Our New Covenant

[The following is a manuscript of my brief devotional delivered on Sunday morning, the 31st of March, 2019.  This Sunday we welcomed the Covenant Gospel Music Group of Asheboro, NC, who shared with us their ministry of beautiful music.  Look for the video on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Before we bring Covenant back up, I’d like to look just a bit at their name, at that word “covenant”.  The dictionary defines a covenant as an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified.  Call it a deal.  You do this, and in return I’ll do this.

Throughout time, God has made many covenant agreements.  He made a covenant with Noah for the benefit of all creation.  He made a covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for the benefit of His chosen people.  And He made a covenant with us, for the benefit of all mankind.

When John the Baptist was born, his father, Zacharias, spoke for God about covenants.  Please listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 1, verses 68 through 75…

68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel,
For He has visited and redeemed His people,
69 And has raised up a horn of salvation for us
In the house of His servant David,
70 As He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets,
Who have been since the world began,
71 That we should be saved from our enemies
And from the hand of all who hate us,
72 To perform the mercy promised to our fathers
And to remember His holy covenant,
73 The oath which He swore to our father Abraham:
74 To grant us that we,
Being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
Might serve Him without fear,
75 In holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life."

--Luke 1:68-75 (NKJV)

The “horn of salvation”, of course, is Jesus.  God sent us His Son Jesus to redeem us, to save us from our enemies.  Now we know who our true enemy is, if we’ve paid attention lately: it’s Satan and his forces.  And really, sometimes our biggest and toughest enemy is ourselves.

But there is one detail in this passage we would be wise to pay heed to.  The oath that God swore to Abraham and his descendants, and to all of us through Jesus, is to deliver us from our enemies so that we might serve Him without fear!  That’s our end of the covenant, to serve God in holiness and righteousness all the days of our life!


The author of the Book of Hebrews recounts the results of not living up to our end of the deal, in chapter 8, verses 7 through 9…

7 If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. 8 But when God found fault with the people, He said:

“The day is coming, says the Lord,
  when I will make a new covenant
  with the people of Israel and Judah.
9 This covenant will not be like the one
  I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
  and led them out of the land of Egypt.
They did not remain faithful to My covenant,
  so I turned my back on them, says the Lord." 

--Hebrews 8:7-9 (NLT)

The people failed to live up to their end of the covenant with God, and paid the price with their lives, and quite likely their eternal lives as well.  So another covenant was necessary, a completely new covenant unlike the first.

Although the new covenant is recorded in the Gospel accounts, I think the Apostle Paul perhaps says it best in his 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 11, verses 23 through 25…

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.”

--1 Corinthians 11:23-25 (NKJV)

When the Apostle Matthew recorded this in his Gospel account, he added Jesus saying that His blood is shed for the forgiveness of our sins.  That’s the benefit to us, if we hold up our end of this new covenant.

Remember Jesus, and all He did for us.  Believe in Him and keep His word.  All in the name of Jesus, our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

Tests and Temptations

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the 3nd Sunday morning in Lent, the 24th of March, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of this and our other services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Today is the third Sunday in the season of Lent.  This is the time of year when we believers reflect on all that Jesus suffered and endured on our behalf.  One of those points of reflection occurred in the wilderness, right after Jesus was baptized, when He fasted for 40 days and was strongly tempted by Satan.  Jesus could resist the devil’s enticing temptations, but too many times we fail when we’re put to the test.

And not just us today, we Christians.  Even God’s chosen people, the children of Israel of long ago as well as of today, fail when Satan comes testing.  More sadly still, they – and us – too often try to test God, to see just how far His love goes.  Maybe because we don’t really trust Him?

The Apostle Paul, in his 1st letter to the Corinthians, chapter 10, verses 1 through 14, tells us of some of those failures, and warns us about pushing our Lord too far.  Please listen and follow along as I read this passage from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that traveled with them, and that Rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” 8 And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing twenty-three thousand of them to die in one day.

9 Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. 13 The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure.

14 So, my dear friends, flee from the worship of idols.

--1 Corinthians 10:1-14 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, Your Son Jesus was able to resist the devil’s trials and temptations, but we are not as strong.  All too often we fail the test, we fail You.  We need Your help, Father.  We need You to put out Your hand and stop us when we begin to test our Lord Jesus.  We need You to speak to us this morning and teach us what we must understand so we can pass any test.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son Jesus.   Amen.


Several years ago at Ohio State University, nearly 1000 students filled a large lecture hall for their calculus final.  This particular professor was the pompous type, and a stickler for the rules.  During the exam he constantly shouted out how much time was left before their failure on the test was complete.  Once finished, he had the students stack their test papers on a table at the front.

One student who needed a decent grade to pass the course had a problem in that he performed poorly when rushed.  So he worked diligently and ignored all the professor's shouts and rants about not cheating and completing on time.  When time was called, all the students obediently piled their papers on the table, except this one, who kept on working.

