Speak Life

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on July 13, 2014.]

Close your eyes for a minute… Perhaps you’ve seen a scene in a movie of a secluded valley of glen. The sun is coming up. Scattered wisps of mist and light fog hover near the ground. A few tree trunks lay here and there. The air is dry despite the mist, and burns your throat.

As you walk into the valley, you begin to see evidence that a mighty battle took place here, but long, long ago. Everywhere you look, you see nothing but skeletons, without a shred of flesh on them.

The mist clears, the sun beats down. Everything is dry, withered, lifeless…

1 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me down in the middle of the valley; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley; and lo, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “O Lord God, You know.” 4 Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.’ 5 Thus says the Lord God to these bones, ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. 6 I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’” 

7 So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.”’” 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. 

11 Then He said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel; behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up and our hope has perished. We are completely cut off.’ 12 Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. 13 Then you will know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves and caused you to come up out of your graves, My people. 14 I will put My Spirit within you and you will come to life, and I will place you on your own land. Then you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it,” declares the Lord.’”

--Ezekiel 37:1-14  (NASB)

Let us pray...  Lord God, today is the day You have made and we thank You and rejoice in it, for in it is life.  Still our minds for these moments we are together so we might discern Your will.  May Your Spirit speak through Your servant so that all might hear Your message.  In the glorious name of Jesus Christ we gather here this morning and we pray.  Amen.


The children of Israel are in captivity in Babylon. They know nothing but despair. They see their situation as hopeless, with no way out. Then God shows the people, through Ezekiel, the promise that He will restore them to their land. The people are dead inside, because the Spirit is not in them. God breathes the Spirit back into them and they come to life.

We can easily find other instances of God breathing life in man. In Genesis chapter 2 verse 7, we read that…

7 Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

--Genesis 2:7  (NASB)

God gave mankind its first breath when He breathed life into Adam. And in the book of Job, chapter 33 verse 4, one of Job’s so-called “friends”, Elihu, acknowledges God’s role when he says…

4 “The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life."

 --Job 33:4  (NASB)

Looking forward from the Old Testament, we can draw some parallels to what Ezekiel experienced with what Jesus did for us. Let’s specifically look at Paul’s letter to the church in Ephesus, in the second chapter. I’m going to read from verses 1, 4 through 6, and 12 and 13 from Ephesians 2…

1 And you were dead in your trespasses and sins…

4 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus...

12 remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

 --Ephesians 2:1, 4-6, 12-13  (NASB)

In verse 1 Paul tells us Jesus came to us when we were dead in our sin. Everywhere Ezekiel looked he saw dead, dry bones, so dry they had almost turned to dust. Just as God breathed life into the dry bones, Ephesians 2:13 gives evidence that Jesus “breathed” life into us by His blood. And Ezekiel watched as God raised up those that man would consider dead, just as Paul assures us we will be raised in verses 4 through 6.

When we look out across that valley of dry bones, or at our own condition as Paul describes in Ephesians 2, we are faced with that question God asked Ezekiel:  “can these bones live?” Are we, like the Israelis, lifeless, cut off from all hope? Has our hope perished, as Ezekiel puts it in his verse 11 and Paul in his verse 12?

Ezekiel sees the reality of death – a valley littered with lifeless, completely dried up bones. But God says this is not the finality of death. His perspective is quite a bit different from Ezekiel’s, or from ours. God promises through Ezekiel verse 37:5 that He will bring us back to life, and through Ephesians 2:5 that He will make us alive!

When God asked if those bones could live, Ezekiel didn’t really know for sure if they would. but he had no doubt that God could make them live if He wanted to. He was at least trying to look at the situation from God’s perspective rather than from man’s.


The dry bones represent our current situation. We are without hope, all dried up and withered. But this doesn’t have to be our future. If we allow Him to, God will revive us. He’ll restore us to health, to life, physically and spiritually. Notice in Ezekiel’s account, in verse 10, that the bones became “an exceedingly great army”. We won’t just be restored, but made better than ever!

So do you think we can do what God did? Can we breathe new life into old, dry bones? Yes, we can! Ezekiel did not put limits on God and neither should we.

But consider that God did not do anything until Ezekiel actually spoke the words God gave Him to repeat. Verses 7 and10 both begin with Ezekiel proclaiming “So I prophesied as He commanded me.” To prophesy is quite simply to speak the word of God.

One of my brother pastors related a story to us recently of a local man that he thinks lives somewhere in the Salisbury area. This man’s father was deathly ill, having been septic for 3 or 4 days and because nothing the doctors did helped any, they didn’t expect him to last through the week. The man reports that he sensed God telling him to read Ezekiel chapter 37 to his father. With nothing to lose except a little time, the man went to the hospital, opened up his Bible, and read Ezekiel 37 to his unresponsive father. He provided no extra commentary, no interpretation - the man simply read the scripture out loud to his father. He prophesied the word of God. The next day the man’s father was completely healed and left the hospital once the doctors finally agreed to let him go. The man’s wife confirmed all this. Now I have neither actual citations nor names to give for verification of this story, but I trust my brother who related it to me.

Sometimes all we need to do is what God tells us to, just to read His word. Some will think this little story to be apocryphal; just something made up to make a point. But we need to remember that God lives right here in us. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead dwells within us. With the power of the Holy Spirit working from us, we can speak life into the dry places. We can restore a withered spirit to health. We can breathe renewed vigor into what others might think is a dead heart. Remember the words of our song: “Look into the eyes of the brokenhearted; watch them come alive as soon as you speak hope, you speak love, you speak life.”

In the 107th Psalm, verses 19 and 20, the psalmist tells us the children of Israel…

19 …cried out to the Lord in their trouble;
He saved them out of their distresses.
20 He sent His word and healed them,
And delivered them from their destructions.

 --Psalm 107:19-20  (NASB)

We need to say the words of God in our withered valley. We need to cry out to the Lord in our troubled areas.

Are there dry bones in our lives? Are we dead because the Spirit is not in us? Is the Spirit not in us because we have rejected Him? Our society certainly has. We’ve kicked God out of our schools, out of our government, out of our lives. We chase after everything but God, putting material and emotional gain ahead of spirituality, convenience ahead of worship and service.

But what about us, here today? Do we see dry bones around us? Are we in some withered place with no visible signs of life? Do we sometimes feel that there just isn’t any life left in us, we no longer have hope for a good resolution to the situation we find ourselves in? Are we just enduring, not living? Do we feel cut off from any chance of enjoyment or pleasure or happiness or satisfaction or even contentment? Have we given everything there is in us and there’s nothing left? Do we trust God but we just don’t see any way He could possibly help?

If any of that describes you, then I want to invite you to come join me here at the altar or just stand there at your seat and let’s speak life into our dry places. Let’s speak life to the deadest, darkest night. If the sun don’t shine and we don’t know why, then let’s speak life…


O merciful Father in heaven, we stand here staring at the dry bones scattered throughout the valley of our lives.  You ask us, “Can these bones live?”, and we hesitate in our answer.  Father we know You can do anything, we know miracles still happen, but we can’t fathom why You would care enough about us to want to help us.  We’ve gotten to the point in our despair over the mess we’re in that we just feel it would be a waste of our efforts to even ask Your help yet again, when we’ve asked time after time.

