"Conquered, or Conqueror?"

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 25th of October, 2015.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

With the events of the last few weeks, I feel it critical that we not lose sight of one very important message that our Father God gave us in our Bible.  It has to do with us, as well as our loved ones who’ve gone on home to live with our Father and with Jesus.  It’s a sweet and simple truth that we absolutely must remember, especially when the storm clouds gather overhead.

Listen and follow along as I read from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 8, verses 31 through 35 and 37 through 39, from the New Living Translation of our Bible…

31 What shall we say about such wonderful things as these?  If God is for us, who can ever be against us?  32 Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also give us everything else?  33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own?  No one — for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself.  34 Who then will condemn us?  No one — for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. 

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?  Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 

37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. 

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.  Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

--Romans 8:31-35, 37-39 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, speak to us using my voice, but let Your children see only Jesus and hear only Your words.  May Your Holy Spirit touch our hearts and write Your message upon our very souls.  In the blessed name of our Lord Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A man whose heart had been deeply touched by the death of a friend, expressed a desire to begin the Christian life, and he told the minister so.  "There's just one thing that makes me hesitate," he added.  "I'm afraid I can't hold out.  Where I work, there are some pretty rough fellows.  I don't believe there's a real Christian in the crowd."  For an answer the minister reached down and lifted a flower from the vase on the table.  "Do you see this flower?" he asked.  "It grew in the mud and slime of a marsh, yet see how clean and spotless it is.  That's because God kept it.  And He can keep you, too."

A pastor in Virginia phoned the editor of religious news for the local paper and gave him the topic for his Sunday morning's sermon: "The Lord Is My Shepherd."  The editor asked, "Is that all?"  The pastor replied, "That's enough."  The editor, thinking that those two words were part of the preacher’s subject, posted the topic in the newspaper as follows: "The Lord is My Shepherd.  That's Enough."


The Lord is my Shepherd and that is enough.  To know the Lord as our protector and provider is enough to dissipate all fears and dilute all sorrows.  What more could we need than to have God by our side?  God keeps us - in the palm of His hand, in the safety of His arms, in the warmth of His heart.


Have you ever felt defeated, beaten down by life?  Do you just get to the point where you hate facing another day?  I'm not talking about “Gee, I had a hard day and just want to put my feet up and snooze in front of the TV for a while”.  And I’m not talking about losing at Rook or Phase 10 here on game night.  I’m not even talking about Duke beating Carolina, which is extremely difficult to cope with!

What I mean is that feeling of being completely conquered, truly and utterly defeated.  That feeling where all you have the strength left to do is to run up the white flag… but you don't know who to surrender to.  Have you ever had one of those days, or weeks, or years?  I know I sure have.


I titled this message "Conquered, or Conqueror?" for two reasons.  The first is because sometimes we feel more like one than the other.  And the second reason is that I believe we have a choice in the matter.

What are some of the differences between these two conditions?  Well, if you simply look at the words, they only differ by two letters at the end: an "ed" on one and an "or" on the other.  They share the same root word: "conquer".  One of the dictionary definitions for that verb is to gain a victory over, to surmount, to master, to overcome.  A conqueror does those things, while the conquered suffers them.  One is defeated, the other triumphant.  One lost everything, the other won.

When Jesus rode into Jerusalem on what we now call Palm Sunday, the people cheered and shouted "Hosanna", "Savior".  They expected that the Messiah would come as a victorious leader, conquering the Romans and freeing the masses from tyranny.  Jesus indeed won the great victory for us all, but not in the sense or the manner the people expected.


So while we may at times feel conquered, Paul tells us that through Jesus, not only do we win the fight, but we gain an overwhelming victory!  Look at verse 37 again: "No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us."

What is it we face?  What are "all these things" Paul refers to?  Look in verse 35: troubles, calamities, persecution, hunger, destitution, danger, and even threats to our very life.  Nasty stuff!

Yet Paul assures us we have an overwhelming victory through Christ.  We are conquerors through Jesus.  And Paul confirms this in his second letter to his young protégé, Timothy, in chapter 1 verse 7…

7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

--2 Timothy 1:7 (NLT)

When we confess our belief in and give our lives to Jesus, He sends God's Holy Spirit to live within us, to be our constant Companion and to augment our own spirit.  Our spirit becomes one of power, not fear.


