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20230507 Everyone Has A Story

Luke 23:32–43 

32 And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. 33 And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. 34 Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots. 35 And the people stood beholding. And the rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others; let him save himself, if he be Christ, the chosen of God. 36 And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to him, and offering him vinegar, 37 And saying, If thou be the king of the Jews, save thyself. 38 And a superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek, and Latin, and Hebrew, THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS. 39 And one of the malefactors which were hanged railed on him, saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us. 40 But the other answering rebuked him, saying, Dost not thou fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly; for we receive the due reward of our deeds: but this man hath done nothing amiss. 42 And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. 43 And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise. 

We all have a Story, everyone does. As a pastor, I have the privilege of listening to many peoples stories on how they came to Christ and how they were freed from sin and gained eternal life. There are times I might play a small part in that story and I can tell you it is the greatest privilege of all.

There are many Christians also who have played a part in the stories of those who have exchanged death for eternal life, who lives have been transformed, who’s hope and joy has been secured, Christians who have told them of Jesus Christ and of why he came and what he did and why he died.

Some of those people have a known influence, an influence that spoke of Jesus, that lived Jesus; these people lent a hand when it was needed most, they had a kind word to say in a time of need, they gave of their time, of their money, they blessed in some way along the way and have become a part of the storyline of those who got saved, no doubt the story of those who are being baptised today.

Some people have played a role in these people’s lives and it won’t be fully discovered until it is revealed in heaven, then shall all be known. Those who prayed for them, who gave an anonymous gift, handed out a tract that speaks of Jesus. They may have left a Bible on a park bench with book marks in significant passages and chance had the recipient read and believe.

These people are not known and might not feature in the verbal testimonies that people tell others of how they came to Christ, and YET they played a role that only eternity can quantify or value.

I am blessed and I am privileged to hear some of those stories as a pastor.  I am blessed also when all I do is share the STORY of Jesus to those willing to hear. How do I know how it will impact their hearts in the future?

OF LUKE 23:32-43

The account before us this morning tells a part of the story of two men. Men who were   joined in identity and were joined in the temporal penalty for their crime, also joined in its CONDEMNATION, but separated in destination; One will be with Jesus in paradise (Heaven) on that very day and forever blessed; the other separated from Christ in hell, forever cursed.

But both have a story, both have an account they will recall forever. One will be sharing his story forever with those multitudes of others who were like him, as a brand PLUCKED OUT of the fire; 

But one will relay his account to himself alone, there is no company in hell, the opposite of heaven, there is no fellowship at all. His STORY will be his eternal torment. ‘ALMOST A CHRISTIAN’ he will recall, ALMOST saved from the damnation of his sin, even while he

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A message the Lord desired to encourage the faithful brethren of Aberdeen Baptist Church. A message of the testimony of how the faithful God blessed the congregation of Hope Baptist in Sunbury during the most difficult time in recent history in Melbourne Victoria. A time when an entire state suffered so broadly at the hands of its own government, in a “free” democratic country, for the sake of what could only be described as a relatively benign flu virus.

It was a time however that testified a global cross-over from the legs of iron to the feet of iron and clay (Daniel 2:31-45), a time that identified the rule of law no longer applied and witnessed the rule of an invisible supranational authority that seemed to make the rules on behalf of most western countries who’s leaders appeared as nothing more than paid actors over the affairs of their constituents. A unique time globally, signifying a distinct change universally.

The account briefly tells of a church willing to stand alone to preach the word of God in Melbourne, the “lockdown capital of the world” and to maintain doing so as the Lord instructed rather than as man dictates. A church blessed for their desire to hold the Bible as their final authority, not mandates; desiring to please God, not government; fearing God, not men.

I pray the message is a blessing to those who hear it.

Pr Edi

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Confidence in Christ

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2Timothy 1:12)

Reading: 2 Timothy 1:1-12

Introduction:

As we read this chapter, you would have to say that the overriding impression that we get from Paul in our reading today is one of confidence. 

