Fulfilled - Part 4

The heart cannot love what the mind does not know.
- Jen Wilkin, Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible with Both Our Hearts and Our Minds

Second Sunday of Advent 

Since the second century AD, Christians have been celebrating the Advent season.  The term Advent is derived from the Latin term advio meaning "coming to."  It is here that we celebrate Christ's first coming into the world to pay for our sins by His sacrificial death on the cross.  He came to Bethlehem to lead us in humility as a fulfillment of His Word.  This was the hope of the Old Testament community.  We now eagerly anticipate Jesus' second coming, according to His same word, Christ's return after His victorious resurrection from the dead and ascension to the right hand of the Father. 

"The birth of Christ is the central event in the history of the earth -- the very thing the whole story has been about."
- C.S. Lewis

Micah means "Who is like Jehovah?"

While Isaiah was a nobleman who ministered in the king's court, Micah prophesied to the common people under the reign of kings who ruled from 752 to 697 BC.  Micah ministered in the southern kingdom of Judah speaking out strongly against immorality, social injustices and the oppression of the poor by the rich.  Who is like Jehovah who comes to both poor and the rich, the weak and the strong, the established and displaced to lead them all in humility to His great salvation?

Headship

What is an area that you need to submit in a fresh way to Christ's headship in your life?

Humility

What is an area that you can begin expressing a greater level of humility to those who surround you?  

Apologetic: Fulfilled is the place of Christ's birth - Bethlehem.  God is sovereign in taking world events to fulfill His purposes (Luke 2). 

Prophecy

Micah 5:1-6 (2,4-5)
Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace. When the Assyrian comes into our land and treads in our palaces, then we will raise against him seven shepherds and eight princes of men; they shall shepherd the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nimrod at its entrances; and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he comes into our land and treads within our border.

Continuing the theme of the Messiah coming as the Davidic king who would rule the earth, the Messiah comes from Bethlehem, a town located five miles south of Jerusalem.  It is the town of Jesse and his sons (Isaiah 11), most notably King David foreshadowing the Christ.

Jesus is the Messiah, the divine, eternal being "from ancient days." 

Jesus came to rule, but He came in humility of heart.  Therefore it is a joy to both trust, follow and obey Him. 

"Beware of posing as a proud person; God became a baby."
-Oswald Chambers

Fulfillment

Matthew 2:1-12 
Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’” Then Herod summoned the wise men secretly and ascertained from them what time the star had appeared. And he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, “Go and search diligently for the child, and when you have found him, bring me word, that I too may come and worship him.” After listening to the king, they went on their way. And behold, the star that they had seen when it rose went before them until it came to rest over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way.

Headship

What is an area that you need to submit in a fresh way to Christ's headship in your life?

Humility

In what way do you need to submit to godly counsel in your life reflecting Christ's humility?

"BLESSED Lord, who hast caused all holy Scriptures to be written for our learning: Grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that by patience and comfort of thy holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen." - From the Book of Common Prayer (1662) used in Anglican services for the second Sunday of Advent

Second City Church- Fulfilled Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Fulfilled - Part 3

The Messenger and the Message

Righteous Judgements

We have a deep need and desire for what is wicked to be called evil and what is righteous to be called right. 

Malachi 2:17-3:5
You have wearied the Lord with your words. But you say, “How have we wearied him?” By saying, “Everyone who does evil is good in the sight of the Lord, and he delights in them.” Or by asking, “Where is the God of justice?” “Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts. But who can endure the day of his coming, and who can stand when he appears? For he is like a refiner's fire and like fullers' soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, and they will bring offerings in righteousness to the Lord. Then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasing to the Lord as in the days of old and as in former years. “Then I will draw near to you for judgment. I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, against those who swear falsely, against those who oppress the hired worker in his wages, the widow and the fatherless, against those who thrust aside the sojourner, and do not fear me, says the Lord of hosts.

“A child of the light confesses instantly and stands bared before God; a child of the darkness says, 'Oh, I can explain that away.” 
- Oswald Chambers

The Advent season enables us to slow down, focus and place Christ in His rightful place. The refiner's fire separates the dross from the pure gold.  The impurities, the things that we've clung to and in which we've found our identity outside of Christ (i.e. - career, relationships, money, beauty, health, comforts) are removed whether through preaching or circumstance so that Jesus might be at the center again and forever.  

John 7:7
The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify about it that its works are evil.
-Jesus

“Satan does not tempt us to do wrong things; he tempts us in order to make us lose what God has put into us by regeneration, viz., the possibility of being of value to God. He does not come on the line of tempting us to sin, but on the line of shifting the point of view, and only the Spirit of God can detect this as a temptation of the devil.” 
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Traditional Updated Edition

Matthew 5:13-16
“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. 14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Isaiah 40:3-8 
A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” A voice says, “Cry!” And I said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord blows on it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.

John the Baptist came as the prophesied messenger and forerunner to Jesus who would prepare the way for Christ's redemptive work.  

Redemption

Redemption came for Elizabeth and Zechariah who had served the Lord blamelessly for many years but remained barren until the birth of John the Baptist.  Redemption came for the line of Judah who had a family history of both wicked and good kings who would all lead to the perfect Christ.  

Luke 1:67-79
And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old, that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

Rest

"It is not repentance that saves me, repentance is the sign that I realize what God has done in Christ Jesus."
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

It is through the cross of Christ that we experience God's grace.  It is through His death, burial and resurrection that we truly enter into rest. 

ALMIGHTY God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness, and put upon us the armour of light, now in the time of this mortal life, in which thy Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility; that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious Majesty, to judge both the quick and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal; through him who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, now and ever. Amen.
From the Book of Common Prayer (1662) used in Anglican services for the first Sunday of Advent

Second City Church- Fulfilled Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Fulfilled - Part 2

The prophet Isaiah ministered over 40 years (740-697 BC) spanning the rule of the four Judean kings Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.  As suggested by his comfort in the presence of these kings and the richness of his vocabulary, Isaiah was thought to be an educated, cultured nobleman, the son of a prince of Judah.  During the reigns of Uzziah and Jotham, there was relative peace and prosperity in the kingdom.  Yet along with his contemporaries Hosea, Micah and Amos, Isaiah spoke continually of the spiritual destitution of the people.  Tradition has it that Isaiah was eventually sawed in two because of his ministry during the reign of King Manasseh. 

