Revelation!

Revelation – Something that’s hidden that becomes known.  We have revelations all the time.  Do you know what revelation sounds like?   It sounds like this, “I didn’t know that!”  That’s revelation – Something you didn’t know, you now know.  A while back I posted a sermon titled, “Eight Ways to Hear from God.” It’s a sermon about the different ways that God reveals something to us.  Reveal is the root word of revelation.  That’s what I want to post about today – Revelation.

Proverbs 29:18 (NKJV)
^29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.

We Need a Revelation of God

How many can understand that we need a revelation of whom God is?  Even more specifically we need a revelation of who Jesus is.  Our text tells us that “without revelation, we cast off all restraint.”  In other words, unless we have a revelation of Jesus – Anything Goes!  We will not restrain ourselves.

Here’s an example, God has delivered Israel from Egypt.  He did powerful things to cause Pharaoh to release them.  In fact, He did some of the most powerful miracles in history:  The plagues, the death of the firstborn, the paring on the Red Sea; miracles never seen again.  Even at that though, they had no revelation of God!

I understand that some things remain hidden from us:

1 Corinthians 2:9 (NKJV)
^2:9 But as it is written: "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him."

The things which God has prepared for us remain hidden.  They’re yet to be revealed – Paul calls the “mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God ordained.”

Even though Israel saw the things that God did, they seemed to not understand whom God was, or their responsibility to Him.  If they had known God; if it had been revealed to them, why did this happen?

Exodus 32:3-4 (NKJV)
^32:3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, "This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!"

They’d witnessed all of the plagues on the Egyptian people.  They’d seen what God did to rescue them at the Red Sea.  They’d experienced God’s provision in the desert.  So, how could they say, “This is your God, oh Israel, that brought you out of Egypt,” about a golden calf that they made with their own hands?  They had no revelation of God, and they reverted to the familiar gods of Egypt, and where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint:

 Exodus 32:5-6 (NKJV)
^32:5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord." ⁶ Then they rose early on the next day, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.

Aaron built an altar; he proclaimed a feast to the Lord, so everyone got up early, offered sacrifices, sat down to eat and rose up to play.  This isn’t the church picnic; they weren’t getting up to play volleyball.  That word “play” is a euphemism – a euphemism is a nice way to say something.  We do this with our kids all the time, “You need to go number one or number two?”  “Number one” and “number two” are euphemisms for…well; you know what they’re euphemisms for. “Play” in the Bible is a euphemism for sexual immorality.

False religion almost always involves sexual immorality.  Diana worship included temple prostitutes.  Molech worship was made up of sexual acts.  Even early Mormons were polygamous – many still are today!  Israel has cast off restraint – Egypt’s worship in ancient times included sexual immorality.

There is no revelation of whom God is.  This event takes place while Moses is up on the mountain, meeting with God, and receiving the Ten Commandments.  He’s been gone for a while.  He hasn’t been seen, God’s commandments haven’t been revealed.

In our society, today we seem to have this understanding that Jesus is a savior.  “He’s my Lord and Savior,” isn’t that what we say?  What’s interesting is that even though we call Him “Lord and Savior,” we treat Him only as a savior.  He died for our sin.  He forgave me – His grace.  We have that revelation of Him as a Savior.  We really think that He will always save us from our sin – no matter what.

1 John 1:9 (NKJV)
^1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is all true; He is our savior; He is faithful to forgive.  He has acted with grace; there is grace in our lives.  This has all been revealed in scripture.  The problem is that we see Him only as a Savior and we need to have a revelation of Him as Lord, too.  We need to see that Jesus is also God because if we don’t have that revelation of Him as God then we are just like the Israelites and we are in danger of casting off all restraint.

Think about this:  If you will always be forgiven, then you can do whatever you want.  If I sinned, I just have to confess it, and I’m forgiven.  That’s what Catholics do – I can live like the devil, then just go to confession and it’s over.  If you have the revelation that Jesus is Lord then you recognize His authority over your life. 