Forgive us, Father, when we doubt you.  Encourage us, mighty Lord, to stand in the midst of this dry valley and to prophesy in Your name.  Embolden us, please Lord, to face the dry bones in our lives and repeat the words You gave Ezekiel:  “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.  ‘Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.  I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive; and you will know that I am the Lord.’”

Heal our hurts, Lord, whether they are in our body or in our spirit.  Clothe the bare skeletons of our innermost self with new flesh and make us whole.  Listen, please Father, as we confess to You from our hearts just what our dry bones are to us, so that You might breathe Your Spirit into them.  Hear us now, Lord, as we pause in silence…  [*  pause for reflection  *]  And now, dear Lord, we speak life into our dry places.  We speak hope where there was once only hopelessness.  We speak love to those places in our lives where love has been all but forgotten.  O wonderful and gracious Father, we speak life.  In the precious name of Christ Jesus, we speak life and we pray.  Amen.

Do We Remember?

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on July 6, 2014.]

This past Friday we celebrated America’s Independence Day, and last week we looked at what our true freedom is and who it comes from. Today we’ll be commemorating the source of our freedoms as we come to our Lord’s Table. Let’s begin by looking at the Gospel according to Luke, chapter 22, verses 14 through 23, reading from the New Living Translation:

14 When the time came, Jesus and the apostles sat down together at the table. 15 Jesus said, “I have been very eager to eat this Passover meal with you before My suffering begins. 16 For I tell you now that I won’t eat this meal again until its meaning is fulfilled in the Kingdom of God.”

17 Then He took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”

19 He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then He broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, “This is My body, which is given for you. Do this to remember Me.”

20 After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and His people—an agreement confirmed with My blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.

21 “But here at this table, sitting among us as a friend, is the man who will betray Me. 22 For it has been determined that the Son of Man must die. But what sorrow awaits the one who betrays Him.” 23 The disciples began to ask each other which of them would ever do such a thing.

--Luke 22:14-23  (NLT)

Let us pray...  Father, thank You for the opportunity to stop and sit down for a moment, to pause from the busyness of life and examine our hearts. Speak to us, Lord, in our quiet place, and tell us of Jesus. Help us repent of our impurities and get our hearts right with You.  In the holiest name of Jesus our Redeemer we pray. Amen.


A pastor shared that on one particular Communion Sunday, his Communion steward prepared the elements in her usual manner. Or at least the minister thought she did it the same way she normally did. When it came time to uncover the elements, the grape juice looked darker than usual. The pastor thought little of it, though, and began serving the communion. Promptly upon receiving and drinking from their cup, each member of the congregation had a peculiar, stunned look on their face. When it came time for the pastor to receive the cup, he discovered why all the strange looks: the juice was prune juice! One congregant commented, “Perhaps this is a divine commentary on our spirituality. Maybe God thinks we need to loosen up a bit.”


Notice in the first part of our message text that Jesus said He was eager to share this Passover meal with His disciples. Why do you suppose that is? Well, Jesus knew this would be His last chance for some relatively good-natured fellowship before His terrible suffering began. He knew that His death was close at hand but He had so much more He wanted to tell His followers. He knew this would be the last time He would be able to share a meal with His closest friends until their eventual reunion in the future, when God’s kingdom comes to earth. And maybe even back then, the condemned man could get His final meal.

There have been many meals that I eagerly looked forward to, but none that were followed with so much nastiness and sorrow. But even this last supper together had some high notes. In Matthew’s account of the Lord’s Last Supper, in chapter 26 verse 30, we learn something quite interesting about Jesus, something the choir should appreciate…

30 After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

--Matthew 26:30  (NASB)

After they finished eating, they sang a hymn. “They” would certainly include Jesus, wouldn’t it? Jesus sang. A couple weeks ago we had a sketch on the cover of our bulletin of Jesus holding a baby and laughing. Here we have a scriptural picture of Jesus singing. This is the human side of God.  Jesus: fully God and fully human.  Wouldn’t it be neat, to have Jesus singing in our choir?  Of course, who says He doesn’t?

Unfortunately, today’s scripture reading ends on a more somber note. Jesus informs His friends that among them is the one who will soon betray Him, who will turn Him over to the authorities to be beaten, tried, and executed. He acknowledges that yes, it is true He must die. That is God’s will, after all. But woe to the one who betrays Him! And of course the disciples get all righteously indignant and do the “not me” routine. “Who could DO such a thing!!??!!” they shouted at each other.  “Not me!” “I certainly wouldn’t!” “I’d never do that to our Master!”

But it gets worse, more personal. After dinner and hymn singing they went up to the Mount of Olives. Once there, Jesus gave His followers a glimpse of what was to come. Matthew records the exchange in chapter 26, verses 31 through 35…

31 Then Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of Me this night, for it is written, ‘I will strike down the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered.’ 32 But after I have been raised, I will go ahead of you to Galilee.” 33 But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away because of You, I will never fall away.” 34 Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you that this very night, before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” 35 Peter said to Him, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You.” All the disciples said the same thing too.

 --Matthew 26:31-35  (NASB)

Jesus quotes from the prophet Zechariah, chapter 13 verse 7, when He says the sheep will be scattered.  Now I don’t know if Peter was upset to be thought of by His Master as just one of the sheep, or that Jesus thought he might scatter at the first sign of trouble and not stand with his Lord and friend. But his reply seems almost petulant, as if he were saying, “the others might, but I will never fall away”. And again, predictably, the other disciples join the “not me” chorus.

Jesus sets Peter straight, though. Not only will he flee, he’ll also deny Christ. Not once, not twice, but three times before morning. And sure enough, just as Jesus foretold, Peter did just that. Here’s how Matthew reported the incident, at the end of chapter 26, verses 69 through 75…

69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, “You too were with Jesus the Galilean.” 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are talking about.” 71 When he had gone out to the gateway, another servant-girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.” 72 And again he denied it with an oath, “I do not know the man.” 73 A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, “Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away.” 74 Then he began to curse and swear, “I do not know the man!” And immediately a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.

 --Matthew 26:69-75  (NASB)

When his neck was on the line, Peter denied any knowledge of Jesus. He denied knowing Him personally.  He cursed and swore that he did not know the man! And suddenly, realizing what he had just done, the words of Jesus came back to haunt him.

Last week I read the text from 1st Corinthians chapter 11, including verse 27 where Paul says…

27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

 --1 Corinthians 11:27  (NASB)

Are we coming to our Lord’s table in an unworthy manner? Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus to His captors. What about us - do we betray Him? Peter denied Jesus. Do we?

Are we afraid to admit we know Him in a public setting? Have we made an attempt to go into the world making disciples and baptizing in His name? Do we stand up when Christianity is threatened or ridiculed, or do we cower hoping no one will notice us or think poorly of us? Do we love one another as much as we love ourselves? Do we put our money and our time where our faith is, or spend it on ourselves and our family? Is Jesus our greatest priority, or are other things more important to us than spending time in worship or prayer or studying His word? Do we tell those little white lies for the sake of convenience and comfort? Did we claim a deduction we probably shouldn’t have on our taxes for last year? Do we remember Him, not only when we eat and drink but in every action we take, in every thought we make?

