St Andrew’s Online - 6 March 2022

[Music] [Applause] [Music] hi friends welcome to saint andrews church online i'm ian and i'm the youth director here and what a pleasure it is to be able to gather with you in this online way as we come before the word of god later on we're going to be hearing from pastor al as we continue this series on the sermon on the mount hearing what jesus has to say to us today before that we're going to enter into a time of worship and then following that we're going to hear from one of our mission partners the langham foundation [Music] the oceans in his [Music] nations trembled at his voice no creations prices to rejoice seated on his floor come let us adore him behold our king [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] to the [Music] please [Music] understand [Music] [Music] [Music] nothing let us adore this [Music] oh [Music] [Music] god is [Music] [Applause] [Music] come let us adore him [Music] seated on his throne come let us adore [Music] come let us undo [Music] my name is victor sun and i'm a member of andrew's church i'm here representing langen foundation hong kong which is a ministry set up by john stott langham's three main programs are scholarship which we provide for scholars church leaders and training the phd level there's something in the region of 400 of them around the world some of them are serving in hong kong and even countries where you know like mainland china where the need is greater we'll also have people scholars actually working in the churches and the other program is langham literature and we publish books that are used for preachers for church leaders as well as for seminary libraries and we also provide for publishers if they need funding and thirdly we're training preachers around the world last year alone something region 50 000 features being trained and it trained either through say seminared hybrid virtually or maybe they can train as they physically gather together at the same time these preachers they can train others too so they're becoming tutors where they can influence other people in their own church and also in other churches so these are preachers that we have providing them the resources and we give them the training now langdon works mainly in countries where we think they're under a lot of pressure or they're very poor they do not have any resources or thirdly potentially they can actually grow up in such a way that they could influence countries in surrounding areas the person i want to show you is someone who's a langham scholar who had actually got his phd from uk but we provided a scholarship in 2008 and returned to country lebanon his name is hikmat now when he returned in 2008 he was actually training people and in nurturing a church there with 70 members a resurrection church and in 13 years the church has grown to something like 17 000 members because what happens he is actually using what he's learned in langham and also he was very sensitive to what god's calling india's 2011 he was serving the refugees coming from iraq and syria so at the moment the church itself is 70 refugees related what we hope to do basically is to be able to actually see more and more people being able to train so that they can grow god's kingdom and andrews is our mission partner in a sense i want you to be able to know what we do to pray for us particularly as the needs are growing and thirdly we want you to support us particularly during this time when kovit is running many countries where they are suffering but at the same time the need is still there so we would like you to support us financially we can thank you really for andrew's being our partners supporting partner for many years our reading today is from matthew chapter 5 verses 17 to 26. do not think that i have come to abolish the law or the prophets i have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them for truly i tell you until heaven and earth disappear not the smallest letter not the least stroke of a pen will by any means disappear from the law until everything is accomplished therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven for i tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the pharisees and the teachers of the law you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven you have heard that it was said to the people long ago you shall not murder and anyone who murders will be subject to judgment but i tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment again anyone who says to a brother or sister raka is answerable to the court and anyone who says you fool will be in danger of the fire of hell therefore if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you leave your gift there in front of the altar first go and be reconciled to them then come and offer your gift settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court do it while you are still together on the way or your adversary may hand you over to the judge and the judge may hand you over to the officer and you may be thrown into prison truly i tell you you will not get out until you have paid the last penny history has given us so many famous love songs all you need is love by the beatles i will always love you by whitney houston boy with love by bts and even if we don't listen to all of those different songs we've got to acknowledge that they certainly strike a chord with people there's something about love which is foundational to human expression not just loving romantically loving that special someone but loving in a general sense well in the words of w s gilbert of gilbert and sullivan fame love makes the world go round we're currently in a series on the seminal on the mount and the fundamental principle is love jesus is teaching about the old testament law which can be summed up or summarized to love god and to love people around us love is the fundamental principle and that's