MARY MAGDALENE, THE CHOSEN WOMAN

John 20:15 (ESV)   Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” 

• Was Mary Magdalene unspiritual to think Jesus was the gardener? 

Jesus was in a garden. He didn’t look like himself. 

• He was not shining with resurrection glory. 
• His beard was plucked out by the Roman soldiers who tormented him. 

Jesus was scarred and battered and perhaps not easily recognisable. 

We must not blame Mary Magdalene for this mistaken identity. She was closer to Jesus than any of the apostles at this time. 

• Mary Magdalene was chosen for the highest possible privilege, to be the first witness of the resurrection. 

According to Josephus, women were not accepted as witnesses in Jewish court cases. 

• I have found no evidence that this disqualification of women’s rights was authorised by God in Scripture but it is clear that the testimony of a woman did not carry the same weight as that of a man in the ancient world and the Jews were no exception.

When Jesus died on the cross, the innocent son of God suffered the ultimate injustice. With his unjust death, Jesus paid the penalty for all our sins. 

The only completely innocent human being in history died a cruel death, so that every guilty man and woman could be set free from the just condemnation of God.

•  When Jesus died a cruel and unjust death, He set about correcting all the curses and injustices that had followed like a plague on humanity after the fall of Adam and Eve in that first garden.

The first injustice was prophesied by God Himself when He declared that women after Eve would desire the love of their husbands but that their husbands would rule over them harshly.

Ge 3:16 (ESV)  To the woman he said, “I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children. Your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” 

Not only have billions of husbands ruled like tyrants over their wives but men in general have treated women like second class human beings. 

• The Jews in Bible days were also guilty of this but a quick look at church history and contemporary church life will tell you that men still dominate women in a way that God did not intend.

When Jesus returned from the grave, His first act was to restore full equality and dignity to women.

Mary Magdalene was divinely appointed to be the first witness of the resurrection, not Peter or John and not Mary the mother of Jesus. 

Mary Madgalene thought Jesus was the gardener. The first gardener was Adam and Paul said Jesus was the LAST ADAM. 

1Corinthians 15:45 (NKJV)  And so it is written, "The first man Adam became a living being." The last Adam became a life-giving spirit. 

1 Corinthians 15:22 (NKJV)  For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. 

• Adam was the first man and the father of all humanity. He was without sin before he yielded to temptation. 

• Jesus came as the second sinless man and He resisted every temptation. 
• Jesus came to restore men, women and children to the glorious innocence and justice of the original creation, to establish a new humanity where women and men would be completely equal and free to fulfil their potential.

When Mary Magdalene and her friends told the Apostles of the new church that Jesus was alive, the men did not believe the women. 

• Then Jesus appeared to them and rebuked them for not believing the women. 

• For two thousand years men have continued to punish women for the disobedience of Eve. 

• Ordained priests and pastors have exalted themselves above church members. 

It is time to repent.

ARE PEOPLE READY FOR JESUS?

When the Son of God lived as a man, He also encountered a lot of resistance but He never allowed Himself to become negative about people.

John 4:35 (ESV)   Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 

What was Jesus saying here? His disciples were like most of us. They thought most people were not yet ready to embrace Jesus.

But Jesus was saying people are much more spiritually hungry than we think.

What was the situation?
Jesus was walking through Samaria, a community of people with mixed Jewish ancestry. These people had adopted a corrupted form of Judaism but the Jews would not have anything to do with them. It was segregation by mutual agreement. 

Jesus was a Jew and His Heavenly Father had sent Him to minister to the Jews. 

• What more hostile and unfruitful mission field could a Jew find than Samaria? Surely they were not yet ready for the Good News of Jesus Christ.

Jesus began a conversation with a Samaritan woman at a well, a social outcast who had been married five times and was living with a man she was not married to. Was she perhaps a woman reduced to prostitution and living with her pimp? We don’t know.
Jesus knew nothing about her but he began to talk to her. 

Jn 4:9 (ESV)  The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 

She was not impressed and not receptive at all. 

She did not respond until Jesus told her the story of her life, a story he did not know himself but he was listening to the Holy Spirit and he used a gift of supernatural revelation, the gift of the Word of Knowledge.

John 4:17-19 (ESV)  The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” 

• Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 

There are many people today like this woman.

• They are not ready to even listen to the Gospel but God has given the followers of Jesus THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM.

One of the Keys of the Kingdom is the simple message of salvation through Jesus and a few people do listen and receive this truth. 

• However, sadly many do not.

But there are other Keys that God has given us. 

One is the Charismatic Gifts of healing and supernatural revelation.

• If we only use these gifts with other Christians in church meetings, we break God’s heart.

