Life out of Death
Sermon
preached by Ronny Cham at the SIB Metro Church Evening Service on 11th
July 2010 at 6.00 pm Sermon
Title: Life out of Death Scripture:
John 12:20-26 20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up
to worship at the feast. 21 Then they came to Philip, who was from
Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see
Jesus." 22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and
Philip told Jesus. 23 But Jesus answered them,
saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. 24 Most assuredly, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but
if it dies, it produces much grain . 25 He who loves his life will lose
it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will
be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor. (NKJV) My
brother in law who had migrated to Australia returned to Sabah for a brief
visit recently. I took him to his birth
place, the little town of Kudat, at the Northern tip
of the Borneo Island, in the State of Sabah.
Of course he was much impressed by the vibrant city life in Kota
Kinabalu and with the development in the City of Kota Kinabalu when he first
arrived. But the little town of Kudat, on the other hand, actually brought back much memories of his childhood and teenage past because
nothing much had changed as far as his birth place, Kudat,
is concerned. According to him, Kudat is a ‘dead town’
as compare to the City of Kota Kinabalu. By
co-incidence, we met up with a cousin in Kudat who is
an active member of a local Church there, who incidentally told us that her
Church is embarking on a drive to rid Kudat of a
curse. What is the curse? A “Dead town”!
She said, her Church has begun proclaiming
“hope” and “life” to the town of Kudat, with a hope
of more development and more activities and spur life onto an active track. Unfortunately,
this is usually how we measure and judge the Church as well, based on the size,
the standard or glamour of the church building, the size and activities of the
membership, the financial standing of church, the quality and standard of the
ministries and even ministry leadership’s style. These are often considered as
the outward more tangible determining factors we have to take into
consideration when we talk about the spiritual condition and life of a church. In
this scripture of John 12:20-26, it covered the period of time when Jesus was
popular in the society and well known by the miracles, signs and wonders he had
performed. It may be described in our modern term “a vibrant and powerful
ministry” the Lord Jesus had at that time. So well known and popular that the Greek
visitors had wanted to see Him and worship Him. Yet
Jesus did not consider the miracles, signs and wonders He had done on earth as
demonstrating the glory of His ministry on earth. He said His moment of glory was about to me
manifested. How was the Son of Man glorified? He was glorified by dying on the
Cross. He said that if He did not die, He would remain as one person who did
the miracles, signs and wonders, the Works of God. Thus He likened His death as that of the
dying of a grain of wheat falling into the ground and out of the death of that
grain of wheat would come forth much grains. Yes
when He died on the Cross, that death was the moment of His Glory as God the
Father raised Him from the death overcoming the powers of death. Through that death on the Cross, comes scores
of lives that no one can fathom or can ever imagine. Christ
is known as the first amongst many brothers in the Family of God. Christ is the
cornerstone, the foundation stone of the Church upon which the Church has been
built. He is the King who established
the Kingdom of God on earth as it is in Heaven.
How many are there in the Family of God since the time of Christ? How big is the Church of Jesus Christ that
was built upon that Cornerstone since the time of Christ? How many soldiers are
there in the Kingdom of God? No one can ever imagine. It is beyond our human understanding, beyond
our capabilities of calculation. And it all came about when one grain fell to
the ground and died, Jesus Christ alone. Now, what
is the spiritual condition of SIB Metro Church? Are we judged by the physical
condition and location of the Church? We
are judged by the size of the membership or the activities and ministries of
the members? Do
not be disheartened my dear brothers and sisters in Christ. Take heart and take
heed of the Lord’s commandment in Mark 10:21b... “... come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” What
is the meaning of taking up the cross? We must bear in mind that when Jesus
said that, he had not died on the Cross yet.
Well, simply, during that time, the death penalty under the regime of
the Roman Empire was death on the cross by crucifixion. Carrying the cross literally means that one
has been sentenced to death and you are carrying the cross to be crucified.
Such a person no longer has the right to live according to your own will or
desire. This
is such a graphic description of each one of us, as Christian, yes, each one of
us, dies to sins and live for righteousness (see: 1 Peter 2:24); die to the
world, do not conform to the standard of this world but be transformed (see:
Romans 12:2); we no longer love the world and the things of the world (see: 1
John 2:15), but keep ourselves unspotted from the world. Now, every Christian,
each one of us, has been willed by God to carry the cross and follow Jesus
everyday because each one of us individually, have died with Christ and now
live with Him. This is how Apostle Paul
put it: Rom
6:8-11 8 Now
if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9
knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no
longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the
death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He
lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead
indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NKJV) As
far as the Church of Christ is concerned, the life of each and individual
Christian matters more than anything else as far as God is concerned. Remember Jesus
said there is joy in heaven in the presence of the angels of God over one
sinner who repents? Yes,
each one of us is important in the eyes of God and He has purposed it in such a
way that each one of us, when we die to self, die to sin, die to the love of
the world and the things of the world, within us is priceless treasure, i.e.,
life of Christ manifesting through our mortal fleshly body. Apostle
Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 4:7-12 in this way: 7 But we have this treasure in
earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. 8
We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not
in despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not
destroyed — 10 always
carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus
also may be manifested in our body. 11 For we who
live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of
Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 12 So then death
is working in us, but life in you. (NKJV) Thus,
it matters not the outward condition or appearance of the church premises, it
has no relevance to the size of membership or the volume of activities or
ministries in a local church, what matters most is each Christian dying to
self, to sin, to the love of this world, carrying in this body the dying of the
Lord Jesus Christ, so that the life of Jesus will be manifested in each one of
us, in power and in authority, to the Glory of God. In short, what matters in
God’s eye most is you, His son or His daughter because
He died for you and in you He has purposed His works of the Kingdom. Amen. Ronny Cham |
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