Nearly an hour after the professor called time, the student finally finished, stood up, and headed to the table.  The professor stared at him silently as he approached, having put all the papers into neat stacks during that hour, obviously waiting so he could give the student a hard time.  Just as the student was about to place his test on top of a stack, the professor asked what he thought he was doing.  "The test ended an hour ago," he said.  "It's over and done.  You failed."

The student asked, "Do you know who I am?".  "What?", snarled the professor, now annoyed with the student.  The student rephrased his question: "Do you know my name?"  "No, of course not!", laughed the professor.

The student looked the professor straight in the eyes and replied, "I didn't think so", as he lifted half the papers off one stack, slid his paper into the center, then let the stack fall, burying his test in the middle.  Then he turned around and walked casually out of the lecture hall.


In a way, the student cheated.  Not necessarily on the exam itself, but he cheated the professor, he cheated the rules.  Unfortunately, when it comes to life, we can't cheat God.  He knows our name.

Pastor and evangelist F. B. Meyer once said that when we see a brother or sister in sin, there are two things we do not know:  First, we do not know how hard they tried not to sin.  And second, we do not know the power of the forces that assailed them.  Oh, and one other thing we do not know is what we would have done in the same circumstances.  I can’t think of a better reason why we should follow Jesus’ command to “judge not, that you not be judged”.


In our scripture reading, Paul reminds the church family in Corinth about the time when the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness after being led out of captivity in Egypt.  During this forty year trek, the people tested God often, and they paid a great price for it.  They constantly questioned why they were led out of the known into the wilderness filled with unknowns.  They complained about being taken from the comforts of captivity and left to die of starvation and thirst.  Each complaint was answered with God’s provision, but it was never good enough so still they complained.  They gave in to the temptation to build and worship a golden calf, a false idol, because they thought God had abandoned them.

Yes, Satan was testing them, but in a way, God was testing them too.  God was testing whether His people would remain faithful to Him no matter what their situation.  They failed, and paid with their lives.

Led by God’s Holy Spirit into the wilderness, Jesus was tested by Satan.  Do we test Jesus?  Do we put God to the test?  Do we understand that we are being tested too?


I want to jump ahead a little in our church calendar and look at the night before Jesus was arrested.  This would be what we observe as Maundy Thursday.  The time is immediately following our Lord’s last supper on this earth with His followers.  Please listen as I read from the Gospel account of the Apostle Luke, chapter 22, verses 39-46…

39 Coming out, He went to the Mount of Olives, as He was accustomed, and His disciples also followed Him. 40 When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.”

41 And He was withdrawn from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” 43 Then an angel appeared to Him from heaven, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.

45 When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow. 46 Then He said to them, “Why do you sleep? Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”

--Luke 22:39-46 (NKJV)

Jesus knew that we mortals are weak and subject to temptation, that we too often fail our tests.  So what does He tell us to do?  Pray.  He prayed!  Jesus felt the temptation to test God, as we can see that when He begged, “take this cup away from me”.  So He prayed.

And He told His disciples - including us - to pray so that they and we not be tempted.  Too often we are spiritually asleep, unaware of what we are doing, of what is being done.  We need to rise up and pray.  Pray for strength to resist temptation.  Pray for wisdom and discernment to do God’s will.  Pray for maturity of faith in God in all matters.  Pray that we stop before we even begin to test God or Jesus or some other person.  Pray that we pass our test.  Just pray!


Testing others is not always good.  Testing God is never good.  We ourselves are being tested, very often by Satan but sometimes even by God.  We must understand when we are testing someone else’s ability to resist temptation, and know that is not good for us to do.

We must humble ourselves and pray.  We must awake from our spiritual slumbers and pray.  Pray for God’s mercy and His help.  Just pray.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, by Your word saved for us in our holy Bibles, You teach us what we need to know to live righteously in Your eyes.  And at times You test us to see how well we have learned our lessons.  Thank You, Father, for loving us this much, that You want to make sure we know what we need to know for our own sakes.  At too many other times, Satan tests us to try to pull us away from You.  This is when we really need to understand and follow what You have taught us.  Please help us pass our tests, whether they come from You or the devil.  Help us not doubt You but trust in You fully.  Please forgive us when we grow weak or slumber and fall victim to Satan’s wiles.  Strengthen our faith that we may be ever true to You.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our sin, seeking Your forgiveness for our disobedience…

Lord Jesus, You easily resisted Satan in the wilderness when He tried to get You to worship him.  Lord, we are not that strong.  Too often we find ourselves in a wilderness of our own making and we greedily accept whatever the devil has to offer.  You tell us to wake from our slumbers and pray, pray that we not enter into temptation.  Thank You, Jesus, for giving us the means and the strength to resist if we would just ask for Your help.  Forgive us when we doubt You really will help us.  Forgive us when we refuse to even ask for help.  Forgive us when we fail our test.  Wake us from our spiritual slumber.  Help us to ever be true to You and our Father God.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord, our Master, our Savior.  Amen.