part of the reason why we've called this semen series the good life see the essence of the good life is to love god and to love other people that is the key to human flourishing that's the good life you don't get any better than that of course that raises the question about what love really is we live in a modern society often it's a secular society and people have all kinds of definitions for love so often love starts with me it's about loving myself first so often love is about self-expression and freedom i need to be free to love whoever i want in whatever way i want it all gets quite confusing of course when jesus was speaking he wasn't speaking to secular atheists he was speaking to very religious people they had god's rule they had god's laws but it's so often they were confused about it or they were using it in the wrong way and jesus was speaking to different categories of people some people were very self-righteous they thought that actually they matched up and that they were keeping the law and that they deserve to to get into heaven as a result of the things that they were doing others were quite judgmental they were pointing the finger at other people and they said well the problem is with them out there i don't have any big issues in my life others were apathetic they would say oh yes yes i i have made mistakes but god is loving god god is merciful and he'll forgive me for these things it doesn't really matter if i'm not living up to his standard well sadly it's possible for us to fall into those same kind of mistakes today to be self-righteous in the way that we consider ourselves thinking that we do meet god's standards to be judgmental pointing the finger at others rather than humbly accepting that their issues in our lives as well or to just be apathetic not to take seriously jesus teaching that god's people must live in god's way where jesus corrects and challenges all of these things and in these verses today he starts to go into his teaching in a bit more detail and the passage splits into two easy sections and say we've got two points they are love needs god's rules and love avoids anger so firstly love needs god's rules have a listen to what jesus says verse 17 do not think that i've come to abolish the law all the prophets now the law wasn't just god's rules it was actually the jewish way of referring to the first five books the torah that was the law and it contained the blueprint for jewish society the prophets was the way of referring to the prophetic books but also the historical books the law and the prophets together made up nearly all of the old testament so jesus was saying look don't think i've come to get rid of all the rules don't think that i've come to get rid of the old testament and what's come before i'm not here to abolish those things now that is probably what some of his listeners would have thought after all so much of what jesus was doing was radically new and exciting even the fact that he had gone up onto the mountain to give the sermon showed that he was doing something new he was comparing and contrasting himself with moses remember moses went up mount sinai he received the law and the people were at the bottom of the mountain as they made that covenant and the physical nation of israel was forged but now jesus was going up the mountain and and he wasn't receiving the law that he was teaching on his own authority he didn't leave the people at the bottom he took them up with him he wasn't speaking about a physical nation no he was he's speaking about and teaching about the spiritual kingdom of heaven this was also very new radically exciting but jesus was saying look don't think that everything that's come before is going to be abolished far from it i've come to fulfill those things you see the the new testament isn't plan b for the lord god it's not as though israel failed it and so he had to do something new and so he said the lord jesus no everything that came beforehand was pointing to jesus jesus fulfills he's the culmination of all of these things he fulfills them and he's the fulfillment of the law as well now the the law is it's one of those things that christians sometimes debate i wonder if he had discussions about that how should we read the old testament law what should we do with those various rules rules like what to eat can we eat prawns can we eat pork those kinds of questions are very important in hong kong and and what does it mean for jesus to really fulfill the law as well well there are a variety of ways in which jesus fulfills the law the first and most important is that the law points us to jesus by exposing our sin it shows us that we can never ever reach god's standards and so we need jesus to save us now i don't know if you've noticed that way in which the law and which rules expose our sin i remember i remember one minister sharing an example of how he noticed that had happened for him he was in a train at the time and there was a notice up in the train which said no spitting and he said to he said to himself i would never have considered to spit in a train surrounded by people but as i read that prohibition there i felt my mouth beginning to salivate suddenly he wanted to spit and so often that's the way as soon as we hear of the rule you're not to do a certain thing we think to ourselves well maybe i'll just go ahead and do it well the law exposes our sin shows us our rebelliousness and shows us the fact that we need the lord jesus christ so he fulfills the law the intent of the law in that way the second way in which jesus fulfills the law is through his life and through his death jesus lived the perfect life we can't meet god's standards but he did and as a result he is the true israel and so he fulfills the civil laws those laws about the nation of israel they're all fulfilled in the lord jesus christ he fulfilled the law through his life but also through