A Tale of Two Crosses

Pastor Koay Kheng Hin

Today I'm talking about the story of two crosses. We hear messages of one cross, that's the cross of Calvary but today I want to introduce to you the second cross.

I ended at the Garden of Gethsemane and it leads to Calvary and it's at the cross where Jesus was crucified. It is the preparation for that cross of Calvary. It symbolises a tree of shame where our sins are being nailed. It's a tree where Jesus bore our shame and God's wrath was poured onto that tree of shame.

When Jesus hung on the cross we find that it's the gateway through which every single one of us enter into sonship. 24 years ago I was led to that cross. When I came before that cross I had to make a decision. It applies to each and every one of us. We were led to that cross as an unbeliever.

At that time I was the child of the devil. It's very direct and what the Bible teaches. It's not a case of the devil on the left and God on the right and I'm  in the middle. It's not like that. It's not three kingdoms. In God there's only two kingdom.

24 years ago I'm not in God's kingdom. I was in the kingdom of the evil one. And the Bible described that I'm no son of God and not a child of God. But when I go through that cross I gained sonship and became a child of God.

After I go through that what happens? That's the other cross I want to talk about. When we find Jesus we find him in love. That day, you found what the Bible say is your first love. That's your first love encounter when you were first saved. That is what we actually experience when we become a Christian.

Romans say God demonstrates his love in that while we were yet sinners he died for us. A love relationship with Jesus. What's the other cross?

Luke 9:23-24

23 Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. 24 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.

This is the other cross. Not the cross of Calvary but our own cross. What's the difference between this two crosses. Calvary happened only once. But in this verse this cross is a cross that is daily. That's the first difference.

The second difference is the one who was taking up the cross of Calvary. You are asked to take up your own cross. It's a very important difference. The cross that we carry resembles the cross of Calvary but it is not the cross of Calvary. The cross of Calvary requires you to be nailed to the cross and die. It's not about you crucifying yourself. Some religious sect does that where they literally crucify themselves.

When I was preparing this message I asked myself if the people wants to hear this. We are generally in an emerging economy or a developed nation and is generally having a good life. When we have a message about a cross, do people really want to listen to this? I thought about preparing another message but I decided my message is not to preach what people want to hear. If I were to preach about prosperity without  a cross I think in some places I may have a bigger crowd. But if I preached a message on carrying the cross daily there may be few people that will ask me to preach.

But I'm to preach the full gospel of Christ and it's much more than prosperity or healing. Through the viewpoint of these two crosses. If we preached only the cross of Calvary we will have half the gospel and cannot grow into spiritual maturity. We call it liberal Christianity. We preach the capital "C" and not the small "c". The other extreme would be legalistic Christianity.

What's the difference? We would be preaching a diluted gospel and not one that would mature you and you will remain a spiritual baby. We all have children who are cute but if at 15 they still behave like a baby it's wrong.

If we preach the small "c" without the cross of Calvary then we become like a Pharisee and Christianity becomes a burden. I want to strike a balance. Let us have a loving Christianity.

The big "C" is a cross of love. And when we are asked to carry our "c" daily we are carrying a cross of love. It's a matter of direction. The Calvary cross is a cross of input. Your cross is a cross of output. Calvary cross is a cross of God's love poured out to you. Your cross is you pouring out that love to others. The cross that you carry resembles the cross of Calvary but it is not the cross of Calvary.

You are carrying it to people whom God brings to your midst. You are expressing the love of God. They will sense the love of God in you and through you. That is what's meant by carrying your cross daily.

It's a nice cross. A cross of love.

He must deny himself says verse 23. What does it mean? To remove self centeredness from us. This love is only possible on humbled ground. A self centred man only loves himself.

You must let go of that self centeredness and then follow Christ. From self centeredness we have willingness to lose our life.  From self centeredness to God centeredness. It is the cross of the glory of God. When you pick up the cross you are saying this is the day the Lord has made. Not for me to spend time to get rich or for people to honour me. It is a cross to say that today I want to glorify God with my life.

It ties in with where I stopped at the Garden of Gethsemane. He said not my will but your will be done.

I want to spend 5 minutes on God's will. There is your will and the will of God. The Bible says it's a concurrent thing. God's will is good and your will end like what happened at the Garden of Eden. Your will ends in self glory while the other ends with the glory given to God. When we talk about these two wills, it's about dancing with God. It's like tango where they cannot do their own thing. They have to synchronise. Everyday we as the children of God we are dancing with God like a tango. We hold his hand and he is the lead. When he pulls we go towards him. Then we live in the prescriptive will of God.

We see God as the lead dancer and surrendering and synchronising with him.

On the other hand if God pulls and you resists you will fall. And God wants to lift you up and you resists you will fall flat on your face.

It is a cross for the glory of God.

