Saints and Sinners

[The following is a manuscript of my brief devotional delivered prior to our sing-along service on Sunday, the 31st of October, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Today, October the 31st, is Halloween.  That word, Halloween, is a contraction of All Hallows’ Evening, or All Hallows’ Eve.   And All Hallows’ Eve is the night before All Hallows’ Day, or All Saints Day.  All Saints Day is the time when the Christian church remembers and honors the saints, and especially those who were martyred for their belief in Jesus.  Here in America, the fun of Halloween has eclipsed the solemnity of All Saints Day, but I do think it is important for us to remember our saints, and to pay honor to believers everywhere.

Please listen and follow along as I read from the Apostle John’s Book of the Revelation of Jesus, of a time yet to come.  I’ll start in chapter 8 verses 1 through 5 reading from the English Standard Version of our Holy Bible, and then I’ll be switching over to the New King James Version for chapter 21 verses 1 through 8…

8:1 When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. 2 Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. 3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne, 4 and the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. 5 Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth, and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.”

6 And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”

--Revelation 8:1-5 (ESV); 21:1-8 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, we are here to worship You.  May the words and songs from our mouths and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.  Amen.

I love that imagery from chapter 8 verse 4 of the smoke of the incense and the prayers of the saints rising up before God on His throne.  In chapter 21 verse 7 God promises that those saints will inherit all things, everything there is.  He freely offers eternal life to those who will accept His Son, but the fate of the unbelievers, the evil-doers, is not so pleasant.  The cowardly, unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars will perish in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, the second death, there alongside Satan and the beast.

On Halloween, it has become popular tradition to dress up like some of those in verse 8 that we are told will be condemned.  Sure, it’s all in fun, a little escapism for the kids and an excuse to gather in bunches of candy.  But we need to teach the children about the real and eternal peril of being a true, unrepentant sinner.  And tomorrow, All Saints Day, would be a good time to start.  They need to know the truth, so that when it comes times for them to choose whether to support Satan or work for Jesus, they’ll choose to be saints.

Actually, there are plenty of adults out there we could help in this regard, too.  So let’s share what God has to say about the fates of saints and sinners.  And maybe we can make a huge difference in someone’s life.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for letting us know exactly what we have to look forward to, whether we be counted among the saints or the sinners at the last.  Thank You for telling us of what is to come so that we can make the right decisions now while there is still time.  Sometimes we let ourselves get caught up in whatever popular craze is current and we forget about Your timeless truth.  Please, Father, help us be more obedient.  Help us strive to be saintly in all our endeavors.  And give us the strength and courage to share Your word with others.  All this we pray in the blessed name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Pray for Everyone

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday, the 24th of October, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Family, I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that I hold prayer to be very important in our worship life.  It is our personal time that we choose to spend with God, and it is precious to Him.  We don’t pray to let God know what’s going on in our lives, because He already knows.  We pray because it is our way of talking to Him, and listening for His reply.  We pray because it reaffirms to ourselves our complete and total dependence on God and His goodness.  We pray because we love Him.

Prayer was important to Jesus, too, and He prayed often, even though He was God in the flesh, the Son praying to His Father.  Prayer was also very important to the Apostle Paul, who frequently encourages us to pray in his letters.  Please listen and follow along to one such time Paul wrote about prayer, this in his 1st letter to his young protégé Timothy.  I’ll be reading verses 12 through 17 from chapter 1 and verses 1 through 7 from chapter 2, and all from the Modern English Version of our Holy Bible…

1:12 I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful and appointed me to the ministry. 13 I was previously a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and an insolent man. But I was shown mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. 14 The grace of our Lord overflowed with the faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

15 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the worst. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, first, Jesus Christ might show all patience, as an example to those who were to believe in Him for eternal life. 17 Now to the eternal, immortal, invisible King, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever. Amen.

2:1 Therefore I exhort first of all that you make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for everyone, 2 for kings and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceful life in all godliness and honesty, 3 for this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 There is one God and one mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, 6 who gave Himself as a ransom for all. This was the testimony given at the proper time. 7 For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I speak the truth in Christ and do not lie), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

--1 Timothy 1:12-17, 2:1-7 (MEV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for having mercy on us miserable sinners.  Only by Your grace and the sacrifice of Your Son Jesus might we be saved if we accept Jesus as Lord.  Thank You, Father, for loving us so much.  Please help us stay true in our faith.  Help us be an example to others of what Your love can do in a life, of how much Jesus means to us all.  Help us to seek to serve rather than to be served.  And help us to do as You will and not just what we want to do.  Please keep us strong in our faith and of one purpose in our service to Christ Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who do his bidding.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  Please hear our prayers and impress upon us the importance of praying for all others.  Help us show that much love.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.   Amen.

