Pastor Turner Miles Sermons: Recent Episodes

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The Economy of the Cross:

Matt 20:17-28 - Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, 18“We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death19and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life!”

20Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.

21“What is it you want?” he asked.

She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”

22“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”

“We can,” they answered.

23 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

All of Matt chapter 20 is about the Kingdom of God. It has great insights to the way that God has established His own Kingdom and how we should gain to understand more about it, especially since we are considered “Ambassadors of that kingdom”.

· I think that since we are going to have such a strong focus on the serving through this year, in particular this summer we should understand some key principles of God’s Kingdom economy.

· The first 7 words of the first verse of Matt 20:1 – For the Kingdom of heaven is like… He then proceeds to tell his disciples a parable about a vineyard owner and some workers.

· It literally is setting the stage for the next section which we read just a moment ago. It is as if Jesus is attempting to press upon their minds and hearts that some of the things that they think are right about this world and the way it works are actually completely upside down in God’s kingdom.

· It’s as if we are all living in the upside down (from Stranger Things) and God is living in the right side up. The thing is we think (much like the disciples that we have it the correct way).

3 key points about this passage I want to us to grab hold of and try to apply to our own lives. Not just tonight but embrace them as the “new normal” we should be trying to live within.

1. Kingdom economy is not like the economy of this world. Vs:22 - “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered.

Jesus plainly told them many times that His kingdom was not of this world. In fact in John 18 when he is arrested he states – My kingdom is not of this world if it were my servants would fight that I would not be arrested. So Jesus was operating on a different OS. His priorities, mission and work were directly connected to that Kingdom and the principles that were set forth to rule within it!

To prove it – Jesus speaks of a cross but they were speaking of a crown.

They were looking for position with Jesus when he would rule on His throne. Jesus quickly tells them that “you don’t know what you are asking”.

We know that the others were feeling the same way as James and John. Because later on the in text were told that the “others” were indignant with the 2 brothers! They only had the guts to approach Jesus (well through their mommy) and seek this position with Him in the Kingdom.

I can imagine why. They were seeing Jesus do amazing things like heal the sick, feed the hungry, raise the dead, control the weather, cast out demons, rebuke the Pharisees… Of course you would begin to wonder to yourself, “what do I get out of all this?” It’s only natural to begin to think that way. It is after all our normal human nature. Which only proves my first point all the more.

The first step that Jesus brings them to is to help them understand that they truly don’t know what they are asking….

1. There are no short cuts through the Kingdom. Vs:23 - Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.”

Jesus declared to them that there is a cup that must be accepted in order to move forward in the kingdom.

Cup – is symbolic of the life of a person. It is symbolic of the things that you have to face and endure in this life as they are handed out to you. The Psalm 23 says “You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies, my cup is overflowing” But Jesus was given a cup that no one else could ever drink down. It was reserved for him and him alone and He was the only one who could drink down the contents of that cup and live beyond it. It was the cup of God’s wrath on sin.

Our cup is a cup that is indeed part of that cup that Jesus drank from but it is only in part. It is a cup of sacrifice and in particular a cup of dying to our self. Our selfish ambitions and the ways of this world that are contrary to the principles of the Kingdom.

James and John who were the ones to approach Jesus and ask this question were unique because James would go on to be the very first of the Apostles to give his life for his faith.

John would be the only one to never see death from martyrdom. One would show bravery in the face of opposition while the other would show perseverance at the death all his loved brothers.

They would certainly share in the cup that Jesus drank from.

· This becomes the route to becoming what God would look at as great. Every believer has this cup placed before them. There is no way around it. Many will pass on it. Many will look for another way, or even paint it to look like Jesus cup but in reality death to self is the only result of drinking from the kingdom cup!

1. Jesus is the greatest example of the Kingdom!

Vs:28 - just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Jesus clears any confusion that we may be having after reading this. He makes it clear that Kingdom living is giving and dying. It is upside down from the rest of the world.

The word servant in the Gk: is Dolous – meaning slave.

The world servant means slave. Not every servant was a slave, but certainly every slave was a servant.

We get to the throne not by paying lip service but by giving life service.

Jesus made it clear to them that the world does it one way: Vs:25 - You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them.

But we will do it another way: Vs:26-27 - Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant,27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—

God’s economy is:

Die to live

Give to receive

Humility to be exalted

Last shall be first
The least are the greatest.

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1 Sam 3:1-10 - The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.

2One night Eli, whose eyes were becoming so weak that he could barely see, was lying down in his usual place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the LORD, where the ark of God was. 4 Then the LORD called Samuel.

Samuel answered, “Here I am.” 5 And he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

But Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.” So he went and lay down.

6Again the LORD called, “Samuel!” And Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.”

“My son,” Eli said, “I did not call; go back and lie down.”

7Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD: The word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him.