Jesus showed us how to use supernatural miracle gifts to open the doors to the hearts of lost people.

• When Jesus said: FOLLOW ME, he meant among other things that we should listen to the Holy Spirit just as he did. 

If we do, the Spirit of God will give us keys to open doors into many closed lives.

John 4:35 (ESV)   Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 

When Jesus says: LOOK and LIFT UP YOUR EYES, he is telling us to look up to God and see people through HIS eyes. 

If we see people from our own human religious perspective, we may see a rebellious, drug addicted prostitute but God might see a tormented and hungry heart which longs to be set free. 

Jesus used supernatural revelation to open the door to a woman’s heart. We can do the same. 

• Why don’t we? Maybe we don’t operate such a gift but our lack of gifting need not be permanent.

YOU HAVE NOT BECAUSE YOU ASK NOT... says James. (James 4:2)

Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

1 Corinthians 14:1 (ESV)   Pursue love, and earnestly desire the spiritual gifts, especially that you may prophesy. 

YOUR HANDS ARE THE HANDS OF JESUS

If you believe in Jesus and you have committed your life to the loving hands of Father God, you have begun a new life. You are a follower of Jesus Christ. You HAVE eternal life.

John 3:16 (ESV)  “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 

Eternal life is yours now. 

1 John 5:12 (NKJV)  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. 

Jesus is the eternal son of God and your life belongs to him. He is with you from now until forever. 

• As long as you are with him, he will be with you.

Hebrews 13:5 (NIV)   Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."

• God wants to meet all your needs and bless you with health, healing and even financial provision but he makes this one condition.

Matthew 6:33 (NIV)   But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

Your first priority is to love Jesus, the King of Heaven and Earth, to promote His Eternal Kingdom and win men, women and children to put their trust in Him. 

If you dedicate your life to Him, He will never let you down. He cares for you and everything about you. 

• Your needs are his needs. 

• Your hunger is his hunger. 

• Your heartache is his heartache. 

• Your happiness is his happiness.

If you have put your trust in Jesus, you are IN CHRIST, a part of His Body. 

He died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, your rejection of His Father God, your attempt to live as if your loving creator did not exist, the messes you made as a result.

But Jesus did not stay dead. He rose again from the dead. He was seen by his disciples alive and he ate and drank with them. He was not a heavenly vision but his body returned to life. 

After spending forty days with his disciples, he returned to Heaven and now rules the universe with infinite wisdom and power.

Jesus in now in heaven but His Spirit is alive and well on the earth. His Spirit now lives in all who love him on earth. 

John 14:15-17 (NKJV) "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

• And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever-- 
• the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 

If you are a follower of Jesus, he has no hands on earth but your hands. Will you reach out with your hands to help others? 

• Jesus reached out His hand and touched sick people, and they were healed.

Mark 16:17-18 (NIV) And these signs will accompany those who believe: ....they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."

• He has no smile on earth but your smile. Will you let others see the love of Jesus in your smile?

• He has no feet on earth but your feet. Will you let Jesus send you to the people he wants to reach with his love?

WHY NOT MORE MIRACLES?

I have a wonderful older sister (actually my cousin) who has been a close friend and prayer partner for some years, with the blessing of my very dear wife, who is also a wonderful woman of God. 

What would we do without high quality spiritual friendships? 

One of the reasons that our church experience is sometimes disappointing is the lack of strong spiritual friendships. We put too much emphasis on hierarchy and organisation, so that the pastor is expected to take the place of friend, guide and even of Jesus Himself. 

Jesus emphasised brotherhood and teamwork rather than hierarchy.

Lk 10:1 (NKJV)  After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go. 

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20 (ESV) 

I was talking on the phone to my cousin today when the Holy Spirit gave me a wonderful revelation. When we share our faith with good friends, the Holy Spirit loves to join in as the third member of the conversation.

Malachi 3:16 (ESV)   Then those who feared the LORD spoke with one another. The LORD paid attention and heard them, and a book of remembrance was written before him of those who feared the LORD and esteemed his name. 

God showed me unbelief in my life. He corrected me but encouraged me at the same time.

When I have experienced amazing miracles, I have been so excited, which is perfectly right, but then I have fallen into a negative attitude without realising it.

For example, I once prayed over a witchcraft shop on the way to work every day. 

One day I asked my friends to cover me in prayer and I went inside to talk about Jesus to the witch.

I wrestled with words for some time, feeling the intense power and pressure from the dark spirits but God was always in control and I felt His presence inside me. 

Finally God gave me a word to share. I told the witch I would pray for her, that she would see Jesus in a dream. Suddenly I saw panic in her eyes. The dark spirits knew they had met their match.

• A year later I read in the newspaper that the Wicca group had broken up and the witch had lost her followers. Jesus proved again to be the miracle worker. He answers prayer. 