By the time of Isaiah's writing, Israel's kingdom had been split in two, into a Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah where worship was still conducted at the temple in Jerusalem.  

In a divided land, we need 3 things that the Messiah came to fulfill - 

An example of perfect, unadulterated worship, wisdom in how to serve God, and a king who would rally for, teach to, go to and win the war for those He came to liberate. 

Worship (Discipleship - an example to follow)

We deeply desire and need a perfect example to follow in the true worship of the one true God.

The Israelites of the North had long ago assimilated into the culture of the surrounding nations, defiling themselves with the worship of foreign gods in foreign ways.  Judah would not be far behind. 

Isaiah 11:1-10
There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear, but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat, and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together; and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze; their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.

What this means for us today: Jesus did not come to abolish the law but to fulfill it.  

Matthew 5:17-20
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.  Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Whatever has been fulfilled in Christ is finished (i.e. - His sacrifice of atonement, etc.) and is not to be replicated.  However, it is our daily obedience to the law given by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8) that constitutes as worship in the spirit of the law.  It is, for example, the fruit of the Holy Spirit in our interaction with others, our preaching, our giving, our service, our coming, going and staying in the places God has called us to be that has not been fulfilled in Christ.  It is obedience to these things previously mandated in the law that are our worship to God today.  

This is where wisdom resides. 

Wisdom

We deeply desire and need wisdom that will enable us to follow God successfully as we walk in the fear of the Lord.  Jesus spoke with the unadulterated wisdom that leads us to the fear of the Lord and to the glorious resting place of His gospel. 

“When looking back on the lives of men and women of God, the tendency is to say, “What wonderfully keen and intelligent wisdom they had, and how perfectly they understood all that God wanted!” But the keen and intelligent mind behind them was the mind of God, not human wisdom at all. We give credit to human wisdom when we should give credit to the divine guidance of God being exhibited through childlike people who were “foolish” enough to trust God’s wisdom and His supernatural equipment.”
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Traditional Updated Edition

"The messianic expectations in the Jewish and Christian faiths are traced back to God's covenant with King David (II Samuel 7) and the aftermath of exile and cessation of the Davidic dynasty.  Hope arose that God would someday restore a godly king to Israel.  Some of Israel's prophets foretold the coming of a regal Davidic descendant, and their descriptions seem to portray him as far more than a mere mortal.  Isaiah foretold the coming of a "child" and "son" who "will be named Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace," and whose kingdom will never end (Isaiah 9:6-7).  Again, Isaiah prophesied the coming of a Branch of David, on whom the Spirit of God will rest, who will rule the earth with justice and equity (Isaiah 11:1-5).  Descriptions such as these hinted that the coming anointed one, the Messiah, would be God Himself."
- Craig A. Evans

War (That leads to rest)

We deeply desire and need a champion who will fight for us and win battles that we can not win for ourselves.  Saul was the first such king, rallying the Israelites to the defeat of the Ammonites (I Samuel 11); Jesus is our greatest, the king of kings and Lord of lords. 

Jesus is the shoot from the stump of Jesse, reassuming and resuming the Davidic kingship. By the time of Jesus' appearing, David's great royal line had been whittled down. Instead of King David's prominence, the Messiah would come out of Jesse's obscurity. 

Matthew 1:1-16
The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram, and Ram the father of Amminadab, and Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of David the king. And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph, and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ.

These kings were charged to both protect and preserve the freedom that God provided for them in the promised land.  

Exodus 15:1-3
Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying, “I will sing to the Lord , for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him. The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name.

“To live a remote, retired, secluded life is the antipodes of spirituality as Jesus Christ taught it. The test of our spirituality comes when we come up against injustice and meanness and ingratitude and turmoil, all of which have the tendency to make us spiritual sluggards.” 
- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest: Traditional Updated Edition

The Messiah who was to come is the Davidic king who would fight for our freedom.  This would ultimately be accomplished through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross to make war against sin and death triumphing over them through His victorious resurrection from the dead.  Turn away from sin and believe the good news. Come to Him now to be fulfilled in worship, wisdom and war for your forgiveness and freedom that has already been won.  

Second City Church- Fulfilled Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Fulfilled - Part 1

Jesus is the fulfillment not only of Messianic prophecy but each of the prophecies point to how Christ is a fulfillment of the deepest seeded God-given desires and needs in our lives.  

Kindness

The Hebrew word channuwn is gracious which means abounding in compassion.

We give thanks to God because of His continued kindnesses towards us. 

Psalm 145:8-21
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your  mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] The Lord  upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord  preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

We give God thanks for the ways that He's continually provided for us, whether we've known Him or not. 

Provision

One of the most enduring pictures of God's kindness towards His people is His provision of bread from heaven, manna, with which He fed them their forty years wandering in the desert. 

John 6:22-40
On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

Jesus is the original "Chicken Soup for the Soul."

Jesus is our great provision being the bread of life in everyday life. 

Mercy

Though God is kind, His wrath still had to be satisfied through the cross of Jesus Christ. His mercy was most clearly expressed in offering eternal life to those who did not deserve it.  He withheld His anger from the children of men and women and put it on His own Son, Jesus Christ, as a righteous, blameless sacrifice for our sins.  Jesus was our great provision in that He fulfilled the hunger and thirsting of our present day souls.  He also, through the cross, provided eternal life through His death, burial and resurrection that we might not hunger or thirst forevermore.

