Boiling Kettles and Cooking Pots

 

This morning I want to talk to you about Boiling Kettles and Cooking Pots. I don't plan to demonstrate a cooking lesson like those famous chefs on the TV Food and Cooking channels! Nor am I going to cook you some amazing seafood dishes like Rick Stein, the famous chef from Padstow, Cornwall who is renowned for his seafood dishes. I'm certainly not going to be like Jamie Oliver, who has become famous for his "good meals in schools" campaign and his appearance in those Sainsbury's adverts. Boiling Kettles and Cooking Pots!

So what does "Boiling Kettles and Cooking Pots" have in common with Christianity? Is there anywhere in God's Word where it says "To be a good servant of God, you must be able to boil a kettle or use a pot to cook a good meal in?" NO - Not at all! So why did I choose it as a sermon topic? The reason is this:

·         Kettles are designed to boil water.

·         Pots are designed to cook food.

These utensils were designed to do a specific job, a specific task. Kettles and pots were designed, crafted and manufactured to do the job they've been designed to do. We all know you can't drive a kettle up the M1 motorway. You use a car for that purpose. Why? Because a car was designed and manufactured in such a way as to take its occupants on a road journey from point A to point B. A car has been designed with an engine, a steering wheel, 4 tyres (with another in the boot, now called a "space-saver") and seats people can sit on to drive themselves around. Someone might say "Hang on, I saw a kettle driving through a town last year in a parade." Come on now, what were you smoking? That wasn't a real kettle. It was probably "dressed up" to look like a kettle, but there was a vehicle hidden in it to drive it around. On the same token, you can't use a pot to make a mobile phone call. You use a mobile phone to do that. Imagine calling a friend and saying "I'm calling you on my copper-bottomed pot. You know, the one with the non-stick Telfon coating."

Kettles have been designed to boil water. That's its only and primary function. Pots have been designed to cook food. That's the primary function it was designed for. So then, if this is true of kettles and pots, what about us? What about human beings? What is our primary function in this life? What were we designed and created to do? Someone might contend: "We weren't designed, we were created". All of life teaches us that if something is created, it needs to be designed first, then created. I've worked for many years in the Automotive industry, and this is very true when considering how cars are manufactured. Years of conceptual design goes in the car, it's body shape, engine sizes, colours, seat configurations, etc BEFORE it actually goes into full production. Ever heard of a "concept car". This is the stage between the design phase and the production phase of a car. So humans were definitely designed AND created by God. So why did God create us and for what purpose? What does our Creator expect of us?

Have we been designed to boil water like kettles? No of course not! Human don't do very well if you stick a plug in us and attach it to an electric power supply. The idea of flashes of electricity, burning flesh followed by a sudden death comes to mind. Have we been designed to cook food like pots? No of course not! Again, humans won't do very well if you fire up the old gas cooker, and place us in a sitting position on top of a burning flame. Again, the idea of burning flesh, 3rd degree burns and a slow but certain death comes to mind. So what were humans designed for? What is our primary function in this life? I'm sure even some Christians here will be surprised when I tell you the exact reasons why we were created.

Ecclesiastes 12:9-14

⁹Not only was the Teacher wise, but also he imparted knowledge to the people. He pondered and searched out and set in order many proverbs. ¹⁰ The Teacher searched to find just the right words, and what he wrote was upright and true. ¹¹ The words of the wise are like goads, their collected sayings like firmly embedded nails—given by one Shepherd. ¹² Be warned, my son, of anything in addition to them. Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

¹³Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. ¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

What does King Solomon say here?

Notice: Fear God ... keep his commandments ... this is the whole duty of man.

I would like to put another focus on this, being:

Fear God ... keep his commandments ... this is what mankind was designed and created for!

Has anything therefore changed between the Old Testament and New Testament in relation to this instruction to "Fear God and keep his commandments"? Well not really. I know we are now under a "new dispensation" i.e. no longer under Law, but under grace. However, the fundamentals have not changed. Every human being has been design and created with one primary duty in mind. To fear God and keep his commandments! Well you may ask "What about love then? And what about faith?" Surely we've moved on now to a new era of mercy, grace, compassion and all the benefits of the New Testament? Surely this should drive out the need to fear God, doesn't it? NO, it doesn't! The type of fear King Solomon mentions here is not "a crippling fear". Neither does he intend to communicate that this type of fear should drive us away from God. Rather King Solomon is telling us to RECOGNISE who God is in relation to who WE are! The Scriptures confirm that God has 3 distinct characteristics that set Him completely apart from his creation.

God is OMNISCIENT, God is OMNIPOTENT and God is OMNIPRESENT!

