Mission to the Powerful - 230409

SPEAKER A Hello, everyone. I'mike browning. This is let God speak. Whether we are rich and powerful or poor and weak, we are all flawed human beings, know it or not. Like it or not, we all need a saviour. So how will God get through to our stubborn hearts? Well, that is the subject of our discussion today. Well, folks, on our panel today we have Steven Groom. Thank you for coming, Steven. And Kaysie Vokurka. And thank you once again, Kaysie, for coming. We really appreciate your input. We'd like to invite everybody to join with us in prayer before we open the Scripture. Father in heaven, thank you, Lord God, that we can share together from the Scripture again today, its message to the great and the powerful, as well as to the humble and each one of us. So may your spirit guide us today as we share together. In Jesus name. Amen. SPEAKER B Amen. SPEAKER A Now, in Jesus'day, if you were rich and powerful, Steven, people thought you had a ringside seat in heaven, right? That you had the best seats, understandable? And even today, some people believe that God has a selected group to be saved and a selected group not to be saved. How do you feel about that? SPEAKER B Well, let's get the answer from the Bible, shall we? Let's place let God speak to us. And for that I would like to go to the Book of First Timothy, chapter two and verses three and four, verse three, to get the context. But the answer is no, first of all. But the text will tell us why. Verse three says, for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God, our Saviour. So the subject there is God. God who will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now, in verse four, the word men, there seems biassed towards the masculine gender, doesn't it? However, the Greek word there is anthropos, and therefore the modern versions have changed that. For instance, the New Revised Standard Version has everyone to be saved, and NIV has all people to be saved, humanity to be saved. SPEAKER A Yes. SPEAKER B So anthropos means everybody. It's not biassed towards any gender. SPEAKER A Okay, so everybody's included in that, right? Everybody is invited to have salvation. God desires all human beings to be saved. It's a very important point. Look, I want to go to first John, chapter two, for a moment, the first letter of John, chapter two and verse two, which says this, and it's similar lines. He himself that's Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. He's provided the atonement for our sins, not for ours only, but also for the whole world. What do you think about that, Kaysie? SPEAKER C Yeah, well, it's interesting. We read before that God wanted us to be saved, so all people. So he had that desire for it. But now we see from this verse that he's actually made provision for everyone to be saved. And yeah, emphasising the whole world. So it's not any one particular people group, it's everyone he has made provision for. SPEAKER A Okay, well, now there's another question follows on from that. And Steven, the obvious question being, if that's the case, will the whole human race then automatically be saved? SPEAKER B No, that's going to the other extreme, isn't it? So God, Jesus'death on the cross does not give unconditional salvation to all people, but it grants probationary time for all people to have the opportunity to be saved. So they have the choice, don't they? SPEAKER A So we still have the choice. That's the important point, isn't it? SPEAKER B They have to accept Jesus as their Lord and saviour. However, if people don't accept Jesus, obviously during this probationary time, then they're not going to be saved. So it's up to them. That's why in John 316 it says, god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that ever received Him may have there's that indefinite may have eternal life. So the choice is theirs. SPEAKER A But provision was complete. Jesus sacrifice on the cross covered every human being who would ever live. But still the offer, they have to. SPEAKER B Do something to respond. SPEAKER A Response has to be made. And I think that's really important, isn't it? Can't just take God for granted here. SPEAKER B And Joshua 20 415 says, choose ye this day who you will serve. So there's that appeal in the Bible to do that. SPEAKER A It's a biblical principle that we choose and God never takes that right away from us, which is very helpful to know. Now, look, some people are harder to reach with the message of salvation than others. I think we're all aware of that. The rich and powerful who are the major subject of our discussion today, they can be very difficult to reach other people too, who've got their heads cluttered with other ideas of their own. How does God get through to people who are hard to reach like that? SPEAKER C It's a good question. I mean, usually he actually works through other people. So people who are followers of God, who have an exemplary character, he'll put them in contact with these people so that they can see something different. And the other thing that's absolutely critical is for the Holy Spirit to be