Psalm 145:8-21
The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. The Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, O Lord, and all your saints shall bless you! They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power, to make known to the children of man your  mighty deeds, and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and your dominion endures throughout all generations. [The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.] The Lord  upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand; you satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works. The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them. The Lord  preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Second City Church- Fulfilled Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Grow - Part 5

Grow in Eternal Focus

During Paul's ministry in Philippi, he was jailed with his ministry partner Silas, after shaking up the area's economy by driving an unclean spirit of divination out of a servant girl.  Here in the prison, Paul and Silas continued to worship God through hymns, minister and see people saved, even in the midst of their hardship.  What was it that could give them such a resilience?  Having met the resurrected Christ, Paul was also able to remember the words spoken by Moses, the man of God.  

Psalm 90:1-17
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers. For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

The great challenge of youth is remembering its end. 

10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman 
The sun comes up, it’s a new day dawning
It’s time to sing Your song again
Whatever may pass and whatever lies before me
Let me be singing when the evening comes
Bless the Lord

Bless the Lord
Oh my soul, oh my soul
Worship His holy name

Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

You’re rich in love
And You’re slow to anger
Your name is great
And Your heart is kind
For all Your goodness
I will keep on singing
10,000 Reasons for my heart to find

Bless the Lord, oh my soul
Bless the Lord
Oh my soul, oh my soul
Worship His holy name

Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

Sing my soul, sing my soul
Bless the Lord
Oh my soul, oh my soul
Worship His holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I’ll worship Your holy name

And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
10,000 Years and then forever more

Bless the Lord
Bless the Lord
Oh my soul, oh my soul
Worship His holy name (For all Your Goodness)
Sing like never before
Oh my soul

I’ll worship Your holy name
I’ll worship Your holy name
I’ll worship Your holy name

Ecclesiastes 7:1-8 
A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of birth. It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart. Sorrow is better than laughter, for by sadness of face the heart is made glad. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. It is better for a man to hear the rebuke of the wise than to hear the song of fools. For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fools; this also is vanity. Surely oppression drives the wise into madness, and a bribe corrupts the heart. Better is the end of a thing than its beginning, and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.

Grow in Sharing the Good News

What do we do when we live with this reality in mind? 

1. Mystery - Walk in the fear/reverence of the Lord. 
2. Margin - Ask Him to teach us to number our days that we might gain a heart of wisdom.
   Give yourself to the most important things in life - God, family, and service.
3. Ministry - We no longer live for ourselves but for Him who for our sake died and was raised, to know Him and make Him known. 

In Acts 18, after leaving the cities of Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens, we see him move to minister in the city of Corinth in the region of Achaia.  

2 Corinthians 5:1-21
For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always of good courage. We know that while we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Yes, we are of good courage, and we would rather be away from the body and at home with the Lord. So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.  The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

For those steeped in a humanistic and naturalistic worldview, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ (Romans 10).  There is no way for anyone to put their trust in Him to whom they've not been properly exposed. Let the love of God compel us to give them this exposure, leading them to the cross, forgiveness and redemption of Jesus Christ. 

Second City Church- Grow Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Grow - Part 4

Grow in Practical Faith

Philippians 4:1-9
Therefore, my brothers, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm thus in the Lord, my beloved. I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to agree in the Lord. Yes, I ask you also, true companion, help these women, who have labored side by side with me in the gospel together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the book of life. Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.

Grow in the Ways of the Lord

Philippians 4:10-23
I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Yet it was kind of you to share my trouble. And you Philippians yourselves know that in the beginning of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church entered into partnership with me in giving and receiving, except you only. Even in Thessalonica you sent me help for my needs once and again. Not that I seek the gift, but I seek the fruit that increases to your credit. I have received full payment, and more. I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God. And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen. Greet every saint in Christ Jesus. The brothers who are with me greet you. All the saints greet you, especially those of Caesar's household. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Acts 18:1-5 (NIV)
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.

Romans 16:1-20
I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church in Cenchreae. I ask you to receive her in the Lord in a way worthy of his people and to give her any help she may need from you, for she has been the benefactor of many people, including me. Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my co-workers in Christ Jesus. They risked their lives for me. Not only I but all the churches of the Gentiles are grateful to them. Greet also the church that meets at their house. Greet my dear friend Epenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in the province of Asia. Greet Mary, who worked very hard for you. Greet Andronicus and Junia, my fellow Jews who have been in prison with me. They are outstanding among the apostles, and they were in Christ before I was. Greet Ampliatus, my dear friend in the Lord. Greet Urbanus, our co-worker in Christ, and my dear friend Stachys. Greet Apelles, whose fidelity to Christ has stood the test. Greet those who belong to the household of Aristobulus. Greet Herodion, my fellow Jew. Greet those in the household of Narcissus who are in the Lord. Greet Tryphena and Tryphosa, those women who work hard in the Lord. Greet my dear friend Persis, another woman who has worked very hard in the Lord. Greet Rufus, chosen in the Lord, and his mother, who has been a mother to me, too. Greet Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas and the other brothers and sisters with them. Greet Philologus, Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas and all the Lord’s people who are with them. Greet one another with a holy kiss. All the churches of Christ send greetings. I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Second City Church- Grow Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Grow - Part 3

Grow in Christ-Centered Identity

Philippians 3:1-11
Finally, my brothers,  rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things to you is no trouble to me and is safe for you. Look out for the dogs, look out for the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh. For we are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Identity theft has affected millions of people.  It can involve a rigorous process to restore your identity when it's been stolen. 

What is it, like Paul that you've placed your identity in rather than Jesus?

Is it your career?  
Is it your financial stability?  
Is it your looks?  
Is it your talents?  
Is it your kids?
Is it your spouse?
Is it your sense of calling?  

You need to be able to stand in love for the Lord if any of these things were taken from you, because they can be.  What can not be taken or shaken is the love the Lord has for you and your inheritance in Him as you build your identity in the eternal, redemptive narrative of the gospel. 

Grow in the Call of God

Philippians 3:12-21
Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us. For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

Second City Church- Grow Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Grow - Part 2

Grow in Showing Honor

Philippians 2:1-11
So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,  being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Grow in Character

Philippians 2:12-18
Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Do all things without grumbling or disputing, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain. Even if I am to be poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrificial offering of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with you all. Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.