Such is his confidence in Christ and who he is in Christ…that he has no hesitation in declaring the credentials of his apostleship and calling; stating that he was appointed to be a preacher, an apostle and a teacher of the Gentiles. 

The one thing that he makes perfectly clear…and that is the fact that everything he is and everything that has been bestowed on him, has come directly from Christ. And everything that he does is a result of this.

This is where his confidence lay. It is the Lord Jesus who is the foundation of his ministry. And this is who Paul points to when he encourages and exhorts Timothy in his own ministry. 

Likewise, this is where our confidence ought to be…in Christ also.

Hence I have titled today’s message: Confidence in Christ

The focus of today’s message is verse 12:

“For the which cause I also suffer these things: nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.” (2Timothy 1:12)

As we will see in today’s message, there are a number of roadblocks along the way. I pray that the message is a blessing to you

Let’s Pray 

Confidence in the Cause of Christ:

“For the which cause…”

People devote themselves to many and various causes for many and varied reasons. Some noble, some not so noble. Of the more noble causes, they hope to make the world a better place. They see a need and attempt to fill it. In this, they see the value and are thus confident that the cause is worthwhile and worth the cost of their time and personal sacrifice. 

This automatically begs the question…how do you measure worth? 

Linked to this is a sense or a belief that life has meaning and purpose. This of course is absurd from a secular viewpoint in which the universe supposedly originated from a cosmic accident. 

For the believer, this sense of purpose is often heightened when he is born again. It is understood by the fact that God has a plan for his life and that life does indeed have meaning and purpose.

In our text, Paul commences verse 12 with these words: “for the which cause” which immediately tells us that his life had a very particular focus or “calling”.

Of course, we know that the cause to which he is referring is the cause of Christ…and more specifically the gospel of Christ. 

It’s always good to remember why Jesus came..which was to seek and to save that which was lost. 

Paul describes this cause a few verses earlier in verse 9 [Read]:

“Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,” (2Timothy 1:9)

In light of this we need to recognize:

Firstly, he describes this cause as a calling and specifically “an holy calling”. 

It’s worth noting that the bible is a book demonstrating how opposites help define meaning, and the opposite of holy is profane or common. 

Therefore our calling is not your everyday run-of-the-mill activity. Neither is it “just a hobby” or something that you do to entertain yourself or do in your spare time. It is serious business with eternal consequences…both for the gospel messenger and the listener. This is why we are admonished to walk worthy of our calling [Ephesians 4:1]

Secondly, we see that we are called not according to our own works but according to the Lord’s purpose. THIS IS OUR LIFE’S PURPOSE. 

As gospel workers [and we have to see ourselves a

Pt 4 OMNISCIENT

Pr Edi Giudetti

16/04/2023

Psalm 139:1–6

1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3 Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4 For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether. 5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it.

There is at times something very disconcerting respecting some of the characteristics of God that we admit.

We know he is eternal, we know he is good (Omnibenevolent), that he is almighty (Omnipotent), but it is when we come to ponder the consequence of him being all-knowing (Omniscient) that we find ourselves needing to pause for a moment. The famous “Right to be silent” where “anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law”, usually motivates our silence. But what if that extends to everything we think or intend? What if the true motives of all our actions were actually known?? What if our very heart is known? What then???

When we say that God is “Omniscient”, when recognizing God as ‘all-knowing’, we are not limiting that knowledge to “intelligence”, we identify the “All”, the “Omi” in Omniscient, as there is NOTHING OUTSIDE OF HIS KNOWLEDGE, and that has consequences we need to consider.

One of those natural consequences, that HIS KNOWLEDGE IS JUST, is that it makes him able to judge matters with all information necessary. Knowing that God is “GOOD”, as we understood from the second message in the series, gives us confidence that he must also be just.

The second consequence is outcome, that HIS KNOWLEDGE IS PURPOSEFUL, if God knows the end from the beginning, he also knows the outcome of every event before it occurs.