working on the person's heart. As human beings, we can do nothing without the influence of the Holy Spirit. So exemplary people, the Holy Spirit. But then the other one that God often uses, especially for people who are powerful or maybe in a place where they don't get much exposure to understanding, god is actually doing miraculous things for them. And we can have a look at an example of that in Daniel chapter four. Daniel, chapter four. And verse 30 and 31. This is the story of Nebuchadnezzar. And it says here that the King spoke saying, is not this great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honour of my majesty. While the word was still in the king's mouth, a voice fell from heaven, saying, king Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom is departed from you. So this was a miraculous voice coming to him, giving a dramatic message. SPEAKER A Amazing, wasn't it? SPEAKER C Yeah. And God was trying to get through to him through this scenario. And then after that, there was something. SPEAKER A That happened to him just when he thought he was at the pinnacle of his life. SPEAKER C Yes. SPEAKER A Aren't I fantastic? Then down he goes. SPEAKER C That's it. SPEAKER A And goes mad for seven years. SPEAKER C That's right. SPEAKER A And, I mean, that's really drastic treatment, isn't it? SPEAKER B That has a purpose, as a purpose is to humble him, to bring him back in line to salvation. SPEAKER A Yeah. Okay. Obviously the only way he could be reached. And there are other examples of the length that God is prepared to go to reach the powerful and the rich and the famous and people who are normally hard to reach. And Naaman is a classic example of that. And I'm going to read from two kings, chapter five and verse one, because this just outlines the story of this interesting man, second Kings just a minute, I find this. Second kings, chapter five and verse one. This is the story of Naaman, who was a man from Syria, commander of the king's army. He was a rich and powerful man. And so verse chapter five, verse one begins this way. It says, now, Naaman, commander of the army of the king of Syria, was a great and honourable man in the eyes of his master, the king, because by him the Lord had given victory to Syria. That was an interesting thought on its own. He was also a mighty man of Valour. But and it's always a but there a leper. This man was a leper. So God has got to reach this man. How does he reach this man? Kaysie yeah. SPEAKER C Well, in very interesting way, and we can unpack the details of it. Let's have a look at the next couple of verses in verses two and three of the same chapter. And it says, and the Syrians had gone out on raids and had brought back captive a young girl from the land of Israel. She waited on Naaman's wife. Then she said to her mistress, if only my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria, for he would heal him of his leprosy. And so it's very interesting what's going on here. God has a person in coming in contact with him who is a representative. Yeah. He's working through that to help this person make a connection with someone who can connect them to God. But the other thing that's very interesting here is God worked on this man's heart through a real need. And in this case, it was a health need. This was his weakest point. And so he wanted help for this. And God has the ability to bring help and healing for it. And so this was a way to reach this man's heart. SPEAKER A So he makes the long distance ride down to Samaria from Syria, which is a tremendous thing when you think about it. He's a desperate man, people with a desperate situation. So, Steven, what does Elisha do when this Syrian arrives at his doorstep? SPEAKER B Yes. And for that answer, we have to go to verse ten of the same chapter. And it says, elisha sent a messenger unto him saying, go and wash in Jordan seven times and your flesh shall come again to you and you shall be clean. Verse eleven tells us his response, though, and it says, But Naaman was furious and went away and said, Behold, I thought, he will surely come to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand over the place and recover his leprosy. So this shows a bit of arrogance of the man. SPEAKER A This is reflected pride was quite affected by this. He wasn't happy about that. SPEAKER B And this is reflected in verse 13, where it says that surely Abena and Farpa, which are rivers from his hometown in Damascus, are better than these. So he's got a bit of pride there for his nationality. Fortunately, his counsellors, his servants were able to persuade him to follow through, otherwise he might not have been cured of this leprosy. SPEAKER A A bit of common sense was brought to the picture, wasn't it? Which was really interesting that they did that. It is a fact, by the way, isn't it, if you've been to Israel, the Jordan River is a muddy old river. SPEAKER C Yeah. SPEAKER A And I expect it was then, too. SPEAKER B And so I believe that he was actually correct in saying that his rivers. SPEAKER A Were better, nice fresh water and clean. But look at this. Okay, so