John 14:15 (NKJV)
^14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

That’s Jesus speaking, but it is also God’s word.  Here’s an Old Testament quote:

Exodus 20:6 (NKJV)
^20:6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

This is the proper revelation of Jesus:  He is Savior and Lord!

Reigniting Revelation

Throughout Israel’s history, they struggled with this.  There were warnings and judgments throughout the Old Testament because people were always turning away from God.  Very often it was the kings and leaders who led them away.  They built high places to worship false gods.  They installed Asherah poles.  They openly adopted the worship of the people God had called on them to destroy when they took possession of the Promised Land.

In Elijah’s time, the King, Ahab and his wife, Jezebel turned the people of God away to worship Baal.  They brought in Prophets of Baal. 

It was a difficult time for Israel.  They were in the midst of a great drought.  The king called the prophet of God “Troubler of Israel”.  People were hurting and many followed the king into Baal worship.

It was so bad that Elijah thought that he was the only one in all of Israel that was worshipping God.  The people had lost their revelation of God, once more.  The people had become blind to the fact that God – only God – had the power to change their circumstances.

So, he set upon a bold strategy.  He challenged the Prophets of Baal to a contest.  He told them to build an altar of sacrifice and place an offering on it, then call upon Baal to send fire and consume the sacrifice.  So they did –

1 Kings 18:26, 29 (NKJV)
^18:26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, "O Baal, hear us!" But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.
^18:29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.

They did those things and nothing happened – there was no power there.  Then Elijah did the same things and he filled pots with water and dumped them over the offering.  Look at what happened:

1 Kings 18:36-38 (NKJV)
^18:36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, "Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant and that I have done all these things at Your word. ³⁷ Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." ³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.

God sent the fire; the people saw God’s power, and the Bible says they fell on their faces and said, “The Lord, He is God!  The Lord, He is God!”  After this God changed the circumstances and brought the rain.  The judgment ended when they turned back to Him.  What thing caused them to turn back to God?  God’s power was revealed to them!  They had a new revelation of Him as God. 

Maybe you’re saying to yourself, right now, if I saw God’s power, I would believe in Him one hundred percent.  I’m not seeing it, though; my circumstances are still the same.  I believe that the problem is that you see Jesus as Savior, but not as Lord!

He doesn’t have priority over your life.  Your prayers are half-hearted if you pray at all.  You resist the authority God has placed in your life.  You have a timetable for God to do things for you. 

“I came to prayer meeting, for three weeks and nothing happened.”

“I tithed for a whole month and the windows of Heaven never opened!”

Does this sound familiar?  Moses has been gone a month, “Here are my earrings.  We need another god!”  They had a revelation of God as Savior.  He saved them in Egypt – He was a savior, but the didn’t have a revelation of Him as Lord.

Exodus 32:5 (NKJV)
^32:5 So when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow is a feast to the Lord."

The Golden Calf – They made the Lord with their own hands.  You have to be careful that you don’t try to make Jesus in your own image of Him.  You need revelation!

Revelation Comes Through Faith

When the power of God was revealed to Israel they turned back to God.  When that received revelation of God’s power. 

What did Elijah do to help them to have a revelation?  The first thing was that he had faith.  Look at boldness with which he offers the challenge.  There are four hundred fifty of them and one Elijah.  He didn’t back down in the face of that.  He even stood there and mocked them, “Maybe your god is sleeping or on a journey!”  He knew that God was going to respond.

The second thing was prayer.  He prayed “Hear me oh Lord.  Let them know that You’re God.  Let them know I’m your servant.  What a declaration of faith in prayer.

The third thing is how he prayed.  He’s not saying, “Oh, help me, help me!  I need you to do this God!  It’s all about me God!”  He prays, “Show them that You’re God!  So that Your will, will be done.  It’s not about me – It’s about You, God!”

James 4:3 (NKJV)
^4:3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

If you’re praying as if it’s all about you, you don’t have a revelation of God as Lord over your life.  Pray with faith, “God, show me whom you are!  Make yourself real to me!”  Give God authority and power over your life.  He’s Lord and Savior, not just Savior!