8 The LORD called Samuel a third time, and Samuel got up and went to Eli and said, “Here I am; you called me.” Then Eli realized that the LORD was calling the boy. 9 So Eli told Samuel, “Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, “Samuel! Samuel!”

Then Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant is listening.”

· Samuel was dedicated to the service of the priest and temple by his mother Hannah who had been barren, but prayed to God earnestly and was rewarded with Samuel.

· He was probably around 11-12 yrs old at this time.

· The place where he would sleep was only lit by a 7 branch candle stick, that represented the light of Gods Word that would come through the people of Israel.

· The priests were instructed to keep it burning always as a symbol of God’s faithfulness and their responsibility to live as a submitted people.

Vs: 1 – Visions were rare in those days.

[We should take an honest evaluation of our heart and obedience]

Why? – Gods leaders were corrupt and Gods people weren’t obeying anyway.

Prov 29:18 - Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint;

but blessed is he who keeps the law.

· There seems to be this intrinsic connection to Gods revelation and His Law.

· God’s Word and God’s will are like 2 sides of the same coin.

· Think that you can’t get into God’s will by doing anything that is contrary to God’s Word. If you break His word, His written and spoken commands then how could you ever plan on getting His will in your life?

Vs:7 – The Word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

[We should be eager to listen close for the Lord’s leading]

· Then Samuel tells us that the Word of the Lord had not been revealed to him.

· He literally did not recognize the Lords Word or His voice. In essence His leading.

· There is a time when we will come to a place in our life and our relationship with the Lord, where things begin to be revealed to us by Him. It is at that point that we need to make a decision what we will do with that voice, that leading, that prompting.

Vs:9 – Say “Speak Lord, your servant is listening”

[We should be eager to obey what is revealed]

· Samuel went back to bed and waited for the Lord to speak again

· Once he heard the Lord he reasoned by faith that it was God and not Eli but also that he would ask what the Lord was asking and then obey it!

· Warren Weirsbee says that “when God can’t find an obedient adult he calls a child to do His will. That’s exactly what happened with Samuel.

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1 Peter 3:18-22 –

Christ sufferedfor our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.

19 So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— 20 those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. 21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

22 Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.

Recap:

We learned a few weeks ago that as we examine why and who this letter was written too, we can conclude that the overall theme of 1 Peter is that Christians must withstand persecution and persevere in their faith.

We see this in Vs:14-15 – But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don’t worry or be afraid of their threats. 15 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it.

Jesus has become an example for us when we face suffering. There are 2 ways Peter shows us from this letter:

1. His attitude and disposition during unjust suffering (which we will/should expect at some point in our own lives)

2. His identification with our suffering and therefore he is not un-relatable as some might think.

But what's with baptism?

And then adding the ark of Noah and spirits in prison?

And does this passage say that baptism saves us?

I am going to get into some of this in a bit, but before we jump into that section we should look at Vs:18 first.

Peter gives us 3 great takeaway points from these verses that we all need to remember.

1. Jesus our sacrifice (Vs: 18)

Christ sufferedfor our sins once for all time. He never sinned, but he died for sinners to bring you safely home to God. He suffered physical death, but he was raised to life in the Spirit.

The word “suffered” is used 2 x’s in this verse. In fact the word “suffered” is used a total of 11 times from the KJV in the book of 1st Peter, more than any other book in the NT.

Jesus not only suffered in his life but he is the ultimate suffering servant who gave His life for us as a sufficient and acceptable sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Peter perfectly sums it up in chapter 2:24 -

1Peter 2:24- He personally carried our sins
in his body on the cross
so that we can be dead to sin
and live for what is right.
By his wounds
you are healed.

His death brings us life. His wounds bring us healing and I would add His suffering brings us communion with Him.

Deuteronomy tells us that without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Jesus gave his literal body and shed his literal blood so that we could have forgiveness and cleansing from our sins!

2. Jesus our salvation (Vs:19-21)

So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— 20 those who disobeyed God long ago when God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. 21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

What in world is Peter talking about when he writes in Vs:19-20A - So he went and preached to the spirits in prison— 20 those who disobeyed God long ago?

Prison:

Peter is actually making a reference to something that happened way back in Gen 6

To summarize for the essence of time:

· The sons of God (fallen angels) came down to earth (likely the 3rd of the deceived by Satan who fell with him) and they procreated with human women.

· The result is a hybrid race of part human, part fallen angels called “Nephilim”.

· The further result is that the human condition becomes so perverted that the bible tells us that mankind only thought of evil all of the time.

· God thus takes action and decides (with great sorrow) to eradicate the earth of all living things except Noah and his wife, 3 sons and their wives. 8 in total will be saved.

So, I know you are probably thinking “Turner how do you get spirits in prison?” from Gen 6?

I want to introduce to you to the book of Enoch.

· The Book of Enoch is an ancient Hebrew apocalyptic religious text, ascribed by tradition to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah.