William Barclay, in his book, Prodigals and Those Who Love, informs us that "when we pray, we must remember the love of God that wants the best for us, the wisdom of God that knows what is best for us, and the power of God that can accomplish it."

Over 100 years ago, author and clergyman E. M. Bounds noted that, "What the Church needs today is not more or better machinery, not new organizations or more novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use -- men of prayer, men mighty in prayer."  And family, this still holds true today.

Australian evangelist and author Sidlow Baxter reminds us that, "Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons -- but they are helpless against our prayers."

It is said that Martin Luther had a puppy that would sit by the table, looking for a morsel from his master, watching intently with open mouth and motionless eyes.  This scene led Luther to remark, "Oh, if I could only pray the way this dog watches the meat!  All his thoughts are concentrated on the piece of meat.  Otherwise he has no thought, wish, or hope."

This is how we should pray, focused only on God and the things of heaven, with no other thought, wish, or hope than to serve our Lord

While the first part of our scripture reading, from chapter 1, doesn’t directly address praying, I think we can hear Paul’s prayer of thanksgiving to God in it.  Paul is thankful to Jesus, for enabling him and strengthening him and appointing him to the ministry.  And he is thankful to God, who showed him great mercy, even as he described himself as the worst sinner of all.

Paul notes that he was shown mercy because everything he did before was done in ignorance and unbelief.  And family, we have been shown mercy also, for those acts done before we came to know Jesus and the truth.  But now that we do know, and now that we have pledged ourselves to Jesus as our Lord, we must be very careful not to return to those earlier sinful ways.  We must stay true and faithful, for, like Paul, we received mercy so that we might be seen by others as an example of the patience of Jesus, that all might believe in Him and be saved.

We can only serve as an example of Jesus’ love if we show that love to everyone we encounter in our daily walk upon this earth.  And how can we show the love of Jesus other than by doing the same things He did, by helping others in their time of need?  Please listen to what Paul wrote to the church in Thessalonica, in his 1st letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 5, verses 14 through 18…

14 Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. 15 See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.

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

--1 Thessalonians 5:14-18 (NKJV)

These are just some of the acts of love and kindness Jesus carried out during His mortal life, and we are certainly capable of performing them, too.  We may not be able to cure the lame, but we can comfort the fainthearted.  We can’t bring the dead back to life, but we can help out the weak and be patient with others.  Rejoicing always and giving thanks in all things should be easy enough for us who have been given so much.  And more in line with our topic, Paul also admonishes us to pray without ceasing.

Now that doesn’t mean that we must be in prayer every single second of every minute of every hour of every day, and on and on.  It would be great if we could do that, but we do need to take a break every now and then to eat and sleep.  No, what Paul means is that we must not stop praying.  Even if it seems to be taking forever for something to happen, even if what we are asking for doesn’t occur, even if it seems to us that God isn’t listening, we must not give up and stop praying to Him.

God does listen, and He does answer our prayers, but He does what He knows is best for us, for all of us.  I used to hate it in the corporate world when I’d question a management decision only to be told I didn’t see “the big picture”.  Well, we don’t!  But God does.  God knows what is best and He promises to make all things work together for good to those who love Him and are called to His purpose.  Just keep praying… keep praying.

And this brings us back to the second part of our scripture reading where Paul exhorts us to pray.  He encourages us to make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings for everyone.  For everyone – not just those we love, not just those like us, not just other believers, but for everyone.

A supplication is a humble prayer, a plea.  An intersession is similar, but usually a prayer for another person rather than ourselves, such as praying that God intercede in the life of another and help them.

Most interesting of these, perhaps, is a prayer of thanksgiving for others.  I believe there are two facets to this.  One is in giving God thanks for something good He has done for them, thanking God for them just in case they didn’t stop to do so.  And the other aspect is thanking God for them, for something that they have done, for Him placing them in our life.  This can be tough, especially if they hate us and wish to do us harm.  Yet we need to find something in them, or something in our interactions with them, or something that they have caused, just something to give God thanks for.  Just pray for them.  Pray for everyone.

Paul gives us a couple valid reasons for why we should pray for all others.  For one, it can make life better for us.  He specifically cites kings and those in places of authority as being good to pray for.  And the reason is obvious.  If those folk are well taken care of and happy, then we should be allowed to enjoy a little peace and quiet ourselves.  This is indeed a practical reason to pray for them.