God being Eternal, as identified in the FIRST message in this series, complements this truth. God being also all powerful (Omnipotent) leads us to understand that he governs the outcome according to his purpose. God being Good (Omnibenevolent) brings us confidence that the end will be good.

Jeremiah 29:11

11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

The Third Consequence is Revelation, that HIS KNOWLEDGE IS INSTRUCTIVE; if there is nothing outside of God’s knowledge then he is the source of ALL knowledge.

Knowing he is eternal means his databank of history and the motivations that moved history, is perfect. His knowledge of the future is equally perfect and thereby that which he chooses to reveals to mankind is perfectly instructive, and GOD therefore holds man to account. His Knowledge is INSTRUCTIVE.

The Fourth Consequence is that of response, that HIS KNOWLEDGE IS WONDERFUL;

If God is all knowing, if he is aware of our “downsitting” and our “uprising” and knows our “thoughts afar off”, and if he is eternal and if he is omnibenevolent and omnipotent, then the natural consequence is that of the response of his creatures. It is through our WONDER of all he is and all he knows that we come to the end of our knowledge and acknowledge him as GOD.

I pray the sermon encourages you this day.

His Knowledge Is JUST

Psalm 139:1–2

1 O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me. 2 Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.

It is difficult to comprehend any limitation to the knowledge of the one to whom Jesus testifies saying, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered” (Mt 10:30). For some individual ‘heads’ numbering the hairs may not be much of a feet…but for all individual heads independently and collectively through history, that is quite a number.

Psalm 147:4

4 He telleth the number of the stars; he calleth them all by their names.

This is the knowledge of God; a knowledge so perfect and so absolute that we, with our own limited minds, find too difficult

PT 3 THE ONE TRUE GOD: OMNIPOTENT

Isaiah 46:9–13

9 Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10 Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: 11 Calling a ravenous bird from the east, the man that executeth my counsel from a far country: yea, I have spoken it, I will also bring it to pass; I have purposed it, I will also do it. 12 Hearken unto me, ye stouthearted, that are far from righteousness: 13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

It is not too difficult for us to realise that if all the universe came into existence from nothing at a finite point in the distant past, that it must have taken a force and power far greater than the combined power and energy of the universe to bring it about, this is a power that can only be described as OMNIPOTENT, “all-powerful”.

The “One True God” that we believe in is the God of the Bible and none other, he alone is OMNIPOTENT.

The God of the Bible we discovered first is OUTSIDE of TIME. He it is that INHABITETH ETERNITY.

Last week we saw that there is NONE GOOD BUT GOD, we considered him as OMNIBENEVOLENT, ALL GOOD, and the ONLY ONE GOOD

Those two simple points, together with the Bible presenting God so clearly as the creator of all that exists in ‘Space-Time’ domain, tells us that he must also be “ALL POWERFUL”, OMNIPOTENT.

We know that all energy and matter are made of atoms. Atoms contain the energy of the universe, and it is worth considering an example of that energy.

Nuclear Fission is that destructive force that is seen in the splitting of Atoms, the energy which was demonstrated with such historically destructive power at the end of the second world war in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

Let’s consider an example if we could harness the full power of a number of Atoms. Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical substance in the universe and happens to be the lightest element.

If 1 gram of hydrogen atoms could be 100% converted into energy, following Einstein’s famous equation of Energy = Mass x The Speed of Light squared (E=MC2), it would convert to 91 Trillion Joules, or roughly 25 Billion Kilowatt hours.

When I researched this data, one commentator quickly calculated that converting a single kilogram of hydrogen atoms into energy would “meet annual global electricity consumption” [1]

If trying to comprehend the amount of energy that is contained in a measurable quantity of atoms is difficult, how much more is man to comprehend the power of the one who created it all?

OMNIPOTENCE,

The Power Of His Might

Ephesians 6:10–12

10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. 11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

There must come a complete alteration in our minds when it comes to making sense of the world that surrounds us.

