Iglesia Apostólica de la Bahía
Iglesia Apostolica de la Bahia
3715 Foothill Blvd.
Oakland, CA 94601
ph: 510-534-1405
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Psalm 51:1, 16-17
On the weekend of July 4, on three different occasions a train ran over three persons killing them, here in the East bay. Brother Manuel Mejia, from the Spanish Church, witnessed one of those incidents. He said that he stopped to let the coming train pass at 29th Avenue and International Blvd. when he heard three men arguing. They looked like homeless men and they were saying all of them would throw themselves in front of the train. As the train got closer two backed down and were trying to persuade the third one to not throw himself in front of the train. When the train came by, the third person walked in front of the train and it killed him. His life had reached desperation, without hope. It had become too unbearable to live. What he needed was the mercy of God that is greater than all our sins and desperation.
Psalm 51 is a psalm of King David after he committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband murdered. The prophet Nathan came to David and accuses him (2 Samuel 12:7). David needed the mercy of God that is greater than all his sins and desperation. David’s humility, repentance and faith in God’s mercy will encourage anyone who has fallen into sin.
In the Old Testament, there were two common types of sacrifices, one for sins and the other for thanksgiving. But there wasn’t a sacrifice that would forgive adultery and murder. Sacrifices for sin were for sins done in ignorance or error but not for the voluntary transgression of the law. Civil law demanded that the adulterers or murderers be taken out to the edge of the town and be stoned to death. The blood sacrifices were not made to interfere with civil law. Therefore, David knew that his only hope was in God’s mercy.
In order for David to be able to throw himself on the mercy of God, he had to have had and intimate relationship with him. Verse one reveals this understanding of God’s loving mercy that forgives beyond the law and David flings himself on this one hope in God. In verse four, David says that in a court of law the Lord would be right in sentencing David to death for his sins. And in verse 16, he says that God doesn’t want burnt offerings because David knows that there isn’t a burnt offering that would absolve him of his sins.
Verse 17 says, “The sacrifice pleasing to God is a broken spirit. God, You will not despise a broken and humbled heart.” This implies a complete surrender to God. It was not just that God will forgive and make one free of the burden of sin, but for God to “create a new heart and renew a right spirit within me.” (Verse 10) Paul wrote in Romans that for God to make us totally his, we needed to present our bodies “a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.” (Romans 12:1)
You must believe in the mercy of God that forgives. This faith isn’t just in repentance for sin but faith in the mercy and promise of God’s grace. What the law couldn’t do, God’s grace would do. This incident of David’s great sins and great forgiveness was a shadow of what was to come with Jesus on the Cross. In Romans, chapter three, the Bible says God justifies all who believe in him (Romans 3:23-26).
This was a beautiful new doctrine that the apostles proclaimed, that the sins that the Law of Moses did not provide sacrifices were forgiven in Christ, “and everyone who believes in Him is justified from everything, which you could not be justified from through the law of Moses.” (Acts 13:39) And in I John 1:7 it says, “But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
This doesn’t mean you can live anyway you want and expect to be forgiven without a genuine repentance. But it makes up for our imperfections, our mistakes and sins.
The greatest fear David had was to loose God’s Spirit. To loose his Spirit is to be without hope, desperate, wanting to die and not go on. But when you have an intimate relationship with Christ, you have peace of mind and hope. Then you can say, “I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me,” because he loves you and he will never leave you.
What you need is something that is greater than your sins and despair. You need God’s mercy that forgives. You must believe that he will forgive you and restore you. Though David only had the Law of Moses, he also had deep understanding of God’s mercy and loving compassion. This was what he threw himself upon, not an oncoming train but loving mercy. David’s heart was broken because of what he had done and this was what he offered to God. He offered faith; repentance and total surrender and God forgave him.
Christ is offering the same to you today. If you’ve come with guilt, hang-ups from the past, rejection and you find yourself losing hope; trust in the mercy of God that forgives.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
(Sermon preached by Pastor Oceguera on May 17, 2009)
Luke 15:8-10
Do you like stories with happy endings? This parable is a happy ending story like the lost sheep parable of last week. Both illustrate God’s surprising mercy for the lost and outcast. Here the ruined soul is represented as a lost coin.
It seems Jesus was using the Jewish custom of a marriage dowry in telling this story. In Bible times, a gift or payment was made to the bride’s father from the groom but the father would also give his daughter a gift. In New Testament times, the gift given the bride by her father often took the form of coins. Holes were drilled in the coins and they were strung together. The bride would wear them around her neck like a necklace or around her head as a headband. These coins were her wealth and she kept them during her marriage. If her marriage failed and she divorced, her coins represented her value. Thus, they were very important to her.
A lost soul is very important to God. Here, the ruined soul is represented as a lost coin. This parable teaches that God positively misses each lost soul. He longs for its restoration to its place with him and the work for which it was created.
