Jesus wants to reveal his secrets to each of us here tonight.
Firstly, he wants to reveal God to us and to draw us to himself so that we can make a decision to follow him. Do you know about God tonight? You are here in this building because God by his spirit has drawn you here – it is no accident. If you have not accepted him as your Lord and Saviour, he is calling, drawing, imploring you to do so. It is the only way to obtain power over death for all eternity and it is available tonight. If you want to talk to someone after the service to make sure you can rejoice that your name is written in heaven, I’ll be down the front after the service.
For those of you who already know the secret of the power over death. For those who have already accepted Jesus’ free gift of salvation, remember that Jesus is desperate that all people be given this opportunity and so has commissioned you to go and preach the good news. You go, not to convert, but to tell. Jesus through his Holy Spirit does the drawing and the conversion. He is looking for faithful followers to go and reach out as we talked about last week. Are you prepared to go so that the secret of eternal life can be revealed?
Secondly, I believe God wants to reveal to us the real source of spiritual power. It is not in any technique or in any ritual or procedure, but is in a name and a person. Real power comes through Jesus Christ and it is available to all faithful followers who step out and act on Jesus’ commission. The 72 experienced real power – a supernatural spiritual power – when they stepped out and ministered in Jesus name. That same power is available for us tonight if we want to take hold of it through obedience and faith. As you minister for him, Jesus will pour out his power into your lives. So go and start ministering – reaching out to others and be surprised at the results like the 72 followers were.
God has secrets which he wants to reveal to you. Are you willing to accept these revelations by obeying his call on your life? “I’m in the know – are you?”