2 Timothy 2:1-7
You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men,  who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

John 13:27-30
Then after he had taken the morsel, Satan entered into him. Jesus said to him, “What you are going to do, do quickly.” Now no one at the table knew why he said this to him. Some thought that, because Judas had the moneybag, Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the feast,” or that he should give something to the poor. So, after receiving the morsel of bread, he immediately went out. And it was night.

Psalm 106:24-27
Then they despised the pleasant land, having no faith in his promise. They murmured in their tents, and did not obey the voice of the Lord. Therefore he raised his hand and swore to them that he would make them fall in the wilderness, and would make their offspring fall among the nations, scattering them among the lands.

Grow in Loyalty

Philippians 2:19-30
I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, so that I too may be cheered by news of you. For I have no one like him, who will be genuinely concerned for your welfare. For they all seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. But you know Timothy's  proven worth, how as a son with a father he has served with me in the gospel. I hope therefore to send him just as soon as I see how it will go with me, and I trust in the Lord that shortly I myself will come also. I have thought it necessary to send to you Epaphroditus my brother and fellow worker and fellow soldier, and your messenger and minister to my need, for he has been longing for you all and has been distressed because you heard that he was ill. Indeed he was ill, near to death. But God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow. I am the more eager to send him, therefore, that you may rejoice at seeing him again, and that I may be less anxious. So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.

Second City Church- Grow Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Grow - Part 1

Grow in Partnership

Philippians 1:1-11
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. It is right for me to feel this way about you all, because I hold you in my heart, for you are all partakers with me of grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how I yearn for you all with the affection of Christ Jesus. And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Grow in Perspective

Philippians 1:12-20
I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear. Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death.

Grow in Perseverance

Philippians 1:21-30
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Second City Church- Grow Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Gifted - Part 3 - Gifted for Glory

I believe God wants to fill this church with His glory, with His goodness, creating spiritual growth and life transformation.

Gifted for Glory - Guest Speaker Pastor Reggie Roberson

Ephesians 3:20-21
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

When the church is glorified the goodness of God is revealed throughout the earth which means the earth becomes a better place.  How many you think we could use better on our planet?  Shootings in Las Vegas, ethnic tension, political upheavals, personal challenges -we need the goodness of God.

Right after Paul makes the statement about glory in the church and in Christ Jesus we find…

Ephesians 4:1-13 NIV
“Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, in all, and living through all. However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. That is why the Scriptures say, “When he ascended to the heights, he led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to his people.” Notice that it says “he ascended.” This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. And the same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens, so that he might fill the entire universe with himself. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”

Main thought: God’s glory fills the church when each one of us actively uses our God given gifts.

I have 3 thoughts related to our main point:

1. Godly character and unity makes gifts well received.
2. Jesus paid the price to give every believer a gift.
3. God's gifts are to help the church grow. 

Godly character and unity makes gifts well-received v. 1-6

It’s like eating lettuce at a restaurant (Mexican). It looks delicious but when you bite into it feels like you are eating rocks.  (Something tastes bad and you keep tasting it out disbelief. You even pass it over to others). 

Have you ever known anyone who was incredibly gifted but just had really bad character?   How many of you think you would enjoy working with someone like that?  

It’s a poorly wrapped gift. 

If a person does not have character or does not seek unity they are like that lettuce I ate or a poorly wrapped gift. 

●      People will tolerate them and eventually, no one will want to work with or be around them, him or her.

●      Even more dangerous, they will build something up with his or her gift and tear it all down with their character.

Godly character can be summed up in these verses as love and unity. Love is humble, gentle, patient, forgiving, peacemaking. Unity is when we gladly make concessions and are inconvenienced to be with each other because we are focused on Jesus and not ourselves.  Complaining, gossiping, and having a critical attitude is not going to release the glory of God in this spiritual community. 

Love and unity will. Love and unity is what makes our gifts well received. 

God is pleased with love and unity. 

Love and unity will make a gift effective and powerful in helping other people. (Helpful Help).  Love and unity come from focusing on Jesus and making him a priority in your life! That is what this scripture is saying.

Let godly character and seeking unity be the foundation of your gifts.
 

Jesus paid the price to give every believer a gift (v. 7-11).

 In our main text Paul applies Psalm 68:18 to the life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Christ where He is pictured winning a war, taking spoils, and distributing gifts to His people.  Paul’s says that Christ gave people as gifts -apostles, prophets, evangelist, pastors or shepherds and teachers.  In his letter to the Corinthians, which you have been reading, Paul expands the list saying God has appointed people as gifts in the church.  As we read through this list I want to ask, what is your appointment or function? 

1 Corinthians 12:28

Apostles

Prophets

Teachers/shepherds

Miracle workers/evangelists

Gifts of healing

Helpers

Administrators

Various kinds of tongues speakers

You may be asking how do I know which one I have? Your gift is whatever you do well with that benefits others but doesn’t require a massive amount of effort. You do it with ease. (Admin-Eric; Leah; Rollan and B- leadership, Cole- pastoring, my wife- creativity & communication) 

Ways you discover your gifts that Jesus gave you are:

●      Prayer: Since He made you He knows better than anyone else what is your purpose. Acknowledging God and inviting Him into your life through prayer is a vital piece to discover your gifts.

●      Building Christ centered relationships: Gifts are identified and called out by our brothers and sisters in Christ.  (As student being called a prophet)

●      Assessments that help you to understand your personality, leadership style, and spiritual gifts. 

●      Serving: When I am sharing about gifts I always get questions about what is my gift.  Do I have healing?  Have you ever prayed for healing?  I watched Rollan and B’s gifts emerge as they served the church and our campus ministry.

Make every effort you can to figure out what gifts Jesus gave you since He paid the price for your gift.  

God's gifts are to help the church grow. (v. 11-13).

God’s gifts are categorized into two types that help the church or body of Christ to grow.  There are equippers; apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers.  There are ministers; people serving in the church and through the church to show God’s goodness to the community.  The Fisher's and Parleir’s are equippers; guess what you are?  Ministers! What this reveals is that every person is actively using the gifts Jesus purchased for them with His blood, with godly character, to build or grow the church.  There is no one hidden in the dugout. There is no one on the bench.  The bench is all the people who are in heaven. That's right. Hebrews 12:1 tells us. Everyone is playing his or her part. 