But the real meat of the matter is that praying for everyone is good and acceptable behavior in the sight of God, our Savior.  God wants everyone to be saved.  That’s why He sent His only Son to earth, to be sacrificed on a cross for our sake, for our salvation.  Jesus is our only way to God, our only mediator between us and God.  And Jesus gave Himself as a ransom for all, for everyone.

God wants us to pray.  He enjoys it when we spend a little time with Him.  And it’s OK to ask Him for help for ourselves and our loved ones.  It’s OK to plead with Him to intercede in the lives of those close to us, or for those we’ve been asked to pray for.  God expects that.  After all, it shows that we love those folks, when we ask Him to help them.  But Jesus tells us to love all others, and Paul encourages us to pray for everyone.

We should pray for everyone, those that we love and that love us, and even those that hate us.  We should pray for those in positions of authority, and for those who have no authority at all.  Pray for our kinfolk, pray for the strangers.  Pray for the lost, pray for those who have rejected Jesus, that they might yet come to know Him as Lord and be saved.

Pray for everyone, for it is good and acceptable in God’s sight to do so.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for listening to our prayers.  We don’t always understand why some things happen the way they do, but we know that You only want what is best for us and work things in that way.  Thank You, Father, for blessing us with Your great love and mercy.  Please help us to be more true and faithful in our prayer life.  Sometimes, Father, we get too caught up in the busyness of life and we don’t pause long enough to spend time with You in prayer.  Sometimes there are people we just don’t want to pray for, that we don’t want You to help.  Please forgive us those times.  Help us be humble in our requests.  Remind us that You love all of us and want all of us to be saved.  Help us see some good in all people, and to show them Your love in all things.  Encourage us and strengthen us as we strive to carry on the work of our Lord.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You came to earth as one of us, and offered Yourself for all of us, that we might believe in You and accept You as Lord and receive eternal life with God in heaven.  You came that all might be saved, and You show great patience even to us poor sinners.  Thank You, Jesus, for loving us all this much.  Lord, we ask You to help us be a better example of Your love.  Help us show others what it means to believe in You, to accept You as Lord, to carry out Your work.  Help others see You in us, in our actions, in our love.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love to everyone who crosses our path.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Open and Laid Bare

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday, the 17th of October, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

It’s relative easy to fool someone, or to be fooled ourselves.  Some people are just very good at making up a story, and we tend to be trusting of others, at least up to a point.  If we make up a story and tell it often enough, we’ll get good at it and folks will believe it if they have no other reason not to.  After a while, we may even start believing it ourselves.  Yes, we can even fool ourselves.

Some folk may be fooling themselves when they say they believe in Jesus and follow Him, obeying His commands, when in fact they really don’t.  While we humans can usually get away with fooling each other, there are serious consequences for unbelief, for not truly believing in and following Jesus as Lord.  We touched on this a few weeks back, when we learned we will not be allowed to enter into God’s rest if we disobey Him and don’t accept His Son.  But since God is a loving and merciful God, there is remedy, a cure for unbelief.

Please listen and follow along to the message the author of the Book of Hebrews wrote in that letter to the early Jewish converts.  I’ll be reading verses 12 through 16 of Hebrews chapter 4 from the New American Standard Bible…

12 For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, even penetrating as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we must answer.

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things just as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help at the time of our need.

--Hebrews 4:12-16 (NASB)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for Your word.  Your word slices through any falsehoods and cover-ups, cutting straight to our hearts.  Thank You, Father, for Your loving mercy, for always giving us a remedy for when our belief falters and weakens.  Please help us understand that we cannot hide from You.  Nothing escapes Your view, nothing can be covered so that You cannot see it.  Help us see ourselves as You see us.  And help us to do as You will and not just what we want to do or are comfortable doing.  Please keep us strong in our faith and of one purpose in our service to Christ Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who blindly do his work for him.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  Show us our failings.  Lay bare to us those areas in our lives and our deeds and our words that are not pleasing to You.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.   Amen.

The man huddled on the cabin floor was slowly freezing to death.  It was high in the Rockies in southwestern Alberta, Canada, and outside a blizzard raged.  John Elliott had logged miles through the deep snows of the mountain passes that day checking for avalanches.  As dusk and exhaustion overcame him, he had decided to hole-up for the night.  He made it wearily to his cabin but somewhat dazed with fatigue, he did not light a fire or remove his wet clothing.  As the blizzard blasted through the cracks in the old cabin walls, the sleeping forest ranger sank into oblivion, paralyzed by the storm's icy caress.  Suddenly, his St. Bernard dog sprang into action, and with unrelenting whines finally managed to rouse his near-comatose friend.  "If that dog hadn't been with me, I'd be dead today," John Elliott says. "When you're freezing to death you actually feel warm all over, and don't wake up because it feels too good."

