Preached in Markham Baptist Church, July 18, 2004.

ABOVE ALL

Wow - this has been a great week!  Many of you have been in a place and with a people where you have experienced the presence of God in a very powerful way.  It’s strange but there are some places, situations and events that are “God-charged”.  They are places where you just know you are going to meet with God.  Camp is often one of those places.

And I know it’s that way for many of you, and this past week you haven’t been disappointed.  You have met God this week in the awesomeness of creation, in the power of a thunderstorm, in the stillness of the lake, in the simplicity and power of the Bible, and the lives of those who were with you this past week.

You have discovered this week that Jesus Christ is a treasure above all other treasures.  He is of ultimate worth.

He is above all powers, above all kings – Scripture says He is the ruler of the kings of the earth  “…And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” (Revelation 1:5 )

He is called the King of Kings, meaning there is no other King above Him -“… but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings.”  (Revelation 17:14)

He is above all nature and all created things.  Scripture says that He created everything - “for by him all things were created; things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.” (Colossians 1:16)

He is above all wisdom and all the ways of man.  He is so smart that His foolishness is higher than our wisdom - “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.” (1 Corinthians 1:25)

You were here before the world began.  That means that Jesus Christ existed before all other things - “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:17)

You see it is because He is above all kingdoms and thrones and wonders the world has ever known and all the wealth and treasure of the earth that there is no way to measure what He’s worth!  This is what we have tried to illustrate all this past week.  There is no treasure that compares to the treasure of having a relationship with Jesus Christ. 

I mean, it would be worth having a relationship with Jesus Christ alone because He is the King, the one who is above all.  But when we have a relationship with Him, when we welcome Him into our lives and say I will live for you, He moves in!  He comes and lives in us and brings hope and joy and forgiveness and love and peace, and kindness, gentleness, goodness, and self control. 

So you have a great experience this past week as you have learned the truth that a relationship with Jesus Christ is to be valued above all.   Now you’ve come back to the real world, to mom and dad.  You’ve come back to your little sister and the routine of home.  So now, having learned what is of highest value, can I give you two verses to help you during the next number of weeks and months? 

The first passage is a word of warning.  It is perhaps one of the saddest passages in the whole Bible.  It is in 2 Timothy 4:9 and 10.  Paul is writing to his young pastor friend Timothy.  And he is encouraging Timothy to come quickly because he is all alone.  And Paul needs some help in telling others the good news of Jesus Christ.  Now Paul doesn’t often travel alone, he usually always has someone to travel with and help him.  One person who used to travel a lot with him was a man by the name of Demas.  Demas once said that he valued Jesus Christ above all and traveled with Paul telling others of Jesus’ love.  But now we read this sad verse.

“Do your best to come to me quickly, for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica.”

We don’t know what exactly happened to Demas.  We do know that Demas used to value Jesus Christ very highly but now, because he loved the things of this world more has turned his back on the truth of Jesus Christ.  We don’t know how that happened.  Perhaps someone told him following Jesus Christ was a waste of his time.  Perhaps he discovered he could make lots of money if he didn’t follow Jesus Christ.  Maybe he discovered he could win lots of admiration if he used his abilities for someone else besides Jesus Christ.  We don’t know.

We can guess though that if Demas were one of our contestants last week on The Price is Wrong he would have bid everything he had for the big showcase of wealth, power, fame or comfort. And so we have one of the saddest verses in the Bible.  Demas once had the treasure that is above all in Jesus Christ but now he has nothing.

My friends, you’ve learned this week about the greatest treasure in the world and some of you have decided to follow Christ!  Let this verse be a warning to you - Don’t let go!  Don’t let the world fool you into thinking it has something better to offer.  Don’t let people lead you to think that you’ve wasted your life following Jesus Christ.  It’s not true. 

You may be kidded for your decision.  You may be tempted to think that you have made the wrong decision.  But don’t you listen.  Go to worship, read your Bible, pray, don’t lose sight of the treasure that is of ultimate worth! 

A long time ago when it was against the law to love Jesus Christ and to follow Him.  One of His followers was thrown in jail and brought before the king.  And the king asked this follower of Jesus Christ – "What if I follow Jesus Christ - what do you suppose I will discover?”

And the follower said, “Sir King, if you decide to follow Jesus Christ, you will discover wonder upon wonder and every wonder true.”

That’s an old way of saying you will discover the greatest treasure there is.

That brings me to the second passage.  The first word is a word of warning.  The second passage is a word of wonder.

Do you know that Scripture speaks of two treasures?  One is Jesus Christ and a relationship with him.  And the other is you!  You are of great value to God! 

He has crowned you above all His creation (Psalm 8:5,6).  You are of such great value to God that when sin separated you from Him He came in the person of Jesus Christ. 

And He lived to die, rejected and alone, like a rose trampled on the ground, He took the fall and thought of me, thought of you above all!

So here is our passage – the word of wonder: “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command.  I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business.  Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.  You did not choose me, but I chose you …”  (John 15:13-16)

This is a word of wonder!  Think of it. The King of kings and Lord of Lords, the one who is above all calls you His friend!  The one who is above all nature and all created things gave His life for you!  The one who is above all things had one thought on His mind when He went to the cross – you!

When it comes right down to it.  You didn’t choose Him but He choose you.  He choose to die for you.  He loves you, He likes you and wants you to hang around with Him.  He wants you to be with Him.  He wants to be with you!  This is vitally important because we get to thinking we aren’t that valuable.  We sometimes get to thinking that God can do without us.  That we don’t matter much.  Don’t you believe it! 

Do you know when you play road hockey, you always begin by choosing up teams?  And you know the worst player is last to be picked. And sometimes when it comes to life, when it comes to things religious that we have to be the last one to be picked.  I mean we know ourselves, we know that we don’t live like we should, we don’t pray like we should, we don’t worship like we should.  And we have a long list of things we can’t do.  And we think if Jesus Christ was choosing teams, He wouldn’t pick us.

Don’t you believe it!  You are of great value to Him. He chooses you!  He loves you, likes you and wants you on His team.  Scripture speaks of two treasures, Jesus Christ and you.

Some of you have discovered Jesus Christ.  A word of warning don’t let go.  For those of you still seeking.  Keep on – don’t stop till you can claim Jesus Christ as your own.

And as you go, there is a word of wonder.  You are of infinite value to Jesus Christ.  So much so that He gave His life for you.