Tyndale Chapel Podcast

Good morning, everybody. My name is Sarah, and I teach here in pastoral ministry on our seminary side. I also direct our Center for Pastoral Imagination, and it is my great joy to be here to share God's word with you today. Now I know it's that time of the year, I've seen a lot of sleepy faces here on campus already, and it's really that time when you know summer just needs to come, doesn't it? We've been in winter a little too long, second term we're all kind of just crawling through trying to get to the finish line. And I know that we all come here with a lot of heaviness, a lot of responsibilities on our shoulders, and I know that some of us are also coming here with a lot of tough things, things that are overwhelming, things that feel very heavy upon our hearts, and things that we are not sure that we know how to overcome on our own. Just this past week, I was at an office for an appointment, and there's a lady that works in the office that I've befriended over the past year, and a few months ago, she looked extremely downcast. One day, I could tell she had been crying, and so I just asked her, are you okay? And she told me. She confided in me that her 60 year old mother, who was very young and very healthy, suddenly died of a stroke, and that she was grieving the loss of her mother, her best friend. And last week, I went back to that same office, and my friend was there, and I could just tell she was going through such a hard time she's grieving the loss of her mother. And when I said, you know, how can I pray for you? Are you doing okay? You know this lady is not a believer, but I believe that God knows her and sees her and loves her so deeply. And she just said something. She said, you know, Sarah, I feel like I'm drowning and there's nobody there to save me. And so today's message I wrote in prayer for my friend, but also for any of you that really share in that sentiment, that you feel like you're drowning and you're just not sure who is there to save you. So can we all stand together as I read our passage for us today? If you're able stand with me. It's a short passage in first John, chapter five, and why don't we actually open our hands? I think it's really a sign of us opening our hearts and just receiving the word of God, that as the word is spoken, I believe it has power to heal, it has power to resurrect, and it has power to give us life. So let's listen to the Word of God today. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world, and this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world, except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? Let me pray for us shortly, God, we thank you for these powerful words, this promise that you have indeed overcome the world on our behalf and God, we know at lent, we tend to think upon you on the cross, think of you in your suffering, but today, we want to remember you as you are victorious, sitting on the throne at the right hand of God. And we thank you that you promise us that as we are standing here, arms and hearts open to you that your victory, your overcoming power, is ours as well. So God, we receive that we thank you in advance. We pray these things in Jesus name, Amen, Amen. Please be seated. Now I don't know who in here is taking Greek at the moment, I really struggled with Greek. You know, when I took Greek, I took an intensive Greek in the spring, and I had Greek every Monday morning at 9am I don't know that administration was just out to torture us seminary students. And I remember taking a Greek exam at 9am on Easter morning after I had been at church all weekend in three different services, and I was like, what kind of irony is this? And yet, I promise you now that I'm actually in ministry and I'm preaching and I'm teaching preaching, there is such beauty in knowing the original language of the text. There is such richness when we look at the original language in which some of the biblical text is written. So please endure those of you that are in biblical languages, there is light at the end of the tunnel, and there is a purpose to the torture that you are going through right now. And so I just wanted to do that for us as we go through these short two verses. I just want to go deep into the Greek of the text and look at the message and the promises, the treasure that are hidden inside these verses. And so in verse four a, it says this, for everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. Now in Greek, there is seven tenses. That is why it's so challenging to learn. You know, in English, we just have past, present, future. In Greek, there are seven tenses. And the Greek word for has been born, that is here, gagane Menon is the perfect tense of the past, which means that being born again of God is something that was completed in the past, but that has ongoing effects for each and every one of you. And so what this means is that when you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, it is not just one time that you are born into becoming a child of God, but it is an ongoing reality for your everyday lives. You are born of God, you have a new identity that you were given the moment you called out to Jesus as your Lord and Savior. And what is that identity? That identity is one of overcoming. Now this word here, it says those that have been born of God and who continue to be born of God every day that you have overcome. So now this word overcome, you. Nike fans out there. You're gonna like this. It comes from the Greek word Niki, which means victory and conquest. That's actually where Nike got their name. If you didn't know what Nike meant, you're welcome. That is what it means. It means victory or triumph. And this version of the word Niki is a verb in the present tense that shows a continuous overcoming that we have over and over and over again. It's not a one time thing, but when we are born of God again and again, day by day, we receive this promise that we will overcome continuously, that we will have Niki, victory, Triumph every day of our lives. And what is it that we are continuously overcoming? We are promised that we will overcome the world. Now the Greek word here is just so much more grandiose. It's cosmos. It's all systems and powers that may be out there to try to keep us from God, whether it be sins, whether it be physical challenges, spiritual challenges, you know the