But we're human, with human weaknesses.  We may have trouble really believing we are conquerors, especially when life just batters us day after day after day, in much the same manner it did Paul, who was beaten, shipwrecked, imprisoned, time after time after time.  Sometimes it just seems humanly impossible that we could be conquerors.  And indeed it just might be humanly impossible, a fact Jesus Himself affirms.

Do you remember the story of the rich young ruler who asked Jesus how he could gain eternal life?  After a little back and forth Jesus told him he must sell all he owns, give to the poor, and follow Him.  The young man refused to do so and Jesus commented that it is very difficult for a rich man to enter heaven.  The disciples, astonished at this, asked how then could anyone gain heaven.  Matthew recorded the rest of this exchange in chapter 19 verse 26…

26 Jesus looked at them intently and said, “Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

--Matthew 19:26 (NLT)

Man, by his own actions, cannot save himself - it is impossible.  But with God, all things are possible.  All things.  And that's good, because it gets really scary when we see what we're up against.  As I noted a little earlier, Paul gives us a taste in today's verses 35.  In effect, we can expect to be tried, persecuted, starved, stripped of our possessions, maybe even slaughtered.

None of that is very pleasant to think about.  But exactly who or what does this threat come from?  What is the wall made of that we beat our heads against?  Paul reveals our true enemy in his letter to the church in Ephesus in chapter 6 verse 12…

12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.

--Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)

We are made to conquer and we have a spirit of power.  But we have to contend against Satan?!  Against the very devil, pure evil in every sense of the word?!  How can we possibly succeed, or even hold our own?


Let's go back to our message text for a moment.  Verse 32 tells us that God gives us all things, including a spirit of power.  Verses 33 and 34 ask that if we have been chosen by God, are justified by the Creator of all,  then who can bring a charge against us, who can accuse us?  No one!

Verse 34 goes on to assure us that Jesus intercedes for us, He sits at the right hand of God the Father and pleads for us!  And verses 38 and 39 declare that nothing, nothing can separate us from God’s love, from His protection, from His help.  The love that He revealed in and through His only Son, Christ Jesus our Lord, will always be ours.


The author of Hebrews, in chapter 2 verses 14 and 15, gives us insight into how Jesus worked this already, and why…

14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

--Hebrews 2:14-15 (NLT)

Our human fear of death can hold us in slavery all our lives.  When we were dead in sin Jesus came to us, to free us from the slavery of sin, that we need no longer fear death, but instead look forward to salvation and to eternity with Him.


So how do we deal with all this?  How do we stand up to the constant onslaught life throws at us?  We all face personal problems, as individuals.  We face interpersonal problems, with our family and others.  We Christians face troubles even here within our church families.

Many churches are seeking new pastors right now.  Traditional churches are seeing declines in membership and attendance.  Many, including some right here in our own community, worry about paying the bills and keeping the doors open.  These churches are us.  We are the church.  We are the body of the risen Christ here on earth.  How can we hope to cope with all this?


Again we can turn to Paul for instruction and assurance, this time from his letter to his beloved church in Philippi.  In Philippians chapter 4 verses 12 and 13, Paul says…

12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. 13 For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

--Philippians 4:12-13 (NLT)

In any and every circumstance, Christ will strengthen us.


There's truth in the saying that if God leads us to it, He'll see us through it.  He gave us that spirit of power, and of love, and of self-discipline, as Paul told Timothy.  And those three gifts show God's wisdom.  He gave us the power to stand up and face the evil one, but tempered it with love that - if we use it properly - can keep us from hurting others.  And He gave us the self-discipline to use these gifts as He intends, and to help us stay focused on the true enemy.

The only contribution we need to make in all this is to have faith in Jesus' love and God's grace.  Jesus tells us if we have faith as small as a mustard seed we can move mountains.  Our faith that He will strengthen us to stand strong against whatever we face will see us through.  Our faith will make His strength ours.


Our text today tells us that the One who died for us, who sits at the right hand of God, pleads for us.  He sent us the Holy Spirit and filled us with a spirit of power.  He loves us and nothing can separate us from His love.  Even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, God is always with us, comforting us with His sovereign authority and power.  God's grace, Jesus' sacrifice, Their great love for us…  What more do we need?


Have courage.  Stand strong.  We are conquerors, through Jesus Christ our Lord who loves us.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Loving Father, You know how weak Your children truly are, so You gave us Your Holy Spirit to empower us, to make us conquerors.  You do not want us to ever feel conquered, no matter what life throws at us, so You assure us that we can find strength in Your Son Jesus.  Please help us remember this, Father, any time we might begin to feel utterly defeated.