· Enoch contains unique material on the origins of demons and Nephilim, why some angels fell from heaven, an explanation of why the Genesis flood was morally necessary, and prophetic exposition of the thousand-year reign of the Messiah.

· The older sections of the text are estimated to date from about 300–200 BC, and the latest part probably to 100 BC.

· Various Aramaic fragments found in the Dead Sea Scrolls, as well as Koine Greek and Latin fragments, are proof that the Book of Enoch was known by Jews and early Near Eastern Christians.

· This book was also quoted by some 1st and 2nd century authors as in the Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs.

· Authors of the New Testament were also familiar with some content of the story.

· The book of Enoch is quoted directly in the book of Jude Vs:14-15.

In other word’s there were texts that the 2nd temple era Jews (the time of the writing of the NT) used and trusted in for historical understanding and commentary on the OT.

What Enoch says:

· 1st Enoch chapters 1-32 records that after the Gen 6 incident God intervened and the worst of the worst fallen angels were placed in a locked pit. We see references to this locked pit in Rev 9 (the 5th trumpet judgment) & Rev 20 (where Satan is bound for the millennial year reign of Christ on the earth).

· The angels ask Enoch to appeal to God that they could be released from the prison.

· God tells Enoch “no” and then Enoch tells them “tough luck” you are here and not leaving.

Whether we like it or not this is the background for 1 Peter 3:19 about the spirits locked in prison.

Peter will go on to elude to this story again in 2 Peter with a direct quote from 1 Enoch.

2 Peter 2:4-5 - For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell,[a] in gloomy pits of darkness,[b] where they are being held until the day of judgment. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood.

Peter and Jude were very familiar with Jewish tradition about Genesis 6, found in books like 1 Enoch, and they believed them

A few years after Peter writes his 2 letters, the Apostle John will be given the book of Revelation and he will also describe and mention this prison/pit reserved for evil disobedient fallen angels/demons.

So what about the preaching?

In vs:19 (he went and “Preached”) the GK word is – Keruso. That means to “proclaim or herald”

Not to be confused with the Greek word for evangelize – euaggelistés. Which means “One who brings good news”

The distinction of the two words here need to be noticed. Jesus wasn’t bringing good news to the evil spirits in prison.

Jesus was proclaiming that He had won the victory over all rebellion and all the damage that Satan and the rebellious angels had caused.

You see, Gen 6 was a satanic attempt to stop the will of God to redeem mankind.

Gen 3:15 - And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring.He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

This tells us that through the seed of the woman (eve) He would crush the head of the serpent (Satan).

Satan knew that God had a plan to rescue the descendants of Adam and Eve through a human like one of them. The Gen 6 attack on humanity was an outright attempt to disrupt the human race so much that the messiah couldn’t come because it could be that quite possibly there would be no fully human beings to use as a vessel for his birth.

So it’s very likely that the proclamation was Jesus showing up to the spirits in prison and telling them “you lost” “you failed” “I am here, the Father has won and you are done”!

Noah:

Vs:20B-22 -God waited patiently while Noah was building his boat. Only eight people were saved from drowning in that terrible flood. 21 And that water is a picture of baptism, which now saves you, not by removing dirt from your body, but as a response to God from a clean conscience. It is effective because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Peter is drawing a duel picture here.

First he shows that Jesus has become the ark of salvation for all of the world. Just like the ark the only way to be saved is to enter in through the door. Jesus also called himself the “door” or the “gate” to the way of the shepherd.

Secondly, he mentions how the water is a type of “baptism”.

Paul gives us a great insight into the purpose and plan of baptism for the believer.

Romans 6 is a perfect explanation of water baptism.

· We are joined with Christ Jesus by baptism

· Because Jesus was buried and raised so will we in baptism

· Since we have been united with him in death we will also be raised to life as he is also

My friend Dr. Heiser says: “baptism is not what produces salvation. It saves in that it first involves or reflects a heart decision—a pledge of loyalty—to the risen savior.

In effect, baptism in New Testament theology is a loyalty oath—a public avowal of who is on the Lord's side in the cosmic war between good and evil.

But in addition to that, it is also a visceral reminder to the defeated fallen angels.

Every baptism is a reiteration of their doom in the wake of the gospel and the Kingdom of God.

Early Christians understood the typology of this passage and its link back to the fallen angels of Genesis 6. Early baptismal formulas included a renunciation of Satan and his angels for this very reason.

Baptism was—and still ought to be—spiritual warfare.”

Jesus our King (Vs:22)

Now Christ has gone to heaven. He is seated in the place of honor next to God, and all the angels and authorities and powers accept his authority.

My last point speaks for itself.

Jesus is King over all. Over the things seen and unseen. Over the past, present and the future. He will sit on an earthly throne for 1,000 years and we who are in Him will have a role in that kingdom! It’s going to be amazing. You don’t want to miss it.