The lost soul is something lost for God. But why was it lost? Did the string that held them together brake? Sin breaks the relationship with God. We “roll away” feeling guilty or to blame because of sin. We may not be able to put our feelings of guilt or blame in words because we may not understand that guilt is the source of our discomfort. We express ourselves in anger, violence, depression and many other ways. But if Christ “reaches out to pick up the lost coin,” and you are the “lost coin,” then he is reaching out to absolve you of guilt and blame.
God rejoices in all his works, but particularly in the works of grace. He rejoices to do good to a sinner who has repented of his or her sins. When Peter finished preaching to the crowd on the day of Pentecost the Bible says that the people were, “pierced to the heart” (Acts 2:37 HCSB). This means they felt as if a sharp needle or instrument had cut them to their hearts. It implies the idea of sudden sharp and severe grief because of their sins. Their question to Peter was, “Brothers, what must we do?” Peter’s answer was, “Repent and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 2:38 HCSB)
“When she finds it, she calls her women friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found the silver coin I lost!’” (Luke 15:9) Again, as in the parable of the lost sheep, the woman wants others to rejoice with her. The comparison is God’s desire for us to rejoice with him when lost souls are found. This type of rejoicing is the revival that all churches want.
The humble rejoicing of the woman celebrating with her neighbors shows us God himself. God is rejoicing with his Church and his angels over the salvation of a single sinner. “I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.” (Luke 15:10) The lost soul is of great value to God and all of heaven as it was to the woman of the parable.
This parable has a happy ending with great rejoicing at the end. Do you want your life to have a happy ending? Is your life filled with guilt and blame? Know that Christ died for you that you might not be lost. Your life’s end shouldn’t be filled with shame and despair. A happy ending story will always be yours when Jesus Christ finds you.The Lost Sheep
(Sermon preached by Pastor Oceguera to Bay Apostolic Church on May 10, 2009)
Luke 15:1-7
Question: What’s makes God anxious? God being Almighty and the creator of all things doesn’t get anxious. But speaking figuratively, in the parable of the lost sheep, we find that God is anxious when one of his sheep is lost.
A parable is a story or a saying that is intended to communicate spiritual truth by comparison. Lost sheep were images the Jewish community understood because there was much shepherding being done throughout Israel. Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep because the Pharisee and scribes criticized him because he welcomed sinners and ate with them.
In verse four the lost sheep represents one who is not considered respectable by the Jews. It is a lost soul and though only one is mentioned, in truth there are many lost souls. In the eyes of God, it indicates the value of a person’s immortal soul and how anxious God is for it to be found.
It is very important that sheep should not be allowed to stray away from the flock because when by themselves they are utterly helpless. If they stray away they must be brought back. The Psalmist prayed in Psalm 119:176, “I wander like a lost sheep; seek your servant” (HCSB). Isaiah compared man’s waywardness to that of sheep: “We all went astray like sheep” (Isaiah 53:6, HCSB). David sang of his divine Shepherd, “He restores my soul” (Psalm 23:3, NIV).
God not only cares for the lost, but he has sympathy and compassion for the lost soul. Sympathy is not merely sentiment or courtesy. True sympathy is working to help a person in distress. Likewise, compassion isn’t simply pity for a person. Compassion requires a relationship and pity does not. The shepherd went to look for the lost sheep and when he finds it, he puts it on his shoulder and returns home rejoicing.
In verses four and five the straying sheep is restored. It is a principle of human nature that the recovery of an object in danger of being lost brings much more intense joy than having many that are safe. For example, we rejoice most in our health when we recover from a dangerous disease. We rejoice over a child rescued from danger or disease more than over many who may be in health or safety. We rejoice that the property is save from fire or storm, more than over much more that has not been in danger. Thus, the shepherd rejoices in finding the lost sheep. God has found the lost soul and is bringing him back to safety.
Christ told his audience that the shepherd rejoiced and craved for the sympathy of his friends. He would have others share in his joy in finding the perishing, suffering sheep. (Verse six). Church, true revival is bringing the lost to Christ. But Jesus says that even if men don’t approve of God’s compassion and sympathy, the celestial beings do. “I tell you, in the same way, there is joy in the presence of God’s angels over one sinner who repents.” (Verse seven, HCSB) There is approval in heaven, which is far more important than man’s because this is eternal approval. It means eternal rewards.
The shepherd brings the lost sheep, not to the sheepfold, but to his own home—a place of honor and blessings. Those of you who have turned from sin, Jesus can use you for his greater purpose and fill you with blessings. Church, we must bring those who have strayed furthest from the paths of righteousness to repentance.
Friend, do you want to participate in God’s approval and in his blessings? Let Christ’s compassion heal your inner wounds with love and forgiveness. Brother, your evangelistic work is greatly approved in heaven. Don’t get discouraged in well doing because God is anxious for the lost
Iglesia Apostolica de la Bahia
3715 Foothill Blvd.
Oakland, CA 94601
ph: 510-534-1405
contact