Humans are not OMNISCIENT, humans are not OMNIPOTENT and humans are certainly not OMNIPRESENT. In other words, God is FAR SUPERIOR to us, more KNOWING than we are, more POWERFUL than we are and can BE EVERYWHERE at the same time. And God is ALMIGHTY as well, possessing powers we can't even start to comprehend! Let me spend some time on the 3 characteristics of God:

Omniscience, also sometimes known as being all-knowing, refers to God's ability to know absolutely everything. This characteristic is usually treated as a consequence of one of two ways in which God exists: either because God exists outside of time, or because God exists as part of time. If God exists outside of time, then God's knowledge is also timeless — this means that God knows the past, present, and future simultaneously. One might imagine that God can directly and simultaneously observe the past, present, and future, and this perception of events is what allows God to know it all. If, however, God exists within time as well, then God knows all of the past and present, through direct perception; knowledge of the future, however, is perhaps dependent upon God's ability to infer what will happen based upon God's total knowledge of all factors which lead to the future.

Omnipotence, sometimes known as being all-powerful, refers to God's ability to do absolutely anything God wants. This characteristic is usually treated as implied from God's characteristic as absolute creator. If God is capable of creating all of existence (whether ex nihilo or ex deo), it is felt that it would be nonsensical to then assert that there are things beyond God's abilities. Any being capable of creating existence itself must therefore be capable of anything at all.

Omnipresence, sometimes known as being everywhere at the same time. This refers to God's ability to be in all places at the same time. This characteristic is usually treated as implied from God's characteristic as the absolute creator of the universe. If God is capable of seeing all things and knowing all things, this could support this characteristic of an Omnipresent God. Surely God must then be able to know and view all things.

I want to remind us all of some very important Scriptures which tell us why it is so important to fear God.

Exodus 20:18-21

¹⁸ When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance ¹⁹ and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."  ²⁰ Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." ²¹ The people remained at a distance, while Moses approached the thick darkness where God was.

What was the benefit here of fearing God? "God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." In this situation, fear of God brought about a reluctance to sin against Him. RECOGNISING WHO GOD IS SO THAT IT WILL STOP YOU FROM SINNING.

Deuteronomy 10:11-13

¹¹"Go," the LORD said to me, "and lead the people on their way, so that they may enter and possess the land that I swore to their fathers to give them."

¹²And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, ¹³ and to observe the LORD's commands and decrees that I am giving you today for your own good?

Here is a crystal clear confirmation that fear and love are not mutually exclusive for God's people. What do I mean by this? That it is possible to BOTH FEAR and LOVE THE LORD AT THE SAME TIME!

I spoke earlier about God's characteristics of Omnipotence, Omniscience and Omnipresence. What should this knowledge of God's powers produce in God's people? A REVERENT FEAR OF GOD!

Joshua 4:23-24

²³For the LORD your God dried up the Jordan before you until you had crossed over. The LORD your God did to the Jordan just what he had done to the Red Sea ^[a] when he dried it up before us until we had crossed over. ²⁴ He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."

Notice the emphasis Joshua places here on our response to God's power.

He did this so that all the peoples of the earth might know that the hand of the LORD is powerful and so that you might always fear the LORD your God."

I'm about to say something very controversial now, but it will be borne out in God's Word. You must never, ever stop fearing God! For the day you do, this will be when you are in grave spiritual danger!

Joshua confirms this: "so that you might ALWAYS fear the Lord your God." Not just for a little while, a year or a few years ... ALWAYS FEAR THE LORD YOUR GOD!

1 Chronicles 16:24-26

²⁴Declare his glory among the nations, his marvellous deeds among all peoples. ²⁵ For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. ²⁶ For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens.

Most Christians take a view that we should only focus on telling others about the love of God, and how merciful and compassionate he is. Wrong! I want you to notice something very important about this Scripture.

2 Chronicles 26:1-6

¹Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in place of his father Amaziah. ² He was the one who rebuilt Elath and restored it to Judah after Amaziah rested with his fathers. ³Uzziah was sixteen years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem fifty-two years. His mother's name was Jecoliah; she was from Jerusalem. ⁴ He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Amaziah had done. ⁵ He sought God during the days of Zechariah, who instructed him in the fear of God. As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success. ⁶ He went to war against the Philistines and broke down the walls of Gath, Jabneh and Ashdod. He then rebuilt towns near Ashdod and elsewhere among the Philistines.

What did Zechariah instruct the young king in? "IN THE FEAR OF GOD!" He must have taught him the Law too, but notice the emphasis placed here on instructing him "in the fear of God." And what about Job?

Job 1:1-3

¹In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. ² He had seven sons and three daughters, ³ and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.

Here Job is described as one who feared God and shunned evil! Notice the consequence of fearing God in Job's life ... he shunned evil! King Solomon also taught another valuable lesson in the Book of Ecclesiastes. Take note of the following:

Ecclesiastes 8:11-13

¹¹When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, the hearts of the people are filled with schemes to do wrong. ¹² Although a wicked man commits a hundred crimes and still lives a long time, I know that it will go better with God-fearing men, who are reverent before God. ¹³ Yet because the wicked do not fear God, it will not go well with them, and their days will not lengthen like a shadow.