Remember the Sabbath

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the 2nd Sunday morning in Lent, the 17th of March, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of this and our other services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

The term “24/7” is probably very familiar to all of us.  It refers to some aspect of life that goes on for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Some even add “365” to the end of that, meaning that it goes on for 365 days a year.

Now no one person can really go 24/7.  We need to sleep some, to let our bodies and minds rest and recover from the day’s activities.  But with the hustle and bustle of our modern world, it seems we have less and less time for rest.

Family, this is not what God wants for us.  He wants us to rest… no, He commands us to rest!  Listen and follow along as I read what God ordered through Moses in the Book of Exodus, chapter 20 verses 8 through 11, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”

--Exodus 20:8-11 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You created us.  You know how we work, how we function.  And You know what we need.  We need food and water, we need shelter from the harsh elements, and we need rest, for our bodies and our minds and our spirits.  That’s why You don’t just ask us to rest, You command us to rest.  Speak to this morning and teach us the lesson we need to hear and understand.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son Jesus.   Amen.


Presbyterian pastor and theologian J. Vernon McGee tells the story of a man who wanted to argue about the Sabbath.  The man said to McGee, "I'll give you $100 if you will show me where the Sabbath day has been changed."  McGee answered, "I don't think it has been changed.  Saturday is Saturday, it is the seventh day of the week, and it is the Sabbath day.  I realize our calendar has been adjusted, and can be off a few days, but we won't even consider that point.  The seventh day is still Saturday, and it is still the Sabbath day."  The man got a gleam in his eye and said, "Then why don't you keep the Sabbath day if it hasn't been changed?"  McGee answered, "the day hasn't changed, but I have been changed.  I've been given a new nature now, I am joined to Christ; I am a part of the new creation.  We celebrate the first day because that is the day He rose from the grave."


We celebrate Sunday, the first day of the week, as our Sabbath because that is when Jesus rose from the grave, paving the way for us to also rise from the grave when He returns.  So I have to ask…  Do we celebrate Sunday as the Sabbath?  How do we celebrate our Sabbath, our day of rest?

Not everyone is a Christian, of course, and some folks have no choice but to work on Sundays.  But what about the rest of us?  How do we celebrate Sundays?  Christian author and speaker Karen Burton Mains asks a few questions of her own, then makes a rather pointed answer.  Mrs. Mains wrote…

“Do you rush, push, shout and become generally unpleasant on Sunday mornings?  Do you complain about church?  Are you irregular in your attendance?  Are you over-conscientious about matters that are not really important?  Do you always criticize the pastor, the choir, the length of services and the usher crew?  Then don't be surprised if your children grow up to look at Sundays as the worst day of the week.”


There are a lot of reasons for folks to miss church on any given Sunday.  Some have to work, sometimes it’s the only day a particular event is occurring, or there are times when we’re away from home and can’t attend.  But family, people are staying away from church in droves these days.  It’s a problem all over the Christian world.  It has to be more than those few things I just mentioned.  I can’t help but wonder if, as Mrs. Mains questions, we aren’t part of the problem ourselves.

How do we treat Sundays?  As a day of worship and rest, or as just another day, but one that we happen to attend church on?  Today is the 2nd Sunday in Lent, but what does Sunday really mean to us?


Now God didn’t mean for the Sabbath to be just one day of the week.  There are many instances in our Bible when the seventh time period is to be set aside for rest, such as allowing fields to lie sallow, to rest, every seventh year.  Through Moses, God established a time of solemn rest and atonement, once every seven months.  In Leviticus chapter 16, verses 30 and 31, God has Moses tell us…

30 “For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall humble yourselves. It is a statute forever.”

--Leviticus 16:30-31 (NKJV)

Our Father God is so concerned about our sins and the damage they do us, that He set apart one day for the atonement of our sins.  He set aside the tenth day of the seventh month of each year for this very purpose.  One day every seven months that we can rest before Him, humble ourselves and take seriously what He set in place for us just so we can be at one with Him.  I don’t know of anyone, myself included, that observes this day of solemn rest.


Let’s not think all this about the Sabbath is strictly Old Testament, old times, long forgotten.  Jesus often spoke of the Sabbath.  I’d like to look at just one such instance.  Please listen and follow along as I read from the Gospel account of the Apostle Mark, chapter 2 verse 23 through chapter 3 verse 5…

2:23 Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?”

25 But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: 26 how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?”

27 And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. 28 Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”

3:1 And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. 2 So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might bring charges against Him. 3 And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” 4 Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other.