Any time we do any of these or something else we know full well we shouldn’t do, we are betraying Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us. Any time we fail to place Him first and follow Him as our Master we deny Him. Whether we do it on the outside for the entire world to see, or completely inside the domain of our own heart where only God can see it, we dishonor our Lord and act in an unworthy manner.

How can we be sure we don’t come to our Lord’s table unworthy of His sacrifice? We must repent of our wrong doings. Right here, right now. From our hearts we must confess our sin to our Lord, and to ourselves. We must promise to turn our back to that sin and once again turn our face fully toward Jesus… and mean it… and then we must ask forgiveness for our sin.

God is merciful. We will be forgiven and will be seen as worthy in our Lord’s eyes. Worthy to come to His table, to take of His body, broken for us, to drink of His blood, shed for us.

Remember Jesus. Remember the significance of accepting Him as your Master. Remember all He did just to give you the chance of being freed forever from sin and death, of being saved. Come to His table, and remember Him.

Amen.

Let us pray…    Father God, we thank You for allowing us to come together this morning to share a meal with our Lord and Savior Jesus.  Lord, we come to You with a repentant heart and we seek Your forgiveness and Your blessing.  Please help us remember the great sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf as we partake of these elements – His body broken for us, His blood shed for us.  Forgive us when we deny Him by our thoughtlessness and by our inaction when we should stand firm and acknowledge our faith.  Forgive us when we betray Him by acting in a way contrary to His teachings and example.  Help us remember Him by following the path He laid, by loving You and by loving one another, by sharing the Gospel throughout our world.  And now, dear Lord, hear us as we pray silently from our hearts, as we confess our sins to You, as we repent and seek Your forgiveness.  Listen, Lord, to the pleadings of our hearts…    Now prepare us, Lord Jesus, to come to Your table.  In the precious name of Christ Jesus we pray.  Amen.

Of Independence and Freedom

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on June 29, 2014.]

When seeking the Lord’s guidance for today’s message, He gave me one simple verse, from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia, the 1st verse of chapter 5:

1 It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.

 --Galatians 5:1  (NASB)

Let us pray...  Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your many blessings over this nation.  You have raised us above other nations and given us seemingly endless resources.  Please help us remember, Lord, to use those resources to the benefit of others, to be a blessing to the less fortunate as You have been a blessing to us.  Forgive us when we forget just how much we owe You, as individuals and as a nation.  In the wonderful name of Christ Jesus we thank You and we pray.  Amen.

A general of the Persian army always gave his condemned prisoners a choice: the firing squad or the big black door.  Most chose the firing squad.  The prisoners were never told what was on the other side of the door.  Few ever chose the unknown of the black door.  When asked what was on the other side of the black door, the general answered, “Freedom, and I’ve known only a few men brave enough to take it.”  (From “The Big Black Door”, #815 on page 310 in 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking.)

That’s sad, isn’t it?  All those condemned men chose the known, and a certain death, over the unknown.  They were so close to being set free, literally on the threshold of freedom, but were too afraid to take a chance.  In a way, freedom can be scary.  Freedom is filled with unknowns.  When we’re free, we are free to make choices, to make decisions that will impact our lives and the lives of others.  Just thinking about some of the decisions we’ll be faced with can be quite scary.

This coming Friday we will be commemorating the 238th anniversary of the birth of the United States.  Our forefathers were among the brave ones – they chose the big black door.  They took a great risk when they signed that manifest declaring our independence from English rule, putting all their possessions and even their very lives on the line.  They engaged in and fought a long, horrific war.  Our freedom was won by the blood of patriots, some of whose remains rest in our cemetery out back.  Meanwhile in our cemetery out front and across the street, the remains of those born into slavery lie in rest, many of whom never knew freedom.  Not until after our War Between the States were all peoples considered free in this great land of ours.

I have to ask the question: are we truly free, or are we still held in bondage?  According to Paul in Galatians 5:1, yes, we are free.  And it was Christ Jesus that set us free, not a soldier or warrior or president.  Which then begs the question: what did He free us from?  Not from the rule of other men so we could govern ourselves.  Not from slavery or ownership of other men.  From what then?

Jesus Himself gives us the answer, as recorded in the Gospel of John, chapter 8, verses 31 through 36…

31 So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33 They answered Him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never yet been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.

 --John 8:31-36  (NASB)

Jesus says everyone who sins is a slave to sin.  Paul tells us in Romans chapter 6 verse 23 that the wages of sin are death.  So Jesus frees us from sin and death.  And in today’s scripture Paul cautions us not to take on the chains of slavery again.

Now everything in the Old Testament points to Jesus.  This is certainly true of Isaiah when he spoke for the Lord.  Looking at the first part of the 9th verse of the 49th chapter of his book, God says…

9 I will say to the prisoners, ‘Come out in freedom,’
    and to those in darkness, ‘Come into the light.’

 --Isaiah 49:9  (NLT)

And that comes from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible, departing for just a moment from my usual New American Standard Bible version.

God promises in Isaiah’s scripture that all prisoners may now come out of their jails into freedom.  All those in darkness can step into the light.  Why now?  Because Jesus has come to save all prisoners of sin.  And who is the light of the world but Jesus, who frees us.

OK, so Jesus paid the ultimate price and freed us from sin.  But what does this freedom look like?  What is the practical application of this freedom?  Do our actions show evidence of this freedom?

Along the same lines of the idea of once adopted, always adopted, that we discussed last week…  if once freed, always freed, does this mean we can continue sinning?  After all, Jesus already paid the price for us.  He has forgiven us, so why not?

Paul has a definite answer to that particular question.  Let’s look in that same chapter 6 of his letter to the Romans that I mentioned earlier, starting first with verses 1 through 7, and staying with the NLT for a bit longer.  Paul begins…

1 Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace? 2 Of course not! Since we have died to sin, how can we continue to live in it? 3 Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined Him in his death? 4 For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. 5 Since we have been united with Him in his death, we will also be raised to life as He was. 6 We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. 7 For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin.

 --Romans 6:1-7  (NLT)

And then in verses 14 through 16 he says…

14 Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. 15 Well then, since God’s grace has set us free from the law, does that mean we can go on sinning? Of course not! 16 Don’t you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

 --Romans 6:14-16  (NLT)

Wait a minute!  What did Paul just say?!?  We become a slave of whatever we choose to obey.  We can choose to obey our sinful nature, which leads to death, or we can choose to obey God, which leads to righteousness.  So our choice is to be a slave to sin or a slave to God???  First Paul says not to fall into slavery again but then he urges us to be a slave to God!?!  What’s up with that??!!??