I believe this story illustrates the spiritual condition of too many people today.  They are cold spiritually, and sadly they are oblivious of their true condition.  But God sends His “messengers” to nudge such sleepers awake.  Sometimes the methods used are drastic, but always for the person's good.  God does not shake us because He hates us.  Our heavenly Father awakens us from our lethargy because He loves us, and wants to save us from eternal death.

In his letter to those early Jewish converts to Christianity, our author says that the word of God is able to cut through all the clutter in our lives, slice away any pretense we might erect, and judge the very thoughts and intentions of our hearts.  Now we know our heart is merely a muscle that pumps blood throughout our bodies, but we use that word to denote so much more than mere physiology.  The word "heart" is used in scripture as the most comprehensive term for the authentic person.  It is that part of our being where we desire, we deliberate, and we decide, often by flipping an invisible coin.

Joseph Stowell, in his book Fan The Flame, described the heart as "the place of conscious and decisive spiritual activity, the person as a whole: his feelings, desires, passions, thought, understanding and will, the center of a person, the place to which God turns".  And our author of the letter to the Hebrews would add that it is open and laid bare to God.

No matter what we might say, no matter the stories we may tell, no matter what we may even think, the truth of us is in our hearts, and God, who will judge us, can see that truth.  King David attests to this in his 7th Psalm, verses 8 through 10, when he writes…

8 The Lord shall judge the peoples;

Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness,

And according to my integrity within me.

9 Oh, let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end,

But establish the just;

For the righteous God tests the hearts and minds.

10 My defense is of God,

Who saves the upright in heart.

--Psalm 7:8-10 (NKJV)

I think most of us would pray, “O Lord, please let the wickedness of the wicked come to an end.”  We’re tired of seeing and experiencing all the evil in this world.  This idea is certainly nothing new.  David felt this way, and we can see it in the future, as reported by the Apostle John in his Book of Revelation, when the saints in heaven plead with God for His vengeance, to put an end to the evil of the world.

But in the same breath of asking that the wicked be dealt with, we ask that the just and the upright in heart be upheld and saved.  The truth of us – whether good or evil - is in our hearts, where God can clearly see.

Like I mentioned earlier, we can easily fool one another, and sometimes even ourselves.  If deceit is in our heart, we can hide the truth from prying eyes.  Well, from human eyes, that is.  The prophet Jeremiah speaks for God when, in chapter 17 verses 9 and 10 of his book of prophecy, God says…

9 "The heart is more deceitful than all things

and desperately wicked;

who can understand it?

10 I, the Lord, search the heart,

I test the mind,

even to give to every man according to his ways,

and according to the fruit of his deeds."

--Jeremiah 17:9-10 (MEV)

The Lord looks straight into our hearts, searching there for the truth of us.  And we are judged by what He finds there, with each of us receiving our just due, according to our ways and the fruits of our deeds, whether for good or evil.

We can deceive others.  We can deceive ourselves.  We cannot deceive God.  No creature is hidden from His sight.  All things are open and laid bare to Him whom we must answer.

Now while our author warns that nothing can be hidden from God - no deed, nor thought, nor even intention – he does offer a remedy for our disobedience.  Jesus is our remedy.  In Jesus we have a great High Priest, one who came down from and then returned to heaven.

We must hold firmly to our confession that He is the Son of God, who we know as our Redeemer, who we accept as our Lord and promise to obey.  And we must hold this not just in words we speak, or in thoughts running through our heads, but in our very heart where the truth of us resides.  We can put our faith in Jesus because He came to earth as one of us, just like us, with human mortality and all our frailties.  He was tempted by Satan in all things, just like us.  Unlike us, though, He bore no sin of His own, but took our sin upon Himself that we might be seen as clean before God.  He took our sin so that we might approach our judgment with confidence, knowing that when God looks into our hearts, He will see only His Son Jesus.

But we must hold fast to our confession, be true to the words we spoke when we accepted Jesus as Lord, follow His commands to love others and through that love to help others along the path to salvation.  We must stop trying to fool others.  We must stop fooling ourselves.