There are good consequences resulting from a fear of God and there are bad consequences for those who do not fear God. Even notice the term sometimes given to God's people here: "God-fearing men". The Apostle Paul warns about people who don't fear God, and reminds us that we were among those people at one time too. He tells us how this lack of fear of God can lead to ruin and making people susceptible to living evil lives.

Romans 3:10-19

¹⁰As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; ¹¹there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. ¹²All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." ¹³"Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. "The poison of vipers is on their lips." ¹⁴"Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." ¹⁵"Their feet are swift to shed blood; ¹⁶ruin and misery mark their ways, ¹⁷and the way of peace they do not know." ¹⁸"There is no fear of God before their eyes." ¹⁹Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

Jesus our Lord himself taught that we should fear God, not man. Why? "Because God can consign both your body and soul to Hell." And King David provides another spiritual insight into the value of the fear of God. Amazingly, the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.

Psalm 111:10

¹⁰The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

Are you starting to see an emerging trend here? The trend is that the fear of God is ACTUALLY GOOD FOR YOU! It will stop you from treating God with contempt or mocking Him, it will stop you from sinning, it will make you realise WHO God is and recognise His Almighty Power, AND it will help you to walk in paths of righteousness. I want to draw your attention to the initial Scripture I used at the start of my sermon.

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

¹³Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. ¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

Notice the second part of this Scripture - verse 14:

¹⁴For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

This is why you and I should fear God ... for God has the power and ability to judge us. He has the right and the authority to give us eternal life in Heaven with Him or turn us away to an eternity in Hell. That is the reason why we must fear God with a reverent fear. For even those who don't fear Him and live in the world, they too will have to face the judgment.

Revelation 14:7

⁷He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."

There is one major distinction, one major truth that results from this understanding of fearing God. For those who study God's Word diligently, and understand not just the "words on the page", but also God's intentions for mankind through his Holy Spirit, we can see a transition that occurred between the Old Testament and New Testament. Jesus our Lord came to earth to fully and finally reveal to mankind the amazing extent of God's love for us. And Jesus our Lord embodied and revealed this wonderful love by His life, His teachings, His death and His resurrection from the dead to eternal life. You see, the "Jesus element" was missing from the Old Testament. Jesus is the key that transforms the fear of God into the love of God. All Christians have both the fear of God and love of God in us at the same time. Now this is the crux of the matter ... there is a pivotal Scripture that moves us on from the fear of God living side by side in our lives with the love of God. You see, ultimately one of these must triumph in our lives. Either fear will dominate and love will diminish or love will dominate and fear will diminish. Here's a good illustration of this, some of you might know this already, but I will tell this in any case:

An elder American Indian of the Cherokee tribe was teaching his grandchildren about life. He said to them, "A fight is going on inside me. It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One wolf represents fear, anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other stands for joy, peace, love, hope, sharing, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, friendship, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.

This same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too." The children thought about it for a minute and then one child asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old Cherokee simply replied: "The one you feed."

We will develop more and more fear if we are not living the kind of life that pleases God, our Heavenly Father. If we are not feeding our spiritual side, we are by default feeding our mortal side. If we persist in sin, then fear will be the dominant force in our lives, not love. However, the more we develop love for God in our lives, the more the fear of God diminishes. To support this, I want to share with you this pivotal Scripture, which bears this out:

1 John 4:15-19

¹⁵If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. ¹⁶And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. ¹⁷In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. ¹⁸There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. ¹⁹We love because he first loved us.

"There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."

Notice it doesn't say "the one who fears doesn't love"! What it does say is "The one who fears is not made perfect in love." When the love of God grows in you to full maturity, the fear of God within you then diminishes. Perfect love drives out fear.

In conclusion then, here is the last piece of the jigsaw to make this sermon complete. How does "Perfect love drive out fear, because fear has to do with punishment."

Romans 8:1-3

¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, ²because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. ³For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering.

Our Lord completes the love versus fear process in us, for he has removed the condemnation that brought us fear. We now love God with a full understanding of the wonderful salvation that he provided for us in His wonderful Son. And this wonderful knowledge drives out the fear of judgment in us. The challenge for all of us is this: Fear and love will live side by side in us "until perfect love drives out the fear". Finally, getting back to the kettle and pot analogy I used at the start of my sermon. We have not been designed and created by God to boil water or cook food. We've been designed and created by God to believe in Him, to love Him and to obey Him. And He provided the way of doing this through the perfect example of our Lord Jesus Christ. If we follow Him and His example, we will fulfil the reason why we were created.

 

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