Author Archives: Stephen Sizer

Christianity Explored: Why did Jesus Come? (Mark 2:1-17)

The song popularized by Louis Armstrong ‘What a Wonderful World’ is a beautiful song that celebrates nature: Trees of green, red roses too, they bloom for me and you; Skies of blue, clouds of white, bright blessed day and dark sacred nights. Nature is marvelled at and I’m sure you have experienced that and felt the same wonder. It’s a song that also celebrates friendship, and above all it celebrates falling in love: Friends shake hands saying, ‘How do you do?’ What they are really saying is, ‘I love you.’ It’s a great song about the fantastic gifts of life: creation; friendship; falling in love. But as we saw from the pictures, there is something wrong with our world.

But in Mitch Markowitz’s film Good Morning Vietnam while the song says one thing the pictures say another. As we are told ‘the roses bloom for me and for you’, we see a bomb going off. As we hear the words ‘the colours of the rainbow so pretty in the sky’, we see protesters being beaten. And, most poignant of all, the chorus of ‘I say to myself, what a wonderful world’ is accompanied by images of the little child’s sandal. That’s the world we live in. It should be so good and yet there is something desperately wrong. The film’s artistry is very clever because it shows us that the world is not the place it ought to be. It should be a wonderful world, but all too often it is spoilt by people. The film is summed up by the Vietnamese girl with whom Robin Williams has fallen in love.

She says that so many things do not happen the way you want them to. The Bible actually goes deeper than that. The Bible says that so many things don’t happen the way we want them to because people are not what they should be. People are sick, indeed dying, says Jesus, and we so desperately need a doctor. The tragedy is, most people do not realize their condition is fatal. Before we realize how desperate we are, we need to realize three things: who Jesus is, why he came and how he alone can make us well again.

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Has the Church Replaced Israel? Revelation TV Debate

“Has the Church Replaced Israel?” A debate between Calvin Smith and Stephen Sizer broadcast on Revelation TV 9th November 2011.

Dr Calvin Smith, Principal of Kings Evangelical Divinity School,and I debated the question “Has the Church Replaced Israel?” live on Revelation TV. It was a good natured discussion and on many issues we were in agreement. The programme is available for purchase on DVD from Revelation TV. Calvin and I introduced our positions at the beginning of the programme. Here is my opening statement.

Revelation TV Debate

The question I want us to consider tonight is this: Was the coming of Jesus the fulfilment or the postponement of the promises God made to Abraham? Is the Church central to God’s purposes today or a parenthesis to God’s continuing purposes for the Jewish people? Briefly let me ask three additional questions that may help us find an answer.

1. Who are God’s Chosen People?

The assumption that the Jewish people are God’s “chosen people” is so deeply ingrained, to question it sounds heretical or anti-Semitic. Yet both Hebrew and Christian Scriptures insist membership of God’s people is open to all races on the basis of grace through faith in Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 56, we see the Lord anticipate and repudiate the rise of an exclusive Israeli nationalism.

“Let no foreigners who have bound themselves to the LORD say, “The LORD will surely exclude me from his people.” … And foreigners who bind themselves to the LORD to minister to him, to love the name of the LORD, and to be his servants … who hold fast to my covenant—these I will bring to my holy mountain… for my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations.”” (Isaiah 56:3, 6-7)

In the New Testament the term “chosen” is used exclusively of the followers of Jesus, irrespective of race.

“Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all. Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.” (Colossians 3:11-12)

2. What is the Significance of the Promised Land?

Contrary to popular assumption, the Scriptures repeatedly insist that the land belongs to God and that residence is always conditional. For example, God said to his people, “‘The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers.” (Leviticus 25:23).

The scriptures insist, residence was open to all God’s people on the basis of faith not race. Indeed, the writer to Hebrews explains that the land was never their ultimate desire or inheritance any way.

“By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God… These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:9-10; 39-40)

The land was only ever intended as a temporary residence until the coming of Jesus Christ. Our shared eternal inheritance is heavenly not earthly.

3. Does God have a separate plan for Israel apart from the Church?

Many believe that God has a continuing covenant with Israel, separate from the Church. This is usually base this on passages like Romans 9-11, although the context is often ignored. In Romans 2:28-29, for example, the Apostle Paul defines ‘Jew’.