--Mark 2:23-3:5 (NKJV)

In the little story I told at the start, Rev. McGee explained why we Christians choose to observe Sunday as our Sabbath.  His remarks point to what the Apostle Paul wrote in chapter 2 of his letter to the Colossians, when he said that Jesus nailed the ordinances, the letter of the law, to the cross.  The Jews of Jesus’ day idolized the law, worshiped the law more than God.  Jesus took that idolatry to the cross and left it in the grave, along with our sins.  First Jesus acknowledged what we believers today know, that He is indeed the Lord of the Sabbath.  As such, He is in the perfect position to tell us just what the Sabbath means to us.

And Jesus said that man was not created to serve the Sabbath, but that the Sabbath was made to serve man!  God gave us the Sabbath because we need it!  We need to rest, we need to humble ourselves before our Lord, we need to worship our Father God!

Now I’m not going to get into whether God really needed to rest after working six days.  I don’t care if it were really six 24-hour days, or six billion years.  Personally, I think God can do anything He wants to do in any time He wants to do it, faster than a hummingbird can flap its wings, and with no need of rest.

But we’re not God and we need our rest.  More importantly, we need to remember just who we are, what we are.  We are God’s.  He made us, He owns us, we belong to Him.  We owe Him for everything, including our very existence.  So let us humble ourselves and worship Him!

Sure, there are legitimate reasons for us to miss church every now and then.  But we can still rest, humble ourselves, and worship God even if we are not in a house of worship.  Let us remember the Sabbath that God gave us, and keep it holy.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You care so much about us and the damage that our sins do us, that You set aside one day each week for us to rest.  You set aside one day for us to remember who You are, who we are, and how much we owe You.  Thank You, Father, for giving us a Sabbath.  Please help us to keep it holy.  Help us to truly use this day for rest and for worshiping You.  Please forgive us when we let the busyness of life keep us from our time of worship and our time of fellowship with our brother and sister believers.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our sin, seeking Your forgiveness for our disobedience…

Lord Jesus, as God, You are the Lord of the Sabbath.  You are the Lord of all, including us.  You saw how man was respecting the Law more than the giver of the Law, so You reminded us that the Law and the Sabbath were created by God for our benefit, and not the other way around.  Thank You, Jesus, for showing us how to truly keep the Sabbath, how to humbly worship our Father God.  Forgive us when we refuse to stop long enough to fully rest, when we fail to give our God the respect and honor due Him.  Forgive us when we put other things and events ahead of You and God.  Please help us turn from our disobedience.  Help us remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord, our Master, our Savior.  Amen.

Of Faith and Perseverance

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on the 1st Sunday morning of Lent, the 10th of March, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of this and our other services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

James was a half-brother of Jesus.  They grew up together, played together, ate and slept together.  James watched everything that Jesus did, and everything our Lord went through.  So having seen all that his older brother endured in this life, I think James understood what it means to suffer trials, temptations, testing.

Listen and follow along as I read what James wrote in his letter to the church scattered abroad, chapter 1 verses 2 through 6, and chapter 5 verses 7 through 11, from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible…

1:2 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. 4 But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. 5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

5:7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

9 Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! 10 My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and patience. 11 Indeed we count them blessed who endure. You have heard of the perseverance of Job and seen the end intended by the Lord — that the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

--James 1:2-6, 5:7-11 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, there are times when we think we have it so tough, but when we remember all that Jesus went through, we realize we have not suffered anything like He did.  Father, Your Son set the example for us of how to persevere in the face of trying times.  Please forgive us when we forget all Jesus went through, what He withstood just for us.  Help us, please Father, to strengthen our faith through perseverance.  Speak to our hearts and our minds this morning and imprint upon them the message we need to understand.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son Jesus.   Amen.


One day evangelist George Muller [pron. "Mule-er"] began praying for five of his friends.  After many months, one of them came to the Lord.  Ten years later, two others were converted.  It took 25 years before the fourth man was saved.  Muller persevered in prayer until his death for the fifth friend, and throughout those 52 years he never gave up hoping that he would accept Christ!  His faith was rewarded, for soon after Muller's funeral the last one was saved.


When we pray for a friend or loved one, how quickly do we expect to see results?  If we don’t see action within, say, a few months, do we begin to suspect that this just wasn’t in God’s plan?  After 10 years, 25 years, let alone after 52 years, do we even still remember praying?

This story reminds us that all things must happen in God’s time, not ours.  We can lift up our prayers, but then we must be patient for God’s answer.  As in the case of Rev. Muller’s fifth friend, that answer might not even come within our lifetime.  Just as a farmer plants his seed and then must wait for it to bear fruit in due season, so must we wait for God to act in His due season.


Today is the first Sunday in Lent, the season when we reflect on all that Jesus suffered for our sakes.  Both the Apostle Paul and the author of the letter to the Hebrews compared the Christian walk to a race, a race to be run, a race to be won.  But they stressed that this race is more of a marathon than a sprint.  We have to be in this for the long haul, not the short term.  We can’t be good Christians long enough to secure our salvation and then go back to business as usual.

