My Fire and Brimstone Sermon...

I remember preaching a message way back when I used to pastor and preach. To me it was a 'cooker' of a sermon. It would tackle lukewarm Christians and get them into shape. It would challenge the Christian living of many believers and would challenge them in very strong words to change.


I would start by sharing a joke about a golf game between Moses, Jesus and the Father. It was a really funny joke! And it would end with the Father winning! My catch phrase at the end of the joke was spoken in a slow but serious tone....and it went like this "Do not.......play games.......with God." I would then turn to Revelation 3:15 and speak on how believers need to decide whether they want to follow God or follow the devil. You cannot have one foot in the church and one foot in the world! It was time for hypocrisy to stop and that we had to get serious in our relationship with God. It was time to fully commit and to stop living for Jesus only on Sundays and living for the world from Monday to Saturday. It's either all for Jesus or all for the world. 


I thing is...what I didn't know at the time, is that I was disqualifying believers right there and then based on their life style, whereas God had qualified them based on their faith in Jesus. I wasn't speaking to what Jesus had done, His finished work and how God sees them! The gospel is a redemptive message. It brings redemption to all of us. We all need a savior! The world isn't filled with good people and bad people. We're all bad and we all need a savior. The gospel brings that truth and brings faith to a person who needs Jesus. My sermon did exactly the opposite. It showed Christians why they are disqualified, why God is angry with them and put the onus on them to change in order to qualify themselves in order to be in right standing with God. It was a different gospel. And you know what....deep inside, I truly believed that I was preaching 'God's word'. I truly believed that I was being lead by the Spirit and saying what he's saying. Thank God for His grace!


That's why we, those who've been given a revelation of the finished work of Jesus, shouldn't turn into grace pharisees and be hard on those who speak to people's condition rather than to their position in Jesus. May we excel in love and patience with those who are still coming around.


I thank God that he is saving us all. Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us so that we might receive his righteousness and know that all our sins, past, present and future, are forgiven and they have been washed away! I thank God that he has transferred us who believe, from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of light. Jesus has made us right with the Father forever those who believe and walk in the faith he has given us. Christians are no longer sinners. Our sinful nature, the sinner, was crucified with Jesus on the cross. It was buried with Him. We are now new creatures, our new natures were born again when we believed and we are now saints, holy and righteous, partakers of the divine nature in which we have been placed because of Jesus. We are hidden with Christ in God. May our minds be renewed to who we are in Jesus, to how much Father loves us and may we walk and live lifestyles that are full of Christ's finished work, full of mercy and full of grace!

I saw a REAL revival. I did.

He walked by me and I just knew he was different. I felt the evil. He wore black. He never smiled and looked at anyone of us. His black leather jacket with his black jeans and black boots made a statement that was quite evident. I later found out that John (not his real name) was not allowed into our school grounds, but he came anyway. John came as he pleased and recruited ignorant teenagers into the religion of Satanism. This was my Grade 11 year at Port Rex. I was 16 years old.  It was 1997. Satanism wasn’t really spoken about amongst youngsters. It was more like something you saw on television and experienced in the movies. What did I know about Satanism? Not much really. All that I knew was that they didn’t like God; they hated Jesus and wore a lot of black clothing with pentagrams around their necks. That was it. Little did I know, but our city of East London was one of the satanic hot spots in South Africa and this guy was pretty high up in the ranks. I’m not sure how high, but he wore a lot of black.

At the same time, our Student Christian Association (SCA) at the school was a growing one. We had roughly 30 to 35 teenagers that gathered weekly to sing some songs and to hear one of the leaders share a message. But one afternoon, a group of the SCA members did a Jericho walk around the school. Donny, who was one Christian guy that I really looked up too, lead the charge that afternoon. I wasn’t there, but I heard that they did some warfare and claimed the school for Jesus. It sounded like a cool thing to do. I’m sorry I missed it.

Some months went on and rumours started to circulate that some of the girls and guys in Grade 11 and Grade 12 were involved with this Satanist named John. They were gathering at certain times outside of school hours and doing a lot of ‘satanic’ things. One of the instances reached the local newspaper. A black guy was murdered with an axe and it was John’s name that appeared in the newspaper as the murderer. Rumour has it that it was a botched sacrifice to satan. They were supposed to take the man’s head, but things went wrong and John was arrested. The police questioned some of the guys at our school that John hung out with and even some went for counselling. Whether they were directly involved, I don’t know, but it did have a serious effect on them.