his death there were many sacrificial laws in the old testament but we know that jesus is the perfect sacrifice the lamb of god who takes away the sins of the world so all of those sacrificial laws are fulfilled in him as well the civil laws and the sacrificial laws and the new testament is very clear about all of this and so that means that those rules and rituals we don't need to keep them anymore today it means that we can eat prawns we can eat pork today we don't need to worry about those things so jesus fulfills the the intent of the law it's all pointing to him he fulfills the law through his life and death but he also came to fill up to expand the law so that we understand it and we read it in the right way perhaps a little bit like blowing air into a balloon now i've got a balloon here just by way of demonstration it's quite small but if you inflate it it gets bigger let's just have a look so that's closer to what it's really meant to be like jesus came to expand our understanding of the law so that we could see it more clearly and that brought him into sharp conflict with the pharisees listened to the rather scathing words that he had about them for i tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the pharisees and the teachers of the law you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven now the pharisees and the teachers of the law were actually a bit like the ministers of the day and so jesus was saying something quite shocking he was saying well look they might be very knowledgeable about the bible and they might seem very religious on the outside but actually these people are not coming into heaven because of their hearts and because of their lives now the reason is because the pharisees were relying on works righteousness in order to be right with god and the way that they did that was in a sense by trying to deflate the law let the air out of the law and they did that by creating hundreds of additional little laws so that they could tick all of these laws off and say i've done that i've done that i've done that i've done that i'm a good person god has to be happy with me he has to let me into heaven they were relying on their own good works well that reminds me a little bit of that sunday school question which is sometimes asked people i i don't know if you've come across it the sunday school teacher asks the student well imagine if you died tonight and you reached the gates of heaven and the angel gabriel was there and said well why should i let you into heaven what would you say i don't i don't if you've been asked that question before you died tonight and you reached heaven's gates and they said why should i let you in what would you say well the kind of thing that a pharisee would say is well um well i go to church and i read my bible and i pray and i attend growth group and i give money to the poor and i try to be a really good person please let me in with that of course is completely the wrong answer if we give an answer like that it shows that we just haven't understood the gospel clearly and that we may not be a christian there's absolutely nothing that we can do to earn our way into heaven instead the right answer should be of course i don't meet up to god's standards and of course i don't deserve to come in but jesus has paid the price so that i can and you see how the law leads us to that point it's as it exposes us and then shows us that we really don't meet god's standard that that helps us to go to the lord jesus christ and trust in him so that's the main purpose of the law it's dispose our sin and to lead us to the lord jesus christ but it also the law also teaches us to live in the right way and we see that that is what jesus says listen to what he says in verse 19 whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven jesus expectation is not just that as we read the law we'll be convicted of sin and repent and trust in him and his death his expectation is also that we read the law and that we seek to obey it and put it into practice and teach other people to do the same as well god's people need his rules his law to live in a way that's loving now that of course is completely different to what secular society says today secular pluralistic society says that you can have your idea about what love is you can have your own ethical code you can do what you want and we can all try and get on together but that of course is nonsense when we all have a different definition of what love is we end up in conflict with one another instead what we need to do is to listen to the creator god because he made us he knows what's really right and that's that's the case kind of with everything in life recently my mobile phone packed up and so i had to go out and i had to buy another phone and when you get a phone you get instructions even though you've paid money and the phone is in your pocket and you get to decide how to use it the manufacturer can still tell you what to do because they designed the thing they made the thing and they really know what's best but the same is true of course for our lives is that god is the creator god and yes he's given us a level of decision making about our lives but because he made us and he designed us he really knows what's best we need to listen to god's rules and it's something that will require us to work on as well you see we've got a sinful nature which will lead us in the wrong direction so we can't just rely on our own internal moral compass to help us to live the right way we need to keep on coming back to god's words listening to what he has to say humbly referring to what his words say in scripture it's something that we've got to work on and it's something where jesus expects to see progress in our lives it's not good enough for us to just say oh i'm a sinner and yes i make mistakes but jesus will forgive me actually jesus expects his people to make