Our Lord and Rescuer: The Straight Skinny

I listen to a lot of preaching and I read a lot of sermons and books, and I find it surprising how much of it is on the deeper things of God:  Deep heavy theological thoughts, on obscure passages and ideas.  For the place where I’m ministering these things are too deep and complicated to get across with all the cultural and language barriers.  It’s not because people couldn't grasp it, but because I have a difficult time communicating it to them within their cultural context.  The problem is mine, not theirs.

But in reading these things I realize that the gospel was meant to be simple. It’s meant to be understood in all cultures and by all people.  The Gospel works everywhere it’s tried, but a failure to reach people is usually the fault of the communicator.  So in thinking about this today, I want to approach the Gospel with some simplicity.  The Gospel is intended to be straightforward; it’s good news. 

In the US we have a term for that, it’s called the “Straight Skinny.”  That term merely means the unembellished truth.  I’m going to tell a story that I think will illustrate the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  So here it is, the straight skinny…

In 1991 something took place that rarely happens.  Three storm fronts collided to create a situation that meteorologists referred to as the “The Perfect Storm.”  During this storm in 1991, a warm front, a cold front and a hurricane combined to create 100-foot waves, high winds and torrential rains. 

If you know anything about sailing this is a very bad time to be at sea.  However, in this storm a thirty-two foot sailing vessel, the Sartori by name, found itself in high seas.  The crew consisted of a very experienced captain and two somewhat inexperienced women.  The women became frightened as the vessel slammed its sail against the sea and then righted itself, and called the US Coast Guard, who came out in a helicopter to rescue the crew of the Sartori.

What makes this a powerful story isn't that the people needed rescue, but it was the action of the Coast Guard that’s important.  The Coast Guard dispatched a helicopter into the high winds of the hurricane.  They flew out to the Sartori, and then a lone man, called a rescue swimmer, jumped into the high winds and huge waves to evacuate the crew: A lone man swimming against the power of a hurricane and 100-foot seas. 

This man put his life at risk in order to rescue these people.  He was jumping into an extremely dangerous situation; not for himself; not for the glory or recognition, but selflessly for other people.  He was fully prepared to give his life to rescue them; he was the first into the water and the last one out.

John 15:13 (NKJV)
^15:13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.
 

We have a friend that was willing to do exactly that:  To give His life for us.  That’s what I want to declare to you today our Lord and Rescuer.

1 Timothy 1:12-15 (NKJV)
^1:12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, ¹³ although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ¹⁴ And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

God Can Use Us, Even Though

In verse 12 of our text, Paul is speaking of the trust that God has placed in him.  I am often amazed by the grace of God.  God’s gracious, Paul is a blasphemer and a persecutor, and yet God is using him.  I want you to take a moment and think about this, because we are in the same boat as Paul.  We love Jesus and we’re trying to live out his will…now.  But it wasn't always that way, was it?  At one point we were as bad as Paul.  Look at this scripture.

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 (NKJV)
^6:9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. ¹¹ And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.

That pretty much sums most of us up.  We all are at least one, if not all, of those things.  We were opposed to the will of God.  We were at enmity with God.  We were opposed to living the will of God; in fact, we were opposed to anything other than what made us feel good.  Am I right or am I wrong?

Even though we were all that, now God has entrusted us with His purpose and will on earth.  We are God’s plan for salvation for the world.  It’s up to us to draw others.  It’s up to us to lead others to Jesus.   It’s a sacred trust between God and Christians.   Maybe you’re reading this and you’re not a Christian.  Maybe you’re just here, on this website, exploring what this is all about.  Maybe you've been attending church, but you still don’t see the value in Christianity.  The value in it is right here in what Paul is saying.  Even though we have been a rebel and a sinner, God has had mercy and given us a way out of the punishment of our sin.  The sin and the filthiness are all taken away.  It’s not just that we are forgiven; the Bible tells us that the sin is removed; washed away.  We’re cleansed, we’re sanctified, (holy; literally made as saints), and we’re justified; made innocent.  God did that for us, even though.  Even though we were rebels and enemies of God, because we did those things in ignorance.  We didn't know what we were doing. 