One girl named Janet (not her real name) who was involved with this crowd asked the school principal if she could read a scripture out of the Bible at the school’s daily devotional. Daily devotionals happened in front of the whole school every day before school began. Janet got up in front of the school and read a scripture that still to this day I cannot remember. After reading a few verses she looked up and said to the school that she had realised that through her experiences with the ‘wrong crowd’ (i.e. John and company) that satan was a liar and that Jesus was the only true God. She has realised that she needs to get right with God and she needed to do it today. By now she had started to cry. She asked the SCA committee to come to the front and pray with her to receive Jesus so that she could be born again. We went to the front and stood on the stage with her. By now she was bawling and so were some of the teachers. Many had no clue what was happening. We lead her in the sinner’s prayer right there on the stage in front of the entire school of around 1100 students and 30 odd teachers. By the time she had finished praying, everyone knew what was happening and even some of the students were crying. Our chairperson announced that straight after the devotional time the SCA committee would be in the hall to pray with whoever wanted prayer. About 300 students and about 10 teachers came. All this happened on a Friday at around 7:45am. At 9:15am, it was time for the ‘Life Skills’ period. SCA held a mini church service during this time every Friday. We would normally use a classroom that seated up to 40 students. That day we used the hall as we had over 400 students attending. None of us knew what to do! We had never seen such a big crowd before and we now had to entertain them. As it so happened, it was my turn to speak to the SCA that day. I had prepared a cute 10 minute sermon that I had hoped I would speak to as little people as possible. Why you may ask? Because this was the first time that I was going to speak publicly and 30 to 40 people was more than enough for me. (What was that quip about God having a sense of humour?) I went to Donny and said ‘Bru, I cannot do this. You do it man. I can’t speak to 400 people about Jesus. I’m too nervous. Why don’t you do it?’ Donny looked at me and smiled. He said one thing to me that smacked me right between the eyes. He said, ‘Ross, the Bible says that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.’ I don’t know how to explain it but a supernatural peace came over me that I could not explain. The nerves that I had and my shaking hands came under control. I walked into the hall with Donny. The praise and worship had started and there was around 400 students in the hall, students that I had seen everyday on the sports fields and in the classrooms, singing songs to Jesus! It totally blew my mind as to what God was doing. The singing finished and I was introduced after Donny had prayed. I remember that I had prepared a message on salvation and that God was not judging us but instead drawing us by his love. It was a simple message about Jesus. I gave a call for people to stand up if they wanted to receive Christ as Lord of their lives. Close on 400 students stood up that morning and I had the privilege of leading these guys and girls in a prayer for the gift of salvation. Still to this day, I regard this as the biggest honour given to me by the Lord.

From that day, our SCA meetings grew from 35 students to close on 200 on a regular basis. The Holy Spirit was using a bunch of Baptist believers to usher in revival that year. From 1997 to the end of 1998, we saw the Holy Spirit save students who were heavy into porn, drinking and partying. The guys that I thought would never get saved, started coming to our meetings for one reason – to get saved. One guy, who is still serving the Lord today walked into a prayer meeting at break time. I thought he was lost. I said , ‘What you doing here?’ He said, ‘I don’t know. I just know that I have to get inside here.’ I had the privilege of leading him to Jesus at that prayer meeting. He is still serving in the worship team at his church. We had students getting baptized in the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues. We had students getting filled with the Spirit to the degree we had to take them to ‘sick bay’ after the prayer meetings as they couldn’t go to class in a drunken state. My friend, Donny, and I were called to the principal’s office twice to tell us to calm down and some students and their parents were worried at the religious frenzy going on. We assured him that we were not doing anything, but praying for the kids. The frenzy was God’s fault. Thank God he was a believer. He just smiled and asked us to be careful.

There is one thing that I have seen in the life of many boys, girls, men and women; and that is that Jesus changes lives! I have experienced in my own life how Jesus can change a person who is completely surrendered to Him. There is nothing Jesus cannot do with a life that is devoted to Him. And I love it! Jesus is really cool.

If you take some time to read the story of creation, you will notice that when God created the fish of the sea, he didn’t speak to himself. He spoke to the sea. And out of the sea came fish. When God created the plants and trees He spoke to the ground. And out of the ground plants and trees came. The sea became the source of the fish. The ground became the source of the plants and trees. That’s why if you take a fish out of the sea it dies. It dies because you are removing it from its source. If you remove a tree or plant from the ground and throw it into the sea it will die. That’s because the source of the tree and plants is not the sea, but the ground. If you remove it from its source it will die. When God created man, he did not speak to the sea or ground. He spoke to himself. And out of God came the spirit of man. That’s why sin is so dangerous. Sin separates you from your source – God. And what happens if you remove something from its source? It dies. That’s why the Bible says the wages of sin is death. It’s because it removes you from your source. Jesus came so that sin may be done away with in order that we, as God’s creation could be rejoined to our source – God! That’s why salvation (life) is found only in Jesus. He is the way, truth and the life. We come to the Father through Jesus – Jesus is our way back to life – back to our source – back to God! The devil doesn’t care if you worship him or not. The devil’s only purpose is to steal from you, kill you and destroy you. His chief purpose is to keep you from God, because that’s the only way you will find life. It doesn’t matter to the devil that you serve a hindu idol or worship money. The only thing that matters to him is that you do not find Jesus; because if you find Jesus, then you will find your source and when you find God, you ultimately find life.