progress so if i really am a christian and i really have the holy spirit and i'm really trusting in him then yes it might be slow but over time jesus expects there to be some change and transformation in our lives so that we start to love him and we start to love other people in the way that he intended love needs god's rules that's our first point love needs god's rules and secondly love avoids anger jesus starts to speak in a bit more detail about some aspects of the law starting with the sixth commandment which is the commandment not to murder listen to what he says you've heard that it was said to the people long ago you shall not murder now this phrase you've heard that it was said turns up again and again in his teaching in the sem on the mount and he's probably referring to what the pharisees and the teachers of the law were saying you've heard what they said they're teaching about the ten commandments so he's critiquing what they have to say about the ten commandments well for the pharisees keeping god's law and keeping the sixth commandment was just about doing the bare bones of it so i was simply if you could say well i haven't committed murder then you could take the box and say well i've kept god's law and i'm innocent and jesus response to them is get real don't you see that the root of murder is anger and that all of us have anger issues now jesus is not here i think talking about righteous anger obviously there is a form of righteous anger god's anger at this world for the wrong things in this world the injustice in this world that anger is righteous and his punishments are against sin is righteous too well so too it follows that there is an appropriate righteous anger that people can have against the wrong things in this world and that it's appropriate for those things to be punished by the authorities that's good and well so righteous anger exists although the bible tells us that even if we have watched anger we've got to be careful that it doesn't get out of control and lead us to sin but that kind of righteous anger really doesn't seem to be the sort of thing that jesus has in view here because just listen to the example that he gives again anyone who says to a brother or sister raka that's a term of insult is answerable to the court and anyone who says you fool will be in danger of the fire of hell the example that he's giving here is not a person with white sangha it's a person who loses his cool and calls his brother or sister an idiot and in that moment in his heart that person has murdered the other person jesus is saying look the essence of murder is unrighteous anger in our hearts if we've done that then we're guilty of breaking the sixth commandment and we deserve to go to hell we're in danger of the fires of hell unless we repent and we turn back to him now that is really really striking teaching but it's got to be right doesn't it you see think what happens when you get angry with another person what's the thing that triggers that anger but so often it's because they do something or they say something that threatens something that is precious to us and when they say that thing or do that thing it makes our blood absolutely boil but so often that thing is something that perhaps we we idolize we have undue care over and so we need to ask ourselves when we get angry well what does that expose about the idols of my heart and in that moment when we get so angry well just think about what happens so often in our mind we just want the other person out of the picture we don't want them there anymore and we might even start to imagine ways in which we can get revenge on them things that we can say things that we can do in order to hurt them to get back at them well jesus is showing us that what that means that in another world where there were no consequences at all well we just want that person out of the way we murder them or even we'd talk to them and so the essence of murder is this unrighteous anger and the words that actions that follow are just us doing things depending on the circumstances and the consequences that we're willing to deal with the essence of murder is anger and this is where the pharisees had it absolutely wrong they thought that because they weren't committing murder they weren't guilty and jesus saying yes you are guilty well it's as we seek forgiveness in god that that helps us to deal with some of our anger issues jesus gives an example of how that's the case as well in verse 23. therefore if you're offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you leave your gift there in front of the altar first go and be reconciled to them then come and offer your gift but jesus is speaking at a time when people would still go to the temple and they'd offer a sacrifice and that sacrifice would be symbolic of the peace and reconciliation that they had with god because of his forgiveness through jesus turning death and say he's saying look it's completely hypocritical to you for you to go to the temple and to offer a gift there but to still be in the middle of an argument with a friend of yours who's a christian and to have anger in that relationship so leave your gift at the temple and first go and sort out that relationship as a matter of priority well it's not hard for us to think of what the new testament equivalent might be but the bible says that we're to examine ourselves before we take communion for instance and as we come to take communion we're celebrating the peace that we have with god through jesus atoning death of course we come with sin in our hearts but we shouldn't come with unconfessed big unconfessing and say we've we've got a big argument with another christian and we're hot we're harboring anger and resentment in our hearts then we should not take communion but rather go and first be reconciled with that brother and sister now that is not necessarily an easy thing to do