he didn't get the point, but he was going to. And God was very patient with him. We missed out, actually, on a verse in Daniel. I noticed, Steven, the effect that it had on Nebuchadnezzar when he came to himself, shall we say? SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER A And turned his heart to God. SPEAKER B Yes. SPEAKER A And it was an amazing response that. SPEAKER B He gave in Daniel, chapter four, verse 34, because he now praises God. He praised God. SPEAKER A What a change. SPEAKER B He's a change man. He's born again. And in the light of this topic, what better witness for God can you have than someone actually praising the Lord? It attracts people to him, which is what God wants. SPEAKER A Okay, so Naaman goes and gets himself. He gets healed, he jumps into the deep. Did we read verse 14? Did we all? SPEAKER C We can read that. SPEAKER A Kaysie, would you? SPEAKER C Yeah, I can read that for you. So it says in verse 14, so he went down and dipped seven times in the Jordan, according to the saying of the man of God, and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child, and he was clean, amazing. God, anything totally healed. SPEAKER A It's just amazing. SPEAKER C This was a huge deal back in those days because leprosy was like incurable. It was like a death sentence. You're just a slow death. But this was huge. What? SPEAKER B God was a type of sin, isn't it? That shows you how bad it is. SPEAKER A That's right. It's used as an illustration of sin. Yeah, good one. So God did do this thing, despite his arrogance? Well, it had a desired effect. He responded, didn't he, to this in verse 15, it says, now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel, acknowledged Yahweh, the true God, which was fantastic, just like Nebuchadnezzar did. But God had to do drastic things, which surely tells us that if a person's heart if God sees a person's heart is ready for salvation, he's prepared to do whatever it takes to get through to them. And while you don't often see incredible things like this happen, there's a lot of things that do happen people just don't know about. And God is working in everybody's heart. Look, second king, second kings. While we're there, in chapter five and verse 18, naaman makes our most unusual request, doesn't he? And he goes and he talks to Elisha and he says basically, he says, Look, I've got a problem. He says, in this thing, may the Lord pardon your servant when my master goes into the temple of Rimon, one of the pagan gods to worship there, and he leans on my hand. So he used to accompany the king, and he leans on my hand. So presumably the king's a bit inferred and needs his assistance there in the temple to Rimon. And where are we? Oh, yes. And I bow down. He leans on my hand and I bow down in the temple of Rimon. When I bow down in the temple of Rimon, may the Lord that's God please pardon your servant in this thing. That's really interesting. What do you think about that, Steven? That's unusual request, isn't it? SPEAKER B Well, God leads people where they are. He leads them on step by step. And so in Acts 1730, the Bible said, god winks at our ignorance, so he has to take us where we are and lead us on step by step, which is obviously the case here. God is very forgiving and he's patient with us, and especially new believers, we also have to be patient with new believers. SPEAKER A I think that's the point here for us, isn't it? To be patient with people and take them step by step. SPEAKER B We can't expect an overnight reformation. 100%. SPEAKER A That's right. SPEAKER B People need time and they are going to grow. SPEAKER A People won't stay there. They can't stay there, but give them time. That's a really good point. Thanks for that, Steven. Did we finish the scriptures on that? Yes, we did. Thank you for that. Look, perhaps the hardest people to reach are your religious and educated people who are inclined to think they probably know it all. So these people can be very difficult to reach. And I just want to look at us, to look at the way Jesus ministered to such a person. Nicodemus, religious man, leader of the people, educated, respected and honoured. So he had all of the right things happening for him, but he had an empty heart, spiritually in the heart. He was empty. His head was full. Heart was empty. Chapter three of John. Because Nicodemus comes to see Jesus, he knows there's something not right in his life. So you've got to give him a plus for that and this is what he does. Chapter three, verse one. There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. And I'm going to ask you, Kaysie, what do you think of the approach he makes in the next verse? Chapter three, verse two, this man came to Jesus by night and said to him, rabbi, we know you're a teacher, come from God. No one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. So what do you think of that? SPEAKER C Well, he's talking to the Creator of the universe in human flesh. SPEAKER A He missed that point. SPEAKER C He missed that point. And it comes across as a bit condescending, really, because he's