That happens when we do life together, strategize together, and pray together. We learn and serve together.  It also happens when you have support, encouragement, and accountability from other believers and church leaders as you use your gifts in the community and at your workplace. 

Let me summarize what I’ve said.

God’s glory fills the church when each one of us actively uses our God given gifts.
If we recognize the gifts Jesus paid for through His blood, if we have godly character and seek unity, if we use them to grow the church, then the glory of God, His goodness, will fill this church to produce spiritual growth and life transformation. 

Second City Church- Gifted Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Gifted - Part 2

I Corinthians 13:1
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Gifts are the tools that God gives us to build His kingdom with supernatural grace.  

Love is the way that these gifts are to be administered.

Don't Be Fooled

I Corinthians 12:31
But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

The higher gifts are those that build up others in love.  As an example, Paul teaches about the gift of tongues, which God gives you as a prayer language to build yourself up, unless there is an interpretation so that others may be edified (I Corinthians 14:1-5).

The gifts of God can cause us to be a distraction if used improperly.  A resounding gong or a clanging cymbal are distractions unless they are played in harmony with the rest of the orchestra.  You need to be unified with your local church and find ways to play in concert.  When used properly, these instruments were effective in times of war to call people to arms.

The gifts of God can cause us to think that we are something in the sight of God and man when we are not.  Love allows prophetic revelation to be utilized for the strengthening, encouragment and comfort of other believers as we look to serve God together (I Corinthians 14:3).  It allows the possessor of knowledge to come as a servant to those by whom they are surrounded to engender a greater love for Jesus and others expressed through obedience to God's holy commands (I Corinthians 8:1-3).  Love motivates those with the gift of faith to roll up their sleeves in the trenches with those who need mountains moved.  Those with the gift of faith begin calling upon God faithfully in prayer, repeatedly declaring the promises of His Word and contributing to life-transforming action until the mountains of life are moved. What matters is being able to (as we did with Christ) see your "blood on the ground" - how like Christ in humble service, your life, time, resources and efforts have been utilized to directly impact others' lives through Christ's church. This is where you are transformed from a pundit into a participant in the kingdom.  

The gifts of God can cause you to think that you will have or deserve a reward that is not truly yours.  Love is the motivation through which God honors our sacrifices (Matthew 6). 

Double Down on Love

I Corinthians 13:4-6
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

If I don't have these character traits in my interaction with family members, co-workers, church family and the community on a daily basis, I am missing God and what He requires. Our focus on not just what, but how things need to be done is just as important to God. 

Don't Be Worried You Missed It

I Corinthians 13:8-13
Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

How do I know I haven't missed my chance to walk in the gifts of God?
"For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face."
"Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known."

When we meet God in judgement, as Christians it will be in the righteousness Jesus Christ made available to us through His sacrificial death on the cross and resurrection from the dead.  As now on earth we've put our faith in Christ and chosen to love Him, we will then bow humbly, seeing Jesus face to face, knowing Him fully (I Corinthians 15:50-58).  No Christian can say that they are walking with God in the body yet, able to see Him face to face (II Corinthians 5:1-10) or know Him fully at this point.  We have the Word of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit to both prepare us and strengthen us for that time to come.  

How can I discover my gifts?

1. Find an outlet for your natural skills within and through your church. 
2. Pray.  Ask God for the greater supernatural gifts that point people to the truth of Jesus' gospel and build others up in Christ.  (Come to the training for a practicum.)
3. Ask what needs to be done, not just what I want to do.  God gives gifts to meet the needs of His people, His church, His kingdom and world, not just our interests.  If you haven't found your gifts, it may be that you are not looking for the actual needs.  Don't hold out until you see where you prefer to use your skills.

I Corinthians 13:11
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.

Childish thinking causes me to think only about doing what I want, when I want, not what Mom and Dad had to do to run a household in love. 

“Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.”
- John F. Kennedy 

4. Commit to doing everything in love and God will make you aware of your gifts that will actually be useful in building His church and kingdom.

Galatians 5:6
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.

Second City Church- Gifted Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Gifted - Part 1

1 Corinthians 12 (ESV)
Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. 2 You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. 12 For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. 13 For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. 14 For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. 19 If all were a single member, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, 24 which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 27 Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. 28 And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? 31 But earnestly desire the higher gifts. And I will show you a still more excellent way.

Second City Church- Gifted Sermon Series - Rollan Fisher 2017

Guest Speaker - Charles Kiefer

Your Root Determines Your Fruit.

The Presence of God
Prayer
Possibility of a Productive Life
The Person of Jesus
The People of God
Practical Instructions

Colossians 2:6-7
6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

Colossians 1:1-2:6
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace to you and peace from God our Father. 3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints, 5 because of the hope laid up for you in heaven. Of this you have heard before in the word of the truth, the gospel, 6 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 in truth, 7 just as you learned it from Epaphras our beloved fellow servant. He is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf 8 and has made known to us your love in the Spirit. 9 And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10 so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 11 being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. 21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. 24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, 25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. 29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. 2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face, 2 that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ, 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your good order and the firmness of your faith in Christ. 6 Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,

1- Let the Word live in you richly (3:16)
2- Work as for the Lord (3:23)
3- Wrestle in prayer (4:2,12)

Second City Church: Guest Speaker - Charles Kiefer 2017

Revealed: The Names, Qualities and Character of God- Part 9

Back to Church Sunday is next week!

Jehovah-Shammah

Exodus 29:45
I will dwell among the people of Israel and will be their God.

The word used here for dwell is Shekinah, speaking of God's intimate, glorious presence among His people.  (As the good shepherd Jesus walks among and cares for His flock - Exodus 33:14-16)

Are you satisfied to have God's gifts without the presence of the Gift-Giver Himself?  

The real danger of our lives is to become content with the pursuit of God's blessings rather than His person.  This is the derivation of all human folly, suffering, and sin. 

