The Significance of the Insignificant

This is a wonderful sermon of encouragement for the Christian, and hope for the lost.

2 Kings 5:1-19

This chapter starts by saying that Syria had been delivered by God through Naaman. V1 "Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper."  the word delivered means a great victory.  Quite profound..  God the LORD, Yahweh, Jehovah is in control of international politics.  It is God who grants success.  Yahweh or Jehovah is the God of the whole earth, not just Israel.  Yahweh draws near to his people but the whole earth is under God. God controls the nations.  God is involved in national events.  God is also involved in people's lives, even in little circumstances.  In this passage are several things regarding bigness, smallness and cleanness before God.

The great man with a big problem:  V1  "Now Naaman, captain of the host of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable, because by him the LORD had given deliverance unto Syria: he was also a mighty man in valour, but he was a leper."    The verse tells us of the greatness of Naaman, he was more than a captain, he is the top man in the army of Syria.. a "great man" a man of renown, he is honourable, exalted and lifted up.  He is a powerful warrior, mighty, and by him Syria had been given victories.  A national hero. But he was a leper.  Naaman was a great man but he had a big problem.  The teaching is that fame and bigness does not mean that all is well with you, that all is right and happy in your life.  

The little maid with the big answer:  V2-3  "And the Syrians had gone out by companies, and had brought away captive out of the land of Israel a little maid; and she waited on Naaman's wife.  And she said unto her mistress, Would God my lord (Naaman) were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy."  The verse emphasizes her littleness, she is the complete opposite of the greatness of Naaman.  A little girl  captive from her home, a servant girl but the rest of this chapter hinges upon her.  She is not even named.  

Bible Men: Elijah Part 1 - the Ravens and the Widow of Zarephath

1 Kings 17

When Ahab became king he did evil in the sight of the LORD. Ahab married a woman called Jezebel, which marriage was to have disastrous consequences.  Ahab worshiped and built an altar for the pagan god Baal, and made a grove and did more to provoke the LORD God of Israel to anger than all the kings of Israel that were before him. (1 Kings 16: 30-33).

In the days of King Ahab the LORD God raised up a prophet named Elijah the Tishbite who was from Gilead.  Elijah told King Ahab by the word of the LORD that there would be no rain or dew in the land for three years. (17:1) The word of the LORD came to Elijah again and told him to hide himself by the brook called Cherith, “and it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there” (V3-4) Elijah was obedient to the word of the LORD and went and dwelt by the brook.  "And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook." (V6)  Sovereign God, the Creator of the universe, is in control of all things, and even the ravens obeyed Him.  They who are scavengers and would have  eaten all for themselves,  in obedience brought to Elijah bread and meat. But after a time the brook dried up for lack of rain.  And so God, who provides for all the needs of one who believes on Him,  brought His word to Elijah again saying "Get thee to Zarephath..and dwell there: behold I have commanded a widow woman to sustain thee."(V9) The hand of God will be over this woman’s life in many ways.  Her heart has been prepared by God to receive Elijah and provide for him.  I wonder how many times in our own lives, God has prepared us for a certain person?  Proverbs 16:9 “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the Lord directeth his steps.”

Why Do Christians Live Differently?

Ephesians 5:1-10

The command for the believer is this: in the light of Christ’s sacrifice for you, be children of light, walk as children of light.  In V3-7 we see a stern warning concerning Christian duties, the warning consists of: flee foolish talking,  pointless talking, flee covetousness.  Christian duties are so important as to be an indicator of your spiritual state.  Let no man deceive you with vain words, worthless words. The person who neglects Christian duties has no part in the kingdom of God 1 John 2:4-5 “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.”

It’s your Christian duty to flee from sin.   If you do not flee from sin, you are not a Christian.   This is a major New Testament doctrine.  You cannot say you believe in Jesus and live like the world.  Christ saves us by grace and then changes us from darkness into light and now we live differently and we do what our Lord wants us to do, not to save us but because he saved us.  True salvation that changes people works out their life.  Works do not save but true salvation works.  Your submission to the Lord of glory, your obedience to God’s word is the test of your true Christianity.

Why do we do our Christian duty?  Why do we live differently as Christians.

Bible Men - John 9: The Man Born Blind

The Man Born Blind – John 9

The man born blind has an important distinction in the bible.  Unlike Bartimaeus or Nicodemus, or others that we read of, he did not come to the Lord Jesus or cry out for him, but the Lord Jesus came to him, and the man born blind was used by the Lord Jesus in a mighty way.  This healing is only in the book of John, which is the gospel that proclaims the deity of the Lord Jesus.

One day, as Jesus passed by with his disciples, he saw a man blind from his birth, and the question arose from his disciples regarding who caused his blindness? V2 “And his disciples asked him saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?”  An interesting question, for how could one sin in the womb so that he would be born blind?  But Jesus answered them V3-5 "Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.  I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

The bible says in Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" and all are in darkness, but the Lord Jesus is the light of the world - and we are to come out of darkness and into the light by believing the gospel, and receiving the Lord Jesus as our Saviour. Jesus chose to manifest his power over this man's blindness on the sabbath day, the Jews holy day, showing that he was Lord over the sabbath.

And thus speaking, Jesus V6-7 "…….spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay”  Bartimaeus called out to the Lord Jesus to heal him, and Jesus only spoke the word and Bartimaeus could see.  But in this case the blind man's eyes were covered with clay made by the Lord Jesus and lovingly placed on his eyes.  This was to require an act of obedience from the man.  He was told to "go, wash in the pool of Siloam"  he was to go to a particular place for a particular action. The man born blind went, and washed, and "came seeing".  After this, the man born blind becomes a witness for Jesus.

What is the Gospel?

Yesterday came another reminder of the brevity of life, I heard of two deaths.  Therefore I am compelled to post this very important topic called What is the Gospel? and I pray that you will read it in its entirety

What is the Gospel - 15 points

Romans 1:14-18 “I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise and to the unwise.  So as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also.  For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.  For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, the just shall live by faith.  For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;”

All your knowledge is divided into 3 categories:  1, things that are not important, 2 things that are important, 3 things that are absolutely essential.  You can live a happy life without knowing certain things.  Some things are interesting, some are useful, but they are not important that they are something  you must know.  Other things are very important that we may understanding, example: how to drive a car according to the rules of the road, how to use a chain saw's safety rules, electrical safety.. if you live a life without knowing important things, you might live a short life.

The gospel is absolutely essential not only for well being, but essential for your everlasting welfare.  If you are ignorant of the gospel for your whole life, you will be suffering the consequences one million years from now.  But if you understand the gospel but accept it and receive it and believe it, you will be receiving the benefits of the knowledge of the gospel in a million years time.

The gospel is the most important subject.  This is the knowledge that we most need..  this knowledge of the gospel is very lacking.  Not all of the gospel is preached, just the part about believing and you are forgiven.  What is the real gospel?  the biblical gospel.  You must know this because if we do not know the real gospel, how are we going to witness it to others?