Bishop Samuel Arthur: Jesus Christ, Faith, and Bible: Everyone Needs God's Divine Mercy: God is Kind And Merciful to Everyone

Everyone Needs God's Divine Mercy: God is Kind And Merciful to Everyone

Who would have thought that lepers, sinners or tax collectors could be heroes?

In the New Testament, leprosy seems to represent the obnoxious character of sin or sinfulness. In the Old Testament, lepers were kept outside the city limits to avoid contamination. This distance-keeping is symbolic of the distance of sinners from God. Ironically the lepers were kept away from the temple but almost everyone else was allowed in.

Jesus broke with this practice when He touched lepers and ate with sinners. This is God dining with people who are supposed to keep far away from Him.

In this practice Jesus was actually teaching us that everyone is a sinner and needs mercy to be brought near God. But others thought they were better than these lepers and sinners. Luke’s Gospel serves up one powerful illustration: two people went to pray at the Temple. While one bowed and asked for mercy as a sinner, the other boasted of how many religious duties he performed and how much better he was. Jesus concluded that the first man was heard, not the latter.

We are all “lepers” but do not know it or admit. And we can compare ourselves with others and feel superior. But Jesus’ company was enjoyed only by the poor, the sick, blind, broken-hearted, sinners, etc. The moment you are not in this category the presence and power of God ceases to be real for you.

Nearer the end of his life Paul described himself as ‘chief sinner’ (1 Tim 1). The point is that the closer one is to God the more imperfections one sees in oneself – thus one includes oneself with all those whom society regards as refuse or sinful. Attitude of superiority and pride demonstrates sinfulness, and arrogance. And refusing to acknowledge it is in itself blindness. So basically some people live in denial of their true condition. Denial means they do not need Jesus as their doctor.

As long as we are in our bodies we are sinners and in constant need of God's mercy. And this humble attitude which brings God nearer and enables us to live in the right way. Ours becomes a life of constant closeness to God.

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Jesus came into a city and declared a ‘heathen’, non Jewish, member of the occupying government of Rome – a Centurion helping to keep Jews under Roman rule; Jesus described him as having the greatest faith in all the land! [Matthew 8.5-9]. How can a man like this be the hero in the story? How can he be God’s hero? The man saw and described himself for what he really was in relation to Jesus. He said, “I can tell my subordinates what to do and they obey. You are Lord over the whole universe, and I am not even fit to entertain you in my house.”

Taking God for granted shows a lack of faith. We are useless, base and nobody. But we keep throwing our weight about. That self-exaltation makes us so self-reliant. Here is a centurion with power over 100 hundred but with no power over the sickness in the body of his boy. What can we really change? How much power do we really have even over our bodies, germs, death, baldness, jobs or tomorrow? When we seriously reflect we find we have very little authority – compared to God. The sooner we humble ourselves the sooner we will realize who the true heroes are. They are not those who have not yet realized their powerlessness and wretchedness. The other day I wondered with my children if man is really at the top of the food chain, since worms, viruses and bacteria seem to finish mankind off. Maybe those lower are really at the top. How can a centurion know God more than a Jew? Simply because he knows and accepts he is low despite his being ranked at the top in his culture.

The lowly are the heroes! Think about the poem sang by Mary. Think however, first about Mary. She is a girl. That class of people were hardly regarded in the first century. Then, she had a baby out of wedlock. Nobody would believe that an angel and God’s Spirit had anything to do with it. Her baby was born in a farm in the company of a man who had been thinking of breaking his engagement to her. Her firstborn child was covered in rags.

And that was how the Lord of the universe made His entrance into the world, very lowly. Jesus was scandalized from birth. So that He could befriend and walk through the pits with everyone who accepts his or her pit.

But Jesus rose from the dead to show that He will raise everyone who will freely open up and admit their lowliness. That’s why Mary sang despite her sorrow and joined Jesus’ church because He raised her up from being a nobody to dignity.