“A person is not a Jew who is one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other people, but from God.” (Romans 2:28-29)

That is why in Romans 9, the term ‘Israel’ is limited to those who acknowledge the Lord Jesus.

“It is not as though God’s word had failed. For not all who are descended from Israel are Israel. Nor because they are his descendants are they all Abraham’s children. On the contrary, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” In other words, it is not the natural children who are God’s children, but it is the children of the promise who are regarded as Abraham’s offspring.” (Romans 9:6-8)

In the letter to the Philippians, Paul explicitly identifies the church as the true ‘circumcision’ (Phil. 3:3). This is entirely consistent with the Old Testament, where, as we have already seen, citizenship of Israel was open to all ‘those who acknowledge me’ (Psalm 87:4). And here is the clue to understanding Romans 9-11. Of course God has not rejected the Jewish people. His covenant purpose for them, as with every other race, has always been ‘that they may be saved’ (Romans 10:1), to create one people for himself, made of both Jews and Gentiles (Romans 11:26). God’s covenant purposes are fulfilled only in and through Jesus Christ. This is most fully explained in Ephesians 2.

“Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” … remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one … His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility.” (Ephesians 2: 11-16)

To summarise, in the New Testament we are told explicitly that the promises were fulfilled in Jesus Christ and in those who acknowledge Him as their Lord and Saviour. God’s blessings come by grace through faith, not by works or race (Ephesians 2:8-9).

“The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ… There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:16, 28-29).

It is not an understatement to say that what is at stake is our understanding of the gospel, the centrality of the cross, the role of the Church, the nature of our missionary mandate, not least, to the beloved Jewish people.

For more resources see:

Zion’s Christian Soldiers? The Bible, Israel and the Church
Seven Biblical Answers to Popular Zionist Assumptions
Seven Biblical Answers Interactive Bible Studies

Who is Jesus? (The Sum of all Fears)

He was a professional thief. His name stirred fear as the desert wind stirs tumbleweeds. He terrorized the Wells Fargo stage line for thirteen years, roaring like a tornado in and out of the Sierra Nevadas, spooking the most rugged frontiersmen. In journals from San Francisco to New York, his name became synonymous with the danger of the frontier. During his reign of terror between 1875 and 1883, he is credited with stealing the bags and the breath away from twenty-nine different stagecoach crews. And he did it without firing a shot. His weapon was his reputation. His ammunition was intimidation. A hood hid his face. No victim ever saw him. No artist ever sketched his features. No sheriff could ever track his trail. He never fired a shot or took a hostage. He didn’t have to. His presence was enough to paralyze. Black Bart. A hooded bandit armed with a deadly weapon.

He reminds me of another thief-one who’s still around. You know him. Oh you’ve never seen his face, either. You couldn’t describe his voice or sketch his profile. But when he’s near, you know it in a heartbeat. If you’ve ever been in the hospital, you’ve felt the leathery brush of his hand against yours. If you’ve ever sensed someone was following you, you’ve felt his cold breath down your neck. If you’ve awakened late at night in a strange room, it was his husky whisper that stole your slumber. You know him. It was this thief who left your palms sweaty as you went for the job interview. It was this con man who convinced you to swap your integrity for popularity. And it was this scoundrel who whispered in your ear as you left the cemetery, “You may be next.” He’s the Black Bart of the soul. He doesn’t want your money. He doesn’t want your diamonds.
He won’t go after your car. He wants something far more precious. He wants your peace of mind-your joy. His name? Fear. His task is to take your courage and leave you timid and trembling. Fear of death, fear of failure, fear of God, fear of tomorrow-his arsenal is vast. His goal? To create cowardly, joyless souls.

Last week we began a new series “Christianity Explored” We want to discover who Jesus is and why he came. For answers we are reading the Gospel of Mark together. Continue reading →

Christ in all the Scriptures: Judges and the Angel of the Lord

In the second Millennium BC, the place to live was called Canaan. The estate agents described it as “a land flowing with milk and honey”. After 400 years in Egypt and another 70 wandering around in the desert, God’s people were keen to muscle in on the Promised Land. They would literally kill for it. They promised God and Joshua, everything under the sun if they could just get their hands on it. On our journey through the Old Testament we have arrived in the Promised Land. In case you have not been with us this Autumn, a word of explanation.