For one thing, Jesus tells us our freedom from eternal death is not a license to sin.  But when we do remain faithful and true to Christ, then the devil will get more and more aggressive in his attempts to pulls us away from Jesus, to pull us back into the world.

And this is where we need to persevere.  This is when we need to be prepared and willing to endure all manner of trials and testing, of temptations from Satan.  If the evil one had the nerve to try the Son of God, is he likely to leave us alone?

In the 4th chapter of the Apostle Matthew’s Gospel account, verses 1 and 2, we are told…

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

--Matthew 4:1-2 (NKJV)

Forty days and nights of fasting, and then some very tempting offers from Satan.  “You’re hungry?  Turn that rock into bread and eat.”  “Prove You’re God by jumping off that tall building and let the angels catch You.”  “Worship me, and I’ll give You anything and everything the world can offer.”

Those are just the three biggies Matthew recorded for us, but I wonder how many people could have resisted that last one.  Much less fasting for 40 days.  We aren’t willing to endure that much for God.  We don’t have the will to persevere.


Even a quick glance through the New Testament of our Bible will show that Paul was no stranger to trials and suffering.  Arrests, plots on his life, beatings, shipwrecks…  Paul endured much in service to Christ Jesus.  Hear what he wrote to the Corinthians in his 2nd letter, chapter 12, verses 7 through 10…

7 And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. 8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

--2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NKJV)

As if he hadn’t suffered enough, Paul was afflicted with some infirmity that he also had to endure.  After praying that this “thorn in the flesh” be removed, God answered his prayer, not by healing Paul, but by showing him that God’s grace was sufficient for any imperfection, for any weakness.  Paul realized that his faith in God, even in his own weakness, proves the strength of God.

To remain faithful even when we have no discernable reason to be, shows just how powerful the One we have faith in truly is.  Paul even went so far as to say that he took pleasure in infirmities, in afflictions, in trials and tribulations, because he was doing so for Christ’s sake, in Christ’s service.


Paul understood the Christian life is a marathon.  He knew we would have to endure a lot, just as he suffered a lot.  James saw the living example of enduring great suffering, the example set by his own brother, Jesus.  Paul took pleasure from his suffering.  James tells us to count it as joy when trials befall us.  Because the testing of our faith produces patience.

Our faith gives us perseverance, and perseverance strengthens our faith.  And we must persevere, at least for now, until the return of our Lord.  When Jesus comes again, He’ll set things right.  For us - His followers, His believers - our suffering will be over.  Our perseverance and endurance will pay off on that day, our reward in heaven.


Our Lord is very compassionate and merciful.  So let us have no doubts, let us endure in our faith, let us persevere through our trials.  For the coming of our Lord is at hand.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, only You know the time when You will send Your Son back to earth take His church home.  Thank You, Father, for giving us faith that we might be part of that church and its homecoming.  Please help us persevere against Satan’s trials and endure until the very end.  Please forgive us when we are weak, when we have doubts, when we are impatient.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our sin, seeking Your forgiveness for our disobedience…

Lord Jesus, You set the example for how we should live our lives.  You endure so much, yet You persevered through it all.  Thank You, Jesus, for giving Your all for us.  Forgive us when we fail to wait patiently for You and God to act.  Forgive us when we grow weary, when we lose our will to resist Satan.  Please help us gladly suffer through our trials, knowing our reward in heaven awaits us.  Help us remain faithful to the end.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord, our Master, our Savior.  Amen.

God's Love

[The following is a manuscript of the meditation delivered Ash Wednesday evening, the 6th of March, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of this and our other services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Our Bible tells us of a city where a great work was done because the people repented.  God loved the people of this city, even though He knew of their great wickedness.  They sinned against God and against their fellow man, both in the communities around them and even among their own.  God decided to destroy them, but not before giving them just one more chance.

Listen and follow along to a story of redemption as told in his own words by Jonah in his book of prophecy, chapter 1 verses 1 and 2, and chapter 3 verses 1 through 10…

1:1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry out against it; for their wickedness has come up before Me.”

3:1 Now the word of the Lord came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and preach to it the message that I tell you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three-day journey in extent. 4 And Jonah began to enter the city on the first day’s walk. Then he cried out and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

5 So the people of Nineveh believed God, proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then word came to the king of Nineveh; and he arose from his throne and laid aside his robe, covered himself with sackcloth and sat in ashes. 7 And he caused it to be proclaimed and published throughout Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying,

Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything; do not let them eat, or drink water. 8 But let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily to God; yes, let every one turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. 9 Who can tell if God will turn and relent, and turn away from His fierce anger, so that we may not perish?

10 Then God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way; and God relented from the disaster that He had said He would bring upon them, and He did not do it.