Hear us now, Father God, as we come to You in the silence of this beautiful place, speaking to you from our hearts, offering our thanks and seeking Your forgiveness for our disobediences…

Lord Jesus, You gave Your all for us just that we might be freed from the slavery of sin and death.  In You we are conquerors, and never conquered.  You are our hope and our salvation – in You we place all our trust.  This we pray in the glorious name of God’s Son and our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Trust in the Lord

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 18th of October, 2015.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

I just don’t know what’s going on here!  I don’t know why this is all happening.  What have we done to deserve this?!?  What brought this mess down on us?!?  I just don’t understand!!!


I’m willing to bet most, if not all, of us have uttered one of those plaintive cries at some point or another.  Maybe even within the last few days.  Life too often seems like one long stretch of pain and heartbreak interrupted only occasionally by short spans of happiness.  We just don’t understand what is going on.  We can’t figure out why all this is happening.

Well, we’re not alone.  King Solomon was a very wise man, known far and wide for his great wisdom.  But even wise King Solomon could not understand how so much stuff can happen to us in this life.  So he reached into his treasure trove of wisdom and pulled out a concept he and we should all be able to live by.  Listen and follow along as I read a short passage from the Book of Proverbs, chapter 3, verses 5 and 6, from the New Living Translation of our Bible…

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

--Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, speak to us softly yet strongly, shout silently to our hearts that we might hear You over the roar of our grief.  Help us receive Your message and grow a deeper trust in You.  In the blessed name of our Lord Jesus we pray.  Amen.


An American astronaut lay strapped into his capsule, ready to be blasted off into space, when a reporter asked him via radio, “How do you feel?”

“How would you feel,” the astronaut replied, “if you were sitting on top of this powerful rocket assembled from 150,000 parts, each supplied by the lowest bidder?”

[*  From 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking, #814, “A Space-Age Mustard Seed”, p. 309.  *]


It kind of sounds like the astronaut had some doubts and concerns regarding his fellow man’s craftsmanship, doesn’t it?  But he was still willing to be blasted off in that container of lowest bid parts.  Perhaps he had more trust in God when settling into that seat while his crew strapped him in.


Trusting God.  Sometimes that takes a lot, doesn’t it?  We’ve all heard the question, maybe asked it ourselves: If God is such a loving God, why do so many bad things happens to good people?  I could do an entire sermon series on that one question, and still never answer it adequately for some folks.  But if we look at what the arguably wisest man in all of human history says, we’re simply not meant to understand some things.

Something happened and you don’t understand it?  That’s OK.  It’s very likely many others don’t understand either.  Solomon tells us that we should not trust in our own understanding because, quite frankly, there are just some things we cannot understand.

Why?  Because we’re not God.  We’re not in His league.  The Almighty Himself, speaking through His prophet in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 55, verses 8 and 9, informs us that…

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

--Isaiah 55:8-9 (NKJV)

Solomon’s father, King David, wrote this for one of his psalms, first appearing in the 2nd Book of Samuel, chapter 22, verses 31 and 32…

31 As for God, His way is perfect;
The word of the Lord is proven;
He is a shield to all who trust in Him.
32 “For who is God, except the Lord?
And who is a rock, except our God?

--2 Samuel 22:31-32 (NKJV)

God’s thoughts and capabilities are so much higher than ours, just as heaven is far above the earth.  God’s way is perfect, His word is proven, He is always correct, and He always keeps His promises.

And I love that rhetorical question, who is God, except the Lord Almighty, the Creator of all there is!  Wouldn’t it be somewhat arrogant of us to think that we can understand everything He understands?


So what are we left with, but to trust in the Lord.  Trust in His wisdom, trust in His understanding, trust in His word, trust in His promises.  We have to have faith – that’s what trust is all about.  And one of the most difficult things to have faith in is that all this stuff that happens to us happens for a reason, and for a good reason at that.

I think the Apostle Paul provides the best basis of all for trusting God, in his letter to the Romans, chapter 8, verses 27 through 29…

27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.

--Romans 8:27-29 (NLT)

God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him and who follow His call to the purpose He has for them.  At some point in time, all this bad stuff will be kneaded and massaged, sawn and sanded, melted and remolded, and turned into something very good.