For many people the Old Testament is a closed book, rarely read, even less understood. This Autumn series on Sunday mornings is intended to show how important the Old Testament is in making sense of our faith in Jesus Christ. In this series “Christ in all the Scriptures” we are discovering that Jesus is at the heart of every book of the Bible. God’s rescue mission did not begin in Bethlehem nor even Calvary, but way back in the Garden of Eden. So far in our journey as we traced God’s plan from Genesis to Joshua. Today we find ourselves in the Promised Land. So where does the Book of Judges fit into this story line? And where does Jesus appear in Judges? Judges describes the life of God’s people from the death of Joshua to the rise of the monarchy.

A. M. Hodgkin describes Judges as “one of the darkest periods in the history of God’s people… There is something startling in the swiftness with which the Israelites degenerated.”

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Christ in all the Scriptures: Joshua and the Commander the Army of the Lord

I spent Friday in London with a small group of historians and educationalists. We met to consider the global implications of a letter sent by the British Foreign Secretary. Let me read it to you.

Dear Lord Rothschild, I have much pleasure in conveying to you, on behalf of His Majesty’s Government, the following declaration of sympathy with Jewish Zionist aspirations which has been submitted to, and approved by, the Cabinet. “His Majesty’s Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.” I should be grateful if you would bring this declaration to the knowledge of the Zionist Federation. Yours sincerely, Arthur James Balfour.

That short, one page letter, sent on the 2^nd November 1917, probably secured the Allies victory over Germany in the 1st World War. But it also sparked a series of other wars in the Middle East, including the Arab Revolt of 1936, the Arab-Israeli war of 1948, the Suez War of 1956, the Six Day War of 1967 and Yom Kippur War of 1973. It has led to more UN Resolutions than on any other issue. The Palestinian Authority bid for UN recognition of their State, as well as the US Administration’s decision to veto it in the Security Council trace their origins to that letter. Our meeting on Friday launched what will become the Balfour Project.

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Christ in all the Scriptures: Deuteronomy and Moses

Who would you regard as the most inspirational leader of the 20^th Century? The person you would look to as a hero in your lifetime?

Mahatma Gandhi – Resisting Colonialism non-violently
Martin Luther King – Achieving civil rights for Blacks
Winston Churchill – Defeating Fascism in World War 2
Simon Weisenthal – A life time pursuing War Criminals
Nelson Mandela – Overcoming Apartheid in South Africa

And how about Tony Blair, Barak Obama or David Cameron? –

Apart from Jesus perhaps, who would be your hero in all of world history? Of all the Old Testament characters, Moses stands out as the greatest. He was a prophet, a politician, mediator, lawyer, historian and leader, all in one. Probably no name has ever stirred the heart of a nation as his has done. It is impossible to overrate the place of Moses in the Jewish nation. His Hebrew parentage; his forty years education in the Egyptian royal family, his forty years of solitude with God herding sheep in the wilderness. All these combined to prepare him to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt at the sprightly young age of 80 [Exodus 7:7]. Yes, 80 years old. And then what? The first 80 years equipped Moses to lead his people through the desert for the next 40 years before they entered the Promised Land.

And nowhere does the character of Moses shine out with greater dignity than in the Book of Deuteronomy. We see him at the end of a long life, still with unabated vigour, as God’s people are about to enter the Promised Land without him. Yet there is no trace of bitterness in his heart. Instead he rejoices that they will enter the land under the leadership of Joshua. The Lord’s final instructions to Moses come in Deuteronomy 32

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Who is Jesus?

Royal Holloway University of London Christian Union launched their Autumn series “Uncover Luke” last night with an introductory talk based on Luke 5:17-31.