--Jonah 1:1-2, 3:1-10 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You loved the people of Nineveh even though they sinned.  And we know You love us, even though we sin.  The people of Nineveh repented and turned from their wicked ways, and You relented.  You stayed Your fierce anger so that they would not perish.  You forgave them and saved them.  Father, help us be as the Ninevites.  Help us turn from our sinful ways and give ourselves fully to You.  Forgive us and save us, please, O merciful God.  In the name of Your Son Jesus we pray.  Amen.


We all know the story of Jonah and the large fish, or the “whale” as we mistakenly call it.  But do we ever think of this as a love story?

God shows His love first to Jonah and then to Nineveh.  He told Jonah to go to Nineveh and warn them that if they did not repent of their wickedness, He would utterly destroy them.  Their fate would have matched that of Sodom.  Jonah knew in his heart that if the people of Nineveh did repent, then God would spare them.  But Jonah hated Nineveh and wanted to see them destroyed, so He disobeyed God and ran away.

God loved Jonah, so He gave him another chance to do the right thing.  Sure, being swallowed up by a great fish and spending three days in its belly would not exactly be a relaxing vacation at sea.  But God could just as easily have struck him dead on the spot.  Instead, God showed His love and mercy and spared Jonah, who still reluctantly carried out his mission.  And just as Jonah feared, the Ninevites repented and turned from their lives of sin.


Now, what to us may seem the most amazing in this story is that the leader of Nineveh, their king, was the first to repent!  He even ordered his people to do likewise, and not only the people but also their beasts and herds and flocks.  And, amazingly again, the people did just as they were ordered!

Nineveh was more than just an ordinary city.  It was more a city-state, an important cultural and commercial center.  Think of New York City or Los Angeles and that would be close to the general idea of Nineveh.  And now think of what the reaction of the citizens of New York City would be if the mayor decreed that every man, woman, child, and animal in the city would repent of their wickedness and turn to God.  I bet we could hear the laughter from here.  Shoot, even the mayor of Lexington would be laughed out of office if he tried such a thing.  But the people of Nineveh listened, and obeyed.  They repented, and were saved.


If the leaders of New York or Los Angeles or Lexington won’t openly repent and order they people to repent, then what chance to we have to be saved?  What of the people of Greensboro, of Raleigh, of Charlotte?  What about the leaders and citizens of Paris, of London, of Moscow, of Saudi Arabia?  What chance do any of us have?

Well, the answer is simple:  God loves us.  He loves us so much, the same way He loved Nineveh.  Just as He sent Jonah into Nineveh to warn its people, God sent His own Son into this world to warn us, to call us to repentance.  God loves us so much He sent His Son to serve as a sacrifice for our sins, that we might be forgiven.  Jesus carried our sins to the cross, and then to the grave, where He left them when He rose again to life.  Because of God’s love and the precious blood of Jesus, we are washed clean and saved.

But we must not return to our wicked ways.  We must not continue to sin, just because we are saved.  We must turn completely from our disobedience to God, giving ourselves wholly to Him.


Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, when we, at least symbolically, cover ourselves in sackcloth and sit in ashes, just as did the king of Nineveh.  We do so as an acknowledgment and confession of our sins and disobedience, as a sign of our repentance and a reflection on our own mortality.  Many will leave their churches tonight with the sign of the cross marked in ashes upon their foreheads or the backs of their hands.  And then they’ll go home and wash them off with only a few, if any, having seen them.

But there should be more to Lent than wearing ashes for a few minutes on a Wednesday night.  This is a time when we should seek to grow closer to our Lord Jesus by trying to experience some small measure of what He went through while He walked this earth.  Ash Wednesday kicks off our observance of the journey Jesus made starting with His 40 days of temptation by Satan in the wilderness and ending at the cross on Good Friday.

The ashes serve as a sign of our own mortality.  In the Book of Genesis, God reminds Adam and Eve that they were formed from dust and to dust they will return.  Ashes are a form of dust.  A piece of paper, a chunk of wood, a frond from last year’s Palm Sunday service… when anything is completely burned and consumed by fire, it undergoes a total metamorphosis, a full change.  It becomes something new, something we call ashes.

In his 2nd letter to the church in Corinth, chapter 5 verse 17, the Apostle Paul tells us…

17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.

--2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

Ashes are the new thing something burned has become once it passes away in fire.  The ashes speak of our restoration in righteousness by the sacrifice of our Lord, of our new life in Christ Jesus.

But I think the most important point the ashes make is as an external sign of our internal confession and repentance.  For instance, when I decided to be baptized as an adult, it was an outward sign of my inward acceptance of Jesus as my Lord and Master.  You can’t see into my soul, but you could have seen me getting sprinkled one time or dunked in the water the second time, and many people did.