It makes sense that all that is made was made.

But this also means that all that is seen, is NOT all that is.

When the passage tells us that “we wrestle not aginast flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkenss of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places”, we gain to ourselves an understanding that would otherwise be completely lost if we were only trying to make sense of the world by what we see with our eyes and perceive with our limited minds.

Without this special knowledge that is gleaned from the Bible, this world simply makes no sense. How can we see evident design around us, evidently created by an intellect far superior to its creation, yet

Pt 2 THE ONE TRUE GOD: None Good But God

“GOOD”, why we assume this to be true and how the Bible brings it out clearly.

God is GOOD and his goodness is apparent to each and every one of us. ALL of mankind know that God is good, it is assumed in the most common a-theistic argument against his existence in the question of evil, ie “If God exists, why is there evil in the world?”. We will delve into this argument in my last message on this subject. 

Mankind itself knows that God is good, even as they deny him, and yet is it those who are REDEEMED by him, those who turn to him daily and learn of him, those who receive his matchless grace and who see his work in our lives each and every day, that truly have the closest opportunity to know the goodness of God.

The more I come to know him, the more I feel I can’t even lift up my eyes to him, and when he covers me with his grace words simply don’t describe the immeasurable astonishment I experience that he would still love me in spite of myself.  

When we see the blessings that God furnishes us with in our day to day lives, when we see his work in those that we pray for and those that we love, when the greatest burdens of our hearts are answered, and often in ways that we do not expect as time goes on, it is then that we see both the wisdom and goodness of God made manifest.

It is in those times when we are overcome by our recognition of the goodness of God, that I truly realise if I were to behold his face I would die! I would see myself in comparison to him and I would just die.

Exodus 33:20 

20 And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live. 

Perhaps that’s why Isaiah fell on his face when he saw the Lord “high and lifted up”.

Perhaps that’s the reason, after the drawing in of such great number of fish that both boats began to sink, Peter fell at the knees of Jesus saying “Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Lk 5:8) 

Mankind simply has no idea how evil sin is and how much it contrasts the goodness of God. 

Those who think they can be “good enough” to merit heaven, simply have no idea how sinful they are NOR how good God is.

Those who think they need to somehow maintain their own salvation in their own strength, simply have NO IDEA how pervasive sin is in our flesh, NOR how God’s grace sustains us.

Those who think you can lose your salvation, simply don’t understand salvation, nor understand how “the goodness of God leads us to repentance”

God did not only create all things good, THERE IS NONE GOOD BUT GOD!

Pray

He Made All Things Good

Genesis 1:26–31 

26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth. 

29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so. 

31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day. 

What we have before us is the very beginning of history, the beginning of all creation, a record of that state of the world and all that is therein, after all that is made, was made. 

This passage is

THE ONE TRUE GOD: ETERNAL

We believe that there is one living and true God.  He is the infinite, intelligent, personal and loving Spirit, the Maker and Supreme Ruler of heaven and earth. He is inexpressibly glorious in holiness, and worthy of all honour and praise.   The unity of God co-exits in three persons – the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, equal in every divine perfection, and executing distinct, but harmonious offices in the Universe.

Psalm 2:7             Deuteronomy 4:35, 6:4    Exodus 20:2-3       Genesis 1:1

         1 Corinthians 8:6            John 5:36-40                           John 1:1-3

This morning we are going to have our focus on Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1 

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

There are many attributes of God that is presented to us in the Bible, and there is much we can know about the nature of God in creation itself.

We know the multitude of specifics in the scriptures related to God, what re refer to as the Special Revelation of God: his nature, his character, his being, our need of him and our relationship to him, together with his work in the world and his work to save the world. This is what we refer to as “Special Revelation”, that is the knowledge we gain respecting the nature of God from the Bible.

But there is also another form of revelation that we FIRST gain in nature itself, this is referred to as “General Revelation”, it is the revelation of God that is evident in all that he has made, in creation itself, a revelation to which ALL of mankind is held accountable to see and to know. 