At the last, when all truth is revealed, when our hearts are open and laid bare before Him to whom we must answer, may only Jesus be seen.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for Your word, which gives us fair warning that we will be judged at the end of the age.  You will search into our hearts, into the truth of us, to determine if we really did accept Your Son Jesus as our Lord and tried our very best to follow His commands.  Thank You for giving us the cure for our disobedience by truly living up to our confession of Jesus as Lord.  Father, please help us carry out the assignment He gave us.  Sometimes, Father, we find it difficult to love certain people, or even a whole group of people.  Sometimes we’re just too afraid to step out of our comfort zone and continue the work Jesus started.  Please help us be better servants.  Remind us that we are here to worship You and Your Son.  Help us follow through on our promise to serve and obey Jesus.  Encourage us and strengthen us as we strive to carry on the work of our Lord.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, You came to earth as one of us to offer us salvation, cleansing us by Your own precious blood.  And then You returned to heaven after promising to stand by our side when we face God, to intercede with Him on our behalf.  Thank You, Jesus, for giving of Yourself for us.  Lord, we ask You to help us fully live up to our name of Christian.  Help us put the needs of others ahead of our own.  Help us to always be humble in our service, not seeking the praise and admiration of men but only to be seen as righteous in God’s eyes.  Help us tell others all about You, what You did for us, what You mean to us.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love to a world that hates You.  Most of all, Lord, when our Father God looks into our heart, may He see only You.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Have We Received Jesus?

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on Sunday, the 10th of October, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

The transfiguration of Jesus occurred about a year before His crucifixion and resurrection.  At that time, Jesus told the three disciples who witnessed the event – Peter, James, and John – not to tell anyone what they had seen or heard until after He had risen from the dead.  They wondered what He meant by saying “risen from the dead”.  But this marked the first time Jesus began to speak of what was to come.

When they came back off the mountain, the remaining disciples had been trying to rid a boy of a mute and evil spirit, but they were not able to.  You probably remember the story.  After driving out the spirit, Jesus noted this kind could only be cast out by prayer and fasting.

They left from there and passed through Galilee.  Along the way, Jesus again foretold of His impending death and resurrection, this time in no uncertain terms, saying that, “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him.  And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.”  (Mark 9:31b (NKJV))  So a year in advance, Jesus was trying to prepare His followers, His closest friends, for what God had planned for the days ahead.

Please listen and follow along as I continue from there with the Gospel account of the Apostle Mark, in the 9th chapter, verses 33 through 41, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning…

33 Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you discussed among yourselves on the road?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. 35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.” 36 Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them, 37 “Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me.”

38 Now John answered Him, saying, “Teacher, we saw someone who does not follow us casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow us.”

39 But Jesus said, “Do not forbid him, for no one who works a miracle in My name can soon afterward speak evil of Me. 40 For he who is not against us is on our side. 41 For whoever gives you a cup of water to drink in My name, because you belong to Christ, assuredly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

--Mark 9:33-41 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for sending Your Son Jesus into the world to offer us salvation and reconcile us with You.  It is up to each of us to receive Him into our hearts and accept Him as our Lord.  Thank You, Father, for giving us the faith to believe, to allow us to be on Jesus’ side.  Please help us be as a little child, innocent and loving in our hearts and our actions.  Help us work miracles in the lives of others.  Help us to do as You will and not just what we want to do or are comfortable doing.  Please keep us strong in our faith and of one purpose in our service to Christ Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who blindly do his work for him.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  Remind us what it really means to accept Your Son Jesus as our Master.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.   Amen.

Keith Hernandez was one of baseball's top players.  He had a lifetime batting average that few players ever attained and he won numerous Golden Glove awards for excellence in fielding.  He won a batting championship for having the highest average, the Most Valuable Player award in his league, and even the World Series.  Yet with all this, he missed out on something crucially important to him: his father's acceptance and recognition that what he had accomplished was valuable.  In a very candid interview about his relationship with his father, Keith revealed that one day He asked, "Dad, I have a lifetime .300 batting average and many trophies.  What more do you want?"  His father replied, "But someday you're going to look back and say, 'I could have done more.'"

“I could have done more.”  Have you ever thought those words, maybe when called upon to help out in a particular situation?  Maybe I could have worked a little harder.  Maybe I could have given a little more time or money.  Maybe I could have done more with my life.

That’s the one I dread thinking about the most.  When I’m at the end of this earthly travel, getting ready to go home, I really don’t want to look back and think I could have done more with my life.

I’m willing to bet Keith Hernandez’s father wasn’t talking about baseball when he uttered those words.  Keith’s ball playing days were limited, but he had his whole life to do more.  And we have the rest of our lives to do more, too.  So let’s do all we can to ever avoid thinking, “I could have done more”, and instead look forward to hearing those beautiful words, “Well done, good and faithful servant”.

As I mentioned, Jesus had just begun to forewarn His disciples that He would be put to death and then resurrected from the dead.  This puzzled them and led to many discussions, including who among them would be considered the greatest, in this life and especially in the next.  Jesus let them know that the greatest is the least, the one who goes last, who puts the welfare and needs of others ahead of their own.