cyclical sins that keep trying to come and grab us at the ankle, whatever it may be, all things under the cosmos, we have been given power to have victory over Amen. And so this is the promise of just this short half of the first verse, that when you are born of God, it is a continual being birthed again, again and again. And every day you are being given Niki victory over all the things of the cosmos in Jesus' name. And this isn't something you need to work towards, but you are born into it. George Sweetman, you were born into the Sweetman family. You didn't do anything to earn that that name. It just came to you. It's gonna stay with you till you go meet the Lord again. And that is what it's like to be born into the family of God. It is a right that we receive. We have been given a right and a promise that over and over again, we will triumph, and we will be more than conquerors over anything that this cosmos can throw at us, amen. And the way that we receive this victory, if we look at this passage in verse four B, it says that we receive it through our faith. It says the victory that has overcome the world is found in our faith. And you'll notice here there's the word victory and the world overcome, the word overcome in this short sentence, and it's actually the same word, that same word, Nike, again, it's like, I should get some brand sponsorship here, or something. It's that same word, Niki, but in two different forms that it is shown by the apostle John in this short verse. And the first way he says it is, you. You have Niki, which is a noun and only appears four times in the Bible, and is meant to describe an immense and decisive triumph over an enemy. It is an immense victory that was won, and so you have a victory that was won for you. And then the second word of victory that is again, that you have overcome Niki Sasa. So he repeats it twice. And there's a reason why he really wants to emphasize this. He's saying, you have Niki and Niki Sasa, this world sounds so much cooler in the Greek, doesn't it? He's saying you have victory to overcome this world and this word, Niki Sasa, it is saying that it is a completed task in the past that never needs to be done again. The victory is decisive. He's basically saying here, the victory that is ultimately victorious is yours. The Niki of Jesus has a Niki Sasa and is now in your hands. And the way we live this out is through faith. And faith is not just intellectual agreement, but it's deep, active trust in believing that Jesus has had the Niki and will help us to Niki Sasa everything in our everyday lives. So brothers and sisters, can I just encourage you, you don't need to fight for victory, you need to fight from victory. Can I say that again, you don't need to fight for victory. You need to fight from victory. When this world feels overwhelming, it is not more faith or energy that you need to muster up, but you simply need to have deeper trust in who our God is. You are fighting from the Niki the victory that is already yours and that is going to help you do Niki Sasa overcome all the things in your life, trust in the victory of Jesus Christ is our weapon. It is our greatest way forward. When I was in seminary, I learned this Latin term called Christus Victor, and my husband and I, we went to seminary together, and we were in the same class. And this is a Latin term that describes the atoning work of Christ, and it really emphasizes how the triumph of Christ has overcome all the powers of this world, that Christ has rescued us and brought us into a new identity and a new relationship with God. And after learning this, you know, so many times my husband I would look at each other in those tough seminary, seminary years when finances were short, when we'd come against, you know, just tough situations in church, and we would say Christus Victor. It was like our mantra, our rally cry. Can we say that together right now? Can you say Christus Victor? Can we say that again with a little more can we say that one more time? Christus Victor, I hope day in and day out, we can say it like a rally cry in our daily life, that when things come against us, we can say Christus Victor, the victory of Christ, the Niki of Jesus Christ is with me every day. And so in verse five, as we close off, it says, Who is it that overcomes the world? It is the one who believes in Christus Victor, and that meets with him daily in the victory that he invites us to. And so all we're called to do, brothers and sisters, as you are carrying all the burdens that you've brought into into this place today, Jesus is inviting you to say, trust in me. I've taken care of it. I've already fought that fight, and I have Niki Sasa, I have overcome. One of my favorite stories in the Bible is in Matthew 14, and we see right after feeding the 5000 that Jesus sends the disciples out on a boat. He's kind of setting him up, and he kind of does that sometimes. Jesus is a little bit funny. He sends them out on a boat, and as they're trying to pass to the other side, winds come up and hit the boat. And so they're just struggling to stay afloat, and as they're trying to survive, right in the middle of the night. At around 3am Matthew 14 says it was the fourth watch of the night, so it's pitch black. Imagine this. You're on a boat on a lake. It's pitch black. The waves are trying to overcome your boat, and then way in the distance, they see a figure walking on the water towards them. Now I'm with the disciples. They were terrified. It says that they yell out of fear. They're terrified. And they're like, it's a ghost. And yet, Immediately Jesus, who is walking towards them, and I love this, it says, immediately, there's a Greek word emphasized there, right away. He doesn't wait to scare them a little bit like, oh, let's see what you'll do. Immediately, Jesus says, take heart. Don't be afraid it is I. And when Peter sees that it is Jesus, He says, The Lord, if it is you tell me to come. And Jesus commands him. He says, come. And so Peter gets off the boat and he starts walking on water towards Jesus. Now, remember, the waves were high, and so we sometimes we see pictures of Peter and Jesus in the water, and it's like this, you know, glass type of water, and there's like a boat, and Peter's floating on top. That's not what was happening. I love this illustration, because waves were hitting the boat. So you imagine Peter walking