saying, well, you're a teacher, yes, you must be from God, because you're doing these amazing things. But he is not in his heart at that point of really acknowledging, or at least not willing to even say openly to Jesus that he wants to acknowledge his divinity and his mission. So it's interesting start to the connection. SPEAKER A It is a bit. So how does Jesus respond to that, Steven? SPEAKER B I love Jesus'response because it shows Jesus is a person straight to the point, and I'm a bit like that and straightforward. He seems to ignore Nicodemus'introduction to he does, and he comes straight to the point. Truly, truly, I say to you, Jesus said, except a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. So he comes straight to the point. With Nicodemus'need, no beating around the bushes, we say here, Jesus could see that Nicodemus needed the Holy Spirit in his life. He was a leader without the leading of God, so he was empty spiritually. He needed a spiritual rebirth and Jesus told him so. And it's something we all need at all times, isn't it? SPEAKER A Okay, thank you. It is indeed, yeah. SPEAKER B But after that, he was a changed man. SPEAKER A He was, but he was very slow about it. Did he change everything in his life overnight? That's the question. SPEAKER C Definitely not. It's interesting that the Bible gives us a little bit of insight into the progress of this man's journey. In John, chapter seven, verses 50 and 51. And this evidently is something that happened at a meeting with other priests and Pharisees and Nicodemus. It says, he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them, said to them, does our Lord judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing? And so this was where they were trying to find a way to catch Jesus out. And Nicodemus is actually standing up for Jesus, but in a very careful way, by bringing the people's attention back to their law, just to try and protect Jesus and also help the priest to do the right thing, I guess. SPEAKER A That was good. It's interesting because Nicodemus appears later in the Gospel of John Two in chapter 19 and verse 39. Similar introduction to Nicodemus here. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came bring a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds weight, to anoint Jesus'death, his body after his death. So is this the same Timid man? SPEAKER B Well, no, because he's coming out publicly in support of Jesus now, which through the opposition that Jesus had received from the Jews, they'd killed him. I mean, this was a dangerous act, really, to show support of Jesus at any time, because they were still against him. So he recognises the tragedy that has just occurred. The Jewish nation has murdered their own Messiah. Nicodemus had recognised that. So he's going to support Jesus now as best he can, to be a. SPEAKER A Witness, because Jesus is dead now, but he's so incensed, but such a terrible. SPEAKER B And so he's showing an act of boldness here. And boldness is a gift of the Holy Spirit, which Jesus had said he needed, and he obviously had that to do that. SPEAKER A Okay. Okay, well, thank you for that. Now, talking about the rich and powerful for a moment, most people would love to be rich and powerful, but what did Jesus say about riches? SPEAKER C Kaysie yeah, it's interesting. He has some very fascinating things to say. In Matthew 19 and verse 23 and 24, it says, and Jesus said to his disciples, assuredly, I say to you that it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And again I say to you, it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Interesting expression there. SPEAKER A It is, isn't it? Yeah. SPEAKER C I mean, I know there's, I think, different ways to interpret this verse, but either way, it comes out that it's almost impossible, because how can this kind of thing work? SPEAKER A Exactly. SPEAKER C So it's very interesting. And it does say, though, in verse 26, it gives us some hope. But Jesus looked at them and said to them, with men this is impossible, but with God, all things are possible. SPEAKER A Wow. It's a good thing that Jesus said that. SPEAKER C Yeah, it is. SPEAKER A But that's so true, isn't it? SPEAKER C Yeah. SPEAKER A God can well, look at Nicodemus. Sorry. Not nicodemus. Naaman. And who was the other chap we were talking about? Back there, daniel. Daniel Nebuchadnezzar. That's the one. I mean, God got through to these very stubborn, proud, arrogant men. So God can get through. SPEAKER B It is a different case now. SPEAKER A Yeah, that's right. SPEAKER C It is a different it's interesting because I think God part of the way he reaches these people is through their need. But it can be hard for them, people who are rich or powerful, to actually feel the need. And it also can be hard for us to people who are reaching out to them to recognise their need and minister in. SPEAKER A Okay. And it's going to take a miracle. SPEAKER C Yeah. SPEAKER A That's the point, I think, that we're seeing here. Now, Jesus had said these things after a fascinating interview with a rich, young leader of the people who did feel