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Glen Park Gospel Church >> Archive >> Editorial >> 1998
Each month the Glen Park Gospel Church produce a one page newsletter called the Green Leaf. It's available from the chapel each Sunday. Some months include a topical article or report. We thought you might appreciate reading those previously published.
| Editorial in Year 1998 |
|---|
| If Only I Knew Where to Find Him |
| Following Jesus in Baptism |
| You Are Welcome |
| The Light That is In You |
| Listening |
| Offering |
1/1998 Trusting God in 1998
"If Only I Knew Where to Find Him" Job 23.3
Eliphaz had just told Job that the troubles that afflicted him were due to his spiritual dullness. "Is it for your piety that He rebukes you!" he chided, "Is not your wickedness great?"
Job, however, knew God better than that, "If only I knew where to find Him, if only I could go to His dwelling; I would state my case before Him...I would find out what He would answer me and consider what He would say."
"Why did God do this to me?" "Why did God allow this to happen?" Sometime, sooner or later, we all ask this kind of question. Some people ask the question to blame God for the unhappy turn of events in their lives. Unlike Job they do not stop for God to give them the answers to their hasty questions. Misery is but an interruption in their quest for the enjoyment of life's experiences. "If God is in control of this world, why did He let it happen. There is no God. I'll just have to cope the best I can!" What a poverty stricken philosophy is this?
To the child of God, however, God is in control. The same sun shines on the just and the unjust. It is our response to God in the midst of life's events which are the mark of faith.
Job knew these things. "If I go to the east He is not there. If I go to the west I do not find Him. When He is at work in the north I do not see Him; when He turns to the south, I catch no glimpse of Him." Just because we fail to find God by natural means, it does not mean that He is not there in the midst of strife. "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me I will come forth as gold." Job knew these things because he knew God.
Child of God, what does 1998 have in store for you? Maybe it is best not to ask. Does not today have enough of it's own troubles without worrying about those of tomorrow? True. But it is of value to consider the resources with which we are to meet those evils when they arrive.
Child of God, what are those resources? Job knew the answer to that question. Job knew God, and his faith in God, despite the problems that came upon him, never dimmed. We have so much more than Job because we live on the other side of Calvary. We have the person of the risen Jesus Christ made available through the ministry of the Holy Spirit every minute of every day, in every contingency, in every demand. Never let your faith be dimmed.
Trusting God in 1998? What else can we do? What else is there to do?
God understands your sorrow,
He sees the falling tear
And whispers, ‘I am with thee',
Then falter not, nor fear.
He understands your longing;
Your deepest grief He shares;
Then let Him bear the burden-
He understands and cares.
- J. Oswald Smith
Following Jesus in Baptism
"Not long afterwards Jesus came from Nazareth in the area of Galilee, and was baptised by John in the Jordan..." Mark 1:9
The Christian Church has two ordinances or rites by which its members associate with the Lord Jesus Christ in His life and death.
There is the Communion Table, when the assembled members remember again the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is done regularly, so as to keep in mind the essential basis of faith and redemption.
There is also the ceremony of Baptism in which an individual believer identifies with Jesus Christ and his body on earth, the Church. Most Christians easily become participating members at the Lord's Table, but require a little more time to follow Jesus through the waters of Baptism.
Jesus was Baptised
John
the Baptist in a religious revival, called the people of his day
to forsake their sins. As a sign of their desire to live in a
new and different way they were immersed into the river Jordan.
Baptism symbolised leaving the old life behind, rising from the
waters a new and different person.
When Jesus came for baptism, John wasn't too sure. He felt that he needed to be baptised by Jesus. Jesus said, ‘No, it is proper for us to do this, it fulfills all righteousness.' Jesus, the sinless Son of God identified with those who were confessing their sins. It was part of God's plan. He then died for those with whom He had identified.
It was well understood in the day of Jesus, not only by John and later by the Christian Church, but others as well. Today it is a religious initiation. There is no transfer of God's grace in the water. It is intended to be a public declaration of the identification of the individual with the person and body of Jesus. He was identified with us as sinners, we are identified with Him and all who are His. When we are baptised we are following Jesus.
The Meaning of Baptism
Baptism
is a signpost. It tells the world that we are Christians. The
water is like an open grave, the grave of Jesus. We submit to
die to the old life and leave our sinfulness there, then are raised
to live a new life. Baptism is a demonstration and declaration
to the world around us that we are followers of Jesus Christ.