In New Testament times, there was a fairly common class of people known as bondservants.  This may have been a slave that was freed or someone who had owed a debt that was finally paid off by being a slave, or perhaps the debt had been forgiven while they were still working as a slave.  But for whatever reason, this would be a slave who was released from their servitude yet who chose to stay with their master and continue working for him just like a slave: for no pay other than room and board and being taken care of.  There are a number of reasons a person might become a bondservant.  This could be a good life for them, if their master is kind and generous.  They may have married and started a family while a slave, likely with another slave of the same master.  No matter why, they willingly chose to stay in servitude even though they had been set free and no longer had to serve as a slave.

In Philippians chapter 2 verses 5 through 7, Paul tells us Jesus Himself, the Son of God, served as a bondservant to God…

5 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.

 --Philippians 2:5-7  (NASB)

As Christians, when we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord and Master, we are in effect committing ourselves to serve as His bondservants.  And as bondservants, we should reflect the attributes, characteristics, viewpoints, and actions of our Master.  We should accept others as He accepts us.  We should love others as He loves us.  We should forgive others as He forgives us.  We have been freed from the shackles of how we might appear to the world; of how the world looks at our acceptance, love, forgiveness; of how the world derides and ridicules us for our love of our Master, for serving Him even when the world sees no need to.

So how does this freedom to be a bondservant look on us?  Do we wear it well?  We know that when we accept Jesus, He sends the Holy Spirit to live in us.  A little further on in chapter 5 of Galatians, Paul says that if the Holy Spirit is alive and well within us, people will be able to observe the presence of the Holy Spirit by His fruits.  In verses 22 and 23 Paul says…

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

 --Galatians 5:22-23  (NASB)

When we become bondservants of Christ, we take on His attributes, we begin to look like Him.  People will begin to see Him through us.  If nothing else, they will notice how free we seem to be.

Next Sunday we will observe the rite of Holy Communion.  It is important that we have our heart in the right place before we partake of the elements of Christ.  Listen to the way Paul puts it in 1st Corinthians chapter 11, verses 23 through 28…

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus in the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way He took the cup also after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.  27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But a man must examine himself, and in so doing he is to eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

 --1 Corinthians 11:23-28  (NASB)

We need to examine ourselves, look carefully into our own hearts.  Are the fruits of the Holy Spirit noticeable?  Are we harboring ill-will or holding a grudge against a brother or sister in Christ?  Is there someone we need to forgive, or seek forgiveness from?  Do we reflect our Master Jesus in our thoughts and actions?  Have we fully committed to being His bondservant?  Are we willing to keep our end of the covenant Jesus makes with us when we drink from that cup?  Are we worthy of the broken body and precious blood of our Lord and Savior?  These are tough questions that we need to ask of ourselves in preparation for taking Communion.

So this week as we celebrate our nation’s declaration of independence from foreign rule, let’s also celebrate our independence from death and our dependence on Jesus.  As we rejoice in our freedom from tyranny, may we also rejoice in our freedom from sin.  All the while giving thanks that now freed, we are free to choose to be a bondservant to Christ Jesus.

Praise the Lord, for when we are freed by the Son, we are free indeed.

Amen.

Let us pray…  Loving Father, You sent Your Son to earth to save us.  While we were still chained in slavery to sin and death, Jesus set us free.  Thank You so much, Lord, for that gracious gift.  Thank You so much, Jesus, for Your sacrifice.  Now that we are released from our shackles, may we serve our Lord and Master as His bondservant.  May we reflect Jesus in all our thoughts and actions.  May the fruits of Your Holy Spirit be evident in us for all to see, so that we might be a better witness for You.  Above all, Lord, may Your will be done.  We ask all this, we give our thanks, and we pray in the blessed name of our Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Like a Child

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on June 22, 2014.]

Today we’ll be looking at the Gospel according to Mark, chapter 10, verses 13 through 16:

13 And they were bringing children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, “Permit the children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” 16 And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

 --Mark 10:13-16  (NASB)

Let us pray...  Father, we pray that for a few moments we might be as children, fascinated by the story of Your Son, Jesus, listening to each word You speak so that we might learn more.  Use me, Lord, to deliver Your message and may Your Holy Spirit touch each one of us today.  In the precious name of Jesus Christ our Redeemer we pray.  Amen.

A little boy asked his father, “Dad, did God make you?”  “Yes, of course”, his father replied. “And did He make me?” the son continued.  “Yes,” his father answered with a smile, “he sure did.”  The boy thought for a moment then said, “Well, I think He’s doing better work lately, don’t you?”

Out of the mouths of babes…

Watching our kids in Vacation Bible School this week has truly been an uplifting experience, and it makes me appreciate the better work God is doing.  The children played and had a good time, sure.  But they also listened and learned.  They picked up on the ideas and concepts presented to them by their teachers and leaders.  They went into this week with a childlike innocence and glee, not knowing exactly what to expect but having faith that the people in charge would do wonderful things for them.

This is the simple, unassuming, unquestioning faith of a child.  A quality we seem to lose as we age, as life beats us down.  The kids know what we’ve forgotten…  Even when we’re feeling left out, Jesus loves us.  Even when we’re different, even when we don’t understand, even though we sometimes do wrong, even when we’re afraid, Jesus still loves us.  This is what Jesus wants us to remember, what He is trying to tell us.

David understood this, long before Jesus even spoke the words.  Hear how he describes himself in his 131st Psalm…

1 O Lord, my heart is not proud, nor my eyes haughty;
Nor do I involve myself in great matters,
Or in things too difficult for me.
2 Surely I have composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned child rests against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child within me.
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.

 --Psalm 131  (NASB)

Hope in the Lord, David tells us; trust in the Lord.  Don’t be proud or haughty.  Don’t get all involved in matters that are too great or too difficult.  Instead, be composed and quiet, like a child resting in its mother’s embrace.  We should be childlike and trusting.

You may have heard the story of an old man walking along a deserted beach after a terrible storm.  He notices starfish, hundreds of them, washed up on shore from the violence of the storm-tossed waves.  Then he sees a little girl.  He watches as she bends down, picks up a starfish, and tosses it back into the now calm sea.  She does this over and over, barely pausing long enough to make sure the little creature lands in the water.  Walking over to her, the old man asks the girl, “Why are you doing this? “  The little girl answers, “Because they will die in the sun if they are out of the water too long.”  Incredulous, the old man huffs, “But there are thousands of them, far too many for you to save them all!  You’re wasting your time!  This won’t make a bit of difference.  It won’t matter at all.”  The little girl tosses yet another starfish into the water before replying, “It matters to that one.”

That little girl had faith, didn’t she?  Faith that even a simple act, one that most of us might think insane, can make a difference.

Now, having a childlike faith does not necessarily mean we have to be like children.  The Apostle Paul, in the 4th chapter of his letter to the church in Ephesus, verses 11 through 15, talks about maturing in our faith just as we mature as individuals…

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ.

 --Ephesians 4:11-15  (NASB)

Paul says that just as we grow and mature in our bodies, we also grow and mature in our faith, until someday we become mature in our faith, or as Paul puts it, “to the measure of stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ”.  We are to “grow up in all aspects into … Christ”.  But Paul himself acknowledges in chapter 3 of Philippians that this is a level of perfection we won’t achieve until our resurrection.