Are you scandalized? There is life after scandals! Are you rejected? There is life, life, more abundantly. Are suicidal? There is life. Are you at the bottom? Go to Jesus who started at the bottom.

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The Obedience of Faith: Children of God Should Practice Their Faith. Faith is hard work. It is a matter of obedience, however. Paul brackets his letter to the Romans (55-56 A.D.) in Romans 1.5 and Romans 16.26 with the phrase ‘obedience of faith’. That phrase neatly summarises the contents of the letter. The first eleven chapters show that God has mercifully forgiven and adopted sinners as His children. The remaining 5 chapters of Romans show how these children of God are to live their new life.

Paul makes two points in this regard: 1. A logical response to God’s mercy is make ourselves completely available to Him (12.1); 2. Think according to faith (12.3).

Effect? The only people who can truly walk by faith are those who make themselves completely available to God, for better or for worse. That is why Peter ventured onto the water. Giving of self to God means you will put yourself in danger for God if He asks you to do so. In line with this we learn that Abraham left home, country and family to an unknown place by faith. The three Hebrew boys stepped into a seven times heated furnace, etc (see Hebrews 11). In this regard, James 2.17 says that without corresponding action faith is dead. That is action-less faith is no faith at all.

What would you do if your whole body was truly abandoned to God? Where would go? What risks would take? What would attempt and achieve by faith. Practice your faith.

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Identity is Destiny: A Forgotten Identity is a Useless Identity; Never Forget Who You Are Identity is important. If a child is identified as a prince his destiny is to rule. If a child is identified as poor his destiny could be misery. Pilots fly, architects design, losers lose. You produce who or what you are.

God has always changed names: Abram to Abraham (Father of multitudes), Jacob to Israel (Prince with God), Simon to Peter (solid, stone). These people changed when their names were changed. Of course, in the Bible the change signifies change of identity and not just the superficial label we call a name. The new name gives the bearer a new identity which changes their actions to fit with their new self. Jacob is a classic example. His name means to defraud. Before meeting his brother Esau whom he had earlier defrauded Jacob was so scared that he arranged his entourage in such a way that he was at the back and the rest of his family were in front. Before he met Esau however Jacob met with God and God changed his name to prince. In the 32nd and 33rd chapters of Genesis Jacob rearranged his entourage and this time put himself in front as a prince would do, to meet his brother Esau. You will be amazed what a changed identity will do for your confidence.

Before Jesus was met with severe tests in the wilderness a voice from heaven spoke and affirmed Him as the divine Son. It is with this identity that he faced and overcame the enemy. But we all know of people who should or could have been great because they bore great titles or labels: presidents, executives, world champions, etc. But they found themselves overcome by some ‘nobody’! Israel was like that. They were slaves for over 400 years. The princes had become slaves! That history damaged their self – perception. They were stronger and more numerous than their would-be masters, the Egyptians. But Egypt ruled over them by craftiness (Exodus 1.6-10). A forgotten identity is a useless identity. And that is what Egypt did – help them forget who they really were. That is why we must constantly be reminded about who we are in God. And no one can give identity more than the maker of a thing. Spending time with God, the ultimate maker of all things, and His word reminds and reinforces the champion you are on the inside.

Jesus said: ‘Consider carefully what you hear," he continued. "With the measure you use, it will be measured to you—and even more. 25Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.’ Mark 4.25.

Here Jesus illustrates why some people can fail and bounce right back. The great rich men Mr Kiyosaki and Mr D Trump both reported losing unbelievable amount of money. Trump lost more than a billion dollars and still recovered to be a billionaire. Mr Kiyosai was a million in the red and living in a trailer but also recovered.

Why do some never recover? Because they were not rich in themselves. Both these men teach that money does not make one rich – it is how you think that does it. If you think and believe deep down that you are poor a million dollars will only make you superficially rich and that money is quite likely to leave you almost permanently. A good example are Adam and Eve: They were made like God (Genesis 1.26-28) but they did not know/believe it. So satan says to them ‘you have to do this to be like God’. The moment they did it they proved they did not believe they were like God and so became satan’s slaves.