The ashes of Ash Wednesday are kind of like my baptisms.  We can’t peer into a person’s heart to see if they are truly repenting of their sins.  If they are wearing the ashes, it is an outward expression of their internal turning from sin.  This is strongly evidenced in our Bible, where ashes are often associated with mourning and grief.  If I sin and I know I have sinned and I truly regret my sin, don’t I feel a measure of grief?  Don’t I mourn that loss of righteousness my sin caused me?

In many Biblical passages, most frequently in the Old Testament, people would express their repentance by sprinkling ashes over their heads, by sitting in ashes or rolling around in them, even sometimes by mixing ashes in with their food or drink.  In our scripture reading, the king of Nineveh covered himself in sackcloth and sat in ashes.  In this he outwardly and inwardly recognized and confessed his wickedness and disobedience, and that of his people.  And by God’s love and mercy, he and his people were saved from destruction.

By following the king’s example, externally and especially internally, we too will be forgiven and saved.  Our need is not to don sackcloth robes and sit in ashes, but to confess and repent of our sin.  Sackcloth and ashes are merely an outward sign of what we must feel inside, in our hearts.

But what good is a sign if no one sees it?  How helpful would it be for others, especially non-believers, if only a few, if any, take note of the sign and understand what it is trying to say?  How useful are ashes worn on the forehead or hand when they are washed off shortly after being applied?  Worse yet, what if the ashes are only being worn because everyone else is wearing them?  What if the outward sign is really only a mask, hiding the true spirit of an unrepentant heart?

The people of the Old and New Testament times understood what the ashes represented.  And some do today.  But many more have no clue.  They probably wonder why some people are going around with dirt on their foreheads.  What is applied in the form of the cross quickly becomes an oily smudge.  We could take the time to explain it to them, if they asked.  We could tell them what the ashes mean to us, what Jesus means to us, what repenting means to us.  If they asked, and if we shared with them our witness, it just might put them on the road that leads to salvation by accepting Jesus as their Lord.  But they’ll never have the chance, if they don’t see the ashes.


Tonight, I don’t have ashes to give you.  Instead, I have a small symbol of God’s love.  It is a little heart you can carry in your pocket or purse.  It is a little heart formed by bending a nail, similar to the type used to hang Jesus from the cross.  God loves us so much that He gave us His own heart, His own Son.

Carry this little heart with you all the time.  Maybe you’ll have a chance to show it to someone, to tell them how much God loves you, how much God loves them.  Give something up for Lent, something meaningful, in remembrance of Jesus giving up everything for us.  Let us confess our disobedience to God and repent of our sin, so that the sacrifice Jesus made will have meaning.

In the name of our Master and Savior, Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You created us from the dust of this earth, and someday to dust we will return.  But while we breathe, may we live holy lives, always remembering the sacrifice Your Son Jesus made on our behalf.  May we observe this season of Lent by examining ourselves, by confessing and truly repenting of our disobedience and sin, by prayer and fasting, by works of love and service, and by reading and meditating upon Your word.  We repent in sackcloth and ashes, O Lord, and seek Your forgiveness.  This we pray in the blessed name of Jesus our Christ, who gave His all for us.  Amen.

Of Faith, Our Shield

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Transfiguration Sunday morning, the 3rd of March, 2019 at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Look for the video of this and our other services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Who among us has not had to face a situation we just didn’t feel we could stand up to?  Who hasn’t fought a battle we didn’t think we could win?  Whether it’s with the insurance company trying to get them to pay for an expensive medical procedure, or the auto dealership refusing to do warranty work, or enduring the loss of a loved one, I’m willing to bet most if not all of us have fought what seemed to be unwinnable wars.

The Apostle Paul could sympathize with us.  He knew all about situations like that.  But he also knew what we are truly facing in times like those.

Listen and follow along as I read what Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, chapter 6, verses 10 through 20, from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…

10 Finally, my brothers, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. 11 Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having your waist girded with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 having your feet fitted with the readiness of the gospel of peace, 16 and above all, taking the shield of faith, with which you will be able to extinguish all the fiery arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

18 Pray in the Spirit always with all kinds of prayer and supplication. To that end be alert with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints. 19 Pray for me, that the power to speak may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak.

--Ephesians 6:10-20 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, You provide what we need for those times we face our true enemy: Satan.  You equip us for battle, You steady us to stand in our fight.  Please see us through those tough times.  Help us, please Father, to stand and resist when we want to turn and run.  Help us to understand who our enemy really is.  Speak to our hearts and our minds this morning and imprint upon them the message we need to know.  This we pray in the blessed name of Your Son Jesus.   Amen.


That great philosopher Abigail Van Buren once said:  “People who fight fire with fire usually end up with ashes.”