Baptism is a milestone. It marks the time when we became Christians. Satan does not only hurl fiery darts, he crushes us under the mill-stone of doubt. Have you ever wondered if your acceptance of Christ as Saviour was real and effective. Baptism is a mile marker that tells you that your commitment was sure. It is historic. It can't un-happen. Turn the mill-stone into a milestone.
The Mode of Baptism
Churches
differ on the mode of baptism. Some baptise babies, others believers.
Some sprinkle water, or pour water on the candidate, others immerse
the candidate totally in water. Some stress that without baptism,
there is no salvation, others say that baptism is a symbol only
of the grace of God. Some neither baptise nor celebrate the Communion.
Unfortunately these positions have divided the Church over the
years.
Fortunately we have a very simple step by step example of the
way that baptism was observed in the first century. It comes from
Acts 8. The story of the conversion of the Ethiopian treasurer.
"Then Philip began to speak; starting from this passage
of Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus. As they travelled
down the road, they came to a place where there was some water,
and the official said, ‘Here is some water, what is keeping
me from being baptised?' The official ordered the carriage to
stop and both Philip and the official went down into the water
and Philip immersed him. When they came up out of the water, the
Lord took Philip away." Acts 8.35-38.
The word ‘baptise' is a transliteration of the Greek root 'bapto', a verb meaning to wholly cover with fluid. Bible translators even today seem reluctant to translate this word giving the English equivalent like they do other words, but rather hide it under the English transliteration of the Greek word, thus obscuring its true meaning and symbolism.
This Church follows the mode of baptism practised by Christians in Bible days. We do however recognise in good grace that those who have been baptised in another mode, mostly do so in good conscience. We also recognise that the faith of those who have not followed Jesus in this way, is as valid as those who do.
If there are those who have been considering the question of baptism, and, like the Ethiopian official, wish to follow Jesus through its waters, we invite your enquiry.
Are you looking for a Church Home?
You Are Welcome to Come and Join Us
The Glen Park Gospel Church began over 75 years ago when a local lady noticed that the children of the area had no Sunday School to attend. She began to teach them under a large tree in the Eltham North area. Children from all different backgrounds were welcome and her only desire was that the should come to know the Lord Jesus Christ for themselves.
As the years passed the work grew into a Church. It was then called ‘The Glen Park Gospel Mission' and was made up of people from all denominations or none. Local people led the group. Speakers at the services were more often than not brought in from other places. Always the aim was to make known to needy people the good news about Jesus Christ.
Today little has changed. The Glen Park Gospel Church is an association of ordinary men and women who meet together to share the benefits that accrue from a common faith in Jesus Christ and a belief in the basic message of the Bible.
We invite you to meet with us. You will find the Church today similar to the ‘Mission' of yesteryear. Local people hold all leadership roles, both men and women, and control is vested in the membership under the leading of the Lord.. Pulpit ministry is shared between local and visiting speakers. In the course of a year we welcome speakers from every corner of the world, all over Australia, and our own area. Members share in leading the services.
The Church takes an active interest in the worldwide missionary enterprise of the Christian church, currently over 60 people and ministries, financially supporting many of them. See our monthly prayer calendar We encourage regular pray for these people.
The Church provides a regular Bible study program. The Sunday service often includes the exposition of Scripture, and a regular mid-week study group consistently explores the deeper meaning of the Bible text. The Church enjoys a high level of qualified ministry leadership.
Many of the members work through Christian service organizations, to help others. These include local community needs, administrative services to mission and community groups, building maintenance, assistance to people in prisons or on parole, pastoral care, watching moral and political trends, and Christian education services to primary schools.
The Church is supported financially through the freely offered gifts of members. No offering is taken during the services. As the needs of the association are simple, most of what is received is passed on to the people and groups supported by the members.
Would you like to meet with us, then this is our invitation. The services of the Church are open to all who wish to share the worship of God through Jesus Christ, and hold these values in common. Please feel free to use the contact information in this Newsletter
The Gospel We Preach
A
tramp walking along a road was once offered a ride by a motorist.
He thought for a moment and declined. The motorist wanted to know
why he did not want a lift. "Well," he replied' "I
reckon that seeing as I don't know where I am going, there is
no point in getting there any sooner. I might just as well be
where I am!"
We might smile at this logic. However so many folk today take the same approach to life. The real Christians however know who they are, why they are here, where they came from, what they were, what they are doing, where they are going, what is in store and how to get what is needed to make all this work in life. In fact, it is so good being a real Christian, one wonders why more people don't get in on it sooner.