It is a cross of sacrifice. The cross is identified with suffering. When Jesus said to pick up the cross there will be a time of sacrifice and suffering. Love is a sacrifice so we can relate. The issue is the cross of suffering. People misunderstand this suffering. It's not about you falling sick or business not doing well. This suffering is related to persecution.

What does persecution means? When people became Christians on the first century they were thrown into prison because of their faith. Many Christians goes through their lives without being thrown into prison. What about being martyred for their faith? Even less.

You do not need to worry about that at this present moment. When the time comes the Lord will empower you to go through it.

It's a cross of love and for the glory of God. And it's a cross of sacrifice. What makes it an intimidating view, then it becomes burdensome. Meaning dilutes suffering. If love is the basis and not the law, you will joyfully carry that cross.

Do you know if your husband after hearing this message and decides to carry that cross of love and glory and sacrifice, by the time he walks out you will have a more wonderful husband.

If your wife makes this decision, when they walk out they will look much prettier today. It's an inner beauty.

If you walk past that cross of Calvary, carry your own cross you will be less easily offended, more patient, more sacrificial and live a life you are meant to live. The world is full of self centred people.

Mother Theresa said a life lived not for others is not a life. God created us to relate with him for his glory and we are supposed to relate to others for their blessings. This is what is meant by carrying the cross daily. If it's in love it will not be burdensome.

Like when a parent sacrifice for their children, they will say it's not burdensome because you love them. Love is something that enables us to rise above our circumstances because it becomes a joy. When love comes in then everything becomes light and with it an element of joy.

Carrying such a cross for God is only possible and make sense to you if you have a heavenly home. Verse 25 and 26 are about that heavenly glory.

We must hold this balance or we become so heavenly that we are of no earthly use. How does it impact us? When we met Jesus we met him in love. Our whole faith is love. The spiritual dynamics is actually love. We often try to break it down and define love. Philosophers also try that. Psychologists too. And scientists. They are the worst. They say it's a reaction of chemical compounds. Today I do not want to define love. But we can define love through action.

Let's look at Jesus. When I skimmed through the 24 chapters of Luke, I noticed that Jesus was always with people. He was with the Pharisees, he ate with people. Always with people. He's either with his disciples or with multitudes or with the Pharisees in their homes. Jesus Loves these people and he wants to be with them.

Let us not define the love of God but express it. We should be interested in people's lives. He was interested in the tax collector's life. The Samaritan woman's life. The prostitute's life. Even God himself weeps in the shortest verse of the Bible when Lazarus died. It's an expression of love, the heart of your Lord.

I believe God will anoint and empowers us and he will begin with the leaders. The first requirements is to be interested in people's lives. We as leaders can take some time to be interested in people's lives. Then we will start to realise who they are is more important than what they can do for us.

I've had Christians who say they love God but they cannot love people. Whether a person love God or not we cannot know because we cannot see a person's heart. But how much you love God can be seen from how you love people. The extend to which you love people is the extend to which you love God. I said leaders but it is meant for all of us.

When you love people, as much as it is sacrificial, you will be the first one to be blessed more than the person you bless. There will be a certain joy and fulfilment that will come to you. When we look at Jesus we see how much time he spent time with people.

Look at the apostle Paul. Concerning the Ephesian church.

Acts 20:26-27

26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.

Acts 20:33-37

33 I have coveted no one's silver or gold or apparel. 34 Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. 35 I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”

36 And when he had said these things, he knelt down and prayed with them all. 37 Then they all wept freely, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him,

This is the picture that we have of the great apostle Paul. He has touched so many lives. When they thought they won't see him again, they wept.

As a leader whether as a CEO or a headmistress of a school or a pastor of a church, the mark of successful leadership is this. It's all about people. The day will come when you have to move on you will see who are there for you. The mark of successful spiritual leadership when you are leaving, it will be like in verse 27 where they wept. It's about identifying with people.

The word pastor is that of a shepherd. It's the pastoral care that a leader must give. This is the same church that Paul ministered to and this was their fault.

Revelation 2:4

Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first.

They were actually a strong church if you look at the verses before this. A classic example of a church who put their hands to the kingdom but have lost their first love.

Why I say this? We will do what verse 2 and 3 and put our hands to the plough but we want to keep verse 4 and not forsake our first love.

Philippians 1:21

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

Waiting for Christmas

Rev Gideon Lee

Luke 2:22-38

Jesus Presented in the Temple

22 When the time came for the purification rites required by the Law of Moses, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was on him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Messiah. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you may now dismiss your servant in peace.

30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,

31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel.”

33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,

35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”

36 There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Christmas is just around the corner and how many of you are excited about Christmas? It's the holidays and there's going to be good food and the children can't wait for Christmas because they get to open their presents.

But this morning what are you waiting for this Christmas? What are you hoping to achieve this Christmas?