This might shock some people to hear this, but the most natural thing a person can do is to make peace with God and enter into a relationship with him. People think Christians are weird! Actually, it’s quite natural. If you speak to a person who has been united with God, they’ll tell you how fulfilled and complete they are. It’s like an emptiness has been filled that money or pleasure or porn or sex or alcohol or parties or their career just could not satisfy. Every person is searching for fulfilment. What many don’t know is that what they are actually searching for is the reconnecting with their source. Once the plant is in the ground and the fish is in the sea, they are satisfied and can grow from there. Unless a person is connected with God through Jesus Christ, they’ll live unsatisfied, unfulfilled and frustrated lives searching for things that will quench the thirst of their souls that only God can fill. Coming into a relationship with God is the most natural thing to the human being! To be separated from God is unnatural in all matter of speaking.

You are Righteous....yes...YOU!

Gavin Cox has this saying that I have written down and memorized because it's become the founding thought for my framework of the Gospel of Jesus. It goes like this:

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone because of Christ alone.

The good news is that I don't save me and you don't save you. Not even a little bit. Jesus saves us. He begins the work and He finishes the work. It's by His grace towards us alone. All we do is receive it. Our job is to open our hearts and embrace the finish work of Christ. That’s about it.

There was a company in the USA that brought out a revolutionary cake mix in the late nineties. All that the person needed to do was add milk and mix. Place in the oven and presto! They had a cake. They launched the product to market and you know what happened. The stock sat on the shelves for weeks. The few people that tried it never bought it again. After a few months the company took to market to conduct emergency market research and found out that 99% of the consumers didn't want to buy it for one reason: there was nothing for them to add. They felt it was too easy.

  

The company changed the recipe and made the process a little harder for the baker: they now had to add 2 eggs to the mix before the milk. They re-launched the product to the market and sales went through the ceiling and broke all expectations.

Its funny how, as human beings, we feel we have to add to something or else it doesn't quite feel right. Surely there has to be work involved before reaping a reward?? This why we find it difficult to receive the 'finished' work of Jesus as a gift.

We don't feel quite right do we? It's almost too easy. Surely there’s something we've got to do. It surely must be Jesus + prayer or Jesus + church attendance or Jesus + good living or Jesus + witnessing??

The good news is that the salvation God is giving to us is a perfect one. It's a completed one. We don't have to add anything to Jesus' finished work. It's finished. All we need to do is respond to His goodness and believe!! That's it. No effort, no work, no performance, nothing can add to His perfect salvation that saves us!!

However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: 

 "Blessed are they
      whose transgressions are forgiven,
      whose sins are covered.
 Blessed is the man
      whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

-     Romans 4:5-8

It amazes me how many Christians don’t believe that they are righteous. They still believe that their church attendance, their prayer times, their Bible reading, their kindness shown to others, their feeding of the poor, their witnessing to unbelievers, their abstinence of smoking and drinking, their refusal to indulge in sin,

their refusal to have piercings and studs and their refusal to think bad thoughts can make them acceptable to God and make them righteous in the eyes of the Lord. Is it right to read our Bibles and pray? YES! Is it right to refuse the indulgence of sin? YES! Is it right to feed the poor? YES! But, none of the above can make you righteous. Righteousness is a free gift given by God to those who believe in Jesus Christ. Righteousness is never based on your performance, whether good or bad. Why? Because it’s a gift from God. You can do nothing to deserve it or earn it.

  

Imagine a child doing chores on Christmas Eve. His mother asks him ‘Son, why you vacuuming the floors and washing the dishes?’ and the son answers her ‘Mom, because I want some presents for Christmas.’ It’s ludicrous! A mother and father give gifts to their children because they love their children, not because they have worked for them and earned them.

If you have a look the world’s main religions, including some parts of Christianity, our human effort and obedience to God’s commands is central to our acceptance and right standing before God. Blessings are then rewards based on obedience to the commands set out in the sacred book of that particular religion.

“But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. ²²This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.”

Romans 3:21-22

Paul is very clear that the righteousness that comes from God is apart from the law. In other words, it is not dependant on any laws, commandments or ordinances. This righteousness that comes to Christians comes by faith alone and through Christ alone.