Briefly we may say, a real Christian is one who:
Knows that their sin is forgiven. It is not popular to talk of sin today, except in jest or sarcasm. However sin is the punishable wrong in our lives for which we are morally responsible. God by the death of Jesus Christ has cancelled out the sin of those who accept His offer of pardon.
Knows that they are a child of God. The real Christian knows that not only were they born into this earthly world, but have already been made an entity in God's world, as a member of God's family. As such they are precious to God, in His care, and are busy in the affairs of His ‘kingdom,' sharing this sense of well being with others too.
Knows the secret of the power of God in everyday life. As God Himself is true, or holy, so God's children are called to be true too. This does not imply perfection, but having the guilt of past error cleansed, God in Christ gives the power to live lives which increasingly are like His. This supply of power for life extends even into the areas of lack, lack of joy, peace, victory and the like.
Great as the Gospel is, it is only God's good news, the news of an offer of new life to all who will accept it, or as the apostle John summarised it looking back on his time with Jesus, "To all who received Him, to those who believed in Hid name, He gave the right to become the children of God . . ." John 1.12. NIV. John's observation is still valid. The offer is still open.
Condensed from a message given on Lord's day morning, by Ross Barnes, 10.30am, August 16th, 1998, at the Glen Park Gospel Church.
The Light That is In You
"The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness." Matthew 6:22 & 23
This text comes from the part in Matthew where Jesus gave us the principles of the Kingdom.
When I was working at Wycliffe Bible Translators, this text was the topic of a Devotional address. I thought to myself, what a conundrum. ‘If the light that is within you is darkness!' Well I had trouble with that, because light and darkness don't mix.
The original text has the idea of both moral and spiritual values, and also secrecy. In order to perceive light, we must first see it. That's the idea. The eye is the lamp of the body. I pondered over this and as I did I came up with my own translation. It went something like this "When you know what is light, and pull down the blind, how great is the darkness." If all you are receiving is darkness, because the blind is pulled down, how great is that darkness.
Jesus was talking to the Jewish nation, just as God had done for thousands of years, just like we read about in the Old Testament, but the Jews kept pulling down the blind. They were refusing to receive the light, so they couldn't see it. God wanted them to be full of light and reflect it to all the other nations of the world.
It is said of Jesus, "In Him was life and that life was the light of the world." As we look at Jesus and his message and life we see the light. Why and how do we pull down the blind? Well, we use the blind for privacy, don't we. Living in the light, everybody can look in. Spiritually we do the same thing. We still have to deal with the old nature, and there is that tension, so we pull down the blind for a while and indulge the old self for a while. Then we get sick of living in the darkness. Having lived in the light, we yearn for the light. We all do it.
We are children of the light if we have invited Jesus into our lives as our Lord and Saviour. John wrote about this, "This is the message we have heard from Him and declare unto you, God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him, yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin." If we pull down the blind, we walk in darkness.
When I was about sixteen years of age, I remember going down a coal mine, just at the time when they were changing over from the old pick and shovel way of doing things to the new automated way, and they had both systems going at the same time. I remember seeing the big digging machines and conveyors, carrying the coal away. There were also the little pit ponies pulling away the skips full of coal, which the men had cut and blown out of the coal face. These little ponies were brought out from Wales. We asked him, what is going to happen to these little ponies with all this automation coming in. He told us that they would live down in the mine until they die. Why is that, why not take them up into a paddock and let them have their freedom, we asked? Well, they have been down in the darkness so long, that they now cannot see. They are blind. They would not know how to live up top, all they know is the mine, and the darkness. We were all asked to turn out the lights on our helmets and it was unbelievably dark. You could put your hand in front of your face and never see a thing. There was absolutely no light at all. There was a moment of dead silence, and then to relieve the tension, everybody spoke at once. I thought about that. Everybody wanted to make sure that they were all still there. How is pitch darkness. Jesus described those who reject the Light as being cast into outer darkness where there is no light at all, isolated for all eternity.
It makes you think about pulling down the blind. If we keep pulling down the blind, there may come a time when we don't want to let it back up. Let us be careful then to walk in the light.
Listening
"Did you Children hear what I said?" No answer. They heard all right. They just weren't listening.
Gordon Wishart used to tell the story of a young Negro boy, the son of a neighbour, who was playing with his children in their garden when his Mother called for him to come home to her. The lad paid no attention, so one of his children reminded him, "Your Mothers calling you!" "Oh, it's all right," he replied, she ain't started to holler yet."