He seems to contradict Jesus a little, doesn’t he?  Jesus says we are to be “such as these”, the children, but Paul says that as we mature we are no longer children, tossed about by the world, carried away by any and every deceit and trickery.  But then again, we haven’t gotten to that level of maturity yet.  And Satan is the master of deception.  So in some regards we are still childlike, still untouched by the world at least to some degree.

Maybe we can use what Paul says in his first letter to the church in Corinth, chapter 14, verse 20, to clear this up a bit…

20 Brethren, do not be children in your thinking; yet in evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

 --1 Corinthians 14:20  (NASB)

When it comes to being evil, to doing evil things, we should be like infants, like babies.  When it comes to the evilness that so inhabits and controls this world, we need to be as innocent as children, not partners in crime.  But in our thinking, in how we interact with and react to the world and its influences, we need to be more mature.  We still need to be trusting of our fellow man, to show one another love as Jesus commands us, but we also need to be constantly alert to the trickery, the snares, the stumbling blocks that Satan will use to trap us.  We must be on guard, not niaïve to the ways of the world, not too easily sucked into Satan’s grasp.


In today’s text, Jesus pointed to the children gathering around Him and said, “the kingdom of God belongs to such as these”.  To such as these…  To those who look at God and heaven with a bright-eyed innocence.  To those who love unconditionally.  To those who do not question…

I’m willing to bet there is not a single parent in here who hasn’t experienced this little scenario:  You tell your child to do something.  They balk and cry “Why?”  In frustration, you blurt out, “Because I said so!”

As parents, we have the responsibility of seeing to the well-being of our children. And when it comes down to it, our children have to blindly accept and follow what we tell them to do.  They have faith in us as their parent that we have their best interests at heart, that we won’t steer them wrong.  They trust us.

This is the kind of faith we need.  We need to accept what God tells us because He has our best interests in all His plans.  He knows that where we are going is so wonderful we will surely want to be there.

We have to truly understand that even if the world makes us feel left out, even when we’re different from everyone else around us, even if we don’t fully understand what is happening to us, even when we do something wrong (and we will, because we’re human), even when we’re so afraid we don’t know which way to turn…  God loves us, Jesus loves us.  He will work everything to our good if we just trust Him, put all our faith and hope in Him.

And then, in our last verse today, Jesus paints such a beautiful picture of God’s love.  Look at the front cover of your bulletin.  He takes the little children in His arms and blesses them.  This is what God does for us, this is the love He has for His children.

Come to God as a child, and receive His kingdom.

Amen.

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, You have adopted us – we are Your children.  Thank You so much for allowing us to come to You any time we need to or want to.  Thank You for that greatest gift of Your Son to show us the way.  May we always be as children in your eyes, wary of the world but innocent in our faith.  Please Father, help us avoid the pitfalls the enemy would use to trap us.  Help us keep our childlike faith while we still mature and grow more and more into the image of Christ Your Son.  Help us put all our trust and hope in You as we step into tomorrow, unhindered as we approach Jesus.  We pray to You, Father, in that blessed name - Jesus - our Lord and Master.  Amen.

Our Perfect Father

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered as Pastor of Pilgrim Reformed Church in Lexington, NC on Sunday, June 15, 2014.  (Our service on June 8th was filled and blessed with the joyful sounds of The LeBeaus, a father and son duet singing Southern gospel music throughout our land.)]

Today I’d like to read from Paul’s letter to the churches in Galatia, from the fourth chapter, verses 1 through 7:

1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3 So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

 --Galatians 4:1-7  (NASB)

Let us pray...  Happy Father’s Day, Father!  On this day when we celebrate, recognize, and commemorate our earthly fathers, it is certainly fitting that we celebrate our heavenly Father as well.  May our worship of You this hour be a pleasing gift, and may we continue this worship throughout the week ahead.  Speak through me, Lord Jesus, that we might hear Your message.  In the glorious name of Jesus Christ our Savior we pray.  Amen.

Let me read a little story to you…  A family talked Mother into getting a hamster as long as they took care of the creature.  Two months later, when Mother was caring for Danny the hamster, she made some phone calls and found a new home for him.  She broke the news to the children, and they took it quite well; but they did offer some comments.  One of the children remarked, “He’s been around here a long time – we’ll miss him.”  Mom agreed, saying, “Yes, but he’s too much work for one person, and since I’m that one person, I say he goes.”  Another child offered, “Well, maybe if he wouldn’t eat so much and wouldn’t be so messy, we could keep him.”  But Mom was firm.  “It’s time to take Danny to his new home now,” she insisted.  “Go and get his cage.”  With one voice and in tearful outrage the children shouted, “Danny?  We thought you said ‘Daddy’!”    [“Getting Rid of Daddy”, #371 on page 151 in 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking.]


Paul tells us that as children, even as heirs to whatever fortune we might inherit, we are still subject to those who are in authority over us.  We still have to answer to our parents or whoever they or the law appoint over us.  We’re pretty much like slaves even though we will eventually own all that will be handed down to us.  In a sense we’re held in bondage to man and to man’s law, just because of our smaller size, our relative weakness, and mainly our inexperience.

Paul is using this talk of our childhood experiences to show how not much changes when we grow into adulthood.  We are still subject to those in authority over us; we are still in bondage to man’s law.  Have you ever heard the term “wage slave”?  Well, Paul is using this little analogy to say that we are little more than children, little more than slaves to the whims and powers of this world.

From that Paul goes on to proclaim that in God’s timing, when the time was just right, God sent His Son into the world.  Jesus was born of woman, just like us.  He was born under and subject to same laws as us while He walked this earth.  But He was born so that He could redeem us and save us from the tyranny of that law.

By Jesus’ day, Jewish religious leaders had added so much to the original Ten Commandments and Moses’ law that no man could ever keep it all.  Because of this, no man born subject to that law could ever hope to gain salvation.  No man except the Son of Man – Jesus.  God knew no man could ever save himself by his works, by complete obedience to the law, so He sent Jesus to save us from the law and to redeem us.  In doing so, He adopts us and makes us His very own children.

We’ve seen before, when I did my trial sermon here, where Paul talked about adoption, in Romans 8:15…

15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!”

 --Romans 8:15  (NASB)

We’ve been adopted, and once adopted, always adopted.  You can’t unadopt someone, neither under the laws of God nor the laws of man.  As His children, God wants us to be close to Him, to be intimate with Him, to call Him Daddy.  That’s what ‘Abba’ means.  It is a very familiar term for one’s father, what we would say as ‘Daddy’.

Now our Bible gives us many examples of fathers.  There’s Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David, to name just a few.  Many, maybe most, of our Biblical father figures were scallywags or scoundrels, or worse.  Yet God used them to do incredible things for His kingdom.

Look at David, a man after God’s own heart.  He committed adultery.  He had the woman’s husband sent on a suicide mission after she became pregnant.  His own sons, Absalom and Adonijah, tried to have him killed so they could be king.  He doesn’t exactly sound like father-of-the-year material, does he?