To be truly rich you must believe and know that you are rich. Jesus said in the text above that how you listen is the key. Whatever God says you are that is what you are. When you believe this you will produce that which you are.

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Crisis Can Sometimes Make it Hard to Listen to the Word of God. 1 Kings 17. Elijah was told by God during a famine to go somewhere where He had commanded a widow to feed the prophet. A widow? Weren’t widows of that time very poor? Yes. How is Elijah going to find it easy to listen to this message? When Elijah arrived the widow was gathering sticks to cook her last meal to eat with her son and then await death by starvation. Elijah nevertheless asked that that last meal be given to him. The widow had been told by God to feed Elijah. But she pretends she didn’t hear! She complains that it is their last meal, as if God did not know that. Crisis makes it hard for us to listen. That’s why Jesus said in Mark 4.25 that those who can hear will gain more. At the time Jesus told that to His disciples He was getting ready to take them across a body of water. He said to them in Mark 4.35, “Let us go to the other side.” But amidst the journey a storm arose. Now they are going to pretend they did not hear what they heard, because it is not easy to really hear.

That day in Mark 4, Jesus had taught that when the seed of God’s word comes to your ears satan comes to try to steal it so you must hold tightly to whatever you hear from God. The famine and the storms are just illustrations of the attempt to steal whatever God says about you, to you and for you. Don’t forget the Word of God and who you are just because of a storm or crisis. It is not easy to keep hearing that word that says: YOU ARE HEALED; YOU ARE RICH; YOU ARE STRONG. For if you hear then you have the word, and to him/her that has the word more blessings shall be added.

I am told that the eye has a kind of ‘memory’. Once when a piece of hot particle of metal was washed out of his eye a certain man says when that area of the eye was inspected he felt as if the metal was still there. That memory was more powerful than the present clean eye. One’s reality then can be a matter of perspective and memory.

Jesus and Nicodemus: John 3. This man was a member of the Jewish ruling Council who visited Jesus at night. Nicodemus praised Jesus: ‘No one can do what you do unless God is with Him’. Wonderful so far. Jesus proceeded to explain spiritual things to this man, but the man did not understand. Jesus said to him, ‘unless you are born again you cannot see...’ The point I am making is this: unless this man abandons his memory, that, everything he had been taught, his upbringing, prejudices, history, and becomes like a newly born he cannot see God’s new era. He belonged to the religious class that generally disapproved of Jesus but he could not help but notice that God was with the Jesus. Nicodemus was torn. That is why he came at night – trying to be with Jesus and at the same time maintain his ties with the system.

Jesus is saying unless you completely abandon the system you cannot understand. Start with a clean sheet! I am told of a story in which a climber falls off a steep point and finally holds onto a rope or something that breaks his fall in pitch darkness. He prays for safety as he cannot hang there forever. And then a voice says ‘let go’. He was only a few safe feet of the ground but it’s dark and he cannot see this so he holds on all the way through until day break. His recent experience of falling was so strong that he found it too difficult to listen to the voice. Those who choose to hear no matter what will always win. Those who don’t wait for perfect conditions to listen but they are still waiting.

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Put Your Trust In Jesus Christ And You Will Always Be In Supply Of God’s Spirit Which Gives Us Strength, Power, Victory And Wisdom

Zech 4.1-7
Here the prophet saw a vision of a lamp stand joined to two olive trees. Of course no one had to ever put oil in the lamp and lamp could burn forever because it was hooked to the oil trees directly. This is a picture of the New Testament (NT) believer – forever hooked to Jesus the CHRIST (that is, the Anointed One).

The anointing was represented by the pouring of special oil on selected ones to serve the people supernaturally in the power of God. It fell on three categories of people: prophets – they see; kings – they defend, and on priests – they prayed for the people. Jesus is the ultimate fulfilment of these three – He is the prophet, king and priest – and it is in ‘this’ that we have our permanent location.