Did you hear what God said to you this morning, or were you just not listening? Have you learned to listen? Can you detect the tone of His voice amid the many sounds of this world?
Do you remember the old hymn we used to sing:
I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses;
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.
It is to be found only in Alexander's hymn book. But no one ever uses such old fashioned songs any more, which is a pity because they were a powerful force in teaching us how to live a life which is pleasing to the Lord. Talking to God and listening to Him is an important secret of the successful Christian life.
We do not imply that God speaks only through the old revivalist hymns, or in the early hours of a dewy morning. The fact is God speaks many languages and expresses himself using the forms of many cultures and sub-cultures. He speaks universally.
Have you ever wondered what language we will speak in Heaven? Will English be the official language? Some people would have us believe that it will be the King James II version of English. More probably we will speak Heavenish, which is a translational language understood by various people conversing in different languages and dialects concurrently.
The Bible talks about people in Heaven singing the praises of The Lord Jesus. "And they sang a new song, saying, You (Lord) are worthy to take the book, and to open its seals: for you were slain, and have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And have made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."
In fact this phenomenon has already occurred. Again it is recorded in the Bible that the primitive Church, on the day when the Holy Spirit was given to empower the Disciples in their ministry, that there was a foretaste of the sweets of Heaven, "Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language. And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?" (Acts 2:6-8) When God communicates to us he does so in a language and manner we can understand.
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Some years ago a demonstration page circulated between computer people showing the power of a computer language to generate output in a scientific format. Is the formulae relevant? Possibly not. It demonstrated the product, and inspires our imagination. For there was a time when God spoke, and creation sprang into being. It is recorded in the earliest pages of the Bible. And God's word on that day has been a message to mankind ever since. The King David commented on it when he wrote "The heavens declare the glory of God; and the earth shows his handy-work." Psalm 19:1. In fact, so loud was the message that Paul, some one thousand years later asserted, "For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse". Romans 1:20. A TV series on the human body currently available in their shops, show just how marvellously we are designed and made, how every part of our physical body fits perfectly to perform God's purpose, and which tells of His power and skill. Yet humanist evolutionists seek to cover their ears to the message, refusing to see the Creator beyond the creation. Yet we all tend to avoid listening to the voice of God. A favourite saying of Jesus was, "He who hath ears to hear, let him hear." This we know, God will speak to those who are His children, and those who pause to listen. Did you hear what God said to you this morning, or were you just not listening? |
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Offering
Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a sincere Jewish woman kept three ceremonies required by her faith. They are rich in significance for the Christian as we celebrate the birth of Christ.
First, the Circumcision of the child occurred on the eighth day after birth. It was the mark of the agreement between God and Abraham and Abraham's decedents. Abraham trusted God and this was considered to be righteous. Circumcision was later given to mark this agreement God had made with Him.
Second, the law of Redemption was performed about thirty-one days after this. First-born male children, without physical defect or blemish, of other than Levite families, were considered to be a holy gift to the Lord. Families could redeem these children for the payment of the redemption price of five temple coins (shekels). This was an act of worship.
Third, the Purification of the mother occurred forty-one days after the birth, or when attendance at one of the feasts brought the family to Jerusalem. It was in effect a sin offering symbolically associated with the beginning of life. The designated offering was a lamb, but for poor people turtle doves or young pigeon were acceptable and its blood was sprinkled on the altar.
These three ceremonies were associated in the birth of Jesus.
Each has significance in the experience of all who call themselves
Christians.
The law of purification is a blood cleansing looking to the time
when Mary's Son, Jesus would pour out his blood upon the Cross
of Calvary for the sins of the whole world, and for every man,
woman and child, for all of us who put our trust in Him.
The Jewish law and custom required that every first born male was holy to the Lord. Jesus was the only-born of His Father, "For God so loved the world that He gave his ‘only-born' Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Those of us who walk in His way, also offer to God the ‘first-fruit' of our life in service to Him.
The Apostle Paul says, "Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness." Paul also tells us that, "he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God." All men and women who have a faith in God through Christ are brought into the faith covenant relationship with God.
What ever way you look at the story of Christmas as told in the Bible, you will find it points us to the One whom God sent to be offered for the sin of men. God has not left us in our condition. He has paid the price. The benefit is ours. Every event, every detail tells the same story, that ‘God was in Christ reconciling a world of lost men to Himself.'
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