We are going to be dealing through this series on that general revelation, but we are going to dig down into the specifics the Bible speaks to as Special Revelation. 

In other words, we will speak on the attributes of God that is revealed in nature, but then use the Bible to bring out and see how those attributes of God are applied in our own lives.

The topic on THE ONE TRUE GOD, will be a seven-part series that I truly do expect should both teach us more of .

This morning we will deal with the first aspect of God that must be known to all people through General Revelation, and it is titled simply “ETERNAL”. 

God is Eternal, timeless. We will speak on that and bring what may seem obscure out to the surface.

“GOOD”, why we assume this to be true and how the Bible brings it out clearly.

“OMNIPOTENT”, some big theological terms will be explained, Omnipotent meaning that God is “All Powerful”. We will look at implications and applications to our lives for what the world, in General Revelation, also naturally assumes.

“OMNICIENT”, another theological term that refers to God being “All Knowing”, that there is nothing outside his knowledge and how that also both applies to and humbles us all.

“OMNIPRESENT”, that God is ‘Everywhere Present’, that there is no place where God is not. We will talk about how that does not refer to God being “In” things, but rather demonstrating God as Separate from his creation, yet everywhere present about his creation.

“IMMUTABLE”, that God is unchanging, his perfect being is no more or less perfect today that it was in the beginning of time, and this too is assumed as known of God throughout history.

“KNOWN”, this last message will demonstrate HOW God is KNOWN by all of mankind who is without excuse to recognise him. It will be a message both about the veracity of the Bible that teaches this truth, and manifest in the world that KNOWS this truth. It will be a fascinating observation that I pray you will be patient to see.

Without any further ado, let’s look at the first attribute of God that we can glean from our text in Genesis 1:1

Eternity Inhabited

Genesis 1:1 

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The first few words of the text gives to us an understanding that there was a beginning to creation, that the universe indeed had a beginning, that time its

Contending With Horses

12-03-2023

The passage before us sees a complaint by Jeremiah to the Lord. The complaint is not one of disrespect but one of reason. Many years earlier Isaiah the prophet wrote of God’s desire to reason with the people,

Isaiah 1:18 

18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. 

And so we see here in the passage Jeremiah’s desire laid out before the Lord as he ‘talks with him of his judgments. And what he speaks to the Lord of is not unreasonable, for it is these very wicked who have grieved him.

From verses 1 to 4 is Jeremiah’s complaint to God;

1 Righteous art thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me talk with thee of thy judgments: Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy that deal very treacherously? 2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. 3 But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried mine heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. 4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, He shall not see our last end.

No doubt this might be a complaint that many of us have had from time to time. We are limited in our understanding and knowledge however and so we wonder how it is that the wicked seem to prosper, and they often do so at our loss.

Keep your finger here, but turn to Psalm 73.

It was Asaph who wrote Psalm 73 with this same question, testifying that he almost lost his footing for the envy he had for the prosperity of the wicked;

Psalm 73:1–6 

1 Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. 2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. 3 For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 4 For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. 5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. 6 Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. 

Asaph continues for ten more verses in his musings against how this can be, UNTIL he decides to go before the Lord, and it was then he understood their end;

Psalm 73:17–20 

17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. 19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. 20 As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. 

So we see that the prosperity of the wicked will not last. In comparison to eternity, their luxury and triumph over all that is good, is gone in a moment before the terror of eternity wakens them. Hell will turn their temporal dream into an everlasting nightmare.

So, for four verses we see Jeremiah enquire before the Lord, and then we are blessed by him sharing with us God’s own response in the next two verses of the paragraph;

5 If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee, then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan? 6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have dealt treacherously with thee; yea, they have called a multitude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair words unto thee. Jeremiah 12:1-6

I am confident this is the Lord’s own response to Jeremiah as it is the only way the passage can be reconciled and God continues his discourse for the balance of the chapter.