Evening Worship

Paul Langham

Sunday 7th October, 2007

Contemporary Worship

Holy Trinity, Combe Down – Evening Worship Preaching Series, Autumn 2007
The Divine / Human Cooperative
(Paul Langham 7 October 2007)

MOSES & THE RED SEA (Exodus 14. 1 – 31)

• Note the promise of God – general, not specific (1 – 4)
• ‘the Israelites … were marching out boldly’ (8) – easy when all is well!
• Pursuit and imminent capture
• ‘the Israelites looked up and there were the Egyptians, marching after them. They were terrified …’
• note the panic in their voices as they slam Moses as the lousiest leader in the game! (11, 12)
• Moses responds with ‘blind’ faith (13, 14), but doesn’t act
• God tells Moses to have the people ‘move on’, to extend his arm over the sea ‘to divide the water’ (15 – 18)
• Note – it is God who actually divides the water, & the Israelites go through on dry ground

Lesson – sometimes we need to keep going on the general promise and wait for God to open up specific fulfilment

GIDEON (Judges 6 & 7)

• Israel in despair and ruin (6. 1 – 6)
• A prophet helpfully explains why! (6. 7 – 10)
• An angel comes to enlist Gideon in God’s plan of deliverance (6. 11 – 24)
• [reading what follows, you’re tempted to wonder why he bothers!]
• Gideon test-drives obedience (6. 25 – 32; cf Nicodemus)
• This prepares him for the real deal, although he’s still cautious (6. 33 – 40)
• Gideon wins victory, through an ever-increasing trial of nerve by the LORD (7)
• NB – no reason for choosing those men who lapped water! Just because God says!
• Note the numerical disadvantage (7. 12)
• The word of the Lord through a dream & interpretation (7. 13 – 15)
• Note Gideon’s human skill, to convey the sense of a greater number (7. 16 – 25)

Lesson – learning the Divine / Human cooperative is a matter of practice

DANIEL in prayer (Daniel 9. 1 – 19; cf Jeremiah 25. 11 – 12; 29. 1 – 14)

• Daniel studies God’s Word (9. 2) – Jer 25 & 29 (how can we expect God to speak if we are not familiarising ourselves with the general shape and texture of his character and interaction with humankind?
Daniel doesn’t simply sit back and wait for fulfilment
• He actively engages in cooperation with the prophetic word to see it fulfilled – do we?

Lesson – it’s not enough to ‘have a word’; we have to walk it into life

JESUS – only doing what the Father says? (John 5. 16 – 30)

• An astonishing ‘truth’ – ‘the Son can do nothing by himself’ (19)
• The Divine / Human cooperative at work in salvation (24 – 30)

Lesson – if that was true for Jesus, how much more so for us?!
PETER & THE CRIPPLED MAN (Acts 3. 1 – 16)

• Peter & John had spiritual discipline (1) – ie they were regularly practising the presence of God
• What made Peter & John look ‘straight at him’? A word of knowledge? (he was unlikely to have been the only beggar there)
• Peter speaks the word of healing and then acts on it, pulling the man to his feet – note it is only at this point that the healing occurs (7)
• Note the impact upon the man healed and the crowds around
• Peter & john avoid the pitfall of accepting the plaudits (12. 16)

Lesson – sometimes we need to take a real risk of failure or embarrassment in order to see the Lord move in power

PAUL & the vision (Acts 16. 6 – 10)

• Holy Spirit guidance can be ‘negative’ as well as positive (6, 7) – twice the Holy Spirit prevents them from doing what seemed humanly good and wise (what mechanism might He have used?)
• This must have given Paul & his companions a heightened sense of expectancy that the Lord was going to guide positively (rather than giving in to frustration?)
• So when the guidance comes through a dream, they are ‘ready at once’ (10)

Lesson – sometimes the Lord will block paths which might seem good to us; when He does, it is usually a sign that He is preparing to speak a positive prophetic word to us (although there may be other reasons, including unconfessed sin)

CONCLUSION

• What do all the above characters have in common?
• Prior knowledge of the power of God

FOR FURTHER THOUGHT

1 Are you stalled in your Christian walk because you are waiting for some more specific guarantee than the Lord seems to have given to date? If so, consider the experience of Moses.
2 Do you worry that you have little or no experience of hearing the LORD speak and responding in obedience? If so, take comfort from the example of Gideon – God can be patient too, with those whose hearts want to obey Him.
3 Are you sitting back, just waiting for some wonderful word spoken over you / your church to come rolling in? If so, join Daniel in fervent prayer which includes repentance.
4 Do you need to take a risk this week in order to obey the word of the Lord to you? If so, take courage from the example of Peter.
5 Does it seem that the LORD is blocking a path which seemed to you well fitting with his general will? If so, and there is nothing else (such as unconfessed sin) blocking the way, prepare for the LORD to speak a new, positive word which opens up some previously unimagined field of service for Him.
6 Do you long to be like Jesus – acknowledging that you can’t do anything on your own, but fully relaxed about that because the Father tells you everything you need to do and say anyway? The only way is to seek grace to empty self and allow Him to flood us by his Holy Spirit.