even if the other person is a christian it means perhaps quite an awkward conversation it might mean coming to them and saying look if i'm honest i was really hurt when you said x or when you did why it's so often we prefer to just brush that kind of conversation under the rug and not deal with it but jesus says that we have to deal with it because anger is so hypocritical god has diverted his anger away and so we need to deal with anger in our lives anger is hypocritical but also anger is very dangerous and that's what we see in jesus final example this isn't an example from within the church it's just an example from everyday life listen to what he says settle matters quickly as your adversary is taking you to court do it while you are still together on the way or your adversary may hand you over to the judge and a judge may hand you over to the officer and you may be thrown into prison truly i'll tell you you will not get out until you have paid the last penny the example here is of anger escalating very quickly you get into an argument with someone that can turn into a lawsuit if you don't settle out of court well you might get thrown into prison jesus says in the end anger escalates so quickly now i'm sure we've all seen examples of anger escalating like this i remember one example from a number of years ago i was in the car with my family and a couple of drivers in the lanes next to us started to get into a little bit of road rage their cars were jostling and as we came up to a roundabout one of the cars scooted ahead and blocked the path of the other car then a man clowned out of that car in the front with a baseball bat walked over to the other car and smashed their rear windscreen and then drove off it was just a wild escalation of a petty disagreement on the road anger is so dangerous when it escalates like that of course the reality is that we've all seen anger escalate in our own lives like that it's so easy for a word which we shouldn't have spoken to turn into an argument and for that to to really take on our life of its saying before we know we've got anger and resentment in our heart perhaps it's turned into a full-blown row maybe we start to cup the other person out or start to behave in ways which are passive aggressive it's so corrosive for that relationship and then it spreads into other relationships as well it's really bad and jesus says we need to do everything that we can to de-escalate the effects of anger now sometimes that might mean doing practical things maybe we need to count to ten maybe we need to extract ourselves from the situation give ourselves a time out it's important that we handle anger correctly here we see we live in the world where actually these days it's become socially acceptable to express anger certainly on social media it's almost become trendy to express outrage at things in society that we don't like but christians are not to handle their anger in that way now of course that doesn't mean that we should just repress our anger that won't work of course eventually will explode we need to find ways of dealing with it and that means coming to god in prayer and and sharing it appropriately with other christians as well well a while ago a friend of mine who was going through a very challenging situation messaged the little group of us with these words he said things are a thousand times worse than i ever imagined i've never been this angry please pray as i read those words i found them very relatable actually we all struggle with anger at certain times but what he did there was so right he wasn't allowing his anger to explode he wasn't repressing it he was sharing it in an appropriate way with other christians seeking their counsel seeking their prayer and taking it to god as well that i think is an appropriate right way for us to deal with our anger but certainly not easy but the sermon on the mount helps us it's as we see jesus teaching about what it means to live a loving life that we realize that we're failures as well that makes us humble rather than proud as we realize that we're part of the problem that leads us to the cross as we remember that god has diverted his anger from us and that he's forgiven us it's as we receive god's love and his forgiveness that we're able to extend love and forgiveness to others as well let's pray heavenly father we thank you for the teaching of the sermon on the mount thank you for your law which exposes our sin and which leads us to the cross thank you for your mercy which means that despite our failures we're forgiven help us we pray to show love and mercy and understanding to others help us we pray to love you and to love our neighbors and so as a result to live the good life just as you intended amen thank you for the message al we're going to spend some time now reflecting on the word uh that we've just heard as well as coming before god in confession and assurance and knowing and throwing all our guilt and shame on him and trusting in the righteousness that we have by faith in jesus christ so we'll take a moment to reflect on the wrongs we have done the good that we have failed to do before saying these words of confession and assurance together [Music] god our maker and our judge we have sinned against you in thought word and deed and in what we have failed to do we have not loved you with our whole heart we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves we repent and are sorry for all our sins father forgive us strengthen us to love and obey you in newness of life through jesus christ our lord amen and we have these words of assurance from 1 john chapter 2 verses 1 to 2. if anyone sins we have an advocate with the father jesus christ the righteous one he is the perfect offering for our sins and not for ours only but for the sins of the whole world amen arlene is going to help us continue in prayer come and join me for prayer hebrews