Context of Ezekiel 

Ezekiel 48:35 
The circumference of the city shall be 18,000 cubits. And the name of the city from that time on shall be, The Lord Is There.”

Jehovah-shammah means Jehovah is there. 

In the world there is constant devastation, both natural and man-made in turmoil, ruin, misery and war.  However, in the city of Jehovah's constant presence, there is safety, tranquility, healing, security and peace.  

Psalm 126:1-6
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream. Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy; then they said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” The Lord has done great things for us; we are glad. Restore our fortunes, O Lord, like streams in the Negeb! Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. 

"Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them."
- Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience and Other Essays

Ephesians 2:11-13 
Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:14-22 
For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.

Jesus is the embodiment of the presence of the Lord with all of God's fullness dwelling in Him (Colossians 1:19).  Because of Christ's reconciliatory work on the cross, as believers, we have individually become temples of the Holy Spirit whereby God chooses to dwell (I Corinthians 3:16).  God walks among us as a people as we commit to living holy lives (II Corinthians 6:16). However, there is a greater, final fulfillment when the Lord Himself, in His glorious presence, will be both the temple and light in which the people of God dwell in uninterrupted fellowship with Jehovah (Revelation 21:22-27).

The Return of the Mack

The good news of the gospel is that a crescendo is coming in the Lord, and for this we labor even as we pray "let your Kingdom come, let your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."  

Jesus alluded to this when He said:

John 14:1-4
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.”

Revelation 21:1-8 (esp. v. 1-2)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” 

"In that beautiful city, foursquare with its precious stones, its crystal river, its delectable fruits, and tree of life with its leaves for the healing of the nations, all will be light, and love, and holiness, and worship, and joy, and safety.  There shall be no more curse, no adversary, no defilement, no sorrow, for every wicked doer shall be cut off from that city of the the Lord or Jehovah.  Then will be realized the full and final rest of of the redeemed, the Sabbath rest of creation restored.  The glory of Jehovah will be fully manifested in the Lamb that was slain.  He will be seen and known in the full meaning and beauty of the names by which he revealed Himself to man's imperfect apprehension.  And we shall join in saying "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever (Revelation 5:13)."
- Nathan Stone, Names of God

Second City Church: Revealed Sermon Series 2017

Revealed: The Names, Qualities and Character of God- Part 8

Guest speaker Matt Jones

Second City Church: Revealed Sermon Series 2017

Revealed: The Names, Qualities and Character of God- Part 7

Jehovah-Rohi
Jehovah-rohi means Jehovah my Shepherd. 

The term Ro'eh meant to feed or lead to pasture, as a shepherd does his flock.  Ro'eh is used in relationship to rulers and their people.  Ro'eh is also translated "companion" or "friend" with the idea of intimately sharing life, food and the like.  It signifies to associate with, take pleasure in and to cherish something as treasured.  Though not a direct name of God, the description is one of the most intimate and heartfelt in all of Scripture.  

Psalm 23:1-6
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

God's tireless care looking over the welfare of His people throughout the day and in sleepless nights was related in Jacob's care of Laban's sheep in the fields (Genesis 31:37-40).  God's watchful eye and constant protection even in the face of danger are depicted in David going up against the lion and the bear to protect his father's sheep (I Samuel 17:34-37).  Here, in unaided combat against the wild beasts (except for the aid of his heavenly Father), and later against Goliath, David showed himself to be resolute, resourceful and strong.  This is Jesus on the cross, and thereafter as our good shepherd, fighting for those He would redeem. 

Isaiah 40:10-11
Behold, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him. He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.

Our good shepherd is both strong and gentle.  He has both collective and individual relationship with us, calling us each by name. Thus, each of His people can say that Jehovah is my shepherd. 

Ezekiel 34:11-16 (esp. v. 15-16)
“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out. As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land. And I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the ravines, and in all the inhabited places of the country. I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land. There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.

"Shepherding does not change much in Palestine where wild beasts may descend still upon unprotected sheep and suddenly destroy them.  The Palestine shepherd lives night and day with his animals.  He establishes a degree of intimacy with them that is touching to observe.  He calls them all by their names and they, knowing his voice and hearing his only, heed.  He protects the sheep from thieves and preying animals who would devour them at night, by sleeping in the opening of the often makeshift sheepfold and they, sensing his watchfulness, fear 'no evil.'  He provides pasture and water even in the wilderness and the presence of enemies, and they, casting all their anxiety upon him, are fed.  There is a singular communion between the shepherd and his sheep which, after one has visited Palestine and observed it, makes the symbol of the good Shepherd peculiarly apt and the Twenty-third Psalm strangely moving." 
- Harriet Louise Holland Patterson in Around the Mediterranean with My Bible

John 10:1-18 (esp. v. 11-17)
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them. So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

We have now come to understand that everything the shepherd is with his sheep, our Jehovah Rohi is with us, His people.  This intimate relationship with the shepherd is the greatest privilege that the sheep have.  It is what Jesus made available to us through the cross, taking our sin and removing hostility. You do not follow or obey a voice that you do not recognize.  To know our Jehovah Rohi and His voice, as the sheep know the shepherd and his voice, we must have long, abiding and ongoing time in His presence to become familiar with His voice so that like wandering sheep we might not go astray.  Jesus is the shepherd of Isaiah 40 who gently leads those with young ones, the good shepherd of Ezekiel 34 who goes looking for the lost sheep.  It is the message of reconciliation that marks His life as He brings those He loves back home, into His fold.  The gospel is entrusted to His under-shepherds, those who've come to know Him, to do the same. 

Revelation 7:15-17
“Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

Second City Church: Revealed Sermon Series 2017

Revealed: The Names, Qualities and Character of God- Part 6

Jehovah-Tsidkenu

This term means Jehovah our righteousness.  The word tsidkenu is derived from the word tsdek and one of the most important in the Old Testament. Tsedek originally meant to be stiff or straight and signifies God's dealings with men carrying the ideas of righteousness, justification and acquittal.  As God revealed the acceptable manner of worship and the basis of our approach to Him as a holy God as Jehovah M'Kaddesh in Leviticus, as Jehovah Tsidkenu, He reveals right and just relationships among men. 