Isn't that what Jesus said, as he looked at those who brutalized and crucified Him.  In the midst of all that he looked down from the cross at the people who were murdering Him and called out, “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing.”  Look at His words:

Luke 23:33-34a (NKJV)
^23:33 And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left. ³⁴ Then Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do."…

He said, “They don’t know what they’re doing.”  They didn't know what they were doing.  Do you think if they knew they were crucifying God that they would have done it?  That’s just like us; we don’t see our sin from God’s perspective before we have Jesus in our life.  We don’t know we’re offending God.  It just doesn't occur to us.  If we knew God was real and that we were offending the Creator of the Universe, we wouldn't do it, would we?  Some of us maybe, but most of us wouldn't want to offend the creator.  After all, we’re ignorant; we’re not crazy. 

God used Jesus in the same way the US Coast Guard uses rescue swimmers.  Think about this, rescue swimmers jump out of the relative safety of a helicopter, into the storms and troubles that others are facing, risking death, in an attempt to rescue them.  That’s what Jesus did.  He became man:  He took on the troubles and storms of life that we are facing to rescue us.  We face certain death…the Bible says we are dead in our sin.  He jumped into the world from the safety of Heaven to rescue us from certain death.

In this same storm, another man, another rescue swimmer, in the midst of another rescue died.  He disappeared into the storm and was lost at sea.  The people were rescued but the rescue swimmer died.  He gave his life for those people.  This is exactly what Jesus did.  His death rescued us:  His spilled blood was the payment for our sin, our wrong behavior.  Because of his death we are rescued; saved and then we are entrusted to be a part of the rescue of other people.  “The grace of our Lord is exceedingly abundant.

God’s Mercy is Abundant

That’s what mercy is all about.  The whole thing is amazing to me.  In the beginning of time, Adam and Eve rebelled from God.  They did the one thing He told them not to do and because of that they lost the Garden.  They lost the place that God gave them that met every one of their needs, because they chose themselves over God’s will.  That’s basically what happened.  They chose to be like God rather than to obey God.  That’s the choice that they made and it cost them the Garden.  They were kicked out.  God separated Himself from them.

The tree of life was now off limits for them.  The thing that gave eternal life was now out of reach.  We can’t have eternal life and sin at the same time.  It’s one or the other.  So they were separated from God and they were to remain separated for centuries. 

So about now you might be thinking, where’s this mercy, you've been hearing about; this exceedingly abundant mercy.  The mercy is found in the beginning, immediately after they sinned.  This is an interesting moment:

God is laying curses on them.  Eve would have pain in childbirth.  She was crested to be the mother of all, that’s what Eve means, mother of all.  But now that blessing would be the curse.  God had given Adam food, shelter, and everything he needed.  He even gave Eve to him.  Now Adam is going to have to work for it.  What was freely given before would require sweat and struggle.  There will be thorns and thistles, pain and setbacks. 

He said these things after he had cursed Satan.  What He told Satan was that an offspring of Eve would come and destroy his power.  His power was the power to lead us into hell; to keep us in the bondage of rebellion:  A slave to sin.  That’s what we all are:

John 8:34 (NKJV)
^8:34 Jesus answered them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.

We all do things that we know are wrong; even though we know we shouldn't do them we do them anyway.  We’re slaves to it.  It’s sin and we’re slaves to it.  This is what God’s mercy is all about; we didn't deserve what God did for us.  What would we do if someone did something wrong that hurt us?  We would want to get revenge.  That’s what we do when we’re angry…”It would serve them right if ______________ (fill in the blank with something horrible.)