It’s a song that also celebrates friendship, and above all, falling in love: Friends shake hands saying, ‘How do you do?’ What they are really saying is, ‘I love you.’ It’s a great song about the gift of life: creation; friendship; falling in love. But as we know, the is something wrong with our world. In Mitch Markowitz’s film Good Morning Vietnam, while the song, ‘What a wonderful world’ says one thing, the pictures say something very different. As we are told ‘the roses bloom for me and for you’, we see a bomb going off. As we hear the words ‘the colours of the rainbow so pretty in the sky’, we see protesters being beaten. And, most poignant of all, the chorus of ‘I say to myself, what a wonderful world’ is accompanied by images of the little child’s sandal. That’s the world we live in. It should be so good and yet there is something desperately wrong. The film’s artistry is very clever because it shows us that the world is not the place it ought to be. It should be a wonderful world, but all too often it is spoilt by people. The film is summed up by the Vietnamese girl with whom Robin Williams has fallen in love. She says that so many things do not happen the way you want them to.

The Bible actually goes deeper than that. The Bible says that so many things don’t happen the way we want them to because people are not what they should be. People are sick, says Jesus, and desperately need a doctor. How do we get that across to people who don’t realize the seriousness of their condition, or who don’t know where to get help? I prefer to let the Bible do it. I don’t try and prove the Bible is God’s word, I simply let God do that. The Bible is like a lion. You don’t need to defend a lion, you just let the lion out. Luke’s introduction explains why we can trust this account of the life of Jesus.

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Christ in all the Scriptures: Numbers and the Bronze Snake

Signs are symbols often without words. Signs can be powerful. Clear signs are instantly recognisable. We use them to educate, to guide, to warn, to instruct, even to intimidate and change behaviour. Common signs can be understood irrespective of your language or your culture. You don’t even have to read or write to learn to recognise simple signs.

So the clearer and simpler the sign, the better. There is nothing worse than an ambiguous or a confusing sign, or one that is clear, but is ignored. Interpreting signs correctly therefore is important. That is especially true if you are driving a car, you are a cyclist, a pedestrian or you are a small child.

But discerning the difference between an interesting sign and a warning sign is very important. And obeying signs there for your safety, or the safety of other people, is most important of all.

In today’s story from the Book of Numbers we see a powerful sign God used to save his people from death. It’s a sign we still use today to symbolise somewhere or someone you can go to when you are sick. But before we look at this particular sign, lets remind ourselves of three other signs God gave in Genesis, Exodus and Leviticus to help us understand how and why the Lord Jesus came to be our Saviour.

In our series called Christ in all the Scriptures, we are discovering how God gave signs or symbols to help his people understand how they could know him, love him, follow him and service him.

Three weeks ago in Genesis we saw in the story of Abraham and Isaac, how the Lord provided a male lamb as a substitute for Isaac. This prefigured, in a wonderful way, how the Lord Jesus willingly became the sacrifice in our place. Then in the Book of Exodus we saw how God passed over his people on the night of judgement because they hid behind the blood of the lamb sprinkled on their lintels and door posts. Thus the ‘Pass-over’ meal became an annual reminder of how God liberated his people them slavery. We saw how Jesus became our Passover lamb when he died on the cross. Then last week in Leviticus we learnt about the Day of Atonement. We saw how the High Priest became the mediator between God and his people entering the temple to sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. How one goats was sacrificed for sin and how one goat, the scapegoat carried their sins far away into the wilderness. Sins forgiven and forgotten. We saw how the New Testament interprets this as a wonderful symbol of what the Lord Jesus did as our mediator and scapegoat.

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Seventy Times Seven

Matthew 18:21-35 : Seventy Times Seven

At Harvest we thank God for all the lovely food he provides for us. In many countries, people depend entirely on what they can grow themselves. Therefore a good Harvest is very important if they were to survive the winter. This Harvest we are thanking God for providing us with people to live with, as well as produce to live on. We want to think about how we can show our thankfulness to God by the way we care for others. Peter asked Jesus a question.

“Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother or sister who sins against me? Up to seven times?” (Matthew 18:21).

Peter thought forgiving someone seven times was generous of him.

But Jesus replied “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22). How many times is that? 490 times! Does Jesus mean we must count up to 490 times? Hands up if you keep a record of how many times you have forgiven members of your family? And your friends? Of course not. That is not what Jesus meant. How can we be sure? Because he then told a story about a king who forgave a servant a really big debt he couldn’t pay back. But the king got angry when he heard that the servant had not forgiven a fellow servant who only owed him a small amount. Jesus knew if he said we should forgive seventy times seven, we would never be able to keep count. He wants us to forgive over, and over again. Because he forgives us over and over again. And if we’re in any doubt, Jesus added,

“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.” (Matthew 18:35).