his need, which is interesting in Matthew, chapter 19, still in verse 16. Now, behold, one came and said to him, good teacher, sound much like Nicodemus's approach. Good teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life? This was his question. He knew something was missing. So what did Jesus do to help him see what his problem was there? SPEAKER B Steven or in Matthew, in verse 21, sorry, jesus points out the problem in this man's life. Jesus said to him, if you will be perfect, go and sell what you have and give to the poor and you shall have treasure in heaven and come and follow me. So Jesus doesn't ask everybody to do that. But this was obviously the problem with this man. He was obviously covetous a simple solution to his problem. Yeah, exactly. Did he obey that? No. Verse 22 said that the young man went away sorrowful because he had great possession. The problem wasn't with his possessions, but the fact that he preferred those over salvation or believing in Jesus. SPEAKER A Okay, so how do you feel about what he did there? SPEAKER C Kaysie yeah, well, I think that it highlights another challenge that people who are rich can have, and that is your possessions and your wealth, money, whatever it is, can actually become a bit of an encumbrance to you progressing in spiritual life. So you may have a desire to go in a certain direction, like he obviously had a desire, he wanted something about it, you know, to infer his his salvation experience. But his actual wealth was actually a hindrance to him. It was an encumbrance. It was getting in the way. SPEAKER A Yeah, that's true. We need to talk about why he was so conflicted, knew what he ought to do and then went away sorrowful. SPEAKER B So he was obviously attracted to the idea of eternal life. And this has revealed the fact that he came to Jesus and asked him the question. He was willing to dialogue and spend time away from his work or whatever he was doing. But the problem was, Jesus pointed out the problem in his life, which was his love of money, his covetousness and the possessions he loved more than Jesus. This was revealed in his response that has already been pointed out. He went away sorrowful, not obeying Jesus'request. How sad to choose the things of this world over possessions. That's always the choice we have to make. SPEAKER A It it is. Is. Now, we're going to have to move along pretty quickly here. Now, he wasn't the only rich person who had to choose between money and Jesus. There's another one in Luke 19. I'm in John here Luke 19 and verse one which says, where are we here Luke 19 one. And we'll read verse one and two. When Jesus entered and passed through Jericho, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector. And notice what it says next. He was rich, he had a lot of money, and he sees Jesus there. What did Zacchaeus do with the invitation to salvation? Kaysie just in brief on this. SPEAKER C Yeah, he responded openly. You can read it in verse eight and nine of the same chapter. He said, Lord, I'm going to give half of my goods to the poor. If he's taken anything from anyone, he's going to restore it. And Jesus acknowledged that he had received salvation because his heart was just totally open to everything. SPEAKER A That Jesus so different from the rich young ruler. I'm impressed with Zacchaeus. This man's got a changed heart. Look, some of the rich and powerful were convinced that Jesus was the Messiah. After a time, didn't get it to start, were very cautious, watching to see what was going to happen. And then suddenly they realised that Jesus was indeed the Messiah. And in Matthew 27, it talks about Joseph of Aramathia here, who came out of the woodwork, so to speak, after Jesus death, went to Pilate, asked for the body of Jesus and laid him in his own tomb where nobody had been put before. Joseph was a rich man. He had a tomb of his know carved out the rock. A very big thing indeed. How important was this act? Just finishing up here quickly. SPEAKER B Okay, so, yeah, laying it in the tomb. Well, this was a fulfilment of prophecy. If you go to Isaiah, chapter 53, verse nine, speaking of the suffering servant, it says, he made his grave with the wicked and with the rich in his death. SPEAKER A Okay. So he actually fulfilled prophecy by doing that, which was a fantastic thing to do. So at the last minute he comes forward and he makes it clear, like Nicodemus that he stands so people can be reached. That's the point that we're making and we need to be praying for these people. God can do amazing things if we ask him. Well, folks, we've got to finish there. It is true that rich and influential people often seem indifferent to the Gospel. However, the story of Nicodemus and others that we've seen show another side to this. Many are quietly desperate for spiritual fulfilment. So keep on letting your light shine. That's the point. Well, we've appreciated your company today. On let God speak. All our past programmes plus teachers notes are available on our website, 3abnaustralia.org.au. Email us if you wish on [email protected]. au. Join us again at God bless.