But that was 14 years ago. I have seen other great miracles since then but only from time to time. 

When Jesus walked the earth, He worked wonders every day. 

John 21:25 (ESV)   Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. 

Since then and women of God have lived miraculous lifestyles as Jesus promised, so why do many of us only see miracles from time to time?

Jn 14:12 (ESV)  “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. 

• Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 

One reason may be that we sometimes become too impressed with ourselves when God does something great through us. 

I plead guilty to that one but I am not the only one. 

One miracle should be the preparation for the next one if we fully appreciate what God has done and what He wants to keep on doing.

• So what hinders our continual progress from one miracle to the next?

One is self congratulation which sometimes subtly takes the focus off God. 

• When you stop looking at God, your faith falls because true faith is always focussed on God.

Another is simply a wrong understanding of miracles. We think of a great miracle as an exceptional occurrence instead of seeing it as a step on a stairway to heaven, an episode in a series of miracles, a lifestyle of miracles.

Many years ago, God spoke to the great healing evangelist Oral Roberts. God said: “Tell the people to expect a miracle every day!”

GRACE IS MORE THAN JUST MERCY

What is grace? 

There are many questions we can think about and they require serious study, so it is good to consider the most important questions first. 

Why is grace important?

Ephesians 2:8 (NKJV)   For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.

FOR BY GRACE YOU HAVE BEEN SAVED....

It is vital to understand GRACE because without it we cannot be saved.

• What is salvation?

John 3:16 (NKJV)  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 

By GRACE we live forever with God instead of perishing. Without GRACE we cannot know God and we cannot have everlasting life.

So what is GRACE?

GRACE is the translation of the Greek word CHARIS, which has a number or important meanings.

• Firstly, it means FAVOUR.

Lk 1:28 (NKJV)  And having come in, the angel said to her, "Rejoice, highly favoured one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!" 

No woman has ever received such favour as Mary. God chose her to be the mother of Jesus, the Son of God.

Lk 1:30-31 (NKJV)  Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God.

• And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name JESUS. 

There is amazing favour here but there is also more than favour. The angel Gabriel was announcing a miracle. 

When someone does you a favour, it can be a blessing but when it is God who favours you, His favour brings with it the TRANSFORMING POWER of God Himself.

Few men or women understood the GRACE of God as well as the Apostle Paul. 

Paul, originally named Saul, belonged to the legalistic religious Jewish sect called the Pharisees. 
The Pharisees were the great enemies of Jesus before the cross and after the cross it was Saul the young Pharisee who led the persecution of the first Christian church in Jerusalem.

Saul was on the way to Damascus to arrest Christians when the Lord Jesus appeared to him in a blaze of glory.

Acts 9:1-6 (NIV) 1  Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest 2  and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3  As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" 5  "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. "I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. 6  "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do." 

Saul received mercy and favour from Jesus but more than that, God transformed the Saul the angry persecutor into Paul, the loving messenger of Jesus. 

This is GRACE.

This same GRACE is also for you. 

God loves you as you are. He loves you so much that He sent His only son to die for you, to pay the penalty for your sin.

Jesus suffered an agonising death on the cross.This is what we deserved for rejecting the love of God, for trying to live as if our loving Creator did not exist, for messing up the world He created for you and me to live in.

But God not only wants to forgive you and open the door for you to share His heaven.

• He wants to transform you into a wonderful man or woman, a heavenly human being with a lovely character like Jesus.

Will you let the GRACE of God change you into the lovely human being that God created you to be?

TIME TO BREAK OUT AND BREAK THROUGH

A true New Testament church is a breeding ground for ministers like Stephen, the miracle working preacher who challenged the unbelieving religious authorities and became the first martyr.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer challenged the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler and the church leaders who sold their souls by working with the Nazis. Bonhoeffer was hanged but his ministry lives on.

In a true New Testament church, you may find  people like Philip, the miracle working preacher who was sent by an angel to a country road to explain the message of Jesus to a foreign government official.

Acts 8:26 (ESV)  Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is a desert place.

There was a senior leader in the Government of Ethiopia, a nation never before reached with the message of Jesus.

Acts 8:29-31 (ESV)   And the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.”

True New Testament believers follow God’s instructions with boldness. It takes faith and courage to run to meet a foreign government leader when you are a nobody in the world.

Acts 8:30-31 So Philip ran to him and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet and asked, “Do you understand what you are reading?”  And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.”

God had prepared the foreign leader because he was reading Isaiah Chapter 53 which prophesies the death of Jesus on the cross.

• When the Holy Spirit calls to act with outrageous boldness, be assured HE is God and HE has prepared the hearts of your hearers.