The three loved ones who went home this week each had suffered for a long time, both physical pain and emotional anguish also because of their growing infirmities.  Now, we know they suffer no longer.  There is no more pain, no more suffering, no more anguish, no more tears.  The good promised them has been fulfilled.

We may be brokenhearted, but they are in heaven and we should rejoice for that, for them.  And someday, our turn will come and all the good will be returned to us, multiplied, magnified, and made into more goodness than we can even imagine.  All we have to do is love God, and follow His call.  Solomon said the same thing.  We are to seek God’s will in everything we do.  And He will show us the path to take.

Trust in the Lord, even when everything turns south.  Trust in the Lord, even when your heart is breaking and you can’t stop crying.  Trust in the Lord, when all others betray you and your own understanding fails you.  Trust in the Lord, with all your heart.  And He’ll make everything turn out good.

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father, your children are hurting.  Sometimes it seems our world has gone crazy, that more bad happens than good, that too many people who love You and believe in You are suffering.  We don’t understand, Lord!  And Your prophets tell us we can’t understand, because, after all, You are God and we’re not.  So we have to trust in You, Lord.  And we can do that because You’ve never lied to us, You’ve never broken a promise.  You have been, always are, and always will be faithful, steadfast, and true.

Hear us now, Lord, as we come to You in the silence, speaking straight from our hearts, giving our thanks and seeking Your strength and courage and comfort and peace…

Help us, sweet Lord.  Heal our hurts.  Soothe our nerves.  Mend our broken hearts.  And show us the path You call us to walk.  We love You, Lord, and want to serve You.  We want to do Your will for us, to fulfill the purpose You have called us to.  But sometimes, Father, we get in the way of our best intentions.  Help us, Lord, to put all our faith in You and to trust in You with all our heart.  This we pray in the beautiful name of Your Son and our Master and our Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Rescue Party

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 11th of October, 2015.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

The scriptural basis for today’s message is one you’ve heard me repeat and refer to often.  It’s the Great Commission Jesus gave us - for us to continue carrying out His work here on earth until He returns.  But let’s look at it from a slightly different perspective.  Let’s view it not as a responsibility, but as an opportunity.  Let’s treat it not as a duty to God, but as a service to our fellow man.

Listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel account of Matthew, chapter 28, verses 16 through 20, from the New King James Version of our Bible…

16 Then the eleven disciples went away into Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had appointed for them. 17 When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted.

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.

--Matthew 28:16-20 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Lord God in heaven, we approach Your throne this morning to worship You and to hear the message You have for us this day.  Speak to us through Your Holy Spirit, imprint Your word on our hearts, and show us how to serve You.  In the blessed name of our Lord Jesus we pray.  Amen.


It had been a long, hard winter in the Rockies.  Snow piled up deeper and deeper with each passing day.  The temperature dropped below zero and stayed there.  Rivers froze over, and people were suffering.  Conditions became so bad that the American Red Cross used helicopters to fly in supplies.

After one particularly long and strenuous day as they were returning to their base, a rescue team in one of the helicopters saw a cabin on a ridge that was nearly lost in the snow.  A thin wisp of smoke rose from the chimney.  The team figured that anyone in that cabin must be critically short of food, fuel, and medical supplies, so they decided to stop and try to help.

Because of the trees in the immediate area, they had to set down about a mile from the cabin.  They slung their heavy emergency equipment and supplies on their backs and trudged through the waist-deep snow.  Finally they made it to the cabin.  Exhausted, sweating profusely, and panting for breath, they pounded on the door.  A thin, gaunt mountain woman slowly appeared.

The team leader could barely gasp the words out, "Ma'am, we're from the Red Cross..."  The woman silently looked at the men, one after the other, and then replied, "It's been a pretty tough winter, Sonny.  I just don't think we can give anything this year."


So here’s this team of Red Cross Disaster Services specialists, flying in to help the people in the area that are snowed in.  With great exertion and determination, they push through the deep snow to reach an isolated cabin.  Their only thought and concern is to help whoever might be inside.  And what does the woman think when she opens the door?  Here’s some people asking for a donation.

Sometimes folks just don’t want to be rescued from whatever spot they’re in.  Sometimes they don’t even realize they need to be rescued.  Sometimes they’re suspicious of those who would come to their rescue.

