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In reflecting on what kind of topic could be one that could not only stand by itself, but also sum up all we’ve been talking about in the past year, I was driven to think about what is central to our faith. What is it that we need more than anything to be able to talk back to the devil? And the answer came quite easily actually, who other than Jesus Himself? He is all we need, he is the only one we need in order to talk back to the Devil.
The passage we read this morning testifies to that, please open your Bibles with me to Hebrews 10:19 again. Therefore brothers & sisters, since we have confidence to enter the most Holy place ... how? By the blood of Jesus. And then in verse 21, ‘And since we have a great High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God, with a full assurance of faith. Nothing else is needed, nothing else is required. There is no other way we can come before God, the author, creator, sustainer of all things, but through Jesus. And if we come before God through Jesus we can trust he will hear and listen to our requests. He is our Great High Priest, says Hebrews. No one else can appeal to God on our behalf no other power is good enough. The only way to be made right before him and the only person to go to, to get to God. Nothing else is needed, it’s that simple and it's beautiful don’t you think?
I’ve spoken to and heard of many who believe in Jesus…but in the same breath they accept that Buddha could’ve had it right too. I have heard of many who confess that Jesus is their saviour, yet other mediums are used to gain some specific knowledge or insight. They’re used as back ups in case Jesus doesn’t work out. Well in my final sermon at St Thomas’ I want to encourage you - all you need is Jesus Himself.
If you can remember all the way back to the other topics in the series, you’ll remember that we started off with the principle that we Talk back to the Devil by trusting in Jesus and not worrying too much about the world; trusting in his grace and presence through hard times and indefinite futures; focusing on him rather than getting distracted.
Then, in the second week, we began focusing on maturing and growing our faith, not staying stagnant but striving for a goal, a prize, which must be won. We talked about Entering Lion Country, that fearful place we walk through on our quest, because Satan always notices a Christian who wants to know Jesus more. And my hope was that we would be ever encouraged, looking to him for protection during Satan’s attacks. It’s during these times we can cry out like the Psalmist does, Save me O God, by your name, vindicate me by your might. Hear my prayer O God; listen to the words of my mouth. (Ps. 54:1-2)
And thirdly, we looked at how, while we are pursuing after Jesus, traveling through Lion Country the Devil often tries to Conceal the Smiling Face of God from our lives. We explored how, often, in our Christian walks the devil will try and discourage us, deceive us into thinking that, through our troubles and hardships, Jesus just isn’t that close after all. He tries to conceal the fact that we are now living in the light and truth of a right relationship with God. And we begin to doubt God’s smiling face on us. Maybe we begin to think he’s still angry with us, or maybe we begin to ponder whether he’s even there at all?
Each of these principles: trusting in Jesus to care for us; pursuing a closer, more mature relationship with him; and trusting that we are right with him, even when he feels far away; are all ways we talk back to the devil and avoid his many traps. But each relies on a common thread, Jesus Himself. He is the deep centre of our faith, the one upon whom eternity hinges itself. Who saved us from our old self-centered lives? Jesus Himself. Who was it who restored us to God? Jesus Himself. Who’s the one we try to emulate in our lives, who is it we are meant to trust in alone? Jesus Himself. And if it truly is Jesus Himself, where should he fit in our lives, which are already so full?
Can we have a proper balance in all our relationships?Husband and wife, father and son, mother and daughter, businessman partners and governments and citizens? All of these in their proper place; but in the deep of the heart, A. W. Tozer says, 'Having only one lover, he who suffers no rival. Jesus Himself.'
You see Jesus not only wants to be acknowledged as the only one who can save our eternal life. He demands to be acknowledged as the only one who can bring us to God, the only one worthy of our devotion, the only one to go to in prayer. Philippians 2:10 says, ‘At the name of Jesus, every knee should bow in heaven, and on earth and under the earth.' Why does he insist that it should be this way? Because, as the Old Testament pronounces, He is a jealous God! Deuteronomy 6 says, ‘Do not follow other gods, the gods of the peoples around you; for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a jealous God and his anger will burn against you.’