Jeremiah 23:1-8 (esp. v. 5-6)
“Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture!” declares the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who care for my people: “You have scattered my flock and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for your evil deeds, declares the Lord. Then I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ “Therefore, behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when they shall no longer say, ‘As the Lord lives who brought up the people of Israel out of the land of Egypt,’ but ‘As the Lord lives who brought up and led the offspring of the house of Israel out of the north country and out of all the countries where he had driven them.’ Then they shall dwell in their own land.”

The name of the last king of Judah before their exile to Babylon was Mattaniah (which means the gift of Jehovah), but was changed by Nebuchadnezzar to Zedekiah (which means the righteousness of Jehovah).  It was a scathing rebuke for those who had forsaken Jehovah Jireh, their provider, and thus forsook the healing that could have come from Him as Jehovah Rapha. Though the ten northern tribes of Israel had already been taken captive for over one hundred years because of their sin, those in Judah did not look to Jehovah Nissi, their banner, and were therefore plundered in war.  Without the sanctification that came from Jehovah M'Kaddesh, they no longer knew the peace of Jehovah Shalom and would inevitably lose His gifts.  

Jeremiah 33:6-26 (esp. v. 14-18)
Behold, I will bring to it health and healing, and I will heal them and reveal to them abundance of prosperity and security. I will restore the fortunes of Judah and the fortunes of Israel, and rebuild them as they were at first. I will cleanse them from all the guilt of their sin against me, and I will forgive all the guilt of their sin and rebellion against me. And this city shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and a glory before all the nations of the earth who shall hear of all the good that I do for them. They shall fear and tremble because of all the good and all the prosperity I provide for it. “Thus says the Lord: In this place of which you say, ‘It is a waste without man or beast,’ in the cities of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man or inhabitant or beast, there shall be heard again the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voices of those who sing, as they bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord: “‘Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, for the Lord is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!’ For I will restore the fortunes of the land as at first, says the Lord. “Thus says the Lord of hosts: In this place that is waste, without man or beast, and in all of its cities, there shall again be habitations of shepherds resting their flocks. In the cities of the hill country, in the cities of the Shephelah, and in the cities of the Negeb, in the land of Benjamin, the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, flocks shall again pass under the hands of the one who counts them, says the Lord. “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah. In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ “For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.” The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Thus says the Lord: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.” The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight. Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth, then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”

Through the cross, Jesus was shown to be our Jehohvah Tsidkenu, taking our sin and shame on Himself while providing the righteous covering for us that can come from God alone. 

Romans 3:9-26
What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.” Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

For our daily sustenance we need Jehovah Jireh our provider.

For the terrorist attacks in Barcelona, Spain we need our Jehovah Rophe and Jehovah Nissi, our healer and our banner.

For the White supremacist and Neo Nazi rally in VA, we need our Jehovah M'Kaddesh, our sanctifier.

For the nuclear threat out of North Korea we need our Jehovah Shalom, our peace.

In it all, because of humanity's sin, we need Jesus our Jehovah Tsidkenu turning us to repentance at the cross, and providing us with a righteousness through which we live by the power of His resurrection and new life in us! 

Hymn: I Once Was a Stranger by Robert M. McCheyne and Adoniram J. Gordon

I once was a stranger to grace and to God,
I knew not my danger, and felt not my load;
Though friends spoke in rapture of Christ on the tree,
Jehovah Tsidkenu was nothing to me.
I oft read with pleasure, to sooth or engage,
Isaiah’s wild measure and John’s simple page;
But e’en when they pictured the blood sprinkled tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu seemed nothing to me.
Like tears from the daughters of Zion that roll,
I wept when the waters went over His soul;
Yet thought not that my sins had nailed to the tree
Jehovah Tsidkenu—’twas nothing to me.
When free grace awoke me, by light from on high,
Then legal fears shook me, I trembled to die;
No refuge, no safety in self could I see—
Jehovah Tsidkenu my Savior must be.
My terrors all vanished before the sweet name;
My guilty fears banished, with boldness I came
To drink at the fountain, life giving and free—
Jehovah Tsidkenu is all things to me.

Second City Church: Revealed Sermon Series 2017

Revealed: The Names, Qualities and Character of God- Part 5

Jehovah-M'Kaddesh

Leviticus 20:7-8
Consecrate yourselves, therefore, and be holy, for I am the Lord your God. Keep my statutes and do them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.

M'Kaddesh means to sanctify, set apart, make holy.

It was used of times, like the Sabbath, and places, as in the camp of Israel, Jerusalem and the Temple.  It was applied to articles for worship and the setting apart of persons like the kings, priests and the nation of Israel (I Peter 2:9,10).  Most importantly, it was used of the Holy Spirit, the person and agent of God's santicfying work.  All things holy found their significance based on their contact with God.

To understand God is to understand that He is holy.  

An old Scottish divine wrote of God's holiness in this way: 

"It is the balance...of all the attributes of Deity. Power without holiness would degenerate into cruelty; omniscience without holiness would become craft (skill used in deceiving others); justice without holiness would degenerate into revenge; and goodness without holiness would be passionate and intemperate fondness doing mischief rather than accomplishing good."  

It is what constitutes God's fullness and perfection as opposed to the false deities that were otherwise worshiped among men. 

God's statutes were His holy commands which created the fabric of Israel's social, relational and civic lives.  It is the same today. 

1 Peter 1:13-25
Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 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.” And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's deeds, conduct yourselves with fear throughout the time of your exile, knowing that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God. Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

"Being a Christian is less about cautiously avoiding sin than about than about courageously and actively pursuing God's will."
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer 

It is the prerequisite of God's revelation as Jehovah-M'Kaddesh and our holiness that brings us into God's Shalom, His peace. 