And remember Lot, Abraham’s nephew, from the story about Sodom and Gomorrah?  After his wife turned into a pillar of salt, he had incestuous relations with both his daughters.  To his credit, though, they instigated it all and got him drunk with wine so he didn’t know what he was doing.

And for a New Testament picture of a father, look at King Herod.  He killed two of his sons, along with his wife.  He thought they were plotting against him, scheming to kill him, and they probably were.

Of course, not every father mentioned in the Bible is a good example of a bad example.  Jesus is quite clear and very careful to point this out as recorded by Matthew in chapter 7 of his Gospel, verses 9 through 11, when He says…

9 Or what man is there among you who, when his son asks for a loaf, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? 11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

 --Matthew 7:9-11  (NASB)

But right there’s the problem.  Jesus is talking to us, fathers, when He says, “If you then, being evil…”  “Evil” is a pretty strong word.  I don’t think any of us Dads here are evil.  But we are imperfect, each and every one of us – we’re flawed.

Now just because we’ve been looking at fathers in ancient times doesn’t mean that these scriptures have no meaning for us today.  Our news is full of reports about child abuse, both physical and worse, about fathers killing sons and sons killing fathers.  We are still living through many of the same problems as our Old and New Testament counterparts.

Even the best of us are imperfect.  But God knows that – He understands.  The best of us fathers, at least in His eyes, are those who follow Paul’s instructions in chapter 5 of Ephesians to be the spiritual head of our family.  The Apostle is quite specific in Ephesians 6:4 when he says…

4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

 --Ephesians 6:4  (NASB)

The world would tell us we need to be friends with our children – their best buds, their pals.  We should let them have their way so they can grow and learn on their own.  We should not do anything that might upset them or hurt their fragile egos.

Paul agrees with that to the extent that we should not purposely irritate our kids, not set out with the intent to make them mad, which might cause them to turn from the Lord.  Instead we are to lovingly raise them with Christian teaching, instilling Christian discipline.

Here’s a little tidbit of information that I find disappointing, even though it doesn’t really surprise me.  A friend and fellow pastor reports that by the time the average American child is 17 years old, he or she has watched 63,000 hours of mass media (such as TV, movies, the Internet), has spent 11,000 hours in school, but has gone to church for only 800 hours.  That’s 3700 hours per year, or 70 hours a week, staring at a TV or some other screen.  Compare that to 47 hours a year, or less than one hour a week, in church.  In my opinion, this indicates that the average American Dad is failing the average American child when it comes to being the spiritual head of the family.

Instilling Christian discipline…  I believe the most effective form of discipline is self-discipline.  We need to teach our kids how to be self-disciplined.  And we do that best, Dads, by example, by showing and exercising self-discipline in all things by our very actions.

Oh, and kids…  Don’t think you’re getting off too light.  Before he delivers that little lecture to fathers in verse 4, Paul has something for you in verse 1…

1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.

 --Ephesians 6:1  (NASB)

The last verse of our message text today tells us that the spirit of adoption by God makes us cry out to Him from our hearts, “Daddy!  Father!”  And then in the last verse from that scripture in Matthew, Jesus says that if we consider the fact that even we imperfect fathers know how to give good gifts to our children, just think of how much more of what is good our heavenly Father will give us!  Our Daddy in heaven, the Creator and Owner of everything there is, can give us anything we could possibly want, more than we can even imagine.

The best gifts, of course, are forgiveness and salvation.  How good is our Father that He would allow us to live forever with Him in His great mansion, where we will want for nothing, where there will be no more crying, no more sorrow, no more pain.

So while our Bible gives us many examples of flawed Dads, just like us, it also paints this picture of a perfect father, our perfect Father.  This level of perfection is a position even the best of us imperfect earthly fathers can never reach.  The good thing for us is we don’t have to.  Jesus made all the arrangements for us to be adopted.  And now we have the perfect Father.  All thanks to Jesus Christ our Lord, our Brother.

Amen.

Let us pray…  O perfect Father in heaven, thank You so much for adopting us.  Thank You for accepting us into Your great family.  May we celebrate each day as Father’s Day as we worship You.  Father, we pray in the blessed name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer and our Brother.  Amen.

Reconciled

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered as Pastor of Pilgrim Reformed Church in Lexington, NC on Sunday, June 1, 2014.]

Today we are reading from Paul’s letter to the church in Rome, the fifth chapter, verses 1 through 11:

1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope; 5 and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us. 6 For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.

 --Romans 5:1-11  (NASB)

Let us pray...  Father, we come together this morning to worship You, to hear Your word and the message Your Holy Spirit speaks to us, to grow ever closer to Your Son, Jesus.  Grant us the wisdom, please Lord, to heed what You whisper into our hearts.  In the holy name of Jesus Christ our Savior we pray.  Amen.

A man was hiking along the Appalachian Trail when he came upon a huge grizzly bear trying to scoop honey from a hollow tree trunk.  Startled, the bear turned and started chasing the man.  Through the woods they both ran, the bear slowly gaining ground as the man kept tripping and stumbling over the rocks and tree roots.  Nearly exhausted, the man’s feet got all tangled up and he went down in a heap.  The man reconciled to his fate this bear represented as it drew nearer now, huffing and puffing from all the exertion.  Grasping for that last straw, the man closed his eyes and prayed, “Oh God, please make this bear a Christian!” Immediately the bear stopped in its tracks and fell to its knees.  Bringing its forepaws together, the bear bowed its head and said, “Father, thank you for this meal which I am about to receive.”


The word “reconciled” can have a number of meanings.  That little joke just spoke of one:  accepting or being resigned to something that is not really desired.  The man didn’t want to die, but the bear was almost on top of him, he had fallen and was just too tired to get up; the end looked certain and near.  He was becoming reconciled to his envisioned fate when he had the last gasp idea to pray to God for help.  Maybe he should have thought of that first.

Another meaning for reconciled is one we don’t hear very often, if at all: to re-consecrate something, such as a building or grounds that have been desecrated, so as to set it apart once again for the use of our Lord.  But neither of those are what Paul is referring to when he says we are reconciled to God through the death of His Son.


Paul did not start up every church he wrote a letter to; he didn’t even visit all of them.  The church in Rome was one such exception.  Paul did not plant it nor had he even visited it when he wrote this letter.  In fact, the church was thriving and widely known at this point in time.  Paul was writing to them because he wanted to go there to minister to them.  That makes this letter sort of an application for employment.  And believe me, it is a lot better than the one I wrote in hopes of coming here.

Maybe this is why this letter is so much more formal sounding than those Paul sent to other churches. Maybe he wanted to impress the church in Rome so they would call him.  Whatever the reason, Paul uses this letter to establish the doctrine of justification by faith, and the ramifications of justification.

The section we are looking at today was subtitled in a couple of bibles I referenced as “the Benefits of Righteousness” and “the Results of Justification”.  Justification would be a great subject to discuss because it is a wonderful gift from God, His declared purpose for mankind, where He would treat those sinners who believe in Christ Jesus as if they had never sinned, based purely on the grounds of the actions and sacrifice of our Savior Jesus.  We who believe are justified by the precious blood of our risen Lord, shed on our behalf. Being justified, God will look at us through Jesus’ eyes when we stand before Him for judgment.  Paul lays that all out for us right there in verse 9.

