Ralph preached last night on the verse from 1 Peter 2:7 looking at ‘to you who believe, He is precious’. Taking Song of Songs chapter 2 as his text, he examined ways in which Jesus is precious to us. He looked at some of the ‘I am’ names of God before thinking about Jesus being the ‘rose of Sharon and lily of the valley’ – not the biggest flowers, but flowers that have a lovely fragrance, just as Jesus has that aroma which we are to carry. (2 Cor 2:15)

Song of Songs is a passionate love story which also serves as a reminder of the intimate relationship between the church (the Bride) and Christ (the Bridegroom). It talks about the protection of God (Song of Songs 2:3, see also Ps 91:1) and also the provision of God (Song of Songs 2:4-5, see also Ps 23:5). In it, we also see how the Bridegroon is calling us into that deeper relationship with Him (see Matt 11:28) and how the responsibility for telling others about that voice which calls now rests with us.

Mark preached from John 14:6 on Sunday morning, looking at the verse ‘I am the way.’

Jesus answers a question from His disciples as He teaches them about His future destiny. They don’t understand how He can be talking about leaving them and where He is going; Thomas admits He has no idea how to get to that place! In reply, Jesus tells him ‘I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me’ – another of the ‘I am’ statements in John’s Gospel which reveal more of God’s name.

Jesus is not only an example to us, but is the way to the Father. He bridges the gap between a heavenly, holy God and sinful, earthly man. He is the ‘new and living way’ (Hebrews 10:20) by which we can come into God’s presence because He has removed the barrier between us and God. Previously, the High Priest could only enter the Holy of Holies (the symbol of God’s presence) once a year, on penalty of death. Now we have the privilege of access to God on a daily basis, because Jesus has made the way for us to come freely into God’s presence. We are declared righteous not because of our righteousness, but because of His redemptive sacrifice.

Jesus is also the way to all the blessings of God (Eph 1:3). We can, therefore, now approach the Father with boldness, reverence and thankfulness.

The link is to Jeremy Camp’s song ‘The Way’.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9q6o4sbndVE

Pursue
… chase after
… follow determinedly
…continue after
….seek, search
…track and trail
…run after
… shadow
righteousness
…right living
…rectitude
…integrity
…honour
…chivalry
godliness
…being like God
…living a life of wonder and mystery
…capable of awe
…capturing the transcendent
…otherness
faith
…steadfast trust
…unswerving hope
…quiet confidence
love
…loyal support for
…continued affirmation of
…pleasure in
…devotion to
endurance
…ability to bear
…perseverance
…patient fortitude
…steadfast strength
…gritty determination
…never-let-go attitude
gentleness
…courtesy
…consideration
…calmness under pressure
…thoughtfulness
…serenity

“Pursue righteousness: godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith.” (1 Timothy 6:11-12)

This is not easy to write in that the subject of redemptive pain can’t be explored fully in a simple blog post. But I believe it’s a topic we shouldn’t run away from.

I’m not a masochist. I don’t go looking for pain. But I do believe that pain is more useful than we would like to admit and that God can bring good out of even those things that wound us the most.

Physical pain is an ‘unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli’, the dictionary says. Most pain resolves promptly once the painful stimulus is removed and the body has healed, but sometimes pain persists despite removal of the stimulus and apparent healing of the body; and sometimes pain arises in the absence of any detectable stimulus, damage or disease. Yet there is a purpose in pain, for “it motivates withdrawal from damaging or potentially damaging situations, protection of a damaged body part while it heals, and avoidance of similar experiences in the future.” Leprosy is such a devastating disease precisely because nerves in the body which would warn us of danger (eg fire) are damaged and so the body can be hurt without the person realising it. Diabetes can result in neuropathy (nerve damage)that can lead to amputation of limbs. I have to have my feet tickled once a year to check that the nerves there are still functioning!

None of us really like pain, though, and seek to avoid it, whether that’s physical pain or emotional pain. We are often happy to settle for anaesthesia rather than long-term solutions, though. I’m grateful for anaesthetics (especially when you have to have an operation!), but I’m aware also that my sinful heart seeks to cover up the true reasons for pain at times, especially emotional pain.

Rich Mullins, an artist I admire greatly, struggled greatly with feelings of loneliness and isolation for much of his life – emotional pain that may not be visible to the outside world but which can be agonising, nonetheless. From this position, however, he wrote the song “The Agony and the Glory”:

“Would you make a wish tonight if you saw a falling star?
Would you like for happiness to shower right down where you are?
Could be the things we have to suffer become the way to find the other.

Oh, we’ve got to live with the agony and the glory
With the pain and joy we can learn to rejoice and embrace both sides of the story
Not a single moment goes to waste if it works to make you holy
Let the Spirit have His way with you through the agony and the glory.

When you say your prayers tonight, what will you ask the Lord to do?
Do you want your pleasure now, or do you want His will for you?
We can’t escape from all the tensions, why not embrace His glory and them?

Oh, we’ve got to live with the agony and the glory
Through the pain and joy we can learn to rejoice and embrace both sides of the story
Not a single moment goes to waste if it works to make you holy
Let the Spirit have His way with you through the agony and the glory.