on the waves. He was probably walking up the wave and down the wave. He walked the wave and down the wave. This was a precarious walk. And yet when Peter had his eyes fixed on Jesus, he was able to do it. His deep trust in his Lord carried him. And yet, as soon as Peter lost focus of his Lord, he looked around, he saw the waves, and I don't blame him, he started to sink. Fear gripped his heart, and he forgot about his trust in the Lord. But again, even when Peter loses trust. Does Jesus leave him to drown? No, again, it says. Immediately, Jesus goes and picks him up. He doesn't waste a second, and he brings Peter onto the boat. I don't know how. Maybe he levitates him to the boat. Maybe he piggybacks him. He's dragging him there on top of the water. But they get into the boat. And then Jesus says to Peter a kind of endearing phrase, which he says many times to the disciples. He says, oligopistos, which means ye of little faith. Oligo means small, pistos means faith. He said, why did you doubt? And ever since I found this word, I've been using it quite a bit. Whenever I feel afraid, I'm like, oligopistos, why are you being afraid? I've said it to my husband once, oligopistos, why do you doubt? And this word for doubt that Jesus used, it's a compound word that means standing in two different places and not being able to decide which way to go. That's the meaning of doubt that you have one foot here, one foot there. You're vacillating between the two. You're stuck at a crossroads and you don't know where to go. And that is what happens when we don't place our full trust in Jesus, we are stuck between faith and fear, and just like Peter, when the storms come, we become oligopistos. We doubt and we sink and we cry out to our father to save us, brothers and sisters, when Jesus invites us come and abide in me. It's not a command to make more work, but Jesus is saying, come and abide in the victory that I have won on your behalf. And so as we go forth into our day. It is my hope that we can remember these promises, that we can say to ourselves, I am born to overcome. Faith is my victory. I will not be a person stuck between two worlds, but I will put my trust in my Christus Victor, and I will meet with him daily. And it is my prayer that as we meet with our Christus Victor, as we make his Niki, our Niki, his victory and his triumph, ours, that we will overcome all that this world has to throw at us, that even though the world may try to overwhelm that we will overcome in the power of Jesus Christ, Amen, amen, why don't we pray together? So we come before our father I'd like us to just pray a short 10 second prayer, say, Jesus, I thank you that you have overcome. Would you forgive me for being oligopistos, for being of so little faith and God, would you give me just trust in you that you have given me the triumph over all things already. Let's make that our short prayer. Jesus, we remember you, and we see you sitting on your throne triumphant over all the cosmos. And we just want to take your invitation that you are saying, come to me and share in my victory. We invite you into our lives, and as we take communion, we ask that your flesh and your blood would come into us and fill us from the inside out with the overcoming power that you are giving to us today in Jesus name, we pray amen. Today we have the joy of partaking in the Lord's table. And could I invite everyone to rise? Stand together, if you are able, we're just going to read a liturgy. I would ask that you would read the parts that are in italic, and I will read the other portion. Christ, our Lord, invites us to his table, all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another, Therefore let us confess our sin before God and one another. Merciful God, we confess that we have not loved you with our whole heart. Amen. Hear the good news. Christ died for us while we were yet still sinners. That proves God's love towards us. In the name of Jesus Christ, you are forgiven. The Lord, be with you. Lift up your hearts. Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right and a good and joyful thing always and everywhere to give thanks to you, almighty God, creator of heaven and earth and so with your people on earth and all the company of heaven, we praise your name and join their unending hymn. Holy Are you and blessed is your Son, Jesus Christ, by the baptism of his suffering, death and resurrection, you gave birth to your church, delivered us from slavery to sin and death, healed us with your love and made us with a new covenant by water and by his Spirit, amen, you may be seated.

Brothers and sisters, the Lord Jesus, on the night of his arrest, he took bread, and after giving thanks, he broke it and he gave it to his disciples, saying, Take it. Eat. This is my body given for you. Do this in remembrance of me, and in the same way he took the cup, saying, this cup is the new covenant, sealed in my blood, shed for you and the forgiveness of your sins. Whenever you drink, do this remembrance, in remembrance of me. And so every time you eat this bread and you drink of this cup, you proclaim the saving death of the risen Lord until he comes again, let's pray. Jesus we thank you for your ultimate triumph, and as we take of this bread and of this cup, we invite you to bring us into a spirit of repentance and then a spirit of restoration and just of celebration for what you have done for us, we invite you here in Jesus name amen, and as the ushers come forward, I would invite you to just take another 30 seconds, just in quiet prayer and repentance before the Lord, and also of receiving his forgiveness today. This is the blood of Christ shed for your sins. Blood of Christ shed for your sins. This is the blood of Christ shed for your sins. The blood of Christ. This is the body of Christ broken for you. Body of Christ broken for you. The body of Christ broken for you. The Body of Christ broken for you. As you feel ready, I invite you to come up the middle aisle, and then you can take the elements and then go down on the sides.

Now may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of our God, the father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be with all of God's people as we go under the banner of Christus Victor to live in victory overcoming all the things of this world in the powerful name of Jesus Christ amen, amen. Thank you. Be blessed today.