The NT makes it clear that this rich anointing is the believer’s permanent location. Paul repeatedly says we are ‘in Christ’ ...If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation’ (2 Corinthians 5.17). Well, this means that the believer is never without supply of God’s Spirit. That Spirit gives us strength, power, victory and wisdom. In Acts 1.8 Jesus said the Spirit would give us power – all we need for our mission on earth. And so Zechariah 4.6 says ‘not by might or by power, but by My spirit’. This teaches believers to rely on the power of God. Next time you face the impossible remember where you dwell. The 7th verse follows on with the levelling of mountains with shouts of grace! Living in the fullness of the Spirit means that we speak in line with what God has accomplished for us by His grace – and every mountain will level. YOU ARE MORE POWERFUL, FAR MORE POWERFUL, THAN YOU GIVE YOURSELF CREDIT.

Now that you are in Christ your identity has changed. So let’s see who are:

1. Ephesians 2.13: YOU ARE NEAR GOD 2. Ephes. 1.7: REDEEMED 3. Eph. 1.7: FORGIVEN 4. Eph 1.11: CHOSEN 5. Eph 1.13: OWNED BY GOD (that is what being ‘sealed’ is) 6. Eph 2.5: ALIVE WITH CHRIST 7. Eph 2.6: SEATED WITH CHRIST 8. Eph 2.10: MASTERPICE 9. 2.19: FELLOW 10. 1.3: BLESSED 11. Romans 8.17: CHILDREN 12. 8.17: HEIRS 13. 8.17: JOINT HEIRS 14. 3.24: JUSTIFIED 15. 2 Cor 5.21: RIGHTEOUS 16. 5.17: NEW 17. Gal 3.26: SONS 18. Gal 3.29: ABRAHAM’S CHILDREN 19. 1 John 2.20: YOU KNOW 20. 1 Cor 6: SANCTIFIED Practice by faith and grace your new identity.

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Everyone Needs Mercy

Who would have thought that lepers could be heroes, or sinners, or tax collectors? In the New Testament leprosy seems to represent the obnoxious character of sin or sinfulness. In the Old Testament, lepers were kept outside the city limits to avoid contamination. This distance-keeping is symbolic of the distance of sinners from God. Ironically the lepers were kept away from the Temple but almost everyone else was allowed in.

Jesus broke with this practice when He touched lepers and ate with sinners. This is God dining with people who are supposed to keep far away from Him. In this practice Jesus was actually teaching us that everyone is a sinner and needs mercy to be brought near God. But others thought they were better than these lepers and sinners. Luke’s Gospel serves up one powerful illustration: two people went to pray at the Temple. While one bowed and asked for mercy as a sinner, the other boasted of how many religious duties he performed and how much better he was. Jesus concluded that the first man was heard, not the latter. We are all “lepers” but do not know it or admit. And we can compare ourselves with others and feel superior. But Jesus’ company was enjoyed only by the poor, the sick, blind, broken-hearted, sinners, etc. The moment you are not in this category the presence and power of God ceases to be real for you.

Nearer the end of his life Paul described himself as ‘chief sinner’ [1 Tim 1]. The point is that the closer one is to God the more imperfections one sees in oneself – thus one includes oneself with all those whom society regards as refuse or sinful. Attitude of superiority and pride demonstrates sinfulness, and arrogance. And refusing to acknowledge it is in itself blindness. So basically some people live in denial of their true condition. Denial means they do not need Jesus as their doctor.

As long as we are in our bodies we are leprous, sinful, and sick, in constant need of God. And this humble attitude brings God so close and enables us to live right. Ours becomes a life of constant dependence and closeness to God.

Bishop Samuel Arthur: Jesus Christ, Faith, and Bible

Everyone Needs God's Divine Mercy: God is Kind And Merciful to Everyone

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