We give thanks for the sun, we give thanks for the rain
He is Lord of them all, all the joy and the pain.”
(Rich Mullins, ‘The Agony and the Glory’)

I think what’s important for us to understand (and this links in to the ongoing need for surrender to God) is that God works for the good of those who love Him, no matter what. Even in agony, even in pain, God is there. We so often want the ‘quick fix’, the ‘easy solution’. We so often want other people to be the solution: a friend to love us, a spouse who will alleviate our loneliness, and then we wonder why relationships break under the strains of impossible expectations. We fail to understand that the ache in our hearts can only be healed by God. It’s only when we stop trying to run away from the pain and come before God that we can find some measure of peace. We need a long-term perspective, not a demanding attitude that God fix things in the way we deem best.

“For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Cor 4:17)

May we have the courage to invite God into our pain and allow Him to bring from the agony the ‘eternal glory that far outweighs’ all our suffering.

Never suppose for a moment that preachers are simply telling other people what to do. The scariest thing about preaching is that the truths you say aloud are those which definitely cause your own heart to beat that little bit more quickly. There’s never any sense of superiority in preaching, in my experience: more a terrifying humility, because you know the truth of James’s words: “Not many of you should become teachers, my fellow believers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly.” (James 3:1) If that doesn’t scare you, I don’t know what will!

So I have been wrestling long and hard with the simple words of the Apostles’ Creed “I believe in Jesus Christ… our Lord.” Such simple words. The Lordship of Christ is not a difficult concept to understand at all. There are loads of things in the Bible that I don’t understand, but what I find even more frightening than that are the things I do understand but find so hard to do!

Surrendering ownership of our lives is one of those things. The Bible studies on Romans have been showing us Paul’s inexorable logic in arriving at the conclusion he does in Romans 12:1. In view of God’s mercy, grace and love, the logical and reasonable conclusion is for us to offer ourselves – our whole lives, our feelings, emotions, will, mind, money, belongings, jobs, relationships, the whole job lot – to God as living sacrifices. Not hard to understand. But not always easy to do.

As always, I find others can capture the questions and yearning of my heart so much better than I can.

“If You washed away my vanity
If You took away my words
If all my world was swept away
Would You be enough for me?
Would my beating heart still sing?

If I lost it all
Would my hands stay lifted
To the God who gives and takes away?
If You take it all
This life You’ve given
Still my heart will sing to You

When my life is not what I expected
The plans I made have failed
When there’s nothing left to steal me away
Will You be enough for me?
Will my broken heart still sing?

Even if You take it all away
You’ll never let me go
Take it all away
But I still know
That I’m Yours
I’m still Yours” (Kutless, ‘I’m Still Yours’)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVyAMvx4PdQ

No matter what happens, we make the choice – at times with tears streaming or through gritted teeth – to surrender our lives and find that God is more than enough to meet every need.

Dave preached from Luke 23:32-43 last night, looking at the salvation of the penitent thief. Initially he considered the many ironies of Calvary:
1) how Jesus was mocked there by those who said He could not even save Himself and yet He actually saved the thief (and the world) precisely because He did not save Himself
2) how Jesus was ridiculed by those around Him who mocked Him in calling Him a king, clearly not believing this, and yet in actual fact He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords
3) how the blasphemers accused the one being blasphemed of blasphemy
4) how Jesus was cursed by his enemies but actually became God’s curse for us, cursed by His loving Father
5) how Jesus gives life and is the life, but actually had to die to bring us life.

There were actually two thieves crucified along with Jesus, and the accounts of the Crucifixion given in Matthew and Mark tell us that both joined in the blasphemy and mockery of the soldiers and crowds. Luke, however, shows us that one of them is affected by all He witnesses as Jesus hangs there on the cross and soon changes. He becomes penitent – feeling and expressing remose for his own misdeeds. He sees the reality and truth of what Jesus is accomplishing on the Cross, rather like Paul is changed totally and irrevocably by His encounter with the risen Lord on the road to Damascus.

Salvation is truly a sovereign divine miracle. It has three stages. The first is an awareness of God and a fear of God, which the thief demonstrates in vs 40-41. The second stage is an acknowledgment of our own sin. Repentance means coming to one’s senses, as the Prodigal Son did. A true convert pleads nothing, but confesses his dependency and need of mercy and grace. That third stage is a recognition of the sinlessness of Christ and His ability to save us. We ‘believe in the Lord and are saved’ (Rom 10:13)

The thief acknowledged his own wrongdoings but also knew that Jesus had done nothing wrong (vs 41). His repentance and faith led him to say “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He has heard Jesus pray to His Father, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). He knows his only hope now is for forgiveness. He is aware of the wrath of God and the guilt of sin, but he is also aware of the glory of Christ and the hope of forgiveness.

Nobody survived crucifixion. In acknowledging that Jesus would have a kingdom, the thief is convinced that He will live after the crucifixion. He knows he has no right to be with Jesus, but this is grace: “today, you will be with me in paradise.” The thief is given the assurance from Jesus that he will receive that forgiveness, for he is given the promise he will be with Jesus in paradise – absent from the body, but present with the Lord.

In all conversion, we have to fear God and acknowledge our son sin and recognise the sinlessness of Christ and His ability to save us. None of us knows how long we will live. Earthquakes, accidents, illnesses all strike, often unexpectedly and suddenly. We need to be sure that we are in a right relationship with God.