Before I made a decision to follow Christ I remember hearing the Gospel on a few occasions. I remember hearing that we are saved by grace.

  

I remember hearing the preacher saying that good deeds cannot get people to Heaven for our good deeds are like filthy rags before the Lord. No matter how good I live or how much money I give to the poor, there is no way to make it to Heaven or enter the Kingdom except through faith in Christ. Well, I made a decision for Christ and decided to follow him. I experienced the new birth and knew that something had happened in me. After a few months of church attendance and hearing ‘solid Christian teaching’ I soon realized in order to keep God happy and to experience His acceptance and blessing in my life I needed to live a certain way. And the underlying message, which was quite subtle in most ways, was that if I did enough things wrong I could actually lose my salvation and would fall into the unbelieving/non-Christian class again.

For many years, the church has taught that we get saved by faith in Christ BUT in order to keep our salvation we need to obey the commands of God in order to keep that salvation. It’s really scary that we’re told that good works can’t get you into the Kingdom but we’re told that bad works can get you out. We start in faith, but we revert back to law. It’s a total perversion of the gospel.

You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?

                                                                                      - Galatians 3:1-3

 Paul uses an extremely strong word here: “bewitched”. That means witchcraft. Paul’s strong language suggests that the Galatian Christians have fallen under an occultic spell of witchcraft by believing this. What do they believe? “After beginning with the Spirit; are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?”

Being born again is a supernatural work of the Holy Spirit. At the moment of believing in Jesus, the Bible teaches that there are a number of things that happen in that very moment.

Some of these are following:

·       Our sins are forgiven (Romans 4:5-8)

·       We made into a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)

·       We are seated in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6)

·       We become God’s legal child (John 1:12)

·       We receive the Holy Spirit (John 14:17)

At exactly the same time, we are made the righteousness of God and we receive His gift of righteousness

This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead.

Romans 4:22-24

 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21

At the moment we believe in Jesus, we are made righteous and we receive His gift of righteousness.

Why then, Paul asks the Galatian church, do you revert back to human effort after beginning with the Spirit? It’s amazing how the church has been bewitched today in believing the same thing!

We have heard it taught on Christian television and preached in Christian churches for years. It has been done with godly intentions but the message is destructive to the truth of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. 

For years I thought, believed and taught that the key to a successful Christian life was obedience. I believed that obedience was the catalyst to receiving God’s blessing, keeping my salvation, maintaining a right standing with God, maintaining my acceptance before God and walking in miracles, signs and wonders.

Everything hung on my obedience. If I didn’t pray everyday, read my bible everyday and attend enough church meetings and prayer meetings, then I couldn’t expect God to bless me or bless others through me. The sad thing is that the only thing this type of living leads to is the following: Pride or Condemnation.

If I manage to live like this for a few weeks or even months, I have a higher opinion of myself compared to other Christians and I believe that God blesses me because of my effort and my lifestyle. That’s called pride. When I eventually miss my quiet time or skip a prayer meeting, condemnation and despair comes on me because I am not living up to the standard that I think God requires. This lifestyle will never lead to true Kingdom living: Righteousness, Peace and Joy in the Holy Spirit. I will be consumed in my self righteousness based on my efforts.

I won’t have peace when I mess up and I will never experience true joy because I am always comparing myself to others – and either I’m beaming with pride or I’m condemned – I will never walk in true Kingdom joy!

God appeared to Abram, who was an Iraqee pagan. He had never been to church. He had never prayed to the Lord. He had no desire to seek God or know him. But God appears to this pagan unbeliever and tells Abram that He wants to bless him. Abram did something quite extraordinary.  He said “okay”. He believed God. He trusted God and believed that God wanted to bless him. God never spoke to Abram about holiness or righteousness.

God spoke to Abram about blessing him. When Abram believed, God credited righteousness to him. The word ‘credited’ translated correctly is used here as an accounting word. Abram’s ‘spiritual account’ was credited with God’s righteousness. How did he receive that? He believed that God wanted to bless him.

What then shall we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered in this matter? ²If, in fact, Abraham was justified by works, he had something to boast about—but not before God. ³What does the Scripture say? "Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness." Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. ⁵However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness.

-     Romans 4:1-5

Paul is making it plainly clear that Abraham was not declared righteous because he obeyed works. He was credited with righteousness because he trusted God’s words and believed. It was by faith alone.

The point is that the moment a person believes in Jesus, one of the things that take place supernaturally, is that God’s righteousness is credited to their spiritual bank accounts. We become the very righteousness of God in that very moment.

And because we never received it based on our performance, what makes us think that we can lose it based on our performance? Once you put your faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior of your life, you have every confidence in God’s finished work to declare yourself righteous. You are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. He has freely justified you by faith because of Christ.