Ian Greig

Who is the leader of your life? Who are the authority figures in your life? Who exercises control?

Consider the story of two people with very different attitudes

Luke 18:9-14

To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable:

“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

To reflect on

Who do you think the first person is taking their lead from? Clues are that he draws attention to himself, using “I” four times. His prayer also compares the example of his life, with others.

And the second person? As He is asking for mercy… looking for help… open to change… and believing? Who does he seem to be taking his lead from?

One who thought he was excluded, was welcomed by God. Jesus said that the other praying man was sure that by doing all the right things, he belonged, but he did not go home justified before God.

Links to DBP pages 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5

Links to Facebook Docs 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5

Romans 1:1-6

1 Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God –
2 the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures
3 regarding His Son, who as to His earthly life was a descendant of David,
4 and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by His resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
5 Through Him we received grace and apostleship to call all the Gentiles to the obedience that comes from faith for His name’s sake.
6 And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.

To reflect on

Consider these six significant statements about Jesus:

1. Jesus is a descendant of David (v.3)
2. Jesus was filled with the Spirit of Holiness (v.4)
3. Jesus received God’s power (v.4)
4. Jesus rose from the dead and is alive (v.4)
5. Jesus is God’s Son (vv.3 and 4)
6. Jesus is our Lord (v.4)

How do these statements build towards their summary: “Jesus Christ our Lord”?

Is this a saying that people often read or repeat in church?

Or is it a declaration of intent, full of personal meaning – Jesus Christ our Lord! Jesus Christ my Lord!

How do you say it?

Isaiah 6:1-5 — The Prophet Isaiah’s vision

King Uzziah was generally a good and godly king (also called Azariah). He died in 740 BC. This arresting vision was part of Isaiah’s call to his prophetic ministry.

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.
2 Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.
3 And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
4 At the sound of their voices, the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

To reflect on

What is happening when God gives someone a vision?

What is Isaiah seeing – or seeing in to – in this vision?

Have others seen this? We will continue by comparing this picture of heaven with a similar vision seen by the Apostle John, towards the end of his long life.

Jesus’ disciple John had a vision of Jesus in heaven – specifically Jesus because He is named as the Lamb, or Lamb of God, the very Son of God who also made Himself the Sacrifice for mankind’s sin — a human and very special version of the OT sin offering of a perfect, unblemished sacrificial lamb.

Revelation 5:6-14

John sees a similar picture to Isaiah’s and describes it in more detail.

6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
8 And when He had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.
9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
12 In a loud voice they were saying:
“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honour and glory and praise!”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:
“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honour and glory and power, for ever and ever!”
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshipped.

To reflect on

What it was it like in Heaven?

Who are the principal persons in this scene?

Notice what the elders were carrying – what is the significance of this?

Who went to take the scroll? What qualifications were necessary to receive it? What assignment or honour did the scroll contain?

John 20:28

“My Lord and my God”, Thomas exclaimed.

To reflect on

Jesus is Lord: in Heaven now, and on earth. Reflect on the miracles that Jesus performed that proved He had the power of God in His life; that He was Lord
• He turned water into wine
• He walked on the water
• He calmed the storm
• He fed 5,000 people
• He healed the sick
• He raised the dead to life