Jehovah-Shalom

Shalom is one of the most important terms in the Old Testament and carries the meaning of wholeness and that which is full.  In the physical and material sense, it meant one's welfare.  It meant to make good, pay for, repay or make restitution.  The word is most often and appropriately translated "peace" implying the harmony of relationship or reconciliation based on the completion of a transaction, the satisfying of a debt.    Its meanings all point to the doctrine of Christ's atonement as the basis of our peace with God.  

Judges 2:6-12
When Joshua dismissed the people, the people of Israel went each to his inheritance to take possession of the land. And the people served the Lord all the days of Joshua, and all the days of the elders who outlived Joshua, who had seen all the great work that the Lord had done for Israel. And Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died at the age of 110 years. And they buried him within the boundaries of his inheritance in Timnath-heres, in the hill country of Ephraim, north of the mountain of Gaash. And all that generation also were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel. And the people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and served the Baals. And they abandoned the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt. They went after other gods, from among the gods of the peoples who were around them, and bowed down to them. And they provoked the Lord to anger.

Judges 6:1-24
The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds. For whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites and the Amalekites and the people of the East would come up against them. They would encamp against them and devour the produce of the land, as far as Gaza, and leave no sustenance in Israel and no sheep or ox or donkey. For they would come up with their livestock and their tents; they would come like locusts in number—both they and their camels could not be counted—so that they laid waste the land as they came in. And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the Lord. When the people of Israel cried out to the Lord on account of the Midianites, the Lord sent a prophet to the people of Israel. And he said to them, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: I led you up from Egypt and brought you out of the house of slavery. And I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God; you shall not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.’ But you have not obeyed my voice.” Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” And the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.” And the Lord said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.” And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me. Please do not depart from here until I come to you and bring out my present and set it before you.” And he said, “I will stay till you return.” So Gideon went into his house and prepared a young goat and unleavened cakes from an ephah of flour. The meat he put in a basket, and the broth he put in a pot, and brought them to him under the terebinth and presented them. And the angel of God said to him, “Take the meat and the unleavened cakes, and put them on this rock, and pour the broth over them.” And he did so. Then the angel of the Lord reached out the tip of the staff that was in his hand and touched the meat and the unleavened cakes. And fire sprang up from the rock and consumed the meat and the unleavened cakes. And the angel of the Lord vanished from his sight. Then Gideon perceived that he was the angel of the Lord. And Gideon said, “Alas, O Lord God! For now I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face.” But the Lord said to him, “Peace be to you. Do not fear; you shall not die.” Then Gideon built an altar there to the Lord and called it, The Lord Is Peace. To this day it still stands at Ophrah, which belongs to the Abiezrites.

The Israelites had lost their way as the people of God set apart for His purposes in the land.  They were swept away by the gross idolatries and materialism of the nations that surrounded them because they found it enough to merely live, inhabit the land and multiply rather than be set apart as holy.  They did not realize that their unity as a people and right to the land was fully intertwined with Jehovah-M'Kaddesh and His service.  The covenant was based on "if you obey, then..." promises from God (II Chronicles 15:2).  It was their mission to be examples, set apart from the corruption and abominations of the land to help turn the people of the land back to the worship of the one true God.  By failing to do so, they no longer had a right to the land and lost their purity, peace, prosperity and freedom.  

The word Shalom used by Gideon translated "peace" was translated some 170 times in the Old Testament.  It expressed the greatest measure of contentment and satisfaction in life, the deepest desire and need of the human heart.  As in the time of the judges, this peace is only found in repentance, a return to being set apart to God.  Gideon understood that in the presence of Jehovah-M'Kaddesh, the only way to fulfill His holy requirements was through the Lord who becomes our peace.  The Lord Jesus is the one who provides peace with the Father and in our lives.

Isaiah 9:1-7
But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone. You have multiplied the nation; you have increased its joy; they rejoice before you as with joy at the harvest, as they are glad when they divide the spoil. For the yoke of his burden, and the staff for his shoulder, the rod of his oppressor, you have broken as on the day of Midian. For every boot of the tramping warrior in battle tumult and every garment rolled in blood will be burned as fuel for the fire. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.

Throughout Scripture, it is clear that God desires to bring both welfare and peace to the nations (Numbers 6:26; Jeremiah 29:11; Ezekiel 33:11). 

Without the presence of Jehovah-Shalom, there is no peace in an individual's life (Isaiah 57:20-21; 59:7-8).  

Without the presence of Jehovah-Shalom, there is no peace in a nation (Isaiah 26:2-3). 

Luke 1:76-79
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

The requirements for peace with God were ultimately satisfied through the cross of Jesus Christ - His sinless sacrifice and resurrection from the dead.  He will ultimately return one day to bring God's peace, His Shalom, to His creation and all who are waiting for Him.

Romans 5:1-5
Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

Second City Church: Revealed Sermon Series 2017

Revealed: The Names, Qualities, and Character of God Pt 4

Jehovah-rophe 

Isaiah 6:9-10 
And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Exodus 15:22-27
Then Moses made Israel set out from the Red Sea, and they went into the wilderness of Shur. They went three days in the wilderness and found no water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink the water of Marah because it was bitter; therefore it was named Marah. And the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” And he cried to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a log, and he threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made for them a statute and a rule, and there he tested them, saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the Lord your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, your healer.” Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.

1 Peter 2:24-25
He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Revelation 22:1-5
Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.

Jehovah-nissi

Exodus 17:8-16
Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner, saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Romans 8:31-39
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Second City Church: Revealed Sermon Series 2017

Revealed: The Names, Qualities, and Character of God Pt 3

Adonai

Genesis 15:1-6
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

Isaiah 6:1-10
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; 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.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

Jehovah-jireh

Genesis 22:1-19
After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. On the thirdday Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together. When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.” And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven and said, “By myself I have sworn, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you, and I will surely multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and as the sand that is on the seashore. And your offspring shall possess the gate of his enemies, and in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” So Abraham returned to his young men, and they arose and went together to Beersheba. And Abraham lived at Beersheba.

John 1:29-31
The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”

Revelation 5:5-14
And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

Second City Church: Revealed Sermon Series 2017