Look at what God did.  He said, they did wrong and they hurt Me, so I will send someone to make it right.  Someone who will pay the price for what they have done. Someone to take their punishment for them, even though they hurt Me.  Someone who will go to His death so they won’t have to, just the same way that the rescue swimmer who died to rescue other people did.

In the storm, the people who were out in the in Sartori shouldn't have been there.  They’d heard about the storms converging.  They knew what was coming.  They were ignorant.  They ignored the warning, that’s ignorance.  Even though they knew all that, a rescue swimmer was sent to go in after them.  A man was sent to rescue them…even though.

That’s mercy, they didn't deserve it but a rescuer was sent for them anyway.  That’s mercy.  That’s also what God did for us.  We didn't deserve it but it was done for us, anyway…that’s God’s mercy.  What makes it exceedingly abundant mercy is the price that God paid to rescue us. 

Think about the family of the rescue swimmer who died trying to rescue those people who were out where they shouldn't have been.  Do you wonder how they felt?  “ We've lost a heroic, selfless man, because he wanted to rescue some idiots who had no business being out there in the first place.  Look what we traded for them.”  That’s what they were thinking, probably.  That’s what I would have been thinking.  Look at the price we paid for them.

Look at the price God paid for us.  Some of us though, we make that sacrifice of little value because we continue in sin. We remain ignorant of the price that was paid for us, or we neglect to help others to understand the price that was paid for them.

I was reading something on the Internet the other day that made me want to throw my computer on the floor:  Made me want to just toss it out the 10^th floor window.  Some guy, some pastor said he hates when we say things to people about their sin and the ultimate result of sin…hell.  He said we shouldn't do that.  He said we should let people just find his or her own way to God.

That goes against everything I believe as a Christian.  There was a price that was paid for that sin; a heavy price.  As a Christian I shouldn't let that price be wasted by not bringing it to people’s attention.  Otherwise, how will people know they’re doing it? 

Jesus confronted the woman at the well.  She’d been married five times and now she was shacking up with another man.  Jesus said, “Bring your husband to me.”    She’s telling him how religious she is and he says, “Bring your husband to me.”  That’s confrontation.  Jesus didn't hold back and neither should we.  They don’t know what they’re doing.  They don’t realize that it’s sin and that they will have to pay a heavy price for it.  Somebody needs to tell them, so they can escape the price.  When we continue to sin or refuse to warn others we make that price that was paid worth nothing.

What if the people who were rescued through the death of the rescue swimmer, went into the next storm, and the next, and continued to need to be rescued.  It would mean that that man gave his life for nothing.  Those people would be frivolous with the lives of those who risk it all to rescue them.  When we continue in our si,n or allow others to do the same we are being frivolous with God’s mercy and Jesus’ sacrifice.

Jesus went to the cross to free us from slavery to sin. He did it to destroy Satan’s power over mankind.  He did it to rescue us

He Saves Sinners

Finally, here’s the good news.  That what the Gospel is, that’s what I said at the very beginning of this.  Gospel literally means the good news.  So here it is:

1 Timothy 1:15 (NKJV)
^1:15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

Paul says that Jesus’ purpose was to come into the world to save sinners.  Then he says that he’s the worst of the worst:  The Chief of all sinners.  He’s saying that if Jesus can save him, He can save us, too.  You haven’t killed Christians just for being Christians, have you?  Paul did.  He stood by and consented to their death, that’s the same as throwing the stones.  God forgave him and he can forgive you.  In fact, there are many people whom we would consider to be horribly evil sinners:  Murderers and rapists.  People who have done horribly evil things and God forgave them.  

They've repented and they’re saved.  They've been given a second chance.  They are free from sin.  If they could be forgiven what would hinder you?

I talk to people sometimes and they tell me, “God can’t forgive me.”  But the Bible says that if we will confess our sin, God is faithful to forgive.  “But you don’t know what I've done, is the response.”  No I don’t, but I know what Paul has done.  I know what others have done and God forgave them.  God can forgive you as well.  That’s the good news today.  Jesus came to save sinners like you and I.  He came for us.  He’s our Lord and Rescuer.