Then He took a small child in His arms and said that whoever receives one such as this – vulnerable and innocent – in His name, in effect receives Him.  And whoever receives Him is really receiving God, who sent Him to earth.  When we receive the least of the world, acting in the name of Jesus, we receive Jesus, and we receive God.

And then we have a moment where the beloved disciple John expresses concern with a man acting in the name of Jesus but not walking alongside Him with the rest of them.  In our scripture reading, speaking of this non-disciple casting out demons in His name, Jesus said that whoever “is not against us is on our side”.

This is kind of the flip side of the coin to what He said when the Pharisees accused Him of casting out demons under the authority and power of the devil.  Jesus told them that Satan would not have anyone cast out his own helpers, because a house or kingdom divided like that would soon fall.  And then the Apostle Matthew captured Jesus’ next remark, in the 12th chapter and 30th verse of his Gospel account…

30 "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad."

--Matthew 12:30 (and Luke 11:23) (NKJV)

Interestingly, this comment was also recorded by the Apostle Luke in chapter 11 verse 23 of his Gospel account, and that means it is important for us to fully understand its meaning.  There’s no middle ground here, no fence to be ridden.  If we’re not working for Jesus, we’re working against Him.  But if we’re not against Him, we’re on His side.  Just as was this non-follower.  So Jesus told John and the others not to keep him from doing his works.  And then He adds that anyone who helps a believer in any way, just because the believer has received Jesus, will be rewarded.  So again it’s still about receiving Jesus.

We see another aspect of this idea of receiving Jesus and receiving those who have received Jesus a little earlier in His ministry.  Jesus sent the 12 out into the surrounding cities and towns, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, to "heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out demons".  In chapter 10 of his Gospel account, verses 11 through 15, Matthew recorded Jesus as He commanded them…

11 “Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. 12 And when you go into a household, greet it. 13 If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. 14 And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, shake off the dust from your feet. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"

--Matthew 10:11-15 (NKJV)

The disciples were sent out by Jesus, to teach and heal in His name.  Anyone who did not receive them or listen to their words would be judged harshly at the end, even more so than Sodom and Gomorrah.  The cautionary tale, then, is to be receptive to all those who have received Jesus so as to be looked at favorably in the day of judgment.

Receive the innocent, the vulnerable, the needy in the name of Jesus and receive Jesus.  Receive Jesus and receive God.

Have we, at some point in our lives, by our actions or deeds or words, received Jesus?  Have we gone out of our way to give love and care to someone in need?  Have we answered the knock at our door?  Have we done enough, or could we have done more?

Another word for "receive" is "accept".  Have we accepted Jesus?  Have we truly accepted Him as our Lord and Master, putting our entire fate into His hands, following His every command as if our life depended on it?  For indeed it does.

It’s never too late to do more.  As long as we draw breath, we have the chance to give Jesus our all, obeying His commands, showing His love to the world, caring for the innocent and vulnerable and destitute, seeing to the needs of other believers.  There are countless opportunities today to serve others, to put their concerns ahead of our own.  We still have time to receive one of these, the least among us, and so receive Jesus, and so receive God.

Let us open our hearts and fully, honestly, completely accept Jesus as our Master as well as our Savior.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus, our Lord.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for giving us a bridge back to You.  Because of our sin and disobedience, we were separated from You.  We turned our back on You.  Thank You for never abandoning us, for giving us another chance.  Father, please help us take full advantage of this gift of Your mercy so freely given.  Sometimes, Father, we get too wrapped up with worldly things and mortal cares.  Sometimes we forget what matters the most to You.  Please help us stay focused on You and Your word.  Remind us that we are here to worship You and serve Your Son.  Give us the full conviction of our promise to follow Him.  Encourage us and strengthen us as we strive to obey and serve our Lord Jesus.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, when we accept You as Lord, we receive You into our lives, into our hearts.  And when we receive You, we receive God and His Holy Spirit who lives within us to guide us and be our constant Companion.  Thank You, Jesus, for telling us, through Your own words as saved in our Bible, what it is we need to do to receive You.  Lord, we ask You to help us be obedient servants.  Help us put the needs of others ahead of our own.  Help us to always be humble in our service, not seeking the praise and admiration of men but only to be seen as righteous in God’s eyes.  Help us tell others all about You, what You did for us, what You mean to us.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in this dark world while we still tread this path.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.