I believe the lady in the cabin fits all three of those categories.  And I worry that too many other people in this world might fall into one or more of them also.  In Proverbs 19 verse 19, King Solomon wrote that…

19 A man of great wrath will suffer punishment;
For if you rescue him, you will have to do it again.

--Proverbs 19:19 (NKJV)

Now Solomon was talking about a person who can’t hold their temper in check, who’s anger constantly gets them in trouble.  But I think it also applies to someone that doesn’t truly understand the danger they’re in.  Until they finally grasp the horrible fate that awaits them, they can’t be fully saved.


If we look at our scripture text for this morning, it seems that Matthew is telling us that even some of the disciples may have slipped into that third category, of being suspicious.  Look at the last three words in verse 17: “but some doubted”.

Now bear in mind that this was after Jesus was crucified, dead and buried, and then risen from the dead but not yet ascended into heaven.  It’s kind of human nature to have doubts in a case like this, to be a little suspicious of this figure standing before them who was executed and buried just a matter of days ago.  Because of this doubt and suspicion, Jesus tried to assure them by reminding them of His authority, just as I bet the Red Cross team tried to assure the lady by explaining why they were at her door.

And then Jesus gives us our charge.  He commands us to go out into the world and make more followers for Him, baptizing them in the names of the Holy Trinity.  But there’s a part we don’t always recite, in the first half of verse 20.  We are to also teach these new followers about Jesus and all that He commands us.

Then He follows this up with one of the most beautiful promises in our Bible, that He is with us always and forever, until the end of time.  Not He will be with us – He is with us, yesterday, today, and tomorrow!


If we want to look at scriptural rescues, we have many to choose from.  Let’s turn to Daniel for an example.  Remember how he was thrown into the lion’s den because he prayed to God rather than the king?  God sent His angel to shut the mouths of the lions and delivered Daniel from sure death.  Listen to how the king responded as I read from the Book of Daniel, chapter 6, verses 25 through 27…

25 Then King Darius wrote: 

To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: 

Peace be multiplied to you. 

26 I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. 

For He is the living God,
And steadfast forever;
His kingdom is the one which shall not be destroyed,
And His dominion shall endure to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues,
And He works signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth,
Who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

--Daniel 6:25-27 (NKJV)

Throughout the history of mankind, God has sent out rescue teams to deliver His most precious creation from peril.  Time after time He has brought us safely out of the lion’s den, out of the furnace, out of Satan’s clutches.

Of course, the very best rescue, the one that most shows God’s great and wonderful grace toward His creation, is contained within the lines of the best known and most often repeated scripture of all: John 3:16, and I‘m going to add verses 17 and 18 to it…

16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

18 “He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

--John 3:16-18 (NKJV)

Why does God keep trying to save us?  Because He loves us.  He loves us so much that He put His own Son in charge of the greatest rescue mission of all time.

But we didn’t want to be rescued.  We didn’t realize we needed to be rescued.  We were doubtful and suspicious of our Rescuer, our Redeemer.  And too many of us still don’t understand that God didn’t send Jesus into the world to condemn the world.  God sent us His only Son in order that we might be saved through Him!


The remainder of verse 18 of John chapter 3 brings us back to our scripture today, and that great commission Jesus left us with.  The person who has not believed in Jesus is condemned, because they have not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

That’s why Jesus commands us to go and make disciples of all people throughout the world, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all the things He commands.  We are to do this so they can believe, so that they won’t be condemned, but instead will be saved!

This is God’s love!  He does not want to see anyone condemned to eternal punishment, to ultimate death.  That is why He sent His own Son to head up the greatest rescue party of all!  And that is why Jesus recruited us to be part of that effort!  We are saved, we who believe.  But we need to pitch in and help those who either don’t want to be saved or who don’t realize the danger they are in, even if they are suspicious of our intentions or doubt our true purpose.

Too many people, even right here in our own community, are at risk of drowning in the raging torrents of sin.  Too many fall victim to the schemes and temptations of Satan.  Too many face a certain death of being separated from God and His love forever.  God wants them to be saved.  Jesus came to rescue us all.

Now that we are safe, we have to try to help the others before they are lost forever.  All authority in heaven and on earth was given to Jesus by the Creator of heaven and the earth, and He has deputized us to act on His behalf.  The very least we can do is reach out our hand to someone who is drowning and try to pull them back to Jesus.

Won’t you help?  Grab your scriptural rope and snowshoes and join the rescue party today!