I read that some children writes to Santa hoping to get the presents they long for. Maybe for us, Christmas is just another event or another celebration. Many people are depressed during the the festive period because they miss their loved ones who's not there. What does Christmas means to us?

Simeon was waiting for Jesus. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel. Also known as the comforter. During Simeon's time, Israel was under the rule of the Romans and he was looking for comfort. Maybe some of you here are looking for comfort.

This morning at Hokkien service, Sis Siew Kim was worship leading when news came that her mother fell down. She still served and went home immediately after her worship leading and Sis Grace prayed for her. Maybe we need comfort. Simeon was like that, living in difficult times and under a difficult king.

This morning I say to you, you will see the comfort of God. Simeon wanted the comfort. Look at verse 28.

Luke 2:28-32

28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised,

you may now dismiss your servant in peace.

30 For my eyes have seen your salvation,

31 which you have prepared in the sight of all nations:

32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,

and the glory of your people Israel.”

Under the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit Simeon was summoned there and he took him in his arms. He took the child and began to prophesy.

What about the prophetess Anna? She was looking for the redemption of Israel. What does redemption means to you? What will you think of in redemption?

It talks about people in captivity and how we wait for someone to redeem us. Jesus redeemed us from sin. Look at what she said.

Luke 2:38

Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

We all need comfort. Maybe some of us here needs forgiveness. We need to get our life right. Anna was waiting for forgiveness. What about you? Is it just another celebration? I hope not. We need to be marvelled. Or be in awe. Do you marvel at Christmas?

Sometimes we can become so jaded and forget how to marvel. Like how your children used to marvel at you when they were young. Then they grew up and they think they know more than their parents. And we are no longer their superman. And we like to say we eat more salt than they eat rice. We can come to that stage where we no longer marvel at what God did. One of the most important doctrine is Christmas, is that God became man, Emmanuel. God became man. The incarnation. That was what God did for us. God is with us.

On Christmas day, I still marvel at why Jesus came and what he did. Why should he come and be with us? Born in a manger. I marvel at what he did. Marvel at Christmas. Jesus came.

Joseph and Mary marvelled at who he is. Even the parents marvelled. They were parents who saw his birth yet they marvelled. I hope we all marvel at him.

Not just that but become a mover.

Luke 2:27-28

27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying:

I hope this morning all of us are movers. We need to have action. This Christmas the cells are having their Christmas event. If the Lord speaks to you to bring someone, invite someone. Be a mover. Dead people are still. Not just be marvelled but be a mover. Simeon was a mover. When the Holy Spirit directed him he came. He was a mover.

Don't just sit still this Christmas but be a mover.

Last but not least, be a messenger. We are alive to do something. When the wise men saw the star, they knew something special was happening. If they did not follow the star they would not have seen Jesus. We need to move this Christmas when the Lord challenges us. When we marvel at God it is easy to be a mover. Like the wise men. They brought gifts to worship him. Knowledge must always end with worship. We need to apply the knowledge that God gives you.

Be a messenger.

Luke 2:38

Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

She gave a message to everyone there about Jesus. Out there the message of Christmas has been confusing enough. How many of you saw the Christmas decoration at Queensbay? There's Santa and sleigh and reindeer. That's not Christmas and not very Malaysian too. We only have rain and flood. Tell them the true meaning of Christmas.

Is there something special that you are waiting for this Christmas? Be marvelled and be moved. Then be a messenger.

There was once a rich man who has a passion for the arts. He has a huge collection of paintings. And he shared his passion with his son. They talked a lot about art everyday.

One day the war came and the son was drafted to be a soldier. Sadly a few weeks later he received a letter that his son was killed. He was so disheartened and disappointed. He fell into a depression and it was near Christmas.

He had a knock on his door and a young man was at the door. He told the man that his son died trying to save me. He said he had nothing to remember him so he drew a portrait of his son and he wanted to give the man. He saw the drawing of his son but he was not a good painter. But when he saw his son's portrait his heart lifted. He placed the portrait of his son above the fireplace. All his other paintings no longer attracted him. He just looked at his son's portrait.

When he died many collectors wanted to buy his many collection. When the auction came, all gathered to buy his paintings. The first picture was the picture of his son. Everyone was disappointed because it was amateur and not one of the good ones. But the auctioneer said the owner wanted the portrait of his son to be sold first. Everyone thought they would not be interested and waited for this to past so they can get to the good stuff.

But a man behind said he will buy it because he said he was a friend of the son in school. He said he didn't have much but can only offer 10 dollars for it. The auctioneer asked if there's any other bid but no one was interested. It was sold to the young man and the auctioneer said the auction is now over.

The others murmured and said where are all the other good stuff? And the auctioneer said the owner said this "He who has the son has everything else".