And then there’s the story of two battleships that met in the night and began to attack each other.  In the conflict, a number of crewmen were severely wounded, and both vessels were damaged.  As daylight broke, the sailors on the ships discovered to their amazement that both vessels flew the English flag.  Many years earlier, just before the battle of Trafalgar in 1805, the British naval hero Lord Nelson learned that an admiral and a captain in his fleet were not on good terms.  Sending for the two men, he placed the hands of the admiral and the captain together.  Then, looking them both in the face, he said, "Look - yonder is the enemy!"


Too many times, I think we’re trying to fight fire with fire.  We end up in ashes, doing damage to each other, causing harm and injury to the ones who are not really our enemy.

In our scripture reading, Paul tells us that our fight is not against flesh and blood.  Our enemy is not our fellow man, no matter how much we may battle them, hate them, wish them harm.  Our real enemy, our only true enemy, is Satan, who uses those other people to do his dirty work.

Satan and his spiritual demons are the enemy, and no earthly weapon can touch them.  Fighting fire with fire won’t work.  Two wrongs don’t make a right.  What works is prayer, prayer to God and His Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is our only offensive weapon, the only sword that can affect Satan.


Like I said, Paul knew all about tough times.  It is most likely that he wrote this letter to the Ephesians while he was under house arrest in Rome.  During that period, he would have been surrounded by Roman soldiers wearing their boots and armor, carrying their swords in their thick belts, their shields ever at the ready.  Paul used these terms for a soldier’s offensive and defensive weapons to describe the equipment God provides us for our battles.

But the first thing Paul says in our scripture, before describing how to prepare ourselves for battle, is to be strong in the Lord.  Be strong in the Lord and trust in the power of His might.  When we think we aren’t strong enough, when we’re feeling weak, we can turn to our Lord for His strength.  He is our strength and there is none stronger.

King David agrees.  In his 18th Psalm, verses 1 and 2, David says…

1 I will love You, O Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my rock, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the strength of my salvation, my stronghold.

--Psalm 18:1-2 (NKJV)

The Lord is our strength, our rock, our fortress.  And He will deliver us, save us, in our battles.

Paul also tells us that Christ Jesus not only is our strength, He gives us strength, too.  In his letter to the Philippians, chapter 4 verses 12 and 13, Paul writes…

12 I know how to live humbly, and I know how to live in prosperity. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

--Philippians 4:12-13 (NKJV)

Verse 13 is my personal assurance.  I can face up to anything, because it is Christ Jesus who strengthens me.  Family, we don’t have to rely on our own strength to get through things.  We can turn to Jesus for His strength.

Paul talks about living by humble means and living in prosperity, about being full and going hungry, about enjoying an abundance and suffering need.  In other words, he’s been through it all, just as has most of us.  But I dare say none of us will have to endure all that Paul suffered.  So if he could find strength in the Lord, can’t we?  If he turned to Jesus for help and strength, shouldn’t we?


Today is Transfiguration Sunday, when we celebrate the day that God revealed the glory of His Son Jesus upon the mountain top.   This occurred right before our Lord and His disciples made the trip into Jerusalem that led to the cross.  As the glory of God shown on and around Him, Jesus set His countenance for what He knew lay before Him.  He steeled Himself for a battle none of us will ever have to fight – He fought it for us.  Jesus took His strength from His Father God and God’s Holy Spirit, and so can we.  We have that same Holy Spirit living within us, strengthening us, guiding us, shielding us.

Family, our faith is our shield.  Let us gird ourselves with the truth, arm ourselves with the word of God, His word in our Holy Bible.  Let our Lord be our strength, our rock, our stronghold.

Our fight is not against the insurance company or the car dealership.  Our enemy is not some foreign country nor radical extremists.  Our battle is with Satan and his minions.  Spiritual warfare rages around us.  Stand and resist evil.  Speak boldly the Good News, the Gospel of Jesus.  Be strong in the Lord, and the power of His might.

In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Amen.


Let us pray…  Father God, You know who our true enemy is, and You have prepared us for him.  Thank You, Father, for equipping us for spiritual warfare.  Please help us understand our battle is not with other people, but with Satan and his forces of evil.  Strengthen us and embolden us to carry out the work of Jesus that He assigned us.  Please forgive us when we let fear or weakness of spirit keep us from doing what we know we should do.

Please hear us now, Father, as we come to You in the silence, speaking from our hearts, promising to turn from our sin, seeking Your forgiveness for our disobedience…

Lord Jesus, You knew Your fate.  You knew what You had to do for our salvation from our own sin.  Thank You, Jesus, for fighting our battle.  Forgive us when we fail to stand strong in our faith as the spiritual war is waged around us.  Forgive us when we pick fights with those we think are our enemy, forgetting just who our true enemy really is.  Please strengthen us, guard us, shield us in this fight.  Help us to stand firm in our resolve, in our faith, that we may boldly speak for You and the truth of God’s word.

This we pray in Your glorious name, Christ Jesus our Lord, our Master, our Savior.  Amen.