chapter 4 verse 14 to 16 says since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven jesus the son of god let us hold firmly to the faith we profess for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet he did not sin let us then approach god's strong grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time over need let's pray heavenly father we give thanks that jesus became one of us experiencing everything that we do and is able to empathize with us in our distress we praise him for his perfect obedience to you and that we can come to him for forgiveness grace and comfort lord open our eyes to hear your voice and cleanse our hearts to pray into your will let us pray for the world father we pray for the world particularly ukraine and russia's conflict we pray for a peaceful resolution to the crisis in eastern ukraine for the restraint of violence for the withdrawal of military forces that sanctions are used fairly for effective discussions between national leaders and for national sovereignties to be respected we pray for langham foundation one of saint andrews mission partners we give thanks for its ministry of bible teaching and training we pray that langham would continue to serve the worldwide church through its three core ministries of training preachers providing scholarships for the next generation of leaders and through high quality christian publishings lord we pray for hong kong as the city feels the way to increase infections and strict restrictions we continue to pray for the restraint of kovid we pray for the city's health care system as it copes with hospitals overwhelmed with covet patients for effective policies regarding testing isolation and the treatment of the infected lord we give thanks for our doctors nurses and other health staff who are working hard and longer hours with more risk of contracting the virus themselves we pray for their protection and perseverance we also pray for christians working in health care that they use their gifts and opportunities to care well for people and share the light of christ father we pray for those who are especially struggling with isolation associated with social distancing restrictions for students especially those with inadequate technology and cramped housing for those separated from family and support networks and for the poor and those whose incomes have been affected we pray for their perseverance provision care and support lord we pray that in this critical time people would seek you finding their hope and peace in you we pray for our church saint andrews especially for home for you we give thanks for our home for you ministry which seeks to care for our domestic worker community thank you lord for the joy and faithfulness in jesus for the community of care they provide for one another and for others for their opportunities to learn from god's word and grow in their love for jesus we pray for them and all the migrants domestic workers as they serve in hong kong may they persevere under covet restrictions which limit their time off and for comfort as they are away from their families and for some who are unable to reunite with their families abroad and for those who are forced to work on their days off may their persevere and may you help them lord to set healthy boundaries for themselves we pray for those who tested positive got terminated and are displaced right now may the government give guidance on how to assist them and their employers on how to carry out home isolation and alternative accommodation or receive hospital treatment lastly lord we pray for those in community who are suffering in this time for those burdened with extra responsibilities those who are feeling the trouble of loneliness and isolation those who've lost work and income the ill and the grieving we pray for their provision and protection for healing and hope for their care and comfort in christ lord in the midst of the circumstances may you keep us strong in faith hope and love this we pray in jesus name amen thank you arlene for leading us in prayer just a few announcements from me before we finish up our time together this morning first of all we here at san andreas rely on your generosity to keep this church running to keep all of these wonderful ministries that we are a part of that we support all over the world to keep them running if you would like to give and you call san andreas your home here are some ways that you can be doing that thank you so much for your generosity if you have any prayer requests or if there's anything that we can do as a church to help your practical or pastoral needs please be in contact with us you can send your prayer requests through to prayer at st andrews.org.hk and you can contact the church office if there is any way that we can be supporting you practically or pastorally we would love to be able to help you and would love to be able to support you in that way the pastors at church are also starting a book club a place for us to be able to read together these books to help us grow in faith and we've been spending so much time on screens so i'm sure that that will be a great way to be refreshed and to be grown in fact if you'd like to find out more please check out the what's on page on our church website and lastly speaking of our what's on page please be checking it anyway there's a lot that happens in the life of our church we'd love for you to stay connected to us so please be continuing to join us on these sunday mornings uh be continuing to join your small groups if you're a part of one and keep up to date with what's going on we would love to see you online and we hope to see you soon in person thank you so much for joining us this morning please stay safe and stay healthy

Channel: St Andrew's Church

Views: 1,160

Keywords:

Id: nkVX5lM4-PU

Length: 46min 26sec (2786 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 05 2022