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You love us so much that You have saved us time after time throughout our history.  Our Bible bears proof of all the rescues You performed.  You sent Your prophets, You sent Your angels straight from heaven, but we never seemed to grasp just how much danger we were in.  So You appointed Your own Son to head up the greatest rescue party of all time.  You sent Jesus to save us.

But Father, there are still so many who just don’t get it, so many still in danger because they either don’t know Jesus or they refuse the help He offers or they doubt He even exists.  If we truly believe that Jesus is Your Son, and if we accept Him as our Lord and Master, then we will obey what He tells us to do.  His first command is that we love You and love each other, just as He loves us.  And if we truly do love each other, then His second command, the commission He left us with, will be easy to follow.  We will want to go out and help save others by bringing them to Jesus.  We will want to make disciples and followers of others because we love them and don’t want to see them needlessly die that eternal death in the lake of fire.  If we love Jesus, we will gladly accept the great commission He gave us.

But we are fearful, Lord.  We are timid.  We are afraid of what others may think of us or how they might react.  We don’t want to make waves, we don’t want to risk upsetting or offending anyone.  We are hesitant to join the glorious rescue effort.  Help us, Lord, to get over this fear and to overcome any misgivings we might hold.  Strengthen us to push through whatever Satan might throw in our path as we make our way to save the lost.

Hear us now, Lord, as we pray to You silently from our hearts, giving our thanks and seeking Your strength and courage…

Lord Jesus, You came to this earth to lead the greatest rescue effort of all time, and You order us to be part of that team.  Show us, Lord, how best to carry our Your commission.  Teach us the tactic to employ that will work best for each of us.  Guide us as we in turn attempt to guide others back to You, so that they too might be saved.  This we pray in Your beautiful name, Lord Jesus, our Master and our Savior.  Amen.

A Right Heart

[The following is the manuscript of my sermon delivered on the 4th of October, 2015.  Today's service also included the observance of Holy Communion.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel, http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

In Psalm 51 verse 10, King David asked God to…

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God,
And renew a steadfast spirit within me.

--Psalm 51:10 (NKJV)

Today, as we prepare to approach our Lord’s table in commemoration of His Last Meal on this earth, we need to create within ourselves a right heart.  For in the very passage that institutes Holy Communion, the Apostle Paul issues a stern warning.  Listen and follow along as I read from Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verses 23 through 32, from the New King James Version of our Bible…

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” 

26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

27 Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. 29 For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. 31 For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.

--1 Corinthians 11:23-32 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  O Father who sits upon the throne of heaven, we come before You this morning to worship You and to hear what You would tell us.  Speak to us through Your Holy Spirit, touch our hearts, and show us how to be right with You.  In the blessed name of our Lord Jesus we pray.  Amen.


A lady writes:

My sister and her children moved to my city not long ago and began attending church for the first time in their lives.  They particularly loved the singing and the communion service.  One day while babysitting the kids, I fixed them their favorite lunch of burritos and apple juice.  As I left the room, I heard four-year old Alisha begin to celebrate communion with her lunch items.  She seemed to have memorized the words of institution quite well, until she came to the cup.  That’s when I heard her say, “And Jesus took the cup, and He blessed it, and He gave God thanks for it, and He said, ‘Fill it with Folgers and wake ‘em up!’”

[*Based on “The Mouth of Babes”, #120 on page 57 of 1001 Humorous Illustrations for Public Speaking. *]



You may be wondering if my forgetfulness hit high gear this week and I thought this was Christmastime, but in many ways our first hymn represents that cup of Folgers and Jesus’ cup of the New Covenant all in one.  “Joy to the World” was a special request from a very special member of this church family, and I think it is a very fitting song as we prepare for Communion.

For one, it’s a nice peppy song that should have woken everyone up, if for no other reason than you thought I’d finally gone completely crazy.  But we should approach our Lord’s table with joy, because of what He did for us.

Yes, this is the most sacred ritual we observe, and yes we should be reverent when doing so.  But we should also be joyful, for the Lord has come to intercede on our behalf!  We should be joyful to receive our King.  We should repeat the sounding joy, for He rules with truth and grace and showers us with the glories of His righteousness and the wonders of His love.  And we should each one of us prepare our hearts for Him.  We must each one be of a right heart with God before we take of the body and blood of our Savior Jesus.

Paul isn’t the only Apostle to caution us to get right with God.  Do you remember the story of Simon the magician?  He heard the disciples teaching about Jesus and saw how the people would receive the Holy Spirit after Peter and John laid hands on them and prayed over them.  And he took note of the huge crowds that they attracted.  Naturally, he wanted to get in on this and get a cut of the action.