Justification is definitely a benefit of righteousness, isn’t it?  King David affirms this in his 103rd Psalm, verses 1-4…

1 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And all that is within me, bless His holy name.
2 Bless the Lord, O my soul,
And forget none of His benefits;
3 Who pardons all your iniquities,
Who heals all your diseases;
4 Who redeems your life from the pit,
Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion.

 --Psalm 103:1-4  (NASB)

Both David and Paul want to make sure we don’t forget the benefits of God, the benefits of righteousness.  God pardons our sins, and then some: that’s justification.  He heals our diseases, especially those of the soul.  He redeems us from the pit, from the lake of fire, from eternal damnation, and crowns us with lovingkindness and compassion.  Justification is a beautiful message in and of itself.

But the Holy Spirit kept whispering “you are reconciled” as I pondered over what to focus on today.  You are reconciled…  Yes, we’re justified, because we believe.  We’re also reconciled to God, because Jesus loves us so much.

Let’s look at those definitions again, because I left one out, on purpose.  To be reconciled is to be brought into harmony, made compatible or consistent.  Hmmm…  by that definition, I guess our choir is doubly reconciled – brought into harmony in God and in song.

This is what Paul means; this is what he is trying to tell us.  By the same act of justification, Jesus reconciled us to the Father.  And unlike being eaten by a bear, this is a fate we truly want to be reconciled to!

Paul declares that while we were still sinners, while we were enemies to God, Jesus sacrificed His own flesh and blood to reconcile us to God, to save us.  While we were helpless, at just the right time, Jesus died for us, for mankind, the ungodly.  Remember that Paul started this discussion by noting that since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God?  Well, we would not have that peace had we not been reconciled.

And with this peace we have hope in the glory of God.  We exult in that hope, and more than that, we rejoice in our tribulations!  He says so, right there in verse 3.  What possible excuse could Paul give for expecting us to exult in our tribulations, to rejoice when everything is going bad for us?  Look in verse 5:  because of that hope - the hope resulting from the peace of God, the hope building from persevering through the tough times; because that hope does not disappoint.

But getting through really challenging times can be scary, especially when the bear is closing in and we keep tripping over the stumbling blocks Satan places along our path.  Fortunately for us, Isaiah has a remedy for being scared, in the 41st chapter of his book, verse 10…

10 ‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

 --Isaiah 41:10  (NASB)

That was God speaking to Isaiah, instructing him what to tell the children of Israel.  God says, “Do not fear, for I am with you.  Do not be anxious, for I am your God.”  The same God that Jesus reconciled us to is with us.  He doesn’t want us to be afraid or anxious, ever again.  We have been brought into harmony with Him and He will strengthen us with His righteous right hand.

Paul echoes this and adds a little to it, in his letter to the Philippians, chapter 4, verse 6…

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

 --Philippians 4:6  (NASB)

Be anxious about nothing, do not fear.  Not only is God with us, He is ever ready to answer our prayers.

Why would God protect us?  Why would He even consider answering our prayers?  After all, we’re just sinners, right?  Why?  Because we have been made compatible with Him.  When He looks at us now, He sees us as being consistent with His will for us.  And it’s all because Jesus reconciled us to Him.  His Son, our Brother, brought us back into harmony with our Father.

So before we think we’re justified to do anything we want, we need to remember the price Jesus paid to give us that justification, the debt we owe Him for our reconciliation.  There’s no way we can ever repay that debt.  Nothing we’ve ever done or can ever hope to do will allow us to justify ourselves.  The good thing is, we don’t have to.  Jesus did it for us.  Jesus covered the cost.

So let us rejoice in our trials and tribulations.  Let us humbly pray, and always with thanksgiving, knowing our Father will hear; for we are at peace with God.

We are reconciled.

Amen.

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, we have been justified by the grace You gave us, redeemed by Your one true Son, through whom we have received reconciliation by His sacrifice, by His blood.  You have asked so little in return, simply that we love You, love one another, and believe in Jesus.  Forgive us, please Lord, when we fall short of what You would have us be and do.  Father, we pray in the most glorious name of Jesus Christ, our Strength and our Redeemer.  Amen.

Our Gift, Our Duty

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered as Pastor of Pilgrim Reformed Church in Lexington, NC on Sunday, May 25, 2014.]

Today we are reading from Paul’s second letter to Timothy, the first chapter, verses 7 through 12:

7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.  8 Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God, 9 who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity, 10 but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

 --2 Timothy 1:7-12  (NASB)

Let us pray...  Father, thank You so much for preserving Your word for all these years, and for providing it to us so that we might know You better and might use Your word to seek Your will for our lives.  Open our ears, our minds, and our hearts so that we may absorb Your word and hear Your message.  In the beautiful name of Jesus Christ our Savior we pray.  Amen.

Let me tell you a little story about a gift exchange with Jesus…

It was the day after Christmas at a church in San Francisco.  The pastor of the church was looking over the crèche when he noticed that the baby Jesus was missing from among the figures.  He hurried outside and saw a little boy with a red wagon, and in the wagon was the figure of the little infant Jesus.  So he walked up to the boy and said, “Well, where did you get your passenger, my fine friend?”  The little boy replied, “I got him from the church.”  “And why did you take him?” the pastor asked.  The boy said, “Well, about a week before Christmas I prayed to the little Lord Jesus and I told Him if He would bring me a red wagon for Christmas I would give Him a ride around the block in it.”  [From “Gift Exchange with Jesus”, #409 on p. 163 in 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking by Michael Hodgin.]

I think this short story speaks well to our message title for today: “Our Gift, Our Duty”.  The little boy received the gift he had prayed for, so he fulfilled his promise to take Jesus for a ride.  He did his duty that he had promised to do.  He may not have understood that we can’t really make deals with God, but he certainly knew how to keep a promise.

Paul’s second letter to his young friend and protégé Timothy was the last he would write.  Imprisoned in Rome under Nero’s persecution, Paul realized his death was near as he penned this intensely personal note to the one he considered his son in the faith.  Tradition has it that he was beheaded shortly thereafter.

I can very easily identify with Paul, and for so many reasons.  He experienced two almost separate lives.  In the first, he was a good and faithful Pharisee, carrying on the rules and traditions of the Jewish faith.  His zeal in these endeavors saw him doing everything he could to disrupt and halt this New Way, this new faith associated with the Man named Jesus who hailed from the area around the Sea of Galilee.  Paul hunted down those who followed Jesus, carrying them off in chains to be jailed and sometimes executed.  He was on his way to Damascus bearing a letter from the Temple that would allow him to arrest more Christians, when he was struck down by a blinding light.  Thus ended his first life.

After that miraculous conversion on the road to Damascus, Paul completely turned his life around to one of service to Jesus.  He saw pretty much everything as a gift from God - all the challenges, all the hardships, even the “thorn in his flesh”.  What Paul tells us about that thorn, in his second letter to the church in Corinth, also sums up today’s message.  Looking at 2 Corinthians 12:7-10:

7 Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me -- to keep me from exalting myself! 8 Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. 9 And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. 10 Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.