Hear His Voice

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered on World Communion Sunday, the 3rd of October, 2021, at Pilgrim Reformed Church.  Today's service included our observance of Holy Communion.  (Please note the services for September 26th were canceled due to an incident of COVID-19 within the church family.)  Our YouTube streaming channel is: 
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCDIz4WuP8igQstkEOq1AMTg.  Look for the video of our recorded services on our Vimeo channel:  http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]

Today is World Communion Sunday, when Christian churches all around the globe pause to observe Holy Communion.  For us, it’s the first Sunday in the quarter, so we would be holding Communion today anyway.  But it is a special opportunity for us to experience this most holy of sacraments with so many brothers and sisters worldwide.  It gives us another chance to share in the last supper that Jesus enjoyed while still on this earth as one of us.

So let’s take this time to think about Jesus, who He was, what He did, and what it all means to us.  I believe that the letter to the early Jewish converts offers some great insight.  Please listen and follow along to what the author of the letter to the Hebrews left for us in the 3rd chapter of that early epistle, reading from the New Living Translation of our Holy Bible…

1 And so, dear brothers and sisters who belong to God and are partners with those called to heaven, think carefully about this Jesus whom we declare to be God’s Apostle and High Priest. 2 For He was faithful to God, who appointed Him, just as Moses served faithfully when he was entrusted with God’s entire house.

3 But Jesus deserves far more glory than Moses, just as a person who builds a house deserves more praise than the house itself. 4 For every house has a builder, but the One who built everything is God.

5 Moses was certainly faithful in God’s house as a servant. His work was an illustration of the truths God would reveal later. 6 But Christ, as the Son, is in charge of God’s entire house. And we are God’s house, if we keep our courage and remain confident in our hope in Christ, faithful to the end.

7 That is why the Holy Spirit says,

“Today when you hear His voice,

8     don’t harden your hearts

as Israel did when they rebelled,

when they tested Me in the wilderness.

9 There your ancestors tested and tried My patience,

even though they saw My miracles for forty years.

10 So I was angry with them, and I said,

‘Their hearts always turn away from Me.

They refuse to do what I tell them.’

11 So in My anger I took an oath:

‘They will never enter My place of rest.’”

12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. 14 For if we are faithful to the end, trusting God just as firmly as when we first believed, we will share in all that belongs to Christ. 15 Remember what it says:

“Today when you hear His voice,

don’t harden your hearts

as Israel did when they rebelled.”

16 And who was it who rebelled against God, even though they heard His voice? Wasn’t it the people Moses led out of Egypt? 17 And who made God angry for forty years? Wasn’t it the people who sinned, whose corpses lay in the wilderness? 18 And to whom was God speaking when He took an oath that they would never enter His rest? Wasn’t it the people who disobeyed Him? 19 So we see that because of their unbelief they were not able to enter His rest.

--Hebrews 3 (NLT)

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You for speaking to us through Your Holy Spirit and through Your word as recorded and saved for us in our Bibles.  We are a busy people, Lord, and don’t often pause in our daily life.  Please help us stop and listen, truly listen, for Your voice.  Help us to hear You and not turn our hearts away from You.  Help us to do as You will and not just whatever it is we want to do.  Please keep us strong in our faith and of one purpose in our service to Christ Jesus.  Please keep us healthy and safe through these trying times.  And Father, please guard us from Satan and those who blindly carry out his orders.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit and better understand the message You have for us this morning.  May we hear Your voice resonating in our hearts.  May we hear the words of Your Son Jesus and obey His commands.  This we pray in the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

Two psychiatrists meet at their 20th college reunion.  One is vibrant, while the other looks withered and worried.  "What's your secret?", the older looking psychiatrist asks.  "Listening to other people's problems every day, all day long, for years on end, has made an old man of me."  "So," replies the younger looking one, "who listens?"

Author Robert W. Herron once wrote, "Good listening is like tuning in a radio station.  For good results, you can listen to only one station at a time.  Trying to listen to my wife while looking over an office report is like trying to receive two radio stations at the same time.  I end up with distortion and frustration.  Listening requires a choice of where I place my attention.  To tune into my partner, I must first choose to put away all that will divide my attention.  That might mean laying down the newspaper, moving away from the dishes in the sink, putting down the book I'm reading, setting aside my projects."

The first little story conjures up images from an old movie where the psychiatrist appears to be intently listening to his patient lying on the couch, but we see that he is only doodling, drawing little images on his pad rather than taking notes.  And though humorous, this points out a failing we too often have: we just don’t truly listen to one another.

When someone finally gets enough courage or suffers enough desperation to open up to us about a problem they are facing, does our mind wander off to a chore we need to complete, or an argument with a friend, or what we’re going to make for dinner?  When God is trying to speak to us, do we just turn the TV up a little more because we don’t recognize His voice?