1. Why should we forgive?

A. Because we ought to.
B. Because it’s British.
C. Because God forgave us.

2. What should we forgive?

A. Sins against animals.
B. Sins against us.
C. Sins against everyone.

3. When should we forgive?

A. Straight away.
B. When we feel like it.
C. When people are sorry.

4. How should we forgive?

A. Through gritted teeth.
B. From the heart.
C. By forgetting them.

We may not change the person we forgive, at least not straight away. But we change inside whenever we forgive someone else. When we forgive from the heart we cannot continue to be angry or bitter toward them. When we forgive from the heart we are showing God is our heavenly Father. When we forgive from the heart we are becoming more like Jesus. So this Harvest, let’s say ‘thank you’ to God for giving us people to live with and produce to live on. But above all, let’s thank God for forgiving us in Jesus so we can forgive others.

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:32).

Lets pray.

Love and Marriage

Our reading today is from 1 Corinthians 13, the famous “love” chapter. This is probably the most widely read passage at weddings. True, it’s the most beautiful description there is in Scripture about love – yet the context of the passage is not about marriage. It is about giving for that is what marriage is really all about. I’d like us to consider this passage under three headings: The motive for love in marriage is giving. The quality of love in marriage is Divine. The purpose of love in marriage is maturity.

1. The Motive for Love in Marriage is Giving

“And now I will show you the most excellent way. If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3)

Do you see how important love is? The gifts of prophecy, knowledge, faith, giving, mentioned here are valuable or worthless depending on one thing: Motive. The question we must ask ourselves therefore in our relationships is this: What is my motive? The motive for love in marriage is giving.

2. The Quality of Love in Marriage is Divine

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

Love is probably the most devalued and debased word in the English language. That is why this definition is so important for it defines authentic love. Several years ago, someone challenged me to replace the word love in this passage with my name. “I did and I became a liar” Stephen is patient. Stephen is kind. Stephen does not envy. Stephen does not boast. Stephen is not proud. Stephen is not rude. It sounds lovely. The only problem is it’s not true – ask Joanna and my children. And for years that was my problem with this paragraph. It set a standard I could not meet. No one can meet it. No one. No one, that is, except Jesus.

For in reality, this quality of love is divine. Insert Christ’s name in place of the word love and see if it rings true. Jesus is patient, Jesus is kind. Jesus does not envy, does not boast, is not proud. Jesus is not rude, is not self-seeking,

is not easily angered, Jesus keeps no record of wrongs. Jesus does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Jesus always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Jesus never fails. “Rather than let this scripture remind us of a love we cannot produce, let it remind us of a love we cannot resist – God’s love. Some of you are so thirsty for this type of love. Well, God loves you. Personally. Powerfully. Passionately. Others may have promised and failed. But God has promised and succeeded. He loves you with an unfailing love. And his love – if you will let it – can fill you and leave you with a love worth giving. What is done in love lasts. In other words, what is done in Christ will last. When we are serving in the name of Christ, in the power of Christ, we are serving in love. The tasks we do are not as important to God as the heart in which we do them.

The motive for love in marriage is giving. The quality of love in marriage is Divine.

3. The Purpose of Love in Marriage is Maturity

“For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:9-13)

Notice the emphasis of these verses is on growing up – from childhood to maturity. And marriage helps us achieve that like no other institution on earth. In verse 11 Paul describes in the past tense how he has grown then in verse 12 he looks forward to further growth toward maturity.

The reason? God has not finished with us. This life is the practice session. This is the reason why marriage is so important – why you need one another’s gifts and abilities to help you grow together to maturity.

And with God’s help you will. When kindness comes grudgingly, you’ll remember his kindness to you and ask him to make you more kind. When patience is scarce, you’ll thank him for his and ask him to make you more patient.

When it’s hard to forgive, you won’t list all the times you’ve been given grief. Rather, you’ll list all the times you’ve been given grace and pray to become more forgiving. For when you do, you will discover a love worth giving, a love worth sharing, not just today but for ever.