 --2 Corinthians 12:7-10  (NASB)

Satan placed that thorn in Paul’s side, but God left it there on purpose.  Paul saw that reason to be so he would stay humble and not exalt himself above God and Jesus.  And he saw that as a gift, just as he saw God’s grace which was sufficient for Paul.  He even saw his weakness as a gift because it showed the perfection of God’s power, and it allowed the power of Christ Jesus to live within him, something far more important to him than suffering discomfort or pain.

And in receiving these gifts Paul does not complain or ask for more, but instead does what he sees as his duty to God.  He remains content with all that most folk would consider problems: weakness, insults from others, distresses, persecutions, and difficulties.  He gladly accepts all that as part of fulfilling his duty for Christ’s sake, even considering these as gifts.  For instance, he declares that when he is weak, then he is strong.  How many of us look at our frailties like this?

This attitude is reflected in Paul’s first letter to the church in Thessalonica, in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18…

16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

 --1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  (NASB)

I am a big advocate of prayer and its power, so praying without ceasing appeals to me.  This is not to say that we should pray every single second of every day, but that we maintain a constant conversation with God, just like we do with our best friends.

Rejoice always?  That’s kind of tough to do sometimes, isn’t it?  Bad things happen in this world, making it hard to rejoice all the time.  And giving thanks in all things sounds almost as impossible.  But Paul doesn’t say give thanks for everything, just in everything.  He tells us that no matter what happens, no matter what mess we find ourselves in, we need to look for something, anything, to be thankful for.  Implementing this simple process will gradually change our attitude to being more positive.  We can’t keep focusing on the negative, on the bad junk, if we are truly trying to find good in any situation, looking for that silver lining in the storm clouds.  And if we do this, if we look for stuff to give thanks for, the rejoicing part becomes easier too.

Of course the last part of that snippet of scripture goes back to the fact that Paul sees this as his duty, for it is God’s will for him to do it and he must do God’s will because Christ Jesus is in him.  Notice that Paul doesn’t consider any of this to be a chore.  Performing a duty, especially a labor of love, need not be a chore at all!

Looking back at our message text, what other gifts does Paul describe?  Right at the beginning, in verse 7, he states that God has given us a spirit of power and love and self-control.  And continuing in verse 9, God has saved us.  He has called us with a holy calling.  I’m sure you’ve heard it said that God calls preachers.  You affirmed His calling me here.  But do you know He has also called you?  We each have a holy calling, and not according to anything we can do, our works, but according to His own purpose.

God gives us the great benefit of His mercy and grace, granted to us for eternity in Jesus.  Through Jesus He abolished death and offers us life and immortality.  And He gives us the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

So what does Paul give in return?  What duty does he perform?  First off, since he was not given a spirit of timidity or fear, he is not at all ashamed or afraid to testify for our Lord, and he compels us to do likewise.  I don’t think “timid” is a word that could ever be applied to Paul.  That man was courageous beyond measure.  We’ve examined him a little in our Bible Study lessons and know he was not a very imposing man in stature.  But could he ever captivate and command an audience!

The next duty Paul so often completed involved suffering for the Gospel.  Paul was beaten, shipwrecked, left for dead, persecuted, imprisoned, time after time after time.  That man really suffered!  But he never considered it a curse or a chore.  He never complained.  He gladly suffered because he loved the Lord and wanted nothing more but to serve Him.

In verse 11 Paul lists some more of his duties.  He was a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher.  A preacher is also an evangelist, and an evangelist is simply a person who shares the Gospel, often with great zeal.  Anyone can be an evangelist, even me, even you.

An apostle is someone who is sent out, in this case sent out to spread the Gospel.  Paul was sent out to evangelize.  We can do that too, can’t we?

And in a teacher role, Paul certainly tried to instruct both Jews and Gentiles about Christ and the Good News of salvation He offers.  Can we be teachers, helping others understand, bringing children up to know Jesus personally?  Sure we can, if we’re willing to try.

In verse 12 Paul mentions suffering again and reaffirms he bears no shame in carrying out these duties.  For Paul knows who he believes in, he knows Jesus even though he never met Him face to face.  And he is sure that Jesus will guard what Paul has entrusted to Him until the Day of Judgment.  So what has he entrusted to the Lord?  Paul has placed all his faith, all his hopes, all his trust in Christ Jesus, firmly believing that his salvation is assured

Let’s look at one last example of Paul’s sense of duty, this time from his letter to the church in Rome, the first chapter of Romans, verses 14 through 17…

14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome.  16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17 For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “But the righteous man shall live by faith.”

 --Romans 1:14-17  (NASB)

That last – “the righteous man shall live by faith” – proved to be the light-bulb moment for Martin Luther, the epiphany that ultimately led to the great Reformation he began.  That phrase actually comes from the book of the prophet Habakkuk, chapter 2, verse 4.  But it was Paul’s treatment, and Paul’s example, that inspired Luther.

Notice Paul’s choice of words that he is under obligation to teach the Gospel to Greeks and barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish alike.  The first declaration points to Paul’s sense of duty, his obligation.  But then in the very next sentence he says he is eager to preach the Gospel.  He wants to make sure we understand this duty is in no way a chore; it is something he looks forward to and enjoys.

And then note that his assignment is to carry the Gospel to both the wise and the foolish, to those who will understand and accept the truth as well as those who will scoff and rebuke him and his message.  God does not play favorites.  It is His will and desire that all mankind hear the Good News, whether they are willing to receive it or not.  This was Paul’s mission, his assignment, his duty – and he accepted it willingly, eagerly, even joyfully.

Each and every one of us knows what wonderful and bountiful gifts God has showered upon us.  We may have different gifts and talents, but God has been very generous to us all.  We recommit part of those gifts back to the Lord when we give our offering.  This is part of our duty and we should be cheerful while accomplishing it, for it is a pleasure to give back to our Lord.

Like Paul we also have a duty to help spread the Gospel, to share the Good News of what Jesus has done in our lives and the great hope we place in Him.  We don’t have to be preachers or teachers per se to do this.  We can engage others in casual conversation.  We can proclaim the glory of our Lord simply by how we live our lives.  No matter how we choose to give our testimony, we should never be ashamed to witness to Christ, by our words, by our life, by our love.

We have been given great gifts, and with that comes an awesome responsibility.  We have a duty to carry out: to love our Lord and Savior with all our heart and all our soul, and to serve Him with all that is within us.  This is not a chore, not something to be looked at with dread.  This is a wonderful chance to show God our love.

Let us cheerfully fulfill our duty, rejoicing always and in everything giving thanks.

Amen.

Let us pray…  Father, we know You have given us so many gifts, and You did so out of Your great mercy and boundless generosity.  Thank You, Lord, and please forgive us when we take those gifts for granted.  We feel a responsibility, Lord, to acknowledge all you have given us, so please accept our worship and our service as part of our offering back to you.  In the name of that most precious gift of all, Jesus Christ our Lord, we pray.  Amen.