To truly listen to someone, including God, we must put all our focus on them and what they are saying.  We should be silent and still while they are speaking.  As Herron says, the act of truly listening requires us to choose where we will place all our attention.  We humans aren’t really all that good at doing two things at once; not really.  If we want to hear our Lord’s words, especially over all the tumult of these times we live in, then we need to put away any distractions, anything that might divide our attention, and focus solely on that small, still voice.

We don’t know for sure who wrote this letter to the early Jewish converts – many think it could have been the Apostle Paul – but he was clearly concerned about their – and our – relationship with our Lord.  We must not allow our hearts to be hardened against God, he warns, or we may not be allowed to enter into His place of rest.  We must remain faithful to the end, trusting in God and not rebelling against Him, encouraging and strengthening each other, striving to hear His voice.

It may be interesting to note that the author quotes from Psalm 95, verses 7 through 11, in his letter – scripture that his intended audience should be familiar with.  But of course, that doesn’t mean that his message was intended only for them, his audience of that day.  God’s word has been saved for us, for thousands of years, so that we too might be warned, strengthened, and encouraged.

Now, this message from our author - and so from God – isn’t just about listening to our Father God, but also to Jesus, our Lord.  The author notes that Christ Jesus is the Son of God, in charge of God’s entire house, and we are that house if we remain faithful to the end.  We need to also listen for the voice of Jesus, hear Him, obey Him.  The Apostle Matthew confirms that God Himself tells us this, in chapter 17 of his Gospel account, verses 1 through 8, when he writes…

1 Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, led them up on a high mountain by themselves; 2 and He was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. 3 And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him. 4 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

5 While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” 6 And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. 7 But Jesus came and touched them and said, “Arise, and do not be afraid.” 8 When they had lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

--Matthew 17:1-8 (NKJV)

“This is My Son”, God says.  “Hear Him!”  Hear Jesus.  Ok, so we can no longer actually, physically hear the voice of Jesus the Man, with our ears picking up the sound waves created by His speaking.  But we can “hear” the words our Lord spoke that were recorded so long ago and saved for us by those who walked alongside Him.

Just one such example is given by the Apostle John, the beloved disciple, in chapter 5 of his Gospel account, verses 24 through 30, when Jesus spoke and said…

24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.”

--John 5:24-30 (NKJV)

We need to stop and listen so we can hear the voice of God, and of His Son Jesus.  Their words are saved for us in our Bibles, right there ready and waiting for us to read and study them.  But we can also hear them in our hearts.  God’s Holy Spirit lives within us, speaking to us, helping us communicate with God.  We just need to set aside all distractions, put away anything that might divide our attention.  And hear His voice.

In just a few moments we will come and share Holy Communion with our Lord Jesus.  The Apostle Paul warns us not to come to this table unless and until we are right with God.  Let us take this time to go to our Father in prayer, confessing our sins, promising to turn from them, and seeking His forgiveness.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Father God, thank You speaking to us through our Bible and through Your Holy Spirit within us.  Thank You for warning us not to do wrong, for encouraging us to do what is right in Your sight.  Father, please help us hear Your voice.  Sometimes, Father, we get too caught up in the busyness of life.  Sometimes we hear only of the works of Satan, without paying notice to all the good that still surrounds us.  Sometimes we let too many things distract us and divide our attention, when we should be focused only on You.  Please help us stop and listen as You speak.  Remind us that we were bought and paid for at a great cost: the very blood of Your only begotten Son.  Give us the full conviction of our promise to serve You.  Encourage us and strengthen us as we strive to obey and serve our Lord Jesus.  Please keep us strong in our spirit, in our faith, and in our service to You and Jesus.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You from our hearts through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more faithful and true, putting all our trust in You and Jesus, and seeking Your help as we do so…

Lord Jesus, we believe in You and our Father God who sent You, and we strive to hear Your words and obey them.  You are most worthy of our obedience because You gave Your all for us, that we might be spared eternal death.  Thank You, Jesus, for suffering our punishment, for taking our sin upon Yourself, for giving us the bread of life and for washing us clean with Your blood.  Lord, we have heard Your word as saved for us in our Bible, and we eagerly await Your return.  Help us remain ever faithful and true as the turmoil of the world grows around us.  Help us give our full attention to You and our Father God that we might hear Your voices.  Strengthen our will to do what our Father God wills us to do.  Help us to be more loving, more understanding, kinder to all we encounter each day.  And please help us as we try to show Your love in this dark world while we still tread this path.  All this we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.