A New Testament church believes for big things, to win cities and nations, and not only individuals.

• The Ethiopian eunuch was a senior government official who could turn his country to Jesus. Ethiopia even today stands as a Christian nation surrounded by Islam.

A pastor in Asia only had a small congregation but he believed he was called to make disciples of NATIONS, not only of some people in nations.

Mt 28:18 (ESV)  And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

• Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...

A poor woman in his congregation embraced the vision and prayed that she would disciple her nation. She sold ice cream in the street.. 

• One day a well dressed man bought her ice cream. He asked her why her ice cream was so delicious. She told him she believed Jesus and prayed for God to bless her ice cream. 

The man was the governor of the city and he became a Christian. He immediately changed the way he ruled and started teaching Christianity to city government staff.

Asia has worshipped idols and dark spirits for thousands of years but there are spiritual revolutions happening in many places because followers of Jesus have embraced the big vision of Jesus. 

Australians, Americans, British, Germans, Europeans: it is time to join the revolution of the Kingdom of God.

• What happened in the Acts of the Apostles is happening again all around the world.

Well known English Atheist Journalist Adriaan Wooldridge has written a book, GOD IS BACK... 

"The sort of religion that is on the rise is the emotive, assertive charismatic religion," he said. "It's compelling Catholicism in Latin America to change. 

There's a physical surprise when you go to Guatemala and see how vibrant the charismatic and Pentecostal movements are. It is the same thing in Lagos and Nairobi. I went into my research underestimating the power and vitality of religion. 

"What also struck him were the 443,000 full-time Christian missionaries worldwide plus 1.6 million Christians a year who go on short-term missions. Wooldridge sees Christianity remaining the world's largest religion. 

Review quoted from:
The Australian Prayer Network Newsletter.
http://ausprayernet.org.au/

ANGELS IN YOUR LIFE

Psalm 91:10-11 (NKJV)   No evil shall befall you, Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling; For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways. 

Many Christians are sensitive to the presence of God.

• Many can also discern the presence and activities of demons but when someone enthusiastically shares their experience of angels, they become nervous or even critical.

They may be afraid of being deceived by angels of light, disguised demons. 

Of course we know there are New Age people who seek contact with angels but not through Jesus. They are really deceived. 

But if you have placed your life in the hands of Jesus, you belong to God and the armies of heaven are there to do battle with you against the forces of darkness. 

One of the most majestic names of God is THE LORD OF HOSTS.

• When David, the teenage shepherd went to fight Goliath, he declared the name of the Lord.

1 Samuel 17:45 (NKJV)   Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. 

But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 

The HOSTS are the armies of angels who outnumber all evil spirits two to one.

• The name “The LORD of Hosts” occurs 239 times in the Bible, and the Bible also tells dramatic stories in which people saw angels of God. 

So why should we not also be excited about angels? Why should we not desire to see angels or celebrate it when people tell us they have seen angels? 

Jesus taught us to pray to the Father:

Matthew 6:10 (NKJV)  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 

In Heaven the glory of God is overwhelmingly present, so we can cry out with Moses:

... "Please, show me Your glory." Ex 33:18 (NKJV)  

In heaven, supernatural phenomena are normal, so we can expect to live a life of miracles.

• In heaven there are thousands of millions of angels, so we can expect to be walking with angels on earth, and there is no reason why we should not also see them sometimes.

Our calling as followers of Jesus is to make this earth a colony of heaven.

Philippians 3:20 (NKJV)   For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, 

• Colossians 3:1-2 (NKJV)   If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. 

Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. 

But doesn’t the Bible warn us to be careful not to be deceived by Satan, who can disguise himself as “an angel of light”? 

• Angels are bright, shining spirits, as Satan himself once was, so many people are afraid of being deceived by visions of demons in disguise.

But what is the context of this warning?

2 Corinthians 11:13-14 (NKJV) For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ.

• And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 

Paul is warning the Corinthian believers against preachers who falsely claim divine authority.

• These preachers set themselves up like high priests to dominate the congregation and take over the direction of their lives, as some preachers also do today.

2 Corinthians 11:20 (NKJV)  For you put up with it if one brings you into bondage, if one devours you, if one takes from you, if one exalts himself, if one strikes you on the face. 

Paul rebukes the Christians for allowing preachers to dominate them and treat them like children rather than as brothers and sisters. 

• There are many who are afraid to celebrate the presence of angels in case they exalt the angels rather than God Himself, 

• yet some of these same believers put their lives under the control of church leaders rather than being personally led by the Holy Spirit... so they put man in the place of God.

Was Paul against ordained preachers? NO... He was an apostle himself, but he was a leader and teacher, not a dictator who set out to rule the lives of believers.