Jesus is that same God and he is jealous for us, for you and for me, he wants us for himself, he gave everything he had for us, buying us and becoming our only mediator in heaven. The only one who can speak to God on our behalf and he demands our complete devotion! As the song we finished with last term says of Jesus, ‘He is jealous for me, he loves like a hurricane and I am a tree, bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy.’
Tozer says in his book, ‘This is what it means to love Jesus - to know him just for himself.’ And he illustrates by telling a story of when a Dr. Simpson was asked to go to England to preach at a conference. When Dr. Simpson arrived he discovered that he was to preach the final message of the conference on sanctification, which is a fancy word that simply means the ongoing process of becoming like Jesus. He says that the first speaker spoke of ‘Suppressing our old nature’, stamping out that person we were before we became followers of Jesus. The second followed his lead, talking about ‘getting rid of that old man, destroying him’, leaving behind those things we used to do before Jesus. Well, Dr. Simpson took just one word for his sermon, ‘Himself’ and then gave his testimony, the story of all his efforts and struggles to win the prize we’re striving for. He said, ‘Sometimes I would think I had gotten it, and then I would lose it. What a blessedness when I came to the knowledge that I had been looking in the wrong place. When I found that victory, sanctification, deliverance, purity, holiness – all must be found in Jesus Christ Himself, not in any formula. When I claimed Jesus just for himself, it became easy and the glory came to my life.’ And he went on to write a song about this, which goes, ‘Once it was the blessing, now it is the Lord. Once his gift I wanted, now Himself alone.’ He had fallen in love with the Jesus of the Bible, not because of what he could gain from knowing the Son of God...But because Jesus had stolen his heart.
Jesus Himself, that’s the basic teaching of Christianity, and it doesn’t get any more complicated for those who want an ever-deepening faith. It’s the willingness to let Jesus Christ himself be glorified in and through us. It’s the willingness to stop using Jesus for our ends and to let Him work in us for His glory. 'It is', as the great Olympian and missionary to China, Eric Liddell said, 'surrender.'
I’m sad when I see people trying to use Jesus for their own goals, even sadder when I hear about people trying to get results by going to other spiritual mediums. Do we want a faith worthwhile? Do we want to see the Spirit move in this church, in this community? Do we want to see a godly youth group flourishing and growing, and the kind of renewing that will cause people to tremble and speak in awe at the name of Jesus? Then we need to be committed and loyal to Jesus himself, just for himself. Jesus has a wondrous love and commitment to us, he gives and he gives and he gives, yet he is still the same God of the OT, the one who said, ‘I am a jealous for you.’ We who claim to follow and live for him, would be wise to remember it and tweak our attitude, ‘Once his gift I wanted, now himself alone.’
Our passage continues, and here you’ll again hear echoes of last term’s youth service. Read with me at verse 23, ‘Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful and let us consider how we can spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another, and all the more, as you see the day approaching.’ I hope that you have found a family in this church. I have, since coming here, I have gained brothers and sisters and about 3 new mums. I love it, I’m so spoiled!
We come together, to encourage one another to support and strengthen and enjoy each other’s company. But we’re in big trouble if we believe that social support is the Church’s purpose and forget that the deep centre of our faith and fellowship is Jesus Himself. And I think this danger is all too real. Friends, the deep centre of our faith is reflected in what we choose to talk about with our friends and colleagues and school mates. May it be for all of us that when we think about why we come to Church, one answer rings louder and with more conviction than all the others in the quiet of our souls, that it’s Jesus Himself . But pressuring ourselves to this point isn’t necessarily the answer, so don’t stress. We who sincerely follow Jesus have someone working within us who will soften our hearts and cause him to be on our minds anyway and that is the Holy Spirit. Tozer says that the goal of the Holy Spirit is two fold: first, to convince Christians that its possible to know Jesus and to fall in love with him. And second, to lead us forward, to spur us on to that goal, that prize we are striving for Jesus himself. We’re meant to be talking about the ways in which we can talk back to the devil, but we’ve ended up talking about Jesus himself. And that’s only fitting, because without Jesus himself, we would be unable to even begin to talk back to the devil in the first place.
Amen