So he went up to Peter and John and offered them money to give him the power to do what they could do, so he could transfer the Holy Spirit too.  Listen to how Peter responded, as recorded by the Apostle Luke in the Book of Acts, chapter 8, verses 20 through 22…

20 But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 21 You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you.

--Acts 8:20-22 (NKJV)

Peter told Simon that he needed to get his heart right in the sight of God by repenting of his wickedness, of his sin.  And Peter added that Simon should pray that the “thought of his heart” might be forgiven.  Remember: in God’s eyes, it doesn’t matter if we actually follow through and commit a sin, just that we thought it in our heads or felt it in our hearts – that alone makes it a sin and a disobedience of God.


In our message text this morning, in verses 27 through 29, Paul says do not eat this bread or drink of this cup in an unworthy manner, lest we risk bringing judgment upon ourselves.  If we come to this table with unclean hearts, we will be just as guilty of our Lord’s broken body and spilt blood as those who condemned Him to the cross!

And family, one of the signs of an unclean heart and an unworthy manner can be seen at the end of verse 29: “not discerning the Lord’s body”.  Now it would be real easy to skim right past that line if we don’t understand what Paul meant about discerning the Lord’s body.  We need to realize that one of the problems Paul was attempting to address in the church in Corinth was that some people, by their words and actions, were tearing the church apart rather than trying to help maintain the unity of the church, the body of our Lord on earth.

And folks, this is still a problem today, in churches all across the land, and among church members as well as the secular public.  There are people that are picking at the flesh of Jesus’ body, the church, and ripping it off in chunks.  Some are doing it on purpose while some may not even realize the impact their words and actions can have on others they share worship with each week.  They find fault with everything, they bicker and argue with each other, they don’t come into the worship service with a worshipful attitude.  They’re not discerning the body of Christ our Lord.


Of course, there’s far more to it than that - there are many other ways we displease God.  But how can we make ourselves right in God’s eyes?  Peter gives us the answer, just as he told Simon.  We need to repent of our sin and pray to God for forgiveness.  Repent – fully turn from our sin and not go back to it.  Stop doing that thing we are doing and don’t do it again.  Just as Jesus told the woman accused of adultery: go, and sin no more.

And Paul adds this, from his letter to the Romans, chapter 10 verses 9 and 10…

9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

--Romans 10:9-10 (NKJV)

We must repent of our sin, confess Jesus with our mouth, and believe with all our heart in Him and that God the Father raised Him from the dead.  The words from our mouth can carry us to salvation, or to eternal punishment.  The belief we hold in our heart can lead us to righteousness, or to ruin.  The choice really is ours – that’s what free will is all about.

The time to make that choice is right now, before we approach this table!  The time to put your heart right with God is right this very second!  As we pray, confess your sin and your belief in Jesus straight from your heart and beg for forgiveness.  If you feel the need to come to the foot of the cross before we go to the altar, then please do so.  Whatever it takes, we must have a right heart with God before we eat of the bread and drink of the cup, so that we are not deemed guilty of our Savior’s body and blood.

Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You give us every opportunity possible to get our hearts right in Your eyes.  It takes so little for us, but we seem to struggle so much in carrying it through.  We know we must repent, but some of the things we do and say have just become so much of our daily lifestyle, so much a habit, that we just can’t turn completely from them.

Father, we are weak but You are strong.  Our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak.  We know we can do all things through Jesus because He strengths us.  Give us that strength, Lord Jesus, to stand firm against Satan and all he throws at us.  Give us the strength to resist temptation.  Make us aware any time we do or say something that might tear at the fabric of Your church and give us the strength to not continue that behavior.  We want to do what is right in the eyes of our Father God, and not have to share the guilt of the breaking of Your body and the spilling of Your blood.

Hear us now, Lord, as we cry out to You silently from our hearts, aid us as we promise to repent, hear our confession of Jesus as Christ and Lord, cleanse our hearts and make us right in Your sight…

Father God, we come to the table of Your Son Jesus to observe His final meal.  We come to remember Him and the great sacrifice He made on our behalf.  We come to celebrate the New Covenant You made with us through His precious blood.  May our hearts be right with You, now and always.  This we pray in the name of Him who gave His all for us, the glorious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.  Amen.